Interview & Giveaway of Becoming by Raine Thomas

     I had the chance to read the Daughters of Saraqael Trilogy this past summer after they were released and immediately fell in love with the world and stories created by Raine Thomas.  I  had the pleasure of interviewing Raine about her first series this summer.  And now, I am welcoming back Raine to talk about her Estilorian short story The Prophecy that was released today as a free download on Smashwords (with Amazon and Barnes & Noble to follow).



Interview with Raine Thomas:

1. I love the short story about Saraqael's love for Kate.  What made you decide to go back and write it?

Thanks, Sarah! Even as I wrote the Daughters of Saraqael trilogy, I gave some thought to sharing the story of Saraqael and Kate. After all, it’s their love story that precedes the other books. It concerned me a bit that the ending of their story is bittersweet, but once I developed a readership, I learned that there was quite the demand for more about the couple that started it all. So when I made the decision to release short stories as I finished each book of the upcoming Firstborn trilogy, it was only natural that the first short featured Saraqael and Kate’s story.

2.  Will we hear more about their story?

     Readers will definitely get more glimpses of Saraqael and Kate and their lives before the Daughters of Saraqael and Firstborn trilogies take place. Because the novels follow the legacy that Saraqael and Kate created, it’s inevitable that they’ll make future appearances…in one form or another!

3. I know you are working on another series about Estilorians, do you have a target release date for them? Do you have plans for more after that?

Indeed, I am. The Firstborn trilogy is well underway. As I did with the Daughters of Saraqael trilogy, I intend to release the next trilogy all at once. Book one is finished, which is why I wrote and released The Prophecy. My plan is to write book two, then release a second free short story to keep my fans engaged. Optimistically, I hope to have the entire trilogy available in the spring of 2012. Fingers crossed!

4. As an indie writer, what has been the most challenging part of the publishing process?

     I actually found the most difficult part of self-publishing to be formatting the books. I’m fortunate that I have a very tech-savvy husband who thoroughly reviewed the style guides for each of the e-platforms I wanted to use (Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes and Noble). It’s not as easy as one might think! Having read other e-books that weren’t correctly formatted, I can state that this is an important detail that shouldn’t be overlooked. We were also able to use our formatting knowledge to prepare the books for paperback printing, which helped a lot.

5. I read the Daughters of Saraqael Trilogy first and after reading the short story it made me want to go back and re-read the trilogy. Does order matter for new readers?

     This is a great question! The goal behind The Prophecy was to offer fans of the Daughters of Saraqael trilogy something new to enjoy between trilogy releases. It’s also intended to entice new readers and hopefully capture their interest so that they’ll be interested in reading more. The short story contains elements that will be further fleshed out in the Firstborn trilogy, as well, which makes The Prophecy a kind of bridge between the two trilogies. Thus, the order in which they’re read doesn’t really matter. So, read away!

Thanks Raine for the great interview.  I'm very excited to hear that you are finished with the first book in the Firstborn trilogy and love the idea of the short stories between books!

Don't forget to check out the first short story, The Prophecy for FREE.

Now for the giveaway!  Thanks so much to Raine for signing a copy of Becoming to be given to one lucky winner!!  This giveaway is open internationally, just fill out the form below and good luck.

I am certain that after you read The Prophecy and Becoming you will be hooked, so don't forget to check out Central (book 2) and Foretold (book 3).
Raine Thomas Online:                       My Reviews:
Website / Blog                                        Becoming & First Author Interview
Twitter                                                     Central
GoodReads                                              Foretold
Daughters of Saraqael Facebook