The Secret Life of Shifters, or Where Do I Get My Ideas? by Rebecca Rivard

Ideas bubble up…

Authors are often asked where they get their ideas. And honestly, sometimes even I’m not sure—they seem to bubble up from nowhere. But I clearly remember that the idea for my Fada Shapeshifter Series began on a sunny day in a local park, swimming with my man in our favorite creek. This particular spot is magical in the way that only nature can be: sunlight streaming through tall trees; shadowy green places alive with colorful butterflies and dragonflies; and running through it all, a lovely little creek.

That day, though, as I looked at a crevice in the large rocks that tumble along the creek’s edge, I found myself imagining that the rocks hid another, magical world. I love reading about shifters, so I immediately visualized a man, a shapeshifter. Watching us—but not in a creepy, stalker-kind-of way. No, he was simply keeping an eye on the human intruders—us.

The Fada Shapeshifter Series is born…

It was another year or so before I actually started writing, but by then I had all sorts of ideas for a sexy new paranormal romance series:

·       What if the rocks hid an entrance to another world, a world that coexists with ours, but with its own people and conflicts?

·       The man who was in the water might be the alpha of his clan. And of course, they would be water shifters, capable of shifting to animals such as dolphins, fish or even otters.

·       And maybe this world has other magical beings, such as fae and dryads, who look down on the shapeshifters for their animal genes…

From there I was off and running with my story of the Rock Run river fada clan, and their alpha’s desperate gamble to save his clan from the local sun fae queen.

And did I mention that the alpha was hot, wet and sexy?

 A dark shifter alpha…

A jaded fae queen…

The fate of both their clans hangs in the balance.

Here’s the first scene:

SEDUCING THE SUN FAE (The Fada Shapeshifter Series, #1)

Dion’s breath hitched. Damn, the sun fae queen was hot—and not just because she, like all her people, carried a touch of the sun’s radiance within her.

No, her body was a feast for the senses: long and lithe, with nicely curved hips and breasts that would fill his hands perfectly—and he was a large man. The queen didn’t bother to conceal that taut, sexy body either. She was wearing a gauzy dress the color of ripe apricots, and as she and her entourage approached the stream where he lurked, the short skirt revealed flashes of smooth golden thighs.

His whole body heated despite his hiding place in the cool stream.

He scowled. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen Queen Cleia, but he’d been careful not to get too close, knowing the woman used her looks as a weapon. He’d steeled himself to fight her attraction; the sun fae were famous for their allure, and their queen’s beauty was legendary. Cleia didn’t disappoint: exotically tilted eyes, pouty red lips and hair a gleaming river of sunshine. But he hadn’t bargained on his immediate, intense response.

The woman was pure, undiluted sex.

The queen strolled past, close enough that he could have reached up and dragged her into the stream with him. It was late May, and already the weather hinted at the summer heat to come. She paused to cool herself by lifting her hair. The movement raised her breasts as well, the nipples pressing against the apricot gauze.

He drew a slow breath, his gaze riveted on those tempting points, and she glanced in his direction. Quickly, he ducked beneath the surface so that she saw nothing but a shadowy undulation in the flowing stream.

Not that she couldn’t have sensed him if she tried. He had a Gift for blending into the waters and wetlands that were his natural habitat, but a woman such as her, his equal in power, could penetrate the illusion if she wished. But she believed herself safe on the lush, flower-filled grounds of her sprawling compound as she strolled with her companions, a regal, copper-haired woman nearly as lovely as herself and a pair of glowering blond guards.

The queen shrugged and turned back to her friend. Dion slipped between the cattails that edged the stream and lifted his head to watch her pass. Her scent filled his head, sweet and a bit tart, like a fresh-plucked orange.

She was close…so close. Close enough for him to see the vulnerable curve where her hair had fallen forward over one shoulder, exposing her nape and the delicate pointed ear of a pureblood fae.

His fingers flexed on the stream bed.

Not yet.

It would be easy to take her. He was a master of the quick, silent death. But it was too risky with her guards just steps away. If he was caught, his clan would be embroiled in a war, and weakened as they were, they just might lose.

Besides, killing a woman didn’t sit right—even a heartless bitch like Cleia. No, he had a better idea.

The two women continued past and he angled his body upstream after them. As he flowed into the dappled shade cast by a massive willow, Cleia threw back her head in amusement at something her companion said. Her rich laugh stroked over his body like a promise.

His cock hardened—but damn if his lips didn’t lift too. For the first time he understood that the allure of the woman was not simply in her unashamed sensuality.

He blinked and hardened his jaw. She would not hook him like a foolish young fish.

This was the bitch queen who’d lured so many of his warriors, used them, and then cast them aside. They returned home pale and worn out, some of their best years gone. And with each man she drained and sent back to him, the clan’s fishing grounds grew less fertile, the women more restless and unhappy, the children more prone to illness. Even their vineyards produced half of what they once had.

And it had been going on for twenty years.

Twenty fucking years.

But no more. He was going to end it. Queen Cleia had met her match. No more would she take his men to feed her royal ego. She’d revealed a weakness to young Tiago, and he intended to take advantage of it.

He’d seen all he needed. But he hesitated, curiously reluctant to leave.

When he realized he was waiting for another burst of laughter, he scowled and turned downstream in an abrupt movement that splashed water against the bank. The guards rushed in his direction, but already power was rippling over his skin, cool and refreshing as a summer storm. Limbs changed to fins and a tail, his gills grew more prominent, and scales formed a shimmering armor.

By the time the guards reached the stream all they saw was an enormous silver fish. They cursed angrily, guessing he was a river fada. A fae-ball whizzed past his head, searing the air in a fiery arc, but he flexed his tail and dove deep, heading back to his river.

Soon, whispered the water as it slid past his scales. Soon.

Excerpt from Seducing the Sun Fae, ©2015 Rebecca Rivard.

Want to read more? You can sample Seducing the Sun Fae  on Amazon or Goodreads. And I’m excited to announce that from June 16 through June 19, Seducing the Sun Fae is on sale for just $0.99. Or read it for free if you have Kindle Unlimited. Click here: http://amzn.com/B00VDND708

Seducing the Sun Fae is the first in a series of three novels featuring the Rock Run river fada, a clan of river-based shapeshifters.

And I’d like to give a big thanks to Sharon Buchbinder for hosting me on her blog today!

—Rebecca Rivard