Interview
1) First, tell us about yourself – where you live, your family, and those sorts of details.
I live about an hour or so in various directions of Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee; close to cornfields but far enough from any big city to be far from the chaos. I’ve been with my wonderfully indulgent husband – who still accepts my nerdiness and book worm habits – for twenty-three years. I work, I write and I hang out with my family. It’s all rather boring actually. Saturday night usually consists of dinner, a couple hours of writing or reading and, as it’s officially been dubbed ‘Stupid Movie Night,’ where I choose yet another stupid movie to torture my husband into watching with me.
2) How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing since I was a kid, really. Poems, mostly. There was, of course the odd song or two when I thought I should be a rock star. Since I couldn’t sing my way out of a box that was a pretty futile idea. The stories eventually came.
3) Do you have a favorite place to write?
I have this great office all set up. The shelves lined with books for research on magic, weaponry, mysticism, gods and the occult. I have about seven different types of dictionaries and a couple different sized thesauruses. I usually end up on the couch with my laptop. I can block out pretty much anything around me if I find my zone.
4) Why did you decide to write A Walk in the Black Forest?
I think initially I started to write A Walk in the Black Forest just to see if I could. I’ve always loved to write. Getting it published was a step in taking a chance on myself. Sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith.
5) Who is your favorite character in your book and why?
In A Walk in the Black Forest, I’d probably choose Rosalynn. She’s loosely based on a friend of mine that I adore. She’s caring, giving, snarky and whimsical with an edge of craftiness. Some might call it witch craft, but others consider it a gift. Her bold, stalwart heart is what makes her a strong figure in the life of the young warrior that rears.
6) How about your least favorite character? What makes them less appealing to you?
I don’t think there is a least favorite. Every character serves their purpose in a story. Even the most repugnant. Like all things, the dark and difficult has its purpose; to try us, to tempt us, to make us stronger. To teach us things about ourselves we may not have known. Without the bad, good cannot prevail.
7) Do you proofread/edit your own books or do you get someone to do that for you?
Good grief, no. I’m probably the worst speller in the universe. Just because I know the word I want to use and what it means, doesn’t mean I know how to spell it. Reference the seven dictionaries mentioned above. And don’t even get me started with commas, semi-colons and the like.
8) What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I hang out with my husband and kids. And I’m a new grandma so that’s pretty exciting. I read or watch movies. I go shopping with girlfriends. It’s all rather mundane actually. Such is the glamorous life of an author.
9) Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors?
If I’m not writing then I’m usually reading. I don’t generally watch TV so you can usually find me with my face in a book. I have tons of favorites depending on genre. Ann Rice, Laura K. Hamilton, Mary Janice Davidson, Christina Dodd, Patrick Rothfus, Joe Abercrombe, Poe, Bukowski, Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, John Amen, Kris T. Kahn, Donna Grant, Laurann Dohner, Marissa Chennery, Moira Rogers, RG Alexander – the list is truly endless. Large Press, Small press and Indie authors. There are so many choices – it’s a wonderful time to be a reader.
10) What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has? Write it out here, then answer it.
Wow, that’s a tough one. Perhaps, ‘Is it necessary for a bad guy or guys to die at the end?’
I think once you get through the plot twists and turns and the story takes you to a place where the bad guy or guys are finally being revealed that it’s a necessary component for evil to be punished. What that punishment entails is ultimately up to the bad guy. How they are confronted with their villainy and their response to it in the eyes of the hero, well, that too is up to them. I don’t think that meekly being hauled away in chains is in the make-up of a bad guy. It’s like a code. Good conquers evil. Light over-powers darkness and all heroes win in the end. Where would Happily Ever After be if someone changed the ending? Perhaps that’s a question for another story. One only the right character can tell.
A Walk in the Black Forest
K.A M’Lady
Genre: Historical/Time-Travel Erotic Romance
Publisher: Mojocastle Press
Date of Publication: August 25, 2013
ISBN: 9781601801876
Number of pages: 312
Word Count: 81,874
Cover Artist: Patricia Dittman
Book Description:
A Knight bred in the blood of battle…
Damon DeGracey is the Dragon of Blackmoor. Darkly mysterious, a cunning tactician of war, and William the Conqueror’s fiercest knight, he is a warrior any King would gladly claim as his champion. In a land awash in bloodshed and treachery, the Dragon must hunt and slay those responsible for the murder of his family while trying to keep the rebels from overthrowing the newly crowned King’s throne.
A sword forged in mystery…
Its ancient etchings and flame red stone draw Anthropologist, Gabriella DeVoux like a moth to a dragon’s fierce blaze. Its secrets she must know…its master’s hand she unwittingly craves. Will history yield to her its secrets or will the Dragon elude her in time’s lost pages?
A love that time cannot destroy...
Now that he’s found her, he will stop at nothing to have her – to keep her. And she will do anything to keep him safe. In these dark times an even darker treachery abounds. Will their love survive the hands of fate?
Excerpt:
She stood before him. Uncertainty filled her, as her breathing became rapid. He pulled her softly to him, slowly so not to startle her or cause any pain to her still healing wound.
Her sleek form fit like a glove against his large muscular frame, fitting his arms perfectly, her head just below his chin. With an intensity that arose from days of repressed need, he brought his lips down upon the soft fullness of hers.
She sighed into his embrace, lost the minute he pulled her against him. She had wanted him to kiss her, like this, for what seemed an eternity. She had dreamt about it in her sleep.
His tongue parted her lips and traced around its edges, sipping gently before delving deeply to taste her. Ecstasy coursed through her as he held her firmly against him, his hand tangling in her hair, his tongue dueling with hers. She was certain that at any moment she would melt in a pool at his feet.
What are you doing, Gabriella, she asked herself. This is insane…but God, he feels so good! No man had ever stirred her to this madness. No man had driven her with such need to match the loneliness that had once consumed her. That loneliness was melting from her heart as he backed her up against the door and kissed her more deeply, more passionately—if that was possible—than before.
This woman is a temptress, Damon thought. He had never in his life tasted a woman so wonderful, so pliant in his hands. She felt perfect against his body. Something in her called to the nether reaches of his soul. She tasted like heaven, smelled like the innocence of springtime. Felt like a goddess beneath the folds of satin.
As he clung to her lips, he knew he was doomed and didn’t care about the consequences. Knew that he had to have her, possess every bit of her and claim her as his own.
He pulled her tightly against him and pressed the latch of her door, easing her into the room. She was lost in his kiss, not noticing that he backed her towards the bed. The room was in utter darkness but for the small blaze the servants had set for the night’s fire. The subtle flame danced with her desire, darkened her deep green eyes as he eased back from the kiss.
Gabriella knew that madness had overtaken her. Was overtaking them. She knew that she should stop things before they got completely out of hand. But her own needs coursed through her, spoke to her heart as they never had before.
Even though she barely knew this man, her heart told her she knew all that she needed to. Life was too uncertain, the future too full of possibilities. Just once, she wanted to know. Know what it was to be desired with such fierceness. She needed to surrender to the passion that she had witnessed so often between her parents.
“I should go,” he whispered, his voice a gentle caress to her heightened awareness. His heart thundered in his chest as need washed through him. “Tell me to go, Gabriella, and I shall,” he whispered against the nape of her neck.
Her dragon was filled with hunger; desire filled his words as they gruffly, yet softly swirled around her in the darkness of her room. She knew she should tell him to go, but somehow, she could not. “Stay,” she whispered. Her entreaty filled the entranced silence of the room and sealed their fates.
About the Author:
Author K.A. M’Lady lives a few stone throws from corn fields, chaos and congestion; all lying on the outskirts of the many burbs of Chicago. KA M'lady spends her days calculating life expectancies, mortality and the certainty of death and taxes while in her free time the dead wander freely, buy shoes, homes, the occasional odd business or two and, if you even think of charging them too much in taxes…well, let’s just say the tax man may never come back.
But if he does he might just shamble a bit. An All Romance eBooks bestselling author, K.A. M'lady's work has been described as scary, descriptive, beautiful, dark, frightening, addictive, sexy and believable. She loves to read paranormal romances, watching horror movies, westerns on Sundays with her husband, playing fetch with her pocket beagle, Chevy and buying weird shoes. Her friends call her eccentric, her family refuses to comment.
She’s been lost in the world of fiction since she was a small child, and frankly, never wants to be found—at least not any time soon. “Myth and magic builds dreams and inspirations – and in an insane world, it is our dreams that spark the revolution of change. No matter which world is being conquered. Within our dreams – all things are possible.”
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