 Anna Destefano & Her Forgotten Betrayal Posted by Nancy Northcott May 3 2012, 12:33 am
But she’s also dying (heh) to inspire you with another of the happily-ever-after romance ending she’s famous for. No matter how moody the setting or impossible the dilemma, Anna’s characters and stories challenge you to hope and dream for your own exciting future, the way her strong heroines and hunky heroes do! Welcome, Anna! Her Forgotten Betrayal is a launch book for Entangled’s new category suspense line. What led you to write this book? I’ve always loved the feel of gothic thrillers. How the setting becomes its own character, and how the characters’ interaction with their environment becomes another element of the plot and their own emotional growth. I grew up devouring novels like Jayne Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Rebecca, in which resilient heroines were nevertheless “damsels in distress” whom strong but flawed heroes fought to save. It was an exciting challenge, layering some of these classic story elements into my own contemporary suspense novel. I love digging deeper into exactly the kinds of symbolism and theme and character arcs that a gothic challenges a writer to work with. Enter Nina Bruhns, the editorial director for Entangled’s Dead Sexy Books, who was looking for a variety of suspense novels to launch her category line. I pitched her a procedural, spy-vs.-spy story, as well as Her Forgotten Betrayal. Both are under contract with Dead Sexy now, but Nina decided HFB would be a great start—showing readers a bit of the range we’re wanting to offer with the line. Goody! I was thrilled to have the chance to write my amnesiac, stalked, injured, nightmare-haunted heroine who’s been isolated on the top of a winter mountain (for most of the novel in the middle of the night), in a creepy house that seems at first to be trying to kill her, while she’s dependant on a possibly dangerous stranger (our undercover hero). It feels as if she’s known him her entire life, yet she can’t remember for sure. Then it turns out that he may be the only one who can help her regain the memories that will save both her sanity and her life… Bwahahahaha! Who are the hero and heroine, and what problems do they face? Shaw Cassidy is a strong-willed, brilliant research scientist who’s isolated herself from the world even before the shooting that takes away her memory and her freedom. She’s put work before the relationships that haven’t worked out for her since she lost the love of her life fifteen years ago. Now that she needs help, there’s no one to turn to, except for the government and law-enforcement officials who don’t seem to have her best interests at heart. Cole Marinos is an FBI cover agent who specializes in being the point for impossible-to-close, joint-task-force missions with other agencies. He breaks all the rules, as he has since he was a kid, but gets away with it because he always brings in his man and closes his case. Only now, his case is helping his team build evidence against Shaw, the woman who got away from him when they were teenagers. She and her research empire are under investigation for treason and espionage—crimes he doesn’t believe she’s capable of, no matter how badly things ended between them. I’ve already talked some about the problems these two face in my answer above. The log line for the book might give you a better idea of what our star-crossed lovers are up against: “Remembering will save her live. But will the truth destroy their love forever?” Cole showing up, under cover, sparks the memories Shaw needs to clear her name, and he’s willing to put his career on the line for her. But to save her from her stalker, he’s going to have to remind her of the past that destroyed their relationship once already… Will our hero make the ultimate sacrifice and once more chose Shaw’s safety over his own heart and future happiness??? Again, I LOVE this type of deep character and relationship journey, in the midst of a kick-ass suspense and a thrilling, non-stop creepy setting. Stay tuned ;o) Would you like to share an excerpt ? Here you go. A crash beyond the kitchen’s door jolted Shaw from her thoughts. The wooden spoon rattled from her fingers to the stovetop. She whirled toward the dining room. “Esme?” She raised a hand to cover her heart. She was scaring herself senseless for nothing. She was going stir crazy, that was all. She’d simply been alone for too long. The unexplained rattles and noises and sometimes even voices she kept thinking she heard were symptoms of cabin fever. Right? The house answered her with silence, except for the soft hum of the refrigerator. She took an uncertain step forward, determined to conquer her fear. There was no one there, she told herself firmly. No one was ever there. There was no threat, except from her own panic. All she had to do was turn on the dining room lights, and there’d be no one lurking around the next corner, waiting to attack her. She reached for the door. “Sorry, Shaw,” the faceless, scratchy-voiced man whispered from her nightmare. She clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms. “Don’t be such a baby,” she said out loud. “Stop this.” Fear and the amnesia it fed had stolen everything from her. She had no recollection of the four high-tech research centers she was said to oversee. Or how she’d come to be the sole living heir to an estate that included not only this mountain house near the North Carolina border, once used by her family as a summer retreat, but also a loft in Atlanta and homes on several other continents. And to add insult to injury, no one had yet been allowed to tell her more. Doctors orders. She wanted her life back, damn it. She smoothed her hand against the dining room door, and braced herself to push it open. She could do this. She had to. Sudden darkness swallowed the kitchen. Her thoughts were immediately swamped with the panicked claustrophobia of being trapped in a closet, waiting to be discovered. “No.” She blinked, willing the lights to come back on. Her imagination was merely playing tricks on her, anticipating the worst. But regardless of how many times she tried to force the room into focus, there was nothing to see. Someone had killed the power for real. Her nightmare was coming true. It was waiting for her in the very next room. She backed away. Fell over one of the kitchen chairs. Landed hard on her backside. “There’s no one there,” she insisted. “The electricity’s gone out. That’s all.” Something else crashed in the dining room, followed by the distinct sound of a man’s footsteps, inching closer. She covered her mouth with her hand. She scrambled backwards on the floor, her nightgown and robe twisting around her legs. Disjointed dream memories swirled through her mind. She lurched to her feet. She felt her way along the wall, blindly heading for the storage room and its back door to the outside world. She was a fool, a weak, clueless fool. But she couldn’t stop herself from panicking. “Kill the bitch…” the night whispered. She clawed at the back door’s stubborn deadbolt. A glimmer of sanity kept her from running into the freezing, moonlit darkness. If she really was in danger, heaven only knew what waited for her outside the mansion’s protection. And there was suddenly nothing but silence behind her, no movement whatsoever. She tried to believe this was just like all the other times when she’d freaked herself out and then realized how ridiculous she’d been. She was running from ghosts. She tensed to turn back, to confront her paranoia. And heard footsteps again. Closer than before. Behind her. Coming for her. And there she stood like a paralyzed idiot, trapped between the shadows beyond her family’s home and the nightmare crowding closer within. A hand clenched in her hair. A gun pressed into her skin. When it fired, the sound of the blast shattered her reality all over again. Great hook ending, there! You’re not just a writer for Entangled but also an editor. Why did you decide to take this step, and how does being on the other side of the desk feel? In the fiction writing world, I’ve for years been a freelance editor and a writing coach (and a keynote and workshop speaker), but mostly behind the scenes except when I speak at conferences. The last time I wrote or edited in a professional environment was as a Senior Technical writer, on the non-fiction side of the publishing business. I absolutely love digging into the writing process with other authors, and helping them find the soul of not only their own stories, but of the mechanics of their craft. Inspiring writers to build stronger skills and a deeper passion for their story-telling journey is one of my favorite jobs. When the opportunity came to combine my team writing and editing skills as a technical writer with my one-on-one success working with romance authors, how could I not take Nina Bruhns up on her offer to join the Dead Sexy Books editorial team? And I have to say, I’ve already had the opportunity to work with some of the brightest talents in the business. I can’t wait for you to read Cynthia Cooke’s and Mallory Kane’s launch Dead Sexy novels! They’re going to blow you away ;o) You also have an interest in dream theory. Please tell us about that. I’m actually obsessed with dream theory ;o) Have been since I was a child. I have an entire library on the subject. A lot of that research led to my sci-fi/fantasy “Legacy” series of novels. And dreams keep creeping into my contemporary romance stories as well. In Her Forgotten Betrayal, I take a much more subtle approach. But you’ll love the dream symbolism and how it’s woven into our couple’s race to solve the story’s mystery, as well as how snippets of dreams, nightmare, and recovered memory ramp up the creep factor that makes a gothic setting like this so thrilling. What’s next for you? 2012 is a busy publishing year. In addition to Her Forgotten Betrayal’s June launch, I have another Dead Sexy suspense to write! I also have a Harlequin Heartwarming July release, A Sweetbrook Family. This is a great small-town family drama my Superromance fans will love. And I have a three-book Amazon’s Montlake deal, to write a women’s fiction/contemporary romance series that launches with a Christmas book this fall—Christmas on Mimosa Lane. These are longer, richer romances about families and community, set around a cul-de-sac north of Atlanta, Georgia. You’re going to love the relationships and the surprising twists and turns of these deeply emotional journeys! Basically, I’m having a blast in 2012! For more about Anna and her books, please visit her website. Ann regularly posts about Dream Theories, Things My Teenager Says, The Soul of the Matter, How We Write, and other topics there, too. She also has a book page on Pinterest, where readers can link to regularly to hear what’s new for the book: http://pinterest.com/annadestefano/her-forgotten-betrayal/ You can find her on Facebook as well: https://www.facebook.com/#!/anna.destefano.7 and on Twitter - @annadestefano Anna’s giving away a download of Her Forgotten Betrayal to one commenter today, so tell us what your favorite kind of suspense story is, or who your favorite law enforcement hero or damsel in distress is (from books, movies or TV). Tweet Comments46 thoughts on “Anna Destefano & Her Forgotten Betrayal” |
  
12 Bandita Days of Christmas
Anna Campbell
Anna Sugden
Annie West
Aunty Cindy explains it all for you
Australian Authors
Bandita Booty
Bandit Booty
Beth Andrews
Caren Crane
Cassondra's blogs
Cassondra Murray
Christie Kelley
Christine Wells
Christmas
coming attractions
contest winner
debut
Donna MacMeans
guest blogger
historical romance
Holidays
interviews
Jeanne Adams
Joan Kayse
Jo Beverley
Jo Robertson
Kate Carlisle
Launch Party
movies
paranormal romance
prizes
prize winner
Romance
romance bandits
Susan Sey
Suzanne Ferrell
Suzanne Welsh
T-shirts
Tawny Weber
travel
Trish Milburn
Uncategorized
writer's life
writing life 
|
|
 |
||
Oh MY! First, congratulations on debuting Entangled Publishing’s new Dead Sexy line with Her Forgotten Betrayal! How exciting to be part of launching that!
And wow–that excerpt freaked me right out! I confess, I don’t always read RS because sometimes the suspense element is too much for me! Yiyiyi! Yep, a scaredy cat, and that psychological thriller stuff can be even scarier than monsters or ghosts
Wow, Fedora, you’re never going to write a book called HER FORGOTTEN ROOSTER!
LOL!
Fedora, congrats on nabbing the bird! I hope you’ll keep him busy.
Anna, welcome to the lair. Nancy, great questions. Anna, I love the sound of the new books you’re writing. Like you, I grew up devouring gothics like chocolate so this is right up my alley. Good luck with the new venture!
Thanks, Anna! I went through a period when I read a lot of Victoria Holt, but I never inhaled Gothics the way you seem to have done.
I think they were bigger here in Australia than in America. Nearly all of them were British writers – our popular fiction at the time was dominated by British writers.
Anna
This books sounds very good and scary LOL I really love a good romantic suspense with lots of mystery and murder and plots that need solving and what better way to solve them than with a partner especially a hero and heroine that are worthy of the fight to make things right.
I have read a few romantic suspense stories set in the Australian outback written by Bronwyn Parry and the things that can happen there and her heros are always to die for.
Thanks Nancy for inviting Anna today and I will be looking forward to this book
Have Fun
Helen
Thanks, Helen! I also like having the h/h evolve into partners, in pretty much any kind of story.
Anna:
You’ve been one of my favorites since I heard you speak at National several Nationals ago. That’s when I started reading your books and coveting your purses.
I love that your book is a gothic thriller. I was weaned on Phyllis Whitney, Nora Lofts and of course the Brontes.
Best of luck with this one – and many more!
Hi, Mitzi–I’ve heard Anna speak. She gives great workshops.
I also read a lot of Nora Lofts at one point, and I loved Phyllis Whitney’s books.
Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!
It’s always so much fun to visit the Bandits ;o)
Yep, there’s some scary in this book, but it’s also an amazing atmospheric love story, where our reunited lovers are thrown together and the heat begins to rise between them from the very first touch…
There are so many other emotions to explore, besides fear. So, even if it sounds creepy, give my little Gothic a chance come June ;o) It’s one of my favorite contemporary romances that I’ve written to date, the way everything in HFB works together to weave such a rich reading experience.
There’s even a cat you can’t help but fall in love with! LOL!
I ADORE it when a plan comes together!
Mitzi–you’ve made my morning ;o) If one of my workshops or books was special for you, then I’m compelte as a teacher/author!
Anna C–you’re one of my favorite authors. You can share my chocolate stash any time ;o)
Fedora–being part of the Entangled Dead Sexy launch, both on the inside as an editor and the outside as an author, has been a fun ride. I can’t wait for the world to see the amazing thigns we’ve been up to!
Helen, I’m hoping HFB makes you shiver and smile!
Awww, Anna, aren’t you a honey? Thank you! You probably don’t remember but we had much correspondence when I was unpublished (probably back in 2004/2005) as you coordinated a contest I finaled in with CLAIMING THE COURTESAN that at the time was called NO ORDINARY DUCHESS. I always remember your warmth and generosity and helpfulness!
I DO remember ;o) Calling finalists is one of the best parts of contest coordinating! You get to remember such great, talented people…
My favorite hero from tv is Raylan from Justified. Timothy Olyiphant is good looking:)
Gail, I love Justified even though it’s sometimes a bit violent for me. Raylan is a terrific character. Did you watch Season 2? The dh and I thought Mags Bennett was one if the best characters on TV. It’s no wonder Margo Martindale won an Emmy.
I look forward to reading this it sounds like just my type of book. One of my favourite. Heroines is Eve from J.D. Robb’s in death series she is strong takes no s**t but still needs her great man by her side.
Hi, Petula–I love Eve, too. There’ve been times when she was both a law enforcement heroine and a damsel in distress. I love Roarke, too, though I don’t think he’d much like being called a law enforcement hero. *g*
I love Eve for exactly the same reasons, and for the amazing relationship she has with her “man”–and for the subtle way it’s woven into each of the stories.
I LOVE it when I figure out a way to do something, make you feel something (as an author), without hitting you over the head with it. Hopefully, I’m getting better and better at it with each book ;o)
I have to wait till June for the rest of this? that seems unfair!!! Looks good. Linda Howard has been on of my favorite author. Some of her supense puts a little humor in it so I am not hiding under the covers totally. I just read Robert Gregory Browne’s book “Whispers in the dark” which had a lot of twist and turns and a book I couldn’t put down.
Chris, I KNOW–we get that great hook in the excerpt but have to wait for the book!
LOL! Actually, I’m going to try to sneak some more excerpts and snippets of the book into future guest blogs, so stay tuned ;o)
In fact, if you go out to my blog (http://www.annawrites.com/blog) and enter your email in the “Sign Me Up” field, you’ll get alerts when new post goes up. I’ll be updating with HFB announcements pretty frequently between now and the release and beyond. That way, you won’t miss a single “teaser!”
And I LOVE Linda Howard, too. She’s a GODDESS. One of my favorite of her early thrillers is “Now You See Her,” about her psychic artist who sees a serial killer’s crimes as she paints pictures (in advance) of his next’s victim. Once she completes a portrait, it means the person’s dead…If she doesn’t identify the person well enough in advance. Bwahahahaha! Such a cool idea ;o)
Anna, that’s my fave of the Linda Howard straight suspense novels. SOOOO sexy and such a great hero! I don’t think you can call Cry No More or Son of the Morning straight romantic suspense. Too much else going on in those two.
What’s the one set in New Orleans? About the woman who’s father dies (is murdered?), he was a sniper, and people want his kill book? Kill and Tell??? It’s REALLY good, too!
Yep that is it.
Congrats on the GR, Fedora! He is gothically scary in every way!
I LOVE a good Gothic and this one sounds like a great one. I’m always intrigued by the way a certain place can make us scare ourselves silly and make us doubt EVERYTHING.
I really loved Mick St. John on the short-lived series Moonlight.
And Johnny Depp’s character in the film From Hell is so multidimensional and tortured. What can be more Gothic than pursuing Jack the Ripper?
Hi, Louisa–I liked Alex O’Loughlin on Moonlight, too. Are you also enjoying him on Hawaii Five-O?
I like all types of suspense stories. I like the action and tension. Stories where the hero has a secret past and is running from it appeals to me, especially when the heroine has to figure out who he really is.
Na, I like action and tension, too. Having loved Superman, I also enjoy secret identities and past secrets.
One of the most fun parts of HFB was the amnesia angle. And the fact that the hero has to play along to protect her, even though he’s lying to her and knows it will destroy their rekindled romance in the end.
Also, since this is a gothic, it was allowable for the reader to actually know more than either of the lead characters–that kind of irony is one of the best parts of traditional gothic stories. Double blind things are kind of fun to keep up with as you read. In HFB’s case, it’s the villian’s POV that clues you in to things, without really clueing you in, so that you start to realize who he is and the symbolism behind the heroine’s dreams and nightmares and slowly-returning snippets of memories, long before the h/h do, even though each step of they way they think they’ve figured the mystery out.
Writing this book was like solving a puzzle in reverse, trying to knit all the different pieces together while keeping the reader engaged and guessing ;o)
Hi Anna (waving) – Welcome to the lair!
HER FORGOTTEN BETRAYAL sounds heart-thumping yummy! Can’t wait to read more.
I don’t seem to read a lot of suspense these days (though every book seems to have a little bit of a suspense element in it). But I do enjoy Castle and Mentalist on TV.
Love that you’re so busy – means more great books for me!
Donna, doesn’t Her Forgotten Betrayal sound great? You know I love Castle, too. I seem to be reading a lot of suspense these days, both RS and thrillers.
Thanks, Donna! (Waving back ;o)
I’m with you. Though I write procedurals, too, and love them as well, the psychological thriller will always be a favorite for me.
The movie The Game (with Micheal Douglas) is one of my all-time favorites… You never know, right up until the end of the screenplay, if the lead character is really imagining everything, if the bad guys are realy bad guys, or if the entire thing is an ellaborate prank. And the way the truth is revealed is out of this world. I HOPE HFB surprises you a few times that way. I hope, I hope, I hope…
Favorite law enforcement hero? My new favorites are Peter Burke and Neal Caffrey from White Collar.
Minna, we love White Collar–can’t wait for for to come back on the air!
I can’t wait until the 2nd and 3rd seasons are available on DVD here.
It’s on tv here as well, but since I only have my computer and the series isn’t available on the internet here for whatever reason…
Love, love, LOVE White Collar! One of the best written series out there (at least the first season, which is the only one I’ve had a chance to watch all the way through so far).
I so little time to actually watch shows when they first run. I save up an entire season, buy the DVD (with the director’s cut), and spend a weekend devouring them all in a single run. It’s the BEST way to enjoy the story/character arc!
Anna, the writing remains great. You’ll enjoy the later seasons.
Hi Anna, I am looking forward to meeting you in June at the next COFW meeting! To answer your question on our favorite suspense story, I am a real fan of historical romance and my favorite suspense, historical romances are the books written by Patrica Veryan. I have found not many familiar with her books but I love them all. The Sanguinet Saga series probably has the most suspense and I love all the damsels
Hey Ireanne! I can’t wait to visit you ladies, too ;o)
And thanks for the suggestions for historical reads. They were my first love, and I don’t get a chance to return to them often enough these days.
I think my favorites (in the old days), were Catherine Coulter (the “Night” series), Elizabeth Lowel (her Celtic series), and Loretta Chase (Lord of Scoundrals, right???). So yummy!!!
Hi, Ireanne–I’ve heard of Patricia Veryan but haven’t read anything if hers in a long time, if ever. I love sagas and will have to check this one out.
Congratulations on the book! It sounds very good. I like Law and Order.
Hi, bn100–I like Law & Order, too.
L&A SVU is the best of the bunch for me. The emotion, and the long-running relationships… Amazing stuff!