When I decided to jump from vampire romance to monster
romance, I wanted to start with a cryptid hero. I love reading Kraken, Headless
Horseman, and Naga monster romances, but I wasn’t ready to stray too far from
the humanoid body-shape…especially since I wanted to raise my spice level to
match those popular monster romances on Kindle Unlimited. And don’t get me
started on the spider romances. Not Spiderman (although a lady with such spidery-powers
stars in a 2023 new release of mine, shh…) but a straight-up spider alien as
the hero (If you haven’t read The Spider’s Mate trilogy by Tiffany Roberts, I
highly recommend it.)
Of the most renowned cryptids (Bigfoot, Yeti, and Mothman),
the Yeti seemed most fitting with my interests. I‘m often teased about my love
of winter by my Kentucky friends who freak out when a few flakes fall. Bigfoot
and Mothman have very specific legends, which I’m vaguely familiar with from my
Appalachian Mountain roots. My plan is to research these characters more when I
sign books at the 2023 Rebels & Readers event in Huntington, VW in October
of 2023, and write books starring them in later 2023 or 2024.
It would seem I had one choice but to write about the
Yeti…until I started researching and found abominable snow monster myths around
the world. If you read The Spy Who Loved My Russian Tea Cakes and baked my
mother-in-law’s Russian Tea Cake Cookies with the recipe inside (found here - https://www.amazon.com/Loved-Russian-Cakes-Christmas-Cookies-ebook/dp/B09GXDFRWG),
you suspect I may have an obsession with my half-Russian husband. To make my
monster hero as handsome as possible, making him a Russian Chuchunya was a
no-brainer. My heroine needs to travel to Siberia.
A Chuchunya is a primitive cryptid who raids the nomadic
people’s camps on the cold, Siberian tundra according to legend. They are giant
humanoids, covered with white, ivory, grey, or black fur with glowing blue
eyes. There are no myths as to their dwellings, diet, or language capabilities.
Where would someone live to endure the harsh northern Siberian climate without
building materials? What if their need for concealment meant no collapsible
yurts carried in migration on reindeer sleds? I found my answer in the Cold War
chapters in history books. Called the dyla khraneniya, Siberians build a
network of storage tunnels and caves under the permafrost (https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/inside-the-amazing-permafrost-ice-tunnels-built-by-exiled-german-genius-in-cold-war/).
Add a hot spring or two, and you have the perfect spot to kindle a frozen
romance. The more I read about the colored mineral deposits (https://siberiantimes.com/ecology/others/features/is-this-the-most-magical-cave-in-the-world/)
and ice crystal formations, the more I fell in love with the idea of living
beneath the ice—which my husband promptly vetoed.
I love world-building through culture, so I researched the
cultures living in Northern Siberia. As expected, most of the large rituals
follow Russian Orthodox traditions. For the Chuchunya, they would follow many
of the ancient customs before the integration of the Russian Church with
Christianity. This would make sense if the Chuchunya were an ancient offshoot
of Homo sapiens who once migrated with the reindeer herding tribes,
native to the area. Being loosely connected to the Evenki and Nenet tribes,
would also reduce the language barrier between my monster man and modern
heroine. If she spoke textbook Russian as an American and he spoke the Evenki
dialect without knowledge of the modern world, they would be able to understand
half of what the other said. I also found many videos on these tribes to
acclimate myself to their daily activities which would mirror those of my
Chuchunya clan.
Almost ready to write, there was one more monstrous problem.
I write Insta-lust. Why would a modern heroine sign up to live primitively
under the ice? Easy, she’s an anthropologist with an Australopithecus
obsession. What about him? I didn’t want him to fall head-over-heels just
because she’s human. What’s in it for him? In my Strawberry Shifters series,
there is a bonding between fated mates which selects the animal of their
shifted form. What type of fated bond would a non-shifting Chuchunya need?
Dushevnayasvyaz. (Say that three times fast.) In
Russian, dusha loosely means “soul.” Svyaz
loosely means “bond,” so the
soul bond in Cuddling My Chuchunya is literally soul-bond-bond or dushevnayasvyaz. Contrary to the
rumors my husband is spreading, I didn’t invent terms so I could include a
glossary at the end of my books (although writing a glossary-worthy fantasy
book is on my bucket list, so he’s not telling a total fib.) I wanted to write that
instant connection you have when you meet your soulmate, like the one I have
with my half-Russian gossip-spreader.
What other attributes does the dushevnayasvyaz
give our Chuchunya hero? Find
out when you meet Artyom with Dr. Vera in Siberia in Cuddling My Chuchunya.
releasing today on Kindle Unlimited for the one-day price of $0.99 cents
(regularly $3.99). https://www.amazon.com/Cuddling-My-Chuchunya-Monster-Snuggling-ebook/dp/B0BLCZ7BT7
Here’s the
book blurb to find out more:
Her
obsession stands before her, not as an extinct Australopithecus, but as a
living chuchunya…an abominable snow monster who promises a lifetime of devotion
in hiding…
Dr. Vera Thompson
I am one reindeer sleigh ride away from academic notoriety and the corpse
excavation which will catapult my career from junior anthropology fellow to
tenured professor. Crossing the Siberian tundra is not for the faint of heart
but with modern technology like a GPS, cell phone signal, and all-climate
winter gear, I’ll reach the suspected Australopithecus body unearthed by the
melting permafrost. One more day of dodging methane gas pockets under the ice
and my life will change forever…
Artyom
The hairless ones swarmed around my brother’s body like flies from the southern
land. Tradition dictates his next of kin perform his last rites, so I follow
the erratic driving of the hairless ones from a foreign land. If these invaders
discover my chuchunya clan, I fear we are too few to defend our territory under
the ice. I don’t understand why the sled driver throws his passenger into a
ground popper, but the cruel deed activates my coupling (dushevnayasvyaz) instincts to heat my body to
an inferno…the first sign of a soul bond…
Stuck between loyalty to his clan’s secrecy and his biology, will Artyom trade
injured Vera for Denis’s body? Will Vera choose modern conveniences in Ohio or
stay in Siberia with the chuchunya who promises to cherish her? In such an
unforgiving landscape, will Artyom prove his dushevnayasvyaz by
pushing her toward an easier life, even if her leaving breaks both their
hearts?
Trigger Warnings: This book is for adults with
cursing characters, mild violence, and steamy romantic scenes between a
consenting human and a monster. To survive while isolated in Siberia, they must
eat whatever food is available—whether it is a reindeer companion or not.
Celebrate
the release day of Cuddling My Chuchunya with Dr. Vera & Artyom the Snow
Monster, on Kindle Unlimited or for the release day special price of $0.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Cuddling-My-Chuchunya-Monster-Snuggling-ebook/dp/B0BLCZ7BT7).
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