Dangerous Hero Addict Support Group discussion
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The Author's Nook
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Getting to Know Pamela Clare
Pamela wrote: Thanks so much for saying that. I read a review recently that said, "When you read one of her love scenes, you've read them all," which kind of bummed me.Someone said this about you?
Hi, Nissie — Thank you so much! That's very sweet of you to say. We all have our struggles. I've been very lucky in some respects and have had a way to channel the emotions from the things that have happened in my life.As for that number — 12...
I was engaged to a Dane. That got broken off. Hooked up a couple of times. Was married to an American...
I've been single since my divorce 14 years ago — that's a long time, I know. I avoided dating when my kids were little because I didn't want them to see a revolving door on mommy's bedroom. Then I started writing and there was no time.
I went out with one guy who wanted me to write less to be with him more. Broke it off right then. So sorry, dude. If it's between you and Julian, Julian wins hands down...
I have a question for you, Pamela.What does it take for a story to merit being told by you?
Oh, Karen, that cracks me up!!!! Excellent! I'm so glad you were able to share that book and for such a fun reason. As for reading vampire books making people want to drink blood... If that were true, wouldn't people be getting bitten on the streets at night now with TWILIGHT all over the place and TRUE BLOOD on HBO? LOL! Funny.Hi, Stephanie — Yes, indeed! Not sure if it was here or on Amazon. The nastier stuff is generally reserved for Amazon. There, you can read about how NAKED EDGE is the stupidest book ever and how Julian is a rapist and a "total disaster." Sometimes I find the stuff funny, and sometimes it's painful. I just try to avoid it.
Pamela wrote: "But as of Oct. 12, I now own the rights to my entire historical backlist. That's all of my historical novels to date.OMG, that is HUGE Pam!! I've been reading about the issue at Dear Author too, so I know what you are referring to. Speaking of online promotions, you have got to take advantage of a new growing ebook trend. Follow the 'free romance kindle' ebooks list and see what is happening for some of these authors after their ebook is no longer free. It's crazy, but some authors are selling boatloads of their backlist after releasing a free book for just a few weeks. Christie Craig remained a best seller for nearly two months after posting her first 'Divorce' book up for free, and her backlist was also making the top 100. It's about the exposure. Other authors are doing it too. I should email you on the side as this will take too much space and side track, but that is awesome news!
Pamela wrote: I avoided dating when my kids were little because I didn't want them to see a revolving door on mommy's bedroom.I did the same thing. I went to one movie with a guy and he turned into an ass because I wouldn't leave my kids at home, drive almost 3 hours to his place for a booty call, then drive back and get home just in time to go to work. I just gave up on all of them at that point. I'm still a little gun shy after all these years :)
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Hi, Dhes...What does it take for a story to merit being told? What a fun question!
Something about it has to strike me in my emotional core. It has to feel visceral to me. I've never been about "light, breezy" stories, so if that emotion isn't there, I'm not interested.
It happens pretty naturally, actually. The stuff I've seen/done as a reporter has coalesced pretty nicely into stories without a whole lot of effort on my part.
For the historicals, it's about historical facts and incidents that no one really knows about. I read about something that I didn't know before and — POOF! — it starts morphing into a story.
Once I complete an idea and turn it into a book, two more ideas have sprung up in its place.
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KarLynP wrote: OMG, that is HUGE Pam!! I've been reading about the issue at ..."The trick at this point is that my books are still being sold, but not by me. There's a whole thing to clean up that is going to take some time, making sure that my e-book royalties are coming to me and not to my former publisher. They've now done what they're supposed to do, but the books are still up and still for sale, with profits going to them.
I'd love to know more about what you're talking about with regard to Craig and what she did. Maybe when you get time you can e-mail me. I'd love to do something really smart like that. If I could just get to the point where I can write full-time... I'd be a lot more prolific.
I wrote HALF of BREAKING POINT while at home recovering from surgery. Now imagine if I hadn't just had my neck replaced with widgets how many books I could write a year -- at least three, I'm certain.
Nissie wrote: "I did the same thing. I went to one movie with a guy and he turned in..."I had someone once say to me, "What you need is to get away from those damned kids."
EXCUSE ME? I am the only person who can call my kids "those damned kids." Any man who does that is automatically relegated to the "Do not call" list. UG!
I totally understand why you did that, Nissie, and support you in that. A man has to be worth connecting with, and any man who wants my attention needs to respect that I have two boys that I love. If I'm important to him, then my boys will be, as well.
Thanks, Pamela. Whenever I've finished one of your books I always feel as though I've not only been entertained, but educated as well... but not in a text book sort of way. I love how you always take us behind the scenes in the I-Team meetings, to "show" us how things work rather than just "tell" us, after the fact.Your stories aren't just fluff, they have substance to them and leave me with plenty to think about... and heroes to drool over... long after I've finished the book.
Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Pamela, I for one am glad I don't have to worry about stumbling on an anal scene in your books! I'm very vanilla about such things. I like that your scenes are steamy but not out of my comfort zones."That's nice to know, Lady D. Thank you. Elements like that in love scenes make me uncomfortable, too.
I think everyone should be free in fiction and real life to pursue what works for them (provided its consensual and between adults), but my own preferences are where I draw the line for myself as a writer.
Pamela(AllHoney) wrote: "Unfortunately, a person cannot please everyone. There will always be someone out there criticizing. The good news is... there are so many more ppl who love your writing than those who don't. Those ..."That is the truth! If I sat here worried all day about making sure everyone loved my books, I wouldn't be able to write a word. I have to please myself as a writer — and that's a very difficult task all by itself.
UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "Thanks, Pamela. Whenever I've finished one of your books I always feel as though I've not only been entertained, but educated as well... but not in a text book sort of way. I love how you always ta..."Thank you so much for saying that, Dhes... I've always said that romantic fiction can be ABOUT something at the same time that it's romantic and sexy. I need to make the stories ABOUT something to hold my own interest.
As for I-Team meetings... Tom runs a much more structured meeting than I do. At my editorial meetings, we talk about all the same stuff in the same way, but then there are discussions about our personal lives, my books, people's kids, MTM. It's me, three guys and one other woman, so the conversations get pretty funny.
Often, after we've gone off topic for 25 minutes, I'll say, "Okay, have we discussed everything we need to talk about today?" It makes people laugh because we've been SO off topic.
Thanks,Pamela! And I couldn't have said all that better myself. I've taken a lot of flack for always putting my boys first and not having a "life" of my own. But they were all I had and I'm all they had.
Nissie, I know what you mean. My boys have turned into young men whose company I enjoy. And they enjoy being with me, too. They're not wigged out that I'm on Facebook. They share my books with friends and girlfriends. We're pretty darn close, as parents and kids go.
For me, the commitment I made to them when I brought them into the world takes precedence over other things.
And, frankly, I just haven't met the man I love as much or more than my own children.
One of my greatest fears was that once my boys were grown, they would take off into the world and I'd never see them again. But like you, we're a tight bunch! We hang out and watch movies and share books and they are my friends on FB. They do get quite a giggle out of some of romance books! ;)I've never met a man like that either. If I ever did meet one that I loved that much and he would love my sons like they were his, I would be over the moon lol
Hi Pamela!It is an honor to have you visit with us! My question: would you please name a few of your favorite authors and the aspects of their work that you enjoy the most? Thanks!
Nissie, I know what you mean. With my younger son studying in NY, I DO miss him. Horriby! But we Skype a lot. My older son is about 40 minutes away, so we try to get together every other week or so for a movie and dinner.Hi, Lisa Marie — Welcome! And thank you! I'm having lots of fun. :-)
My favorite authors...
Kathleen Givens — When she died in January, I was crushed. I was just getting to know her. I love her books because the writing is good, the history is accurate and the stories captivate me. I love the medieval Scottish settings, as well.
Anna Campbell — I like the fact that she writes the "dark side" of Regency, and not all witty banter stuff. Self-consciously witty banter bores me into oblivion. Her books are deeply emotional, and that resonates with me.
Tara Janzen Another Colorado author, Tara writes romantic suspense, too. I love the fresh, quick feeling of her prose. It's also damned sexy. I love her love scenes. She's tons of fun as a person, as well. There's an immediacy to her writing that engages me. She's very good a "deep point of view" where you feel you're in the character's heads.
Patricia Potter — I love the epic feel of her historicals and her secondary characters. She has long been a favorite of mine. I've only read one of her romantic suspense stories, as historicals are my favorite genre to read. I wrote her a gazillion page fan letter in the late ’80s, and she wrote back. That was cool. No email then. I've met her since then. She's a journalist also, so we shared war stories over coffee once. LOL! I still have the letter. :-)
Robyn Carr: I just discovered her and enjoyed VIRGIN RIVER for its warmth.
Bonnie Vanak: I studied Egyptology as an archaeology grad student and when I need a fix of Egypt, her historical backlist is where I find it.
Christy Reece: Another new discovery. Very engaging Romantic suspense.
Cindy Gerard: Read my first book by her last year, then had dinner with her and Tara at RomCon. Sexy adventurous writing.
As you can see, I basically read two sub-genres: historical and romantic suspense.
Dang! Things are moving fast here!So, Pamela, you were saying that, as a "pantzer" you know your characters so well that you know what they'll do in any given situation. How do you get to know the characters? I've seen some people posting lists of in depth questions they ask themselves about the characters. Or there are some who answer questions as the characters themselves (channeling, I guess).
Anyway, do you have a character development method?
I do, Beanbag. I've given workshops on it.First I start with the basic concept of the story. Then I do research, as much as needed. With the I-Team stories, the research is usually done on the heroine's side because they're all stories I've investigated myself and because the heroines have been in previous stories. Kat, I knew, was traditional Navajo straight down the line. (I DID have to do a fair amount of research there despite having made lots of trips to the rez and having close Navajo friends. You think you know something, and then you discover you don't...)
For the hero, I have to research his profession. I try to get as deeply into that as I can, so that I can feel what his life is like. For Gabe, I met with one of my Mountain Parks friends. I grew up in a climbing family, so that helped, and I worked with the rangers for a couple of years as a volunteer naturalist, leading hikes and patrolling trails. My Ranger friend helped me to fill in the blanks with little things like how uncomfortable the "duty belts" are -- things jabbing you in the back. I didn't know they were called "duty belts," either, so that was nice. LOL!
Bits of his personality start to come together out of that research. How did Gabe become a park ranger? He loved to climb and needed a job. What's his daily life like and how does he feel about that? And so on.
As I start trying to envision the conflict between the heroine and the hero, their personalities come into sharper focus. She's a virgin; he's a wounded manwhore.
At some point, I write down some things about them. I write out their lives like little short stories. I've seen a lot of character development worksheets that say things like, "What is your hero's favorite color?" I just can't see Julian or Marc or Gabe or Zach even taking that question seriously. Favorite color? Get real!
*What tells me the most about my characters is their pain.* I want to know what makes them unhappy and afraid. I want to know their deepest grief and their greatest fear. And when that really flushes out and becomes 3D to me, then I know them. That's what I really explore in little stream-of-consciousness bios that I write about them.
What shapes people in life is love and loss/trauma. That's where we all become human -- what hurts us the most, what scares us the most?
I swear they just sort of live and percolate in my head until they're real.
Then I channel them, for lack of a better description.
I should add that most of my story development occurs on a kind of pre-verbal level. There's a moment where I feel a kind of click in my abdomen, and I know I have "it," whatever it is. It's kind of hard to explain, but before I ever write, emotions that are unattached to words line up inside my head. And the story is there.I've believed since I was 10 that I've been "called" to write. I've done my best to put words down that elevate people, both journalistically and as a romance author. That sounds grandiose perhaps, but that's what I try to do.
That's one of the questions I wanted to ask, Pamela, was how old you were when you knew you'd be a writer, and you said you were 10, but how old were you when you actually wrote something for the pure enjoyment of writing?
I was about 12. I wrote a poem about the pointless struggles of life and the slow erosion of hope that comes with being alive. I think my parents thought I was nuts.
I wrote a novel in 9th grade that had to do with teenage drug use, about which I knew quite a bit. Got an A. I wrote the novel for my English class grade. I refused to do what the other kids were doing because it was SO BORING.
In 10th grade, they put my desk in the janitor's closet and gave me college-level English assignments, which were likewise boring. That was the school's equivalent of a Talented and Gifted program. Pretty lame, eh?
I didn't start writing again until I went to work at the paper, but that was journalism. Took a creative writing class in college — one. All the clove-smoking, black-clad hip youngsters hated my stuff (which was kind of romance-novelish). Then in 1994, I started SWEET RELEASE after 2.5 years of research into Colonial North America in the 1730s.
And the rest is a footnote in history. :-)
Wow, so even back when you were just wee lass, you wrote about important issues. And we're all reaping the benefits today :)
That's a kind thing to say, Dhes. Thank you.
Hi Pamela! I’ve just crawled out bed here on a Saturday in Australia. *waves from Down Under* I just want to say thanks for your time this weekend and thanks for being such an approachable and friendly author.And thanks to Dhestiny for setting this up.
I’ve only just become a fan of yours in the last few weeks through your I-Team series (Thanks, Dhestiny, for the reco!), and I’m eagerly awaiting the MacKinnon Rangers books I ordered. I notice that your historicals seem to only be available used (though a few new at some small booksellers). I guess that means they are out-of-print (OOP)? Q: How do publishers decide how many books to print out? And when a book goes OOP, what does it take for a publisher to start printing new copies? Are you told about these things?
Sorry, if this has already been asked! I haven’t had a chance to catch up on all the posts. I’m actually going to be dropping in and out this weekend since I have a few errands to run. But I look forward to catching up with all the earlier chats and questions! ^_^
I did see Cheryl’s question though. LOL
Hi, Lady Jayne — Good day!Here's the scoop with my historical titles.
Dorchester, the company that published them, is having financial struggles and decided to quit distributing print books and to sell only e-books. So there is a warehouse with hundreds of copies of my books that are probably going to be pulped. I can buy them myself and sell them myself now, because I now own the rights. So I need to buy some of them, at which point I will become an authorized Amazon sales person for my own print books.
The e-books are going to disappear, too, because I just got the rights to the books back and I'll have to figure out how to transition all the e-book sellers so that they send the profits to me, and not Dorchester.
I need a clone.
It's a huge hassle, and it has involved months of hard work on my agent's part to try to hold onto my books so they didn't disappear.
And you're welcome! I love chatting with readers. Where would I be without you all to read the books in the first place?
G'Day!! Thanks for the scoop on your historicals, Pamela! I'm sorry about all the hassle but I'm glad you got the rights back on the books! It would be such a shame to pulp the books sitting in the warehouses. :-(I usually prefer to buy my books brand-new (I'm not into e-books because I stare at a computer screen all day and would just like to hold a real book in my hands when I read), but I will buy them used if it's the only way I can get them. The used ones actually work out more expensive for me, purchasing online, because of the shipping costs the Australia. I get my "new" books from The Book Depository, which has free shipping to Australia and other countries.
I've heard great things about Iain from Surrender and just had to get the MacKinnon Rangers books, after devouring your I-Team books!
Q: Do you have a book that you are most proud of? I know they are all labours of love, but is there one in particular that you felt the most sense of achievement writing? (Again, sorry if this has already been asked here. If it has, just refer me back, thanks. ^_^)
That's a tough question, Lady Jayne.For the historicals, it's either RIDE THE FIRE or SURRENDER. For, I-Team, it's between UNLAWFUL CONTACT and NAKED EDGE.
RtF took everything I have as a person. I think it's the book where I discovered my own "voice" as an author. I also channeled a lot of deeply personal experience through it. It left me empty. I couldn't even talk to people. I was an emotional wreck. I told my editor, "I will never write a book like this again." Not meaning that I didn't WANT to, just that I was incapable of it. It's perhaps the only book I wrote that I didn't think stunk the whole time I wrote it.
SURRENDER — I felt that I was able to merge history and fiction pretty seamlessly in that story, and I love the characters. It was a struggle to write because I knew what I wanted. Only after finishing it, did I feel that I had more or less gotten that. In terms of storytelling, I think it's very solid.
UNLAWFUL CONTACT — It's a repository of all my prison reporting. The story is very near and dear to my heart and contains the suffering of real people. When I finished it, I met the woman whose baby I dedicated the book to, slid the manuscript across the table with the dedication on top, and we both started bawling. It meant a lot to her to have the story of women in prison told. I'm very happy with how the book came together, though halfway through I sent it to my agent and told her that the story was a trainwreck and the worst piece of sh*t I'd ever written. She disagreed.
NAKED EDGE — I know some people hated Kat and some hated Gabe. But I love them both. This story was tough to write. It's hard to inhabit the mind of someone from a different culture. No matter how much time I spent on the Navajo reservation, it's not the same as being born Navajo. I wanted this to commemorate the time I spent with the Navajo. I wanted it to be a gift to my Native friends. So I was very conscious all the way through that I had to be accurate and culturally sensitive. I reached a space where I felt I could do that. There's so much in that story that I don't know people can see unless they're Native. So even if some people think it sucks rocks, I'm still very proud of it. Kat is my favorite heroine, though I love all my heroines. She's the strongest female character I've ever written in her own unique, Navajo way.
Pamela! People hate Gabe?! Impossible! But, that just means there's more for me. :PNaked Edge, as some of us know, has an intense climax. Did you know that was going to happen going in? Or did it come to you as you were going along? How hard did you cry when you realized it?
And, not specific to Naked Edge (yes, I can talk about things other than Gabe ... hm) what about the others. I know you're a pantzer but is it a thing like "I know I need to get here, it's just what happens on the way I'm not sure about"?
I agree with you Pamela. I think Kat is your strongest female thus far, and I really enjoyed getting to know her and the Rock God =)Gabe and Hunt are my favorite Men. Reece and Julian are a close second... Ok I know there are four men, but...
Sorry I've been absent from here, I have the chicken pox (Well, shingles I guess they call them as adults) I'm hoping the kids get them, and then I'm hopeful they don't lol.
Cindy Gerard is one of my favorite Romantic Suspense authors as well.
I don't really have any questions at the moment. My brain is a bit confuzzled. So I will just say that I enjoy your writing style, and all your characters, flaws and all.
Yes, people hate Gabe! And, yes, that does leave more for you, Beanbag. Lucky you!No, I didn't know. I had some scenario in my head that would involve Gabe, Julian and Marc working together to save Kat in a hostage-type situation. I thought maybe a few coyotes would help. But... that's just not where the story went. I only realized how it would end after the bad guy was revealed. I didn't even know who the bad guy was. LOL!
I cried buckets. But I also really liked it because it fit with who Gabe was, what he did and what he wanted in that moment.
I cried just as much for Hunter in his dark moment. I went through an entire box of Puffs on that one.
I always know where the story starts and some big moments along the way. Sometimes there's mystery in my head as to how those moments are achieved. Sometimes the original landmark moments get switched out for others. And the ending is always dicey. I know they get an HEA. I know it has to involve perhaps X and Y. But sometimes I'm just in the dark.
I've never read mysteries, so constructing some sort of water-tight "who done it" is not what I'm after in romantic suspense. It's more the romantic thriller aspect that I enjoy. How will the H/h survive and get their HEA? That's the question I have to answer as an author — and I need to make it believable and gut-wrenching and real.
I'm heading into this part of the story right now in BREAKING POINT. All of the I-Team heroes are together, working hard to keep Natalie safe. How the climax of the story, it's blackest moment and the resolution take place is 100 percent beyond me at this moment.
I simply have no clue.
Oh, Erika, I'm so sorry you're sick! Chicken pox as an adult is miserable. I had them at age 17, and I was so feverish and so sick.I hope you're getting lots of help with the kids. It will be a blessing if they get it from you while young. It's so much milder when kids are little.
Please take good care of yourself! Drop in as your able if you're able. This will stay posted for a while, I'm guessing. And you can always e-mail me later.
That goes for all y'all.
Ugh! I'm so sad that I have to go. Darn, errands!! But I'll be back! Sorry, to have asked you a "toughie", Pamela. ^_^ But I'd like to come back and chat on what you shared, at a later time. Catch y'all later!
Oh and I just wanted to say that Holly totally deserves her own HEA. I'll email your publisher and tell her ;) Just give us the address we'll swarm her with Hollyism.OK off to put the kids to bed now. I so need them to sleep now.. lol
I haven't left yet, just about to go, but I just wanted to say that after what you said about RIDE THE FIRE, Pamela, for you to feel as if you've poured all of yourself into it...well, I've gone ahead and ordered the OOP of your Blakewell/Kenleigh Family Trilogy, too. It's a good thing the Aussie dollar is strong, at the moment! LOL For you to channel a lot of your own deeply personal experiences into Ride the Fire, that it left you feeling wrecked, did you also feel a form of catharsis after that? Like you've faced down some demons? I write rhyming poems that seem to rise up out of the dark moments in my life. I mean, they're pretty crap and will never be great works of literature, but they release me (at least in some way) from the pain I try to bury. Did you feel that way with Ride the Fire? (Not that it was crap, obviously, LOL since you said you felt that one didn't stink - You're being rather hard on yourself, since many have loved your books! - but a sense of release and freedom from the past?).
Okay, really off now! Til later!
Hi, Erika — I'll pass the word along. If it comes down to it, you can call/write/e-mail Penguin Group USA and let them know. I'm sure they'll pass the email to the right editor. Feel better!
Hi, Lady Jayne — No reason to apologize. I ask people truly tough questions every day. It's my job. :-)
First, your poetry is not crap. I've read it and found it touching.
I think that once I got over the emotional overload of writing the book, it did create some catharsis. It was after RIDE THE FIRE that I publicly addressed the fact that I'd been sexually assaulted as a child (age 10 -- father of a classmate). I wrote about it in the paper in connection with the need for a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program in town. The article so moved some guy that he walked in off the street and wrote a $30K for the establishment of such a program. I don't think I would have been able to do that if I hadn't poured it all into RtF.
My younger son, Benjamin, says my books are all about the uses and abuses of sex. And in some respects I think he's right. Part of what I'm working out in these stories is bad men who hurt women vs. good men who take the bad men down. Maybe it's something my 10-year-old self can relate to.
Sorry if that's TMI. I've been open about it and I've worked hard as a journalist to help rape victims.
My first opinion column as a journalist ever was about sexual assault and it won a second-place state journalism award. A lot of passion went into it.
Good luck with your errands, Lady Jayne.
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Also, I really dig your approach to character-building. I totally feel that a character is shaped by the experiences they have survived and suffered. I am a big fan of angst in my stories.
Also, wanted to say I agree with you big time on what you said about Anna Campbell. That's exactly why she's a fave of mine too.
Sorry I can't think of any good questions!
I can't think of any good questions either,Danielle. But I've thoroughly enjoyed reading all the other great Q & A's that have been on here today!
Hi, Lady Danielle — RIDE THE FIRE has a very devoted following. As much as it bums me when people say it's my best book (I'd like to think I'm continuing to write good things), I feel like I know what they're talking about. It's very raw. Yes, angst! Gimme angst! I need that in stories in order to get the catharsis that's supposed to go with reading. As a writer, I need it to care about the story.
Anna is a sweetheart, Lady D. Have you tried contacting her? I'm sure she'd be happy to send autographed bookplates or bookmarks.
No worries! As long as you all are enjoying the "conversation," that's what matters.
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Oh, and I love the cartharsis from a good angsty read (with a happy ending, or course). :)
Ok, so my husband and son were supposed to go on a camp out this weekend, and they aren't going after all. I'm bummed, but here's your chance to cheer me up, Pamela!What can you tell us about Connor's story? Any insider info, sneak peaks, the low down?
Sorry to hear that Dhes, bummer!Pamela,
Who is your favorite hero that you have created? And if you could end up with one of your heroes, who would it be and why?
That's great! She's very approachable. She's a wonderfully talented writer and has a controversial book or two, also. I envy her command of more "British" English.My best memory from this summer is sitting on a rooftop bar in Boulder having dinner with her and my son while the two of them belted out La Marseillaise. :)
Oh the shaving scene, I just reread the book just to get to that scene. One of my absolute freaking favorite scenes. :-) Oh the memories!
Wow, that is a bummer, Dhes! Sorry!I'll try my best to cheer you...
Oooh! Connor! I can't wait to start his book. It feels like it's been eons...
Here's the scoop with no real spoilers:
Well, Connor in the third book is not the Connor we met in Surrender. He's been at war longer than his two brothers and was younger when the war started.
Also, he did some things when he thought Morgan was dead that haunt him. His loyalty to his brothers and to the Rangers keep him going, but inside he is growing hard, cynical, and out of control. He drinks too much, gets into fights, causes mayhem — and that's on his days off. In truth, he believes he is damned for what he's done.
The heroine draws on the life of Mary Jemison (spelled various ways), who was kidnapped by Shawnee at the age of 15 together with her mother, father and little brothers and sisters. She alone of her family was allowed to survive and endured her family being tomahawked just out of visual range.
Now, if that happened to you, how would you feel if the Indian man who'd killed them took you to his lodge and had his mother and sisters clean you up with the intention of making you his wife?
Imagine if, faced with a lifetime of being forced to share this man's bed and bear his children, you saw a man you recognized — Connor MacKinnon — enter the camp with his friend Joseph of the Mahicans. Would you feel hope? Would you try to find a way to beg him to help you, knowing of his exploits and all he and his men have done to protect frontier families?
And if you managed to find a way to talk to him, how would you feel if the conversation went like this:
"Dinnae be afraid, lass. Black feather is a man both just and kind according to the ways of the Shawnee. His anger toward you will soften once he has lain with you and you carry his child. ’Tis the way of men.”
“He killed my family. I watched him stitch upon my mother’s scalp. I will never lie with him. Please help me!”
“My duty lies elsewhere. I’ve come to forge an accord with the Shawnee against the French. If I fail, many more just like your family will perish.”
“But you must help me. You’re one of the MacKinnon brothers! I recognize your face. I heard your friend speak your name.”
“I am the least of those who bear that name. I cannae help you.”
----
I'm just askin'. How would you feel?
And would Connor do it? Would he turn his back while the young captive is forced into a man's bed?
That would be the beginning of the story.
Hi, Cheryl — My favorite hero?!? That's the toughest question to answer...The hardest for me to get over have been:
Nicholas — thought I'd never write a hero who could live up to him
Julian — same thing; and then he kept invading Marc's book;
Iain — thought I'd ruined the MacKinnon's Rangers series by starting off with a hero I wouldn't be able to match.
But I absolutely love and adore Marc Hunter and Gabe and Morgan.
Now Zach is there, shaking up the situation, and Connor is on the way...
And Reece cooks.
I would marry any one of them, honestly.
I really can't decide.
Do you have a favorite?!? Or did you answer that already?
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I loved that scene. I gave my very-prude step-mom (aka 'dad's wife') a copy of that book because of the shaving scene. Lets just say she thinks I have unusual reading tastes. And she also thinks if you read vampire romances that you will really want to drink blood for real. She's a bit wacked.