Guest Blogger: Misa Buckley

Today, my good friend Misa Buckley is here to interview the star of her new book, ARCHANGEL, Gabriel Kemp.  Archangel will be out this month, so keep an eye on Misa's website and Twitter.

Interview With Gabriel Kemp

Tell us a little about yourself.

There's not much to tell, really. The only child of a seamstress and a dock worker. I quit school was I was 14, running odd jobs for the local thugs, just so I was out the house and away from my father's fists. Kinda grew up on the wrong side since then.

What do you consider is your greatest achievement?

My what now? *laughs ruefully* There's one thing, but I guess you want people to read about that, so you know. Can't say, can I?

What is your greatest regret?

Not standing up to my father. I might not have been so afraid of repeating the cycle if I had.

When and where were you the happiest?

On Charlie's yacht, when I was with Abby. In the most base use of the word.

What quality do you most like in a woman?

Sanity. *smirks* Nah, not really. Before Abby, I liked the kind of woman that didn't hang around. Now? She's the only one and I like everything about her. Even the crazy.

What quality do you most dislike in yourself?

My temper. I try and keep a lid on it, but it's not easy.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Abigail. Even when she thought I was perfect, she seemed to accept me when I wasn't (which was most of the time) and she was the first person in a very long time to have faith in me.

What was your first impression of them?

Hair. No, seriously, she has crazy hair and even though it was tied back when we first met, it was all over the place. She had gorgeous eyes as well. Which... she still has. Shut up.

If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?

Like I said before, I'd have stood up to my father, maybe reported his ass to the police. But, thing is, I like how my life is now and if I changed that, then would now change as well? Maybe what happened did so for a reason.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I have changed. I think there are a few edges still, but even though I'm not perfect, I'll do. Abby says so, and you don't wanna argue with her.

****

ARCHANGEL is available this month from Champagne Books. 

BLURB

Patient. Merciful. Protective… One out of three ain’t bad.

Small time crook Gabriel Kemp is just trying to make a living when a hit-and-run leaves him for dead. Waking up in hospital to an angel at his bedside gives him a second chance, but one that comes with a condition.

Fleeing San Francisco doesn’t mean he can evade the deal either – he still manages to meet Abigail Harris, the woman he’s promised to protect. He might not believe in the psychic visions she claims to have, but he knows if there’s even a chance she can identify the serial killer terrorizing downtown L.A. then she’s in danger.

The only way to keep Abby safe is to find and stop the killer. If that means taking on the devil determined to turn the City of Angels into the City of Hell on Earth, then so be it.

EXCERPT

“You came,” she whispered. “You really came.”

What was wrong with me and attracting crazy women lately? I frowned and picked up an angel. Male, in jeans and a tee, features blurred in a way that made my stomach clench.

“I didn’t realize I was expected,” I said sourly, putting the damn thing down again. Glancing towards her, I caught the way her hands knotted on the grubby apron around her waist.

“I didn’t…expect, but I hoped. I prayed.”

Oh, God. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Look, whoever you think I am you’re sorely mistaken. I was just passing. On my way to the Laundromat.”

A small smile curved her lips. “You must be very new if you think that will work. Don’t you realize I can see them?”

“See what?”

“Your wings.”

My what, now? “Pardon?”

“Your wings.” She smiled again, her eyes fixed at some point just behind me. “They’re exactly as I dreamed them.”

I took a step away from the crazy lady. I needed to change my cologne, demand a refund or something. Why the hell had I even come in here? So much for indulging a passing ironic interest.

“Uh huh, course you did.”

She gave a high-pitched giggle and rolled her eyes. I moved back another step as she wavered closer, but her attention was on the counter and the angel I’d picked up. The creepy, featureless one that made my skin crawl.

“The wings were very clear, your face wasn’t. That was disconcerting. I usually see very clearly.”

What I saw clearly was that I needed to get out of there. Oxygen was suddenly in short supply, the walls that surrounded me solid and overbearing. An old but familiar panic crawled up my throat, choking me.

“I’m not what you think I am,” I told her, wincing at the desperation that colored my tone.

She just smiled and fondled the angel. I tried not to look at it, afraid of what I’d see.

The ironic thing was that I’d dropped everything and bussed a few hundred miles in an attempt to avoid this very meeting. I didn’t believe in fate, but something had pulled me here. The idea terrified me and I did what I always did when faced with anything that remotely resembled responsibility.

I ran.