Kim Faulks and Eden Connor share their Chit Chat and All That!

Welcome once again to our weekly Chit Chat and All That! Today we have for your reading pleasure the erotically edible Eden Conner and the kinky Aussie, Kim Faulks. 

Eden and Kim are going to be discussing the characters in their books and what gave them inspiration to put these characters to paper.

So grab your drink of choice, pull up a seat and get comfortable, while you read Chit Chat and All That!

Eden: So, Kim, I hear you like furry men, really furry men. What's up with that?

Kim: Well, we tried waxing and to be honest, Grimm wouldn't stop howling when the first strip came off - guess they aren't as tough as I thought. Veet was costing me freakin' fortune... so hairy it is.

Eden: These guys sound very hairy. I prefer a man’s hair be on his chest, arms, legs and the tender triangle only; head hair optional. I do like a sexy bald guy from time to time. Tanner, the guy I'm writing now, is a Marine, and he keeps his buzzed. His years of Physical Training for the military has him hard as a rock, too.
Why is Grimm so furry, Kim?

Kim: Well , Tanner sounds real nice. It would be a nice change not to pick the hair out of the drain after Grimm showers each day. Well, Grimm is a Lycan, the last of his kind and a big pain in my arse. Don't even get me started. What was that Eden, you want to know? Mind if lay back on the couch, this may take a while.

Eden: Make yourself comfortable. Even if it’s not my house. 

Kim: He doesn't help around the house, except for emptying the fridge on a daily basis, poor Harmony (she's the Vampire) all she seems to do is go shopping and try to calm the rest of The Family down after Grimm stirs the shit and sits back to watch the fireworks. If he wasn't such a good goddamn fighter, I'd have kicked his sorry arse out by now. 

Gee, thanks for letting me rant - that feels much better.

Eden: Tanner's the epitome of the emotionally-unavailable male, but he might have met his match in Tori, the Navy psychologist who blows his undercover mission to smithereens. Tell me, does Harmony ever pull Grimm's tail?

Kim: Well, it definitely sounds as though Tanner has his work cut out for him. Nothing like a strong female character that calls the shots.

Harmony is what you would call the peacemaker. She's from one of the high society families and given her upbringing she tends to put everyone else's feelings and wellbeing before her own. Poor thing, hasn't she learned by now that you don't get between a 6'7 140kg Lycan and a 5'3 50kg Goddess called Kali? It's gonna be messy... (clean up in aisle 5. I REPEAT - CLEAN UP IN AISLE 5!)

Eden: I do tend to write strong female characters; women who can handle their own lives, and still put a big, strong man on his knees. I write contemporary erotic romance, probably because I'm a people-watcher and a psych major. I also have two grown children, one male and one female, and I have had the pleasure and pain of watching their real-life romances as they unfold.

What drew you to writing paranormal romance, Kim?

Kim: Your world sounds beautiful and contented Eden and we share the same path as mothers. I have two teenagers; one boy, one girl and I am very fortunate to have them in my life.

I have always been drawn to the darker aspects of the psyche and Paranormal was such an easy genre for me to slip into. I am more of a darker, edgier writer who loves a combination of romance/thriller and horror. You could say I'm a Bram Stoker girl through and through.

Eden: I took up writing erotic romance after my kids both left home. I read paranormal. I can't wait to read Grimm's tale. My muse seems to be drawn to strong female characters. She wants us to tell stories that could happen to any woman tomorrow, I suppose. I've been widowed for a decade now, but I was madly in love with my husband, and that love got us through some tough, tough times as he was a quadriplegic for the last three years of his life. I learned then that tough times don't last, but tough people do. My female characters are usually going through a hard time as we meet them, and I can only hope that my readers can identify with their struggles, both in their lives and in their bedrooms.

Kim: Ah, for me too; you see Grimm is only a secondary character in my story. The real heroes are Eve and Adley. Eve is a heavily young pregnant woman, on the run from a vicious killer that wants her and her baby dead. Adley Scott is a broken down detective that is on the trail for the same killer - the child murderer Edric Hasting. The story is about the resolve that a mother has, overcoming it all to protect those she loves, for there is a prophecy that neither is aware and it will force them into a world that neither understood existed. Until now.

Like your life, Eve's story is one of sacrifice and hard times, but it is those moments of pure joy that will keep her going, doing whatever it takes for those she loves.

Eden: I’ve been hooked on strong female characters that overcome obstacles since I first met Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. I was eleven when I borrowed that book from the library. For days on end I read, even with a flashlight under the covers after my mom sent me to bed. I got to the last page, and someone had torn it out! I threw such a fit, my mom drove me back to the library so I could find another copy and read the last page.

I live in the southern United States, in South Carolina. Most of my stories are set in this area, although I did have a short story in NNP Christmas anthology which was set in New York City.  Where are you from, Kim?

Kim: Well Eden, I'm from a coastal town in Queensland, Australia. I must say we seem to share the same fondness for a strong female lead. There's just something about the underdog that makes you want to stand with them in their corner and fight their battles with them. That's why I tend to hurt my female characters, make them flawed in some way, but strong and able to come out swinging, you know what I mean?

Eden: I do indeed. That’s the magical thing about our profession. You can take me into a werewolf’s heart and mind, and I can teach you the proper use of the word y’all, and that you can say anything you like about a person, so long as you follow it up with ‘bless her heart’, at least here in the south.

Eden: I enjoyed our chat, Kim.  It was fun getting to know you better.

Kim: Thank you Eden, and you too. I've enjoyed our chitchat together; it has been a cozy little trip.

Unedited excerpt by Kim Faulks:

The restaurant was to be their last stop for the day and Natalie was glad for it to end, the endless staring from Mr. Ash was getting on her nerves, his body, his eyes entered her thoughts even though she tried her best to block them out. They passed through the doors and packed tables filled with diners that signaled to her that it was dinner and she hadn't eaten all day, when a man stepped out from the hall dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans. He lifted his hand and pointed behind her. Her gaze was drawn instantly to the reflection of the lights as they bounced off the stainless steel of the gun that at this moment was pointed directly at her client.
She was too close to draw her own gun and the split second decision backed up with years of hard training told her the only thing she could do was rush to him.
She crouched low so that she could whip her arms up and flew towards him. He didn't notice her at first, dismissing her dress jeans, heels and buttoned jacket. Just another customer in a busy restaurant, well he was wrong.
Her hand wound around his wrist and she squeezed, while her other arm pushed on his upper arm where it joined at his shoulder. She whipped him around with the natural movement of her waist and pushed him down to the floor so his face ate the ground with a thud. His hand with the gun was extended upwards, sticking out like a broken wing. She squeezed tightly, grinding the bones of his wrist until she heard the unmistakable crunch of fracturing bones. The gun fell from his gasp as the attacker howled into the floor with pain, but he turned on her, opening his mouth to bite into her hand. She stepped to the side, swiftly bringing up her foot and pressed down on his neck.
She could hear the crack of teeth as the enamel gave way to hard concrete floor and brute force, then she let her foot ease. He would think twice about biting her again next time. You never knew who carried what now-days, diseases and infections were everywhere and a woman in her position had to be careful where her body was concerned. Without her health, she had nothing. Blood splattered the ground in front of her as it poured from both his nose and his mouth, the gurgle and his howling of pain was deafening.