Paige
Burns
Mrs. Rambler's getting her glad rags on
for today's meeting: Lunch with Paige Burns is never going to be a dull
affair, and there have been rumours flying around the Rambler's Inn that a
certain author has been partying non-stop since yesterday evening, with the
music still going strong.
It's not hard to find out where the
party's at: The Dave Matthews Band is echoing through the corridors, leading
the way to the Garden, where a Marquee stands, heaving, alongside the
Rambler's patio.
What is going to be hard is finding
Paige, because I have to say: This party is heaving! Even the plant life seems
to be getting down with it - although that seems to be connected to the
gorgeous looking fairy that's weaving her way around the dance floor.
I'm just wondering who I can ask when I
hear the shout....
"Hey! Rambler? Over here..."
"Hey! Paige?"
"Yep, sorry the music's so loud,
I'll see if we can tone it down a bit...." and she's
off, before I can say hello; shimmying through the throngs of
guests, towards the direction of what has to be the hottest DJ
the Inn has seen this year.
To be honest, I'm impressed by Paige's will power when she
turns her back on him and heads back towards me, a welcoming
beam of a smile across her face.
"Hi, whew, did you bring your
dancing shoes?"
"Well I did," I smile.
"Although I'm not sure they're going
to take the pace! Wow, there are a lot of people here! I'm sure
I should recognise some of them..."
"Yeah, I brought the whole gang
along." Paige grins.
I stand; drink in hand, trying to surreptitiously eye up the
revellers. A tall blond starts talking bitmap rendering
mid-boogie. "Is that Lance?"
I whisper to Paige, who's looking a tiny bit distracted by the
spiky-haired man handing her a Margarita.
"Yep! That's Lance, for some
reason even when he's having a good time he can't stop talking
computer." She rolls her eyes, prompting a fit of
giggles from yours truly.
"Geeks, eh?" I manage
to splutter. "Is there anything
sexier?"
"Not in my book, it's all about
the brains, well, the brawn is good too, okay, both, I have to
have both! Mateo, from A Faerie Tale, is probably the geekiest
of the guys. The hero I'm working with now is a bit more brawn
than brain, not that he's an idiot, he's just raw, ancient, and
smokin', so his brain hides behind his physique. "
"Oooooh! He sounds interesting! Is
he from around here?" I'm hopeful…
"No, he's from Hungary. He's the
last remaining Blue Dragon, cursed so that he's unable to shift
from his human form. He's still in the formation process. But he
is probably the most alpha of my hero's so far.
"Grant Callahan, from my upcoming
release, Riding the Line, builds choppers (motorcycles) yet
comes from an elite Chicago family, so he's a bit more on the
brawny side too."
"Do I detect a trend, here?
Paige laughs. "Until I get a hero
who wants to be otherwise, I guess you're right. Brawn takes the
cake!"
I smile happily, casting my eye over the assembled cast and
crew. "So who else have we got here?
We've got Lance from Polar Opposites, we've got Damia and Mateo
from Fairie Tale... you've told me your latest is from Hungary
which I suppose is an excuse not to be here... Tell me a little
more about Grant Callahan - who is the lucky woman going to be?
Just how hot will the sex be?"
"Grant left behind a lot of money
and a forced business marriage to make his own way in the world.
So he does what he loves, builds custom choppers. Lindsay Taylor
happens to be the younger sister of the girl Grant was supposed
to marry, and she's been in love with him since she was six.
"Lindsay pretty much lives the
life her mother wants, boarding school, designer clothes, dates
with the "right" guy... But underneath all her fluff,
she longs for freedom from her stuffy uptight world."
"Oooh - enter Grant? So how do
they get together?"
"Grant's mother hires Lindsay to
give him a makeover, she's an Image Consultant. Grant's father
dies and Grant comes back to Chicago to make amends, but his
fathers will calls for him to take over the business, the exact
thing Grant didn't want to do when he left."
I sigh, longingly. "You mean, he's
now impossibly rich, as well as impossibly good looking and good
with his hands?"
"Horrible isn't it? So anyway,
with the help of Grant's big, Bull Mastiff, Chopper, Lindsay and
Grant "fall" into each other arms. But Lindsay must
deal with who she wants to be vs. who she's "supposed"
to be, and Grant needs to deal with his past. Add Chopper to the
mix and it's a pretty zany ride - Oh, and the sex is smokin'!"
"I can't wait!"
"Should be out in a few months,"
Paige crosses her fingers, mouthing the word 'March' at me.
Click
for Riding the Line ~ Excerpt
We chatter for a bit, and to be honest the conversation is a
little disjointed, due to the various hunks of man flesh that
keep wandering up to offer Paige Margaritas.
"I like this idea of 'true lust',"
I muse, my eyes following a particularly nice set of abs…
"I mean, so many romances hinge upon
people finding "true love", but "lust at first
sight" seems much more fun…"
Paige chuckles. "Damia found that
out for sure - she's the green fairy over there."
She nods in the direction of a latino-style fairy. "Her
attraction was instant, the need to have Mateo almost primal,
but she soon found out that to have a lasting relationship,
there needed to be more - Don't get me wrong, I'm all about lust
coupled with love, but to really have a long relationship, love
should be the major factor."
"You mean, sex isn't everything?"
"Oh, SEX is everything! Just Love
too… That's one thing I enjoy about creating characters for a
genre that has no boundaries... Traditional romance would have
them take long walks on the beach, go to movie after movie after
movie, and have a 4 year engagement before... With Erotic, or
Sensual romance, they get to do it on the beach, mess around in
the movie theatre, and have a Vegas Wedding!"
"Much more fun!" I
smirk. "So, where do you get your
inspiration from..? For your characters, I mean!" I
blush. "Are they based on people you
know, or from movies, or..."
Paige chuckles, "I get my
inspiration from everywhere, really. Sometimes, it's the little
things; the idea of Lance came from having to play a million and
one hours of XBOX with my two boys. A Faerie Tale was a
collaborative effort w/ the other authors, Jodi Lynn Copeland,
Rae Monet, and Tiffany Aaron. Grant and Lindsay, I don't really
remember how they came about, probably from watching that
makeover show on TLC.
"I try to find pics for each of my
characters that I use for inspiration while I'm writing the
story, but Dragon's Heart (the story I'm working on right now),
is from a dream I had. I also have, in my idea folder, a 4 book
series based on an idea I got from a Cartoon!"
"A cartoon?"
"Yep, Avatar from Nickelodeon.
It's a long time in writing but it will be based on the 4
elements…"
"That sounds so cool! … Wait;
did you say something about pics? Proper pics? You mean I can
see exactly what Lance, Mateo and Grant look like?"
"Yep! The characters may end up
being a picture of a celebrity or a random photo I get off of
Google, but they all have pics - even Chopper."
Paige glances about the marquee, gives me a wink and nods her
head towards the doorway. We nip outside. There, she
reaches into a pocket and pulls out a beautifully decorated
notebook.
"Mateo," she whispers,
showing me a small but perfectly formed photograph. "Lance…"
Now readers, I apologise: I did not have my spy-camera with
me for this interview, or I'd include snapshots of the young
gods Paige has hidden away. Suffice to say. "Mmmmmm"
"It really helps me put the
character together," Paige continues, sipping at her
Margarita. "I'm not sure how many
authors do the picture thing, but it works for me…"
"Oh my, I can see why!"
I take a deep breath, tearing my eyes away from Lance's
close-up. "So… music. What do you
listen to, if anything, while you're writing?"
"When I first started writing, I
didn't listen to anything, but now I do. It actually helps me
concentrate. It doesn't have to be anything in particular though
- most times, I just use the Adult Alternative on the yahoo
radio, just some noise in the background."
I nod. We start walking back towards the marquee. "So
what about where you write - do you have a particular writing
space of your own?"
"My 'desk' is my dining room table
that my laptop seems to be permanently attached too,"
Paige laughs. "I write mostly at
night after my boys go to bed, but sometimes I got out to a
local restaurant that has wi-fi and write there…"
We're both handed fresh drinks on the way in; the volume's
ramped up, and we shout the next bit of the conversation over
the tail end of a track by Antigone Rising.
"Can you name some of your
favourite authors?"
"So many! In print, I'm a big
Laurell K. Hamilton fan and I really like Kelly Armstrong too!"
Paige is spun in a circle by Damia, who seems to be a big
Antigone fan. "But I have varied
tastes… " She continues, breathlessly. "One
of the best book series I think is the Tuesday Next series by
Jasper Fforde, so not even in the romance genre… Of course I
love the HP books and Lemony Snicket too!"
"And e-books?"
"Tiffany Aaron! Not only is she my
friend, she's an amazing paranormal author! Bonnie Dee is a new
author but so far I've cried at both her books, they are so deep
and touching…"
"Someone told me,"
Paige continues, smiling as a Coldplay track starts. "That
Romantic comedy would be my money maker, and I find that while
my stories do have humour in them… But in my opinion, the big
Comedy writers today tend to have whiney, dumb heroines - I just
try to be me when I write…"
I nod: Paige's heroines are far from whiney or dumb.
"You know, writing was sort of an
accident for me," she continues. "Not
something I ever really set out to do... I started out reviewing
books, and then got the opportunity to edit for an e-book
publisher. On a dare, I wrote a chapter for a Round Robin kind
of story, and everyone on the loop thought I was lying when I
said I wasn't a published author.
Click
for excerpt from In and Out,
one of Paige's first works
"…So, with a lot of
encouragement, I started to write my own stuff. Riding the Line
is actually the first story I ever started, but then got the
opportunity to write the shorter A Fairy Tale and Polar
Opposites, so I'm a little nervous about Riding the Line as it's
all me, no other authors to "carry" the load so to
speak…
"So now, I'm slowing on my editing
to concentrate more on writing. My goals? I don't know, and I
feel bad at times when I hear other authors heartache over not
being in print yet, and what-not, even aspiring authors that
have yet to get into e-book publishing, as it's really something
that just fell in my lap, does that make sense?
"Do I want to be in print? I don't
know. It would be amazing, but is it a goal? Not right now, I'm
just happy learning my craft and creating characters that I love
and hopefully others will too.
"However," Paige takes
a deep breath. "My goal for this year
though is to write four books: DH to be the first."
"Four?" I'm
dumbstruck.
"I know, 3 months each…
" She gives a determined smile. "I
don't know if I can do it but I'm going to try. I'd like to be
able to stay home and write full time, I take care of my
Grandmother so that would help to not have to work outside of
the house, and I need to write a ton to do that."
I suddenly realise that time is of the essence, if Paige is
going to stick to her deadline, so we enter a quick fire round:
"Give me three words to describe
yourself…"
"Fun, sincere, overachiever!"
She laughs.
"And a little known fact about
yourself, or one of your stories?"
"I have a tattoo in-between my
shoulder blades that I got last year. Right at the time I was
writing about Damia, thus why I had her wings turn into a tattoo
on her back."
"Cool! Okay, your favourite sweet,
savoury and drink…"
"A Payday bar, love Mexican food,
and can't say no to a Margarita." She smiles, raising her
glass."
"Favourite movie, TV show,
fictional hero…"
"Oh, Underworld 1 & 2, and
Chronicles of Riddick, CSI, Riddick"
"The best piece of advice you've
ever been given?"
Paige laughs. "When I was 9 months
prego and not in the slightest interested in "quality"
time with my hubby, my mother said, "you know dear, there
are other ways to please your husband... " I was driving at
the time - I almost crashed!"
"The best and worst things that
have ever happened to you, and anything you learnt from them."
"Best - the birth of my two sons,
no matter how much they make me insane they're still the best
thing ever! Worst: My Mom passed away 4 years ago from cancer.
She was 38. I learned to not take anything or anyone for
granted, that every moment counts."
"If you won the lottery tomorrow,
whom would you call first?"
"My hubby, then my sister, she's
my best friend. (I'd rub it in a bit too, isn't that was sisters
are for?)"
"If you could be anywhere in the
world, with anyone you wanted, where would you be and with who?"
"New Zealand, with my Hubby - A
Long romantic vacation!"
"Your favourite item of clothing
…"
"My leather jacket: I only get to
wear it maybe 3 times a year, but I've always wanted one and
finally got one 2 winters ago. I love it!"
A new track starts, and most of the crowd seems to know it's
one of Paige's favourites. To applause and laughter, Mateo and
Lance appear out of nowhere, grab Paige from both sides and
carry her off into the distance.
I'm left standing like a banana in the middle of the dance
floor, but I don't care: There's a small notebook, sitting on
the floor in front of me. It's fallen open on a rather risqué
shot of Lance…
Many
thanks to Paige for inviting us to her party!
Paige's
website is here:
http://www.paigeburns.com
See below for excerpts!
Riding
the Line~excerpt
(c) 2005 Paige
Burns
Liquid Silver Books
The first thing Grant noticed when he pulled into the
underground parking of the Callahan building was that the place
was deserted except for his mother’s limousine.
“Some things never change,” he muttered to himself
wondering if his mother ever left work. He got out of the truck
and waited while Chopper ran off some energy from being cooped
up in the truck. Typically dogs were supposed to be leashed in
the city, but in the enclosed empty parking garage he couldn’t
see what harm a dog could do. A blue Honda Accord pulled in the
garage and parked over by the elevator. He was about to go find
Chopper, who was taking way too long to do his business, when
the car door opened and out stepped a leg. Not just any leg,
mind you, but a slender milky-white calf that slimmed down to a
petite foot wrapped in a hot pink, strappy sandal.
He’d always been a leg man, and, since Chopper was taking
his sweet time, he stood transfixed, wondering what would follow
that enticing shoe and calf. He didn’t have long to wait. As a
woman stepped out of the car, his gaze followed the slender line
of her legs up to a hot pink and sherbet orange skirt that
swished when she stepped toward the back end of her car. He
continued his perusal upward to a sweater a shade lighter than
the orange on her skirt.
When she bent over to get something out of the trunk, his
body lit on fire. Okay, so maybe he was an ass man. Her lush
bottom peaked out from under pink and orange ruffles. The scrap
of lace women called underwear nowadays did nothing to hide her
pale bottom from him or anyone else that could have been
looking. Speaking of anyone, Grant glanced around to see if
there was anyone else enjoying the show the beauty was putting
on. When he looked to his right, all he saw was a blur of black
fur and lolling tongue galloping full on, straight for...
“Chopper ... no...” Grant lunged for the massive beast
but the dog slid through his hands and he landed with a painful
jolt on the hard concrete. The woman spun around. Her face was
etched in pure horror as she stood, frozen, watching his damn
dog barrel toward her.
Chopper launched himself at her and knocked her sideways onto
the garage floor. The attaché she’d clutched flew out of her
hands and landed with a resounding crash. It flew open and
papers scattered everywhere. Picking himself up, Grant ran over
to where Chopper was happily licking the woman’s face. He had
to give her credit. She wasn’t screaming and kicking like most
women would at having a one hundred pound plus canine pinning
them down.
“Chopper, get off!” Grant grabbed hold of his collar and
yanked the dog away. “Bad dog. Bad Chopper.”
Chopper slumped down to his belly, ears laid back in a form
of repentant submission. But Grant knew better. Knocking people
down was one of Chopper’s favorite things to do.
“Bad dog?” the woman said, still lying flat on the floor.
“Bad dog?” she repeated, this time with an edge of
hysteria.
Grant reached out to help her up and she pushed his hand
away. Scooting up, once again giving Grant a peep show of her
tight ass, she teetered a bit before straightening and took
stock of herself. Her clothes were ruined. Big black paw prints
graced her sweater and her skirt was torn. She’d lost a shoe,
too.
If Grant thought she’d been beautiful from afar, she was a
knockout up-close, even disheveled and pissed off. In fact, the
flash of anger he’d caught a glimpse of in her silver blue
eyes as she glared at him before straightening her clothes only
served to heighten his sexual appetite. His cock lengthened and
strained against the zipper of his jeans. When she finally
stopped fidgeting and looked at him dead on, he saw a wave of
something he didn’t understand flash across her eyes, but she
masked that quickly with tantalizing anger.
“I see I have my work cut out for me,” she said in a
steely voice. “Not only will I have to change you...” she
pointed a shaky finger at Grant, “but your fucking beast as
well.”
“I’m sorry?” Grant said roughly, his mind scrambling to
shift from wanting to take this woman on the hood of her car to
what she’d just said. “Change me? Lady, you don’t even
know me or my dog, and for the record his name’s Chopper not
‘fucking beast’.” At the mention of his name, Chopper
crawled up from where he’d been hiding behind Grant and sat
next to him.
“Oh, but I do, Grant Callahan.” The anger in her eyes
quickly changed to mirth as her kissable lips hitched into a
half smirk. “I’ve even seen you in your underwear.”
That threw Grant off. He was pretty good about remembering
the women he’d slept with. Or at least he thought he was. He
stared at her for a moment, racking his brain and wondering how
he could have forgotten such a magnificent woman. Forgotten or
not, he was going to take advantage of the newly discovered “intimacy.”
“Well, then...” Grant cocked his hip and matched her
smirk, “since we’re on such intimate terms, you won’t mind
when I do this.”
He
took one step forward and grabbed hold of her arms. Pulling her
flush against him, he crushed his lips to hers.
Back
to "lunch"
In
and Out ~ excerpt
(c) 2003 Paige
Burns
unedited and uncontracted first works of Paige Burns
“I…I want …you to…”
“Come on, Aimee”, the voice spoke softly out
of the darkness. “Tell me what you want.”
Erotic shivers shot down her spine, straight to
her aching center. “I…” Aimee started again, “I want you
to…make love to me?”
“No!” The voice was harsh now but still
hypnotic. “That’s not what you want. Say it, Aimee or this
ends right here.”
“I can’t! I’ve never said IT before…to
anyone”
“You can and you will. I need you to tell me,
that you want me to fuck you.” As he spoke, Aimee could sense
him coming towards her, out of the darkness and into the light,
his voice growing louder the closer he got. “Can you do that,
Aimee...?”
“Can you tell me where to find some books on
knitting?”
“What?”
Aimee blinked, shaking her head to clear the
sensual haze her daydream had put her in. In front of her stood a
little old lady, blue hair and all, with a determined look on her
face.
“Young lady,” the woman croaked. “are you
listening to me? I need to get a book on knitting. Are you going
to sit there all day staring at me or are you going to find me my
book?”
“Oh, excuse me.” Aimee could feel the blush
creeping up from her neck. “Of course, ma’am, right this way.”
Walking slowly so the old woman could keep pace
with her, she willed her heart to stop pounding.
You need to get a grip. This daydreaming thing has
got to stop, Aimee. For goodness sake, you don’t even know what
the man looks like. It doesn’t matter that his voice alone
brings you to the edge of…well, you know.
Even to herself, she couldn’t say the words.
“Here we are, ma’am, knitting books. Is there
anything else I can help you find?”
Aimee held her breath, hoping the lady would say
no so she could rush to the bathroom and finish composing herself.
“Thank you, dear.” The old woman patted her
arm and looked like she was about to say something else, but Aimee
interrupted.
“Okay then, if you do, just go back to the desk
and someone will help you” As nonchalantly as possible, Aimee
wove her way through the bookshelves to the public restroom to
hide until she calmed down.
*****
Sitting in a bathroom stall, Aimee sighed heavily
and it echoed back to her. She heard foot steps and then a soft
knock on the stall door.
“Aimee?” her best friend Vanessa Sutherland
said softly. “I see your shoes, so I know it’s you. Greg said
he saw you rush in here and that you looked sick, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Van,” she mumbled. “I just
needed a moment to myself.”
“You are not fine,” Van barked. “Something’s
going on, Aimee Henson. This is the second time in three days you’ve
locked yourself in the bathroom.”
Aimee heard Van stomp her foot. She could just
imagine her standing there, yelling at the stall door with her
hands on her hips. “Now you get out here, and tell me what’s
going on! We’re on lunch in five minutes anyway, and you are NOT
leaving the lunch room until you tell me everything!”
Resigned to the fact her friend wasn’t going
away, Aimee opened the door. Van stood just as she’d
guessed--her green eyes blazing, hands firmly planted on her hips,
and her red lips pursed like she’d been eating lemons.
“Okay, let’s get our lunches but I’m not
telling you in the break room, let’s go sit outside. We’re
going to need privacy for this conversation.”
“That good, huh?” Van reached over and gave
her a quick squeeze and a bright smile. “Should I get us some
chocolate?”
Aimee
squeezed back and chuckled, “We may have to buy out Hershey for
this one.”
Back
to "Lunch"
Many
thanks to Paige for inviting us to her party!
Paige's
website is here:
http://www.paigeburns.com
