M. C. Rayne
Our Walk to Remember
Our Walk to
Remember
For the Robinson-Shae
family, an annual charity walk means more to them than any expensive holiday
abroad. After all, it’s where Elisha’s fathers met, and this year it’s even
more important to her. Sammy couldn't make it this time, so she asks Charlie to
share memories of how they met, and fell in love.
Excerpt
Elisha looks back at me and pulls
on our adjoined arms, giggling happily to herself while dancing her
knee-length, yellow summer dress around her body so it moves with the warm breeze.
I forget how much she loves this annual event. We’ve always done it together.
She gets excited to see all the people she’s grown up around. I hope she never
grows tired of this venture, never loses herself to the world of television and
computer games when she could make a difference doing something small, yet
huge.
Such thoughts make me shudder,
thinking someone as delicate as little Elisha could ever be a slave to the
mediocre. Not our baby, no way!
“Tell me again, Dad,” she
interjects, turning towards me and smiling with joy. “Tell me about when you
met Daddy?”
Her brown eyes sparkle when she
looks up at me, lighting her porcelain face. Can a father ever refuse his
daughter? How do you say ‘no’ to the product of your love, the
person who found a home in your heart without trying and
looks to you to lead them along the right paths?
“Again?” I tease. “You know this
story so well, you can probably tell it better than me.”
Warmth fills my cheeks, bringing
colour back into this aging man’s face while he toys with the light of his
life, the only other person he loves without question. So many times Sammy and
I have sat before a roaring fire while Elisha recounted our history
like she’s reading a book. Her voice is always filled with such passion that we
hang on her every word. One would be forgiven for thinking it’s her past she is
detailing, but I guess my husband and I never get bored with sharing
how we came to be the lovers we are today.
“I like it better when you tell
it, Dad. Don’t worry; I will fill in any parts you miss,” she
chimes in an assertive manner, and I know without a doubt she will.
“Okay, baby,” I commence, drawing
her in close so I don’t have to shout too loud.
I don’t need unwanted ears to
hear something that will forever remain unwritten, a story that’s
stamped into my heart and is ours alone. Sammy has his own version of the life
we share, but this is all from the very soul of Charlie Shae — this
is how I found my love.
This shouldn’t be so hard to
recollect, but I’ve never had to share our story without my counterpart sitting
next to me, relishing my retelling. While the warm breeze runs
through my free fingers again, I try to grab onto the emptiness and envision
that Sammy isn’t very far away. Sadly, my mind isn’t that creative.
Swallowing the pain, I lose
myself to the words flowing from me and find myself on auto pilot.
“It was the summer of 1996. I had
just finished college. . .”
As I was posting this promo, Mr. Rayne popped in for a hazelnut latte, and graciously allowed me a quick Q & A session:
Can
you tell me how the emotional process of your writing works? What type
of resources do you use to tap into your feelings, to reach down deep
inside, to pen the pure, perfect words your characters experience?
Many
of the people who read my work know to expect some underlying angst
somewhere in the story, be it at the start, middle or end, but there it
is - waiting for the reader. It's strange, but writing stories with
sad themes are easier than writing your typical love story, and I think
this is because I have never been in love. I don't think the big L is
out there for me, and I'm much happier playing with emotions.
People
say I write love well. I'm not sure, but with the relationships I pen,
these are things I would want if love ever came to me. I live inside my
head a lot, plan out a future I may never have, and a lot of the time I
am building Mr Right in my mind, with our home in the woods, filled with
cherished pets. I'm a dreamer.
As
an author, if I can call myself that, I like to delve into a little
darkness, show love and life in its truest form - it isn't all sunshine
and roses. I think if I wrote a happy, happy love story I would be
fooling myself and the small handful of readers I have. If my boys are
going to have a happily ever after then they will need to go down a few
broken road first. Such is life.
Do your characters “talk” to you, as so many other authors describe happens to them?
I
used to think people were crazy when they said their characters talked to
them, but I didn't realise until I started writing this is true. All my
life I have lived inside my mind, playing out unwritten stories, but now as
I'm trying to become an author, the boys NEVER shut up. They talk to me
at the worst times too, so I email myself a lot with things to add to
stories. This kind of works for me. Most of my chapters are dreamed up
while I walk to work, long before taking form on my computer.
How did you get on with the whole publishing experience? Did you enjoy it?
I wouldn't
say I loved it, I was a nervous wreck, but the ladies at Renaissance
Romance Publishing managed to calm me down and guide me through this
daunting time. With them, and other authors who have gone through it, I
managed to get through. As a self confessed impatient person, I did hate
the slowness of the process and wanted my book in my hands two seconds
after getting accepted by the publisher. You don't see the work involved
in releasing a book until you go through it.
Where do you hope to be with your writing career ten years from now?
I'm
not in this to make money, this isn't why I write. Yes, I could carry
on giving my work away for free, but I want to hold my books, see them
on websites, and this costs; I can't do this for free. As long as I
make back what I put into my work and touch at least one person with
what I pen, then I'm happy. In ten years I just hope I'm still writing
and getting better with each release.
Some readers are familiar with Bean. Would you like to tell us about him?
Awww,
Bean is my baby! Okay, well I live with two best friends and we all
wanted a pet. We can't have a dog as we are all a slave to the 9-5
and didn't feel this was fair to a living creature, so my best friend
Dae suggested a Guinea Pig. I was dubious at first, I really wanted a
dog, something I could cuddle and play with, but as normal, Dae got his
way - he always does, haha. As a child he grew up with these animals, so I
went with it.
ANYWAY, he came home with the small, sweet black and
white animal who is a dog in the form of a guinea pig. Seriously, Bean
comes when called, talks to me, licks me, and purrs like a cat, which is
kinda odd, but normal - so I'm told.
It
sounds strange, but Bean is my mini muse and is featured (under the
alias Fred) in my upcoming novel, Flavours Of Our Life, due out early
next year.
M. C. Rayne got into writing after the
passing of his mother, and used it as an outlet to get through the difficult
time. He never really thought about becoming an author, but since putting pen
to paper he has never looked back.
Currently he lives in Leeds with his
two best friends Dae and Pete, and his guinea pig, Bean. He spends a lot of time
reading and writing, and far too much time procrastinating online.
M. C.'s Blog Tour Schedule:
11/3:
11/4:
