! After a year I’ve found a home for my latest series. I’m happy to share that I will officially be joining the Authors at Magnolia Blossom Publishing.
My first book in the series is “The Widow Spy”. I will be sharing more in the months to come as I get cover art and have a release date.
Since today is my birthday, I decided to let a few of my friends from Facebook interview me. Here are their questions.
What do you feel is the hardest part of the publishing process? (From Vania Rheault)
Rejection – The hardest part for me is finding a home for finished work. I haven’t been brave enough to enter into the Self-Publishing world because that all seems hard to me. So finding a home for whatever completed project I have is hard in the sense a certain amount of prediction for agents and editors on what readers may want a year or more out makes it difficult. I’ll send out a query and then get a rejection and if I’m lucky they will tell me why. Sometimes I get a form letter or even worse that they liked the writing but it wasn’t a good fit.
How are you just so damn adorable all the time? Inquiring minds want to know. (From Lyn Armstrong)
Lyn is biased, her and maybe my husband. I love and miss you, lady.
Do you work plots out with writing buddies or plot all by yourself? (From Marie Johnston)
Normally, I plot by myself. But recently I asked for some input on a finished Regency I just finished and my local critique group helped me come up with a plot (it involves murder) that I will weave back in through the story. This isn’t uncommon for me to finish a manuscript and then change one, maybe two, things, and then have to layer those elements back in.
When you write so many books, what’s your strategy for keeping plots, characters, and settings fresh? (from Natalie Pierce)
It helps that I write in a few different sub-genres of romance. Once you change the setting everything else can be fresh or new based on a new place or time. I have started keeping series bibles so I can remember how old someone is at story X so I make sure to age them by story Y. I usually keep these in either Pinterest, Google Keep, or in a Notebook.
Happy birthday! Let’s see. I’d love to know more about how you got started writing stories. How much of real life is included in your books? Do you have other business ideas you might work on in the future? (from A. Catherine Noon)
Figures A. Catherine Noon would have the most questions. Here we go.
I have been writing since childhood, before my grandmother passed she gave me a collection of stories I wrote for her about the various mythical holiday creatures, like the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, A Leprechaun trying to find Baby New Year. Unfortunately, they didn’t find him because I had only gotten as far as writing their origin stories. I loved info dumps even as a child.
I include much of real life in my contemporaries, including some of my friends (you know who you are). Of course, I changed their names to protect the not so innocent. I’ve used their professional knowledge among which include a pilot, an architect, a nurse, firemen, and of course a writer. Most of my paranormal, sci-fi, and fantasy stories are entirely fiction.
Future Business Projects – Writing Wise I’m working on my Brave the Elements Series – Wind Resistant is my Nano project. I will be querying my Regency this month and maybe a bit in November. I take December off because I find I need the break for the holidays. Non-writing wise – I’ve thrown my hat in on a contest in ND pairing artists and writers. Long Term I’m hoping to get a North Dakota Writers Conference so if you are thinking about something like that my fellow writers, let me know. There are far more of us than the world knows about.
I’m wondering what percent of your writing is actually non-fiction, in a fictional book. (Brian Daly)
It depends on the fiction. In my Steampunk Series, I’d say 50%. I altered parts of the timeline significantly.
My Regency is fairly historically accurate but I did change a few things – my hero knows cane fighting which isn’t really a thing until closer to the Victorian period and was invented in France, not England. So those are pretty liberal. My Contemporaries including my paranormal books are about 25% fiction accounting for characters and the mythology of fairies. But the career choices are based on people I know.
And I would say my Post-Apocalyptic books are 75% fiction the only real elements being geography and locations in the future. 🙂
I hope you’ve enjoyed this Q&A. If I missed your question here leave a comment below and I’ll try to answer it. ~Tina
Release date: March 17
Series: Colors of Scandal #1
Blurb: Surviving the wilds of Cornwall is more life changing than they thought.
Miss Caroline Sloane is on her way to Poughill, Cornwall. In highhanded fashion, her estranged grandfather has arranged a marriage for her to a sea captain she’s met but once, and she wishes to convince him otherwise. She’ll marry for love or not at all, but an accident with the crowded mail coach on which she’s traveling throws her existence into chaos.
Alan Blackmore, the Earl of St. Clair, has been summoned to his Devon estate by his ducal father. His engagement, designed by the duke years ago, has now come due and he must wed to merge holdings. The last thing he wants is a leg-shackling, for he enjoys his life of a rake too much, and he means to tell his father off, but one dark, rainy night on mud-slick roads changes his course forever.
Lost and injured in windswept and rugged Cornwall, the first order of business is survival. As their wounds heal, Caroline and Alan come to know each other while living a simple, uncomplicated life. A friendship of necessity slowly grows into something passionate and scandalous, but when reality returns to rescue them, they both must decide what is more important: duty, tradition, or an unexpected love.
Excerpt:
Caroline watched him. What would become of him when they were rescued and forced to separate? Her chest tightened with a pain akin to the loss of a loved one. I can’t contemplate that now. Loath to leave him to mundane tasks, she asked, “What was your dream for your life when you were a child?”
A delighted grin curved his mouth, which drew her attention to it. “When I was ten, I desperately wished to become a pirate. To sail the seas, ferret out treasure, and charm the ladies.” His chuckle reverberated through the small room. “Mostly, though, I wanted the freedom to sail where the wind took me. To explore, to listen to people who are different from me.” Then his grin slowly faded. “In many ways, that experience would have done me more good in handling my responsibilities now than what I spent my life on.”
“It’s not too late. Use that dream—that determination—to help you as you put your estate in order. Noble superiority won’t bring you where you need to go.” She nodded in encouragement. “The people will listen to you if you wish to understand their viewpoints.”
“How can you know that?”
“I believe in you.” It was the truth and as deep as she wanted to go for fear of showing her budding emotions.
“You are a gem.” Alan gawked at her. “What if I’m an utter failure? I’ve never tried my hand at being responsible for anyone except myself.”
“Then try again differently tomorrow. Eventually, you find the knack.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Isn’t trying and failing better than never doing anything at all?”
He nodded. “I suppose.” For long moments, he studied her. “What did you dream of as a little girl?”
“Nothing as grand as you, I’m afraid.” Caroline shot him a tiny smile. “I wanted the kind of love my parents shared. My father left his birthright for that love. He put my mother above his duty.” She glanced at him. “One has to be incredibly lucky for that kind of romance; that is something I don’t have.”
“Neither do I,” he said in a soft voice.”
Yet here they both were, survivors of a horrific accident. “I was incredibly fond of music. I wanted to play the pianoforte. We were too poor for any of that.”
“Perhaps the future will present you with that chance.”
“I can hope.” Her chin trembled, for they both knew it was unlikely to happen. “Beyond that, I don’t want to be forgotten. How sad if no one will ever remember me.” Tears filled her eyes. She blinked them away, for they were silly. “I want to make a difference in someone’s life. And…” One stupid drop fell anyway. “…I won’t know if I’ve done that because who would tell me?”
“Ah, Caroline.” Alan surprised her when he swiftly stood, closed the distance between them, his limp barely noticeable. Then he held her face between his palms and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. The heat of his hands warmed her skin. “You already have made a difference. In my life. And you can be damned certain I’ll never forget you.”
Her heart pounded so loudly she feared he could hear as their gazes locked, so close their breath intermingled. His eyes darkened. Trembles played down her spine. “Alan…” She dropped her focus to his mouth. Would he kiss her? Drat, she shouldn’t wish for that, for nothing could come of it. Still, she’d never been kissed in all her nine and twenty years.
Why shouldn’t her first come from this man who shared this incredibly poignant time with her, so that she wouldn’t be such a novice when she wed?
“Botheration.” He tore himself away, mumbled a few unintelligible words, and then left the cottage without his crutch or another word.
Caroline stared after him as cold confusion engulfed her, and his words ringing in her ears.
Buy links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083G621JN
B & N: https://tinyurl.com/vyhuglq
Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/uf3tasr
Apple: https://tinyurl.com/wlf6d2l
Social Media Links:
Website: http://www.sandrasookoo.com
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/sandra.sookoo
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/sandrasookooauthor/
Amazon page: amazon.com/author/sandrasookoo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandrasookoo/
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/sandra-sookoo
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sandrasookoo/
My Fake Rake
The Union of the Rakes Book 1
by Eva Leigh
Genre: Historical Romance
Print Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: November 26, 2019
In the first book in Eva Leigh’s new Union of the Rakes series, a bluestocking enlists a faux suitor to help her land an ideal husband only to be blindsided by real desire…
Lady Grace Wyatt is content as a wallflower, focusing on scientific pursuits rather than the complications of society matches. But when a handsome, celebrated naturalist returns from abroad, Grace wishes, for once, to be noticed. Her solution: to “build” the perfect man, who will court her publicly and help her catch his eye. Grace’s colleague, anthropologist Sebastian Holloway, is just the blank slate she requires.
To further his own research on English society, Sebastian agrees to let Grace transform him from a bespectacled, bookish academic into a dashing—albeit fake—rake. Between secret lessons on how to be a rogue and exaggerated public flirtations, Grace’s feelings for Sebastian grow from friendship into undeniable, inconvenient, real attraction. If only she hadn’t asked him to help her marry someone else…
Sebastian is in love with brilliant, beautiful Grace, but their bargain is complete, and she desires another. Yet when he’s faced with losing her forever, Sebastian will do whatever it takes to tell her the truth, even if it means risking his own future—and his heart.
Amazon * Apple * B&N * Google * Kobo
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42872108
Buy Links
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/My-Fake-Rake-Union-Rakes-ebook/dp/B07P2WLV63
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/my-fake-rake/id1454227755
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-fake-rake-eva-leigh/1130698110#/
Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Eva_Leigh_My_Fake_Rake?id=cTSKDwAAQBAJ
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/my-fake-rake
Eva Leigh is a romance author who has always loved the Regency era. She writes novels chock-full of determined women and sexy men. She enjoys baking, spending too much time on the Internet, and listening to music from the ’80s. Eva and her husband live in Central California.
Eva also writes in multiple romance genres as Zoë Archer.
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Author Links
Website: http://evaleighauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvaLeighAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EvaLeighAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoearcher73/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/eva-leigh
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Eva-Leigh/e/B01JHJ361Y
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8886093.Eva_Leigh
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
https://www.silverdaggertours.com/sdsxx-tours/my-fake-rake-book-tour-and-giveaway
An Earl Of Her Own
Saints and Sinners series (Book 3)
By Heather Boyd
Heather is giving away a print edition of The Duke and I and A Gentleman’s Vow during the tour. Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Remember there is a chance to enter everyday so be sure to follow the Blog Tour. You may find the tour schedule and locations here https://goo.gl/qw8v5J
About An Earl Of Her Own:
Marriage is about finding that special someone you want to annoy for the rest of your life!
Rebecca Warner’s devotion to her family is the perfect distraction from the loneliness of widowhood. Not that she’d ever admit a need for someone special in her life after her husband’s betrayal. With the responsibility of arranging her sister’s wedding falling into her lap, Rebecca has no time for a certain maddening earl bent on seducing her—until he proves her most ardent ally.
For Adam Croft, Earl of Rafferty, what began as an amusing pursuit—shocking Rebecca Warner—becomes something deeper when he recognizes how perfect a wife and mother she would make. Adam’s keenly aware of his loneliness…and that his habit to curb it with drink lost him Becca’s respect. He’ll happily change his ways to win her approval, but what more can he do to win her love?
Release Date: February 12, 2019
Length: approx. 300 pages
Heat: steamy regency romance
Digital ISBN: 978-1-925239-51-5
Print ISBN: 978-1-925239-52-2
ASIN: B07KGLD7RB
AppleBooks ID: 1437218392
Book Links:
~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~
Excerpt:
“You are hurt, worse than you want to say,” Rebecca Warner whispered.
Her soft green eyes were filled with real concern, something Adam had never expected to see on her face. “Well, that is disappointing.”
“Disappointing?” Rebecca immediately began searching through his hair for the wound, and he chose to imagine it a sensual caress until she spoke again. “You have a gash to your head that has bled. Dear God, you could have died.”
“Always looking on the bright side,” he murmured, and then noticed how close the lady was to his body. He inhaled slowly, delighted in this unexpectedly rare treat. Mrs. Warner had never been the friendliest sort. “You smell nice.”
“Really, Rafferty,” she chided. She suddenly slipped her hand inside his coat, rummaged in his pockets and began to dab at his head with the handkerchief she found there. “This is hardly the time to worry about my perfume.”
“As you say, I could have been killed. Seems like an appropriate time for noticing the little things in life that please me.” He felt pain and hissed. Eager for a distraction, he dropped his gaze to her shoulder—now bare of the shawl, which had fallen away unnoticed by the lady. The respectable garment Rebecca had worn to church, so stylish and modest, was less so now thanks to the accident. The struggle out of the carriage seemed to have ripped the seam apart, and her pale skin looked very soft and inviting. He curled his fingers into the skirt of her gown and held it. “Lovely.”
She drew back to peer into his eyes again, and then she glanced down at his fist. “What are you doing?”
What was he doing? Adam had no idea, but he wasn’t of a mind to stop.
Saints and Sinners series:
Book 1: The Duke and I (Nicolas and Gillian) – https://amzn.to/2Thss0C
Book 2: A Gentleman’s Vow (Gideon and Jessica) – https://amzn.to/2Tc3kso
Book 3: An Earl of Her Own (Adam and Rebecca) – https://amzn.to/2G2HCmT
~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~
About the Author:
Determined to escape the Aussie sun on a scorching camping holiday, Heather picked up a pen and notebook from a corner store and started writing her very first novel—Chills. Eight years later, she is the author of over thirty romances and publisher of several anthologies too. Addicted to all things tech (never again will Heather write a novel longhand) and fascinated by English society of the early 1800s, Heather spends her days getting her characters in and out of trouble and into bed together (if they make it that far). She lives on the edge of beautiful Lake Macquarie, Australia with her trio of mischievous rogues (husband and two sons) along with one rescued cat whose only interest in her career is that it provides him with food on demand. You can find details of Heather’s work at http://www.heather-boyd.com
Heather Boyd’s Social Links:
Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
I’ve been making up stories ever since I could read and write. The first story I remember writing was in third grade about apple tree gnomes. Unfortunately, I have lost that story!
How do you make time to write?
Luckily, I can write anywhere, anytime, but since I have a job during the week, I get most of my writing done on weekends, or on vacation while my husband does the driving!
What genre are your books?
Most of them are Regency romance, but I also have some vampire mystery/romances out there, and I just finished writing a Regency mystery. Some of my romances have magic in them. They’re a lot of fun to write.
What draws you to this genre?
I love reading both mystery and historical romance, so I naturally tend to write a blend of the two.
What are your current projects?
I’m working on a Regency romance where the heroine is a French refugee and a smuggler. She’s VERY feisty and fun to write. I’m also writing a Regency with magic, in which the heroine can see the fairies, and therefore people think she is crazy. The hero is half-fairy and super sexy and exciting. Lastly, I’m polishing my Regency mystery about a wealthy lady who has to confront all her class prejudices while solving a mystery that centers around herself. The hero of that story is a clever, intriguing Scot.
Are you an Introvert or Extrovert? How does this affect your work?
Introvert all the way. It means I’m pretty terrible at being sociable. I love hearing from my fans, but I dread meeting them and having to make small talk!!
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Um…well, so far I haven’t found it. Yikes, is that something more to worry about?
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Persevere. Get critiques, enter contests, learn to rewrite and revise, believe in yourself. And again, persevere.
Where can readers find you on the World Wide Web?
http://www.facebook.com/barbara.monajem
http://twitter.com/BarbaraMonajem
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3270624.Barbara_Monajem
Do you have a sexy excerpt you’d like to share with us?
Hmm. Not really, because the heroine and heroine don’t get together until pretty late in the book. But here’s a teaser.
Years earlier, Gloriana tried to seduce Philippe by coming to him naked in the moonlight, but he spurned her and left. Now they can hardly tolerate each other…but the attraction still lingers.
Gloriana gaped at Philippe, and their eyes met. It was dim in that tavern, but not dim enough. The awareness in his eyes sent a bolt of desire through her, top to toe.
“I do covet you, but I am an honorable man,” Philippe said. “I shall not act upon my desires, however, tempted I may be—or have been in the past.”
She surged up, gripping the tankard. “There’s nothing honorable about being a coward.”
His eyes flashed, but he slouched at ease in his chair. “Shall I call you a few choice names, too?”
She flung the tankard at him. Ale dripped down his waistcoat. He rose slowly to his feet. A babble of crude commentary broke out. Hands shaking, she dug in her reticule, dropped a shilling on the table, and stalked out into the night.
To the sound of laughter and jests, Philippe’s among them.
Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
Actually I just rewrote my bio for my website to share more of who I am and where I came from. It sounded so dull before, and I am not a dull person. I am opinionated and not shy about sharing my thoughts. I love to give advice – unsolicited. I adore expensive shoes, bargains on everything else and long baths with a good book. I am addicted to the movies – at the theater. Currently I am acquiring a appreciation for opera and live theater. I love dogs but like to share my digs with cats.
I am originally from Chicago but I have lived on both coasts from Boston to San Francisco, with several stops in between. I spent my career as a technical consultant or manager for a huge software company, but I retired in 2014 and got away from the 9 to 5 life. I miss my coworkers but not the job. To entertain myself upon retiring I started taking classes including one on “How to Write a Romance Novel” and with encouragement from friends, the rest is history.
I am close with my family, reside in suburban Chicago and I love to travel. I am on the board of directors of Mental Health America of the North Shore because they do good work and a member of Romance Writers of America.
How do you make time to write?
I am very fortunate because I am able to write full-time.
What genre are your books?
I write contemporary fiction, usually with some steamy sex. That is my wheel-house so far in my
“Beguiling Bachelor” series. But I did just complete “Our Love is Here to Stay”, which is a time-travel story.
I love reading mysteries, literature, and romance in every genre, so I have sprinkled small pieces of these into my books where I can. My mother was a librarian. She taught me to love reading and respect writers of every kind. Every word I write can be traced back to her teachings in some way or another.
What draws you to this genre?
I grew up on Regency romance, and I am drawn there but haven’t braved the genre yet. Instead, I write more of what I know – current times and current places. I set my books in places that are familiar and I make my characters a bit older than in some romances. Women in their late 20’s and early 30’s and men in their mid-30’s have problems to overcome, responsibilities to juggle and they have sex. That is what I like to write about – their flaws, their journeys, their struggles and the wonderful ways they fall in love.
What are your current projects?
I have just completed the first book in a new series, the Billionaire B&B series. The book, “Desire & Dessert” will be published in a collection this spring, with at least two more volumes to follow. My Beguiling Bachelors will return this summer, and I am always toying with a short story or two.
I am very excited about another new project – a blog for romance writers. Today I blog for my readers, my story every Thursday and an introduction to another author every Tuesday. But begging next month, on Monday’s, I will begin sharing what I have learned about writing and indie-publishing. Am I THE expert as I begin my third year as a writer? Hardly. But I have learned tons about being a new writer that experts have forgotten. Sometimes it is the non-expert that new writers can relate to. I hope to share my wisdom with those people.
Are you an Introvert or Extrovert? How does this affect your work?
My whole life I was an extravert, but once I became a writer, I became the complete opposite. Anyone or anything that takes me away from my computer is a disruption. That said, once I have made the break, the extravert in me rules again. I love being with my friends and family, networking with other authors and meeting fans. I just need that initial nudge to put down my writing.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
No feedback. No reviews. I send my books out there into the world representing my hard work and heart. They are a labor of love for me – my babies. When I have no idea how they are received, that leaves me wondering ‘do I write something similar? something different?” I don’t write only for me. I write for my readers and their feedback is priceless.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
I speak with more aspiring writers than I ever could have imagined and I tell them all the same things – read more and write more. I tell them the different betwee a writer and a want-to-be writer is that a writer finishes something.
When I got ready to write my first novel I read tons of romances, paid attention to the covers, the titles, the back-cover blurbs, even the author bios. I wrote down words and phrases that I loved from my favorite books. This became my library of inspriration. Then I wrote and wrote and wrote, edited and rewrote until I finished my first novel, “Bedazzled.”
Where can readers find you on the World Wide Web?
I hope readers will visit me at www.madisonmicahel.net where I have a blog and a wonderful giveaway for joining my insider group.
Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
I’m first and foremost a reader. It’s an addiction. I also love words—the way they go together and paint pictures fascinates me. That’s why I write. I’m a Brit who doesn’t drink tea, read the Times or have a stiff upper lip. I cry at romantic movies and weep for characters in books. I live by the North Sea on the East Yorkshire coast and make a point of walking on the beach every day.
How do you make time to write?
I write anywhere. On the bus. In the car—as long as I’m not driving—and on planes. Once I decided to finally put pen to paper, I couldn’t stop. Writing’s my second addiction. The third, and most important, is my husband and kids, so as addictions go, I’m okay, I guess.
How did you deal with Rejection Letters if you received any?
I’d love to say I shrug them off and ignore them. Honestly? Get real. I hate them. It took me a while to find my writer’s voice, and I honed my skills with magazine articles. I had about a 50% success rate but when someone turned me down, I hurt. Fortunately, I’ve not had one of my books rejected. If I did, I’d take a serious look at the manuscript and consider what I’d done wrong.
What genre are your books?
I started out writing paranormal romance. I’ve almost finished the first draft of my next stand-alone Scattered Siblings story, To Submit to an Overlord. In a new venture for me, I’ve written a very naughty Regency romance, but we won’t even start the edits for a while. My other books are contemporary romances, one – Taken by Twin Doms – set in a pleasure hotel and the other four—my Heroes of Westhorpe Ridge Series set in a fictional North Carolina Town.
What draws you to this genre?
I love all romance genres as long as they have happy endings and no cliff hangers. Each time I finish a book, I think, This is my favorite genre. I love the escapism of a well-crafted romance.
How did you come up with the idea for your series, HEROES OF WESTHORPE RIDGE?
Boy, was it hard. Back in Autumn 2016, my publisher, Loose id, put out a call to their authors for three linked holiday stories. I couldn’t think of anything for weeks and I’d decided to pass. Three weeks before the deadline, I came up with a decent storyline, but I had to write fast. I have this great relationship with my editor and I kept telling her, They’re coming. Two months later, I had three novellas about former military men trying to rebuild their lives in the North Carolina town of Westhorpe Ridge. There’s an evil great aunt who is still pulling the heroine’s string from beyond the grave, millions of dollars to inherit, and husbands to find. Although the books are hot and explicit, to me, story always comes before sex. The mobsters, spies, and would-be murders add another dimension to the romance.
What are your current projects?
So many. As I said, I’ve almost finished the first draft of To Submit to an Overlord. I have a vampire story just itching to be told. I always write in the third person, but this one might be a first person story from the captive heroine’s point of view. Then there’s this romantic suspense series I’ve been making notes for. Oh, and another Regency romance.
Are you an Introvert or Extravert? How does this affect your work?
I can put on a confident, outgoing veneer, but inside I’m an introvert. The first time I gave a book reading, my bones turned to jello. I’m proud that I did it though.
Kryssie loves to hear from readers. Here are her social media links:
Or you can email her direct on Kryssie.Fortune@aim.com
Do you have a sexy teaser you’d like to share with us?
She slowly lowered the zipper on the front of her catsuit. He whistled in a breath when he saw what she wore beneath it. White lace stretched over her breasts before the boned and laced bodice flowed over her flat stomach. Once she’d hooked her thumbs in the catsuit, she wriggled her hips and pushed it over her thighs. It pooled around her ankles, and as she stepped out of the folds, she kicked it over by the wall.
When she reached to unlace the front of her basque, he snapped, “Leave it.”
Again she smiled behind her cat mask, happy she’d made the right choice.
Master Jay lifted a blindfold from the table next to his chair. Lace trimmed and made from thick satin, the blindfold offered a chance to lose herself in a euphoria that blocked out reality and let her drop into subspace. Once he slipped it over her eyes, she concentrated on nothing but her desires and the way he filled her with wicked longing.
He beckoned her closer. “Come here and straddle me. I want a lap dance first.”
Abigail moved toward him, hips swaying as she rested one hand on his shoulder and walked around him. Once she stood behind him, she leaned toward him and ran her hands over his chest. The movement made the smooth blonde ends of her wig whip around his shoulders.
She repeated the action twice more before she completed the full circle around him. Rotating on the spot, letting him study her heels and basque before she took a step away and turned until she had her back to him. Running both hands down her right leg, she gave him a long look at her lace-covered ass. She stood slowly, but when she heard his breath hitch, she repeated the action, running her hands over her other thigh and down her leg until she held her ankle.
Tossing her head, she let the ends of her blonde wig slide over her body as she flowed upright, taking the move into an overhead stretch that emphasized her narrow waist and generous breasts. She turned toward him, hips swaying as she moved in so close she stood between his legs. The way he sat there unmoving felt like a challenge. She might be submissive by nature, but she liked how he made her work for it.
I was born in the tiny African mountain Kingdom of Lesotho, which is land-locked by South Africa. When I was small I emigrated with my family to South Australia where we built a two-story mud brick home and planted 25,000 trees in the wine-producing Clare Valley before I returned to Africa in my 20’s – this time to Botswana’s Okavango Delta – to manage a safari lodge. There I met and married a handsome Norwegian bush pilot who took me to live and work in 12 countries before we settled, a few years ago, in Melbourne, Victoria.
I write fulltime in between teaching creative writing interspersed with communications and marketing contracts, mainly for the Victorian government.
How do you make time to write?
I have to work hard at the discipline. When I was writing for traditional publishers I was given deadlines but now that I self publish, mostly, I have to make my own deadlines. Often that’s locking myself into a pre-order which usually ends with me burning the candle at both ends – such as now when trying to finish my work in progress, Devil’s Run. I still have at least 10,000 words to write in less than a week!
What genre are your books?
I used to call them straight historical Regencies or Victorian-set romances. Now, however, I find that there are multiple layers of plot and either mystery and intrigue with, quite often, a lovely, honourable hero and a heroine who has a blemished past or who is spoiled or needs redeeming in some way. I don’t consciously set out to write noble heroes and heroines in need of redeeming with either a wicked villain or a vain anti-heroine in the wings, but there’s often a version of that set-up.
So my books aren’t for readers who like a straight, sweet and uncomplicated historical. My biggest series – Daughters of Sin – is like a Regency-set soap opera with four different sisters – 2 illegitimate, 2 nobly born – lots of rivalry, double-dealing, mystery, a wicked rake being pursued for traitorous activities, and so on. I recently wound up the series with book 5, Lady Unveiled: the Cuckold’s Conspiracy, but intend to do a spin-off series of the various children – legitimate, illegitimate, secret, swapped and stolen – who have resulted from the five books in this series.
What draws you to this genre?
The inequalities between genders and the social divide, as well as the clothes and the manners. There’s so much scope for desperation to override good judgement and other rich plot possibilities when there’s not the social safety net that we take for granted today where no one starves and or doesn’t get treated at a hospital. (At least, that’s the case where I live in Australia so I let my imagination take me to another century when people couldn’t take health and not starving for granted.)
What are your current projects?
I’m nearly finished book 3 in my Beautiful Brazen Brightwell series. It’s called Devil’s Run about a young woman whose dying aunt may or may not leave her a fortune so she makes a wager to marry this betting man, both of them having very different motivations for wanting the marriage to go ahead (all about a horse) except that love gets in the way.
Are you an Introvert or Extravert?
Introvert. How does this affect your work? I’ve forced myself to do author talks and, as I love making historical costumes, it’s less intimating to do an author talk dressed in a 1780s polonaise as I can then pretend I’m someone else.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Porridge to get me going for breakfast, a glass of wine to spur me on after dinner and sometimes chocolate in between. I have very different writing schedules and as my husband is away in Singapore for six weeks at the moment and I’m between government contracts (plus it’s school holidays) I can write around the clock if I want – and as my next deadline draws near I have in fact got to work after waking at 4am.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Never give up.
Where can readers find you on the World Wide Web?
Do you have a sexy excerpt you’d like to share with us?
I just grabbed this paragraph from my unfinished work in progress, Devil’s Run:
Perhaps in the glow of moonlight he saw the spark in her eye that reflected his own feelings. Whatever it was, something in his expression flared. There was a split second of arrested awareness before a subtle shifting in the mood between them, then the sharp excitement of melding bodies, arms entwined and mouths unexpectedly fused in a kiss. The jolt of something come to life within her sent Eliza into the abyss, her mind a mass of coalescing thoughts, her body a jumble of nerve endings.
Thanks so much for having me, Tina.
You are welcome Beverley! Join me on Saturday when we read a post for Beverley’s Blog Tour!
This interview was scheduled by:
The Clog Blog 