Lyn, I had the
pleasure of reading the first in your Texas Devlins trilogy and
thoroughly enjoyed it. That said where did you come up with the idea?
First of all, thank you so much for having
me here today, Ciara. I’m glad you enjoyed Darlin’ Irish, book one in the
trilogy. The idea for the heroine, Jessie’s clairvoyant ability grew out of my
own prophetic dreams years ago. As you might guess, that experience stuck with
me, so when I chose to include a paranormal element in Jessie’s story, it was a
no-brainer to give her dreams and visions of future events. From there, I
decided she and her two siblings would be descendants of a secret line of Irish
Celtic Druids, from whom they each inherited a unique psychic gift.
How did you get your start as a romance writer?
Well, I have always loved reading
historical romances, and years ago I decided to try writing one. After many
false starts, I finished the first version of Darlin’ Irish, joined
Romance Writers of America and a local chapter in North Texas. Urged on by other
authors, I submitted my manuscript to a New
York publisher. It was rejected. I re-wrote it, did a
lot of cutting, and signed on with an agent. He sent my baby off to several
publishers. One kind of liked it but none bought it. I wrote a sequel, Dashing
Irish, under a different title (I hadn’t yet added the paranormal
elements) and went through the whole process again. This took place over a
period of years, since I’m a slow writer and publishers are also notoriously
slow to reply. Growing discouraged, I pretty much gave up writing for a while.
Then Amazon started their Kindle Direct Publishing program. My friend and critique
partner, Sharla Rae, nudged me in that direction and in November 2010, I
self-published my first book. I’m happy to say it received some great reviews,
and I’ve now published a total of six books.
Can you describe your “writing cave”?
LOL! My cave is mobile since I work on a
laptop. Often, I park in my recliner in the living room; other times, when I
want peace and quiet (my husband loves to watch TV) I move into our bedroom and
set up camp on the bed with papers and research books spread out around me. Mind
you, I do have an office with a nice big desk and shelves full of books, but
since getting rid of the old desktop computer, the office just isn’t “home”
anymore.
What can readers expect of you next?
So glad you asked! I’ve started a new
series title The Scrolls of Danu. It’s contemporary rather than historical, but
again features a paranormal theme. The series will consist of nine or ten short
books, each a separate story, yet bound together by a larger ongoing plot. I
had hoped to have the first book out by now, but four trips within the past few
months and promotional efforts have bogged me down. It now looks like Beyond
the Darkness (book one) may hit the virtual shelves in mid November. I
hope!
Do you work on more than one project at a time?
Not as a rule until, but I do have three
books in the new series going at the same time now.
Just for fun, which do you prefer most and why? Popcorn and a
football game or a picnic by the lake?
Picnic by the lake, definitely. I’m not
much of a sports fan, although I do love popcorn.
Please share with readers an excerpt from your most current work.
Love to! This is an excerpt from Dearest
Irish, Texas Devlins - book three.
Setting the scene, Choctaw Jack has
kidnapped Rose Devlin from her brother’s Texas
ranch. He knows of her ability to heal with her mind and is whisking her north
to the Indian Territory, hoping she can save
his dying mother.
Rose regained her senses
slowly. Feeling herself rock to and fro, she groggily recognized the loping
gait of a horse beneath her. But how could that be?
She forced her eyes open,
taking in the starlit sky and the dark landscape passing by. Blinking at the
sight, she realized she was seated crosswise on the horse – in a man’s lap.
Just like that, the scene in her bedroom with Jack came back to her, and she
knew whose chest she leaned upon and whose arm was locked around her.
Panicking, she cried out in
fright. Pain lanced through her jaw, reminding her of the blow her
teacher-turned-abductor had delivered just before she’d sunk into oblivion.
“Easy now,” the brute
murmured. “You’re all right. Nobody’s gonna hurt you.”
She threw her head back to
see his shadowed features. “I’m not all right, ye . . . ye kidnapper!” Cupping
her painful jaw, she demanded, “Take me back this instant!”
“Can’t do that, Toppah.”
“But ye must! Tye and Lil
will be looking for me.” Catching the odd word he’d spoken, she repeated it. “Toppah?
What’s that?”
“It’s you. It means
yellow-hair.”
“Oh. Well, don’t be calling
me that again. Now turn this horse around and take me back,” she again
demanded.
“Nope. We’re heading for the
Nations. You might as well relax and enjoy the ride.”
“Enjoy the ride, is it?
You’re daft!” She pushed at his steely arm and attempted to twist free, but,
although his hold caused no pain, it was unbreakable. Feeling smothered and
panicky, she shoved at his chest, managing to create a small space between
them.
“Be still,” he ordered
sharply. “Do you want to fall off and break your neck?”
Before she could reply,
another man’s voice sounded nearby, speaking in an unfamiliar tongue. Unaware
of his presence until that moment, Rose uttered a frightened cry and instinctively
shrank against Jack. His arm tightened around her for a moment. He said
something to the other man then spoke softly to her.
“Don’t be afraid, Poe-lah-yee. That’s only Tsoia. He is my
friend, my blood brother. He won’t touch you as long as he thinks you’re mine.”
“Yours! I’m not yours!” she
shrilled, once more stiffening against him.
“You might not want to let
him know that.”
Twisting her upper body and
craning her neck, Rose caught a glimpse of the other Indian’s shadowy form. He
rode near them and, unless she was mistaken, he led another horse.
“What did he say?” she
warily asked.
“He said you screech like an
owl,” Jack replied, a grin in his voice.
Rose huffed in annoyance,
not liking the comparison. After a moment’s silence, she asked in a softer voice,
“And what did ye call me a minute ago?”
“Poe-lah-yee. It means
rabbit.”
“Rabbit! I told ye before
I’m no scared rabbit.” Although she did feel like one just now, she privately
admitted. “Oh, and my hair’s not yellow, ’tis strawberry-blonde. That’s what
they’re calling the color back in Chicago
these days.”
“That right? Well, I guess I
could call you Poe-aye-gaw. That
means strawberries.”
“For goodness sake, can’t ye
call me by my proper name?”
“I dunno,” he drawled. “Poe-aye-gaw is kinda nice, or maybe P’ayn-nah. That means sugar. Yeah, I
like that one.”
Sugar? Did he think her
sweet? And what if he did? It made no nevermind to her. Snorting in disdain,
Rose squirmed uncomfortably in his lap.
List a link for your book, any other links where we can find you.
My pleasure, Ciara. Readers can purchase Dearest
Irish here:
Readers can find me here:
It took a comment on one of my Amazon reviews to spur me to action but I'd always intended to create new covers for self published books. It's just at the time of publication, I could find nothing that suited me, so I painted my own. I'm going to keep the cover of Sarah's Brass Token as is as that one holds special meaning. However, the rest all have new looks.
I kinda wanted to keep the old cover of Texas Forged but I recognized I had problems with some of the perspective so I went in search of a stock photo I thought might work. I found several I really wanted from Inmagine so I sent them a simple query. I wanted to know licensing information in terms of e-book covers. All they had listed were terms for print covers. Everything else was in legalize I didn't fully understand. Their answer was to ask me which photos interested me? Okay, I'll bite so I sent them a list. Their new response was to set me up with an account manager. Hmmm, I just wanted a simple question answered. Needless to say, I did not register with them and their handling of my question spurred me into looking at a different avenue. At this point I could go with www.romancenovelcovers.com/ or www.hotdamndesigns.com
I admire Jimmy Thomas and the work he does, but I felt like I had more variety with Hot Damn Designs. The hardest part for a historical western romance writer is finding images where the cowboy is dressed in period clothing. I think I may shoot them both a note with regards to this. I also had a difficult time finding a male cowboy model with red hair for Eliza's Copper Penny. I figure for this cover, there's enough shadow that hides the model's true hair color. 
One would think the stock photo sites would offer writers more choices when it comes to models for our covers. On the other hand, I'm so very glad they do have sites and images for our use.
