02.21
My guest today is debut romance author, Cora Blu. Please welcome Cora to the writing community by leaving a comment here on her post – and go in the draw to win a digital copy of her book, Dagger:
Thank you for having me today. My name is Cora Blu and I write what I like to call Parafantasy Romance. A little mental and a lot emotional.
How did I come to write about tiger sharks?
As a little girl, my sixth grade science teacher, Mr. Pato, introduced me to Jules Verne’s, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In addition, with my parents I watched Jacques Cousteau and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. Ever since then I’ve wondered why were there so many ugly creature in the ocean if water was good for you?
This story came about years later after I’d married and we took a family vacation to Pawleys Island, S.C. If you ever have the opportunity, drive twenty miles past Myrtle Beach on highway 17, you’ll find the Atlantic ready to cuddle you with a wet embrace. The dolphins swim alongside you and you never know it.
Sitting on the dock behind the rental house in the morning watching the tide come in I began to write. These silver fish, I believe they’re called mullets, just flipped out of the water, like flying carp. Fortunately, the neighbor came by on her little canoe to tell me they’ll do that all day, but watch out for the dolphins because they will nudge your feet.
I politely pulled my feet out the water and Dagger came to life after that.
What would happen if minerals from the earth’s core became enraptured by the swaying ocean and gave birth to a Clear Coral with a continual dance of water, sand and fiery minerals within her walls?
What if this love child absorbed the earth’s excess heat and released gases into the ocean, allowing the larger marine life the ability to shift into human form?
Who would protect her? The very angler that tried to unearth her over five thousand years ago, she transformed into a tiger shark and now his offspring have the responsibility of protecting not only her but also the five major oceans around the world.
What would happen if she stopped growing and could not absorb the heat any longer? Where would the heat go?
Tsunamis, underwater earthquakes, hurricanes etc…
What do you feed a coral?
A true love mating created her…a true love mating would save her.
My true-life romance: When I was five my now husband’s family helped my family moved into our new home. Seeing me playing in the sand box in the back yard, he told my mother, “Save the one with the dirty knees for me.” Twenty-four years and three children later, I make sure and keep sand in the backyard.
Would I like to go backward or forward in time? I love-love-love Regency, but seeing as I would be a slave, I will say, forward and to the left— some sort of fantasy.
Writing is a way for my colorful, butterfly meets calypso dancer, imagination to take shape. Again, Jennifer, thank you for the opportunity to share my dream.
Stop by my Amazon Author Page and watch the video Cambria Hebert, author of Masquerade, put together for me. For those ready for a ride on the wet side, “Dagger, Brothers of Element Series” is waiting to take you down.
EXCERPT:
She crawled to the stairs, hand outstretched over the wood rungs.
She needed to see if he recognized her voice. “I don’t speak shark, but you recognize me, don’t you?” she asked, stroking her tender elbow. “Are you my shark? I feel as if you know me. You’re curious, just like me.” Sweat ran down her spine. Wringing her hands, she watched as his soft, crystal-blue eye darkened. A pair of denims with the fire of a diamond trapped in the pocket. It twinkled. That’s impossible.
Now would be a colossally bad time to have a blackout, digging her nails into her palm, she refocused. “I only wanted him to see you. I won’t hurt you.” Not expecting him to answer, she held her breath as his body brushed the platform.
He bumped it again. Every time she peered back, he shook the pier. She needed to get closer. Holding on to the ladder, she held her breath as she lowered her foot. Why did they make the rungs so narrow? Her foot barely fit. His pointy nose nudged the platform. She knew her curiosity would get her killed one day and this may be the day. As if he were controlling her movements, she felt her gym shoes sliding over the edge.
The wet rung, tiny under her foot squeaked under the rubber sole. Trembling to the point of vibrating, she found her feet on the platform, uncertain of her descent. Seawater came over the edge.
She could slip and fall off the platform. Anxiety licked like fire up her body. Why did she need to touch him? Her fingernails dug into the wood ladder, tiny fibers pierced the skin under her nails. It didn’t matter. Drawn to him like a drug, she needed to touch him.
She placed her foot on the bottom rung, leaned out, almost touching the dorsal fin. She felt that stitch in her spine from where she was hurt as a child. She couldn’t stop, pain or no pain. Less than a foot away, any further and she’d…
“Drew! What the hell are you doing?” Jim ran from the beach. Arms flailing, rifle in hand, screaming. At least fifty yards from her, he ran for her pier, arms pumping.
Drew whirled around. “Jim, wait! Don’t run.” She tipped forward, grappled with the ladder to steady herself. A fingernail ripped across the cuticle and she snatched her hand back in reflex as pain arced through her hand. Blood dripped down her finger. “Please… stop. You’ll spook him,” she screamed, then caught the flash of metal sticking out of the ladder, a nail.
As the metal platform bobbed, her scream turned to panic.
Tipping sideways, she lost balance. Her knees banged the metal floor. The corner dipped beneath the surface after she fell on her back. The murky water covered her hand as it slapped out over the water, taking her momentum. Grasping the nothingness of the water, she fought gravity and managed to stay on the platform.
Banging her knuckles, she closed her bloody hand around the low rung, her foot slipping on the wet surface. Terror ate at her joints, knotting the tendons in her elbow.
Her body begged for cooperation, but her spine wouldn’t listen. She froze.
T-Bone hit the surface of the water.
“Drew, get back on the pier. He’s gonna hit the platform.” Jim ran down the pier. He stopped, gun in hand.
“No!” she screamed again.
“Stay on the ladder, Drew. I can’t get a clear shot.”
“No, don’t kill ‘em please, Jim, don’t.” She trembled along the ladder, begging for T-Bone’s life. “Give me your hand, Jim,” she pleaded. He was going for T-Bone.
Jim aimed and fired into the water.
“No!” The scream ravaged her throat. She couldn’t let him die and began waving manically.
He fired again. “Drew, what the—”
“Jim, please!” she cried out. What was wrong with her?
He dropped the rifle, shaking his head. “Grab my hand, Drew.” When his hand wrapped around hers, pain shot down her arm. He grabbed her wrist with the other hand, wrenching her up the ladder. Blood smeared down her wrist under his grip.
Scrabbling with the wet stairs, she managed one rung before she was jolted again.
The shark jerked his muscled torso, bumping the platform. Jim smacked against the railing, losing his hold on Drew. She slipped from his grasp and lost her footing.
Her ankle was on fire as her other foot, twisted, was still in the rung. Falling back, she dislodged her foot and hit the platform.
With blinding pain, she banged her head. The metal tipped sideways. Drew slipped into the murky water.
Briny saltwater closed over her. Nostrils burning, throat tightening, choking and sputtering, she kicked her way to the surface. Seawater filled her gym shoes, threatening to drag her under.
Oh God, her hand was bleeding and her knee throbbed.
Where was the pier?
Get out of the water.
Facing the wrong direction, she spun around, feet kicking wildly.
Every muscle locked in terror.
There, suspended in front of her, maybe twenty feet, was the large, imposing T-Bone.
Swim, swim, swim…
She started swimming away from him. Not knowing how soon he would drag her under, she kept swimming. A large, muscled triangle bumped her behind, pushed her forward.
She clamped down on her fear and stroked harder, knowing she’d loose a leg soon. Arms dug deep for speed through the thick current pulsing around her, saltwater choking her with every wild stroke.
Get to the ladder. Just get to the ladder. How could I be so stupid?
His large body pushed her again. A wave of desperation rippled along her skin. Blinded by her desperate strokes, sending water in wild arcs, paranoia became her oxygen. She breathed deep.
Rubbery skin pressed her thighs wide. Not able to kick her legs, she slid over his slick head. Her behind collided with the dorsal fin. She pressed her arms around the seam of his mouth, praying he kept them closed.
Reality was an evil bitch.
Blood from her cut tainted the seawater around his mouth. A hint of metallic washed down her throat with the last gulp of water.
Come on, death, make it fast.
Her lungs were on fire.
Her joints cried within her skin waiting for his jaw to rip her arm off.
They never opened.
The power surging between her opened thighs felt off—more masculine than animal.
T-Bone tipped her until both of her legs lay along his side.
She had no time for introspection as she gripped the muscled carriage flexing beside her. Too frightened to hold on and too terrified to let go, she screamed, choking down saltwater.
His side fins served as handles easing her through the cold water. Once past the pier, he circled back around as if parading her in front of Jim.
She scrambled off his back, slipping on the rubbery skin. Catching her gym shoe on his fin, it popped off and sank. Not caring, she clutched the ladder. Gym shoe squeaking with every other trembling step and her heartbeat hammering her ears, she looked up in time to see Jim.
At the stairs, rifle pointed at the shark. Drew popped up with the prospect of her shark being hurt.
The world slowed down, became snap shots of horror.
Pop—pop—pop.
Dagger by Cora Blu is available at Amazon and All Romance.

Thanks to everyone who posted such wonderful comments on my Valentine’s Day post about eating your way to great sex! It was a fun few days and I got very hungry reading about everyone’s favorite aphrodisiac foods. My shopping trolley next time will be full of interesting new treats.
Valentine’s Day to me instantly conjures up an image of flowers. Red roses, to be exact. But it doesn’t always have to be about the roses. There are many ways to celebrate love, and if you adore food as much as I do, those celebrations can be quite delicious. In fact, some of the best ways to spice up your sex life this Valentine’s Day might be found in the kitchen!


Except on the playground. There I was the queen of storytelling.
I’m sure you can see how he would be inspirational right? 
Jen: How did you get started writing?




