Time with  Lyssa Samuels

Re-worked & Updated July 7, 2015

Enjoy!!

Lyssa Samuels is an advocate of human rights—especially when it comes to love. She has a deep need to show that love is love regardless of the genders of the people involved. In her upcoming series Royal Mates, Love’s Diamond, she introduces us to the world of Sanzel where the mating of two men is revered, and the miracle of men giving birth is the norm. The king and his brothers have waited for their entire lives to find their aheris—their beloved mates. Each of the titles in this series will bring you the story of one royal brother and his journey in finding, fighting for, and claiming the man that is meant to be his.

Q: How did you come up with the concept of the world of Sanzel where your Royal Mates, Love's Diamond Series takes place?

A: I’ve always been a big science fiction fan. Star Trek, Stargate, Firefly, and any sci-fi world made me fantasize about the worlds outside of Earth that had a unique society that existed with acceptance and tolerance of all species. I thought about the kind of world where every life was valued and each member of that world had a destined, beloved mate waiting for them. To add the element of males being able to have children was something I thought was important because I feel every person should be able to have children if they desire to.

Q: Your characters always share a special and deep love. What makes the men in your series so right for each other?

A: The couples in the Royal Mates Series are destined to be together. Each one is exactly what the other needs to thrive and know deep love.

Merek and Vance are men who are in their mid to late thirties. They have gone through years of being with other men who didn’t have the same vision of their future that they had. Both Vance and Merek want to find that one someone who wanted and needed a serious, monogamous relationship with an “ever after” kind of love. They both want the same type of relationship that their parents had. They both want that one special person to come home to, to share their joys and their problems with, and to raise a family with. The fact that they are really good friends, care about each other more than they care about themselves, and make each other laugh is the perfect foundation for a loving mating. Of course, their physical attraction for each other helps tremendously, too!

Each one of the couples in the series will know the same kind of love that will grow once they meet and help each other to know that love is not only destined...it's possible when you open your heart to the gifts that are waiting for you when you finally admit that the love of your life is right before you.

Q: What about the women of Sanzel?

A: Women on Sanzel are held in high regard. They are miracles by virtue of the rarity of their births, and each one is destined for something special in their futures. The men of Sanzel have been impacted greatly because of the rarity of these women. Their bodies have adapted and changed. They now have the ability to conceive, carry, and birth a child. They have become the source of love and nurture for their children. These men are the perfect combination of strength and caring. The men of Sanzel are wonderful fathers, mates, and friends.

Q: What sparked your creation of the baseball team where the men were truly brothers who would find their destined mates in the men from Sanzel?

A: I had already come up with the idea of Merek and his brothers coming from the world of Sanzel. I hadn’t decided on the number of brothers in the royal family in the early stages of writing the series. Since I think that baseball players are sexy as hell, I thought they would be the perfect choice for each of the brothers since the Sorenson brothers are all ruggedly handsome men as well. The number of men on the field, including their coach, would equal ten men. This meant that there would have to be ten brothers from the royal family who would be destined to be their mates. When I thought about the baseball diamond being symbolic of the diamond ring given during an engagement to signify the love that one person had for another, the name of the series was settled—Royal Mates, Love’s Diamond.

Q: What's in store for the future matings in your Royal Mates Series? Will love go smoothly for all of them?

A: Love never goes smoothly. You have to fight for every moment of happiness. Every member of the baseball team has gone through their own personal journey that has made them lost souls. This group of guys has taken care of each other since they were young boys. They have no family but each other. Only Vance had a loving relationship with his parents who were the glue that held these young boys together. Vance’s parents showed each of them that they were good kids who deserved love and respect in their lives. Each man has a story that tugs at your heart. They will only find peace within themselves and a lasting love for their future once they have mated with their chosen Sorenson brother. The upcoming stories will definitely have struggles and obstacles to overcome before their matings can continue. Love doesn’t always run smooth in the upcoming books, but love does persevere.

Q: Have you learned something that you didn't expect to learn from the writing process and the publishing business? 

A: Wow. That’s a very good question. I think the non-creative side of the writing process was a bit overwhelming for me. It was the copyright laws, the advertising, the websites, and the social media that has been a big learning experience for me. If it was just writing to be a writer, it would be so much easier!

Q: What is your writing process? Do you follow a schedule in order to write?

A: I have a full time job that sucks away most of my life! (Don’t we all?) Because of that, my writing is limited to evenings and weekends. I find that writing at night and into the early morning hours is definitely my time to shine. I absolutely love the weekends. That’s when I’m the happiest because I can hide myself away in my comfy cave and write around the clock. Nothing is better than that.

Q: Being a writing of M/M romance, readers probably expect you to be a very outgoing person. Is that true?

A: It would probably surprise everyone to find out that I’m a very shy person. I’m fine in my job, as a mom, and as an active member of my community. But as a woman? I am completely shy and insecure.

Writing M/M romances just shows people that I am an open and affirming person who values love no matter what the combination of people. How can you not support love?

Q: What qualites to you believe should embody the heros of your novels?

A: I believe that the most important quality that a hero should have is kindness. Why would anyone want to be with a man who isn’t kind? Beats me. I prefer to write about men who are kind, who are strong, who are not ashamed to show their feelings, and who love with all their hearts. These are the men who are my heroes and the ones I choose to write about. My dad was one of those men. He was a strong man who made me and my siblings breakfast every morning. He set our hair in curlers and sat on the floor and had tea parties with us. He baked bread. He taught us how to swim, how to play baseball and any sport you can imagine. He taught us how to fix our cars, fix the plumbing, and wire electrical outlets. He was a big guy who looked like he could snap you in two. He was a tough man on the outside who had the heart of a teddy bear. He loved my mother and all of us with every piece of his heart. He was my hero. That type of man is exactly who my characters emulate. They are the best heroes because they are the best men.

Q: Do you see yourself as any of your characters?

A: To be honest, I would love to be any one of the men on the baseball team who find that their mate is one of the Sorenson brothers in the Royal Mates, Love’s Diamond Series. To be loved by a royal mate would mean that I would be cherished, respected, and valued for my entire life. Who could ask for anything better than that?

 

Q: What other series are you working on?

A: I have a few series in the works but there are two more series that are fully fleshed out. All three of these series deal with destined love, true devotion, created families, and forever love.

Burke’s Pack, Mates of the Lost Wolves

Murdock’s Coven, My Beloved

 

Thank you for spending some time with me.

Love,

Lyssa