Start the week with DEBRA DOGGETT

Oderean closed his fingers around the stone as Cardis reluctantly gave Stellan her hand. The stone began to glow, the soft yellow light gleaming through Oderean’s fingers. Oderean cupped his other hand around it, eyes closed, as his lips moved in the ancient chant. When he opened his eyes and spread his fingers, a small golden cup stood in his hand.

“Each of you will drink from the golden cup as your acceptance of the challenge. Once you drink, the time for the challenge has started and there is no going back.” He looked again at Stellan. “For once done, the magic cannot be undone. In three days, the decision will have been made. Cardis.”

She took the cup from her father’s hand and lifted it to her lips. Stellan licked his own lips as he watched her mouth slide along the rim of the cup. When she lowered it, her lips were red and moist and he nearly groaned thinking of what the next three days held. Without taking his gaze off her, he lifted the cup to his own mouth, surprised at the cool thick taste that spread across his lips. It gave him a kind of buzz, like really good alcohol, only quicker. As he lowered the cup, he stared at Cardis. She gave him an evil grin.

“Well, lowlife, the clock’s ticking.”

Stellan swore he heard the sound of it in his own head. Let the games begin.
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You just read an excerpt from:
THE PRIZE
by
Debra Doggett
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/
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Today, we’re here with published author, Debra Doggett.

Linda Kage: Hi, Debra! Tell us a little about you and what you write please.

DEBRA: I've been writing a bit of everything for as long as I can remember but have been writing seriously for the last ten years. My favorite genre is fantasy, both light and dark. I feel sometimes we need humor, sometimes we need to remember the shadows so both come out of me.

Kage: I love fantasy and humor in a romance story. So you definitley have my attention. What happened to the first book you ever wrote?

DEBRA: The first book I wrote was actually a children's book that I wrote for my grandson when he was small. I sent it out once but didn't really try hard to find a publisher. The first romance I wrote is finished and in need of some editing but I hope to send it off soon.

Kage:What’s your backlist and coming soon bookshelf look like?

DEBRA: I have only published the one book, The Prize, but I'm working on another that I hope to have out soon. For the last couple of years I've been focusing on screenplays and just finished filming a short movie I wrote. I always thought writing novels was time-consuming (or maybe it's just that I'm still working the day job!) but film is so involved it takes even longer.

The Prize is a fun look at the convention of marriage and what really draws us to each other. It's sort of a space western, with a very engaging hero who has a side to him that surprises the lady who finds herself stranded with him due to a strange and irritating custom of her people. It is out now in print and in ebook from The Wild Rose Press.

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The Prize
by
Debra Doggett

Stellan was the last thing Cardis expected to deal with when she fled her home on Adena to avoid another unwanted challenge. Safely stowed away on her father's freighter, she thought she'd escaped those who wished to invoke Adena's ancient tradition of the Virgin Challenge and attempt to win her in marriage. Now she finds herself in the hands of the most unlikely challenger of all. And in spite of all her resolve never to be trapped into marriage, trying to keep herself from melting when Stellan's hands touch her may be the hardest challenge Cardis has ever faced.
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Kage: What would the story be rated if it were a movie?

DEBRA: It would be rated R, but please remember I am only the author. Stellan and Cardis had way more to do with the heat level in their story. I was only there to write it down and that was fun too!

Kage: LOL! That's what I usually tell my mom: It wasn't ME saying that, mother. It was the characters! Anyway, if you HAD to fit this story into a cliché, which one would it be?

DEBRA:Probably Beauty and the Beast would fit it best.

Kage:Okay, now that we have a general idea which class to fit The Prize under, what makes this book so unique from every other book out there?

DEBRA: What makes The Prize unique, in my opinion, are the characters themselves. The plot is a pretty standard one, a la Beauty and the Beast, but Stellan and Cardis are quite different than even they think they are. Their exploration of what they believe about each other and what turns out to be the truth about each other is where the true gem of the story lies.

Kage:What was the easiest part to write?

DEBRA: The dialogue is always easiest for me. I started out as a playwright and dialogue is the main part of a play. When I wrote my first novel I had a friend who kept telling me I didn't give enough detail. She kept saying, "You have to tell them her hair color or what her dress looks like!" I'm better at it now but my best is still my dialogue.

Kage: What do you like most about the main character(s) and what do you like least? Did you learn anything from them?

DEBRA: What I like best about Stellan is his sense of humor. I think that's one of the most important strengths a person or a character can have. There's not a whole lot about him I dislike, which made him fun to write. The only real drawback to him is he's never totally stood up to his brothers but that is largely because there has never been a good reason to until Cardis came along. As for Cardis, both her best and her worst trait is her prickliness. It keeps other's at arm's length but it also makes for some real sparks between her and Stellan.

Kage: Debra, Thank you so much for stopping by today and gracing us with your presence. Before we go, is there anything else you’d like to say to wrap things up?

DEBRA:I think if you pick up The Prize you'll find yourself surprised and engaged.

I'm sure we will!! Now that Debra has totally made us want to buy her book, she was kind enough to provide us with a a buy link to The Prize: Ebook or Paperback

If you're still curious about Debra Doggett, here are other places to find her on the web:

Website: http://debradoggett.com/excerpt.html