Addison Fox and More Zodiac Warriors Return to the Lair!

interview with Suzanne

Banditas and all our friends, today my very good friend Addison Fox returns to the Lair to talk about the third book in her Sons of the Zodiac series, WARRIOR BETRAYED. Pull up a bar stool, a lounge chair or a cabana boy's lap and let's talk serious alpha male booty today with Addison.

Addison: Suz all the wonderful Banditas - thank you for having me! It's always so much fun to spend a day in the Lair ?

Suz: So, Addison, WARRIOR BETRAYED is the third in the Sons of the Zodiac series. So far you've given us the hunky Leo and super-sexy Scorpio. Which delicious brother are we going to see this time?

Addison: WARRIOR BETRAYED is Quinn's story - my Taurus warrior. Each of the warriors has a role to play on the team (you know, so they don't just sit around and look hot all day!) and Quinn is the team's security expert.

Suz: What trait of the Taurus Warrior did you focus on the most in this book? How does that effect Quinn's relationships with his brothers and his heroine?

Addison: Quinn's been a really vibrant character for me from the word "go" and very clear in my head. He's deeply stubborn and convinced he's right, but he's also fiercely loyal to those he loves.

Quinn spent a fair amount of the previous book, WARRIOR AVENGED, allowing his stubborn bent to shine through and he's now paying for it in his own story.

Suz: In WARRIOR BETRAYED, Montana Grant has spent her life under the shadow of decisions by both her parents. How is her destiny intertwined with Quinn's?

Addison: Part of what I loved about writing Montana is that she's on a real journey of self-discovery in this book. Although she knows something strange is happening around her, what she does not know when the book begins is that she is a rising immortal.

Her mother, Eirene, the goddess of peace (and Themis's daughter) abdicated her role to marry a mortal. Themis (the creator of the warriors) swore that Eirene's child would be destined to take her place and that has begun as the book opens.

As you might imagine, that's a rather tall order to place on a woman?.there's nothing better than a sexy warrior to help you get through it!

Suz: In each of your books your heroes are strong alpha males. What about this kind of hero appeals to you?

Addison: I will admit to loving strong, alpha males and digging down deep to find their vulnerabilities. It may be a bit cliché, but the premise of the alpha male - who falls hard when he finally does fall - is an incredibly fun thing to play with as a writer.

Suz: Since you have such strong personalities in your heroes how do you decide what kind of heroine to match with them?

Addison: One of the most enjoyable things about writing romance is pairing two characters who you really root for as a reader. A strong male (whether alpha or beta) needs an equally strong woman to make you feel these two people deserve a life together.

For me, the characters are everything to the story and it's always fun to match up two people and see the reasons they fall in love with each other.

In the case of Montana and Quinn, he's very sure of himself and needs a woman who isn't afraid to go head-to-head with him. For her part, Montana's not only spent a life of privilege, but she's also an incredibly powerful woman in her own right, running her family's shipping empire. Montana's a woman used to making decisions and it was important to me to pair her with a man who would celebrate her strengths and give her shelter for her vulnerabilities.

Suz: Soooooooo?who's next for me to drool over?er, for all your readers to look forward in anticipation?

Addison: I'm working on the fourth book in the Sons of the Zodiac series right now, WARRIOR ENCHANTED. It's Drake (the Pisces) and Emerson's (the witch next door) story. These two were introduced as a potential couple in WARRIOR AVENGED and I absolutely love them together.

What's been a lot of fun in writing this one is that Drake's already very sure he's in love with Emerson, but she's the one who is holding back. Of course, in true romantic fashion, things are about to get a whole lot worse for the both of them as Emerson's life is turned upside down by the return of her missing brother.

I'm really excited to add some new direction to the series in this book, with some new villains for the warriors to battle and a whole new challenge.There's this pesky new warrior whose come on the scene and who just happens to wear the mark of the 13th Sign.

Suz: To change the subject just a little bit, I hear there's an entirely different series coming from you soon. Care to fill the readers in on it?

Addison: I'd love to! I have a new contemporary series launching in November of this year. BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE is the first of a trilogy about a small town in Alaska that holds an annual Bachelor Competition. The heroine of BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE, Sloan McKinley, ends up in Indigo, Alaska by circumstance, but quickly falls in love with the town,and it's very eligible town lawyer.

Suz: So let's talk Zodiac signs. What's yours? Do you really fit into any of the traits you sign is supposed to have? 

Addison is going to give away a signed copy of WARRIOR BETRAYED to one lucky commentor!

Addison Fox Has Warriors In The Stars...

interview with Suzanne

**sensing a little deja vu? I had a bit of a brain fart yesterday and managed to post this a day early! Ack...too much wine and too little sleep over the weekend! But yes Addison is visiting us today!!**

I met Addison Fox years before she sold her first book, Warrior Ascended. There was something special about this woman with her contagious smile and always positive attitude. So when she sold her first book to Signet, along with the whole Sons of the Zodiac series, I was thrilled. Now, I'm even more thrilled to welcome my good friend back to tell us about the second book in her series!

Suz: Welcome back to the Lair, Addison! And thank you for writing the very sexy, WARRIOR AVANGED! For those who haven’t had a chance to pick up the first book in your Sons Of The Zodiac series from Signet, can you give them a brief overview of the series premise?

Addison: Thanks so much for having me back in the Lair! I love visiting with the Banditas!!

Millennia ago, the goddess of justice, Themis, created a race of fierce warriors, each imbued with a special power of the zodiac and charged with protecting humanity from the evils of the world.

Suz: We met the hero of this book, Kane Montague, in the first book, Warrior Ascended. What is his sign and how does that first encounter play into Warrior Avenged?

Addison: Kane is my Scorpio warrior and for those of you who read WARRIOR ASCENDED, you know that Kane was burned in book one by a fellow secret agent at MI-6. The fact that said agent is the delectable female spy, Ilsa…AND the fact that she burned him at a *most* indelicate moment is the set up for WARRIOR AVENGED. Kane’s out for revenge – even as he can’t wait to get his hands on her again!

Suz: Mmmmmmm, love me my Scorpios. (By the way, we Scorpios are very sexy…hehehe). Uhm. So, yeah Ilsa was an interesting name for your heroine to use, but it isn’t her first cover name, is it?

Addison: Ilsa actually has three names (Adrasteia, Nemesis and Ilsa) and each ties to her backstory and what’s brought her to the point in time where the book starts. I love this heroine – she’s the most flawed, challenged heroine I’ve ever written and I had so much fun writing her and wringing as much emotion out of her as I could.

Suz: Kane isn’t just any warrior, he’s a warrior with a major problem. What is it and how does it affect his abilities?

Addison: Three centuries ago, Kane went up against a very dark sorcerer who found a way to turn Kane’s scorpion against him. The scorpion’s venom lives in his system and rises each year when the Antares star is at its zenith in late May. Antares is the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation and it was one of those fun little elements I found as I did research for the story.

Suz: How do you see the Zodiac Warrior’s war with Enyo progressing throughout the series?

Addison: I’m actually having a ton of fun with that part. Although the warriors and Enyo are all very clear characters in my mind, how their battle is going to play out is still a work in progress for me. Certainly, I expect the stakes to continue to rise and the battles to get more fierce, but exactly what form that is going to take is part of the fun for me!

Suz:  Have you met the hero who will step forward for the next book in this series?

Addison: Not only have I met him, but my readers have met him too! The hero of WARRIOR BETRAYED, which is the third book in the series out next May, is my Taurus warrior, Quinn Tanner. As Kane’s story finishes up, Quinn’s got some baggage he needs to overcome. His stubborn Taurus personality has put some distance between he and his brothers and he’s going to spend much of WARRIOR BETRAYED looking to atone for that.

Suz: And do you have any news for us in regards to the future of Addison Fox? (Girl, you know you want to tell everyone!)

Addison: Thank you for letting me share my news!!!! (Of course I want to tell!!!)

I am so excited to continue writing the Sons of the Zodiac series for NAL/Signet Eclipse. I’m also very excited to announce that I will be writing a contemporary trilogy for them set in Alaska. Here’s a quick blurb on the first book:

THE BACHELOR GAME, set in a small Alaska town whose three matriarchs, in a not-so-secret ploy to get their grandsons happily married off, host an annual contest that teams the town’s rugged bachelors with women from the Lower 48.

I’m working on that right now and it’s due out late 2011.

Thank you so much for having me today. I am so looking forward to visiting with everyone in the Lair!!!

Suz: Addison will be giving away a signed copy of WARRIOR ASCENDED to one lucky commenter.

Arming the Zodiac with Addison Fox!

interview with Suz

Bandits, Bandit Buddies and all our readers, y'all are in for a treat. Today you will get a look at a brand-spanking-new paranormal series and the author, who is not only a dear friend of mine, but a very creative writer! Welcome, Addison Fox. Pull up a lounge chair and we'll have the cabana boys bring some wine.

Suz: Congratulations on your first book, WARRIOR ASCENDED, hitting the bookstore shelves! We love a call story at the Bandit Lair, so please tell us how this first sale happened?

Addison: I love telling this story - thank you for letting me share it!!!

The call came on November 20, 2008. I was at work and I got an email from my agent, asking, "Are you going to be around tonight?" NAL had the overall series proposal and a proposal on the first book. I'd already made one round of revisions on the proposal and they'd agreed to look at it again and now we were just waiting to hear.

I immediately called my sister (hey - if my productivity was shot for the day, hers could be, too!) and we spent quite a bit of time on the phone and in email trying to figure out the outcome. Fortunately it didn't take all day and my agent called me around 2 to let me know NAL wanted to buy it. I had to slip out of a meeting to take the call and hide behind a wall of cubicles. So here I am, trying to take notes and not scream and jump up and down.

I then started calling and emailing everyone I knew!

Suz: I love the premise for the Sons Of The Zodiac series. Can you fill our readers in on it and how you came up with the idea?

Addison: I wish I could explain the moment of connection, but I was sitting there on the couch watching TV, not even thinking about plotting and this idea of the zodiac and warriors popped into my head.

Truly - it was this rare, "gift moment" that I have no idea where it came from. That said, never one to look a "gift moment" in the mouth - I immediately jumped online and started googling the zodiac. I quickly found the connection between modern-day Western astrology and Greek mythology and I was off to the races.

What's been the most fun part of the series is the richness available from a world-building perspective. The zodiac is unique and balanced so there are a multitude of traits to pull on from a character perspective. And then the Greek mythology component adds this really neat layer of world building that's incredibly fun to draw from.

Suz: These guys are all alpha males to the nth degree, just my favorite kind. Brody is the Leo Warrior. With 13 warriors to write about what made you decide to start with him?


Addison: Brody was the other gift in the series. He was the image in my mind as I put the zodiac/warrior connection together. Although he isn't a shape shifter, the idea of the Lion was immediately sexy and appealing and brings to mind a very powerful, very alpha male.

Suz: Your heroine, Ava Harrison, starts out as a shy work-oriented woman, trying to hide any femininity behind drab clothes. How does she first meet Brody? And how does she react to his invasion of her life?

Addison: Ava's got a lot of baggage. Her father - a world famous archaeologist who discovered the famed Summoning Stones of Egypt - was murdered in front of her when she was young. The murder was always believed random, but it shook the very foundation of her life.

She had a dream to follow in his footsteps, but from a more academic perspective as her fear of leaving the safe world she's built around her has always kept her from field work. So instead, she's put her love of archaeology into a career as a curator at the American Museum of Natural History.

Brody is an overwhelming force in her life, but one she's deeply attracted to. He also arrives at an incredibly important moment - she's bringing her father's work to a major exhibit at the museum. Although Brody's presence in the museum is explained under the guise of museum security, she senses immediately he's more than he seems.

His presence also coincides with something else. Ava's never told anyone, but she has horrible visions when she gets anywhere near the Stones. Although she's suspicious of Brody's sudden arrival, she quickly realizes she needs an ally as the power of the stones - and the visions they cause only her - grows stronger.

Suz: Can you explain what the summoning stones are?

Addison: The Summoning Stones are a very powerful piece of magic from the reign of Thutmose the III in ancient Egypt. Five, equally shaped stones, about the size of a woman's hand, that were placed in museums around the world after their discovery. Ava's exhibit is the first time they will be all brought back together.

Each stone possesses a different quality - life, death, love, sexuality, infinity. When put together, they have the power to grant the one who can harness them - a "Chosen One" in every age - power over everything.

While I don't want to give anything away, betcha can't guess who is the "Chosen One" of this age?.

Suz: What's next for the Sons Of The Zodiac?

Addison: Ooooh - my Scorpio's up next - Kane Montague. I love all my warriors, but Kane's got a special place in my heart. When we meet him in WARRIOR ASCENDED, he's just been duped (in a very sexy way) by a secret agent, going by the name of Ilsa.

WARRIOR AVENGED begins six months later, when Kane finally runs down the sexy operative he's not been able to get out of his head. Of course, both of them have some fairly large secrets and it's going to take a whole lot of together time to make them realize they work far better together than alone.

Suz: Ooooooooo Scropio...uh, just happens to be my favorite birth sign!! And Kane is yummo, ladies!! I love your heroes and love the feature interview you do with Brody on your website at http://www.addisonfox.com/index.php/leo/
*whispering to the Bandits and friends...I'm waiting to see what she posts about Kane*

Addison: So I've got a question for everyone. I absolutely love reading about astrology and I'm a total horoscope junkie. Do you all believe the stars influence our personalities or that there are traits that we hold that come from the sign we're born under?

Suz: Addison is giving away a signed copy of WARRIOR ASCENDED to one lucky commenter.


P.S. And as always, if you click on the book, you can go to Amazon.com to order your own copy. And don't forget, clicking on the Bandit books will do the same...and check out Bandit websites and my online story blog by clicking our pics!