Romance Author Marilyn Yarbrough

Welcome to Roses of Prose, Marilyn. You mentioned thisis your first blog interview, so I’ll be gentle. Please tell us about yourself.

I’ve always had these scenes,fantasies, I guess, pop into my head. I used to think there was something wrong with me until I realized other people have little movies going on inside their head also. My ah moment came when I wrote one of my little scenes down on paper.That’s when I decided to become a writer. These crazy fantasies of mine have turned into several novels. Two of them have been published by The Wild Rose Press. Payton’s Woman was released in April of this year, and Once Upon a Love was just released in August. They are both Historical Romance. I’m really thrilled about the review Payton’s Woman received from the Black Raven’s Review. They gave me 5 Black Ravens and a Recommended Read. My editor Allison Byers of The Wild Rose Press deserves credit for helping me whip my novel into such excellent shape. I also wrote Shadow Keeper, a paranormal, upper young adult, which I published under the name of M. K. Yarbrough.

I understand you write spicy romance.

What do you find the most difficult about being a writer of racy, hot romance?

Writing dialog for the love scenes is definitely the hardest part for me. What do people say when they’re hot in the throes of passion? I guess I’ve been married too long, because the only things I ever scream out are: “My hair! You’re on my hair.” Or,“Cramp! I’ve got a cramp in my leg.”

What prompted you to write Payton’s Woman?

A fantasy, of course—or was it a dream? It was a little thirty-second scene that popped into my head, probably while I was waiting for a traffic light. I put it down on paper when I got home so I wouldn’t forget it and started building from there. The little scene is in the first chapter of Payton’s Woman. Julia meets a man who resembles a fearsome pirate. Payton lusts for her, and she’s terrified of him. He’s big and strong (and sexy). She’s no match for him physically, but she’s not about to surrender without a fight. She uses her brains and wits to get out of this predicament. And 85,000 words later, they live happily ever after.

Do you have a favorite theme? Eg: love conquers all; good vs evil; How do you
use it?
I am woman! The underlying theme in my novels is that women are strong (emotionally). And they are survivors. My heroines aren’t damsels in distress, although they do get themselves into trouble and sometimes need a man’s help. But they don’t let the men fight their battles for them, and they kill their own spiders. In Payton’s Woman, Julia is searching for the man who murdered her brother. When she finally comes face-to-face with him, she doesn’t have the physical strength or a weapon to fight him, but she does have intelligence, nerve, and the shrewdness to overpower him, plus save the man she loves. To me, it would be a copout if, after chasing down the killer, she backed off and allowed a man to capture him. Oops—maybe I should’ve announced a spoiler alert.

What stereotype would your friends label you as?
I don’t know that I have a stereotype. You’d probably do better asking my friends. Now, if you ask my brother, he might tell you I’ve got sibling rivalry issues, or something like that, because in my novels, I’m either killing off the heroine’s brother or making him the bad guy. If there’s anything that shows up consistently in my novels, it’s family. My main characters either have strong family values, or strive to attain them in their relationships.

What’s your next goal?
I’m writing in a totally different genre. We moved to another state a few years ago. After a while, I joined a writers’ group, only to discover they all write young adult. And they weren’t too keen on critiquing spicy romance. I got an idea for a paranormal, upper young adult and named it Shadow Keeper,which just came out in paperback in June. I wrote this under the name of M. K.Yarbrough so there would be a distinction between the genres and also the lower heat level. But my critique group noted there’s an undercurrent of smoldering sexuality seeping between the lines even though there’s no sex, and the main characters only kiss. I’m working on the sequel to my Shadow series called Shadow Curse. This book has more sexuality oozing out. Guess I just can’t turn the spice down no matter how hardI try.

What’s your book about?
Blurb for Payton’s Woman: Julia Anderson is on a perilous quest to find the man who murdered her brother. Hot on the killer's trail, she stumbles into the arms of a man who resembles a fearsome pirate from her childhood nightmares. But when this dark haired,blue-eyed pirate kisses her, the only thing he steals is her heart.

Captain Payton Tyler is on a quest of his own. He's distracted from his goal when an innocent, blond-haired beauty materializes out of the misty fog. When she disappears just as suddenly, he follows after her.

From the hellhole of the Barbary Coast to the refined society of old Sacramento,danger and intrigue thrust Julia and Payton together--and into each other's arms. As their desire for each other grows, so does Julia's suspicion. She fears the man who holds her in his arms, the man who holds her heart, may also be the man who killed her brother.

Short Excerpt:

He urned to Julia. "It looks like I'm your man."
A cold,hard glare of anger lingered on his face. She sucked in her breath at the chilling sight. She didn't doubt he could protect her from the other men, but who would protect her from him?

Quickly,she gathered her wits. A man's ego could be a powerful thing. She'd boost it up so if he felt tempted to fall short of her expectation of him, he'd be in fear of crushing his own ego.

"I can see that you're a man of courage and honor. And decency," she added to boost her own courage. "I know I can depend upon you to see me safely away from here."

The coldness vanished from his face. "Courage, yes," he said as a warmth gathered in his eyes, "but if you want a man with honor and decency, the Devil's Lair is the wrong place to look."

Her forehead crinkled with worry. "I was relying on you to help me."

"That I shall do," he swore, "just as soon as we agree upon a price. And I don't want your money."

As the leering crowd snickered, her anxiety grew. "What do you want as payment?" she asked, although fairly certain what it would be.

The captain touched her hair. Slowly, he pulled a handful of the long, blonde strands over her shoulder. His fingers slid the length of it until the back of his knuckles touched the swell of her bare breast.

A queasy feeling gripped her insides. Her heart beat so rapidly she thought it would burst from her chest. She shifted her gaze from his face and focused on a neutral object on the far side of the room in an effort to keep her body from trembling violently.

Any hope of getting away from here unscathed rapidly dissolved. She knew what price this pagan, savage pirate would demand of her.

Contact info: Please check your links.

Author Web site: http://marilynyarbrough.com/for Historical Romance and

http://www.mkyarbrough.com/for Paranormal, Upper Young Adult.

Blog Site: http://blog.marilynyarbrough.com/ and http://mkyarbrough.blogspot.com/

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/marilynyarbrough

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/mkybrough

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-K-Yarbrough/e/B004U5FMTU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1314846234&sr=1-1

Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Paytons-Woman-ebook/dp/B004WF4NR0/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1314846682&sr=1-2

Contact me: marilyn@marilynyarbrough.com