Lynsay Sands Answers F.A.Q. and gives us a peek at The Renegade Hunter

Advice For Aspiring Writer
As for becoming a writer, just remember to try to write as much as you read. The practice will improve your writing (I think mine is still improving . . . at least I hope it is) and coming up with plots will increase your creativity.

Where Do Your Story Ideas Come From
Regarding story ideas, they just come to me. It could be triggered by a particular news story that I’ve read or heard, or something that happens in my own life. Other times it’s not based on anything factual but is just an idea brewing in the back of my mind.

How long did it take to write your first book?
That’s not a simple answer. I started writing when I was twelve and my stories just kept getting longer and longer. I sent in my first book at the age of 19. It wasn’t rejected but the publisher requested some changes and I never sent it back to them. I didn’t try to send anything in again until The Deed, which was published in 1997 and it took me a few weeks to write.

Dead Thing Not My Thing
As for my immortals seeming human... I just couldn't write about the dead and tormented thing. I found it very difficult to write romance about dead people and the scientific explanation was much more plausible for me. I have a great imagination but the dead thing was just too farfetched for my logical mind.

Can Mortal and Immortal Mating Lead To A Baby?
Essentially the baby takes after the mother’s mortality or immortality. And YES, a mortal man can get an immortal female pregnant (hence the reason Lucern was desperately trying to find a condom in Single, White Vampire) and immortal male can get a mortal female pregnant. It's very rare but it can happen.

Favourite Argeneau Characters
My favourite character(s)! That is such a hard question as they are all like my own kids. If I had to choose I would say Lucian but I have a soft spot for every one of them as they all have their own unique charm and qualities.

Who Are The Willans?
The Willans are the sisters that Garrett, Decker and Bricker met at the cottage in The Rogue Hunter. Sam (Mortimer's life mate) and her sisters all have the last name Willan.

What if someone goes against the council?
No one goes against the council. If they do then they are considered rogues, which is bad. That’s precisely why Jean Claude hid his new life mate from the council. Because he'd already turned his one when he turned Marguerite and turning his true life mate wasn't then allowed. Also his true life mate was pregnant and he had recently had a child with Marguerite so another was a big no no as well thanks to the one child every hundred years rule. If anyone had any pull, Jean Claude would because his brother was the head of the North American council but he knew it wouldn't make a difference when it comes to council rules. Break those laws and you forfeit your life.

Where did these fictional immortals come from?
There are immortal people living among the mortal population today. They are descendents of an ancient civilization (Atlantis) that was advanced technologically to the point that they began to work with bio-engineered nanos as a medical aid to fight disease and repair injuries from inside the body without the need for invasive surgery. These nanos used blood to make repairs and fuel themselves which meant the host needed more blood than a body could supply to support the nanos. In that civilization this was dealt with through transfusions. However, when a series of natural disasters (earthquakes and volcanoes) brought an end to Atlantis, only those people the nanos had been tested on survived, and they suddenly found themselves in a primitive society. Without their much needed blood transfusions, many died, but in others the nanos lived up to their programming to keep the host at their peak condition and forced a sort of evolution on them, bringing on fangs and other skills so that their hosts could get the blood they needed.

How would you describe the Argeneau Family?
They are your typical family. I think everyone would recognize at least one member of their own family among this group. My stories tell how each member finds his life mate despite all the good intentioned interference and harassment of their loving family.

What is The Renegade Hunter about?
Other than the synopsis on my website, I would say this story was fun to write. The chemistry between Nicholas and Jo was palpable and the suspense made my toes curl in anticipation. These two characters were a surprise from start to finish. BTW I love dogs so Charlie really added something to the story for me and made me want one even more!

Here are Lynsay's new and upcoming releases:
September 1 2009 – What She Wants - Reissue
September 29 2009 – The Renegade Hunter – Book 12 – Vamp
December 2009 – Tall, Dark & Hungry – Reissue
January 2010 - Bitten By Cupid – Tiny's Anthology
February 2010 – Taming The Highland Bride - Book 2 in Devil Of The Highlands Series
March 2010 – The Hellion and the Highlander - Book 3 in Devil Of The Highlands Series
Fall 2010 – Armand’s story – Book 13 – Vamp
Fall 2010 – Alex Willan's story – Book 14 – Vamp



The Argeneau family has a secret…one of their own is a rogue vampire!

Nicholas Argeneau was once a successful hunter who went after rogue vampires who break the immortal law. Except no one has mentioned his name in the last fifty years, not since he turned into a rogue himself. But once a hunter, always a hunter. When Nicholas sees a bloodthirsty sucker terrifying a woman, it’s second nature for him to come to her rescue. He had no idea he would also want to kiss her senseless…

One minute Josephine Willan is taking in a breath of fresh air, and the next sharp fangs are heading straight for her neck! Luckily a gorgeous stranger saves her life . . . and gets locked up for his troubles. Can a man who kisses so lovingly and passionately really have committed the crime he’s accused of? Jo isn’t so sure…and she’s determined to prove that this renegade hunter is worth fighting for.


Author's Comments

The third instalment of the Rogue Hunter series called The Renegade Hunter starts where The Immortal Hunter left off. It will introduce you to an Argeneau who has been out of the picture for quite a while. Intrigue and mystery surround this character and many of the Argeneaus you’ve met in the past will get involved in this story, along with your favourite enforcers and even a Willan or two. Like a fine wine, the Argeneau family just keeps getting more complex and flavorful... LOL.

The Renegade Hunter
Excerpt

Chapter One

Nicholas came to the edge of the small copse of woods and quietly cursed. Somehow he must have missed the rogue, must have walked right past him. The thought made him turn and glance back the way he’d come, but Nicholas was sure there was no way he could have missed him. The woods lining the road were only ten feet deep and he’d moved through them slowly, eyes searching the trees as he’d gone. He couldn’t have missed him, but it was the only thing that made sense.

Nicholas retrieved the signal receiver from his pocket and glanced at the screen. The small blip that was the rogue’s car was still exactly where it had been earlier. The fellow hadn’t doubled back and driven away. He slipped the device back in his pocket and turned to peer at the driveway before him.

There was no way the rogue had gotten in there on foot, he was sure. It was the entry to the new enforcer house. The equivalent of a police station for vampire hunters, it had better security than a mortal prison from what he could see. The gate blocking the driveway was ten feet high and made of thick wrought iron. There was an equally high brick wall that disappeared into the trees on either side of it. Every foot or so along the wall, metal spikes shot up and three lengths of barbed wire were threaded through them, running along the top as a deterrent to anyone trying to climb it. A sign on the fence warned that it was electrified. If that wasn’t enough security, there appeared to be a second gate some fifteen feet inside the first with a link fence, also topped with barbed wire and no doubt electrified.

He shook his head slightly. This was something Nicholas never thought he’d see. The enforcers had always been rather loosely based, run out of Lucian Argeneau’s home. However, it seemed his uncle had decided to make it all more official and organized. It was about time, Nicholas supposed. This should have been done centuries ago.

His gaze slid away from the gate and to the woods on the other side of the drive from where he stood. It was hard to believe the rogue he was following had slipped across that wide open expanse under the nose of the guard inside. Aside from that, there was a pillar before the gate with a camera and intercom system built into it. The rogue wouldn’t have risked trying to cross the open area and getting caught on that camera. However, either the rogue had risked it and snuck across, or Nicholas had somehow managed to move right past the man as he’d made his way here.

Nicholas glanced over his shoulder at the woods at his back. While his mind was telling him he couldn’t have walked right past the rogue without noticing, he was starting to worry that perhaps his instincts weren’t as good as they used to be.

The sound of an engine caught his attention and Nicholas turned back to the driveway just in time to see a catering van pull in. He watched silently as it stopped between the pillars.

“Yes?” a metallic voice asked over the intercom.

“Cally’s catering,” the van driver announced. “We’re here to pick up our people and dishes.”

“Come on in.” The first gate slid open.

Nicholas expected the vehicle to be stopped between the two gates and inspected, but instead the guard in the small guardhouse inside the second gate came out and manually opened the inner gate for the van to enter. He did wave it to a stop, however, the moment it was inside.

The guard spoke briefly to the driver, and then moved around and opened the back door of the van to check inside. With his attention on the guard, Nicholas almost missed the man who suddenly slid out from under the side of the van, shifted to a crouch and sprinted for the woods behind the guardhouse.

The sight almost made him shout out a warning, but Nicholas caught himself and instead reached for his phone. It was the damned rogue, of course. The tricky bastard must have waited at the side of the road for a likely vehicle to approach, taken control of the driver to make him stop and then slid under the van and clung to something on the undercarriage to hitch a ride in.

Clever little prick, Nicholas thought, frowning as he continued to search for his cell phone. He had to warn them inside and tell them to put a guard on the sisters and then start searching the property for the rogue that had gotten in. He’d tell them to start having the guard check under the vehicles as well. At least he would if he could find his damned phone, Nicholas thought with frustration as his search came up empty. What the hell had he done with it? It had been beeping a warning that the battery was low earlier in the evening and he’d plugged it into the car lighter with its special adapter to charge it up, and—

“Hell,” Nicholas muttered, glancing back the way he’d come. He’d left the damned thing in the car. He briefly considered running back to get it, but while the rogue he was following had merely pulled over and parked at the edge of this property, Nicholas himself had parked in the woods nearer the next property to avoid being spotted. The man, Ernie Brubaker, was one of Leonius’s spawn, and Nicholas hoped if he followed him long enough, Ernie would lead him to Leo’s hideout. Leonius Livius was one nasty rogue who needed to be dealt with, and Nicholas had set himself the task of doing just that. However, his caution meant that his van was a good distance away . . . and by the time he ran back and grabbed his phone to make the call, Ernie could have grabbed one of the girls and gotten out again.

That was the only reason he could think that the fellow was here. At least that’s what Nicholas had come up with when he’d realized he’d followed the man to the new enforcer house.

Nicholas sighed and swiveled back to peer at the gate and the driveway beyond again. The guard had already returned to his little shack and the van had disappeared from view. No doubt at that very minute the rogue was racing through the trees toward the house. He had to warn them, but the only way to do that without his phone was to walk up to the gate and flat-out tell the guard . . . and that would pretty much toast his cojones, Nicholas acknowledged. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much choice. If he didn’t—

Nicholas was distracted from his thoughts by the arrival of another vehicle. He turned his head to watch a van approach the gate, and felt a grim smile curve his lips as he noted the cleaning service name on the side of the vehicle stopped beside the pillar. It was blocking the camera and intercom from his view . . . and him from the camera’s view, he realized.

Without pausing to think about how risky it was for him personally, Nicholas slid from the cover of the trees and raced across the short open expanse to the back of the van. Once there, he took hold of the handle on the back door and stepped onto the back bumper, careful not to cause unnecessary motion in the vehicle with his weight. He then held on for dear life and waited as the driver explained into the intercom that they were there to clean up after the party.

The guard repeated his invitation to “come on in,” and after a short pause as the outer gate swung open, the van started forward with Nicholas clinging to the back like some bad imitation of Spider-man. He was passing the camera on the pillar before he recalled its presence, but by then it was too late. Telling himself the guard wouldn’t be inside the guardhouse to see him riding by, but had no doubt headed out to open the inner gate, Nicholas stayed on his perch until the back end of the van was even with the second open gate. He then leaped off and made a charge for the bushes by the guardhouse as he’d seen the rogue do. Nicholas prayed the whole way that the guard stuck to the routine he’d used the first time. If so, the van would block the guard’s view of his mad dash for the trees. If not, he was likely to get a bullet in the back.

Nicholas didn’t release the breath he was holding until he reached the safety of the woods behind the guard shack without anyone shouting out or shooting at him. He then allowed himself to breathe out and suck in a fresh gust of air, but barely slowed his step as he followed the trail he suspected the rogue had taken, heading straight toward the house on the hill.