Interview with Erin Quinn & Giveaway!!

Hi everyone! Erin Quinn, aka Erin Grady, allowed me the pleasure of picking her brain about her debut novel Haunting Beauty which releases Tuesday, August 4th.

I'm also excited to announce that Erin will be giving away a copy of both Echoes and Whispers from her Erin Grady name to one lucky commenter.

1. Your debut novel 'Haunting Beauty' releases tomorrow, August 4th. Can you tell us a bit about the novel? What your inspiration was?

I started writing HAUNTING BEAUTY at a time in my career where I wanted to make a change. My other novels are based in the US and though they definitely have a paranormal element, there is also a suspense/mystery feel to them. I wanted to step further into the paranormal world and I wanted to do something different. I don’t write vampires or shape shifters (at least I haven’t ever, but never say never, right?) not because I don’t like them but because so many great authors are already doing that and doing it wonderfully. On top of that, what really intrigues me is the idea that Joe Normal walking down the street or Mary Nobody might actually have hidden abilities that s/he doesn’t even know about. It’s intriguing to me.

And once I met Sean Ballagh, hero of HAUNTING BEAUTY, I couldn’t not write about him. I fall in love with all of my heroes, but there is something about Sean that still has me. He is so conflicted and the chemistry he has with Danni Smith was so explosive. How could I not go there?

2. From the summary, it would appear that 'Haunting Beauty' takes place for the majority of the novel in Ireland. Did you travel there for research or did you rely heavily on books and the Internet to get a good grasp and feel of the land?

In my dreams, I went (sigh). But the budget kept me firmly in Arizona. I did research and research and research and research. It was really daunting, because my other books (as I mentioned) were set in the good ol’ US of A where our “known” history goes back a few hundred years. Moving to a country where the history is marked by thousands—New Grange is thought to be older than Stonehenge—was overwhelming. I was terrified that I wouldn’t do justice to Ireland. Even though HAUNTING BEAUTY is contemporary, I believe you have to understand the history of a people or place to truly depict who they are now.

When Diana Gabaldon read HAUNTING BEAUTY and gave me a cover quote, she also told me that I had done a great job with the dialect so I was very happy about that.

3. Your heroine, Danni Jones, is a very gifted clairvoyant. Was this ability something you researched or is it straight from your imagination? There were also clues in the excerpt that hinted to Danni's aversion to her extraordinary gift. Is this something that she grapples with throughout the novel?

Yes, yes and yes. *grin* I did research, but much of what Danni experiences is so . . . undocumented? . . . that I didn’t want to confine myself to the known world and I didn’t want to limit Danni to it either so I went with my gut and imagination.

As far as Danni . . . .Life has been hard on Danni, but she’s not the kind of woman who rolls over and takes it. She’s forged ahead and, with her little dog, Bean, has found contentment, if not happiness. She’s shut the door on that part of her that is special because in her experience, special doesn’t mean good, it means different, it means weird. That door is pried open, however, by Sean and by dangling carrot of learning who she is and who her people are. As an abandoned child, finding her family has been everything she’s wished for. But she can’t have one without the other. If she refuses to look into herself, she’ll never be able to see her past or her live her future.

4. I don't know much about your hero, Sean Ballagh, but the summary does imply that he's very mysterious. Can you give us some more juicy details on him?

Sean, Sean, Sean . . . . Did I mention I’m still in love with him? Sean is every man and no man. He is complex and conflicted, but he has only ever wanted to do the right thing. When he meets Danni, he sees everything HE’S every wished for, but a part of him doesn’t feel worthy of her and his goal to bring her home to Ireland is at odds with his need to protect her. Here’s an excerpt that I think captures who he is:

Sean dropped his gaze to the pulse that beat at her throat. The man's t-shirt clung to her breasts, peaking at hardened nipples. The stretchy pants fit her lean, shapely legs, molding curves and muscle all the way down to the thick white socks and even those were somehow sexy, somehow intimate. He skimmed back up, imagined catching the hem of her shirt and pulling it over her head, baring those soft shoulders, the curve of her throat, the slope of her breasts.

A train wreck, that's what this was. But the course was set and the outcome inevitable.

She didn't say a word as she watched him, letting her own eyes move from his face to his bare chest to his stomach. His muscles tightened in anticipation, as if her glancing look were a touch that would heat his skin. He wanted her to look lower, to see that just standing this close to her had him thinking of so much more.

Neither spoke, because words would be redundant.

He felt incapable of movement and so he waited instead for her. Waited for the questions in her eyes to become answers, decisions. She swayed closer and the soft scent of her filled him with aching need. He wanted to bury his face in her hair, inhale, taste that scent. Taste every inch of her.

Her hands settled against his chest, light as petals, hot and silky and moving over the taut muscles. Searching, finding. They paused just over his heart, feeling the erratic beat, the labored pounding. He thought she could feel the blood rushing through his veins, urging him to move, to take. He felt hot, hotter than humanly possible. Like he might suddenly combust and melt into something only she could ply with her feather touch.

She stilled, those small hands holding his heart. Then she tipped her head back and he was staring into eyes of winter smoke and midnight slate. They were wide and round and hurt and bewildered. Why didn't he touch her back?

"I'm afraid," he said without meaning to.

Afraid that he'd fall into those eyes and never find his way out again. Afraid that this, this which felt so real, could somehow be snatched away if he grasped too tightly. Afraid of returning to that land of numbness that had become his life. Afraid now to chance an escape.

The answer--a self fulfilling prophecy--made him exhale with twisted humor. Danni bit her lip and then smiled back, slowly, sweetly, sexily.

"Don't be," she said, and it was his undoing.

Haunting Beauty © Erin Quinn

5. Is 'Haunting Beauty' the start of a series or is it a stand alone novel? Or both?

Both. It is the start of the Haunting Series, but each story is stand alone. Danni’s brother is the hero of HAUNTING WARRIOR which will be out in May. And let me tell you, he’s got a story to tell as well.

6. I'm sure you've noticed how not only I but other bloggers are feeling some major love for the cover of 'Haunting Beauty'. What was your reaction when you first saw it? In your opinion, does it match the tone of the novel? Is there any items of significance that are on the cover?

Are you kidding? When I saw the cover I was blown away. I, too, think it’s absolutely gorgeous. I received my author copies of the book a couple of weeks ago and I’m telling you, the jpg doesn’t do the real thing justice. It is even more beautiful, the colors richer on the book. Thrilled doesn’t come close to describing. HAUNTING BEAUTY is set on a fictitious island of the southern coast of Ireland and so the sea is a major part of daily life. The spirals you can see on the medallions and faintly beneath the image are extremely important to the story, though I can’t tell you why. And the amulet the woman wears is crucial (although I must confess, it doesn’t look as I pictured it or described it, but it’s so beautiful that I didn’t complain.)

7. What's something that not too many people know about you?

I sat in the Florence State Penitentiary gas chamber and lived to tell about.

8. Me and my blogger friends have a love for what we affectionately call "Hussy Reading Material". Do you have any romance authors that you prefer when or if you're in need of more erotic romance reading material?

LOL, now that’s funny, Hussy Reading. It’s always so hard for me to list the authors who I love because I love so many. I have a lot of friends who write hot, hot books and do an amazing job. Calista Fox, Allyson James, Sylvia Day, MacKenzie McKade, Cassie Ryan are a few of my favs and by no means the entire list of them. And I really liked the LKH Merry Gentry and Anita Blake books too, although I glommed on both when I first discovered and read them back to back until I got a bit burned out and had to take a break, so I’m not current with either series. My latest glom is probably Mary Balogh—which is funny because I’ve never been much of a Regency reader, but I just loved her last series and so now I’m going through her backlist. Love her characters. It makes my heart happy to see so many romance books on the shelves and, better yet, so many GREAT ones on the shelves. My TBR stack is towering and I’ve discovered so many authors recently who are on book number 30 or 40 and I’m just finding them. Not that I’m complaining, it’s always fabulous to discover a new author and realize you don’t have to wait to read something else by them.

*Contest Open to ALL*
**Contest Closes and Winners will be Announced Friday, August 7th**

A big thank you to Erin for answering all my questions. Be sure to visit Erin Quinn's Website for more information on 'Haunting Beauty' including an Excerpt of Chapter One.