Stella talks about her new release, A MARKED MAN, and interviews Father Cyrus Payne who reveals some of the secrets of the Bayou Books series.

A MARKED MAN is on the shelves. This has been a crazy month with both the appearance of A GRAVE MISTAKE for the first time in paperback, and now my new hardcover.

Hi all:

If I delve much deeper into the world of voodoo, hoodoo, Marie Laveau and the power of the gris-gris, someone will have to organize an intervention!

In A MARKED MAN, two woman have loved Max Savage–and died, snatched from life and found in bizarre, ritualistic states. In both cases, Max was the last man to see the victims alive. He was accused and charged, but both cases were dropped for lack of evidence.

What would you do if you were Annie Duhon, manager of Pappy’s Dancehall in Toussaint, Louisiana and you met a renowned plastic surgeon (Max Savage) who showed great interest in you? Imagine your past is studded with hard knocks and your ego is shriveled and this charismatic man starts showing up most days just to eat lunch with you. Then add the mystery of why Max would choose to open a clinic in the area–an isolated and unlikely place for him to relocate.

And if that isn’t bad enough, you learn (as Annie does) about Max’s past at the same time as another woman disappears. Once again, Max is the last person to see the potential victim alive. Would you be tempted to run from a man who is likely a killer?

Max Savage is angry. He cannot stop the spread of rumors about him and the latest unexplained absence of a physical therapist he interviewed for his new clinic may stop his plans for practice just outside Toussaint. He chose the area because it is remote.

This surgeon hovers between staying to fight, and getting away from people who are becoming important to him. Public interference from some who have judged him guilty turns violent. And fear in the eyes of new acquaintances pushes Max closer to walking away from his plans.

Besieged by dreadful nightmares, Annie sees death. Something big is afoot in the Bayou. Bigger than, but related to the crimes Max Savage is accused of. Unasked for attention from a voodoo practitioner who claims she sees Annie’s future, as well-meaning as it seems, doesn’t pump up her confidence. And evidence that her fate may be in the hands of another leads to impulsive action–and its consequences.

You, my readers, are invited on the journey to . . . to whatever awaits you!

Sincerely,
Stella Cameron

Story points:

1. Complex, boldly drawn protagonists.
2. An obsessed villain without conscience.
3. Intense action and adventure in sultry Louisiana bayou country.
4. An entertaining cast of characters, including Father Cyrus Payne, a Bayou Book legend, and Wazoo, the bearer of both drama and laughter.
3. Highly charged adult sexuality.

Stella interviews Father Cyrus Payne of the Bayou Books Series:

Stella: I don’t suppose it’s appropriate to tell you I find you very attractive, but I do.

Father Cyrus: Mmm.

Stella: Sorry about that, couldn’t help myself. You’ve been around The Bayou Books since your sister, Celina, had so much trouble in FRENCH QUARTER. Would you tell us how that came about?

Father Cyrus: Several years ago I arrived unexpectedly at my sister’s New Orleans home. I am a priest and was in the city to visit with my superiors. Celina had been taken suddenly ill and I got to her just in time to help her through a difficult time. Of course, I’m not at liberty to share intimate details with you, those are privileged between priest and supplicant.

Stella: You must know so many juicy, I mean, interesting secrets.

Father Cyrus: Mmm.

Stella: Sorry. I hope you’ll take us through the highlights of your life from the days of COLD DAY IN JULY, though KISS THEM GOODBYE, NOW YOU SEE HIM, A GRAVE MISTAKE and now, A MARKED MAN, the Toussaint Bayou Books. And you know all about what’s going on in the Pointe Judah Bayou Books, too. If you feel like it, it would be fun to see the way BODY OF EVIDENCE and TARGET fit in.

Father Cyrus: I should have been writing all that down. Whew. I’ll do my best.

Stella: Oh, oh, just a second. Madge. She’s, well, she is, isn’t she?

Father Cyrus: Madge Pollard is a wonderful woman and I’m a blessed man to have her as my assistant.

Moving right along. Not long after the events surrounding Celina Payne and Jack Charbonnet I became Pastor of St Cecil’s Parish in Toussaint, Louisiana. It’s a great little town on Bayou Teche.

Stella: Your first mysterious events took place there, didn’t they? They were recorded in COLD DAY IN JULY.

Father Cyrus: Exactly. A woman I had taken into the parish house on Bonanza Alley, Bonnie Blue, suffered a terrible experience which turned Toussaint upside down. She had been through dangerous times in New Orleans when she sought refuge at the parish.

It was through Bonnie that we first met L’Oisseau de Nuit (Wazoo). Some are far from grateful for that but I enjoy her. True, she has little control over an irreverent mouth and she doesn’t like me, but I believe she is intrinsically good and I’ve been trying to prove this for years.

More important, Reb Girard, as she became when she married Marc Girard, together with Marc, showed their determination (although I’m sure they must have been afraid from time to time) and wouldn’t give in to weakness.
You know, we have some people in Toussaint you just have to know. And some you might–one hates to speak ill of anyone–but some whose souls need a little work.

Stella: Who was your housekeeper at that time. Didn’t she have a really trashy daughter.

Father Cyrus: I must ask you to be more circumspect.

Stella: Sorry: Consider me circumspect.

Father Cyrus: Oribel looked after things at the parish and her daughter, Precious was married to that man who ran the body shop.

Stella: Wasn’t Precious–I’ll put this nicely–a bit free with her favors.

Father Cyrus: Are we finished with your questions?

Stella: No, no, no. I’d like to move on to the way things developed in KISS THEM GOODBYE.

Father Cyrus: Very well, but I am starting to doubt the wisdom of this chat.
You see, Jilly Gable and her brother Joe were already good friends. Jilly runs ALL TARTED UP, The Flakiest Bakery in Town. Joe has been her partner although he’s actually a lawyer and has a practice in town. His offices are beyond the Square at the dead end of Main street. He’s next door to HUNGRY EYES. You remember that?

Stella: Of course, the café and book shop run by Ellie Byron. But we haven’t gotten to her story yet.

Father Cyrus: No, but I did want to remind you that Ellie’s shop is near Joe Gable’s offices.

Stella: Right. Tell us about Vivian Patin and Sheriff Spike Devol.

Father Cyrus: You’re in such a hurry. Spike and Vivian weren’t an instant success story.

Stella: No, except for them both being so sexy and such wild things when they’re together.

Father Cyrus: Mmm.

Stella: Sorry. There were some creepy types around in that episode. It was lucky everyone pulled together to sort things out. Rosebank, where Vivian and her mom, Charlotte were turning that big old house into a resort gave me the creeps at first.

Father Cyrus: Yes, it probably did. I was rather more concerned about the people next door at Serenity House. You’ll remember them and that the House used to be called Green Veil?

Stella: Ew, that weird Dr. Link and his sexy wife, Susan Hurst.

Father Cyrus: Quite.

Stella: They were fascinating though. And it was fun to see all the folks from COLD DAY IN JULY, and even one or two from FRENCH QUARTER involved in everything that went on.

Father Cyrus: You do have a prurient interest in the more seamy side of life.

Stella: I do not! I’m a realist and I know the elements that make the world go round. I get excited when I think about the way all the characters fit together in the Bayou Books series.

Father Cyrus: Well, you should know. What do you do? Keep master charts?

Stella: Of course. Character charts. With each story they shift in importance, some rise to A characters and are protagonists, some drop to B, C or even D according to their piece of the pie. Then there are charts to chronicle how each of these people came to Toussaint and why. There are overviews of each character’s background, and the motivations for the particular part they play.

Father Cyrus: Motivation interests me. People and events always come along, or happen for reasons, don’t they?

Stella: Oh, yes. No motivation, no reason to be around.

Father Cyrus: I have found that each episode of our lives here has grown more intense.

Stella: It does. It grows so intense between you and Madge, I’m fraying the fabric on the edge of my chair.

Father Cyrus: Pull yourself together. You need a sense of propriety. Hm, I mean, please make an effort to elevate your soul.

Stella: Yes, Father.

Father Cyrus: We had started to settle back into a quieter life style when NOW YOU SEE HIM came along. What a shock. The last thing any of us expected was that uproar with Ellie Byron and Joe Gable.

Stella: Oh, yes, I just sigh when I think of how their love affair blossomed.

Father Cyrus: That’s an unfortunate term. Ellie and Joe were pushed together by jealousy and greed and I thank God they drew strength from one another.

Stella: There’s nothing wrong with pointing out that a man and a woman with the hots for each other can find a lot of mutual satisfaction through good, old-fashioned . . . well, in their case, not so old-fashioned sex. I think it gave them stronger backbones to cope with some of bad stuff. People turn to each other when the people they trust sell them out. Admit it, they do. Look at you and Madge.

Father Cyrus: That’s inappropriate and you know it.

Stella: Wazoo and I talk about it. She’s really simpatico with the two of you. She says Madge just glows when she looks at you. And you give her those intense looks of yours. Ooh, you both make me shudder–in the best way.

Father Cyrus: You mean well, but these things are hard enough, without . . .

Stella: Of course they are. Thank you for being so open with me. Have you two ever kissed.

Father Cyrus: Should we move on?

Stella: I knew it, you have. I bet it was lovely. You're such a handsome, solid man. I bet you swept her off her feet.

Father Cyrus: When Jilly Gable finally decided to confront Guy Gautreaux--you know he was the NOPD detective who came into town when Ellie was in such a bind? Of course you do, well, he didn’t still around Toussaint afterwards because nothing interested him here.

Stella: You and I think so much alike. It was obvious he was burning his jeans over Jilly Gable.

Father Cyrus: Hmm. Sounds uncomfortable. A GRAVE MISTAKE brought a lot of situations that were too close for comfort.

Stella: Or close enough for really exciting comfort, Father. Ooh, sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. The devil makes me do it. I got really scared when things got out of hand. Your brother-in-law, Jack Charbonnet, and some of your other friends from New Orleans played an important part, though.

Father Cyrus: I have many good friends.

Stella: Like Wazoo. I shouldn’t laugh.

Father Cyrus: Wazoo is a friend. I wouldn’t mind if she stopped calling me God Man. Quite difficult. And she could dress and behave with more decorum.

Stella: No, she couldn’t. A woman like her, Pet analyst, medicine woman and voodoo practitioner–how could she protect her image if she wasn’t naturally the part .

Father Cyrus: If you say so, but please remember I’m here for you when you need me.

Stella: I bet you say that to Madge all the time.

Father Cyrus: My turn to ask questions. A MARKED MAN has left me longing for some peace. How about you?

Stella: Of course not! And I don’t believe you want that either. Annie Duhon is a love and we’re all going to be glad she and Max Savage are living here for good.

Father Cyrus: But it didn’t look good there for a long time. I was deeply concerned about Max. I believed what he told me about his innocence, but all the evidence pointed toward him.

Stella: Yes. Annie hasn’t had an easy life.

Father Cyrus: No. But she’s strong and she’s turned her disadvantages into a base to build on. I admire her.

Stella: I loved every moment of their private times together.

Father Cyrus: You would.

Stella: Father! Do you think we should wait before going into the way the Pointe Judah books came along because of the Toussaint Books, and why they work so well as the two components of The Bayou Books?

Father Cyrus: I surely do. I think we’ve gone over more than enough for one session.

Stella: You do know I’m going to have to sort you and Madge Pollard out, don’t you? I’m being serious now.

Father Cyrus: Lord, save me.

Readers, friends all:

Is there something in particular you’d like to ask about a character or characters in the Bayou Books?

Do you have any ideas for people or twists you like to see in future?
What is it that makes series books so special to you?