About Me
- Pamela Clare
- I grew up in Colorado at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, then lived in Denmark and traveled throughout Europe before coming back to Colorado. I have two adult sons, whom I cherish. I started my writing career as a columnist and investigative reporter and eventually became the first woman editor of two different papers. Along the way, my team and I won numerous state and several national awards, including the National Journalism Award for Public Service. In 2011, I was awarded the Keeper of the Flame Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalism. Now I write historical romance and contemporary romantic suspense.
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Showing posts with label Defiant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Defiant. Show all posts
Monday, August 26, 2013
DEFIANT is out in audiobook! Let’s celebrate with a giveaway!
I hope this makes your Monday a bit brighter.
Defiant, the third book in the MacKinnon’s Rangers series, is out today in audiobook format narrated by the extremely talented and award-winning Kaleo Griffith. Now the entire series is available.
Defiant, like Surrender back in 2007, was a RITA finalist this year. The RITA Awards are the highest honor bestowed on romance novels by the industry. I was thrilled that this book, which came close to never being written, received such an honor. Now audiobook fans can enjoy it, too.
Working with Kaleo on this series was different than working on the I-Team series. For one, we know each other pretty well by now. But also, these books are drawn more from my inner history geek and historical romance lover, while the I-Team series books are based more on things I saw and did as an investigative reporter.
When he came to the RWA conference in Atlanta, he was in the middle of recording this book and told me he thought it was going to be his favorite. And it is.
I hope you enjoy the hard work that both he and I put into these 14-plus hours of listening. Click here for a sound sample.
This is the last chance for those of you with Obsessive Kaleo Disorder — also known as OKD — to get a fix from my books for a while. (He has done other romance titles and other non-romance books, so be sure to peruse Tantor Audio’s catalogue to see his other projects.)
Here are the links for Defiant:
Audible: http://bit.ly/1bQoCQA
Tantor: http://bit.ly/14zdylZ
iTunes: http://bit.ly/12E3Jp6
Now to celebrate!
What are the prizes? I’ve set aside two copies each of Surrender, Untamed and Defiant. Each prize-winner will win one of those copies.
How do you enter? It’s easy! Just comment and leave your email address below before 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30, and tell me which lines of Surrender, Untamed or Defiant you’re most excited to hear Kaleo perform, and you’ll be entered to win one of six copies. If you haven’t read any of the books from the MacKinnon’s Rangers series, you can enter by telling me how you first heard about it. I’ll draw the names of winners using a contest randomizer and post the winners on this blog on Sunday, Aug. 31.
Remember to leave your contact info! If you don’t claim your prize, it will end up going to someone else.
In case you missed them, here are the links for the other two audiobooks in the series:
Surrender —
Audible: http://bit.ly/1d3d8fN
Tantor Audio: http://bit.ly/17Mk2Vh
iTunes: http://bit.ly/17HV58I
Untamed —
Audible: http://bit.ly/16GbQBe
Tantor Audio: http://bit.ly/16GbWZs
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1cHJjRY
Upcoming posts:
Cover reveal for First Strike: The Erotic Prequel to Striking Distance
Striking Distance excerpts and outtakes
I-Team games
Sunday, May 19, 2013
My RITA finalist pin arrived!
I am writing my butt off, basically doing nothing but writing 16 hours a day, seven days a week, to try to finish Striking Distance on time. The writing is going well, and the story is finally — finally — coming together.
Yesterday afternoon I got a pleasant surprise when my RITA finalist pin for Defiant arrived in the mail. I had totally forgotten that little perk of being a finalist. It’s my second finalist pin, the first having come from Surrender when it was a finalist in 2007.
I took a few minutes from writing to snap a photo to share with you.
I will be having a reader get-together in Atlanta, so if you’re one of my readers and you’d like to meet me, you can come to the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing Wednesday, July 17, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis or connect with me to learn more about the other private events I’ll be hosting in Atlanta.
Kaleo Griffith will be joining me in Atlanta, and he’ll be attending the get-together. For those of you who’ve fallen in love with his voice and the I-Team audiobooks — I’m talking to you, OKD sufferers! — this is your chance to get your audiobooks signed by both of us and to meet us in person.
If you’d like to join in, please send me a message, and I’ll include you in all updates about events in Atlanta.
Now, back to the writing...
Watch for excerpts soon!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
DEFIANT is a RITA finalist!
Sorry I’ve been away for so long! A blog that is updated once a month is a BORING blog. I do understand that. But my effort has been channeled into writing Striking Distance, which is halfway completed now, and I’m willing to bet you’re okay with that.
One nice thing about being so focused on Laura and Javier’s story is that I’m oblivious to so much else that’s going on in the world. I had completely forgotten that RITA finalists would be announced soon. I was not up at the crack of dawn on Tuesday, March 26, waiting for “the call.” In fact, when “the call” came, I was sound asleep.
I crawled out of bed — I’d been in the middle of a dream about bugs crawling on my bedroom ceiling — and stumbled down the stairs cussing all the way to the phone. The caller identified herself and said she was calling on behalf of the RWA Board of Directors.
I was so asleep that my first thought — I kid you not — was, “Does this have to do with that penis post on Facebook?”
It didn’t.
She said, “I’m calling to let you know that your book...”
And it clicked. RWA. March. Phone call. My book...
DEFIANT WAS A RITA FINALIST!
At which point, I said, “Oh my God!” or something like that.
She finished the sentence “... Defiant is a RITA finalist in the historical romance category,” or something like that... and then I was so excited who knows what she said or I said.
And that was the end of my getting anything done that day.
I am so grateful to RWA and to the judges who read Defiant and found merit in the story. Being a finalist at the RWA convention is kind of like being a princess for five days. You get a pretty blue flag on your table at the big “Readers for Life” Literacy book signing. They have a reception. You wear a special ribbon on your name tag and get a pretty pin. (Click here to see a list of all the RITA finalists in all categories.)
Surrender was a RITA finalist in 2007, so I’ve been fortunate to experience this once already. Although Surrender didn’t win, the conference was still unforgettable.
I should say that it’s pretty cool that TWO of the three books that make up the MacKinnon’s Rangers series so far have been RITA finalists. I love that!
So, yes, I’ll be attending the RWA conference in Atlanta July 17-20. The literacy signing, which will involve hundreds of writers, takes place in the evening on Wednesday, July 17, and is open to the public. Click here for more information on the conference and the literacy signing. If you live in the Atlanta area, I would love to meet you!
I plan to have a special event set up for members of the I-Team and Camp Followers Facebook groups so that we can meet in person and have some time to talk. And there may be other big surprises in store, as well. So please stay tuned!
And now back to writing...
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
RIDE THE FIRE is out! Special: Nicholas meets Connor MacKinnon
Ride the Fire (Kenleigh-Blakewell Family Saga, Book 3) is out today! After almost four years of being out of print, it’s back.
Here are all of the places you can find it, in addition to your local indie bookstores, which can probably order it if they don’t have it in stock:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/Y7Jx8K
For Kindle: http://amzn.to/14P7054
B&N: http://bit.ly/11PaZKC
Nook: http://bit.ly/XeHwZH
Indiebound: http://bit.ly/Ut1nYI
iTunes: http://bit.ly/Ut20l0
At the same time, the first two books in that series — Sweet Release and Carnal Gift — have been given new covers and issued in trade paperback through Amazon.com. Carrie from Seductive Designs did the cover design, while Jenn LeBlanc shot the original photographs. I think they covers are pretty amazing. They were made to match artistically with Ride the Fire.
So my first trilogy is back in print again! I’ll raise a glass that! But to celebrate I decided to share something with you that fans of Ride the Fire might appreciate — a scene that I deleted from Defiant where Nicholas Kenleigh meets Connor MacKinnon and Sarah Woodville in the wilderness.
Ride the Fire takes place in 1763, after the MacKinnon's Rangers books end. So Nicholas Kenleigh is wandering around in his self-imposed exile in the wild during the time that Iain, Morgan and Connor are fighting the war. I figured they might happen to cross paths...
Nicholas is one of my favorite heros, so I couldn’t resist the idea of writing the scene once the idea came to me. What would happen if these two protective alpha males crossed paths in the wilderness? I had a lot of fun with it — and then realized that it slowed down the narrative of Defiant without adding anything to the store more than a “squeee!” moment for hard-core fans of my books. It was a great act of writerly self-control to delete it.
Now, I can share it with you!
When Connor MacKinnon Met Nicholas Kenleigh
From somewhere
nearby, a horse snorted.
In a heartbeat,
Sarah found herself on the ground, Connor shielding her body with his, rifle
already in his hands, tompion between his teeth.
Then from among
the trees before them, a man appeared.
Tall with long, dark hair and a long beard, he stepped forth, animal
skins draped over his horse’s back, a dead deer hanging over his shoulder. He was dressed head to toe in buckskin, and
Sarah thought at first that he must be a French trapper. But when he spoke, his accent was cultured
and very English.
“Save your
lead. The name is Nicholas Kenleigh, a
loyal subject of His Majesty King George.
Have you anything to go with this buck?"
# # #
Connor leaned in
close to Joseph and spoke in Mahican. “I
do not like it. See how he watches her?”
Kenleigh was
skinning and gutting the buck, his hands bloody to the wrists, his gaze
drifting time and again to Sarah, who gathered kindling nearby apparently
heedless that she was the center of so much male attention.
Joseph
nodded. “A deserter?”
Such men, both
French and English, prowled the forests, unable to return home for fear of
being hanged. Cutthroats and thieves,
they had no honor and lived outside the law, attacking farmsteads, stealing,
raping, killing.
“Aye, what else
would he be? Look at his horse.” Connor had never seen a stallion of such
quality, surely beyond the means of a mere trapper. He’d likely stolen it. “There is war in his eyes. And his musket—it is the weapon of a soldier.
”
Even as they
spoke, Kenleigh looked away from the buck, his gaze seeking Sarah. The man had like as not gone months, perhaps
years, without a woman and might at this very moment be imagining all the ways
Sarah might serve his lust.
“We could kill him
now or wait for him to kill us and take her.”
Connor knew Joseph
was right, but the thought of slaying a man in cold blood was repugnant to
him. They had no proof that Kenleigh was
deserter, after all. The only thing he’d
done thus far was to gaze upon Sarah a bit too long and a bit too often.
Then again, maybe
they should kill him.
Connor reined in
his anger. “We must remain watchful and
ready.”
Without needing to
speak further, Connor and Joseph kept Sarah far beyond Kenleigh’s reach, one of
them ever at her side as cuts of venison were set to roast above the fire,
cornmeal was mixed into ashcakes, and more firewood was gathered. If Kenleigh made any move to take her, they
would kill him before he touched her.
Kenleigh said
little but went about his business, watching the venison, brushing his horse,
speaking to it in soft reassuring tones.
The chestnut stallion, which he called Zeus, nuzzled him, nickering
softly, the affection between the two helping to reassure Connor that Kenleigh
wasn’t entirely evil.
Men could be
easily fooled; animals were not.
An hour later,
they sat around the fire, Sarah between Connor and Joseph—and across the fire
from Kenleigh.
The man cut off a
sliver of roasted venison with his knife and ate it with uncommon grace, his
manners sharply at odds with his rough appearance. “Obwandiyag of the Ottawa speaks of uniting
the tribes to throw the whites out. When
this war ends, I fear we shall face another.”
Joseph seemed to
consider this. “It will be hard to bring
the tribes together. The Haudenosaunee
and Wyandot will never stop fighting, and my people will never ally themselves
with the Mohawk.”
“I’ve heard
Obwandiyag speak. He is metai—a spiritual leader—and holds the
respect of many.” Kenleigh cut off
another slice of venison. “Some among
the Ottawa believe he was born to rid the Americas of Europeans.”
Then his gaze
shifted to Sarah, who had stopped eating to listen. “I apologize if my words frighten you, miss.”
“She’s my wife.” Connor spoke the
words with more force than he’d intended.
Kenleigh met his
gaze. “What brings you out this far?”
And Connor saw
that Kenleigh trusted them no more than they trusted him. Why then had he approached them? There could be only one reason—Sarah.
Connor’s hackles
rose.
“A Mequachake Shawnee war party took
her.” Connor cut Sarah a slice of meat
and held it out for her, using the gesture as an excuse to move closer to
her. “We came to get her back.”
Kenleigh looked
from Connor to Joseph and back again.
“Just the two of you against the entire village?”
“Aye.” Connor cut a slice of meat, the juices hot on
his fingers. “You’ll find a dozen or so
dead Shawnee a good day’s journey to the south.”
Kenleigh seemed to
study him, as if taking his measure afresh, then his gaze shifted once more to
Sarah. This time, his voice was gentle
when he spoke. “Is what this man says
true? Is he your husband?”
“Aye, sir.” A
blush crept into Sarah’s cheeks. “We
are… We are newly wed.”
“Felicitations.” Kenleigh’s gaze shifted back to Connor. “I’ve given you my name. ’Tis time I learnt yours.”
Joseph spoke
first. “Joseph Aupauteunk, war chief of
the Mahican.”
“I am Connor
MacKinnon, and this is my bride, Sarah.”
Kenleigh’s eyebrows rose. “Connor MacKinnon? Major
Connor MacKinnon of MacKinnon’s Rangers?”
“Aye, the same.”
“Why didn’t you
bloody say so in the first place? With
deserters running rampant through these woods, I saw the woman and feared she
was your captive.”
Sarah gaped at
him. “You thought to rescue me?”
Connor gave a
snort. “Is that why you contrived to
share your kill wi’ us—so that you could discover the truth about her?”
“Aye.” Kenleigh grinned, reaching out to cut another
slice of meat. “And I suppose you
thought I was a deserter.”
Connor met his
gaze. “Are you?”
“Nay.” Kenleigh cut off another slice. “I fought beside Colonel Washington as a
volunteer in the Virginia Regiment early in the war until I was taken captive
by the Wyandot.”
Connor concealed
his surprise. Few taken by the Wyandot
escaped being burnt alive in their fires.
He might have asked Kenleigh how he’d avoided that fate, but the haunted
look that came to Kenleigh’s eyes stopped Connor cold.
# #
#
Master Kenleigh
journeyed with them for the rest of the afternoon. He insisted Sarah ride while he walked, but
Connor would allow this only if he sat upon the horse with her, apparently
trusting neither the stallion nor its owner with her safety. He climbed onto the beast’s back, then drew
her into the saddle before him, positioning her so that she sat astride.
But Sarah had
never sat a horse in so bold a fashion before.
Heat flooded her cheeks as her already short doeskin skirt was pushed
up, leaving her legs exposed from the top of her leggings, which tied off just
below her knees, to the middle of her thighs.
“I cannot sit like this. ’Tis indecent
and—”
“Stop thrashin’
about, or you’ll frighten the horse.”
Connor steadied her, taking the reins from Master Kenleigh, who held the
bridle, speaking to the stallion in low, reassuring tones.
Though Sarah
couldn’t be certain because of his thick beard, it seemed to her Master
Kenleigh was smiling.
Then Connor spoke
softly for her ears alone. “This journey
has been hard on you, lass. Rest while
you can. Besides, ’tis no’ as bad as being
bare-breasted, aye?”
And Sarah’s cheeks
burned hotter.
For a time, they moved through the forest
without speaking. Birds filled the
forest with song, their staccato chirps and trills a merry chorus. The sky was still blue, warm sunlight
filtering down through budding branches onto a carpet of wet leaves, last summer’s
crowning glory now a faded carpet. A
warm breeze blew through the trees, carrying the mingled scents of damp earth,
moldering vegetation, and sunshine, mountains and valleys stretching out around
them as far as the eye could see.
Oh, how Margaret would have loved to paint
this for one of her landscapes! Yet,
even Margaret with her eye and her skill with the brush would have struggled to
capture such beauty on canvas. How could
any art depict a wilderness as fierce and vast as this?
Sarah’s gaze dropped
to Master Kenleigh, who walked beside them.
What a mystery he was. In
appearance, he seemed every bit the wild man, a trapper of little means, crude
and unkempt, a haunted look in his eyes.
Yet his speech was refined, his manners those of a well-bred gentleman.
It touched Sarah
that he had thought to rescue her. A
stranger, he’d been willing to risk his life to save hers. Yet, how fortunate it was for all of them
that he’d chosen to seek out the truth of her situation before striking. Who’s to say who might have emerged the
victor had he attacked Connor and Joseph?
Of a similar height to Connor, he clearly knew how to fight and
survive.
She’d often heard her father say that
Britain was well rid of the riffraff who emigrated to the Americas—the poor,
convicts, traitors, heretics, zealots.
But it seemed to her that the American frontier bred men of uncommon
strength and courage, men who were every bit as gallant as they were rough.
And something Joseph had said came back to
her.
In
this land, nobility comes not from one’s fathers or a title or from the land
one owns, but from one’s actions. The MacKinnon brothers are the highest
nobility to those who live on the frontier—true warriors, men who know how to
fight and survive, men who put the lives of others before their own.
Sarah could see that now. Though Connor, Joseph and Master Kenleigh
would not have been welcome in her father’s halls, they were noble men,
possessed of skills and qualities few London gentlemen could match.
It was Master
Kenleigh who finally broke the silence, pointing through the trees toward
sun-dappled hills beyond. “When you
reach the valley between those two mountains, veer east. The Delaware are gathering at the northern
end of that valley, most of them ready, like the Shawnee, to abandon their
peace with Britain. Unless I am
mistaken, MacKinnon, there is still a price on your scalp.”
There was a price on Connor’s scalp?
“Aye, so there
is.”
The men began to
speak of the land and the surest routes to Fort Edward, their knowledge of this
forest beyond her comprehension. How
they could tell one stand of trees, one mountaintop, one valley from the next,
she could not say. And lulled by the
motion of the horse and the fresh, warm air, Sarah drifted off to sleep.
She roused
sometime later—how much later she couldn’t say—to find her head resting against
Connor’s chest, his arm wrapped gently around her ribcage just beneath her
breasts. She felt safe in his embrace,
sheltered, cared for. Not wanting that
feeling to end, she let herself doze, her mind catching snatches of quiet
conversation.
“Have you seen the
great river?” Connor’s voice rumbled in his chest.
“The river the
Ojibwa call Mshi-ziibi? Aye, I’ve
seen. I’ve crossed it, in fact, and
journeyed west beyond it for most of a year.”
“What lies beyond
the river?”
“Plains so vast
they seem like an ocean of tall grass and beyond that mountains that make these
peaks look like mere hills.”
And for a time she
dreamt she was floating over waves of grass in the birch bark canoe, her head
lying against Connor’s chest as he rowed.
“Your wife is a
gentle creature. Why in God’s name did
you bring her out here? You of all
people should know the frontier is no place for a woman.”
“My reasons are my
own affair, Kenleigh.”
They were talking
about her, she realized. But then she
was drifting again.
“Where are your
men? Why are you out here alone? You’ve long leagues yet to travel and just
the two of you to watch over her.”
“We hadn’t yet
mustered for the season. Most of the
Rangers are winterin’ wi’ their families.
I sent for volunteers, but I dinnae think they’ll be able to find us ere
we reach Fort Edward. They’ll track us
as far as Mequachake, but whether the
village will still be there or they’ll be able to find our tracks leading
westward, I dinnae ken.”
When next Sarah
opened her eyes, she saw Master Kenleigh set his rifle against a tree and draw
his buckskin tunic over his head as if he’d grown overly warm from his
exertions. The shirt of white linen he
wore beneath it got caught in the supple leather and nearly came off, too,
giving her a glimpse of his bare back.
It took a moment
for Sarah to understand what she was seeing.
Scars.
His body was
covered with them. Cuts. Pinched flesh. Burn marks.
It looked as if someone had tried to cut him to bits or burn him
alive. Or both.
She sat upright
and might have gasped had Connor not covered her mouth, his lips pressed
against her ear as he whispered an almost inaudible, “Shhh.”
And Sarah’s heart
filled with pity for Master Kenleigh.
Someone had hurt him horribly, and his flesh bore the marks of that
cruelty. Now he lived alone on the
frontier with no home, no family, no one to call his friend. How lonely he must be! And yet, even in the midst of his loneliness
he had turned aside from his own path for her sake.
But who had hurt
him and why?
# #
#
Joseph, who had
been scouting ahead, was waiting for them as planned at the top of the next
ridge. He acknowledged Connor with an
almost imperceptible nod.
“It’s here we part
ways, Major.” Kenleigh took the
stallion’s bridle. “A good day’s journey
east of here, you’ll find an old farmstead where your wife can take shelter.”
“Are you certain
you willna travel wi’ us?” Connor
dismounted, then reached up for Sarah, setting her on her feet beside him,
strangely pleased by this fiction of his being her husband. “You can trade at Fort Edward, build up your
stores. There’s always room in the
Rangers for a man wi’ your skills and knowledge.”
Kenleigh took the
reins and rubbed the horse’s muzzle, answering without meeting Connor’s
gaze. “You honor me, Major, but I have
seen enough war.”
’Twas as final an
answer as a man could give, and having seen the scars on Kenleigh’s body,
Connor did not begrudge him.
“Should you ever
be in need, seek me out.” Connor
adjusted his tumpline pack, then reached for the rifle he’d tucked behind
Kenleigh’s saddle. “Thank you for
sharin’ the venison—and your horse. I
hope we didna take you too far out of your way.”
“I have no destination,
so you needn’t fear on that account.”
Then Kenleigh faced Connor, holding out his hand. “’Tis not every day a man meets a living
legend.”
Connor shook
Kenleigh’s hand, feeling vaguely discomfited by the praise. ’Twas Iain and Morgan who were legends, not
Connor. “I bid you farewell and a safe
journey.”
Kenleigh’s gaze
came to rest on Sarah, and he bowed his head.
“Ma’am.”
He turned away and
began to mount his horse.
“Wait!” She hurried over to him. “You would have risked your life for mine,
and for that, I am most grateful. I’ll
not forget your courage. May God bless
and keep you and guide you on your journey, wherever it may lead. I shall keep you in my prayers.”
Then she stood on
tiptoe and pressed a kiss to the man’s cheek, much to Connor’s
astonishment. Kenleigh’s gaze dropped
once more to Sarah’s face, but it wasn’t lust Connor saw in his eyes. It was soul-deep longing, loneliness, regret.
When Connor
glanced over his shoulder a few minutes later, Kenleigh still stood there atop the
ridge, watching them as they made their way down the mountainside.
~ ~ ~
Speaking of Defiant, I got the fantastic news that it won Best Historical Romance (not set in the UK) in All About Romance’s 17th Annual Readers’ Poll. That was a huge thrill! I’m sure Connor would be gratified — and suitably smug — if he knew. Thank you do all of you who voted for it. There was a time when I thought the MacKinnon’s Rangers series was dead. You helped ensure that it lives on.
Thank you!
Monday, July 09, 2012
After the Epilogue
 |
| The front of the Defiant trading cards |
There’s something bittersweet about finishing book you really love. If the story was emotional, you feel drained, raw around the edges. You’re sad that it’s over, and yet you’re also basking in the joy that the story brought you.
I think authors experience their own version of this when a book they loved and worked so hard on finally hits bookstore shelves. I know that last Tuesday when Defiant came out, a part of me just wanted to cry. The wait for Connor’s book had been so long. There was a time when I didn’t think I’d ever be able to write it. And then, last Tuesday, it was out.
The breathless emails I’ve gotten, the raving reviews, the sweet messages you’ve sent have also choked me up. Knowing that something I’ve written affected you so deeply is very touching for me. Not everyone loved it, but most of you have really enjoyed it. And, well, you can’t please everyone all the time.
I thought I’d answer some frequently asked questions about the book and the series. (Contains spoilers! Ye be warned!)
1. Am I going to write Joseph’s story? Yes, absolutely. I can’t say when it will be out, but I will write it. He is a brother, even if he isn’t a MacKinnon, and he deserves his own happy ending.
2. Am I going to write Lord William’s story? How could I not? I adore him, even if he is a selfish, manipulative jerk. Now that he has experienced absolutely powerlessness, true suffering, and fear, he is going to be a changed man. No, he won’t be courteous, kind and forgiving. But he will be in a position where I can put him through his own transition from anti-hero to hero. His character arc is four books long. It starts in book one and moves through to the end of his own story. But, again, I’m not sure when I’ll be writing his book.
3. How can you say goodbye to the MacKinnon brothers and to the Rangers? That was hard. It was so very hard! I sobbed! We’ll see the brothers and their families again in Joseph’s story. We might even see a Ranger or two. But the time when the Rangers were a unit and lived and fought side by side is at an end. But then all good things must end. Even Star Trek: The Next Generation ended.
4. Will I write any novellas about the brothers in the future? I hope so! They’ve lived in my head for eight long years. I don’t want to let them or Annie, Amalie and Sarah go. I think a nice MacKinnon Christmas novella or some other short story might be fun.
5. What about the MacKinnon children? I don’t know. They’re too young to fight in the American Revolution but that doesn’t mean they can't have stories. I’ll have to wait and see what the Muse has to say about it. Interestingly, the MacKinnon men are young enough that they will fight in the Revolution. I don’t know what that means, but maybe I’ll have to bring them back for some novellas set during that time.
6. What can you do to support the book? Post reviews. Share your love of the story with your friends. Mention the book in discussion groups and loops. Share the link for the trailer (your friends will thank you!). “Like” the book on Amazon.com and B&N. Word of mouth is the most important thing.
I’m saving other questions and answers for Thursday evening’s big video chat via Shindig Events. Last time there were some technical difficulties. Hopefully that will all be worked out this time. Also, there is a private discussion group on Facebook dedicated to talking about Defiant chapter by chapter. Click here to ask to join. We just started, so you haven’t missed much.
To register for the After the Epilogue live video chat, click here. The fun begins at 8 PM Eastern Time/7 Central on July 12. You’ll be sent a reminder email just before the event, which is FREE, begins. During the chat, you’ll be able to chat privately with other readers or ask me questions about the book. It’s your chance to talk about the story without worrying about spoilers. It works best if you have a camera and a mic, whether built-in or not, but you can participate by hearing what’s being said if you don’t. Five participants will win $20 Amazon gift cards IF we can figure out how to collect names and make it work. We weren’t able to give books away last time like I had planned.
And now I just want to give a heartfelt thank you to all of you who made the release week for Defiant so very special for me. I am so grateful to you for your support and your excitement. If I started a list of names of those people who contributed to the joy of this past week, it would go on forever. But I do want to mention the Street Team and thank them for their support online and in the bookstores in helping to spread word about the novel. You know who you are!
As a way of saying thanks, I would love to send a signed Defiant trading card and/or signed book plate to anyone who wants one. The cards are glossy and pretty and work nicely as bookmarks. The book plates have my signature and stick to the inside of the book, turning the copy into an autographed copy. (Ebook readers! Check out Kindlegraph to get your autographs!)
To get your signed Defiant trading card(s) or signed book plate, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
Pamela Clare
PO Box 1582
Longmont, CO 80502
I’ll get them in the mail. Please specify which you prefer — a trading card (up to four), a book plate or both.
So what was your favorite moment in Defiant?
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
DEFIANT release party
Welcome to the DEFIANT Release Day Party!
Who stayed up late last night to see the release of the live-action trailer? I don’t know when I’ve felt such anticipation. Thanks to those of you who shared the experience with us — me, my son Benjamin, Jenn LeBlanc of Illustrated Romance, Karl Biermann, Derek Hutchins, Cora Kemp, Kate McDermott and Mike Gamache — last night on Facebook. It was epic fun!
If you haven’t seen the trailer, click here to see what all the excitement is about, or scroll down to the post prior to this one.
If you want to blog hop, you can visit Happy Ever After Reads, where I’m guest blogging today. Or you could stop by USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog for a guest post I wrote about the making of the trailer. You could also stop by Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance for Kati R’s review of the book. Or you can head on over to Romantic Historical Lovers where Emery Lee and Jill did a tandem review. I’m thrilled to say the book is Jill’s FIRST full five-star review for 2012.
There are also several reviews up on Goodreads already. Click here to view those. There are also discussions about the series going on in my Goodreads fan group, and some Goodreads members are joining together to do a buddy read of Defiant.
If you’ve read the book and want desperately to talk about it, you have a few options. There’s the fan group above. There’s also the After the Epilogue Video Chat Party on Shindig Events on July 12 at 8 p.m. ET/7 Central. Follow the link to claim your free spot. And if you really want to discuss the book page by page, you can join me in the private Facebook Defiant Discussion Group. We should be revving up to talk about Connor and Sarah’s adventure by this weekend.
In the meantime, let’s party!
I can’t tell you what it means to you that this book is finally in your hands! It’s been a long wait since Untamed came out in 2008, and there was a dark year when I was afraid I would never get the chance to give Connor his story. But those worries disappeared when Penguin bought the MacKinnon’s Rangers series, and now we get to enjoy Connor’s story at last.
What did I love about writing this book? You mean besides hanging with a very sexy shirtless model all day while shooting the trailer?
For one, it’s the first MacKinnon’s Rangers book I’ve written since my visits to Fort Edward and Rogers Island (Ranger Island) in upstate New York. Though I think I did the location justice before, I could really see it when I wrote Defiant because I’d actually been there.
I also loved all the people I got to meet in the course of researching this series, people like Gary Zaboly, whose map of Rogers Island is published in both the book and ebook versions of the story; Eileen Hannay, who was the executive director of the Rogers Island Visitor Center and who is now a good friend; and Tim Todish, the researcher who annotated Robert Rogers journals. There’s nothing more satisfying than sharing a deep interest with other people.
Most of all, I loved being able to lose myself in the wilds ofupsate New York again, to see the forest, feel the vastness of the wilderness and spend time in the company of the MacKinnon brothers and their wives again—not to mention Lord William and Lt. Cooke.
Lady Sarah was a real discovery for me, with her love of music and the terrible shame that drove her from her family. I love exploring the strength of feminine women, and Sarah has courage to spare. Her coming together with Connor felt to me like the liberation of her soul — and the salvation of his.
Being able to give Connor his story was such a joy. I hope you enjoy it, too! Which brings us to...
BOOK GIVEAWAY TIME!
I’m giving away FIVE signed copies of Defiant! To be entered into the drawing, help me spread the word about the book via Twitter and/or Facebook. Then comment below, telling me what you loved about the first two books in the series — share quotes, snippets of sex scenes, your favorite story moments. Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win! The deadline to enter is 12 AM on July 6. I’ll use a contest randomizer to pick five winners on Friday morning.
Have fun!
And thank you so much for sharing my excitement about this book!
Monday, July 02, 2012
It’s been a long wait, but today Defiant, MacKinnon’s Rangers Book III, is finally out!
To celebrate, here’s the live-action trailer, as promised.
Enjoy!
Stop by tomorrow morning for fun, games and a chance to win a signed copy of the book!
Friday, June 29, 2012
5 Days till DEFIANT is out — Hate the Wait? Here’s a help list
We’re in the final countdown for the release of Defiant. Hate the wait? Here’s a list of 11 ways to make these five remaining days go faster.
11. Make sure to register for the pre-release video chat party today hosted by Shindig Events!
I’ll be doing a reading and giving away five signed copies of the book to participants. Click here to reserve your spot. Registration is free and takes all of 30 seconds. We’ll count down the final hours by have some fun together!
10. Re-read your favorite MacKinnon’s Ranger book, whether it’s Surrender or Untamed. Okay, so maybe you've already done this. Twice. If so, skip to No. 9.
If not, it’s your chance to refresh your memory and enjoy once more everything that made you love the series.
9. Eat chocolate.
One of the best coping mechanisms ever, chocolate is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy — and to enjoy the sensual things in life.
8. Visit the websites for Fort Ticonderoga and the Rogers Island Visitor Center to bone up on the history.
There is nothing like visiting these places in person and feeling the history that resonates through them — echoes of lives lived and lost. The real places will be fresh in your mind when you read Connor and Sarah’s story. Click here for Fort Ti or here for Rogers Island Visitor Center.
7. Hold a kitten.
It is a scientifically proven fact that kittens make everything better.
6. Memorize the Rules of Ranging.
It’s what any Ranger would have had to do. Are you up to the challenge? The bonus here is that if you ever need to know how to cross a marsh in a way that confuses your enemies, you’ll be prepared. Just click here for the full list.
5. Listen to my Defiant iMix via Ping and be inspired by the music that inspired me.
There’s nothing like music when it comes to getting myself in the right mood — or should I say write mood? The mix of songs that helped keep me going during the wee hours includes Scottish folk performed by Old Blind Dogs, the soundtrack to The War that Made America documentary — and lots of Georg Friedrich Händel. Go to Ping I-Tunes and ask to follow me. The URL for the Defiant iMix is here. (Faves are “St. Kilda” and “Loch Erne’s Shore.”)
Nothing says 18th-century Colonial American frontier like corn cakes cook in the ashes of a camp fire. Click here for the recipe and instructions. It’s not hard, and your kids will have a blast watching you make a mess. (Scroll down to the bottom for an awesome buckwheat recipe.)
3. Go to my previous blog post with the stills from the video shoot to stare at sexy Connor in the flesh. Remember: The live-action trailer will be out on July 3, too!
Wait, did that just make the wait even harder?
God, Karl is yummy!
2. Re-enact sex scenes from the series with your lover.
Just be careful if you try a reenactment of Iain and Annie’s shaving scene. Straight razors are an acquired skill. Just sayin’.
1. Watch Last of the Mohicans with Daniel Day Lewis.
Although the film wasn’t the inspiration for the series — I loved the movie when it came out in 1992, and was inspired to write about Rangers from research I’d done for Ride the Fire — it’s the closest thing you can find to a visual window into the world of Connor MacKinnon and his brothers. Daniel Day Lewis isn’t a Ranger, but he is a frontiersman who would have likely known of the MacKinnon brothers and possibly have considered them friends. He might well have known Captain Joseph, too.
The soundtrack is among several I listened to while I wrote the first three books of this series, so you can also enjoy that fantastic and very evocative music.
And here we are — just a handful of days away from July 3 and the release of Defiant and the live-action Defiant trailer. I can’t wait to share it with you.
Now, tell me what you’re doing to beat the wait.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
More trailer stills, a special video chat invitation & more!
Only six days till Defiant is out!
I am so excited to share Connor’s story with you — and I’ve been busy with Benjamin and Jenn LeBlanc of Illustrated Romance finishing the live-action trailer.
We met Monday after Benjy got off work to shoot pickups for the trailer — little scenes we hadn’t shot before. After looking at the footage we had, we decided to add some voice-over and some very brief scenes with Lord William Wentworth and Connor.
Of course, we’re working on a non-existent budget and with models, not actors, so we couldn’t have Karl, who plays Connor, and Derek Hutchins, who plays Wentworth’s backside, reading lines from the book. So here’s how we did it...
We got Karl, Jenn, Benjamin, Derek and myself together at Jenn’s studio — #StudioSmexy on Twitter — and we put the guys into some creative costumes. Connor wore what he wore in the forest scenes plus a period accurate-ish shirt. Derek was self-sacrificing and wore a heavy British redcoat officer’s jacket, tight pants and boots despite the humid heat of the studio.
Then Benjamin took over from there, directing the filming of three shots — one of Wentworth reading a letter from his niece, the heroine, Lady Sarah; one of Connor and Wentworth face to face; and one of Connor praying with his wooden rosary.
Bit o’ trivia: The wooden rosary Karl/Connor holds is the very same wooden rosary I wore wrapped many times around my wrist like a bracelet while writing Untamed.
Now, back to our narrative...
We had a bit of extra help this time, with Kati and Jamie from Romancing Rakes working as Jenn’s assistants — moving lights, moving furniture, um... helping the guys with costumes. It was hard work, but someone had to do it, right?
For these scenes, we’d hoped to have the guys act out the physical aspects, while using the voices of people with very posh British accents for Lady Sarah and Lord William. Of course, I had no idea who would do the voices. It’s not like I keep a Rolodex listing actors by accent. But we’ll get to that in a minute.
Benjy directed the first scene — a thorough filming of Lord Wentworth’s ass. This involved getting a candle set up, adjusting lighting so that it looked like the scene was lit only by the candle and so on. Then Derek gamely proffered his well-dressed and very firm backside.
Cut. Done. Next shot.
This involved adjusting lighting a bit and positioning the camera and the guys so that we could see past Wentworth’s hip and arm across the desk to Connor’s abdomen. And because they’re having a bit of a heated exchange in this scene in the book, there needed to be physical motion.
And I have to say this was the highlight, because Derek really got into it. We weren’t using sound from the shoot, so he could say whatever he wanted. So to make his gesticulations feel real, he started lambasting Karl/Connor.
“Hey, you know what? Fuck you! I hate you! And you hate me! And so there’s this feud between us.”
“You know I hate you, but I need you to find my niece. Go on! Go! You’re such a jerk!”
And my fave:
“I fucking hate you but I need you to save my niece. What? You’re just going to stand there?”
Trouble was, what Derek was saying was so funny that everyone was laughing, and you could tell from the footage that the men were laughing. So we had to do several takes.
Then we shot the scene of Karl/Connor alone praying with the wooden rosary.
It took about an hour altogether to get the footage we need, and then we had to break everything down, pack stuff up, and close down the studio.
By the way, I’ve really never seen anyone carry as much at once as Jenn. I think the few times in her life that she’s not carrying something must be really special for her.
 |
| Photo stolen shamelessly from Jamie |
I showed Kati and Jamie how to load fire a real 18th-century musket — sans ball and powder mind you — and showered poor Kati in the face with sparks from the flint.
D’oh!
When we got home, I had a surprise waiting for me. Kate McDermott and Mike Gamache, two Shakespearean actors I’d gotten in contact with via Twitter (thanks to author Carolyn Jewel, who saw my Twitter plea for British accents), had emailed me sound files of them speaking Sarah and Lord William’s lines. They don’t say much — there isn’t time for much — but the voices were key. I got so excited listening to them that I had to keep pausing just to squeal. They each did several takes with different inflections and rhythms — very beautifully done.
So now tonight, Benjy and I are meeting Jenn and Cora in some stretch of forest that isn’t on fire to tape three brief shots involving Lady Sarah.
And then we’ll have everything we need ready for Benjamin to edit together in time for the trailer’s July 3 debut. I can’t wait!
But there is other important news!
I will be doing a live video chat through Shindig Events on July 2 from 6-7 p.m. Eastern Time to talk about Defiant and answer your questions. Shindig Events contacted me and invited me to utilize their very special technology for conducting video chats. So this should be fun and exciting. You will be able to communicate directly with me, and I will be reading a scene from Defiant. I will also be giving away five copies of the book.
The event is FREE! To register, just click here. It takes about 30 seconds to reserve your free spot.
I will also be holding an After the Epilogue Spoiler Chat through Shindig events on Thursday, July 12, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time for those who have read the book and want to talk about it with me and other readers without worrying about spoilers. This even is also free, but it SOLELY for people who’ve already read the book. I’ll be giving away some Amazon.com gift cards and chatting with you about the story.
Sign up will be available for it soon!
Mark your calendar, because the beginning of July is going to be fun around here.
Isn’t it weird to think that the book is coming out on the anniversary of the first battle of the French & Indian War? July 4 marks the anniversary of the Battle of Fort Necessity. Gives me goosebumps!
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