Wednesday, September 05, 2007

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

USA Today's bestselling Cait London is published in 28 countries, working on her 60+ book and her 21st year as a published author, either as Cait London or as Cait Logan (both pseudonyms). In her national award-winning career and with millions of copies, she's written historicals, category/series, paranormal, and now romantic suspense for Avon. Currently, she has four ongoing series.

As Lois Kleinsasser (a name editors didn't want for her books), she moved to the Midwest from the sand and sage of rural Washington State. Her novels reflect that small town western upbringing. In her former creative life, she is/was a wildlife/scenery artist, specializing in large canvas. "I love painting, but writing is where it's at for me now. It's just a different canvas," she says.

Best known for her vividly written characters and plot twists, Lois/Cait loves to read, play with computers and photography, and admits to owning a runaway herb garden. She also loves to drive and has researched on location all of her novels, including the Oregon Trail and Northwest Indian/fur trader/gold trails into Canada. Most recently, she has researched vinyards and lighthouses in the Lake Michigan area and those on the California-Oregon coastline.

For more info, visit her website at: www.caitlondon.com


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?
To published JUST ONE BOOK was a hope that came just after I’d read a bundle of Harlequins and historical romances, probably in my mid-thirties. I really hadn’t thought of it before. Until that time, I was painting and doing craft work. (I’d been painting since I was 10 and got my first set of oils.) I’ve always read everything, and when I read those first books, I thought, “I can do that.” Without RWA and other writing groups back then, the road was long and filled with traditional hard knocks. But still, I knew I had those stories in me. My first editor, Joan Marlow Golan, helped get them out. But my goal was just that one book. I’m still surprised years later to find that I’ve had a really good career with many readers throughout the world. I’ve been writing full-time for many years now and have met wonderful people.

What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?
Like most writers, I love the stories and seeing the characters come together, how the whole cast reacts to each other within the framework of the storyline. Each book is a challenge and I love the “game” and when the story comes to life and I can almost feel the pulse of the book.

Anything I dislike? There are times when an editor feels it is his book, and not the writer’s, and that isn’t good. I’ve rarely had that happen, but the few times it was agony to write their “vision” in lieu of mine. While most writers appreciate the nip and tuck and the fresh eye an editor can give a work, the input on potential holes, to have the entire storyline changed isn’t good. But sometimes it is 

How do you balance your personal and writing time?
Because I was an artist with “my time,” my family has recognized that writing is a very serious occupation for me. My daughters are grown now, so life isn’t as crowded and writing full-time has been easier. I usually put in a full day of writing and business starting at 4 a.m. or so. And that comes from working at a day job and writing for 2 publishers at the same time. I’m still biologically/creatively up on weekends. My heavy seasons now are winter/spring/fall, and a little lighter in the summer, which is when we have more family visits.

How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
The kernel of the idea comes first, the very basic idea. Sometimes this comes from a simple word like homecoming, or the image of something I’ve seen, like an Amish girl riding a spotted pony, her long skirt revealing jeans. When I started writing, characters came easier than plot. Now I work more on conflict, motivation, etc. but characters have always been easier.

What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
I’ve always written romance subgenres: western historicals, paranormal, psychic, humor and romantic suspense. A big balance of my work is in category for Desires. I think I write the stories because they intrigue me, pull me to them. And balancing that is what the market wants. Sometimes, I’m invited into a special project, and then write to that.

What is the biggest misconception about being an author?
That it’s easy. That it is NOT a business. It really is a hard fast business, despite work that we love.

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
I generally know the personality that will suit the book, contrasting the hero and heroine. Sometimes I have a movie star in mind for visuals, but I do build the characters. Characters begin as quasi-ideas, then develop as they enter their world and other characters interact with them, much like the inner workings of a watch. Sometime during the work, it’s necessary to balance them all. This is something that can be missed—balancing characters. For example, if the hero is too strong, he can seem abusive and the heroine too weak, as the victim. On the other hand, they need to balance each other. Then the antagonist must match the protagonists in strength, or there is no real story. Sometimes the writer has to step back and do severe balancing and bringing up the interest in the character, like giving them a hobby or interest, a little jealousy or peeve.

Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
I think I love them all.

If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?
Tom Selleck is always a favorite.

What would you want readers to take away from your books?
The satisfaction that they enjoyed the story. My books aren’t for everyone; they are layered and not simplistic.

Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
Balance those characters, check the conflict, see that the storyline holds true, and never, ever think that writing is easy 

What are you reading right now?
I’m between projects now and catching up, but enjoying Jayne Ann Krentz in any flavor, some Nocturne books, Linda Howard’s work, Laurel K. Hamilton. I haven’t read Mistral yet, and am dying for that. I read a lot of self-help books.



ABOUT THE BOOK:

Aisling psychic/triplet trilogy:

Claire in AT THE EDGE,
Tempest in A STRANGER'S TOUCH,
and Leona, who is untitled.

See all at http://caitlondon.com/triplets.html


BLURB:

Claire,Tempest, and Leona: triplets blessed--or cursed--each with a special extra sense that they would deny, given the chance . . .

Claire, the youngest, finds solitude and escape in rural Montana. The descendant of an ancient Celtic seer, she struggles to conceal her unsettling power to sense what others feel--the good and the evil, the pain and the joy.

When her peace is shattered by her new neighbor, Neil Olafson, Claire's shielded emotions start simmering. He's the opposite of everything she's ever wanted, a man who ignites her latent sensuality. And while her eerie powers have frightened others away, Neil isn't running. When Claire comes face-to-face with danger, he becomes her protector--as well as her lover.

Now, Claire and Neil must confront the past and save the life of a young innocent. But there is a killer lurking in the background who wants them both dead before they can unravel his dirty secrets. And he's been very busy. . .


EXCERPT:

SETTING: Rural Montana, near fictional Red Dog, contemporary

Think you've finally found the perfect quiet, secluded home without pesky neighbors? It never lasts, take it from Claire Brown, who really, really needs isolation to survive.

Claire is an empath, too sensitive to other's emotions--greed, lust, hatred--and physical pain. A night-walker, she's safe amid the dry rolling acres of Montana, stitching her one-of-a-kind designer handbags.

Back to the nothing lasts forever part. Neil Olafson moves in next door, and he's setting up shop to build camping trailers, a noisy activity. He's a friendly sort of guy, but then Claire isn't feeling neighborly, her peace and safety torn away. He's also a handy guy, Claire discovers when she is suddenly and unexpectedly attacked.

Now, Neil is just an average workman, and what he is about to discover about the psychic triplets sets his hair on end. First of all, Claire can anticipate this thoughts and feelings, which makes him uneasy. Claire's mother does not call--because her anxiety is going to trip Claire's. Tempest, a hands-on psychic, who can tell the history of an object by holding it, is scary enough, and Leona, the oldest, apparently is a clairvoyant who dreams events before they happen!

All this doesn't interfere with Neil's sturdy attraction to his mysterious red-haired, green-eyed neighbor. But it's a little unnerving to desire a woman, when she actually knows what a man is feeling. When the sisters track down Claire's attacker on just "reading" the remnants of his touch, Neil starts to believe--a little. And just maybe she might be able to help him find his son, who disappeared eight years ago.

Claire's sixth sense is prowling, snagging clues that someone doesn't want revealed. When Neil starts having accidents, the game gets deadly and they're plunged into a nightmarish web of hidden secrets that they must unravel--together.


REVIEWS:

5 stars: "Only Cait London can write such a stimulating Romantic Suspense novel that readers will be unable to tear themselves away from. Though the story focuses on Claire and Neil, readers will come to know Claire's sisters and mother as well. Claire is the one that brings balance to her family. She brings them together, somehow, and helps solve or soothe family troubles. As an empath, she instinctively wants to help, to heal. Pairing the empath with a troubled (and divorced) male neighbor is a stroke of genius, in my opinion.

This is a stand alone tale. I did not feel as though I was left hanging at the end. You will not have to read the following two books in this trilogy; however, there is a subplot which runs throughout this book, and it will be used within all three stories. To get the full effect, I highly recommend reading the entire trilogy. No one writes like Cait London! Excellent!"
-- Detra Fitch, Huntress Reviews

"This is the charming first of a trilogy of romantic fantasy tales starring the Aisling triplets. Claire is a terrific character as her need to help others hurts her since she can be mentally overloaded with everyone else's problems (sort of an adult version of the X-Men's Rogue). Neil is a skeptic who wonders if he fell in love with a nut case until he begins to see her capabilities. Fans will be charmed by Cait London's entertaining story of love between the psychic and the skeptic with two more tales to come."
-- Harriet Klausner

"AT THE EDGE will keep you exactly there...on the edge of your seat. From the first word to the last, intrigue, danger, and passion are all woven together to forge a story that will not be forgotten... First up in a new paranormal series by best-selling author Cait London, AT THE EDGE is awesome. With captivating characters, a fast-paced storyline, danger, and passion, Ms. London pens a story that readers are
sure to savor. I can't wait to read the next story in this exciting and thrilling series.
-- Sinclair Reid, Romance Reviews Today


At the Edge by Cait London
ISBN-13: 978-0061140501
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: May 29, 2007
Publisher: Avon
$5.99 from Amazon.com


Purchase At the Edge by Cait London HERE!!!