Interview with Sins of the Mind’s Elliot Swanson

Debbie: Well, (turns to Laura) this is the first stop on our tour of Red River. You’d think we would have stopped at the Bakery, but no here we are in front of Red River’s steakhouse. The one where Abby went on that blind date with...(huge eye roll) Elliot.

Laura: Yeah, Elliot Swanson, attorney at law. Hmm…what can I say? Let’s look at the menu.

Debbie: Well, the food looks excellent. They certainly do give huge portions, lol. Remember how disgusted Abby was by the huge hunk of rare steak Elliot devoured?

Laura: OMG! Disgusting. (chunks a roll at Debbie) Okay…if you don’t quit talking about that man, I’m going to lose my appetite.

Debbie: You just jinxed yourself woman. He's heading this way.

Laura: Crap. Of course he is. (glares at Deb then looks up) Elliot Swanson, what a surprise. So good to see you. Why don’t you join us? Take a seat next to Debbie, she was just talking about you.

Elliot: Why Elliot would be honored to sit next to such a beautiful woman.

Laura: Yes she is. And she’s single, too.

Elliot: (raises brow) Is that so? Well, play your cards right, and Elliot might ask you out for a date.

Debbie: (kicks Laura HARD under the table) Why, bless your little heart. I'm sure I'd be honored, Elliot, but I'm just not sure I'm ready to take that step yet. But do, please tell us about yourself. Now, since Laura and I wrote you, I know you're not a main character, so what is your role in the book. (beyond being an insufferable pig)

Elliot: Why I’m Elliot Swanson, attorney at law. (pops a card, hands it to Debbie, and grins) This town couldn’t survive without his expertise. Why, Elliot is an expert at lots of things, if you catch the meaning.

Laura: Ahem. Um, I heard you were called down to the police station for questioning about those horrible murders.

Elliot: What? That buffoon, Detective Parker, doesn’t know his head from a hole in the ground. Elliot Swanson did not murder anyone. Elliot’s a lover not a killer. (turns toward Debbie) Though he has been referred to as a killer lover on more than one occasion. Can I buy you a drink?

Debbie: I'm DD tonight, sorry. So, what makes you so important to this town? I still don't get it. You're a defense attorney. I guess that in itself could be important, but you seem to think there is more to it than that. By the way, Detective Parker did get his guy, so I guess he knows something.

Elliot: (snorts) He stumbled into it. The whole town knows he’s a joke.

Debbie: Well, Abby sure doesn't. They seem quite happy together.

Elliot: Poppycock. It won’t last. The whole town knows she’s one step away from the loony bin, what with her going into hysterics over a peppermint. It’s a piece of a candy, for Pete’s sake. Who’s ever heard of such a thing?

Debbie: Elliot, why do you keep referring to yourself in the third person? Don't you find it annoying?

Elliot: (snicks air against his teeth and narrows eyes) Exactly what are you driving at, Ms. Gould? There’s no need to poke a tiger with a pointy stick. I’ve heard this song and dance before. Abby Montgomery lied about her availability for dating as well. Caught her at the café across town with her high school heartthrob. (puts hand over his heart) You cut deep, Ms. Gould, all because Elliot Swanson flirted with a beautiful and desirable woman. 

Debbie: (spews the drink of water she'd just taken all over the front of Elliot) What the f—?

Laura: (abruptly sits up and looks toward the window) Wait. Did someone just have a wreck outside?

Elliot: (brushes shirt off and stands) Elliot needs to go check on the people outside, see there was anyone at fault. They might need a lawyer. (nods) Ms. Garland. Ms. Gould. And don’t be afraid to use that card. (winks)

Laura: A lawyer? What about a paramedic? I swear, I think he really believed he had a shot with you. (eyeballs Deb) You’re not gonna call him, right?

Debbie: Not if he was the last man alive in Red River!

Laura: LOL I didn’t think so. (looks at menu) Hmm…what looks good to you?

Debbie: Ohhh this Vermont Maple chicken looks awesome!

Laura: Perfect. Gotta keep our strength up for this blog tour.

Debbie: You know it. Okay so lets eat and decide the next place we should check out. And please make it somewhere Elliot is NOT! That is one creepy dude. It's no wonder Ethan considers him a suspect.

Vermont Maple Chicken

Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

•       1 chicken, 2-1/2-3 pounds, cut up or equivalent chicken breasts

•       1/4 cup butter, melted

•       1/2 cup Pure Vermont Maple Syrup

•       1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

•       1 teaspoon salt (optional)

•       Dash of pepper (optional)

•       1/4 cup sliced, chopped or slivered almonds

•       2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken pieces in a shallow, buttered baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients and pour evenly over chicken. Bake uncovered 50-60 minutes. Baste occasionally.

Sins of the Mind

BLURB:

Seven years ago, Abby Montgomery survived a brutal attack. Now she is ready to put her pain in the past and move on with her life. The problem is, one by one the men in her life are being viciously murdered.

The detective assigned to the case, Ethan Parker, has demons of his own to hide. As the danger gets closer to Abby, so does Ethan. But can they get past his secrets before the killer gets to them? Sometimes the sins of the mind are more depraved than the sins of the heart.

Genre: Contemporary, erotic romance, suspense, thriller, romantic suspense

Word count – 87k

BUY LINK

EXCERPT:

“Moment?” He raised his eyebrows, tried for a surprised expression. “We were having a moment? Where was I?”

A husky laugh escaped Abby’s lips. She gave him a playful shove, but he caught her hand, his fingers encircling her delicate wrist. With great care, he bowed his head and pressed his lips to the center of her palm. Her sharp intake of air told him she liked it.

“Is this the moment you were referring to?” He kissed her wrist. “Or this?” His mouth grazed along her skin, up the side of her neck to the tender point below her ear.

“Mmm.” She shivered.

He inhaled, reveled in her unique scent. A mixture of spicy vanilla and exotic flowers invaded his senses and sent the room slowly spinning. Primal lust roared through him, demanded he possess her in a rush of carnal passion.

But Ethan resisted.

Intent on enticing Abby into a wild, heated frenzy, he trailed the tip of his tongue along her throat. Her pulse hammered beneath his ardent attention, and he reveled in her response. His fingers slid over her supple skin. One hand sought the silky tresses adorning her head while the other coaxed her legs across his lap and then slipped around her waist.

He pulled back, stared into her lovely face. Eyelids fluttering, she sighed in his arms. When she looked at him, desire burned bright in her eyes. His heart stuttered at the sight, and hot need rushed to his groin.

“Abby.” Her name rolled from his tongue in a mix of desperation and lust. A voracious hunger to taste every inch of her body washed over him. The urge to kiss the small of her back, to run his tongue along her skin, delving and dipping into her secret, sensitive places, all but overwhelmed him. “Tell me to stop. If you’re not ready, honey, tell me to stop right now and by all that’s holy, I will. But you need to know how much I want you right now.”

~*~

- L.J. Garland & Debbie Gould can be tracked down at http://www.garland-and-gould.blogspot.com/ where they blog, chat about stuff, and interview other authors.
- L.J. can be caught at www.lj-garland.com and emailed at mail@lj-garland.com You can also tweet her at @LJ_Garland1
- Debbie can be found at http://www.authordebbiegould.com/ and emailed at mountecho2006@yahoo.com. You can tweet her @DebbieGould
- They love hearing from people who have enjoyed our stories!

And you can find Sins of the Mind here! 

Love. Obsession. Murder. Blood Flows in Red River

by Laura J. Garland and Debbie Gould

DEBBIE: Ohhh, we get to talk about Sins Of The Mind today. This is a story I had rambling around in the back of my head. I think I even had the first chapter down when I asked if you thought you might want to write a story with me.

Your turn. (turns around) Hello?

LAURA: Right here! Just grabbing a mocha Frappuccino over there at the Red River Café. Man, these things are addictive. Here, gotcha a bottle of water and a red velvet donut.

DEBBIE: Awww, you know me so well.

LAURA: (grins) So, writing together…. Yes, you’re exactly right. I remember you and I had been on the forums together for around a year, and then I got an email from you saying you had a story idea that you thought I might be interested in and maybe we could co-author it. And of course I was!

DEBBIE: It was the beginning of a great partnership, lol. Sins of the Mind was different though from what you'd written in the past. Darker wouldn't you say? 

LAURA: I'd written romantic suspense, paranormal romance and SFR, and they all had a hint of darkness here and there. But yeah, once you and I started brainstorming, the twisted darkness really came out…. And I don't see it going back in that box. What about you? Did you see your kernel of an idea turning into this warped plot we ended up with?

DEBBIE: Well, I knew who I wanted the bad guy to be, but I sure didn't see the twists and turns we had coming. My favorite little annoyance is the local attorney at law, Elliot Swanson. Can't wait to see if the readers hate him as much as we do. And, I totally think he should be in every book of the series just so we can get that Elliot factor in there. He's such a little worm, lol.

LAURA: I agree. He’s the type who thinks he has to be in the middle of everything. Just a tad narcissistic. How he gets dates, I’ll never know! Hey, how’s that donut treatin’ ya?

DEBBIE: Can’t you tell since it appears to be all gone? lol. The best part of writing this book and the others that we write together is that somehow we are see the same things playing out and if I come up with an idea you always expand on it and make it even better or visa versa. It's darn scary sometimes the way our minds work together.

LAURA: Spooky indeed!

DEBBIE: So what do you want our readers to know about Red River where Sins of the Mind takes place? The one thing I want them to know is that this won’t be the last of Red River they see. We have, what, the next two stories mapped out?

LAURA: Yes, we do. I’m thinking the body count will be going up. So, hopefully, more suspense, murder, and mayhem. Oh, and romance. I just love the romance between Ethan and Abby.

DEBBIE:  The twisted psycho in the next Red River Series is going to be even more demented than the one that tortured Ethan and Abby in Sins, lol. But Ethan and Abby pulled through stronger than ever and ended up with a love that we know can survive anything thrown at it. That’s what I love about this story and series. We put the H&H through the gambit and they come out swinging harder and more committed to each other than the day before.

LAURA: Yeah, we did put them through the ringer, didn’t we? (sigh) Good times.

DEBBIE: LMAO Do people know you’re so sadistic?

LAURA: Not till you just told them. (elbows Debbie) Sheesh! But I know just how to smooth this over. We’ll give away a free copy of Sins of the Mind to one of our lucky commenters!

DEBBIE: Absolutely!

LAURA: We should also let people know about our blog where we announce our book releases, discuss random topics, and interview other authors: http://www.garland-and-gould.blogspot.com. Hey, why don’t we walk down to the river, or did you want to get another donut first?  

DEBBIE: I bet I can stay away from the donuts a lot easier than you can stay away from the Latte! Besides, I want to see if that cute FBI dude is still down there fly fishing. I know, I know, we have a woman for him, but maybe he has a friend.

LAURA: (holds up hand) Guilty. The coffee comment is absolutely true. (gestures over shoulder)And as far as the guy fly-fishing, I saw him heading down that way when we exited the café. Yes, we’ve already lined up a woman for him. But hey, I can get you Elliot Swanson’s number! 

Website: http://www.garland-and-gould.blogspot.com

Have You Ever Wanted...

By Debbie Gould

A second chance at love?  Ever wondered what could have been? Was he the one? Did I just lose my chance at happiness? I did once. I was attending a party centuries ago, but the moment stands out today just as clear as it did that night.

I really hadn’t been dating anyone for a long time. The last guy I had broken up with had started out as a really good friend then we started dating, and it was great for a while, but I was young and infatuated with the bad boy type. (Damn, I loved those bad boys and their fast cars. I was seventeen, what do you want?)

So, I dumped a really good guy for the bad boy. Had a blast for a couple of weeks and realized that while my bad boy was exciting, he really didn’t have a heck of a lot of depth to him. And for my seventeen-year-old self to figure that out must have meant the guy really didn’t have much more than his car going for him. (Again, I was seventeen, what do you want?)

Anyway, flash forward six months later to the party. Tons of people in attendance. It was the classic get-together back then. Bonfire out in the woods, pick-up truck, tail-gates down, coolers full of beer and bottles of Riunite Lambrusco, my drink of choice back then, lol.

Most of my friends tended to be of the opposite sex. The girls where always more concerned with clicks and looks. I related much better to the male population, and whoever says guys and girls can’t have a platonic relationship is full shit. My best friends and confidants were male, and my best male friend from my teen years continues to be to this day.

So, everyone is having a great time, and who shows up but the ex. It’s not like I hadn’t seen him in six months. I had. And every time I saw him, I’d regretted breaking up with him. This night more than ever. Maybe it was the Riunite, maybe it was the two hours spent watching him talking with everyone, laughing, and just basically being the guy I fell in love with. But when I saw him walking out to his truck, alone, I jumped into action.

I ran down the dirt road and caught up with him just as he’d gotten to where he’d parked his car. As he opened his door, I called out his name. Slowly, he turned and faced me but didn’t say anything.

“I still love you. I never stopped.”  Okay, so yes, I was a bit dramatic back then.

He looked at me, just stared for what seemed like hours, turned, opened his door and drove off. NOT ONE WORD did he say to me. I stood there watching him drive away until I couldn’t see the taillights any longer.

Well, fine! I guess I deserved that. Karma and all. After a few minutes, I went back to the party to finish getting drunk. One week later, I had a blowout on my Trans Am. (Damn, I loved that car.) I was pulled over on the side of the road trying to change the tire when the ex pulls in behind me.

Good guy that he was, he helped me change it, all the while making small talk like what I’d said that night never happened. He gets it fixed, walks back to his car, and says, “By the way. I still love you, too.” And he drove off. AGAIN!

We never did get back together. BUT, my Second Chance began the night of that party. I guess it was pretty apparent I’d been crying when I walked back to the party because this guy I barely knew came over  and asked if I was okay. I said yes. I didn’t blurt out how heartbroken I was, but I think on some level he must have known.

We spent the rest of the night talking and became great friends. Twenty-eight years later we are still happily married. How’s that for a Second Chance?