Thursday, July 05, 2007

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Growing up an only child in Orange County, California, Meagan’s world revolved around movies and books. Although she dreamed of one day penning an Academy Award winning screenplay, her romance novel reading Grandmother proved too strong an influence to deny. Meagan wrote her first young adult novel in ninth grade, and truly enjoyed everything about the writing process. However, her main passion had always been for dance. She even went to college as a dance major. It wasn’t until after she married, had kids, and settled in Wisconsin that she tried her hand at writing again. Now, she can’t stop. Meagan writes in pretty much every genre – fantasy, historical, paranormal, contemporary, and erotica and loves to fall in love all over again with the myriad of characters she creates.

Website: www.meaganhatfield.com
Blog: http://meaganhatfield.com/Blog.html
Myspace: www.myspace.com/meaganhatfield
Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-Little-Bit-of-Magic


ABOUT THE BOOK:

BLURB:

An artifact in Lara’s Year of the Sheep painting draws out an ancient evil, and the lusty dragon lord who protects her from it.


EXCERPT:

Lachlan stood in the shadowed garden, watching the long legged vixen through the window. Though jasmine blossomed at his feet, every breath he took drew in the lingering feminine scent of her.

Lara.

His blood thrummed, as hot and red as the dress hugging every luscious curve of her body—each one his hands itched to caress and his tongue longed to explore and taste. Until tonight, he’d forgotten how long it had been since he’d bedded a woman. However, five minutes alone with this brash artist with her full red lips, dark chocolate eyes and shiny brown hair brought it back to jarring focus.

It had been nearly a decade.

To humans this might seem like eternity. Yet, having lived eight hundred years and bound to live at least three hundred more, ten years seemed like yesterday.

Ten years ago my brother still lived.

Lachlan slammed his eyes shut at the searing memory. Gritting his teeth, he forced his thoughts off the girl and back to the task at hand. It didn’t matter how bad he wanted to slake his lust on her sweet and supple body. She held the key to ending his centuries of fighting…the reason his entire family had been slowly executed one by one. He would have it, and her. No matter what the cost.


INTERVIEW:

Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
I have always loved to write. I started out with stories about my family and vacations, then it was horses...and then of course, boys. *grins* I wrote my first novel, a young adult romance, in the 9th - 10th grade. However, I never saw writing as a career option, just a hobby. I wanted to be a dancer - foolishly thinking that would bring home the bacon. LOL! But after I went to college as a dance major, I fell in love with my best friend and college roomate, got hitched on the back of my pick-up in Vegas, and had kids instead. So, it wasn't until after all of that, I picked up the pen again. Now I can't put it down.

What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?
Like most writers, I love creating new characters, places, worlds or in some cases taking well known ones and making them into something you'd never expect like with my "One Night With De Sade" novella and erotic paranormal series based off of the Three Musketeers. Also, being able to meet and chat with other people who have a passion for the written word is wonderful. It makes me feel a little less crazy. LOL!

How do you balance your personal and writing time?
I don't. LOL! I have a hubby, 2 kids, a dog, a cat, a fixer-upper house and a full-time job. They all just get tossed a movie, a video game, a bone, some tuna and told to chill when I'm working. :-) It will be nice when my son goes off to Kindergarten in the fall. Since I get off of work at noon, (I get there at 4:30am) it will give me more alone time to write before the kids come home and mommy-time kicks in.

How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
I usually write longhand, unless I'm under deadline and don't have that kind of time. I feel more creative that way. It's more intimate - almost like writing in a diary or journal. I use bright colored pens and doodle when I'm plotting something out in my mind. Also, I can really crank out the word count that way, and since I'm a pretty fast typist, I can type it in quick and get the first round of edits done as I go.

As for the second question, I see and hear the whole story in my mind like a movie. I just have to go back and slow down the "frames" so I can take notes and write it all down. So I guess, the characters, plot and world come all at once. Well, usually. There are always exceptions. The Marquis de Sade for example was quite the figure. It took a wee bit of doing for me to nail down a heroine for him...er, not literally. *grins*

What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
When I started writing, it was historical or nothing. Or so I thought. Come to find out that particular story was a historical paranormal or fantasy romance - depending on which publisher you talk to. Anyway, back then I said, 'I'll never write a contemporary set story.' Then erotica was everywhere, and I said, 'Oh, I'll never write THAT hot." Well, as they say - never say never. A few months later and this sexy, Alpha Dragon lord hero came to me. I knew right away that I had to write him. But when I went to pick up my pen, he shook his head and refused to speak. Flustered, I got down on my knees in front of his corded, thick thighs and begged. Like a typical Alpha, he agreed but on one condition. I had to do things his way. He told me, in a firm, smokey voice that he'd only come out to play if he REALLY got to play. *blushes* Well, I'd always been a sucker for the bad boy. So, I broke all of my self-imposed rules and let Lachlan Black out. Boy, am I glad I did! :-)

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
It's a mixture. I've always loved taking bits from history and putting my own spin on things. Some of the characters I've used so far are Balder and Loki, the Marquis de Sade, the Three (okay, four) Musketeers, Henry IV of France, my Elf hero - whose modeled after Legolas from the Lord of the Rings. However, I do love to just pluck characters from my imagination as well - like with the aforementioned Dragon Lord, Lachlan Black.

Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
Yikes. That is a tough one. I would have to say Hanarom. The Elf warrior hero from "A Magical Encounter" my fantasy romance novel coming out in Sept from New Concepts Publishing. I was so deeply in love with him, it took me a month or so longer than usual to switch gears and focus on my next hero. {{sigh}} I always was a sucker for long hair. ;-)

What would you want readers to take away from your books?
I hope they take the characters with them long after they turn the last page and put the book down.

Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
Don't stop, don't give up and write everyday. That sounds easy, but things happen. Your spouse or family might not be supportive, or worse, they might guilt trip you over the time and/or money you spend writing. You might get a rejection letter than makes you want to throw in the towel. Or you say that you're too busy to write today - you'll do it tomorrow. *wagging finger like a school marm* I say, make writing your passion, yes - but also make it a priority. It's like a relationship. That spark is there at first, but you really have to work to get to the finished product. It helps if you make it a reward. Something you do for you. It's your time. Cherish it, protect it and it will do right by you in the long run.

What are you reading right now?
I just finished reading and reviewing "Unbound" a Nocturne release by Lori Devoti, and "Gift of the Goddess" from Ellora's Cave by Denise Rossetti. All I can say is WOW!! Those ladies have mucho talent, are beautiful inside and out, and as a writer I found their work inspiring to read. :-)

If you could be anyone or anything that you wanted, who or what would you be?
Okay, last time I was asked this, I said a vampire. Now I'm going with JR Ward, just so I know what is going to happen in all of those yummilicious Brotherhood books, NOW! :-)


REVIEW:

5 hearts: "It’s deliciously dark, somewhat violent, very sexy and wonderfully written. Meagan Hatfield simply draws the reader into this story and fascinates her with Lachlan Black, the hero. He is tortured, very sexy and lustily attracted to the heroine. This reviewer just drooled over him! The plot, the characters, the descriptions are all wonderfully arranged in this short story and this reviewer will be sure to look up other works of Ms. Hatfield."
- Valerie - Love Romances & More



Jaded Beasts IV by Meagan Hatfield,
Michael Barnette and Megan Hussey
ISSN: 1555-5496 vol. 06-23
Words: 71,219
Release date: October 2006
Ebook Version: $4.00 from Midnight Showcase
Print Version: $13.61 from Lulu.com



Purchase Jaded Beasts IV by Meagan Hatfield, et al (ebook) HERE!!