BLOG TOUR & AUTHOR INTERVIEW with M.C. Solaris for "Calypso’s Heart (Orion’s Order, #1)"

Calypso’s Heart
(Orion’s Order #1)
by M.C. Solaris
Publication date: May 15th, 2020
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

If you enjoy Psy-Changeling and Black Dagger Brotherhood, this new series is right up your alley! 

Sexy shifters. Hot vampires. Intriguing immortals. Strong heroine. Sizzling romance. Page-turning plot full of emotion and excitement. Modern and fresh take on fated mates. 

Caly 

Do you dream of ridiculously hot men? Okay, maybe you do. (And yes, I’m well aware I should lay off the romance books before bed.) But do you actually ever meet those men you dream about in real life? I didn’t think so. That’s probably a good thing though because I have… And these men from my dreams have done nothing but pull the rug of reality out from under me… which was how I fell and ended up in a world that I thought only existed in romance books. 

My name is Caly (AKA Callie) and I’m just an ordinary single woman living the LA dream… paycheck to paycheck. Except whose dream is it? I’m not really sure… but it’s not my dream. Especially because I have really weird dreams… like really weird. Then again, everyone has weird dreams, right? 

Blake 

I am an alpha wolf shifter and leader of Orion’s Order, a pack of… well, not wolves. We’re an unconventional pack of highly skilled specian hunters that do one thing: hunt the evil in our world. And we were hired by SILE (Species Investigative Law Enforcement) to hunt a bloodthirsty criminal who is infamously untraceable. That was until an irresistible female brought an unexpected twist to our hunt and set things in motion… a motion that has left my pack and our world forever changed. 

Welcome to The Order and a secret world of magic and mystery, where a pack of unlikely friends find love and fight against an ancient evil force. 

Devour this addictive series at your own risk…
+ Happily Ever After
+ Steamy Paranormal Shifter Romance
+ Multiple POV
+ Mature Content 

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CALYPSO’S HEART is an adult paranormal wolf shifter romance. If you like swoon-worthy males, heroines with feminine strength, an engaging plot, satisfying relationships, steamy love stories, happy ever afters, and getting sucked into a supernatural story, then you’ll want to immerse yourself in the world of species!
You’ll feel right at home if you’re a JR Ward, Nalini Singh, and Dannika Dark fan. 

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~ AUTHOR INTERVIEW with M.C. Solaris ~ 

1) What gave you the inspiration for the storyline?

There wasn’t one thing or event in particular that inspired the storyline. In fact, I wasn’t even planning on ever being an author, let alone publishing paranormal romance. Sure, I’m an avid reader of PNR and love love love it but it wasn’t in the realm of my conscious mind to write PNR. Until one day (during the January 2019 super blood moon eclipse), I literally woke up and began writing bios for my imaginary friends (AKA the characters that were suddenly in my head introducing themselves and sharing their world with me). And as soon as I started writing, I couldn’t stop. There was no plot planning or storyline strategizing. Instead, the words and scenes were in my mind, playing out like a movie and I just wrote down the stories I saw. This is how Calypso’s Heart was written. And this is also how Book 2 (Rhyker’s Key) and Book 3 (title not yet revealed) were written.

2) Are there any hidden (or not so hidden) themes in the book that you hope readers will discover?

What a great and interesting question! Yes, definitely. I will share one in particular. :) In a sense, I believe (and was pleasantly surprised, as I was writing the story that played out in my mind) Calypso’s Heart highlights and modernizes elements of a story that has been circulating in human storytelling for ages. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but I will say that story is known as the "Bluebeard" French folktale. I was first introduced to this story in Women who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés.

3) Are any of the characters based on real people you know?

I would say that overall there are some characters and events that are definitely inspired by things in the real world, including similar characteristics, tendencies, experiences, etc. However, one of the characters in particular, Starr, does share quite a bit in common with my sister and best friend, Marchesa. They aren’t the same person in my mind and they don’t share everything in common but certainly the strong similarities between them exist. Not only is Starr’s physical characteristics based on my sister but they are also both fiery and independent alpha females that are unapologetically blazing their own way through the world. My sister is most definitely aware of this and we often joke about it all the time—to the point where I often call her Starr-chesa whenever she says or does something that I feel is just “so Starr.”

4) Who has influenced you most as a writer?

Ah, this is such a tough question because I can’t just pick one! ;) I am inspired by so many authors and so many things, including life experiences and lessons that either I or others experience. But I absolutely wish to start off by sharing that the first romance novel I read was the Three Sisters Trilogy by Nora Roberts. I fell in love with the genre and Nora Roberts so much that I proceeded to consume as many of her books as I could while still (somewhat) living a life. ;) Her books really were the bridge that opened me up to new authors that I love and inspire me, like J.R. Ward, Nalini Singh, and Dannika Dark. And of course, I must give a big shout out to all of the fantasy books/authors I’ve ever read, especially when growing up. Nancy Drew, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien comes to mind but I know there are so many other authors and stories I’m forgetting but that doesn't make them any less impactful or meaningful to my journey as both a reader and a writer.

5) If you could have any three literary characters over to your place for game night, who would you invite, what would you play, what would you serve, and why?

Throwing me another toughy, eh? ;) I feel compelled to share that I’m one of those indecisive people who may or may not have a mini panic attack trying to decide what to order off of a menu because there are too many choices and too many things that sound good. Starbucks seems to come to mind… And even after standing in line for a questionably long time while solely staring at their ridiculously long list of drink choices (let’s not even get to their food offerings), I still feel almost paralyzed by the sheer amount of choices by the time I walk up to the counter… which is how I usually end up just ordering the same thing.

Okay, so that was a long tangent about which characters I would invite over for game night, what we would play, and what I would serve. But I think you’ll understand why this question may be putting me in a mini panic attack and having some PTSD memories of my Starbucks trips flash through my mind. ;) There are simply too many characters, too many lovely foods, and too many awesome games to choose. And now I’m thinking that I would need to have many dinner parties in order to spend time with all the characters... which has my majorly introverted self going into a slight tizzy at the prospect of so many parties. ;)

Okay, I digress… again. Overall, I think my first dinner party would be with “the crew” — AKA the characters in Calypso’s Heart who include the males of Orion’s Order (a pack of skilled and sexy as hell hunters that each have a piece of my heart), Caly, Aleia, Keena, Starr, and Riordan. And as far as cooking goes, well, I would leave that up to Meri, the cooking queen and castellan in Calypso’s Heart (especially because I’m a terrible cook and whenever I’m in the kitchen, my partner often jokes, “Whatcha burning for dinner tonight, babe?” lol). And as far as the game goes, I would leave that up to Rhyland and Rhyker, the playful, twin jaguar shifters of Orion’s Order who love to indulge in their feline nature with pranks and games.

6) Do you feel that you can ever have too many books?

E-books? No way can you have too many! Fill my e-library up to infinity and beyond. :) Same goes for audiobooks too. But I think my currently overflowing, makeshift dresser doubling as a bookshelf collecting embarrassing amounts of dust agrees with me when I say that I may be close to hitting my limit of the amount of physical books my quaint apartment can hold at the moment (you know, without being on the next episode of Hoarding: Buried Alive on TLC).

“It has the elements you need – love, pain, heartache, action, revenge, some light comedy, etc. I thought the sex scenes were SPOT ON! Like damn those were great. I really felt immersed in it at times and I felt transported into the story.” ★★★★★ 

“The descriptions and imagery are on point. It’s easy to picture the characters and scenes. I like the multiple POV shifts to better understand and immerse myself in the character’s mind. The sex scenes are steamy and kept me turning the pages.” ★★★★★ 

“…if you are looking for a book that punches you in your face, right out the gate, with unrealistic action, tasteless sex scenes, and emotional turmoil, this won’t be it. Go watch Shameless instead. But if you are looking for something that unfolds at a pace that gives you time to decipher the characters, setting, and complexities of the story that is to come, then this is for you…” ★★★★★ 

“…at one point in the book, a group of characters are all introduced in a short amount of time. While this might not be standard protocol for fictional stories, it’s realistic. Trust that it was done with purposeful intent. Without giving away too much about the story, you get to learn about a pack of males in their environment, doing what males do…” ★★★★★

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Author Bio:

M.C. Solaris’s life took an unexpected turn during the super blood moon eclipse on January 20, 2019. She woke up and began writing bios for her imaginary friends that she met that day. As soon as the pen hit the paper (or fingertips to the iPhone), she couldn’t stop. It was kind of like one of those fire hydrants, spewing copious amounts of water all over the place. The characters and their stories just flowed out of her. She is honored to be the scribe, getting to share her friends’ stories. You can read all about her gifted friends in the Orion’s Order series (Book 1 is Calypso’s Heart). 

On a personal note, M.C. Solaris is actually the pseudonym of Marina Schroeder, women’s health enthusiast and lover of all things paranormal romance (PNR) and happily ever after (HEA). When she is not curled up on the sofa with her partner’s oversized hoodie, a PNR novel, peppermint tea, and one of her three cats, you will find her either at the ocean with her toes in the sand or in a forest hugging a tree. Well truthfully? There is one more place you might find her: trolling the aisles of Whole Foods for a satisfying combination of salty and sweet while hiding in her partner’s hoodie… like any proper PNR-writing introvert. 

Want to get the latest scoop, sneak peeks, and short shares all about her imaginary friends? Go to www.mcsolaris.com and sign up for the newsletter.

Welcome to The Order! 

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