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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford – It’s Fiction
Category: Full Heat
Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford – TSTL Heroes
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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford – Character Interview
Years ago, I “interviewed” Olivia and Collin from The Circle Organization’s book, Circle of Desire, and I’ve meant to do this again with other main characters in my books. So here’s an interview with Cassidy and Thorn, the main characters of the Brothers of Mayhem MC book, Hidden Heat.
“Welcome. I’m glad you’re visiting with us today.” I smile at the couple sitting on my sofa.
“Good to be here,” Thorn says, one arm stretched out behind Cassidy’s shoulders.
Cassidy smirks, one eyebrow cocked as she glares back at me.
“Babe.” Thorn nudges her shoulder. “Be nice.”
My lips fold in as I hide a smile. I must’ve stared at Thorn too long. He is mighty fine.
“Let’s get to the first question. How did you meet Thorn?” I ask, looking straight at Cassidy. I’d heard she was a tough chick. With a rough childhood, being raised by two self-absorbed parents in the midst of a outlaw motorcycle club, I respected that.
She sighs. “I met him at a bar.”
Seconds tick by. Cassidy glances around the room. Obviously, in her mind, she’d answered my question. Thorn snaps his fingers in front of her face. She bats away his hand, cussing a blue streak.
Chuckling at her attitude, he explains, “Since she’s not going to elaborate, I will. We met at the Skull and Bones Bar. It’s owned by the Brothers of Mayhem Motorcycle Club. One time in particular when she came in really stuck. I was bartending, and she, being a biker princess, came sashaying in looking for her teenage brother.” His grin spreads wider. “With her dad being a the former president of the club, everyone gave her a lot of leeway. She was a spoilt princess.” He grunts when she elbows his ribs. “She impressed the hell out of me when she swung the baseball bat she was carrying, ready to beat the info out of someone about her brother’s whereabouts. Babe doesn’t take shit off anyone. Do you, Babe?”
“And don’t you forget it.” She laughs and turns to me. “I pretty much raised my brother by myself. Our mom died years earlier and Dad was in prison at the time. Storm, that’s my brother, only had me to look out for him. He knew not to hang around the Brothers of Mayhem. Being near those assholes only brought trouble.”
“So was it love at first sight?” I nudge.
“Ha!” Cassidy shakes her head.
Thorn squeezes her to his side. “I was working undercover and had to think quick to get her out of a bad situation.”
“I was handling it fine without your help,” she tosses back. Her face flushes. Is it from embarrassment at how he’s looking at her? He appears to be thinking of eating her with a spoon. Damn, that is sexy.
“Your dad’s protection could only reach so far from prison. I had to claim you as my old lady,” he says in a soft voice as if he wants to reenact that moment.
“Old lady, sheesh. I’m not old.” She rolls her eyes. “You only did so so you could go down on me.”
I blink in surprise by the answer.
“Yeah, there is that. Had to prove you were mine. Plus you tasted so good.” Thorn whispers into Cassidy’s ear, but loud enough for me to catch.
The glint in his eyes said there was more to that story, but wanting to keep it PG, I ask my next question, this time directed at Thorn. “I heard she’s rather forgiving. You had left without a word at one point. Did you deserve it?”
“No. But I’m grateful she’s so understanding. Being a strong, smart woman, she understands the circumstances of an undercover cop. We can’t talk with those involved in the case until after the trial. I was sent out of state to protect me and those who helped my case. It ate me up inside leaving her, but I came back as soon as I could.”
“How did you feel about coming back and her being pregnant with your kid?” I catch the look Cassidy shoots Thorn. Her gaze full of tenderness and love for the man next to her. My chest tightens on seeing how he returns the look, feeling. Anyone in the same room would know, these two are madly in love even after so many years.
“I have no words to describe it. I’m a lucky man.” He kisses the top of her head. Cassidy leans against him, contentment softening her smile.
“What are you two doing now? Still working uncover or security together?”
“No,” Cassidy answers. “We moved to Nashville. Thorn is working with a friend in bail bonds and such. I’m running a small shop selling my brother’s work.”
“The ‘and such’ is bounty hunting, right?” I hope she clarifies for my readers.
“Yes. He’s a bounty hunter.” She shrugs. “He’s good at tracking down people.”
“And Storm’s work is painting motorcycle gas tanks and other parts?” I ask,
“He does that, plus he has been known to put paint to canvas too. You should the picture he did for us. It’s hanging above my couch. He’s so talented.” Each word reveals how proud she is of her younger brother.
“So do either of you ever hear from the club? Any of the Brothers of Mayhem?”
“Last I heard from my brother,” Thorn’s voice deepens as if the subject is one he hates talking about, “they were working for the Whitfield brothers in Marystown, south of Sand City. That can’t be good. Those boys are nothing but trouble with a capital T. “
“Your brother?”
“Yeah, that’s a whole ‘nother story,” Thorn says with a sour expression as he stood, pulling Cassidy up with him. It appears he’s finished with the interview.
“Well, thank you so much for talking with me today. I hope you have a safe trip back home.”
Cassidy surprises me by hugging me. Then Thorn shakes my hand and leads his wife out of the front door. No long goodbyes from them.
~~
Hope you enjoyed hearing from Cassidy and Thorn (Hidden Heat) and learning a little about Storm (Full Heat) and Thorn’s brother, Wolf, (Naked Heat).
Keep reading and talking about books!
Carla
Brothers of Mayhem (TikTok)
Pile It on
You know what I like about romance books? Of course, the hot sex, but truthfully, the layers my favorite authors weave into their stories. For romances, there should be two main plots in the book.
One, of course is the mystery of romance. You know, the mystery of how they come to understand they should be together (not just because they are compatible in bed, though that is important as it is in relationship) and how they work out their happy ending. A lot of this is internal conflict because love is emotion. Like duh, right?
Second, what is going on in their lives that pull them together? Or make sure they are at the same place at the same time? It can be a missing child, a failing ranch, a killer on the loose, etc. You get the idea. This is the external conflict.
Then you can layer on more. Maybe the two main characters’ families are mortal enemies (Jake: A Southern Crime Family Novel), or hero has a problem with being touched (Full Heat: A Brothers of Mayhem Novel), or heroine reappears after disappearing years before (Circle of Deception: The Circle series). That’s right. The hero and heroine should never be perfect. One can be a little less perfect than the other, but both should have faults. That makes them so much more interesting.
Just be careful with the layers and plots. As an author, it’s important to keep up with
them. The plots need advancement throughout the book, and certainly need to be solved completely by the end. The layers need to show up along the way too. Usually, those faults need to be improved or a promise of improving. Not all of them, but the major ones. At the end of the book, the characters have to be better for knowing each other.
The only exception to solving a plot or improving a fault or more within a book is when it’s part of a series involving one main character. Such as Sylvia Day’s Crossfire series, Darynda Jones’s Charley Davidson series, Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, etc.
Personally, I’ve quit reading series with a same main character. I get bored, and after awhile, the hero/heroine gets on my nerves. Maybe because they do not seem to grow and learn from their mistakes. Don’t get me wrong. The series above and many others are great series (they wouldn’t be NYT best selling books if they weren’t) but it’s just not my thing, my taste.
My series have a couple threads that run through them to connect, but nothing major. That’s why most can be read as standalones. The Southern Crime Family series is 
currently the only one that will need to be read in order. Only book one (Jake) is out. Book two should be in the summer of 2020. The series is about three brothers and their
journey to find love and the true killer responsible for their father’s death. Each book is about a brother.
Another thing about plots. In my books of 60,000 words or less, I try not to throw in a complicated plot(s). Simple is best. If you didn’t, you would limit the romance in such a small book. And no, geez, that doesn’t mean putting in more sex. Romance is emotion. Getting to know each other’s personality traits, understanding why they do the things they do, often learning to trust each other, they are all part of a romance.
For that matter, I write for entertainment. The only place I teach a person something is through my blog posts here (or the workshops I do on occasion).
Carla Swafford, Author 