Friday, March 8, 2013

Welcome Raven McAllan


When you have that all singing and all dancing feeling life is great. As a writer, to me it means my characters are behaving, the words are flowing and I'm on a roll.
Or that great big squeal, peel me off the ceiling moment when you get the email beginning we would be delighted to…
And cover art…oh my cover art. That sends your heart a flutter. Especially as I have been lucky enough to have great cover artists working on my books.
But of course it isn't always like that. Oh no, very often it’s the grab the chocolate, cuddle the cat and curse the muse, as you want one thing and those pesky characters are having none of it.   That is if you're a pantster like I am. An out and out go where they lead me sort of writer, that's me.
It makes for some exciting moments I tell you. Lots of foot stamping eye rolling and moaning to my crit group. Who all roll their eyes back, give me a hug and sympathize with me—up to a point. A few lines of oh yes tell me about it. Then they say okay get on with it…
So of course after the compulsory choc-fest I do. Roll up my sleeves put on my big girl panties and get on with it.
And yes the story is all the better for it. Just to acknowledge that's the way I write helps.
We all work differently, all have our own voice (thank goodness) and wow what a great diversity of books there out in the bog wide world. There truly is something for everyone.
I'm lucky in that I have been able to write and be published with both contemporary and historical stories, so I don't have to choose. (I couldn't)
My last short story was a Regency in an anthology (Service vol 1) with Breathless Press and my next is A Romance on the Go for Evernight Publishing called Will You Dance Miss Laurence? It's the first in a series called The Dance Studio. Of course here's dancing and there's dancing! Oh and book two Dance To A Different Beat has just been accepted and is due out on May. Yeah, lots of happy dancing.
It seems I'm drawn to series. The House On Silk Street is my Regency, BDSM themed series with Evernight. Book one Silver Silk Ties introduces us to the owner of the house and the manger of the very special club within its walls. Book two, A Shimmer Of Silk shows us how one of the performers challenges her demons, and meets a man who may just be able to help her banish them. And oh yes there is a book three simmering in the depths of my murky mind, along with a few other projects. It depends who shouts the loudest.
I also have a book due out soon, and I'm really happy about it. A Rose Between The Thornes is a sequel to To Please A Lady, one of my Rogue Scandals Regency stories. It's a classic case of a minor character niggling me until I tell her (or his) story.
Am I happy? You bet I am, even on a bad day. I'm in the fortunate position that I'm able to do what I want, and that's write. I've long grown my thick kin, and accepted not everyone will like what I write or how I do it. I think that's a good thing, it would be terribly boring if we all liked the same things now wouldn't it? 
So to tease you, here's the blurb from A Rose Between The Thornes… which will soon be available from www.breathlesspress.com 
Propriety is a lonely bedfellow, until twin delights show this lady her true desires.  
At three and forty Rose Sophia, Lady Symonds has resigned herself to life passing her by. Overhearing her protégée in the throes of passion with not one but two lovers, leaves her wanting and wishing.
That is until she is accosted at a ball by Jasper and Nathaniel Thorne. Newly back in the county the eccentric and much younger twins, have set their sights on Rose, and they are determined to have her, even it means cheating at cards.
Will accepting their wager free Rose and lead her to the heights of passion she craves? Or will their desired drive her away?

And a tease…

"And what, my dear Jasper, do you think we should play for?" she asked using his first name deliberately. For as an older lady, surely that was acceptable? Did he realize the disparity in their ages? She saw by the look in his eyes he knew what she was trying to do. She felt the glance they exchanged rather than saw it.
"Fucking."
She blinked. "I beg your pardon?" Had she heard aright?
"Sex, in a manner we so choose, you and us," Nathaniel replied. "Both of us. All of us. There is no negotiating on this. One night for each game you lose by. We play for one hour."
So they think I will lose. She fancied they might be in for a surprise. "And if I win?" she queried lightly. "Sex in the manner I so choose—if I do? Or a forfeit, from each of you, to be decided by me at a later date? No negotiation."
They may be telepathic, as she believed twins often were, however, the surprised look that passed between them was everything she could have wished for.
"Of course, my lady," Nathaniel said. She nodded, and turned to Jasper. "And you Jasper? What say you?"
 "I say, 'tis a rare person who can tell us apart, something that bodes well for the future, perchance? You will know who is inside you, and where."
She could not help but chuckle. Truly they were incorrigible. "And our wager?" she prompted.
"Be ready to enjoy all we decide to give," he said. "For assuredly we will win."
A thought struck her. She knew this might not be as straightforward as she had first believed. They were devious. "You play as individuals? For two against one is surely not a fair division."
 Nat laughed. "Oh, love, we play alone, we fuck together. And we say now we both must beat you." He laughed as her eyes widened. "At cards, in the first instance, or all bets are off. What say you?"
 Sophia looked at each of them in turn. Her heart leaped with the thought of what his statement meant. She could see no catch, but felt certain there must be one. Slowly, after the silence grew so long and she saw them glance uneasily at each other, she nodded.
"No man beats me in any other way, and if I can help it, not at cards either." She smiled. "Gentlemen, let us play."
A Rose Between The Thornes, is a Regency erotic romance.

Bio…
Raven lives in Scotland, along with her husband and their two cats—their children having flown the nest—surrounded by beautiful scenery, which inspires a lot of the settings in her books.
She is used to sharing her life with the occasional deer, red squirrel, and lost tourist, to say nothing of the scourge of Scotland—the midge.
A lover of reading, she appreciates the history inside a book, and the chance to peek into the lives of those from years ago. Raven admits that she enjoys the research for her books almost as much as the writing; so much so, that sometimes she realizes she's strayed way past the information she needs to know, and not a paragraph has been added to her WIP.

You can find me here…
https://www.facebook.com/rmcallan          (my page)
https://www.facebook.com/ravenmcallan              (author page)












2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't wait for this story to come out!!!

Unknown said...

You are so awesome Raven! Love love live the cover of Rose!

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