Nalini's Tangle of Need Interviews

I thought I would start this topic for a place to put links to Nalini's interviews that she's been doing for Tangle of Need. The latest ones are as follows:

http://supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com/2012/06/interview-nalini-singh.html

http://www.rubysreads.com/2012/06/interview-giveaway-with-nalini-singh.html

A really fun question and here is her answer:

The last time you were here I asked you this question:
If Hawke were to describe Sienna with a single word the moment he saw her upon her defection from the PsyNet, what would that word be? If he had to describe her now?

And you answered:
"I think now and then, he would always call her strong. But now that he knows all the facets of her personality, he’s likely to use words like compelling and intriguing, too,…as well as one other that I’ll tell you after Kiss of Snow releases."

Can we have that last missing word now? :-)

"Mine. :-)"

Another fun question and answer:

If you could take one of your characters on a book tour with you, who do you think would keep you and the fans entertained the most?

"Can I pick one from each series?"

"For the Guild Hunter series, I think Illium would be the hands-down fan favorite. Not only does he like humans, he’s both fun and charming.

For the Psy/Changeling series, I think Drew would be great company—like Illium, he’s witty and intelligent, and also playful.

(And sneaking in one more…) I also think Brenna would be great fun to tour with—she’s so smart with technology that she’d be on top of everything, and she has a friendly personality that means she could strike up a conversation with just about anyone. Also, she could dish about Judd. ;-)

Okay, I’ll force myself to stop there…though I could keep going and going and going…"

Love those interviews, specially the supernaturalsnark one. I hope Nalini will do another Q&A here like she did for BbF.

Great interviews.. I'm still not impressed with the answers she gives re the mating rules. I hope she addresses it clearly and in way that makes sense and fits in with what's already been said because it seems like A LOT of her readers and a lot of bloggers want it clearing up..after investing time and money she needs to give us readers answers and I'm hoping she doesn't just brush it off with the age old 'it's open to interpretationa and there's a lot of hints and vague comments that'll give you answers but you have to look for it'.. I dislike when authors do this especially when it concerns something that's been the fouundation of the books.
I've read quite a few of her interviews, and in one of them she asks whether Kaleb is actually good guy. I think he deffo is but he's got his own agenda.. he's like the new Hawke, becuase everyone was desperate for Hawke's story and now most readers are desperate for a Kaleb book. Nalini wouldn't miss the opportunity and make Kaleb the bad guy when he's so popular with readers and would make a lot of readers happy.

ferdy, I agree with you. I think she has to clear things up and I sure hope she does. I had hoped she would do this in Tangle but it is less clear than it was after Kiss of Snow.

I actually emailed her about a year ago and asked her if she was going to clear up the rules in Tangle. This was her response to me:

"I think the next book (Tangle) in the series will clarify many if not all of the questions you've asked, so I won't answer them right now. I could, but I think the answer(s) will be much clearer and have more emotional depth in the context of the story."

Unfortunately, Tangle didn't clear anything up and actually made it worse for me. I also don't see the point in having stuff like mating rules be unclear. It is a foundation of the world. We all thought we generally understood it and it's only been the last 2 books or so where things started to become confusing and I don't get why that would need to happen. Perhaps there is a reason that will be revealed so I'll be patient (since I've got no choice lol) and especially since she's said more clues will be forthcoming. I hope that is the case and she does make it all make sense by the end of this arc.

I thought I'd be fine with Hawke and Sienna not mating in KoS, but confronted with Adria and Riaz in ToN, I realize I'd be extremely upset if they didn't. I mean, it was easy to speculate the what ifs when they've mated in actuality. ^^
Though yeah, their mating muddled up the mating rules...i'm still glad they did.

I'd be more confused in ToN if Adria and Riaz mated because not only is it possible to have more that one potential mates, but now it seems it's also possible to meet two of them in the same time period. Which is why it's more acceptable to me that they didn't although I wished Adria would find her true mate and be with him instead of settling wth Riaz.

Lulu2011 wrote:
I actually emailed her about a year ago and asked her if she was going to clear up the rules in Tangle. This was her response to me:

"I think the next book (Tangle) in the series will clarify many if not all of the questions you've asked, so I won't answer them right now. I could, but I think the answer(s) will be much clearer and have more emotional depth in the context of the story."

I wonder if she actually thought that she made things clearer?? ToN made the mating rules even more confusing. Like you said, I hope the confusion with the mating rules are part of seperate arc that'll be explained in the next few books. But I have feeling that I won't be satisfied by the explanations about the mating rules .


Yurice, I also want Adria to find her mate. And for Riaz to end up with Lisette..I'd much happier if this happened..I'm upset that it won't .

Yurice wrote:I thought I'd be fine with Hawke and Sienna not mating in KoS, but confronted with Adria and Riaz in ToN, I realize I'd be extremely upset if they didn't. I mean, it was easy to speculate the what ifs when they've mated in actuality. ^^
Though yeah, their mating muddled up the mating rules...i'm still glad they did.

I'd be more confused in ToN if Adria and Riaz mated because not only is it possible to have more that one potential mates, but now it seems it's also possible to meet two of them in the same time period. Which is why it's more acceptable to me that they didn't although I wished Adria would find her true mate and be with him instead of settling wth Riaz.

Yurice, you hit the nail right on the head in regards to the "rules" of mating. There is no "only one" for the changelings...there is any number of possibles...but it is a matter of which possible is the best fit. Think about tissue donors, how many people have the possibility to be a donor of a kidney or heart or whatever, but it takes that one to be the best fit for the receiver. It's not just about blood types matching, there is other things that have to be in place for it to work...like mating, it's not just about the attraction or being cared about, there is more the story that is probably just as mysterious to the changelings as it is to us.

Adria is with her mate...but why haven't they actually formed a bond? Could it be that they are both so soul and heart damaged that they need to heal each other a bit more before the bond can form? Again, it goes to possibilities...Martin was a possible that she gambled and lost on...but she needs to heal the damage that has been done to her because of that gamble before she can truly mate with Riaz. Ask yourself this question: If you had the emotional and psychological damage done to you as Adria suffered, would you be prepared to handle a mate bond and keep it healthy?

Rageane wrote:Yurice, you hit the nail right on the head in regards to the "rules" of mating. There is no "only one" for the changelings...there is any number of possibles...but it is a matter of which possible is the best fit. Think about tissue donors, how many people have the possibility to be a donor of a kidney or heart or whatever, but it takes that one to be the best fit for the receiver. It's not just about blood types matching, there is other things that have to be in place for it to work...like mating, it's not just about the attraction or being cared about, there is more the story that is probably just as mysterious to the changelings as it is to us.

Adria is with her mate...but why haven't they actually formed a bond? Could it be that they are both so soul and heart damaged that they need to heal each other a bit more before the bond can form? Again, it goes to possibilities...Martin was a possible that she gambled and lost on...but she needs to heal the damage that has been done to her because of that gamble before she can truly mate with Riaz. Ask yourself this question: If you had the emotional and psychological damage done to you as Adria suffered, would you be prepared to handle a mate bond and keep it healthy?

I could accept this, that there are a number of possibilities. It's just that in the first 9 books or so that didn't seem to be the case. We had the guys all thinking, ah, that's her, she's my mate. And we had quotes like this from earlier books: From Caressed by Ice: "Though Hawke had been too young for the bond to actually materialize, he had found the woman who was meant for him. That didn't happen twice."

This is why I've always thought there was only one. I could accept the Hawke/Sienna situation because Rissa was basically a baby and Hawke a young child and they never were even close to the mating dance or developing adult feelings for one another. (And because I really, really wanted them to have the bond!) But if she's going to be consistent with what she wrote in CbI then Riaz and Adria will never have the mating bond. Unless the rules are changing and evolving and the changelings themselves misunderstood them. Like Dalton said, the Territorial Wars changed many things. *Sigh* It just seemed pretty clear cut for all these years and I don't get why she's messing with it. She's too good a writer not to have a plan though so I'm hopeful that it will all eventually make sense. I still want Riaz and Adria to have the mate bond.

I'm not a fan of multi potential mates.
And it could be that I'm seeing something that isn't there but Riaz's choice of words interested me when he said that Hawke found his mate twice. He didn't say Hawke found two mates, or even found two of his mates...which implied to me that there can only be one mate to exist at a given time.

During a conversation between Hawke and Brenna in CBI, she said that at a certain age, changelings who didn't find their mates would take a permanent partner. This is how I see Adria and Riaz. Riaz is 36, a year older than Hawke, while Adria is 4 years older than Indigo, so 35/36 years old? I think this is about the right time to take a permanent partner for them, specially Adria who wants a family of her own, and it's not as if they're the only unmated couple there is in the den. No one is going to bat an eye that they're not mates, except us the readers of course. xD
Because changelings have limited lifespans, they don't have the luxury of spending years solely dedicated to finding their mate, they have to live in the moment, grab happiness while the opportunity presents itself. And this is what Riaz and Adria did.

Regarding emotional readiness...I think Adria is ready, she has already taken the risk to be with Riaz, what would she lose by mating with him? Her fears, insecurities were that of Riaz leaving her one day, so the bond won't detract but rather reinforce her emotional security.I don't know about Riaz, perhaps he isn't ready yet, as in 100%, as long as that mating tug towards Lisette, even if it has dulled down to background noise, exist.
Hawke was scared to mate because Rissa broke something in him, and Sienna could do the same, only much more worse that he won't recover...so I can see why he's so hesitant.

I have a theory. Although the mating bond is certainly a reality within the pack and is in fact the most common type of bond, I think the more immediate or rapid "mine" moments of bonding with someone you haven't known and are not from the pack are more than just fate. More than, oh this is the person that completes my soul.

It usually in the series occurs with people who are not changelings or who are not the same kind of changling. I think it's a biological mechanism meant to ensure genetic diversity in a race that tends towards extreme insularity.

Whst do you think? Gives me hope for riaz and adria in any case.

cheebee wrote:I have a theory. Although the mating bond is certainly a reality within the pack and is in fact the most common type of bond, I think the more immediate or rapid "mine" moments of bonding with someone you haven't known and are not from the pack are more than just fate. More than, oh this is the person that completes my soul.

It usually in the series occurs with people who are not changelings or who are not the same kind of changling. I think it's a biological mechanism meant to ensure genetic diversity in a race that tends towards extreme insularity.

Whst do you think? Gives me hope for riaz and adria in any case.

But we have had changelings that have had those instant "mine" moments for each other like Nate and Tammy (cats) and Hawke's parents (wolves). So it's harder to make a case that those instant "mine" moments only occur between changelings and humans or changelings and psy.

Maybe the mating bond can be broken between different species, like Riaz and the human Lisette? Or like Yurice said, maybe there can only be one mate in existence at a time in which case we have to hope that Lisette has an unfortunate "accident" lol. I've got no clue. I hope Nalini does though and explains it so it makes sense though the answer may be one that some of us don't like, which is that the mating bond can be rejected/broken but the male can move on to love (not mate) but still love and be happy. However, that doesn't explain Hawke and Sienna having the bond. So, I'm back to hoping Nalini can explain it and have it make sense.

Well Nate and Tammy did know each other all their lives, he already had an attachment to her, do his choice dictated a part. And I did say usually, not always. I think the mate bond isn't fate, it's more biology and choice. And changelings just haven't questioned it much.

cheebee wrote:Well Nate and Tammy did know each other all their lives, he already had an attachment to her, do his choice dictated a part. And I did say usually, not always. I think the mate bond isn't fate, it's more biology and choice. And changelings just haven't questioned it much.

Well, I've said it before, but maybe the key is choice.

While I believe choice plays a big part, in that the individuals can accept or reject the bond, choosing the mate her/himself is more on the err, fate side...or whatever it is Hawke said that is in perfect sync. Because if left to just making a choice, Riley would have mated to the submissive he dreamed about, and maybe Lucas and Vaughn who weren't keen on finding their mates will probably stay unattached.

Speaking of biology, this reminded me of something I've read once.
http://www.livescience.com/2781-pill-women-pick-bad-mates.html
Nalini is fond of describing scents, that article mentioned how the body sends out aromatic molecules that indicate genetic compatibility. Looks like there's more to it when we read about how Hawke's wolf would roll in Sienna's scent like a pup. XD

Interesting article, Yurice!

I went back and read the Dalton passage and, if the answer is there as Nalini said it is, then maybe it's this part from page 374:

Riaz: "There is no reason for the female to have a choice if it means nothing," he said at last, because while Dalton would share information, he had always made his students find the answers to their own questions.

Dalton: "Yes." Wrinkles fanned out from the corners of the Librarian's eyes. "Perhaps you will be the one who solves this riddle, eh, Riaz? It is ever the lone wolf's task to journey into the unknown alone."

Though, again, part of my problem with this is why is it such a mystery or riddle?

How is it possible that in the entire History of Changelings no woman has ever rejected a mating so that nobody (Dalton, Hawke, Riaz, etc.) knows what the ramifications are?

Lucas said mating is not a choice like marriage, once they found their mate, the only choice is whether to take that final step.
Final step being the bond snapping into place, and it's the female who accept or rejects it

The mating bond is a changeling construct, if the female has the final say, what role does the male have?
And what of the pairings where the female is the changeling, like Lara and Brenna? Does the male accept the bond this time, since they're not changelings, the bond must have formed from the ladies first.

Yurice wrote:Lucas said mating is not a choice like marriage, once they found their mate, the only choice is whether to take that final step.
Final step being the bond snapping into place, and it's the female who accept or rejects it

The mating bond is a changeling construct, if the female has the final say, what role does the male have?
And what of the pairings where the female is the changeling, like Lara and Brenna? Does the male accept the bond this time, since they're not changelings, the bond must have formed from the ladies first.

I really need to go back and re-read Slave to Sensation. What you said makes sense though, Yurice. I guess what we had with Riaz/Adria was that case where a woman basically rejects the bond (and then Riaz does as well) and the aftermath. Based on Riaz/Adria, it is possible to recover and get over that compulsion towards the mate. *Sigh* I don't see how Nalini doesn't see this as a diminishment of the mating bond though. So a changeling spends a couple of years mourning the loss and then goes on to find love and happiness and dancing in the park with someone else. How is that not a diminishment? Riaz says that all he and Lisette had was "a possibility". Well, based on what we've seen with all the other changelings who found their mates, it would have not just been a possibility but a wonderful reality once they got to know one another. They just were denied that opportunity to know one another.

Nalini works really hard to convince us that Riaz and Adria are truly, deeply in love and, yes, to an extent I thought she did that well. Having Lisette show up, having Riaz be able to have her if he wanted but rejct her, having him get to the bottom of the trouble between Lisette and her husband and helping put them back together, having Lisette be human and not wolf so she doesn't feel the same compulsion of the mating bond, having Riaz be a "lone wolf" who takes obsessiveness and protectiveness to an extreme so that once he falls in love with Adria it is implied he will be even more committed to her . . . but still, it just doesn't make mating as special and magical as I once thought. And I thought Adria deserved better.

Though if she had allowed Riaz and Adria to mate (or does down the road) then she has broken one of the fundamental world building rules of mating (the one and one only rule). Unless mating is "evolving" . . . *sigh* . . . see why I'm frustrated? LOL!

I can see how Riaz/Adria diminishes the mating bond. Not when Hawke 'sacrificed' his beloved pack for Sienna, not when Lucas would have sacrificed the Laurens, Brenna for Sascha. It's as if these men were willing to destroy who they are for their mates...then comes Riaz who chose to be with Adria instead of Lisette.

I don't like Riaz, I want someone else for Adria. Joan said that Riaz came at a time when Adria is vulnerable and needy, so it was easy for him to slip into her heart. I agree. If Adria had been happy with Martin, she won't feel any compulsion towards Riaz like Lisette did though she was happily married, simply because they were not mates.

I don't want them to mate, Riaz should just let Adria go so she would find her true mate.

I like Riaz. Nalini wrote him a really tough scenario to overcome and I think she worked really hard to sell his love of Adria. Having your possible mate (Lisette) show up and have Riaz fix her back up with her husband is pretty darn convincing for me . . . however, that being said, the ending with the human couple, while sweet, didn't convince me that changeling mated love and long-term couple committed love are the same and interchangeable. Adria and Riaz still don't have the mating bond and that makes me kind of sad. Which I hate to feel after reading a romance novel.

Like Joan, I can get past it because they are secondary characters, probably only got 50% of Tangle (on purpose) and they won't likely have a major role going forward. If Nalini has more to reveal about the mating rules and that they are evolving and one day Riaz/Adria are able to mate, well, then I'll be happier.

I guess my main grumble grumble in ToN is that I like Adria, but not the man she was paired with. If I didn't like both, I would have happily dismissed them, but I like her.

Mating for Riaz and Adria will be something like the rainbow to a person born blind, he or she will hear from others how beautiful it is, but they will never know it for themselves, and they won't miss it either, just how can anyone miss something they have never experienced?

Nalini has often mentioned about her 'bible' of rules, one she is dedicated to following, so far, I'm happy with the mating rules, the way I interpret them that is. XD

Yurice, is there a particular reason you don't like Riaz, other than his mate is not Adria? His personality? I thought he had a lot of Latin charm lol!

I can't shake the feeling that while he has Adria's all, the same can't be said of him for her.
So yeah, mate got something to do with my dislike too, probably.
It was that he had hurt Adria, even if he did own up his mistake later, nothing will ever excuse what he did. Perhaps I've taken this out of context, but the 'you're my toy' line killed it for me.
Hawke said they don't use each other, but wasn't that what Adria and Riaz has done? But I think of Riaz worse because he entered the relationship, mutual agreement as it is, still under the grip of conflicting emotions. I may have been more receptive to him had he tried to forge a relationship with Adria from the start, not just an attempt to exorcise Lisette from his life.

That changeling touch hunger has come up again. I was never a fan of relationships that began because lust took over. Hawke had been touch starved too, but waited until Sienna was ready, given with their combustible chemistry, he could have easily seduced her, but Hawke chose to come courting instead.
I was more forgiving of Rlley and Mercy because no third party was involved in their...err, mutual agreement. Drew was in for the long haul with Indigo...but Riaz? He wanted to brood after his first sexual encounter with Adria. I just want to knife him in the back! Grrrr!

Maybe in time I'll see differently, but as of now, I don't like Riaz at all.