Not part of the plan

by Rain Trueax

Well, that last hero was pretty normal-- if being a billionaire is normal. How about a hero who has some unusual habits-- like shifting into an animal? A rock star who wants out of that life? A man with a love that he left due to his frightening secrets? What if his deceased mother was Navajo and that land is still in his blood? What if he has an enemy out to destroy him? Hey, why not!

It's Complicated

By Rain Trueax

What if? Do you know how many ideas for books begin with-- what if. The next thought can be-- ridiculous, but sometimes it's-- why not! 

Why not have a hero who is named after an ancestor who did evil during his lifetime? Why not have that man be the very soul who has lived lives between the evil one in an attempt to get his lives on a healthier course? How much of that outlaw violence would carry over into the one he's now living? Can someone really change their soul through the lives they choose? Since they won't remember those earlier lives, how much do they impact today's choices? What if he has spiritual helpers who have come along for the ride but that he doesn't see or want to hear?

These are the questions raised in Complicated Bargain-- third of the Hemstreet Witch books, now in a series called Mystic  Shadows.

It takes a hero

by Rain Trueax

For my books about the Hemstreet sisters and their mother, the first attractions to their characters were location, the family, and then that they were professional witches. 

In terms of witch, I am using that word loosely as we have a concept for what qualifies someone to be a witch? Why are they labeled such? These are ordinary looking women with ordinary jobs. Two ran a boutique. One was a detective. One helped her widowed mother run the Black Cat Bookstore. All but one had their own homes-- the youngest, still at home, wanted to move out.

I referred to these women as natural born witches but fully human with skills that make them different. At the same time, they have all the usual human problems. I liked them having an added problem of supernatural powers, since that meant they had to lead a double life, where you have to hide part of who you are. What did that mean for their romantic life? 

What many people, those who don't read romances, don't know is that the male protagonists are central to the stories. Romances are thought of as stories for women. Of course, women are their main buyers but unlike chick lit, men also read them for a variety of reasons. The thing I want to explore here are those heroes in the books. What about the men!