Marie Force Is In The Lair!

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy

Welcome back to the Lair, Marie! So glad to have you with us again. Can you please tell us about your new release?

Thanks for having me back, Aunty! It's always a great pleasure to stop in for a visit with the Banditas. And I'm looking forward to seeing many of you at RWA!

Here's the skinny on Fatal Affair: On the morning of the most important vote of Senator John O’Connor’s career he is late—again. His best friend and chief of staff, Nick Cappuano sets off to O'Connor’s apartment expecting to roust him from bed and hoping he is alone. But what Nick finds is that O’Connor, the handsome, amiable Senator from Virginia, has been brutally murdered, and Nick’s world comes crashing down around him. Complicating the disaster, the detective assigned to the case is none other than Sam Holland, Nick’s one-night stand from six years earlier, the woman who broke his heart and haunts his dreams. With six years worth of unfinished business hanging between them and more than a few scores to settle personally and professionally, Nick and Sam set out to find the senator's killer while trying—and failing—to resist the overwhelming attraction between them that seems to have only grown over the years.

It soon becomes clear that the senator’s past holds secrets that not only led to his death but now endanger Nick and Sam as well. Working together to find a killer and to rediscover the love they thought they lost long ago, they must put the past behind them and build a future that offers a world of new opportunities for both of them—including an offer from the Virginia Democrats for Nick to finish the last year of John’s term. Find the book at http://ebooks.carinapress.com.

What other exciting things have been happening with you?

There's a really cool story behind the sale of Fatal Affair. When we put it out last year it didn't sell, primarily because editors were looking for a new couple in the second book, but I saw the series as Sam and Nick, their cast of supporting characters, romance, suspense and politics. Because I was already halfway through the second book I wasn't willing to retool the series idea at that point. So when I heard that Fatal Affair hadn't sold, I had to figure out what to do about that second book, Fatal Justice. After I had a big ole pity party, I decided to finish the book, which I did—a full year after I started it.

When Carina Press opened its doors last November, claiming that no great story should go untold, I figured why not? Carina bought Fatal Affair in February and Fatal Justice in May. Fatal Affair was released June 21 to wonderful reviews and in the latest issue of RT Magazine, I was named a Future Star of Romantic Suspense. From dead on arrival to future star in four months' time. Pinch me please!

Fatal Justice will be out in January. We've submitted the proposal for book 3, Fatal Consequences, to acquisition, and I've been chipping away at that as well as another contemporary I'm excited about. I guess my story with the Fatal Series just goes to prove that you never know what's going to happen in this business! I'm very excited to have the opportunity to write the series I wanted to write, and I'm thrilled to have connected with an editor and publisher that sees the series unfolding the same way I do.

What a FANTASTIC story about preserverence and believing in your work! Thanks for sharing that with us, Marie!

What are some of the challenges you've faced in writing your first series versus your stand alone titles?

That's a great question. As I begin book 3, I'm starting to feel the challenge of multiple characters and situations and relationships and plot lines. Remaining true to each of them is going to be a huge task. I was joking last week that I need to take a vacation to do a series bible, but since that's not going to happen any time soon, I'm soldiering through!

Here’s a little excerpt from Fatal Affair:

“Why haven’t you ever gotten married?” Sam asked Nick

“I don’t know. Just never happened.”

“Surely there had to have been someone."

“There was this one girl...”

“What happened?”

“She never returned my calls.”

Shocked and speechless, Sam stared at him.

“You asked.”

Tearing her eyes off him, she accelerated through the last intersection before the turn for the public safety parking lot. “Don’t say that to me,” she snapped. “You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do.”

She pulled into a space and slammed the car into park.

He grabbed her arm to stop her from getting out. “Calm down, Sam.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” She tugged her arm free of his grasp. “And save your cheesy lines for someone who’s buying. I don’t believe you anyway.”

“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be so pissed right now.”

“Do you want to know what happened to your friend?”

With one blink, his hazel eyes shifted from amused to furious. “Of course I do.”

“Then you have to stop doing this to me, Nick. You’re winding me up in knots and pulling my eye off the ball. I need to be focused, one hundred percent focused on this case, and not on you!”

“What about when you’re off duty?” The teasing smile was back, but it didn’t steal the sadness from his eyes. “Can I wind you up in knots then?”

“Nick...”

Fixated on the drab-looking public safety building, he sighed. “We’re about to go in there and take John’s parents to see him laid out on a cold slab, and yet, all I can think about right now is how badly I want to kiss you. What kind of a friend does that make me? To him or to you?”

His tone was so full of sadness and grief that Sam softened a bit. “You were a great friend to him, and in the last twenty-four hours, except for the whole kissing thing, you’ve been helpful to me, too. Can we keep it that way? Please?”

“I’m trying, Sam. Really I am, but I can’t help that I feel this incredible pull to you. I know you feel it, too. You felt it six years ago—as strongly as I did—and you still do, even if you don’t want to. If we had met again under different circumstances, can you tell me the same thing wouldn’t be happening between us?”

“I have to go in now.” Her firm tone hid her seesawing emotions. “His parents are probably waiting for me, and I don’t want to drag this out for them. Are you coming?”

“Yeah.” He opened the door. “I’m coming.”


OOOO! Thanx for sharing that great excerpt, and for guesting with us today Marie!

Thanks you have having me, Aunty!

Now I have a question for readers: What do you think of a romance series with the same couple headlining every book? What are the things you like and dislike about this type of series? Thanks in advance for your input!