I feel connected to the characters - Marie Lavender
Today's Author : Marie Lavender
1.
What you write?
I write romance novels. I have written literary fiction, contemporary
romance, romantic suspense, mystery, paranormal romance and historical romance
novels.
2
2. Why you write?
I write because I cannot see
myself doing anything else. When I write
stories or books, I feel connected to the characters. I feel like everything fits. Writing is one of my greatest pleasures.
3.
For
whom you write?
I have self-published 15 books
and published one traditionally. For my
self-published books, I used Lulu.com to publish. Upon
Your Return, my historical romance, was traditionally published through
Solstice Publishing. But, I write for
myself and for my readers. Hopefully,
something I write resonates with them. I
love hearing fans come back and say how much they enjoyed a book, and why.
4. By whom you inspired?
Sometimes people inspire me.
Just observing them gives me ideas for characters. At other times, I am inspired by current
events. Mostly, my ideas just come to me
and I don’t really question where they came from.
5 .You can Share you current
writing (Any small Story/Poem) or Tell your Future plan About writing?
I am currently working on a romantic suspense called Leather and Lace. It will be published soon. I also plan to release an anthology titled Miss Lavender’s Anthology of Ramblings. I am polishing my sequel to Upon Your Return so that I can send to
my publisher. I will share an excerpt
from Leather and Lace here.
Beacon
Hill, Boston
When
he got to the crime scene on Warrenton, Detective Dreyling got out of his
car. He muttered a customary greeting to
the officer near the black and white unit stationed outside and headed into the
club, Venu. Despite the fact that it was a pretty hot club, he wasn’t really
surprised shady things were going on. Venu was placed in a pretty nondescript
area of Beacon Hill, and crime wasn’t really location dependent.
Patrick
was the first investigator on the scene, though he imagined the second officer
inside had had his own questions.
Patrick’s partner was away for the night because his wife was down with
their second baby. The doctor had put
her on bed rest and even though her sister helped out often, his partner Nathan
understandably wanted to check in on her from time to time.
Patrick
made inquiries to the owner, a Mr. Francis, and was motioned to the back. According to the man, the victim was seen
leaving the establishment. He put his
gloves on in preparation, then opened the exit door to the back alley.
When he stepped out, it was
clear the exit let out onto Charles Street, a pretty heavily trafficked
street. It was not far from the Milner
Hotel. By now, the crime scene had been
taped off, but there was no officer around to patrol. The familiar smell of blood and death drifted
into his nose as well as the combination of dirt and trash. Stealing himself
against it, he headed down the walkway.
He
stopped as he saw a figure leaning over the still form. He wondered if it was another cop. As he got closer, he saw the long hair, knew
it was a woman. The lamplight hit her
face and his heart stammered. She was a
beauty, for sure, with a heart shaped face and long, wavy brown hair. But, what drew him the most was the look on
her face. The tears swimming in her
eyes, the deep regret. She certainly did
not dress like a cop. She wore black
skinny jeans and a matching top as well as stiletto boots as she kneeled over
the body. The clothes she wore were elegant somehow. She struck him as powerful. She probably had a powerful job as well. “Ma’am?”
She recoiled, gasping and turned
to run, effectively breaking the police tape.
“Hey, stop! Police!”
He suspected she might know the victim and so might provide some
information. He doubted she was the
suspect, mostly because of her compassion toward the man. But, he had to give her credit as he broke
into a run after her. The woman could
sure run in heels. It was impressive. He followed her a good three blocks or so
until they reached Lagrange. He saw her
enter through the back of a club.
Cursing, he propped his hands on his knees and got his breath back. Well, he knew where to find her. And with a body like that, he assumed she was
a dancer. He knew the place, The Glass
Slipper.
Reluctantly, he headed back to
the crime scene, though her escape really got to him. He had given chase to many suspects and
hadn’t lost once. Well, he certainly
wouldn’t be floating the story around at the precinct. She was a person of interest in the case, but
no one needed to know about it. He
didn’t bother to wonder why a woman of her looks and character should be a
mystery he very much wanted to unravel.
He was a cop. It was his job to
figure people out.
When he returned to Venu, the
medical examiner had already arrived. Dr.
Tremont was clear that it was a stabbing, but she informed him she wouldn’t
know what kind of knife it was until she did the autopsy. The body was bagged and sent away.
Patrick had recovered enough
belongings to know the victim’s I.D. and little else. He interviewed the patrons of the club, then
spoke with the owner, informing him the CSI unit would still need a couple more
hours to process the scene. It was
possible hair and other tissue could be found, but Patrick really didn’t
consider it likely since the street was so busy. He would put Nathan on the 911 call tomorrow
to try to determine who it was who’d phoned it in. The club owner had seemed far too surprised
when the first car came on the scene.
So, who had called it in? The
murderer? A witness? Someone who’d just stumbled across the
body?
An image of that woman came to
mind. Long legs, enough curves to make
his throat suddenly dry. He shook it
off. It didn’t matter how attractive she
was. She could be any of those
things. He still had a job to do. The clear emotion on her face had moved him,
he had to admit. So, it was very
possible she had only come upon the victim in his final moments. That couldn’t have been easy to see. In any case, he would find her and figure out
how she’d been involved.
He returned to his District A-1
precinct on Sudbury Street. He updated
his Captain, filed a report and headed home.
6. We came to know that you
believe in ghosts. Tell us how this thought come to you? You saw any ghosts?
No, I haven’t seen a ghost. But, I am very open-minded to the
supernatural. I guess that’s part of the
reason I am interested in paranormal romance.
I even published one ghost story, a book about a young woman who tries
to seek revenge on her killer. It is
called A Misplaced Life.
7.
What is love? Tell us your view on this.
I think that love, the kind we
write about, is an ideal. I believe
there are all kinds of love, but I tend to write about true love, or at least
bonds that become a lasting love. True
love is a meeting of two minds from different backgrounds, and yet, at the core
of each person, in their souls, they are the same.
8. Give five pieces of advice to a
new writer?
That is a hard question. 1) Don’t give up. There are lot of hurdles to jump in the
industry, and it can get discouraging.
2) Follow the guidelines of the industry, but find your own voice. Only you will be unhappy with end result if
you don’t follow your own vision. 3) Get
an agent, if you can. Most publishers
require one. They will open doors. But, do your due diligence too. You don’t want to get attached to a shady
character. 4) Write a killer query
letter. So many agents won’t even give
you the time of day without one.
Publishers are pretty picky about them too. 5) Make sure you have a second or third pair
of eyes to look at your manuscript (i.e. critique partners or beta
readers). They may be able to catch
things you couldn’t see.
9. Give five pieces of advice to a
reader?
1) Read what you’re interested in,
but don’t be afraid to try something new.
Who knows? Maybe you’ll stumble
across a new favorite author. 2) Open your heart and your mind to a book. I have found a lot of basic truths in other
authors’ works. 3) Word of mouth is
wonderful! If you like a book, tell your
friends. Maybe they’ll like it too. 4) Write a review! So many readers do not write reviews. Authors thrive on reviews and without them,
their books sit around and don’t get read, even if they are masterpieces. The industry is very competitive and to get
noticed nowadays, with so many famous authors and self-published writers in the
same marketplace, is difficult. So, I encourage
you to write a review if you like a book.
5) Everyone has a different
opinion. What might work for you might
not work for someone else, and vice versa.
It’s just like when you disagree with someone about your favorite movie
or TV show. Don’t ruin their experience
of a book, and don’t necessarily be swayed by their negative opinion. Experience it for yourself. The world inside a book is so wonderful. If it appeals to one person, it may not to
another. We are all different. We have different tastes and different
backgrounds. So, we can agree to
disagree about things.
Books-
Buy Books:
More Details:
website: http://www.marielavender.webs.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marielavender1
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