Author Lawna Mackie: The Appeal of Fantasy Books

I’m always delighted to participate in a WOW-Women On Writing Blog Tour as I get to meet new authors and discover intriguing new books.

One such author is Lawna Mackie who is touring blogdom with her fantasy romance, PERFECT MISFITS.

This is a fun book to lose yourself in and forget all the stress of the holiday season. PERFECT MISFITS is a story about two people who find themselves falling in love. It’s a typical love story with a bit of a twist - the boy is a gargoyle, the girl is a misfit fairy and they have to overcome the evil overseer of the mountain were misfit creatures are banished to. Here’s a brief synopsis to explain more:

     Ryder, commander of the Levarian legion of gargoyles, has a problem. He keeps dreaming on duty…and falling…neither of which gargoyles ever do. Every dream is of the same woman, and every time it brings on red-hot, searing pain in the crescent-shaped scar on his palm. Driven to find the woman and the reason for his bizarre dreams, he lets himself fall…
     He lands in a place he never knew existed and face to face with the woman of his dreams.
     Labeled a misfit, Tempest was snatched away as a child and imprisoned in the hidden realm of Misfit Mountain. Locked up by Fedor, the ruler of the kingdom who intends to take her as his bride, Tempest has no choice but to brave the dangerous snow and ice of the mountain to escape. Faced with the impossible choice of Fedor or death, love is the last thing on her mind until Ryder snatches her from the air and into a whole new realm of feeling.
     Can Ryder find the key to freeing her and save them both?

Lawna joins us today to talk about the ‘appeal of fantasy books.’ In addition, thanks to Lawna and the great folks at WOW, I have a copy of PERFECT MISFITS to giveaway. Please see the end of the post for the giveaway guidelines. Now here’s Lawna.

I was a teenager when I started to read romance novels. I was hooked after the first one. One after another I devoured any romance I could get my hands on. Years flew by and I continued to be an avid reader then one day I stumbled upon a novel that was a bit different. It was about a spaceship that crashed on earth and an alien actually falls in love with a woman. I really wish I could remember the name of the novel. I then realized there were other types of romances out there…ones that were a bit different than the normal everyday romances.

It was a struggle to find romances like them they weren’t readily available back then. I’m probably giving my age away now!

Well, soon enough paranormal romances hit the shelves and I was in heaven. Vampires, werewolves, and things that go bump in the night were the characters that became the heroes and heroines that I loved. Just like the regular romances I didn’t seem to be able to read them fast enough.

But in the back of my head was the alien story I’d read. The ending of this book was that the heroine went with the spaceman back to his world. I so wanted to read this. I kept wondering what the world would be like and how their journeys would evolve. Basically I wanted to read about a world other than earth!

Time went on and I began looking into fantasy novels, but for me there was one problem–they weren’t necessarily romance related. I wanted fantasy with romance as the key element of the story. That was hard to find.

One night about eight years I had a fantastic dream. It took place in another world filled with brilliant colors, odd rivers and streams, and unusual looking mountains. Somehow in my sleep I created a creature called a Hippo-Dog-Burrowing Owl. No, I don’t do drugs! I called him Threeo. Any way, after that dream I started writing my first novel ENCHANTMENT. My world created my way, with an undying love, evil villains, conflict, passion and a happy-ever-after.

My latest creation is called PERFECT MISFITS! I love this story, but I guess I’m prejudice. If anyone has a liking for gargoyles and pixies like I do, you’ll love this story. It takes place in a world call Levare.

I do have a secret…okay maybe it’s not a big secret, but I love Christmas. My favorite Christmas show is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, so if anyone out there is familiar with this Christmas Favorite, there is a connection between a piece of my story in PERFECT MISFITS and the show. It’s not a big piece but see if you can figure it out. For those of you that do have an answer please pop by my website and contact me. In your subject line put Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Let me know what you think the connection is and I’ll send you a gift or a free eBook.

Thanks very much for joining me today and I really hope you’ll enjoy some of my romantic fantasies! I’d love to hear from you.

Lawna, thanks so much for joining us today. While I enjoy mysteries, I’m also drawn to the appeal of fantasy books from time to time. They make for a wonderful escape and a chance to let your imagination run free.

Lawna lives in Didsbury, Alberta with her husband and her animal companions Dozer, Daisy and Mandarin. She loves mountains and water…almost as much as she loves fairy tales. 

Although she read her first romance as a teenager it was years later, when she stumbled across a paranormal romance, that she knew she had found her passion. Lawna spent years telling friends the wild dreams she had and occasionally would try to craft them into stories but more often than not, they would end up in the recycling bin. Then one summer she challenged herself to just sit down and WRITE. So she did. Four books later, Lawna is still writing.

BTW, Lawna also has a Christmas theme novella out entitled, QUINN’S CHRISTMAS WISH (and she’s busy working on a sequel to it). Here’s a brief synopsis:

     As far as twelve-year old Quinn is concerned Christmas has lost its magic. Since his father’s death life has lost its sparkle. His mom is now a widow struggling to put food on the table. Quinn is no help, and the mysterious illness afflicting him only makes things worse. Even Christmas, complete with decorated trees, ribbons and bows have no meaning…then along comes Jazira. 

     Jazira doesn’t know what happened to her former self, the eleven-year old little girl. She drowned, didn’t she, along with half the other folk of Bandit Creek in 1911? Somehow, she’s grown four furry legs complimented with a large wolf head and body. Scared and alone, she reaches out to Quinn and a strong bond is formed. Jazira learns Quinn, and his mother, are threatened by a wealthy powerful citizen of Bandit Creek. She is determined to protect her new family, no matter what. Christmas Eve finds Quinn staring up at the adorned tree and muttering a quiet prayer. Will the Spirits of Christmas grant his wish, or will the evil surrounding Bandit Creek prevail once again?

For more information on Lawna and her writing, visit her website and find her on Facebook and Twitter. The hashtag for Twitter is #LawnaMackie.

Now for the giveaway guidelines. A print copy or an eBook of PERFECT MISFITS is available to the winner if they live in the U.S. or Canada. If the winner is international, an eBook is available. 

To enter, send me an e-mail (mcbookshelf@gmail.com) with the subject line, “Win PERFECT MISFITS.” Your message should include your name and mailing address if you reside in the U.S. or Canada. And, just so you know, I don’t share this information with anyone other than the publisher nor use it for any other purpose. The deadline to enter this giveaway for a chance at a copy of PERFECT MISFITS will be 8 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, Dec. 29.

Thanks so much everyone for stopping by today. Do you enjoy a fantasy book now and then to help escape from the stress of everyday?