Bad Ass Chicks That Bite: Eileen Wilks/ Character Interview

Hello everyone!
Here today to share a wonderful author! First of all I would like to thank Lily And Rule for being with us today, I know that their time is very dear since the war begain!

* Rule has become the poster Man for the Lupi, how does that effect your life on a personal level?

Rule: It's been interesting to see how many people have opinions on how I should conduct my personal life--opinions and speculation they feel compelled to share on blogs, tweets, Facebook, and in articles in celebrity magazines.

Lily (snorts): That's him being diplomatic. He doesn't let it get to him, though. Most of the time.

*Do you both feel like Toby is adjusting well to all the changes going on in his life? Is he asking for siblings, and do you want more children?

Rule: He misses his grandmother, of course. She's been out to visit him once, but it isn't the same. Still, he loves it at Clanhome. Oh--I suppose you didn't know about that? We're living there now.

Lily: Toby is amazing. I've always heard about how resilient kids are, and he's proving that true. And no, he never asks for siblings. He knows that's unlikely--all lupi kids know about the fertility problem. But maybe he doesn't miss having brothers and sisters now that we're at Clanhome. You should see the way kids club up together there, in and out of each other's houses all the time. It's like they all have lots of siblings.

*What would you guys say to the doubters about your relationship? What would you say is the easiest part of your relationship and what would be the hardest? Can you both remember what the biggest surprise you found out about one another?

Lily: I don't say anything to the doubters. None of their business.

Rule: The easiest part is what I would have thought, before meeting Lily, would be hardest--living intimately and daily with someone not raised in the clans. There are a thousand opportunities for friction as we deal all the minutae of sharing space, from dividing chores and drawers to learning each other's privacy settings, moods, and favorite foods. But Lily makes it easy. She's compulsively fair-minded--

Lily: Compulsively?

Rule: Your Priority Scale.

Lily: That's a perfectly reasonable way to decide when to let things slide and when to speak up.

Rule: It is. Absolutely and beautifully reasonable. But most people don't have any idea what their priorities are, much less a scale.

*What is this priority scale?

Lily: It's simple enough. If something's bugging me, I think about where it hits on a ten-point scale. If it's one to three, I forget it. It's not worth worrying about. Seven to ten, I'd better talk about it with Rule. It matters, and he needs to know that. If it falls in the middle--from four to six--it might be good to find out if there's a comfortable compromise. Or not. Like if something's a four for me and a nine for Rule, I let him have that one. It matters to him a lot more to him than to me. Take his paper piles on the dining table. I don't like clutter, but that's how he works. It's important, so I don't worry about it. If we're both a four or five, though, we should each give a bit.

Rule: And it works. It works because Lily means it. Once she's scored something one to three, she truly does forget about it.

*So Rule, having two mantles must be strange to you, I mean, I am sure the Noholai and the Leidof mantles must be conflicting for you? Do the natures of each mantle battle for dominance or do they sit comfortable together? Rho of both or master of none?

Rule: I'm sorry, but I really can't discuss that with out-clan.

*Do you both feel like you will ever move to Clanhome?

Lily: There's a war on. We already did. [find out about this in DEATH MAGIC]

*Lily, does it ever get any easier getting used to having pieces and memories missing from yourself? (and this is my own curiosity, how does it feel talking to dragons?)

Lily: No, I'm whole now. I came together again when Sam used my true name. [in BLOOD MAGIC] As for talking to dragons . . . that's really weird at first. You can't mistake mindspeech for your own thoughts. You just can't, so all of a sudden there's this voice in your head when all your life the only thoughts there were your own. It's like all at once you see another color, a whole new color that didn't exist before. It's not orange or blue or red or green or any version of them. It's brand new. So that's startling, but after awhile it isn't new anymore, but it's still interesting. It's really interesting, and now that I know there are millions of other colors out there . . . human colors, so yeah, they're muddy, like Sam always complains. But still pretty cool. Or it will be if I ever learn how to do mindspeech halfway right.

*Is it hard to keep you personal and professional lives separate? I know that Rule, God love him, is bossy and sometimes it would be difficult to keep them seperate!

Rule (glancing at Lily): I don't think we do keep them separate.

Lily: No, we don't. Being Rho to one clan and Lu Nuncio to another . . . that's not Rule's profession. That's a huge part of who he is. Can't fence it off.

Rule: And Lily is a cop . A warrior. Why would I ask her to separate that part of herself? Why would I want her to?

*How is Cullen and Cyna getting along? I must say I am looking forward to seeing the new little one! I know all of my readers would kill me if I don't get an update!

Lily (smiling): It's really something, you know, watching the two of them together. They fuss and bicker and then they touch and they smile at each other and it's all there in their eyes. It's all right there.

Rule: My friend is happy. I've known him twenty years, and he's happy now. And little Ryder is part of his happiness, but not all. Not by any means all.

Lily: She's really something isn't she? I haven't been around babies much, but they feel . . . when you hold her and she looks up at you with those big blue eyes . . .

Rule (taking Lily's hand): Yes.

*What would you guys say will be your biggest challenge to overcome to have some piece and quiet in your life?

Rule: We're at war. Peace and quiet are always at a premium during war.

*Now we will ask some fun things, enough of the heavy, and onto...What is your all's favorite color, and Rule you cannot say black, lol!? What is your favorite meal that makes your mouth water just to think about it? If you could go any where in the world for vacation, where would you like to go? Are either of you ticklish? In a battle of words, which of you would run circles around the other?

Rule (apologetically): You must remember that I'm not as visually oriented as a human. I don't think I have a favorite color.

Lily: He likes silver a lot. And green.

Rule (surprised): I suppose I do. For the rest . . . a t-bone, rare. New Zealand, because I've never been there. We're both ticklish, but in different places. And Lily wins every time, in every way.

Lily: See that? See how he answered? That's why he ends up winning. Every time, in every way.

They look so good together! I wish them well in all of their endeavors, now and in the future! Thanks so much for being here!