Please welcome Tenni
from The Tobine Chronicles by Adera
Orfanelli.
RW: What’s your story/back story? Why would
someone come up with a story about YOU?
T: I was married to the leader of the
resistance, something I now agree with my parents was foolish. However, my
planet is dying, my husband and our son were killed by a government bomb, and
now I am the only one who can stand up for the world that I love against
government, rebel, and alien forces alike.
RW: What problems do you have to face and
overcome in your life?
T: Being the widow of the resistance’s
leader has put me in everyone’s crosshairs. His brother, who now runs the
resistance, is obsessed with me and wants me at all costs. I’m not sure if the
government really has what’s best in mind for this planet, and now these aliens
have arrived and think that I’m their key to legitimate rule. It was so much
easier when I could just be the dutiful wife and stay out of all of the
politics and intrigue.
RW: Do you expect your hero to help or is he the
problem?
T: I
am the solution to the problem. I just have to figure out how to deal with the
forces seeking to tear my world apart. There’s a fourth way—my way—I just need
to implement it.
RW: Where
do you live?
T: A
former mining colony called Tobine. It’s been mined to death; there are no more
resources here. But the world is situated in a place that makes it strategically
advantageous. Thus it is territory to control.
RW: How
are you coping with the conflict in your life?
T: I’m coping the best I can, relying on my
wits and smarts. Mostly I’m dreaming of the day that my world is free.
RW: What is your secret guilty pleasure?
T: Back when we had vids, I would curl up and
watch the viddramas because they were so outlandish and foolish representations
of what it was like to be wealthy and influential on our world. But they were
fun and one of my biggest guilty pleasures. I believe the equivalent on your
world is a soap opera?
RW: If you came with a warning label, what would it
say?
T: Be careful. I am more than I seem.
RW: Are you in control of your author or does she
control you?
T: I’m in control, most definitely. There are
several places she thought she’d take me, and I’ve said no to most of them.
RW: If I could (fill in the blank) I’d (fill in the
blank).
T: If I could go back in time, I’d like to talk to
my mother and find out why everyone seems to think I’m so important.
RW: I can never (fill in the blank) because (fill
in the blank).
T: I can never leave this planet because it’s my home, and I
seem to be the only one who wants to stand up for its people.
RW: Those are all the questions I have for you today. Thanks so much
for visiting my blog.
T: Thank you for having me. I appreciate
the opportunity to share more about my story.
Adera Orfanelli
Bio:
Mary
lives in the Ozarks on a homestead with her spoiled horses, a flock of highly
entertaining chickens, a not-so-itty-bitty-kitty-committee, and her husband.
Her first published novel, Ghost
Touch, was released in December 2002–back when you had to explain
to people what an e-book was. Since then she’s written more than the fifty
novels/novellas in multiple genres of romance, as well as nonfiction books
under another pen name. She’s been published as Mary Winter, Adera Orfanelli,
and W.M. Kirkland.
In
addition, she runs Unscramblet Author Solutions, helping authors unscramble
their “to do” lists and their promotions.
TOBINE CHRONICLES
Episode Three
The Plot:
In the battle to save the planet she loves, one
woman must discover the truth about her past, and if she has the strength
necessary to not just save Tobine–but rule.
Episode Three—As Tenni learns more about the
Vilos’ plans, she wants nothing to do with the frog-like creatures. With the
slave Kavin, she begins to make plans to escape only to discover that she’s been
given a horrible twist of fate.
Excerpt:
Has it been over a
week?
Sitting in the slave compound, her hand through the fence into the men’s
section, she stared at the fence separating her from freedom. Well, freedom and
several Vilos guards. Kavin caressed her palm with his thumb, the gesture
sensual and comforting at the same time.
“I hope you do not
think less of me,” she whispered, “that K’Bana takes me to his bed.” Tenni
sighed heavily. “Damn me, but sometimes I close my eyes, and if I picture
someone else in his place, then I almost like the things he does to me. But
when he beats me, I hate him. I want out of here. I want away.”
Kavin squeezed her
hand. “At least it isn’t so bad with the men. We work for them, but it isn’t
unlike the labor we did before, toiling to make a living. Only now, we get
lashes instead of pay, and the wife I once shared my life and my heart with is
dead. Along with our son and daughter. I do not know how you put up with it at
all. I think I’d go mad.”
“I’ve learned to endure
many things. It is different when you’re a woman.” Tenni stared at the grass
just in front of her, wishing she could do more than simply hold Kavin’s hand.
His words made her want to rest her head against his chest and believe, if even
for a moment, things might be all right again.
“Did your husband not
love you?”
Tenni gasped. She
opened her mouth to deny Kavin’s words but made no sound.
“I see,” he said
softly. “I am sorry to hear that. You’re a beautiful woman, Tenni. You deserve
to be loved.”
Tenni hissed and pulled
her hand away. “We can’t talk of those things. Not here.”
The rustle of guards
just outside the women’s fence made Tenni rise to her feet. She hurried back
towards the gate, her heart thumping in her chest. What would happen to me
if they found out I spoke with Kavin? They might realize I might care for him.
She knew whatever happened, it couldn’t be good. Hurrying to the fence, she
ignored the looks from the other women. When she looked at them, she saw
jealousy and hatred. If they want K’Bana, then they could have him. I don’t
know what I did to deserve this treatment anyway. She stood by the fence,
certain the guards had come for her. She learned early, if she went willingly
to the guards, then they wouldn’t enter the compound, and the other woman might
be spared this time.
A Vilos guard opened
the gate. Tenni suspected the mottled pattern on his green
skin might tell him apart, but she never bothered to learn. They all treated her
like a piece of meat; she might as well do the same. Tenni stepped through, and
the guard closed the gate behind her.
“K’Bana has an itch he
needs scratched,” the guard chuckled. He stroked his hand down the front of her
shirt, pinching her breasts as he did so. “I wish you’d scratch my itches,
little human.”
Tenni held her head high and said nothing. She
knew better than to fight. K’Bana only beat her worse then. Instead, she
endured the graceless grope, until the guard’s partner poked her in the back with
the muzzle of his rifle and sent her walking towards K’Bana’s tent. I will
get out of here. There has to be a way out.
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