Martha Bourke on Her Upcoming Adult Series: The New Breed Novels

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Further to my last interview with Martha Bourke, I have interviewed this lovely lady again, this time getting all the details on her upcoming adult series, The New Breed Novels. And, stay tuned, as very soon, I’ll be posting a cover reveal for the first novel in this new series!

Now, without further delay, here’s my new interview with Ms Bourke:

So, your upcoming series, The New Breed Novels, is aimed at adults, and is a spin-off from your YA series, Jaguar Sun?
Exactly. The New Breed Novels follow Richard and Adriana as they depart from the YA series in Book 3, Jaguar Hunter, and move into a new compound in Boston. Essentially, after Maya has freed all of the k’ul or sacred energy from the earth at Chichen Itza, certain shifters (eight male shifters) absorb a ton of it, and they become a new breed of shapeshifter. They’re much bigger, stronger, and have much keener instincts and senses.

What made you decide to write a spin-off series?

The strange thing is I never thought I would write for adults. Then a funny thing happened. I devoted a chapter to Adriana and Richard in Jaguar Moon. It was the first time I had written anything with adult characters as the main focus. I liked it and I suddenly became really interested in them as people. So I wrote Revelations, a short prequel novella for both series. It’s about their lives before finding Maya. The idea for the new series came from that.

And what made you want to aim these new books at adults, rather than the YA readership?

I think it just seemed to me that if I was going to follow Richard and Adriana into their new lives, it made sense to aim it at adults. After all, they’re 38, not 18. At the same time, at least 75% of my readership is adults. So it also made sense to write for that demographic.

So what can readers expect from The New Breed Novels?

The New Breeds have been summoned to join the Order and fight the war against Toltec in a different way than Maya and her friends. These guys are on the front lines, fighting an urban guerilla war in Boston where Toltec is headquartered. The overarching plot of the books focuses on these shifters and their tremendous desire to win this war, but also their equally strong desire to have normal lives, mate, maybe even have offspring. So the series is really about the interplay between those two things and how that brings the brothers of the Order moments of great sorrow, but also incredible joy.

Will Maya feature predominantly in this spin-off series, or will these books belong to another character?

Each book will focus on a different New Breed shifter, his mating, but also what is happening with the war and the other New Breeds at the compound. The first novel, Forbidden Call, actually tells the story of Soaring Eagle (SE), Cesar’s father. The series is Paranormal Romance, but there’s a definite Urban Fantasy edge to it that the YA series doesn’t have.

Maya will continue to be the lead protagonist in the YA series until the end and then she’ll depart. That doesn’t mean there won’t be characters (other than Richard and Adriana) that I won’t pack up and take along to the new series. There are a bunch of characters from the YA series, and some that will join the new series when the Jaguar Sun series ends. I’ve already made those decisions, but I’m not telling!

How many books do you think will be in this new series?

At this point, eight to ten. There will be a book for each original New Breed: Pax, Troy, Dimitri, Xavier, Reyn, Diesel, and Soaring Eagle. Richard won’t have his own book because he’s already mated, but he and Adriana figure in throughout.

And I see that Jaguar Hunter is going to be released soon; was it difficult to write two books at the same time?

I actually didn’t write them that way. I chose to do things a bit differently. I wrote the first New Breed Novel, Forbidden Call, first. As soon as it’s released I’ll move on to writing Jaguar Hunter. That way I was able to focus completely on the first book of the new series. I thought that was important. It also allows me to go into writing Jaguar Hunter knowing what makes sense to include or not include in that book as far as its connection to the new series is concerned.

What would you say is the biggest thing that you have learnt from writing all your novels?

You know, it’s interesting, because both series essentially take place in the same world that I’ve created. So, that’s about fifteen novels that are all centered on this world. I think what has surprised me the most is the depth of the whole thing. It wasn’t very long ago that I was writing Jaguar Sun, not even sure that I was going to do anything with it when it was finished. And now I’m working on two different series based on the basic ideas that came out of that book. It boggles the mind!

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Thanks Martha!

And, remember, check back very soon to see the cover reveal. 🙂