Interview with Aliyah Burke

Hello Aliyah, welcome to Coffee Time Romance would you like a drink or nibbles while we discuss your amazingly sexy Seal?

Ohh I’d love a drink. Sweet tea please, I’m being good for now. Thank you so much for having me here. Glad you think Mav is sexy, I’m kinda partial to him.

Maverick is the last of his team still single, how does this affect his relationship with the others?

Mav’s always been closest to Hondo/Aidrian and although Hondo’s now with Xaria it hasn’t changed them. He would defend any of the Team’s women without thought. They’re part of his family as well.

As a Seal Maverick is trained to handle almost any situation he finds himself in but finding out after so long you have a child even a Seal would surely find that difficult?

To say the least, yes. It is very difficult for him. He desperately wants a chance to get to know Dakota and to be a part of his family. This is by far his greatest challenge, getting to know both Tempest and Dakota.

Tempest has always believed that Maverick knew about her pregnancy and had rejected both her and their son. She has learned to hate him over the years to find out he never knew anything about them must be a shock?

And a big one. Her anger towards him had kept her going when times got rough. So discovering she has no basis to hold onto that anymore, Tempest begins to see she has to reevaluate a lot of things. Including her own relationship with James/Maverick. We all know being a single parent is hard. Tempest used her anger to her advantage, she isn’t a quitter. It was a real sucker punch when she made this discovery.

When Tempest runs away from everyone only her best friend knows where she is. Does she really think Maverick won’t find her?

I think at the time she just needed to get away. She is feeling like no one wants her, even her son seemed to turn his back on her. And yet, a tiny part of her, the part she tries to ignore, the bit who has loved James for so long hopes he’ll come for her, unlike he did that night she gave birth.

A relationship with a military man is even harder with all they have been through do you think they are strong enough to make it work?

I know they are. Being married to a military man myself I know it is very difficult at times. I also know there are times in real life when it isn’t so, for whatever reasons on both sides of the marriage/relationship equation. But for my stories, there will always, always be an HEA.

If you could spend just one day with one of your characters in their world who would it be and why?

Oh wow. Okay, so not fair. I love all of my men. (Oh yeah, the women too, J). Yeah, I can’t pick just one, sorry.

Chayton’s Tempest is published with Lulu, why did you choose self publishing for this series rather than a more traditional publishing house?

When the series was first starting to be released I was with Oceans Mist Press. After some issues with them I pulled from there. The next place that took them, I ended up pulling from as well. My readers (I love them all for such awesome n’ steadfast support) never stopped asking about them and waiting patiently while I ran into road block after road block. I had a more traditional publishing house tell me my heroines were to weak and whiny, and that they had too much angst in them. A friend of mine suggested Lulu and so I had them edited (reedited for the previous releases) and released. I have an awesome editor and an amazing cover artist who worked with me to give me the covers I wanted. It was really nice to have control over the thing for once and I got them all out in just over a year.

What New Year’s resolutions did you make this year and have you managed to keep any of them?

I vowed to keep writing. So far I’m keeping that one. Other than that, this is my year to be as stress free as possible. Not sure how well I’m doing. My “no cussin’” resolution dinna pan out so well. I dinna e’en make it to 02 Jan with that one.

If I were to ask your best friend to describe you in three words what would they be?

LOL, well I don’t think those words can be spoken in polite company. Let me see. He’d probably say:
Paininmyass (yes, one word).

Loyal (and I know that makes me sound like a dog but that’s okay because the next one…Bit**

We’ve known each other since we were three so he’s seen all my faces. (If I thought he wouldn’t see this I’d say things like loving, caring, sweet. But…I know my phone would be ringing moments later.

They say charity starts at home what are your favourite charities and why?

Habitat for Humanity—I’ve worked with them and there is no sight like people who are handed the keys to their very own home, be it the first time ever or to replace one that has been lost.

Local military orgs, as well as the USO—the military needs to be recognized and better supported for all they do.

Guide Dogs/Seeing-Eye—raised a puppy, it was an amazing experience and hope to do it again soon. I am also looking to get into raising dogs for wounded veterans, and therapy dogs.

I wish I had more time to give to more charities but these are a few of my top ones.

What books do you have planned for the rest of the year?

I just signed contracts with Phaze for a trilogy about brothers who are pilots; their series is Born To Fly. I also recently signed another with Total E-Bound that ties in with A Marriage of Convenience, and that story is The Lieutenant’s Ex-Wife. The hero, Pete, apparently has 2 brothers who want their stories told. I’m working on a trilogy dealing with a family who all serve in the military. Then there are some others in the works as well plus our free read site, I’ll be doing more stuff for that once we’re all feeling up to par again. So it looks like another busy year for me, which is wonderful.

Do you have a website or blog an email for fans to contact you?

I’m also on facebook and myspace. There is a contact form to reach me on the free read site which is: www.satinnotes.com I also have a yahoo group which they can join if they so desire, the link is on the website.

Thank you for spending your evening with me here at CTR is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Well, first, thank you so much for having me here, I’ve had a blast. I would like to thank all my readers for such wonderful support. I love to write but it’s y’all that make it happen for me. If y’all, the readers, hadn’t taken a chance on the first Aliyah Burke book you picked up, I don’t know where I’d be.

I’m around on the web (prob more than I should be…sigh, something about writin’ n’ not procrastinatin’) and I love to hear from readers, so please, don’t be a stranger.