Meet Saharra K. Sandhu award-winning author of the Gaiian (sounds like Hawaiian) novels, a paranormal series she created using the African Pantheon of Gods. These novels throw in a dash of adventure with a sprinkle of scientific facts, mix in a lot of romance and you have a juicy paranormal novel.
Saharra, please tell us a little about yourself.
I want to give a big thanks to Susan for inviting me. I love adventure and all things science fiction. I have traveled throughout South America and the Caribbean collecting folklore and Afro-Caribbean stories to fuel the imagination that generates my books. My debut novel Daughter Of The Missing won first place in the Beverly Hills Book Awards. The sequel Fire In Ice won the Emma award for science fiction at the 2018 Romance Slam Jam. My latest novella Spice Island won the 2019 Emma award for Contemporary fiction.
When I’m not writing, I’m reading, attending soccer games or traveling with my family. I always warn people not to act up in front of me, as I like to borrow from real-life events when I write. (This is usually when they queue in the titillating backstories). Anyway, enjoy the blog, I have a fun game and two e-books to give away.
All the best!
SKS
First Giveaway!
Spice Island EXTREME Sport Give Away:
Spice Island is my first foray into writing a contemporary novella. There is action, adventure and of course romance. There is one scene in the book where the hero convinces the heroine to climb a tree and zipline to safety. In the spirit of research I just had to go find a rainforest (This one I found in Costa Rica), and a zipline to feel just what my characters in SPICE ISLAND experienced. This zipline came complete with a river to traverse…several times…just like the story line in my book. GOTTTA LUV IT! #livingmybestlife.
For a copy of Spice Island, post a gif of your dream extreme activity! Ack!! The most extreme activity I indulge in is riding Disney's Haunted Mansion. Although I did go river rafting in the 90's and loved it. I wonder if
I love firsts, so tell me about the moment when a publisher told you they wanted to publish your book.
This is a great question! I’m self-published so I don’t have a publisher story to tell but I can tell you about creating my own publishing company to sell my books. It had been a labor of love. There was so much to learn. Imagine the frustration of having a finished book but no way to publish. It took me five years to get my first book published and I cried when the email came through telling me it (Daughter of the Missing) was available on Amazon. I was so green and new to this thing called marketing that I actually thought I was done! It took me another year and multiple classes and seminars to learn the marketing side of publishing…but that’s a tale for another time!
If it isn’t too nosy. How about the first time you kissed your true love?
I kissed my true love, my hubby, when I visited him in London (he lived there at the time). It was 2000 and I came over for New Years. He took me to the Millennium Dome to see the circus. It was frightfully cold so I stayed snuggled up to him through the whole performance!
Other than your own, who are your favorite (heroes/heroines/writers) in your genre?
This is always a hard question for me because I read a LOT! My primary genre is paranormal romance even though I am branching out to contemporary romance. So my favorite heroes and heroines are found in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter Series and her Deadman’s Cross series (Yes I’m a Menyon). Her writing is so great I love both the villains and heroes. All her characters have a rich intense and riveting back story that leaves me wanting to read more!
What is the most exciting moment, so far, in your writing career?
My most exciting moment is meeting all of my readers. Their enthusiasm for my writing takes my breath away. Understand, I am an engineer by training and writing, especially novels, is as far away from engineering as you can possibly get. So to see the enthusiasm for my written artistic expression is beyond wonderful and humbling and I would like to thank all of my fans for their support. I also have to say I’m excited to meet my fellow authors at the RWA meetings and conventions. I found my tribe in their fellowship and mentorship and would not trade it for anything in the world. (This is how Saharra and I met and I am so grateful to have met her.)
What is your favorite pastime, other than writing?
I LOVE to read! It’s like breathing. I just gotta do it!
How do you motivate yourself when inspiration takes a vacation?
I read. Reading for me gets the juices flowing. I especially love when the writing is lyrical and flows off the page. These types of authors inspire me to write more. Then I take a long walk. The fresh air gets the oxygen flowing, my brain to working and jumpstarts my imagination. I often come back from my walks chuckling from a new scene I created and ready for the words to flow onto the page!
Any advice for new writers just starting out?
Write, write and write some more. Don’t be afraid to share your baby with the world. Get the words on the page and get her out to be read. Also, join a writing organization, especially one where you can physically go to the meetings and interact with other writers. This has made a BIG difference for me in understanding the craft of writing and all aspects of the trade. PLUS I get to meet really neat people like Susan!
Spice Island is the first novel in my new contemporary Romcom novella series called Mama’s Travel Agency. I love adventures and wanted to create a series where a crazy lady named Mama J. sends unsuspecting people on great adventures.
She doesn’t send them where they want to go. Instead, she sends them where the love will flow!
Check out the blurb below.
Blurb:
When Dr. Angela Jones agrees to take a vacation to Tanzania, she never expected to be kidnapped. Even more surprising, she’s ransomed by a handsome Sultan. When she tries to escape, she lands in the middle of an intrigued laden plot to destroy him. Before long, she is running for her life through a jungle, swinging through trees, and flying in a vintage aircraft. But the Sultan has a secret deep in the heart of Spice Island that she must unravel before its too late.
Amir Bin Abdul Bin Sultan is a spice merchant by day, smuggler and thief by night. Reluctantly, he agrees to an arranged marriage with the daughter of a powerful East African Chief. When his bride is kidnapped a few days before the wedding, he is honor-bound to pay the ransom. But, after ransoming the wrong woman, he ends up on the run through the jungles of his spice plantation. Most men’s secrets can destroy lives, but Amir’s can kill. Now he’s racing to get Angela off Spice Island, no easy task when he may be falling in love with her.
Excerpt:
His eyes scanned me from head to toe. These were eyes of a hungry man.
What the hell, now?
I glanced down. Oh, gag me! The kaftan they’d put me in was clinging to every gracious curve God gave me. To make matters worse, the damn thing was transparent when wet and I had nothing on under it. Oh, horror! And, there I was standing in front of two men on display like Botticelli’s Venus stepping out of a clamshell.
I quickly wrapped my arms around my chest, not believing for a second this simple move would help a thing. My God, his cousin was standing behind me. Lord above, the view he was getting must have sizzled his eyes.
Amir’s gaze met mine. He understood my embarrassment and pulled me into his arms. In a flash, he turned and shielded me from his cousin and the woman approaching from the far side of the garden. She must have been a servant because he said something to her and she returned to the house.
He translated for me, his deep voice made something inside of me uncoil and sit up in complete attention. “I asked her to get a robe for you.”
The minutes dragged, hard muscle and bone held me tight. Heat from his body baked into me like an oven. All I needed to do was turn my buns around to finish the job. Done. Cooked to perfection.
I couldn’t move though, didn’t want to move, our lips were mere inches apart. He smelled like the island, cinnamon and spice with a touch of musk added on for extra measure. My head swam. The urge to close the gap and taste those full lips was strong. I hung there suspended in time.
I used to fight with myself in these situations. I have a rational side I call, ‘Rational Angela,’ then I have the naughty street side of me, I call, ‘DC Angela.’
Standing there hugged up against this man released DC Angela from the jail cell Rational Angela stowed her in. The cell door clanked open and DC Angela came out roaring, Go on, kiss him!
Fun excerpt. I'm intrigued.
What’s your current WIP?
My current Work In Progress???
I’m working on book three in the Gaiian Series called Servant of the Stone. The first two books in the series were about the Sandweaver (Daughter of the Missing) and the Dragon Rider (Fire in Ice). The next book will be about the Stone weaver who is the chief medical officer for the Gaiians, the tribe of people who are children of the African Goddess of the sea Yemalla. This tribe is a matriarchal society and the book delves into the history of how their doctor, the designated Stone Weaver, is a man…a very fine and SEXY man who meets the woman of his destiny only to find out she is dying of an incurable disease!
I just finished writing the book and it is off to the editor. Servant of the Stone will be available early 2020!
And finally, where can we find you?
First, I would like to say that, Susan, this has been a great opportunity to visit your blog. You can find me at my website and my author pages on Amazon, Goodreads and Bookbub of follow me on FB, Instagram and Twitter. I’m placing the links for all of the sites below.
For my last giveaway, anyone who signs up for my newsletter will be placed in a raffle for a free e-copy of my first book Daughter of the Missing.
Again, thanks for having me, Susan, see you in our meetings!
Hugs from me SKS!
Thank you, Saharra. I signed up for your newsletter. But I already have the book. Dear ones, if you don't want to wait for the giveaway, click over to Amazon and read the first couple of chapters.
You can get the eBook for 2.99
Happy reading.
