1--What is the title of your latest release?
EXTREME DANGER, Book 5 of the McClouds & Friends Series
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Nick is on a suicide mission to take down an evil mafiya vor, and at the worst possible time his neighbor shows up to sneak a midnight dip in the pool naked. He doesn’t know if she’s a seductive assassin or a clueless innocent, but she has a target on her back now, and instead of saving his own soul, he’ll have to save Becca instead…
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
It was all handed to me by the previous books! Nick was already introduced to me in the previous books. The McCloud Crowd almost all hang out in Seattle and the surrounding environs, a place I love for its amazing beauty—the mountains, the Sound, Mt. Ranier, the Olympic Rainforests, the coast, and the city itself, too….I just can’t get enough.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
The heroine? Sure. I’d love to get brunch with her. My hero? Hell, no. He terrifies me. He’s brusque and rude and would never put up with my nonsense. Becca can manage him because he falls in love with her. And having a guy save your skin, well. It does make up for a multitude of sins!
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Becca: Loyal, Fierce, Persistent. Nick: Intense, smoldering, never-looks-back.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned more than I ever wanted to know about human cruelty when I even dip my toe into the horrors of human trafficking, and more specifically, organ trafficking. But it was satisfying to dream up a story in which good prevails.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit FOREVER. I am always editing. Put words in, take them out. Insert, delete. Insert, delete. See how it looks, hate it, change my mind, put it back in. Lather, rinse, repeat. I wish I could just decide when it’s done, but that is really, really hard.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Now, at this specific moment, it’s cheesecake. I am absolutely craving a really good creamy cheesecake with a buttery cookie crust, and tangy berries on top. This might well change, but it’s what I am jonesing for RIGHT NOW. At the time of this writing. I hope I can find one, but I might be constrained to make one myself.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
It is in flux! I have decided I have to fix it up! I am no longer okay with it being the catch-all space for un-ironed clothes and my husband’s endless musical instruments. I want to get a nicer desk and cull the books I can bear to cull, and fix my files, and make it pretty. I want to get rid of the spare futon couch and get a pretty rug. How can I expect myself to be creative when the room is so chaotic? I’m afraid of the effort and the chaos this will bring, however. But if you want to make an omelet, you gotta break eggs. My studio is going to be very eggy for a while.
10--Who is an author you admire?
I just finished Runaway, a Peter Ash novel, by Nick Petrie. Rip-roaring thriller! It’s the reason I am short on sleep and my eyes are red and bloodshot because I kept on reading One More Chapter just to see if he manages to save the girl from a horrible fate! But I’m sure all of you can agree with me about abandoning yourself to that dilemma of One More Chapter.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Complicated question. The books that are really deep, deep, deep in my psyche are probably Anne of Green Gables, and Jane Eyre. Both those heroines are inside my heart. I identify with their feelings so intensely, their longing for love and authenticity. And then there’s Tolkien, and the Ring trilogy. I’ve read it millions of times. Those books formed my sense of how to be a good human being.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I will never cease to be grateful to get my break from Hilary Sares at Kensington. I had read the old Kathryn Falk classic back in the day, How to Write A Romance And Get It Published, and they had an editor listed in it for Kensington, so I sent my category romance to her, and it got passed around until it landed on Hilary’s desk. Such a stroke of luck.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Right now, it’s thrillers, but I also like historical romances and a few literary novels. But I am a sucker for a happy ending, and I often don’t trust literary novels to deliver that. I feel like, if you’re going to go on a fictional journey, it should end with a ray of light, a feeling of opening, of growth, of change, and if I don’t get that, I get angry. Literally, pissed off, as if something had been taken from me. That’s why I write romance. You can trust romance.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
That’s a trick question. Once it is asked, you IMMEDIATELY forget every movie you ever saw in your life. However, one thing I did when visiting my folks this summer was to introduce my kids to a few of my old classic faves, and my choices were Blade Runner, and The Sixth Sense. It was wonderful revisiting them! They were as good as I remembered. And recently? I really loved the latest Dune. I loved the book, back in my youth, and I really love what the director is doing with it. It’s rather humorless, yes, but that’s okay, and so was the book. It’s very faithful to the book, and very sensual, very deeply felt, very beautiful, very emotional. And it is visually breathtaking.
15--What is your favorite season?
Well, I am REALLY looking forward to not being constantly sweaty. So I am going to go out on a limb and say…Fall. Yeah, fall. Hot cups of tea. But there is also that terrible moment when I have to make my feet remember how to use closed shoes again instead of slip-on sandals. That’s always traumatic, and I always wait too long, until people are looking at me funny as I walk around in my sandals in the cold, driving rain, or some such.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
My birthday gets lost in the shuffle! My kid’s birthday is right next to it! But I don’t mind letting it pass unnoticed. The years slip past too damn fast for my liking.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I am having a FABULOUS time revisiting two fave fictional worlds, in the House Of The Dragon series, (the new Game Of Thrones) and the Rings Of Power (Lord Of The Rings.) Of course, they are not perfect, but I think they are pretty damn good, and I love, love, love going back to those worlds to visit.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I’ve been back in Italy for over a month now, and right now I am craving sushi SO badly! It’s dreadful! I can literally taste it; I remember it so vividly!
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I am going to have to say, fixing my damned office up! So that I can relax in it, be creative, and read loads of books! My problem is, I’m afraid to let myself read because I lose control. I forget medical appointments, I forget to pick up children from activities, I burn food in the oven, I don’t sleep. It’s a problem. Oh, well.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
I’m having fun with a delicious new series of dark romances! If you want to hear about how that is developing, and also about my discounts, giveaway and promos, join my newsletter. I’ll give you an Obsidian Files novel as a welcome gift!
Thanks so much to Fresh Fiction for letting me hold forth about my book on their fabulous blog! And happy reading, everyone! If you read Extreme Danger, please let me know what you think!
McCloud #5
Nick Ward was one of Connor McCloud’s fellow FBI agents. Now he’s working on an investigation of his own, but Tam Steele and the McClouds always have his back…
Trained assassin…or clueless innocent?
That’s the dilemma facing Nick Ward when he drags the gorgeous, dripping, naked girl out of the swimming pool at midnight on the deserted vacation island. But innocent or not, she’s pure bad luck for Nick. Even if she’s not a merciless honeypot assassin, her presence at this top secret meeting will destroy his long-planned undercover operation, and probably get them both killed. And her luscious beauty just makes it that much worse…
She won’t back down…
Skinny-dipping in a neighbor’s pool is about as naughty as hopeless good girl Becca Cattrall has ever tried to be. But suddenly she’s at the mercy of a grim, dangerous stranger with a foul mouth and smoldering eyes…a man who steals her breath and makes her heart stutter…a man scheduled to meet with a mafiya boss who will never let her live to tell the tale.
Nick impulsively blows his cover to save Becca’s skin, but he can’t keep her hidden forever…and he can’t stay away from her, either. And now, to make matters worse, she wants to save him, too. So when hell comes calling, she’s not running….
This title is a re-release, originally published by Brava.
Romance Suspense | Romance Erotica Sensual [Oliver-Heber Books, On Sale: September 13, 2022, e-Book, ISBN: 9780758211880 / ]
Shannon McKenna is the NYT bestselling author of seventeen action packed, turbocharged romantic thrillers, among which are the stories of the wildly popular McCloud series and the brand new romantic suspense series, The Obsidian Files. She loves tough and heroic alpha males, heroines with the brains and guts to match them, villains who challenge them to their utmost, adventure, scorching sensuality, and most of all, the redemptive power of true love. Since she was small she has loved abandoning herself to the magic of a good book, and her fond childhood fantasy was that writing would be just like that, but with the added benefit of being able to take credit for the story at the end. Alas, the alchemy of writing turned out to be messier than she'd ever dreamed. But what the hell, she loves it anyway, and hopes that readers enjoy the results of her alchemical experiments.
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