I have the pleasure of welcoming Hywela Lyn to my blog today…
Price: $6.00
Genre: Futuristic Romance
Length: 90,000 words
Starquest
Hywela Lyn
When Jestine Darnell is rescued from her sabotaged starship by the crew of the Destiny her only objective is to complete her mission and keep her promise to save a world from slavery. Love is the last thing on her mind. However, she has not counted on losing her heart to Kerry Marchant the ship’s second in command, who makes his distrust of her painfully obvious, despite the chemistry between them. The completion of her mission has consequences that neither of them could have foreseen.
Enter Dahll Tarron, who becomes involved in a long and dangerous quest to find the Destiny. Fates become intertwined, perils shared, culminating in the realization that sometimes love may be so close that there is a danger it will not be recognized until it is too late…
Tell us a little about your story.
Starquest is a futuristic adventure, which I hope readers will find exciting. I also hope they will be able to identify with my heroine as she searches for the man she loves with a resolve that sometimes borders on obsession. The main theme of the story is of love and determination. That sometimes what we seek can be so close to us we do not recognise it, and that true love, although it may change, is the most powerful force in the Universe.
What is it you relate to most with your heroine or hero? What do you like about them most?
The character I relate most to is the heroine herself She grew and developed in my mind until she actually told me how the story progressed – in fact we had an argument about the ending which she won. I like her courage and steadfastness, and the fact she is willing to make sacrifices for the people she cares about. I was also pleased to find that she was capable of the occasional lack of patience and of sometimes making the wrong decision – just like the rest of us!
How did you get started in writing?
I got started in writing while I was at school. If asked to write an essay, I invariably embroidered it so that it was more like a story. I’ve always made up stories in my head and imagined myself in imaginary situations. For several years I put writing to one side as real life and my love of horses and endurance riding took over, but I still wrote the odd article or story for magazines, and there were always characters in my subconscious waiting to be resurrected. Then I had a bad fall which resulted in major surgery and wasn’t able to ride for a while. So I brought out ‘Starquest’ from where it had been languishing in a drawer, blew away the ‘dust bunnies’ and completely revised it before having it accepted by The Wild Rose Press.
What’s your schedule like, and what do you enjoy doing in your time off?
I’m not a particularly organised person and my writing schedule revolves around ‘real life’ and my animals. I’ve always been crazy about horses and although I don’t unfortunately have land of my own, I do have two much loved horses. Because they live quite a long way from my home, it takes several hours out of the day to care for them. I also have a little rescued dog who tries to tempt me away from my computer if he thinks I’m ignoring him. I am fortunate in that I no longer go out to the ‘day job’ but run a small Western saddlery job from home. I try to divide my time in the morning between the business and my writing and when I’ve tended to my animals in the afternoon, I usually have some more time to devote to my writing and updating my websites, promotion etc. I am one of those people for whom the day is never long enough. On occasions I have been known to stay up until four or five in the morning if I’m writing a story. I’m a ‘night owl’ so I find it much easier to write late at night rather than early in the morning.
As for my spare time – er, what’s ‘spare time’? LOL As I said, I love horses and riding. Since I moved from my native Wales I no longer have the opportunity to do endurance riding, which is probably just as well because it is very time consuming to keep a horse fit enough to do long distances at speed, over challenging terrain, which is what endurance riding is all about. I certainly don’t ride as much as I used to, or as much as I would if the horses were closer, but there is nothing to compare with being out on a horse in the open countryside, with all the sites and sounds of nature and a fast, responsive animal as your companion. I also enjoy walking with my dog, and, of course,reading. Although I love a good film, I hardly watch any television these days – I just don’t have time!
Where can readers find out more about your stories?
I love to hear from readers and other authors and can be contacted at Hywelalyn@hywelalyn.co.uk
My website, which has all the latest news of my books is http://www.hywelalyn.co.uk
My blog is www.hywelalyn.blogspot.com
I have three My Spaces – one for me, one for Starquest and one for my story in ‘Song Of The Muses’:
www.myspace.com/hywelalyn
www.myspace.com/jestine_darnell
www.myspace.com/terpsichoremuseofdance
Sneak peek into Starquest:
Very gently, he stroked her face with the back of his fingers, before placing his hands on her shoulders, drawing her even closer to him, “If I appeared to be…hostile…before,” he said, seeming almost uncertain of himself, for the first time since she’d known him, “it was because I had no intention of allowing myself to become involved with someone who might be a threat to the Destiny. So I tried to keep a distance between us, to convince myself you meant nothing to me.”
She opened her eyes, no longer afraid to meet his gaze.
“You said I needed no one and nothing except myself,” he went on slowly, taking both her hands in his. “I thought it was true, but you were wrong, Jess, although I did not realise it until now.”
“It seems,” she said, her voice unsteady, “we’ve both been guilty of trying to hide our true feelings—”
“Then…perhaps we’d better make a fresh start.”
He wrapped his arms around her and she clung to him, finally surrendering to the strange, sweet emotion she had tried to deny. He kissed her, a lingering kiss that sent shock waves through her body, awakening the feelings she had tried to conceal for so long. Her lips responded to his with a fierceness that surprised them both.
Several minutes later, with obvious reluctance, he released her, his eyes still not leaving hers.
“I only came to make sure you were all right. I should leave now. I have heard of the strictness of the Sisterhood. I do not wish to risk compromising any sacred vows or beliefs—”
She smiled, touched by his consideration in giving her the chance to back away, while she still could. “I’m a missionary, Kerry, not a nun! The Sisterhood only condemns casual liaisons, not genuine relationships.” She lowered her eyes. “I…I’ve never been in love before, not…not like this, but I know nothing that feels this way could be wrong.”
