Book Spotlight with Character Interview and $25 Giveaway: Venomous Hunger by Mary Auclair

Character Interview

1. Please tell us about yourself
   I’m nothing special, really. I’m just a girl trying to survive in a world where humanity is an endangered species. What’s special is what happened to me, and who happened to help me along the way. I am part of a small group of humans, escaped from the Breeding Facility twenty-three years ago. I don’t remember anything from those days inside the facility, as I was only two years old at the time. All I know is that my mother died to give me a chance at freedom, and that I intend to honor her sacrifice by not only living my life free of oppression, but also do my damn best so that no human has to live in slavery, ever again.
   Family is everything to me, and I will do what I must to protect those who depend on me.
2. Can you tell us a little about your world? Please also tell us about the Eok and alien pirates.
   We live a hard life in the wilderness of Earth, with only the weapons and shelter we can make ourselves. It’s not a perfect life, but it’s a better life than the one we had in the Breeding facility. Since our near extinction, over two centuries ago, the few humans that were left on Earth were collected and brought to live in what the Ring calls the Human Preservation Laboratories, where we’re kept like zoo specimens, forced to reproduce and live in captivity. Sometimes, the owner of the facility, Minister Knut, sells a specimen to an extremely rich buyer as an exotic pet. No one except our group has ever escaped the facility.
   My first contact with the alien pirates was when I awoke in their medical pod. I was able to knock down one of them and escape, but I was still too weak to make my way back to my people. There I was, free but about to die out there in the snow, all alone. This is when the big blue hunk caught me. I tried my best to escape from Kamal, and from the attraction I felt for him. Because, as we all know, Eoks are the scourge of the Ring. They’re the most brutal, ruthless species of warriors known to the Ring, and probably beyond. They kidnap females from other species and enslave them, as their species produces only male offspring and they need the females of other species to reproduce. Just hearing their names makes most females run away screaming, human or not.
   Kamal is as ruthless as Eoks are rumored to be, worst, he’s the captain of a pirate ship. A true outlaw, without conscience or honor. His crew is only a representation of himself, cruel, violent and thinking only of turning the highest profit, no matter the cost to others.
   At least, that’s what I thought.
3. Why were you left for dead by your people? How do you feel about that?
   I cannot blame my family for what they did. We were hiding from the aliens who found our village, in caves deep under the surface. I was dying, and Martin thought my only chance at survival was to leave me for the aliens to find. Turns out he was right, and Kamal did save me.
4. What was your experience in the hands of the alien pirates?
   The pirate crew of the Mellark is exactly what you would think a group of cutthroat outlaws could be, for the most part. There are a few people amongst the crew that I grew fond of. Marmack is Kamal’s second in command, and him and his mate, Tailan, fast became my friends.
   Apart from them, the crew wants nothing more than to turn out a profit, and as a rare human female, I’m worth a fortune on the black market. It’s only because Kamal took me as bloodmate that I was protected from their greed. It didn’t prevent them from betraying us in the end, but as they found out, having Kamal as an enemy is something one should try to avoid…
5. What's your personal experience with an Eok? I believe you were captured by one.
   Eoks are forces of nature, and Kamal is no exception. He’s tall, muscular, has fangs and retractable talons, making him the perfect predator! He’s also strikingly handsome, with his metallic blue skin, his angular features and a body to die for. He’s all male, all the time, and sometimes, it can be a lot to manage, especially when he has it in his head to protect me.
   He’s also caring and kind, in a way that still surprise me. He would never harm a person weaker than him, and puts himself in danger to help those he cares for. He surprised me at every corner by doing the exact opposite of what I expected from a terrible Eok warrior.
6. If you could turn back time, what would you change?
   I wished I didn’t judge Kamal so harshly in the beginning, but as a human female, I had to be wary of those big aliens.

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