Saturday, March 30, 2013

Guest Post: Rebecca Grant


Everyone, we are joined today on this 30th Day of March by the wonderful, Rebecca Grant, women's fiction and romance author. Welcome, Rebecca, please make yourself a home and tell us about you and your work.







It’s a pleasure to be a guest here today. Many thanks to Julieanne for having me! 


 I've always believed that writing women’s fiction and romance is a little like cooking. First, I like to lay my hero and heroine out gently on a well-oiled surface, take some seasoning up in my hands and smooth it into them until they’re so flavorful they’re ready to pop. Then I let them steep awhile in a nice marinade. When they're at their most succulent, sometimes I'll put them in a slow-cooking oven and turn them over and over, and other times I'll toss them on a blazing grill to sizzle. Either way, at some point in the story, they are going to devour each other… because love is unstoppable. And that’s why I adopted ‘love is unstoppable’ as my brand phrase!

My romantic suspense, CRADLE OF LIES, which releases April 1, is the story of Cord Archer, the son of a renown psychopathic serial murderer who must overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.




We first meet Cord at sixteen. He’s as trapped as the six women his daddy has kidnapped… and is about to systematically dismember… and then murder… when suddenly… Cord sees an opportunity to escape.

The only problem is… Cord has been kept so isolated and ignorant, he has no idea how to escape, or where he might go for help.

And what about the six women? If he’s able to escape, he can’t risk taking them with, can he? One lone boy might escape the diabolical reach of his psycho daddy… but the women will just slow him down, won’t they?






When I first sat down to write this story, I intended to write about the glorious west. The immense Montana sky. The courageous, driving predilection the American cowboy has for the open-range. Yet, what came out was a gritty, teeth-clenching, dark story about a man who was so abused for the first sixteen years of his life, I almost stopped writing… until I realized this story epitomizes the unstoppable nature of love, and underscores our phenomenally remarkable ability as human beings to overcome any obstacle.

Here is the back cover blurb:

Forced to spend the first sixteen years of his life witnessing some of the most epic murders ever committed, what kind of a life can Cord hope for?

When Cord Archer first meets Mattie Rayne, her incandescent smile heats him like the summer sun, bleaching him clean. Nothing else matters except making her his. Before he can do that, his conscience compels him to explain why he entered an institution at age sixteen and spent five years learning to read, write and function in mainstream society.

Upon learning that Cord is the son of a notorious psychopathic serial-killer, Mattie realizes what a monumental effort it took for him to survive, much less make it all the way back from crazy. Knowing this only makes her love him more.

Just when it would seem Cord is finally about to know love, two phenomenally staggering events irrevocably change the course of his life. First, a sociopath becomes fixated on him. Next, his daddy escapes from prison with the sole intent of tracking him down.


Without giving too much of the story away, Cord is haunted by the possibility that he might have inherited the ‘psycho gene’. Although there is a great deal of disagreement among experts about whether a ‘psycho gene’ actually exists, there is evidence to link psychopathology to genetics.

Cord’s greatest fear is that although he’s managed to escape his father, he may not have escaped his father’s legacy. What if, one day, he wakes up with the desire to kill and maim, the way he watched his father for the first sixteen years of his life?

What if he has a child, who also inherits the psycho gene?

And what about Mattie Rayne? Even if she’s willing to take this risk, can he live with the possibility?

Before Cord is able to answer these questions for himself, he finds himself being stalked by a female sociopath… a woman whose plans for Cord are possibly even more twisted than what he experienced growing up with his father.





CRADLE OF LIES twists and turns through the story of Cord at age sixteen as he fights to escape his father, Cord at age twenty-one when he falls in love with Mattie, and Cord at age thirty-six when he resigns from the FBI and returns home to Cradle, Montana, his only thought to find some kind of peace, knowing he can never be close to the one woman he loves, or any woman, because of his DNA.

Now that you know a little about the story, I’m curious…

1.       Do you believe that the ‘psycho gene’ exists?

2.       If you fell desperately in love with someone, would you marry him, even though you knew he might one day turn into a diabolical murderer, just like his daddy?

3.       Would you have children with a man who might pass on the ‘psycho gene’?

4.       And finally… do you believe that love is unstoppable? Have a brief example you’d like to share about the unstoppable nature of love?


Thanks for dropping by. I hope you enjoyed reading about CRADLE OF LIES. Come by and visit me any time.

Rebecca E. Grant
Love is Unstoppable



Books by Rebecca E. Grant


CRADLE OF LIES is available April 1 through the publisher Red Sage, or from your favorite online bookseller. Read an excerpt.

Also available is LIBERTY STARR, my first contemporary western romance, available through Carina Press or your favorite online bookseller. Read an excerpt.

Soon to be released is my contemporary romance NAKED HOPE, available through The Wild Rose Press. Read an excerpt.


Here are some links of interest:

Author website

Blog

Facebook Author Page

Twitter

Goodreads



Liberty Starr - excerpt

Naked Hope - excerpt







Thanks, Rebecca for stopping by.


Now be sure to stop by the links and grab yourself a copy or two for yourself.

8 comments:

  1. I was fortunate to have a preview of Cradle of Lies prior to release and can't wait to read the book. I loved Rebecca E. Grant's earlier release Liberty Starr and so happy to see another book in print!

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  2. I just posted and then realized - I forgot to address the questions!! Psyco gene? That is a very scary thought - I don't know anything about the subject, but realized I have seen certain families carry pain from generation to generation. I'd be very interested in knowing if someone has done the research if that is environmental or if there is such a family gene.

    I don't believe I would have children if there is such a gene...but I would be tempted to fall into the marriage -- love is a very powerful force! I do try to be practical - but when I over think - I am alone. Love, love love your theme that Love is unstoppable and it's why I know I'm going to love reading Cradle of Lies -- not much into crime dramas - but I really love to love a hero in a story when love overcomes hardship!

    Question -- do you know someone with a pshyco gene???? In other words, is this based on real life or a fictional character?

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  3. Hi joyceattfth! Thanks so much for your comment and for reading LIBERTY STARR! I believe you'll enjoy CRADLE OF LIES every bit as much! Thanks again for dropping by!

    Rebecca

    Rebecca E. Grant
    Love is Unstoppable
    www.rebeccaegrant.com

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  4. *chuckles* Do I know someone with the psycho gene? I hope not! I was deep into my creative process when the idea of a psycho gene came to me... turns out... there really is some disagreement about whether it exists... so I didnt make it up, after all :)

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  5. I've read a number of stories on this within the last year. One story was in the New Yorker Magazine and the treatments for children born without empathy/compassion. Those traits do appear early in childhood. It's fascinating but awful for the parents and siblings of these challenging kids. If it turned out that this could be passed on to offspring, I would choose not have children of my own.

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  6. Hi Tara... that is one of Cord's greatest struggles... thanks for dropping by and commenting. I found my research on the topic to be fascinating. Sounds like yours was as well!

    Rebecca

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  7. CRADLE OF LIES sounds like a very intriguing story.
    Do I think there is a psycho gene?
    Although I do believe that some people, much like some breeds of dogs, are more likely to be violent, I also believe that nurture can overrule nature. And so I would let my heart rule. Meaning, I would marry him. But having said that, I would error on the side of caution and not have children.
    Do I believe that love is unstoppable?
    Oh, Yes!

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  8. Hi Leanne. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I love your thoughts about nurture overcoming nature. It goes to the very heart of my "Love is Unstoppable" theme!

    Rebecca

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