The following is an exclusive Whispers of the Muse interview conducted by Deborah Riley-Magnus with paranormal and fantasy romance author, Eva Gordon.

Muse: Eva, first of all, Whispers of the Muse welcomes you and Werewolf Sanctuary to the site. Tell us a little about yourself. What part of the world do you live in? Tell us about your background?
Gordon: I live in Northern California. The Bay Area most of my life but am now up in Placer County North of Sacramento. My background is in the biological sciences with degrees in Zoology and Biology. I have taught high school AP Biology and Anatomy/Physiology. Now writing full time and volunteering in a local animal sanctuary.

Muse: Who are your favorite authors?
Gordon: So many, it would take me days to list. Currently I enjoy Diane Gabaldon, Terry Goodkind, and Jacqueline Carey. I was a big fan of Michael Crichton. But I will read just about anything, including nature related non-fiction.

Muse: Why do you write paranormal and fantasy romance?
Gordon: I love creating mythological worlds and magical characters. The fantasy realm allows for great peril and high adventure, much like a historical novel. In fact I love writing paranormal historical. I write about werewolves, not only because of their ability to shift with super human powers but also because like wolves they are loyal to their one mate. How romantic is that?

Muse: What is your writing regimen? How often do you work on a novel? Do you set daily time or word goals? What keeps you meeting your deadlines?
Gordon: I try to write at least 2000 words a day or 10,000 a week. If the book requires research then I spend extra time each day researching. I love writing so deadlines are not a stressor because I’m usually ahead.

Muse: Does the way you personally look at life reflect in your writing style?
Gordon: Yes. I love adventure and world travel and my background in science certainly add to my style. I love wolves and other animals so my stories always include animals.

Muse: What are the creative jumping off points for you? Are you inspired by dreams? Music? Nature? The occasional black nightmare? What triggers your imagination?
Gordon: Nature is my inspiration. Music often triggers a story. Listening to Gods of War, and the Soundtrack from Beowolf helped me imagine my second book Beast Warrior: Viking Werewolf. I also run and to pass away the boredom I imagine a story.

Muse: Tell us about your Paranormal Romance, Werewolf Sanctuary. What was your inspiration?
Gordon: I always loved werewolves but what really moved me was my stay at a real wolf sanctuary where I volunteered. I was in a trailer on the site and as they howled I wondered what would happen if they were really werewolves. Here is a blurb about Werewolf Sanctuary.

Since ancient times, the Lupercal Council has kept their people’s werewolf identity a well-guarded secret from man. They refer to their kind as lycans. The lycan shifts into a bear-sized wolf, bearing unique markings reminiscent of Maori or Celtic tattoos. The pack shifts during the full moon and are under the control of their alpha male leader. The alpha male and alpha female are not bound by the full moon and can shift at will. Lycans can only breed with their kind. The exception are the alpha males, which can only mate with human women known as wolf maidens. These human women bear the five-toed paw print or mark of the wolf on their left hip. Female alphas are sterile but are the leading lycans governing the Lupercal Council.

The Lupercal society is in peril due to an unknown disease infecting their young offspring. The children that survive the pestilence shift too early into wolf cubs, lose their distinct markings, and end up becoming normal wolves unaware of their human consciousness. Normally immune to most known diseases, the Lupercal has few of their own doctors and must seek the help of a human outsider to find the cure.

Wyatt Weylin, the alpha male of the Montana pack and leader of a team of mercenary lycans, flies to a World Wolf Conference in San Francisco, where he hopes to convince leading authority on wolf diseases, veterinarian Dr. Madeline Styles to come to his wolf sanctuary and find a cure. The minute he sees her he feels drawn to her striking good looks. The sensory chemistry is instant. He tries to suppress the feeling knowing that he is forbidden to fall for a human. Life gets complicated when Wyatt discovers that the vegetarian animal doctor has the mark of the wolf and is his life mate.

Muse: What is your favorite scene from the book and why?
Gordon: I like the scene when Wyatt discovers that Madeline, who is attracted to him, has the mark of the wolf.

Muse: Have you written other books?
Gordon: Yes, book 2 in the Wolf Maiden saga, Beast Warrior: Viking Werewolf and White Wolf of Avalon: Werewolf Knight to be released in February 2010. I just finished Lycan Gladiator. I also wrote two fantasy novels, Mystic Stone of the Tenth Realm and Gaia’s Keeper, which I hope to soon sell.

Muse: Tell us about your other books?
Gordon: Here is the blurb for Beast Warrior: Viking Werewolf available now.
Beast Warrior is a historical paranormal romance that takes place during the Viking Era of the Dark Ages. A time when only the strong survive. It is the second book in the Wolf Maiden Chronicles, which depicts alpha lycans and Sigurd, an alpha Norse wolfskin, son of Gunnolf the Red seeks revenge against shape shifting bearskins, Bork the Mad and his son, Mord the Blood Claw for the death of his parents and his older brother Guda. Orphaned, he has been raised by his older sister Brynhild, who convinces him to take a wolf maiden in order to increase their small pack. Despite the warning by Hungerd the wolf witch, he takes a farmer's new bride with tragic consequences. Alone he joins a long ship until the day he can avenge his pack's demise.

Emelisse, a Frank wolf maiden, has been raised and educated in the classics, science, literature and languages by female lycans of the Lupercal. Born a runt with a weak heart her father has been overprotective. She refuses to be treated like a delicate vase and rebels by seeking out riding and falconry. Now at age eighteen Emelisse frets that her father wants her to accept Radulf III the Cruel, an alpha lycan of a pack of powerful warriors. She tries to run away with her human lover.

Viking werewolf, Sigurd rescues Emelisse, from the claws of the berserker bear men. He claims her as his ulf hexen or wolf maiden, but she wants to leave lycan society and live with humans. To complicate matters she has been called by her goddess Feronia to save the lycans from a dreaded disease. Their union is wrought with great peril in a world where werewolves must battle against their own kind as well as their fierce enemy, the berserker bear men. Will Emelisse accept Sigurd a foreign lycan as her alpha mate? Sigurd vows to protect her from their enemies but how can he save her before she dies from her ailing heart.

Muse: How do you feel about the current publishing marketplace?
Gordon: As a new writer I sold my first book to a small UK publisher, who no longer made its books available in the US so I was released from the contract and once again am trying to sell this well received and reviewed fantasy. One must really check to make sure there is good distribution.  I like the fact that my current books are available in all formats from print to e-book. All that matters is that people enjoy reading my stories. I for one like the feel and smell of a book I can hold in my hands.