When I was eight, Nancy Drew and I hid
under my blankets with a flashlight so Mom and Dad wouldn’t clue in. Reading at
midnight was frowned upon in our family, maybe because I couldn’t get up for
school the next day, or because I used too many batteries.
By the age of ten, I’d moved on to raiding
my big brother’s stash of slasher, gangsta, and soldier novels. I craved action
and adventure. There seemed to be sex involved in bro’s books, at least the
ones hidden under his mattress, but I didn’t really understand those parts yet.
At thirteen, my girlfriends and I
discovered romance novels, and life was great. We’d take our paperbacks to the
school library and cover them with brown paper. The librarian didn’t mind—she
read romance, too—we’d see her reading out on the lawn during lunch. After
school, my brothers and I did homework at the dining room table under Mom’s eagle
eye. And I’d read romance. Yep, I’d do
it right under her nose. Of course, Mom clued in when I had to retake Latin in
summer school. I also got my first kiss and paw that year—Blechh!—and I wished teenage boys read romance novels.
While my tastes in reading material have expanded
over the years, one thing has never changed: my love of romantic suspense. Mary
Higgins Clark was an early icon for me. I knew I wanted to write after reading
her mysteries. Later, Lisa Jackson, Nora Roberts, Suzanne Brockmann, and Cindy
Gerard got my feet moving to creative writing classes. I had to do this! Weave romance and action, add a contemporary flavour,
and pit strong-minded gals against their polar opposites...Alpha males who
insist on protecting “the little woman” at all costs.
And so, the Shadow Soldier series was born. These Special Ops guys have finished
their tours of duty, but are still bound to each other by their reserve Spec Ops
unit. They moved back into society as a lawyer, homicide cop, RCMP special
agent, Search and Rescue, and the list goes on. They avoid romantic entanglements
that last longer than a few hours, but have a code of loyalty and honour that
just won’t quit. All they really need is the love of the right women to
straighten them out. Of course, there is always danger to the women they meet.
Jeopardy throws them together whether they like it or not. Hard hitting action
and complex relationships are what my books are all about.
I hope you enjoy reading Dark Abandon as much as I loved writing
it. This is the first book in the series, and I’m busy writing more. I’m hoping
for a 2012 release date for Deadly
Abandon as well.
A special thanks to the many accomplished
authors who have provided me with hours of reading pleasure, and the desire to fulfill
my own dreams as a writer. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me curled up by
the fireplace or down on the dock with a great book.
Tune in tomorrow for an interview with Theo
Sauvage, the hero of Dark Abandon.
Happy
reading everyone! Kallie
It's exciting and also a little frightening to know my first book in the Shadow Soldier series is hitting cyberspace shelves today. It's like sending a child off to school for the first time; all I can do is wish him well and hope for the best.