Daryn Cross is my guest today

Welcome to The Heart of Romance, Bobbye. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Thanks for having me, Jackie. I’m a writer of mystery/suspense and women’s fiction under my real name but also write romantic fantasy and science fiction under the pseudonym, Daryn Cross. I’ve been writing seriously for fifteen years and published four novels wit Linda Campbell as Terry Campbell, three of which were romantic comedies and one time travel during the Civil War period.

You mention on your website you have recently changed your pen name. What brought that about and why have you chosen your current name?
Linda and I decided to begin solo careers. Although our latest release is written by both of us, we used our new pen names so we had a starting to launch as solo writers.

If you could be any bird what bird would you want to be?
I’d probably be a bobwhite, wild, loves to fly and when heard, has a very distinctive voice.

Why writing? What motivated you to write stories, especially fantasy?
Writing is my passion. Like any passion, to deny it is like telling a person to stop breathing. I come from a family of storytellers, so writing them was natural. As for fantasy, I read a lot of sci-fi when I was young and I guess I gravitated back in that general direction. But, I love mystery/suspense too and have a two-pronged career path mapped out.

What is it about your favourite fantasy setting that sets it apart from others you have created?
It would have to be my setting in my yet to be published epic, the book of the Beginning series. It starts in current day western North Carolina on Lake Toxaway, but the backdrop of the family is set in Ireland in the land beyond the myst.

How many other books have you written and where can we find them?
As I said above, four are under the name Terry Campbell and should be re-released by early next year (Mr. Wrong, Fat Chance, Intimate Investor and Craig Legacy). It’s Magic makes five. Mid-year next year, I’ll release my first suspense, Coming to Climax, Turquoise Morning Press, under my real name and in October, my first solo fantasy, Walk Right In, L&L Dreamspell. In January 2012 the sequel of that book, Walk Right Back, will be released. But keep your eyes open because there will be more I can’t mention at this time.

If you could colour your hero in your new book, It’s Magic, what colour would he be?
Guy McLane’s definitely red: bold, outspoken, opinionated, but a true leader. He’s a man who leaves his mark.

Please tell us what the differences are between co-writing a book and writing on your own. How did your partnership came about?
I started co-writing and knew no difference. Linda and I began writing together when I met her at my first chapter RWA meeting. She was critiquing my WIP and suggested we write it together. I agreed because I didn’t know squat about writing fiction. However, I wrote better dialogue than she did at that time.
As for the differences, there are distinct advantages to each. With a co-writer you have a built in first editor and someone to commiserate with when getting published. Your weaknesses and strengths should even out with a partner if you have the right one. Writing on your own is much freer because there is no compromise on how passages are written. I like writing by myself now that I have written five by myself.

What is your favourite cookie?
Oatmeal raisin without question. It’s wholesome and reminds me of my childhood. 

Please will you tell us a little bit about your new book, and how it came about?One day I was thinking about what Santa did on his off-season. Surely, he didn’t spend all year in preparation. He had to have a staff. Voilá! Maxwell Magic was born, and why not have him bring magic into two people’s lives who have given up on everlasting love?



Please will you share a blurb of It’s Magic?
Can true love exist between a man who believes a woman is capable of sticking a shive in his heart while making love and a woman who is convinced men think with only one head? Maxwell Magic, an eccentric mysterious matchmaker swears it can and he’s the man to provide the stimulus to make it happen. Kasey Bell, feminist writer, and Guy McLane, radio’s famous chauvinistic psychiatrist, are his targets. Even with carefully executed plans, the road to true love is strewn with mishaps, mirth and money-hungry nighttime talk show hosts. Will Kasey and Guy risk their reputations by exposing secrets buried beneath layers of shame and self-doubt for a desperately needed big money pay-off? Or, will they claim what has evaded them their entire lives—a love that lasts forever?

Do you have an excerpt for us to read?
As Kasey followed the stagehand, Guy grimaced. Damn. Why’d she have to have sea-green eyes and be a natural, sun-streaked blonde? He was a sucker for natural blondes, she appeared to be one. Unlike his ex, Helen, he suspected Kasey Bell’s blonde hair wasn’t found just on her head.
His gaze took in her tight ass and long legs. God, what legs Some men were turned-on by big breasts. Others by asses. Not him. He was a leg man through and through.
And Kasey had the best set he’d seen in years.
Her dress clung in all the right places and was designed to make a man forget his own name. Not that it had a chance with him.
Guy studied her the way a connoisseur would a fine wine. Vintage seventy-three. He took another long, slow perusal and shook his head. He was wrong. The body on this Cabernet Sauvignon came from a perfect year. More likely a seventy-eight or if he were lucky, a classic seventy-five.
He grinned as she smoothed the sides of her dress while continuing to cross the stage on her perfectly toned legs.
Definitely still corked. She hadn’t had a chance to breathe, yet. He inhaled sharply. There was no mistaking a good mellow grape when he saw one. And when squeezed just right, the grape was memorable. One to be savored, never gulped.
No question about it, Ms. Kasey Bell was premium sipping quality. First, he’d give her time to breathe. Then he’d taste her, a little at a time, a gentle swirl over the tongue, a teasing of the taste buds.
As he continued to examine her, Guy swallowed hard. From the way her dress moved and the lack of lines, she wore a thong and thigh-high hose. Her derriere was the perfect size for his hands to cup each cheek as he pulled her flush against him. He could feel her long legs wrapping around him. And then there were her delicate ankles. They were so slim his fingers could circle them.
The whole package was enough to bring a grown man to his knees. Especially one like him who’d been alone for last three years. God, help him. Because if he didn’t, Guy knew there was no way he’d maintain his cool while seated next to her on stage.
“Dr. McLane?”
Guy snapped to attention. Standing before him were two lanky young men. “Yes.”
“I’m Josh Bell. This is my younger brother Jacob.”
Guy thrust out his hand and greeted each boy. “I understand you want to take some photos.”
“Yes, sir,” Josh answered.
“You’re our hero.”
Jacob frowned at Josh’s sharp jab to his ribs and Guy laughed. “What does your mother think of that?” He grinned as the two boys looked at each other, shrugged, then turned back to him.
“She hates it,” they said together.
“Dr. McLane, you’ve got two minutes.”
“Thanks, Al.” He turned to the boys. “We’d better get those photos taken.”
Guy started to move, then grimaced, again. Damn. He hadn’t reacted to a female this rapidly since adolescence. Back then, much to his embarrassment, all it’d taken was a slight breeze to get a reaction out of him. And at thirty-eight, the last thing he wanted was to look like a coat rack in some kids’ photos. “Both of you stand here,” he said, positioning the boys in front of him.
As Al Mack took more than a dozen photos, Guy wondered what it was about Kasey Bell that rang his chimes. They’d never met, yet he’d swear he’d seen her before.
Ah, well, he’d remember eventually. He never forgot a pair of legs, especially ones as spectacular as Kasey’s.

Do you have a ‘Buyer’s’ link for It’s Magic? www.CrescentMoonPress.com/Books/ItsMagic.com

Where can we find you? Your website and other links you wish to share? www.DarynCross.com
www.DarynCross-fantasy.Blogspot.com 
www.BobbyeTerry.Blogspot.com 
www.TerryCampbell.com 
www.CrossandDeLeon.com 

Thank you for joining us today, and best wishes to you and your writing partner L.J.DeLeon for your new book.
Thanks for inviting me, Sherry. I’ve enjoyed this interview.