Saturday's Excerpt Weathering Rock by Mae Clair

WEATHERING ROCK


Excerpt

By Mae Clair



That strange luminescent glow glinted on the surface of his eyes, flaring

pure silver when he looked at her. “I was studying the moon.”

She wasn’t certain she wanted to venture in that direction. Moonlight and a

handsome man were a notoriously fatal combination. “I’ve always thought full moons

were magical.”


He gave a skeptical snort. “It’s not full, it only looks that way. It’s already started

to wane. You just can’t tell by the naked eye.” He tugged at his collar. Sweat clung to his

cheeks, prompting him to thumb open another button on his shirt.


The inky material gaped on his chest. A traitorous part of her mind wondered

what it would be like to free the remaining buttons. She could almost feel the heated

touch of his flesh beneath her fingertips as she slowly worked her way to his waist.

Disturbed, she jerked her hand from his. A hot flush crept up her neck.


“You can tell the difference?” She shot a doubtful glance at the moon. It made her

think of long-ago legends: fairy glades, nameless winged creatures and werewolves.


“The moon and I are well acquainted.”


He leaned into the banister, his leg casually brushing hers. She tensed at the

informal contact, surprised when it streaked through her like a bolt of lightning. Weak-kneed

and stunned, she tried to retreat.


“Annie, don’t go--” Caleb caught her hand.

“Don’t call me that.”

“It suits you.” Towering over her, he stepped closer, his eyes mirroring the smoky

blue of the night-dusted sky. “I think we were supposed to meet.” His voice grew low and

husky, sending a shivery chill up her spine.


She wet her lips, trying to retain her composure. It was impossible to think

straight when he stood so near, his presence engulfing her in a sizzling wall of heat.

“Caleb…”


He bent closer and threaded his hand into her hair, his fingertips lightly pressing

her scalp. A dizzying shiver of sensation cascaded through her. She barely had time to

register the feeling before his mouth closed over hers, possessive and eager, leaving her

breathless.



Tag & Blurb:

Drawn together across centuries, will their love be strong enough to defeat an ancient curse?



Colonel Caleb DeCardian was fighting America’s Civil War on the side of the Union when a freak shower of ball lightning transported him to the present, along with rival and former friend, Seth Reilly. Adapting to the 21st century is hard enough for the colonel, but he also has to find Seth, who cursed him to life as a werewolf. The last thing on Caleb’s mind is romance. Then fetching Arianna Hart nearly runs him down with her car. He can’t deny his attraction to the outspoken schoolteacher, but knows he should forget her.



Arianna finds Caleb bewildering, yet intriguing: courtly manners, smoldering sensuality and eyes that glow silver at night? When she sees Civil War photographs featuring a Union officer who looks exactly like Caleb, she begins to understand the man she is falling in love with harbors multiple secrets--some of which threaten the possibility of their happiness.



Finding a decent guy who'll commit is hard enough. How can she expect Caleb to forsake his own century to be with her?



You can find Mae Clair at the following haunts:

Website

Blog

Twitter (@MaeClair1)

Facebook Author Page

Lyrical Press Author Page

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads



Buy WEATHERING ROCK at:

Amazon

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Lyrical Press

iBooks



View Book Trailer for WEATHERING ROCK

Friday's How She Does It featuring Mae Clair

.How do you create your characters? Do you have a special system?

They tend to pop in my head on their own, usually vague and shadowy, demanding to be fleshed out in greater detail. It’s hard to say what initially sparks their conception. I studiously avoid patterning characters after anyone I know, so they certainly don’t germinate from life experiences!

Usually, once I have that initial ghost of character life, I create backstory and motivation, and then begin constructing relationships with other characters. That eventually leads me into the playground of plot.

2. Do your characters come before your plot? Do you sketch out your plot or do you let your characters develop the route to the end?

Definitely characters before plot. They control the reins, leading me into the plot as we work along. I generally have a vague idea of where we’re headed when I start writing, but the twists and turns along the way are often unexpected and lead to threads I hadn’t anticipated.

3. Do you know how the story will end before you begin? In a general or a specific way?

Hmm. I seem to be leading into your questions with my previous answers. J I rarely know the end of a story when I start, other than wanting it to have an HEA with the hero and heroine ending up together - -after much conflict and many hurdles, of course! That’s about as specific as I get when I start a new novel.

4. Do you choose settings you know or do you have books of settings and plans of houses on your book shelf?

A little of both. For the most part, I sculpt settings from areas I know. I live in Pennsylvania and so set the majority of my books there. But I’m also extremely comfortable with eastern coastal settings and will frequently pull from that familiarity. I’ve travelled a bit across the country and will occasionally reference an area I’ve visited as well. For the last 20+ years, I’ve worked in the real estate industry and have toured properties that range from cottages to historical homes, B&Bs and multi-million dollar mansions. That background has been wonderful in creating diverse home settings!

5. Where do you do your research? From books you won, the library or the internet?

I rarely venture to the library these days. Most of my research is done online but I have several favored books on my shelf, I reference for historical and myth-related topics.

6. Are you a draft writer or do you revise as you go along?

I’ve never developed the knack for being a draft writer. I’m constantly revising as I go along so by the time I reach the end, the book is pretty polished. That’s not to say I don’t do several more read-throughs for tightening and editing before calling it finished.



Thanks for having me as a guest today, Janet. I enjoyed answering your questions!


Mae Clair

Author of WEATHERING ROCK

Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks & Lyrical Press



Author of TWELFTH SUN

Coming August 2013



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