EQ Welcomes Marie Laval
EQ: Welcome
to EQ! Tell us a little bit about yourself!
Marie:
Originally from Lyon in France,
I studied History and Law at university there before moving to Lancashire where I am still trying to get used to the
damp weather! I worked in a variety of jobs, from PA in a busy university
department to teacher in adult education and secondary schools. Writing,
however, was always my passion and I spend most of my free time dreaming about
plots and characters and making up stories, mostly historical romances. I have
however recently strayed away from historical fiction and signed a contact with
Áccent Press for a contemporary romantic suspense set in Provence.
EQ: Tell
us about your most recent release.
Marie: THE LION'S
EMBRACE was published in February 2013 by MuseitUp Publishing. It is my second
historical romance and is set mainly in North Africa
in the 1840s.
Here is the back cover
blurb:
Arrogant, selfish and
dangerous, Lucas Saintclair is everything Harriet Montague dislikes in a man.
He is also the best guide in the whole of the Barbary States, the only man who can rescue
her archaeologist father from the gang of Tuareg fighters that has kidnapped
him. As Harriet embarks on a perilous journey across Algeria with Saintclair and
Archibald Drake, her father’s most trusted friend, she discovers a bewitching
but brutal land where nothing is what it seems. Who are these men intent on
stealing her father’s ransom? What was her father hoping to find in Tuareg
queen Tin Hinan’s tomb? Is Lucas Saintclair really as callous as he claims—or
is he a man haunted by a past he cannot forgive? Dangerous passions engulf
Harriet’s heart in the heat of the Sahara.
Secrets of lost treasures, rebel fighters, and a sinister criminal brotherhood
threaten her life and the life of the man she loves. Does forever lie in the
lion’s embrace?
EQ: What
are your top three guilty pleasures?
Marie: I know it isn't
original but I do have a weakness for cake, especially many of the lovely cakes
we have in France
such as 'éclairs' filled with either vanilla or chocolate cream, and
'millefeuilles'. Every time I return to France for holidays one of my first
stop is at a pâtisserie to pick a selection of lovely cakes.
I also love cutting
hair and my poor children were my reluctant guinea pigs for many years and more
than once had to go out with a 'wonky fringe'.
My last guilty
pleasure is snatching a few minutes of reading time when I should be working or
cleaning the house!
EQ: Describe
how you create characters.
Marie: Characters seem
to appear to me all of a sudden, and strangely enough and they usually come
with a name as well, or at least a first name. I am also very lucky that I
don't need to search through pictures of actors or models to get a very strong
mental picture of what they look like, especially for the hero and the heroine.
In fact I often dream of them just before coming up with the idea for a story.
EQ: What
kinds of female characters do you prefer to write?
Marie: I tend to
prefer heroines with whom I can identify. I am not very self-confident or vocal
therefore my favourite female characters are usually quiet and unassuming but
they become more assertive as the plot unfolds and they have to face tricky and
dangerous situations, and a totally irresistible hero of course.
You
will find Marie Laval at https://www.facebook.com/marie.laval.9?ref=tn_tnmn
http://marielaval.blogspot.co.uk/
THE
LION'S EMBRACE, MuseitUp Publishing is available at
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lions-Embrace-Marie-Laval-ebook/dp/B00BACDSK6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1400863927&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Lion%27s+Embrace
http://www.amazon.com/Lions-Embrace-Marie-Laval-ebook/dp/B00BACDSK6/ref=la_B00A03UV3I_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400863866&sr=1-1
My
debut historical romance, ANGEL HEART, MuseitUp Publishing is available at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Angel-Heart-Marie-Laval-ebook/dp/B009YJT194
and at http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Heart-Marie-Laval-ebook/dp/B009YJT194/ref=la_B00A03UV3I_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400863866&sr=1-2
