Heart to Heart

[#1]

EXCLUSIVE:  Click here for an Exclusive Excerpt from "Make Her Pay  ," the follow-up to "Hunt Her Down  !"

Welcome to the 1st H2H Online/In-Store Romance Reader's Circle! It's kind of like an old-fashioned book club - you'll just be doing the wine and cheese "for one" if you're hanging solo at the keyboard like I am.

But you're not really alone, because tonight, the members of the West Melbourne, FL Barnes & Noble RRC invited us to join them this hour as Roxanne St. Claire visits their in-store book club to chat about Rocki's new book, "Hunt Her Down  ." And, yes, you can call her Rocki, too! Lee Duncan is your in-store RRC hostess!

Stick around, 'cause at 7:55 EDT, I'll be posting a link for a hot, Exclusive Excerpt to Rocki's new "Make Her Pay  ." The book drops today!

Now, tonight's a No-Holds-Barred book club, which means no topics are off-limits, and SPOILERS ARE WELCOME.

Feel free to toss in your own questions as we go along. And check out our welcome from Lee Duncan in my first comment below. Here are my questions to start our chat:

1. How did Maggie's being a single mom affect her decisions about whether to trust Dan the second time around?

2. Both Dan and Maggie are keeping big secrets from each other.  Are either of their secrets justified?  Can you see their reasons for keeping them, and do you agree/disagree w/them?

3. A character's introduced in "Hunt Her Down" who seems pretty evil, yet could be redeemed.  What do you think of Constantine Xenakis?

Photo above: Rocki and tonight's RRC in FL!

[#2]

FROM W. MELBOURN B&N RRC LEADER, LEE DUNCAN:

Hi!  I’m Leigh Duncan and tonight, I’m honored to combine our Romance Readers’ Circle in West Melbourne, Florida with Michelle Buonfiglio’s Heart-to-Heart Romance Book Club at BN.com.  And I’m thrilled to have the fabulous Roxanne St. Claire join us – in person – with our group at our local Barnes and Noble bookstore here in West Melbourne, FL. 

As many of you already know, Roxanne is a bestselling, RITA-Award winning author of twenty four novels of romance and suspense.  Almost every book she's written has won a major industry award, including the Daphne, the National Readers’ Choice (two years in a row for Best Romantic Suspense), the Maggie, the Booksellers’ Best, and many more.  She's proud to have finaled in the prestigious RITA Awards four times! 

Roxanne writes the popular romantic suspense series called The Bullet Catchers which features a cadre of elite, fearless bodyguards and security professionals.  Led by Lucy Sharpe, The Bullet Catchers are considered the cream of the crop of contract bodyguards. The organization is comprised of a tight-knit group of men and women who are experts in every aspect of protection and security.  And one of their best is Dan Gallagher, long considered Lucy’s second in command.

A former FBI agent turned Bullet Catcher, charm is Dan’s specialty.  He can go undercover and get anyone to admit to anything, and think they are having fun in the process. Dan’s close relationship to Lucy has been no secret to the world, but after Lucy makes her lifelong choice of another man, Dan heads to the Florida Keys to check on someone from his past.  Big surprises, plenty of danger, and steamy romance ensue in Hunt Her Down, tonight’s Romance Readers’ Circle selection. 

Hunt Her Down opens with Dan insisting to Max that he’s happy for Lucy and her new relationship (without Dan).  I think everyone hoped Dan and Lucy would get together but, as Dan explained it, “it would ruin a great friendship”.  But Dan is so well loved by all Bullet Catcher fans that he deserved someone very special.

I’m asking Roxanne whether she knew instinctively that Maggie had to be such a strong, independent person.
 

[#3]

Rocki says:  Let me talk about Maggie a little bit.  Yes, to answer Michelle's first question, her entire personality is affected by the fact that she's a mother.  I know from my own experience that your perspective on life changes when you have a child. 

I knew instinctively that I knew I wanted everything about Maggie to be the opposite of Lucy Sharpe.  That was the driving force in creating her character.    She had to be very strong but very vulnerable and what makes her more vulnerable than her love for her child.

[#4]

Hi, Rocki...okay, this is a little weird. I feel like I should have made the trek over to the coast!

Here's a HHD question for you...actually, it's probably a two-fer. I, as you know, was one of those people who really thought Dan and Lucy were going to end up together.  What about you? Sometimes our characters surprise us--were you expecting to bring them together? The second (related) question is re Maggie...did you know about her from the beginning?

Lorena

PS (MHP might be your hottest book evah! [borrowing Lee's spelling])

[#5]

From the Roundtable:  Did you to Marathon in the Keys and why did you pick that as a setting?

Rocki says:  Yes my family vacations there annually.  I love the setting of Marathon because again it was polar opposite of the glitzy New York mansion that is Lucy Sharpe's home.  I wanted Maggie to be very down to earth and Marathon, Florida suites that character trait perfectly.

[#6]

Oh yes, want to know this as well -- did you know they Dan and Lucy) wouldn't end-up together?

[#7]

Oh, great questions, Lorena, one of the great things about Lucy is how she's overcome a tough beginning, and has a really 'aquired" kind of sophistication that maybe lucy doesn't even have.

[#8]

And are you constantly thinking about the next character you'll be writing about as you're writing the current book, do you have a character "bible" going at all times?

[#9]

Lorena's question:  Did you think Lucy and Dan were going to be together when you started the series and did you know about Maggie all the time?

Rocki says:  I absolutely thought Lucy and Dan would be together from the moment I started the series, I believed they were meant for each other.  I thought would make a fabulous "friends to lovers" story to close the series.  Enter Jack Culver in Book 4, the minute he came on the page he and Lucy sparked. I fought it and I did not want them to be together but Lucy is one manipulative bitch.  She wanted Jack and I realized that Dan and Lucy lacked the #1 thing that my books must have; conflict.  I did not know about Maggie until about 1/2 way through writing NOW YOU DIE.  Thank you for the question!

[#10]

amy asked if I have a character bible at all times or are you thinking about the next character?

Rocki says:  I'm only thinking about the character that I'm writing that day.  Never thinking about new characters or the next characters unless they happen to be secondary characters in the book I'm writing.

[#11]

In-store, they're asking how Rocki knew about the 'house on the lake' and the natural 'lightning' phenom? Has Rocki been to Venezuela?

[#12]

From the Roundtable:  How did you do the research and did you already know about the lake and the house and lightning?

Rocki says:  Everything came from research.  I have never been to Venezuela but as soon as I started reading about it I was taken with the idea of stilt houses and I read about the catatumbo lightning.  As soon as I read about it I thought it would make a dramatic backdrop for a love scene.

[#13]

From the Roundtable:  What is the process for research and writing?

Rocki says:  I start with research because so many plot ideas unfold from the research.  If I'm stuck I do research.  But I also research all the way through the book, I never stop the process of researching.

[#14]

FInally made it! Woo-Hoo. Great book, as usual Rocki. Elle Jordan stole my question...

I thought you handled the Dan and Lucy situation very well.

Have to say, loved the shed scene. LOVED IT!

I also liked how strong Maggie was...how you had her see that making love with Dan on the chaise lounger could lead to more heartache when he left again (as he said he would.) Why did you choose to go that way as opposed to letting her have "one last night"? Why did you make the decision to let her walk away?

In your mind, when did Dan know he loved Maggie and wasn't leaving her again?

[#15]

From the Roundtable:  When you research how do you handle that?

Rocki says:  It's ugly!!!!!!  I buy a lot of books on setting and subject.  I tag those books with yellow stickies when I find things that will be in the story.  I also go online and spend hours doing research on the internet and print out what I'm going to need on a daily basis, maps and terminology and save the other places.   The most important elements to the research for every book are setting, professional backgrounds - like what my characters do for a living, and guns, and HOT guys!

[#16]

Can Marilyn please repost your question since we lost it.  Thanks! :-)

[#17]

awesome question, arkCindi!  It was such a hot, yet bitter-sweet scene, the best kind in romance.

[#18]

Roxanne, you’re known more for sexy heroes and hot heroines than you are for kids.  But you totally nailed 13-year-old Quinn.  What was your inspiration for this boy-on-the-cusp-of-manhood?  Are you going to feature children in important roles in future books?

[#19]

Hi, Rocki!  Karen from Orlando & loved the book signing on Saturday.  When the Bullet Catchers series ended did you feel like you said good bye to that world, or....what other emotions?

[#20]

ArkCyndi asks:  Why did she walk away from Dan on the chaise and when did Dan know he loved her?

Rocki says:  She walked away because she was protecting her son.  This time she had so much more at stake than a foolish love struck teenager had at stake.  She had her own foolish teenager to worry about.  Dan knew he loved Maggie when he left her in the parking lot and protected her from the recriminations of their affair.  He knew he loved her still when she walked away from him on the chaise.

[#21]

I know you talked a little about Maggie being a Mom, was it hard getting the right tone and balance -- she would do anything for her son, but yet she was still a woman and really missed having sex -- it was the perfect mix for me.

[#22]

I'm wondering whether Rocki can tell us, in terms of Maggie's concern about her son, maybe a little about her feelings concerning Question #2 above, and Maggie's 'secret.'

[#23]

Karen from Orlando:  How do you feel about the Bullet Catchers ending?

Rocki cries:  She is bereft.  Seriously, I'm so excited about the new series and as it is a spinoff from the Bullet Catchers I'm hoping to bring back lots of old characters to keep my fan base happy.  I feel that after 8 books and 2 novellas there have been a lot of Bullet Catchers and I don't want to jump the shark.  But without a doubt the doors open to writing more.  But I am really thrilled about the new series which starts next fall.

[#24]

Jane Sevier, I loved Quinn, too, as Ive got a 12-year old and was looking at what I'll be getting in a year or so! 

[#25]

Where DO your plot ideas come from? Odd tangents in a conversation? Weird things in the news?

Lorena

[#26]

Rocki says this is the most fun eva!  Lots of laughter at the Roundtable.