Gwen:
Lena, you were so young when the bombing of Texas took the lives of your parents. You were raised in foster care. How did you become a spokesperson and activist for the Texas Freedom Campaign at only eighteen years old? Did they approach you? Do you feel you were exploited, used as a face in the campaign because your parents were killed in the bombing?
Lena: I have wanted to do something to help the people
of Texas for as long as I can remember. I survived when so many others died.
God must have spared me for a reason. I feel like I have to do something
important with my life, or I'm just wasting that gift. I might as well have
died too.
In high school, me and some of my foster siblings volunteered at the TFC after school. It was mostly answering emails and preparing mass mailings. Then at the end of my senior year, they asked me join the spokesperson program. They were looking for young people like me who wanted to tell their story. I don't feel like I am being exploited. I want to help in any way I can. This is my choice.
What is the goal of the Texas Freedom Campaign and how does the royal Wilde family fit into the plan? Would the Wilde’s have a governing role or would they be just a figurehead?
Lena: TheTexas Freedom Campaign is a group of Texans
now living in the U.S. who advocate for the U.S. government to assist the
survivors still living in the Texas territory in building a democratic
government. Just like everyone else, we thought all the Wildes were dead until
recently. Honestly, I think it threw us all for a loop. When the Wildes
resurfaced a lot of the funders backed out. They didn't mind helping rebuild a
war torn nation, but they didn't have the guts to take down the royalty.
Since I thought the Wildes were dead, I never
really thought about if they should have any role in the new government. I
suppose if they were figureheads like the British royalty that wouldn't be too
bad, but I don't know if they really deserve that special treatment. But on the
other hand, they have been a big part of Texas culture for a long time, and a
lot of Texans are still loyal to them. And to be fair, not all the Wildes are
bad.
You were labeled a terrorist. What exactly did you do, or what did the U.S. government accuse you of?
Of course, after they found out I knew Warren
King, things got a lot more serious.
The United States and Texas are mortal enemies. I mean, the President’s husband (and Will Cole’s father) was responsible for the terrible bomb that devastated Texas and killed so many people, including your parents. How in the world did you meet Will Cole and why did you agree to go out with him? Was it a case of, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer?
Anyway, I went to him to ask him to help us get
support for a TFC sponsored bill. He was happy to talk to some people about it.
A little while after we met, he asked me out. I said no, but it wasn't because
I hold his father's actions against him. I don't believe that people are bad
just because they're related to people who are.
I said no because I want to be taken seriously.
I don't want people to think I'm trying to advance my own political career by
sleeping with him. But later he asked me out again and I said yes. Screw what
people think.
Gwen: Amen, sister. Amen.
Girl,
you sure know how to complicate your love life with romantic ties to both
opposing factions of the TFC. But Warren King sure is a sweetie. Do you think
he’s mature or wise enough to run a country? Would you give up the Texas
Freedom Campaign and the fight for a democratic government to support Warren?
Gwen: And as we spoke in private, we'll skip the last part of that question. Maybe a bit premature to ask about you and Warren anyway...
We
haven’t talked about that “charge” thing yet. The charge, an electrical type
energy possessed by all the Wilde’s, plays havoc quite a bit, not only with the
Wilde’s but those around them. It’s often painful and debilitating. How were
you able to maintain your equilibrium?
Lena: It's not easy. I mean, I thought the whole
charge thing was a myth until I actually felt it coming off Warren. He says my
energy is compatible with his energy, and he feels better when we're close.
When I say it out loud, it sounds like a lame pick up line, but I know it's
true. But when his energy is agitated, and I am touching him, I can feel it
too. The charge usually feels like intense anxiety. You're just scared out of
your mind for no real reason. But the energy is weird, it can change based on
how he's feeling. Sometimes, it can feel...well, nevermind. *blushes*
Gwen: Hmmm, maybe certain parts of that energy thing make the Wilde men rather in demand...
Last
question. Quick, without thinking: Will or Warren?
Lena: Nice Try.
Gwen: Dang it!
***
Praise for The Charge, by Sharon Bayliss:
"A solid cast of well-developed characters, including a "super-tall" royal Texan family, stars in this thrill ride of a novel teetering between sci-fi adventure and alternate historical epic." ~Publishers Weekly Review (won in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition)
"A solid cast of well-developed characters, including a "super-tall" royal Texan family, stars in this thrill ride of a novel teetering between sci-fi adventure and alternate historical epic." ~Publishers Weekly Review (won in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition)
About The Charge:
When King of the Texas Empire kidnaps Warren's brother, Warren embarks into a still Wild West to save him. On his journey, he makes a discovery that changes his life forever--he and his brother are long-lost members of the Texas royal family and the King wants them both dead.
He gets help from an activist Texan named Lena, who's itching to take on the King and happens to be a beautiful firecracker Warren can't stay away from. Convincing her he's not one of the bad guys becomes harder when a mysterious energy stirs in his body, turning his brain into a hive of emotions and memories--not all his own.
A legacy of violence is not all he inherited from the brutal Kings of Texas. The myth that the royal family possesses supernatural powers may not be myth at all.
Gone are the days when choosing a major was a big deal. Now Warren must save his brother and choose whether or not to be King, follow a King, or die before he can retire his fake ID.
Buy The Charge on Amazon.
About the Author:
As
a child, Sharon enjoyed playing in mud, collecting frogs, and was so certain
that there was a ghost in her closet that her mother admits that she
half-expected to really find one there. She began writing her first novel at the
age of fifteen (handwritten in a spiral marked ‘private’).
A
proud Austinite, Sharon never saw much sense in moving anywhere else and got her
degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin. As an author and
social worker, she has devoted her life to making the lives of real people
better and the lives of fictional people much, much worse. In addition to her
official credentials, she is also an expert in fictional Texas history and
make-believe neuroscience.
When
she’s not writing, she enjoys living in her “happily-ever-after” with her
husband and two young sons. She can be found eating Tex-Mex on patios, wearing
flip-flops, and still playing in the mud (which she now calls
gardening).
Find Sharon here:
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