Lock and Load
Lock and Load is book two in a series called Attack Force, about four men in a Delta Force team. They are all Doms, all finally looking for a permanent relationship with a sub. The team leader owns a ranch outside San Antonio, Texas and when they go there between missions he takes them all to the private club they belong to. This book is the story of Beau and Megan, two people trying to find themselves as well as their happy ever after. Beau is a sniper who of necessity is closed off emotionally. Megan is still struggling with her discover that she’s a sub. This is the story of their journey.
This is book two in the Attack Force series so what can you tell us about the first?
Unconditional Surrender is about the team leader, Slade Donovan, a full out Dom who is looking for a permanent partner. Someone who can provide emotional sanctuary for him between missions. The woman he finds, Kari, fights her own inner battle. As a tough as nails attorney she needs to find a man she can trust in order to let her guard down completely. Slade wants her to trust him enough to let him restrain her but Kari doesn’t know if she can shed the armour she wears in public.
Can you give us some insight into the characters of Beau and Megan?
Beau, who looks like a surfer dude, is actually a sniper. A very good one, as a matter of fact. But because of the nature of what he does, to be able to compartmentalize his kills, he has locked away his emotions. He’s reached a point in his life where he wants to have one woman he can be himself with, who will help him chase away the blackness of his job. Megan has spent her professional life as a sportswriter fighting the natural prejudices against women. She wants to be a sub but only to a man she can trust not to abuse the privilege. She has a lot of challenges and a lot of uncertainty in her life.
How much does life experience help you to become a better writer?
I like to think I take a little something from everyone I meet. I have a natural curiosity about people, what they do, how they live. I also have a hunger to experience as many things as I can. For example, I went ziplining two years ago and it gave me a real understanding of why people fear heights and also why they enjoy this kind of daredevil thing. I spent a few years as a sportswriter so I think I have a good understanding of the industry. I owned my own entertainment agency and managed both rock bands and country singers. Everything I did and the people I met formed the basis for stories I’ve written about musicians and the industry. Writing may be a solitary activity but it can’t be done in isolation. You have to experience emotion, human contact, and activities to enrich the characters you write about.
You have won many awards for your work, so how much does this affect your confidence as a writer?
I think I’d still be very proud of my work is I hadn’t won anything, but each award I’ve received has been an affirmation of myself as a professional and a recognition of the quality of my work. I keep them on shelves above my computer and on days when I question my ability I can look at them and know that the industry thinks I’m doing something right.
You have been praised for making each new story better than the last, so how do you achieve this?
I work very hard at it. I study people, for one thing. My stories are all character driven so I am always working to make my characters more believable, more enjoyable; more complex. I try to go over my notes from other stories and think about what I might have done better with them. And I try to make each story different from all the others. I am always looking, learning, absorbing and bringing new experiences to the written word. I think to myself, if I were a reader, what would I want to read here?
What is next for you?
To keep writing, of course! I am currently working on a complex novel for Totally Bound about a woman with a secret. But to spice it up a little, the man she meets also has a secret and there is a lot of tragedy they have to deal with to get their happy ever after. Two more stories to go in Attack Force, two more in my paranormal series The Sentinels, two more in another paranormal series Cats Eye. And of course, who knows what will strike my fancy? I wrote an entire novel based on a Letter to the Editor in my local newspaper ad Attack Force is based on discussions with my two firearms instructors. People intrigue me, so anything that strikes my fancy? I’m after it.
Lock and Load is available from Totally Bound Publishing now!