Please help us give McKenna Dean a warm welcome to the blog this week. McKenna is here to share her newest historical paranormal romance, Bishop’s Gambit. Welcome, McKenna! We are all excited to hear more about Bishop’s Gambit.
Q&A With McKenna Dean:
Thank you for hosting me here today! I’m McKenna Dean and I write both steamy and sweet paranormal romance. I just released the second book in my sweet historical PNR series Redclaw Origins, which focuses on the beginnings of the agency that is featured in my contemporary steamy Redclaw Security stories. It’s not necessary to have read one series before reading the other, however! While the Redclaw Origins books are sequential, and it’s better to have read them in order, the Redclaw Security books can be read as standalones.
Where is your favorite place to write?
I’m not sure I have a favorite place as much as I always seem to end up at the kitchen table. I really need a better workspace! The table is at the wrong height, the chair doesn’t support my back, the angle is all wrong for typing… one day I’ll get an ergonomically correct set up. Perhaps I won’t hurt so much after a writing session if I do!
What inspires you as an author?
I frequently say I write for the people who’ve had a crappy day and they just need to escape their lives for a few hours. If I can make you forget your unpleasant boss, chronic pain or illness, or your worries and responsibilities for even a brief moment, then I’ve done my job as a writer.
I wrote this dedication for my recent release, Bishop’s Gambit (Redclaw Origins 2):
“To everyone who is struggling right now to get through the day. Be it because of work woes, chronic illness or pain, fears for the feature, tears for the past, or simply the sheer weariness of being asked to make bricks without straw over and over again.
I hope this story can make you forget all that for a few hours and remind you of the kick-ass person you really are.”
Why do you write romance and why your genre of romance?
Ultimately, I need that happy ending. Perhaps more than ever these days! That’s one thing that the romance genre by definition guarantees. Romances are also ultimately about hope, and as I see it, the capacity for the people who love us to bring out the best in us. I am perfectly capable of living alone. I’m not afraid of it. I enjoy my own company and I am never at a loss for something to do. But my significant other just makes everything better. He’s the biggest supporter of my writing—not just giving lip service to it—helping me set up my website and sorting formatting errors and proofreading drafts. It’s not just that I enjoy his company or that life is so much easier when you know someone has your back, that you’re not alone in your struggles. He makes me laugh when I’m in a foul mood. These days, without his influence, that would be all the time. I’m a better person for having him in my life and I enjoy exploring this aspect of human relationships.
As to why I do this in a paranormal/urban fantasy/magical realism setting? That’s because I find such things fun. The world-building is a blast and I love giving my imagination free rein to run.
What are you working on next and when can we expect to see it?
Unfortunately, life demands make it hard for me to publish more than once a year. I just released the second installment in the award-winning Redclaw Origins series, and my next project is to dive into the third book of the trilogy. The year is 1955. Rebel without a Cause and The Seven Year Itch are playing in the movie theaters. The Chevy Bel Air is the most popular car in America. Gas is 25 cents a gallon and you can get a hotel room for $4 bucks. This flirty, fun series takes us back to the beginning and shows us how Redclaw Security got started.
In Bishop Takes Knight, former socialite Henrietta (“Rhett”) Bishop, desperately seeking work, gets hired by Redclaw Security. But Redclaw is no ordinary operation. Part detective firm and part enforcement agency, Redclaw regulates matters involving the growing population of shifters who have emerged since the onset of the nuclear age.
Peter Knight is a nuclear scientist shattered by the death of his wife. Blacklisted by the government and scientific organizations, he drowns his sorrows while searching for the people behind his wife’s murder.
Together they form an unlikely partnership to search for a missing cache of mysterious technology stolen from Redclaw. But when a dangerous person from the past turns up to start a bidding war on the artifacts, Bishop and Knight wind up in a fight for their very lives.
In my new release, Bishop’s Gambit, our intrepid pair are partnered together again as they are assigned to pose as a married couple in an upscale suburban community to investigate strange happenings that may or may not indicate the kind of paranormal activity Redclaw seeks to regulate. It’s The X-Files meets Leave it to Beaver where malice is served with a smile and a slice of apple pie.
What would you do if you couldn’t write?
I would probably get back into community theatre again if I wasn’t writing.
How do you spend your free time?
I enjoy hiking with the dogs, riding my horse, and photography. I would love to travel more, but having a small farm makes it hard to get away for extended periods of time.
Do you listen to music when you write? What is your go-to playlist and why?
No, I can’t listen to music while I write unless it is a quiet instrumental meant to function as white noise in the background. I listen to music when I’m brainstorming story ideas and character studies. I find listening to music while doing something physical yet mindless (like mucking stalls or raking leaves) lets my head enter that magical space where ideas flow freely and feed off each other. I enjoy making playlists for my characters though. Sometimes after a story is finished, I’ll produce a “soundtrack” for it. That’s fun too!
How do you, your friends and your fans encourage you when you need a pick-me-up?
My SO is incredibly supportive of me in my writing endeavors. He has faith in my ability to tell stories even when I don’t. I have a great group of friends that allow me to vent about work, life, and general anxieties but they also get me out of my head by sharing my enthusiasms. We post memes and fandom fun on private Discord and What’s App groups, and those random notifications sending fun my way help me get through some tough days when I’m sure everything I write sucks and I should just chuck the whole business. They are the best.
About Bishop’s Gambit:
If you like Gini Koch’s “Kitty” Katt alien series, you’ll love Redclaw Origins! It’s Bringing up Baby meets WH-13! It’s the X-Files meets Leave it to Beaver!
Bishop Takes Knight is a Top Pick at The Romance Reviews and a Crowned Heart of Excellence recipient at InD’Tale Magazine and has been nominated for a RONE Award! Bishop Takes Knight was voted Best Paranormal/SFF Romance in the 2020 New England Reader’s Choice Awards, Best Light Paranormal Romance in the 2020 PRISM awards, and is a Finalist in the Royal Palm Literary Awards!
They’re back and the fun–and trouble–is just beginning! Join Bishop and Knight as they must pose as a married couple to root out the strange disturbances occurring in an upscale suburban neighborhood!
Newly-minted secret agent Rhett Bishop would rather face down a horde of angry wolf shifters or her father’s former mob contacts than accept her current assignment: pose undercover as a suburban housewife, complete with a husband, slippers, and pipe.
But after the debacle of her previous mission, Rhett has a lot to prove.
To redeem herself in the eyes of Redclaw Security, and to carry out her mission without distractions, she must table her budding relationship with Peter Knight while the two of them uncover the secrets of Forest Grove.
Armed with her trusty ray gun, her unique little dog, and Knight’s brains, Rhett is confident she can handle whatever the suburbs can throw at her.
Until they lob a curveball.
Series: Redclaw Origins Book 2
Available from Amazon and these other retailers.
About McKenna Dean:
McKenna Dean has been an actress, a vet tech, a singer, a teacher, a biologist, and a dog trainer. She’s worked in a genetics lab, at the stockyard, behind the scenes as a props manager, and at a pizza parlor slinging dough. Finally she realized all these jobs were just a preparation for what she really wanted to be: a writer.
She lives on a small farm in North Carolina with her family, as well as the assorted dogs, cats, and various livestock.
She likes putting her characters in hot water to see how strong they are. Like tea bags, only sexier.
McKenna Dean’s Social Links:
- Newsletter: https://motivated-teacher-3619.ck.page/8ce3b5d956
- Website: http://mckennadeanromance.com/
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B075CRHQ7B/
- Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/McKenna-Dean-Author-262328784224302/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/McKennaDeanFic
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mckennadeanromance/?hl=en
- Tumblr: https://mckennadeanromance.tumblr.com/
- Email: mckennadeanromance@gmail.com