I’m interviewing the fab Jaime Rush and she’s chatting about the latest book in her Offspring series, TOUCHING DARKNESS. Please extend Jaime a warm welcome and don’t be afraid to ask questions or comment because Avon Books is generously giving 3 (three) copies of her book.

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Hi Jaime, TOUCHING DARKNESS (which has an awesome cover by the way) is the third book in your Offspring series. Can you tell us a bit about the series and then specifically, TOUCHING DARKNESS?

I know, I love the covers Avon has given me.

The series is about a group of twenty-somethings who live ordinary lives but possess extraordinary psychic abilities. They are the Offspring of parents involved in a mysterious experiment gone awry. Sexy…dangerous…outcasts… They are being hunted by the government and others like them. Together they must find the truth and fight an enemy out to destroy them.

In A PERFECT DARKNESS, and OUT OF THE DARKNESS, we get to know two couples and watch their personal and romantic journeys. The Offspring are putting together the clues, but they need to take a chance and contact Nicholas Braden, an Offspring who is working for the enemy. TOUCHING DARKNESS is Nicholas’s story.

Nicholas has been contracted by the government to use his psychic skill for finding things to rescue hostages. But first he’s been tasked with finding these terrible Rogues (who are actually the good guys). As he begins to doubt his boss, he’s also falling for his boss’s assistant, Olivia, who is loyal to the program. Maybe a bit too loyal. She’s in the way of finding the truth, but can he convince her to see beyond her blind faith? And what will it cost her when she does?

Your hero, Nicholas Braden in TOUCHING DARKNESS is a psychic spy? Would you consider him an alpha or a beta hero, or perhaps something in between?

He’s probably more beta than the other guys in the series, at least in the beginning. He’s all anti-violence because of his work finding the remains of murder victims. But the truth about his father’s death is at stake, and then his life and the lives of the Rogues, and then Olivia’s, and he discovers he’s willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to protect his own. He was interesting, because he was a very black and white guy in the beginning. You’re either good or bad, right?

The Rogues, though, aren’t totally either, and neither is his boss. At Nicholas’s heart, he realizes that he, and all mankind, are shades of gray, and that’s all right.

The heroine, Olivia, you describe as naïve and obedient in the beginning into a woman of her own. What’s the appeal about writing that kind of character growth?

I love to watch someone grow into their own. She’s been manipulated into believing that family loyalty is the most important thing in the world. Facing the truth about her father means losing everything, especially when that father raised her single-handedly. That she grew into her strength and independence, despite the stakes, was a lot of fun for me to witness as I wrote her story.

You wrote 18 novels as Tina Wainscott. Why did you decide to write under a new name?

My last Tina Wainscott novels had moved away from both romance and paranormal. I was in need of change in my career and I thought that was it. Ultimately, though, I love writing paranormal and romance into my suspense plots, and I parted ways with my former publisher and let my muse run wild with new ideas. She came back with a very sexy, paranormal series, and when I sold it to a new publisher, they felt it would be best to bring me out under a fresh new name.

Will you ever write under the name Tina Wainscott or is that name retired for good?

I had run out of romantic suspense and suspense ideas, but I’m open for writing more when my muse is ready. For now, though, I’m happy to grow the Jaime Rush name.

Who and what kinds of books did you read growing up?

I loved the short story compilations of Alfred Hitchcock. I also loved V.C. Andrews’s gothic tales. I always tended toward the dark and paranormal types of stories.

If you had to pick one, which author or books most influenced your decision to become a writer?

Reading fed me, but I’ve always been a storyteller, even as a child, so I’m not sure there was an actual book or author who inspired me from the beginning.

What’s coming up for you next? Will there be more books in the Offspring series? Can you share any part of the story’s plotline with us?

Book Four in the series, BURNING DARKNESS (January 2011), features Eric Aruda. Readers have been clamoring for his story, and I had so much fun writing it. He’s sort of been the bonehead alpha in the group, angry and reckless, with no problem killing those who deserve it. He can start fires with his mind, which is both his light and dark side. But he grows a lot, as all my characters do. This book wraps up the government arc. I think that’s long enough for readers to follow, and thus, they get satisfaction at seeing an ending to the arc but not the series. The mystery of what they are is solved, and they face their most lethal nemesis yet. As for the romance … let’s just say he gets a heroine who is more than his match. There will be at least two more books in the series, both of those more stand alone.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell the readers about you or your book?

For every book release, I host my Kick Butt First Line contest with cash prizes. Shocking, suspenseful…make us want more! For aspiring authors, it’s a chance to get your name out there and add a “win” to your bio. For readers, it’s a chance to play at being a writer, and everyone has at least one good line in them, right? The entries are a lot of fun to read! For details, go to www.JaimeRush.com and click on the Contest link. This contest runs from through June 1, 2010.

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Thanks for dropping by today Jaime and I hope you’ll come back when BURNING DARKNESS releases!