Today I have fellow Whispers Author, J. Paulette Forshey. Let's make her feel welcome here at Decadent Decisions. Chef and Tyrell are manning the buffet and open bar. If you don't see something or run out of strawberries for the chocolate fountain, just say the word.
1. As an author, do you take time to read? If so, what do you like to read and who is/are your favorite author/s?
Reading is my reward. I pick a task and when it's finished I allow myself so many chapters until the next job. I love vampires so to name a few of my favorite authors, Elaine Bergstrom, Maggie Shayne, Katie MacAlister, Lynsay Sands, Kerrelyn Sparks, and Rosemary Laurey.
2. How do you stay motivated when the Muse is uncooperative?
I try to help the muse with music appropriate to what I'm writing. Recently I've been working on a piece where the Tango is important to the plot, so I listen to Tango music and watch Tango clips. I also burn a scented candle like lavender, and sometimes have a glass or two of wine. If that doesn't work I get the whip out.
3. If you could go anywhere in the world on a romantic getaway, what would you do and where would you go?
I love going on a cruise to the Caribbean. At home I take care of everyone, on a cruise everyone takes care of me. I can eat, sleep, have an umbrella drink, get a massage, shop, and explore exotic places with white sand and endless blue water.
4. What is the hardest thing for you to write?
A children's book. I once wrote a story for third graders, and keeping in the parameters for someone that age and using vocabulary they understand was the hardest thing I've ever written.
5. If you could live the life of one of your characters who would you be?
If I can only pick one it would be Allyson Weston from my novel, The Tarczal Alliance, she is feisty, strong, intelligent, beautiful, and gets Logan Kincaid all to herself. I'd like to be any of my heroines who spar with my Tarczal vampires and end up winning their hearts.
6. The tag line on my blog is ‘Indulge Your Inner Romantic.’ What do you do to indulge?
A glass of wine and a good dinner, preferably a meal I don't have to cook, and naps. I don't usually sleep very well and a good thirty minutes nap once or twice a day is a blessing to my sanity.
The Estate
At a ghostly southern estate Cuilean Kelley is about to have his reality and dreams collide.
Night after night Cuilean Kelley's dreams are haunted by an exotic woman. His days are preoccupied searching for a set of rare books. Clues to the mythical tomes lead him to a tiny parish outside of Savanna. He unearths not only the volumes, but discovers the woman of his dreams is real, and being held in a spectral prison guarded by an ancient lost civilization. Her freedom depends on Cuilean and the books connection to a ghostly southern estate.
Excerpt: The Estate
"Oh, my, isn't he a little biscuit?"
Cuilean bit the inside of his mouth, on the comment of his person, to keep from laughing.
One of the well coiffed white-hairs snickered. "My dear, I bet there's nothing "little" about him."
What was that old saying he mused, something about snow on the mountain top but fire underneath. He glanced over and back quickly to make sure, yep, they were seventy-something and not seventeen.
"Yes, he's certainly a tall one must be six foot two or three."
"Honey, I wasn't referring to his height and he's at least six four if not taller."
It took the southern belle a minute to comprehend. "What? Oh! Mildred get you mind out of the gutter."
"She'd have to step up to have her mind in the gutter," another scoffed.
Snickering giggles smothered behind fine linen handkerchiefs reached his ears.
"That olive skin and that thatch of black hair, hmmmmm."
"The boy needs a haircut and a bath," snapped one.
"I wouldn't mind giving him both. I'd just love to scrub his back…and his front."
"Did you see those green eyes? Like fresh spring grass they are. I'd kill for those thick black lashes he has, well if I had those I'd never have to buy mascara again."
"I read in a book once about Celtic heritage, they called men with his coloring Black Celt's. Doesn't that sound so romantic?"
"Bessie May what kind of book was that?"
Cuilean noted from the minute long hesitation Bessie May wasn’t in any hurry to answer. That and the way she crossed her arms over her more than ample bosom and pursed her lips tight. His grandmother, red-haired and pale-skinned, had called him a Black Celt when he was young. She told him he was a throwback to the marauders who pillaged, and plundered the land before finally claiming it as theirs. And after the women of the tribes they ravaged, tamed those same raiders.
"Bessie May, we're waiting."
Hand clutching her handkerchief to the base of her throat, Bessie May stood for a moment more before blurting. "It was one of those romance books. So there."
Her friends closed their eyes and shook their heads for a moment as though in prayer. "You really need to get out more," suggested one lady.
"I wonder why he's here."
"Doesn't look like he could afford to buy even the smallest, most worthless, item on the auction block."
Cuilean bit back another grin staring straight ahead. No, he supposed he didn't, wearing a much worn jean-jacket, a faded blue work shirt, tattered jeans, and thin-soled tennis shoes. Right now he probably looked like something the proverbial cat drug in, especially after traveling in these clothes for several days. He listened, decided which one would hold the most information, turned and locked his gaze with hers.
"Good morning, ma'am, and ladies." He gave them a courtesy nod. "I'm Cuilean Keeley."
About the Author: J. Paulette is an award winning author, who lives in a small Ohio town with her husband, and a Basset Hound, who thinks she's a princess. Her mornings belong to her writing, her days are spent loving her five grandbabies, and her nights belong to her husband, the inspiration for her heroes. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Central Ohio Fiction Writers, and several other groups. She also writes under the name of Genevieve Delacroix. If you want to find out more about her or contact her go to:
Twitter @ForsheyJ
J. Paulette Forshey's next book, "A Tango Trinity" will be out later this year first as an e-book and later in paperback form in the anthology "Three To Tango". Her e-books can be purchased at:
www.whispershome.comand
amazon.com
