Interview with Nancy Gideon and Giveaway - June 2, 2012

Please welcome Nancy Gideon to The Qwillery. Nancy's most recent novel (among many novels!) is Seeker of Shadows, the 6th novel in her Moonlight series.


TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Nancy:  I’m ADD/OCD so I’m extremely focused and can ignore anything short of an apartment fire once I start writing. Well, maybe I’d finish the scene before I’d grab my laptop and go. When I’m in the middle of a project, it’s all I think about 24/7. I’ll be composing scenes in my head while doing scanning at work, listening to my ‘sound track’ music during drive time, scribbling out dialogue on bank receipts while in the grocery store. Yep, ADD/OCD!

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Nancy:  I used to be a dedicated plotter. The first word wasn’t typed until I had a detailed outline (that AAD/OCD thing!) and then I’d start page one and wouldn’t stop until page end before going back to edit and revise. That dramatically changed with my first Moonlight book, MASKED BY MOONLIGHT. I started chapter one with no plan in mind and didn’t really put on the brakes until I’d reached the end of Book 4. The story just rolled out like watching a movie. Now I consider myself a plotter with pants on fire.

TQ:  What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?

Nancy:  Turning off the laptop in my home office to go to my 9-to-5 job when I’m on a roll in the morning. I get up at 5:00 a.m. to get in some pages before I have to leave and sometimes . . . I just don’t want to.

TQ:  What inspired you to write the Moonlight series?

Nancy:  A passion for the story and the characters! I had a proposal out to another publisher. They LOVED the prologue but didn’t like the original story or the original characters and wanted me to come up with something new. So I started that chapter one with my heroine at a crime scene and once she went out on River Road to question a suspect and had her meeting with Max, I was hooked. I wrote seven chapters before I could rein in enough to write the required synopsis and send off the first three chapters for consideration. By the time the publisher got back to me with an offer to buy, I was finishing the third book! I had to make some hard choices when that publisher wanted to make changes that weren’t right for the series, but these were the Books of My Heart and I couldn’t make those concessions. I don’t ever regret drawing a line and telling them no. I’ve seen sold eight books in the series to Pocket Books.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do for novels?

Nancy:  My favorite is on site, hands on. I love to travel and New Orleans is one of my top destinations (right up there with the Caribbean and NYC!). Nothing gives you a sense of setting like breathing the air, eating the food, listening to the accents, and soaking up the atmosphere. The rest is background information on occupations, dialects, etc. from research books and the Internet. But these are paranormal romances, so reality is a tether of convenience, not a rule. The fun is in creating our own reality.

TQ:  Which character from the Moonlight series has surprised you the most?

Nancy:  Cale Terriot. He’s a rather thuggish villain mentioned in HUNTER OF SHADOWS and more so in the upcoming BETRAYED BY SHADOWS (12-18-12). Which is why making him the hero in my current work in progress was a bit of a surprise and lots of fun. His character has become intriguingly deep and . . . Hot! He’s a joy to wake up to.

TQ:  Describe Seeker of Shadows (Moonlight 6) in 140 characters or less.

Nancy:  The Twitter version: “A shape-shifter with no past, a geneticist with a secret, a choice between forbidden passion and the fate of a species.”

TQ:  Tell us something about Seeker of Shadows that is not in the book
description.

Nancy:  The book description is all about the hero and heroine’s story, but the book is so much more. The series threads from the earlier books are intertwined with the romance plot and are enriched with appearances from previous characters (all your favorites!) so, though this is a stand-alone romance with a satisfying happily-ever-after, it has the extra elements carried over from the series as a whole. Jacques was my editor’s favorite secondary character, so it was fun to bring him to the forefront as a hero. And he makes a darned good one! Here’s an additional teaser from my exciting new book trailer:



TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in
Seeker of Shadows?

Nancy:  I LOVE to write action scenes and there are some eye-poppers in Seeker of Shadows that take place in Jacques’s club and in the Lafayette #1 cemetery. Must be my passion for westerns, men’s fiction, and horror screen writing . . .

TQ:  You have written novels in several genres including Paranormal Romance, Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance, and Romantic Suspense. Are there any additional genre or sub-genres in which you'd
like to write?

Nancy:  I’d like to tinker with a steampunk YA series. I have an idea kicking around but no time at the moment to bring it to a front burner.

TQ:  What's next?

Nancy:  BETRAYED BY SHADOWS is coming out as a Pocket Star e-exclusive on 12-18-12. I just got the thumbs up from my editor and it’s going into production so I’ll see it again for line edits soon. I’ve been pathologically (that ADD/OCD thing again!) writing on Book 8 which was just titled PRINCE OF SHADOWS. I still need to get the synopsis in for approval (this, after I’ve already written over 100 pages starting in the middle of the book—so much for being a good plotter!) and then I’ll start at the beginning. I don’t have a release date yet. I also just got the rights back to 20 books from my Zebra/Kensington backlist of historicals and contemporaries so I have to decide what I want to do with them, self-publish or resell. Will there be more in the Moonlight series? I hope so!!

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery

Nancy:  It’s been a pleasure, Sally!!



About Moonlight

Seeker of Shadows

Moonlight 6
Pocket, May 29, 2012
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

NANCY GIDEON CONTINUES HER COMPELLING, SENSUAL NEW SERIES WITH A SEDUCTIVE TALE OF FORBIDDEN ALLEGIANCE AND REDISCOVERED LOVE.

His town.

Susanna Duchamps came to New Orleans to settle a debt and to temporarily escape the controlled constraints of her life among the Chosen. What she finds is an opportunity to make miraculous strides with her research into Shifter genetics . . . and an unexpected, but never forgotten, man from her complicated past.

Her rules.

Shifter club owner Jacques LaRoche is fiercely protective of his freedom. Stripped of his memories of a former life, he longs for the mate he lost . . . until the enticingly familiar presence of a mysterious stranger from the north ignites a primal, nearly uncontrollable need to release the untamed beast inside him.

Their last chance.

Susanna dares not tell Jacques it was she who sacrificed his past and her future years ago, to protect him and the secret she carried. But her arrival in New Orleans comes with consequences. When a bloody confrontation erupts between their enemy clans, will she betray her lover once again—or throw her own life on the line so they can finish what they started?

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Hunter of Shadows

Moonlight 5
Pocket, November 29, 2011
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 416 pages

NANCY GIDEON RETURNS TO HER STEAMY NEW ORLEANS PRETERNATURAL WORLD WITH AN IRRESISTIBLE NEW SHAPE-SHIFTER ROMANCE.

The secrets he knows about her could get him killed.

Transferring to the New Orleans Police Department, Detective Silas MacCreedy has a hidden agenda: to secure his clan’s place once again in the Shifter hierarchy. What he didn’t count on was stumbling upon a sexy assassin who could shred his best intentions and lead him into a dangerous dance that threatens to engage his heart.

But the ones he doesn’t know . . .

Monica Fraser knows just how to make a man beg—for his life. But she has no clue how to fight her attraction to the fiercely intense detective who seems determined to get in her way, both professionally and intimately.

. . . could kill them both.

When emotional attachments to the past and an unexpected glimpse of a different future have her questioning her deadly purpose, Nica must discover the truth about her secret abilities in order to free herself from the forces that control her. But that freedom comes with a price—trusting those she’s been ordered to eliminate.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Bound by Moonlight

Moonlight 4
Pocket, July 26, 2011
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 368 pages

POLICE DETECTIVE CHARLOTTE CAISSIE AND HER SHAPE-SHIFTING PARAMOUR MAX SAVOIE THOUGHT THE PAST WAS BEHIND THEM. BUT IN NANCY GIDEON’S IRRESISTIBLE NEW ROMANCE, THEY DISCOVER IT MAY NEVER LET THEM GO. . . .

THEY SWORE THEY’D BE TOGETHER FOREVER.

Detective Charlotte Caissie is suddenly sharing drawer space and making local news with her shape-shifter lover, Max Savoie. He’s determined to be accepted by her peers—so how can she ask him to return to his criminal roots to help her solve a complex case?

BUT THOSE THEY TRUST THE MOST . . .

Working undercover with her partner to find the serial killer who’s kidnapped a colleague’s daughter, Cee Cee is caught between her job and her fiercely possessive lover. And when she calls on Max’s preternatural talents to aid his hated enemy, she crosses a line that strains their relationship to its limit.

. . . WILL DO ANYTHING TO TEAR THEM APART.

With his secret spreading, Max is forced to protect his family and his clan. The only certainty is his love for his human mate . . . unless the loyalties that define them divide them forever.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Captured by Moonlight

Moonlight 3
Pocket, July 27, 2010
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 368 pages

IN THIS DARK THRILLER FROM NANCY GIDEON’S SULTRY NEW SERIES, SEXY NEW ORLEANS COP CHARLOTTE CAISSIE GOES HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH THE LAST NEMESIS SHE EVER EXPECTED: HER SUPERNATURAL BOYFRIEND.

THEIR LOVE IS JUST BEGINNING.

Detective Charlotte Caissie is growing used to the secrets that come with loving the mysterious leader of a shape-shifter clan. But that doesn’t mean she has to like it. She’s avoided complications of the heart all her life, but when it comes to irresistible Max Savoie, she’ll force the truth out of him if she has to.

HIS TIME IS ALMOST UP.

Hunted by the deadly trackers his nefarious father warned him about, Max is transforming into a preternatural force he can’t explain and Cee Cee will never understand. He’s tempting the dangerous limits of their love, but it’s her curiosity that could get them both killed.

WILL THEY EVER REALLY BE TOGETHER?

When Max discovers the enemy’s true target is someone far more vulnerable than he, he must do the unthinkable to save his own flesh and blood. But he can’t fight this battle alone, and Cee Cee faces the ultimate test of loyalty: the man she’d sacrifice everything for . . . or the laws she swore her life to protect.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Chased by Moonlight

Moonlight 2
Pocket, June 29, 2010
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

IN NANCY GIDEON’S SEDUCTIVE NEW NOVEL, A TOUGH-AS-NAILS NEW ORLEANS COP MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN THE CAREER SHE’S DEDICATED TO AND THE DANGEROUS SHAPE-SHIFTING LOVER SHE CAN’T RESIST.

SHE’S SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY.

Mixing business with pleasure gets more complicated for Detective Charlotte Caissie when her sexy preternatural lover, Max Savoie, is accused of a high-profile murder. To prove him innocent she must distance herself, but her tangled emotions don’t make it easy for her to stay away from him. And neither does Max.

HE’S DESPERATE TO UNCOVER HIS PAST.

Left in charge of a criminal empire and protector of a clan of shadowy shape-shifters, Max walks a precarious line. Can he believe the cunning stranger who claims he can teach Max the things he needs to know to stay alive? A con man who would betray anyone to make a profit, who may be a ruthless killer?

TOGETHER, THEY’RE TEMPTING FATE.

The harder Cee Cee fights to clear Max’s name, the more he pushes her away. He’s protecting a dark truth that could blow the top off her investigation. And that means hiding his motives and lying to a woman who values truth above all. The woman who can save him . . . if he’ll let her.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Masked by Moonlight

Moonlight 1
Pocket, May 25, 2010
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

IN THIS STUNNING FIRST BOOK FROM NANCY GIDEON’S SIZZLING NEW SERIES, A TENACIOUS COP AND HER SHAPE-SHIFTING ENEMY SACRIFICE EVERYTHING FOR FORBIDDEN DESIRE.

ALL SHE WANTS IS REVENGE.

New Orleans homicide detective Charlotte Caissie is dedicated to bringing down the crime boss responsible for her father’s murder. Using Jimmy Legere’s mysterious and irresistible right-hand man is a dangerous gamble, and not only due to his reputation as more monster than man. Because her feelings for Max Savoie are . . . complicated.

THEN HE RISKS HIS LIFE TO SAVE HERS.

Rescued from the swamps as a child, Max exists silently in Legere’s shadow, heeding only his voice—until Charlotte Caissie awakens his emotions and tests his loyalties. Stepping outside his cautious rules threatens more than just his heart. He could expose his darkest secret.

NOW THEY’RE BOTH IN OVER THEIR HEADS.

Testing boundaries they weren’t meant to cross means facing the truth about who and what they are—and what they need from each other. If Max is the murderer she seeks, Charlotte could be his next victim. She can’t afford to trust any man. Good thing Max isn’t one.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

About Nancy

Author of over 50 romances ranging from historicals and series romantic suspense to dark paranormal vampires and shape-shifters, Nancy Gideon continues her sizzling “Moonlight” shape-shifter series with a tale of dangerous alliances and rediscovered love on May 29, 2012. Publishers Weekly calls SEEKER OF SHADOWS “Rich and complex. Gideon delivers. Enticing new dimensions to the Shifter world keep things fresh (with) well-crafted prose and page-turning tension.” Discover more about SEEKER OF SHADOWS and the “By Moonlight” series at www.nancygideon.com. When not at the keyboard, Nancy works 9-to-5 as a legal assistant and is a self-confessed Netflix addict.

You can also find Nancy on Facebook and Twitter.



The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a copy of Seeker of Shadows (Moonlight 6) from Nancy! US ONLY

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:

Who is/are your favorite shapeshifter(s)?

Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)  Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)  Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

There are a total of 3 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), and Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook and Twitter. You MUST leave a way to contact you.

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a US mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Saturday, June 9, 2012. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

*Giveaway rules are subject to change.*