I am SO excited today to bring you an interview with Maya Banks!
Tell me about yourself, and your writing.
I live in Texas (total southern girl!) with my husband and three teenagers and my “babies,” my Maine Coon DARLINGS whom I ADORE.
I’ve been writing with the intent/pursuit of a CAREER in writing since 2002 but didn’t get my first contract until 2006 and suddenly I had TWO publishers I contracted with within a month of one another.
How long have you been writing? How many published books do you have, and what genres?
As stated above, I BEGAN writing in 2002, received my first contracts in 2006, published my first book with one publisher in 2006 (I actually published 3 that year with that first publisher) but my first contract with a major publisher, though it was signed in 2006, it didn’t publish until September 2007. By that time I had more than half a dozen stories at my other publisher under my belt.
Do you write in multiple genres or just one? If just one, do you ever consider straying outside your genre?
Oh I absolute write across SEVERAL genres. I write in straight contemporary, contemporary erotic romance, contemporary romantic suspense, romantic suspense with psychic elements, Scottish historicals and even a few paranormals toward the beginning of my career just because I loved the story ideas that came to me and so I wrote them.
And no, I’ve written in every genre I can conceivable think that I would WANT to write in, so I don’t see me adding anything further to my repertoire, but I also NEVER say never!
Are you a plotter or do you write from the seat of your pants?
Definitely NOT a plotter where every single aspect of the story is planned and charted out from beginning to end because if it was I’d never write the book because I’d be bored out of my MIND.
What is a typical writing day like for you?
There IS no “typical” writing day for me. I never have any two days the same. Sometimes I write all day, take a break when my family gets home, spend time with them but then stay up late after they’ve gone to bed and work some more. Writing isn’t a job I can “leave” as though I had a 9-5 job where I left my house and once I got home I leave work at work. Since I DO work at home, I’m at the mercy of my constant thinking of the story I’m working on and I often have entire passages come to me and I have to drop EVERYTHING and get those words down or risk forgetting them if I don’t immediately make note of them.
Who do you love to read? Favorite authors, favorite books?
I have several authors I call my “comfort” reads, which means I read and RE-READ their books over and over again because A. I know I’ll read something I love and B. they’re COMFORT reads which is sometimes exactly what I NEED coming off a difficult deadline.
SOME of my “comfort reads/authors” are
Christine Feehan
Julie Garwood
Nalini Singh
Kresley Cole
Kristen Ashley
Older Sharon Sala books
Older Linda Howard books
Older Elizabeth Lowell books
Vintage Jayne Ann Krentz novels
What is something you'd like to accomplish in your writing career next year?
I’d like to reach MORE readers while still ensuring my CURRENT readers stay happy with my books. I’d love to hit the #1 spot on the bestseller lists a 3rd time just well because! LOL
If you could have one paranormal ability, what would it be?
Mind reading because I’m nosy ;)
If you could keep a mythical/ paranormal creature as a pet, what would you have?
Hmm I ADORE cheetahs but I guess they don’t fall under mystical or paranormal creatures but honestly I wouldn’t want a werewolf or vampire. I’m a chicken!
Tell us a little about your latest release.
Keep Me Safe is a LONG awaited story for me. I’ve wanted to write this story and book 3 for SO long. I’ve had those two stories in my head for YEARS. But a concise peek (and I’m not very concise!) is that Ramie has psychic abilities, unique abilities, that enable her to track kidnapping victims by touching an object belonging to the victim. She makes a connection to them, but the downside is that she experiences every thing the victim does once she makes that connection. Everything. So it’s rather horrifying. She’s an empath who is only able to feel or detect the evil in people. Never the good. So her “gift” is more of a curse since she’s never able to feel the GOOD.
Caleb hunts her down when his sister is abducted and they’ve exhausted all leads. He knows he’s racing against the clock and when Ramie refuses because she’s at her breaking point, he “forces” her compliance by shoving his sister’s scarf into her hands and holding her hands around it. And promptly sends her to hell.
Horrified by what he’s done, he’s determined to make it up to her. But she disappears and no amount of searching on his part is able to unearth her. Until she contacts him a year later because she’s in terrible danger and doesn’t know who else to turn to.
And well, thus begins their journey :)
What is something that you absolutely can't live without? (Other than family members)
My laptop!
Could you ever co author a book with someone? If so, who would you choose, and what would you write?
I’m a control freak and I don’t really play well with others. I think a co-author would likely KILL me in the process lol. So I don’t think it would be a very good idea… BUT if I was ever to do one, I think I’d like to pair up with Dee Tenorio or Kristen Ashely
If you could spend a day with anyone from history, dead or alive, who would it be, and what would you do? What would you ask them?
Jesus and well, EVERYTHING lol
What are some of your other hobbies outside of writing?
Traveling, hunting, fishing, playing poker, spur of the moment trips to Vegas, and most of all spending time with and hanging out with my family.
What is something you've always wanted to do, but haven't done yet. Why not?
I’ve always wanted to watch the Aspens turn and see them at the height of their color and I have NO idea WHY I haven’t done it yet. I say EVERY year I want to but when they’re at their peak I just never have the time and am always CRAZY busy with work! Maybe one day….*sigh*
If you were on the staff to have a book adapted to movie, what would you pick?
My KGI series :)
What is a talent you wish you had, but don't?
Patience. And crafty creativity but I suck at it ugh
Favorite color? Orange
Weather: Hot or cold? Cold
Favorite place to read? In bed
Favorite meal My husband’s homemade stir fry/Asian fajitas YUM
Favorite non-alcoholic drink. Strawberry slushie :) (Or grape with do in a pinch!)
If you could travel anywhere and do anything, no limits or money holding you back, where would you go?
To Finland to the igloo hotel room with the completely glass in ceiling so you can lie down on the bed and watch the Aurora Borealis. I SO want to do this one day!
Keep
Me Safe
Slow
Burn # 1
By:
Maya Banks
Releasing
October 7th,
2014
Blurb
A sizzling story
of a woman who risks her life and her heart to find a wealthy man’s
missing sister—the first novel in a sexy new romantic suspense
series from #1 New
York Times
bestselling author Maya Banks
When Caleb
Devereaux's younger sister is kidnapped, this scion of a powerful and
wealthy family turns to an unlikely source for help: a beautiful and
sensitive woman with a gift for finding answers others cannot.
While Ramie can
connect to victims and locate them by feeling their pain, her ability
comes with a price. Every time she uses it, it costs her a piece of
herself. Helping the infuriatingly attractive and impatient Caleb
successfully find his sister nearly destroys her. Even though his
sexual intensity draws her like a magnet, she needs to get as far
away from him as she can.
Deeply remorseful
for the pain he’s caused, Caleb is determined to make things right.
But just when he thinks Ramie's vanished forever, she reappears.
She’s in trouble and she needs his help. Now, Caleb will do risk
everything to protect her—including his heart. . . .
Link
to Follow Tour:
http://www.tastybooktours.com/2014/08/keep-me-safe-slow-burn-1-by-maya-banks.html
Buy
Links
Maya
Banks is a #1 USA Today and New York Times bestselling author whose
chart toppers have included erotic romance, romantic suspense,
contemporary romance, Scottish historical romances. She is the author
of the Breathless Trilogy, the KGI novels, the Sweet series, and the
Colters Legacy novels.
She lives in the South with her husband and three children and other assorted babies, such as her two Bengal kitties and a Calico who’s been with her as long as her youngest child. She’s an avid reader of romance and loves to dish books with her fans and anyone else who’ll listen! She very much enjoys interacting with her readers on Facebook and Twitter as well as in her Yahoo! Group.
She lives in the South with her husband and three children and other assorted babies, such as her two Bengal kitties and a Calico who’s been with her as long as her youngest child. She’s an avid reader of romance and loves to dish books with her fans and anyone else who’ll listen! She very much enjoys interacting with her readers on Facebook and Twitter as well as in her Yahoo! Group.
Author
Links
Website:
http://mayabanks.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMayaBanks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/maya_banks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24978.Maya_Banks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMayaBanks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/maya_banks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24978.Maya_Banks
Chapter
1
Caleb Devereaux turned out of the sharp switchback and onto the
driveway leading up to the tiny mountain cabin, swearing when he hit
pothole after pothole. Fury and impatience simmered in his blood but
the anticipation of having finally found Ramie St. Claire after an
exhaustive search kept his mood from being completely black.
Ramie was his sister, Tori’s, only hope.
The
moment Tori was kidnapped, Caleb had begun his search for Ramie St.
Claire. She certainly wasn’t the first person on most people’s
go-to list when looking for a loved one. Ramie was psychic and had
been helpful in locating victims in the past. While many would be
skeptical, Caleb absolutely believed in Ramie’s abilities.
His
own sister had psychic abilities.
He
and his brothers, Beau and Quinn, had always been extremely
overprotective of their baby sister. With good reason. Caleb was the
head of a veritable empire. Security was always top priority. They’d
always feared kidnapping for ransom, but in their worst nightmares
they’d never imagined that Tori would simply disappear and be at
the mercy of a madman.
There’d
been no ransom demand. Simply a video of Tori bound hand and foot and
the maniacal laughter of her captor as he told Caleb to kiss his
sister goodbye.
He
just prayed he wasn’t too late. God, don’t let it be too late for
Tori.
It
infuriated him that Ramie St. Claire had simply dropped off the map
three months ago. No trace of her, no forwarding address. No evidence
that she even existed. How could she simply disappear when she was
such an invaluable aid in finding kidnap victims and missing persons?
How selfish of her to simply refuse, by her actions, to help anyone?
He’d
worked himself into a rage by the time he finally pulled up to the
small cabin that looked as though it wouldn’t weather the upcoming
winter at all. He wasn’t even certain there would be electricity.
Only a person determined not to be found would live in a place like
this.
He
got out and strode to the ramshackle front door, his fist up and
pounding. The door shook and rattled under the force of his knock.
Only silence greeted him and it sent his blood pressure soaring.
“Miss
St. Claire!” he roared. “Answer the goddamn door!”
He
beat on the door again, shouting again for her to answer. He likely
looked and sounded like the madman holding his sister, but at this
point he didn’t care. He was beyond desperation. It had taken every
resource available to him to finally track Ramie down. No way in hell
he was leaving until he’d gotten the information he’d come for.
Then
the door swung open and he was greeted by the sight of a petite woman
with wary, gray eyes. He was momentarily taken aback, going silent as
he stared at Ramie St. Claire for the first time in person.
The
photos he’d seen of her didn’t do her justice. There was a
delicate air to her as though she were recovering from an illness,
but it in no way detracted from her beauty. She looked…fragile. He
felt a brief moment of guilt for what he was about to ask her to do,
but he brushed it away. There was no price too high to pay for his
sister’s life.
“I
can’t help you.”
Her
softly spoken words slid like velvet over his ears, a direct contrast
from the anger her refusal caused. He hadn’t even made his request
yet and she was already giving him the brush-off.
“You
don’t even know what it is I want,” he said in an icy tone that
would wither most people.
“It’s
rather obvious,” she said wearily, fatigue drooping her eyelids.
“Why else would you come all this way? I don’t even want to know
how you found me. It’s obvious I did a piss poor job of covering my
tracks if you managed to find me here.”
Caleb
frowned. Had she been ill? Was that why she’d dropped out of sight
so she could recover? It didn’t matter why now that he’d found
her. He didn’t care what her reasons were.
“With
your abilities why would you purposely make yourself difficult to
find?” he demanded. “My sister’s life is at stake here, Miss
St. Claire. I’m not merely asking you to help me. I’m not leaving
until you do.”
She
shook her head adamantly, fear chasing the lethargy from her eyes. “I
can’t.”
There
was quiet desperation to her words that told him there was more to
her refusal than what appeared on the surface. Something was wrong
and yet he couldn’t summon any regret for forcing her compliance.
Not when Tori’s life hung in the balance.
He
reached inside his jacket and pulled out Tori’s scarf. The one item
they’d found at the sight where she must have been taken. In the
parking lot of a grocery store beside the open door of her car. He
should have never let her go alone. He’d failed her. Failed to
protect her. Failed to ensure proper security.
Ramie
immediately backed away, a desperate cry on her lips. He shoved
forward, forcing the scarf into her hands and holding her and the
scarf so there was no escape. She emitted a broken sob and she looked
up at him, stricken, her face going unnaturally pale. Her pupils
flared and then clouded, pain and devastation clearly outlined on her
features.
“No,”
she whispered. “Not again. Oh God, not again. I won’t survive
it.”
Her
knees buckled and she would have gone down, but he caught her,
ensuring the scarf never lost contact with her hands. He watched in
horror as Ramie’s body sagged, slipping from his grasp despite his
best effort to support her weight. She was simply lifeless, as limp
as a rag doll. He quickly followed her down to the floor, determined
that she not lose her grip on Tori’s scarf. But it didn’t seem to
matter now. Ramie was somewhere else.
Her
eyes glazed over and her body began to twitch spasmodically. She
curled into a fetal position, the fragility of such a self-protective
measure gutting him. She moaned softly and then began to weep.
“Please
don’t hurt me again. Please, I’m begging you. I can’t take any
more. If you’re going to kill me, just do it. Quit torturing me.”
Chill
bumps spread rapidly up Caleb’s nape as Ramie’s voice, which
sounded nearly identical to Tori’s, filled his ears. Dear God, was
he witnessing what was happening to his sister through Ramie?
The
scene Ramie was painting was horrifying. Not only for the fact that
his sister was even now enduring the absolute worse. But from all
appearances, Ramie was suffering with her.
He’d
certainly done his research on Ramie St. Claire’s abilities but
there was little information beyond her astonishing success record.
No mention of how she managed to help victims or what it did to her.
God help them all. What had he done?
Her
body jerked and it took only a moment for Caleb to realize what was
happening. It was too unmistakable. Bile rose in his throat and he
had to suck in steadying breaths to keep from heaving the contents of
his stomach on the floor. Tears burned his eyelids as he helplessly
watched his sister being raped through the window of Ramie’s
awareness.
Ramie’s
weeping tore at his heart and he gathered her into his arms, not
knowing what else to do but rock her gently. “Tori?” He whispered
his sister’s name experimentally, not knowing if a link had been
established through Ramie. “Can you hear me? It’s Caleb. Tell me
where you are, honey. I’ll come for you. Hold on please. Don’t
give up, no matter how bad it is.”
Ramie’s
head jerked sideways and the imprint of a hand immediately appeared
on her cheek. Caleb was horrified, unsure of what to do now that he’d
crossed a line he couldn’t come back from. He tried to push back
his guilt, telling himself that anything that helped him recover his
sister was worth it. But was torturing an innocent woman worth it?
He
hadn’t given her a choice. She’d told him no and yet he’d
forced this on her not knowing the heavy toll it would take. He had
no idea how her powers worked and now that he did he was sick to his
soul. No wonder she’d been so resistant. No wonder she’d told him
she couldn’t do it anymore.
“Ramie.
Ramie!” he said in a more forceful voice. “Come back to me,
Ramie. Come back so you can tell me how to find her.”
Ramie’s
eyes were opened but so distant that he knew she wasn’t here. The
imprint of the hand on her face was bright and vivid, red against
deathly white skin. There was a look of such defeat and despair in
her eyes that once again he found himself battling tears.
Suddenly
she hunched inward, her entire body jolting as though absorbing a
blow. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and he realized that
she’d been kicked. Or rather Tori had been kicked. It was a
horrific, helpless feeling to know that two women were being
victimized, one because of him.
Then
she simply rolled away, her cheek lying against the cold floor, her
eyes fixed and vacant. She was completely still and terror gripped
him. Was Tori dead? Oh dear God! Had he just witnessed his sister’s
murder?
“Ramie!
Wake up! God, please wake up. Tell me how to find her. Tell me that
she’s still alive!”
He
picked Ramie’s slight weight up, swearing because she was so thin
and fragile, weighing nothing in his arms. He carried her to the worn
sofa and carefully laid her down, not wanting to hurt her any more
than she’d already been hurt.
He
sat on the edge, gathering her icy hands in his, rubbing, trying to
infuse warmth. He had no idea what to do. Should he take her to a
hospital?
Then
after several long moments, she blinked and seemed to come out of her
trance. Pain immediately swamped her features and she began to
silently weep again, each tear cutting him to ribbons.
“Is
she still alive?” he asked anxiously. “Do you know how to find
her?”
“Yes,”
Ramie said dully.
Hope
surged in his heart and he found himself nearly crushing her hands in
his.
“Tell
me where,” he urged.
Slowly
and painfully she whispered the location down to the minutest detail.
Chills once again slithered up his spine at the precision in which
she described not only the location but the kidnapper. She even
provided a license plate number.
He
picked up his phone and immediately called his brother, relaying the
information that Ramie had provided. When he was done, he stared
helplessly down at Ramie, grateful and yet deeply regretful for what
he’d just subjected her to.
“What
do I need to do to help you?” he asked softly.
Resignation
dulled her eyes even further. “There’s nothing you can do,” she
said in a flat voice. “Just go.”
“The
hell I’ll just leave you here!”
He
was already calculating in his head that he could simply bring her
with him. He could get her the care she so obviously needed at the
same time Tori was receiving what she needed.
“Your
sister needs you. Just go. I’ll be fine.”
The
lie was so obvious, but it seemed to be all she could muster. He was
torn between rushing to be with Tori and staying to ensure Ramie
would be all right. But how could she be? Two women would live with
this for the rest of their lives. His precious sister and the woman
he’d forced to help him never knowing the price she’d pay.
“Please,”
she begged, her voice breaking. “Just go and leave me be. I gave
you what you wanted. I helped you, now go. It’s the least you can
do.”
Caleb
stood, wiping a hand over his hair and down the back of his neck in
agitation. “I’ll go, but I’m coming back, Ramie. I’m going to
make this up to you.”
“You
can never take this back,” she whispered. “There’s no making up
for what’s been done. Just go and take care of your sister. She
needs you.”
She
closed her eyes, tears seeping from her eyelids. How could he just
leave her like she asked? And yet how could he not go and ensure that
his sister was safely recovered? He’d never felt so torn in his
life.
“If
you have any humanity whatsoever, you’ll leave and never tell
anyone where you found me,” Ramie said hoarsely. “Please, I’m
begging you. Just go. He plans to kill her tomorrow. At dawn. You
don’t have much time.”
Her
words proved to be the impetus, driving him to action. But goddamn
it, he would make this up to her. Somehow, someway.
Regret
swamped him. Worse was the fact that even knowing now what he hadn’t
known before, he couldn’t say he would have done anything
differently. Not when it meant the difference between Tori’s life
and death. But at least now he better understood Ramie’s
resistance. No longer did he look at her and think she was selfish
and cruel. Now he realized her disappearance had been
self-preservation. He didn’t know she’d survived this in the
past. He just prayed he wasn’t the tipping point in pushing her so
far over the edge she’d never recover.
Caleb
closed his eyes and then gently touched her cheek. “I’m so sorry.
You’ll never know how much. My family and I owe you more than I can
ever repay. I’ll go for now and pray to God I’m not too late. But
I’m coming back, Ramie. Count on it. I’ll make this up to you if
it’s the very last thing I do.”
Great interview - loved the excerpt! Thanks for the giveaway!
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