Friday, March 7, 2014

What is a MadMan MacKeefe? by Elizabeth Rose



Thanks Nancy, for having me as a guest today. 
*I love to host other authors so you are welcome. Also, since I have read the prequel to these three books, I've been hooked. NLB

Simply put, a MadMan MacKeefe is a Scottish Highlander who is out of his mind. He does crazy, dangerous things, has odd pets, unique looks, and most likely demons in his head making him crazy as well.
*...and his crazy eyes that don't match are part of his mysterious past! NLB
 
Let me explain further. My MadMan MacKeefe Series starts with the first of three friends from the same clan in Onyx – Book 1. Now, Onyx MacKeefe is actually the dead brother of the girls from my Daughters of the Dagger Series. I say dead, because he has these spells where he looks like he’s dead and his heart slows and sometimes he even stops breathing. The spells are brought on by anxiety, and actually, he had one right when he was born. He also has two different colored eyes, and back then they thought of this as being a demon or being cursed. So as a baby he was put into a box and ordered to be drowned in the sea. Yeah, that’ll make anyone crazy, not to mention he travels with a Scottish Wildcat.

And then there’s his good friend, Aidan MacKeefe in Aidan – Book 2, who is also out of his mind. He is guarding the real Stone of Destiny for the Scots, and using it as pillow to have prophetic dreams. He has a pet squirrel that sits on his shoulder.

That brings us to my brand new release - the third friend, Ian MacKeefe in Ian – Book 3. This man has inner demons haunting him. He sees a vision in the Samhain fire - the ghostly face of a man he’s killed and buried three years ago. And this is the night that the veil is lifted and the dead can come back to life.

Research: I always like to put a holiday into my novels so people can see what it was like back in the 14th century. Actually, Halloween – or All Hallow’s Eve, or Samhain as it was first called, was a pagan holiday to begin with. The powerful church didn’t like that, and made it into a Christian holiday that we know as All Saints, and All Soul’s day. And the children used to go door to door begging for soul cakes, carrying carved-out gourds with faces in them, lit by a candle inside in order to ward away demons and keep themselves safe. Hence, the first trick-or-treating and jack-o-lanterns.

I also loved researching the Stone of Destiny for Aidan. This was the ancient coronation stone used by the Scots. It was supposedly stolen by the English back in 1296, but since Scotland never attempted to get it back, the theory is that they had the true Stone of Destiny hidden away and the English stole a fake. This is the basis of my story.

Ian – Book 3 is my 29th book. I have been writing seriously for about 20 years, and have five print books from years ago. Then of course, I went back to the real world to be able to pay my bills, and then last year I lost my job. That was actually a good thing, as that enabled me to have time to start putting some of my novels into ebook form and publishing them as an Indie author. I love working for myself – well some of the time. As I am a true slave driver, and push myself past what I believe I can do. While maybe a third of my books were already written from years ago, I started writing new ones as well. In the past year I have Indie-published 28 ebooks.

I love writing medieval as well as paranormal novels, but I do have some contemporary novels and short stories as well. Anyone wanting to read excerpts from any of my books can do so by visiting my website at http://elizabethrosenovels.com.

I also want to say that I do have a degree in art and this inspired me to create my own bookcovers as well as my own booktrailers. Of course, being away from the computer for so many years took its toll, but I delved right into photoshop and figured it out myself even though my two boys told me I could never do it. Great motivation, huh? Please stop by my website to see my booktrailers, as I am very proud of the way they turned out. You can also find them on You Tube or on my Amazon profile page.

My books can be found on Amazon as well as some on Smashwords   Barnes and Noble and Goodreads.

Here is an excerpt from my new release, Ian – Book 3:

“Dinna hate me, Kyla. Ye have te understand thet nothin’ can e’er happen between us.” Ian’s words said one thing but his body was saying another. Why did he have his arm around her, pulling her closer, if he was trying to push her away?
Still, his words sounded so final and she wondered for a moment if she was just fantasizing again and there was really nothing between them after all. Mayhap her expectations were set too high and she shouldn’t get her hopes up. Not when it had to do with Ian MacKeefe. She was confused, but had to know for sure.
“Somethin’ already has happened between us,” she said, turning and looking up into his eyes. The firelight danced off his sun-kissed skin and the whole moment would have been special if only he would drop the walls between them.
“Nothin’ happened,” he said, as if he truly believed it.
“Ye kissed me, Ian MacKeefe, and if ye say ye felt nothin’ between us then I say ye are the biggest liar I’ve e’er met.”
“I didna feel anythin’.”
She blinked once, then twice, not believing he was really acting like such a dolt. She had to make him admit that he was lying. This may be the only chance she ever got.
“Prove it,” she challenged him.
“What do ye mean?”
She raised her chin and looked him straight in the eye. “Kiss me again, and if ye can honestly say thet ye feel nothin’, then I swear I’ll leave ye alone and ne’er mention it again.”
He laughed then, and the brightness of his smile as well as the deep, rich rumble in his chest vibrating against her, about drove her from her mind. Damn, why did he have to be so desirable?
He lowered his head and looked up from the corner of one hooded eye. One side of his mouth twisted wryly as he answered. “I dinna want te play games, lassie,” he said in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper.
And when he removed his arm from around her shoulders and started to move away, she decided she didn’t want to die without feeling Ian’s lips upon hers one more time. She daringly took hold of his shoulders and reached upward, pressing her lips firmly against his before he could object.

Links:

I enjoyed being a guest today, and I invite everyone to stop by my facebook page as well as my website, and be sure to sign up to receive my blogs in order to get updates on new books, as I have new releases all the time.

Here are the links once again:

Elizabeth Rose



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