Please help us welcome author Leta Blake to TNA today on the tour to celebrate the release of her latest novel, Slow Heat. She’s here to tell us a bit about the ~verse she’s creating in the story, so enjoy, and welcome, Leta!
What is a non-shifter Alpha-Omega story, Leta?
Like many m/m writers, I got my start in writing slash fanfiction for various shows and books. Fandom is a massive cauldron for stirring up creativity and sharing it amongst friends and fellow fans. It was in the Wild West of a LiveJournal fandom kink meme that I first stumbled on the Alpha-Omega trope, complete with heat, knotting, and potential male pregnancy, and was instantly hooked.
Since then, I’ve been playing with the trope in my mind, waiting for the right time to start writing it. Last October was apparently the moment, because I wrote about 1/3 of the book in a couple of weeks before I set it aside to pursue something else I needed to finish up before the start of the new year.
Most romance readers think of Alpha-Omega stories as shifter stories for the most part. They anticipate werewolves and/or some other animal shifting going on within the story itself. But, interestingly enough, the fandom history of Alpha-Omega has never been focused on shifters. (Though when Teen Wolf aired and that fandom took off with Sterek, there were plenty of A/O stories featuring those characters, too!) Instead, it’s always been about regular men who happen to live in a universe where genders, bodies, and pregnancy are simply different.
Given that my fascination for A/O stories started in fandom, it’s no surprise that when I decided to write an A/O book, I chose to do so in a non-shifter universe. Slow Heat is set many years after a near-apocalyptic event called the Great Death which wiped out human females and gave rise to genetically altered men of three genders: Alpha, Beta, and Omega. But that’s just the backdrop for an exploration of human relationship, love, and justice issues.
The real story is the romance between two people whose lives are upended when they recognize the other for their “destined mate”. It’s not love at first sight, nor is it instalove, but it’s definitely powerful and it changes their lives forever.
If you’re curious enough to give it a try, the book is available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.
About the Book
A lustful young alpha meets his match in an older omega with a past.
Professor Vale Aman has crafted a good life for himself. An unbonded omega in his mid-thirties, he’s long since given up hope that he’ll meet a compatible alpha, let alone his destined mate. He’s fulfilled by his career, his poetry, his cat, and his friends.
When Jason Sabel, a much younger alpha, imprints on Vale in a shocking and public way, longings are ignited that can’t be ignored. Fighting their strong sexual urges, Jason and Vale must agree to contract with each other before they can consummate their passion.
But for Vale, being with Jason means giving up his independence and placing his future in the hands of an untested alpha–as well as facing the scars of his own tumultuous past. He isn’t sure it’s worth it. But Jason isn’t giving up his destined mate without a fight.
This is a stand alone gay romance novel, 117,000 words, with astrong HFN ending, as well as a well-crafted, non-shifter omegaverse, with alphas, betas, omegas, male pregnancy, heat, and knotting. Content warning for pregnancy loss and aftermath.
[zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B071VMX4QH?d” style=”blue” size=”large” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Available Now from Amazon [/zilla_button]
This sounds super interesting!! I’d love to read it someday. Much success to Leta!
Hope you enjoy it, Give A Rose! :D
Congratulations on your release. I’m really looking forward to reading this. Have put it on my KU tbr!!
Thank you, Blaine! I hope you enjoy it! :D