The hot seat is very excited to have Grace Marshall here today, Grace is an Amazon best seller with her Executive Decision trilogy and has now expanded that series to include Wade's story. As well as the hot seat interview we have an excerpt from the new book and at the end of the blog a competition that Grace is running as part of her tour. At the end of the Interviewing Wade Blog Tour, Grace
Marshall is giving away a $50/£30 Amazon gift card. All you have to do to enter
is use the Rafflecopter at the end of the post to gain entries.
Now, enough of the preliminaries, lets see what Grace has to say.
Getting Started:
Tell
us about your latest book. What was your inspiration for writing it, is it part
of an ongoing series, the characters, the genre etc?
First
of all, Jan, I’d like to thank you so much for hosting me on the Interviewing
Wade Blog Tour and Giveaway. It’s a pleasure to be here and to talk about my
reluctant hero.
Actually,
I’m SO excited to finally be able to share Wade’s
story! Ever since An Executive Decision, the first of Grace Marshall’s Executive
Decisions books, came out with Ellis and Dee’s story, readers, who loved the
novel were clambering for reclusive, nerd genius, Wade Crittenden’s story. And
to be honest, I seriously doubted that Wade would allow me to unlock his
secrets and tell his tale. Three books in, and while the readers loved the Executive
Decisions books and the reviews were excellent, the unanimous opinion was that
everyone wanted Wade’s story.
Wade is the creative genius behind the
fabulously progressive, green company, Pneuma, Inc, which he and Ellison Thorne
founded together with the late Beverly Neumann.
He is socially challenged and he could teach most recluses a thing or
two. While Ellis and Dee work in the light-filled, glass and steel executive
suites of the Pneuma Building, which Wade designed, Wade’s realm is the extensive
basement and sub-floors of the building affectionately called by everyone else Wade’s Dungeon.
What happens when
the Northwest’s most intriguing, and richest recluse reluctantly agrees to be
interviewed by the Northwest’s most talented investigative journalist, Carla
Flannery? Carla always gets her story, but sometimes that means making enemies.
Wade’s ulterior motive for allowing the interview is to keep her safe by
keeping her close when her life is threatened by an unknown stalker. And OMG, do
the sparks sizzle when the two are forced into each other’s space up close and
personal!
About your writing:
How many books
have you written during your career so far and which is your favorite?
Interviewing Wade is my 11th novel, the 4th
written as Grace Marshall. Grace’s novels are a little softer on the erotica
than K D’s, but still with LOTS of sizzle, and heavier on the romance. As for
my favourite, well it’s always whatever one I’m working on at the time. Though
I have to say I’ve had more fun writing Wade’s story, and have had more
surprises thrown at me by the characters than in any other novel I’ve ever
written.
Have any of your books received negative reviews and how did you handle the situation?
Every writer gets
negative reviews. The only way to avoid them is not to write. Of course I have
to stroke my ego by saying that I don’t get many bad reviews, but yes, I do get
them. In the beginning, I took it personally when I got one. I would do some
real soul-searching to see if there was anything useful in the negative review
and if my writing was at fault. 99% of the time the negative review was down to
the reader’s personal dislike of something. I got a 1-star review once on a
BDSM site for not having any BDSM in one of my paranormal novels, which was
clearly labeled paranormal erotic romance, with absolutely NO BDSM in it at all
… Too much sex, too little sex, dangerous sex, didn’t ‘get it.’ Those are the
complaints most erotica writers get most often. For the most part, I’ve stopped
looking at reviews. My husband does that for me, and he screens them. I can’t
do anything about the bad ones, and I know the quality of my writing, so best
to strive to write the best I can and make it my policy to do my part to make
sure each novel is better than the one before.
Do you believe in writer’s block and if so, how do you overcome it?
I don’t get
writers’ block. In fact my problem is the opposite. I have way more novels in
my head than I’ve got time to write. I’m thinking I’ll have to live to be about
130 to manage it all, and that’s IF I don’t get any more ideas … J
What is the one genre you would never
write and why?
Though I boarder
on horror in some parts of my paranormal writing, I could never write classical
horror and I could never write crime centered around serial killers. Because I
can’t walk away from a story once I start working on it, and I live, eat, sleep
and dream it until it’s finished, I don’t want serial killers and things that
go bump in the night being my constant companions for six months at a time.
Have you ever
written a book that you’ve regretted publishing and why?
Nope! Never. I
have regretted that I had such a limited word-count on several though. I would
have loved to have expanded the story and given it more depth.
If a reader
said they wanted to write a book, what advice would you give them?
Knock yourself
out! At the least, it’ll be an interesting and insightful experiment, at the
most perhaps they’ll find their passion and never look back. BUT they should be
warned, writing is a very hard task mistress and definitely not for the faint
of heart.
About you:
Tell us what a
typical day in your life is like?
I get up around
6:30 and have a leisurely breakfast with my husband. I either go for a walk in
the countryside or I go to the gym and work out. I write till lunch time, then
do PR while I have my lunch and try to catch up on any social media goings on
that have happened while I was occupied. Then I write until it’s time to start
dinner. IF the deadline is particularly tight, I write after dinner until
bedtime. In between I fit little bits and starts of time for reading, which I
find essential to my creativity.
What sort of things put you in a bad mood?
Nothing puts me
in a worse mood than having my schedule disrupted or having my time wasted.
Do you have a bucket list and what’s one thing you still want to do that you
haven’t done?
I’ve got lots of
things I want to do, but I’ve never really thought of them as a bucket list.
And nothing really stands out in my mind as more significant than anything
else. I’d like to do the Coast to Coast walk across England again, and I’d like
to finish walking all the Wainwright fells in the Lake District. I’m only about
halfway through the 214 at the moment.
What makes you
laugh?
My husband. He has a wicked sense of humor and he
knows that I’m very guilty of taking myself too seriously. He’s the cure for
that.
What is the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?
Once in a restaurant,
in a very exuberant conversation, (I use my hands a lot when I talk) I knocked
my glass of beer over and splashed it all down the back of an elderly Chinese
gentleman sitting at the next table. I was mortified. He was very gracious and
forgiving, thankfully.
Do you like to read and what are
you reading at the moment?
I LOVE to read! Can’t
imagine not doing it. I’ve just started American
Gods by Neil Gaiman.
If you couldn’t
write anymore, what would you do instead?
Become a recluse and do
nothing but walk all day and read all night.
Fun Stuff:
If you could go out with one famous person who
would it be and why?
I’ve never had a desire to go out with a famous
person because I can’t imagine it ever being anything but awkward … though no
doubt, there’s a story in that J
Do you have a habit that drives your
partner/friends/family nuts and what is it?
Of course not! My husband has broken me of all of my
bad habits, as I have him ;-)
In your opinion, what makes a person attractive?
Intelligence, respect for other people, enthusiasm,
curiosity, imagination.
What is the strangest food you’ve ever eaten?
Sheep’s brains. Not too
bad, but not something I can’t easily live without.
Would you rather have a classic 1969 convertible Mustang or have the
use of a beach side condo any time you want?
Ooooh! Can I have both, please???? Oh,
alright L If I have to choose, I’d take the
condo because I could go there and read and walk on the beach and be a recluse
whenever I wanted.
And finally:
Would
you rather survive an apocalyptic event (yes, even a zombie apocalypse) or die
instantly without knowing what happened to your family and friends?
Lights
out for me! Don’t want to hang out after the apocalypse with a bunch of zombies,
thank you very much!
Thanks for sitting in the hot seat today, Grace, it's been a pleasure hosting you as part of the Interviewing Wade Blog Tour. Now let's take a sneak peek at the book.
INTERVIEWING WADE
By K
D Grace
Writing
as Grace Marshall
Blurb:
The Executive Decisions Trilogy may be
over, but the story continues. Intrepid reporter, Carla Flannery, wants to
interview Wade Crittenden, the secretive creative genius behind Pneuma Inc. But
when, against all odds, Wade actually agrees to the interview, Carla suspects
ulterior motives.
Carla has made a lot of enemies in her work
and when Wade discovers she’s being stalked, he agrees to the interview to keep
her close and safe. As the situation turns deadly, lives and hearts are on the
line, and the interview reveals far more about both than either ever expected.
Excerpt:
Carla nodded to the chair opposite her
and Wade sat down cautiously. She offered a dry smile and spoke around a mouthful
of toast. ‘Chair’s not booby-trapped, food’s not poisoned. My security system’s
not that good.’
When he made no reply but savoured a
forkful of eggs, she joined him in devouring the feast, satisfied that after
the first bite, he shovelled it in with as much relish and lack of delicate
table manners as she did. With her, eating was always done in a hurry to get on
with what was always way more work than she had time for, unless she was
settling in for a meal with her father. She suspected he cooked for her
especially for that reason. And as she watched Wade stuff half a slice of toast
into his mouth in one go, she figured he was probably the same, with no one to
make sure he got a good meal from time to time. Though possibly Ellis invited
him over occasionally, or maybe Harris Walker and his new wife, Stacie Emerson.
Apparently her culinary skills were spoken about in hush tones. Strange, but it
felt good to be able to offer something to Wade, even if the idiot did show up
at three in the morning
‘Good,’ he said, at last, covering his
full mouth with the paper towel she’d given him in lieu of the napkins she
didn’t have.
‘Thanks. You think this is good, you
should see me make Pop Tarts.
‘I like Pop Tarts,’ he said.
‘The secret is,’ she leaned across the
table, ‘you’ve got to get the toaster set just right. And then afterwards,’ he
leaned closer with wrapped attention, ‘afterwards I put butter on ‘em and stick
‘em in the microwave until it melts.’
Wade’s eyes were huge and very green in
the kitchen lighting. He looked dead serious, as though she had just given him
her secret for cold fusion. ‘I never thought about melting the butter on them
in the microwave,’ he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. ‘But I find that I
do like mine so that the little pastry edges are just beginning to get almost
too brown.’
Christ! Were they actually talking about
Pop Tarts? She laughed. ‘I like ‘em almost burnt, but I know that’s a matter of
personal taste. My Dad likes his just barely warm.’
He lowered his head and went back to shoveling
eggs.
She popped the last of her bacon into her
mouth and spoke around it. ‘So tell me, is Fort Flannery as unassailable as my
father assured me, or are we in need of an upgrade?’
He drained his glass of orange juice and
pushed back from the table. ‘Your father did a good job. I didn’t have to do
hardly anything.’
‘He’ll be glad to hear that,’ she said.
‘Sorry you had to waste your valuable time in the wee hours. I know how busy
you are.’
‘Yes, well, it was on my mind. If you’ll let
me see your Android, I’ll give it a little upgrade too.’
‘Will I be able to watch Russian porn on
it?’ she asked.
‘Japanese and Chinese porn as well, if
you like.’ There was that quirk of a smile that she really would love to eat
right off his face.
‘And I’ll assume you’ve given it a
test-drive.’
To her delight, the smile didn’t
disappear, even though the blush was hot on those chiseled cheeks. ‘I’m my own
best guinea pig.’
‘Wade Crittenden, that borders on too
much information, but in the interest of consumer protection and all, I thank
you.’ The blush grew, but the smile stayed put as she offered him a salute and
went into her bedroom to get the device.
She returned to find that he’d shed his
hoodie and was filling the sink with soapy water, his broad back mantling the
counter like a giant bird of prey. For a second her stomach bottomed at the
sight of Wade Crittenden doing dishes at her sink. She stood, Android crushed
to her chest, feeling flushed and slightly off-balance. His t-shirt was a loose
fit, misshapen and short in the back from too many washings for something that
should have migrated to the rag drawer some time ago, and when he reached
across the sink to add still more soap, the shirt rode up to reveal the slim
line of his back and the muscles where his hips joined his torso just above the
swell of his buttocks. The baggy jeans gave enough of an intimation of that
swelling to leave Carla breathless and hot enough to want to throw off her own
hoodie and splash herself with the soapy water in which he was nearly
elbow-deep.
As though he sensed her watching, he
turned, slopped water down the front of his shirt and onto his jeans and
uttered a surprised curse.
Without thinking she rushed to his side,
dropping the device on the table. ‘You don’t have to do that,’ she managed, in
a breathless gasp. ‘Sometimes I go for weeks without ever washing so much as a
coffee cup.’ She stretched around him, grabbed for a dish towel and offered it
to him instead of patting him dry herself, which was what she really wanted to
do.
He reached for the towel, holding her
gaze. ‘You cook for me, I do the clean-up for you. Fair’s fair.’ His hand slid
into the cloth and around her fingers as he drew it to his chest. His breath
caught, his lips parted as though to speak, and God help her, she couldn’t
resist, she leaned into him on tippy-toe and planted a kiss firmly on his
mouth. She only meant for it to be a friendly peck, a way of saying thanks for
checking up on her and for doing the dishes, but his other hand, covered with
soapy water, swooped in and grabbed the front of her hoodie reeling her to him.
Then he curled his fingers in the tangle of her wild hair and cradled the back
of her head, pulling her still further up on her toes. ‘Oh God,’ he whispered,
his tongue darting deep, his lips, soft and hard and bruising all at the same
time, meeting hers in a clash of wills and a heroic effort to get closer and
deeper. ‘Oh God, Carla, why did you do that,’ he gasped against her mouth.
‘Just being friendly,’ she managed,
before the tongue sparring got serious. He gave the towel a toss and yanked
down the zipper of her hoodie, shoving it off onto the floor, his hands
skimming her breasts in his efforts, thumbs lingering to rake her nipples that
were already painful in their peaking. His jeans might have been loose, but
they were not loose enough to disguise his erection, and he didn’t seem to
care. Both hands slid to cup her bottom and he lifted her, settling her onto
the kitchen table, pushing her legs apart with his knees and moving in between
her thighs as she went to work on his fly.
‘I have lots of friends, ‘ he breathed.
‘None of them do that to me.’
‘How about this,’ she said biting his
lower lip and sliding her hand down inside his boxers. ‘Do they do this?’
‘No,’ he returned the nip. ‘Never, none
of them.’ For a second he faltered. ‘Carla, I –’
‘Shut up, Wade. I don’t wanna hear it.’
This time she bit his tongue before she took his hand and guided it down into
her baggy sweat bottoms and into her own boxers.
Buy Links:
About K D
Grace/Grace Marshall
Voted ETO Best Erotic Author of 2014, and a proud member of
The Brit Babes, K D Grace believes Freud was right. In the end, it really IS
all about sex, well sex and love. And nobody’s happier about that than she is,
otherwise, what would she write about?
When she’s not writing, K D is veg gardening. When she’s
not gardening, she’s walking. She walks her stories, and she’s serious about
it. She and her husband have walked Coast to Coast across England, along with
several other long-distance routes. For her, inspiration is directly
proportionate to how quickly she wears out a pair of walking boots. She also
enjoys martial arts, reading, watching the birds and anything that gets her
outdoors.
KD has erotica published with SourceBooks, Xcite Books,
Harper Collins Mischief Books, Mammoth, Cleis Press, Black Lace, Erotic Review,
Ravenous Romance, Sweetmeats Press and others.
K D’s critically acclaimed erotic romance novels include, The Initiationof Ms Holly, Fulfilling theContract, The Pet Shop. Her paranormal erotic novel, Body Temperature and Rising, the
first book of her Lakeland Witches trilogy, was listed as honorable mention on VioletBlue’s Top 12 Sex Books for 2011. Books two and three, Riding the Ether, and Elemental Fire, are now also
available.
K D Grace also writes hot romance as Grace Marshall. An Executive Decision, Identity Crisis, The Exhibition are all available.
Find Grace Marshall/ K D Grace Here:
Websites: http://kdgrace.co.uk/
http://www.thebritbabes.co.uk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KDGraceAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KD_Grace
GRACE MARSHALL GIVEAWAY:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blurb
