Welcome, Ms. MacGillivray, to Love Romances & More and to our interview.  The readers and I, look forward to this talk about your book, and getting to know you on a more personal level.

Let us start off by telling you a little about this author, Deborah MacGillivray, with a wonderful quote and a short blurb of her book, RIDING THE THUNDER.

” Riding The Thunder is not just another feather in Ms. MacGillvray’s cap, it is a jewel in her crown of writing achievements. This author has proven that not only can she pen torrid historical novels, but a true Seanchaidh (storyteller) in whatever genre she sets her sights on!”

It was all part of the plan. While his brother was in Scotland dethroning the Lady of Falgannon, Jago Mershan was headed to Kentucky. There he would do his share in avenging his father on the Montgomerie family. Only, there was a monkey wrench in the works.

Just looking at his alleged enemy’s granddaughter made Jago think of his classic black ’67 Harley Electra Glide chopper, a motorcycle with clean lines and sleek curves that promised the ride of a man’s life. Asha was all woman—and the only woman for him. He’d bet she could go from zero to one hundred in the blink of an eye…and not even her claims of paranormal happenings in the diner she ran could throw him off. He knew magic: he had a special name for the sights, the sounds, the tastes and smells of the perfect ride. There might be a storm coming, but it was one of passion, and together he and Asha would be…

Ms MacGillivray, if you would be so kind as to tell the readers a little about yourself and what you do when you are not busy writing? 

These days ‘not busy writing’ is a very small part of my days―and nights!  Not kidding!  Multiple contracts for three publishers take up nearly all my time.  Finding time to sleep actually becomes an issue.  I have two novels due for Kensington Books―a February 1 deadline for One Snowy Knight, a Christmas historical romance connected to my Dragons of Challon series, and then a July 1 deadline for Yield To the Knight, the next ‘Dragon’.  I also have to get the next in the Sisters of Colford Hall series done for Dorchester.   

However, if you want to know what things intrigue me, I love walking in the fog or rain.  I’m a rain nut.  I simply love it.  Dancing was a big passion for a long time, but currently a knee injury slows that down.  I adore cats, and have been known to give a home for as many as a dozen foundlings, though currently only have one, Foutchie.  I enjoy movies; old B-horror films, drive-in fare, are really are a favorite of mine.  And I truly enjoy music.  You see this love reflected in both The Invasion of Falgannon Isle and Riding the Thunder.  If I get depressed, I put on the Moody Blues “The Story in Your Eyes”.  I defy anyone to stay down after that!  My current favorite―Mike Duncan (Mike-Duncan.org).  I am lucky to use his songs for my videos, and his song “Lost for Love” is actually a part of Riding the Thunder. 

Could you tell the readers how you came up with the premise for RIDING THE THUNDER?  

All my books are special to me for different reasons.  Riding the Thunder is very personal because it contains pieces of my life that formed deep and lasting memories within me.  There truly once was a restaurant called The Windmill.  It actually had a drive-in, a swim club, a motel, and was directly across the road from a horse farm.  Lexington’s urban sprawl swallowed them up.  I used to visit the area each summer before going back home to England.  I am not sure why it held such a special spot in my heart.  It was never very fancy, yet in my mind it seemed somehow touched with a magic.  That magic lived within me for a long, long time, until one day I ‘saw’ Jago Mershan sitting at the counter drinking a beer…thus Thunder was born.  Suddenly, The Windmill was ‘alive’ again, though populated with people of my making.  It was a very fun book to write and I am so thrilled it is getting such warm responses.
 

Ms. MacGillivray, what inspired you to write this series and how many more books will be forthcoming?   

They say write from what you know.  The Sisters of Colford Hall was conjured from life.  My sisters and I had drifted apart, then we had a chance to spend a summer together.  We were older, in our thirties, and discussing how we were better prepared to face life and love.  Suddenly inspired, I could see a book for each sister, how they were more confident, that assurance which hits a woman in her thirties.  She’s past the game playing, more secure within herself and her place in life.  What happens when that totally together woman runs into THE man that rocks her world?  Of course, once I began working on the series the heroine of each book became her own person, and now only bear a passing resemblance to my own sisters. 

The series is designed for a book for each of seven sisters, so there are five more books.  However, you will notice in Riding the Thunder the thread of Liam and Netta’s love was left in the air, so expect other books dealing with the Montgomerie brothers in the future.
 

Do you have a favorite scene from RIDING THE THUNDER? 

There are so many fun parts of Thunder, like the Halloween party, or the quieter moments where the characters are reacting to each other.  But I think I love it the most when Jago is waiting for Asha that first night, sitting in the dark smoking the Swisher Sweet.  You get such a buzz of anticipation off them being near.  You feel the barely contained male sexual drive in Jago, though you see he wants more than just hot sex.  You also see that Asha craves him as strongly, but is afraid to trust again.  That mating dance sets the tone for their relationship.  A small scene, but it gives such insight into both characters. 

You have conquered the historical and contemporary genres. Will you be writing in any other genres, say futuristic or suspense in the future? 

I’m not sure at this point.  With five more books in each series, I am rather tied up for the next couple of years.  However, I have paranormal projects on the back burner, and several older suspense WIPs.  I love futuristic, such as Rowena Cherry, Cathy Spangler and C.J. Barry, but I’m not sure it’s my voice.  Still, never say never.  I once said I would never write a short story, but found I love doing them.  I won’t likely ever do a Regency!  That’s a tough audience.  I shall leave that genre to Dawn Thompson, who does them so effortlessly!

What was the hardest scene to develop in RIDING THE THUNDER? 

I don’t think there was one in Riding the Thunder.  The book just flowed.  I was sick with pneumonia and bronchitis the whole time I was writing it.  We had a freak lightning strike and I lost all my files on my computer and it destroyed both back up drives.  I lost everything.  I only had old handwritten versions done years before that were really a rough draft.  I had to redo both In Her Bed and Riding the Thunder in four months.  I simply didn’t have time to plot it myself.  I flat out wrote both books.  At times, Riding the Thunder would surprise me how easily it wrote itself.  The characters came alive and were so vivid that their own personal stories were there.  Such as Delbert.  Originally, he was a very minor character. Yet unexpectedly, he was in the middle of everything, and much more a part of the plot.   

If anything gave me a problem it was the violence.  The villain was drawn from a very real person, now dead thankfully.  I had to tap into that reality to create him.  I am not a person who cares for violence.  When I write I “see” each scene just as if I were watching a movie.  Ugliness in life is hard for me to write, polish, edit, rewrite.  It’s necessary to the story, and in some ways, I exorcize old demons.  But it’s not pleasant.

Do you have a special formulation or technique when you write? 

I love knowing my characters.  I am big on WHY.  My father swears my first word wasn’t Papa or Mama, but WHY.  I used to drive everyone nuts with my whys.  But WHY is how I work.  I see the scene, just like the opening where Jago is sitting at the bar.  I ask why he is there.  Each answer causes me to ask another why.  I build the characters, then let them tell me their stories.  I know people often ask me to teach writing classes.  I can give you mechanics, but I am not sure I can teach how I do it.  It’s flying by the seat of the pants the whole way.  I don’t do charts or outlines.  I just sit down and write. 

Ms. MacGillivray, what is the nicest thing another author has said about you? 

Lynsay Sands has said a lot of wonderful things in encouraging me to get published.  My favorite was “This is gazillions better than most of the stuff out there.”  To an eager and depressed writer, wondering if I would ever make it, I treasured that praise from the very talented Ms. Sands.  She’s a very forthright person, so I knew she meant the compliment. 

They say everyone has a dream, what is yours? 

I wasn’t sure for a long time.  I come from a very accomplished family and I always felt ‘lost’.  At one time, I considered my purpose in life was to be their peanut gallery, to cheer them on.  I was a Jack-Of-All-Trades, master of none.  So many people would tell me that they wanted to be this or that when they grew up.  I never could make that statement.  Then one day I understood why.  I wanted to be a Romance writer.  There was no “romance” category when I was growing up so I couldn’t envision my dream.  Once there was a romance market, I knew that was what I had been working toward all along.  My first romance was written at age twelve.  My mother found it, was horrified at the sex, and burnt it!  It’s a laugh Lynsay Sands and I share, because her mother did the same to her first book at age twelve, too.  I merely want to write my stories and hope people like them. 

How much background research went into RIDING THE THUNDER?

Absolutely none!  This was conjured from those golden memories from the few weeks of each summer of my childhood and teens.  I took liberties with the Kentucky landscape, but most of it is very rooted in the past.  People in and around the Nicholasville, Danville and Wilmore areas of Kentucky likely will recognize the setting for Riding the Thunder.  I didn’t have to prepare, but just sat down and wrote the story flat out.

Ms. MacGillivray, do you have any special interests or causes you would like to share with the readers? 

Yes, I do.  I love cats.  Adore them.  I have taken in a whole parade of foundlings over the years and have treasured each and every one.  My anthology just out, Cat O’ Nine Tales (Highland Press.org), has a cat in each story (as do the Sisters of Colford Hall books).  One-half of all my royalties from Cat O’ Nine Tales will go to Alley Cat.org, a worldwide organization that helps abandoned cats.  http://www.alleycats.org. 

The second cause that is dear to me is Stephen King’s The Haven Foundation.  http://www.thehavenfdn.org/  King was injured in 1999 when a driver hit him.  It was over three years before he was able to write again.  Of course, he had the money and insurance to pay for the numerous surgeries, and didn’t have to worry about income when he was unable to keep writing.  However, this isn’t the case for most writers.  Less than 15% of all authors make enough money to live on and not worry if suddenly they cannot write.  King’s foundation came into being in August 2007.  They are there to help freelance writers who have been struck by illness, disease or catastrophe and have nowhere to turn.  I cannot say enough about the aims of this organization, and encourage all writers to check them out and send a donation.

Ms. MacGillivray, what are your views in regards to sex in the romance field today?  

I love it―but not for just sex’s sake.  I love writing hot, when the sex stems from the romance.  Each story dictates when it starts in the book, how often, and the level of heat.  Sex is a big part of romance, but without the romance you begin to lose the romance reader.  For me personally, it would be hard to write without sex at some points in the story.  This is a very vital man and woman falling in love.  It’s unrealistic to remove the sex.  My stories are very male driven, so sex is a natural part of it―not to push buttons, but merely an aspect of their intense love. 

The magic flowed so easily in RIDING THE THUNDER that I could almost feel it flowing across my skin as I read.  Do you believe in magic yourself, Ms. MacGillivray? 

Yes, I do.  My Scots blood speaking, I suppose.  We tend to accept things that are beyond the normal, the everyday.  Unusual things happen, people coming into our lives by the chance of Fate.  I have seen cats dance, the moon ‘walk’ down the long avenue at the standing stone ring of Calanais at the Summer Solstice, I have seen ghosts….so, yes, magic is with us in all forms.  You just have to open your mind and heart to find it. 

Would you like to tell the readers about any new or upcoming releases, Ms. MacGillivray?   

The next book will be One Snowy Knight (October 2008).  This is part of the Medieval historicals for Kensington Books, but not actually a “Dragon”.  It’s set at Christmastime so it will let me explore the differences in the pagan Yuletide (where many parts of our Christmas celebrations come from), and the Christmas celebration from the English knight’s point of view, as a backdrop for the romance.

How can your fans reach you, Ms. MacGillivray?

contact@deborahmacgillivray.co.uk  is the email addy.  I love hearing from readers. 

The website  http://deborahmacgillivray.co.uk

MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/deborahmacgillivray

Blog – http://deborahmacgillivray.blogspot.com 

Ms. MacGillivray, do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Listen.  It’s one of the most vital things a struggling writer can do.  Write
every day.  It’s a mental exercise.  You cannot do it just when you feel like it; you must do it every day.  Then never give up. 

I would like to thank you Ms. MacGillivray, for sharing your talent and time with the readers of Love Romances & More.  I truly enjoyed reading RIDING THE THUNDER and hope to read more from you soon!