Talking Shop & Giveaway with Author Cindy McDonald - Hot Coco (The Unbridled Series)

Today we are chatting with a fellow Pennsylvanian, author Cindy McDonald. Welcome to Mass Musings Cindy!

MM:  Many authors relate their characters to people they know.  Is this the case with your characters and do you see yourself in any of them?

People ask me this question often, and one person was very concerned that I had them in mind when I wrote the character, Ava West. She is gorgeous, she is manipulative, and she is a real witch. I felt bad that this individual thought that I felt that way about them, and I assured them that Ava was a figment of my imagination—nothing more. All of my characters are fictitious. They are part of my Unbridled stories, and that’s all.

MM:  Who is your favorite character in your book and why?

Honestly, I love all my characters. Each one holds a special place in my heart, but if I had to pick one to write about today, it would be Lugowski—Lieutenant Carl Lugowski that is. He is a homicide detective at the Rosemount Police Department, and he dates Mike West’s ex-wife, Ava. Now here’s the kicker—he’s in love with Mike’s younger sister, Kate. Ouch! He wrestles and wrangles with his feelings for Kate because he has always been in love with Ava. And now Ava is exactly where he always wanted her to be—in his life and in his bed.

Lugowski also has a nicotine addiction. Boy oh boy do I have a blast writing in his struggle to give up those cigarettes, and all the little quirks that he has with the cancer sticks. Eric West once said to him (in the first book, Deadly.Com) “I thought you quit smoking.” Lugowski answer was—“It’s on my bucket list.”

Will Lugowski ever be able to kick the habit? Mmmm, not on my watch—he’s just too much fun to torment.

   

MM:  Who is your most favorite character from any book of all time?

I had to think about this question for quite some time, and I finally decided upon Scarlett O’Hara.

  

MM:  If you could dive into the pages of any book, which book would it be and what character would you be?

*Devilish chuckle* I just loved Cindy Gerard’s Black Ops series, and I especially enjoyed With No Remorse. Yep, that’s right, I would love to dive right in that story as the character, Val, and Luke could rescue me any ol’ day! Yum!

MM:  If your book was to become a movie, which actors/actresses do you see playing the parts of your characters?  

I love this question! How fun! When I started my FB page for the Unbridled Series I posed this question to my “followers”. Each week I would post a picture of a character, be it a celebrity or a model as to the person that I thought fit my characters, and then I asked my followers to post pics of whom they thought would fit said character.

Here were just some of those results:

Mike West—I chose a photo of a male model from the UK, Stuart Reardon—minus the tattoos, I’m afraid. But I thought this fabulous specimen of man candy fit Mike to a T. Well, hands down! Mr. Reardon got everyone’s vote.

Eric West—the imposing patriarch of Westwood Thoroughbred Farm conjured different visions for different people. I thought Tom Selleck would be a great choice, but I got posts for James Brolin—hmmm, too old but not a bad suggestion. Another person thought Bruce Boxleitner might be good…interesting.

Punch McMinn—the West’s farm manager is a huge black man with the heart of a teddy bear—he reminds me of Hoss Cartwright when I write about him, although Dan Blocker is dead and of course he was a white man, my daughter suggested that Michael Clarke Duncan would be the perfect actor to play this role.

Most of the Unbridled cast was actually models rather than actors or actresses, for example Shane West was portrayed by an Australian soccer player that was incredibly handsome, but I must admit that Jennifer Landon would get my vote for the role of Kate.

MM:  What can we expect from Cindy McDonald in the future? Any new projects?

I finished a manuscript for The Unbridled Series in April and have been editing and tweaking it to get it ready for my editor. The book is the 3^rd book of the series titled Dangerous Deception is set to release in November, and I’ve begun work on the next book already which should release next spring titled Against the Ropes. I’m always writing.

MM:  Where can readers connect with you?

Please check out my website: http://www.cindymcwriter.com/

I’d love you to “like” my FB page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/THE-UNBRIDLED-SERIES/234151313271418

I’m a goodreads author: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5264796.Cindy_McDonald

Yep, I’m on twitter too, here’s my handle: @cindymcdonald7

Thank you so much for taking time to chat with me today. It's been a wonderful pleasure.

For the past twenty years Cindy has helped her husband, raise, train, and race thoroughbreds at their forty-five acre farm known as Fly-By-Night Stables.

During those years Cindy has paid close attention to the characters that hang-out at the back-side of the track. She found the situations and life style intriguing. In 2005 she sat down at her computer and began a journey into writing about this life that few understand.

Cindy has recently retired from making her living as a professional choreographer and owned and operated a dance school since 1985. She studied at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and with the Pittsburgh Dance Alloy at Carnegie Mellon University to name a few. She has choreographed many musicals and an opera for the Pittsburgh Savoyards.

Cindy’s Unbridled telescripts has received recommends from three film industry readers and has been a semi-finalist in the Scriptapalooza Contest, and finalist in the Extreme Screenwriting Contest, and now will become a book series. The first telescript to become a book is Deadly.Com which is available NOW on Amazon.com and Kindle as well!

That’s right, Coco Beardmore is sizzling hot and she’s landed in Mike West’s lap. Problem is Coco’s middle name is chaos! Her driving skills are a real bang-into Mike’s horse trailer. Her sultry seduction will set the room on fire-the kitchen that is.

But what’s worse is her mischievous Thoroughbreds ability to mimic their owner’s habit of screwing things up. It’s enough to send a normally calm and collected Mike West to the very edge.

But Mike’s not the only one having problems with women, his father Eric has bitten off more that he can chew, and he’s about to get spit out by two women: One that he’s in love with, and one that thinks he’s in love with her. Oh yeah, things are hot around Westwood Thoroughbred Farm… and someone’s about to get burned!

Excerpts :

The following excerpt is taken from Chapter 5. Coco has invited Mike to her home for

dinner after she had accidentally wrecked her Escalade into his horse trailer that afternoon...

While waiting on the steps of Coco’s brown stone townhouse, Mike hoped his evening would be

worth the trashed trailer and rather acute case of heartburn that he was anticipating. He cocked his head when he heard what sounded like a large dog growling and barking from behind the lavishly, beveled front door. He looked around at the meticulously landscaped townhouses with sporty Mercedes, Porsches, and BMW’s parked in the driveways before glancing over his shoulder at his pickup parked next to Coco’s wrecked SUV. When the door finally opened the Cocker Spaniel sprung out to circle his legs while sniffing, barking, and snarling at him.

“Booger, behave.” Coco looked like forgiveness wrapped in a little black peel-me-off when she

appeared in the doorway. “Don’t worry, he doesn’t bite. Come in, Mike.” She said like a spider coaxing a fly.

She guided him through the foyer into a living room decked-to- the-hilt with stylish, French

provincial furnishings. Booger sniffed and nipped at Mike’s legs while following close behind.

Beautiful paintings hung on the walls in ornate frames. Mike knew exactly one thing about artists

or artwork: Jackshit. But it was obvious, even to him, that these pieces had come from a gallery, rather than a retail store. The vibrant colors splashed across the canvas were thick, and sweeping, and perhaps a little angry, that much he could appreciate—kinda.

A large, gilded mirror hung on the wall behind the sofa. Crystal framed photographs of Coco and

her father filled the coffee tables. Classy.

“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.” She slipped through the doorway into the

kitchen.

Mike buried his hands into the pockets of his Levis and studied an abstract work of art on the

wall. What the hell is that supposed to be?

Booger’s growl thinned to a low grouse. His curly ears perked, and he stomped his paws against

the white carpet.

“What’s the matter, boy?” Purring cautiously at the spunky spaniel, he patted Booger on the

head, and then turned his attention to a photo of Stanley Beardmore, with his arms wrapped around

Coco. Booger sprung at him, clamped his little body around Mike’s leg. Wagging his tiny tail, he

humped and panted erotically.

Holy shit. Mike’s eyes widened. Shaking his leg frantically, he danced around the room while

trying to free himself from the dog’s nirvanas grip. He braced against a table while kicking his leg, but Booger, enjoying the ride, hung on tight.

“Booger, that’s not nice.” Holding two full wine glasses, Coco trotted toward them. After

hurriedly setting one of the glasses on the table, she slapped Booger on the top of his head, during which the wine in the glass splashed down Mike’s white shirt. Booger shrunk away from his leg with a yelp and scampered out of the room with his tail-tucked between his legs.

“Oh Mike, I’m sorry!”

Hoping that he wouldn’t only have to envision this butterfingered beauty naked tonight, he took

a deep breath. He truly hoped that it would be an evening of pleasure worth the abyss of calamities that seemed to suck her in.

“Quick, take that shirt off, and I’ll soak it in seltzer water.” She fumbled with the buttons until

she opened the shirt to reveal his muscled pecks and tight abs. Her fingers fluttered over his shoulders

and down his strong arms when she slipped the shirt from his torso. Blushing, she averted her gaze to

the red stain on his shirt. She wet her pink, full lips and looked into his eyes. Good God, he’s setting me on fire. Can I make it through dinner?

Smiling, she brushed a wisp of his dark hair away from his brow. “I’ll be right back.”

Listening to her trot up the stairs, he found his thoughts going to Ava’s cat. He hated that cat.

She was an evil little thing. He wasn’t exactly in love with Coco’s Cocker Spaniel. Go figure.

When he spied the glass on the table, he drank down the remaining wine to wet his dry mouth.

He heard her footsteps on the stairs, and she reappeared with a shirt draped over her arm. She

held up the over-sized nightshirt, which she helped him slip into. Although it was over-sized for her, it

was a quite taut for him.

Stepping back to take a look, she giggled.

He looked down and groaned. The shirt was brown with pink lettering that read: “Chocolate and

men, the richer, the better.”

“Well, it’s better than nothing.” She felt how the shirt clung to his firm torso and outlined every

detail of his pecs and abs. “Although, nothing would be fine, too.” Her hands traced his shoulders, down his arms, through his fingertips, and then lightly across the crotch of his jeans. “Come sit at the table,” she whispered. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

Mike was feeling the heat, but he managed to ask, “What are we having?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“I can hardly wait.”

She led him into a spacious, gourmet kitchen. The stainless steel appliances gleamed in the

bright lights. The white cabinetry swooped around dark, granite counters.

Mike took a seat at the table, which was dressed in white, satin linens and delicate, fine china.

The light from the crystal chandelier glinted off the silverware. Booger scooted under the table to mope.

The kitchen was most impressive, but when he sat at the table with a fresh glass of wine, it

wasn’t the cabinetry that he was admiring. Christ, she looks so damned tasty in that tight little rip-it-offme-now dress. He took a big gulp of wine and swallowed hard while trying to keep other hard thingsunder wraps.

Coco carefully placed several pieces of meat into a skillet. It spit and sizzled in the hot oil. She

cradled her wine glass in her fingers. “Your shirt should be ready for the dryer after dinner.”

“That’s fine.” He felt the squeeze of the dog latching around his shin again. Sonofabitch. He

kicked. The dog yelped. He grinned.

Coco was attracted to this handsome man sitting at her table. She was more aroused by the fact

that he didn’t cancel their dinner date after she had smashed his horse trailer. He’s definitely a gentleman cowboy. How sexy is that? Her lips curled at the thought. With a sultry gleam, in her sapphire eyes, she strode toward him.

More than the meat was sizzling.

Mike knew what that look meant. Oh, yeah, no imagination needed. The ballerina is about to do

her little dance.

She leaned over him.

While she paused to take in his hazel eyes, he could feel her breath on his face.

“I wanted to cook something fancy,” she whispered, “because it makes me feel fancy,” Her lips

crashed against his. Her tongue searched his mouth.

He ran his fingers through her hair. Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her back with

passion.

The meat crackled in the skillet.

She ran her hands over his chest and down to his hips. Her fingers found the outline of his

erection pressing against his jeans. She groped at his belt.

Kissing her neck, he slipped a sleeve of the dress off her shoulder and nipped at her shoulder.

Tasting her skin, he made his way hungrily down her chest.

Crunch! The force of a body wrapped around his leg broke through the lust. Booger humped and

pushed, which made it impossible to ignore.

Damn it. Mike’s eyes popped open. He attempted to kick the dog, but he was fastened on tight

and going at it strong.

Abruptly, he became aware that Booger’s love connection to his leg wasn’t the biggest problem

at hand. Smoke billowed from the skillet. Flames leapt from the stove. Greasy fireballs ignited dish

towels. The curtains were already ablaze.

Shoving Coco onto the table, Mike sprung to his feet.

Her face lit up with intense desire. “Oh Mike, you are naughty,” she gasped.

“Coco, where’s your fire extinguisher?”

“You wanna be a fireman?” Coco was giddy.

Booger was rapt.

Mike was exasperated. “No, your fire extinguisher, where is it?”

Flames shot across the counter top. The smoking skillet spit sparks and fire like a cannon.

He snatched the tablecloth from under Coco and ripped it off the table. China, glassware, silver,

crashed and broke against the wall and on the floor. He beat the flames while dragging the horny,

Cocker Spaniel, still humping his leg, across the room with him.

“Call the fire department.”

“Wha—” Coco stammered while trying to get a grasp on the situation.

“9-1-1,” Mike shrieked while thrashing the flames, kicking his leg, and cursing her calamity.

Genre: The series is a family drama, that said each book is quite individual.
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: June 15, 2012

Website - http://www.cindymcwriter.com

Deadly.Com book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6HKi0ml9sU&feature=youtu.be

Hot Coco book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uaPwcnt1S4

Link to Tour on Main Site -  http://www.virtualbooktourcafe.com/3/post/2012/04/hot-coco-by-cindy-mcdonald.html

Giveaway:

#1-We are doing a drawing at the end of the tour to include anyone who
commented or participated in the conversation at the blogs I visited
for a free signed copy OR ebook of Hot Coco.

#2- A drawing at the end of the tour for a $25.00 amazon gift card for
anyone who purchased a book/ebook of Hot Coco during the
tour.

#3-is actually a surprise at the end of the tour--I hate coming in
second, so the second person's name that is drawn from giveaway #1
will receive a copy OR ebook of Deadly.Com-the first book of the
Unbridled Series.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

July 31 - Book Featured at The Lucky Ladybug
August 2 - Interviewed by Louise James