Hot Shifter Friday! Q&A with JT Geissinger & Win Shadow's Edge

First, a brief commercial message. Susannah Sandlin can be found talking about how a bout of Swine Flu (aka H1N1) led to a vampire romance at the Kindle Daily Blog.

Today I’d like to welcome author J.T. Geissinger to the blog! She’s the debut author of the bestselling Shadow’s Edge, first in a new series from Montlake Romance. I mean, this book is HOT. And you want to win a copy, don’t you (and discover your secret erotica writer pen name)? Well, read on. You can also learn more about J.T. and her book at her website.

ABOUT SHADOW’S EDGE: Deep within the primeval forests of southern England, a race of beautiful, savage shape-shifters lives hidden from the everyday world. Bound together by ancient bloodlines and a ruthless code of secrecy that punishes traitors with death, the Ikati send their leader Leander on a mission to capture one raised outside the tribe before she can expose their secret. When Leander tracks the unsuspecting outsider to Southern California, the hardened warrior is prepared for a fight—but not for the effect the sensual young beauty has on his heart.

Jenna spent her childhood in hiding, on the run from someone—or something—her parents refused to discuss. She trusts no one, not since her father’s mysterious disappearance, not since her mother’s sudden death, and definitely not since she began exhibiting strange, superhuman abilities. When handsome, enigmatic Leander appears, promising answers to the mysteries that shroud her past, she knows she shouldn’t trust him either. But their connection is undeniable, and as powerful as the enemy hell-bent on destroying every one of their kind…

Welcome, JT!

Give us the “elevator pitch” for your latest work?
Shadow’s Edge is the first installation of the Night Prowler Novels, a paranormal romance/urban fantasy series about the Ikati, an ancient race of shape shifters that originated in Africa and spawned the cat-worship culture that thrived there thousands of years ago. Hunted to near extinction by the emperor Caesar Augustus after Rome conquered Egypt, they settled in small, secret colonies around the world and have a system of iron-clad laws that punish traitors and deserters with death. In Shadow’s Edge, we follow Jenna Moore—daughter of one of the tribe’s most notorious deserters who’s been raised in ignorance about her past—as she discovers the truth about her roots and is plunged head-first into a world she had no idea existed when a handsome stranger shows up offering her answers about her mysterious past.
            The story is a blend of fantasy, suspense, mystery and of course romance.
            (Hopefully that elevator ride was more than one floor. I do tend to go on ad infinitum.)

What is your favorite scene in the book?
There’s a great sex scene that takes place in a tree, but I’ll leave the details to the readers to discover. No one gets splinters, in case you’re wondering.

What’s on your nightstand or top of your TBR pile?
My TBR pile is monstrous. I primarily read contemporary literary fiction (Water for Elephants, etc.) but have recently discovered the wonderfully lusty Dream Man series by Kristen Ashley and have fallen in love. SUPER sexy alpha males galore.

Favorite book when you were a child:
I really loved the Flowers in the Attic series by V.C. Andrews, but don’t tell my mother. I was way too young to be reading it. Plus, in retrospect, the brother/sister thing was really creepy, but the heroine was a ballerina so that really impressed my ten-year-old self.

Book you're an evangelist for:
Everything Matters by Ron Currie, Jr. It’s truly imaginative, boundary-stretching fiction and I loved every word of it. I also recently read Bared to You by Sylvia Day and it was Fifty Shades on steroids, with a better editor. I highly recommend it. Your husband will thank you.

Book that changed your life: Hands-down, Twilight. I loved that book so much I read it a dozen times. And along the way discovered…it was *cough* not well written. The sheer number of adverbs alone was mind-boggling. But it didn’t matter to me at all because it engaged me on such an emotional level. In all honesty, it was my love for Edward Cullen that inspired me to write. And yes, I am a little bit embarrassed to admit that, but hey, the truth hurts.

Most horrifying moment while reading a book: There are several, but the tampon scene in Fifty Shades of Grey leaps to mind. Ew. Also in Eclipse when Bella realizes she loves Edward and Jacob I stood from my chair, threw the book across the room and shouted, “Are you kidding me?” My husband is used to this kind of behavior, but the cat really freaked out.

Favorite book about books or writing: On Writing, by Stephen King. Also Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. The Elements of Style by Strunk and White has helped me out of several terrifying situations.

What’s next? I’m on chapter three of the third book in the Night Prowler series, tentatively titled Edge of Surrender. Then there’s the possibility of a spin-off series, but we’ll see. I’m also really itching (God! So many jokes!) to write erotica, but my parents are still alive. They wouldn’t be if I published an erotica book. Or maybe I’ll just use a pen name? They say your stripper name is the combination of your first pet and the street you grew up on, so if I go ahead with the pen name idea, keep a lookout for a new erotica series by Frisky Broadmoor.

LOL. Thanks for being here today—such fun answers!

Okay, the challenge has been issued, guys. What would your erotica/stripper pen name be? Mine would be Ringo Chapel! You know the drill: Your erotica/stripper name here for one entry, extra entries for a blog follow, a Twitter follow, and a Tweet-Retweet. Let’s write some smut!