Welcome
to Craving Erotic Romance Blogspot.
Today
we’re presenting Author: Raven McAllan
1) Have you always wanted to be an
author?
On and off I reckon. I've always loved to write, but it took a long while
to find my voice. I used to write as I thought I should, not as I could. It
wasn't good. I did win a 'where does chocolate come' from competition two years
running when I was about 8 or 9 though.
2) What genre(s) do you write?
Romance. Regency, WW2, contemporary, erotic, paranormal, whichever shouts
at me loudest at the time. Oh and YA as J. Lilley. Different hats and all that.
3) Have you ever self published?
Along with several other friends, (we're all in the same crit group) Wine
and Nine came about when we all got together, and sat around my kitchen table
with wine. We'd been to the local pub and set a series of hot short stories
about it. Every hero had to wear a kilt!
4) Who or what inspired you to
write your first book?
The first one, was when we got a computer. (All those little discs in and
out ARGH) It was rubbish, but as I'd
been saying if only etc etc, I felt I had to try. The first one I had
published, Wallflowers Don't Wilt, was written on a dare by my Crit group UCW.
I'd said I thought I write a Regency about two women and a man, and they said
go on then. We dare you. So I did. They helped me tidy it, and send it off. I
got the yes email at 3am. I'd got up for water, checked my emails and woke DH
up shouting oh my goodness ohh yes, oh look. Poor soul, he gave me a kiss said
'"Well done" and then asked if he could go back to sleep.
5) How many hours in a day might
you write?
At least an hour a day. Usually 4-5. ( I use the term write loosely. That
includes blogs, and research. (Oh, okay then, procrastination)If I'm on holiday
I often get up early to slot it in. I try not to write when DH is around.
That's our time.
6) Are you a plotter or a pantster?
Pantster every time.
The only time I've plotted it was rubbish.
7)
Do you ever find yourself slipping away and becoming so immersed in your story it affects how you relate to others?
I've always been able to immerse myself in
a story, whether reading or writing. When I write I'm oblivious to anything, I
have to set the alarm to remind me to check what's in the Aga, and to do a
quick tidy round before DH get's home. He reckons he could ask me for anything,
say "okay, then, I'll take that as a yes", and I'd be non the wiser.
8) Are you in any of your books?
No, I write them not
star in them. Well I guess my snarky attitude might come across, and my love of
chocolate, but me? Nah.
9) What do your friends and family
have to say about you writing?
Anything from I'm really proud of you, congratulations, go you, woo hoo,
to don't tell people what you write, they're disgusting, is it all from
experience etc etc…
10) Please share an excerpt from one of your
books that totally spoke to you when you put the words down on paper…
This is from
The Girl on the Bus. Tay is in the process of
changing his life, when A glimpse of a girl on a bus, reminds him of something
that happened years ago. This is the start of the book, which is set in Glasgow. It so shouts
that city to me, and so got me into Tay's
head…
Tay
Mackinnon drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, unconsciously mimicking
the beat of a popular TV motor racing program blasting out from the I Player.
He loved hot hard and heavy music interspersed with softer gentler tunes. He
admitted to being difficult to pigeonhole, and was unrepentantly pleased about
the fact.
Stuck
behind the double-decker bus disgorging its passengers in the middle of the
road rather than at the bus stop he refused to lose his temper. A man in a
white van parked in the bus bay shrugged as he received the rough edge of the
bus driver’s tongue. Even through they were several yards away, Tay got the gist of the conversation. Tay
grinned. He was in no hurry to get to his destination. With great music and
bright sunshine, he could afford the time.
Though
the roof of his sports car was down, he ignored the fumes and noises of the
city. He remained as happy with that as the scents and sounds of the Scottish
countryside where he lived whenever possible. Comfortable in his skin and his
life, he refused to get upright because some ignoramus couldn't be bothered to
read the road signs. An approaching traffic warden would sort him out.
The
bus moved off slowly. Tay let the clutch out
and followed. The vehicle turned a corner, and Tay
continued straight ahead until a profile of woman on the upper deck made him
change his mind. He swapped lanes. The blaring horns were well deserved, but
for once Tay couldn't give a monkeys.
That
profile ... oh, that profile. Silver. It couldn't be, surely he kidded himself?
One night five years ago. How on earth would he know for sure? But the hair,
like silver silk shot with diamonds glittering and sparkling in the light. It
was her hair, her profile ... wasn't it?
Get a grip, man. That was the other side of the
country.
However,
Tay was as certain as he could be. He'd been
looking unconsciously for her all that time. So often he'd almost walked up to
someone and called out her name, only to stop at the last moment before some
unknown woman thought him a crazy stalker. Once, he'd almost lost his balls
when a guy objected to Tay calling a woman
that name. A woman Tay hadn't even realized
accompanied the guy. He'd made his apologies and retreated as the smug bastard
bragged about how big and tough he was, and that no one messed with him ever.
The guy hadn’t even been a Dom, just a half pissed Glasgow Ned. Tay had been sorry, but no way could he give much
credulence to a guy with a tattoo of Hello Kitty on his neck. In full color at
that. Even so, Tay was a lot more wary of approaching
anyone now. A writhing, crying, so-called macho man wouldn't go down well. He
imagined the headlines.
11) Which actor/character(s) would play the
starring role in that book?
Robert Downey Junior. One of my
mates said he was so Tay
Raven lives in Scotland, along with her husband
and their two cats—their children having flown the nest—surrounded by beautiful
scenery, which inspires a lot of the settings in her books.
She is used to
sharing her life with the occasional deer, red squirrel, and lost tourist, to
say nothing of the scourge of Scotland—the midge.
A lover of
reading, she appreciates the history inside a book, and the chance to peek into
the lives of those from years ago. Raven admits that she enjoys the research
for her books almost as much as the writing; so much so, that sometimes she
realizes she's strayed way past the information she needs to know, and not a
paragraph has been added to her WIP.
Her lovely
long-suffering husband is learning to love the dust bunnies, work the Aga, and
be on stand-by with a glass of wine.
Thanks so much for interviewing here, Raven. Best of luck with your books!
You can find out
more about Raven here…
