Welcome to Mike Arsuaga today

Why don't you start with telling us a little about yourself? What genre do you write in and why?

My name is Mike Arsuaga. I’ve written on and off for fifty years. Because of my scientific training (BS Physics) and career in submarines, it was, until recently, science fiction thrillers. After retirement in 2007 I resumed writing after a twenty year hiatus. On We Book a writer and reader support site, someone started a project for erotic short stories. Remembering the racy novels of my misspent Navy youth I cut loose and wrote one called “The Girl in the Library”. It was so well received I turned it into a novel “SUBSPECIES”. The Girl in the Library became chapters one and two of the book. Now I’m five books into the series, pausing only to co-write “My Life as a Dog” with Cynthia, my wife. So far I’ve written strictly erotic paranormal romances, but I’m looking hard at Steampunk and continuing The Subspecies series with more tame episodes.

Tell us a bit about your latest book, and what inspired you to write such a story.

“SUBSPECIES” is the first installment of a series. That follows the evolution of lycans and vampires (The Subspecies) from being the most reviled expression of Creation toward a far higher and better use. Before the series concludes they form a community, found a corporation, have families with a unique set of challenges, explore space, colonize Mars, travel time, and lead humanity to the purpose of life.

Did your book require a lot of research?

In a backward sort of way, yes. I needed to learn the mythology of lycans and vampires to know what to screen out. From the beginning I tried to create a set of creatures that could plausibly exist, especially in the face of challenges imposed by today’s technologically advanced society. My Subspecies develop techniques allowing them to kill once a year, avoiding high profile victims like children or suburban housewives. They quietly prey on inhabitants of society’s fringe. They do not propagate through bites or scratching. Otherwise we’d be up to our ears in them. Mine are a rare mutation within the human genome. They grow up resembling mentally challenged children. At nineteen they emerge. They have world class strength and speed but aren’t superhuman. They live 250 to 300 years. They enjoy enhanced senses and recuperative powers, but can be killed like humans. Those who survive the hormonal trauma of emergence live quiet, mostly solitary lives, changing identities every decade or two to avoid questions why they don’t age.

If you could have any vice without repercussions, what would it be?

To be able to eat without adverse consequence.

If you could have been the servant to any famous person in history, who would that be and why?

HG Wells would be my choice. He had one of the most fertile imaginations in history. His ending to “The War of the Worlds” still hasn’t been topped. I remember, as a kid in 1954, watching with Gene Barry as, with humanity on the brink of collapse, the machines began to peel off and crash into building facades. Being done in by “the humblest things of God’s creation” caught me completely by surprise. Wells also coined the term “Atomic Bomb” in “The World Set Free”, written before WWI. I could learn so much from King Steampunk.

What so you see for the future of publishing and e-books?

As paper becomes more expensive, and electronic devices cheaper and better, there’s only one way it can end. A Kindle in every hand. A library in ever Kindle.

Which of your characters do you love/hate/fear/pity the most and why?

My characters are like children to me. I love them all. Creating them is the closest one can get to being God in this life. I have favorites. Cynthia Meadows from “SUBSPECIES” begins as a dull anorexic sassy teen. Four novels later, she’s an Audrey Hepburn like humanitarian, ageless and on everyone’s’ list of the most beautiful women who ever lived. In “My Life as a Dog” the leader of the New Orleans shifter pack is called the Sufi. His sad wisdom and deceptively keen mind compliments the main character, Drake.

Do you get along with your muse? What do you do to placate her/him/it when she/he/it refuses to inspire you?

My muse and I have a good working relationship. When it gets uncooperative, I stop and do something else. With a six year old granddaughter in the house, “The Official Apple of My Eye” Larrna, that’s not hard.

Do you have another book in the works? Would you like to tell readers about your current or future projects?

Yes “Subspecies, Inc” releases in September. “Children of Subspecies” comes out in December. “The Tenth Legion” arrives in February 2012. The fifth and last, for now, is “Lagrange Point” under review by the publisher.

Have you ever experience weird cravings while you write? If so, what kind?

No, just coffee.

What is the most ridiculous thing that you have thought about doing to any of your characters but never did?

At one point I considered making Sam and Jim, the main characters from “SUBSPECIES” bi-sexual. I’m glad I took a more spiritual tack with them.

If you had to write yourself as a heroine/hero, what kind of heroine/hero would you be? What would you be named?

I did just that. As a college student I wrote “The First Servant”, based on the life of Octavius Caesar. It was Steampunky before the term was coined. I identified with the character Albert Venning as he reunited a balkanized America after a nuclear war.

If your muse were to talk behind your back, what secrets would he/she tell?

It’s not the muse I’d worry about. My wife of thirty-three years knows all the secrets and I pay well for her silence.

If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?

“SUBSPECIES” because it lays out the principles of the world I created and sets the tone for all that follows.

If there was a soundtrack to your latest novel, what genre/songs would be included?
You’re talking to a tone deaf gear headed scientific geek here. I wouldn’t know where to start on that project.

When you're not writing, what do you like to do to just kick back and have fun?
Gardening and keeping after “The Official Apple of my Eye’ Larrna. Trust me, you don’t need much more than that.

If we peeked at your bookcase(s)/e-reader, what kind of books/authors would we find there?

A lot of Homer, Wells Orwell. Some thrillers. Books about base ball history and military campaigns.

Where can we find you on the web?

I’m at http://www.mikearsuaga.weebly.com.

 Subspecies Book Blurb

Available at Muse It Hot

Samantha 'Sam' Johnson gave hundred and thirty year old Vampire, Dr. Jim White the best sex of his life, but she had one more surprise for him.  As a Werewolf she hunted him as he was hunting her.  Through their chance meeting, the two groups within The Subspecies – Werewolves [Lycans] and Vampires - discover each other.  Sam and Jim are the first known Vampire/Lycan pair bond.  As a mathematics professor and man of science, Dr. White rejects the ways and lore of old in favor of modern solutions that, if not acceptable to humans, allow The Subspecies to live invisibly among them, because discovery is their worst fear.  He and Sam use technology to reach out to others and form a support group, 'Critters of the Night'.  The Subspecies are a rare mutation within the human genome. No more than seven hundred have been alive at one time.  They cannot breed with humans or within their own group, but when the Lycan/Vampire pair gets in a family way, a universe of possibilities opens.  The main plot centers on the development of the relationship between Sam and Jim. They learn from past experience and each other, and evolve from two beautiful predators having hot sex to soul mates, still having hot sex.  The subplot explores the challenges that children and family pose and how the community deals with the knowledge that a subspecies’ life is now more than living in shadows, hunting, and fruitless mating.

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT FOR “SUBSPECIES”

My employer, Cynthia Meadows, recently emerged lycan who exploded into the world of high fashion modeling with the force of an Atom bomb, wishes to announce the birth of “Subspecies”. The healthy novel of 73,049 words came into the world on May 6, 2011 at 12:01 AM. It is a sexy paranormal romance about the deep and enduring love between two special beings. Ms. Meadows, whose professional name is “The Fashion Model Known as Cynthia”, will sponsor a series of promotions to be held throughout the web in honor of her dear friends Samantha “Sam” Johnson, lycan mate of Doctor Jim White, himself a vampire and professor of mathematics. The promotions begin on http://linsownfirebrand.blogspot.com/2011/03/lj-holmes-presents-subspecies.html and http://www.tony-paul.com/ . Click “Blog” at top of home page and scroll down
   The purpose is to celebrate the book’s release and promote its virtues throughout the community. Due to Ms. Meadow's recent fortunate change in circumstances, the event has been relocated from Doctor White's apartment to the Grand Ballroom of the Charles Weston, the crown jewel of hotels in this university town.

The event is monumental for all subspecies. As the first lycan/vampire couple, Sam and Jim have much to teach our kind.

All subspecies as well as their human familiars are invited.

RSVP at http://museithotpublishing.com

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Raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mike completed careers in the United States Navy Submarine Force and the Transportation Security Administration.  He lives in Orlando Florida with wife and Editor in Chief Cynthia, daughter Jennifer, six year old granddaughter Larrna and partner in crime Thumper, a Yorkshire terrier. 

Mike’s extensive travels in the Navy took him to throughout the US, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, providing accurate and vivid settings for his stories.