I’m excited to report that I had a lovely interview last Thursday evening, September 8, 2011 on Blog Talk Radio Show, Red River–No Limits with Barbara Hodges. If you were unable to listen in at that time, you can still hear it even if you are are not a member of Blog Talk Radio. Just go to the link, and you will be prompted to sign up  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rrradio/2011/09/08/rrw-no-limits Once you get there, click on Open in New Window and the show will start. My interview comes on about 34 minutes into the show.If you’d rather read the interview, you’re in luck, because that’s today’s post! Be sure to read to the end of the post for a surprise drawing and give away.

1. What inspired DESIRE AND DECEPTION?

In writing Desire and Deception, I wanted to tell a sexy suspenseful tale about smart, powerful women and the men who love them. I wrote about society’s expectations of what a woman should be versus what a woman wants to be. And since the standing advice to writers is to “write what you know,” I then placed these characters into the setting I knew well, the rigidly hierarchical academic world where tenure and promotion are the duo brass rings. With Isabel and Sarah chattering at me the entire time, Desire and Deception is a story that practically wrote itself.

2. What kind of research went into the writing of DESIRE AND DECEPTION?

As an RN and a PhD in Public Health, I have years of experience in healthcare and higher education to draw on. My husband is a physician, so when I had medical questions, I picked his brains. The areas where I obtained additional assistance were in legal implications of child abduction, foster care, the Maryland Department of Social Services (DSS) and DNA analysis. Plus I spent over a year researching the very dark and violent world of the Mexican drug cartels.

3. Please share a fun fact that you uncovered in your research.

When I was trying to come up with a way to hide a baby in foster care, I made up a computer glitch for the Department of Social Services (DSS). Upon further research, I found out that DSS had actually had a major system malfunction and children who had been placed in foster care could not be readily found. Talk about serendipity. It was just what I needed to step up the tension in the story–and it was fact-based, too.

4. You have created an interesting heroine, Isabel, who is the daughter of a Mexican crime boss. What made you decide to give her such a background?

I am fascinated by powerful women. By making her the pampered princess, daughter of a Mexican crime boss, I was able to make her a modern day woman warrior who lives by her own rules. In her non-fiction book, The Warrior Queens, Antonia Fraser analyses the lives of real women who led in times of war. Fraser looks at the historical data, legends and myths surrounding these women through a modern lens. She gives a list of adjectives and categories that men create for these astonishing, strong females, one of which is the lustful “Voracity Syndrome,” aka the “Man Eater.” Izzy is the archetypal Man Eater: smart, sexy, sassy, funny and deadly. Female and male readers can live vicariously through Isabel because she embodies all the things women are told NOT to do. Don’t be too smart. Don’t be too aggressive. Don’t put your desires ahead of other people’s wants and needs. Don’t talk back. Don’t enjoy sex. Don’t be in charge in the bedroom. Don’t be in control of your life. In other words, DON’T BE EMPOWERED. I made Isabel over-the-top on all of these traits and more, because she had to be strong to endure her early life and to lead her troops.

5. Please tell us more about Izzy. What is it like growing up the daughter of a Mexican crime boss?

Like Meadow Soprano, Izzy grew up with all the privileges of being the mob boss’s daughter.  She was given the best of everything: nannies, schools, clothes, cars, horse-riding lessons, whatever her parents thought would make her more cultured. She was also given the worst of everything: horrible role models, a Machiavellian world view, and a very dark childhood secret that no child should ever have to carry with her. Because of this complex background, she becomes a female warrior in her own right. Where others would collapse, she survives and thrives. She is a flawed heroine–with redeeming qualities and compelling reasons for her behaviors.

6. What can you tell us about Sean Richards?

Well, first off, if you saw the cover, you know he’s smoking hot. Eyes that devour Izzy with a single sweep, shoulders she can climb on or lean on, slow hands, gentle touch–or rough when she wants it that way. The man radiates sex, even when he’s not trying to be sexy. He is one-hundred percent devoted to Izzy. And he adores her three wild children and vows to follow her and her brood anywhere on earth.  The best part is when he discovers her dark secret, he doesn’t run, no matter how hard she tries to push him away.

7. What makes him exactly what Izzy needs?

He has compassion for Izzy, despite her armor, he sees through to her vulnerable inner self. Every other man in her life has used her either for sex, money or power. Only Sean has truly loved her, flaws and all.

8. What draws Sean to her?

If Izzy could bottle her sexual energy, she’d make a billion dollars. Sean sees this smart, funny, vibrant woman packaged in a voluptuous body and he’s a goner. He’s not a neophyte when it comes to sex play; he loves to have sex with Izzy. But more than that, she evokes his protective side. He discovers the terrified little girl beneath her iron clad exterior and wants to take care of her the rest of her life–even when she tries to tello him he shouldn’t.  He is obsessed with Izzy–but truly loves her, too.

9. What is your favorite scene? Why?

Hard to pick one favorite–it’s like asking me to choose among my children. One scene that I think many readers will relate to is this one:

After swinging by the daycare center, Isabel headed to the grocery store with the three kids. Ramon pushed a grocery cart, and the girls ran up and down the aisles shrieking. Enamored with all things chocolate, the twins stood in the middle of the candy aisle, yanked bags off the shelves and tossed them into the basket. Serious-faced, Ramon placed boxes of kid tested, mother approved cereal on top of the candy. Sometimes that boy looked like an undertaker. Isabel shook her head, pushed another cart with the adult purchases, and ignored the pointed stares of the other shoppers.

An elderly woman approached her with a dour expression. “Young lady,” she shook her finger at Isabel, “Don’t you know how harmful all that sugar is for children?”

Isabel gave the crone her favorite look reserved for morons and meddlers. “Old lady, don’t you know how harmful it is to interfere with a child’s self-expression? Who wants to grow up and be an uptight rectal sphincter like you?” She laughed out loud at the woman’s face, an excellent impression of a fish gasping for breath. “Dictionaries, aisle ten.” Isabel turned on her heel and continued shopping.

The woman sputtered behind her. “Why you cheeky–”

Isabel flipped the bird in the air and kept walking. She arrived at the checkout and turned to Ramon. “Pick out three boxes of cereal and one bag of candy. Ditch the cart in the produce section.” Now on their third lap around the store, Sherry and Ruby appeared to be slowing down. “Get your sisters. We’re outta here. I have to make another stop.”

I bet every mother who reads this has been there. Your kid(s) are rambunctious, but not really evil, you’re minding your own business and some busy body decides to give you a lecture about child-rearing. Can you honestly say you never wanted to respond that way and give the meddler the finger? And I love the scene from the perspective of the character’s growth. Izzy has had a nanny for her brood for quite some time. Now she’s forced into taking care of them and is becoming more attached to them and more protective of them. She has a maternal side to her that she never expected. She grows and continues to grow. In her own weird way, Izzy is protective of her brood and is working on being a good mother.

10. Who is your favorite character? Why?

My favorite character is Izzy. For many of the reasons I’ve already noted above. Originally, I thought the story belonged to Sarah, but Izzy changed the most and became my favorite. She’s so outrageous and does some of the wildest things (like sex in public places and in her office at work) that many women would like to do or have done and won’t confess to. She also says things that a goody-two shoes like Sarah or many others would never say–but are thinking.

11. What’s are you working on now?

I’m one-third of the way through with the second book in the Desire trilogy, DESIRE AND OBSESSION, a paranormal romantic suspense story about a recovering addict who must work with a Mexican drug lord to rescue her one-year old son from the hands of a cult leader who believes the child is the Chosen One. And, I’m researching KISS OF THE VIRGIN QUEEN the sequel to KISS OF THE SILVER WOLF.

By the way, dear readers, do you believe KISS OF THE SILVER WOLF is almost a year old? It was released on October 20, 2010 and is still going strong. Starting today (September 13, 2011), I’ll be be celebrating the novella’s first birthday by selecting one lucky commenter on my blog each week up to October 31, 2011 to win an e-copy of KISS OF THE SILVER WOLF. So, don’t delay! Start commenting!