1--What is the title of your latest release?
STORM ECHO
2--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
The Psy-Changeling series encompasses multiple settings. This time around, I knew we were heading into the territory of the DarkRiver leopard changelings: San Francisco and the surrounding area. The series hasn’t been back in San Francisco for some time, so it was wonderful to return and see glimpses of several familiar characters.
I originally chose SF (and more widely, California) as a setting because I’d recently traveled through it, and it just felt right for this series. It has sprawling landscapes, big cities, rivers, mountains, deserts, everything you need for both the shapeshifting changelings as well as the more city-based humans and Psy. I also particularly loved the energy of SF’s Chinatown, and it just worked its way seamlessly into the series – which it does this time around too, with a major scene taking place in the heart of Chinatown.
3--Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Absolutely! She’s fun, deeply caring, a loyal friend, and has a wildly colorful style.
4--What are three words that describe your hero?
Cool, controlled, devoted.
5--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are done?
While some books require me to switch things up, I generally write the full draft, then edit it. Each editing pass results in a new draft, as I often make major alterations, including new scenes/deletions, etc. Four drafts aren’t unusual for me, and I tend to edit each draft differently – for example, I always do one round of deep editing on a printout of the manuscript. Doing so keeps me fresh and allows me to see the story with new eyes each time.
6--If you could only pick one of your books, other than this one, to a romance reader unfamiliar with your work, which one would you pick? And why?
SLAVE TO SENSATION, the very first Psy-Changeling novel. Not only does STS kick off the entire series, but it’s also the book where many, many of my readers first found me. Sascha and Lucas’s love story is passionate and emotional and full of heart. This book also introduces a sprawling world, which happens to include naughty leopard cubs, growly wolves, and so much more. I adore STS today as much as when I first wrote it.
7--Other authors I’ve interviewed have told me that the kinds of books they enjoy reading are different from the kind of books they enjoy writing. What do you like to read? Favorite books? Favorite author?
I’m an eclectic reader, and it depends on my mood – and what I’m writing at the time. So if I’m writing a paranormal romance, I won’t be reading any PNR at that time. I will admit that I’m also very hard to please in PNR and UF, but it’s because I love these subgenres so much and have read so deeply about them.
At the moment, I’m reading a ton of straight mysteries and thrillers, as well as lots of nonfiction, along with (of course!) romance, and science fiction. My most recent read was an ARC of JD Robb’s “Desperation in Death”(Sep 22). It was incredible, as are all her books – though I’m biased because JD Robb is one of my all-time favorite authors.
Other long-term favorites include Jayne Ann Krentz (in all her guises!), the late Anne McCaffrey, Christine Feehan, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Jonathan Kellerman, Ann Cleeves, and Sonali Dev.
Some newer-to-me favorites include Vivien Chien, Rebekah Weatherspoon, Lucy Parker, Nisha Sharma, Martha Wells, Kwana Jackson, P. Djeli Clark, and Uzma Jalaluddin.
A recent non-fiction read that made me cry – and that I’ll be thinking about for a long time - was Paul Kalanithi’s powerful memoir “When Breath Becomes Air”.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I have a sweet tooth and at the moment, it’s baked goods that most hit the spot. The other week, I made chocolate caramel cookies and the whole batch vanished into my stomach way too fast! (No regrets though. They were delicious!)
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I have a study set up with a desk that I’ve had since I was a young teen. I’ve written so many books on this desk and I can’t wait to write so many more! My chair is a gaming chair – I decided to research a bit after I had to retire my last chair (after years of service!) and discovered that gaming chairs, designed for long hours of use, with back support and recline functions, can often suit writers. So I went out and visited a showroom that had several gaming chairs, loved the one I ended up buying—and haven’t looked back since!
I have folders full of notes on a bookshelf to the right, while to the left against the wall is a cubby shelf where I keep family photos, writing awards, things that readers have given me over the years (like handmade bookmarks), and bits and pieces from my travels.
Fan art decorates the biggest wall in my office – I LOVE to see art based on my books, and feel very lucky that so many talented readers have created such art over the years. And of course, being a plant lady, I have multiple plants in the room. Oh, and I must mention my stationery collection!
10--What is your favorite season?
I love the rain so I’m happy any season when it rains!
11--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I’m not one for big parties, and usually choose to have a nice dinner with family/friends, along with a huge slice of delicious birthday cake of course!!
12--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I recently read Amy McCulloch’s Breathless, a thriller set during the climb of the eighth-highest peak in the world (in the Himalayas), and loved it. Amy is an expert climber herself and brought everything about the danger and beauty of mountain climbing to her book. As for the thriller element—I couldn’t stop turning the pages!
13--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Anything with a bit of bite to it. From the Fiji-Indian dishes with which I grew up, to spicy shrimp and grits in New Orleans, to deliciously flavored Thai and Chinese dishes, to Mexican meals full of jalapenos and spice. I’m not a fan of super-hot food (where the burn of chilis overwhelms all else), but I love food that has a depth of flavor.
14--What do you do when you have free time?
I read, I garden (a lot!), I make miniatures (you can see some of my handiwork on my Instagram), I try out baking recipes, and I catch up with family and friends. Pre-pandemic I also spent a lot of time traveling and seeing different places around the world, and I’m hoping to do more travel in the future.
15—What are you currently working on?
I’m working on my next Psy-Changeling novel and expecting the proofs of Archangel’s Resurrection to drop into my inbox sometime very soon.
16--What can readers expect from you next?
After Storm Echo, my next release is Archangel’s Resurrection, coming this October. Part of my Guild Hunter world, Archangel’s Resurrection takes us into the legendary love story of two dangerous, beautiful, and ruthless archangels.
I also intend to do more fun short stories in my newsletters. This is free for any reader to join – the signup link is on my website.
Psy-Changeling Trinity # 6
Silence has fallen. The Psy are free to feel emotion. Free to love. But Silence was never a prison for Ivan Mercant. The biggest threat to his future lies dormant in his brain—a psychic monster that wants only to feed. And now, the brutal leash he’s kept on that monster is slipping. He prepared for this day, for the end of Ivan Mercant . . . but that was before he met Lei.
As primal as she is human, this wild changeling brings color into his life, laughter to his soul. Then the dream shatters in a rain of blood, in silent bodies in the snow. Lei is gone. Vanished without a trace . . . until he meets strangely familiar eyes across a busy San Francisco street.
Soleil Bijoux Garcia is a healer who has lost everything. She exists in a world of desolate aloneness . . . till the day she finds herself face-to-face with a lethal stranger. The animal who is her other half knows this man, but her memories are tattered fragments. Sorrow and a need for vengeance are all that drive her. Her mission? To kill the alpha of the DarkRiver leopard pack.
But fate has other plans. Soon, a deadly soldier who believes himself a monster and a broken healer might be all that stand between life and death for the entire Psy race. . . .
Romance Paranormal | Paranormal Romance | Romance Science Fiction [Berkley, On Sale: August 9, 2022, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593440674 / eISBN: 9780593440674]
Singh’s writing is exceptional and STORM ECHO is now exception.
Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, Nalini has been writing as long as she can remember. Her stories always held a thread of romance (even when she was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). She loves creating unique characters, loves giving them happy endings and she even loves the voices in her head. There's no other job she would rather be doing.
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