Interview of AuthorTrish McCallan

Today I'm pleased to present an interview of romance author Trish McCallan.

Latest Book: Forged in Fire
Buy Link: Will not be available until September 1st. Please visit my website for details: http://www.trishmccallan.com
Video Link:

BIO:
Trish McCallan has been writing for as long as she can remember. Her first books were children’s stories illustrated with crayons and tied through punch holes with red yarn. She used to write several a day and sell them at her Lemonade stand beside the tennis courts at the local park.(she was in grade school at the time) Her sister used to collect half the day’s haul because she’d harass the tennis players into buying a book along with their lemonade or candy bar.

These days she sticks to romances featuring hot alpha heroes and suspenseful plots. Her books always end up with just a dash of paranormal, not surprising considering her favorite shows are Fringe, Lost, X-Files and the old Twilight Zone.

Forged in Fire, the first book in her Forged Series will be published on September First through Amazon, B&N and Smashwords.

Q: What part of the book is the easiest for you to write? Why?
A: The first part of the book is the easiest. I always have a clear picture of what I want to do. In Forged in Fire, I even dreamed the entire opening sequence. So from the get go I knew exactly what I wanted to have happen. Oddly, with every book, I end up changing the opening during revisions. I haven’t kept an original opening yet.

Q: What part of the book is the hardest for you? Why?
A: The End. Part of the reason I have such trouble with the end, is because of all the different threads and conflicts I am juggling through the book. It’s difficult to tie everything up in a satisfying manner, and leave a hook for the next book. The ending needs to be satisfying for the current story, but leave enough questions and conflicts to carry the next book.

Q: Who is your favorite character in your book and why?
A: My favorite character in Forged in Fire, is Commander Jace MacKenzie. Interestingly, he was also the least liked character (at least in the first half of the book) among my Crit partners and Beta readers. They thought he was an ass, and that I could never redeem him. And he is an ass. LOL This is a man with a lot of deep-rooted anger, a huge chip on his shoulder, certain he knows best, and constructed from pure stubbornness. He is also intensely loyal, completely open/honest (and politically incorrect)He does what needs to be done, no matter the consequences to himself. Of all the men in this series, he is going to change the most. His story will probably hit the hardest. For his Happy Ever After to be believable, he’ll have to do a complete about face.

Q: Do all your heroes and all heroines look the same in your mind as you “head write"?
A: No, all my heroes and heroines look different in my mind. Before I start writing, I have this very clear, very visual picture of them in my mind. They don’t look like anyone I know. I’m not even sure where their image comes from. I used to look for pictures of them before I’d start the book, but gave that up. I could never find anyone close to the image I already had in my mind.

Q: What’s your strongest point as a writer?
A: I’ve been told that I write very strong Alpha heroes, and that my men sound, act, think and feel like real men. I think I can write men so well, because I worked beside them for thirteen years. I used to work in an industry dominated by men. In my department I was one of two women and 250 men. I used to share a lunch room with them and ease drop on their conversations. I’d listen to how they acted toward each other, the type of conversations they had, the subtext to their dialogue. Men have much more subtext than woman. lol

Q: What is your favorite romance book that you’ve read?
A: This would have to be Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward. The entire Black Dagger Brotherhood series really grabbed me. But Z’s book broke my heart. He had so much healing to do, not just within himself- but within his family (his twin) and his brotherhood. To go from someone untrustworthy, and unable to love- to someone capable of both—was an amazing journey. It takes an incredibly talented author to pull that journey off and make it believable.

Tell us where to find you...list everywhere!
I’m on Facebook under Trish McCallan
Twitter under TrishMcCallan
And you can find my website at http://www.trishmccallan.com

BLURB:
Beth Brown doesn’t believe in soul mates, premonitions, or psychic connection, until she dreams a sexy stranger is gunned down during the brutal hijacking of a company plane. When events in her dream start coming true, she heads to the flight’s departure gate. To her shock, she recognizes the passengers waiting to board, including the man she’d watched die the night before. With the departure clock ticking, Beth needs to ground that plane—and warn a man she’s never met that he’s about to die.

Lieutenant Commander Zane Winters comes from a bloodline of elite warriors with psychic abilities—they see flashes of the future and mentally recognize and bond with their predestined soul mates. When Zane and two of his teammates arrive at Sea-Tac Airport, he has a vision of his friends’ corpses. And then she arrives—a leggy blond who sets off a different kind of alarm. Great. He’s finally found her, his soul mate, booked on a flight bound for destruction.

As Beth teams up with Zane, they discover the hijacking is the first step in a secret cartel’s deadly global agenda and that key personnel within the FBI are compromised. With a small team of Zane’s platoon brothers for support, Beth finds herself neck deep in intrigue. Not the least of which is the sexy SEAL who sets off a flash-fire of unwelcome attraction. To survive the forces mobilizing against them, Beth needs to shed a lifetime of inhibitions and open herself to a psychic connection with the navy warrior who claims to be her soul mate.

EXCERPT:
Zane pushed away from the wall. “Whatever’s going to happen is bad enough to take the three of us out.” The flashes never centered on him, but if Cosky and Rawls were in danger, he was as well. “We need to get hold of Mac.”

As the OIC of SEAL Team 7, Commander Jace Mackenzie had the pull to get the plane grounded and the passengers searched.

“Question.” Cosky’s attention zeroed in on Zane’s face. “What are we going to tell him? We don’t know what’s going to happen, who’s behind it, or what kind of weapons will be used. If Mac gets this bird grounded, only to have nothing show during the search, the backlash is gonna be a bitch.”

“What are you suggesting?” Zane cocked an eyebrow. “That we skip the wedding, keep our mouths shut and let events play out?”

“Don’t be an ass. I’m saying it would be handy to have some solid intel to pass on for a change. Why can’t you ever pick up more information if you touch us again?”

Zane shrugged. Just because he suffered through the visions didn’t mean he understood their properties. “We’ve got some time before boarding. Maybe one of the passengers will jump out at us.”

A wave of heat suddenly rolled through him. It started at his scalp and flowed down—a tide of molten fire that left chills in its wake. A tingling, numbing sensation followed, as though he’d been hit with a high-voltage electrical shock.

“What’s wrong?” Cosky’s question came from a distance. Muted and warped.

Zane turned, searching for … something. The gate area spun in slow motion. That strange, electrical tingling raised the hair on his arms and down the back of his neck.

He found her in the mouth of the waiting room. She was blonde, slender. Perfect. Her cream-colored slacks and ivory blouse glowed beneath the harsh fluorescent lights, as though she stood squarely in a spotlight—lit up to catch his attention.

Her chin lifted, their eyes connected and that strange, pulsating current shot straight to his cock. Electrified him. His libido, numb for years, reared up and howled. He took one long step toward her.

Cosky grabbed his arm and hauled him back. “Goddamn it, Zane. What’s wrong?”

Zane shook his head, tried to clear the fog from his mind. The tug toward her was incredibly strong, like she was a magnet and his bones were metal. He took another step forward, his body vibrating at some strange frequency.

Cosky’s hand tightened with brutal force around his forearm, piercing the primal urge to claim her.

Zane froze and drew a shaky breath. His muscles were rigid. A vicious ache had seized his groin. His skin must have shrunk at least three sizes.

Holy shit.

It had to be her.

After all these years of searching, of waiting . . . this had to be her.

To go from nada to nuclear in the blink of an eye … yeah. He drew a slow, burning breath, grappling to drag his body back under control. This had to be her.

From listening to his brothers’ stories about meeting their mates, he’d expected a strong reaction, but nothing like this whirlpool of hunger.

And he hadn’t even touched her yet.

“Who is she?” Cosky demanded. “Did you see her in one of your flashes?”

The question snapped the world back into focus. The memory of those damn visions flooded his brain.

He watched, frozen, while she headed toward one of the plastic benches strewn throughout the waiting room. She was apparently booked on his flight.

A marked flight.

His chest seized. His skin started to crawl. Christ, he couldn’t breathe.

Of all the bad timing.

He’d finally found her. His soul mate. When he couldn’t afford the distraction. When the slightest mistake could get her killed.