Interview with Lorraine Nelson (and Giveaway!)

We are delighted to welcome Lorraine Nelson back to our blog! She has a new release in her wildly popular Thunder Creek series, and we would like to pass on the information to all of you. Get ready for your return to Thunder Creek!

Lucas Manning, Sr. is married to Winnie, Roy Grayson's mother. Trouble ensues from the moment authorities arrest her son for stalking and terrorizing Lucas' daughter-in-law. Winnie feels guilty and withdraws from the Manning family. Suddenly a threatening phone call disturbs their lives even more as Winnie becomes a target. Can Lucas convince her of her worthiness and save their marriage? Or will danger and loyalty to her son drive a further wedge between them?

Excerpt:

 The warm water sluiced over their hot bodies in a rushing stream as they stood entwined in the tiny stall. Her kisses tasted like chocolate mint from the candy bars they’d snacked on earlier.

 She poured a liberal amount of his shower gel into her palm. “Turn around.”

 He did as requested, and she dutifully soaped his back. As her hands moved to soap his chest, she rubbed her breasts against him, and he shivered in response to the sensations rioting through his body. When her hands reached to soap his cock, he gasped, taking in a mouthful of water, which he promptly spewed out.

 “Lady, you sure are full of surprises,” he said as he turned to face her, rinsing off under the spray before turning the taps off. He grabbed a towel and dried her body, his ministrations causing exquisite little moans to escape her lips. Quickly drying himself, he tossed the towel aside and wrapped an arm around her waist.

 Side-by-side, they walked through to the bedroom where he could make love to her in comfort. He loved this woman. He’d shown her every day in every way he could, but the words themselves didn’t come easy, not since his first wife died and took a piece of his heart with her.

 As they lay down, he cuddled close and worshipped her body with his hands and mouth, old memories pushed to the farthest recesses of his mind.

 Her breasts spilled from his hands as he massaged their silky softness. “So damned soft. I could play with them all night long.”

 She clutched his head urging him forward to taste her rosy buds. “Be my guest.”

 He laved a tongue over a nipple, teasing before pulling it into his mouth, his hand pinching the other one. Her soft murmur of delight spurred him on. He let go of her breast, with a light bite, trailing kisses down over her abdomen to reach the honeyed prize nested in reddish curls. Her legs spread for him, the most feminine part of her open and waiting for his attention.

****

AD: Welcome back to Boundless as the Sea, Lorraine! Your new release is Trouble Brewing in Thunder Creek. This is your third trip to Thunder Creek, right? What were the other books set in Thunder Creek?

LN: Yes, Trouble Brewing in Thunder Creek is my third book in the Thunder Creek Ranch series.

Book 1, Zakia and the Cowboy, was released on October 5th and became a bestseller and Featured Title at Are within 3 days. It features Luke Manning and his estranged wife, Zakia.

Book 2, Covert Mission: Undercover Cop, was released on November 28th and featured Luke and Zakia’s best friends, Blake and Samantha.

 AD: What is it about Thunder Creek that keeps drawing you back?

LN: The characters themselves keep talking and I just keep writing their stories. I love the sense of family, generations of growing and loving as they work together to provide a home and protect each other from harm.

AD: Which of these three books was the most fun to write? The most difficult?

LN: I absolutely loved writing Zakia and the Cowboy. It was the first book in which characters actually ‘spoke’ to me and it seemed to almost write itself. At times, my 30 wpm limit was sorely tested as I tried valiantly to keep up.

The most fun would be Covert Mission: Undercover Cop. Sam is such a sassy, independent, outgoing character, totally opposite to Blake and his caring, protective nature.

Book 3, would be the most difficult. At times, Lucas Sr. and his wife Winnie were at such an impasse that I really had to work it through. Eventually, they spoke, I wrote, and it all came together.

AD: Trouble Brewing in Thunder Creek is a bit of an unusual romance in that the hero and heroine are already married when the story begins. What inspired you to tackle a romance from that angle?

LN: Spoiler alert! Book 1 involved a stalker who turned out to be Winnie’s son. The stalker had threatened the lives of Lucas’s family. It was bound to cause trouble in their marriage, and I began to wonder how they’d work through it. The hardest part was keeping the suspense going, but I stumbled onto a new angle and voila!

AD: Of the three couples, Lucas and Zakia, Samantha and Blake, Lucas Sr. and Winnie, which was your favorite? Why?

LN: Geesh! Do I have to have a favorite? I fall in love with all my characters and have written about these ones so much now, they’re almost family.

If I have to pick, I suppose it would be Luke and Zakia. After all, they started the whole thing.

AD: Which couple was the easiest for you to write? Which was the most difficult? What about those particular couples made them easier or more difficult to write?

LN: Luke and Zakia were the easiest to write. Once the idea grabbed me, it just didn’t let go. There’s just something about a second chance at love that pushes you to give them that happily ever after.

Sam’s story was a different one to write because of her prosthesis. It made her vulnerable and yet prompted her to be self-reliant. She hated the thought of people pitying her and found it hard to let anyone get too close. Blake certainly had his work cut out for him.

AD: Who was your favorite individual character? Why?

LN: That would be Sam. She’s a feisty little thing who overcame great odds to be with the man she loved.

AD: How long did it take you to write Trouble Brewing in Thunder Creek?

LN: I started writing it as Book 2 in August, but Sam and Blake kept hollering to be #2. Needless to say, what I had written got scrapped when I started writing it again on Nov 2nd. It was edited and subbed by Nov 26th. So, just over 3 weeks from start to finish.

AD: Do you have any further adventures at the Thunder Creek Ranch planned?

LN: Yes, Book 4, A Cowgirl’s Pride, is about Leah Manning, Luke Jr.’s sister.

Book 5, Cameron’s Quest, is about their uncle, part owner of the Thunder Creek Ranch, returning from his travels.

Books 6-10 are hazy, but a distinct possibility.

And then there’s: Thunder Creek: The Next Generation.

As long as the characters keep talking and the readers keep wanting more, I’ll keep writing. There is definitely a world of possibilities in Thunder Creek.

AD: What can you tell us about Leah?

LN: Leah is the princess of the Manning Clan, two years younger than her brother, Luke. She tired of being coddled and protected, always her daddy’s ‘baby girl’. She didn’t want to live her life on the ranch. She wanted the bright lights and the big city. She wanted to dance.

Leah left her home and her teenaged lover right after high school graduation and moved to Vancouver where she worked as a dancer, but became unwillingly embroiled in an unsavory lifestyle. In Book 4, she returns home, pregnant, seeking a better life for her child. Trouble follows. Her knowledge of the goings on in Vancouver is in danger of getting her killed, but the Mannings close ranks and provide much-needed protection.

AD: You take an unusual angle in your romances, adding a large element of danger to them. What piqued your interest in suspense as an adjunct to romance?

LN: Would you believe every cent of my babysitting money as a teenager went toward the purchase of Hardy Boys books? In my later teens, I progressed to Mignon G. Eberhart, Mary Higgins-Clark, John Grisham and Harlequin Romance. To combine the two seemed only natural. By the way, I also watched a lot of westerns.

Thank you so much for having me here today. You two certainly don’t ask easy questions.

Places you can find me:
Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon
Goodreads
The Talent Cave
Email

Purchase links:

Evernight Publishing
All Romance eBooks
Bookstrand
Amazon


Lorraine is giving away one copy of Trouble Brewing in Thunder Creek to one lucky fan. Comment below to be entered to win. Winner chosen January 17th!

Review of Lorraine Nelson's "Zakia and the Cowboy"

Author: Lorraine Nelson
Title: Zakia and the Cowboy
Length: Novel

Author's Blurb
With a stalker following her every move Zakia has no choice but to flee the city. With her options limited she runs to the only place she's ever felt safe...the Thunder Creek Ranch and her ex-husband, Lucas. 


Will he protect Zakia from the stalker? And if he does will either of them be able to ignore the feelings that have simmered for so long, ready to explode...before danger either draws them together or pulls them apart.


What I Thought
The positive points:
From the beginning, Ms. Nelson kept the tension high, and the story flowed smoothly from the first page. The characters of Luke, Blake, and Samantha were clear, sympathetic, and diverse. Their behavior was, for the most part, believable, and though they were placed in difficult and confusing situations, their actions were always consistent. The resolution with the heroine's stalker was satisfactory, and his identity was also believable. The interest did not flag, and Ms. Nelson's prose kept pace with her plot.


The negative points:
In a story which calls for more than the usual suspension of disbelief, whether a paranormal story or -- as in this case -- something more akin to a suspense or thriller, the details are more important than ever. Throughout the story, money is required, and in large amounts. Zakia's father is described as wealthy, but unless he was bankrolling everyone in the story, heroes and villains alike, there are unanswered questions, such as how Luke was able to afford to purchase a bullet-proof, air-conditioned covered wagon. The other primary negative in the story was the character of Zakia, as well as other characters' responses to her. Zakia clearly loved Luke, but she stayed away from him for six years. She went six years without contact -- and she was the one who left him. Luke's silence was more understandable, given that he was the one left and that Zakia's news of her pregnancy never reached him. Despite Zakia's convenient illness after the births of their twins, her six-year silence is insufficiently explained. If she loved Luke as described in that early period of marriage, then she would have at some point contacted him. In addition, Luke's friends and family accept Zakia with open arms, despite her betrayal of him, despite her having kept his sons from him. Luke's father, who is described as close to Luke, welcomes Zakia like a long-lost daughter, but Zakia broke his son's heart and kept his grandchildren a secret from him for six years. This is brushed aside. Everyone bends over backwards to accomodate Zakia, to be understanding of her. This romantic-fantasy heroine, who is beloved by all, whose wrongdoings are forgiven and excused by all, is at odds with the grittier action-story of a stalking victim.


Adonis says:



Get it here!

Interview with Lorraine Nelson

AD: We are proud to bring to you today our interview with Lorraine Nelson, author of Zakia and the Cowboy, recently put out by Evernight Publishing. Let's learn more about this new release!

The Teaser
With a stalker following her every move, Zakia has no choice but to flee the city. Her options limited, she runs to the only place she's ever felt safe...the Thunder Creek Ranch and her ex-husband, Lucas.


Will he protect Zakia from the stalker? And if he does, will either of them be able to ignore the feelings that have simmered for so long, ready to explode...before danger either draws them together or pulls them apart?



The Excerpt

“Sorry, Darlin’. Always a cowboy,” he apologized.

He sat on the edge of the bed and struggled to remove his cowboy boots, then disposed of pants, briefs and socks. When he looked up and saw the still smooth, silky skin of her upper torso and full breasts partially covered by her beautiful, long, blonde hair, he had to ask himself how he got to be so lucky. Déjà vu was very much in existence as he admired the woman standing before him. Zakia was still every bit the exquisite, sexy woman she’d been on their wedding night, only now she was trying hard not to giggle.

“What’s so funny,” he asked with a grin as he reached for her.

“Just a little touch of déjà vu going on.”

“I was thinking the same thing. You’re just as beautiful now as you were on our wedding night,” he stated as he pulled her back into his arms.

“Well, I was thinking it funny that you said those exact same words on our wedding night.”

“What words?” he asked, curious and trying to think.

“Sorry, Darlin’. Always a cowboy.”

“Ooohh, those words. It’s true. A cowboy doesn’t go too far without his boots.”

“Did you mean it, Luke?”

“Mean what?”

“That you still think I’m beautiful.”

“Do I need to install mirrors on every wall in the house?” he teased. “Yes, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and sexily built. Now, shut up and kiss me.”

“Oh, I so like a man who knows what he wants,” she cooed.

When she reached for him, pulling him down for a kiss filled with all the passion he remembered, his heart soared. Gone was the polite restraint they’d held to since her arrival. He kissed her back, longing for more, aching for the promise her lips delivered.

His hands moved to her breasts, rubbing and tweaking the nipples to turgid peaks, then massaging the silken softness until she moaned against his mouth in pleasure. Breaking the kiss, he took one rosy nipple into his mouth, sucking and nipping lightly before transferring his attention to the other one.

He worked his way down her body, one kiss at a time, having to keep a tight rein on his control as she breathed his name over and over again. Her body writhed beneath him as he reached her sopping pussy, her unique scent driving him wild as always. He parted her lips and kissed her, rubbing tiny circles on her clit with his thumb. His other hand reached beneath her to fondle her ass as he began sucking her, his tongue laving and prodding her wetness until he could take no more. Rising up, he coaxed her legs apart with his knees and positioned himself. As he looked into her desire-glazed eyes, he moved, pushing into her with one hard thrust.

Then he stilled. It had been as tight as their first time. “Did I hurt you?”

“Uh, uh.” She shook her head as her body began to move, encouraging him to pull out and push into her warmth again.

She grabbed his hips, pulling him closer, deeper, and they fell into a rhythm that told of their familiarity with each other. It was as if he’d gone back in time, back to the days of love and laughter, caring and sharing their lives, completing each other. He thrust in and out, faster, harder, seeking the rapture he’d only found with the woman lying beneath him.

Thought took a long, slow ride after that as they concentrated on catching up on years of lost loving, and he was pleased to note, she still had that deep, husky, pleading note in her voice when she screamed his name.

***


AD: *fans self* Wow! Let's see what Ms. Nelson has to share with us.


Ms. Nelson, what first drew you to writing?


LN: Reading. Once I learned to read, I devoured every book I could get my hands on. It wasn’t long before I began writing short stories and poetry. When my children were younger, I wrote for their age group. Now they’ve grown, I write for mine. :)


AD: How long have you been writing?


LN: I’ve been writing romance for almost three years.


AD: Have you always written in the romance genre, or did it take you a while to find your niche?


LN: Writing romance and/or suspense is the one thing I’ve always wanted to try my hand at, but I didn’t complete my first manuscript until March 2009. To be able to combine the two and craft a believable, entertaining story gives me a great sense of satisfaction in what I do.


AD: What inspired you to write Zakia and the Cowboy?


LN: Would you believe a phone call? I work at a call centre and a lady named Zakia called in one day. I loved the name and an immediate picture came to mind. I jotted down some notes, tossed around ideas for a day or two and then began to write.


AD: It's amazing what small incidents reverberate in a writer! Have you always been interested in cowboys? If not, what piqued your interest in them?


LN: What’s not to love about cowboys? I should have been born out west instead of here on the east coast. Cowboys are a breed apart… they are friendly, respectful, hardworking and look great in Levi’s! 


AD: How long did it take you to write Zakia and the Cowboy?


LN: Two weeks for the first draft. It was part of my NaNo project in 2009. I wrote over 100,000 words in that one month. Then another two weeks of editing, cp’s and editing again.


AD: Who are your favorite romance authors? Favorite authors in other genres?


LN: That’s easy – Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel. As to other genres – John Grisham, James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark.


AD: What are the primary influences on your writing?


LN: Life and the fact that I love to read. I tend to write stories that I would enjoy reading myself. I need peace and quiet when I’m writing. I’ve been known to lock the door and turn off the phones. I hate interruptions when the muse is working and the words are flowing. Sometimes the characters actually speak to me. That’s when I know I’m telling their story, not mine.


AD: Please describe a typical writing session for us. What do you do when you sit down to write?


LN: I tend to read over the last couple pages I wrote to get back into the right mindset for that story, then write. If I need to research something, I do it as I go. It isn’t uncommon for me to be working half a dozen stories at a time, so it helps keep them straight.


AD: What is the most surprising thing about you?


LN: Good question! Wish I had an answer for you. :)


AD: No problem! Thank you again, Lorraine, for being with us today.


Now, everyone, rush out and make this story your own!