Today, I have author T.A. Moore in the interview chair. We’re discussing her latest series release, Digging Up Bones, a m/m romantic suspense. Be sure to check out the new release.
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1. Hi, TA. I’ve interviewed you before, but please share something personal about yourself for new readers on the blog.
TA: Well, I’m TA Moore, an indie author from Northern Ireland who writes MM romance (hotter than honey and sweeter than sin! it’s my tagline :D). I was once pushed off a train in Belfast. That train was in motion, but it wasn’t going very fast. So it was less Mission Impossible and more Mr Bean. I tried to turn the push into a jump, landed with surprising grace on the station, and then the momentum caught up with me and I just hit the ground and rolled into a wall. A bunch of people ran over going ‘are you alright?’, but I was scundered with being the centre of attention I just popped up to my feet, briskly said ‘that’s never happened before!’, and power walked off to my job interview.
Which I got!
2. Your latest series release is “Digging Up Bones,” a contemporary m/m romantic suspense. Tell us why you like to write police procedurals?
TA: There are reasons that I will go into below, but honestly I didn’t get a choice with Digging Up Bones. Cloister Witte (already named) and his dog just wandered into my brain one day and said they were for my next book. Javi took a bit longer, but not much once I had the fastidious cuff adjustment fidget in my head!
In general, though, I personally enjoy police procedural because I like putting the puzzle together and then breaking it apart for the readers. On the front end everything has to be logical and linear, with a clean through line that makes sense. Once I have that, though, I take a fudge hammer to it so it splits along the fault lines. The final result should track for the reader, but they should (ideally) never be entirely sure they know where you’re going.
I also really enjoy the research. It’s all fascinating. The fact that the science is so advanced, but that frequently whether a crime is solved or not comes down to money and one person willing to put in the time…whether because they care or because they’re pissed off about it.
Also the question of ‘the missing’ is something that has always dogged me. Possibly from growing up in Northern Ireland in the end days of the Troubles. The raw scar that is left when someone is just gone with no rhyme, reason, or answer is something I circle back to frequently. Someone I used to work with said that the need to accessorise was what defined humanity, but I think it is the need to find answers no matter how much it hurts sometimes.
3. The first book in the series is “Bone to Pick.” Cloister Witte has a cute dog. Who is this dog, and what is his name? Do you get nervous that the cute dog will overshadow your hero?
TA: The ‘cute dog’ is Bourneville! Named because she’s dark and bitter (she is actually a sweetheart! Well, as long as you don’t meet her on the job.) I have to admit that she is a little bit of a cute, furry rod for my own back. A lot of people say she’s the favorite character and try and make me promise that nothing bad will ever happen to her.
However, I could never regret Bourneville. She’s based on my childhood dog, Lady. Technically she was my mum’s dog, and then my mum had me for the dog. Famously my mum, then pregnant, was once asked ‘what will you do if Lady doesn’t get on with the baby’? My mum said I had attractive parents and she was sure she could get me a good home. I don’t blame her. I was an OK kid, but Lady was exceptional. As is Bourneville. She’s very much a character in her own right, and deserves all the love she gets!
4. The second book is “Skin and Bone.” Why did you choose Janet Morrow as the victim?
TA: To start with, I admit I’m a pantser. I do have an outline for what the storyline is going to be, but I like to let inspiration direct how things play out. Janet wasn’t meant to be the victim. She was supposed to be a brief segue into the actual storyline, except then I wrote a line about her having a picture of herself with Tim Gunn and her character just clicked in my head. She was so vivid and indignant and compelling, at least to me, that I couldn’t just leave her case to the side.
So I tweaked (completely rewrote) the plot and set out to explain how she’d gotten into that wet street on a dark night. I do think the story ended up the better for it. I write better when I care about my characters, and I really liked who Janet was. I thought she deserved her answers.
5. The third book is “Down to the Bone,” your latest release for the series. Tell us why Javi Merlo feels the need to redeem himself.
TA: Javi’s need to redeem himself is…in the books. Everyone should go read them!
Kidding! Javi is an arrogant man. It’s not unearned, and he’s not ashamed of it, but it is also something that has been used against him before. Specifically by his ex-boss, and ex-boyfriend, who told Javi that he was exceptional and that people like them could bend – even break – the rules. Except bending the rules led to someone Javi cared about–and the fact it wasn’t love only makes that worse now–being killed by the criminals Javi wanted to arrest.
Most of the time Javi only acknowledges the impact of that through how it hobbled his career, but that’s because of how deep that mistake cut into the foundation of who he sees himself as. His career he sees as something he can salvage, but he’s not sure that he deserves to fix what it did to him personally.
6. “Swipe” is a standalone story. Why did you decide to write it as a standalone instead of as part of the series?
TA: I am sure there’s probably a valid craft or branding reason I could come up with, but honestly I just really like Plenty. I like writing in it, I like the way the sunny, shady city impacts the storylines, I like the ability to pull in cameos from side characters I love (Tancredi deserves the world!). Revisiting it is always fun.
And the tagline wrote itself: The city’s a hotbed of crime, but the men are even hotter!
7. If a reader asked you why they should read the “Digging up Bones” series, what would you tell them?
TA: I would probably combust and recommend someone else’s book! I’m Norn Irish, we don’t big ourselves up near enough. But writing it out gives me a chance to gee myself up to it. So here goes!
The Digging Up Bones series is fast-paced, heart-felt police procedural with compelling stories, an even more compelling–if occasional spiky-love story, and a dog you’ll love to love. The sex scenes are steamy, the crime scenes are bloody, and the setting is seedy–what more can you ask?
Plus, I really enjoy writing them. I (personally) think it’s a pretty good sign about a story if an author genuinely enjoyed (most) of the writing process. I love getting back into the Digging Up Bones world, and I think that shows…in a good way.
8. What can we expect from you in the future?
TA: I am currently working on a paranormal romance series! It’s a lot of fun, and I’m writing it in a motor home while touring Scotland and the Lake District…so the fact I’m able to get any work done means the series is a lot of fun to write!
9. I enjoy doing random questions, so humour me:
- What’s your favourite snack?
Spicy, candied pineapple chunks. Blame Rhys Ford! She sent them to me once and I inhaled them. They were delicious. I also just bought a jar of blackcurrent jam at the Keswick market and that’s coming a close second! - What drink do you like to have with dinner?
A crisp, cold diet coke. It is usually my first of the day (mornings are for coffee, afternoons are guilt hydration), and I enjoy it a LOT. - What is your favourite travel destination?
Wherever my friends are. Also Cornwall – as long as someone else is doing the driving! I am NOT taking a motor home to Cornwall. - What TV show can you binge-watch?
Justified, Buffy, Almost Human, and Revolution.
10. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
TA: I will be at ShiMMer and Indie Lit this year! If you want a signed copy of any of my books, come and say hi! Frankly if you want anything signed come and say hi. I will sign you if you hold still long enough.
(That said last year I got so excited to talk to people that I forgot to sign books a couple of times and had to pounce on some very confused people as I saw them pass by!)
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Digging Up Bones Series
Author: TA Moore
Publisher: Rogue Firebird Press
Cover Artist: Tammy Moore
Book 1: Bone to Pick
Book 2: Skin and Bone
Book 3: Down to the Bone – Releases June 22, 2026
Book 4: SWIPE (a standalone story)
Tagline: Deputy Cloister Witte has a dark past and a cute dog. He’s happy to talk about the dog.
Genres: Contemporary MM Romantic Suspense/Police Procedural
Tropes: Enemies to lovers, workplace romance, black cat/golden retriever, grumpy/sunshine, best dog in the world
Themes: Coming to terms with your past, dealing with trauma, and accepting other people’s acceptance.
Note: The stories are best read in order.
Overall Heat Rating for the series: 3.5 flames
POV/Tense: Third person POV/past tense
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BOOK 1
Book Title: Bone to Pick
Length: 261 pages
Release Date: Second Edition 2024 (originally 2017)
Cloister Witte has a cute dog and a dark past. He’ll talk about one.
Blurb: Cloister Witte is a man with a dark past and a cute dog. He’s happy to talk about the dog all day, but after growing up in the shadow of a missing brother, a deadbeat dad, and a criminal stepfather, he’d rather leave the past back in Montana. These days he’s a K-9 officer in the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and pays a tithe to his ghosts by doing what no one was able to do for his brother—find the missing and bring them home. He’s good at solving difficult mysteries. The dog is even better.
This time the missing person is a ten-year-old boy who walked into the desert in the middle of the night and didn’t come back. With the antagonistic help of distractingly handsome FBI agent Javi Merlo, it quickly becomes clear that Drew Hartley didn’t run away. He was taken, and the evidence implies he’s not the kidnapper’s first victim. As the search intensifies, old grudges and tragedies are pulled into the light of day. But with each clue they uncover, it looks less and less likely that Drew will be found alive.
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BOOK 2
Book Title: Skin and Bone
Length: 251 Pages
Release Date: Second Edition 2024 (originally 2019)
Cloister Witte has a cute dog and a dark past. He’ll talk about one.
Blurb: Janet Morrow, a young trans woman, lies in a coma after wandering away from her car during a storm. But just because Cloister found the young tourist doesn’t mean she’s home. What brought her to Plenty, California… and who didn’t want her to leave?
With the help of Special Agent Javi Merlo, who continues to deny his growing feelings for the rough-edged deputy, Cloister unearths a ten year-old conspiracy of silence that taps into Plenty’s history of corruption.
Janet Morrow’s old secrets aren’t the only ones coming to light. Javi has tried to put his past behind him, but some people seem determined to pull his skeletons out of the closet. His dark history with a senior agent in Phoenix complicates not just the investigation but his relationship with Cloister.
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BOOK 3 – NEW RELEASE
Book Title: Down to the Bone
Length: 90 000 words
Release Date: June 22, 2026
Cloister Witte has a cute dog and a dark past. He’ll talk about one.
Blurb: Deputy Cloister Witte has a dark past, a cute dog, and an FBI agent. It turns out that all of them are going to cause him problems.
When Cloister Witte disclosed that he was dating FBI Agent Javi Merlo he’d expected it to cause some complications. Dating in the workplace always did. He’d just expected it to be red tape, conflicts of interest, and the occasional asshole who thought his sex life gave them a remit to be funny. A concerted campaign by SSA Everett Kincaid, the new head of the LA office of the FBI, to get Cloister fired hadn’t made the list.
Yet here he is, with his case history and his childhood trauma both under review.
The problem is that Cloister is good at his job, and his K9 Bourneville is even better. So when an employee from the Plenty sub-office of the FBI goes missing, Larkin can’t afford to sideline them anymore. As they get to work Cloister starts to suspect that Larkin’s conviction his organized crime task force is the real target is as off-target as his suspicions about Cloister.
Meanwhile, for Javi Merlo the case is an opportunity to redeem himself. All he has to do is turn a blind eye to how Larkin bends the rules. If he goes along with it he could bring down a major criminal organization, and restart his stalled career…or he destroy his relationship with Cloister and the legacy of his dead mentor.
As rumors of corruption spread, Javi must choose between ambition and the man he loves.
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BOOK 4
Book Title: SWIPE ( a standalone story)
Length: 215 pages
Release Date: Second Edition 2024 (originally 2019)
Tropes: Lust at First Sight, Secret Identity, Motorcycle Club, Bad Ideas, Secrets and Lies
Note: It is a standalone story and does end on a cliffhanger.
Plenty’s a hotbed of crime, but the men are even hotter.
Blurb: A Novel of Plenty, California
As one of the top trauma surgeons in Plenty’s ER, Dr. Taggart Hayes knows how to fix broken things—fractured legs, ruptured spleens, allergies, and traumatic brain injuries. He can put them back together good as new.
A broken heart, though? That’s a bit trickier. Especially when it’s his own.
When Tag swipes on the photo of the hot man in the dating app, he just wants a distraction from the wreck that used to be his life. A one- night stand with a safely inappropriate stranger, no names, no feelings, and no complications.
But the headless photo on the app belongs to a man who isn’t so easy to forget the next day… or the next week. And it becomes increasingly clear that Bass is neither safe nor uncomplicated. Drawn into the dark, criminal underworld his lover inhabits, Tag has to decide if the cure for his broken heart is worse than the disease.
EVERY COP had their own bible of superstitions.
Down in vice, cockeyed Jimmy Daley swore that every time he pulled in one particular red-haired hooker, the week went to hell. Lieutenant Frome would never admit it out loud, but whenever he hit red at the Mendes and Third intersection, he brought a black mood to work with him. When Deputy Kelly Tancredi was pregnant last year, her biggest complaint was that her lucky bra was uncomfortable.
Cloister knew it was going to be a bad night when the devil winds came rolling in from the desert. It was a given that Southern California was always hot, but the winds parched it dry as well. You couldn’t even sweat without it turning to salt, and where it wasn’t salty, it was sandy.
It was more than just batterers and brawlers pushed over the edges of their own worse natures, though. The winds blew in the sort of bad shit that stuck in your nightmares—little corpses, bruised thighs, questions that never got answered.
Worst thing was, there was no calling in superstitious in the Plenty Sheriff’s Department. You knew everything was going to go to hell, but all you could do was turn up for work and wait for the shit to hit the fan.
Three hours into the midnight shift, and Cloister was still waiting. Maybe he was wrong, but the drunk-and-disorderly collar of a barefoot meth head didn’t weigh on his conscience that much.
Ignoring the yelled orders to “Get down!” and “Put your hands where I can see them!” the weathered, desert-dried-out man had scrambled out of a broken window and run across the parking lot. He ran like an Olympic athlete in the weeds, with his arms pumping and his head thrown back so the tendons in his neck strained under his faded blue tats. It wasn’t going to do him any good, but he put his all into it.
“Why do they always run when it’s hot as hell?” Cloister asked. Nothing ran like a guilty conscience, whatever the weather. Besides, his partner wasn’t one for much chat. Cloister stooped and unclipped her collar in one smooth, practiced motion. She perked up, and her shoulders tensed under her thick ruff of tan-and-black hair, but she held herself back. Cloister put the command snap in his voice. “Fuss!”
She went.
Cloister had worked with a lot of dogs over the years, from his stepdad’s hunting pack to an idiot-savant spaniel in Iraq—it ate rocks but could find explosive residue after five days—but none of them had a prey drive like Bourneville. The black shepherd went off the blocks like a greyhound and cleared the window in a long, clean leap—low enough to make Cloister wince as the shards of broken glass in the frame brushed through her fawn stomach fur. She hit the ground running.
He flicked the leash, wrapped the heavy nylon around his wrist, and took his turn through the window. He felt the constriction of the bulletproof vest as he ducked, and the glass caught in the heavy canvas fabric of his trousers as he folded his six-foot-two length through the dry-rotted wooden square.
Across the parking lot, the meth head scrambled up and over the chain link fence. The barbed wire at the top caught his shirt and ripped it off, leaving a flapping, bloodied rag dangling. He kept running and dodged behind a row of houses.
Bourneville didn’t lose a step as she jumped onto the hood of a parked truck, not even stopping to measure the distance. She stumbled over her paws on landing, nearly cracked her chin, and then was up and off again.
The fence rattled as Cloister hit it, and it swayed as he scrambled up and over. He caught his hand on the wire, and a spur dug into the meat under his thumb. The jab of pain made him grimace, but he didn’t slow down.
He dropped onto the other side and followed the wolf brush of Bourneville’s tail down the back of the houses. The shout and scuffle of the raid at the drug house faded behind him. The habit of risk assessment made him drop his hand to his gun, and his fingers found their familiar spots in the molded plastic grip.
The Heights wasn’t a bad area of town. It was just poor. Unlike some of the other deputies, Cloister had grown up in a place where it was important to know the difference. Poor still meant closed curtains and minding your own business because the sheriff’s gratitude didn’t have the half-life of the local gangs’ resentment.
Couldn’t really blame them. They had to live there, raise their kids there. The last thing they wanted was trouble.
So Cloister kept his hand on his gun, but the gun stayed on his hip.
At the end of the alley, the meth head grabbed a recycling bin and spun it around to shove behind him. It tipped over and spilled bundles of cans and crumpled plastic bottles onto the ground. The obstacle gave him a second’s head start on Bourneville as the dog scrabbled briefly to dodge the skidding box. He gained a few more when Cloister had to kick it out of the way.
It was enough for Cloister to lose sight of Bourneville for a second as she skidded around the corner while he skidded on a piece of greasy plastic wrap. He swore under his breath, put on a burst of speed, and nearly tripped over Bourneville as he raced around the corner to find her just standing still.
Her head was cocked to the side, and she watched the meth head with a confused look. Cloister couldn’t blame her. The scrawny man—all bone and muscle under shrink-wrapped skin—had grabbed a little girl’s bike from the garden. It was pink and still had training wheels on, but the guy was trying to ride it to freedom. His bare feet balanced on the narrow pedals, his skinny ass was in the air, and his knees pumped furiously. All that effort didn’t do him much good. There was more side-to-side motion than forward, but he seemed committed.
“Jesus,” Cloister muttered.
He glanced down at Bourneville, and she looked up at him with the “what now?” tilt to her head that meant her training had briefly been derailed. Her head went to one side and then the other, and her fuzzy black ears flopped.
“Yeah, I’m with you, girl. This is going to be fun to write up.”
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TA Moore is a Northern Irish writer of romantic suspense, urban fantasy, and contemporary romance novels. A childhood in a rural, seaside town fostered in her a suspicious nature, a love of mystery, and a streak of black humour a mile wide.
Coffee, Doc Marten boots, and good friends are the essential things in life. Spiders, mayo, and heels are to be avoided.
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Maggie Blackbird 