Thanks to everyone who swung by for Maggie Robinson’s visit! The winner of MASTER OF SIN is:
Betty Hamilton!
Congratulations, Betty! Please email Maggie on maggie @ maggierobinson.net (no spaces) with your snail mail details and she’ll get your book off to you. Happy reading!
I’m delighted to bring back to the lair for your reading pleasure Maggie Robinson. Maggie is here to tell us about her latest historical romance MASTER OF SIN.
This book has been garnering rave reviews everywhere. For example, Romantic Times Book Reviews said:
Robinson crafts an intelligent, powerful, emotional, highly sensual love story with a damaged hero and an exceptional heroine, moving the story beyond the typical and into the unconventional. Readers will become so invested in the characters that the fast pace and heated sexual tension only add to the delight. Fine storytelling.
Maggie, welcome back to the lair! Congratulations on the release of your latest book MASTER OF SIN, the last in the Courtesan Court series. Can you tell us about this story?
I’m thrilled to be back and rubbing shoulders, etc. with the lair’s cabana boys again! The blurb-writers at Kensington are much better at this than I am, so I’ll just cheat and quote the back of the book:
Andrew Rossiter has used his gorgeous body and angelic face for all they’re worth—shocking the proper, seducing the willing, and pleasuring the wealthy. But with a tiny son depending on him for rescue, suddenly discretion is far more important than desire. He’ll have to bury his past quench his desires—fast. And he’ll have to find somewhere his deliciously filthy reputation hasn’t yet reached…
Miss Gemma Peartree seems like a plain, virginal governess—or so she hopes. True, she has a sharp wit and sharper tongue, but handsome Mr. Ross wouldn’t notice Gemma herself. Or so she hopes. No matter how many sparks fly between them, she has too much to hide to catch his eye. But with the storms of a Scottish winter driving them together, it will be hard to keep her secrets. Keeping her hands to herself might prove entirely impossible…
What were the inspirations behind this book?
Andrew appeared as a quasi-villain in MISTRESS BY MARRIAGE, and I just couldn’t get rid of him. I sent him to Italy on the page, but he kept shouting from afar. I’d given him sooo much baggage I couldn’t imagine turning him into a hero, but he was insistent. That makes me sound kind of crazy, but there you go—I wanted to give him his own HEA after torturing him so viciously.
Can you tell us about the Courtesan Court series as a whole? Will you be revisiting this scandalous address in the future?
The series is loosely connected by the un-mistressy women who accidentally wind up living on Jane Street, fictional home to the most exclusive, expensive courtesans in London. I revisit it very briefly (but pivotally—is that a word?) in December’s LORD GREY’S LIST.
I see on your website that you’ve recently sold CAPTAIN DURANT’S COUNTESS to Kensington Brava. Can you tell us about this book?
I’m excited to have a digital-first book fall between LORD GREY’S LIST and LADY ANNE’S LOVER. This is my new series, the London List trilogy, where a newspaper, kind of a combination Craigslist/National Inquirer, links the characters. In CDC, a broke ex-Army officer responds to a most unusual advertisement. He’s desperate for a job, but the requirements for this one may prove to be his undoing.
Ooh, sounds intriguing! What’s next for you?
I’m working on a super-secret project, hopefully another trilogy. It involves research, which I love. Amazon is delivering to me daily.
I’m in awe of your productivity. Do you have any hints on time management for us (um, me?)?
Ha. Well, it helps that my four kids are grown and gone, and I quit my library clerk job when the high school girls wanted to read my books, LOL. My husband is extremely supportive and does almost all the cooking except for holidays, when I still put my arm into the turkey’s nether regions. I get up very early and write until late morning, unwashed and unbrushed, aiming for at least 1000 words a day. In the afternoons I try to be normal, but it’s not working.
And can you give us a taster of your delicious new romance MASTER OF SIN?
Here’s the first paragraph:
Andrew Rossiter was on the cusp of reformation. He could taste it, sweet as the wine Giulietta had passed him at dessert from their picnic basket, bold as the wind that whipped the sails of their little yacht, tempting as the green coast of England would be at this moment. Alas, he was cruising the Mediterranean, the city of Savona in the distance, still steeped in sin, and rather bored with it. The only saving grace was the sight of his little son drowsing on a velvet tufted cushion, his small fist curled under a distinctive Rossiter chin–square, dimpled and determined.
Thanks, Maggie. You have many fingers in many pies right now! Great to get your update and good luck with MASTER OF SIN! Do you have a question for the Banditas and Bandita Buddies to get the conversation going?
Anna is famous for her tortured heroes, and I hope Andrew Rossiter can hang out with them. Who is your favorite reformed master of sin in fact or fiction? One commenter will win a signed copy of MASTER OF SIN!
We love all our guests in the lair, doncha know? But a few people who visit us on a regular basis hold a very special place in our heart. One of those teacher’s pets is MIRANDA NEVILLE!
Miranda’s here today to tell her about her wonderful new historical romance CONFESSIONS FROM AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE which hit the shelves on 27th March. I’ve been waiting on tenterhooks for Minerva’s story! My pre-ordered copy is already winging its way to me (yay!), but if you haven’t yet bought this book, all you need to do is click on the cover and it takes you right to Amazon. We make it easy for you here in the lair.
This book is already grabbing huge critical praise. Publishers Weekly, no less, says: “The developing romance is a pleasure to witness, with witty banter and racy love scenes. The gradual discovery of Blakeney’s secret shame is genuine and endearing, making him far more than the standard scurrilous scoundrel.”
Here’s the blurb for CONFESSIONS OF AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE:
They couldn’t be more different, but there’s one thing they agree on.
In London after a two-year exile, Lord Blakeney plans to cut a swathe through the bedchambers of the demimonde. Marriage is not on his agenda, especially to an annoying chit like Minerva Montrose, with her superior attitude and a tendency to get into trouble. And certainly the last man Minerva wants is Blake, a careless wastrel without a thought in his handsome head.
The heat and noise of her debutante ball give Minerva a migraine. Surely a moment’s rest could do no harm … until Blake mistakes her for another lady, leaving Minerva’s guests to catch them in a very compromising position. To her horror, the scandal will force them to do the unthinkable: marry. Their mutual loathing blazes into unexpected passion but Blake remains distant, desperate to hide a shameful secret. Minerva’s never been a woman to take things lying down, and she’ll let nothing stop her from winning his trust … and his heart.
You can find out more about Miranda and her fabulous books on her website: www.mirandaneville.com
Miranda, I’m delighted to have you back in the lair as my guest. It’s always a party when you visit. Congratulations on the release of your latest historical romance CONFESSIONS FROM AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE. Can you tell us about this story?
This is the fourth book in my Regency Burgundy Club series, but let me summarize in non-period, totally non-historical language. The Marquis of Blakeney, the heir to a dukedom, is a good-looking jock. Minerva despises sports and thinks Blake’s a complete idiot. Since she thinks she’s the right person to rule the world, she has her eye on an up-and-coming politician whom she’ll marry and push up the greasy pole to be Prime Minister. (In nineteenth century England the British Prime Minster is like the President of the United States.) So we have the captain of the football team and the smartest girl in the class who hate each other. They end up forced to marry.
What inspired this story?
Blake and Minerva first appeared in THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT. As soon as I started to write Minerva, who was the heroine’s younger sister, I knew I had a winner. She was such a smart, entertaining character. Blake was the villain – or at least the antagonist – in that book, the guy who lost the girl. When Beverley Kendall read the book she immediately asked me “are you getting Blake and Minerva together?” “How did you guess?” I asked. It’s because we are romance writers and therefore sick. We take a man and a woman who appear totally incompatible and think “perfect couple.”
Mind you, it wasn’t easy. Blake was such a jerk in THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT and had a childhood feud with Sebastian, the hero of that book. I had to discover his dark secret that made him behave so badly. Once I found that, the story came together. I’m partial, I know, but I have to say I ended up adoring Blake and so does Minerva. Eventually.
What about Sebastian? Not thrilled to have Blake as a brother-in-law, I imagine.
That’s putting it mildly. For readers of the previous books in the series, I do resolve the Blake-Sebastian feud. But it’s a very minor part of the story. I wanted the book to stand alone
By the way, if anyone hasn’t yet read THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT, grab it, grab it, grab it. It was one of my top reads from 2010 What’s next for you? More wonderful Burgundy Club books?
I have a few leftover characters, but for now I’m moving on, or rather back. I’m working on a series set in 1800, featuring some extremely wild and badly behaved art collectors. I can now reveal the title of the first, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING WICKED. It’s out in December 2012.
Ooh, can’t wait! Sounds fascinating! I always ask you about interesting tidbits of research you’ve discovered when you write each book. Did anything unusual take your fancy when you were researching CONFESSIONS OF AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE?
Blake and Minerva go to Paris on their honeymoon. By 1822 the English had resumed their trips to the Continent after the long Napoleonic Wars and I found plenty of contemporary guidebooks. I discovered it was perfectly proper in Paris for ladies to dine out in restaurants and cafés. So I sent my warring couple out on a date, to the slightly disreputable Café de la Paix, located in a converted theater in the Palais Royal. I had to augment the descriptions I found from my imagination but the setting gave me an idea for a very fun and sexy scene.
You’re always jetting around the globe – and I have the postcards to prove it, thank you! I’d love to hear about your recent travels. Are you going to use any of your journeys as inspirations for future books?
Not sure I could fit it into a Regency, but I just spent a wonderful long weekend in Miami soaking up gorgeous March sun. It was a lot less humid than that day we spent together in Saint Augustine, Florida, after RWA in Orlando! Among the places I visited was Vizcaya, an incredible mock-Venetian Palazzo built by an industrialist in 1916.
Miranda, that looks spectacular. I often think back on our day at St. Augustine and what fun we had bowling along in our convertible. Do you have a question for the Banditas and Bandita Buddies to get conversation rolling like said convertible?
Paris is one of the most gloriously romantic cities in the world, but for some reason it’s not popular as a setting for romance novels. But there are some great books and movies set there. What’s your favorite Paris story, in any medium?
Miranda has very generously offered two signed copies of CONFESSIONS FROM AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE today to people who leave comments. So good luck and get commenting!
Always happy to share a David Bowie video and I think Changes is such a great song. Hmm, maybe I can work my all-time fave David Bowie song Heroes into a blog in the future. I think it’s got potential!
There have been Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes in Campbellandia over the last year. And I’m finally in a position to let my Banditas and Bandita Buddies know all about them. Huzzah!
A few of you have contacted me asking when the next book is out. The answer is…
October 2012!
In North America, I’ve changed publishers from Avon to Grand Central Publishing (I’m still with HarperCollins in Australia). SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROGUE’S BED (I love that title – it was actually my working title and I’m so glad that Grand Central have decided to keep it) is the first book in my first series called “Sons of Sin”. The link between the books in what is currently projected as a trilogy is that scandal surrounds the birth of each of my aristocratic heroes. I’m currently working on the second book which has a vaguely Scarlet Pimpernel feel and I’m having a wonderful time with the story.
Anyway, back to SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROGUE’S BED. It’s a very gothic take on Beauty and the Beast. I know all my stories are BATB but this one’s really OVERT. In fact, even the characters know they’re in a Beauty and the Beast story, LOL! It opens with brave, beautiful Sidonie Forsythe presenting herself at half-ruined Castle Craven on the Devon Coast to save her sister from a fate worse than death. But while the man she meets might be scarred and tormented, he’s no monster. I fell in love with beastly Jonas Merrick, the ‘rogue’ of the title, and I hope readers will too.
Here’s the blurb:
WILL A WEEK OF SEDUCTION . . .
Desperate to save her sister’s life, Sidonie Forsythe has agreed to submit herself to a terrible fate: Beyond the foreboding walls of Castle Craven, a notorious, hideously scarred scoundrel will take her virtue over the course of seven sinful nights. Yet instead of a monster, she encounters a man like no other. And during this week, she comes to care for Jonas Merrick in ways that defy all logic-even as a dark secret she carries threatens them both.
. . . SPARK A LIFETIME OF PASSIONATE SURRENDER?
Ruthless loner Jonas knows exactly who he is. Should he forget, even for a moment, the curse he bears, a mere glance in the mirror serves as an agonizing reminder. So when the lovely Sidonie turns up on his doorstep, her seduction is an even more delicious prospect than he originally planned. But the hardened outcast is soon moved by her innocent beauty, sharp wit, and surprising courage. Now as dangerous enemies gather at the gate to destroy them, can their new, fragile love survive?
The picture above is of Dunstanburgh Castle in Northumberland. Castle Craven in ROGUE is actually on the Devon coast but I used this magnificent ruin (it once belonged to John of Gaunt which will make admirers of Anya Seton’s KATHERINE leap about with excitement) was the inspiration for the setting. Mind you, Jonas’s castle does have the odd habitable room, unlike Dunstanburgh! I mean, I need somewhere for the ‘bed’ of the title!
STOP PRESS! THE COVER IS UP ON AMAZON AND
YOU CAN PRE-ORDER IT! HUZZAH! ISN’T THIS A BEAUTIFUL COVER? I’M IN LURVE!!!!
Anyway, as you can imagine you’ll be hearing MUCH more about SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROGUE’S BED over the next months, but I just wanted to give you all a heads up as to what’s happening and when you can expect a new Anna Campbell book. Over the next little while, I’ll be sharing an excerpt and I’m sure dropping many, MANY more hints about this new story.
Speaking of Anna Campbell books, I’m delighted to say I just heard that my 2011 release MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION has finaled in the Birmingham Southern Magic Chapter’s Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Even better, my lovely Bandita friend Donna MacMeans has finaled too with her great REDEEMING THE ROGUE. Congratulations, Donna!
So I thought I’d hold a giveaway to celebrate my publishing news and also this Award of Excellence final. One lucky commenter today will receive a signed copy of MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION.
So obviously that’s your October reading sorted (snork!). What other books are you looking forward to hitting the shelves this year? I know I’m really looking forward to all my Bandita sisters’ releases (that’s a no-brainer) and the new Madeline Hunter series “The Fairbourne Quartet” starting with THE SURRENDER OF MISS FAIRBOURNE this month. Tell me some of your reading plans and you might win MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION! How’s that for a deal?
It’s my great pleasure to welcome to the lair a lady who needs no introduction to many of us. Manda Collins has long been a friend of ours, which is why we’re thrilled to celebrate her debut Regency historical romance: HOW TO DANCE WITH A DUKE! Welcome, Manda!
One of my fondest childhood memories is of my mother, who died when I was 9, singing along to Linda Rondstadt’s Greatest Hits Album as she did the housecleaning. Not just humming, or singing under her breath, but big bold, out-loud, in-your-face singing along. I still can’t hear “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” or “You’re No Good” without smelling the faintest hint of Pledge furniture polish in the air.
Singing while I work is a habit that I picked up from her, and if you see me hard at work on any given task, whether its housecleaning, shopping, gardening, my MP3 player won’t be far behind.
As a writer, I’ve often struggled between the need for music while I write and the trouble with having the words in a song intermingle with the words I’m typing. However, if it’s a song I’m familiar with, I can often both listen and write at the same time. Not sure how, but I can. For HOW TO DANCE WITH A DUKE, I relied on a list I created from my own MP3 collection, of new, old and in-between music.
Here are three of my favorites:
“Are You Strong Enough to Be My Man?” by Sheryl Crow
Does a better song exist for the strong-willed romance heroine? If so, I haven’t found it. For Cecily, who has been hurt once before, and who is sincerely afraid of falling in love again, Sheryl Crow’s words are just spot on.
Nothing’s true and nothing’s right So let me be alone tonight Cause you can’t change the way I am Are you strong enough to be my man?
Lie to me I promise I’ll believe Lie to me But please don’t leave
Fortunately for Cecily, Lucas does figure out a way to get past her defenses, but it takes a lot of strength. Fortunately for her, he’s just the man for the job!
For Lucas, the Duke of Winterson’s POV, I went with something more recent. I got turned on to Ray LaMontagne by my favorite online radio station, WMVY out of Martha’s Vineyard, and it’s been a total one-sided love fest between us ever since. (Ray, if you’re reading this, call me!)
Anyway, back to Lucas, I used Ray LaMontagne’s “Let It Be Me” as my inspiration for Lucas. The speaker in that song (sorry, the old English Major in me is coming out) addresses his beloved, who is obviously having a difficult time, thusly:
Now I remember all to well Just how it feels to be all alone You feel like you’d give anything For just a little place you can call your own That’s when you need someone, someone that you can call And when all your faith is gone Feels like you can’t go on Let it be me Let it be me If it’s a friend you need Let it be me Let it be me
The song speaks of friendship, but aren’t the strongest romances built on friendship? Yes, I say! A thousand times yes! You’ll just have to read the book to see what Cecily’s response to Lucas’ gesture is. (Hint: This IS a romance novel, remember?)
Finally, I have my third selection. This is a song that I’ve used every time I’ve written a book so far. It’s Neal Young’s “Harvest Moon.” Because there is nothing more romantic to me than the thought of a couple who have been together for years and years, who are obviously still very much in love.
But there’s a full moon risin’ Let’s go dancin’ in the light We know where the music’s playin’ Let’s go out and feel the night.
Because I’m still in love with you I want to see you dance again Because I’m still in love with you On this harvest moon.
I like to think of Lucas and Cecily dancing together in the moonlight, maybe not too long after their thirtieth anniversary. His war wound long ago healed, her angst over her position in society long ago resolved, and dancing.
So, dear readers, what are some of your favorite songs that co-relate to your favorite romance novels? Is there a ballad that seems to fit your favorite couple perfectly? Or a tune that you think should be made into a novel? Inquiring minds want to know! One lucky commenter will be chosen to win a copy of HOW TO DANCE WITH A DUKE and a Coverflat of HOW TO ROMANCE A RAKE!
You know how we love a debut author in the lair! Today I’m delighted to introduce Heather Snow , whose first historical SWEET ENEMY from Signet Eclipse hit the bookshelves on the 7th February. Heather, an ex-chemist, is creating quite an explosive reaction with her book. Romantic Times Book Reviews said, “The plot, with its tinge of mystery, matchmaking and a bit of mayhem, will warm readers’ hearts.” Julie Garwood, #1 New York Timesbestseller, said, “Historical intrigue and heart-pounding passion make SWEET ENEMY a great read. Romance fans will love it!”
Here’s the blurb for SWEET ENEMY, book one in the ‘Veiled Seduction’ series:
Geoffrey Wentworth, a war hero and rising political star, never wanted to be the Earl, but when his brother dies, he knows his duty—take up the responsibility for his family’s estates. His mother’s definition of duty differs from his, however, and can be summed up in one word—heirs. When Geoffrey rushes home to answer her urgent summons, he finds himself host to a house full of women, all vying to become the next Countess of Stratford. But his love is Parliament, where he wields his influence and reputation to better the lives of ex-soldiers, until a tempting houseguest and a secret from his past threaten his freedom…and his heart.
Liliana Claremont, a brilliant chemist, doesn’t want to be any man’s wife, much less a countess. If she had tuppence for every time she’d been told her place was filling the nursery, not experimenting in the laboratory, she could buy the Tower Bridge. However, when she receives a coveted invitation to the Earl’s house party, she trades in her beakers for ball gowns and gladly takes on the guise of husband hunter—for the chance to uncover what the Earl had to do with the murder of her father.
Liliana believes the best way to get the answers she needs is to keep her enemy close, though romance is not part of her formula. But it only takes one kiss to start a reaction she can’t control…
If you’d like to read the Prologue and first Chapter of SWEET ENEMY, you can find it here.
Heather, welcome to the lair! Congratulations on the release of your debut, SWEET ENEMY, the first in the ‘Veiled Seduction’ series. Can you tell us about this story?
Thank you! And thanks for having me, Anna. I’m delighted to be here. SWEET ENEMY is a Regency historical romance with a touch of mystery. It features a lady chemist who goes undercover as a husband-hunter at an earl’s house party to discover what his family has to do with the murder of her father. Of course, romance isn’t part of her formula…but it only takes one kiss to start a reaction she can’t control!
What were the inspirations behind this book?
A couple of different things sparked this story. First, I attended an interesting museum exhibit detailing an event that occurred during the Regency period (Sorry to be so vague, but I don’t want to say what exhibit, lest I give away part of the mystery! It is explained in the author’s note when you finish the book). However, I can say that scientists were involved, which started a “What if?” in my mind. I then started to create characters that would fit the story idea I now had. My decision to make Liliana a chemist really came from the “write what you know” adage first time writers hear all of the time. Having a chemistry degree myself, I thought I could lend my voice well to her character.
Can you tell us about the ‘Veiled Seduction’ series as a whole?
I’d love to! Each book in the series features an independent, science-savvy heroine and the mystery she must solve—all while finding her true love, of course . I really wanted to create female characters who were strong and passionate about things outside of love affairs. But don’t worry if science was never your thing! While my heroines’ interesting passions form who they are as characters and play a part in the mystery to be solved or how they go about solving them, the series is definitely historical romance, and the stories are highly emotional, with each heroine meeting the only hero that can complete them. Just ask Kathryn Smith, the USA Today Bestselling Author of “When Tempting a Rogue,” who says “Heather Snow combines sizzling tension, witty dialogue and achingly raw emotions for a passionate love story you’ll remember long after the last page.”
Your next book is SWEET DECEPTION, coming out next August. Can you tell us about this story?
Yes. I am SO excited about it. Again, we have a smart, science-savvy heroine. Emma is sort of a Regency-era Temperance Brennan from the TV show, BONES, who gets mixed up with the equivalent of a Regency-era Bond. There’s a bit of treason, a bit of murder, and a faboo tag line: “But when deception, however sweet, is the name of the game no one can be trusted, and every love—and every life—is at risk.”
Ooh, sounds great. We love call stories in the lair. Can you give us yours?
It was a bit of a whirlwind, actually. SWEET ENEMY is actually my first completed manuscript. I had an infant at home when I started writing it, and figured it would take me several years to learn the craft and having several books rejected before I would get published. I anticipated that should put me hopefully getting published about the same time my children went to school. But, I entered it in Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® contest in 2010, as well as in the Daphne Du Maurier and Romance Through the Ages contests—just to see what would happen. It became a finalist in them all. Needless to say, I was shocked. That year, at the national convention, my soon-to-be agent, Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman agency, actually offered representation in front of an entire room of people at an award ceremony for one of the contests I won. It was very exciting! Barbara sent the book out, and three weeks later, SWEET ENEMY sold, at auction, to NAL. I was actually getting a pedicure when Barbara called with the first offer (something I rarely get to do, having small children at home!), so, of course I danced around the spa barefooted and wet-toed, and had a cute little flower painted on my big toe to celebrate! Of course, timing happening as it did, I know have a three year old and another baby at home, so it’s a bit of a juggle, but I wouldn’t trade it!
Wow, that’s seriously impressive, Heather. What’s next for you?
Well, I’m currently working on the third book in the series, tentatively called SWEET MADNESS, which will be out sometime in 2013. Other than that, I expect a lot of baseball and soccer games in my future, given I am now the mother of two boys, affectionately known on my social media as The Heir and the Spare. And I hope to get in a bit of travel. I last visited London in 2004—it’s been entirely too long! And I’ve never made it to Australia… As for writing, after this series is complete, I’m not sure what will be next. I’m not the type of author that can think much beyond the story she’s currently writing, so we shall see then!
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Two tiny bits. First, always be learning. Just like anything in life, you have to strive to get better, no matter where you are on the scale of knowledge. Craft books, classes and workshops are great, and I highly advise them all, but keep writing through it all because writers learn best by writing. Also, critiquing or judging contests is a GREAT way to learn…sometimes we can see in someone else’s work problems we can’t recognize in our own. And second, believe in yourself. I know a lot of GREAT writers who haven’t gotten that call yet…but they will. And so will you.
Thanks, Heather. Great advice! Is there anything you’d like to ask the Bandits and Bandita buddies to get the conversation rolling?
What do you like best about reading books in a series? Characters that carry-over? Similar themes? An over-arching mystery? Or something else?
Heather has very generously offered both a signed copy of SWEET ENEMY and one of those nifty booksafes (they look like a book but they’re actually a box) to one lucky commenter today. So get commenting, peeps!
What a treat I’ve got for you today. I’ve long admired Julia Phillips Smith’s wonderful A Piece of My Mind blog which covers all sorts of arcane and fascinating topics with the lightest and wittiest of touches. So when Julia asked me to read her debut paranormal-historical romance, SAINT SANGUINUS, I was delighted. This book kept me awake into the wee hours as I devoured the dramatic, passionate story of Peredur and Tanwen. After that, I just had to bring Julia into the lair to chase the cabana boys…uh, tell us about her books.
There’s a very dramatic trailer for SAINT SANGUINUS which you can see here:
Julia, welcome to the lair! Great to see you here. Congratulations on the release of your historical paranormal debut SAINT SANGUINUS which as you know I loved and called “a dark, dramatic take on the vampire genre.” Can you tell us about this story?
First of all – thank you, Sven *winking as I scoop up my prosecco from the tray* – my smile is impossible to tone down today, because I’m so thrilled to be here at the Banditas Lair.
My story is a Dark Ages vampire superhero origin story. Quite a combination, but there you go.
I’m a big fan of superhero origin stories. Wolverine, Green Lantern, Thor, Harry Potter – I can never get enough of watching the genesis of a hero as he steps into the role that destiny assigned to him. The more epic the scope, the better. That’s why the superhero genre always delivers for me.
But I also love all-too-human heroes and their stories. 300, GLADIATOR, Horatio Hornblower, the Sharpe series with Sean Bean – I love watching these natural leaders emerge from among their peers. SAINT SANGUINUS follows the tradition of these stories and introduces readers to a man destined to become something quite different than he could ever have expected from the opening scene of the novel.
Here’s a taste:
An elite brotherhood stands between humans and vampires, preventing one side from annihilating the other. Who are called to this service? Only those warriors who curse God with their dying breath.
Welsh warrior Peredur falls to a spear before he can claim Tanwen for his bride. Raging on the battlefield, Peredur utters the curse that seals his fate and leads him to another life. Using the power of a saint whose bone makes up an amulet, Peredur takes on the trials to become a true member of the brethren. Yet his need for the chieftain’s daughter Tanwen still burns.
Tanwen resists her father’s command to take a husband. The only one who understands her sorrow is Cavan, the wise woman’s son. When he promises that he can reunite her with her beloved, she agrees to his terms. But does Tanwen truly understand the depth of the price that must be paid?
Wow! Lots happening there! What were the inspirations behind this book?
My initial inspiration was the Count Saint-Germain series of books by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. As a running theme throughout her series, Ms. Yarbro addresses the more day-to-day (or should I say, night-to-night) problems of being a vampire with a long lifespan. How does one hold onto different properties stashed here and there? How would you keep leaving these holdings to a future descendant, and how would you eventually claim your homes and businesses as your own ‘descendant’ after enough generations had passed, so that the locals don’t recognize you anymore?
I just love how her main vampire character has to deal with problems that don’t usually surface in vampire fiction. Although, if you think about it, Bram Stoker dealt with Count Dracula’s transportation-of-Transylvanian-soil problems in the beginning of his story.
So this got me thinking about the kind of scenes that don’t often appear in the vampire genre. My main character Peredur’s transformation from man to vampire was the launch pad for me. I wanted to really experience how it felt to take those first vampire baby steps.
I found the setting so intriguing. Can you tell us about your fascination with Dark Ages Britain? Did you come across anything unusual or unexpected when you were researching the period?
I can pretty much say I’ve been fascinated with the Dark Ages since late elementary school, when I went to a Christmas Tea and Sale at the neighbourhood church where I went to Girl Guides. I bought a paperback copy of Mary Stewart’s THE CRYSTAL CAVE in the used books section. Not only did I inhale every beautifully crafted line of that book, but I couldn’t get enough of her Author’s Notes detailing her historical research and her decisions as to naming conventions for towns and villages in post-Roman Britain.
I then gravitated toward all things Arthurian. Arthur Pendragon is the ultimate seize-your-destiny prototype hero for me. The Arthurian romances also whet my appetite for courtly political intrigue. But I tended to collect non-fiction research books on Arthur, ever since high school, including ARTHUR’S BRITAIN by Leslie Alcock and THE QUEST FOR ARTHUR’S BRITAIN by Geoffrey Ashe.
A few years ago I blogged about the unexpected discovery of Dark Age artefacts in Staffordshire, England:
Of course, I wouldn’t claim to know EVERYTHING there is to know about Dark Age life. Right, Anna? (ANNA: Hey, what’s a potato or two between friends?)
The power vacuum created in Dark Age Britain by Rome’s withdrawal always fascinated me. In contemporary times, the same situation replayed itself in the Eastern Bloc countries as the Soviets pulled out. I find that sort of scenario irresistible as a writer, and it’s one of the issues I’ll be exploring as I continue the series. I love to see who steps to the front of the pack to take charge of all the squabbling.
What’s next for you?
I’ve been posting serialized fiction on my blog for a little over a year, now, following the dark fantasy tale of a boy once brought up to be a noble, but never claimed by his family when it came time to leave the nursery. Instead, he’s raised by a falconer to be his apprentice, until a fateful hunt while in his teens sets him on an unexpected and dangerous path.
I’ll be wrapping up this storyline soon, and then shaping it into novel form which is due to be released in the spring. It’s packed to bursting with deadly power plays within the noble houses, threatening to pull down servants like my hero Scorpius along with them. That will be book one of a trilogy, so I’ll have book one of two separate series out, and then continue on with both series.
Sounds great. And another hero thrust into the role! You live in a really beautiful part of the world that one day I hope to visit. I’d love you to tell us about YOUR Nova Scotia. Do you think that dramatic landscape inspires your writing?
I grew up in Halifax alongside my cousin Julianne MacLean’s family. Our dads were both scuba divers, so we spent many dreamy days running over the granite bedrock along the Atlantic Ocean as the men went on their dive and the moms set up picnic base camp.
As you can see in these two pictures, it’s a landscape that invites gothic tales to run rampant in my mind. That’s a shot of my dad back in the day, and the other one is of the four of us: back row, my sister Daisy Piper, my cousin Charlie. Front row, Julianne MacLean and me.
So besides the gorgeous ocean, my favourite thing about Nova Scotia is the woods. The province is still heavily forested, with large tracts of undeveloped land, and in my own neighborhood we have a greenbelt running through the subdivision. Walking in the woods really renews me.
My local RWA chapter – Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada – has a yearly retreat which takes place at White Point Beach. These two shots were taken there and showcase both of my favorite things.
I’ve long been a fan of your blog, A Piece of My Mind. You range so widely when it comes to topics. I’d love you to talk to us about keeping up the mojo for a long-running blog (when there’s only one of you!) and ask if you have any advice for would-be bloggers.
Thanks, Anna! I’ve actually given a workshop on blogging at my RWA chapter, because not every author enjoys blogging. Yet my chapter knows how much joy my blog gives me. And that’s really the secret.
Not helpful, I know, if writing blog posts feels like donating a kidney, minus the anaesthetic.
When I started A Piece of My Mind, a lot of the blogs I followed were written by authors about the writing life. However, I was four years away from this debut release, and my own interests ran to the full range of the arts. I decided early on to let my blog follow my heart, and after taking part in a year-long Blog Improvement Challenge in 2009 run by Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness (http://www.sophisticateddorkiness.com/) I defined my blog as an arts blog.
I soon devised a weekly schedule, which I kept up solidly for four years: Poetry on Mondays, Arts features on Tuesdays, Photography on Wednesdays, Lists of 13 Things on Thursdays, Music on Fridays and Serialized fiction on Saturdays. Each of these features was attached to a meme hosted by another blogger, which carried its own readership (except for my arts feature, which is my very own.)
This year, however, as I put the push on to either sell or self-publish SAINT SANGUINUS, I realized that I couldn’t hope to keep up my regular blog schedule. I pulled back on three of the weekly features – Poetry, Arts and Photography, shuffled the serialized fiction from Saturdays to Wednesdays, and had to cut way back on how much I visited with other bloggers.
This is where I can see the shine coming off of blogging for writers who feel that it takes away from their fiction writing time. Let’s take the cooking analogy for blogging. I come from a family of cooks, and though I adore eating delicious food, I’m not a cook. Every moment spent in the kitchen is a precious moment of life I’ll never get back.
Meanwhile, my mom lives to cook. She expresses herself through preparing food. It’s an art form for her, and each ingredient is a color or texture. That’s what my blog is for me – a way to express myself and to connect with people with similar interests. I’ve made so many friends through blogging, from all over the world. Like you, for instance, Anna!
So for writers who are thinking of attaching blogs to their websites, my advice is this. If you suspect you will run out of things to blog about in a matter of months, perhaps your best bet is to hook up with a group blog where you will only be required to post once a month.
Another idea is to find memes that interest you and take part in them. This gives you ready-made subject matter and helps your blog to schedule itself. For example, on Fridays I take part in a music meme called 5 on Friday, run by Travis at Trav’s Thoughts (http://travsthoughts.blogspot.com/). We post five tunes (which I link to on You Tube) and that’s that. Easy peasy.
Yet another way to shake up your blog schedule is to take part in a blog carnival or festival, or a blog challenge. Carnivals can be huge affairs, with literally a thousand bloggers signed up. A carnival is centred on a time-limited event, such as the A to Z Challenge (http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/) which takes place throughout the month of April. Or the Movie Madness challenge (http://reviews.blueteacup.com/?p=2134) I’m joining this year.
Which brings me to something I’ve bumped into on blog sidebars here and there: Blogging Without Obligation buttons, started by Tiffini at Down the Rabbit Hole (http://www.tartx.com/blog/?page_id=233). For me, blogging is fun. My enjoyment with it is contagious. Try to capture a sense of play when blogging. It’s like a giggle – before long, your fun will ripple out to readers, who will then want to know more about you – and discover you’re an author, with a book they’ve just got to read!
Julia, is there anything you’d like to ask the Bandits or the Bandita Buddies?
I’ve had the good fortune to meet six blog friends In Real Life. I’d like to ask Romance Bandit readers if they’ve had the same pleasure – or if the Real Life meet-up brought surprises?
Julia has very generously offered a commenter today a copy of SAINT SANGUINUS! So get commenting, people!
Gerri Russell returns to the Lair to discuss the appeal of continuing series. She’ll also tell us a bit about her upcoming projects, including her novella, Border Lord’s Bride, which is available now.
Welcome, Gerri! What are some of your favorite continuing series, and why do you like them?
Gerri Russell
My favorite continuing series are probably J.K. Rowland’s Harry Potter series, C.L. Wilson’s Tairen Soul series, Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody books, C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower series, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, Dorothy Dunnett’s The Lymond Chronicles, and a new favorite is George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.
What I love about all these books is the characters. The characters are larger than life, and they become so real to me as I read. I get so connected to them and their trials, that I simply have to keep reading until the end of the series, no matter how many books it spans. Even if I’ve read the books before, and I know what’s going to happen, I still find joy in the journey and often see nuances of the story or in turns of phrase that I didn’t see before.
We have some overlap here. The dh and I have been watching the A&E/BBC Hornblower movies with Ioan Gruffydd as Hornblower. We’re up to Episode 5 now and liking them a lot. The period atmosphere draws us in, and Hornblower and most of his shipmates try earnestly to do the right thing for king and country.
You know I love LOTR, with its epic scale and brave heroes. I prefer the more assertive movie Arwen to the very Edwardian and homebound one in the book. The variety of characters also appeals to me–the grand lords and elve, the simpler but equally determined and decent hobbits, the menace of traitors like Wormtongue and Saruman.
As with LOTR, Harry Potter has many, many fans here in the Lair. I love not only the characters but the worldbuilding, which I think is critical to any successful series.
The Tairen Soul series also has an epic scale and characters sometime torn between desire and duty. The battle between good and evil, both on the battlefield and in Elysetta’s soul was just gripping. And hard to predict. With Raine’s (the hero’s, for those who haven’t read it yet) life at stake if Elysetta can’t commit to their love, I couldn’t stop reading. As Bandita Jeanne had predicted.
Haven’t read the Game of Thrones, but I have read the Lymond Chronicles–another series with vast scope and a tormented hero. People I know who’ve read those seem either to love them, as with our mutual friends Eilis Flynn and Bandita Anna Campbell, or to loathe them. They do have long descriptive passages, as in LOTR, that require a bit of patience. And I didn’t like anybody in the book for about the first 200 pages of The Game of Kings. But I kept reading because of the person who had given me the book for Christmas, and then Dunnett, as you know but everyone else may not, turned everything, including the view of Lymond, on its head. That twist hooked me hard.
What do you like in particular about the Tairen Soul series, Lymond, and Hornblower?
One of the things that I loved about the Tairen Soul series was the “big” world feel of the books. C.L. Wilson did a fabulous job of writing to a modern market while giving her books in this series a classic feel. Her world of the Fey is larger than life, her descriptions of the Fading Lands are so vivid you can imagine yourself there.
And again, I come back to characters. Rain and Ellysetta’s story is revealed over the course of five books, and throughout their journey they continue to grow and develop and reveal new faucets of their character. I couldn’t help but care about them, their struggles, and their triumphs. Just as you stated about LOTR, the vililans are epic in proportion and gives the story a driving pace that makes the books hard to put down.
With the Lymond Chronicles, it’s the worldbuilding and the compassion you feel for the hero, Francis Crawford, that draws you in to the story…eventually. Like you, I had a hard time starting the series. Dorothy Dunnet took forever builidng up to the action. I like to think of her writing style as a kettle warming up to boil. Because once the momentum of the plotline begins, it doesn’t stop. Another aspect of these novels that I really liked was Dunnet’s use of real historical people. Her extensive research shows on the pages of these books. You are entertained as well as educated. I like that!
I started reading the Hornblower series in my teens before I really knew I would be come a die-hard romance reader. And while the books are not romances, they have all the elements I enjoy in my romances…strong characters, vivid locales, and a lot of action. My whole family has enjoyed watching the A&E series. Hope you and the dh continue to enjoy them!
Romance also has series, though with connected books rather than continuing characters. Patricia Rice’s Rebellious Sons, Jessica Andersen’s Nightkeepers, Barbara Monajem’s Bayou Gavotte, and Dee Davis’s A-Tac, Beth Andrews’ Diamond Dust trilogy, Kathleen O’Reilly’s Harts of Texas, and Sabrina Jeffries Hellions of Halstead Hall are just a few of the ones out there. These all have connected characters, with seeds of their stories planted in other couples’ books.
I love the “boom,” as we call it in the Lair of A-Tac and the Nightkeepers, the wry humor in the Rebellious Sons, the Harts, and Bayou Gavotte, and the family stresses in the Hellions. And, of course, the emotional angst in all of them.
And of course, the wrenching emotion in your Templars.
Nancy, you and I have such similar reading tastes. I absolutely adored Pat Rice’s Rebellious Sons and Sabrina Jeffries Hellions of Halstead Hall. Both had not only great characters, but great storylines that really pulled you in. For me, boom is fun and very entertaining, but I am really pulled toward emotions that explode on the page more than the physical world. I appreciate your nod toward my Templars series. While I was researching a different story in medieval history I ran across a brief snippet about the men who were charged with returning Robert the Bruce’s heart to the Holy Land after he died. Their mission failed terribly, and I felt so compelled to tell their tale–those men who survived that mission–of how they pulled their lives back together.
So, I guess you could say in my reading preferences and in my own writing, I truly enjoy survivors–heros and heroines who are ordinary people who do extraordinary things.
N: You just released Border Lord’s Bride on Amazon and Smashwords. Tell us a bit about that and the next Templar novel, which I see on your website but not yet on Amazon.
G: I’m thrilled to finally have Border Lord’s Bride available for readers in electronic format. The book will also be available in print at the end of this month. Border Lord’s Bride is a novella featuring a character that I introduced in To Tempt a Knight. It was great fun to take Lucius, a somewhat irredeemable character, and give him his own story with a happy ending. That’s one of things I so love about series books, you get to see many facets of the characters. There is always a reason the characters behave the way they do. With the luxury of many pages over the course of a continuing series, readers get to see inside those characters a bit more as they reveal themselves.
Here’s a quick blurb about the story.
To protect his sisters from disaster, Lucius Carr leaves the Templar Knights and returns home to his Scottish estate to assume the family’s earldom little expecting to inherit a bride in the bargain. Elizabeth Huntingdon had spurned him once before. She is the last woman on earth he wants to marry, yet the only woman he could ever imagine as the Border Lord’s Bride.
I am also excited to share the conclusion of the Brotherhood of the Scottish Templars series with fans. A Knight to Desire will be available early 2012.
You mentioned earlier about the “boom factor”. Well, I don’t have many things blowing up in my stories given the time period, but there is plenty of action. My heroine in A Knight to Desire is a knight, and she can certainly hold her own against the hero. She fights with a quarterstaff, and there were many scenes in the book where they hero found himself on his back at the heroine’s feet. I loved writing this book. I hope readers will enjoy the conculsion of the series, especially where the villian finally gets his due.
Here’s a brief synopsis of A Knight to Desire.
Sir Simon Lockhart must reclaim the sword of Charlemagne and the Holy Grail while protecting his fellow Templars against a madman. Yet he’s distracted by Brianna St. Clair, a red-haired beauty, who has trained nearly her whole life to be a knight and is haunted by premonitions of a terrible battle. It’s these very visions that Simon hopes will lead them to the treasure and the traitor. But while Brianna can wield a sword as well as any man, she has no defense against Simon’s seductive pull.
There are all kinds of extras available on my website about The Brotherhood of the Scottish Templars.
How cool! Love the bit about the heroine on his back at the heroine’s feet. And the quarterstaff. You know I like those. What else lies ahead for you?
I have two new projects that I am working on. Both are historical and paranormal in nature, and again, continuing series!
For more about Gerri and her work, check out her website.
In the Treat department, Gerri is giving a Kindle copy of Border Lord’s Bride to one commenter today, and I’m giving a copy of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s No Mercy to one commenter. Notice, they’re both series!
As though that weren’t enough, we have a bundle of books, The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritson, Split Second by Catherine Coulter, and Now You See Her by James Patterson as well.
In the Trick department, wellll, we’ll see! *g*
So tell us, do you like reading continuing series? Why or why not? If you do, what are some of your favorites–and why?
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Don’t forget, we’re having Trick or Treat from now until Halloween, with prizes galore, including a Kindle package available only to our newsletter subscribers! Everyone who signs up for our Newsletter will be entered in the drawing.
Joining the Members Den was step one – but don’t forget to respond to the Newsletter Confirmation email (sent to the email address you used to join the Members Den) in order to complete the sign up and be entered!
I’ve got a treat for you all today, including two wonderful prizes for you and a friend at the end.
Ashley March is one of a bunch of wonderful new historical romance writers who have hit us over the last few years. Booklist singled Ashley out as a rising star of historical romance and praised her 2010 debutSEDUCING THE DUCHESS:
“With its addictive combination of richly nuanced characters, elegant writing spiced with a soupçon of wicked wit, and abundance of sizzling sexual chemistry, March’s exceptional debut is literary gold.” Ashley’s second book ROMANCING THE COUNTESS came out 6th September and is already garnering widespread praise.
Here’s the blurb for ROMANCING THE COUNTESS:
Sebastian Madinger, the Earl of Wriothesly, thought he’d married the perfect woman-until a fatal accident revealed her betrayal with his best friend. After their deaths, Sebastian is determined to avoid a scandal for the sake of his son. But his best friend’s widow is just as determined to cast her mourning veil aside by hosting a party that will surely destroy both their reputations and expose all of his carefully kept secrets…Leah George has carried the painful knowledge of her husband’s affair for almost a year. All she wants now is to enjoy her independence and make a new life for herself-even if that means being ostracized by the Society whose rules she was raised to obey. Now that the rumors are flying, there’s only one thing left for Sebastian to do: silence the scandal by enticing the improper widow into becoming a proper wife. But when it comes to matters of the heart, neither Sebastian nor Leah is prepared for the passion they discover in each other’s arms…. You can find out more about Ashley and her books and read excerpts on her website: www.ashleymarch.com
Ashley, congratulations on the release of your second historical romance ROMANCING THE COUNTESS. Can you tell us about this story?
Thank you, Anna, and thank you so much for hosting me today here at The Romance Bandits! You guys always know how to have fun. ROMANCING THE COUNTESS is about an earl and his best friend’s wife who are drawn together after their spouses—who were having an affair—die in a carriage accident. The heroine Leah, who knew of the affair and kept it secret for a year, is ready to move on with her life. However, Sebastian, the Earl of Wriothesly, is shocked to discover the betrayal of both the wife he loved dearly and the best friend he considered closer than his own brother. Yet when Leah begins to engage in reckless behaviour, Sebastian has to get past his grief and anger to keep her from revealing the affair to all of Society in order to protect his son. Goodness me, you’ve been busy! We have two novellas to talk about as well as ROMANCING THE COUNTESS. Firstly, can you please tell us about ROMANCING LADY CECILY and how it relates to your other historical romances?
I’m hoping to become busier. ROMANCING LADY CECILY actually serves as a sort of prequel to ROMANCING THE COUNTESS. In RtC, the hero’s dead wife’s name is Angela. ROMANCING LADY CECILY is the story of Angela’s best friend, Lady Cecily. RLC is an e-short of about 15,000 words and has its own HEA with Lady Cecily and her hero.
Sounds great. I also notice you have a contemporary novella coming out in November in an anthology with Bernadette Marie and Tiffany James. Can you please tell us about this story and also how it felt to leave the Victorian era and dabble in the 21st century?
Oh, thanks so much for asking! This will be my first contemporary work, so I’m very excited to see how readers respond to this different style and voice. Each of the novellas in the SWEET TALK ME anthology feature a heroine that works in an occupation related to food—and actually, they work specifically with desserts, hence the title. My novella in the anthology, titled ‘Forbidden Desserts’, is about a former ballerina turned pastry chef and the engaged owner of the restaurant who doesn’t want to face his attraction to her.
I had a lot of fun writing this contemporary novella. I tend to write emotional and sometimes angsty historical romances, so the lighter contemporary allowed me to experiment with a different type of voice. Depending on the success of the anthology and the feedback I receive, I have plans to write a series of full-length contemporaries in addition to my historicals soon. *crosses fingers* What’s next for Ashley March?
This week (on September 6th) I just started a fun new reader-interactive experiment where readers get to help me write a novella on my website at www.ashleymarch.com! Over the next 10 weeks, readers will vote on how the chapter for the next week develops, and will get to read the chapter based upon their vote after I write it. At the end of the experiment (which hopefully readers will find as much fun as I believe it will be!), I plan to edit the novella and self-publish it. The idea behind this is a preface to a new project of mine I plan to start in 2012 called Romance with Heart, which I’m calling right now a reader-interactive romance charity adventure.
Ooh, sounds intriguing. Can you tell us about your writing journey?
Oh, boy. I’ll give you the short (or somewhat short) version. After finishing my first romance in 2006 and realizing it was truly horrific, I gave up the idea of writing and resigned myself to working a 9-to-5 for the rest of my life. Then in 2008, after reading a wonderful romance written by someone else I was inspired to try again. I finished my second manuscript that year, then completed my third manuscript, which later became SEDUCING THE DUCHESS, my debut, in 2009. I sold SD in a three-book contract to NAL Penguin in December 2009 and SD was published as my first book in October 2010. I have been very, very fortunate.
I know you have two young children. How do you fit your writing around your family commitments? Any hints for time management?
I used to work full-time, but fortunately I’m now able to be a SAHM, which has always been a dream of mine. Funnily enough, I find I have less time to write now than when I was working (as I could write during my lunch break, etc.) Right now I mostly write in the evenings after the girls have gone to bed—usually from 7 or 8—and stay up to somewhere between 12am or 2. If I didn’t love what I do so much, not just the writing but also interacting with readers, I honestly don’t think I’d be able to do this day in and day out. I love sleep. Unfortunately, I don’t have any hints for time management. I’m trying to figure out a way to inject enough caffeine into my veins directly so I NEVER have to sleep.
Ashley, do you have anything to ask the Banditas and Bandita Buddies?
As you can see, I obviously need help with time management, especially with two young children in the house (mine are currently 27mo and 10mo). What tips would you give for either making the most of your free time or, if you’re already as bad at it as I am, figuring out how to stay awake longer?
One random commenter will be chosen to win a copy of my newest book, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS, and will get a chance to send a copy of my debut, SEDUCING THE DUCHESS, to a friend (open internationally, of course)! Also, find out how to win the ROMANCING THE COUNTESS Book Tour Grand Prize of 50+ romance novels by visiting www.ashleymarch.com!
Oh, I love this phone a friend contest. How cool is this? Spreading the good oil is always, uh…GOOD. (Hmm, maybe I should become a writer. I clearly have a gift for description.) Get commenting, people, and good luck!
It’s my great pleasure today to introduce a fresh face to the lair, wonderful Avon historical romance author Jenny Brown!
Jenny’s debut LORD LIGHTNING garnered glowing reviews and a lot of buzz in Romancelandia, including two Romantic Times Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Award nominations. Her second book in the Lords of the Seventh House series, STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION comes out 30th August. Rush to pre-order it!
Here’s the blurb for STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION:
Lovers or Enemies?
Captain Miles Trevelyan, on leave from active service in India, is heading out for a night on the town when he rescues a beautiful pickpocket from arrest. She’s the perfect choice for a few days of dalliance–beautiful, cunning, and completely disposable.
But Temperance has no intention of becoming the plaything of a man who wears the uniform of the solders who murdered her lover. Disarming Trev with a kiss, she escapes. But her sultry kiss opens the two Scorpio adversaries to an obsessive attraction that neither can elude–or possibly survive.
You can find out more about Jenny and her books (and see astrological charts for her characters!) on her website: www.jennybrown.net
You can find a brand-new excerpt from STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION here: www.jennybrown.net/home/SCSexcerpt.php Welcome, Jenny. It’s great to have you in the lair at last – I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to talk to you here about your wonderful stories. STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION is the second in your Lords of the Seventh House series which started with the fabulously well-received LORD LIGHTNING. Can you tell us about this new story and the inspiration behind it?
When I sold LORD LIGHTNING, my editor wanted it to be the first in a series where the hero’s astrological sign would play a part in the story.
Scorpio was the obvious sign to do next. No other sign screams sensual, emotionally moving romance like Scorpio.
But Scorpio has a very mixed reputation. Sexy, yes. But also manipulative, secretive, resentful and transgressive. Scorpios aren’t so much into sex as a recreational activity as they are into sex as a way to control other people. What turns them on is emotion, not sensation. If giving you multiple orgasms will bind you to them for life, they’ll do it. If withholding sex will work better—that works for them, too.
So how was I to make my hero heroic? The answer lay in exploring the gift Scorpio may confer: intense loyalty, deep psychological insight, and the ability to heal the most painful psychological injuries.
When a Scorpio gives his heart, his loyalty to his loved one will motivate him do whatever is necessary to protect that person, even to sacrificing their lives.
This pointed me to my hero: A dedicated soldier descended from a line of soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for King and Country. And since astrologers know that Scorpios often do best when paired with others of their sign, I made my hero and heroine both sexually alluring, magnetic Scorpios, each of whose lives is dominated by loyalties that have given them secrets they have no choice but to keep hidden.
Captain Miles Trevelyan is on leave from active service in India and looking for nothing more than an evening’s pleasure when circumstances force him, much against his better judgement, to step in and rescue a beautiful pickpocket from a well-deserved arrest. Once in his custody, the streetwise Temperance, who has learned how to use her sexual allure to gain control over men, distracts him with a seductive kiss, intending to make her escape by diverting the handsome captain’s blood away from his brain to a less observant organ.
But their kiss opens them both to feelings they’ve never before experienced and Temperance finds herself unable to break free, even though the man who has aroused such passion in her wears the same uniform as the officer who killed her ex-lover, a failed revolutionary. Drawn into a battle of the sexes where each pits their seductive skills against the other, Trev learns he has finally met the one woman strong enough to meet him where others fear to tread. But he faces a devastating choice. Will he remain true to King and Country, or give up everything to save the strong and vulnerable girl who’s won his heart?
Ooh, sounds delicious! You use astrology as a major theme in your historical romances. How did you become interested in this ancient art?
I don’t actually remember when I discovered astrology, but I know it was before I was nine as I was recently going through some family papers and found a cartoon I’d drawn in a letter I sent home from camp at that age which showed a wizard pointing to an accurately drawn astrological chart. My fuzzy memory is that I first encountered astrology in a newsstand magazine, possibly DELL HOROSCOPE. When I was in my 20s someone taught me how to cast charts (this was before software made it easy.) So I began to draw charts for everyone I met, and learned more about how to interpret them from books and classes.
What’s next for you?
My next book is the Pisces book in the series. It’s tentatively titled PERILOUS PLEASURES.
While the first two books of the series, LORD LIGHTNING and STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION are connected to each other, this third book goes off in another direction. Set in 1803, it pairs a handsome, wealthy, idealistic Scottish lord, who has taken a vow of chastity in order to be initiated into the secrets of an ancient healing tradition, with the ugly, cynical daughter of the courtesan he must kill if he is to avenge his sister’s murder.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
I have such a strong streak of Sagittarius on my own chart that there’s nothing I’d rather do than give advice.
What I’d suggest—which is the best advice I received from another, brilliant writer, and of course, ignored—is that aspiring writers finish at least five books before they seek publication. There as so many benefits of doing this. The most important is that your first book is never as good as you think it is, and writing more will give you either the experience you need to make the first book better or provide you with a much better book—one that might let you break in with a big advance and strong publisher support. The other benefit of writing a lot of books before you publish is that with a stash of books to draw on, you can deliver subsequent books more quickly, which will also help you build up your audience.
Unfortunately, like Temperance, the impulsive heroine of STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION, who ignores the warning Eliza, the astrologer we first met in LORD LIGHTNING, gives her, most of us ignore all the advice we’re given no matter how good it might be.
Jenny, that’s all fascinating! Thanks for being our guest today. Do you have a question to get the conversation going with our Banditas and Bandita Buddies?
What’s the best piece of advice someone has given you? Did you take it? What was the worst? I’ll be giving away a copy of LORD LIGHTNING to a randomly chosen commenter. OK, people, let’s all be STARS and comment to win this great prize. Good luck.
Note: Jenny will forward the prize once her book hits the stands on 30th August.
by Anna Campbell
by Anna Campbell
Miranda, that looks spectacular. I often think back on our day at St. Augustine and what fun we had bowling along in our convertible. Do you have a question for the Banditas and Bandita Buddies to get conversation rolling like said convertible?
Always happy to share a David Bowie video and I think Changes is such a great song. Hmm, maybe I can work my all-time fave David Bowie song Heroes into a blog in the future. I think it’s got potential!
A few of you have contacted me asking when the next book is out. The answer is…
Here’s the blurb:
. . . SPARK A LIFETIME OF PASSIONATE SURRENDER?
by Anna Campbell
. I really wanted to create female characters who were strong and passionate about things outside of love affairs. But don’t worry if science was never your thing! While my heroines’ interesting passions form who they are as characters and play a part in the mystery to be solved or how they go about solving them, the series is definitely historical romance, and the stories are highly emotional, with each heroine meeting the only hero that can complete them. Just ask Kathryn Smith, the USA Today Bestselling Author of “When Tempting a Rogue,” who says “Heather Snow combines sizzling tension, witty dialogue and achingly raw emotions for a passionate love story you’ll remember long after the last page.”
Yes. I am SO excited about it. Again, we have a smart, science-savvy heroine. Emma is sort of a Regency-era Temperance Brennan from the TV show, BONES, who gets mixed up with the equivalent of a Regency-era Bond. There’s a bit of treason, a bit of murder, and a faboo tag line: “But when deception, however sweet, is the name of the game no one can be trusted, and every love—and every life—is at risk.” 
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
by Anna Campbell
Sounds great. And another hero thrust into the role! You live in a really beautiful part of the world that one day I hope to visit. I’d love you to tell us about YOUR Nova Scotia. Do you think that dramatic landscape inspires your writing?
Here’s the blurb for
Goodness me, you’ve been busy! We have two novellas to talk about as well as 
What’s next for Ashley March?
Welcome, Jenny. It’s great to have you in the lair at last – I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to talk to you here about your wonderful stories. 
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