#TNTConfidential Author Interview with Raven McAllan & Secrets Shared

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Happy Tuesday my darlings! Today I have the pleasure of sitting on the spotlight and interviewing the lovely Raven McAllan and her fascinating new novel, Secrets Shared. Please give her a very warm welcome!

Pre-order from www.totallybound.com

Welcome to In A Dream Beyond, Raven! It’s always a great pleasure to have you here! You’re starting a new series with Secrets Shared. Where did the inspiration come from?

Firstly can I say how much I enjoy visiting with you. You make me think, which is a good thing, and let me share some secrets. This time about Secrets 'snigger'. So where did the idea come from? Well I was driving past the entrance to an old ruined castle near me, and remember thinking it would be a great setting for a book. And for once it wasn't a Regency that sprang to mind. I'd just written a series about a BDSM club in Glasgow (The Dance Studio series), and I thought how an exclusive club in the castle (rebuilt) might work. Once I started writing I realized it was more than just BDSM or romance. There was a mystery or two involved, and more than one story to tell. After all the castle is called Diomhair, which is as best I can write it phonetically is pronounced 'Jeever', and is Gaelic for secret.

Luckily Totally Bound wanted a series, and now I'm over half way through writing book three of six.

 

Raven in front of the 'real' Diomhair

You’ve written several series in your writing career such as, The House on Silk Street; Ladies of London; or Dance Studio:  What attracts you about writing series?

I think it's because I'm nosy. I write a secondary character, and want to know more about them. Or the setting intrigues me, which as I choose the setting—well as much as my characters let me—I suppose is natural. I rarely think I'm going to write a series, (except with Diomhair which I knew it would be) , but the characters have different ideas.

Tell us something about Secrets Shared that we won’t find in the blurb.

I use places I know for the settings, just maybe not exactly where they are in real life! Although the castle for Diomhair is roughly where it exists the countryside has been altered.

 What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of writing?

Telling the story, in your own words. Write as you can, not as you think you should. It's your voice, no one else's. And getting the words down. Because if you don't write them you can't tell your story. Even if it's 'word vomit'. You can edit later as long as they are written.

What is the hardest part of writing for you? Resisting chocolate. 

What advice would you give a new writer just starting out? Really what I said about the important elements of writing. Your voice, your words, and write it.

**April Showers bring…**

What do April Showers bring? (be as creative as you like ;-) ) Jumping in puddles, time to write and not want to be in the garden, an excuse for the fire to be lit.

Walking in the rain through the forest, with my friend and her dogs. A nice hot shower…

Dh moaning because he can't get into the garden… the cat refusing to go into the garden…

Wondering if summer will ever come… Although why I do that I have no idea. Summer in Scotland is usually two days in May.

A book to read this month— Well, I'm reading the first book of M.M. Kaye's autobiography, The Sun in The Morning, about growing up in pre war India. I loved her thrillers ( the Death in… series) and her historical novels.

Raincoat or umbrella?

Raincoat because holding an umbrella up hurts my fibro.

Do you like your handwriting?  I don't not now. Fibromyalgia in my case means it hurts to write for long, and even I have trouble reading it.

What are you listening to right now?  

Would you believe the London Marathon? It's on TV and I'm listening to the commentary with one ear.

Have you ever played an April Fool’s joke on anyone? What was it?

Probably when I was a child, but I really can't remember. (It was a few years ago lol)

 

About Raven:

A multi-published author of erotic romance, Raven lives in Scotland, along with her husband and their two cats—their children having flown the nest—surrounded by beautiful scenery, which inspires a lot of the settings in her books.

She is used to sharing her life with the occasional deer, red squirrel, and lost tourist, to say nothing of the scourge of Scotland—the midge. As once she is writing she is oblivious to everything else, her lovely long-suffering husband is learning to love the dust bunnies, work the Aga, and be on stand-by with a glass of wine.

http://www.ravenmcallan.com

http:/ /www.ravenmcallan.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/rmcallan      (my page)

https://www.facebook.com/ravenmcallan          (author page)

https://twitter.com/RavenMcAllan