First let me thank Fang-tastic Books for having me here
today on their blog! Ill Fated is the fifth book in my series and I’m really
excited to share it with all of you. So thanks again Fang-tastic for having me
on!
For those of you who don’t know me, let’s get some of the
introductories- I may have just made that word up- out of the way. I’m a mother of three kick ass kids ranging
from seventeen to six and a half. The youngest is destined for something major;
I’m not entirely sure what yet but consider yourselves forewarned. We weren’t
supposed to be having any more kids after our second. Actually after the first
we weren’t supposed to be having any more kids so my second is probably going
to do something crazy as well. My eldest has a gigantic heart and is the most
even keeled kid I know. They’re all five and a half years apart. Not on purpose
obviously. Thankfully we passed that maker and should well be in the clear lol.
I’m happily married to an amazing man who loves me and has agreed to share me
with the voices in my head. We recently rescued a little beagle and I got to
name her Scout after the character in To Kill A Mockingbird. We live in the
Baltimore Metro area and dream of life in the mountains. I read, write and
breathe Urban Fantasy. And when I’m not writing or running the family business
I’m working on plans for the annual book convention- HallowRead- I started
three years ago.
When I first sat down to write my guest post, I wasn’t sure
what to talk about. I have a love affair with words but always come up short
when it has something to do with me, lol. Inspiration struck when I was out for
a ride with my family and a song I hadn’t heard in a long time came on the
radio. ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ by Billy Joel. My kids thought it was weird
and until I explained the relevance of the events sang in rapid fire and the
meaning behind the chorus. I finished by telling them how powerful words are,
how they can move, motivate and inspire- especially when put to music.
It occurred to me that afternoon that I always write to
music. I’ve got something playing in the background on Pandora at all times and
it varies depending on what I’m writing about. For Ill Fated I listened to a
lot of Deftones- Swerve City was on repeat a lot. Nine Inch Nails Pretty Little
Hate Machine, that album always makes it on my playlist, Johnny Cash’s covers
of Hurt and Rusted Cage, Godsmack and Avenge Sevenfold. A little edgy and dark
but that has been par for the course with writing this series.
My current wip, Payable On Death has some heavy stuff like
Five Finger Death Punch- Wrong Side of Heaven in particular and a lot of The
Pretty Reckless. Their song Heaven Knows came on the radio and sort of sparked
the idea for the story. And the name of the novel came from the following song
played on the radio by a band called P.O.D. which in my bank teller says stood
for Payable On Death. It was a match
made in heaven. I had to pull over just to write it all down.
I can’t carry a tune to save my life- though it has never
stopped me from singing along in my car. Luckily I don’t sing along when I
write or my family would probably put me out of the house!
Thanks for joining me today and checking out my books! I
hope to see you over on my author page. I just revamped my covers and plan to
have a little give away.
Be sure to follow the page for more details and
chances to win some pretty awesome prizes!
Ill Fated
The Maurin Kincaide Series
Book 5
Rachel Rawlings
Genre: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Date of Publication: 2/11/15
ISBN: 978-1508456711
ASIN: B00TI20TZC
Number of pages: 271
Cover Artist: Eri Nelson
Book Description:
Some things are destined to end in death. After the first attempt on her life Maurin wasn't scared. Hell, she was almost flattered. But someone put a price on her head and things are getting complicated.
Trouble is brewing in the fae courts and it's spilling over into Salem. The UnSeelie Dark Guard have answered the call for her head on a platter and people closest to her are disappearing.
Can Maurin master court politics and find her missing men before someone claims the bounty on her head?
Excerpt:
"You're
awake?" He sounded more than a little surprised.
"I'm not
really sure the state I'm in qualifies as awake."
"Here I
was, terrified to poke the dragon, and you're already drinking coffee and
talking in complete sentences."
I snorted and
took a sip of the aforementioned liquid gold. "Are you always like this in
the morning?"
"If you'd
let me sleep over you'd already know the answer to that question. Why aren't
you asleep?"
In general or
just tonight, I silently wondered. "Bad dream. I've been tossing and
turning all night. I finally gave in and got out of bed."
Papers rustled
in the background and when he spoke again, his voice was lower,
intimate."You want to talk about it?"
"Something
tells me my nightmares are the least of our problems."
"You have
no idea. I need you to come down to my office."
I sighed.
"Can it at least wait until after sunrise?"
"Would I be
breaking the no phone calls before noon policy if it could wait?"
“There really is
no rest for the wicked, is there?”
He laughed and
the sound warmed me more than a hundred cups of coffee. "Apparently not,
in your case. Now, there's a dirty chai latte and a croissant for you if you're
here before Amalie. I can't promise real coffee and pastries will survive
beyond five minutes of her arrival."
"It's
four-thirty in the morning, Mas. If you know what's good for you, you'll make
sure at least one dirty chai and
croissant remain unmolested."
"I'll see
you soon." He was laughing as he hung up the phone.
Three hours ago
I’d practically crawled through the doorway, exhausted from cleaning up after a
newbie vamp who’d broken the Jus Sanguinis Intergentes when she killed her
donor. The blood pact between people and vampires had a clear no killing, no
exceptions clause.
It was up to the
maker to ensure their child was ready to feed unsupervised. If something went
wrong and the Council found out about it, we cleaned up the mess and the sire
was subject to heavy fines and possible revocation of their rights to expand
their blood lines. She’d been quite literally a bitch to track and take down.
It had been a
long night and it was shaping up to be an even longer day.
I wasted little
time getting dressed, opting for a slip on black jersey dress, eighteen hole
Docs and a leather jacket. Jewelry was a hindrance in my line of work. My
meeting with Mason could easily turn into a run. Choked with my own chain? No,
thank you. Unclasping the necklace, I set it in a glass dish on my bathroom
counter. I ran a brush through my hair, a toothbrush over my teeth and slipped
into the between. I stepped out of the alley two buildings down from the
station and walked the last block and a half.
Amalie was
swarmed by detectives trying to get at the goodies she brought over from the
Daily Grind. She greeted me with a warm smile, shaking her head when I offered
to pull her out of the fray. She had managed to endear herself to the entire
department in record time. All it took was real coffee and fresh pastries. I
pointed to Mason's office. She'd make her way over once the starving masses had
their fill.
Mason was so
engrossed in the file on his desk he didn't hear me come in. He looked as tired
as I felt - too many double shifts. Despite an uptick in activity, SPTF was
short staffed due to budget cuts. Without enough man power to staff the shifts
properly overtime was mandatory.
"Is that
for me?" I pointed at the to-go cup and white paper bag on his desk.
He finally
looked up and gave me a smile which lit up his whole face. "As
promised."
I stole a quick
kiss, grabbed the coffee and croissant, and settled in the chair across from
him. I took a long sip of my latte, savoring the delicious mix of tea and
espresso. "Man, I needed this. Is that the case you're working on?"
"Yeah,
we've got a real problem on our hands."
"Don't we
always." I tried to peak at the file.
Mason closed the
manila folder. "I'd rather wait until everyone is here."
"Who else
is coming besides Amalie?" My curiosity was definitely peaked now. I
reached across his desk, hoping to grab the file.
"You look
exhausted. Tell me about your dream while we wait."
I narrowed my
eyes and glared at him. "I see this for the obvious distraction it is but
you're right.” Sighing, I rubbed my temple.“However, I'm exhausted, too
exhausted to argue. So I'll tell you. Prepare to be confounded."
He listened
intently as I filled him in on the nightly visits from the weathered old woman
who washed my clothes and hauntingly called my name. I expected him to laugh
and tell me it was just a dream, that I had nothing to worry about.
I didn't expect
him to look so stricken.
"Bean
Nighe." He all but whispered the name.
"You've
heard of her?"
"Of course
I've heard of her. How long has she been coming to you?"
I stared at him
curiously. "A few weeks. Why?"
"A few
weeks and this is the first I'm hearing of it?” He closed his eyes and took a
deep breath, obviously struggling to control his temper.“We talked about this.
No holding things back, remember?"
"I thought
it was just a dream.” I shrugged.“Honestly, I didn't think it was a big
deal."
"It was a
big enough deal for you to research it." Agitation rolled off him in
waves.
When I agreed to
give this thing with Mason a chance I also agreed to some conditions. No more
flying solo, no more rash decisions or rushing off to play the hero. We were a
team, in everything. This was just one of many set-backs.
"I got
curious, did a little digging. Until tonight, everything I found pointed to
deep seated family issues, particularly with a mother figure. I've told you
about my childhood, does that dream analysis surprise you?"
His growl told
me he wasn’t in the mood for reasonable—at least to me—explanations. "When
did you discover the true meaning of the dream? How long have you known about
the Bean Nighe?"
"Tonight.
This morning. Before you called me." I held up a hand to stop the tongue
lashing I knew he wanted to give me. "I would have told you. I got the
impression on the phone there were more pressing matters than my
insomnia."
"Is this
why you won't let me stay at your place?” His gaze roamed over my face,
searching.“Why you never stay at mine?"
"Is that
the real reason why you're so upset?" I arched my brows. “Because we’re
not having sleepovers?”
"I stayed
at your lovely apartment the first night we met."
I turned to
watch Aidan glide into the room, stopping behind my chair. Rolling my eyes, I
snorted and muttered, “In the closet.”
Mason's jaw
twitched but he didn't take the bait. "Aidan."
"It's
almost sunrise. Shouldn't you be hunkered down for the day?" I sighed,
wondering what he was doing here. I was too tired to deal with Aidan and Mason
and their combined testoserone.
Putting the
three of us in a room together was like throwing lit matches at sticks of
dynamite - eventually one of them will explode.
About the Author:
Rachel Rawlings was born and raised in the Baltimore Metropolitan area. Her family, originally from Rhode Island, spent summers in New England sparking her fascination with Salem, MA. She has been writing fictional stories and poems since middle school, but it wasn't until 2009 that she found the inspiration to create her heroine Maurin Kincaide and complete her first full length novel, The Morrigna.
When she isn't writing, Rachel can often be found with her nose buried in a good book. An avid reader of Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, Horror and Steampunk herself, Rachel founded Hallowread- an interactive convention for both authors and fans of those genres.
More information on Hallowread, its schedule of events and participating authors can be found at www.hallowread.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com/Hallowread .
She still lives in Maryland with her husband and three children.
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1 comment:
Thanks so much for having me on the blog!
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