INTERVIEW QUESTION FOR GUEST BLOGGERS

1.      Tell us about your current series.

I have several series at the moment.  I have a paranormal western romance series called Fevered Hearts that follows the lives of the Kane and Morning Star families.  The Morning Stars are all survivors of the Spirit Fever. The Fever struck and killed whole towns, but the survivors are changed. One is a shape shifter, another a fire starter and still another is a healer.  They do their best to live away from others, until meeting the Kane family.

Other series include Forbidden Legacy, a paranormal romance set against the backdrop of the Fae coming out into the world.  Coming soon are Always a Marine, a contemporary erotic series of shorts featuring retired and current Marines discovering love and passion and The Fortunate Buddha, an erotic romantic suspense and fun adventure series.

2.      What inspired your latest book?

Brave are the Lonely was actually born during the writing of Marshal of Hel Dorado.  Cody’s grief over Scarlett choosing Sam in that book and Kid’s aggravation with a number of events and their both leaving at the end of the first book set the groundwork for the second.  You could say every loner, cowboy movie I’ve ever watched inspired the rest.

3.      What is your favorite part of writing?

My favorite part of writing is diving into the story and experiencing it as I am writing.  The first three chapters are always the hardest, but everything after that just lets me immerse into the story.  Then there’s that moment when we arrive at the last third of the book and that’s a wild ride, I can rarely even slow down my writing much less stop.  That’s fantastic.

4.      What is your next project and when will it be released?

I have two books releasing in April.  The first is Once Her Man, Always Her Man, a 1NightStand contemporary erotic short from Decadent Publishing in early April and an erotic romantic suspense The Love Thieves releasing in mid-April.

5.      What advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?

Edit. Edit. Edit.  Have a critique partner.  Then invest in an editor. It can cost you to get a good, solid pair of eyes to review the manuscript and clean it up for you.  You want to present a polished, professional manuscript and the best possible read for your readers.

6.      Tell us about your hero.  Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.

Cody’s strength and weakness is his strength of character.  He’s extremely stubborn and set in his ways.  His loyalty to his family and even to Mariska while he struggled with his feelings about her is reflective of that strength.  His temper, however, is something of a true weakness.  When he is enraged, he has a hard time seeing past the moment.

7.      Tell us about your heroine.  Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses.

Like Cody, Mariska’s stubborn tenacity serves her well and makes her a survivor.  But her temper leads to impulsive, rash decisions that cost her more in the long run.

8.      What genres are you drawn to as a reader?

I love romantic suspense, mystery, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, romance, paranormal romance and just about every genre I can lay my hands on. I love to read. I love fiction and non-fiction. I love historicals, I love court room dramas, and more,

9.      Do you prefer to read in the same genres you write in or do you avoid reading that genre? Why?

I avoid reading in the same genre as a current manuscript. If I am writing paranormal romance, I don’t read them. If I am writing contemporaries, I skip reading those.  This lets me stay fresh and keep a fresh perspective.

10.   What are you currently working on?

I am working on the third Forbidden Legacy novel for Siren-Bookstrand.

 

Author Bio:

Heather Long lives in Texas with her family and their menagerie of animals. As a child, Heather skipped picture books and enjoyed the Harlequin romance novels by Penny Jordan and Nora Roberts that her grandmother read to her. Heather believes that laughter is as important to life as breathing and that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are very real. In the meanwhile, she is hard at work on her next novel.

 

Blurb:

When death seemed preferable…

Mourning his mate drove fevered wolf shifter Cody out of Texas, but a brother’s need drags him back from the brink.

…and good deeds never go unpunished…

Gypsy princess Mariska only wants to protect her people and her freedom, but a dangerous choice puts her on a collision course with an angry wolf.

…the best thing that could happen to him…

When Cody touches Mariska, his wolf cannot escape the hunger that fills him.  For Mariska, Cody’s touch brings her a pleasure she never imagined, but is it enough to heal his fractured soul?

…was the last thing he expected.

As danger stalks all three of them, they must confront who they are or risk losing Cody forever.

His wolf. His woman. His way.

 

Excerpt:

“Cody,” he murmured. “Keep it together, man. She really didn’t mean for this to happen.”

He bit back the growl at Kid defending Mariska. The wolf disagreed, but Kid’s pain was too raw for this argument. Shushing him, he fed the powder into the water and then forced it down his throat. Two draughts later, Kid’s spasms quieted and he kept the water down. Remembering her advice to get as much water down him as he could, he carried Kid over to the river’s edge, cool, fresh water helped and little by little, Kid’s pallor retreated.

Once he settled him back by the fire, he built the ashes back up. The warmth would help, blankets, too. The strength of the boy’s beating heart quieted the panic pacing through the wolf. Then and only then did he and the wolf look back at Mariska.

Her mussed black hair hung around her face like the curtain of night parting. The morning sun, already halfway up the sky, turned her skin to pure honey. He’d barely noticed her the day before, save for the fire spitting in her eyes. Her obvious irritation irked Cody, after all, hadn’t he saved her from an uncertain fate?

Kill her.

The wolf’s visceral response puffed through him, the fur sliding back and forth beneath his skin, but he caged the wolf’s fury. Lashed to the wagon wheel, the woman presented no real physical threat.

Why had her people left her like that?

Family came first. He was not one of the Kanes with their strange ideas about elevating women to a position of worship. He appreciated their nature where Scarlett was concerned. It satisfied him that she would be treated with gentle, tenderness. She would want for nothing among the Kanes. But Cody nor any of his brothers would have abandoned her.

The wolf’s snort agreed with him.

They’d have burned Dorado to the ground if they’d had to, killed every man in their way to retrieve their sister. Had Cody discovered the Kane brothers drugged and unconscious with Scarlett the culprit, he would have taken care of the problem and moved on, taking her home.

So why had her people done the opposite? What father left his child, vulnerable and alone, with two men who would be in their rights to take whatever they wanted from her?

Rage surged inside of him. Muscles tense, Cody stalked toward her.

Kill her.