Monique Morgan: Why did you choose Centaurs for a mythological race to explore? by Nancy Straight

There have been so many Paranormal Romances I’ve read and LOVED. Each one has been an inspiration to me. It would be impossible to name them all, but a few of my FAVORITES are:

Amy Bartol’s Premonition Series (Angels),
Christie Rich’s Elemental Enmity Series (Fairies),
Shannon Dermott’s Champion Series (Demons),
Quinn Loftis’ Grey Wolves Series (Werewolves) and
Charlotte Abel’s Channie Series (Mages).

The things all of these Paranormal Romance Series have in common are I absolutely fell in love with the characters and I was dying to know what was on the next page. Each series reached out and pulled me into my kindle. When I wrote Blood Debt, I knew I wanted to draw the reader in the same way as my favorites pulled me into their novels, but finding mythological creatures that hadn’t been written about by any of my favorite authors was difficult.

Centaurs had always been interesting to me, but I’d read almost nothing about them. Before I started writing the Touched Series, I began to research Centaurs. It turns out, very few others had written about Centaurs and there weren’t a tremendous amount of legends available to pull from.

I incorporated much of the published Greek Mythology surrounding Centaurs and in a few places I created a history that wasn’t there.

There is a lot of freedom, as an author, when you choose characters without a great deal of history behind them. Most readers know what Centaurs are, but few know about the history of their battles, how they’re tied to constellations or perceptions of them throughout history.

Writing about a mythological race that has an air of mystery around them has been exciting. Very few authors have attempted to use Centaurs in the Paranormal Romance Genre and I’m excited to share the Touched Series with the world. I hope you’ll love it as much as I do!

About the Author:

Nancy was born in Sioux City Iowa, left the cold of the Midwest in 1991 and only returns to see family in the summer time. She spent ten years traveling the world as a US Marine and settled in rural SC with her husband and two children.

She enjoys reading all types of Paranormal and Young Adult literature – so long as there is a love story. She loves Starbucks’ White Mocha Latte and Mountain Dew, (but not together). She has a lead foot so she sets cruise control when she drives, even in 25 MPH zones. Nancy almost never wins when she plays Angry Birds, but keeps her 8 year old close, so he can clear the hard levels for her. She grew up on a farm and is opposed to eating fresh chicken (not opposed to meat - just opposed to any meat that was alive a few hours before lunch). Nancy has written five Young Adult / New Adult novels and can be found nightly on Facebook and Twitter.