The Dowry Bride by Shobhan Bantwal

The heroine of my debut book, THE DOWRY BRIDE, is a twenty-one year old bride. She’s smart but naïve at the beginning of the story. She learns one or two tough lessons in living as the story progresses.

What's her name?Megha.

Why did you pick that name?In Sanskrit, Megha means “cloud.” The reason I picked the name is because she feels her parents named her Megha since she cast a shadow over them rather late in their lives, when they were older and already had two girls. She was an unexpected baby. Besides, a girl in many Indian families is considered a burden, and hence a shadow or dark cloud.

Give us a brief description of how she looks.She’s tall, rather thin, with big brown eyes, a full mouth, and long hair that reaches her waist. She wears it in a single braid. She wears saris at all times because of the culture she’s raised in.

Is there anything unusual about her appearance?No particularly unusual, other than the fact that she’s taller than the average Indian woman.

Who does she love? Why?In the beginning she doesn’t love anyone, including the arranged marriage husband she’s been forced to marry. But later in the story, she falls in love with the man who shields her from her evil mother-in-law. She loves him (Kiran) because he has all the wonderful qualities she admires in a man – loyalty, bravery, and mostly, a kind and generous heart.

Does this person love her?Yes. He has always been in love with her, even when she was married to another man, but has never mentioned it to her because in an old-fashioned culture it is wrong to have anything to do with a married woman. Besides her husband is his own cousin. He can’t hurt his own family by declaring his feelings.

Tell us about her family.Megha’s father is retired and not in good health, which makes him cantankerous. Her mother is still quite young and beautiful, but she’s timid and totally under her husband’s thumb, so she can’t help Megha when she’s clearly in trouble. Megha’s two older sisters are well-settled in comfortable marriages even while Megha is a little girl because of the difference in their ages.

Where is she from?She is born and raised in Palgaum, a small (fictitious) town in southwestern India. She is also married to a man in the same town.

Does her hometown affect her behavior, thoughts and attitude?Yes, very much so. When she runs from her in-laws and her husband after she discovers their plot to kill her, she has no place to go, precisely because it is a small town and she will be easily found. Also later, when she and Kiran fall in love, she’s afraid to surrender to the sentiment because in a conservative town they will be discovered and bring shame upon their respective families. Her thoughts and behavior are directly affected by the small town atmosphere she’s been raised in.

What does she want out of life?
Most of all, she wants to be independent and have a career, and at the same time she wants a caring man in her life, marriage and family.

What's her biggest secret? (Only share if it isn't a spoiler in the story.)
She doesn’t really have one, until later, when she falls in love with her husband’s cousin.

Did you write more than one story about her?No. THE DOWRY BRIDE is the first and only story about Megha.

How would she describe you?She’d probably consider me a woman who’s too outspoken and too forward for her tastes. But she would probably envy my courage to do what I please, something she hasn’t learned to do.

Is there anything else about your heroine that we need to know? Feel free to share.Megha is good with words and has always dreamt about being a journalist. Her father won’t hear of her pursuing a career because in his old-fashioned world, women don’t need to work. They have to depend on their husbands for support. And Megha abhors the thought of being dependent on a man. But in her world she has no choice but to obey her father.

Please provide your website link.http://www.shobhanbantwal.com

What is the link to buy your book?http://tinyurl.com/24dlec

It was wonderful to meet her. Thank you for bringing her to meet us.Thank you for inviting me to share my heroine with you and your readers. I enjoyed creating Megha and love talking about her. This is the first time someone has specifically asked me so many interesting questions about her and her alone. I appreciate it.

One Smooth Stone by Marcia Lee Laycock

Okay -- its time to tell us about that hunky hero in your book.

What's his name? He goes by Alex Donnelly but discovers he was born with another name

Why did you pick that name? I've always liked the name Alex. Donnelly seemed to fit him.

Give us a brief description of how he looks. He's average height, black hair and grey eyes. He tends to slouch a lot.

Is there anything unusual about his appearance? He has a white scar extending from the bottom tip of his left ear to his shoulder.

Who does he love? he slowly falls in love with a paralegal he meets when he returns to the city.
Why? He sees something in her he has been searching for all his life - peace.

Does this person love him? Yes, though she resists it at first

Tell us about his family. Are they important to him? Extremely, but he has never known them. He was raised in foster homes.

Where is he from? Born in Seattle, WA, but has lived most of his life in Vancouver Canada

Does his hometown affect his behavior, thoughts and attitude? No. He left it when a baby.

What does he want out of life? Peace and a sense of belonging.

What's his biggest secret? (Only share if it isn't a spoiler in the story.) Something happened in one of the foster homes he lived in. He feels a lot of shame because of it.

Did you write more than one story about him? I'm about to start book 2.

How would he describe you?
Hmm - interesting question. He'd probably describe me as someone who will someday make a good grandmother.

Is there anything else about your hero that we need to know? Feel free to share.
He has a lot of internal conflict that keeps running into the external circumstances in his life. He thinks he has a way out, but finds he has just run right back to where he started.

Please provide your website link.
www.vinemarc.com

What is the link to buy your book?
www.castlequaybooks.com

It was wonderful to meet him. Thank you for bringing him to meet us. By the way, do you have a picture of him that you'd like to share?
You can catch a glimpse of him on my website - click on the cover to view the trailer

Marcia Lee Laycock
Author of One Smooth Stone
No matter how far you run, God will find you; no matter what you have done, God will forgive you.
www.vinemarc.com
www.marcialaycock.blogspot.com

The Last Free Men - by Jack Everett & David Coles

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

The Last Free Men ...

“We, the last men on earth, the last of the free, have been shielded till

today by the very remoteness and the seclusion for which we are famed ...

But today the boundary of Britain is exposed; beyond us lies no nation,

nothing but waves and rocks and the Romans.”

from Calgacus' address to his army at the battle of Mons Graupius.

...Tacitus.

During the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd Century AD, Rome's Ninth Legion was sent to Hadrian's Wall in northwest Britain to quell an insurrection that threatened the Empire's hold on the region. They were never heard from again. Historians have speculated for centuries about what might have happened to the mighty Ninth Legion -- here is one intriguing possibility.

THE LAST FREE MEN is the story of Marcus Gettorix, son of a Roman general and a British woman living in the northwest frontier of Rome's mighty empire (modern-day Scotland). During a battle, Marcus is wrongly assumed to have murdered his commandant. He is sentenced to work in the mines and escapes, the Druids use Marcus as a figurehead and fan the flames of resentment into an insurrection that joins British and Scottish tribes against the Romans. Now allied with the Druids, Marcus lures the ambitious Roman general in charge of the Ninth Legion into a deadly trap destined to create one of history's greatest mysteries.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

Marcus' best friend is the Centurion, Emelius Karrus, a hard-bitten career officer in the Roman Army who has taken the younger man under his wing. Karrus joined the Roman Army in his teens, signing up for the minimum tour of duty of 25 years. His career progressed; he is now one of the primi ordines, the Legion's five top centurions, the men that the Legions rely upon. Emelius' family is the army; it is not unlikely that there might be some paternal feelings in the relationship.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

Emelius helps Marcus. When Marcus is unbelievably found guilty of murdering his commandant, Emelius uses the fact of Marcus' father being a senator, to persuade the military court to commute the usual death sentence to life imprisonment.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

Emelius and Marcus end up on opposite sides of the campaign which leads to the destruction of the Ninth Legion. The two personalities lead the reader through the reasons and preparations for this conflict from both viewpoints.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

Marcus feels admiration towards Emelius, some one to rely on; this changes to a reluctant respect after their split.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

Plain speaking and honesty would straighten out most difficulties and problems. Agreement to disagree would handle those problems that could not be settled.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?

There certainly are - more on Emelius' side than Marcus because Marcus' apparent murder of the commandant was so unbelievable and out of character. Only after the younger man's sentencing and escape do the facts become known by which time, Marcus has already changed sides and become a worry to the Roman command.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

It's a possibility. Emelius as we, the authors, know him is a charismatic figure. He is intelligent, capable and a real person with enough gaps in his history to create a highly paced story around.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

He was inspired by the idealistic figure of the best of modern British Regimental Sergeant Majors - the officers who hold the whole thing together.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

The thing about Emelius is that he is that person everybody looks up to, whom everyone asks advice from. The Roman Army didn't retire their best soldiers - officers or legionaries - at 40 years of age. Emelius and his contemporary centurions were the backbone of the military, the most respected part of the Roman war machine.

11 - Please provide your website link.

http://www.davidBColes.co.uk

http://www.JackLEverett.me.uk

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

http://www.virtualtales.com/StoryProducts~tn~Last+Free+Men.html

Friday House by D K Gaston

From the novel: The Friday House by D. K. Gaston

Tell us about your heroine – the female lead in your book

She is a Special Agent with the FBI. She recently returned from a six month long medical leave. After surviving a brutal attack she has become clairvoyant. Before her visions appear, she suffers from a severe headache.

What’s her name?

Jamaica Kurtz

Why did you pick that name?

I wanted something that was a little different. I also wanted a name that would stand out. I’ve always liked visiting Jamaica and thought it would be a cool name for a character.

Give us a brief description of how she looks.

Dark caramel complexion

Shoulder length mop-thick black hair

Almond shaped eyes

Unique amber eyes almost like the color of a peach

Who does she love? Why?

She meets a New York homicide detective Raymond Kilgore and she is starting to fall in love with him. They met under dangerous circumstances and bonded as they worked together to resolve the stories conflict.

Does this person love her?

He’s falling in love with Jamaica. She is unlike any woman he has ever met.

Tell us about her family

Jamaica’s parents are alive though they have a strained relationship with her. Her parents are scientists and wanted Jamaica to follow in their footsteps. When she earned several scholarships and picked a college and curriculum that her parents did not approve of, they cut her off.

Her father is American; her mother British. Jamaica has duel citizenships.

Where is she from?

Jamaica was born in Los Angeles (or so she believes).

Does her hometown affect her behavior, thoughts and attitude?

It was not so much her hometown but more of her living conditions at home. Groomed to become a doctor by her parents, she was deprived a lot of things other children have experiences. She was home schooled until she went off to college. Her friends (they few she had) was handpicked by her parents.

When she went off to college, she developed a sense of humor, made friends and began to experience life late in life. It affected her dealings with men and she never maintained a relationship for longer than a couple of months.

What does she want out of life?

She surviving her attack and gaining her clairvoyant abilities, all Jamaica has wanted was to be normal again.

What’s her biggest secret?

Her clairvoyant ability and she also blames herself for the death of her partner.

Did you write more than one story about her?

Jamaica first appeared in my first novel XIII as a minor character. It was in that novel she is attacked and put into a coma.

How would she describe you?

She would describe me as a big teddy bear. (But don’t tell my wife.)

Finding Funboy by Matt Golec

Tell us a bit about your book.
"Finding Funboy" is the story of a young, not-quite-out-of-college journalist who tries to find a missing childhood friend. What starts as a simple favor quickly turns complicated, as the narrator's search for Funboy changes forever the way he sees his friend -- and himself.

Call it a pulp detective novel crossed with a coming-of-age story, or "The Big Sleep" meets "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (apologies to Bogart and Broderick).

Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.
The best friend is Funboy of the book’s title, and he and the main character have known each other since childhood. I have a few friends that go back that far, and I think there’s a special quality about friendships that span our entire lives. Those friends met you before you learned grown-up manners and societal expectations, and in many ways they know the ‘real’ you better than anyone outside your family.

Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?
Funboy -- the best friend -- represents the past for the main character as he struggles with coming into his own as an adult.

How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend? Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?
The main character definitely feels conflicted about this best friend. The first time we hear about Funboy, he’s made off with the main character’s bicycle -- unasked, as his style. The main character loves this guy like a brother, but as they’ve gotten older, Funboy’s irresponsible, devil-may-care nature has begun to cast a shadow on their friendship. As the main character searches for Funboy, these conflicts come to represent the main character’s sometimes rocky path in coming of age.

How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?
In a normal situation, they’d probably shout it out or knock each other around before ending up laughing at themselves -- they’re young guys, after all. But “Finding Funboy” covers a time that’s anything but normal, and the way the main character learns how to step into adulthood while integrating aspects of his childhood -- especially his best friend, Funboy -- is the heart of the book.

Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?
No -- as much as I like these characters, I think I’ve told their stories.

Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?
Funboy is a mix of a bunch of people I knew -- a little bit from here, a little bit from there, and a little bit out of my own head. I don’t think it’s wise to drop a real person whole cloth into a fiction story -- real people deserve their privacy, of course, but it can also be difficult to get your characters to do what you want them to do if they’re too heavily based on real people.

Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.
While long-time friends can be great rocks of stability as we go through the twists and turns of getting older, they can also hold a person back if they fail to grow up, or if they grow in an incompatible direction. Funboy is the focus of the main character’s attempts to grapple with this contradiction.

Please provide your website link.
www.mattgolec.com

What is the link to buy your book?
www.booksforabuck.com/mystery/mys_07/finding_funboy.htmlor www.lulu.com/content/1041286

The Draconis and the Stallion by Laura Elliott

Tell us about your heroine --- the female lead in your book.

She has red eyes, flame resistant skin, a spiked tail, and she can breathe fire. Need I say more?

Wing is a sentinel – a border guardian between the human and Draconis world. That’s her people, the Draconis. They are the evolved descendents of dragons, forced to live in an alternate dimension to escape the centuries of butchery by humans.

It’s her job to keep the species separate to prevent more violence, and maybe someday, help pave the way to unite the two.

What's her name?

Codename is Wing, real name is Annie – but don’t tell anyone. She only lets people she trusts know her real name.

Why did you pick that name?

Wing sometimes imagines she can fly, the feel of wind in her face, the current underneath her, just like her ancestors. The only problem is that evolution took care of the wings, but it didn’t take away the desire to soar.

Give us a brief description of how she looks.

She looks human, for the most part. Her facial features have a reptilian look, almost predatory. It helps her intimidate humans. She’s wiry and athletic – she has to be to do her job, as a border guardian. Chasing demons and escaped psychopaths is a great workout.

She has a long, whip-like tail with dozens of tiny spikes (it’s hell on the bed sheets). When Wing goes out in public, she wears long trench coats and wraps her tail around her waist, spikes out of course.

Is there anything unusual about her appearance?

You could say that. Her spiked tail is her best weapon, and her red eyes glow when she’s aroused.

Who does she love? Why?

She loves a human warrior who goes by the codename Stallion. She makes quite a few jokes at his expense for having such a crappy codename. He’s the first person to accept her as she is and not try to put her in a freak show or sell her to a research study. Plus, he makes one heck of a partner when it comes to catching the bad guys.

Does this person love her?

You bet he does. He’s never seen anything like her and that’s saying a lot. He’s a demon hunter. They met on a case of mistaken identity.

Tell us about her family.

She comes from a long line of border guardians, trained from birth to take her parents place as soldier and sentinel. She’s never actually lived in the realm of her people, the Draconis. She was born and raised among humans but never found acceptance among them.

Where is she from?
America. The FBI puts up with her existence because she keeps the bad things out of this dimension. And she pays her taxes.

Does her hometown affect her behavior, thoughts and attitude?

Not really. She likes humans, likes living on Earth but she’s never felt like she had a home. She walks among them in hiding, never able to show her true nature out of fear for her life. All she really wants is acceptance, maybe even love.

What does she want out of life?

A place to call home, love, and family. She might be able to breathe fire but in the end, she’s not all that different from the rest of us.

What's her biggest secret? (Only share if it isn't a spoiler in the story.)

Her biggest secret – she’s afraid to spend the rest of her life alone, alienated from the world.

Did you write more than one story about her?

Not yet, more of her adventures will come soon.

How would she describe you?

As her torturer. I put her through hell, making her run for days on end with only scraps to eat, driven to catch demons and child-killers.

Is there anything else about your heroine that we need to know? Feel free to share.
She loves to watch Oprah.

Please provide your website link.

http://laelliott.com

http://www.myspace.com/lauraelliott1

What is the link to buy your book?
http://www.eternalpress.com.au/

It was wonderful to meet her. Thank you for bringing her to meet us.

"Ladies of Class"

What's his name? Chief Inspector Detective Richard Hayward

Why did you pick that name? As I am not the Author, that is hard to answer. Mum probably picked that name as she related a lot of her writings to some aspect of her life.

Give us a brief description of how he looks. Richard is tall, slim with dark hair. His face can change quite dramatically. He has a serious air that determines his position in the force. But the twinkle in his eye reveals his remarkable sense of humour that can take over, not always at the most appropriate time.

Is there anything unusual about his appearance? Not really. At the beginning of the story Richard is recovering from a broke bone in his leg. So he probably is not walking quite normally.

Who does he love? Why? Richard loves his wife Kate and of course his mother who is one of the characters throughout the story. Richard adores Kate, his first love. Kate is absent until the end of the story but she is always on Richard's mind. One can understand his devotion to Kate as events progress. Even feel his sense of loss that Kate is not with him to share his happiness for his promotion and move to their new home.

Does this person love him? Richard really believes that Kate loves him, however, at times there is a hint of doubt in his mind. As Kate entries the story towards the end, one really does get the felling for the depth of love towards Richard.

Tell us about his family. Are they important to him? Ella, Richard's mother plays an important part in Richard's life at the moment. In Kate's absence, Ella has taken care of Richard after his accident. She is assisting Richard in setting up his new home after his promotion and move to Burshill. At first Richard didn't feel the need for his mother to be doing so much. However, when he is called back to duty before his convalescence is up, to investigate the murders, he then sees the value and importance of all that his mother is doing.

Where is he from? Richard is originally from London, England.

Does his hometown affect his behavior, thoughts and attitude? Richard's background as a big town policeman and his reputation for 'getting the gangster', preceded him to the small town of Burshill. But he really does not act like a 'big time cop'. In some ways, even though his is probably the youngest officer to get his promotion, he is quite unassuming and at times, humble.

What does he want out of life? Probably the thing Richard wants most is for Kate and himself to enjoy a quiet life in their new home town and do his job well He was never really happy with all the fame and attention he was receiving in London.

What's his biggest secret? (Only share if it isn't a spoiler in the story.) Richard does not really appear to have any secrets, unless his somewhat unusual methods of 'catching the villain’' could be considered a secret.

Did you write more than one story about him? Yes, Mum did write another Detective Richard Hayward murder mystery book.

How would he describe you? I think Richard would describe Mum as a very private woman who was never without a book or pen in her hand. Avidly reading or furiously writing.

Is there anything else about your hero that we need to know? Feel free to share. Richard was able to combine his thoroughness of investigation and questioning with diplomacy. Which added to his successes.

Please provide your website link. http://marjo-mumswritings. blogspot.com

What is the link to buy your book? www.vrpublishing.com

It was wonderful to meet him. Thank you for bringing him to meet us. By the way, do you have a picture of him that you'd like to share? No pictures unfortunately.