When the ‘good’ man is bad, and the ‘bad’ man is good, how’s a young woman to choose?
Mercenary
captain Drake Ashton is neck deep in preparations for the Spanish-American War,
running guns and other supplies to Cuban natives who want out from under their
Spanish masters. He and his brother Freddie risk their lives daily, focused on
saving his friends on the island. Nothing else matters but his mission.
A chance
encounter with a spiny sea urchin brings the two together, and neither of their
lives will ever be the same again.
Good
morning, Captain. Let’s begin with where you are from. I grew up on a small coral rock house on the west
shore of the Florida Keys, outside Islamorada.
Tell
us a bit about Prophecies and Promises. Well,
I haven’t quite finished it yet, but it seems to be a story about me deciding
if I can allow love into my life, and whether the woman I love can love me as
well.
What
did you think the first time you saw Tamsyn McKiernan? We were on the beach and she was perfectly framed by
the sunlight; she was absolutely beautiful.
What was your second thought? I was mostly yelling because I'd just been I’d just been stabbed by a sea urchin spine. Unbelievably painful. But Tamsyn dropped everything and rushed to get it out and get me on the road to health once again.
Do you
feel it was love at first sight? Yes,
especially when I put that together with the obeah woman’s prediction for me.
What
do you like most about Tamsyn? She’s
brilliant. She has a wide base of
knowledge in natural things, if not so much in all the ways of modern society
in 1897. But at the same time, she hasn’t lost a childish curiosity—she wants
to learn everything she can. I find that fascinating and compelling.
How
would you describe her? She’s young,
so she tends to be impulsive, which can be maddening. She loves her father very
much, and I know she’s trying to please him as well as the rest of her society,
but I can’t imagine that she can make him happy. She’s just as appealing when she’s
dressed for a ball as she is with her hair let down, her skirts rolled up to her
knees, walking through the tide’s edge, picking up shells.
How
would she describe you? She probably
thinks I’m a fool, since she’s always having to patch me up after some scrap or
other. I probably would have died if she hadn’t saved me after the ambush at Matanzas.
She seems happy when she’s around me, so maybe she’d say I bring her joy?
What
made you choose being a mercenary captain for a career? I don’t know if I “chose” it as much as it was thrust
upon me. When friend that my brother and I had made over the years on the Cuban
island decided they wanted to be independent of Spanish rule, Freddie and I
just naturally took it upon ourselves to find them weapons and other supplies and
supports they’d need to accomplish their goal. Since then it’s grown into a
full-time occupation!
What
is your biggest fear? I feel like I
have to take care of so many other people—I would hate myself if I let them
down. They count on me.
How
do you relax? I love to sit around an
open fire on one beach or another, with my crew, singing and laughing,
lubricated with plenty of rum.
Who
is your favorite fictional character? Don
Quixote. I believe that going after what is important to you, no matter the
cost, is the best path one’s life can take.
What
is the best piece of advice you ever received? A captain who’s a good friend of mine encouraged me to
let loose of my responsibilities in Cuba, now that America has entered the war
and is looking out for my people. He told me then I’d be free to look out for
what I really wanted—and he knew I wanted Tamsyn.
Thank
you, Captain. Now we’d like to chat with Alana.
What
movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? I’ve enjoyed Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books. She has a
way of portraying those who are underdogs as somehow important and watching
them achieve success is always gratifying. I hope I do the same with my
characters.
Is
there an event in your private life that you were able to bring to this story
and how do you feel it impacted the novel? Not so much a single event, but I lived just north of the Florida Keys
in Homestead, Florida for a number of years and spent many happy hours in the Keys.
Much of my worldbuilding here is taken right from things I’ve observed and
enjoyed.
Tell
us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced
your decision to submit to them? One
of the other writers in my critique group. Kathy Otten, had been multi-published
with The Wild Rose Press, so I thought I’d give them a chance. This is now my
fifth book with them. My editor, Ally Robertson, and I have put out three books
together!
What
book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? I’ve slowly been collecting all the new DUNE books written by Frank
Herbert’s son. One of these days I’m going to begin at the new beginning (with
the prequels) and blazed through the 30 or so volumes,
Lastly, what's up next and
when can we expect to see it on the shelves? I’m currently working on another volume in the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers series
that I expect will be submitted sometime this fall.
Alana brought
an excerpt for us:
His own
fortunes lay along a much different path.
If Drake
were to be caught by the Spaniards, it wasn’t likely he’d live to be tried for
the crime back on the mainland. The Spanish were known for their quick tempers
and sharp swords. The mercenary trade paid him well, for now, and if the
buzzing rumors he’d heard on the Pickham veranda were true, war would come
within the year. Guns were a prime commodity in time of war. He always carried
rum when he returned from the islands, of course, and sugar and tropical
fruits, to cover his real motives. He had not been interdicted yet. As young
men often did, he played the odds and planned to beat them.
For the
first time, however, that focus was shaken by thoughts of this woman.
What
distinguished Tamsyn MacKiernan from the other women he’d met in a hundred
different ports? Drake couldn’t put his finger on it. He just knew she appealed
to his heart in a way that possessed him. She held an intriguing blend of
strength and vulnerability, stomach ironclad in the face of blood yet timid as
a lost waif left alone in the midst of the ball. He wanted to know her better.
But she
was to be married. Even if he had been able to marry her, even though he had a
proper home with a hired woman to maintain it, it was nothing compared with the
empire Winslow would command in a few years. Drake knew he had no business
thinking Tamsyn might prefer a lonely pirate to the golden boy.
Damnation!
To learn more
about Alana Lorens and the stories she creates, go to:
Website
http://Alana-lorens.com
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AlanaLorens/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4829967.Alana_Lorens
Amazon Author
Page
https://www.amazon.com/Alana-Lorens/e/B005GE0WBC/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
To
purchase Prophecies and Promises, go to:
B&N: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prophecies-and-promises-alana-lorens/1141068092?ean=9781509241446
https://shop.aer.io/TheWildRosePress/p/Prophecies_and_Promises/9781509241446-11180?ni=true
Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFWs54EUJeU
Enjoyed the interview!
ReplyDeleteLove the excerpt - your hero sounds hero-worthy of the woman he is falling for.
ReplyDelete