Cate: Please welcome Maeve Greyson. Maeve, will you please share a short bio with us?Maeve: Hello to everyone on this gorgeous November day! Cate, thank you so much for inviting me over for a chat. This is my favorite time of year. Here in Kentucky, the woods blaze with the rich colors of the season and every footstep through the yard crunches with the growing pile of falling leaves. I consider myself lucky to live in the middle of a densely wooded, remote five acres out in the middle of nowhere. I share this sanctuary with my husband of over thirty-one years, my beloved dog, Jasper, and a variety of critters who drop in for a visit from time to time.
Cate: It sounds lovely. :) Please tell us about Beyond a Highland Whisper and where it's available.Maeve: “Beyond a Highland Whisper” will be available from The Wild Rose Press in February 2011. It’s the story of a mystically gifted Scot from the 1400’s who discovers too late that you should NEVER anger a selfish witch. Poor Latharn MacKay finds himself trapped inside a crystal globe when he withholds his heart from a wicked sorceress. The only escape from the hellish curse is for his destined love to confess her feelings for him in the presence of the glass orb. There’s just a few hurdles he has to overcome to guide Nessa in that direction. Nessa lives six hundred years in the future and Latharn’s forbidden to speak to her. He’s only allowed SILENT visits to her dreams. And then there’s still the problem with the enraged witch. She’s determined to have the final say…unless love proves more powerful.
Cate: Very intriguing. Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Maeve: This short bit is a sequence from one of Latharn’s visits to Nessa’s dreams. He’s trying to atone for allowing her to witness one of his jealous fits in a previous dream:
However, tonight Latharn was different. He didn’t go any further then the hungry possession of her mouth or the desperate, crushing embrace. Nessa sensed he needed this night to be different. His body tensed beneath her touch, he restrained his caress as if he wanted her to reason rather than just shatter into mindless bliss.He raised his head and gazed into her eyes. Nessa flinched at the depths of pain and frustration etched in his face. He struggled, trying to communicate, to connect with her deepest emotions without the use of words. He took his palm, flattened it against his heart then placed it upon her chest. His brows drawn together in a questioning frown, he tilted his head and waited for a sign that she understood.
Her lower lip quivered at the very obvious gesture. Nessa whispered and covered his hand with hers. “Are you telling me you love me?” Her whisper caught in her throat.
One corner of his mouth pulled up into a relieved smile as Latharn nodded and brushed his lips across hers. He took a deep breath as though steeling himself against his own deepest fears. He took her hand and repeated the heart touching gesture from her chest to his. Then he raised a brow and awaited her answer, anxiety filling his eyes.
A lone tear escaped down her cheek as Nessa stared at her hand splayed upon his broad chest. “You know I love you,” she murmured with a moan. “I just wish that you were real.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, pulling her into his arms to cradle her against his chest. Holding her close, he stroked her hair as she gave way to tears.
Cate: Loved it. Can you tell us why we're going to love your hero?
Maeve: Latharn MacKay is the ultimate alpha male with the single-minded purpose of convincing the woman he’s loved across the web of time into saving his soul so they can be together. But he’s not a selfish man. Nessa suffers from a less than happy childhood. One that left her convinced she’s a plain Jane with nothing going for her but her brains. Her painful past scarred her emotionally. If need be, Latharn would spend eternity trapped in his crystal hell to help Nessa escape from hers.
Cate: Tease us with one little thing about your fictional world that makes it different from others.
Maeve: That’s a tough one, Cate! A cursed hero, destined love, danger and an especially hot scene at an enchanted spring deep in the woods of Scotland –would any of those things count? ;-)
Cate: Sounds great! What's next for you?
Maeve: I’ve submitted the story of Latharn’s brother Faolan to a publisher for review. I’m hoping “The Highlander’s Fury” will peak their interest. Please keep your fingers crossed! Another paranormal romance that I’m especially fond of, “Eternity’s Mark” is still in the Kensington Brava / RT Book Reviews Writing with the Stars contest. I’d love to survive all the rounds and win that publishing contract. I’m especially fond of Taggart and Hannah. I’d appreciate everyone’s support AND vote!
Cate: Best of luck! What inspired you to draft your first story?
Maeve: I needed to help my mother escape the terrors of her world. With failing health, the medical procedures looming over her closed in like unrelenting demons. When I read my stories aloud to her, she’d relax and sometimes even manage a smile.
Cate: Do you have a writing routine?
Maeve: Okay. I know the correct answer here would be “yes” but that would also be a lie. I don’t have a good enough memory to be a liar. So, I’m afraid the answer is “no”. Believe it or not, I work full time at a steel mill so, I pretty much grab my writing time any free moment that I can.
Cate: Where can you be found on the web?
Maeve: Here’s a few places I can be found. I’d love it if everyone would stop in and say, “hi”. Also, if you drop by my Facebook profile, you’ll see all my pictures from my recent trip to Scotland and Ireland. It was AWESOME! *insert angelic choir here.*
Website: http://www.maevegreyson.com/
Blog: http://maevegreyson.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/maeve.greyson
Twitter: http://twitter.com/maevegreyson
Youtube (see videos of BEYOND A HIGHLAND WHISPER & ETERNITY’S MARK): http://www.youtube.com/user/maevegreyson
Cate: Great photos. *sigh* I'm envious. Ireland's on my bucket list.
Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Maeve: What is it about a story that touches your heart and makes you remember it even YEARS later?
Cate: Great question. Thanks for being my guest Maeve! Best of luck with your upcoming release!
