Release Week/Q&A & Giveaway: Dragon Soul by Katie MacAlister
Dragon Soul
Dragon Falls Series #3
Katie MacAlister
Forever Romance
NOTHING BURNS HOTTER . . .
Sophea Long knows that escorting her octogenarian client to Europe will be an adventure. Mrs. P has a habit of stealing anything shiny, and the former "hoochikoo dancer" is a lot faster than she looks. But Sophea hadn't counted on Mrs. P leading her right into the arms of a smoldering, dark-haired stranger who kisses like a dream. If only he'd give up all this nonsense about Sophea being some kind of dragon...
THAN THE FIRE INSIDE
There's a reason Rowan Dakar is known as the Dragon Breaker. The last thing he needs is to fall for a woman who literally sets him aflame every time they kiss. After all, he has a mission-one that will finally free him of dragonkin for good. He can't afford to be distracted by the funniest, most desirable woman he's ever set eyes on. But no prophecy in the world can ever stop true love . . .
For as long as she can remember Katie MacAlister
has loved reading, and grew up with her nose buried in a book. It wasn't until
many years later that she thought about writing her own books, but once she had
a taste of the fun to be had building worlds, tormenting characters, and falling
madly in love with all her heroes, she was hooked.
With more than
fifty books under her belt, Katie's novels have been translated into numerous
languages, been recorded as audiobooks, received several awards, and are
regulars on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. A self-proclaimed gamer girl, she lives in
the Pacific Northwest with her dogs, and frequently can be found hanging around
online.
1.
What would readers be surprised to find out about you?
Goodness.
So many things, I would expect. Perhaps the fact that I never went to
high school (but did go to college). Or that I wanted to be an
astrophysicist. Or maybe that I have a bunch of very slight touches
of facial blindness, dyslexia, and synesthesia. All of which makes it
an adventure when writing out a check that has amounts using 4 or S
(both of which are red).
2. Who gave you the one piece of writing advice that sticks with you to this day?
Surprisingly,
no one. I think the reason I write is because I’m a lifelong
reader, and have been from a very early age. Reading so many good
books gave me the desire to write and tell my own stories, and more
or less served as an example of what to do and what not to do.
I’ve
always wanted to be one of those fancy people who had a lovely
writing nook, with soft lights, an ergonomich chair perfectly molded
to the body, soft music playing, and candles burning to provide just
the right ambiance needed to put words on paper. The sad reality is
that I have to write with dogs running around crashing into each
other and furniture while flinging various toys and bones onto my lap
to entice me to play, my cat trying to sit on my knees in her daily
attempt to crush my kneecaps, the phone ringing at the most
inopportune moments, and all the other chaos that life throws at us
just when we want to be left alone. So no, I don’t have any writing
rituals, but I dearly yearn for the day when I can have some.
I love historical names, so I tend to
hang out on census sites, looking up naming patterns for whatever era
is pertinent. I also love ethnic names, so I maintain a list of names
that I like and want to use one day. Also, I have a great book that
lists every character in Shakespearean works, and pull from there a
lot, too.
I
love music, but don’t need it to write—however, I often have
Pandora on simply to drown out some of the sounds of animals playing,
other people doing things in my house, etc. Sometimes I set up
soundtracks to go with a book, but other times I just pick a channel
on Pandora and let it go. One of my go-to channels is House of the
Rising Sun, which has all the old 1970s music on that I that I
remember from my childhood.
When
I turned in a non-fiction manuscript. I turned to a friend who was
visiting at the time, and told her, “Now I’m going to write a
novel.” Non-fiction was just so dull and limited, that I wanted to
have some fun with a book, and write characters, and dialogue, and
make people suffer. In a literary sense, that is.
Oh,
mercy, just line my books up and start reading off the hero names.
I’ve said before that I write books for myself first, and that’s
absolutely true. I love all of my heroes, and it’s only because
publishers won’t let me write all the heroines as me that I bother
with writing those dishy men females who are worthy of them.
Outside
of my books, I was one of those girls who grew up with the hots for
Sherlock Holmes. As an adult, I’ve been quite fond of several of
Georgette Heyer heroes, particularly those who give in to their
senses of humor (Sir Tristram from Talisman Ring, and Freddy Standen
from Cotillion).
I’ve
always told myself stories, so writing is really just an extension of
that. My inspiration is my muse, who I picture as a bon-bon eating
diva who reclines of fainting couches a lot, waving a languid hand
whenever she wants something, and basically ruling me with threats of
going away on vacation if I attempt to work her too hard. I seldom
use real people in my books, since the people in my head are much
more flawed and thus suitable for me to torment, but I do use as many
real locations as I possibly can. I rely heavily on past trips to
Europe as the source of many locations, and those I haven’t visited
I usually research by finding people who live there, and haunting
online webcams, and photo galleries.
I need to check this series out
ReplyDeleteI need to check this series out
ReplyDeleteThis does sound good.
ReplyDelete