Welcome to my guest, Kathy L Wheeler
Please tell us why you wrote Blood Stained Memories.
I originally started this book to write under Mel Odom’s Winter Frost gothic line. But as so often happens, I got sidetracked and it was put on the back shelf. In the meantime, my friend Amanda McCabe and I flew to Atlanta for the RWA National Conference, but decided to drive home. We stopped in Pensacola for three nights and stumbled upon Fort Pickens which turned out to be the perfect setting for my Gothic Romance.
We went by there twice. The first time, we made it to the museum store and all hell broke loose. The sky was black, the wind pelting. You truly could tell the ocean from the sky. There was no seeing the ruins that day! We drove back the next day. We’d almost decided not to go, but it was just too irresistible. It was almost 6p as we pulled into the parking lot and one last car was leaving. The sun was out, but the sky on one side was dark. You’ve seen those days, right? Half sun, half it-can’t-tell-what-it-wants-to-do? By this time the museum was closed but the ruins were open. There were tri-fold sheets with a numbering system that detailed the different parts. So Amanda read, while I explored. You see, she is a bit…um…claustrophobic. We walked by one part with two tunnels that looked as if they might meet at the very back. I told her I was going to go in. She said, “I’ll wait here.” I took her picture from way back there and she looked like a ghost. (That’s not even the interesting part.)
We made our way through the 9 sections, stepping over corpses (I think it was a mouse.) We returned to our Victorian B&B and were each on our computers and she starts telling me all this stuff about the ruins. (This was the interesting part.) How they were haunted and the ghosts…I was sooooo glad we hadn’t read that before we visited. I don’t freak out that easily, but man, it was creepy…and the perfect backdrop for Blood Stained Memories.
Blood Stained Memories
A World of Gothic: United States
Kathy L Wheeler
Excerpt:
I glanced over to my handsome chauffeur. Water from his hair dribbled down a strong neck that disappeared into the collar of his rain-soaked shirt. He and Adam must be somewhere in their mid-to-late thirties by now. I knew his dry hair would resemble burnished gold. The light from the dashboard didn’t reflect the tone of his skin.
I leaned back in the seat and let his accent wash over me. Its familiarity settled nerves drawn so tight I felt I would shatter with a sudden move. I cleared my throat. “Where do you call home, Mr. Creighton?” There wasn’t much of him that reminded me of that long ago young man, just the clipped British words, making it easier to remember to refer to him as Mr. Creighton.
He grinned. Most likely relieved I’d finally joined the conversation. “Call me, Ian. Manchester, mostly. I’ve been here since spring assisting Adam with his research. I spent summers here on the island as a younger man until—” He tossed a quick glance in my direction. “Well, I’d planned on returning home by now.” His gaze dropped to my ringless fingers before he shifted his attention back to the road. “Though I may find my stay here pleasantly extended.”
Until what? I wanted to scream. Instead, heat flamed my cheeks at his not-so-subtle regard. I curled my fingers beneath my tote and out of sight, at a loss for words. My goal on this quiet Gulf Coast island was not to find romance. My sole agenda dealt with the bland contents of the letter stowed in my bag. A letter stained with my own bloody prints.
Amz preorder buy link (won’t have the rest until the 8th): https://amzn.com/B01K82OKJG
Blurb: There on the Gulf Coast in the Florida Panhandle lies the ruins of a haunted, old armory…
Blurb: Helena Abigail Evans-Ross remembers nothing from her past except the sting of her Aunt Lydia’s hand almost knocking her head from her shoulders. “Don’t look!” she screamed, just as Abby’s gaze meets her father’s blank stare, and the realization that she is holding the bloody knife that ended his life. She’s home to learn the truth—but can she live with a truth is she is the one who murdered her own father?
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Bio: Kathy L Wheeler (aka Kae Elle Wheeler) is the author of fourteen contemporary and historical novels and novellas that range from sweet to spicy. She has a BA in Management Information Systems from the University of Central Oklahoma that includes a vocal minor. She loves the NFL, the NBA, musical theater, travel, reading, writing and just to scratch the singing itch…. karaoke. She is a member Romance Writers of American and The Beau Monde chapter. She currently serves as editor of both, the Regency Reader and Novel Notes Authors newsletters. Kathy lives in Edmond, OK with her attorney and musically talented husband, Al. She has one grown daughter with an adorable baby boy and another on the way, and one bossy cat, who acts as if she were the rescuer rather than the rescue-e!!
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