We have a special treat for you today – Grace Burrowes is here!

If you’ve not read any of Grace’s Windham family series yet, you really are missing some fun, emotional, and romantic reads. Her newest book in the series is The Virtuoso, and this is her most emotional book yet. These Windham brothers are very special, indeed.

Grace is a practicing attorney specializing in family law and lives in a restored log cabin in western Maryland without a TV, DVD or radio because she’s too busy working on her next books. Thank goodness, say her readers!

Two copies of The Virtuoso are being given away today, so be sure to leave a meaningful comment or question for Grace. US and Canada only, please.

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Welcome, Grace! Thank you for joining us today. Let’s start off quirky. What’s the one thing even your most hard-core fans don’t know about you?

GRACE BURROWES: Thanks for inviting me! I’m always happy to talk about my books. As a kid I was afraid of nightcrawlers—hysterically, lock myself in the bathroom, afraid. My four brothers will note I use the past tense.

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

GB: “Where do you get your ideas?” is a tough one, because I don’t know the answer. Stuff occurs to me, usually three months after I needed it or three months before I realize what I ought to do with it. I read as widely as I can in the time periods I write about, and I’ve traveled to the UK when budget permits. Long drives (DC to San Diego and back) are good for pondering material in a sort of “screen saver” mode, and short walks help occasionally too.

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?

GB: Every time I pull up my WIP and set my fingers to the keyboard, I’m hoping to be surprised. If I’m surprised, the reader might be as well, and that helps keep the pages turning.

DC: What is it that initially drew you to write historical romance?

GB: I’ve been reading romance, mostly historical romance, for almost forty years. It has been my guilty pleasure, my greatest consolation, my refuge. Historical romance has made me happy as a reader. It makes sense it would make me happy as a writer too—and it has!

DC: In moseying around your website, I discovered you went to law school and opened your own office for a while. What type of law did you go into? Do you still practice?

GB: I am in private practice in rural Maryland. While I do some family mediation, and the occasional custody case, the bulk of my practice is representing children in abuse and neglect proceedings, and indigent adults in public guardianship proceedings. It’s a wonderful way to be a lawyer, since much of the work is “problem-solving law.”

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

GB: I would not dare argue with them. I’m usually too busy begging them to tell me what their almighty external conflicts are, and why those conflicts are supposed to be ideal for getting us to the Happily Ever After. One of the Windham sisters has been holding out on me now for six months.

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

GB: I blush to admit it, but the day job can feel like a distraction. I’ll spend most of the weekend, from sometime Friday until Monday mid-morning writing, writing, writing, and I would be happy to stay at it. Once I get to work I’m okay, but changing gears from Regency England or the Victorian Highlands to child welfare proceedings is hard.

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved over the course of your series so far? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you first started?

GB: When I first started writing, my editor told me I was a hero-centric writer. This struck me as dead on, to the point that when it came time to write about the Windham sisters, I was a little daunted. If I’m less interested in the heroine’s journey, how can I be sure my readers won’t find the results boring?

But then I started on the sisters’ books, and they turned out to be more personal to me than the brothers’. The sisters’ issues resonate very strongly with me, and their books are turning out to be very sound efforts as a result.

DC: Would you tell our readers about your series, The Duke’s Obsession, and the Windham family in general and also let us know about how the series began, if it’s evolved as you originally envisioned, have there been any major changes along the way?

GB: When I started writing, I just started writing, no thought to whether I’d finish a book, a series, or ever get published. A few years later I had a personal slush pile of about twenty manuscripts, all of them related, like shoots from a common spider plant. My dear editor, Deb Werksman at Sourcebooks, had the challenge of selecting where to start and how to position the books. The Windham brothers (The Heir, The Soldier, The Virtuoso) had done well in contests, and The Heir read fairly well in draft, so we started there. Deb gave me the choice of trying to finish the family series by writing the sisters’ books or moving on to some of the prequels and spinoffs. We came up with Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish (Deb gets big props for shaping the plot and for having faith in me), and that went well enough that we steered in the direction of completing the family series.

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

GB: I’ve never done anything paranormal, though I’m a die-hard JR Ward fan, and I’ve never done an inspirational. All romance ought to be inspiring, but that’s not the same thing, is it?

DC: Which fictional character would you like to hang out with?

GB: WHAT a hard question! Do I want the pleasure of some pulchritudinous, gallant masculine company when I know his deepest affections are elsewhere engaged (because I wrote him an HEA), or should I go for some girl bonding, because those Windham sisters are such first rate ladies? Or maybe tea with Their Graces, just to bask in the presence of a true love that has matured for more than thirty years?

I’d choose to spend time with Lady Genevieve Windham. She’s the last Windham sibling to marry, the one everybody calls “sweet,” and she’s hiding some enormous problem from me that I must know if I’m to write her the happy ending she deserves with her artistic swain.

DC: The Virtuoso is now on bookstore shelves everywhere. Would you tell us about Val and Ellen and their story?

GB: Suzanne Brockmann, among many others (my editor), advises that the way to a wonderful book is to torture the hero without mercy. I knew Valentine Windham had found consolation, purpose and identity in his music. He believed it was the best of him, the thing that gave him value in the eyes of others…. So I took it from him. That was hard for me.

Ellen absolutely broke my heart, though. She sought solitude because it was the only way she could regain her sanity, and her courage was tremendous. I wasn’t sure where this book would go, but it ended up being a very satisfying story to write.

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

GB: Hooboy! Cherish yourself.

DC: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever learned by Googling your name?

GB: I don’t google myself. The internet is real, but it isn’t reality. It can become like Harry Potter’s mirror, an endlessly fascinating obsession, and I don’t need or want that.

DC: What book would you like to read again for the first time?

GB: The one I have in revisions right now: Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight. It’s hard to see with a fresh eye something that absorbed me for weeks on end.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

GB: I dunno…. A cross between Great Expectations and Warrior Sheep.

DC: What would your “voice’s” tagline be?

GB: Beautiful love stores, beautifully written.

DC: We’ve been mentioning the ladies of this series, The Duke’s Daughters. Can you give us a look into this series and its characters and what readers can expect over the next year or so?

GB: These are the five daughters of Their Graces, the Duke and Duchess of Moreland. Their tales start with Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish, which is on shelves now. In May, we have Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal, and for next year’s holiday season, we’ll have, Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight. Stories for Lady Eve and Lady Jenny are slated to come out in 2013… assuming Jenny will tell me what her perishing benighted problem is.

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run?

GB: If you can wait until November first, and you’ve already ordered your copy of The Virtuoso, pick up a copy of Joanna Bourne’s The Black Hawk. ANYTHING she writes is pure, sparkling gold. While you’re there pick up Kieran Kramer’s If You Give a Girl a Viscount. It’s a wonderful Regency read that will make you smile and reach for the tissues.

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

GB: Reading If You Give a Girl a Viscount, or heckling Julie Ann Long, Meredith Duran, Loretta Chase, Mary Balogh and Jennifer Ashley (among others) to write faster. I can’t pick on Carolyn Jewel because she’s pretty quick for a single mom with a full time job.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Grace Burrowes?

GB: We’ll launch a trilogy of Scottish Victorians next summer, and oh, the pleasure of researching those books! If readers enjoy reading them half as much as I enjoy writing them, they will be quite, quite well received.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?   -  dark

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?    – depends

- heels or flats?    – barefeet or my fave thick organic wool Maggie Moo socks

- coffee or tea?    -  Jasmine green tea with cream and agave nectar

- summer or winter?   – fall

- mountains or beach?     -  mountains

- mustard or mayonnaise?    – mustard (and butter)

- flowers or candy?     -  flowers… unless there’s really good German dark chocolate marzipan involved

- pockets or purse?    – pockets and um, décolletage

- Pepsi or Coke?    – can’t do the ‘feine so I’m stuck with weasel pee aka caffeine free diet colas

- ebook or print?    – both
And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?    – today my favorite word is parlous, which means perilous. One can have a financially parlous existence (according to the Earl of Westhaven) if the ducal finances remain in the ducal mitts.

2. What is your least favorite word?     – whatever

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – love and solitude, which ought not to make sense, but to me it does, abundant thinking

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – spending too much time around people, even people I love; close mindedness; scarcity thinking

5. What sound or noise do you love?    – So many… the stream by my house on a summer night, crickets, the wind in the pines, horses chewing hay on a winter night, my bull mastiff drinking out of the potty, men singing in close harmony unaccompanied, Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini,” my family and friends calling to say hi…

6. What sound or noise do you hate?    – The silence of those entitled to cry their hearts out

7. What is your favorite curse word?     -  I’m in a “perishing bloody benighted” phase at present.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     – I’d like to work for Penhaligon’s making scents in the UK.

9. What profession would you not like to do?    – Accounting. Just do not have the gene for it!

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?    – “Welcome home, and congratulations on a long life honorably lived. Your family is waiting to greet you, but first, may I introduce you to Their Graces, the Duke and Duchess of Moreland, and their entire family?”

DC: Thank you so much for being with us today, Grace! It was an absolute pleasure.

Today we have Amanda Forester with us to celebrate her latest release, The Highlander’s Heart. If you’re one of those who love alphas who wear kilts, well, you should probably check out Amanda’s series!

This is her debut series, and so far the fans are loving her stories. So let’s get to know Amanda a little bit more. We have some fun in store for you today!

Let’s chat.

DUCK CHAT: Welcome to The Good, the Bad and the Unread, Amanda. We’re so glad to have you with us today.  Instead of the usual tell-about-us-about-yourself question, how about giving us that one tidbit even your most die-hard fans don’t know?

AMANDA FORESTER: Thank you for inviting me to chat today!  You ask a very interesting question.  One random fact about me is that when I was in seminary, I joined a brew club and made homemade beer.  I loved the smell brewing mash.  Trouble is, I don’t actually drink beer.  So I’d make tons of beer and then I’d need to give it all away.  I was very popular for a while.

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?

AF: One day I wrote the line, “It was entirely possible that sneaking out of the castle in an old pickle barrel was not among her wisest decisions.”  I had no idea why Isabelle was in a pickle barrel, and I had to write the scene to figure out what happened.  Sometimes it’s the characters who are in control!

DC: What is it that originally tempted you to write Scottish historicals?

AF: Men in kilts.  Need I say more?

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

AF: I tried to kill off a character once, but he refused to die.  I really needed him to die for the plot, but he wouldn’t let me do it.  So I hit him over the head and put him in a coma.  Still he wouldn’t die.  By the end of the book he had made a full recovery.

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

AF: Anything.  Everything.  The hardest part of writing is simply sitting down in front of the computer.  And then there’s twitter…

DC: Your debut book, The Highlander’s Sword, was a hit with readers. Would you tell our readers about that story and its hero and heroine?

AF: Swept up in the turmoil of 14th century Scotland, Lady Aila Graham is destined for the convent until her brother’s death leaves her an heiress.  Soon she is caught in the conflict between the hastily arranged marriage with a Highland warrior, the Abbot’s insistence that she take her vows, and the traitor from within who betrays them all.  Padyn MacLaren, a battle-hardened knight, returns home to the Highlands after years of fighting the English in France.  Arriving with only a band of landless knights and war-weary soldiers, MacLaren finds not a hero’s welcome, but his land pillaged and his clan scattered.  Determined to restore his clan, he sees Aila’s fortune as the answer to his problems.  Yet this outwardly shy lass is nothing he expected and everything he needs.

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

AF: When I first sat down to write a novel, I intended to write a Regency.  I studied the age of Jane Austen and felt prepared to write a Regency romance.  Somehow I ended up in medieval Scotland.  Not sure how that happened, but someday I’d like to visit the Regency again.

DC: Which fictional character would you like to hang out with?

AF: Mr. Darcy.  And he better look like Colin Firth.

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

AF: Stop worrying about meeting the right guy, you will.  Now go and read a good book.

DC: The Highlander’s Heart is your current book and hit the shelves November 1. Can you give us a look into Laird Campbell and Lady Isabelle’s world?

AF: The story is set in tumultuous 1355, with rising hostility between England and Scotland.  England holds the king of Scots hostage, and the Hundred Year’s War is beginning in France.  Lady Isabelle escapes her murderous English husband only to be abducted by a Highland warrior and held for ransom.  Her determination to break free from captivity is exceeded only by the passion growing between her and the Highland Laird.  David Campbell plans to hold Isabelle for ransom as an easy way to line his pockets and return her back where she belongs, but he is unprepared for a feisty English lass with a penchant for finding trouble.  Caught between rival clans bent on claiming the throne of Scotland, Campbell must choose a side, and a bride.  Standing on the brink of war, Isabelle may be his only hope to save his clan, and his heart.

DC: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever learned by Googling your name?

AF: Apparently there is also an Amanda Forester who is a coach.  I get her google alerts every so often and I like to cheer her on!

DC: What book would you like to read again for the first time?

AF: Pride and Prejudice.  Love that book!

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

AF: She had a slow start, but it got pretty exciting in the middle.  The end?  Why happily ever after of course!

DC: What would your “voice’s” tagline be?

AF: Adventure romance with a spark of humor.

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run?

AF: There are so many, but I love escaping into a Georgette Heyer novel.  I love that they re-released all her titles!

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

AF: Getting a lot more sleep.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Amanda Forester?

AF: This March will see the release of my third Highlander book, True Highland Spirit.  This book continues the story through the war between England and Scotland in 1356 and has my feistiest heroine yet in Morigan McNab.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – dark

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?     – chunky

- heels or flats?     – flats

- coffee or tea?    – tea

- summer or winter?     – winter

- mountains or beach?     – beach

- mustard or mayonnaise?     – mustard

- flowers or candy?     – candy

- pockets or purse?     – pockets

- Pepsi or Coke?    – Coke

- ebook or print?    – print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?     – peace

2. What is your least favorite word?     – deadline

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – music, a nice walk, a warm hug, a good book

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – stress

5. What sound or noise do you love?     – a baby’s laugh

6. What sound or noise do you hate?     – the alarm clock

7. What is your favorite curse word?    – dang

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?    – chocolate tester

9. What profession would you not like to do?    – anything to do with heights

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?    – “Come on in!”

DC: Thank you so much for being with us today, Amanda! It was absolutely enjoyable.

Our thanks to Tawna Fenske for taking time to Duck Chat with us, sharing her sense of humor and making us laugh. It was a very enjoyable day!

And now for our winners who will receive a copy of Tawna’s Making Waves:

Quilt Lady (#1)

and

Maureen (#4)

Congrats, ladies! You’re going to have great fun with this book.

Send your snail mail address to lighthousetagger (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll send your info on to get your books on their way to you!

Thanks so much to Kaki Warner for a fun day during her Duck Chat here at the blog. Her humor – and her historical westerns – are a breath of fresh air!

Y’all ready for our winners? Okay, here goes!

Two winners today for copies of Kaki’s Heartbreak Creek, the first novel in her new Runaway Brides series. And the lucky commenters are:

** Gen Turner (#5)

** Maureen (#7)

Congrats, ladies! Send your snail mail addresses to lighthousetagger at gmail dot com and I’ll notify Kaki for you.

Many thanks to Marie Treanor for spending the day with us for her recent Duck Chat. Don’t know about all of you, but I enjoyed finding out more about her vampire hero, Saloman. Talk about sexy!

And now for our winner! Drum roll, please!

** Pam S

You have yourself a copy of either Blood on Silk, the first book in Marie’s series, or Blood Sin, the second book. Send your choice and your snail mail address to lighthousetagger at gmail dot com and I’ll get in touch with Marie for you!

Congratulations!

Welcome to today’s Duck Chat!

We’re commiserating with Kaki Warner about her beautifully written historical western novels, as well as a lot of other fun ideas and things.

I’d not read any of Kaki’s work until I got my hands on the second book in her Blood Rose trilogy, Open Country. I was immediately smitten with the Wilkins brothers. Ms. Warner brings the old west alive and writes characters who are charming, definitely flawed, and who love their family and the land. I very highly recommend her books to you.

I hope you’ll take the time to get to know her today and to read her books if you haven’t already. Here’s your chance to begin reading her stories soon, Kaki is giving away two copies of Heartbreak Creek today. So please ask a question or leave a meaningful comment to be entered.

Now let’s chat!

Duck Chat: Welcome to TGTBTU, Kaki!

Kaki Warner: Thanks for inviting me, Sandy.  I’m a slut for self-promotion.

DC: Instead of the usual tell us about yourself question, why don’t you tell us that one thing that even your most hard-core fans don’t know?

KW: The best part of my day is hearing from a happy reader.

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

KW: “Tell us about the call.”  It’s a great question—but my answer is boring and makes me look like a loser.  By that I mean I didn’t hop around and shriek and swoon on the kitchen floor like any normal aspiring author would.  I just sat there, phone to my ear, thinking “it’s about #@& time.”  I know.  Sounds awful, doesn’t it?  But my agent said she could sell my book, and I believed her, so I sorta expected it.  The shrieking and swooning would have occurred if she HADN’T pulled it off.  See?  Loser.

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?

KW: Always.  They reveal themselves to me in bits and pieces, as if we were meeting and forming a connection in real life.  I didn’t know Hank (Open Country) was color blind until halfway through the novel, or that Declan (Heartbreak Creek) had a fear of heights, or that Ash (Colorado Dawn) was dyslexic.  As for the heroines, I always try to put a hard choice ahead of them, but I’m never sure what they’ll choose until I get to the “decision” scene.  That way, I’m not forcing them in a pre-determined direction, but allowing them to work it out on their own:  Will Jessica (Pieces of Sky) give up a life of luxury in England for a hard life in New Mexico?  Will Molly (Open Country) violate her oath and kill Hennessy?  Will Daisy (Chasing the Sun) give up her lifelong dream to stay with Jack?  Will Maddie (Colorado Dawn) trade in her camera for the title of Countess?  With Edwina in Heartbreak Creek, there was no single dramatic decision awaiting her—but a gradual awakening.  But she’s such a volatile character, I was never sure how far she would take it.

DC: Your Blood Rose Trilogy introduces readers to the Wilkins brothers.  Would you tell our readers about this series, how it came about, and has it evolved as you first envisioned?

KW: It started as one book twenty-five years ago (I know.  Loser AND stubborn.)  I had just read an awful book and thought I could do better.   Alas, mine was pretty awful, too.  So I did my due diligence with classes, critique groups, contests and kept re-writing.  Then life got in the way and I put the manuscript in storage.  About fifteen years later I dug it out, reread it, and decided it wasn’t as bad as I had thought.  So after ANOTHER rewrite and several more contests, I finally got serious and sent it out.  Two months later, I had a great agent and had sold that first book to Berkley with a promise of two more.  The story itself (about a ranching family of three brothers in New Mexico Territory of 1868) didn’t change much from the original concept, although it expanded into three books.  But the writing improved.  Through the years, I really grew to love these guys—dumb decisions, quirks, bumbling heroism and all.  They persevered despite all odds, and in the process found smart, strong-willed women to help them face the challenges of a hard life in an unforgiving country.  It wasn’t easy back then, and my books reflect that.  But I think that makes them stronger and the characters more believable.  Or not. You decide.

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

KW: Well, of course I win:  I’m the Queen Mum to these folks.  But that doesn’t mean they do what I want.  In fact, they make lots of mistakes, which I’m happy to point out by providing dire consequences to their actions.  Many a time I find myself shaking my head and saying, “What are you thinking?  Why would you do such a thing?”  But eventually they learn and earn their happy endings (I know.  Loser, stubborn AND crazy.)

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

KW: Fear.  Will I meet my deadline?  Will I find the best words to say what I mean?  Does any of it make sense or have I just written twenty pages of drivel?  Will readers love these characters like I do?  That and, of course, book signings.

DC: The first book in the trilogy is Pieces of Sky where we meet Brady and Jessica. Can you tell us about them?

KW: Brady is the oldest Wilkins brother and has inherited the task of keeping the family ranch going and protecting what family he has left.  He’s hardheaded, a bit awkward, arrogant, and burdened with a terrible secret.  The last thing he needs in his life is a prim and proper Englishwoman, who also happens to be pregnant and on the run from her own terrible secret.  So of course, that’s what I give him.

Jessica is convinced the rules she writes in her pamphlets on deportment will protect her in an uncivilized world…until a terrible shame sends her fleeing her ancestral home for the American West in search of her long-lost brother and a new start.  Instead, she finds herself stranded at the Wilkins ranch under the watchful eye of Brady Wilkins.  Through humor and heartbreak they both confront their pasts:  Brady teaches her to trust again—she gives him back the joy he thought he’d lost—and, of course, they live happily ever after (this is a romance, after all).

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

KW: Well, I loved the one for Pieces of Sky because I halfway expected a cover showing two semi-nekkid people groping each other.  I guess I should explain that:  I didn’t set out to write a romance.  I just wanted to write a book about a period in history I liked and slip in a love story on the side.  It was my publisher who decided to market it as a romance, which was good, since romance readers are the most loyal and prolific book buyers out there.  But my books aren’t “traditional”—meaning they have less graphic sex than most romances.  (I try to make up for that with some violence and a lot of cussing, so it all works out).

But now that Berkley is re-releasing this trilogy in the mass market format, they’ve changed the covers so that each book has a brother on the front.  Well, half a brother, anyway.  Fully dressed.  They’re OK, but I have to say, Hank on the cover of Open Country is HOT!  Look for it this November.  Oh, mama!

DC: How about your least favorite book cover?  Why?

KW: Refer back to the mass market releases coming out this fall.  Brady’s mustache is missing.  I know.  Mustaches are out of style (please don’t tell my husband).  But it was a big deal to Brady, and I think he was a little hurt…until I photo-shopped a mustache onto the copy I have framed over my desk.  He’s a lot happier now.  As am I.

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?

KW: I don’t write them differently…just better.  They’re less stereotypical now, more flawed and, therefore, more believable.  They’re still the same people that have lived in my imagination for years—I’ve just found a better way to describe them.

DC: Next we meet Hank and Molly in Open Country.  They meet in an unusual way and have a tough time finding love. Would you give us a look into their relationship?

KW: After one disastrous courtship, Hank is distrustful.  He’s also brilliant, creative, the brawn and brains as well as the peacekeeper of the family.  He’s willing to live a quiet life as the middle brother, doing his own thing.  Just don’t lie to him.  Which, of course, Molly does right from the start.

But she has reason.  She’s desperate to protect her niece and nephew from their vicious stepfather—and how better to do that than to hide out at a remote mountain ranch, posing as Hank’s wife…the wife he doesn’t remember he has.  (I know.  But it makes sense when you read the whole thing.)

These are both highly intelligent people.  He’s an inventor (or sorts), and she’s a Civil War nurse.  Yet, neither of them knows the first thing about relationships.  Or raising children.  But they muddle along until the truth comes out and Hank overreacts.  Then Molly has to face down a killer to save the family she’s come to love, while Hank has to deal with her betrayal and learn to forgive.

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

KW: Maybe Time travel.  As long as it has a western element.

DC:  Oh, I hope so – time travel is a favorite genre of mine!  Which fictional character would you like to hang out with?

KW: All those in my books.  And of course, the Phantom of the Opera—or any other character Gerard Butler has played.  Or will play.  Bless his heart.

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

KW: Eat less, exercise more.  Forgive.  Stop worrying.

DC: The last book for the brothers is Chasing the Sun. The youngest Wilkins brother, Jack, finally comes home. Would you tell us a little about him and his heroine, Daisy?

KW: Jack is a doofus.  Or so he appeared in the first book—young, impulsive, restless, a high-spirited womanizer in love with the wrong woman for the wrong reasons.  But now he’s all grown up.  He’s ready to stand up to his two forceful older brothers and win the woman he’s loved for most of his life.  Luckily, Daisy shows up from his past to show him a whole new way of looking at things—like which dreams are worth pursuing and which are best let go.  Mostly this book is about Jack growing into the man he was meant to be.  But it’s also about a family coming to terms with a violent past and brothers accepting each other as the men they’ve become, rather than the boys they once were.  And then there’s a flood and bear attack and…well, you’ll see.

DC: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever learned by Googling your name?

KW: That there are a lot of “Kakis” out there.  I always thought my brother was the only one who couldn’t say “Kathy.”  I was wrong.

DC: What book would you like to read again for the first time?

KW: The Robe.  That book left an indelible impression on me as a kid.  As did White Fang.  I doubt either would now, so I plan to avoid disappointment by never reading them again.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

KW: Late-bloomer baby-boomer stuns long-suffering family by becoming twenty-five-year overnight success and laughing all the way to the bank.  (Sort of a fantasy/romantic comedy).

DC: What would your “voice’s” tagline be?

KW: Descriptive, irreverent, sarcastic.

DC: You have a new series beginning and the first book is on the shelves today. Would you give us peek into Heartbreak Creek?

KW: These have been such fun books to write.  Picture this:  four women meet on a train heading west in 1870.  Two Southern half-sisters (one white, one mulatto) escaping the war-torn South.  A Yankee with a mysterious past and a valise full of money.  A genteel Englishwoman who has left her absent Scottish/soldier husband to pursue a career as an expeditionary photographer.  All are intent on starting new lives.  Instead, they end up stranded in a dying Colorado mining town.

Heartbreak Creek is Edwina’s story.  A Southern princess widowed and orphaned by the war, her only skills are flirting, sewing a fine line, playing the piano blindfolded, and divining water with willow switches.  Nonetheless when her Louisiana home goes on the auction block, she grabs her sister, Pru, and heads west as the mail order bride of a rancher with four children.

Declan advertised for a sturdy, English-speaking woman to help with the chores and his rambunctious children.  Instead he gets Edwina.  He’s already had one bad marriage—his first wife ran off with a gambler and was killed by Indians—and now it seems he’s in for another.  Even the children don’t like her.  Yet, somehow, as they struggle through the three-month waiting period Ed insisted on before consummation (her word, not mine), they reach an understanding…which slowly becomes an attraction…that grows into love…that leads to (gasp) consummation…then disaster when the first wife shows up, and an enemy from Declan’s past threatens the family.  (There’s a lot more stuff in between, like Pru and the Cheyenne Dog Soldier, and Declan’s fear of heights, and…well, you’ll see.)

DC: And how about a sneak peek into the next book in the series?

KW: Colorado Dawn.  I love this book because the hero is a Scotsman (as in Gerard Butler.  Sort of).   After an accident ends his military career, Angus limps home to find his family decimated by fever, his wife off in America taking tintypes, and himself next in line for an Earldom.  His duty is clear:  find his runaway wife and breed heirs.

After only one visit and two letters in five years, Maddie had given up on her marriage and accepted a commission to photograph the West from a female perspective.   When Angus tracks her down in Heartbreak Creek—an older, slightly wounded version of the man she fell in love with—she tells him flat out that she won’t go back to her sterile life in Scotland, even for the title of Viscountess.

Angus—Lord Ashby—is a peer now.  Divorce is unthinkable.  So he’ll have to court the lass all over again.  Eventually, after many ups and downs (no pun intended) they rediscover the love they once shared.  Yet Maddie knows she’ll never be able to trade her camera for a lofty title, any more than Angus—a man bound by honor—can turn his back on the duties awaiting him.   Oh dear.  What will they do?

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Yes, in addition to any Kaki Warner novel!)

KW: Anything by Madeline Hunter, Julia Quinn, Jodi Thomas, Elizabeth Holt, Sara Donati, Anne Gracie, Candace Camp…gads, the list is endless.

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

KW: Working in the garden.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – Milk

- heels or flats?     – Flats

- coffee or tea?    – Coffee

- summer or winter?      – Winter

- mountains or beach?     – Mountains

- mustard or mayonnaise?    – Mayo

- flowers or candy?      – Flowers

- pockets or purse?     – Pockets

- Pepsi or Coke?      – Pepsi

- ebook or print?      – Print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?      – Hork

2. What is your least favorite word?      – Sorry, I love them all, even the nasty ones

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?      – Music and walking

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     -  Having too much on my schedule

5. What sound or noise do you love?      – Birdsong

6. What sound or noise do you hate?      – Repetitive noises—like my dog barking

7. What is your favorite curse word?      – Sonofafuckingbitch (kind of covers everything, doesn’t it?)

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     – Horticulturist or songwriter

9. What profession would you not like to do?     – Anything involving sewage, armpits, private parts (you know the ones) and cutting people open.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?     – “It’s OK.  I know you meant well.”

DC: Thank you, Kaki for being with us today. It’s been a pleasure!

Welcome to today’s Duck Chat!

We’re talking with Marie Treanor, getting to know her and taking a peek into her new vampire series.

Marie lives in Scotland, so no surprise that her heroine in that new series is Scottish! She’s penned a sexy and mysterious hero to complement Elizabeth Silk as she fights her attraction to Saloman, refusing to give in to his end game. Two books in the trilogy have been released so far, with the third due out in October. Still plenty of time to pick them up and get started so you’re all set later in the year!

Be sure to ask Marie a question or leave a meaningful comment for her – she’s offering up a copy of either Blood on Silk or Blood Sin – reader’s choice.

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Welcome to The Good, the Bad and the Unread, Marie! By way of an introduction, instead of the usual tell us about yourself, how about revealing that one thing that perhaps even your most loyal fans don’t know about you?

MARIE TREANOR: Thanks for having me, Sandy – it’s great to be here! Hmm, how about: I can’t drive a car? The last time I was behind the wheel – many years ago! – I nearly killed my driving instructor by driving straight at an oncoming van.

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

MT: It would probably be: “What advice do you have for aspiring authors?” – not because I’m not happy to help fellow-writers toward publication – I am! – but because I know I’m still learning myself and I’m terrified of giving someone advice that doesn’t work for them, or, worse, even holds them back! There seem to be almost as many routes to publication as there are authors, and I know my own story isn’t typical.

So I tend to give very general advice – like “keep reading and writing as much as you can and learn from any feedback or criticism you’re given.”  I don’t think you can go wrong with that.

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?

MT: Yes, definitely – especially once I’m really into the story and the characters are so clear that they do virtually take on a life of their own. Their words don’t seem to be mine any more, and conversations quite often go off in directions I hadn’t originally intended. And yes, they do surprise me sometimes – for example, by being seductive when I mean them to be cool, or the other way round.

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

MT: They do, hands down!

DC: Let’s talk about your Awakened by Blood series as a whole first and then we’ll talk about the books. Please tell our readers, first, about the genesis of the series, and, second, is it evolving the way you’d envisioned?

MT: Well, the background is, I’ve always loved gothic romance and vampire stories, and I’d been feeling the urge to write something dark and gothic with an ambiguous but devastating hero. And then this image came to me of a stone sculpture coming to life in some spooky crypt, and advancing on a terrified woman. This became the awakening scene from Blood on Silk, and my gothic hero became the Ancient vampire Saloman. Well, you can’t get a much darker past that his. 

Parts of it have evolved more or less the way I saw it from the beginning. Others, like some of the secondary characters and the wider vampire world developed rather differently, but I don’t think it changed the overall “feel” of my story.  The relationship between Elizabeth and Saloman developed a little differently too – a bit more stormy and uncertain than I’d planned after the first book; and yet one  scene where I had planned for her to leave him, didn’t work out like that at all!

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

MT: Kids    Though actually, mine are very good. They’ve got used to me disappearing into my own world for long periods! It’s when they have too many friends coming and going all the time, or spend umpteen phone calls (which I generally have to answer) arranging to go out that I begin to get impatient. And I know I shouldn’t because I actually like them to bring their friends round!

I’d love to say housework too, but in reality, I ignore that until it becomes too difficult to move around the house!

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

MT: I’m happy to say I’ve had lots of beautiful covers over the years. I love my covers for Blood on Silk and Blood Sin because they’re elegant and gorgeous and sexy, and convey just the sort of atmosphere I want to. And they managed to get St. Andrews Cathedral, one of my favourite places in the world, onto the cover of Blood Sin. 

But I also confess to a soft spot for Gothic Dragon from Samhain. Why? Because he’s beautiful to look at and fits almost exactly my vision of the hero.

DC: How about your least favorite book cover?  Why?

MT: Ah. Well, I think that would have to be the cover of an old e- book from a now defunct publisher. I hated it because it said nothing about the story or the “feel” of the book,  and in my opinion it didn’t even look nice L. But, the good news is, the book was republished as Magic Man at The Wild Rose Press, with a much sexier and more relevant cover. 

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?

MT: Interesting question. I suppose they must have evolved, if I’ve grown at all as a writer. But I don’t actually feel that I do anything different! I’ve always tried not to allow my characters to become clones of each other, and when each comes to me, he or she still feels fresh and new. 

DC: The first book in your series is Blood on Silk. I have to say I really love Saloman. So deliciously sexy and mysterious. Would you tell us more about him and Elizabeth and how their story came about?

MT: Saloman was my gothic hero, the beautiful, terrifying sculpture that came to life. For me he was already more than a vampire. He was a prince among vampires, older than recorded time, so he had to be a larger than life character, almost overwhelming. The rest grew from that: he alone among his people survived, because of his sheer drive, wit and curiosity. He’s highly intelligent and fascinated by the new. He’s learned wisdom way beyond anyone else’s, and yet it isn’t really tempered by compassion. He isn’t without feelings: he’s loved and lost in the past many times, and has strong affections for his vampire “children”; he’s as hurt by betrayal as anyone. But he isn’t human, he’s alien in his thoughts, feelings and morality, and so other people’s lives and his own affections tend to take second place to his ultimate goal.

Although he’s a complex character, he sprang more or less fully formed into my imagination. Elizabeth was a little harder. She had to be intelligent enough and strong enough to oppose him, humorous enough to amuse him and quirky enough to intrigue him beyond all other intelligent, modern women. It was fun to have her be the one who awakens him when she’s devoting all her energies to rationalizing vampire myths, and then, very reluctantly loose her skepticism.  But she never loses her enquiring mind, even when terrified; and from the beginning the historian in her is fascinated by the things Saloman can tell her!

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

MT: I do tend to mix genres up a lot in one story, so I’ve probably tackled elements of most genres to some degree! I do enjoy murder mysteries, though and I’d quite like to try a “straight” one of those some time.

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

MT: To have more self-confidence, I think, and try for what I really want rather than what I think is all I can do.

DC: What book would you like to read again for the first time?

MT: Off the top of my head, an amusing crime thriller by Christopher Brookmyre called The Sacred Art of Stealing. I read the sequel recently and found I’d forgotten several salient points of the first one! They were both great fun – all about misdirection.

DC: Blood Sin is the second book in the Awakened by Blood series. Can you give us some insight as to what will be happening with Saloman and Elizabeth in this edition?

MT: Well, they find themselves working together to track down Saloman’s missing sword, which in the wrong hands could be lethal for the world. Naturally, they disagree as to the right hands, but being together they grow to a new understanding of each other. Saloman is overcoming what is left of vampire resistance and extending his influence into the human world, while Elizabeth, growing into her powers as Awakener, takes on the dangerous challenge of preventing him from allying with the vampires of America. Their feelings for each other deepen, but worse tragedy looms because Elizabeth knows she will have to betray either Saloman or her friends the vampire hunters. And for the first time, she encounters the possible option of immortality versus stickling to her principles.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

MT: Short but compact, this one packs quite a punch.  From the chaos which surrounds her, she bumbles through triumphant, or at least in one piece.

DC: What would your “voice’s” tagline be?

MT: I’m rotten at taglines. Based on things other people have said, how about “unique, sensual, fun”?

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Yes, in addition to any Marie Treanor novel!)

MT: Any of Gail Carriger’s “Parasol Protectorate” series.

DC: The third book, Blood Eternal, is due out in October. Can you give us a sneak peek as to what Saloman and Elizabeth will be up in this book?

MT: Well, another Ancient is awakened and becomes the focus of rebellion against Saloman, who has to face the demons of his past as well as the possibilities of the future.  The secret of vampire existence is struggling to get out! Elizabeth fights prophecy,  illness, the stagnation of the vampire hunter network and the temptation of immortality, in order to find her true place in the world and in Saloman’s life.

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

MT: I would probably have gone back to being a librarian. Which would be okay – I love books!

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – Dark

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?    – Chunky

- heels or flats?    – Flats

- coffee or tea?    – Coffee

- summer or winter?    – Summer (such as it is here!)

- mountains or beach?     – Mountains. We live by a beach so I’m blasé  

- mustard or mayonnaise?     – Mayonnaise

- flowers or candy?    – Flowers (I’m on a diet)

- pockets or purse?      – Pockets for preference, but it depends what I have to carry

- Pepsi or Coke?    – Neither

- ebook or print?   – Both

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?        – It” according to one of my editors! At the moment, I have a liking for “bumptious”.

2. What is your least favorite word?       – “Incentivize” and other horrible made-up business words.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?      – Music

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Senseless cruelty.

5. What sound or noise do you love?     – My kids laughing

6. What sound or noise do you hate?      – The screech of a fork on a plate (or a blackboard). Shudder.

7. What is your favorite curse word?       – Arse – it’s not too offensive if the kids overhear me 

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     = Counselling.

9. What profession would you not like to do?      – Police – too dangerous and gritty for me  

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?     – “Just kidding.”

DC: Thank you for being here today, Marie. It was a pleasure!

Today we’re talking to Deirdre Martin about the latest edition to her Blades series, Icebreaker.

This wildly popular series has fans coming back again and again for Deirdre’s sexy hockey players — Icebreaker is the tenth book in the series.

So sit back and enjoy while we chat with Deirdre about her heroes and plenty of other fun stuff. If you’ve got a question you’d like answered, don’t be shy, shout it out and Deirdre will be along today to appease your curiosity!

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Deirdre, welcome to The Good, the Bad and the Unread. Instead of the usual tell us about yourself question, what’s that one tidbit, that secret nugget, that even your most loyal fans don’t know about Deirdre Martin?

DEIRDRE MARTIN: One of my jobs in college was posing nude for still life classes.

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

DM: I’m sure I’m not the first writer to give this answer, but the question I’d most want to retire is “Where do you get your ideas from?”

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?

DM: I agree that dialogue sometimes flows from some unknown place. Dialogue is what I like writing best, and there are times when it’s like a light switch has been flicked on in my brain, and off I go.  I always feel really amazed when that happens. And lucky.

My characters do sometimes surprise me when I’m revising. I’ll hear a character’s voice in my head saying, “HEL-LO, maybe this scene would work better if you had me do X, Y or Z.” Most of the time I listen.

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

DM: Nope, we never argue. They know who the boss is.

DC: I read on your website that ice hockey is only sport that you like to watch. Is this is impetus that put you on track for writing sports as a backdrop for your romances? Or was it something else entirely?

DM: Hockey was definitely the inspiration to write romances since hockey players are so damn sexy. These guys are the perfect romantic heroes, because they’re warriors on a quest: the quest for the Cup.  Such figures, from King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table on down, have always been attractive. They’re fearless. They’re willing to sacrifice, whether it’s physical, mental, or spiritually, to achieve their goal. They’re not afraid of physical pain; that blood running down a hockey player’s face is real. And let’s face it:  a lot of athletes, no matter what the sport, are hot. They have great bodies. One of the things I find particularly attractive about hockey players is that they’re down to earth, too. They’re approachable in a way some of these mega athletes in football and baseball are not. And the sport alone is so exciting, so fast and often rough. (We’ll try to ignore the sexual subtext there). It seemed the perfect world to set a romance in.

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

DM: Waiting for my best friend to arrive when she’s visiting. No matter what her ETA, I’m constantly looking out the window for her car, and I’m so filled with anticipation I can barely keep still.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

DM: My favorite is the cover of Straight Up; you really get a sense of what the book is about and where it’s set: the red-headed woman sitting atop a  pub sign, her long, sexy legs clad in shamrock covered wellies. It’s also my only cover so far that features a woman alone, which to me makes it even more intriguing.

DC: How about your least favorite book cover?  Why?

DM: Asking me my favorite book cover is like asking someone who their favorite child is! I’m taking the Fifth on that.

DC: Would you tell our readers a little about the Blades series as a whole, how it began, has it evolved as you imagined?

DM: The books are a series of interconnected novels that center around a fictitious hockey team, the New York Blades. All of the books can stand alone; meaning, you don’t have to read them all or in a particular order to understand what’s going on, though I’ve found that most of my readers prefer to do it that way.

I never imagined there would be a Blades series. When I sold Body Check in 2001, the purchase was considered a huge gamble on my editor’s part. The widely held belief at that time was that “sports romances didn’t sell” unless you were SEP or Rachel Gibson. Obviously that wasn’t true! Readers liked Body Check so much that they wanted another hockey hero…then another…then another…

The best part of the evolution of the series is that it’s allowed me the opportunity to challenge myself by exploring other worlds while still keeping connected to the world of the Blades. For example: my Wild Heart series is about a large, loving, Irish American family named the O’Briens who own the Wild Hart, a pub in the heart of New York City.  But the pub is also where the Blades hang out, so there is a lot of crossover between the two series in terms of characters. Icebreaker is actually a melding of the two: the heroine is a member of the O’Brien family, while the hero is a hockey player.

I really love writing interconnected books, because it’s a chance for both me and my readers to visit again and again with beloved characters. When you write connected books, the characters really begin taking on a life of their own; they evolve. This is going to sound weird, but they start to feel like family. That’s the only way I can explain it.

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?

DM: Most of my heroines have been very strong women; so strong, in fact, that some readers have found two of them—Aislinn McCafferty from Straight Up and Theresa Falconetti from Fair Play—unsympathetic. Readers felt they lacked a soft side ( I find this really interesting, since they’re two of my favorite heroines.) I think I’ve gotten much better at balancing a heroine’s inner strength with her vulnerability. I hope so.

As for heroes, I think I’ve always written male characters who were highly evolved emotionally. I understand why readers want heroes who will fulfill their fantasies (Who doesn’t?), but it’s important to me that my heroes be sexy as well as real, and by real I mean multifaceted and flawed.

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

DM: I’d like to write a film script, actually.

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

DM: Stop procrastinating, stop doubting yourself, and keep your ass in the chair until you’ve written the best book you can. Also keep in mind that most of the people who look down on you, asking why you’re writing “trash,” have never read a romance novel in their lives.

DC: The latest book in the series is Icebreaker. Would you tell us about the hero and heroine and give us a look inside their story?

DM: The heroine, Sinead O’ Brien, is a high powered Manhattan attorney (She’s one of the siblings featured in the Wild Heart saga) who has a rule about never dating clients—that is, until she meets Adam Perry, the newest star of the New York Blades who is also her newest client.

Adam has been charged with assault after a borderline hit on another star player. But off the ice he’s a private, no-nonsense guy who knows the Blades are his last shot at Stanley Cup glory. Assembling her case, Sinead at first assumes he’s some bone-headed jock. But as things progress, she quickly discovers that there’s a wounded man under that jersey, and she’s starting to fall for him hard—so hard, in fact, that she’s tempted to break her ‘no dating clients’ rule. As for Adam, he’s having trouble focusing on the goal with Sinead in his sights. But true love prevails…

Adam and Sinead were interesting to write, because they’re both highly driven and highly guarded, but inside, they’re completely vulnerable. I enjoyed taking them on the journey from cautious regard to love, trust, and passion. And, of course, it was great to be back in the Blades locker room with the guys.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

DM: “Temperamental, quick witted, and loyal to her family and friends until death, Martin enjoys the challenge of balancing her endless curiosity about the world with her frequent need to pretend she’s a cloistered nun.”

DC: What would your “voice’s” tagline be?

DM: A refreshing blend of heartfelt romance and fast-paced comedy.

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Yes, in addition to any Deirdre Martin  novel!)

DM: It’s probably the biggest cliché in the world, but I would recommend Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. The book’s hero, Heathcliff, is handsome, dark, brooding, tormented, and willing to do anything, good or bad, for the woman he loves. It gets me every time I read it.

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

DM: I know what I’d want to be if I wasn’t a writer: I’d want to be an actor. But in all likelihood, I’d probably be teaching college English.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – Dark
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?     – Smooth
- heels or flats?    – Flats
- coffee or tea?    – Coffee
- summer or winter?     – Winter
- mountains or beach?     – Beach
- mustard or mayonnaise?    – Mustard
- flowers or candy?    – Candy
- pockets or purse?     – Pockets
- Pepsi or Coke?    – Coke
- ebook or print?    – It’s a tie.

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?   – Banjaxed

2. What is your least favorite word?    – Vitreous.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?   – Music

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Pretension and snobbery

5. What sound or noise do you love?    – The sound of my dog’s nails clicking on the tile floor

6. What sound or noise do you hate?    – Vacuum cleaner

7. What is your favorite curse word?    – Fuck.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?    – Actor.

9. What profession would you not like to do?    – Embalmer

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?    – “You done good, kid.”

DC: Thank you for taking time to be with us today, Deirdre!

Welcome to Duck Chat!

Today we’re wandering into the historical romance world with Caroline Fyffe.

Caroline’s second book is ready to release next week, so if you’re looking for sweet, heartwarming westerns, you should definitely pick up her first book, Where the Wind Blows, and you’ll be set for Montana Dawn next Tuesday.

We’re set for a full day with Caroline today. She’ll be here throughout the day to respond to your comments and answer any questions you might have. Here’s your chance to get to know an author you might have missed otherwise. Caroline is also giving away a copy of both of her books to two lucky commenters.

Now let’s chat!

Duck Chat: Caroline, welcome to The Good, the Bad and the Unread. We’re so glad you could join us today.

Caroline Fyffe: Thank you, Sandy.   I’m excited and thrilled to be here.

DC: First, I want to let our readers know where a part of your love of writing western romance has come from. You are also an equine photographer, so you’ve been immersed in the western industry, so to speak, for a long period. Tell us how you got into photography and how your business evolved into what it is today.

CF: During college I took a photography class just for fun.  Then, every once in a while, I’d go with my sister, who was a freelance writer, and I’d take the photographs that she needed.  I think we just like to travel around and hang out.  Later, when I was out of college and working in sales, I took a two-day seminar on equine photography.  I enjoyed that so much, I did some research and found a big name Texas photographer that gave a five-day course that was limited to about six students.  When I came home from that, I just started out shooting ranch calls and horse shows.

DC: For readers who love horses, photography, or just beautiful things, do take a look at Caroline’s photography website.

Caroline, your photos have also graced numerous magazine covers. Do you remember your first cover? What was that like for you? Was it on the same level as finding out your first book was going to be published?

CF: I do remember my first cover very well.  It was taken up in Santa Rosa, California, of Carrie von Uhlit when she was about five or six years old.   She’s sitting on a rock wall and her little mare with the blazed face is looking right at the camera.  If I think long enough I’ll remember the mare’s name.  Over the years I’ve photographed her many times and she’s gone on to win numerous World Championships.  I will admit that it was exciting to see one of my photos on a cover of a magazine for the first time, but it does not compare to what I felt after getting “the call” in 2008.

DC: Did the thought ever cross your mind perhaps you could take the photos for your romance novels? LOL, if not, how about now?

CF: LOL—It’s never even crossed my mind.  But now that you mention it, why not?  I think that’s a very good idea, Sandy.

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?

CF: My characters shock the heck out of me more often than not.  Many times I wonder where the ideas are coming from.  For me, the really creative stuff comes after I have the story done and I’m going through it, editing.  I’ll come to a scene and then it just starts transforming into something much different than when it started, and I usually love it when it’s done.

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

CF: Oh, all the time!  They’ll start going in some direction the story just isn’t ready for and I’ll have to rein them in, so to speak.  They’re usually pretty cooperative, but not always.  I’d say the outcome is about 50/50.

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

CF: Gosh, not too much.  I’m pretty disciplined and love to write.  If I had to say something, it would be when my sons are at home for a visit—to be with them as much as possible.

DC: Your debut book, Where the Wind Blows, is a lovely, heartwarming story of two strangers thrown together by circumstance, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Would you tell us about Chase  and Jessie.

CF: Sure.  Chase is the ultimate loner, not by choice but by circumstance.  Not knowing his mother or father, he’s been on his own his entire life.  That’s why when he comes upon Jessie in the cabin he’s taken with her warmth and honesty.  He enjoys the feeling of trust he see that she is seeing in him—that she’s counting on him and he doesn’t want to let her down.  And Jessie has issues of being abandoned by her mother at an early age.  She’d been left at an orphanage, with a promise from her mother that she’ll be back.  Well, that day never happened.  But, Jessie isn’t hardened by it at all, she’s just sad.  When Chase shows up on her doorstep in her moment of need, everything in their lives is turned upside-down.

DC: Is there another genre you’d like to try your hand at one day?

CF: Yes.  And, actually I have two completed manuscripts.  One is an inspirational western historical and one is a contemporary women’s fiction.

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

CF: Boy, would I love to turn back the hands of time.  There was a span of a few years when I stopped writing.   I really  wish I hadn’t done that.  I’d tell myself to follow my dreams with confidence and enthusiasm.  Writing isn’t easy.  Sometimes one can second guess themselves to death.  I’d tell myself to trust my instincts and to get good critique partners. LOL

DC:  You now have two books out, and we’ll talk about the second in a moment. I know most authors learn plenty of lessons between that first and second book. What’s been your most valuable lesson learned or advice received during that time?

CF: I’d say not to let the promotion thing steal too much time away from writing.  It’s a temptation that’s easy to fall into.  But without another good story one won’t have anything to market.  I do believe promotion is very important, don’t get me wrong, but it can sap the life out of you if you let it.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

CF: ROTFL!  Oh, my, gosh! How can I answer that?  Hmmmm….If I were a book I’d be boring, like a dictionary, so I wouldn’t have a  back-cover blurb.

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

CF: Oh gosh, that’s a hard one too….something like, “Lonesome Dove and 3:10 to Yuma” meets “Little House on the Prairie”

DC: Your new book, Montana Dawn, will be on the shelves July 27. This is a beautiful story of love, romance, trust, family, all those things we need in our lives. Please give us a sneak peek at Luke and Faith.

CF: I started this story when I’d just finished Where the Wind Blows, which, as you know, has a limited number of family characters.  I wanted my next story to be filled with people, siblings and friends.  So Montana Dawn was born.  It takes place in the little town of Y Knot, Montana in the late 1800s.

The McCutcheons, a cattle ranching family, have carved a dynasty from the wilderness by the sweat of their brow and honorable values.   Luke McCutcheon, the third brother and hero of this story, is the only one who was sired by an American Indian, when his mother was taken captive.  He’s the trail boss for the once-a-year cattle drive that the McCutcheons make.  It’s during the drive that Luke stumbles upon a dilapidated wagon where he meets Faith Brown, in labor and needing his help.  After the delivery, he offers to bring her along where one thing leads to another and soon all the trial hands are trying to catch the beautiful new mother’s attention, much to Luke’s dismay.

I love stories about big families.  I wanted to give Luke as much unconditional love as he needed to battle his own ghosts about his heritage.  John McCutcheon, the youngest brother, is foreshadowed in Montana Dawn, but you don’t actually meet him until my next book, Once Upon a Texas Twilight, planned for next year.

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? In addition to a Caroline Fyffe novel, of course!

CF: I just finished Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison.   Talk about a page turner and scary! It’s not for the faint of heart.   Another fun read is, Texas Hold Him by Lisa Cooke.

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

CF: Oy.  Have I told you yet that you ask really hard questions.  LOL….Hmmm.  Maybe to own my own gelato ice cream shop.  I think that would make me really happy.  Or, perhaps, a trail guide for horseback trips in Montana or Wyoming.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Caroline Fyffe?

CF: I hope just more of the same.  It’s been so wonderful to achieve my goal of being published, that, truly, I’m still pinching myself.  I love my life.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – Milk

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?      – Chunky

- heels or flats?      – Flats

- coffee or tea?    – Coffee

- summer or winter?      – Winter

- mountains or beach?    – Mountains

- mustard or mayonnaise?     – Mayonnaise

- flowers or candy?     – Flowers

- pockets or purse?     – Purse

- Pepsi or Coke?     – Coke

- ebook or print?     – Print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?     – Love

2. What is your least favorite word?    – Hate

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?   – Happiness.

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?   – Argumentative people.

5. What sound or noise do you love?     – The sound of birds waking in the very early morning.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?     – A Bug Zapper

7. What is your favorite curse word?     – Damn

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?      – Archeology

9. What profession would you not like to do?     – Dentist (I guess someone’s got to do it…but not me)

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?      – I do believe heaven is real, so if I’m lucky enough in the end to make it there I hope I hear…..”Well done, my good and faithful servant, well done.”

DC: Caroline, thank you so much for being with us today. It’s been a pleasure.

Yes! Yes! I know I’m behind on our contests. Life keeps getting in the way of the fun stuff. But I have our next winners from our Duck Chat with Meredith Duran.

Hopefully this will keep the restless natives calm for a while! It should while you’re enjoying two great stories by Meredith.

Our winner of a copy of Bound by Your Touch is

*** Maya M (21)

And for a copy of Written on Your Skin our winner is

*** Karenmc (1)

Congrats, ladies! Please send your snail mail address to me at Lighthousetagger (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll send your books out to you!

By the way, Meredith’s latest book was out in April, Wicked Becomes You. Do you have your copy yet?

Want to do a guest review of WBY for us? Send me a note at the above email addy if you’re interested!

We’d love to hear your opinion on it.

We’re happy to see you again here at Duck Chat!

Today Tawny Weber is with us, so sit back and wait for the fun to begin!

Like getting a little hot and bothered when you read your romances? Well, then you need to read Tawny’s Blazes.

I recently met Tawny, and what a time I had. She’s funny and wacky, down to earth, serious about her writing, and swears a blue streak just like me. Needless to say, a good time was had and I’m glad I met this terrific lady.

I know Tawny is going to give away one of her books today, but a decision was never made as to which one. So leave a comment or a question for her and we’ll announce which title is up for grabs later. Doesn’t matter which one, you’ll have one heck of a time reading it!

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Welcome to TGTBTU, Tawny! Let’s see. Instead of the usual tell us about yourself question, how about telling us something that even your most hard-core fans don’t even know?

TAWNY WEBER: Hmmmm… Something most fans don’t know?  Okay.  I was an extra in a Sylvester Stallone movie once.

DC: How long have you been writing for Harlequin Blaze? What is it about the line that draws you to write your stories for them?

TW: I sold my first book, Double Dare, to Blaze in 2006. I love writing for Blaze because [Ed. Okay, I would usually delete a question and answer that an author doesn't finish for me for one reason or another, but after the time Tawny and I had getting this interview done, I want to know the answer on this one! Come on, Tawny, finish it for us!]

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

TW: That’d probably be the ‘where do you get your ideas’ question because I don’t know is such a lousy answer <g>

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?

TW: When I’m in the zone, it’s always wild to see what happens.  The story twists, information surfaces, characters say things that I had no clue about.  It’s always a great and adds so much depth to the story, as well as giving me motivation to find that zone as often as possible.

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

TW: LOL – no, no arguing here.  I am queen of my little world.  I might get stuck, but I can’t blame them, right?

DC: Your latest story, You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs, is in a book with Tori Carrington titled Blazing Bedtime Stories, Volume III. First, how did the idea of the Blazing Bedtime Stories begin? Would you tell our readers about kissing frogs?

TW: The first Blazing Bedtime Stories anthology was by Kimberly Raye, Leslie Kelly, and Rhonda Nelson and it was fabulous!  As soon as [I read it] I begged my editor to let me write one.  I love fairy tales and seeing modern twists on them is always so entertaining.  In You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs, my hero is put under a curse.  Instead of turning into a frog, though, his winkie is shrinking to tadpole proportions <G>  His reputation and career are about to disintegrate so he heads off to the mountains to try and figure out what to do and finds himself trapped in a cabin with the one woman he wants more than any other and can’t have, his boss’ daughter and his main competition for a job.

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

TW: Email.  If I don’t have any to read, I’ll write it instead.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

TW: Double Dare, because it was my first, will always hold a special place in my heart.  At the moment, I’m totally in love with my current cover for Riding the Waves because it captures the summer lovin’ feel of the story so well.  But my all-time favorite is Risqué Business because it has a pair of really sexy shoes on it.

DC: How about your least favorite cover?  Why?

TW: I don’t think I have a least favorite.  They all represent some aspect of their story and make me smile.

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?

TW: Great question.  I’ve definitely left my comfort zone in writing my heroines.  Bad girls are easy for me, so writing a wider variety has been a growth process.  I think I’m able to show more depth of character now, and while my heroines are strong, their vulnerabilities are much clearer.

DC: You have connected books with Coming on Strong and Going Down Hard, both of which were released last year. Can you give peek into each book’s characters and how they’re related?

TW: Oooh, I loved writing those stories! Belle and Sierra are the heroines and are best friends and business partners.  The heroes, Mitch and Reece, are cousins, and Reece provides security for Mitch’s business.

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

TW: I’d love to write light paranormal.  Too bad the market isn’t looking for that right now <g>

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

TW: To appreciate each step along the way.  I’m notoriously impatient, but over the years I have learned that its not how fast something happens that matters, it’s the journey itself.

DC: Tell us about your first Blaze, Double Dare.

TW: Audra Walker is the baddest of bad girls and meets the hero when she’s dared to ‘do’ the next guy to walk into the nightclub. She’s trying to grow up and make changes in her life, but is afraid of losing her friends and sense of identity if she does.  Sexy undercover cop suspects her of being in the middle of an identity theft ring and has to watch her very VERY closely to solve this crime.

DC: Still remember “the call” and how you felt when you realized you are now a published author? How did you celebrate?

TW: Oh yes!! Its right up there with my favorite memories.  The call came on Memorial Day in 2006, a little before 9 a.m.  It was surreal for the first week or so.  I walked around in a fog, I couldn’t eat, I kept waiting for someone to yell “Gotcha.”  Because it was Memorial Day, we had plans to go to a neighborhood barbeque already so that was my celebration.  I did buy myself a gorgeous pair of boots as a memento, though.

DC:  What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Of course, along with a couple of Tawny Weber Blazes!)

TW: I just picked up Nora Roberts’ latest, Savor the Moment, and Beth Andrews’ Do You Take This Cop.  I’m looking forward to Janet Evanovich’s Sizzling Sixteen that’s out in late June, too.

DC: Riding the Waves is due out later this year in September. May we have just a tiny sneak peek?  Please?

TW: How about short excerpt?

Alex Maddow gave a quick shake of his head, his hair flying around his face as the drops of water scattered.  The exhilaration of riding the waves still surged through his body.  Muscles tight, he filled his lungs with the salty evening air and gave a deep sigh of satisfaction.

There was nothing like surfing at sunset.  The colors of the sky, the feel of the cooling air as it whipped around his body while he flew over the water.  Incredible was the only word for it.  God he felt great.

Then he saw her.  There, a glowing jewel against the pristine white adobe of the hotel.  Talk about incredible.  Simply stunning.  Despite the aftereffects of the cold water, his body stirred in hardening awareness.  Images flooded his mind of naked bodies, breathy moans and exquisite pleasure.

Never a man to deny his sexual needs, nevertheless Alex usually knew the woman’s name before he planned the many different ways he’d enjoy her body.  Then again, he’d never experienced this intense, instantaneous lust at first sight reaction to a woman before, either.

His eyes narrowed.  She reminded him of one of those elfish princesses his mother used to read him stories about—the ones he’d always fallen in love with.  Tall and slender, her angular face commanded attention.  Silvery blonde hair waved around her shoulders in a silken cape.  The demureness of the cut of her calf-length sundress was at odds with the vivid turquoise and pink pattern.  Bare toes curled sensually in the sand.

A slow smile of anticipation curved Alex’s lips.  It was like it was meant to be.  From one exhilarating ride to the temptation of another.  Never let it be said that Albert Alexander Maddow didn’t appreciate opportunity when fate placed it right in front of his face.  Especially an opportunity that stole his breath away, filling his mind with sexual challenge.

Through wasting time, he strode across the sand toward her, shoving his wet curls off his face as he moved.  The closer he got, the more intrigued he was.  Not because of her looks, but because of the look she was giving him.  Like she couldn’t decide if he was a crazed axe murderer or how he’d taste covered in chocolate.

From the set of her chin and the way she shifted her body, lifting one shoulder and crossing her arms over her chest, she obviously figured she could handle either option.  Alex grinned.  There was nothing sexier than a confident woman.

And she was even better up close.  Her brows, shades darker than her hair, slashed a strong arch over eyes so blue they were almost the same purple of the sunset bleeding into the ocean.  Her mouth was narrow, the upper lip heavier than the lower.  He wanted to nibble on that lip, to run his tongue over it and see if it was as delicious as it looked.

Had he ever been so intensely, instantly attracted to a woman?  Alex couldn’t recall, and didn’t care.  After all, all that mattered was this moment and this woman.

Until the moment was over.

“Gorgeous,” he commented when he was a couple feet away from her.  Her features didn’t add up to pretty individually, but put together, they were stunning.  His fingers ached to trace the line of her throat down to the gentle swell of flesh pressing against the vivid floral cotton of her dress.

“The surf?” she asked after a brief hesitation.  Even her voice was sexy.  Low and husky, at odds with her ethereal appearance.

“The view,” he clarified, instantly sensing that she wouldn’t appreciate surfeit flirtation.  A man who prided himself in his intuition as much as his brains, he reigned in his instinct to hit hard and intense.

“Do you surf?” he asked, already knowing the answer.  She had that romantic, wouldn’t-it-be-an-adventure look in her indigo eyes.  Not that surfing wasn’t both romantic and adventurous.  But when a surfer looked at the ocean, there was always an overlying layer of respect in their gaze.

“I never have surfed before, no,” she said, her gaze meeting his again.  There was a summing up, a calculation in her deep blue eyes.  He recognized the look.  Felt the sexual pull of it tugging at him.  It was the kind of expression that said she wondered how he’d look without his swim trunks and could he keep it up long enough make her scream with pleasure.

Then, as if realizing he’d caught the look, she blinked.  Color, soft pale pink, swept over her cheeks.  But she didn’t drop her gaze.  Almost defiantly, she kept those indigo eyes on his.

A slow, challenging grin spread over his face.  He was looking forward to showing her both the view and his talents.

“Surfing is like sex,” he told her softly.  “An intense ride on a lover that knows how to push you to your limits, then bring you back to earth with a gentle kiss and invitation to ride again.”

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

TW: I’ve spent years as an intuitive consultant, reading Tarot, doing hypnosis and Reiki.  If I hadn’t started writing, I’d likely have added life coach to the mix at this point.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Tawny Weber?

TW: In addition to my September release, Riding the Waves, I have a novella in the Blaze Christmas anthology called Babes in Toyland.  Next year I have three  more Blazes hitting the shelves and am currently working on the first, which features a Uniformly Hot military hero and a battle for control that’s been great fun to write.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?  Milk
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?  Chunky
- heels or flats?  Heels
- coffee or tea?  Tea
- summer or winter?  Summer
- mountains or beach?  Beach
- mustard or mayonnaise?  Mustard
- flowers or candy?  Flowers
- pockets or purse?  Purse
- Pepsi or Coke?   <g> neither, I don’t drink soda
- ebook or print?  Print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word? Love
2. What is your least favorite word?  Oh, that ugly swear word that starts with a C.  I cringe when I hear it
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Growth
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Suppression
5. What sound or noise do you love? My daughter’s laughing
6. What sound or noise do you hate?  The sound of a flat tire
7. What is your favorite curse word?  Fuck
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?  Artist
9. What profession would you not like to do?  Anything that involves body fluids
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?  “Well done.”

DC: Thank you for being with us today, Tawny!

Welcome back to Duck Chat! Glad you could join us today.

Bonnie Hearn Hill is here to talk about her new young adult series which has been out in bookstores since March. This sounds like a terrific series – I’m hoping that my non-reading 16-year-old niece will go for these books and suddenly love to read.

Starting out as a newspaper editor, Bonnie’s always had a love of writing. She’s written six thrillers for MIRA before taking this leap into young adult. Bonnie is married and lives in Fresno, California where she holds a critique meeting every week for aspiring writers. She’s definitely one who believes in giving back.

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Bonnie, welcome to the Pond! We’re glad you’re here. Let’s not delay and start out by talking about your new young adult Star Crossed series. First would you tell our readers about the series as a whole, and then we’ll talk about the books themselves.

BONNIE HEARN HILL: Simple idea. What if a teen girl in conflict found an old astrology book and tried to use it to change her life?

DC: Has the series evolved the way you originally envisioned it?

BHH: Not at all. I can only think one scene, one act, one book at a time. I am always surprised when I feel the story moving in a new direction.

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

BHH: Question: Why did you switch from writing thrillers to young-adult fiction?

Answer: I didn’t stop anything. I am a Gemini who doesn’t feel limited by any genre. I’m writing the books I need to write, for now.

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?

BHH: Yes, they do. Sometimes, I hear their voices before I begin to write. Usually in inconvenient places, such as on the road in my car or in a bubble bath.

DC: The first book in the series, Aries Rising, hit the shelves in March. We, of course, first meet Logan in this book. Would you give us a look inside her life at this point?

BHH: She’s a sophomore, and she finds this old astrology book. All she wants is a chance at the summer fellowship for talented student writers. Well, she’d also like a certain guy, as well. She tries to use astrology to get both.

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

BHH: Never. We are connected, and I am my characters as much as they are me. I used to try to force my characters to cooperate with my plot ideas, but I haven’t done that for some time.

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

BHH: I love teaching, but ultimately, I live to write.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

BHH: I love the two Star Crossed covers I have seen: Aries Rising and Taurus Eyes. I also love the French version of Killer Body, one of my thrillers.

DC: How about your least favorite cover?

BHH: I won’t name it, but I’ll tell you that Exorcist Green is not my favorite color.

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?

BHH: I know that you need to be only one woman, one man, one teen, one person from one ethnic background. You don’t have to write for everyone from that background. Thus, I’m more comfortable as any number of protagonists.  Also, my protagonists have become less and less like me.

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

BHH: I’ve written in many genres, and I love character-driven fiction. The character always leads me, and the genre is secondary.

DC: Taurus Eyes is the second book in the series and it’s been in books stores for about a week. It seems Logan has an unwanted dilemma in this edition. Would you tell us about it?

BHH: She falls in love, and she gets caught up in a ghost story. She also has to decide what she is willing to sacrifice for love.

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

BHH: No fear.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

BHH: A character who pays the price and  succeeds against great odds.

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run?

BHH: I would just say read 47, an amazing story of a slave, by Walter Mosley, one of my favorite writers. It’s not a traditional romance, but you’ve got to read it.

DC: September is when Gemini Night, the third book, is to be released. May we get a little sneak peek of what Logan’s up to in that book?

BHH: She will be missing her guy, wondering why he isn’t contacting her, and she’ll also be trying to land a position with a San Francisco teen magazine. Just one problem. In order to be considered for the job, she’ll have to predict what’s next for a celebrity guest at the magazine’s Halloween launch party.

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

BHH: I would still be trying to become an author. If you want to write, don’t quit. That’s the best advice I can give any writer.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Bonnie Hearn Hill?

BHH: More books, I hope. I write every day. I’ll also be at Bouchercon  in San Francisco this fall. It’s where I set Gemini Night. Love the city.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?      – Dark.

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?    – Chunky.

- heels or flats?      – Heels, the more diva-ish the better.

- coffee or tea?     – Espresso.

- summer or winter?     – I was born June 1 in a storm. I love rain, cold, winter.

- mountains or beach?     – Beach. The Star Crossed series is set in a fictional California beach town based on one I love.

- mustard or mayonnaise?     – If I must choose, mustard. Capers would make me happier, however.

- flowers or candy?     – Neither. How about jewelry?

- pockets or purse?     – iPhone.

- Pepsi or Coke?     – Bottled water. But if there are just two choice, Coke.

- ebook or print?     – Print.

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?    – Yes.

2. What is your least favorite word?     – I like them all. I don’t like non-words like firstly, lastly, most importantly, orientated.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Rain, ocean, great books.

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Anger, raised voices, people who chew with their mouths open.

5. What sound or noise do you love?    – Ocean.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?    – Leaf blowers too early on Saturday.

7. What is your favorite curse word?    – Too many to name.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     – A dietician or professional who specializes in diet, weight loss. Or, on the other extreme, a pastry chef.

9. What profession would you not like to do?   – I would not be a good salesperson.

Welcome back to another day of Duck Chat!

If you’re looking for some awesome and steamy, very sexy romance reads and you haven’t discovered Cathryn Fox yet, well, it’s a good thing you’re here!

Cathryn became a favorite author of mine when I read The Hot Line a couple of years ago. I’ve not been disappointed in any of her stories once since that time. So I know if you decide to pick up any one of her books, you’re going to have a very pleasurable time.

If you’d like to ask your own question of Cathryn or you just have a comment for her, post it here and we’ll add your name to the pot for a copy of Instinctive, the first book in her Eternal Pleasure series, that Cathryn has very generously donated.

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Glad to have you here at the Pond today, Cathryn! First, let’s find out a tad about you. Tell those folks in romanceland who aren’t familiar with your work a couple of things you’d like them to know and then for your die-hard fans, maybe something even they don’t know.

CF: First let me say how happy I am to be here.  I’m a huge fan of The Good, The Bad and the Unread!

So a little about me….okay, I’m a wife, mom, sister, daughter, and friend. I loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (I never says no to a brownie) pizza and red wine. I have two teenagers who keep me busy with their never ending activities, and a husband who is convinced he can turn me into a mixed martial arts fan. I can never find balance in my life, am always trying to find time to go to the gym, can never keep up with emails, Facebook or Twitter and try to write page-turning books that my readers will love.

Now here’s something you might not know.  I am co writing a series with a colleague under the name Taylor Keating.  Our first book, Game Over, comes out from TOR November, 2010.

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

CF: Probably, tell us a bit about yourself.  It’s not that I dislike the question, it’s just that I’m an ordinary gal, not much glitz and glam in my life and I simply don’t want to bore readers with my answer.  [Ed. LOL, I'm going to have retire that question!]

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?

CF: Yes, I can have a synopsis and the story all plotted out and then wham, just like that I go off in another direction.  Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not.  The key is to figure out the difference before you go too far.

DC: Let’s talk about your last few releases – they each sound just terrific. First up is Instinctive, an Eternal Pleasure novel, which was released last October. You’ve got some paranormal going on this book – vampires, demons, witches, lycan, shapeshifters. I have a feeling Jaclyn is surprised by Slyck on a number of levels. Would you tell us about them?

CF: Instinctive kicked off the Eternal Pleasure series and I’m so happy with the way readers have been responding.  I loved writing about Jaclyn and Slyck’s journey.

Here’s a bit about it.

Free spirited Jaclyn Vasenty is about to inherit a cosmetics empire, yet her scandalous personal history may ruin her chance for a corporate take-over. Saying goodbye to her naughty ways, she moves into a quaint gated community in Serene, New Hampshire. But these gates are locked at sunset…

The town’s dark sensuality rocks Jaclyn’s insatiable appetite to the core—and stirs desires that are… inhuman. That’s because Serene is home to demons, witches, vampires, lycans, and panthers, for whom primal exploration comes naturally. Especially for shape shifter Slyck, the cunning panther who’s pushing Jaclyn to the brink of erotic possibilities and making her feel wildly…feral. As tension between species rises, Jaclyn learns she must draw on all her feminine wiles and join forces with Slyck if she wants to make it out alive.

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

CF: I argue with myself.  Sometimes I waffle back and forth… would my hero really do that?  Would my heroine really say that?  My critique partner usually wins when she says CUT, your character really wouldn’t say that.

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

CF: My husband.  He’s a shift worker, and when he’s home in the day he wants to play!

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

CF: I’ve had so many great covers.  Right now it’s Impulsive from NAL.  It’s so gorgeous, and the guy on the cover rocks.  Another favourite is Blood Ties from Samhain.  Of course, Wrapped in Seduction is fabulous, too.

DC: How about your least favorite cover?  Why?

CF: I think my least favourite is Pleasure Control because it doesn’t fit what’s inside the book.  The cover has a girl on a bed with her legs tied together.  It’s a light hearted book, and not about bondage so I think it’s misleading to readers.

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?

CF: I think my writing has evolved and matured over the years and I also think my heroines have become stronger.  I think we all continue to grow as writers as we learn new things.  The key is to keep learning, pushing past comfort zones, try new things, and never become complacent.

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

CF: Young adult.  I’m dying to try it.

DC: In March, All Lit Up was released through Samhain. Daniel and Anna have a past. Would you give us a look into their relationship?

CF: All Lit Up is the third ebook in the Pleasure Inn series.  The stories will be combined and come out in print in 2011.  All Lit Up is about a boy next door, and lost love.  I really enjoyed telling Anna’s and Daniel’s story.

Here’s a bit about it:

When interior designer Anna Deveau is hired to create a room made for romance at a Victorian inn, she is thrilled—and a little wistful. A fairy-tale ending will never be hers, but perhaps tapping into abandoned dreams will fan the flames for someone else.

Then she learns the only bricklayer available to build the room’s fireplace is Daniel Long. The sexy boy-next-door who filled her teen years with angst, broke her heart—and still colors her nights with red-hot fantasies.

Daniel never understood why Anna stopped talking to him a week before her sweet-sixteen party. Or why the wall between them remains a mile high. But now that he’s back in town, he intends to figure it out once and for all. Pushing the limits of her seductive design, he sets out to prove he didn’t burn her in the past.

Anna finds herself doing the one thing she swore she’d never do again: laying herself bare. Until the ghost of rumors past threatens to snuff out the fiery fantasy that, this time, Anna thought was real…

Warning: Years of sinful fantasies about the sexy boy-next-door lead to a night of wild indulgence. Be sure to keep a bevy of toys on hand when reading this tale, or better yet, get a boy-next-door of your own.

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

CF: The same advice I still give myself today.  Work hard, play hard, make time for yourself, your family and your friends, and always say yes to a brownie.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

CF: She’s nice, kind and generous, but if you piss her off, beware of the wrath of Cath! LOL

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

CF: Sassy with a little sweet!

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Yes, in addition to any Cathryn Fox  novel!)

CF: I’m currently reading a YA book, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins and I’m loving it.

DC: And today is the release of Impulsive, also an Eternal Pleasure novel, and I love the sound of this book. Kane and Sunray are lycan shifters. Can you give some insight into their story?

CF: I LOVED writing this story and so far Kane is my favourite hero.

Here’s a review and a bit about the book:

“This dark paranormal novel is the latest in Fox’s Eternal Pleasure series about shapeshifters. Fox brings together two unforgettable characters, transformed after one devastating night, adds plenty of erotic tension and draws readers irresistibly into their world. It¹s all about second chances in this sexy, suspenseful and satisfying read.” — 4 Stars, RT Book Reviews

He is the hunter.

She’s fled her alpha wolf—and the entire paranormal community of Serene. Now a free woman—wolf, Sunray returns to Chicago, full of bittersweet memories. The last thing she expects to find there is her reincarnated lover, who died at her feet the night she was changed into a lycan a century ago. Still, Sunray knows they can never revive their intense passion. Because now he’s a lycan hunter—and she is his prey…

She is the hunted.

Not for a minute does Kane believe this beautiful lycan’s story, that they were once lovers. Still, he recognizes Sunray as the woman who’s been seducing him in his dreams. For now, prey and predator have forged an uneasy, temporary truce as they join forces to capture a rogue shifter. But after their work is done, will either of them be able to resist a passion that could be dangerously all-consuming?

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

CF: I shiver to think about it, but would likely be a Financial Officer working for the Federal Government.  Many, many years ago I gave that job up to write full time.

DC: For a reader who has yet to pick up a Cathryn Fox book, which one would you recommend they start with to become addicted like the rest of us?

CF: Start with Instinctive, the first in my Eternal Pleasure series.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Cathryn Fox?

CF: I’m currently finishing up Indulgent, the third book in the Eternal Pleasure series, and working on a proposal for the 4th book, Impure.  I’m also working on book 2 for Tor, Enter Sandman.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?      – Milk
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?    – smooth
- heels or flats?    – heels
- coffee or tea?      – coffee
- summer or winter?     – summer
- mountains or beach?    – beach
- mustard or mayonnaise?     – mayonnaise
- flowers or candy?    – candy
- pockets or purse? – purse
- Pepsi or Coke?    – pepsi
- ebook or print?   – print

And because they’re still a lot of fun:

1. What is your favorite word?    – Clearly…

2. What is your least favorite word?    – Brainfart.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Sunny weather and chocolate brownies.

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Sinus headaches.

5. What sound or noise do you love?    – The sound of my kids laughing.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?    – People chewing gum or their food loudly.  DRIVES ME CRAZY!

7. What is your favorite curse word?     – Goddamn.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?   -Interior decorator.

9. What profession would you not like to do?   – Farmer. Those early mornings would kill me

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?   – I’d like for him to say, “Every hero you’ve created is here in the flesh waiting to give you eternal pleasure.”  What I expect him to say is, “What the hell are YOU doing here?”

DC: Thanks for making this such a terrific day, Cathryn!

Well, I know from Anne’s Duck Chat that your appetite has been sufficiently whetted for an excerpt from her latest book!

To Catch a Bride is the third book in Anne’s Devil Riders series. So how about a little more teasing…

Rafe Ramsey, son of the late Earl of Axbridge, doesn’t believe in love. But that doesn’t mean he’s willing to accept the marriage of convenience devised by his family to ensure the line of succession. Instead he impulsively takes on the task of tracking down the missing granddaughter of a wealthy English family, and heads off to faraway lands. In Egypt, he finds not a frightened young girl, but a beautiful woman who is running from something far more serious than an unwanted betrothal…

Ayisha is no longer a wide-eyed, gullible child, and after six years on the streets, she is no man’s easy prey. However, she is no match for Rafe’s maneuvers…or his kisses. Before long she finds herself headed back to England with Rafe to embrace a new life and a new family. But when the dark secrets of her past catch up with her, it threatens to destroy them both. And Rafe will be forced to choose between the beliefs of a lifetime-and love.

And now prepare to be taken away…

The moon rode low in the western sky. Rafe drifted in a blue reverie, contemplating with grim outrage the future his brother had mapped out for him, driven by his obsession to ensure the succession of the Earls of Axebridge…

The scrape of something against the bricks outside brought him to full alertness. He moved silently into position by the window. The room was open to the night, the carved wooden shutters fastened back. He stood in the shadows and waited.

A shadow slid noiselessly over the balcony. Small and slight; another boy, dammit. Older than the first one, a youth rather than a boy, but still, not a man. Not the master who Rafe was coming to despise.
Rafe had left a lamp burning low in Ali’s room. The boy’s shape in the bed was visible through a door deliberately left ajar. Like a wraith the intruder stepped through the open window and glided across the floor toward the boy.

Rafe caught a glint of light on steel. An assassin? He leapt forward and chopped at the youth’s hand. A soft exclamation and the knife clattered across the floor. The boy whirled and kicked  —  straight for Rafe’s balls.
Rafe dodged. A hard foot collided with his upper thigh. It would have crippled him had it connected with its target. The lad had a kick like a mule!

The youth lashed out with a fist, at the same time kicking again for the same target. Rafe might not care about the succession, but he did care about his balls. Swearing, he kicked the lad’s feet out from under him and knocked him to the floor.

The boy spotted the knife and made a grab for it. Rafe lunged, kicking it under the sofa. He turned and saw the boy making for the window. He dived, knocking him to the floor, landing on top of him.

The boy was still for a moment. Rafe could hear him fighting hoarsely for breath. He’d knocked the wind out of him. Good. He flipped the boy over, but even though he was still gasping like a landed fish, the youth fought back, punching and kicking, and all the time writhing like a damned eel, trying to get a foot free to do for Rafe’s family jewels once and for all.

He was small — half-starved no doubt — and though he fought like a little demon, his strength was pitiful by comparison with Rafe’s. Enough to be a damned nuisance, all the same, Rafe thought, dodging another punch, trying to grab the flailing fists to subdue the boy. He needed to question him, but first he had to tame him.
“I won’t hurt you if you surrender,” he said in English, then realizing it, repeated it in French.

The boy bared his teeth in what Rafe thought could be a smile. He relaxed slightly and the boy lunged.

“Ow!” The little bugger had bitten him. Enough was enough. A quick scientific punch to the boy’s jaw knocked him cold. His head fell back and he didn’t move.

Rafe grimaced. He must have hit harder than he intended. He’d meant to subdue the little devil, not knock him out.

He sat back on his haunches, kneeling astride the youth’s supine body and regarded his young assailant. In the soft light from the other room all he could see was an urchin face smeared with dirt. He looked about fifteen, thin and as raggedly dressed as Ali. His turban had come off in the struggle and his hair was very short, chopped jaggedly in a cut that Rafe decided the boy had done without benefit of mirror or scissors. It wasn’t unattractive, he decided. Might even take off — the Urchin Cut. He favored the Windswept, himself.

The youth’s features, under all that dirt, were quite delicate…

Good God. If he didn’t know better…

He thought of the lad’s lack of muscle. The way he’d succumbed to the merest tap on the jaw.

He stared at the youth’s chest. Flat as a pancake.

He shifted his position back till he was sitting on the lad’s legs. He peered at the place where the legs joined the torso. The pants were very baggy, but…

There was only one way to tell. He brushed down over the base of his prisoner’s stomach and between his legs… Nothing. Or rather not nothing, but nothing that would have been there if his youth had been a youth.
He was a girl. And, he thought, staring at the girl’s features in the dim light, not just any girl.

Her eyes fluttered open. “Filthy pervert!” she snapped in French and in the same moment that Rafe recalled just where his hand was resting — and removed it  —  she exploded under him.

If he’d thought she was angry before, it was nothing to the desperation with which she fought him now, bucking and writhing, kicking and biting, punching and scratching.

“Calm down,” he panted in English, trying to hold her down without injuring her any further. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve come to help you.”

She kept fighting.

He repeated it in French, in case she’d forgotten her English.

She spat in his face.

He swore and grabbed at her hands, keeping her hips jammed between his thighs. His thighs imprisoned her effortlessly, but she continued to squirm and buck against him.

“Stop it, you little fool,” he said. “Your grandmother sent me.”

In French she cast aspersions on his mother’s virtue and told him to put that grandmother in an anatomically impossible place. And then she bit his arm. Again.

“You little shrew! Do you want me to punch you again?” He couldn’t. He’d never hit a woman in his life —  until tonight. And it made him angry.

She bucked and getting a hand free, tried to scratch his eyes out. He dodged and caught her hand again, but not before he felt blood trickling down his neck.

“This is becoming excessively tedious,” he grated. He could easily throttle the little she – cat —  and enjoy doing it. But they both knew he had the upper hand in every respect.

She wasn’t going to give up. There was only one way to subdue her without hurting her any more than he had. Rafe knew exactly what to do.

In one swift movement he pinned her whole body to the floor, pressed under his; his powerful thighs pressing down her slender, smaller thighs. His big body covered her small one, intimately, not a breath of air between them.

She struggled frantically, but Rafe was bigger, stronger and heavier; he overlapped her in every way.
He lay on top of her, unmoving, letting his weight do the job, sending a silent message: she was his prisoner.
Her head flailed madly. He caught her face between his hands and held it still. He didn’t trust those pearly white teeth anywhere near his skin.

He kept her arms pinned down by his elbows. She struggled vainly and realizing she was utterly helpless, let fly with a stream of what he imagined was the finest gutter Arabic.
He waited until she ran out of breath and said, “Well, that was a waste, wasn’t it? I don’t speak Arabic.”

She instantly switched to French.
“How delightful,” he said conversationally. “So you do understand English.” He wished he could see her eyes. The curve of her cheek was quite lovely, and he could see enough to know her skin was streaked with dirt. It felt like silk, though.

She tried to buck him off but all that happened was that his body, already aware of a slender female body in extremely close proximity, responded.

She felt it, too, he could tell. She went instantly still, then called him a filthy pervert, again in French.
He chuckled.

She stiffened. “Have you no shame?” she hissed in French.

“Not really. Frankly I’m just pleased that everything down there seems to be in fine working order after your very determined assault on my masculinity.”

“Assault?” she snapped. “You’re a fine one to talk.” She said it in English.

It was the moment he’d been waiting for. He shifted, moving both their bodies so that they were face to face. “Miss Alicia Cleeve, I presume.”

She lay in rigid silence for a long moment. He wished he could see her face properly, but the moon had slipped behind the clouds again and though he could make out shapes and angles there was not enough light to for any detail.

Rafe simply lay on top of her and waited. The silence stretched. His body throbbed and strained toward the object of its desire. Bizarre. It had no idea what was good for it.
Give her half a chance and she’d cut it off.

Rafe might know nothing about love, but he knew women. Especially physically. They were — usually — all softness and smooth curves. This one seemed entirely made of elbows. Sharp, jabbing, uncomfortable elbows. And claws. And teeth.

And yet his body was as hard and wanting as he’d ever experienced. It must be all the sun he’d experienced in the last few weeks. All that heat pouring into him. The heat had to go somewhere. And it had.

His body was burning —  burning for a dirty, little savage who’d just tried to disembowel him.
It was most unlike him. He was famous for his elegance and discrimination. Particularly in women.
Could a certain part of his anatomy be suffering from sunstroke?

“Get off me,” she snarled at last. “You’re like an elephant, squashing me.”

“And you’re like a bag full of cats.”

Her mouth twitched. Could she possibly have a sense of humor?

“I can’t breathe,” she insisted. “You’re smothering me.”

“I imagine that’s from spitting out that torrent of abuse. Quite remarkable, abuse in three languages. Did it take a lot of practice?”

That time he was sure she was trying not to smile. She did have a sense of humor. He felt her body soften under his. Rafe relaxed. The skirmish was over. Miss Cleeve had decided to be sensible.

“Having exchanged compliments, I suppose I should introduce myself. Rafe Ramsey, at your service.” He released her and started to sit up.

A mistake. The moment she felt him shift off her, she exploded into action. He wrestled her back down beneath him. In three seconds he had her pinned under him again, only not quite so neatly this time. Lord, but the girl was all bones. And piss and vinegar.

“This is extremely tiresome of you, you know. I mean you no harm.”

“You’ll break my arm,” she growled.

“Probably,” he agreed. “If you keep struggling like that. It won’t be intentional on my part — ”

At that moment a ray of moonlight lit her face. Rafe stared at his prisoner. She was… lovely. Her eyes were rather fine — blue, or green, or somewhere in between — fringed with dark lashes and set at an intriguing angle. Her nose was small and straight, her lips full and lush. And her skin, under the truly amazing amount of dirt, felt soft and smooth.

“My God,” he whispered. “What a rare little beauty.”

She jerked her head back and biffed him on the nose, hard.

“Oof!” It hurt like the very devil. He had to hand it to the little demon. She didn’t give up easily. Without letting go of her wrists, he managed to plant an arm over her head and held it pressed to the floor. His nose ached. His eyes watered.

She gave him a smug look.

“Whoever brought Cleopatra to Rome wrapped in a rug knew his business,” he told her with feeling.

The rather fine green eyes narrowed to furious cat-slits.

Glad you stopped by Duck Chat today!

Anne Gracie is our guest and you’re in for some fun!

Her books have garnered awards and fans clamor for them, of course. Anne’s historicals are touching, emotional, humorous, poignant, and if you’ve read her books, you have your own adjectives to add to the list.

I’m getting to know Anne myself with this interview, and I also found some terrific things on her website I wanted to tell you about. I had to chuckle reading her story about how she got into beekeeping, and I wish every author would have a page on how they came to write their books, just like Anne’s here. Just a couple of tidbits I thought you might find as interesting as I did, along with our chat below.

But if I’ve not asked something you’d like to know or if you have a comment for Anne, go right ahead and leave it here. We’ll include your name in the giveaway for a copy of To Catch a Bride, Anne’s latest release.

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Anne, welcome! We’re so glad to have you here at The Pond today! For those readers who have yet to read your books (shame on them!), would you tell them a little about yourself, maybe something even your die-hard fans may not know.

ANNE GRACIE: Thanks for inviting me, Sandy.  Ok, I never know what to say when people ask me to tell them a little about me. I live in Australia in a small wooden house which will soon be remodeled. I have a dog, I keep bees and I like to travel. I’m published with Berkley, but was first published by Harlequin. I’ve written 14 books, including a contemporary romantic comedy and  a novelization of the first “The Tudors” TV series, and they’ve been translated into about 16 languages, including two manga comics.

And something my die-hard fans don’t know? I eat seaweed every day.

DUCK CHAT: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

AG: The one above. LOL. [Ed. Hey! Not one of my questions! LOL!]

DC: You’ve traveled the world and also lived in Scotland, Malaysia, and Greece. I have to assume that you’ve drawn inspiration for your stories from many of these places. Is there one or two that stand out that you can tell us about?

AG: The thing about inspiration is that you don’t always know what will inspire you. For instance, I briefly visited Egypt when I was  8 or 9 years old, and I really haven’t thought much about it since, but when I started writing a book partly set in Egypt, and was ‘dreaming my way’ into the early scenes, so much came back to me; smells, textures, the press of people, the beggars and street sellers, the narrow streets, the colors, the light.
I think every experience a writer has is stored up somewhere, quietly waiting for the right time.

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?

AG: Definitely. Obviously all characters come from me in some way, but the most lively and interesting ones come “un-made-up” and unplanned. They’re the ones who surprise me, when I’m writing dialogue and they say something I never planned them to say and often take the book in a different direction. I’ve learned to go with it, rather than fight against it, because at some level the subconscious seems to know what its doing.

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

AG: Not so much argue with them, but certainly wrestle with them. An example of that was Gideon in The Perfect Rake. I had planned for him to be dark and dangerous and brooding, but instead he walked onto the page being funny and flippant and charming. I fought him for ages, but he kept on popping out these funny lines, so in the end I let him be who he was. Thank goodness. Here’s the scene where he first strolls onto the page — judge for yourself how dark and dangerous he isn’t. LOL.
http://www.annegracie.com/books/Rake-extract.html
I wrote that by hand in bed one morning – I woke up and it was as if the scene was rolling in my head. It’s almost unchanged from the notebook.

DC: Like most of us, you’ve been a voracious reader since you were very young. Do you remember the first romance novel you read?

AG: Not really. I fell in love with Georgette Heyer’s books when I was 11, but I didn’t know they were romance. I came to romance novels later in life. And quickly became addicted.

DC: Let’s talk about your Devil Riders series. First would you tell our readers about the series as a whole, please. Has it evolved as you originally envisioned?

AG: I wanted to write about four men, close friends and born dare-devils who’d been to war together and who were now back home, trying to adjust to peacetime life and not finding it easy. These guys are strong, protective and honorable, but also deeply flawed in their understanding of what love really is. And one by one they meet the woman who can teach them, though the lessons don’t always come easily, and I love watching that happen.
As I originally envisaged? I’m not a big pre-planner and every book comes out different from what I expect.

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

AG: When I’m struggling with the story, anything and everything can distract me. But when the story is flowing and I’m in the zone, I can’t stay away from the computer.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

AG: The cover for my new book, The Accidental Wedding,  is beeyootiful. See for yourself. I love the image, and the textures and it reflects the appeal of the story, I think. I also loved the covers of An Honorable Thief, The Perfect Rake, and The Perfect Kiss.

DC: How about your least favorite cover?  Why?

AG: I was disappointed in the cover of To Catch a Bride, because it’s a bit dull and generic and doesn’t reflect anything about the book, which is actually quite exciting and different.

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?

AG: I really couldn’t say. I’m not very good at being able to stand back and look objectively at my books or characters. To me, they’re each unique and each character had his/her own challenges and joys in the writing. Some leap onto the page fully formed and others take longer to reveal themselves.

DC: The Stolen Princess is the first in the series and it was released in January 2008. Would you give us a look at Gabe and Callie?

AG: Sure. Here’s an early conversation between Callie (who is a princess) and Gabe who’s a bit of a bad boy.

“Don’t play the innocent with me!” Callie said.

“Never, my sweet. Innocence is over-rated, I quite agree.”

He said it with that— that look. She felt herself flushing. “And don’t call me my sweet, either.”

“No, my dear.”

“Or that. And you know perfectly well what I meant by not wanting to be under your thumb. My entire life has been spent under the rule of two extremely autocratic men — first my father and then my husband. Now I have had my first ever taste of freedom, and nothing — no man —could ever taste sweeter than that.”

“Is that a challenge?” he said softly.

“No. Do not be so frivolous.”

“I wasn’t,” he said in a meek voice, but his eyes were dancing.

It was the color, she thought irrelevantly. She’d never seen such blue, blue eyes. Like sunlight sparkling on the sea. Another thing that wasn’t fair. Men shouldn’t be allowed to have eyes like that.

They walked on and as they turned a corner the house came into view. Thank goodness, Callie thought. She might have been walking on a firm graveled path, but it had felt in some ways like she’d been negotiating a marsh, full of traps for the unwary.

He was a very dangerous man! She glanced at him and found him watching her.

“I’m so relieved,” he told her.

Callie could not imagine what he was talking about. “Relieved?”

“That you’re not afraid of my thumbs. I think they’re quite nice thumbs — for thumbs, that is. Don’t you think?” He spread his hands out for her to inspect, and though it was clearly ridiculous, she couldn’t help glancing at his hands.

“What do you think?” he asked.

She gave them a second critical look and sniffed. “All I can see is that your thumbs are rather large,” she said in a quelling voice.

He gave her a slow smile. “Exactly.”

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

AG: I wrote one contemporary rom-com and I still get a hankering to write more, but it’s hard enough keeping up with the demand for my historicals, so I don’t have time to write anything else. I’d also like to write a crime and also fantasy — I read a lot of them before before I discovered romance.

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

AG: Do more, play more, risk more.

DC: Second in the series is His Captive Lady, which was out in September ’08.  This is Harry’s story. Can you tell us about him and his heroine?

AG: I love Harry. He’s the strong, silent type who’s deeply passionate underneath. He’s planning an arranged marriage, but he falls for Nell at first sight. Nell doesn’t come to Harry easily, though. She has her own secret, desperate quest and the last thing she expects is that Harry would join her in it.

“So,” Ethan said. “What’s her name?”

Harry shrugged.

“She wouldn’t tell you?”

Harry shook his head. “I didn’t ask.”

“Well, where does she live?”

“She didn’t say.”

“What did she say?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“God give me strength. And what did you say – no don’t tell me, nothing.”

“Not everybody is as garrulous as yourself, Delaney.”

“No, but Harry-lad, even stumps have to talk if they’re to find themselves a woman.”

Harry said stiffly, “My aunt is finding me a wife as we speak.” He wasn’t ‘finding himself a woman.’ The girl on the cart looked pathetic, that was all. And he just. . . gave her his hat.

“Your aunt,” Ethan said in deep disgust. “What kind of man gets his aunt to find him a bride?”

“A prudent one.”

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

AG: Beware, here be dragons. LOL

DC: What would be your ‘voice’s’ tagline?

AG: I went to a retreat once with a small group of other writers and we brainstormed taglines for each other. They came up with these three for me: 1) Laughter, tears and warmth 2) “Putting the devil in Mr. Darcy” and 3) Boots in the ballroom.

DC: To Catch a Bride, is the third installment of the series and it was published this past September. Would you give us a look inside Rafe and Ayisha’s relationship?

AG: Rafe is in Egypt to find a long lost heiress… The trouble is, Ayisha doesn’t want to be found.
Here’s a short extract:

At that moment a ray of moonlight lit her face. Rafe stared at his prisoner. She was… lovely. Her eyes, blue, or green, or somewhere in between — were fringed with dark lashes and set at an intriguing angle. Her nose was small and straight, her lips full and lush. And her skin, under the truly amazing amount of dirt, felt soft and smooth.

“My God,” he whispered. “What a rare little beauty.”

She jerked her head back and biffed him on the nose, hard.

“Oof!” It hurt like the very devil. His nose ached. His eyes watered. “Whoever brought Cleopatra to Rome wrapped in a rug knew his business,” he told her with feeling.

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Well, in addition to an Anne Gracie book too!)

AG: Kelly Hunter (Harlequin Presents extra) has a couple of books out at the moment that are just brilliant. Even if you don’t read category, read these. I’m also a huge fan of Nalini Singh’s shapeshifter series. And in June, Joanna Bourne’s third book is out and if you haven’t read her, run, don’t walk, to the nearest bookstore.

DC: Your upcoming book, The Accidental Wedding, is an off-shoot of the Devil Riders series. We meet Nash and Maddy in this book. May we have a tiny sneak peek, please?

AG:

It felt like a bosom.

His body was like ice. And like fire. He tried to move.

“Don’t move.” Soft voice. Bossy. Female. Cool fingers pressed him against something warm and soft.

It was definitely a bosom.  Whose?

A cool hand cupped his cheek, held him still against the bosom. “I need to tend to your head wound.” Her voice was soft, gentle. Low.

‘An excellent thing in a woman,’ he finished the quote in his head. A spurt of ironic laughter racked him. He bit back on the pain. Fool. He tried again to move. Agony.

Was he going to die?

If he was, he decided, this was the way to go, his face buried blissfully in the fragrant depths of a bosom. This bosom. Gentle hands soothing him, a soft voice murmuring.

This bosom, these fingers, this voice.

Whoever they belonged to.

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

AG: Teaching. Or maybe traveling. And still writing.

DC: Which book of yours would you recommend to someone who is getting ready to pick up their first Anne Gracie read?

AG: The Perfect Rake

DC: What’s on the horizon for Anne Gracie?

AG: House renovation (shudder…)

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – Dark
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?     – Chunky
- heels or flats?     – Flats
- coffee or tea?      – Coffee
- summer or winter?   – Winter
- mountains or beach?     – Beach
- mustard or mayonnaise?     – Chilli relish
- flowers or candy?     – Both
- pockets or purse?     – Both
- Pepsi or Coke?     – Coke
- ebook or print?     – Print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?    – Chocolate
2. What is your least favorite word?    – Gymnasium
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Music.
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Arguments.
5. What sound or noise do you love?    – Little kids laughing.
6. What sound or noise do you hate?     – Jack hammers.
7. What is your favorite curse word?     – Starts with f.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?   – Hypnotherapy.
9. What profession would you not like to do?    – Accountant.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?      – “Turn left.”

DC: Anne, thank you so much for such a fun day!

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!”

We’d like to thank Tracy Wolff for stopping by the Pond during her Duck Chat. It was a very fun day and we’re glad everyone had a terrific time of it.

And now here are the winners of the books Tracy so kindly donated for our giveaway:

Full Exposure: Ilona (8)

and

Naughty Bits: Cyberclipper (6) & Danielle Yockman (1)

Congratulations, everyone! Please send your snail mail addresses to lighthousetagger (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll get hold of Tracy for you!

Welcome back to Duck Chat!

Today we have former legal-eagle Julie James with us to talk about her sexy stories set within our judicial system. How I wish these fantasy men would wander through my depositions once in a while.

Julie is taking to heart the author/writer adage to write what you know. Her past law career is what she uses as a backdrop for her sexy romance novels. The U.S. legal system has never looked so good. In the last year and a half, she’s had three books published, all revolving around the ins and outs of courtrooms, law practices, police procedure, et al., and she talks to us about those three books today.

Julie is married and she lives with her family in Chicago. Be sure to leave a meaningful comment or a question for Julie and we’ll toss your name into the ring for a copy of her newest release, Something About You.

Now let’s chat!

DC: We’re so glad you could join us at TGTBTU today, Julie. Welcome! Would you tell those few readers who haven’t read your books yet a little something about yourself?

JJ:   Thanks for having me here!  Here’s the short-version: after graduating from the University of Illinois College of Law, I clerked for the United States Court of Appeals in Jacksonville, Florida. After that, I practiced law with one of the nation’s largest firms for several years until I began writing screenplays.  After Hollywood producers optioned two of my scripts, I decided to leave the practice of law to write full-time.  I now write contemporary romances for Berkley, and my third novel, Something About You, was just released on March 2^nd.

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

JJ:  I’m very flattered when people ask, “Why do we have to wait so long for your next book?” because that means they obviously really enjoy what I write.  But then of course it makes me wonder why I can’t write faster.    I think part of that is just learning to be comfortable with my process.  What works for other authors doesn’t necessarily work for me.

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?

JJ:  Absolutely.  When I get into a groove with a scene, particularly one with a lot of back and forth dialogue, I can “see” the scene in my head.  Sometimes a character will say something particularly clever or funny, and I end up laughing while I type.  Jason from Just the Sexiest Man Alive was a good example of that—that guy cracked me up the whole time I was writing him.

DC:  Your books have been a huge success with romance readers. You do have a new release, but let’s talk about your previous books first, if that’s okay. Just the Sexiest Man Alive was your debut book and was a big hit. Would you give us a quick peek into Jason and Taylor’s story?

JJ:  Sure.  Taylor Donovan is a hot-shot associate at a large firm who is sent to Los Angeles to litigate a class action employment discrimination case.  While she’s in L.A, her firm asks her to coach Jason Andrews, the biggest movie star in Hollywood (and three-time People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive), for a legal thriller he’s about to start filming.  The problem is that Jason is, um, slightly full of himself.  To put it mildly.  And he can’t believe that Taylor is so wholly un-enamored with him.  So he sets out to win her over and sparks fly.  : )

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

JJ:  I wouldn’t say I “argue” with my characters.  But there might be times when I write something I didn’t plan at first because I realize that it’s necessary to stay true to the character.

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

JJ: The Internet!  Checking email.  But I’ve started limiting that—I set goals where I tell myself that I have to write a certain scene, or so many words, before I can check my email again.

DC:  Practice Makes Perfect is your second book and sounds like a lot of fun when rivals become friends and lovers. Would you tell us about Payton and J.D.?

JJ:  Payton and J.D. are associates at the same law firm, and for eight years they haven’t gotten along.  But they play nice in public, because the one thing each of them wants more than anything is to make partner.  So when their boss hits them with the surprising news that only one of them will make it, it becomes an all-out, battle-of-the-sexes war between them.  But as they’re fighting it out for that partnership spot, they begin to suspect there may be a lot more simmering beneath the surface than they’d originally thought. . .

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

JJ:  I never say never to anything, but right now I’m very happy writing contemporary romances.

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

JJ:  Listen up, third-grade Julie: don’t tie yourself with a jump rope to Lisa Anderson and attempt to roller skate down that hill!!  Because when she falls down, you will too, and YOU will have the broken arm to show for it.

DC:  If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

JJ:  Oh gosh, no clue.  In fact, let’s just go with that—the blurb of the book about my life could be “No Clue.”

DC:  What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

JJ:  Hmm. . . I’d say: Smart, sexy, and fun.  (I hope.)

DC:  Your latest release is Something About You, which hit the shelves earlier this month.  Jack and Cameron have a rocky past. Can give us some insight into their relationship?

JJ:  Cameron is an Assistant U.S. Attorney.  Three years prior to the beginning of the book, she worked with FBI Special Agent Jack Pallas on a case that turned out badly, and they both blamed each other.  Heated words were exchanged, and Jack said some not-so-nice things about Cameron to the press—actions that got him shipped off to Nebraska.  Now he’s back in Chicago, and the first case he’s assigned to is a high-profile murder investigation in which Cameron is the only eye witness.  When it turns out that the killer might be after Cameron next, Jack is assigned to protect her.  And you guessed it, high jinks ensue.

DC:  What romance novel would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Along with the latest Julie James, of course!)

JJ:  I am currently making my way through Joss Ware’s new series, and Release by Beth Kery is on my nightstand as well.  Prior to that, I read Nalini Singh’s Archangel’s Kiss.  All are books I highly recommend.

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

JJ:  I guess I’d still be a lawyer, which I genuinely enjoyed—just not as much as being an author.  Nothing beats a job you can do in sweatpants.  <g>

DC:  What’s on the horizon for Julie James?

JJ:  I’m currently finishing my fourth book, which is about a wealthy wine store owner who agrees to pose as the girlfriend of an undercover FBI agent (as part of a sting operation) in exchange for her twin brother’s release from prison.  It’s a lighter, dialogue-driven contemporary romance with a small suspense subplot.

DC: Thank you so much for spending the day with us, Julie!

JJ: Thanks again for having me!  For more information about me or my books, people can visit either my website or my blog.

Welcome once again to Duck Chat!

Today Cara Elliott is here to talk about her new series, so pull up a chair and get ready for some fun!

Some of you will have read Cara under the name of Andrea Pickens and enjoyed her swashbuckling lady spies. If you had fun with those books, just wait until you read her newest stories, which are sexier and slinkier than ever before.

Circle of Sin is the name of Cara’s new series, and To Sin with a Scoundrel is the first book out, to be followed by To Surrender to a Rogue in June. So now’s the time to get started enjoying all the fun! To help you along, Cara will be joining us throughout the day and has offered to give away three copies of To Sin with a Stranger.

So let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Cara, welcome to The Good, the Bad and the Unread. We’d like to congratulate you on your new series and the release of the first book. If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

CARA ELLIOTT: “What made you want to write?” I find it far too difficult to answer in a few simple paragraphs. I always had stories bubbling around in my brain, even when I was very little. And though it was a long and roundabout journey, I came back to that creative passion about ten years ago and realized that writing makes my heart sing!

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?

CE: Oh, all the time! I tend to have a very basic outline for a book, and develop the nuances of story and character as I go along (otherwise known as a seat-of-the-pantser!) So there are many times when I find myself shaking my head after finishing a chapter and saying, “I didn’t know they were going to do THAT!” And actually, I find that part of the fun of the creative process.

DC: You wrote your popular spy series, The Spy Wore Silk, Seduced by a Spy, and The Scarlet Spy, under the pseudonym of Andrea Pickens. Why have you decided to begin your latest series under a new pseudonym?

CE: Well, I wish that I could regale you with some romantic story of being kidnapped by the Duke of Elliott, who found my wit and beauty utterly irresistible. However  . . .

In all seriousness, my publisher was so excited about the new direction in my writing that we agreed it deserved a new name. In a word, the books are sexier than ever. My Andrea Pickens “Spy” trilogy was swashbuckling adventure. (Think Jane Austen meets James Bond!) As Cara Elliott, I slide out of buckskins and into pearls and a slinky little silk dress . . . Hey, what girl doesn’t like a makeover!

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

CE: We do sometimes have rather, er,  animated discussions. Seeing as I control the delete key, they can’t curse quite as loudly as they would like. However, being the reasonable person that I am, I listen, and we are usually able to come to an understanding. (And those who insist on misbehaving soon find themselves banished to a dark corner of the manuscript.)

DC: Your new series is titled The Circle of Sin. Would you please give us an overview of the series as a whole first and then we’ll talk about the books individually.

CE: Drawn together by their sharp intellect and shared cynicism concerning the opposite sex, the Circle of Scientific Sibyls—informally known as the Circle of Sin—is a group of brilliant, beautiful female scholars who meet each week to share their knowledge—and their friendship.

Each lady has her own field of expertise—and her own reason for being wary of men.

The three books are all about past deceptions, dark secrets and hidden passions . . . Ciara, Alessandra and Kate must each draw on her own cleverness and courage—as well as help from a sinfully sexy rogue—when a past sin stirs up a swirling mix of deadly intrigue and dangerous desires.

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

CE: The smell of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven!

DC: To Sin with a Scoundrel is the first book in the series and it hit the shelves earlier this month. Would give us a look inside the story of Ciara and Lucas?

CE: Ciara is a reclusive widow and because of her expertise in chemistry, she has  been shadowed by rumors that she poisoned her late husband. When his relatives try to gain custody of her young son and his inheritance, her friends decide that she needs a rich and influential fiancé to help quell any scandal. The rakish Earl of Hadley doesn’t seem to be an ideal choice. A fun-loving, hell-raising devil with women, he is her exact opposite—but in science, there is an old adage that says “opposites attract . . .”

Now, I have to admit, I have a real soft spot in my heart for Lucas . He’s a charming rake who cheerfully admits to having no interest in anything but sybaritic pleasure. But at heart, he’s far more sensitive than he cares to admit, and as his best friend Jack says, he simply needs a challenge to bring out his better nature.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

CE: I really love this current cover for To Sin With A Scoundrel (and a close second is the wonderfully luscious red cover of The Scarlet Spy.)

DC: How about your least favorite cover?  Why?

CE: Oh, don’t get me started on bad covers! I have a master’s degree in graphic design, so I’m a terror for the art department. However, readers should know that we actually have very little “say” in the covers. That said, I think the worst one I ever had was for my RITA finalist  Signet Regency, The Storybook Hero. If you look at the front of the hero’s breeches, you will see a very large dark stain on the front of his breeches that makes it look as if he as . . . Yes. That bad.

When I called to whine at my editor, she thought I was overreacting until she found the cover proof and took a closer look … then she burst out laughing on the phone—ˆ kid you not!

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?

CE: I like to think that my writing has grown and become more fully developed, with greater depth and nuances, than when I first started. And I hope my characters reflect that. I love creating complex individuals who have strengths and weaknesses—as we all do. How they learn to conquer their doubts and fears has always been at the core of my storytelling, but I hope I keep learning how to explore and create compelling emotion.

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

CE: I’ve always wanted to write historical mysteries, as I love creating complex plots. And I’m delighted to say that I will soon be having an announcement to make about that!

DC: The second book in the series is To Surrender to a Rogue and will be released in June. Can you give us a little sneak peek?

CE: To Surrender To A Rogue features Alessandra and “Black Jack” Pierson, who play a secondary role in To Sin With A Scoundrel. An expert in ancient antiquities, Alessandra  has come to London in order to live a life of quiet scholarly study. But when she accepts an invitation to oversee the excavation of newly discovered Roman ruins near the city of Bath, she soon discovers that a fellow member of the expedition is threatening to dig up the dark secret from her scandalous past. Alone and vulnerable, she dares not confide in anyone—especially Lord James Jacquehart Pierson, a sinfully handsome rogue with whom she has clashed before. She is in desperate need of a hero, but Jack’s presence at the excavation ignites a different danger . . .

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

CE: I wish I had known more about all the great organizations like RWA that are out there for authors. I was clueless when I first decided to sit down and write a book, and so missed out on the great camaraderie and energy one gets from attending a conference or workshop.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

CE: That’s too tough! I’d rather let readers decide.

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

CE: Smart, savvy, sophisticated, sexy.

DC: Book 3, To Tempt a Rake, will be out in March 2011. Can we push our luck and find out what to expect in Kate’s story?

CE: Kate has spent most of her life sailing to exotic ports around the globe, acquiring an expertise in botany, along with a few less ladylike skills. So when a deathbed promise to her parents brings her to London to seek a reconciliation with her grandfather, the imperious Duke of Cluyne, she feels like a fish out of water in Polite Society. Her outspoken views and fiery temper tend to set off sparks—especially with the arrogant Conte of Como. The man has a knack of getting under her skin, And if he gets too close, he might uncover her scandalous secret . . .

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Well, along with any of your books, of course!)

CE: Lauren Willig’s latest, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily. (Lauren and I are co-teaching a course in historical romance at Yale this semester, which has been an amazing experience) Also, Laurel McKee’s Countess of Scandal, a wonderful historical romance set in Ireland.

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

CE: As I mentioned, I’m trained as a graphic designer, with a specialty in publication design. So I would be designing lavish, beautifully illustrated coffee table books.

DC: You’ve also written a couple of books, A Kiss of Spice and The Tiger’s Mistress, under the name of Andrea DaRif. Will you be writing books under either that name or Andrea Pickens in the future?

CE: Never say never! But right now, there are no plans for that. I’m really enjoying the direction of my Cara Elliott books and hope to continue with them for the time being.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Cara Elliott?

CE: My publisher and I are just working on an idea for a new trilogy, so I hope to be able to announce that soon!

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – dark

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?     – chunky

- heels or flats?     – flats

- coffee or tea?    – both!

- summer or winter?     – summer

- mountains or beach?      – mountains

- mustard or mayonnaise?      – mustard

- flowers or candy?     – flowers

- pockets or purse?    – pockets

- Pepsi or Coke?     – neither

- ebook or print?    – print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?     – gallimaufrey

2. What is your least favorite word?     – no

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – sunlight filtering through spring leaves

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – preconceptions

5. What sound or noise do you love?     – waves breaking on a beach

6. What sound or noise do you hate?     – cellphone chatter

7. What is your favorite curse word?      – x-rated!

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     – concert pianist (though I have absolutely no aptitude for music.)

9. What profession would you not like to do?     – Anything routine

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?    – “You made people smile.”

We’re so glad you’ve joined us today for Duck Chat!

If you’re a paranormal fan, you like gods and goddesses, good and evil, alpha heroes and strong heroines, and, oh yeah, lots of romance, you’re going to love talking to Addison Fox!

Warrior Ascended is her debut book. I just finished reading it and, in my opinion, she’s going to have a huge hit on her hands not only with this book but with each one that comes along in her Sons of Zodiac series.

So no more lollygagging! Let’s chat!

DC: Welcome to TGTBTU, Addison. Congratulations on your debut release!

AF: Thank you for inviting me!

DC: How long have you been writing? And how long has the journey been to publication of your first book?

AF: I’ve been writing off and on my entire life, but feel that I got truly serious about writing for publication when I joined Romance Writers of America in fall of 2002.  That was the point where I made a true commitment to myself and I’ve never looked back!

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?

AF: My characters definitely surprise me!  I have a basic sense of the story and the plot, but the way my characters engage with each other is a continued surprise. I always love learning about them – where they came from, how they see the world, how they face others – it’s part of what makes the process of telling their story so much fun for me.

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

AF: I can’t honestly say that I do argue with them.  At the end of the day, it’s still my story – not theirs – so I always win!

DC: Let’s chat a minute about your series, Sons of the Zodiac. Would you give everyone an overview of the series as a whole, how the idea evolved, where you see the series going, things along that line.

AF: I am having an absolute blast with the series. The concept was a true gift – I was sitting there one night, watching TV and not thinking about plotting at all – and this idea hit me.  Zodiac.  Warriors.  That was all it took.

I quickly jumped online and began doing research and found how tightly interwoven Greek mythology is with Western astrology.  As soon as I had that connection, I was set.  The zodiac elements help define my characters and the Greek mythology elements help define the world they live in.

The Sons of the Zodiac are a band of immortal Greek warriors, imbued with the powers of their signs and tasked to protect humanity from the darkest of evils.  They were created by the Greek goddess of justice, Themis, and they do battle with the goddess of war, Enyo.

I’ve conceived the series around 13 warriors – one for each sign (and Gemini has his twin) and I hope I’m fortunate to tell all their stories.  Each book will be a stand-alone love story, but the broader world my heroes inhabit will remain consistent through each book.

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

AF: It’s easy to find any excuse not to do work, but at the same time, I really try to be disciplined with the writing.  It’s my job and, while it’s definitely nice to have more flexibility with it than a 9-5 job, the work still has to take priority.  (I will admit to a fierce devotion to the Mah Jong program that now comes with Windows, however….oh, how easy it is to while away the hour playing that!)

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

AF: I have a contemporary trilogy that I really hope to sell.  I’m crazy about these characters and would love to see them come to life on the page!

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

AF: Be open to possibilities and things going not exactly as you planned them to.  Part of the fun of life is what you learn when the journey takes a detour or two!

DC: Warrior Ascended is the first book in the series and it’s debut on the shelves was earlier this month. You have one sexy set of Zodiac Warriors, and Brody is a terrific introduction to them. Would you tell us about him and Ava and give us a look inside their relationship?

AF: Brody and Ava were so much fun to write.  He’s a sexy warrior, used to being very alpha and in control and she’s a bit of a recluse when we meet her. Ava’s had a seriously messed up childhood (she saw her father murdered), so she hides herself behind drab clothes and non-stop work.  Of course, being the yummy – and insightful – hero that he is, Brody immediately sees through the drab outside to the beauty within.

One of the things I loved most about writing them was that these were two people who were able to recognize quickly that they cared for each other.  The part they both had to learn was how to fight for their relationship.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

AF: Oh goodness, this is a good question (and a toughie!)  I think I’d say….Here’s the story of a writer who stared at an interview question for three days and still sits clueless at her keyboard as to how to answer!!!

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

AF: A slice of life…with a seriously skewed twist.

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Along with Warrior Ascended, of course!)

AF: I love, love, love talking about books!  I am a huge Nora Roberts fan and I just finished Fantasy in Death, her latest J.D. Robb offering.  Right now, I’m reading On the Steamy Side by Louisa Edwards (this series is fun!!) and Pleasures of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole.  Also – full disclosure as she’s a dear friend – but if you’re not reading Jo Davis’s Firefighters of Station Five, check those out!  They are steamy and fun and the suspense is tightly woven. I can’t wait for book 4 in the series – Line of Fire – coming in May!

DC: Warrior Avenged is the next book in the series, which is Kane’s story. Can you give us a tiny sneak peek on what to expect?

AF: Ooooh – Kane certainly has a score to settle with the illusive Ilsa. As you will all find out in Warrior Ascended, she’s left him in a rather embarrassing position and not only can’t he forget her, but he’s out to get some answers.  Of course, things aren’t exactly what they seem and Ilsa’s got a few surprises of her own.  Their story – Warrior Avenged – is out in early September.

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

AF: Writing has always been a part of my life, so I just can’t imagine finding an alternative to that!

DC: What else is on the horizon for Addison Fox?

AF: Kane’s book – Warrior Avenged – will be out on September 7 and I just turned in the proposal for Book 3, Title TBD, so hopefully Quinn’s story will be in stores next year!

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?      – Dark

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?      – Smooth

- heels or flats?      – Heels

- coffee or tea?      – Both (Coffee until noon, Tea the rest of the day)

- summer or winter?    – Summer

- mountains or beach?     – Beach

- mustard or mayonnaise?     – Mayonnaise

- flowers or candy?     – Flowers

- pockets or purse?      – Purse

- Pepsi or Coke?     – Coke

- ebook or print?     – Both – I love a new book, but I also love my Kindle!!

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?     – Bachelor

2. What is your least favorite word?       – It’s unprintable!

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Being with my loved ones. They always inspire me and lift me up.

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?      – Unreasonable, irrational people. There are two sides to every story – I find it very frustrating to be locked in a discussion with someone who can’t even acknowledge there’s an alternative point of view.

5. What sound or noise do you love?     – Kisses, Christmas carols and kid giggles are about the most perfect sounds in the universe.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?     – Buzzing mosquitoes

7. What is your favorite curse word?      – Another unprintable one, but it does start with f…. 

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?      – Race car driver

9. What profession would you not like to do?   – While I admire them to no end, I don’t have it in me to be a doctor.  The thought of cutting into another human being is just beyond me.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?      – “You treated others as I expect and you used the life I gave you well.”

DC: Addison, thank you so much for being here today. It’s been a pleasure!

It’s time for Duck Chat again. Welcome!

Today we have Kate Collins with us. She has a fun series I think you’ll like to hear about.

Kate has been writing since 1995 when she had her first child and decided to quit her teaching job. Since then she’s enjoyed terrific success with first her historicals and now her current mystery series. Gardening, exploring the Greek Isles, sampling wine and dark chocolate are just a few of her passions. Kate is married and she and her husband divide their time between Northwest Indiana and Key West, Florida.

Once you’ve read her interview, if you have any other questions for Kate or have a comment you’d like to leave, please do and you’ll be in the running for a $10 Barnes & Noble gift certificate that Kate is very graciously offering to one lucky commenter today.

Now let’s chat!

DC: Welcome to The Good, the Bad and the Unread, Kate. Congratulations on the success of your Flower Shop series. The ninth book was released just last month. For those readers who have yet to discover the series, would you tell them about it overall and then we’ll talk about a couple of the books individually.

KC: The Flower Shop Mysteries are intriguing, fast-paced, funny, have a touch of romance, and they keep you guessing, exactly the kind of book I like to read. I equate the series with my favorite sit-com, somewhere I like to visit regularly because I love the cast of characters. Readers can drop by Abby’s flower shop, Bloomers, located on the town square of quaint New Chapel, Indiana, watch Abby create floral arrangements, laugh at her assistants Grace and Lottie, drool over her sexy neighbor Marco Salvare, who owns the bar and grill two doors up the block, gasp at Abby’s mother, a kindergarten teacher/clay sculptress, whose works of art cause quite a stir around the square, and so much more.

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

KC: That question would have to be: Who is your favorite author?  When I hear it, I want to run screaming from the room. I compare it to being an elementary teacher (which I was) and having to decide which of my colleagues was the best. Could I answer that and ever expect to be invited out to lunch with them again? I don’t think so. However, I think I would be safe in choosing an author outside my genre, and that would be Barbara Kingsolver. She writes the most beautiful prose and fascinating stories of anyone I’ve ever read. I’m in awe of her writing. I would love to meet her one day.

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?

KC: My characters take me all sorts of places, sometimes to places I don’t want to be. I hate when that happens. I have to outline mt stories loosely because as I write, I’m listening to the characters talking, and it flows naturally in directions I can’t anticipate ahead of time. And then there are minor characters who have been known to step in and take over. In my second Flower Shop mystery, my main character, Abby Knight, has to be a bridesmaid at her cousin Jillian’s wedding. But Jillian turned out to be such a delightfully irritating, funny character that I began to include her in all the plots. She’s the one who has surprised me the most. She can turn the story on its head when she enters a room. I love it! It keeps the story exciting for me.

DC: I read on your website that you enjoy gardening, working with your flowers and vegetables. Did your Flower Shop series germinate from that love of working with nature?

KC: You bet. I’ve been a gardener since I was a little girl. So when I was trying to come up with a setting for the series, I wanted something that I knew a little about and felt comfortable in. I also hung out at a flower shop to soak up enough knowledge to make my sleuth a credible florist, and in doing that, I found it the most delightful place to be. If I had to start another career, I’d be a florist.

DC: You have some cute titles on your books. Can any of them be credited to you, or is it like practically every author out there, your editor/publisher has chosen them all?

KC: Those titles are all mine, I’m proud to say. I agonized over each one of those babies for months.  I’m on the hunt now for the title for book eleven. It’s a long process.

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

KC: I’ve had to toss down the gauntlet a few times, but for the most part, they know who’s in charge. (I use my teacher voice.)

DC: Let’s talk about the first book in the series, Mum’s the Word, where we’re introduced to Abby. Would you give us a look inside this story, how it all got started and what Abby comes up against throughout the book?

KC: I saw Abby Knight as a fearless, female knight-in-shining armor (hence the last name) — height-challenged, hot-tempered, red-haired, and always ready to stand up for what she believes in – most often at her own expense. After flunking out of law school, she used the last bit of her inheritance from her grandpa’s trust to make the down payment on a little flower shop named Bloomers, where she’d previously worked during summer months. From that base, Abby can do the two things she loves best – create floral arrangements and help people solve problems, which naturally gets her into sticky situation, including murder.

In the first book, she has just become the owner/mortgage-holder of Bloomers and is so proud of finally doing something right – she hopes. But she’s launched immediately into a tricky situation that just keeps getting more and more dangerous and needs a lot of guts and ingenuity to get out of – along with some help from the incredibly sexy Marco.

DC: With the series revolving around Abby and her mysteries, is she a one-man woman when it comes to romance? Can you tell us about her hero?

KC: Abby is a one-man woman, but what a man! I decided right away that my feisty little sleuth needed a male counterpoint who could tolerate her nosiness and always be there as back-up. This became Marco Salvare, a former Army Ranger who now owns the Down the Hatch Bar and Grill. Marco is all male, ruggedly good looking, and doesn’t much care for rules. What a match. It’s so fun to watch those sparks in the first book turn into something much more by book nine.

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

KC: Free cell. It’s the bane of my existence. I should delete it from my computer, but I can’t bring myself to do it.  Also, email, Facebook, Twitter, my blogsite …. chocolate. Okay, just about anything.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

KC: That’s a tough question because I love all the covers and feel incredibly lucky to have them. But if I had to pick, I think I’d say Sleeping with Anemone. However, wait until you see the next one! Dirty Rotten Tendrils is purple! I love it!

DC: How about your least favorite cover?  Why?

KC: Maybe the cover of Slay It With Flowers. It’s yellow, which I thought would sell, but of all the books, that seems to be the one readers are least likely to pick up. And I love the story! The scenes where Abby gets bitten by sand fleas still cracks me up. Also, the murder is based on a true story from my hometown.

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?

KC: I know I write them differently now because I know them better. I use that knowledge to reveal their deeper emotions and fears. After that first meeting between Abby and Marco, Abby’s got some issues to work out, so over the course of the series, readers get to see how that happens and how their relationship evolves and deepens, taking some surprising turns.

DC: Since it would be tough to squeeze in every book in the series, as much as we’d love to, is there one midway through the series you would choose to let readers know how things are moving along for Abby as it progresses?

KC: I think I’d direct them toward Shoots to Kill. The plot is full of twists and surprises, the characters are great, the mystery is intriguing, and Abby’s relationship with Marco hits a surprising bump.

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

KC: I wrote children’s magazine stories and historical romance before finally deciding mystery was right for me. I love comedy, too, so maybe someday I’d try my hand at romantic comedy. Right now, my series has all of that plus a mystery, so I’m quite content.

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

KC: Don’t be afraid to fail. Failures hurt but are survivable and, if you pay attention to them, they are invaluable lessons. Also, don’t let anything chase you away from your dreams. If I had listened to the warnings of how hard it was to get published, and then to get readers to find your books on shelves crowded with titles, I would  have been too paralyzed to send off a manuscript. My motto is to go for it.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

KC: A Midwestern elementary school teacher, devoted mother and wife, avid gardener, staunch defender of animal rights, daughter of a police officer, plots murders for a living — and loves it.

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

KC: Fighting for truth, justice, and our Constitutional rights through humor and mystery.

DC: The latest book in the series is Sleeping with Anemone. What’s Abby up to at this point?

KC: Up to her eyeballs in trouble. After she learns that the giant Uniworld Food Corp is setting up a dairy farm factory in her hometown, she leads a protest to stop the corporation’s cruel practice of injecting bovine hormones into their cows, (all true, by the way, except for the fictional name of the company). Then bad things start happening – a burning brick thrown through her flower shop’s window, death threats, kidnapping attempts, and finally a murder – and although Abby wants to blame Uniworld, the evidence doesn’t point to them. Are they diabolically clever or is someone else after her?

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run?

KC: Christina Dodd’s latest.

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

KC: Probably teaching writing at the college level, or running a flower shop, or instructing Yoga, or…. Wow. So many choices!

DC: I read that you wrote several historical romances before your Flower Shop books, but information on them is a little scarce. Could you tell us about a couple?

KC: I wrote seven historical romances under two different pen names. They’re out of print now, but I’m sure copies are floating around used bookstores somewhere. I did four for Avon under Linda O’Brien, and three for Berkley. My favorites were His Forbidden Touch, and Beloved Protector, about two sisters who were very different in temperament.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Kate Collins?

KC: Right now, I’m contracted through book thirteen in the Flower Shop series, then we’ll have to see. They’re still going strong and my fans love the characters, so I’ll write them as long as people want to read them. And I’d love to do a new series one day, but what that will be, I don’t have a clue. I guess that makes me clueless!

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?    – Dark

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?    – Chunky

- heels or flats?     – Flats

- coffee or tea?  – Tea

- summer or winter?    – Summer

- mountains or beach?   – Beach

- mustard or mayonnaise?     – Mustard

- flowers or candy?     – Too easy.  Flowers.

- pockets or purse?     – Purse.

- Pepsi or Coke?     – Water

- ebook or print?     – Print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?     – Plethora

2. What is your least favorite word?   – Very

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – A gorgeous sunset

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Stress, noise, intolerance

5. What sound or noise do you love?    – The three deep blasts of a ship’s horn as it leaves port. It’s soul stirring and romantic.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?    – Jack-hammering

7. What is your favorite curse word?     – Damn

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?    – Florist

9. What profession would you not like to do?     – Police work

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?    – “We have Ghiradelli dark!”

DC: Kate, thank you so much for being with us today!

Our thanks to TJ Bennett for a super fun Duck Chat! We appreciate the time you took to talk to us, TJ.

And now we have two winners, each to receive a copy of TJ’s The Promise.  Drumroll please!!!

***Patricia Barraclough (28)

***Jennifer Ross (2)

Congratulations, ladies! Please send your snail mail addresses to us at lighthousetagger (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll contact TJ for you!

We’re glad to have you all back for Duck Chat! Welcome!

Today Julia Barrett is with us, so get comfy, enjoy this time with her, and you may have just found a new author you’d like to read!

In my roughly five years as a reviewer, Julia is the only author who’s taken a so-so review from me with grace and then offered up her next release to go through the process again. She definitely takes after the heroines she writes – gutsy, courageous, gets the job done and never lets go, all the while being kind and gracious. Julia Barrett is the complete package.

She lives in Northern California with her husband and has three grown children. Hiking is a favorite pastime, something she’s done all over the U.S., depending on where she lived or vacationed at the time. Since we’re getting to know Julia today, if you’ve got a question for her, be sure to ask, or just leave a comment for her, and we’ll toss your name in for a copy of Beauty of the Feast, one of her latest releases.

Now let’s chat!

DC: Welcome to the Pond, Julia! Glad to have you here today. For those readers who haven’t yet read your books, would you tell them a little bit about yourself, the woman versus the author?

JB: Well, the woman and the author are the same, my author alter-ego simply has a different name so I can maintain some anonymity.  I’m as active, outgoing, opinionated, stubborn, and as observant as my characters.  I like to feature strong female heroines who know who they are and what they want – like me.  I wasn’t always assertive.  Growing up, I was quite shy, the quiet, brainiac type, who could be found with her nose buried in a book.

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

JB: Oh, here’s one that bugs me – Do you get turned on when you write your books?  OMG!  How can I answer that?  It’s waaaay too personal.  The answer?  Depends, and that’s as much as I’ll say.

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?

JB: Absolutely.  It’s as if the characters speak through me, as if I am merely the vehicle for their story.  I know some authors talk about their muse.  I don’t know exactly what a muse is…I’ve always thought of my cats as my muses because they cuddle beside me when I write.  But I guess my answer is yes.  My characters surprise me all the time.  I do not plot out my stories, I just write and my characters take the directions they take.  I actually have a tough time writing a story if I can’t hear the characters’ voices in my head, which is why I struggle with deadlines.  I can’t make a character talk to me.  They say what they have to say when they are good and ready and once they start talking, they’ll often keep me up at night until I get their story finished.

DC: When you began writing, was erotic romance what you always had in mind or did that come later after trying other genres?

JB: Erotic romance totally came later!  I write nonfiction, mostly health and nursing related stuff and I began my career as a poet.  In college, I majored in creative writing and I figured I’d write the next great American novel by the time I was thirty.  What a laugh!  In my opinion, the last great American novelist was John Steinbeck.  East of Eden is brilliant.  Anyway, I was lucky enough to have some poetry published while I was still in college, but once I graduated, life intervened and I needed to make a buck in a hurry.  I returned to school to get a nursing degree.  I’ve worn many other hats over the years.  Four years ago I was laid up due to a climbing accident – really laid up, for nearly eighteen months – and a friend gave me a Linda Howard book.  I began to read romance…well, maybe devour is a better word, and I realized I could write it.  Hey, I’d lived it and I write what I know.

DC: What is it that drew you to erotic romance?

JB: Passion.  I don’t just mean sex.  I mean a passion for life.  A good erotic romance is filled with passionate people, characters who have overcome significant obstacles and despite tough odds, never give up, love life, and manage to connect with a true soul mate.  I do not like to read gratuitous sex scenes and I’m not big on really graphic language.  I prefer to read about a robust, realistic, overwhelming, passionate attraction between two strong people who, in the end, want to be together forever.

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

JB: No.  Never.  If I did, the characters would probably win.

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

JB: I am easily distracted.  I’m one of those people who when she sees a butterfly, drops everything and runs outside to get a closer look.  I never sit still.  It’s very hard for me to stay in one place to get any writing done.  I’ve been like this my entire life – guess I have a little ADD.  I do the best when I hike with my dog first thing in the morning – anywhere from three to five miles – use my elliptical for forty or fifty minutes to burn off some additional energy, and then I manage to sit and work.  If I’m really antsy, I head to a busy coffee shop and write.  Even when I was in college, I found that if I tried to study in a library, I totally lost it.  The quiet distracts me.  I had to go to a bar or the student union where I could focus against a lot of background noise.  My real life job takes a lot out of me and usually I have to crash for a day or so after several shifts in a row.  That’s when I surf the web, check out blogs and sites and maybe do some cooking and baking to chill out.

DC: You’re just beginning a very busy year of new releases, so let’s talk about your 2010 books. First up is Captured that came out in January. Please tell our readers about Ekkatt and Mari.

JC: This year is crazy and totally unexpected!  I thought Captured would come out in April, but it was released by Siren on January 6^th.  Captured is a work of romantic science fiction.  I actually dreamed the entire book and had to stop another work in progress to get this story told.

Mari finds herself captive on an alien vessel bound for the meat market.  She’s forced to hide her fear and tries to somehow connect with her captor in order to save her own life.  She succeeds but suffers survivor guilt, and worse, falls in love with the man who took her in the first place.  She compares her situation to that of collaborators in World War II.  Ekkatt is more than he seems.  He’s a trapper.  He traps human women for the market.  Their flesh brings a high price.  He took this job because of the perks – traveling through the galaxy, a chip in his brain that allows him to learn new languages, the money that helps to support his family – but he’s not stupid and he’s not cruel.  Despite everything he’s been taught by the religious and state authorities on his home planet, his encounter with Mari opens his eyes and he comes to realize humans are not insentient beings.  They are intelligent, despite their primitive technology.  They can feel pain and they do have souls.  He puts everything on the line to save Mari and he is overcome with guilt.  For years, he’s sent sentient beings to the meat market.  When he finds himself falling in love with Mari, he feels that first he must earn her forgiveness.

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?

JB: Nope.  I still write smart-mouthed, talented women who are, above all, survivors and hard, hot, intelligent, loyal heroes who do not hesitate to go after what they want – which are of course, my heroines!

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

JB: I’m working on a ménage.  This is a very scary genre for me, and it’s really not in my nature to share when it comes to a partner or a lover.  However, I have a unique story in mind that involves two men in love with the same woman and I find it necessary to push my boundaries in order to figure out exactly how I want to handle the situations my characters may find themselves in.

DC: We meet Eric and Kate in You Just Might Get It, which is a novella in the The Cougar anthology. Can you give us a look into their story?

JC: Ooh cool!  I was unaware you knew about that story.  Eric is a chef, Kate is a nurse.  He’s twenty-something, she’s forty-something.  Eric is attracted to Kate, and he’s definitely the aggressor in this situation.  He’s mature and confident while Kate has been through a nasty divorce and stayed away from the dating scene.  When Kate gets locked out of her apartment building on a rainy day, Eric gets to play the hero and he invites her over for a quick supper.  The attraction between the two is undeniable, but you’ll have to read the rest of the story for yourself!

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

JB: Hmmm.  I have no idea.  I’ve been through a lot, lived a lot, done a lot.  I’ve messed up lots and lots.  But, I’m not entirely certain I’d change a thing.  Everything that’s happened to me over the years has made me the person I am today and I’m in a good place.  I have great kids, an amazing husband, cool pets and healthy parents.  What more can I ask for?

DC: Beauty and the Feast is coming out this month, takes place in Napa Valley, and revolves around Eva, who is a chef, and Gabriel, a winery owner. Sounds like a whole lot of fun going on. Tell us about it.

JB: I loved loved loved writing this story!  I’ve actually been a personal chef and a pastry chef, and owned a catering business and a restaurant.

When Gabriel Abbott hires Eva Raines to put together a seduction dinner for another woman, he has no idea he’s the one who will be seduced – by Eva’s food and her sweet voice.  He begins fantasizing about her, just as Eva, a shy country girl, begins to fantasize about the man who hired her.  When the two characters come face to face under unusual circumstances, they nearly burst into flames!  Beauty and the Feast is a straight contemporary with a fantastic, elegant, sensual love story, filled with interesting people, places and humorous situations.  I had so much fun with this!  Over the next year or two, I’ll be writing another contemporary about Quincy, Gabriel’s half-brother.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

JB: Oh, this is an easy one – my book, Cara, which is no longer available, is autobiographical.  Here’s the blurb – Cara Franklin’s life has been one nightmare after another.  She grows to adulthood blaming herself for everything that’s happened.  She believes her safest path is to keep other people at a distance, especially male people.  James Mackie, a young doctor who is aware of Cara‘s history, is determined to break through her barriers, enter her world. and love her.  Cara cautiously allows him in and returns his love, only to watch her new world of happiness, a world she never genuinely trusted, comes crashing down.  She turns from James and runs far away in an attempt to reinvent herself.  She discovers old habits die hard. She’s run out of the frying pan and straight into the fire, into the arms of an abusive drug-dealer, Micah Welsh.  Now Cara must fight for her very survival and for the survival of her unborn child.  No one, not even her beloved James, can rescue her.  Cara must believe in herself or perish.

I’m hoping that one day the book will be re-released, but I’ve been told that the subject matter is too dark for today’s economy!

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

JB: Oh, you mean like Homer Simpson?  D’oh!  Actually, like most of my heroines, I suffer from a bad case of potty mouth – my voice’s tagline would probably be something that includes the F-word.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

JB: Well, I love the cover for Daughter’s of Persephone.  The artist expressed my vision perfectly.  It’s up on the Resplendence site and it is very sci-fi-ish in a Dune sort of way, which is what I was going for.  If you look at Captured, Jinger captured Mari and Ekkatt quite well.  She nailed Mari’s dragon tattoo.

DC: How about your least favorite cover?  Why?

JB: Oh gosh.  Covers are a sore subject with me, so I think I’ll just keep my mouth shut.  I’m happy with the covers of my current books.  I do believe strongly that the cover should reflect some aspect of the story within.  In the past, I’ve had covers that reflected nothing of the story and that is misleading to the reader and difficult for the author to accept.  We don’t always have a say in what our covers look like.

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Yes, in addition to any Julia Barrett novel!)

JB: Well, in addition to any Julia Barrett novel, I’d have to say my two favorites are Linda Howard’s Kill and Tell and After the Night – I love both those books are re-read them all the time.  I’m a big Julie Garwood fan too and I’m a sucker for Karen Marie Moning’s hot highlanders.

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

JB: Well, I’m still doing it – I’m a hospice nurse.  Despite the intensity of the work, I love it.  It’s just that now I can do it part time.  I’m a restless soul and about every four years, I change careers, though I’ve kept my nursing license current since I graduated.  Hospice nursing is the first job I’ve stuck with for a relatively long period of time.  From time to time I toy with the idea of going back into catering and I dabble.  Every once in a while I’ll cater a wedding or a graduation party.  But, really and truly, I want to write.

DC: In July Books 1 & 2 of your Daughters of Persephone series is slated to be released, followed by Books 3 in August. Would you tell us first about the series as a whole and then give us a tiny sneak peek into each book?

JB: This series started out as a self-challenge.  I’m a huge science fiction fan and I decided to go for it and write my own version of a sci fi romance.  Here’s the story in a nutshell…In the final days of Earth, a cadre of elite scientist from across the globe join forces to create a line of genetically enhanced females to guide the remnants of humanity, to try to save us all.  The scientists decide to use women as women are less prone to violence than men.  Over succeeding centuries, the project, known as Persephone, takes on a life of its own and as the women evolve, they are able to make their own genetic adaptations within a single generation.  The series involves time travel, space travel, colonies of survivors far from Earth, blood, warfare, family, love and the power of hope.

DC: What else is on the horizon for Julia Barrett?

JB: I’ve got a challenging few years ahead of me.  I’m teasing out a sequel for both Captured and Beauty and the Feast.  As I mentioned, I’m working on a ménage – it’s a work of science fiction and this ménage is practice for the paranormal ménage I have planned.  I just want to make sure this is a genre I can do justice to – not only for the readers, but for myself.  I also have a couple previously released works of romantic suspense that I’m hoping to find a home for.  To be honest, I think I’ve found my niche in two areas, science fiction and contemporary, and I’ll probably continue to write in those genres.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?       – Milk – I know dark chocolate is more complex, but I love the creamy mouth feel of milk chocolate.

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?      – Chunky!!!  Don’t waste my time with creamy.  And I like the non-hydrogenated kind that you have to stir.

- heels or flats?      – Boots with heels.  After all the knee surgeries I’ve had, high heels are out, but I can get by with boots.  Mostly though, you’ll find me in my hiking boots.

- coffee or tea?     – Major coffee drinker – I love my Nespresso machine.  Nespresso, not espresso.

- summer or winter?      – Both and spring and fall.

- mountains or beach?     – Again, both.

- mustard or mayonnaise?      – Mustard, spicy brown or Dijon and I like it with the little mustard seeds in it.

- flowers or candy?     – Roses, big, fat, fragrant roses.

- pockets or purse?     – I am so hard on purses.  Mostly it’s my keys and cell phone in my jacket pocket and my wallet locked into my glove compartment.

- Pepsi or Coke?    – Oh, don’t even go there.  Coke.

- ebook or print?     – Both, but I love holding a book in my hands.  However, reading is the thing – turning pages or flipping a screen.

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?   – I love language.  I don’t have one single favorite word.

2. What is your least favorite word?    – Moist – ew – the connotations in the nursing field, can’t go there!

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Hiking in the fresh air with my dog, galloping a horse across a mountain meadow, river rafting, water skiing…I guess nature and activity really turn me on in every way.  I love sports and I find baseball to be quite a turn on.  Of course, my husband turns me on too…

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – A lack of sleep really does a number on me.  That and too much of the day job.

5. What sound or noise do you love?      – The sounds of making love.  The noise a horse makes when he or she is happy to see you.  The silent meow of my black cat.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?    – The noise of leaf blowers.

7. What is your favorite curse word?     – Merde.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?      – I would love to own a bakery!

9. What profession would you not like to do?     – Pathology – I could not stomach an autopsy when I was in nursing school and I couldn’t dissect anything for anatomy and physiology.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?    — “Not too bad, not too bad at all.”

So glad to see you here at Duck Chat once again!

Today we have a special treat for you – Laura Kinsale is here and she’s going to be talking a bit about her latest book, Lessons in French, and some other tidbits.

Be sure to leave a comment or question for Laura today. Sourcebooks is giving away two copies of Lessons in French to two lucky comments, but, sorry, for U.S. and Canada only.

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Welcome, Laura!  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?

LAURA KINSALE: Definitely!  I have to write them to find out about them.  It wouldn’t be any fun if they didn’t surprise me.  The hero, Trev, in Lessons in French, was originally supposed to be much more cynical and selfish than he turned out to be.  Instead, he is very much a “guy” in that he really wants to do the right thing, but just finds himself in trouble.

DC: If you could retire any question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

LK: “Tell us a little about yourself.”

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

LK: No, I never argue with them; it doesn’t feel like that.  It might feel that I’m trying to push the story in a direction that it just won’t go, as if I’m shoving at a blank wall.  Sometimes when I back up and take a fresh tack, it works.

DC: Now let’s talk about Trev and Callie in Lessons in French. Would you give us a look into their relationship and story in this book?

LK: If you love those stories where the shy, plain girl gets the hot dashing guy in the end, Lessons in French will be your kind of book. Lady Callista ought to be quite a catch—she’s the daughter of an earl and wealthy to boot–but she’s been left standing at the altar by three different men. She’s long ago resigned herself to spinsterhood, and her greatest desire is to win the silver cup at the agricultural fair with her prize bull, Hubert. That’s until Trev d’Augustin waltzes back into her quiet life. The son of French émigrés, he was run out of town by Callie’s father years ago for stealing a bit more than a kiss from her. Callie and Trev share quite a past, in fact, full of secret adventures and harebrained antics that no one else knows about, not even Trev’s very shrewd mother. On his return, Callie is instantly drawn willy-nilly into scandal and deception–the sort of deception that involves trying to hide a huge bull under the bedsheets. She goes from having no suitors to having more than she wanted. And in the midst of these escapades, she finds herself falling in love again with the worst possible man for her.

DC: What’s the one thing you’d like readers to come away with after reading Lessons in French?

LK: I want them to smile.  I hope readers find that it’s like a great romantic movie that makes you laugh, and shed a few tears, and come out feeling good about the world.

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

LK: Don’t let me turn on a video game!

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

LK: Don’t spend so much time at the computer!

DC: Growing up in Texas, one would think you might have chosen to write westerns. Was that ever a consideration throughout your career?

LK: I didn’t actually grow up in Texas, though I visited my grandmother there every summer.  I’m not sure why westerns don’t really ring a bell for me–I seem to be more of an Anglophile in my stories.  In real life, I love the American west.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

LK: A romance novel can be more.  More fascinating characters than you ever anticipated.  More unexpected depth.  Emotion to engage your heart and your mind.  Stories that keep you awake and words you will remember long after you close the book.

DC: Your first book was published in 1985. Is there any one of your stories that really stands out twenty-five years later, it flowed so easily, it was the most difficult to write, the most emotional, or anything along those lines?

LK: For me, the character of Allegreto stands out the most, in both of the books he appeared in, For My Lady’s Heart and Shadowheart. He started out as a minor character, just a servant really, but he became more real than real, to me and to many readers.  I could never predict or control him; he was always an active entity operating by his own rules.

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

LK: Riding/owning/training horses in some capacity.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?      – dark

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?     – chunky

- heels or flats?     – flats

- coffee or tea?      – tea

- mountains or beach?     – mountains

- flowers or candy?    – both

- pockets or purse?     – pockets

Be sure to come back later today to read an excerpt of Lessons in French!

A huge thank you to Annette Blair for a fun Duck Chat here at the Pond!

Drumroll, if you please! We have two winners today. First for a copy of Annette’s Sex and the Psychic Witch, third book in her Triplet Witch series, the winner is:

AngelaT (7)

And our winner for a copy of the first book in Annette’s Vintage Magic series, A Veiled Deception, is:

teresa (2)

Congratulations, ladies! Please send your snail mail address to lighthousetagger (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll contact Annette for you.

So glad you could make it back to Duck Chat!

Alexandra Hawkins joins us today, so sit back and enjoy!

Starting off strong with her Lords of Vice series, Alexandra is a new voice in the historical romance genre. All Night with a Rogue, her debut book, kicks off the three-book series that will hopefully expand to cover all seven of the fascinating rakes she’s given readers in ANwaR. So if you love a bad-boy hero, you’re going to have a heck of a time reading these books.

Alexandra is married and lives with her family in Georgia. Like the rest of us, she discovered romance at an early age. That helped fuel her already fanciful imagination, and now her first book is published. A dream come true all authors can attest to.

Be sure to leave Alexandra a question or comment, because she’s very graciously offered up a copy of All Night with a Rogue to one lucky reader.

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Welcome to The Good, the Bad and the Unread, Alexandra. Let’s start off by talking about your new series, Lords of Vice, generally and then we’ll get to those handsome lords individually. Would you tell our readers about the series overall, where the idea came from, and did it turn out as you originally envisioned?

ALEXANDRA HAWKINS:   Thanks for inviting me to stop by, TGTBTU!

I came up with the general concept for the Lords of Vice series first.  I have a weakness for bad boys, and the Regency rake has always been one of my particular favorites.  My short pitch for the series was:

Notorious, decadent and outrageously handsome, the Lords of Vice prowl the glittering ballrooms of Regency London’s polite society, breaking rules and setting hearts aflutter while they indulge every carnal whim . . . every desire . . .

Just reading it again, gives me all sorts of ideas!  I decided to give my rakes their own private club so there was a constant in the series that connected the seven men while each book focused on a different hero.

I only have one book out, but I’m happy with the results so far!

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

AH:  That’s an easy one.  Where do you come up with your ideas?  It’s a fair question but it’s not like there’s an idea spring in my backyard.  Ideas for stories come to me at odd times.  I might be vacuuming the living room when a scene pops into my head.  Or I might see something on TV that inspires me.  I’ve even used ideas that I’ve culled from my dreams.

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?

AH:  Often.  I usually just go with it.  I’ve come up with some interesting scenes because I’ve let my character have his or her way.  Other times, it’s frustrating.  Frost, in particular, was a very difficult character because he didn’t want to cooperate.  I remember emailing one of my friends and telling her that Frost was a complete ass and I was tempted to kill him off in the first book.  I didn’t.  Now that I’m working on book three, I’ll admit that his quirky sense of right and wrong has grown on me.

DC: The first book in your series is All Night with a Rogue, which was just released yesterday. We meet Sin and Juliana in this book. Would you tell our readers about them and give them a sneak peek into their story?

AH:  When the story opens, Sin has begun to question his life.  He’s bored, cynical, and he craves a challenge.  He initially thinks his host’s wife will cure his ennui until he glances up and sees the heroine perched in a tree.

For Juliana, this is her first visit to London.  Her mother has brought Juliana and her sisters to town in hopes of securing solid matches for them because the family is in a financial fix.  Juliana has doubts about her mother’s plans, and longs to explore her secret dream of having her musical compositions published.

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

AH:  Sometimes.  It’s usually the male characters that cause trouble.  I wish I could say that I win all the arguments, but twenty-one years of marriage have taught me the art of compromise.

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

AH:  A really bad migraine.

DC: What is it that draws you to write historicals, especially the Regency era?

AH:  The first romances that I glommed were traditional Regencies.  I fell in love with the country houses, the costumes, and elegance of the period.  That world seemed so perfect.  So much so, I didn’t quite trust it.  As a writer, I longed to pull off those polite masks and ferret out everyone’s dark secrets.

DC: Till Dawn with the Devil is due out in August. This is Gabriel and Sophia’s book. Would you give us some insight into their relationship?

AH:  Gabriel, known as Reign, hasn’t been very lucky when it comes to love.  His first marriage was a loveless, grievous debacle.  When his pregnant wife was found dead at the foot of her bed, many people believed he had murdered his wife in a drunken rage.

Lady Sophia has felt like a burden her entire life.  A terrible childhood accident left her visually impaired so her independent spirit has been battered by her limitations.  Her wastrel brothers ignore her, which usually suits her.  However, she’s lonely and longs for some excitement in her life.

Then Lady Sophia meets Reign, and her adventure begins!

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

AH:  Within the romance genre, I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at romantic suspense or something paranormal.  Outside the romance genre, I’d lean toward horror.

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

AH:  Trust your instincts.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

AH:  She looks before she leaps.  She also draws diagrams.

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

AH:  Dark and edgy with a splash of humor.

DC: The next book in the series is After Dark with a Scoundrel. Can you give us just a hint of what to expect when it’s released in 2011?

AH:  Book three is Dare and Lady Regan’s story.  Lady Regan is Frost’s younger sister, and let me tell you, she can be just as unpredictable as her brother.

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

AH:  Good question.  I need a creative outlet, so I probably would have started my own business.

DC: Do you have any works in progress you can tell us about?

AH:  Till Dawn With the Devil is in production.  I’m also working on the first draft for After Dark With a Scoundrel.

DC: What else is on the horizon for Alexandra Hawkins?

AH:  I hope to write more Lords of Vice stories.  If not, I’ll move on to another project.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?    – Dark

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?    – Chunky

- heels or flats?     – Flats

- coffee or tea?     – Tea

- summer or winter?      – Summer

- mountains or beach?      – Beach

- mustard or mayonnaise?      – Mustard

- flowers or candy?    – Flowers

- pockets or purse?      – Purse

- Pepsi or Coke?     – Coke, preferably Cherry Coke Zero

- ebook or print?     – Print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?    – Yes

2. What is your least favorite word?   – Whatever

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Music

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – In-laws

5. What sound or noise do you love?     – Laughter

6. What sound or noise do you hate?     – That beeping sound the garbage truck makes

7. What is your favorite curse word?    – Crap

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?      – Archeology

9. What profession would you not like to do?     – Animal Artificial Insemination Technician

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?   – “You did good, kid.”

DC: We’re so glad you were with us today, Alexandra. Thank you!

Welcome back to Duck Chat!

You’re going to be so glad you stopped by today. Adele Ashworth is here to talk about her books and anything else you’d like!

There’s really not much more I can tell you about Adele that isn’t discussed in the interview below. I know she’s a warm and funny person, and that’s just communicating through email with her. She’s one of those people you would definitely like to meet and becomes friends.

But there’s probably something special you’d like to know about Adele, so if you leave a question or comment, we’ll put you in the running for a copy of Adele’s next release, The Duke’s Captive. You have to be patient, however, it’s not being released until August!

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Welcome to the Pond, Adele! We’re so glad you could be here today. You have some exciting news for romance readers. Tell everyone about My Darling Caroline, please.

ADELE ASHWORTH: Thanks so much for the invitation, Sandy! Let’s see… My Darling Caroline was my first published book, which Avon re-released yesterday. It was originally released in 1998, and won the Romance Writers of America RITA award for Best First Book of that year. It’s my only regency historical (all my later books are Victorians), and is the story of an earl returning from war to discover his horses have been sold from under him to the father of Caroline Grayson. Grayson, a baron, will return the horses, and other property, if Brent (the hero) agrees to marry his spinster daughter. The problem is that Caroline is a brilliant woman and wants to study botany at university, but her gender prevents it. She expects to travel to the United States, where she’s been accepted to study because she’s applied as a man, but this whole marriage thing runs a knife through her plans. Of course everything becomes more complicated when she refuses to sleep with her new husband, and he can’t understand why. Lots of plot twists and danger ensue, eventually leading to a surprising, fulfilling, and happy ending for both of them.  And I hope that wasn’t too confusing off the top of my head…

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

AA: Ha! Well, probably the most aggravating question is, “Where do you get your ideas?” because the honest truth is, I really don’t know. And when I answer that question with a shrug, it bothers me that I might come across callous or snide or something. I’m not trying to be rude, but story ideas, for me, usually just appear while I’m writing, which sometimes even changes the entire story in the middle of it. I rarely stick to my original synopsis because plot points come to me as I write, but it’s frustrating to try to explain that. And I do get asked that a lot.

Surprisingly, I don’t get asked about sex scenes or writing in the romance genre very much.

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?

AA: Absolutely! Every single book, and with every single character, especially with dialogue.

DC: Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

AA: Oh, sure. They’re just like real people to me in my head, though I’ve never had one go off on some totally strange twist. I think as the story progresses, they just tend to develop more personality as I get to know them better. And real people are always surprising.

DC: And more exciting news is the release of your next book, The Duke’s Captive, in July. Readers will remember Ian and Viola from earlier books. Will you give us a sneak peek about them and their story?

AA: I’m probably more excited, and apprehensive, about The Duke’s Captive than any book I’ve ever written.  It was extremely difficult to write, and took me about eighteen months to finally get it finished.  It’s the story of Ian Wentworth, a minor character from A Notorious Proposition, who spent his time in that book drugged and chained to a wall in a dungeon. Five years later The Duke’s Captive begins as Ian now learns that the only remaining person who he thinks kept him captive in the dungeon, Viola Bennington Jones, now Viola Cresswald, Lady Cheshire, has just come out of mourning, and he sets out for revenge. The love scenes are graphic, and Ian is a bitter man, thus my trouble writing the story. It’s a complicated tale of redemption, I think, and it’s the first time I’ve ever come close to writing what I think is an Alpha male. I think it’s my best book to date, but of course, as all authors do, now that it’s done, I worry about the little things I might have done to make it better. Maybe it’s not that great, maybe I should have… blah, blah, blah. 

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

AA: You know, I know some writers say this happens to them, but I never, ever argue with my characters. They’re like my puppets, or something. They do what I say!  Maybe I have that relationship with them because I live with teenagers who rarely do what I say. (Snort) But honestly, if a character goes off in some new direction in the story, it’s because I allowed it. I am Mom, Alpha Dog, and God of All Puppetry Masters all wrapped up in one, and my characters are my little play things.

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

AA: Everything. I’m the most easily distracted person on the planet. I think this is why it takes me so long to get into a book, and then I’m under pressure to finish it for a deadline. I work well under pressure, but it’s a bad way to write a book.  The problem, I think, is that when I sit down and enter my characters’ world, I don’t want to be disturbed by anything or anyone. I get truly frustrated to have one of my kids call for me, or the phone rings. It’s like, why bother writing when I have to walk the dogs, then make something to eat, then check email, then take my daughter to the dentist. By early afternoon, I want to catch up on the news, and if I can’t get in solid writing time, and I’m already getting tired, well, I just put it off till tomorrow.  I love to write, have a story to tell, but have a horrible time forcing myself to engage. I am NOT a role model.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

AA: Honestly, I’ve really been happy with all of them, some more than others. I really think one of my best-selling books to date, The Duke’s Indiscretion, sold so well because of the hot red cover. I loved it, frankly. (I have to say, though, that author Michele Albert, a good friend of mine, brought to my attention that the hero on the cover has “man hands.” He does, too.  I wouldn’t have noticed but for her — ahem – acuteness to detail, but my feeling about it was well, at least my HEROINE doesn’t have man hands!) I also really loved the cover for Duke of Sin – I think because it’s purple, and I love the color purple. I know… pretty stupid reason, but there you go.

DC: How about your least favorite cover?  Why?

AA: Oh, God, I know you mean American titles, but hands down my least favorite cover is the Russian cover of Duke of Scandal. It’s hardcover, with the h/h dancing in Regency attire at a ball. It looks like a cover of one of the original Barbara Cartland novels my grandmother collected. And I write Victorians. But then, maybe Russians really like, and buy, romances with sweet, innocent covers no matter the content? But as for my American covers, I don’t know. It’s hard to separate feelings for, or compare, a cover that sells well, that I might not like visually, to one that I think is gorgeous but probably won’t get noticed on a shelf unless the reader is looking for my book specifically. In this regard, I never argue with Avon about covers. The art department seems to have them figured out and I trust them.

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?

AA: Wow, what an interesting question!  Truthfully, I’m not sure how to answer it, either. I think it’s harder for me to keep the characters from becoming replications of themselves, since I tend to write independent heroines who have some form of job or work, and Beta-ish heroes who don’t mind their independence.  I do try as hard as I can to make them all unique, though. For instance, Samson Carlisle, from Duke of Scandal, was a truly brooding man, dark and thoughtful, quite cynical, and his closest friend, Colin Ramsey, from The Duke’s Indiscretion, was nearly his opposite. I only wish I could be funnier in my books. Julia Quinn, a good friend, has told me repeatedly that I’m one of those people whose real life personality is totally different from my characters and my stories, which tend to be rather serious in focus. I can be pretty funny in an overly dramatic kind of way sometimes (especially at a bar with Julie Q., Laura Lee Guhrke, Rachel Gibson, Kathryn Smith, Elizabeth Boyle and the flowing martinis… but I probably shouldn’t go there in this interview *wink*) But I do wish I could translate more comedy into a book, and someday I might attempt it. I just always seem to return to the DRAMA – story of my life. The Duke’s Captive is probably my most serious book to date, so if someone laughs while reading it, it was purely unintentional on my part. 

DC: Avon is going to be releasing your backlist in e-format. Any information you can impart about the process at this point?

AA: Well, the only books not in e-book form as of yet are Someone Irresistible and When It’s Perfect, my two first books for Avon. Those are out of print in book form, but Avon is releasing them as e-books on March 2. So, after March, all my Avon books will be available in one form or another. In the next two years, Avon will also be re-releasing Stolen Charms, my second Berkley book, and then Winter Garden, though I don’t know the dates yet. And I’m sure they’ll all be in e-book form as well.

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

AA: I’m seriously considering romantic suspense, and have already started a story. I’d like, if the procrastination devils stay away, to write one RS and one historical a year. But we’ll see. I do think I’m ready for variety, though, and even have an idea for a young adult serious. The trouble with writers, however, is that we have so many books to write, but practically speaking, because of time and life issues, we’re unable to get those stories down on paper. The only author I know who consistently writes what she decides she’d like to try is Kathryn Smith. Her ambition and creativity amaze me, and I am in awe of her muse. I actually dedicated The Duke’s Captive to her for letting me borrow it (or is a muse a ‘her’?).

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

AA: Oh, man, we do NOT have enough space. LOL! Honestly, though, as far as writing goes, it would be to organize better. I really think I could have five or six more books finished at this point if I only knew how to dedicate my time to writing and focus better when I was younger. Sigh…

DC: I read on your website about your love of music. You at one point wanted to be a Broadway star and you sang for the talent portion of a beauty pageant you were in years ago. Would you do anything differently concerning music if you had those years to live over again?

AA: The thing about my singing was that I certainly had the gift, but not the drive. I’ve done a lot of theater shows, lots and lots of singing on stage, and I truly love it. I love being on stage period, whether it’s to sing, speak, be the general center of attention… But the truth is, even my mother said she never pushed me as a child or teenager to go beyond what I did because I never exhibited the intense drive that it takes to truly make it in such a difficult business. The only time I’ve felt driven career-wise has been to write romance novels. But I do miss it, and long to do another show, sing again for something other than weddings and funerals. Right now, I just don’t have the time.

DC: Who’s your favorite musician/singer?

AA: There are so many I can’t begin to answer that. But I love all music, from pop to opera. Yanni, Enya, Adiemus, Beethoven, Bach and Brahms are my choices if I listen to music when I write. They’re all just so creative with harmony!  (Mozart is too complicated melodically. His music is so grand I end up just listening to Mozart and the writing never gets done.) And here’s a weird secret: I loved ABBA, still do, and sing with them on my I-pod as I walk the dogs. ABBA and Pat Benatar and Andrea Bocelli and Maroon 5 and Beyonce, and of course all the music from Glee are among my many I-pod favorites. I’m sure I look like the crazy lady who sings when she walks her dogs, but really, every neighborhood should have one. I’m proud to me mine. 

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

AA: Rich, glamorous, and still as size four…

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

AA: Drama Queenery Realized

— or maybe better to say:

Drama Queenery Understated

DC: You’re a fan of Victoria Holt. I devoured her books when I first started reading romance eons ago. What’s your favorite Holt book?

AA: Oh, it had to be On the Night of the Seventh Moon. I read that when I was twelve, staying for the summer at my grandmother’s tiny house on the Navajo Reservation in Teec Nos Pos, Az (she was a teacher at the boarding school). I still remember sitting my grandfather’s rocking chair and devouring that book, mesmerized because it was my first romance novel. It surprised me at every turn, and when the heroine’s husband turned up alive at the end… sniff. It was WAY better than Nancy Drew, since Nancy and Ned never kissed (so disappointing!), and there was no turning back for me after that momentous reading discovery. [Ed. On the Night of the Seventh Moon was my favorite Holt too. I finally got my hands on a paperback copy since I haven't read it for eons, and I wanted to find out if it still held appeal for me. You're welcome to borrow it, Adele!]

DC: Who’s your favorite author?

AA: Like music, that’s a complicated question for me to answer. I read a lot of non-fiction – religious history, political books, etc., and I haven’t had that much time for fiction lately, aside from a few favorite romance authors. I love, love, love Dean Koontz, but I don’t have a taste for paranormal romance. I love Rachel Gibson, Laura Lee Guhrke, Lorraine Heath, and about 100 others I’m forgetting. John Krakauer is a non-fiction favorite. Into Thin Air is one of the best, most gripping and deeply emotional non-fiction books I’ve ever read.

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Yes, in addition to any Adele Ashworth novel!)

AA: I recently read three novels by Laura Griffin — Whisper of Warning, Thread of Fear, and Untraceable — that I really, really enjoyed! She writes straight RS, and has a similar voice to Michele Albert/Jerott, who also – yay! – has another book out next month called Her Last Chance. I will be reading that one!

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

AA: I have absolutely no idea. Really. Every job I had until writing professionally was just a job for me, even when I flew for America West. I kept thinking then that I needed to find my calling… or something… and when I stumbled upon a book about how to write a romance and get it pubbed, everything just clicked. From that point on I was determined to be an author and haven’t given much else a thought aside from motherhood.

DC: How’s Justin and Isabella’s story coming along, your next book, which is to be released in 2011?

AA: Who? What? Huh? Just kidding. I haven’t been working on it much in the last month, but beginning next week it’ll be crunch time again. It’s always down to the wire with me.

DC: What else is on the horizon for Adele Ashworth?

AA: Well after Justin and Isabella’s book, I’ll be writing the third in this trilogy, but I haven’t a clue what it’ll be about. I just know the hero is Lucas Wolffe, Duke of Fairbourne (who makes a couple of appearances in The Duke’s Captive), and he has lots of secrets. That’s how books start with me. I have this hero with secrets, but I don’t know what they are…  After that, I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead!

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?   – White chocolate.

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?   – Chunky, but I’m not much of a peanut butter girl.

- heels or flats?   – Both

- coffee or tea?    – Coffee

- summer or winter?     – Oh, definitely summer. Winter cold gives me hives.

- mountains or beach?    – Beach

- mustard or mayonnaise?     – Mustard, all flavors and specialties. We seriously go through a major consumption of mustard in my house (even both of my kids can’t get enough), but I can’t remember the last time I bought mayo. It’s been years.

- flowers or candy?     – Can I say sushi and a bottle of wine?

- pockets or purse?    – Purses, big ones.

- Pepsi or Coke?     – Diet Pepsi, or regular Coke (regular Pepsi is too sweet, and Diet Coke tastes like cough syrup to me)

- ebook or print?     – E-book for fiction; Print for everything else.

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?      – Probably “love” since I use it all the time. I love this, I love that… It probably gets annoying to those who love me.

2. What is your least favorite word?    – I actually can’t think of one. All words are wonderful. Oh, I do hate “snuck” when used for “sneaked.” It’s a journalism thing…

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Music, aromas, beauty in all forms.

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Anything ugly or abusive.

5. What sound or noise do you love?      – My children sleeping.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?     – My children arguing with each other.

7. What is your favorite curse word?    – Fuck or shit. I use them interchangeably, and probably more than I should.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     – I’d love to be a forensic pathologist or a Broadway superstar. Could any two careers be more diverse?

9. What profession would you not like to do?     – Anything to do with numbers — banking, accounting, real estate. Ugh.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?    – “Welcome, darling child. Now let me show you the library up here…”

DC: Adele, what a pleasure it’s been to have you here today. Thank you!

Welcome to Duck Chat!

Get ready for some fun today! Karin Tabke is with us and there’s lots of fun to be had!

I had the opportunity to meet Karin last year, and she is one of the nicest ladies you’ll ever meet. Also one of the funniest. And, according to her friends, Karin is also one of the most giving people, especially to those both in the writing industry and those trying to break into a very difficult business.

Wife of an ex-cop, mother of four, grandmother of one, and a business owner, Karin’s fans are glad she found her passion in writing. Today she talks about her historical series and her steamy cop novels, and if you’ve not read any of Karin’s books, here’s your chance to win one so you too will be hooked and want more. Karin is offering up any book on her backlist, so leave a meaningful comment or question for her and we’ll put your name in the hat!

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Karin, congrats on your latest release, Master of Craving. This is book three in your Blood Sworn Legacy series.

KARIN TABKE: Thank you! But before we get to the Q&A, I just want to say thank you to Sandy for the invite!  I really appreciate it.  Also, I’d love to give away a book today, all you have to do is comment.  You pick your read!

DC: Would you tell our readers about the series overall and then we’ll talk about the books themselves. Is the series evolving the way you initially envisioned it?

KT: I fell in love with medieval romance after I read The Wolf and the Dove.  I was heartbroken to learn there were no more medievals.  I wanted more!  Several years ago I started writing what became Master of Surrender.  On a whim I sent the 50 pages I had written to my agent who flipped.  So did my editor.  They both  shouted, “We want a series!”  And so the Blood Sword Legacy were born.  The series is more than I had hoped it would be.  I love everything about the books.  Everything.

DC: If you could retire any question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

KT: Oh it would most definitely be the one where some random guy will ask my husband in front of me, “So does Karin sue you as her test dummy?”  Nudge nudge wink wink.   Puleese.  Grow up.  And my response?  “Wouldn’t you like to know?”  then under my breath, “Moron.”

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?

KT: Absolutely.

DC: Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

KT: Always.  I’m always amazed at how brave and smart they are.

DC: Let’s start at the beginning of your series with Master of Surrender where we meet Rohan and Isabel. Can you tell us about them and their story, please? 

KT: Le sigh.  It’s the age old conflict, conqueror vs vanquished.  But in MoS the question posed is, who really surrenders?  Methinks it is the big bad knight who surrenders to his lady love. I love Rohan and Isabel’s passion and respect for each other.  They are both warriors, and fight valiantly for what they believe in.

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

KT: No. But I shake my head a lot and warn them they are climbing a slippery slope.  They don’t listen. But I’m a panster who believes in giving her characters free will. Who usually wins?  They always win.

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

KT: The opportunity to get my hands on my granddaughter.

DC: Wulfson and Tarian’s book is next with Master of Torment. Wulf is caught in a no-win dilemma. Would you give us some insight into their relationship?

KT: Spontaneous combustion!  I loved their conflict.  That story flew from my fingertips.  It was so, so, sooo passionate and angsty.  There were times when I had no idea how they were going to find their HEA.  I still sigh. And cry. Master of Torment is the only one of my books that I have read in its book form more than once.  Ok, that’s a lie, Jaded too.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

KT: Master of Torment and Jaded.   Master of Surrender runs a real close second.  The book I just finished Monday (and unfortunately cannot talk about at the moment) is by far the best book I have written.  My hero and heroine are extraordinary people.  Like Wulfson and Tarian I had no idea how my H/H were going to find a HEA.  But they lead me to it.  I just wrote what they told me too.  How crazy does that sound?  I mean really.  I’m a nut.

DC: How many more books will your fans have to look forward to in your Blood Sworn Legacy series?

KT: I have one more contracted.  Master of Deception, Thorin’s story.  It has been pushed back to make way for the book I just completed.  I hope to have a release date for MoD sometime soon.  I really want to complete the series.  I love it, my readers love it, but medievals seem to be a niche market at the moment.  But we’ll see.  I’m optimistic.

DC: How about your least favorite cover?  Why?

KT: Hmm, well, while I love my hot cop covers, Good Girl Gone Bad, Skin, and Jaded, I would have loved a hawt cop on the cover.

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?

KT: I think they are the same as in they are passionate beings.  They stand for something and don’t fall for everything. They are smart. That will never change. I’ve gotten a lot better at my writing as a craft and at layering my character’s emotions and developing more intricate archs.

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

KT: A big zany contemporary.

DC: Master of Craving features Stephan and Arianrhod. Would you tell everyone about them and how their story came about?

KT: Arianrhod came to me first.  I found her one day as I was doing research on Wales.  I wanted a Welsh princess, and she just showed up.  I’d known book three was going to be Stefan’s book.  He was supposed to be Tarian’s knight, but Wulfson kept honing in, so I had to go with the flow.  Stefan is the darkest and most reticent of the Blood Swords.  His still waters run very deep.  He needed a woman who he felt he was not worthy of, only to find he is worthy of a queen. 

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

KT: Explain very gently but firmly, “You don’t know everything!”

DC: More congratulations are in order — you have a new granddaugahter! When was the big day?

KT: My granddaughter, Gianna Isabella, was born November 12^th of last year and is the most precious thing in my life.  She is a true blessing.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

KT: Open wide for a wild ride!  Lol!!!

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

KT: Take it like you see it.

DC: Being a former cop’s wife has inspired the stories behind your contemporary books, so let’s talk about a couple of them. Good Girl Gone Bad sounds like the sparks fly every which way between Ty and Philamina. Tell us about them, please.

KT: In copland there is something called the letter of the law and spirit of the law.  Letter of the law is by the book, spirit of the law…isn’t.  My husband, god bless him, was a very proactive spirit of the law cop and had his share of IA’s during his career.  And for the record he always walked away clean, nothing was ever substantiated, but IA cops are not respected by the rank and file.  What better way to set up conflict?  Hot spirit of the law cop vs uptight letter of the law IA cop.

DC: I’m assuming that your books are somewhat based cases your husband was involved with over the years of his law enforcement career. How difficult is it to fictionalize and romanticize real-life stories?

KT: Sandy, some of the stuff that as happened in real life no one would ever believe.  Oh, the stories I could tell.

DC: Are there certain ones that are harder to work with than others?

KT: The sex crime victims are difficult to write about.

DC: Is there one or two that you’ve wanted to put on paper but for some reason, emotional or complexity perhaps, that keeps it from happening?

KT: Yes, some of his experiences are too difficult. My husband’s first day on the job was Mother’s Day (many, many years ago).  His first call a code blue baby.  The mom had been breastfeeding the baby in bed, fell asleep and rolled over on the baby smothering him.  She, understandably, suffered severe emotional trauma for many years afterward.  Tragedies like this can help a writer shape a character’s back-story.  But I have never had the stomach to use this tragic scenario.  I never will.

DC: Apparently also being a cop’s wife has made you pretty handy with several types of weapons. Was it your curiosity or your husband’s protectiveness that warranted such handiness?

KT: I’ve always been an avid gun enthusiast.  I attended the FBI Citizen’s Academy this past October and November and spent a day on the range with the SWAT guys shooting M4’s, sniper rifles, a Tommy gun and few other weapons.  It was amazing.

DC: Can you give us an example of the weapons in your arsenal, so to speak?

KT: My biggest weapon is my living the life of a cop’s wife.  When you are surrounded by the life and others who live it, you get the rhythm of it.  I do write what I know, and while it’s fiction, it happens every day in real life copland.

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

KT: I own a successful business, over 23 years now, but it isn’t my passion like writing is.  If I didn’t have the business and could not write I would most definitely have a career working with animals.

DC: More explosiveness abounds with Jade and Jase in Jaded. Their story sounds quite intense. Would you give us a look inside their lives, please?

KT: Intense is an understatement!   There is a song titled Fancy sung by Reba Macintire, it’s about a girl whose mama turns her out to save the family.  I always wondered what happened to Fancy.  Jaded is my answer.  It’s a raw, emotional story of two people who are very tragically wounded.  Once again, I didn’t know when I began Jase and Jade’s story how it would end.  But damn they were brave.  Jase is one of my favorite heroes and Jade the toughest heroine I have written.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Karin Tabke?

KT: Lot’s of good, exciting things! I have the series I cannot talk about (maybe next month I can announce the details!!) I have an anthology I’m doing with my two very good friends, Sylvia Day and Maya Banks, that releases next summer. I also have a new series coming out next year with Berkley Publishing.  The Blood Moon trilogy pitched as Sons of Anarchy meets Rise of the Lycans.  It’s dark raw, and sexy as hell.

Is blood more powerful than destiny?

Two Lycan brothers. Their warring packs must unite or perish. One woman bred to destroy their kind stands between them. The one woman they would both fight to the death to protect from the other.  But one common enemy threatens them all.

The Blood Moon Trilogy is a dark, bold, sexy series full of action, passion, and angst.  It traverses the spectrum of emotions, conflict and sacrifice.  This is not a series for the faint of heart, but one for those who enjoy a heart-pounding race against evil, both external and internal.  The Blood Moon Trilogy taps into the deepest darkest corners of emotions and sexuality.  In the end, love does conqueror all, but at a price.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – Dark, as if.

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?     – chunky

- heels or flats?     – heels

- coffee or tea?     – coffee

- summer or winter?      – summer

- mountains or beach?     – beach

- mustard or mayonnaise?     – mayo

- flowers or candy?      – flowers

- pockets or purse?      – purse

- Pepsi or Coke?     – Diet pepsi

- ebook or print?     – print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?     – It’s not a very ladylike word.  Begins with and S ends in a T.

2. What is your least favorite word?      – The girlie part C word.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?      – The passion of my characters.

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?      – Too much wine.

5. What sound or noise do you love?      – My granddaughter cooing.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?     – Profane kids

7. What is your favorite curse word?    – Shit fuck damn, not necessarily in that order.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     – zoologist

9. What profession would you not like to do?     – Social worker (I’m a wuss at heart)

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?     – “Well done!”

KT: Thank you, Sandy for having me as your guest!!

DC: Thank you, Karin, for spending the day with us! It’s been a pleasure!

We’d like to thank Monica Fairview for such a fun Duck Chat here at the pond! We’re glad you joined us, Monica.

Two winner announcements in one day! How’d y’all get so lucky! Strike up the band, your winners of two copies of Monica’s The Other Mr. Darcy are:

**Deidre (6)

**etirv (2)

Congratulations! Be sure to send your snail mail addresses to lighthousetagger (at) gmail (dot) com and your books will begin their journey to you.

A heartfelt thanks to Amelia Grey for spending the day with us for her Duck Chat. Fun was had all around!

And now the winners of Amelia’s A Duke to Die For! Drumroll, please!

**Quilt Lady (3)

** Maureen (9)

Congratulations, ladies! Please send your snail mail addresses to lighthousetagger (at) gmail (dot) com so we can get your books on their way to you!