Interview with Erotic Author, Gracie C. McKeever!

Congratulations to Marie for winning a copy of 

"Desiree's Lone Wolves" from Gracie!

 Gracie C. McKeever

Erotic Romance Author

     We're visiting with Gracie C. McKeever this week at the The Double R Ranch in McCoy, Colorado. Gracie is the author of The Double R Series, writing as Gigi Moore and will share her latest release Maia’s Magickal Mates, Book 3. Under Gracie C. McKeever, she writes erotic fantasy and paranormal. 

     We've strapped on our chaps and have selected a crop. Perhaps we'll ride a Cowboy....er we mean a bronc in a little while. There's Gracie standing by the coral watching a sexy cowboy break in a horse. 


     Before we mozy on over to chat with Gracie, we want to mention her giveaway contest. 


     Gracie will be giving away two e-books (PDF) as follows: 1 copy of Desiree’s Lone Wolves, winner to be chosen randomly from commenters who post on Monday, 6/18/12 and 1 copy of Maia’s Magickal Mates, winner to be chosen randomly from commenters who post on Friday, 6/22/12. 
 

Naughty Reader’s: Hi Gracie! Thanks for inviting us to the ranch. Sure is a lot of eye candy here! Tell us a bit about yourself  that our readers might not know.

Gracie: Hmm, besides writing I love to read, go to the movies (kind of a junky, especially for futuristic, sci-fi and paranormal stuff) and hang out with my family and friends. I like playing sports when I’m not watching them on television or when I’m not at the EDJ (evil day job). My favorite sport to watch is tennis (I’m a big Novak Djokovic fan). I love playing handball, started kickboxing a little over two years ago and love that too. Let’s see… I’m a Facebook addict, love rollercoasters, have several tattoos, hate to cook and am a tomboy from way back when. I think that’s about it to start, LOL.

Naughty Reader’s: What made you want to become a writer?

Gracie: It wasn’t any one thing that made me want to become a writer. I’ve just always written and loved to write since I was a kid spinning tales at seven years old. Writing has always been something I thought I would do; I just wasn’t always sure I could make writing more than just a hobby.

Naughty Reader’s: Please share a bit about your new release¸ Maia’s Magickal Mates, without giving away any spoilers.

Gracie: Maia’s Magickal Mates is the final book in The Double R series and is an interracial ménage a trois story about two gifted, Wiccan brothers who fall in love with a gifted, Wiccan woman.  Problems arise when the trio are stalked by a megalomaniac black magic Wiccan who wants to siphon their powers for himself.

Excerpt:

Never one to sit on his hands when something needed to be done, Cade mulled his dilemma the entire afternoon in Jesse and Maia’s company.

They went from one end of the ranch to the other, meeting with the other ranch employees and guests, finally sitting in the bleachers for a spell to watch one of the scheduled performances at the Old Western town with the rest of the ranch guest audience.

Then it came to him.

“What are you doing tonight?” He didn’t turn his glance from the staged shoot-out unfolding before him—nice stunts and effects—but felt the tension floating off Maia sitting beside him.

“Um, actually, I have a date.”

He turned to her then, drawn by the hesitation in her voice.

Had she made up the date, trying to let him down easy and circumvent him asking her out, or did she actually have a date?

Cade was a second away from outright asking her with whom—because really what were the odds that she and Thayne had a date on the same night, the day after his revelatory dream?—but decided to take another tack. “How serious are you?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Of course it is, if I’m interested.”

“Are you?”

He didn’t miss the way her voice cracked on the question and gave her one of his most winning grins. He’d been told he had an arsenal. “Of course I am. What man wouldn’t be?”

She looked confused for a moment and Cade pounced. “I know you find me attractive.”

“You certainly are full of yourself.”

He laughed, enjoying her spirit, just like he’d sensed in his earlier wet dream. She was everything he had envisioned and more.

Cade knew why his parents, or Fate, or whomever, had deemed a ménage a trois between him, Maia, and Thayne necessary. The little spitfire needed at least two men to keep her in line.

Like you need Thayne to keep you in line?

When he thought about it, a threesome was actually the perfect relationship for him.

Thayne could take care of Maia’s emotional, feminine needs, Cade decided, and he could take care of her physical needs. Not that Thayne wouldn’t be getting into the physical, sexual action, too, but Cade was perfectly happy leaving the sensitive communication parts strictly in his brother’s hands.

“I’m not full of myself. I just know what I see.” Cade reached out to caress her naturally full, bee-stung lips with his thumb. “And I know what I feel,” he added for good measure.

“Sex magick?”

“You’re a Wiccan.” He had noticed her sterling silver jewelry—the ankh she wore around her neck, the Goddess ring on her right index finger, and the dangling moon earrings—mentally adding yet another item to the pro side of why she was perfect for him and Thayne.

“I…yes. And you?”

“Me?” Cade raised his eyebrows. “Not so much.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Going to use that to eliminate a perfectly good mate?” Oh, shit! Had he really said that? He hadn’t meant to, didn’t want to give her any ideas. He just needed to get close enough to her, bring her into the fold to let Thayne work his charm on her, not make her think this was leading anywhere serious, at least not with Cade.

“I wouldn’t do that. You’d have to be completely unsuitable for me in other ways.”

Cade grinned, felt her warming up to the chase. “Such as?”

“Well, arrogance for one. It’s a totally unattractive trait.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

“Hmm, we’re going to have to see about changing your mind on that.”

“You can tr—”

Cade had bent his head and buried her retort beneath his hungry mouth. It surprised him when she breathlessly parted her lips and let in his tongue to stroke hers, but then either reaction—acquiescence or resistance—only confirmed what he knew to be her contrary nature.

She let him go a little deeper, groaning low in her throat before suddenly pulling away. She stared at him, espresso eyes opened wide as she panted. “What was that for?”

“Don’t you know, little Maia?”

“I’m not little.”

“Yeah you are, but you’re just right for me and…” He almost slipped and said Thayne but stopped just in time. He didn’t want to scare the woman away, but from the expression on her face, he might already have. Damn.

Maia used the lull to stand. “We’ll have to finish this another time. I’ve got things to do.”

“Places to go, people to see…a date to get ready for?”

“That’s right.”

“Make no mistake about it, little Maia. We are in no way finished.”

“I…I have to go.” She squeezed by him to exit the bleachers, excusing and pardoning her way by the rest of the spectators in their row until she was clear of all the obstructive knees and toes and could trudge down the stairs.

Cade watched her retreat, appreciating the smooth sway of her generous hips.

Yeah, she was little, a shorty as the homeboys would call her, but stacked in all the right places and just right for him as he’d told her.

Jesse made it back from getting snacks just in time to catch the tail end of Maia’s great escape. “Where’s she off to?”

“Getting ready for her date.” Cade smiled, already planning his next move to get little Maia right where she belonged—with him and Thayne.

Naughty Reader’s: Threesome, magic and cowboys. Sounds like a delicious story Gracie! Do you write under a pen name? Hey, Tonya!! Come back here! You can't use a pitch fork and nobody's in the barn right now!

Gracie: OMG! I think she's gone! Yes. The Double R series is actually written under my Gigi Moore pseudonym.

Naughty Reader’s: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Gracie: I love heroes and heroines who are strong but who have faults and are engaging and sympathetic. I like my heroes and heroines to have universal problems that I can recognize and to which I can relate. Alpha heroes are okay, but again I like mine to have faults and weaknesses that make them sympathetic and relatable (human). I like my heroines to be intelligent and independent. I HATE TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) heroines or heroes.

Naughty Reader’s: Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Gracie: Since I have a 9 to 5 I do a lot of my writing on the go—on the commute to and from work or during breaks at the job. During weekdays in the evening I try to get as much writing done as I can before bed and if I’m on a roll I can, unfortunately, go into the wee hours sometimes, hitting the sack at 2am before my alarm goes off at 5:45am. On weekends, if I’m not editing and polishing what I’ve written during the week before starting a new scene, chapter or doing character backgrounds, I’m promoting my work online.

Naughty Reader’s: Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Gracie: My books are all different and have common themes. They’re different in the sense that the characters have various backgrounds and belief systems and their stories take place in varying locations and at different time periods. Also, though all of my books fall under the romance and erotic romance umbrella, I cross a lot of genres under that umbrella—from contemporary, to interracial, to mystery/suspense, to paranormal, to shapeshifters, to time travel, and to urban fantasy, just to name several.

I do have numerous common author themes that run through all my books though, the main ones being forgiveness, healing, redemption and sometimes revenge.

Naughty Reader’s: How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Gracie: I like to get down a minimum of 1K words daily, which is a good pace for me to finish a full-length novel in about 3 months. A 2K-3K-word-a-day output is a nice but rare gift for me.

Naughty Reader’s: Do you have to be alone to write?

Gracie: I write whenever and wherever I can so technically no. Sometimes an idea will strike me while I’m walking home from the train. In this instance I’ll just pull out a handy pen and pad from my backpack and start writing down a scene surrounded by pedestrian traffic and street noise. If I’m in a zone I won’t notice any of the distractions around me. I prefer writing alone at home on my PC, my only company the background noise of the television or sometimes, to set a mood, I’ll open Pandora and listen to music while I write.

Naughty Reader’s: How do you go about naming characters?

Gracie: I use a few different methods. Normally, I’ll crack open my copy of The Writer’s Digest Character Naming Sourcebook to see what name would perfectly suit my hero/heroine and villain. I came up with Prentice (the villain from Maia’s Magickal Mates) from this sourcebook. I search popular baby naming sites for character names. I also keep a running list of interesting-sounding names that I pick up from television, movies or friends and family who know I write and give me names for future reference. I picked up the name Caution, the hero of In Plain Sight from an action/adventure movie I saw where the protagonist’s name was Caution. I thought it sounded like a perfect romance hero’s name and took it down for future use. In the case of Genesis from Guardian Seductress it wasn’t necessarily a name, but a description, place and/or concept that struck me from a SyFy movie and I thought it would make a good urban fantasy, shapeshifter heroine’s name. I came up with Maia’s Magickal Mates heroes’ mother’s name (Brielle) after hearing it from a documentary I was watching.

Naughty Reader’s: Uh oh, there goes a ranch hand into the stables! Should we warn him Tonya is still in there somewhere? Nah, he can handle himself! Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Gracie: It’s easier to write about my characters if I have a clear picture of them in my mind before I start than if I don’t, although I have written a character first before finding character pictures.

Naughty Reader’s: How do you pick locations for your stories?

Gracie: It depends on the demands and requirements of my story and my characters’ backgrounds. For example, if I’m writing a contemporary Western, the location I finally settle on comes from a combination of my research of numerous locations that boast ranches or a modern western setting, and narrowing it down to where I can perfectly see my characters living and breathing. If I’m writing an Old West story or time travel then the historical significance of the area plays in my decision. Many of my characters come from urban areas, usually New York City and are transplanted to other areas unless the story takes place in New York. I probably pick New York to start with because I live here and know it pretty well, so I already have built-in knowledge of the area. When my characters move (like the heroes and heroines in Desiree’s Lone Wolves and Maia’s Magickal Mates) it’s usually for the demands of their career, or they’re hoping to make a fresh start, escape from a horrible situation or find refuge. McCoy, Colorado, the setting for The Double R series, is so off-the-beaten-path, naturally beautiful and tranquil that it makes the perfect place for all of the above reasons as well as meets the stories’ requirements. 

Naughty Reader’s: Are you a pantser or do you outline?

Gracie: I’m a little of both. Since my stories are more character-driven than plot-driven, I usually put more emphasis on getting to know my characters and getting down their backgrounds before I start my story than writing an outline. I swear by Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation and Conflict and The Writer’s Guide to Character Traits by Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D, to help me with characterization. With a combination of a detailed character background and a short premise (50-100 words) I can usually start my story and from there I outline a few scenes and chapters as I go (the same way I edit) rather than outline the entire book at one time and/or before I begin the story.

Naughty Reader’s: What are you working on now and what should readers be looking forward to from you in the future?

Gracie: I’m working on a spin-off series of The Double R series called Elk Creek. The first story in the Elk Creek series is Lily’s Secrets and features Lily and Wyatt Baldwin who are introduced in Maia’s Magickal Mates. I have at least three more stories planned for Elk Creek—Sabrina’s Surrender, Lucy’s Liberation and Rebel’s Redemption—and maybe more depending on how things progress. All of the stories will be ménage a trois erotic romance (M/F/M) with at least one being M/M/F. 

Naughty Reader's: Where can the readers learn more about you and your books?

Gracie: On my Author Website, my Blog, Twitter and Facebook. My books are on Amazon; Gracie C. McKeever and Gigi Moore, and on Bookstrand; Gracie C.McKeever and Gigi Moore

Naughty Reader's: Gracie, thanks again for chatting with us this week. Readers, don't forget the contest and visit Gracie on her sites.

Contest:  Giveaway - two e-books (PDF) as follows: 1 copy of Desiree’s Lone Wolves, winner to be chosen randomly from commenters  who post on Monday, 6/18/12 and 1 copy of Maia’s Magickal Mates, winner to be chosen randomly from commenters who post on Friday, 6/22/12.