This week's special guest at the Tiki Hut is author Barbara Clark. Barbara stops by this week to talk about her paranormal romance series and to celebrate her 80th birthday with us!
"All dreams lie beyond defeat." That quote has inspired Barbara Clark to keep writing and creating new stories set in a variety of locations from California to a glittering penthouse in New York City, a working cattle rance in Arizona, the Sahara Desert, and the heat and danger of a Brazilian Rain Forest.
Writing as April Reid, her erotic romances plunge into fantasy worlds where dragons speak and magic rules. Her readers have come to expect deep emotions, simple joys, and heart-stopping peril in her award-winning books.
WEBSITE *** NEWSLETTER *** FACEBOOK *** TWITTER
Today, I'd like to talk about the second book in my Sons of Earth and Wind paranormal romance series, A BREATH OF HEATHER.
In her second paranormal romance, Barbara Clark tells us more about Heather Carter who was introduced in Book I, TEARS OF THE HAWK .
WIN - Leave a question or comment anytime this week to get your name in the hat for a box full of of items from assorted authors--things Barbara picked up for this purpose at the RWA National conference this summer. Each box includes a tote bag, water bottle, and books. Barbara will also include an autographed copy of one of her books!
Writing as April Reid, her erotic romances plunge into fantasy worlds where dragons speak and magic rules. Her readers have come to expect deep emotions, simple joys, and heart-stopping peril in her award-winning books.
WEBSITE *** NEWSLETTER *** FACEBOOK *** TWITTER
Today, I'd like to talk about the second book in my Sons of Earth and Wind paranormal romance series, A BREATH OF HEATHER.
Sonds of Earth and Wind Book II
In her second paranormal romance, Barbara Clark tells us more about Heather Carter who was introduced in Book I, TEARS OF THE HAWK .
Heather Carter, a gentle psychic with a painful secret, struggles against danger and her attraction to the former covert agent, Quinn Archer.
Quinn, betrayed in the past by a woman with secrets, is stunned by his desire for Heather, a desire he fights. But as he takes on the self-appointed task to protect her, will he learn too late that loving Heather will free him from the chains of the past?
The idea
for A BREATH OF HEATHER began when my daughter was a substitute teacher at
another school in the same district where I was teaching at the time.
She was in
the middle of a lesson when the school Principal rushed into her classroom,
said, “Emergency lockdown, lock the door,” and left, closing the door behind
her. My daughter locked the door and switched off the lights while two students
closed the classroom windows, and the rest of the children dropped to the
classroom floor.
She
answered the classroom telephone and learned a carload of gangbangers were
driving around the outside perimeter of the school grounds, shouting threats
and pointing weapons at children laying flat on the blacktop.
Her
classroom was situated with the back only a few feet from the street. As
everyone in the room huddled, in the dark, on the floor, keeping silent so they
wouldn’t become targets, they heard the gang members slowly passing the
building; even heard them talking. Minutes later the sound of sirens announced
the police cars in pursuit.
I
changed the setting to the school where I taught and used that threat as the
opening of the story:
~~~
Something’s wrong.
With a
growing sense of urgency, Heather Carter searched for the source of trouble among the hundred and fifty first
and second grade students
playing in the warm California sunlight. Everywhere she looked she saw only normal activity—the joy and
restless energy of children.
And
yet, to her inborn special perceptions, the earth vibrated with a sense of menace. The slight breeze hushed as if
holding its breath. In the park
beyond the chain link fencing, a flock of crows suddenly took flight, voicing their warning calls as they soared above
the eucalyptus and pepper
trees.
Few
cars used North Street in the morning, so the midnight-blue van with tinted windows cruising slowly toward the
school caught Heather’s
attention.
Probably
a parent bringing a child late, was her first thought. But some internal warning shouted danger.
Instead
of pulling into the parking lot, the van stopped in the red zone parallel to the playground. A window on the
passenger side slid down and a
young Hispanic man with a shaved head pointed a handgun toward the children on the swings. At the same
time, the driver stepped outside the
van and aimed across the metal roof.
All
sound died.
“Emergency
lock-in,” Heather shouted, motioning for children near the buildings to run for the nearest door.
Someone
yelled, “Vipers!”
Children
screamed and scattered. Some dashed into classrooms. Others ran to the bathrooms or down the open
hallways between classroom
wings. Heather watched in numbed horror as one boy tripped and two more fell over him. They jumped up and
scrambled to safety. A few
children raced to Heather sobbing in terror.
She
clutched them tightly for a brief moment, then said, “Quick, get down.”
Boys
and girls farther from the buildings threw themselves flat, face down on the grass or blacktop. Abandoned balls
rolled across the Four Square and
Handball courts.
One
lone girl stood, a bewildered expression on her face, her blonde hair a bright target.
~~~
After Heather pulls Brianna to the ground to
protect her, someone else comes to guard the child’s other side:
A few paragraphs down, we learn about Heather
Carter’s paranormal ability to call and manipulate the wind:
~~~
Heather
knew she had to do something now, and broke her own vow to hide her special gifts.
Whispering
a chant, she sent tendrils of energy fanning out across the nearby park and found a curl of breeze. In a
low voice, she called, “From the soil, from the sand, from the windswept sky,” coaxing the energy away
from a small updraft, and toward the heat and sand under the swings. It cheerfully picked up speed and
swirled between the children on
the ground as it gathered a column of brown dust and grit.
With
the leashed power in her control, Heather slid her right hand along the ground, stretched her fingers toward the
gunmen, and released the
wind. It raced around them, plucked at their hair, tugged their clothes, and blasted sand at their faces.
~~~
“Where are the police?” Heather asked through
trembling lips.
“Probably
on silent running.” Strong fingers clasped her left shoulder.
She
looked across Brianna’s blonde head into clear, winter-gray eyes set in a tanned, harsh face. A jagged scar
slashed in a curve from the corner of
his right eye up into coal-black hair. He had the aura of a man who’d looked into the depths of hell and
survived, stronger than ever.
Heather
licked her dry lips. “Who are you?”
“I’m
Quinn Archer, Brianna’s dad.” He glanced at the precious little girl sheltered between them. “I can’t thank
you enough for coming to her
rescue.”
~~~
The attraction between Quinn and Heather will
grow until a time of great danger when each will willingly put their life on
the line for the other.
This book has been selling in print and ebook
since 2002 at: Amber Quill Press
Come back tomorrow, Wednesday, to learn what a
nose snapper is and my venture into Karate—with photos .
Remember—leave a comment for a chance to win
the giveaway.
Good Luck,
Barbara
WIN - Leave a question or comment anytime this week to get your name in the hat for a box full of of items from assorted authors--things Barbara picked up for this purpose at the RWA National conference this summer. Each box includes a tote bag, water bottle, and books. Barbara will also include an autographed copy of one of her books!
