Welcome to Duck Chat!

You’re in for some fun today! Lydia Dare is here and they — yes, they! — are talking about their new paranormal series and some other fun stuff.

Lydia Dare is the writing team of Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson. Both Tammy and Jodie are active members of the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers and live near Raleigh, North Carolina. They are working together on their next paranormal historical trilogy as Lydia Dare, which will be released by Sourcebooks Casablanca in Spring 2010.

If you leave a meaningful comment or question for Lyida, we’ll drop your name in the running for one of two copies of her debut book, A Certain Wolfish Charm. Sorry, it’s U.S. and Canada only.

Now let’s chat!

DC: Lydia, welcome to the Pond! We’re glad to have you here today. Since you’re a new author to most of us, would tell us a little bit about yourself, please?

LD: Since Lydia Dare is a writing team of two authors (Tammy and Jodie) , we’ll try to make it clear which of us is speaking.

Lydia/Jodie – I’m a single mother who works as a Meeting Planner when I’m not writing. I started out my career screenwriting but found my place with novels.

Lydia/Tammy – I’ve been married for almost seventeen years and have two boys – 15 and 6.  I’ve been self employed for about six years.

DC: I’ve heard writers often say their stories take them in surprising directions, or dialogue flows from some unknown place. Is it the same with you? Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

Lydia/Jodie – Occasionally a character will surprise me. But I’m often surprised by Tammy. We don’t plot out our stories, so whenever she sends me new pages I’m surprised.

Lydia/Tammy – The characters always surprise me, mainly because I have no idea what they’ll be doing till I get the pages back from Jodie. They could be howling at the moon when I send them off and sipping tea in the blue parlor when I get them back.  It’s sort of like sending the kids to Grandma’s for the weekend. You have no idea what they were going to do while they were gone, but you like to hear the story, regardless.

DC: Do you ever argue with your characters while you’re writing? Who usually wins?

Lydia/Jodie – I have never argued with a character. What would be the point? It’s their story, not mine.

Lydia/Tammy – I argue with Jodie. She’s quite a character. Does that count?

DC: The Westfield brothers are featured in your first three books, which are being released back to back over the next few months. Would you tell our readers about this story arc as a whole, how it evolved, and did it turn out as you originally envisioned?

Lydia/Tammy – I don’t think Jodie or I envisioned the ending until right up to the last page.  While we were writing, Jodie was as in the dark about what “claiming one’s mate” while in Lycan form would be like.  I didn’t know either, so how could I tell her? All I could say was, “No, Jodie, I don’t think he’ll have sex with her when he’s furry.” But what did I know? It all evolved as we wrote.

Simon, the Duke of Blackmoor, spent his whole life creating scandal in hopes someone would finally see the wild side of him and either kick him out of society or embrace him just as he was. He needed someone who would accept the animalistic side of him, which is where Lily Rutledge comes in.  Of course, Simon had two charming brothers, William and Benjamin, with Ben being the youngest.  They weren’t integral to the plot of Simon’s book, but they certainly made each book more fun. And they got their own stories as well.

Being Lycan is the one thing that keeps them apart from women who might be able to love them. It’s as hard for them to accept the love from a woman as it is for the woman to embrace the beast that rests within them.  Of course, the women in our books are no shy little weaklings. They’re up for the challenge.

DC: What is sure to distract you from sitting down and working/writing?

Lydia/Jodie – Life! My son. My day job. My pets. I won’t bore you with the whole list.

Lydia/Tammy – Work, typically.  I keep telling my husband I don’t need to work, but the mortgage company convinces him otherwise.  Go figure.

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved over your career? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you started?

Lydia/Tammy – I don’t think they changed from book one to book seven (more about what’s next later in the interview!).  We like kick-ass heroines.

Lydia/Jodie – With a definite soft side. They know their place in society, and for the most part they stay true to those societal demands.

DC: A Certain Wolfish Charm is Simon and Lily’s story, and Simon tries his best to avoid Lily’s allure. Can you give us some insight into their relationship?

Lydia/Tammy – Simon is the consummate bachelor. Lily is the predictable but lovely mother figure who is raising her sister’s child after her death, whose guardian just happens to be the dangerous Duke of Blackmoor.  As the story opens, Lily’s perplexed about changes she’s seeing within her nephew, who just happened to inherit the ability to howl at the moon. At the same time Lily’s dealing with these issues, Simon’s trying to decide between purchasing one whore or two. Choices, choices!

DC: Is there a genre you haven’t tackled but would like to try?

Lydia/Tammy – If I could slip out of romance long enough to try it, I’d love to try my hand at a teen fantasy.  Those worlds intrigue me.

DC: What advice would you give to your younger self?

Lydia/Jodie – Don’t marry that man! Oh, you mean about writing? Scratch that then. Honestly, I wouldn’t give myself any advice at all. I think each step along the way was a learning experience and those lessons are priceless.

Lydia/Tammy – Don’t follow anyone’s advice.  Trust that as long as you’re kind, considerate and use your head for something other than a hat-rack, the rest of it will fall into place.

DC: Benjamin’s up next in Tall, Dark and Wolfish. We don’t get much of Ben in ACWC, and his book sounds quite powerful. Would you give us a peek into his story?

Lydia/Jodie – Oh, I do so love Benjamin! He is probably the sweetest of the brothers. Unfortunately, he doesn’t always think before he acts, and he winds up getting himself in a bit of trouble. He’s a Lycan who, after a series of bad decisions, can no longer transform under the full moon and this devastates him. So Ben goes in search of a mystical Scottish witch who he hopes can heal all that ails him. Poor Ben is not quite prepared for beautiful, soft-hearted Elspeth, who seems the furthest thing from a witch.

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Yes, in addition to the Westfield brothers!)

Lydia/Jodie: Oh, I am a big fan of Claudia Dain’s Courtesan Chronicles. But you HAVE to start at the beginning. Each book does stand alone, but they are so much more fun if you read them in order.

Lydia/Tammy – Oh, my list would take up the whole page.  So, let’s try this: http://www.heartofcarolina.org/hcrw-authors.html

DC: We finally get to William and Prisca in The Wolf Next Door. From their interaction in ACWC, we know they don’t get along very well and there’s some history between them. May we get a sneak peek into what to expect in their book?

Lydia/Jodie: A little more of the same from them. They do love each other, they just can’t tolerate being in the same room. But when a dangerous werewolf sets his sights of Prisca, William will stop at nothing to finally capture her for himself.

DC: If you had never become an author, what do you think you would be doing right now?

Lydia/Tammy – I can’t imagine not being an author. But being an author is one small part of who I am.  I’m a wife and a mother, first and foremost.  Being a mother’s the hardest job on earth. Though I imagine that if one lived on the moon, it would be even more difficult with no gravity.

DC: What’s in the works after all of the Westfield brothers are in bookstores?

Lydia/Jodie: We have so much going on right now. In November, The Taming of the Wolf will be on shelves. This release will tie the Westfield Wolves series to a vampire trilogy we are working on for next Spring. So four more books in the next 12 months or so.

What else is on the horizon for Lydia Dare?

Lydia/Tammy – Gentlemen vampires, for one. Who knows after that?

Lightning Round:

– dark or milk chocolate?

• Tammy – milk
• Jodie – milk

– smooth or chunky peanut butter?

• Tammy – smooth (chunky feels like having dirt in your mouth)
• Jodie – chunky

– heels or flats?

• Tammy – flats
• Jodie – heels

– coffee or tea?

• Tammy – I wouldn’t pick either, but if I have to, flavored coffee
• Jodie – coffee

– summer or winter?

• Tammy – winter
• Jodie – summer

– mountains or beach?

• Tammy – beach
• Jodie – beach

– mustard or mayonnaise?

• Tammy – mustard
• Jodie – yuck, neither!

– flowers or candy?

• Tammy – flowers wilt – candy!
• Jodie – flowers

– pockets or purse?

• Tammy – Oh, pocket, although my husband is trying to get me more organized by shoving a purse at me.
• Jodie – purse

– Pepsi or Coke?

• Tammy – Pepsi
• Jodie – Coke

– ebook or print?

• Tammy – both!
• Jodie – print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

What is your favorite word?

• Tammy – (it’s actually a phrase) “Straight to the fiery depths of hell with you, Jodie.
• Jodie — yes

What is your least favorite word?

• Tammy – that would be whichever potty word my six-year-old has decided to yell out during church
• Jodie – no

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

• Tammy – the sparkle in someone’s eye when they’re enthused about a new project or stage in life
• Jodie – the energy of being around other creative people.

What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

• Tammy – people who like to edit what you say or do
• Jodie – narrow-mindedness

What sound or noise do you love?

• Tammy – raindrops on a windowsill, because that means my husband has to come in from the garden and I can be lazy in bed
• Jodie – my son’s voice

What sound or noise do you hate?

• Tammy – Oh, my gosh – Jodie and I agree.  I hate the phone.
• Jodie – the telephone ringing

What is your favorite curse word?

• Tammy – is the f-bomb too predictable?  (Sorry, Mom!)
• Jodie – if I answer that, my mother will be furious with me. Suffice it to say it’s a really bad one.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

• Jodie – I would love, love, love to be a casting director!

What profession would you not like to do?

• Jodie – Where to begin? Garbage collector pops to mind, but there are so many I would not like to do. I’m really rather prissy.
• Tammy – the legal field has always intrigued me.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

• Tammy – “You remember that time you (did this)?  Well, I forgive you, ‘cause it sure was funny!”
• Jodie – “You were always right!”