Thank you, Carmen, for allowing me to take over your blog today! I’m delighted to be here and share my newest release, ECLIPSE LAKE, with your readers.
I’ve always enjoyed writing books that play heavily on character relationships. That’s particularly true when it comes to family dynamics. In all the books I’ve written you’ll find a strong emphasis on a particular family tie, severed by conflict, eventually restored. I like putting my characters through the wringer, tearing them apart, then paving the way for reconciliation.
Two items that blend well with that storyline are romance and mystery. In my latest, release, ECLIPSE LAKE, I introduce my readers to two brothers, Jonah and Dane, who have been estranged for fifteen years, living on separate coasts. That’s suited both of them fine until the younger brother, Dane, attempts to fulfill a vow made to his late wife. For the sake of his adopted son, he decides it’s time to make peace with Jonah.
But returning to his hometown—a sleepy community tucked on the banks of a resort lake—places him dead center in an unsolved missing person’s case.
Ellie Sullivan, a photojournalist on assignment in Eclipse Lake, finds herself falling for Dane despite the secrets he harbors. Why does he avoid talking about his past and what he does for a living? How is he involved in the disappearance of a local girl who went missing fifteen years before? Why does his brother treat him so coldly, and the town sheriff react with hostility at the mere sight of him?
At its heart, ECLIPSE LAKE is a mystery and a romance, but it’s also a book about healing and forgiveness. About family ties, overcoming obstacles, and believing in the better good. I’m delighted to share it today.
BLURB:
Small towns hold the darkest secrets.
Fifteen years after leaving his criminal past and estranged brother behind, widower Dane Carlisle returns to his hometown on the banks of sleepy Eclipse Lake. Now, a successful businessman, he has kept his troubled past a secret from most everyone, including his seventeen-year-old son.
But memories in small towns are bitter and long.
Ellie Sullivan, a nature photographer for a national magazine, has a habit of ping-ponging across the map. Her latest assignment leads her to Eclipse Lake where she becomes caught up in the enmity between Dane, his brother Jonah, and a vengeful town sheriff. When freshly-discovered skeletal remains are linked to an unsolved murder and Dane’s past, Ellie is left questioning her growing attraction for a man who harbors long-buried secrets.
Excerpt for ECLIPSE LAKE
Ellie stopped walking and turned to face him. “Why are you here?”
Dane picked up a flat stone. With a flick of his wrist he sent it skimming across the lake. It danced effortlessly across the surface as if he’d done the same thing a thousand times before. “You know that skeleton they found?”
She nodded.
“I’ve got more skeletons than a graveyard. I can’t pick up and go to another place…to the next photo shoot.” He turned to face her. “Half of my life is here and half’s on the west coast. I have to make them fit together.”
The revelation reminded her of the family she’d left behind in Idaho, reawakening a familiar tug of homesickness. In an effort to find more comfortable ground, she changed topics. “You told me you’re from San Diego. I did a photo op there four years ago. What do you do for a living?”
“I get by.” He took her hand and started walking again.
She sent a speculative glance in his direction, recognizing evasiveness when she heard it. He was wearing a Rolex, and though dressed casually, clearly had expensive taste. Yet he’d booked an ordinary cabin rather than one of the exclusive chalets higher up the mountain.
She liked the feel of his fingers around hers, warm and firm. The contact sent a pleasant tingle up her arm. What the hell was wrong with her, getting caught up in his touch as if it were magic? As if she’d waited her whole life for that sensation. He had skeletons in his past, a brother who couldn’t stand the sight of him and a sheriff who wanted to run him out of town. Eccentric, or just plain trouble?
Mae Clair opened a Pandora’s Box of characters when she was a child and never looked back. Her father, an artist who tinkered with writing, encouraged her to create make-believe worlds by spinning tales of far-off places on summer nights beneath the stars.
Mae loves creating character-driven fiction in settings that vary from contemporary to mythical. Wherever her pen takes her, she flavors her stories with mystery and romance. Married to her high school sweetheart,she lives in Pennsylvania and is passionate about cryptozoology, old photographs, a good Maine lobster tail and cats.
Discover more about Mae on her website and blog at MaeClair.net
You can find Mae Clair at the following haunts:
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Hi, Carmen! Thanks so much for allowing me to take over your blog today and share my latest release, ECLIPSE LAKE. It's always a delight to be here! :)
ReplyDeleteYou are always welcome in "my house"you know it. Congratulations for this new release!
DeleteOh my gosh, yes he sounds quite magical to me too--very intriguing! Beautiful shade of green on that cover. Congratulations, Mae!
ReplyDeleteThe cover is quite suggestive for the content I think too. Thank you for stopping by!
DeleteHi, Flossie. Thanks for dropping by and checking out ECLIPSE LAKE. I love the cover the artist did, and have to admit I was more than a little besotted with Dane by the time I finished writing the novel, LOL. Thanks for the congrats!
DeleteLove your statement, "I like putting my characters through the wringer, tearing them apart, then paving the way for reconciliation." The best kind of read, Mae. Wishing you all the best with your new release!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Mary. This way of treating the characters is what keeps readers wanting to go on reading and see what happens next. Thank you for visiting!
DeleteHi, Mary! Thanks for the well wishes. I do love to torment my characters. Sometimes I feel like I'm doing a HumptyDumpty thing...only I get to put them back together again. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading Mae's latest work.
ReplyDeleteSo do I, Emma.
DeleteThank you for checking Mae's promo post!