Dawn Brown Comes to Visit (Yes, *Dawn*)!

Greetings all! We have a special guest here today at Fantasy Unbound, the All Things Romantic Suspense author Dawn Brown! Dawn's here to answer some probing questions and share an excerpt with you from her latest release, The Curse of Culcraig.

As always, let's begin with the cover and blurb.

After a devastating personal tragedy, history professor Hillary Bennett seeks refuge in the quaint Scottish village of Culcraig, hoping to research a legend and salvage her career. Instead, she finds her hostess dead, and her hopes for the future pinned to the woman’s black sheep heir. 

The last thing Caid Douglas needs is a decrepit manor house to remind him of his estranged family, but he does need the money selling the house would bring to pay off his debts.  In desperation he offers to honor his great aunt’s arrangement with Hillary—if she pays him to stay at Glendon House and view his ancestor’s journals, he’ll have the money to fix up the family mausoleum and sell it.

But an ancient curse hovers over the village, and the secret to lifting it lies in the journals.  Will Caid and Hillary realize what they have and uncover the truth before a twisted killer silences them forever?

And ooh, Dawn gave us a little excerpt of The Curse of Culcraig. Check it out--it's adorable :D

“You know,” Hillary said, keeping her voice low. “This house is huge. We could check each room individually, but who’s to say that whoever’s here won’t just keep moving around as we search, eventually working their way into a room we’ve already checked? We’ll never be one hundred per cent sure we’re alone.”

“Are you suggesting we separate?”

Her grip on his hand tightened. Did she even realize she’d done that?

“It would probably make more sense to split up. If we worked from opposite ends and met in the middle, it would reduce the chance of an intruder slipping away. But as I said, this place is huge and we’re only two people, the odds of our mystery person eluding us are still pretty good. Not to mention the confusion.”

“Confusion?” Caid tried to suppress his grin.

“Yes. If we separated, we could easily wind up tracking each other. At least together, if we hear or see anything out of the ordinary, we know that it has to be someone else.”

“What an astounding rationalization.”

She frowned at him in obvious consternation.  “I think I made some very good points.”

He smiled.  “Aye, you did. I’m sure you’ve convinced yerself quite nicely. Did you bring the subject up simply because you were concerned that I might think you liked holding my hand?”

He couldn’t stop his smile from widening, especially when she struggled to untangle her fingers from his, but as they entered the kitchen, he tightened his grip.

"Dinnae be like that. I’m just having a wee bit of fun with you."

She ceased struggling as her delicately shaped brows drew together in disbelief. "That wasn't here earlier."

"What?" He turned to the direction she pointed.

A brass fireplace poker lay dead center on the battered harvest table. On the floor, a series of watery footprints stretched between the back door to the table.

Christ’s sakes. Hillary hadn't just been frightened alone in an old house, there had been someone else here.

But who? And why?

Intrigued? You can find it at The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.

And now I'll turn the floor over to Dawn, beneath the jump.

What draws you to romance?

I just really enjoying watching a relationship develop from the initial chemistry to something more meaningful.

Have you ever written outside the romance genre? If not, do you ever plan to?

No, I haven’t. And probably not. I have a lot of fun writing about the growing relationship between two people, so for now, I plan to keep doing it.

What’s the sexiest feature on a man to you? And on a woman? Why?

A quick, sharp wit. I think it mixes intelligence and good sense of humor, and for me there’s nothing sexier than those two qualities. And this applies to both men and women.

What’s your own sexiest feature?

My sharp wit, of course, ;-)

By night you’re a caped cru— er, romance writer. What do you do by day?

I’m kind of the opposite. During school hours, I’m a romance writer. Once school is out, I’m a mom, overseeing homework, going to football practice and arranging play dates.

What was the very first romance you ever read? How old were you? Were you being naughty and sneaking it off the shelf before you really even knew what sex was? How did it make you feel, and is that what hooked you on the genre?

I read my first romance novel when I was eleven or twelve. I don’t remember the title, but it was a Harlequin Presents by Penny Jordan. A friend and I snuck it off my mother’s self and hid in the basement to look for the dirty parts—which in reality was quite mild. I think the most risqué word in there was ‘breast’. But as we were paging through the book, I noticed that there was an interesting story going on in there. After my friend went home, I read the rest of the book. I was hooked and started sneaking more off the shelf.

What’s your favorite hobby outside of writing?

Between writing and family, I don’t have a lot of time for hobbies. I usually read or, sometimes, paint, but the latter I haven’t had time to do in a while.

What would constitute your own personal happily ever after?

I think I’m living my happily ever after. I’m married to wonderful man who is my friend and partner. We have terrific son. And I’m doing what I’ve always dreamed of for a living.

Do you own an ereader? Why or why not? If so, what’s on it?

Absolutely. I love it. It’s taken a tremendous amount of pressure off my sagging bookshelves. There’s too many books on there to list them all. But next on my to be read list is Then You Hide by Roxanne St. Claire.

Are you a book hoarder?

Oh my God, yes. I have small piles of books in every room, even though I’ve given boxes of them away. A few years back I worked for a bookstore. I think I was my own best customer.

What’s the one question you wish people would ask you when you tell them you’re a writer? How would you answer it?

How can I buy your book? J

If you were doomed to spend the rest of your life on an island with only one book, one person, one food (coconuts and fish aside), and one object from the modern world (computer, deodorant, vibrator, etc.), what would they be?

For a book, probably Stephen King’s, The Stand. It’s a favorite that I enjoy rereading, and it’s long. My person, would be my hubby. He’s good company, but he also likes his space—just like me, and he’s handy. And my object would be my laptop—assuming that I will still have access to power and Internet, and it wouldn’t wind up merely a big paperweight.

Do you have a favorite character out of all the ones you’ve written? If so, who is it and why is s/he your favorite?

I like all my characters, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to write about them day in and day out. But I really liked my heroine, Shayne, from last book, Blood Bone. She was smart and tenacious, but still compassionate. She was a lot of fun to write. And I loved Caid from The Curse of Culcraig. Watching him struggle with his self-destructive nature, gave me a real soft spot for him. 

Where can your readers find you?

You can find me at my website and blog, or on Facebook. 

What’s your current book list and where can we buy them?

My Current release, The Curse of Culcraig, is available from The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.

Living Lies is available from Samhain Publishing and Amazon.

About Dawn

Dawn Brown’s first sojourn into storytelling began when she was nine. She would gather neighborhood kids into her garage and regale them with ghost stories, believing even then that atmosphere played an important role in a good story.

Dawn has a diploma in journalism, but found herself pursuing a career in computer leasing. After the birth of her son, she gave up the corporate world to be a mom and write full time, trading in her dreary cubicle for a dreary room in the attic.

Now Dawn spends her days creating dark, romantic mysteries with edgy heroes, clever heroines and villains she hopes will keep her readers sleeping with the light on.

Dawn lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and son.