Today, I have a special treat. One of my new favorite authors, Siobhan Muir, recently caught up with the hero in her new release, THE BELTANE WITCH. I had some questions for Darius and Siobhan recorded the encounter for all of us to enjoy!
I stepped into the cool interior of the Cloudburst Coffee and Spa and sighed in relief. Cloudburst, Colorado, faced a bad, hot, dry summer despite its name and air conditioning was in high demand. Moira Callahan, the coffee shop’s proprietor, raised her eyebrows and tapped her wrist from behind the counter. I grimaced and nodded. She’d been waiting 9 months for me to get on her story, but there’d been too many previous to her and a few plot bunnies distracting me in the way.
But today, I was here to meet with Darius Winterbourne, the man who’d turned Sabrina Foxglove’s world upside down in a space of one week. Now, two months later, they were planning a spring Equinox wedding.
I spotted Darius in a leather armchair, reading an extreme sports magazine, and slid into a matching chair across a low table from him.
“Hello, Darius.”
“Ah, Mistress Muir. So good to see you again. I trust you’re well?”
“Yes, thanks.” I pulled out my tablet and a crumpled piece of paper with Silver James’ questions. “Ready for your interview?”
He raised an eyebrow and grunted with amusement. “Right to business, I see.”
“See that woman over there?” I pointed at Moira Callahan working behind the counter. “She wants her story finished, and I have a Menage a’ SEALs breathing down my neck to finish theirs, so yeah, I don’t have a lot of time for small talk.” I leveled him with a look. “As I recall, you informed me on January 1st that the holidays were over and I needed to get your damn book done, so I think you’d have some compassion for the others.”
Darius smiled indulgently. “Yes, of course. Forgive me, Mistress Muir. I’m happy to answer any question you pose to me.”
Ah, so he’d decided to wear his Chamberlain hat today. Fine.
“Good. So first question. There’s a saying: A good friend will come to bail you out of jail, but a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, “Damn, that was fun.” Who would be sitting next to you, Darius?”
“Ah yes, the fond days of wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting.” He chuckled to himself, his teal eyes flashing. “That would be my younger brother Phinnius. He and I would often cause my mother consternation and frustrate my older brother, Tiberius. At least until our father left.” Darius sobered so suddenly I thought I’d imagined his good humor. “But yes, my younger brother Phinnius would be seated beside me asking when we could do it again.”
“What happened to your father?” I pretended to type in my notes on my tablet as I surreptitiously watched his reaction.
“I neither know nor care what’s become of the nameless whoreson.” His voice remained flat, bland even, but his fist closed on his thigh.
Kind of a harsh thing to say about his grandmother.
“Right. Okay. What do you think about friends with benefits? Good idea, or too complicated, and why?”
“Friends with benefits?”
“Yeah, you know, fuck buddies, a sexual partner you have no intention on marrying or courting.”
He grunted, his expression thoughtful. “There was a time I thought it a worthy pastime. In truth, it’s very common in the Summer Court. Fidelity appears to be a foreign concept to the courtiers of the Summer Queen. My elder brother Tiberius particularly enjoys cuckolding the elven lords of the Court.” Darius grimaced. “Perhaps one day he’ll learn what an empty life it is engaging in such activities. After meeting Sabrina Foxglove and her daughters, the idea of using her to ‘scratch an itch’ is as repugnant as the pathetic churl who got her with child and walked away from his children.”
I snorted. “I’m surprised, Darius. I thought you were the darling of the Summer Court and highly experienced for the position.”
He scowled. “I cannot change the past, but cheating on one’s spouse is deplorable. And leaving one’s children is grounds for gelding.”
“That’s fairly harsh. I know a few women who might agree with you, but I suspect there would be very few men.”
“Hence the gelding.”
“Right. Let’s move on.” I scanned my notes for something not quite as sensitive. “Describe your personality with five adjectives that would make an English teacher proud.”
Darius blinked. “An English teacher?”
I held up my notes. “That’s what Silver asked.”
A sly smile curled his lips. “Heroic, courteous, dependable, honorable, and personable.”
“Uh-huh. And what five adjectives would Sabrina use?”
His smile shifted to rueful. “Arrogant, manipulative, persistent, unbelievable, and stubborn.” He rubbed his hand over his chin. “But I still managed to win her over anyway.” His gaze shifted away toward the counter and he straightened up. “Forgive me, Mistress Muir. Do you have any other questions for me?”
“Uh, no, why?”
“I must go meet up with my ladies for pizza night at the Rainshadow estate.” He rose and bowed over my hand. “As always, it is a pleasure to see you, Mistress Muir. I hope to see you again soon.”
He sauntered through the coffee shop and almost all the female patrons watched him go. I had to laugh. He might be taken, but there’d always be eyes on him. Good thing Sabrina had won his heart.
Definitely a good thing, Siobhan! I loved this book. And Darius. Just sayin’. If anyone has a question for Darius or Siobhan, ask away! They’ll be dropping in through the day to say hi to everyone who comes by.
For those of you who want more info, you can find Siobhan and her wonderful cast of characters at her WEBSITE, BLOG, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, GOODREADS, and GOOGLE+.
Want to buy the book? It’s available from SMASHWORDS, ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS, and AMAZON.
BLURB
Magic, mayhem, and motherhood… a witch’s work is never done, but Sabrina draws the line at the Fae.
After almost two decades as a practicing witch in Cloudburst, Colorado, Sabrina Foxglove is done with men, magic, and the fertility rituals of High Beltane. She’s dealt with all three before and ended up with a young daughter and no partner. Twice. She’s looking forward to a magic-free May Day, with nothing more exciting than making brownies for a kindergarten class and decorating a May Pole. She definitely doesn’t have time for a handsome, Fae-touched man.
After almost two centuries as the human chamberlain to the Fae’s Summer Court, Darius Winterbourne is a man accustomed to getting his way. So when the Summer Queen tasks him with finding a witch to perform the annual rituals and strengthen the ancient warding magicks, he figures it should be easy. He doesn’t expect Sabrina’s hardheaded refusal, her untrained abilities, or his attraction to her. With less than a week to Beltane, he must gain Sabrina’s trust before he loses his home, his position…and his heart.
BIO:
Siobhan Muir lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her husband, two daughters, and a vegetarian cat she swears is a shape-shifter, though he’s never shifted when she can see him. When not writing, she can be found looking down a microscope at fossil fox teeth, pursuing her other love, paleontology. An avid reader of science fiction/fantasy, her husband gave her a paranormal romance for Christmas one year, and she was hooked for good.
In previous lives, Siobhan has been an actor at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, a field geologist in the Aleutian Islands, and restored inter-planetary imagery at the USGS. She’s hiked to the top of Mount St. Helens and to the bottom of Meteor Crater.
Siobhan writes kick-ass adventure with hot sex for men and women to enjoy. She believes in happily ever after, redemption, and communication, all of which you will find in her paranormal romance stories.
Siobhan’s recent release, The Beltane Witch, is the second book in the Cloudburst Colorado series, and she has also published Not a Dragon’s Standard Virgin and Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack through Siren Publishing, and Her Devoted Vampire through Evernight Publishing. Her free read entitled A Hell Hound’s Fire introduces her Cloudburst, Colorado series.
Yes, it’s Hump Day. Who’s seen that insurance commercial with the camel? I’m not going to mention the company by name but it has a gekko as a part-time spokesthing. I have to admit I laugh.
