Book Review and Interview with Nadja Notariani, author of The Third Fate

Today we welcome author Nadja Notariani, author of The Third Fate. I got the chance to interview Nadja and found her to be a charming gal with a great imagination! Read on to learn more about her and to read my review of her novel, The Third Fate. By the way, we are also doing a giveaway for her book, too. Be sure to leave a comment in order to be eligible!

Mary Ann: Thanks for chatting with us! I really enjoyed your book, The Third Fate.

Nadja: Thank you for having me today at All Things Writing!  I'm so glad to be here.

Your book, The Third Fate, takes place in Scotland. Have you ever been there? Do you consider yourself a world traveler?

I have never had the pleasure of visiting Scotland, but if I ever possess the good fortune to earn scads of cash at this writing gig...my sister and I have a 'What Happens On The Isles, Stays On The Isles' trip planned.  We plan to finish our grand tour in Scotland. 

As for being a world traveler...Don't I wish it!  World travel is, however, on my list of things to do before I depart this realm. 

Which was your favorite character to write? Why?

Gosh!  I'm not sure I had a favorite.  I liked each character for different reasons.  Cael for being sufficiently tortured yet still open to and craving the love that had always evaded him.  Paige for being so humble and sincere – for her fear at taking that leap.  Malcolm for being so single-minded once he set his course.  Pilar for grabbing hold of her hopes and dreams with both hands.  I got to pull all the things I admire, commend, or even loathe, into the mix of my characters.  Would they have been as fun to write without the tension of playing off one another?  I'm not sure!

I loved that the Fates were children! What prompted you to move out of the traditional view of the Fates and in a different direction?

Sheer chance – or accident, I assure you!  

We (my teen-aged son and his friends, myself, and my husband) were sitting around the kitchen table.  They were chatting it all up and I was working on my character profiles for The Third Fate.  Anyway, I broke into the conversation and asked if I should make the fates like the sirens, like old gnarled witches, or should I make them like...

“You should make them little kids!” one of my son's friends popped off with. 

I immediately agreed with the idea, and it was a settled matter. 

(They've all asked me to tell what my other option was... but I'm saving it for another story.  :)

The Third Fate has several sex scenes in it. Many writers struggle with writing those. How do you approach the sex scene? Are you ever worried about how it will read?

Sex scenes can be troubling to write!  Different characters would have different intimate habits – yet it's the same writer describing them all. 

I tend to write the sex based on the personalities I've crafted for the individual character.  Some people are more intense than others – and I try to carry that over to the bedroom.  I rely on my beta feedback to make sure the sensual scenes read sensually and the hot scenes read with some heat!  Mostly, I approach them with fun in mind.  I'm writing about practically perfect men – what's not to enjoy, right?

We talk a lot about the process of writing at All Things Writing, particularly the process of writing strong dialogue. Is it easy or hard to write great character interaction when your main character has such a strong accent as Cael does? It reminded me a lot of the characters in The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Do you have to work harder to make the dialogue sound natural?

Strong dialogue breathes life into a character.  But there has to be balance, a fitting of words to personality, turn of phrase to the speaker who utters them.  I tend toward very formal sounding speech when I write, and that worked within the framework of The Third Fate's ancient characters.  I have to be careful when writing something contemporary, though.

Cael's accent was a great deal of fun for me.  I've enjoyed Highlander novels for years – and hoped to one day write one.  Suddenly, I thought to myself, 'Why not combine my two loves right now and write a sexy vampire who is also a strapping Scot?'  It was a fun 'Eureka!' moment.  But I had doubts along the way, too.  Changing words as I wrote them to 'sound' Scottish was challenging.  I wanted to capture the 'feel' of a Highlander without stealing reader enjoyment at having to 'decipher' what the heck he was saying.  * I am so taking the comparison to Gabaldon's style of writing accents into her Outlander series characters as a compliment.  You've made my day! 

Thanks for being with us! I look forward to reading more of your work!

Again, I want to thank you for having me over today to talk about my writing process, characters, and The Third Fate.  It's been great! 

Vist me at http://nadjanotariani.blogspot.com/

The Third Fate Review

So I have to be honest: I'm not a "vampire" girl. I didn't get in to Twilight. I never really saw the point of the Vampire Diaries, and while I like True Blood, in the end I could take it or leave it. When I picked up Nadja Notariani's (try saying that name five times fast!) book, The Third Fate, I wasn't sure if it would be my cup of tea. After all, the male protagonist is…you guessed it…a vampire! However, he's a Scottish vampire with a sexy accent that gives him total bonus points! It was a little like reading a character who could have been in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.

 Of course, I would never let such a thing sway my opinion on a book though…at least, not much! So when I tell you that I really enjoyed the tale of The Third Fate, even with the vampire element, you know I mean it.

 Here's the low down on the story as printed on the book:

 Cautious and quiet by nature, Paige Kinnell watches life unfold from the sidelines, maintaining her simple existence as a shield to hide behind. But underneath her shy, careful ways, Paige senses a disconnect with the world around her, indulging instead her ever curious interest in the legend and lore of time nearly forgotten.

One chance encounter with an ancient of the undead begins an unraveling of reality as Paige knows it, leaving her to sort through dreams and enchantments, discovering along the way that one's Fate can be mere illusion, and that the consequences of opening her heart to another may cost dearly.

Cael Maccinnis, the handsome Highlander she's met, seems the answer to every unspoken longing of her heart, even as he awakens dark, secret desires buried within her soul. As strange and unnerving changes begin occurring in her mind and body, Paige has no choice but to face her life's unnatural turn and confront the frightening implications. For within Paige's past a secret lay dormant, hidden even from her. This truth, guarded well and wielded by the Fates themselves, becomes the catalyst invoking the power of The Third Fate.

 Nice, huh?

 I found this book to be a fast read with lyrical prose and vivid descriptions of its hero/heroine. Paige and Cael are definitely well developed characters who evolve and change as the story progresses.  In a book with paranormal elements that evolution is probably one of the most important things an author can do to keep the story moving forward. Unlike some novels where the two lovers never really learn anything about themselves, Notariani does a good job of avoiding this trap and investing the reader's interest in their fates.

 In case you haven't figured this out from the above interview questions, The Third Fate has some sex scenes in it that are fairly explicit. If this is not your thing, you either want to skip over those parts or skip this read. Sex scenes aren't the easiest thing to write, and it's hard to make the characters not sound cheesy or stilted when writing sex scene dialogue. However, the author manages to make everything sound natural and I didn’t flinch at anything.   

 My only criticism would be that I wanted to know more about a few of the villains in the book, especially Gwendolyn. She is a character with lots of "bad guy" potential that could have been explored a bit further. Like I said, this is a fast read. A few more action scenes with Gwendolyn would have kept the reader on their toes and rooting for Paige and Cael even more.

 Best part of this book: The Fates that control everyone's world are not your typical three sisters we see so often in mythology or other stories. They are kids! Makes total sense to me as I sometimes think that it has to be a child doling out the craziness in my life!

 Be sure and check out Nadja Notariani's book, The Third Fate. You can purchase your own copy at the following link:

Amazon