Guest Takeover - @RavenMcAllan

Welcome, Raven McAllan, my third guest in the Guest Takeover series! Here's Raven!

If you’d have told me a few years ago I’d be writing a blog post about writing, I’d have laughed and asked what you were on.

Seriously.

I’ve always enjoyed making up stories, first for myself (and my toys) and then for my children, but I never thought I’d get the chance to make them up for other people to read.

When I found out I could, and it was going to happen it was a scary thought.

Very scary.

After all it’s one thing pootling (I love that word) around and creating a world, or people to manipulate at your will, another to let anybody else who fancies it into that world and like to dislike it.

Of course it’s the dislike bit that is worrying.

Because when you open yourself up, and let other people in, you are saying, to them, ‘what do you think?’

You want an honest answer, otherwise why ask?

Well I guess unless you want people fawning over you, saying how brilliant you are, and well… nice but not possible. Whoever you are, not everyone likes what you do. Which actually is a good thing isn’t it?

If we all liked the same things the world would be a very boring place.

Therefore, logically you know not everyone is going to think as you do, and not everyone will enjoy what you have created.

And like rear ends, everyone has an opinion.

Some good, some bad, some constructive, some snarky.

And some downright unpleasant.

And that’s when it can hit you hard.

Not everyone holds the same view as you do.

But, here’s where the ‘wait a minute, take a step back, and think for a while’ scenario comes in.

That’s one person’s opinion.

They’re entitled not to like your fourteen legged, cookie eating, green skinned, werewolf if they don’t want to. Just like the next person is allowed to drool all over him and say he/she/it is perfect and they want more.

Or as I said to myself the first time I got a very straightforward ‘I didn’t like this’, okay…

He/she didn’t. Someone else did.

But, and here’s the rub. If everybody liked the same thing, that thing might not be what I write.

I could end up where my stories were a no-no.

Because everyone liked the same thing, and they weren’t it.

I’ll stick with the you can’t please all of the people all of the time, and do my best to please as many as I can, as often as I can.

And hopefully as time goes on, I’ll be able to welcome more people to my world.

(No fourteen legged, cookie eating, green skinned, werewolves in sight.)

The plug (Of course there’s one…well two actually)

The first one happened very recently, and I do think it was worth waiting for.

Carina Uk have just unveiled the cover of The Rake’s Unveiling of Lady Belle (two unveilings eh?)

It’s available on Amazon to pre-order now, and it’s due for publication on January 5^th.  

http://www.amazon.com/The-Rakes-Unveiling-Lady-Belle-ebook/dp/B0175WV0QI%3FSubscriptionId%3D0V4JT1H35KWYMF0SKQR2%26tag%3Dnovelrank-21%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB0175WV0QI

and in the UK of course.

I’m really excited about this as it’s my second book with Carina, and Lady Belle is briefly seen in the first book, The Scandalous Proposal of Lord Bennett. Here’s the blurb…

~The exquisite designs of mysterious dressmaker Madame Belle are the most sought after in the ton, yet only a few are trusted with Belle’s deepest secret – her name.

Lady Belinda Howells has gone to great lengths to disguise her identity, it’s the only way to protect herself from the ruthless demands of her scoundrel father…and to protect her heart.

Until Lord Philip Macpherson walks into her salon and his scorching kiss burns a memory onto her lips that she’ll never be able to forget!

Now it’s only a matter of time before the notorious rake unveils the truth, and when he does, Belle knows that she won’t be able to resist… ~

I hope you won’t be able to resist either…

Plus, my latest book from Evernight Publishing is out today.

The Dom with the Dark Eyes, is out on 11^th from Evernight Publishing…

I’m so in love with both of these covers. Very different, but perfect… (well I think so but I am biased)

Here’s the blurb...

~ It was supposed to be one night of fun…

Masked balls are not Linsey’s thing, but needs must. She’ll stay for a little while and then leave. However, when she meet the Dom with the dark eyes, all thoughts of leaving flee, as the switch in her wants to sink to her knees and submit.

No something that happens a lot to this Mistress.

Rad feels an instant connection to the sexy lady he calls his sweet Cherry. She appeals to this Dom like no other sub ever has, and the fact that she seems to be a switch like him just makes their play that much more interesting.

One night was all it was supposed to be, but when that night turns out to have lasting consequences, maybe it was more than just fun. Love has a way of sneaking up on you.~

And a wee tease…

~ “Take off that cloak, Cherry and let me see you.” It was his Dom’s attitude. He saw the moment it registered and she slipped into her subbie mind set.

It was so bloody satisfying to watch her dip her head, untie the ribbons at her throat and let the cloak fall, to pool in a shimmering silk pile at her feet.

“Look at me, sweet Cherry.”

She lifted her head and looked at him from behind her mask. Rad understood that was the one thing she’d keep on. Fair enough, so would he. This was a single night of hot as hell madness. As his dad would have said, no names, no pack drill.

“Do we play first and fuck later or the other way round?”

****

Linsey bit her lip, and Sir with the dark eyes frowned.

“What did I say about marks?”

 Oh lord she’d forgotten that, which was surprising as it was something in her Domme persona she insisted on.

“Sorry, Sir. And Sir, it’s up to you, which we do first.”

 He nodded. “How are your feet?”

“Eh? Oh, fine without shoes. I tend to go barefoot most of the time.”

Sir grinned. “Oh good. Then I suggest you remove your stockings, and teddy give them to me, and then open the door to the balcony.”

He leaned on the wall and obviously waited to see what she’d do.

Later he thought she might wonder how he got her into her sub mindset so easily. But for now she seemed to accept it without second thoughts. Very slowly she unrolled her stockings and passed them to Sir. Then she slid the shoulder straps lower, let them and her teddy slip down her body, to join the cloak on the floor.

Her smile was one of a houri as she picked the teddy up and handed it to him.

“Thank you, Cherry.”

“Sir.”~

www.evernightpublishing.com/the-dom-with-the-dark-eyes-by-raven-mcallan

www.ravenmcallan.com

Happy reading,

Love R x

#Interview with @RavenMcAllan

A huge welcome to the lovely Raven McAllan, today’s guest on Maya’s Musings. I have had the honor of promoting several of Raven’s books on this blog, but this is our first Q&A. Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Raven.

You're welcome, thanks for asking me. I've brought gluten free shortbread and shhh, a wee dram of whisky (no E it's Scotch)

Q: Tell us something about yourself and how you got into writing?

A: Well let me see. I'm a bus pass toting granny who refuses to grow old gracefully. I live in Scotland the land of kilts and midges. I love the first and hate the second. Dh and live on the edge of a forest in a house much too big for us, and I write overlooking the garden and the lane. I frequently have to tell tourists that I am not the local bed and breakfast. (It's around the corner) If I'm in the middle of a tricky bit of a book, I growl at them.

Q: How long have you been writing?

A: Only four years since my first book was accepted and I guess I wrote it a few months earlier. I'm gobsmacked to be honest. But I loved writing as a child until I was told at high school to be factual. It took…oh only 40 odd years to get the muse back.

Q: What is your creative process?

A: Um… Do I have one? I sit and write, that's it. I prefer to look out of the window, but I can and do write anywhere.

Q: Where do you find inspiration?

A: I have absolutely no idea. My muse just hits me and I go with the flow. Sorry if that sounds silly, but it's what happens. Mind you I tell my husband I need to travel for inspiration. Wink

Q: Who is your favorite character (from your books) and why?

A: I could say whoever I'm writing about at the time, because I pay them so much attention. But, I love Caden and Anna from Master (Evernight Publishing), because I despaired they would ever solve their differences and boy did they make me work hard. And Ben and Clarissa from The Scandalous Proposal of Lord Bennett, which is out from Carina on September 4^th, because it’s a real Regency romp and their banter made me laugh. And yes I have to add Braam and Debra from Hong Kong Heat. I love HK and the heroine was named after a girlfriend.

Q: Do you prefer coffee or tea?

A: It depends on the time of day. Tea (weak let the tea see the cup and no more,) and black first thing, then coffee until the afternoon and then tea again.

Q: What’s better than chocolate?

A: Champagne, preferable with chocolate. I bet you thought I'd say sex, didn't you? But you can have champagne in more places…. Oh yes you can, believe me.

Q: If you believed in this sort of thing and could channel an artist from the beyond, who would it be and why?

A: er…. Degas because his pictures are so heartfelt.

Q: What are your plans for the future? Where do you see yourself in five years?

A: Alive I hope.

Q: Any advice for those aspiring novelists out there?

A: Write as you can, not as you think you should. Don't give up, and grow a thick skin because by god you'll need one.

The Racing Driver's Wife is out on 17^th . www.evernightpublishing.com/the-racing-drivers-wife-by-raven-mcallan

 My web, where you can find all you need to know about me, is www.ravenmcallan.com  

Do Authors Play Favorites?

Hmmm… I mused… do authors play favorites? Do they have favorites among their own characters and is this impacted by the number of books they have written and their personal hero type preference? To answer these questions, I enlisted the help of five, fabulous writer friends…

Cherie Nicholls, author of 11 books, recently released Windborn on May 7^th, but she thinks Laney from her first book Leashed by a Wolf is still her favorite. Her favorite hero type is strong and protective, the kind of male who becomes unstoppable when they meet the right female. Sounds a lot like Heath, the hero in Leashed by a Wolf.

The author of around 80 books and short stories, Raven McAllan admits she always favors her current hero and heroine. She confesses a soft spot for Athol in the Dommissimma series just because he was so much fun to write and Molly Simpkins from A Most Unusual Mistress because it inspired the Miss Simpkins series. She writes hot characters – strong heroes and feisty heroines, her favorite type.

Alannah Harte modelled Rafe from The Best Part of Breaking Up, her first solo book, after a good friend she liked, but didn’t return her feelings. They remained friends and now Rafe has a special place in her heart.

The author of 54 books and counting, Doris O’Connor falls in love with each of her heroes as she writes them. If she had to pick an all-time favorite couple it would be Sven and Sylvia from her first book The Housewife and the Filmstar. She loves strong, possessive, dominant alphas and tortured bad boys… these types are often featured in her stories.

Jessica Stevens is the author of 2 books with her second book Behind the Makeup just released May 5^th. She told me she always falls for her main characters although Alana and Nick are especially special since they were part of her first solo publication.

There’s something about a ‘first’ of anything… A first kiss, a first love, and, apparently, a first book. Many of the authors I interviewed noted characters from their first books were still their favorites. It also appears favorite character types influence the characters written.

I’m no different from the rest. Gabe from my first book Dream Hunter, a strong, protective man who confidently knows what he wants, is my favorite, hands down.

I’m sure you’d find many of your favorite authors have a special place in their heart for their first characters and incorporate their favorite character types in their books.

Readers, do you have favorites? Let me know in the comments. Thanks!

Bios

Cherie Nicholls is an author of Paranormal Romance. By day she is an IT Manager and by night she whips up worlds where alpha men find their mates and people are always more than human.

Cherie was born and lives in London, UK and is a daughter, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, aunt-in-law, great-aunt, and godmother in an ever growing family. She has a passion for shifter stories, most any sport and thimbles...don’t ask.  

http://www.cherienicholls.co.uk/

Raven McAllan 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.

Her very understanding, and long-suffering DH, is used to his questions unanswered, the dust bunnies greeting him as he walks through the door, and rescuing burned offerings from the Aga. (And passing her a glass of wine as she types furiously.)

http://www.ravenmcallan.com/

Alannah Harte grew up in the south of Ireland beside the sea. She still calls this beautiful part of the world home. Her background is in education. She loves drama and debating and has been successful in both. Her writing played second fiddle to these activities for a decade but in 2010 she took up the typewriter again.

http://alannahharte.blogspot.ie/

Glutton for punishment would be a good description for Doris O’Connor... at least that's what she hears on an almost daily basis when people find out that she has a brood of nine children, ranging from adult to toddler and lives happily in a far too small house, cluttered with children, pets, dust bunnies, and one very understanding and supportive husband. Domestic goddess she is not.

There is always something better to do after all, like working on the latest manuscript and trying not to scare the locals even more than usual by talking out loud to the voices in her head. Her characters tend to be pretty insistent to get their stories told, and you will find Doris burning the midnight oil on a regular basis. Only time to get any peace and quiet and besides, sleep is for wimps.

She likes to spin sensual, sassy, and sexy tales involving alpha heroes to die for, and heroines who give as good as they get. From contemporary to paranormal, BDSM to F/F, and Ménage, haunting love stories are guaranteed.

http://www.dorisoconnor.com/

Jessica Stevens was born in Northern Ireland and moved to London a few weeks after, where she grew up with her parents and siblings. As a child, she was always writing songs and poems, so it was only natural that Jessica should find her feet in writing Romance. Jessica now lives in Bedfordshire with her husband, their three children and their dog. Much of her working week is spent cooking and looking after their three small children and the family dog. At weekends, she tries to spend as much quality time with her family and can often be found roaming woods and other opened spaces, desperately trying to run off some of her boy's endless energy, much to the objection of her 'growing up way too fast' daughter.

http://www.jessicastevensauthor.com/