Interview with Authors After Dark Featured Author Hildie McQueen

Can you tell readers a little bit about yourself and what inspired to write in this particular genre?

As an avid reader of paranormal, I was always left with questions. I wanted to know more about what the males in the stories thought about certain things, I needed a deeper perspective into their personalities.  What better way into an immortal male's head than to create him myself?

What inspired you to write this book?

Cynden Fraser, an Immortal Highlander, the Hero in Desperate Betrayal inspired me.  Are you kidding me, I was inspired by my love of Scotland, Highlanders and all things paranormal.  The Protector Series was inspired after I wrote Desperate Betrayal.  When creating the secondary characters, their personalities shined through.

Please tell us about your latest release.

Cynden's brother Kieran almost demanded his own story.  The Hero in Desperate Surrender, a tortured brooding immortal became the love of my life....well literarly only of course.  **smile**

Do you have a special formula for creating characters' names? Do you try to match a name with a certain meaning to attributes of the character or do you search for names popular in certain time periods or regions?

I actually made up Cynden's name, don't you just love it??  For each of the Protectors since they come from different periods, I do research the countries of origin.  I tend to sway to one or two syllable names I notice.

Was one of your characters more challenging to write than another?

It's funny but the character that I find hardest to relate to is the 18^th Century Lord, Fallen Trent.  He's an impeccable, handsome, aristrocrat.  It was a bit of a challenge to get into his head.  Once I did, it became a bit easier, but he was definitely a challenge.

Is there a character that you enjoyed writing more than any of the others?

It was so much fun writing Wendy O'Sullivan, the quirky heroine in Desperate Surrender, she was a lot of fun.  Blue, Cynden's teenage son was also enjoyable to write, he is a totally normal teenager who happens to be half-demon.

What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?

I love this scene from Desperate Betrayal.  The heroine Emma is over at Cynden's house after he agrees to help her rescue her sister.

“Turn around.” His smooth voice flowed over her like velvet.

Emma tried to swallow but her mouth went dry. She turned to find he stood very close.

God help her, she’d never seen a more handsome man than the one who stood before her now. Her body screamed for his touch. She wanted to be with him, her skin against his. But she wouldn’t sleep with him as a form of payment.

What if during sex he sensed that she was part demon and killed her on the spot? But, then again, maybe he would kill her just for saying no.

She forced herself to remain calm, and placed her hand on his chest only to draw it back when the urge to caress him became too strong.

“Listen Cyn. I know most women throw themselves at you. I mean you’re extremely good-lo… but, I, – I am not going to have sex with you, right now. What happened before between us, out there in the alley was because of the rush from the adrenaline after your encounter with the demon…,”She stopped babbling, at a loss for words.

Cyn stood back with his arms crossed while he stared down at her, one eyebrow cocked. His lips curved into a crooked smile.

“I was going move the chair for you and ask you to come sit by the desk, so I could get some more information from you. But I see your mind is on other things.” He leaned in closer to her and his smile widened. “You said ‘not right now’, does that mean we’ll have sex later?”

What is the most interesting thing you have physically done for book related research purposes?

Walking around downtown Atlanta, lurking in alleyways and abandoned lots.  I wanted to get the feel of certain areas to see where there could be fights and no one would witness.  It was funny a couple of times I spooked myself even though I only went during the day!

With the book being part of a series, are there any character or story arcs, that readers jumping in somewhere other than the first book, need to be aware of? Can these books be read as stand alones?

Although a few of the secondary characters have arc that grow through the series, each

Do you write in different genres?

Yes besides paranormal, I write Western Historical and Erotic Historical.  I'm also dabbling into Contemporary.

Do you find it difficult to write in multiple genres?

No, a story is a story and it needs to be written regardless of what time period or what situations happen.

What can readers expect next from you?

The 3^rd in the Protector Series, Desperate Possession, will be out in early 2014.

Where can readers find you on the web?

Facebook is my favorite place to hang out www.facebook.com/HildieMcQueen

Also my website:  www.HildieMcQueen.com