Fade to Midnight

In Fade to Midnight, Kev is strong, intelligent, and can take two guys down with practically one hand. But on the other side, he is also creative and vulnerable. How were you able to balance these elements of his character without losing the sexy edge to him?
Kev was a big discovery for me. With all the other McCloud brothers, from BEHIND CLOSED DOORS onward, I’d already discovered all kinds of background information about their characters, history and choices, which is a tremendous springboard for the story—since for me, the characters ARE the story. All I had to go on were a few of Sean’s sentimental memories, a couple dream sequences and a paranormal vision or two. That was it. And to make matters worse, Kev was at zero, too, as far as his past was concerned. His injuries at the hands of Dr. Osterman had rendered him brain damaged and amnesiac. There was so much he did not know about himself, and the only way I could make some sense of all that for him was to have him use his special gifts to exploit it as an opportunity for spiritual growth. Which sounds a bit odd and out of place in a sexy suspense novel, but there it is. Kev learned to be in the moment, serene and calm and centered, and essentially fearless—until he encounters Edie. Then all bets are off. But his capacity to be in the moment serves him there, too, because he is able to give himself over to love and passion more quickly and completely than any hero I’ve ever created. Certainly faster than any (ahem) “normal” guy ever would. Sorry, guys. Fantasy rules.

At the hands of Dr. Osterman and his “mind enhancement” program, Kev and Edie have a lot of pain in their pasts to work out before they can move on. Yet you still manage to set them up as a love match – how are they perfect for each other?
I had great fun with setting up the love story for Edie and Kev. It was a total, over-the-top fantasy for me, to make the damage the two of them had suffered the very reason they are destined for each other. As a hopeless romantic, I get off on the concept of true love written in the stars. Edie was marked at a tender age by her traumatic encounter with the desperately injured Kev, and becomes obsessed by his image, creating her graphic novels around the character inspired by him, practically channeling Kev’s life from afar as he lives it. Meanwhile, Kev saw the eleven year old Edie dressed all in white in a moment of extremity, and then used her dream image like a holy talisman for years, to lead him through his own darkness and into healing and wholeness once again. So the moment they finally meet again, they have no choice but to fall instantly in love. They’re programmed for it. Of course, the fabulous sex certainly doesn’t hurt. It has all the ponderous weight of destiny driving it. Sex and destiny. I love it.

You are originally from the Pacific Northwest but you now live in a small sea-side town in southern Italy. Indulge us and tell us what life is like in Italy! Has the Italian landscape inspired you to take the McCloud brothers over seas?
Wow, living in Italy is so all encompassing, it’s hard to describe it without writing a book, and who has the time with my schedule? I love the sun, I love the food, I love the coffee, that goes without saying. And it keeps my mind flexible juggling languages and cultures. I live in Puglia, which is the heel of the boot of Italy, and I hate to ruin an expatriate fantasy, but since I had kids, my days are now a delirious blur of little-kid-management, which is much the same in any country. Which severely cuts in on the writing time, and leaves no time at all for the lovely things Italy is famous for . . . strolling down romantic cobblestoned streets, gauzy skirt swishing about my knees, lounging on terraces, the wind blowing my hair back as I look out over an azure sea, sipping a glass of Prosecco . . Not. I feel grateful if I manage to get out of the house to buy a tube of toothpaste. Or to the gas station, or to the supermarket, and omigod we’re out of diaper cream, dish soap, baby yogurt and plastic wrap! Am I ruining my mystique by confessing this? Yikes! But there it is. Cannot tell a lie. I get homesick a lot, but for the reasons listed above, I don’t really have time to mope, so it’s OK. I think the Pacific Northwest is the most beautiful place in the world, bar none. I miss the Cascade Mountains, the rivers, the waterfalls, the forests, the deserts. And sillier, more inconsequential things, too, like Tropicana Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, and clothes dryers. (they don’t do dryers here. They prefer to iron. For hours, and hours. Sheets. Socks. Underwear, too. Yeah, I know. Don’t ask.) I doubt the McClouds will be making it to Italy any time soon. People often ask why I don’t set stories in Italy. ULTIMATE WEAPON does have a very long sequence set in Italy, which was great fun to write, but in general, I tend to avoid it as a setting, because I know Italy really well after living here for thirteen years. Italy has such a powerful personality, it would be like introducing a intrusive character into the story, like a nosy mother-in-law. Italy does not stand passively back to be a graceful, sexy background setting. Italy gets in your face, and makes itself loud and ridiculous and charmingly obnoxious. Not quite right for the genre, somehow. But even so. Living in Italy a great adventure, and I’m lucky to be having it.