Motorcycle club – Carla Swafford, Author

Time to Dance

August 22, 2015September 6, 2015by Carla Swafford

My latest book! Release date is February 16, 2016. Isn’t it sexy? This is the first book from the Brothers of Mayhem series. Expect three more! Yep. THREE! That makes four books in the series.

Here’s the unedited blurb for Hidden Heat.
Cassidy Ryder thinks nothing of wielding a bat against anyone who threatens her brother. The only problem is the teenager has disappeared while hanging around the Brothers of Mayhem Motorcycle Club, and their wall of menacing silence is driving her crazy.

Growing up in the middle of the MC has taught Cassidy to never fall for a biker. So when the newest Mayhem member, Thorn Savalas, plays white knight to her damsel in distress, she fights the attraction. But her big mouth has gotten her into deep trouble, and the only way for Thorn to protect Cassidy is to claim her as his old lady. Thorn’s aware of the fine line between pretending and what’s real, and his plan backfires when the MC’s president forces them to prove it by having sex.

As they become closer, Cassidy pieces together clues that point to Thorn working undercover. She offers to be his informant. He accepts, telling himself it has nothing to do with her tight jeans and sassy walk. And no matter how often she tells herself it is all an act with hot benefits, she still falls for the bad boy cop. Yet, she knows when he takes down the MC, he will disappear, leaving her behind, unloved and alone.

And chances are good that I’m getting another contract for THREE other books from a new series called the Wicked Dog Bail Bonds and Investigation. Oh, goodness, bad ass Bounty Hunters!

Circle of Danger, Circle of Deception, Circle of Defiance, Circle of Desire, Circle of Dishonor, My Books, Writing

Just Chillin’

April 12, 2015April 12, 2015by Carla Swafford2 Comments

Well, I say I’m just chilling, but really I’m writing and writing. With a lot of staring off into space wishing my brain would work faster. You know it’s kind of funny, when I wrote CIRCLE OF DANGER for Avon, I expected to have anxiety problems like most debut authors have with their second book. But no. It was one of the most painless books I’ve written. For some reason, it fell together so easily. Though I’m sure in the middle of it I hated the book . . . I always hate a book midway in my writing. It’s natural.

That’s when you worry it will be boring. When I may even become bored with the whole storyline. When all the doubts of being a decent writer comes to head. Of course, it makes me work harder to ensure the reader doesn’t fall asleep.

That’s where I’m at, at this point. I’m in the middle of the first book of a new series for Loveswept. That’s when the evil doubt-demon picks at me saying, who are you kidding? Maybe your husband is right and all of this is a lovely pipe dream. Maybe I need to give it up. (He actually said that a few months before I was offered my first contract. And I bet he still thinks that when he hears me moan about my dwindling sales and my vanishing dreams of becoming a NYT best selling author.)

So many authors worry about the second book slump where the next book contracted (and often in a series) doesn’t do as well as the first. Strangely, I didn’t worry about that. Maybe I should’ve. It’s just that I loved the second book of my first series as much as the first and the same for the third book. Though all three books are in the same series, they are all different and can be read in any order.

The first had a kick-ass heroine, the second had a heroine wanting to be kick-ass but finding out that wasn’t her talent, and the third was a laid back kick-ass, not high maintenance like the first one. She worried more about her past and how she could move on. I admire all three of those women. Maybe if someone were to ask me which one was I most like, I would say the wanna-be, Marie, in the second book. Though I would’ve preferred to be like the other two.

Back to what I’m doing now.

The new series is a contemporary set up in the world of motorcycle clubs, the 1%ers. Should be a piece of cake, right? New series, new start. But even so, you still have to meet the players, immerse yourself into their lifestyle and see what problems they’re in the middle of and running into before they can solve them to our satisfaction. So then they can have that beautiful, happy ending.

Yes, folks, I write romance, and I’m proud of it.

So I guess I’m having my second series doubts. The SSDs. Does sound like a disease. The cure is to keep writing. It’ll wear off. One day.

Okay. Back to work . . .

My Books, Odd Observation, Writing

Back In The Day

December 15, 2014by Carla Swafford

When my husband I were dating, he was known for being a bad boy. Since I don’t want to embarrass his family or my daughters, I won’t get into about what he did. But we hung out with some people you would call in a nice way – rough. Now, I’m not saying all of them were that way. A few of the girls were like me, from the middle class part of town and attracted to the bad boys.

I can tell you after a few years, I realized that life wasn’t for me. The drinking, drugs, smoking, cussing (still a bad habit of mine that slips out on a occasion) and living on the edge sucked big time. They cheated on each other, stole from anyone, even their friends, and many didn’t know the meaning of hygiene or taking care of their possessions. And they would laugh about it all.

Thankfully, my hubby grew up to be a good man, though that bad boy mentality (a.k.a. Cranky) comes out on occasion.

Over the years, a few people have recommended to me book series about motorcycle gangs/clubs. My sister even talked about how much she loved Sons of Anarchy. I gave in and bought one book, “sampled” a few others and watched the Sons. The book I didn’t finished, the others I didn’t buy, but I did watch all seasons of SOA. The TV series had some good moments. I think mainly I wanted to see Charlie/Jax’s butt. Otherwise, the show had more violence than plot.

The books and even the show reminded me of those days from my youth.

So now I’m writing a motorcycle club series. It will be toned down (really, I’m known for writing about sex and violence; so there will be enough in it) compared to the series and the partial books I’ve read. As I mentioned, I’ve been around those type of people. You don’t want to mess with them or be like them.

But there is something romantic and sexy about bad boys and dangerous men. Even more so when they’re reformed.