Grant the mystery
man—a delicious mystery Shayla would like to unravel, piece by piece, layer by
layer. Ah, but I can’t. I’m his boss. In
a different lifetime, if we didn’t have the whole boss-employee obstacle going
on…. No harm in looking, though, just a little, since he sat so close. She
promised herself to keep her thoughts G-rated—okay, maybe PG-13. Grant had a
talent with numbers and paid attention to detail. Also, he was a little shy and
standoffish to a lot of people when it came to anything other than work. Shayla
wondered where he sometimes went in his head, because, every now and then, his
smile slipped from his face, just for a second, before being replaced with one
a little harder. None of my business,
she reminded herself.
She had really
wanted to hug him this morning after seeing him so frustrated but decided it
might be wiser and more appropriate to show him there were a few people on his
side. Seeing him break things and try to be all strong and humorous about it
made Shayla want to unravel the Grant mystery even more. It kind of hurt to
watch him pretending to be fine, but all she could offer him was lunch and good
conversation. Hopefully, Mr. Strong and Silent—Sydney called him that
sometimes, although never to his face—knew Shayla and Sydney cared. And Shayla
did care. Because he’s a friend. Just a
friend.
Grant raised his
soda in a toast. “To things not being worse,” he announced with a rueful half
smile. “And, uh”—he cleared his throat—“to good company.” He nodded at Sydney,
and when he met Shayla’s gaze, he held it. In his dark eyes, she saw hunger,
wide-open desire, and about a million other things she couldn’t puzzle out. Grant
looked at her that way sometimes, and she did her best to ignore it. He might
have a small crush on her, or he could have a thing for petite, small-breasted
girls possessing a great fashion sense.
Sydney broke the
silence. “To good food and even better friends.” She clinked Grant’s glass, and
Shayla came back to reality and smiled, pretending she wasn’t experiencing
several different kinds of inappropriate thoughts and feelings for a sexy,
complicated man who was her employee and also her friend. She needed to behave
and remember things could never go any further than a panty-melting gaze.
For the briefest moment, Nikki felt the depth to which Sean
might be capable of pushing her. His kiss was crushing and brutal. His tongue
pushed past her lips and his grip in her hair tightened. If desire were a vine,
it would have wrapped itself around her veins and encased her heart. The heat
between them flooded her. There was a sweetness, too, in his kiss, and the
sweetness made her burn hotter.
A polite cough from inside the waiting car put a quick end
to things. Sean pulled away and met her gaze. No words, but she got the
message. She wasn’t alone. Comfort and friendship; he’d probably meant the kiss
to comfort her and had gotten carried away in the heat of the moment. He’d
carried her away with him, and she wanted to take him so much further into the
unknown.
With each second, each step towards the waiting car, she
tried to find reasons and more reasons to ignore her growing attraction to
Sean. The number one reason to forget about the kiss they’d
shared—relationships were trouble. She had plenty of other amazing things in
her life, including her career, her volunteer work, and her band, even though
the band rarely played anywhere because the members had trouble aligning their
schedules. She didn’t need a man. Besides, he was probably still messed up over
Sydney. Also, he was a regular. Or mostly regular. Not to mention he lived over
a thousand miles away in Texas. She should tell him the kiss was a mistake. One
look at him and she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. The kiss they
shared had been anything but a mistake.
Did
you always plan on being a writer?
Being a
writer wasn’t my original career plan. I have written poetry and short stories
for fun ever since I was a kid, but I had no intention of ever becoming a
writer. Before I had the wild idea
to write a book, I worked in a few different fields. I was in sales. I worked
with adults with special needs. When my children were little, I worked as a
personal trainer and running coach. During the evenings, when I was supposed to
be studying for a fitness training certification, I started writing a story.
Finally, I gave in and acknowledged that writing is what I was meant to do.
What do you love about writing in the romance
genre?
The romance novels of current times are full of strong, capable
women who won’t settle for being treated as an afterthought. When I write in
the romance genre, I like to add science fiction, suspense, and fantasy
elements to the story while focusing on the struggles of the main characters to
find their happily-ever-after.
Where do you get the inspiration for your characters?
As it turns out, studying psychology
helped me immensely with the development of my characters. Working in sales and
other hectic jobs helped me see the uglier side of human nature. The greedy,
lost, warped out villains I create are often caricatures created from different
interactions I’ve had or observed.
Book favorites:
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton and Half
Resurrection Blues by Daniel Jose Older are two of my favorite books. I read
The Outsiders in seventh grade (and probably 20 times since then) and I loved
that the characters were flawed and rough but also exhibited incredible empathy
and loyalty towards one another. Half
Resurrection Blues features interesting characters and such vivid, fascinating
images of the characters’ world I could practically hear the music and feel the
energy of the city streets at night while I was reading.
Favorite song:
Learning to Fly by Pink Floyd. I sometimes end up
playing the song on repeat. I love the eerie sound but also the song reminds me
that though we are all mortal we still have to try to “fly”.
What errand/chore do
you despise the most?
I hate grocery shopping
almost as much as I hate washing the dishes. Standing still at the sink and
sticking my hands in dirty, gross dishwater is the chore that I put off until
absolute last. I don’t like being still unless I’m writing or if I’m binging on
a Netflix series because I’m too tired to do anything else. The last series I
watched was iZombie.
Do you prefer music or silence while you work?
I keep music on in the background most of the
time, especially when I’m writing. I like metal, alternative, classic rock, 80s
music, basically anything with good rhythm and lyrics that get caught in my
head. More than anything else ever has, the notes of a song can soothe me when
I’m upset. A good, fast paced song can energize me when I need to get things
done. I can turn up the volume and sing when I’m alone, especially when I’m
driving down the road. The energy of a crowd at a concert can be inspiring. The
connection to everyone around me singing the same song is incredible and
beautifully impermanent.
What is the hardest thing about writing?
There are days when I wonder if I’m truly an awful writer and if
I’m wasting my time trying to come up with the next scene or the next chapter.
I hate those days, but they pass.
When writer’s block comes to visit, staring at a blank notebook or empty
computer screen does no good. I have to step away for a while, sometimes for a
few hours or even several days. After a break, I
can usually see what it was that I was missing before and the words eventually
start flowing again.
What
has been your most difficult scene to write?
While working
on Bear’s Edge (Stranger Creatures book 2), I wanted the abduction scene to be
fast-paced, exciting, and scary. I re-wrote the scene so many different times
and couldn’t seem to get it right. It wasn’t until I made Shayla, the heroine,
truly able to rise to the challenge and fight back in a way she had always been
afraid to before, that I was satisfied with the scene.
How
would you describe your writing style?
I enjoy
creating suspense in my stories and also like to include a fair amount of
sarcasm, humor, steam, and violence. I don’t write mushy, gushy sweetness,
because I just can’t. Instead, I write characters that aren’t perfect but who
are, at heart, decent people. The characters curse, they make mistakes, they
have regrets, but most importantly, they have to fight for what they want. I
enjoy writing the hard, harsh moments as well as the moments of joy that make
up the journey.
Thank you for sharing!
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