Alice Renaud is funny, talented, a supportive friend, and a wonderful writer. Jan and I loved her new book, Music for a Merman! Music for a Merman is Book 2 in Alice’s Sea of Love romance series, and is on pre-release sale right now. You might also like to read Alice’s interview for A Merman’s Choice, Book 1 in the Sea of Love series.
Interview:
NA: How did you come up with the idea for your book?
AR: I grew up in Brittany, western France, in a village by the sea. I return there most summers. As in other seaside resorts, the local policemen double up as lifeguards. So they could be breaking up a riot in the morning and rescuing swimmers in the afternoon. I thought it would be fun to write a romance with such a cop-lifeguard as hero. But then I turned away from contemporary romance and started writing fantasy romance instead. After writing the first book in my Sea of Love series, A Merman’s Choice, I was casting around for characters for my second book. I remembered the lifeguards on the beach who were also cops, and the idea of Rob Regor came to me. A shape shifting merman who is also a policeman. Then I imagined him arresting a woman and falling in love with her, and Charlie, the heroine, was born.
NA: What sort of research did you do to write this book?
AR: Rob is a cop and arrests Charlie. I don’t have any personal experience of that situation, so I had to do research on what happens when someone is arrested and spends the night in a cell. I am indebted to my critique partner who watches a lot of cop shows, and helped me correct a lot of inaccuracies!
NA: A fun fact about writing your book.
AR: The scene where Rob and Charlie first make love is the hottest scene I’ve written so far. He’s in his aquatic (merman) shape, so I had to think through how different he would be from a human, and how Charlie would react to that. She quite likes it, as it turns out, but you’ll have to read the book to find out more!
NA: Do you have a day job? What was your job before you started writing full time?
AR: I work full time as compliance officer for a pharmaceutical company, which couldn’t be more different from the stuff I write. I like it that way – I escape from one world into another, and back again. When someone at work really annoys me, I imagine them as a monster in one of my books. It helps. It does mean I don’t have as much time to write as I would like though.
NA: What do your friends and family think about your being a writer?
AR: Most of my friends are a bit puzzled by it, but generally supportive. My husband is magnificently supportive, without him I couldn’t do any of it.
NA: The biggest surprise you had after becoming a writer
AR: I am amazed by how supportive other authors are. It’s wonderful, I feel I have joined a community of friends and I am so grateful to all my author friends, especially the other BVS authors, like Dee and Jan!
NA: What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author?
AR: Hearing from a reader that they have loved my book, or getting a good review. It is such a wonderful feeling to know that my stories are enjoyed by people who could be on the other side of the world.
NA: Do you have quirky writing habits?
AR: I can’t write without tea, and it’s got to be the strong stuff. Yorkshire Gold is my favourite. It’s so dark, the teabag turns the water the colour of mahogany after 2 seconds. It’s what we call in the UK “builder’s tea.” It has to be in my Harry Potter mug, not because I draw inspiration from J. K. Rowling’s creations, but because it’s the only one big enough. It’s almost half a pint.
NA: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
AR: Reading, and watching TV, particularly historical and fantasy shows. I also love birdwatching, and going to parks. Regent’s Park in London is my favourite. My son likes feeding the ducks, swans and geese.
NA: Why did you choose the shirt you have on?
AR: It was clean, partially ironed, and sort of went with the blue trousers I’d already selected.
NA: What errand/chore do you despise the most?
AR: I don’t like shopping for clothes, especially trousers. I hardly ever wear skirts or dresses, but I’m very short so no trousers ever fit, they all have to be shortened. I only shop for trousers once or twice a year, I take my mum and we go for tea and cake afterwards, that way it’s bearable.
NA: Strangest place you’ve brushed your teeth?
AR: The beach, after staying up all night on New Year’s Eve to watch the sun rise over the sea. These days I’m usually asleep before the fireworks start.
NA: What are you working on now?
AR: I am working on the third book in the Sea of Love series, Mermaids Marry in Green. It’s about a feisty mermaid called Caltha, who travels to London to help a warlock save the city from a water monster. Of course, she falls in love with him! I would also like to write more short stories. I have a short story in the BVS supernatural romance anthology Mystic Desire, which is on pre order now. The story, The Sweetest Magic of All, is about an apprentice witch and a hot warlock who go back in time to locate a magical amulet, and find more than they bargained for! It was great fun to write.
NA: What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
AR: The heroine, Charlie, is sassy and confident, more so than the heroine of my first book. I enjoyed writing her and her banter, and her sexually charged relationship with Rob. I think my heroines are getting spunkier and spunkier – Caltha, in my third book, is properly kick-ass!
Music for a Merman blurb:
Rob Regor knew that humans were trouble. All the shape shifting mermen of the Morvann Islands knew it. And human women were double trouble… especially when they were lying on the road in front of a digger.
Rob has a mission. Go to the mainland. Work as a policeman. Spy on humans. Report back to his father, the head of the Regor Merman Clan. It should be easy. Until he has to arrest Charlie. Rob can’t fight his attraction to the sexy eco-warrior, and it puts him on one hell of a collision course with his family and his Clan. Will he break the rules – or break her heart, and his?
Love ‘em and leave ‘em, that was Charlie’s motto. It had served her well until now. But Rob is different… Can she open up her heart to Rob – when a secret buried in her past surfaces and changes her completely?
Excerpt:
Charlie clambered over the rocks and was soon looking down at the small cove, sparkling blue and gold under the descending sun. The haunting song grew louder the closer she got to the sea. Now it seemed to be outside her head, rising from the peaceful water below to weave its magic around her. The meaning shimmered, just beyond the edge of her comprehension. It was like trying to read words reflected in a mirror. If she could only break the surface of the glass, enter the other side, she’d understand it fully.
But in some obscure way, she knew that the melody spoke of love. Sexual, passionate love. And it was doing something to her. Heat was building up, deep inside her belly. She swore, in a vain attempt to let it out. “Bloody Rob!” He’d got her all worked up, and now she couldn’t calm down.
Cold water and exercise would help. She half-climbed, half-slid down the slippery rocks and hit the sand with a thud. The music sounded as though it was coming from the waves.
It couldn’t be. Maybe the stress of the past day had given her tinnitus. She’d read about it. People heard noises, or even melodies, in their head, and couldn’t get rid of them. She took off her shorts and T-shirt and placed them on a rock, weighing them down with her sandals. After a moment’s hesitation, she took off her swimsuit too. No one would see her, and she loved skinny-dipping. Nothing would come between her and the sea tonight.
The breeze glided across her body but failed to soothe the persistent thrumming at the apex of her thighs. She stepped into the surf, bracing herself for the usual Atlantic chill, but it didn’t come. The water was warm, almost like the Mediterranean. She immersed herself up to her neck. Joy broke through her gloom and lifted her mood just as a wave lifted her and bore her towards the small wooded island in the middle of the cove. A few lazy strokes were all she needed to stay afloat. The water enveloped her in its embrace, stroking her from her shoulders to her toes, as if the whole ocean wanted to make love to her.
The eerie song was growing louder and clearer by the minute. With an almighty jolt she understood that it was real. She wasn’t hallucinating. The enchanting melody was coming from the other side of the islet! Excitement surged, short-circuiting all other emotions. Something was there, just beyond her sight. Something beautiful and magical.
She swam up to the island and followed the sandy shore towards the heavenly sound. Some deep, mysterious instinct told her that she had nothing to fear from this being. It meant her no harm. Quite the contrary.
Luck was on her side. A fallen tree, half submerged in the water, provided the perfect cover. The anticipation blazed so high inside her, it made her mouth go dry. She grabbed the trunk and hauled herself up to peep through the branches.
A black, glistening animal swam in circles, just a few yards away. A porpoise? But the shape was wrong. A fin broke the surface. No, not a fin, an arm! Coal-black and muscular, it ended in a hand.
A webbed hand.
Astonishment sucked the air out of her lungs. Her hands shook and she 
almost lost her grip on the trunk. She clutched the wood so hard that a splinter drove into her finger, drawing blood, but she didn’t feel any pain. She could only stare, and listen, as the fantastical being moved through the water and poured his soul out in a stream of music.
A merman! The old legends were true. Here was the Water Horse, the Selkie, the aquatic creature that could turn into a man.
Buy Links:
Amazon
Universal link
Author bio:
Alice lives in London, UK, with her husband and son. By day she’s a compliance manager for a pharmaceutical company. By night she writes fantasy romance about shape shifting mermen, water monsters and time-travelling witches. Her first book, “A Merman’s Choice,” was published in January 2019 by Black Velvet Seductions. It is the first book in a fantasy romance trilogy inspired by the landscapes and legends of Brittany and Wales. The second book, “Music for a Merman,” is on pre order now. Alice has also written a short story, “The Sweetest Magic of All,” included in the BVS Mystic Desire anthology, on pre order now.
Alice loves reading and writing stories, and sharing them with anyone who’s interested!