Thursday, November 25, 2010

Free For All Friday - Meet Writer Trish Leger!

Hi everyone! Snap out of that turkey induced coma and welcome my friend and fellow Ass Cheek Angel blogger, Trish Leger. I met Trish in Orlando this summer at the RWA conference. Since then I've been lucky enough to read a part of book 3 from her paranormal romance series, THE AMBER DRUIDS. I loved the uniqueness of her story -- not to mention it's got a great amount of heat;) 
So help me welcome Trish, then take time to visit her website: www.trishfleger.webs.com

Take it away, Trish


            My full name is Trish Finley Leger. I’m married to a wonderfully supportive man, Micah. We have been married for over a year, but have been together for over five years. We live in a small southern Louisiana town called Kinder, home of the Coushatta Casino Resort and the Kinder Yellowjackets!
            Being from the south, you tend to hand on to a few of the clichés that surround you. It is normal for us to ask “What’s your last name?” and “Where are you from?” when we first meet a stranger. It is our informal way of being nosy and getting a good read on what type of person you are.
            We southerners also love to eat, dance and hang out with family and friends, preferably to watch football! We don’t discriminate, be it high school, college or NFL…as long as the mascots are Bayou Bengals (LSU) or they wear the colors black and gold (Geaux Saints!)  J
            I’m just starting a new contemporary romance that will hopefully capture the true down-home feel of the south.

                                                            When did you start writing?
 
To be honest, I wanted to start writing the minute I finished Whitney My Love by Judith McNaught,but I was only 17 and knew I wasn’t ready. So instead I continued to read voraciously, moving through book after book like they were pop quizzes instead of 400 pages novels.  When I finally built up the courage to write something I was married and twenty one years old. Little did I know how much learning I would have to do, not only in the writing department. When my marriage started togo downhill, and then my husband left, I couldn’t bear to write anything. Every thread of anger wept onto the page and the story became a living entity of rage. I put aside the story and never touched it again.Only after meeting Micah was I able to write anything worthy of reading. In the past five years I have written  six books.

What got you interested in your chosen genre?
I will be the first to tell you that I’m a chicken. I hate scary movies and hate being scared, period. So the paranormal genre was an odd choice for me, even to read, but once I started I couldn’t stop. When I write paranormals I still maintain the focus of the relationship between the H/H as central. I don’t let the supernatural overtake the story. That being said, who doesn’t love to read about a seductively arrogant, assertive, and dominant hero? To me, giving the hero a touch of something otherworldly adds to his mystique and makes the readers dissolve with want to read his story. I believe the paranormal genre gives us the best of everything.

What is your perfect writing place?

I would love to tell you that I sit in a log cabin, where a wall of windows overlooks a snow laden valley. The tumble and crackle of logs are my music while I recline on an overstuffed leather sofa and flames from the fireplace heat my feet….yeah, right! I sit on my bed with a million pillows around me. That’s it…nothing fancy, but it works!

Tell us something about your hero that makes women fall in love with him.
 
I think I will go with my favorite Scotsman for this question. His name is Brenan McKinnon. Brenan is an Amber Druid, a human male with an abundance of special abilities. He is amazingly strong, can ease pain and is also telekinetic (can move objects with his mind). He is the epitome of tall, dark and dangerously handsome…he is also a smart ass. One that Jules (his future mate) longs to slap, but also yearns to hold tight to her, so that he can never get away.
Brenan has the insane urge to protect the petite P.I. that is helping him, but knows she won’t allow it. Jules fights the attraction to Brenan with everything she has but ultimately she does give in.
With his wicked smile, deep blue eyes, seductive brogue and protective instinct, what woman wouldn’t want Brenan for herself?
I’ve added an excerpt from Brenan’s book. You can also find more on my website and blog…

***

                Her breath stuttered to a stop but continued when she needed to breathe to stand up. Her nose rasped against his suit and she inhaled, not bothering to hide the fact that she was loving his scent. His hands twitched at her waist and then he slid her even closer as one slow song faded into another.
                Lord, don’t let him stop. It has been so long, so very long since I have felt this alive. I want this to continue all night. Don’t let me mess it up somehow.
                The words chanted through her mind as she continued to sway with him.
                “Do you realize how delicious you look in that gorgeous blue dress, or do I need to explain it with agonizing detail?” Brenan’s deep voice slipped into her ear and it startled her so badly that she stumbled. Thank goodness he was such a great dancer. He was able to keep them both standing upright, even with her mishap.
                The loss for words was never something that had happened to her, only recently since meeting Brenan had she found that it happened all too often. That he thought her dress was sexy was something else for her to be worried about. She hadn’t exactly pulled this specific dress out hoping to please him.
                Yeah, right. Pull the other one Jules.
                Okay, maybe she had. The clean simple lines of the cocktail dress were fabulous with her petite frame and it suited her much better than something frilly and too feminine. A deep cut V offered glimpses of flesh in front and bared her back too, and the length was perfect, long enough to swing around her knees. Silver strapped heels covered her feet and even she had to admit to herself that she couldn’t remember feeling this beautiful in a long time. The fact that she was dancing in Brenan’s arms didn’t hurt either.
                “Thank you” She whispered to his shirtfront. Not trusting herself to look into his eyes.
                One of his hands left her waist and moved along her arm to grasp hers and pull her into a turn. Jules felt the skirt of her dress flare and she bit back a giggle. She felt young and carefree, like a teenager at the prom with the high school quarterback. He pulled her back into his arms while she grinned like a fool.
                “I want to see you smile like that all the time. Is that something that you think can be arranged?” His breath ruffled the hair on the crown of her head. “I don’t care how much it costs, and if I want it badly enough I can make it happen.”
                His ego thrilled her even as her independent side flared with heat.
                “Well sparky, I must say that you are sounding quite convincing.”
                That luscious breath sighed against her head once more and she barely controlled the shiver that worked through her system. “Lass, you have no idea how convincing I can be.”
                Her blood practically boiled at that statement.
***


What are you working on now?
 
Right now I’m focusing on a straight contemporary set in South Louisiana. Here is a brief synopsis….
 Jake Warren is the owner of a construction company that is hired to build a new hotel. Jenna Magill is the woman that is supervising the construction. But Jenna is a yank, an outsider to the community. She is hurting emotionally from losing her husband in a tragic accident, and since then she has allowed nothing and no one to come close to climbing her walls. But the sparks are flying whenever these two meet and work together. With her closed off expression and mysterious past she tugs at Jake’s heartstrings. They will have to overcome stereotypes, personal and trust issues before they finally allow themselves to consider taking their relationship beyond business.
I’m really anticipating some high emotions and sizzling scenes from this story. Really can’t wait to see how it plays out.
 ~
Me too;)
Thanks so much for being my guest, Trish! 
Stop by Trish's site to read more about this great series! www.trishfleger.webs.com

7 comments:

  1. Hi Trish,

    So good to 'see' you and hear of your ob--ummmm--devotion :) to the Saints. I rooted for them in the Super Bowl, since my own Chiefs have been too 'shy' to participate in SB's for the last, oh, 40 YEARS!!!

    Enjoyed the clip from Brenan's story and look forward to reading the book--soon I hope. Jake and Jenna sound interesting,too. I like that your heroine has a non-traditional woman's job of supervision contruction. And that she's considered a 'yank.'

    Good luck with both stories.

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  2. It was so great to learn more about you Trish! I've enjoyed your stories, too, and I wish you the best of luck with pubbing them! Your excerpt was great :) Can't wait to see you soon!

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  3. Barb,

    Hey, if the Saints can wait this long to get into the Super Bowl then that means that the Chiefs are almost there too! Good luck to them!

    And thanks for the kind words on my WIP. I'm trying to come out of the fog of all of that food yesterday so that I can use the next two days for a good bout of writing...

    Kellie,

    Thanks for your comments both here and on my books! I love that Jenn is doing this! I believe that every author, whether pubbed or not, deserves to be looked at in a promising light. I also learned more about you when she had you on this blog!

    I'm looking forward to seeing you and your family soon!

    I also have a longer excerpt and more of them to read on my site under the EXCERPTS page and a few on my BLOG page as well.

    Thanks Jenn for the opportunity and welcoming atmosphere!

    HUGS
    Trish

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  4. Great interview and excerpt, Trish! Brenan sounds yummy!

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  5. I feel your pain Barb. I am a Vikings fan and they have never been to the Super Bowl in my lifetime. Plus there's no way were making it this year either. I am a big football fan too, but I also love watching my Twins. They have been good the last couple of years, but we can never seem to beat those darn Yankees in the post season.

    Trish, both your contempoary and paranormals sound intersting. I started writing a historical and recently stopped and am now thinking about working on a YA. I had this great idea for it and I was stuck on the other one's plot, so I am taking an entirely new direction on it. I am hoping to have more time to work on it in about three weeks; when most of my grading should be done!

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  6. Thanks Farrah! Happy to see you here!!

    Kasey,

    I have also tried writing a historical...key word there is tried. I still haven't gone back to it yet, but you never know, one day in the future I might do so.

    Hope your grading is done soon...we could all use a little more writing time!

    HUGS
    Trish

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  7. Ooooh, great guest blog, Trish. I have to mention that I've had the privilege of reading all of Trish's manuscripts and the first time I read Brenan was in a book where his cousing was the hero. I think Trish got aggravated with me because I kept telling her I liked Brenan better than Ramsey. Or rather Brrrenan...he's Scots so you gotta rrroll those rrr's! No kidding, he's hot and I love that Jules calls him Sparky! I can't wait to see Trish in print. She's truly talented and one of my biggest supporters. Mwwaaa!

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