Cate: Please welcome Arlene Webb to my special Halloween celebration. Arlene,
please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Arlene: Sci-fi, paranormal, suspense, all with either a lot or a splash
of romance, I love the many great authors I’ve gotten to know as well as losing
myself in my own worlds.
Cate: What do you love most about Halloween?
Arlene: Excited little kids, pumpkins, candy, fall leaves, pretty much
all of it.
Cate: Do you have a favorite memory of a Halloween past?
Arlene: My son was four and we were visiting friends out of state. He
thought everyone in Tucson, Az gave out candy if you knocked on the door. He
went sneaking off to the neighbors the next couple days to ring doorbells.
Cate: Ha! Have you ever had an unusual experience you couldn’t explain?
Arlene: Pretty much every day when I roll out of bed and look in the
mirror.
Cate: What frightens you the most?
Arlene: Give me spiders, snakes, mice, heights, flying, all those over
bridges with crisscross overhead beams and I get panic attacks being in clear
water if I can’t touch bottom. I’m fine if I can’t see through the water and
don’t know I can’t touch solid earth. I’m not normal. Obviously.
Cate: Oh yeah, I panic just thinking about bottomless water! Ever gone on a ghost tour? Or ghost hunting on your own?
Arlene: I’m sooo boring. Sigh. No.
Cate: I don't believe that for a second! And come to Gettysburg, I'll take you on a ghost tour. :)
Any favorite Halloween recipes you’d care to share?
Arlene: Er…I see hollowed out apples on Facebook with ice cream in
them, caramel on top and they look so good I’m almost tempted to see if I can
figure out how to bake an apple.
Cate: Tell us about your latest release, and where readers can find it
online.
Arlene: Harey is the honest to God (I’m lying) true story of the man
behind the myth of Easter. A love story (ménage) but more than that, it’s an
accounting of medieval times filled with religious turmoil and how sacrifice,
betrayal and ultimately love is stronger than anything else.
Available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009BXO4TA
and Decadent Publishing: http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=622&osCsid=fn1t2827gtaleqoiqt44entec0
Cate: Care to share a blurb or excerpt?
Arlene: Yes. Thanks.
Gwas can outrun a
horse, knows how to hide and steal, but is ignorant of the ways of men. The
last thing he expects when he is rescued from a miserable existence by a
blue-eyed, blond haired angel is to be promised as a Druidic sacrifice to
Eostre. Unfortunately, the only direction Gwas wishes to flee is straight into
the arms and knife of his savior, Gareth.
Maura knows Gareth is no angel, but she adores him with a
passion that time and loneliness cannot dent. When he rides in carrying an
injured lad who fears her on sight, she is drawn to open her heart to the
abused orphan as well.
Gareth is caught between his liege lord and brother’s fist,
and an emotional dilemma that grows harder and harder to deny with every
passing season. If he must defy man and gods in order to embrace his heart’s
desires, so be it.
When the clash of old and new religions puts lives in peril,
ultimate sacrifice bears witness to enduring love. Winter gives way to spring,
and the evolution of a colorful myth spreads across the land.
Excerpt:
I am no angel.
Gareth’s shoulders slammed into the ground. A heavy body covered him, and the
adrenalin jolting through him made him feel like a powerful animal. But I am in heaven. He tugged his arms
free, wrapped them around Harey and grasped the back of Harey’s head. And I do
not care if adulterous sodomites go to hell. He jerked him upward and took his
lips.
No time for tender exploration. He had to show Harey who he
belonged to, and it was not some bloodthirsty deity, or the daughter of a mass
murderer. What if Aethelfrith, the devil who had ordered one thousand, one
hundred and sixty-five men killed so they could not pray against him, had still
lived? Harey would have walked into his knife with a smile, a pet hare, and
promises of painted eggs.
I will not let this
man leave me again. Never. Not ever. He’s mine. Gareth fought back his moan
and deepened his kiss. Harey tasted so good, fresh and
sweet like Maura, but firm and bony where she was all curvy softness. He intensified
the pressure, relishing the feel of the lips he had desired for so long, and
Harey yielded. Gareth rammed his tongue in, danced around, and then back out to
repeat. He had never held a body to mirror his own like this, captive over him,
and the sheer joy of not being gentle saturated him.
Cate: What inspired you to write about the theme?
Arlene: A submission call for an Easter story and I got hung up on
something I found that shocked me while researching, and a short story turned
into a novel. I was honored to try and give a voice to the fallen. My first
historical romance and it was so fun to write because Harey really came to life
for me.
Cate: Very cool. Anything else you’d like to share?
Arlene: A big thank you to my host, Cate Masters.
Cate: Love having you anytime, Arlene. :) Woo hoo, guys - Arlene has a giveaway!
Arlene: I’ll give an ebook copy of Harey to a commenter.
Cate: Such a great treat! I've read all but Harey and highly recommend all of Arlene's reads. Thanks for sharing in the fun, Arlene.
Arlene may claim to be no Martha Stewart, but I don't believe that either. Still, we'll turn to Martha herself for some ghoulishly good drinks - Bubbling Cocktails. Cheers on your latest release, Arlene!
1. In a glass measuring
cup, pour 1 cup boiling water over 1 cup sugar. Stir until sugar has dissolved;
refrigerate until cool.
2. Puree 2 cups packed
mint leaves (1 small bunch) with 1/4 cup cooled syrup in a blender. Add 6
peeled, quartered kiwis, and blend until just smooth. Add remaining syrup.
3. Pour through a
cheesecloth-lined fine sieve into a pitcher; discard solids. Stir in ice and 1
liter sparkling water or club soda. (For a cocktail version, add 1 cup vodka.)
Pour into flasks, and serve with straws. Makes 8 drinks.
Check out more ghoulish goodies on Martha’s site http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/halloween-cakes-and-dessert-recipes
