by Kira Morgan
Fear gives you a spike of adrenaline; it makes your heart race, your breath heave; and, for the villain in my new book, DEADLY FEAR—well, fear makes his life worth living. The killer in this tale has an intimate connection with fear. He feels truly alive only when he can see and hear the real fear of others. So he sets out to turn his victims’ worst fears into reality. Oh, yes, this guy would have scared me as a teen.
But to give him a strong adversary, I created my heroine in the form of Special Agent Monica Davenport. Unlike the foolish/brave heroines from my past, Monica keeps her gun close, and she doesn’t let fear get to her. Instead, she gets into the killer’s mind.
Getting into his mind is, after all, her job. Monica is the lead profiler for the SSD—the Serial Services Division at the FBI. Her job is to track and apprehend serial killers. Fear isn’t an option for her.
But it is for me.
To learn more about DEADLY FEAR and to read an excerpt, visit my website: www.cynthiaeden.com.
Happy reading!
From the desk of Dee Davis
Dear Reader,
I read somewhere that “every character believes the story is about him.” That really struck a chord with me because I’ve had characters hijack a book completely. In my first novel, a secondary character had too much to drink and in the course of a conversation revealed the entire plot—in Chapter 3. I took his tankard away, rewrote the scene, and lo and behold—he behaved. In my third novel, a character was supposed to have a one-line walk-on and wound up stealing the show with his dramatic death scene. So experience has taught me to always keep this in mind when I write, and I offer this same advice to any budding writers out there.
As a writer, I love all my characters equally. They’re like children born from the murky depths of my imagination. But if I’m being really honest, some characters have a way of digging deeper into your heart. Tyler Hanson is one of those. Unlike some heroes and heroines I’ve written, who had to be dragged forcefully onto the page and compelled to reveal their secrets, Tyler sprang fully formed onto the computer screen almost from the minute I conceptualized her. She is strong, independent, and fiercely loyal. She isn’t afraid of anything—except falling in love. And so I knew I was going to enjoy watching as she struggled with her growing feelings for Owen and, like all of us, the shadows that haunt her past.
One of the wonderful things about writing a series is that when the book ends, it isn’t the end of the characters. They get to continue their journeys, albeit on the back burner, in future stories, and happily that means that I get to spend more time with characters like DARK DECEPTIONS’s Nash and Annie and DARK DESIRES’s Drake and Madeline.
And sometimes—because, after all, it’s my world—I get to reintroduce someone from a previous book, someone I really hated saying good-bye to. Enter Harrison Blake. Harrison first appeared in my Last Chance series, and to date, he’s gotten more mail than any other character I’ve ever written. So it’s with great pleasure that I called on him to help Owen out in DESPERATE DEEDS. And I’ve got a feeling we haven’t seen the last of him.
For more insight into Tyler and her romance with Owen, here are some songs I listened to while writing DESPERATE DEEDS:
“Blurry”—Puddle of Mudd
“Mad World”—Adam Lambert
“Kissed by a Rose”—Seal
I hope you’re enjoying the A-Tac series. For more on the books and me, check out www.deedavis.com.
Happy Reading!
From the desk of Kira Morgan
Dear Reader,
I’ve heard that in order to write a good book, you have to take your perfectly nice characters and torture them mercilessly. Well, I’m afraid to tell you that’s exactly what I’ve done to my poor heroine in CAPTURED BY DESIRE.
Florie Gilder is a 16th-century Scottish goldsmith’s daughter with a mind of her own, a strong will, and a bright future. So what do I do with her? I confront her with an unfortunate misunderstanding, which deteriorates into a disastrous altercation, followed by a tragic accident that renders her utterly helpless. Worse, I thrust her into the path of Rane McAllister, a charming, assertive lady-killer of a huntsman who is used to getting his way, and then I leave her in his overbearing hands.
All her life, Florie has fought for respectability among her peers in the goldsmith’s guild, but with a wicked twist of my pen, I upset her world and drag her down to the level of a common criminal, forcing her to claw her way back up. Knowing Florie prides herself on her independence, I strip that away from her too, leaving her completely reliant on a stranger.
Since Florie hates to be touched, Rane touches her all the time. Because she’s accustomed to dining on roast capon, sweetmeats, and fine wine, Rane brings her coarse bread, hard cheese, and rough ale. Florie prefers velvet, and Rane dresses her in wool.
But I don’t stop there.
Florie prefers to be alone, so naturally the hero is with her constantly. She doesn’t like to be the center of attention, so I make a humiliating spectacle out of her. She’s terrified of the enemy English, so they’re a constant threat.
Then, when she thinks things can’t get any worse, I make Florie, who has sworn on her mother’s grave never to fall in love, fall in love.
Of course, I put a few thumbscrews to the hero, too.
Since Rane prefers compliant blondes, I throw him a spunky brunette. I obligate him to take care of Florie when he’s supposed to be providing for starving peasants. I force him to choose between his loyalty to his lord and his love for Florie.
And because Rane is pretty much the village stud, I taunt him with women he can’t have, all the while dangling the virgin Florie in front of him.
It’s a cruel game, I suppose, making my characters suffer so much. But in the end, it really does make everyone’s “happy ever after” that much happier! After all, what’s pleasure without a little pain?
Enjoy!
