I was asked to do a character interview for www.booklovershideaway.blogspot.com, and the responses were so wonderful, that I thought it might be fun for anyone to have access to it.

I’m sitting in my office (which has more toys than office-y things in it) at the computer when I realize it’s about time to interview my characters. I’ve been worrying about what to ask and what to say for about a month now. I mean, I’ve been so involved with Liam and Marley that it’s been a while since I’ve talked to Connor and Mackenzie. They’re never far from my mind as they will always be my firsts, but I have been “inside” Liam’s head for quite a while lately, I felt a bit nervous at seeing Connor again.

Connor is laird, so he’s a bit more responsible, and well, broody than his brother Liam. Liam is such a fun, light-hearted kind of guy, always a quick smile and a wink for a lass. Connor, well he is much more intimidating. And I hate that he intimidates me, I mean, I created him, right?

To break out of my nerves, I ask Connor the naughtiest question first:

Laura: “Connor, so, everyone on twitter wants to know, what’ve you got under the kilt?”

Connor: “Och, lass,” *so that’s what it sounds like when a man purrs, I’m ready to swoon* “I canna tell you…”

Mackenzie interrupts with: “You tell those wenches he goes commando, and no, they can’t see.”
*I’m not sure if she’s actually mad at me for asking, or just possessive, so I press on*

Laura: “This one’s for Connor too, What did you think of your time in the 21st century?”

Connor: “It was wonderful as I spent it with Mackenzie.” (Connor lifts Mackenzie’s hand and presses his lips to her knuckles)

Laura: “You two are disgustingly cute.” *trying not to gag* “I didn’t write you two that cutesy.”

Mackenzie: “You think you wrote us, ha! You only gave us the bare bones of ourselves…we filled in the rest, and we’ll be as cutesy as we want.”

*does every author feel this way? I feel like my creations are real, and this particular pairing has gotten away from me*

Laura: “O-kay, well I guess I’ll ask you, Mackenzie, the same. What is it like in the 1790s?”

Mackenzie: “The obvious thing that I miss is indoor plumbing, isn’t that what everyone thinks? I do, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not all that bad taking baths. Especially not when I have someone to help me with all the hard to reach places…”

Laura: “I get the picture. Again with the cutesy.”

Mackenzie: “Hey we’re honeymooning, so give us a break!”
* I’ll give her that.*

Mackenzie continues: “But really what I miss is Jenna. She was my best friend. I miss our girl’s nights, our pity parties on nights we didn’t have dates, all of it. I don’t have any family left, and I really didn’t have a lot of friends, but Jenna was the best, the absolute best. I miss her.”

Her voice broke on the last word, and it makes me feel like a complete ass for not finding a way to write her best friend into her new life. But what can I do? Jenna’s destiny wasn’t with Mackenzie.

I think Connor picked up my thoughts because I got quite the glare from him. A shiver passed down my spine. I would not want to be on the wrong side of that man. I know how he thinks, and he’s thinking that if I can do something, anything, to take those tears out of his wife’s eyes, I’d best do it. I nod that I understand. He nods coolly back.

Mackenzie completely misses this exchange, but she jumps back in with:” I miss silly little things I never appreciated too. Things like the delay timer on my coffee pot, and lip gloss, tampons (yeah I went there) or the convenience of cell phones. But really I don’t miss the traffic, the drama…”

*did I really make her this chatty? I guess I did. It’s a good thing I don’t mind talking.*

Connor cuts her off to ask her: “Love, didna you want to ask her something?”

Mackenzie: “Oh! Yes, thank you mo ghraidh"

Laura: “You’ve learned Gaelic?” I’m thrilled! I couldn’t master that language, trust me, I tried

Mackenzie: “Oh just a few phrases here and there. It’s really tough. But I wanted to ask you, What’s the deal with Liam? Like is he getting his HEA anytime soon? I keep trying to set him up with some really great girls and he’s either really picky, or just a shameless flirt. He won’t give any of them a chance.”

Laura: “ Ahh, well, I think that’s his story to tell. “

Mackenzie: “Well, he won’t tell me anything.”

*she sounded so offended at that, I had to laugh. So I cut her a break*

Laura: Alright, I can’t tell you much, but he will meet his match, don’t you worry. I’d love to tell you more, but all I can say, is that he may have already met her.

Connor: “What do you mean he may have already met her?”

Laura: “Connor, you’ll have to ask him that one yourself, but I’m not sure you’ll like the answer you get.”

*the way his blue eyes darken, I’m wondering if I should have just kept my trap shut. Jeez, back to intimidating.

Mackenzie: “Connor stop that, you’re scaring the poor woman. “

* Mackenzie ignores my indignant, “He is not!” and stands up stretching. “Alright, come on, we’ve got to get going, as long as we’re in this century I’m buying jeans and some chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.”

I unthinkingly open my mouth again: “You’re not going to visit Jenna?”

*Her eyes fill with tears. Gah! I am such a jerk. I know the rules, and I said something anyway*

Mackenzie: “No, it’s not allowed. We can’t do anything, or say anything that could possibly change the way the timeline is supposed to play out.”

*I know this saddens her. Even chocolate isn’t a substitute for a best friend. It makes me wonder what I can do to fix this. Mackenzie is one of those people who is just so open you can’t help but love her, and judging by Connor’s murderous glare sent my way, he loves her very much and wants me to fix this.

As we say our goodbyes, I really think about what I can do to fix this. I mean, I’ve got the power in this world I created, right? I should be able to do something about that.

***You can view the original interview at Book Lover's Hideaway here