Margaret West in the Author Spotlight

What is Romance?
by Margaret West

I write paranormal and romance novels. The question I ask today is...What is Romance? To define it, romance is the very essence of life. Without it your love life will never be complete. It brings a sort of identity to your relationship. An elderly man holding the hand of his elderly wife. They’ve probably done that for years, yet still, they need that closeness. So where does romance come from? Grand gestures, flowery words? No, it comes from the heart. It’s nice to have a man open a door for you, buy you flowers for no other reason than he wanted to.

In the daily grind of life it’s possible to forget about each other. That flame that once burned in your heart begins to diminish to a pale glow and suddenly you find yourself not knowing each other anymore. To hold onto your love, there has to romance and that’s what I try and put into all my novels.

When the real world gets too much to bear sometimes it’s nice into slip into a fictional reality. Read as a love story unfolds with all its twists and turns..
Full of tears, laughter and disappointments, my latest release Spirit Intervention is a comedy romance. When a mother from the spirit world tries to change her daughters love interest, havoc ensues and if she doesn’t put it right, her Grandchildren will never be born.

Abigail Cottage is my next release. This is a dark paranormal, written when I was just finding my feet as a writer over 20 years ago. When Abigail falls in love with Justin she can’t begin to know the world of hurt she is heading into. Gorgeous, kind, rich – he’s the man we all dream to meet. BUT, all is not what it seems, because Justin is a demon from hell, disguised as a mortal being. He wants her and will kill or maim anyone who tries to stop him. Namely Shaun the real hero, who wants Abigail more! So what does a mortal man do against a demon? He enlists the help of a gypsy of course. But not any old gypsy. Rosa knows Justin very well and has the powers of the spirit world on her side to fight him. Using crystals as a powerful weapon, the light of the spirit world to lead them, they embark on a battle with the whole of the underworld. Many loved ones will lose their lives. This isn’t a book where everyone survives. In real life, bad things happen. In Abigail Cottage, terrible tragedies occur too. Believe... not every story can have a happy ending.

Buy links
Abigail Cottage: Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abigail-Cottage-Margaret-West/dp/1907963049/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292601645&sr=1-7
Hedge-Witchery Books: http://www.hedge-witcherybooks.com/page18.htm

Spirit Intervention: http://www.eternalpress.biz and soon from Amazon

Born in England, Margaret moved to the Kent countryside five years ago to get away from the busy life in London. She is married with two grown up children and has worked in various fields of work. She is a Clairknowing medium, Crystal Therapist, Parapsychologist and Psychic Development tutor.She has been writing for over 20 years and has numerous short stories, novels and articles published. Margaret writes romance and paranormal romance, incorporating her spiritual experiences into her books.
Her love for literature extends from writing to reading and is always willing to embrace new ideas and philosophies. She likes nothing more then to sit with a good book in the quiet realms of the countryside, with her dogs, Odin and Chester. A true animal lover, Margaret’s warmth and sensitivity is reflected in her writing.
Visit Margaret online at her web site: www.margaretwest.net; her writers blog: http://margaret-paranormalromanceauthor.blogspot.com/, her spiritual blog: http://magsx.blogspot.com/ or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=730523124#!/margaretwest.Author

In the Author Spotlight: Margaret West

Cate: Please welcome Margaret West. Margaret, will you please share a short bio with us?
Margaret: Morning Cate. Thanks for having me. Here is a bit about my life.
Born in England, Margaret moved to the Kent countryside five years ago to get away from the busy life in London. She married with two grown up children and has worked in various fields of work. She is a Clairknowing medium, Crystal Therapist, Parapsychologist and Psychic Development tutor.
She’s been writing over 20 years and has numerous short stories, novels and articles published. Margaret writes romance and paranormals, incorporating her spiritual experiences into her books.

Cate: Tell us about Abigail Cottage and where it's available.
Margaret: Abigail Cottage is a dark paranormal. Much darker than I usually write. It is a mixture of romance, lust with murder and intrigue. It will be released in a few weeks but I have a pre order link if anyone wishes to use it.

Cate: Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Margaret: Do you really know the person you love? How many of us hear the words, I never thought he/she would do that or it was so out of character for him/her to stab, chop, punch or generally terrorize the public. When Abigail falls in love with Justin, she can’t begin to know the world of hurt she is heading into. Gorgeous, kind, rich – he’s the man we all dream to meet. BUT, all is not what it seems because Justin is a true demon from hell, disguised as a mortal being. He wants her and will do, kill or maim anyone who tries to stop him. Namely Shaun the real hero, who wants Abigail more! So what does a mortal man do against a demon? He enlists the help of a gypsy of course. But not any old gypsy. Rosa knows Justin very well and has the powers of the spirit world on her side to fight him. Using crystals as a powerful weapon, the light of the spirit world to lead them, they embark on a battle with the whole of the underworld. Many loved ones will lose their lives. This isn’t a book where everyone survives. In real life, bad things happen. In Abigail Cottage, terrible tragedies occur too. Look out for Abigail Cottage in December and no, not every story ends well!

Cate: Having read it, I can say what a great read it is! But can you tell readers why they're going to love your hero?
Margaret: Shaun has a real heart of gold. He will do anything for anyone and when he falls in love, its forever. You will love his charm, wit and sense of chivalry. His determination will spur yours, his pain will move you. Shaun O’Donnell is a man that you can’t forget.

Cate: I agree, but won't give anything away. Tease us with one little thing about your fictional world that makes it different from others.
Margaret: Being a spiritualist I have a little bit of inside information and I have combined true facts about the spirit world with fiction. So you’re never quite sure what might be real and what is probably pretend.

Cate: What's next for you?
Margaret: I have a new release with Eternal Press in January 7th. A comedy romance called Spirit Intervention. I’m half way through another romance called Crystal Magic, hopefully that will be out later in the year.

Cate: You're very busy! What inspired you to draft your first story?
Margaret: I wrote Abigail Cottage over 25 years ago originally. My inspiration being the script writers of the James Bond films. I used to work for Eon Productions. I actually wanted to emulate them, but it ended up a novel and I’ve never looked back really.

Cate: Do you have a writing routine?
Margaret: No. I know, I’m bad. I just hop on my computer as and when I can.

Cate: Where can readers find you on the web?
Margaret: I hang out mostly on my writers blog. I’m always doing giveaways and pressies to new followers, so please do pop in and say hi www.margaretwest.net
Writers blog. http://margaret-paranormalromanceauthor.blogspot.com/
Spiritual blog. http://magsx.blogspot.com/

Cate: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Margaret: Yes, what drives you to write? With me, it's second nature. I can form a story in my mind just by looking at a person, event or place.

I am doing a special giveaway with Abigail cottage. Preorder it, or buy it and show me a receipt and I will send you a bar of hand made demon in the dark soap. Made from real crystal elixir, rosa’s herb’s mentioned in the book and essential oils. A one off, made by me. I have only two bars. So you’d better hurry. Contact me through my blog at http://margaret-paranormalromanceauthor.blogspot.com/

Cate: Congrats on your upcoming releases Margaret! I wish you all the best with them. Thanks for being my guest.