Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Featured Author: Loucinda McGary

TGIF, everyone! I have two randomly generated (thanks to random.org) winners of Loucinda's books!

Are you ready?

Sitting on the edge of your seat?

Can't wait--

Oh, alright, I'll quit messing with you!

Congratulations to:

Razlover's Book Blog (you've won The Treasures of Venice)

and

Mariska (you've won The Wild Sight)

I've forwarded your contact information to Cindy, and she'll be in touch soon!

Enjoy your long weekend, and thanks for reading Armchair Heroines! Another big thank you to Cindy for joining me this week. :0)



Please welcome today's featured author, Loucinda McGary!

Thanks for joining us today, Cindy! You have an interesting moniker, Aunty Cindy. Care to share the story behind it?

I have only one son, but I happen to have seven nieces and four nephews. Most of my nieces are now married and several have off-spring. They all, nieces, nephews, spouses and kidlets, call me Aunty Cindy. Since Cindy is a very common first name, I wanted to distinguish my online self from all the other Cindys in cyberspace, and so many people already called me Aunty Cindy, what was a few more?

You are now a multi-published author as Loucinda McGary. Congratulations! Tell us about your newest release, The Treasures of Venice.

I am thrilled to have this story finally make it into print because it was the very first romantic suspense I ever wrote! It was also a finalist in the prestigious Golden Heart contest in 2006.

The Treasures of Venice is a romantic suspense with paranormal elements and a dual storyline set in both contemporary and 1485 Venice. It opens with the heroine, Samantha Lewis sitting alone in a café in St. Marks Square feeling a bit sorry for herself because this was to have been her honeymoon but her fiancé dumped her three weeks before the wedding. Suddenly a handsome stranger approaches her and acts as if they know each other. When he asks her to play along with him, on impulse, she does.

Irish rogue, Keirnan Fitzgerald has a problem that for once, he may not be able to solve with his charm. His sister, a Renaissance scholar, believes she’s discovered the whereabouts of the legendary Jewels of the Madonna, missing for over 500 years. Unfortunately, others believe she has too, and kidnap her. Keirnan’s plans to locate the jewels and ransom his sister, do not include becoming involved with a beautiful American tourist. But he and Samantha seem destined to be together, perhaps in the same way as another couple in 1485 Venice, and all their fates are inextricably linked to the Jewels of the Madonna.

Sounds awesone. You are part of an indomitable group of ladies who blog as "The Romance Bandits". Would you like to tell us more about the bandits?

We are a group of 20 wildly divergent writers and personalities. We have members from Australia, Canada, England, and all across the US. Our one common thread is that we were all finalists in the 2006 Golden Heart contest, which means that when we met, we were all unpublished. But we were all confident we wouldn’t remain unpublished, and we wanted a way to promote ourselves and our writing, so we decided to form a group blog and the Romance Bandits was born!


I think the thing that makes us stand out in the world of the blog-o-sphere is that we all genuinely like and respect each other and we have a really good time interacting with one another and our blog readers. This was no accident. We talked and planned and hashed things through for several months before we ever ‘officially’ launched our blog. We each made a serious commitment to the blog and each other, and I think that shows. I’m also happy to say that 12 of the 20 Banditas have sold one or more books, and we’ve garnered many, many awards! I believe it won’t be long until the other 8 Banditas also sell.

Well, I certainly enjoy the blog. :0) Your stories take place in exotic locations. Have you visited these places? If not, how do you research them, bring them to life in your stories?

I’m a travel fanatic, so yes I have visited the places I’ve written about, at least in general. I will admit that when I went to Venice, I did not visit San Michele en Isola, the cemetery isle, and of course, I wanted to set some key scenes in my book there. Luckily, I have a very good friend (Tina Ferraro, who writes YA romance) who has family north of Venice. While I was writing the book, she visited her family and made a special trip to Venice to the cemetery isle and sent me back dozens of photos and even a map of the place!

To date, I’ve visited 47 states and 26 foreign countries (including most of Europe, China, Thailand, and most recently Turkey), so I don’t anticipate running out of exotic settings for quite awhile. J

Wow, that's crazy - 26 foreign countries! Want to tell us about your first book, The Wild Sight?

I would LOVE to! The Wild Sight was my first published romantic suspense. It takes place in Northern Ireland and features a hero with what the Irish refer to as “the Sight.”

What's next for Loucinda McGary?

I recently completed my third contracted romantic suspense for Sourcebooks.

Congratulations! Great to have you here today, Cindy!

AH readers, let us know what's on your mind, ask questions, make comments. Cindy is graciously giving away a copy of The Wild Sight and The Treasures of Venice! And be sure to also visit her website at www.loucindamcgary.com . It's gorgeous!

Good luck and happy Wednesday!

25 comments:

Helen Hardt said...

Hi ladies -- The Treasures of Venice sounds wonderful, and I love the cover!

Helen

Asylumgirl said...

Wow, Auntie Cindy, you are just all over the place. lol

I'm so jealous of your travels! I'm curious though, what were some of your favorite locales?

Deidre

Audra said...

WOW what a world traveler you are-can't wait to read The Treasures of Venice

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Hi Helen!

Thanks for the compliments on my cover. I can take no credit. It was totally the product of the Sourcebooks Art Dept. who do a FANTASTIC job! Hope you enjoy the story too.

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Deidre,
Yes, I AM everywhere in the blog-o-sphere these days as part of my Big Bad Blog tour for TToV.

I have a hard time choosing favorite locales because most everywhere has something fascinating and unique to offer. Take Turkey for instance, I've been there twice and LOVED it both times. People I knew stared at me in disbelief and said WHY would you go there? But the history of that area is fantastic! The people are also very friendly. But I've found that most places I go people respond very positively to a smile.

The two places on the TOP of my list to visit are Egypt and New Zealand. I hope to get to one or both in the next year or so.

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Thanx for popping by Audra!

My DH was actually afraid to fly for 20 years. But once he overcame his fear, we became traveling fools! :-)

Venice was such a fantastic place to visit, and I tried hard to portray it so that the reader could feel like they are there. I did the same thing with Northern Ireland in The Wild Sight and had quite a few readers tell me I succeeded very well.

I hope you enjoy TToV!

AC

Anonymous said...

I love Venice. Can't wait to read this one and have added it to my TBR list.
JWIsley(at)aol(dot)com

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Thanx JW!

I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it!

AC

Jane said...

Hi Aunty Cindy,
Congrats on the new release and on finishing your third book. You have to take me along on your next voyage.

Anonymous said...

That book sounds wonderful, Aunty Cindy. I'm leaving for Turkey a week from tomorrow and I may pick up this book for the trip (not that I don't have 6 or 7 books already stacked).

Hi, my name is Robin Greene and I'm a bookaholic.

chey said...

Great cover! The Treasures of Venice sounds like a book I'd like to read!

Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews said...

Hi Cindy,

I love the cover for "The Treasures of Venice" and the blurb. It sounds like a great read!

Great post an interview!

Wow you are so lucky to have travelled to all those wonderful places!

Fedora said...

Hi, AC!!! Just to confirm, TToV and TWS are each stand-alone stories, right?

And my parents just visited Egypt last year--they found it fascinating! Their next big adventure is Israel! I'd love to join them, but I think my kids are a little young yet. We'll see!

Helen said...

Aunty Cindy

One day I am going to be as travelled as you ( I hope LOL).

I gotta say I do love the Romance Bandits and I love your book The Wild Sight and am soo looking forward to reading TTOV can't wait.
I gotta say I am loving this blog tour.

Have Fun
Helen

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Hey Jane,
Wish I could pack you in my suitcase! Our next trip is a cruise to Mexico, IF the hurricane doesn't blow everything away before we get there. I heard it is heading for La Paz which is one of our stops.

Once I get home, I gotta start working on BOOK 4! There's no rest for the wicked! LOL!

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Robin/Tweety,
You will LOVE Turkey! I hope you are seeing the ruins at Ephesus. They are truly spectacular and the weather should be really good.

ENJOY!!!

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Chey and Razlover,
I love the cover too! As I said, ALL CREDIT goes to the Sourcebooks Art Dept. who do such a terrific job with ALL the Casablanca books' covers.

Razlover, Tiffany asked some GREAT interview questions, didn't she? I really appreciate her hosting me today.

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Hi Fedora,
Yes, both my books are total stand alones with no shared characters or anything, as is my third book, The Wild Irish Sea, due out in Spring 2010.

OOOO! I'm envious of your parents going to Egypt and now Israel! I wanna go too!

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

HUGS Helen!
I hope you get your wish to travel SOON! And I hope the USA is one of your first destinations since I'd LOVE to see you in person!

Glad you're enjoying the blog tour. I'm having lots of fun interacting with new and old friends. :-)

AC

Tiffany James said...

Hello, everyone!

Great to see so much action at Armchair Heroines today! I'm sorry to have missed it, but I just got back from spending the day with 50 kindergartners...thank goodness I'm only the substitute! Where do those children get their energy?
:0)

Thanks to Cindy and to all of your for stopping by.

Tiffany

Sharon Lathan said...

Great interview Aunty! Congratulations a million times over. I hope your big launch week has been loads of fun.

Went to the big Borders and the bad news is that Emily and I did not get your book. The good news is that the spot for your book WAS EMPTY! How cool is that?

Best of luck, you multi-published author you. :) Sharon

Stacey Smith said...

Congratulations on your book the Treasures of Venice looks great can't wait to read it.
sasluvbooks@yahoo.com

mariska said...

Hi AC!
I've been following you around again :)
i'd love to have the chance to read your books. Everybody says that the cover is great, and i'm agree with them.
The very best for you AC!
Mariska
cuniquas at gmail dot com

Eva S said...

The book sounds wonderful! I love The Wild Sight and I'm so looking forward to reading this one too! And I hope there will be many more in the future.

Dina said...

hi Aunty Cindy, just stopping by to say congrats on your release
to my RB buddy and hope it does great for you!