"if you want to lose yourself in an original, intelligent, romantic, SEXY, adventure, this is your book!"
Hi everyone!
Shelly is here with us today and she’ll be telling all of you about her newly released paranormal romance titled Tasting Fire and she's giving us a little peek into the book too ;)
Shape-shifters have always walked the earth. Shrouded in myth and folklore, hiding in the shadows, watching and waiting. Advances in modern science are now about to reveal them to the world.
Kai Tenzin is the self appointed leader of the Pari people. He and his kind evolved from the most reclusive predators on earth, the Asian Snow Leopard. They live and hunt in the most fearsome and rugged terrain known to man, the Himalayas.
As a young man, Kai left his small village where the mountain touches the heavens, determined to do anything to protect his people. When he is forced to enlist the aid of the beautiful American scientist Dr. Rae Hales, the last thing he expects to find is a woman who will ensnare his heart and endanger them all.
Their action-packed adventure will take them around the world to discover the truth behind the legends and reveal the future of humanity.
Buy your copy on Amazon
Tell us a little about yourself
My
name is Shelly Holt. I am a life long
reader and love mythology and folklore.
When I decided to try my hand at writing a paranormal romance this past
March, I knew I would be competing against hundreds if not thousands of other
similar books. To succeed, I had to
write a very different type of story. I decided on using the Asian Snow Leopard
as my shape-shifter in part because it had rarely been done and also the animal
itself is the most exotically beautiful and powerful high altitude predator on
earth. (What can be sexier than that?)
How did Tasting Fire come about?
I
chose
to
focus
on
the
mythology
of
shape-shifters
in
cultures
around
the
world and so
I
spent
a
week
researching
Himalayan
cultures
and
folklore
until
I
found
something
I
could
use
and
build
from. I learned about
the
myth
of
the
Pari
which
are
thought to be seductive
female
mountain
spirits
that
if
angered
can
shift
into
the
form
of
a
snow
leopard
and
attack.
I
drew
up
a
plot
that
revolved
around
the
hypothesis
that treated
the Pari
as if they were
real. How would a species like that come
to
exist? I researched
methods
of
bacterial
transmission
and
eventually
came
up
with
the
idea
that
if
shape-shifters
throughout
history
were
caused
by
an
infection,
it
would
have
to
be
difficult
to
catch,
otherwise
everybody
and
their
grandmother
would
be
a
shape-shifters. That was
how
I
decided
to
make
the
infection
come
from
a
thermophilic
(heat
loving)
bacteria
that
only
lives
in
hot
springs
around
the
world. You can't
catch
it
from
another
shape-shifter,
but
you
can
inherit
the
condition
from
your
parents. This method
of
transmission
gives
rise
to
the
many
different
mythologies
of
shape-shifters
that
have
evolved
from
every
culture
on
the
planet.
(This could also open the door for many more books in the future.)
As
Dr.
Rae
Hales,
my
heroine
surmises
“if
the
Pari
are
real,
doesn't
that
mean
they
could
all
be
real?” I treat shape-shifting in the books as a
medical condition. It has significant
physical, social and economic side effects that arise from the condition and
the thrust of the book deals with that.
Tell us a little about the book:
Tasting Fire has strong spiritual
overtones and extraordinarily well developed secondary plots that involve
personal growth and fully defined characters.
All of these well designed aspects make for a truly unique paranormal
romance. I will warn readers at this point,
if you want a book where the hero and heroine fall into bed within the first
two minutes of meeting and have mindless sex, this is not the book for
you! If you are looking for a rich,
textured, well developed story and if you want to lose yourself in an original,
intelligent, romantic, SEXY, adventure, this is your book!
Thanks for letting me visit The
Secret Sanctuary of Books to share my experiences writing Tasting Fire with you
today.
Rae
took
an
admiring
look
at
the
vista
below
as
she
dropped
her
heavy
pack
on
the
ground. The
mountains
in
the
distance
looked
purple
and
the
desert
brush
spread
out
below
them
like
a
master
oil
painting. It
was
awe
inspiring
to
human
eyes. Rae
wondered
what
would
it
look
like
to
a
snow
leopard. She
suddenly
realized
many
a
biologist
would
sell
their
very
soul
for
the
opportunity
she
had
at
that
moment. Rae
turned
to
Kai
who
had
been
sitting
on
the
ground
with
his
pack
and
fishing
around
for
lunch
and
asked
him
“what
is
it
like
when
you're
in
your
Shan
form
out
in
country
like
this?” Kai
rewarded
Rae
with
the
most
brilliant
smile
she
had
yet
seen
to
grace
the
handsome
shape-shifter's
face. He
seemed
truly
delighted
to
discuss
the
subject
with
her. Kai
stood
up
to
answer
Rae's
question. He
addressed
the
human
scientist.
“It's
like
nothing
you
can
imagine
Rae. Every
sense
is
in
tune
with
the
planet. See
that
tree
over
there”
he
pointed
a
few
yards
away
at
an
ancient
gnarled
pinyon.
“Yes” Rae
replied.
Kai
walked
up
behind
Rae
and
put
his
hands
on
her
shoulders
and
directed
her
to
look
even
closer
at
the
tree. He
whispered
intimately
in
her
ear
as
if
they
were
in
a
church
or
another
sacred
space “when
you
look
at
that
tree
with
your
limited
human
vision,
the
average
person
can
certainly
appreciate
its
form
and
color. A
biologist
like
yourself
would
ask
what
type
of
tree
is
it
and
how
old
it
is. A
philosopher
might
ask
who
may
have
sat
underneath
it
in
the
past
or
who
might
sit
underneath
it
in
the
future. All
of
you
might
even
wonder
when
will
it
die. That's
the
limit
of
your
human
perception. When
you're
in
Shan
form
every
single
leaf
will
bid
you
a
glorious
greeting
as
you
walk
up
to
the
tree
for
the
first
time. Every
drop
of
sap
tells
you
the
history
of
the
tree's
life
like
an
intimate
biography
written
in
the
utterly
sensual
language
of
scent. The
tree
itself
will
tell
you
if
it's
healthy
or
sick. You
can
smell
if
the
water
that
nourishes
it
is
bitter
or
sweet. If
you
deeply
pay
attention
you
can
smell
every
animal
that
has
ever
been
there.” Kai
looked
to
Rae
like
he
was
experiencing
a
spiritual
moment
and
Rae
suddenly
realized
he
was. The
enthralled
shape-shifter
continued
to
explain
to
Rae
the
nuances
of
the
animal
world “when
you
are
ready
to
move
on
to
another
place
you
reach
up
with
your
powerful
claws
and
dig
deep
into
the
bark
to
mark
the
tree
with
your
scent. It's
added
harmoniously
to
the
scent
of
hundreds
of
other
animals. You
do
this
not
just
to
mark
your
hunting
territory,
but
to
tell
every
animal
after
you
have
left
this
world
that
you
lived
and
breathed
here
at
one
time
in
the
great
mystery
that
is
life. That
is
your
only
immortality
in
the
animal
world. There
are
no
monuments
to
mark
a
man's
ego,
or
family
albums
for
a
mother
to
remember
her
children
by,
but
neither
is
there
hate,
nor
fear
of
the
future
or
regret
of
the
past. You
are
fully
alive
in
each
and
every
moment. It's
a
wonderfully
free
existence. I
wish
I
could
truly
share
it
with
you...
words,
words
pale
in
comparison.” Kai
looked
so
happy
at
that
moment. Rae
was
so
moved
by
what
he
had
just
shared
with
her
that
all
she
could
do
was
reach
out
and
touch
his
wrist.
“Thank
you!”
she
whispered. Kai
nodded
at
her
in
acknowledgment,
but
he
was
too
emotional
to
even
speak.
Buy your copy on Amazon
Author Bio:
My name is Shelly Holt and I live
in the middle of the harsh and unforgiving Mojave desert. I write my stories
looking out of a window that shows sweeping desert views. Outside is a barren
and severe landscape, yet inside my head lives a world filled with exotic
shape-shifters come to life, pulled from the pages of myth and legend, ready to
entice and seduce any reader brave enough to take them on.
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I hope you all enjoyed this insight into the Tasting Fire. A big thanks to Shelly for stopping by!
Thanks for inviting me to visit today.
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