Free accidental 09.5 - interview with an accidental by dakota cassidy

Interview With an Accidental
    First, hello! I’m Dakota Cassidy, and since my first traditionally published book in 2008, I’ve written a series for a New York publisher titled The Accidentals. Think heroine or hero in every kind of accidental situation you could possibly find to turn a poor soul into one type of paranormal species or another (werewolf, vampire, demon, etc). In fact, I’ve written so many accidents, I was this close to writing the Accidental Iguana—no, I’m joking…
    Mostly.
    Then think The Accidental Fill in the Blank —or Accidentally Fill in the Blank —as the standard prefix for each title in the series. Next, add a hero and heroine thrust into a very, very (very!) dangerous situation while trying to adjust to swapping their mortal lives for immortality and fangs or fur or, yes, even scales. But in the midst of all that chaos and insanity, each hero or heroine somehow manages to find love while surviving some seemingly insurmountable hurdles.
    Thus, every Accidental up to this point has the same type of formula, in that the lead protagonist becomes a paranormal due to accidental circumstances. However, they all go on very different journeys.
    The series is set in New York (with one or two exceptions, like The Accidental Dragon , set in Vermont) because that’s my home state, and I missed it terribly, but I actually wrote the better part of the series when I lived in Texas (where I swear I lived two feet from the sun).
    Writing a series set in New York made me feel closer to the things I loved and longed for the most (think amazing Chinese food, pizza, Broadway!).
    Anyway, I’m out here in the publishing world as an Indie now, and with the series nine books deep, as I considered publishing these on my own, I thought, how in the ever-lovin’ hell would you awesome, new-to-the-series readers be able to pick up this next batch of books and understand who three of the main series characters were without having to invest your trust funds to do it?
    Because again, the series is nine books deep. Ninenineniiinnnne!
    Now, while each book in the series has a stand-alone HEA (happily ever after), the three characters who began this crazy, amazing ride for me, and some of their closest friends they’ve adopted into the Accidental family along the way, are the heart and soul of the series. They’ve been in every book since the start and are also who this new string of self-published books will continue to be driven by.
    My girls from the first three books, Marty, Nina, and Wanda, own a company called OOPS—which I’ll explain later—and it’s how they keep finding others like them and what really allows the series to grow.
    Anyway, as I considered writing more of this world, I pondered how to publish these from a traditional standpoint…
    And then I thought, “Hey, Dakota! You can do whateverthefluff you want now that you’re self-publishing. Why not just introduce the important players from the series interview-style? Let new readers get to know them, and then jump right into book number ten?”
    But then I thought, “Jesus and a Powerpuff Girl, there’s a lot of back story in nine books and many, many relationships have developed and grown deeper as a result.”
    You know, like when you have a group of friends and you have jokes only the group of you understand and laugh about? Or you have a favorite experience you’ve all shared and you recall it with a catchphrase, or sometimes even just a facial expression? There are some nuances that just can’t be explained unless you’ve been along for the ride.
    But I’ll do my best to give you a brief overview of how each of the three original characters became paranormal without any spoilers about their actual stories, and you can decide whether you want to jump on into the Accidental pool with the rest of us or not—but I so hope you will!
    Also to note, I’ve included a bonus chapter of the next Accidental I’m writing, titled Accidentally