Guest Author: Ari Thatcher

Today I'm interviewing Ellora's Cave author Air Thatcher on the Passion Sense Blog and she's going to tell us about one of her hot EC books Maui Rekindled. Okay, I'm looking at the book cover and I want to put myself on the beach right now. Pull my chair up to the edge of the water and hand me a margarita.

Ari is one of the authors in the 1-800-DOM-help series from Ellora's Cave. I've had the pleasure to get to know these authors since I was invited to join this series, and besides being talented writers, they're wonderful ladies. I hope you'll check out their books and the series. Stop by Ari's website and check out her Whispering Valley series. It looks awesome. I read the premise. Very cool!!

*Check back in a few days, I'll have some great news of my own! I'll also have this interview and my exciting news in my March Passion Sense Newsletter.

-Tell us a little about the book and where did you get the idea to write this story.

Maui Rekindled came from the idea of a second chance at a vacation romance. I had a few vacation crushes and have sometimes wondered what happened to them. It was fun putting Gabe and Maggie back on the beach together with all the changes in their personalities since they last were together. Not to mention the fact that Gabe never called her.

- How did you get started writing novels?

I wrote skits in grade school and first tried a novel after reading S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders when I was twelve. In my twenties I started a time travel novel that evolved over the years and still hasn’t seen its last incarnation. I let gaps happen in my pursuit of publication but finally got tired of seeing other writers selling books and got back in the game for good.

- What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

If writing is the most important thing to your happiness, make it happen. Give it priority or work it in so you spend some time each day working on it. Sleep less, write during your lunch break, or talk into a digital recorder while you drive to work. Life will work against you and you need to fight to make it happen.

- Are you seat of the pants writer or plotter?

I have become a very structured plotter and think my stories are tighter because of it. I no longer have blocks, although I do have days where I don’t have the emotion needed for the scene in front of me. I usually force the action and add the emotion later.

- A lot of people think that genre hopping isn’t a good idea. What do you think?

I think if I don’t genre hop I’ll go mad! I have to write the characters who show up for duty, so to speak. Some are shifters, some are contemporary alphas and a few are titled Brits in Regency England. I know my readers will probably stick with the genre they prefer, but perhaps some will discover a new love by crossing over.

-Do you write a novel straight through? Or revise as you go? Plan a whole series in advance? Or does the series evolve?

I try not to edit as I go, but on occasion I will realize some element needs to be bigger or there will be something big I have to change. In that case I revise and move on. I’ve also discovered that planning the first three or four books in a series works best, or the first book will be weaker in some spots.

- What’s next?

I’m in edits with my first paranormal, Demon of Desire, a menage a quatre with triplet vampires, which will open the Whispering Valley series set in a quirky little valley in the Rocky Mountains. Vampires, shifters, witches and fairies all finding love and fighting to survive. I’m so excited to be playing in a world of my own! Readers can watch my website for a release date.

- Have any of your characters ever ended up completely different than you’d intended?

My heroes often keep a secret from me and bring it out when I least expect it. I was plotting a menage a quatre novel and got to “the” scene where the heroes were going to console the heroine and it would morph into this touching love scene. Instead, two of the heroes realized she needed what the third guy had to offer and they walked away with love. This became my first, as yet uncontracted, series.

- For fun. What is your favorite kind of chocolate or chocolate dessert? (I love chocolate covered cherries)

I’m a chocolate purist. Don’t go adding flavors to distract me! The additions I will allow are vanilla or chocolate ice cream, caramel sauce and brownies. So, Caramello bars, Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie or a brownie fudge sundae all work. Cold Stone Creamery is best for getting to add just what you want - chocolate ice cream, caramel sauce and brownie chunks rock it!

Thanks for being a guest Ari.
Maui Rekindled
ISBN: 9781419928444
http://arithatcher.com/maui.html
website: http://arithatcher.com/


Blurb:

Maui Rekindled

By Ari Thatcher

“I’ll call you.” That’s the last thing Gabe said fifteen years ago as Maggie prepared to fly home from a summer in paradise. When he didn’t call, she packed away the memories of their sexual romp and relegated him to vacation-fling status.

Now, as the ink on her divorce papers dries, Maggie returns to that Maui resort hoping to find the carefree woman she once was. When Gabe walks out of the waves on her first afternoon at the beach, she isn’t sure whether to laugh or run away. Hot, crazy vacation sex with no strings attached would be the perfect remedy for her bloody divorce.

Gabe thinks of Maggie as the one who got away, and he’s not about to let it happen again. The passion between them is as fiery as ever, but is it hot enough to rekindle the romance he knows they could share? He’s got one week to prove to her it is.


Excerpt:

The little noises she made were the fucking hottest thing he’d heard in years. He bit the edge of the bra cup and tugged, baring her to his gaze. Her pale pink areola puckered as he watched. As much as he loved the sight of her, he needed to taste.

He took as much of her flesh in his mouth as he could, kneading with his tongue and pulling back slowly. “Damn, you’re so sweet.”

She stroked his shoulders and down his arms, her fingers working under his sleeves. Sitting up, he tugged off the t-shirt and tossed it aside. Her gasp was a stroke to his ego, which was swelling as fast as his cock.

Her thumbs brushed the contours of his chest, finding areas of sensitivity he’d forgotten. She continued to stare as she explored. “I thought you were so hot when we were younger. I had no idea what hot was.”

As he bared her other breast, he said, “I think we have a better appreciation as we get older. We’re not looking for instant satisfaction.”

“Instant, no,” she agreed. She lifted herself to him.

On a sudden urge, he pulled away, standing and shifting her to lie completely on the couch.

Sitting beside her hips, he said, “Sit up a bit.”

She struggled to rise on one elbow and he took off her tank top and reached behind her to unhook her bra. Then he adjusted the throw pillow behind her head and let her relax. “Perfect.”

He nudged at her elbow. “Put your arms up over your head.”

She did, her eyes never leaving his.

“I want to learn every inch of you. Then memorize it. All those years I had just shadowed memories of you. As hard as I tried to picture you, I could only remember how you felt in the darkness.”

Maggie reached for his arm but he caught her. “Nah, put it back.”

She waited, searching his eyes, then lifted her arm again.

“That’s my girl.” Her flesh swelled beneath his touch as he stroked with light fingers, tracing the pink edge of her areola. He tasted her again, tugged on the nipple and watched her head tilt back in pleasure.