Welcome back Raven McAllan!

Today I welcome back one of my favourite ladies, the lovely Raven McAllan. 

Raven's been a very busy bee lately and she has lots of new stories to share with us all, but today, she's here to tell us all about where she sets her stories. The floor is yours, R!

Yes it's me again. My blog visits are similar to my releases (strange that, eh? snigger), in that they follow the big red bus syndrome. None for ages then lots together.

But, hey, hopefully I don't go on about the same things all the time, so as in the words of the song, 'let me entertain you'. I'll add—I hope, and you won't roll your eyes and say 'oh her again'.

Generally, I'm very much a pantster, and go where my characters tell me. I'm often deliberately vague in describing their features, and go no further than tall, fair hair, grey eyes, slim, or whatever. I tend not to have one specific 'real life' person in mind when I write. I started to do this, when I wrote a book a couple of years ago, and suggested a specific type of hero the cover. I described him in great detail and a friend told me I'd totally spoiled the story, because he shouldn't look like that. That she liked to envisage him her way. I though about it and realized, with the characters, I was the same. After all if a hero is described as a so and so look alike, and the reader detests that person, they're not likely to read the book. I accept not everyone will agree with me, so no rotten tomato throwing! If you want to throw anything my way, Moet and Chandon and chocolate is much appreciated.

The one thing I do make sure I get right, unless there's a good reason not to is the setting. I have been known to utter very naughty, I need to wash my mouth out, words when I read a book that has the geography upside down. When I know darn well city 'A' is north of mountain 'B', and the book begs to digger, well sadly, that book goes onto my did not finish pile. It doesn't matter if it was, until then, the best thing since tasty gluten free bread, it's spoiled. 

I don't mean the odd house I've moved to a new location, or the house that actually doesn't exist, that's okay. After all, do my neighbours really need people knocking on their door, because someone has read about it in a book?

But topography? That's different.

It's the same with historical facts. History books, the net, maps, all are easily accessed these days, and hey, they usually know what they are talking about. There's no excuse for getting basics wrong. Someone will always notice. I well remembering as a very new newbie arguing the toss over a word I knew fine well wasn't used in Regency times. I lost, and boy was I lambasted by several readers.


Accuracy matters.

And on that note, Raven must leave us to go tend to her new releases, but she'll be back tomorrow to share some info. on the latest release of her choice! You can find out more about Raven's new stories on the links below. 

Nina's Dom

And

Double Jackson both from Evernight Publishing

Miss Simpkins' School: Molly

And 

Miss Simpkins' School for Seduction, Vol 1 (print) from Breathless Press.

And (last two ands, I promise)

Secrets Uncovered , Diomhair bk 2

And Diomhair vol 1 (print) both from Totally Bound Publishing.

You can find out more about these, and all my books at www.ravenmcallan.com

Happy Reading,

Love R x

Raven McAllan Introduces...

Well, yesterday I promised you that the lovely Raven McAllan would be back with us again today, and I always keep my promises! (Just take my word for that. Don't ask my exes...)

This morning, Raven has come to tease us with the blurb and an excerpt from her new release (Out today!) Miss Simpkins School: Jane (published by Breathless Press)

Raven, take the floor!

Miss Simpkins' School for Seduction…

Where seduction is the game, and success is the aim.

This is Jane's story.

Take one virginal widow, add Molly Simpkins' School of Seduction and one obliging gentleman, and what do you get? Scandal avoided and a virgin no more?

Molly Simpkins' School for Seduction has helped many ladies of the ton to achieve their hearts desires, so helping Lady Jane Nicholby ought to be easy.

However this young widow's deep, dark secret means she can never remarry for fear of the scandal it would cause. Widows are not supposed to be virgins, after all.

Fortunately, Molly knows just the person to help her change this state of affairs. Persuading Luke De Freitas to fall in with her plans, however, will require all of her considerable skill.

A spot of blackmail should do the trick quite nicely…

And a wee tease...

She mistrusted the gleam in his eyes and the smile on his face. Not in an apprehensive way, because there was no malice in his expression. More a full on, sensual, wicked, "guess what's going to happen next" way. Her juices collected at the neck of her womb and nigh on gushed out of her. With more haste than finesse, Molly held her arms out.

"Good girl."

Girl? He has hit his head perchance? I haven't been a girl for nigh on twenty years. Molly decided she liked it though. The warm look he gave her hinted of all things delicious, and the way he jerked the cravat up over his head before he brought it down and wrapped it round her wrists twice made her shiver in anticipation.

"Do you trust me, Molly? Trust me to give you everything you want and need? For it's many a year since we were intimate and times change. We have changed and you have no way of knowing who I now am, nor what I have become, other than by second hand knowledge." Charles spoke in a serious manner as he knotted the cloth around her wrists and left two long ends dangling.

"Isn't that the same thing, want and need?" She ignored the second half of his pronouncement and honed in on the first.

"Oh no, not by a long shot. You know what you want. I know what you need. Believe me, they are not synonymous. Do you trust me?"

Molly gulped. His face was serious, his voice calm, and only a very faint tremor in his hand showed how he was affected and how much rested on her answer. He was only partially right in his surmise though. Ash had talked about him both during and after their long liaison. Ashley knew Molly and Charles had been close friends, found out how close when he and Molly first came together, and had taken pains to keep her up to date about Charles' solitary life. The only thing he hadn't mentioned had been Miranda. That had been a shock, but it mattered not. She would trust Charles as implicitly as she trusted Ash.


"Of course. Did I not let you bind me? That takes more faith than you will ever know. I don't give up my freedom easily." Molly lifted her tied wrists and let her fingers trail down his arm. "Take me, Charles. Show me what I need and let me be yours." The unspoken words, "just for this once," hung in the air.

You can grab your copy of Miss Simpkins School:Jane at any of the following retailers. 

Breathless Press

All Romance Books

BookStrand


Once again, I want to say a big thank you to Raven for taking time to come play with us all today. Any other questions? You can get to know Raven even more intimately (!) over on her own little corner of the internet here. 

And while you're there you can also discover more erotic romances from Raven's extensive back catalogue! 

Happy Reading everyone!

Douglas & Raven.

Raven McAllan - An Interview

When my first release with Evernight Publishing came out last year (a short story called A Secret Love) Raven McAllan was one of the first authors who really welcomed me to the Evernight family. 

Raven is a fellow Scot and a wonderful writer (as well as Evernight, she has been published by Breathless Press, Totally Bound Publishing and Just Ink Press). I am delighted she has agreed to come over to my little blog to allow me to probe her (naughty!) with some hard (minds out of the gutter, please) and not-so-hard hitting questions. So, Raven. Let's get down to business. ;-)

Tell us a little bit about yourself. 
This is the hard bit. I never know what to say. Hi I’m Raven. I live in Scotland with my DH. Our kids have grown up and moved away, so we rattle around in a house much too big for us. However, we live on the edge of a Forest, and I sit in my study and watch birds, wildlife and the occasional lost tourists meander past. (It’s a one track road that goes by our house, and disintegrates into a track a few yards further on, so why people think it’s the main road to the city I have no idea.)

I’m refusing to grow old gracefully, and enjoying every minute of it. 


I love traveling, fine wine and a good book. I hate liver and midges, especially midges. They’re not called the scourge of Scotland for nothing.

Let’s start with the basics. Why write?

Why not? No let’s be serious here. I can’t imagine not writing. I was an only child but never lonely. I had my imagination, and was always making up stories for my dolls. Then when I had children, bed time stories always seemed to be ‘one of mum’s’. It was a step further to put them down on paper I guess. It’s part of me. 

If I couldn’t write there would be a great big hole where my writing should be. Even on holiday I try to write a few words every day. If I don’t know I can spend an hour sorting my characters out I get twitchy. And long haul flights are great for writing, even if you do get your WIP read when you leave your seat to go to the loo.

And why did you write this book? Why now? 
I started the Dommissima series because I was interested about what BDSM means to people. I’d heard so many conflicting ideas, and so many arguments, I thought hold on. Who dares tell me what I do is right, wrong or indifferent? How you and your partner define what you do is up to you, and no one else. It’s no one else’s business. No two people will ever see it the same way, and to me that’s how it should be. 

Then this got me thinking, what if you couldn’t agree with your partner what works, or you couldn’t articulate what you do and don’t want? That started the first book Master. A short story about the club hit me ( The Girl on the Bus). Then a secondary character from Master, Athol insisted on having his story told (A Dom’s Decision) and now Nina’s Dom is about someone who makes a very brief appearance in A Dom’s Decision.

Each book, I hope, explores what BDSM or kink or, yes even vanilla, means to people. I’m convinced there’s a little bit of kink in all of us, even if your kink is having no kink.


I had no idea that Nina would be so insistent on having her story told, but once she shouted, I knew I had to act. Now I hope people will like it.

Are you ever conscious of wanting to share a message through your work? If so, what is it? 

I would just like people to finish it and think 'Ahhh'. That’s so nice. Or even just make them think about something they hadn’t paid attention to before. I write for entertainment, and a chance to get away from all the worries and tribulations of everyday life.

If I gave you permission to rewrite the first book you ever had published, would you? 

You mean The Story of Rumple Rabbit? *giggle* That was written for my kids when they were little and a friend illustrated it for me. 

Wallflowers Don’t Wilt? The first adult book published? I love the premise of the story, but I could write it better now, so yes, probably.

Are you the same author now as you were when you started? 

Not at all. I hope I write better now. I’m learning all the time. I push myself out of my comfort zone almost constantly as I strive to be a better author. That sounds incredibly pretentious and up my own A**, but I listen and, I hope, learn from editors and readers.

It’s Friday night and I’m going to give you two hundred quid to spend getting up to whatever mischief you want. Which of your characters are you going to take with you and what are you going to do? 

I’m taking Raig from The Price to Pay, and we’re going to his fairground to, ahem, ride the roundabout…Then it’s out to a local chippie for Gluten-Free Fish and Chips. Before you say ‘cheap date’ I want a bottle of Dom Perignon 2004 with them!

And finally. In a world where you and your characters co-exist, who would be your best friend, and whose invitation to dinner keeps getting lost in the mail?

Athol would definitely be a best friend (A Dom’s Decision), and Vairi from The Price to Pay. 


Hmm lost invitations… Well I would have said someone from my YA I write as J. Lilley, a guy Called Struan Scott, who is not a nice person in The Shalean Moon series. But as I’m writing about him in a NA, and I think he might be about to redeem himself, I’m a bit stuck. I have to like something about my characters or I can’t do them justice. Mind you Gussie in the Behind Closed Doors Series I wrote with Lee Brazil isn’t a nice person, so let’s say her.

I'd like to thank Raven so much for stopping by. It's been a real pleasure, as always!

If you fancy learning more about Raven and her extensive back catalogue, you can pay her a visit over on her own little corner of the internet here and you can join us both back here tomorrow when Raven will be sharing a teaser from her new release 'Miss Simpkins' School: Jane'. 

See you tomorrow, Raven!