Ask Trina A Question

I can't imagine readers not being pleased by your books.. The ones I read were Fantastic. Those people just don't have good taste!! :D

2shay wrote:

Well, Trina, if you come back into the forum, how does this feel? I am so enthralled by your story that I have already started a reread! I have said on this forum several times that when a writer can "green eye" me into their "thrall", I am a forever fan. I think several of us will be so familiar with your story that we will be flinging quotes around daily. Really, really good work.

A reread! I think a reread has got to be one of the hugest compliments ever. Thank you. That makes my day.

2shay wrote:

Trina,

Will we get to see more of Lilah in future books?

Somewhat yes. For now she remains a secondary player but she is still around and more will be revealed about her over time.

Thank you GP and Starbrites. It's a joy to be able to come by here and touch base with you all. Being an author can be pretty lonely at times. You all make it a less lonely world.

Trina, I have two questions. I am on my reread of Once Bitten.

1. The shoes! Alexa is just ocd about getting her shoes off as soon as she enters a house. Is that a Canadian cultural behavior, or is it just the snowy environment and the effort to keep snowy slush and road salts off the floors?

2. Zoe was partially shifted during her attack on Raoul at his house....claws and fangs. Although she couldn't fully shift, could she do a partial shift and go back? Or, if she hadn't fully shifted a few minutes to full wolf, from which she couldn't shift back, could she have regained her human appearance. Well, that was about a clear as mud. I hope you understood the question. lol

well i m not canadian, nor am i shifter shifty probably! but i am barefoot constantly at home

Yeah. I am either bare foot or in my flops. But, I don't live where we measure snow in feet instead of inches, either. It is COLD in Canada.

2shay wrote:

Trina, I have two questions. I am on my reread of Once Bitten.

1. The shoes! Alexa is just ocd about getting her shoes off as soon as she enters a house. Is that a Canadian cultural behavior, or is it just the snowy environment and the effort to keep snowy slush and road salts off the floors?

2. Zoe was partially shifted during her attack on Raoul at his house....claws and fangs. Although she couldn't fully shift, could she do a partial shift and go back? Or, if she hadn't fully shifted a few minutes to full wolf, from which she couldn't shift back, could she have regained her human appearance. Well, that was about a clear as mud. I hope you understood the question. lol

1. Lol well we do have spring and summer in Canada too. That book was set in summer so there would be no snow. However, I think the shoe thing comes from her not wanting to get too carried away with them on. I mean if they were sexy heels or something that would be different. ;)Also, I think it may have been a little of her own anxiety showing about what she was about to do. If that makes sense.

2. You know I think the fact that Zoey was just so far gone made it impossible for her to go back. There are a lot of speculations that could be made about the hybrid change and how far one can go before going back. There may be a little more light shed on this in book 4.

Oh, thanks, Trina. I guess that means we will see more of Zoey. I'm glad. I feel pretty sorry for her. Is being a hybrid a sort of analagy for being transgender? I'm not sure if that is the right term. But, the whole feeling of being "trapped" in a form and not being able to "shift" just sounds so much like what I have heard on tv from people doing sex changes. Of course, I always see a lot of social commentary in the stories I read, and yours has more than most.

I think in Zoey's case she's just a classic case of "halfbreed". Coming from two worlds and fitting into neither. I'm sure people of all types can relate in some way.

Yeah. I guess we can all relate in some way to your story.

Trina just came across your Twitter and saw you wrote something like you just wrote one of your hardest scenes in our favorite coming book and you dont know if you want to punch things or cry.. Just anticipating that comment and wondering what it is makes me want to cry..

Starbrites--The title of the next book is Blond and Blue. I fear that the "blue" may refer to Alexa's state of mind as much as eye color. I expect that there will be trouble in the threesome.

spoilers for 1st 3
I finished all three! Loved them. Just wanted to say that, but I really have this really bad feeling that Shaz as perfect as he seems and with all the "I can't live without you Shaz and you're the only one I trust and feel safe with" type of comments that he will be the one to cheat or betray her. Just a really bad feeling. So when I read that she hated that twitter scene, that was what popped up in my mind. And why hasn't she asked Shaz to move in? Maybe he won't want to because maybe that chick in his apt complex is his on the side? I mean Lex gets two men, she really can't complain if they have some on the side. It's not like Shaz never dated while waiting for them to become a couple...but he did get really mad when the wolf cheated on Kez....so I'm not sure. I love Arys! I really don't want Lex to be with Kale anymore. Friends is good enough. I want Arys to blood bond with Shaz so god forbid someone kills him, then he will be around with Arys and Lex. Plus that would make a really good full circle...Lex and Shaz are mates and have the wolf bond, Lex and Arys have the power and blood bond, then Shaz and Arys would have a blood bond. Then the 2 guys would be closer and maybe even start showing a romantic interest. I mean Arys maker is gone, so obviously Arys would like that. Then there is now the possiblility that maybe Lex can help Arys actually shift at a full moon. That would be interesting. I like that Arys, as lost in blood lust as he was, he made it a point not to sleep with any of the gals. He may have slept with his maker though.

hey when does book 4 come out? Now I'm dying for it!

We are all dying for it! I am not all that worried about Shaz cheating on Alexa. I am more concerned that Arys will put some sort of heavy move on him during a menage a troi session, thinking that "the kiss" on the rug gave him the go ahead. But, who can anticipate the mind of a writer? I will say that my brain has just been full of really hot possibilities for their next encounter that would work great for me but might not work okay for Shaz.

Who knows maybe Shaz would shock us?

Shaz could do that. I don't know. I don't think I know enough about the wolf behavior in Trina's world. I think, in RL, that wolves mate for life. Is that right? In most wolf UF worlds, the wolf mate bond is pretty tight.....almost unbreakable. That is not to say that the same rules apply to Trina's wolves. I would, however, be very surprised if Shaz cheated on Alexa. Alexa has had considerable stress about having two lovers. Again, I am not sure in this world, but I have to wonder if that would have been possible had she taken Shaz as a lover first. I don't know if the power bond to Arys would have been strong enough or not. Since that didn't happen, I don't think the speculation is worth the effort.

Trina--I would really like to know a lot more about the wolves. The pack behavior. Mate bonds. Your wolves seem pretty .... looking for a word ... unstructured. That doesn't sound right...more casual? Maybe? A less defined social structure? I am struggling to ask, because I can't find the exact phrasing I need. Damn. Well...I guess I would like for you to explain more about your wolves. Is the mate bond between Alexa and Shaz permanent?

I actually meant he may shock us in bed, but also sometimes when a guy seems too good to be true, and there is so much trust...well it does make good book plot and emotions.

That, too.

Starbrites wrote:

Trina just came across your Twitter and saw you wrote something like you just wrote one of your hardest scenes in our favorite coming book and you dont know if you want to punch things or cry.. Just anticipating that comment and wondering what it is makes me want to cry..

I'm not sure how many of you here watched the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer but the creator, Joss Whedon, is a genius in my eyes, a real inspiration to me as a writer and world builder.

One thing about Joss is that he loved his world and characters as much as the fans did. But still, he wasn't afraid to hurt them (and in turn hurt the fans) if it was for the greater good of that world. Make sense?

There will be ups and downs but there will always be meaning behind it. My goal is never to upset readers of course, but to stay true to the story I need to tell.

Here is a Joss Whedon quote from a Buffy episode that I love so much:
“Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting... and though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace... but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we'd be truly dead.”

2shay wrote:

Shaz could do that. I don't know. I don't think I know enough about the wolf behavior in Trina's world. I think, in RL, that wolves mate for life. Is that right? In most wolf UF worlds, the wolf mate bond is pretty tight.....almost unbreakable. That is not to say that the same rules apply to Trina's wolves. I would, however, be very surprised if Shaz cheated on Alexa. Alexa has had considerable stress about having two lovers. Again, I am not sure in this world, but I have to wonder if that would have been possible had she taken Shaz as a lover first. I don't know if the power bond to Arys would have been strong enough or not. Since that didn't happen, I don't think the speculation is worth the effort.

Trina--I would really like to know a lot more about the wolves. The pack behavior. Mate bonds. Your wolves seem pretty .... looking for a word ... unstructured. That doesn't sound right...more casual? Maybe? A less defined social structure? I am struggling to ask, because I can't find the exact phrasing I need. Damn. Well...I guess I would like for you to explain more about your wolves. Is the mate bond between Alexa and Shaz permanent?

I think what really needs to be kept in mind when it comes to the wolves is that they were all human first and foremost. Human life is not so simple, not so cut and dried. Hearts are broken, mates change and life in general, happens. These are people struggling with that side of life but also with the new side of them, the wolf and it's instincts and desires.

I can't speak for other UF worlds of course, but for me it seems natural that though they are drawn together and have the instinct to operate as a pack, there will always be that human side interfering.

uapeople wrote:

hey when does book 4 come out? Now I'm dying for it!

I'm aiming for summer 2011, so July or August. But as soon as I have a firm date I'll make sure it's posted.

Trina M. Lee wrote:

I think what really needs to be kept in mind when it comes to the wolves is that they were all human first and foremost. Human life is not so simple, not so cut and dried. Hearts are broken, mates change and life in general, happens. These are people struggling with that side of life but also with the new side of them, the wolf and it's instincts and desires.

I can't speak for other UF worlds of course, but for me it seems natural that though they are drawn together and have the instinct to operate as a pack, there will always be that human side interfering.

Which is why the jerk that is dating Kez can cheat or R could have been such a man-whore...but the difference I think is that Kez and the creep never considered themselves mates I don't think nor did R with any of the women, except maybe Lex's mom (which could be why he went nutso, and the mother of his daughter). Who knows??? LOL

Okay. If you look at them in that light, then nearly anything is possible. I can deal. I just didn't know if the wolves had a strict social code. Human social codes are pretty loose...lol.