A Walk in the Black Forest
by K.A M’Lady
by K.A M’Lady
Genre: Historical/Time-Travel Erotic Romance
Publisher: Mojocastle Press
Date of Publication: August 25, 2013
ISBN: 9781601801876
Number of pages: 312
Word Count: 81,874
Cover Artist: Patricia Dittman
Book Description:
A Knight bred in the blood of battle…
Damon DeGracey is the Dragon of Blackmoor. Darkly mysterious, a cunning tactician of war, and William the Conqueror’s fiercest knight, he is a warrior any King would gladly claim as his champion. In a land awash in bloodshed and treachery, the Dragon must hunt and slay those responsible for the murder of his family while trying to keep the rebels from overthrowing the newly crowned King’s throne.
A sword forged in mystery…
Its ancient etchings and flame red stone draw Anthropologist, Gabriella DeVoux like a moth to a dragon’s fierce blaze. Its secrets she must know…its master’s hand she unwittingly craves. Will history yield to her its secrets or will the Dragon elude her in time’s lost pages?
A love that time cannot destroy...
Now that he’s found her, he will stop at nothing to have her – to keep her. And she will do anything to keep him safe. In these dark times an even darker treachery abounds. Will their love survive the hands of fate?
She stood before him. Uncertainty filled her, as her breathing became rapid. He pulled her softly to him, slowly so not to startle her or cause any pain to her still healing wound.
Her sleek form fit like a glove against his large muscular frame, fitting his arms perfectly, her head just below his chin. With an intensity that arose from days of repressed need, he brought his lips down upon the soft fullness of hers.
She sighed into his embrace, lost the minute he pulled her against him. She had wanted him to kiss her, like this, for what seemed an eternity. She had dreamt about it in her sleep.
His tongue parted her lips and traced around its edges, sipping gently before delving deeply to taste her. Ecstasy coursed through her as he held her firmly against him, his hand tangling in her hair, his tongue dueling with hers. She was certain that at any moment she would melt in a pool at his feet.
What are you doing, Gabriella, she asked herself. This is insane…but God, he feels so good! No man had ever stirred her to this madness. No man had driven her with such need to match the loneliness that had once consumed her. That loneliness was melting from her heart as he backed her up against the door and kissed her more deeply, more passionately—if that was possible—than before.
This woman is a temptress, Damon thought. He had never in his life tasted a woman so wonderful, so pliant in his hands. She felt perfect against his body. Something in her called to the nether reaches of his soul. She tasted like heaven, smelled like the innocence of springtime. Felt like a goddess beneath the folds of satin.
As he clung to her lips, he knew he was doomed and didn’t care about the consequences. Knew that he had to have her, possess every bit of her and claim her as his own.
He pulled her tightly against him and pressed the latch of her door, easing her into the room. She was lost in his kiss, not noticing that he backed her towards the bed. The room was in utter darkness but for the small blaze the servants had set for the night’s fire. The subtle flame danced with her desire, darkened her deep green eyes as he eased back from the kiss.
Gabriella knew that madness had overtaken her. Was overtaking them. She knew that she should stop things before they got completely out of hand. But her own needs coursed through her, spoke to her heart as they never had before.
Even though she barely knew this man, her heart told her she knew all that she needed to. Life was too uncertain, the future too full of possibilities. Just once, she wanted to know. Know what it was to be desired with such fierceness. She needed to surrender to the passion that she had witnessed so often between her parents.
“I should go,” he whispered, his voice a gentle caress to her heightened awareness. His heart thundered in his chest as need washed through him. “Tell me to go, Gabriella, and I shall,” he whispered against the nape of her neck.
Her dragon was filled with hunger; desire filled his words as they gruffly, yet softly swirled around her in the darkness of her room. She knew she should tell him to go, but somehow, she could not. “Stay,” she whispered. Her entreaty filled the entranced silence of the room and sealed their fates.
Can you please share with us a little about yourself?
I could bore you with the mundane, typical bio responses but I’ll leave you to look them up for yourself. Truth is, I’m a bit of a drama queen; I speak my mind and I feel too much. I spend all of my free time hanging out with my awesome husband, who still, after twenty–three years puts up with me. I spend way too much time reading and writing because there is really nothing worth watching on TV and I really do have a thing for weird, quirky shoes – rain boots are a particular downfall. I get a small villainous pleasure from throwing off-handed words at my youngest just so he’ll learn to expand his vocabulary and I’m probably the worst speller in the universe. So, thank God for my editors. I’d be lost without them. And I think my becoming a grandma is the most amazing, weird and wonderful thing in the world.
Can you share with us your typical writing day. Is there anything you have to have while writing?
I work full-time so I don’t have a set schedule during the week. If my brain is too full from a crazy day at the office I tend to zone on reading a book for some down time. Then I spend about five hours on Saturday and Sunday doing nothing but writing stuff – promo, fb, working on whatever work in progress I have going. I also help run the Monday only Paranormal Yahoo Group – Just Another Paranormal Monday with author, Brigit Aines so I work on Author Features, Creature Features, or whatever the group has going on for the members. If I have a deadline then it’s work and then writing work. I tend to work whenever the need strikes me. When my characters talk, I try to listen. Some are a bit more demanding than others.
The only thing I really need to write, I’d say is coffee and time. Most days there just never seems to be enough of either.
What would you say is the most challenging or rewarding part of writing?
I positively love everything about this job. It’s the best thing ever. The entire creative process is all still so amazing to me. Even now, I learn something new with every story I write. I enjoy the research we do to create some of the worlds, digging up the history and twisting it up to suit my story’s needs. And then the artists that help the story jump off the cover – it’s incredible. I could do without all of my comma errors during edits (bane of my existence) but when it’s all put together, I’m still amazed at the end results.
Can you please tell us about your latest book?
A Walk in the Black Forest is the first book I had published, so it’s a re-release with Mojocastle Press. It’s not new to my CEE, Stefanie Kelsey – I’ve been with her since the beginning of my career as a writer. But, after some heavy duty clean-up and a lovely new cover by artist, Patricia Dittman, I think it finally has come to life. It has everything an alluring historical time-travel should have – mystery, intrigue, a strong female lead, an incredibly deep, sexy hero with a dark past, subterfuge, hot and steamy sex scenes, greed, lust, betrayal. It’s all very exciting stuff.
How did you come up with the idea for this story?
I’ve always loved historical time-time travel novels. And one day I just figured – I can do this. So I did. I’m a bit of an oddity where my writing has taken me, I think. I submitted to two publishing houses and one asked for some changes and asked me to resubmit, the second accepted me. I’ve been writing like a crazy person ever since.
As far as this story is concerned, I wondered if I could go anywhere in time, where I want to go? Medieval England was at the top of my list. Despite the harshness of the times I think the history of the period is fascinating and highly compelling for a story’s setting.
Can you share with us your current work in progress?
I try to make it a point not to limit myself to a specific genre. I like to write on the fringe, so to speak and I write what I like to read – which is quite varied. My current work in progress is the final installment to my Faith Savage Demon Huntress series. Book 8 – Messenger will bring the culmination of events surrounding the Angels and the fallen that have both been stalking Faith in their bid for mankind’s domination. Those who win will fill the Guff. However, if Faith has any say over the matter it won’t be an easy task. Her place in God’s plan is a hard road to travel for a demon-wrangler. Through it all the message is a matter of interpretation. But, belief is in the hands of Faith….
Who are some of your favorite authors?
I have a slew from various genres – Ann Rice, Laura K. Hamilton, Mary Janice Davidson, Christina Dodd, Patrick Rothfus, Poe, Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Donna Grant, Laurann Dohner, Marissa Chennery, Moira Rogers, RG Alexander – the list is truly endless. Large Press, Small press and Indie authors. There are so many choices – it’s a wonderful time to be a reader.
Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired our writing style?
I love a book that is rich in color and words, filled with emotion and events, but not so much that you’re drowning in it. Every story I read inspires me to do better as a writer. I would have to say that the incomparable Ms. Rice was probably my primary inspiration for writing fiction however, there are the poets and the fantasy authors I read as a kid that took me to so many wonderful places as well. It’s the words and the worlds that truly inspire me.
Open your book to a random page and please read us a few lines.
“How did you come to be in the forest?” he asked.
No preamble, just a simple straight on attack.
And so the interrogation begins. He left the tree, retrieved something from his saddlebags and approach where she was kneeling. Pausing in front of her, he handed her a small bar of soap and a cloth with which to scrub her hair. Then he just stood over her. Menacingly. Hands upon his hips. Waiting for a response.
Gabriella turned her back on him and set about trying to get the blood out of her hair. A million thoughts roamed through her mind. What the hell am I supposed to tell him? What the hell am I supposed to do? She knew that if she told him the truth, it could be very, very bad. He’ll never believe me. Burn me as a witch, that’s what he’ll do. Slit my throat, or find some other wretched way for me to die. Her mind began to wander with ways that he could torture the information out of her.
Damon knelt down beside her. “What thoughts take you so far, lady?” he asked but a whisper away from her. His voice was so deep she could feel it in the pit of her stomach.
Gabriella turned and was staring into the pooling silver of his eyes. Her lips parted on a breath.
Damon was lost as soon as her deep green eyes met his. His lips reached hers, and his hands found themselves in the mass of her curls. He was a drowning man, stealing her final breath in the soft sigh of her kiss.
Author K.A. M’Lady lives a few stone throws from corn fields, chaos and congestion; all lying on the outskirts of the many burbs of Chicago. KA M'lady spends her days calculating life expectancies, mortality and the certainty of death and taxes while in her free time the dead wander freely, buy shoes, homes, the occasional odd business or two and, if you even think of charging them too much in taxes…well, let’s just say the tax man may never come back.
But if he does he might just shamble a bit. An All Romance eBooks bestselling author, K.A. M'lady's work has been described as scary, descriptive, beautiful, dark, frightening, addictive, sexy and believable. She loves to read paranormal romances, watching horror movies, westerns on Sundays with her husband, playing fetch with her pocket beagle, Chevy and buying weird shoes. Her friends call her eccentric, her family refuses to comment.
She’s been lost in the world of fiction since she was a small child, and frankly, never wants to be found—at least not any time soon. “Myth and magic builds dreams and inspirations – and in an insane world, it is our dreams that spark the revolution of change. No matter which world is being conquered. Within our dreams – all things are possible.”
Bridgette - thanks so much for the feature and Interview and allowing me to share my work with your readers! I greatly appreciate the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteAlways my best ~ K.