On Deck - Marie McKinney Chats About The Arrangement

 

The evening light is upon us and the fire table is lit. I have a special guest on the deck today so please welcome Marie McKinney. She used to be a counselor but her own mind turned her into a romance author. You will find the human drama that makes life interesting in the contemporary and paranormal romances she writes. 

I love the diverse characters from different backgrounds she creates and helps them fall in love. Her book,  After Paris captures all that plus emotional twists and turns with a second chance romance.

 

I’m so excited Marie has a new book out and she’s here today to tell us about it. The Arrangement was released in August. She has joined me at the high-top fire table for drinks. She’s enjoying a Vanilla Coke with Tennessee Honey Jack Daniels. I decided to have one too since I’m a sucker for Vanilla Coke. We have a bowl of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups between us. Marie and Flyboy share the love of these wonderful sweets. Lucky for us, he’s out flying thus leaving all the Reese’s for us!

 

Thanks for joining us, Marie. Since the temps are going down, I’m going dive right into this. I know you have After Paris and now the 1^st book in the Wilde Men series but how many books to you have prior to these?

 

The Arrangementis not my first book but it is only the second book I’ve written under my name. I started writing professionally as a ghostwriter in 2012 and did that for a few years until that little voice in the back of my head said, “Enough. Don’t you want to see your name on your work?” In all I’ve probably written somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteen or sixteen books. I’m not real sure since once it’s approved by the client, I’d ceremoniously let it go, delete the file, say goodbye and move on. A nice little figurative trashcan fire of my ex’s things. 

 

I’ll drink to that! *We clink glasses and take a drink* It’s crazy how the mind works. What inspired you to write your latest book, The Arrangement?

 

Usually the characters come to me before the story, with this one though, it was the other way around. I wanted to write an arranged marriage trope but make it modern day and realistic. The only scene I “borrowed” from real life is the opening scene with Maggie at work and her customers chanting “salad, salad” at her. My niece worked as a waitress while putting herself through med-school and was always blessed with the most interesting customers. The restaurant Black Tin Roof will show up from time to time and most of that comes from her fabulous rendition of life in the service industry.

 

I love basing fiction on the reality in my life. Good for your niece and her inspiration. Do you give her a cut of the fame?

 

No she doesn’t get royalties, but I do give the best Christmas presents. Lol. 

 

I’d rather have the wonderful gifts. LOL Sounds like you have a nice arrangement. LOL See what I did there. LOL How did you come up with the title, TheArrangement?

 

Laziness was my inspiration, lol. “The Arrangement” for a story about an Arranged Marriage.

 

I think it sounds a little dirty, in a sexy way. I love your character names, Magdalena and Aidan. How do you come up with your characters’ names?

 

Sometimes it just comes to me and those times I have to be careful and check my long list of already used character names to make sure I’m not double dipping, or repeating consonants. Once I had a Diana, Deirdre and Daniel all in the same book, no lie. Apparently, that month was represented by the letter “D.” When I’m stuck on a new name, usually the character’s backstory helps me. Even if that backstory isn’t used in the actual novel. Magdalena and her sisters Miriam and Guinevere had a young mom who fantasized about being rescued by Robin Hood or a literal knight in shining armor hence the names. 

 

Oooh, I love the story behind the story, or I should say…the story behind the name. Hey, if you could have any movie star take on a role of one of your characters who do you think it would be?

 

AHhh. I don’t know! I never visualize my characters as actors or actresses. I know, I’m the only one in the world. They always appear in my mind’s eye as themselves, though, so I really don’t know.

 

Come to think of it, my characters look more like regular people than movie starts. Anyways… back to your writing. How naughty do you get with your stories?

 

I consider myself pretty middle of the line. I don’t fade out and close the door but I’m not pulling out whips and chains and making them beg in excruciating detail. There are sex scenes, they get pretty steamy, there’s a lot of build-up and intimacy even when they’re not having sex. But I think everyone has their own way of rating so my just enough might be someone else’s whoa buddy. Only one way to find out, hint hint, nudge nudge. Lol. 

 

The build-up makes a scene even more intense and sexy. Yes, friends, you need to dive into The Arrangement to find out! Now, Marie, you like to take readers on an emotional ride and do it well. What would you say were difficult scenes to write?

 

The second chapter when her sisters are getting loaded into a car and taken away. That scene took the longest because it punched me in the cry-box every time. Especially when Maggie settles her little sister who has Autism and sends her off, knowing she can’t explain why they’re not going together. I have an eight-year-old on the spectrum and I might have over-personalized the moment, imagining how he might feel.

 

Personal things like that pull a reader in. As an author, I know how research goes when writing so what is the strangest thing you’ve Googled while working on a story?

 

This story was pretty tame. The wackiest it got was putting together the Kilabarian language. But I have had stories that would get me convicted on an episode of CSI. The strangest thing I’ve ever googled for a novel was “How much of the body remains after a house-fire.”

 

Hopefully “big brother” isn’t watching you. LOL Do you have any rituals to must haves while you are writing?

 

Each book is different. I’ve had books where I’ve had to write it the old-fashioned way, pen and paper. Then there were books where I powered through with chocolate and snacks. Luckily those are few and far between. The Arrangement wanted to wake me up in the middle of the night for just one more scene that could not wait. All my recent work, though, does not get started or completed without my grandmother’s picture siting right in front of me.

 

Okay…now for some fun stuff. What’s your favorite food?

 

Ice cream. Any. All. Vanilla with sprinkles. Birthday cake. Chocolate Chip cookie dough. Ooo Ben and Jerry’s used to have this flavor: sweet cream ice cream with cashews but they were coated in something first. If I had a genie, I’d completely waste a wish on bringing that sucker back. 

 

Oh, girl… we are going to be best friends! I have a freezer dedicated to ice cream! LOL What is your favorite thing to wear?

 

Leggings

 

Yes! Nothing is better than wearing leggings and curling up with a good book such as The Arrangement. Where is you favorite place to read?

 

I live in the south, there are very few days I have the need for a fireplace. Still. I imagine curling up on my couch in front of a roaring fire, reading away. In reality it’s my bed. Lol.

 

You need to visit my log home in the wood in the middle of winter. Flyboy will build us a nice fire in the fireplace, make us Jack and vanilla cokes, and make sure we have cuddly blankets handy. Oh, Flyboy wanted me to ask you, what place would you like to visit some day?

 

It’s on my bucket-list to write underneath an Irish sunrise. Or sunset. Ireland and sun. Wildflowers. Fields.

 

Flyboy has been there and said it’s definitely worth it. Do you have any special words for your readers today?

 

Hi!! I hope you’re enjoying my novels as much as I’m enjoying releasing them to you. The best part about being an author is being able to share some small piece of a world I get to create with an infinite number of other people to appreciate. The second best thing is getting to hear what you think about it. Reviews are our (authors) life-blood. Feed me, Seymour. Lol. No, seriously, thank you for taking a chance on me.

 

Thanks for joining Marie McKinney and I on the deck. Sorry, we won't share the remaining Reeses with you, I'm letting Marie take the rest home. You can find Marie

 

Twitter and Instagram: @mckinney_writes

Website: ILoveTheWayYou.com

Check out MarieMcKinney’s Amazon Author Page

 

Please check out her latest book, The Arrangement, the 1^st book in the Wilde Men series.

 

When Magdalena was a little girl, the worse thing she could imagine was never knowing who her father was. Then she grew up and met him.
Now with the threat of what’s left of her family being ripped apart, she’s forced to wed his rival to stop a brewing war from imploding a world she never knew existed.

When the girl he’d pledged to marry was murdered, Aidan Wilde swore he would never share his life with anyone else. He promised her he’d dedicate every breath to ruining her killer. Who would have thought that in order to do the second he’d have to break his promise about the first? But that doesn’t mean he’s going to give away his heart.

He’s not the husband she wanted but he’s the one she needs.
She’s not the wife he wanted but she’s the one he’s owed.
Together Magdalena and Aidan could be a force to be reckoned with.
But first they have to get out of their own way.

 

The Arrangement on Amazon 

 

 Pick it up now to read while waiting for the 2nd book, Stay coming in November.

 

 

Leading Ladies & Fellas

When I was a teenager way back around 1980, my mom belonged to the Harlequin Readers Service and she would receive a box of romance books every month.  She would pour over those books with a hunger only another book lover would understand. Sometimes I'd sneak a book and hide in the basement to discover the adventures that lie within the pages.

Mom’s favorites depicted historical with brawny manly men such as cowboys and damsels in distress or rich educated hunks such as doctors with an established woman in search of a man accepting of her liberation.

As I grew as a reader then became a writer, I came to appreciate the variety of characters behind well written romance stories. Personally, I don’t care for the wimpy gal who can’t tie her shoe without help. However, a gal does have the right to be doted on by a loving man…as long as she tends to her own footwear, unless he’s taking off said footwear to give her peds some undivided attention.  After all, who doesn’t love a good foot massage?

Anyways…..back to my original trail of thought.

Creating characters is actually pretty fun. (That is until they take over a writer’s mind and keep thus writer up all night until a scene or story is finished.) Let’s take the overly confident guy who helps a meek gal find her inner sensuality and eventually turns the table on him. He becomes empty and she is the only one who can fill him. This is much like my characters in Crow Magic. The hero in this story is the first of several Native American shifters I create; this one is a Crow shaman.

Let me tease you with a couple characters…. 

how about a dominating hot cop and a submissive lawyer? Sounds hot! In Handcuffs & Silk, the rough, tough female cop learns a bit about herself when she has a one night stand with a hot male big-city lawyer who’s a bit submissive and passive. 

The hero in Eagle Dance is a huge man with wild hair who is a big softie inside. He is looking for a woman to appreciate the simple things with him. He's the second Native American shifter, a sexy eagle and retired Marine. His leading lady is chasing a ghost but slows down for pizza and a hot shower scene. 

I’m a sucker for a good romance story with well built characters. 

(Not referring to muscular build…well maybe. Duh!) Nonetheless, 

I believe heroes can have weakness and leading ladies can be strong. They are certainly fun to create!

What kinds of characters in leading roles do you prefer?