Because the cover for my novel, A Time Apart: Book One of
the Macauley Series, features a beautiful red-haired woman, the character of
Olivia is less of a mystery to my readers than William is, and so it’s always
interesting to hear who everyone pictures for him while they’re reading the
book. For me, the physical inspiration for William changed over time - after
all, I wrote the novel over the course of six years, and during that time,
while I've stuck with a consistent description for each character, my interpretation
of those details morphed over time.
SO, WHO IS WILLIAM
MACAULEY?
Olivia first sees William in a series of photographs she
found online while researching his castle. Straight away she can see that he's
handsome, but we later learn that the photographs don't tell the true story of
who he is as they can never capture the vitality that he exudes, the raw
magnetism that emanates from him in person.When they do meet, she's immediately
struck by the fact that her picture of him is slightly wrong, but also just how
stunning he truly is. At this point we know that he is tall – about 6’4” – with
an athletic build that shows off his clothes to perfection. He has black hair,
blue eyes, and lips that she fantasizes about kissing.
With that basic description established, it’s up to the
reader to see whom they envision, and I’ve been ecstatic with the feedback I’ve
received so far.
I can tell you that I started out picturing a young Hugh
Jackman, and then the closer I came to finishing the book, the more I thought
of William as looking like David Giuntoli from NBC’s Grimm. A number of friends
told me that Richard Armitage would be the perfect William, and then three
times in one day I heard the same name from people who had no connection
whatsoever so there was no way they could have conspired with one another. The
man they all mentioned was completely unknown to me, so I fired up the Google
machine to see how close their interpretation had come to my vision.
I was floored … he was
perfection.
So, please allow me
to introduce you to William Macauley.
David Gandy is probably the most famous male model to grace
the runway and pages of countless magazines. He has long collaborated with
Dolce & Gabbana; he once had a billboard in Times Square; he currently
writes a blog for British Vogue, car reviews for British GQ, and lifestyle
articles for Telegraph Men; and he was recently featured in a video with
Jennifer Lopez. How I never saw him is beyond me! Alas, now that I have you can
be sure I will not be forgetting that face any time soon.
I kind of feel bad for the guy because to me he’s no longer
David, but rather a centuries-old vampire named William Macauley. Simply no one
else will do.
A Time Apart
Macauley Series
Book One
Rebecca N. Caudill
Genre: Paranormal Romance , Vampire
Date of Publication: February 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-1508482666
ASIN: B00TDR1O6U
Number of pages: 211 (estimated)
Word Count: 71,020
Cover Artist: Rebecca N. Caudill
Book Description:
A love story that traverses the confines of time, life, and death, uniting two passionate souls from different worlds and ages …
Olivia Donnelly has spent her whole life obsessing about how she will die. When tragedy strikes, reality comes crashing down and she’s forced to confront her fears head on. Hoping that a move across the globe will help her to cope with a devastating loss, she arrives in Ireland a broken down shell of a woman looking for a second chance at life.
Almost immediately Olivia is drawn to places she’s never been, and to a man that she’s never met. When she crosses paths with the mysterious and frustratingly private William Macauley, her life is thrown into turmoil unlike any she has ever known. The two couldn’t be more different – she’s human, he’s a vampire – but Olivia can’t get him out of her mind. Having acknowledged her overwhelming desire for William, now she must come to terms with how her feelings for him will greatly alter her future.
Olivia’s understanding of life – and death – take on new meaning as she examines the truth of the person she once was, the woman she was born to be, and how William is the key to her everlasting happiness.
Available at Amazon
Excerpt from Chapter 6
“Olivia,” he
whispered, and then he too went silent, that one word all he was going to give
her.
Except it wasn’t
all.
The way he had
said her name did things to Olivia that she couldn’t adequately
explain. To her ears, he had said it the way a man says a woman’s name as
he’s about to make love to her for the first time, full of longing and
desire.
It felt like several
minutes had passed since he had spoken her name, but in reality it had been
less than 15 seconds. Olivia wasn’t worried about him hanging up the phone
because she knew he could hear her breathing in response to his voice. Given
how furiously she felt her heart beating, she thought he could probably hear it
too as it was so terrifyingly loud. She certainly heard the thump, thump, thump
of it echoing in her own ears.
“William,” she
eventually responded, trying to keep her voice cold and emotionless, hoping
that her desire for him wasn’t evident in that one single word. She
wouldn’t say more, not yet.
Olivia wanted to
make him tell her why he was calling. She wouldn’t ask. She wouldn’t show how
much she actually cared what he thought of her; unfortunately her hitched
breathing gave her away. If he hadn’t known it before, William certainly knew
that his voice – his words – had power over her.
“I had to call
you. I don’t know why, I just felt compelled to. I didn’t want to
continue conversing with you in one to two sentence fragments over
email. While convenient, I find it so impersonal,” he said.
Impersonal? So
he was looking for some sort of personal connection with her? No, she
wouldn’t read too much into his words.
When he realized
that she wasn’t going to say anything back, he went on. “I know you don’t care
one way or the other, but you are absolutely intriguing to me. A conundrum
really. You see, for as much research as you’ve obviously done on me, I’ve
probably done more on you. After all, you’re rather easy to find online.”
Olivia hadn’t
seen that one coming.
Go on, she wanted to
say, curious to know exactly what he found so intriguing about her, but her
voice wouldn’t work.
When she failed
to speak for several more seconds, he finally broke the silence, the tone of
his voice going from interested to terse and ... rejected?
“I can see
you’re not going to speak to me. Perhaps I’m wasting my time. I’m sorry to
have disturbed you.”
Before he could
hang up and Olivia would lose the moment with him forever, she took a deep
breath and found both her voice and her courage.
“I’m sorry, I’m
just a bit shocked that you’ve called is all. I’m trying to figure out
what you’re about,” she told him as matter-of-factly as she could. “We’ve
hardly been what I would call cordial to one another since we spoke earlier
tonight so I’m wondering why you want a more … personal … mode of
communication. Hell, I’m wondering why you want any more communication,
period. You made it pretty clear that you aren’t interested in what I
have to say, so I’m not sure what else there is to say.”
Olivia could
hear the hurt in her voice, and in addition to feeling embarrassed over her
uncanny physical reaction to him, she also felt ashamed. Unfortunately, he
seemed to pick up on both emotions.
“My apologies if
I have … hurt … you. It was ridiculous of me to have been so rude.
Perhaps if you would allow me to explain myself, you might begin to understand
why my initial reaction to you was so discourteous,” he said.
Okay, Olivia thought,
start explaining.
She couldn’t
have prepared herself for what he said next.
“I know it’s
late, but can I see you? I’d like to speak to you in person.”
Oh shit. Oh
shit.
Oh ... SHIT.
“It is
late,” she replied, leaving the statement hanging between them for him to
interpret.
She didn’t want
him to think that she wasn’t interested in meeting him, but at the same time
she also didn’t want him thinking he could call her up at midnight and that
she’d be at his beck and call. While Olivia had had her fair share of
romantic entanglements throughout the years, she’d never been someone’s booty
call.
But damn if her
curiosity wasn’t getting the best of her. Olivia internally calculated
what it would take to make herself look presentable before meeting him –
wherever he was. She figured that she didn’t have time to redo her make-up but
she could easily throw her sweater and jeans back on, pull her hair up into a
bun, and be in a cab on her way in just under 15 minutes.
And then, as if
she couldn’t be any more shocked than she already was, his next words stopped
her in her tracks.
“I’m in your
hotel lobby, if that changes anything.”
It changed a lot
of things.
About the Author:
Rebecca Caudill read her first novel when she was just four years old and has been hooked on books ever since. When she wasn't writing her own stories, she was sneaking copies of her mom's paperbacks to read late into the night.
Fast forward several years later and Rebecca graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in English Lit, which gave her new insight into the written word. Following college, Rebecca embarked on a career in tech PR in the famed Silicon Valley, which eventually led to her leading Global R&D communications for a Fortune 500 company that everyone knows by name. Finally, after more than a decade of writing words ascribed to other people, in December 2014 she quit her job to pursue writing full time.
Today Rebecca lives with her husband and beautiful-but-neurotic cat in Oakland, California. When not creating fictional worlds inhabited by strong women, rakes, rogues, and dashing heroes, she is planning her next vacation, trying out new recipes, or drinking Islay scotch.
Twitter - @rebecca_caudill
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rebeccancaudill
1 comments:
Thanks for having my tour on your blog today and for allowing me to introduce your readers to William.
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