Today's special guest is Golden Heart Winner, Romance Bandit and lover of all things Irish: Multi-published Romantic Suspense author, Loucinda McGary. Aunty Cindy, as she's known to her blog visitors, was kind enough to take a break from her world travels to recently talk to me about her July 6th release, The Wild Irish Sea and a variety of other topics. Hmm, I wonder if any of those luscious cabana boys from the Lair followed her over?
Welcome to The Romance Dish, Cindy!
Thank you so much for having me as a guest here today!
Congratulations on the recent release of your third published novel, The Wild Irish Sea. Will you tell us a bit about the story?
Again, thanks for the opportunity to talk about my new release, I’m very excited to see this one on the shelves!
Fraternal twins Amber and Parker O’Neill have shared a special telepathic connection all their lives. When Parker inadvertently witnesses a murder and is then targeted by the killers, his sister receives his mental distress call and rushes to the rugged shores of Ireland to rescue him. Once she reaches Donegal, Amber enlists the aid of troubled former police inspector, Kevin Hennessey to find her missing brother.
Though Kevin is reluctant to become involved with the beautiful American, something about her will not let him turn her away. As they race to find Parker, Kevin and Amber also become embroiled with some orphaned children, suspicious townsfolk, and a group of dangerous smugglers. Plus they discover a shared connection of mind, body and spirit unlike anything either of them has ever known.
There are some intriguing secondary characters (Parker!) in this book that I’d love to see more of. Will any of them be in future books?
Sadly, there are currently no plans for future books with secondary characters from any of my stories. However, if readers feel strongly that they’d like to read a particular character’s story, please let me and/or my editor know.
Your three published books are either set in Ireland or have an Irish connection. What draws you to the Emerald Isle?
Well, with a name like McGary (and yes, that is my real name) where would you be thinkin’ my ancestors came from? LOL! I’ve always felt a great attraction for the auld sod, and my DH happens to be Irish too! His grandmother came from Ireland in 1912, and he still has relatives who live in Northern Ireland. Visiting them is what inspired me to set my first published book,
The Wild Sight in Ireland. It is such a beautiful and mysterious place full of lovely, friendly people that I couldn’t resist the opportunity to tell another story set there. I hope my readers feel the same.
As for why I write Irish heroes, it has to be that accent! I’m afraid a man with a brogue could talk me into just about anything.
Have to agree with you on that accent. Mesmerizing!
We love call stories! How did you get the news of your first sale?
It was Friday September 14, 2007 at 8:30 in the morning. I was still in bed contemplating what to fix for breakfast, when my phone rang. Everyone who knows me also knows NOT to call me before 9:00 A.M., so when I snatched up the phone, I was expecting bad news.
Instead an unfamiliar woman’s voice asked for me, and when I identified myself, she said, “This is Deb Werksman from Sourcebooks and I’d like to buy your Irish book.” I’m afraid I screeched, “Oh my God!” in my poor editor’s ear about a dozen times. Fortunately, she just laughed and said, “I love making these kinds of phone calls.”
LOL! What a great visual! Did you do anything special to celebrate?
I used to have a standing lunch engagement with three good friends every Friday. So after I hung up the phone, I rushed out to meet my friends and share the wonderful news. More screaming and much laughing ensued, as I recall.
My DH was at work but was due home shortly after noon. I couldn’t reach him, so I left a note that said, “I sold the Irish book!!!” When I got home he was waiting to help me celebrate, though he did admit that for a couple of minutes he thought I’d sold one of my research books on Ireland and couldn’t understand why I was so excited. MEN!
How wonderful that you were able to celebrate with your good friends. Too funny about your husband's reaction but I'm sure he made up for it once he understood which book!
Tell us about a typical day in the life of Loucinda McGary. How do you manage to travel the world, blog at multiple sites, hit the social network, take care of real life responsibilities and still find time to turn out terrific stories? Your time management skills must be a whole lot better than mine!
Time management? Don’t you mean time manglement? Honestly, don’t give me too much credit. Some days, the only reason I know my own name is because my son, my DH and/or my BFF keep yelling it at me.
On a typical day, I start working on my current work in progress after lunch, and I usually keep writing for four or five hours until dinner, which my DH cooks. After dinner, I do critiques, revisions, research, or I watch a movie (I LOVE my Netflix). This is my routine for week days. On Saturday, if it is auto racing season or a deadline is approaching, I’ll write from about 3:00 P.M. until around midnight or so. I don’t usually work on Sundays unless I’m really into my story or I’m facing a deadline.
The writers I admire most are those who have full-time jobs and young children (definitely a full-time job) at home. I have neither. I also do not cook, clean, or apologize for my deficiencies in those areas. Travel and writing are my priorities, so that’s how I spend most of my time. I squeeze in chores and errands when I can no longer avoid them. Now that you all know the ugly truth, if you repeat any of this I will disavow every word!
Repeat what? *g*
Speaking of travel, you’ve traveled extensively throughout the world. What is the most memorable location you’ve visited and what place is on your bucket list of “must visit” sites?
I’ve visited so many fascinating places that it is difficult to pick one as most memorable. In fact, I find just about every place I visit memorable and fascinating in some way. Last May we visited Arches National Park near Moab, Utah and it was absolutely awesome. But so was The Sistine Chapel (which I saw for the first time in 1994), and in a completely different way.
Two places, I often rave about that most people find unusual are Bangkok, Thailand and Cappadocia, Turkey. Bangkok is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with pristine, ancient temples and gleaming high-rises, and some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. The Turks are wonderfully friendly too, and Cappadocia is like no other place on this planet with incredible stone ‘fairy chimneys’ and underground cities dating back some 1500 years.
When we first started traveling, I told my DH there were three places I wanted to see before I died: Venice, Ireland, and The Great Wall of China. I’m happy to say that I accomplished all of those by Feb. 1997 when I stood on The Great Wall with my teeth chattering from cold but a huge grin on my face! The place that now occupies my #1 slot (and has for awhile) is Egypt, but there are plenty of other places on the list too.
Let's say you've just booked that trip to Egypt. Which fictional characters should start packing their bags to go along with you?
I’d definitely want to take Amelia Peabody and her hubby Emerson, so they could tell me all the history surrounding whatever tomb or pyramid we happened to be visiting. They probably won’t need to pack, as they will undoubtedly already be in Egypt.
Oh, and I’ll need Brendan Fraser’s character Rick O’Connell from the movie The Mummy to protect me with all those lovely big guns of his (and supply some great eye candy).
Great choices!
RWA National is coming up in a few weeks and readers will be standing in long lines to have their favorite books autographed. (You'll be missed!) What authors would you stand in line to have a book signed by?
Any and all of my Banditas, of course! I already stood in line last year for Janet Evanovich’s autograph, and the other author for whom I have stood in line probably won’t be in Orlando either – Diana Gabaldon.
I will certainly miss seeing everyone at National this year (and getting some yummy chocolate turtles from you, PJ), but I plan to be in New York for the 2011 conference, so I’ll see you all there!
What’s next from the creative imagination of Loucinda McGary?
One of my favorite modes of travel is cruising, and to date, I’ve gone on sixteen cruises (number seventeen is booked for November). For my current work in progress, I decided to use all that experience, so I’ve set the story on a cruise ship. I hope this will be the first in a series centered around this fictional cruise line.
I love cruising! I'll be looking forward to the new books.
Is there a question you’d like to ask our visitors?
Because I liked it so much, I’ll repeat one of your questions:
What is the number one destination on your bucket list, and which fictional characters will you take with you?
One randomly selected commenter will win an autographed copy of The Wild Irish Sea.
DRAWN TOGETHER BY A FORCE THEY CAN'T RESIST... 
