RAQUEL BYRNES VISITS MEILORI'S AT MIDNIGHT

It was an average night at Meilori's : one vivisection, two mysterious disappearances, and only three homicides by various undead patrons.

The beautiful Raquel Byrnes sat opposite me to talk about her latest book, PURPLE KNOT.

Father Renfield sat beside her, sipping his glass half-filled with ...

"Say it's V-8 juice," he smiled. "It will make your blog friends feel more comfortable."

"All but one of them," said Raquel with a swallow.

To keep her mind off his red-smeared canines, I asked, "Who is your favorite author and is your writing style similar to theirs?"

"Ah, my favorite contemporary author is John Sandford. He writes the “Prey” novels. I recently read Storm Prey and loved it. My writing style is completely NOT like his. He writes gritty cop procedurals and I write romance."

Alice Wentworth glided to our table, giving Victor Standish heavy-lidded looks. "I just love romances."

Victor cleared his throat, "Ah-hem, Miss Byrnes, "When naming your characters, do you give any thought to the actual meaning?"

Raquel smiled knowingly, "At first I thought I didn’t, but someone pointed out that all of my heroines have a name that begins with the letter “R”…being that so does mine, I’m wondering if there’s a reason."

Father Renfield put down his empty glass, cocking his head, "I've travelled so much over this weary world. What is the most inspiring place you have ever visited and why?"

"I think that Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington state truly inspires me. A heavily forested place, it’s so different in terms of terrain and sensory input than my own dessert home."

Sam McCord eased like a tiger into the seat next to me. " Where in the world would you love to visit that you haven't been and why?"

Before tonight, I would have said that I would have loved to visit Louisiana, particularly Bayou LaFourche. I did a lot of research for a book on that parish and although it’s not exotic, it has meaning for me."

Sam smiled easy, "Why is that?"

"It gave me my favorite compliment from a reader. "I got an email from a woman who grew up in Louisiana and she had read an excerpt of my third book set in that bayou of Louisiana.

She called to ask me when I’d lived there and she found out I’ve never been, she said I captured it spot on. That made me feel awesome."

I nodded, "Of course it did. It would have done the same for me."

I asked, "Do you write to music like I do? If so, what kind? Does it change what you write?"

"I write to soundtracks. I have music from the movie The Gift, a spooky gothic feel, and I used it to write my third novel set in the bayou.

I usually pump techno like The Chemical Brothers for car chases and fight scenes.

Sweeping violins from Pride and Prejudice for love scenes…than kind of thing. Goes with the movie playing in my head."

Victor smirked, "I've always been fond of BOND."

Alice gave his shin a whack. "You mean their short skirts!"

I raised an eyebrow at the two of them and sighed, "Do any of your characters speak to you?"

"Yes, but I’ll completely deny this. My husband swears he catches me arguing with them."

Victor snickered, "I never argue with Roland. I just point out where he's wrong."

I glared at him and asked Raquel, "What is the stupidest thing you've ever done?"

"I went ice-blocking with friends. We hauled a huge block of clear ice to a golf course and rode the hills on it.

I got run over and then the sprinklers turned on and we could barely stay on our feet. It was November…cold!"

"I hate the cold," murmured Alice.

Victor squeezed her long fingers. "I learned to love it."

Sam cleared his throat, "What is your favorite weapon of choice for slaying?"

"I guess I would have to go with flame thrower for monsters in general…but scimitar for zombies."

Alice shook her head 'No'. "You must never let zombies get close enough that you must use an edged weapon."

Alice bent down. "Those are lovely tatoos."

"I have several tattoos. The ones you can see are on each inner wrist. Left wrist has a quill and ink bottle, the right has a black butterfly. They are reminders to me."

Sam looked off into the shadows. "I have too many reminders."

To get his mind off the pain he was remembering, I asked Raquel, "Which character from The Breakfast Club were you most like in high school?"

Raquel smiled, knowing what I was doing, "I was a cross between the nerd and the outcast. I wrote for the literary magazine and was very dark and artsy with my black clothes, but I was in AP classes and loved pep rallies."

Victor laughed, "I've certainly had to rally for pep some days."

I frowned and turned back to Raquel, "What is the strangest compliment/insult a person has ever given you?"

"When they found out I was an author they said it explained a lot. Not sure what he meant."

Alice twisted about suddenly, looking at the entrance where a tall man in a gray Armani suit was just strolling in. Shadows danced about him as if they were alive.

"Oh, my," Alice hushed. "Not him!"

Sam and Renfield shot to their feet, helping Raquel to her feet.

Sam smiled, his face tight. "Time for lovely ladies to keep their scalps."

Raquel turned her head over her shoulder as she was hurriedly led out the side door. "It's been ... an experience, Roland."
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Raquel Byrnes lives in Southern, California with her husband of sixteen years and their six children.

She considers inspirational fiction a wonderful way to minister to others. She writes romantic suspense with an edge-your-seat pace.

Her first book the Shades of Hope Series, Purple Knot, releases on June 3rd from White Rose Publishing.

You can visit her at her website: http://www.raquelbyrnes.com/ and her writing blog, Edge of Your Seat Romance
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