Interview with Cindy Borgne, author of Native Shifter

Summary:

Native Shifter is a paranormal romance set in the mid 1770’s. It’s the first book in the Freedom Shifters Trilogy. 

Leotie values her freedom and peaceful life with her tribe more than anything. However, the outlanders want more and more of their land. They are given the ultimatum to leave their home or die. Soon the Mahasi are going to war with an unpredictable enemy. Leotie wasn’t born to stay home and string beads. She’s a hunter and a warrior who gets a chance to defend her people, but what she doesn’t know is that a powerful shifter is watching her. He’s about to turn her world upside down.

Keme is a native young man who believes he’s a coward. He’s nothing like his father the Great War Chief. Everyone knows him as the one who ran from battle. Secretly, he trains to be a healer. He tries to warn his people that going to war with the outlanders will end in many deaths, but only a few will listen. He wants to make Leotie his life-bond, but with his reputation how can he ask her?

1. What inspired you to write Native Shifter?

Most of the time my inspiration for novels comes from a combination of ideas. Native Shifter evolved from a novelette I wrote called “TransShifter.” However, that was about an alien shifter, while Native Shifter is about werewolf shifters. I had also wanted to write a story about Native Americans. So, the two ideas combined to became “Native Shifter.”

3. Tell us a little about your main character, Leotie.

Leotie is a Native American tomboy. She doesn’t like domestic duties, and would rather be hunting. Leotie insists she should be a warrior in their next battle. She doesn’t want anything in her world to change, but unfortunately there are many forces that will make that impossible for her.

Keme (Leotie’s love interest) is also a main character. He once ran away from a battle when he was twelve and has considered himself a coward ever since. His father wants him to be a warrior, but he wants to be a healer.  

4. What was unique about the setting of the book, and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

The story takes place in the mid-1770s, and most of the setting is either in the woods or at a Native American camp site. Since so many shifter books take place in modern times, it makes me wonder if readers will give it a chance. However, I think the setting enhances the story because it lets the reader visit a different world.

5. What research did you have to perform to back up your story?

There was a lot of research involving Native Americans and that time period. To help with description, I collected a lot of pictures on Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/cindersann0341/native-shifter/

6. Why did you choose to write Native Shifter in third person point-of-view?

I have written two novels in first person, but this time I wanted to have the view point from both Leotie and Keme. Also, I wanted to have the viewpoint of the antagonist, Markus, for the purpose of adding suspense. Hopefully it worked. 

 
7. Which is your favorite scene from your book?

The very last scene, which I can’t tell you about or that would be a spoiler. However, there is a scene where Leotie struggles to act like a human, even though she’s stuck in wolf form. She believes that if she rejects wolf traits, it will help find a way to be human again. It comes across as some comic relief. I always smile when I read it.

8. What do you have planned for Leotie in book 2 “Rebel Shifter?”

I’m hoping to publish Rebel Shifter about 1 or 2 months after the release of Native Shifter. Leotie starts out in the first book as a person who only knows a life with her tribe. Throughout the series, she’s pushed to go places and do things she never thought she would do.