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Monthly Archives: February 2010


HIS TOUCH HOLDS HER CAPTIVE…
From the ravens circling its spires to the gargoyles adorning its roof, Blackberry Manor looms ominously over its rambling grounds. And behind its doors, amid the flickering shadows and secret passageways, danger lies in wait.

TO HIS EVERY DARK DESIRE…
Evangeline Pemberton has been invited to a party at the sprawling estate of reclusive Gavin Lioncroft, who is rumored to have murdered his parents. Initially, Gavin’s towering presence and brusque manner instill fear in Evangeline…until his rakish features and seductive attentions profoundly arouse her. But when a guest is murdered, Evangeline is torn. Could the man to whom she is so powerfully drawn also be a ruthless killer?

TOO WICKED TO KISS!

A big welcome to the Riskies, Erica. Tell us how you made your sale.

As luck would have it, I got The Call while I was in Costa Rica for a month. More accurately, I missed the call while I was in Costa Rica, because the last time I’d traveled, I’d managed to rack up a $600 bill in roaming charges, and had decided not to use my cell phone. One day, I’m checking my email in an internet cafe, and I open one from my agent that says, “What do I have to do to get you to call me back??? I’ve been leaving you messages for days. We have an offer for your book!!!” (After I picked myself up off the floor, I decided that this phone call would have been worth the long distance roaming!)
What was the inspiration for your book?

I was sitting in a conference workshop where the speaker explained the term “High Concept” as the juxtaposition of two disparate things, such as a cross between Movie A and Movie B, or two things that don’t normally go together, such as “killer dinosaurs in Disney World” (Jurassic Park). I immediately began daydreaming unusual elements to bring into the world of Regency-set historicals, and ran with a “Dead Zone” style heroine caught up in a house party murder. The first draft was okay, but when I blank-page rewrote it in a more Gothic voice, I fell in love.

What do you love about the Regency–and what do you dislike about the period?

What I love about the Regency could fill pages! I love the fashion, the attitudes, the parties, the various coping mechanisms used to deal with the political instability in England and the reality (and aftermath) of the Napoleonic wars. I love the attention to detail, from the letters discussing sandwiches with ham sliced whisper-thin to the fashion plates with every button and flounce done just so. Above all, I love the many, many rules–from the unwritten societal norms to the laws regarding rights and inheritances–and I love characters who try and bend them. The only thing I dislike about the period is the unfortunate lack of methods to record more details. How I would love to see video footage of a ball, or listen to a taped conversation between unsavories using true canting slang!

What do you like to read and who has influenced your writing?

The very first romance I ever read was a historical (Johanna Lindsey) and from that moment, I was hooked. I inhaled Julie Garwood, Jude Devereaux, Judith McNaught (er… apparently only people whose first name begins with J. I knew I should’ve taken a pen name!) From there, it was an addiction, and I read every Regency author I could get my hands on. Before I discovered romance, however, my shelves were mostly filled with thrillers, mysteries, and paranormal horror novels by authors like Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Those roots are definitely where I get my love of a strong suspense element, but now that I found my home in Regency England, I cannot imagine life without an emotional love story and an HEA!

What’s risky about your book? (The Standard Risky Question!)

Some of my favorite Regencies take place in the world of the ton, where the heroine falls in love with the titled hero as they dance and swirl about a London ballroom (or seek a clandestine corner in which to steal a kiss or two.) Too Wicked To Kiss, however, features a rich but untitled hero who lives apart from Society in his remote, forbidding mansion. He’s dark, dangerous, and likes it that way–the perfect antihero for the very Gothic tone and feel of the novel. The heroine, Evangeline Pemberton, has her own risky element–she’s cursed with psychic visions that come with skin-to-skin contact. And then there’s that murder…

What’s next for you?

A connected book tentatively titled Too Sinful To Deny will be released in 2011, featuring one of the main characters from Too Wicked To Kiss. (There’s even a sneak peek chapter in the back of 2W2K!) This heroine definitely does not have her best foot forward in Too Wicked To Kiss, and will have to deal with some hard truths about herself before she can live happily ever after with the sexy (pirate!) hero of Too Sinful To Deny.

TOO WICKED TO KISS has been selected as a March book club pick for Barnes and Noble! Erica will be at the book club forum all month long, so please stop by to say hi or to talk about the book!

Get extra content and bonus features for Too Wicked To Kiss on the Unauthorized Scandal Sheet. For contest, blogs, embarrassing photos, and other fun stuff, check out Erica’s author web site . Please join Erica for lots of games and prizes on Facebook. And if you have Twitter, please come tweet with Erica.

But before you rush off all over the Blogosphere, make your comment here and enter the drawing for a signed copy of Too Wicked To Kiss.

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Whoa. So, so late posting today.

See, I woke up with the bestest of intentions, but then NYC called a Snow Day for schools, and suddenly I had to be a Good Mom and take my son sledding. And then we ended up about twenty blocks away from our house, and I couldn’t exactly jump onto the computer there with any kind of aplomb, so–here I am.

But that has been par for the course this week anyway, so why did I think today would be different? I’ve been feeling yukky all week, haven’t written a stitch, and have just generally been moping.

BUT since I subscribe to the ‘today is the first day of the rest of your life,’ because if I didn’t, I would be even more self-deprecatingly acerbic than I am now, I have to pretend this week didn’t happen. Ergo, this post is not happening. You are imagining all of it. So just go ahead and imagine I’m all brilliant, and stuff, and all of us will walk away unscathed. Look how I just turned that into a surrealistic Borges moment!

I return next week, I promise, with discussion on writing, books, fun, etc.

Megan

There’s much excitement over at Salon.com with Laura Miller’s Readers’ Advice to Writers, which has generated both cries of Philistinism! and Yes, my reading life is justified. Ms. Miller, by the way, is qualified to give advice as a reader, not a writer.

I don’t have time to wade through over one hundred responses, but there’s one statement from Ms. Miller that resonated with me:

Desire is the engine that drives both life and narrative.

While other pieces of advice, for instance, Remember that nobody agrees on what a beautiful prose style is and most readers either can’t recognize “good writing” or don’t value it that much, I absolutely disagree with. I don’t want to read anything that shouts beautiful prose style but if it strikes me as beautiful that’s an added bonus (and may keep me reading). And even if a reader doesn’t acknowledge or care about style, clunky prose may well give them that odd, seasick feeling that makes them close the book without really knowing why they couldn’t keep going. Shouldn’t good writing be something that flows and that you don’t really notice because it is so appropriate to the narrative?

Ms. Miller’s article was inspired by the Guardian’s two-part Ten Rules for Writing Fiction which was actually much more interesting from my point of view and I haven’t read all of it, but I did pick up a few gems that I wanted to share. The article was prompted by the releases next month of Elmore Leonard’s book of the same name and his ten basic rules begin the article.

I went first to the writers I liked and then browsed around. I had a grudging admiration for Philip Pullman‘s contribution:

My main rule is to say no to things like this, which tempt me away from my proper work.

Okay, Mr. Pullman. Moving on. Nearly everyone agreed a writer should read:

Read like mad. But try to do it analytically – which can be hard, because the better and more compelling a novel is, the less conscious you will be of its devices. It’s worth trying to figure those devices out, however: they might come in useful in your own work. Hilary Mantel

When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than anything else. Zadie Smith

Except for Will Self, who claims it’s too late:

Stop reading fiction – it’s all lies anyway, and it doesn’t have anything to tell you that you don’t know already (assuming, that is, you’ve read a great deal of fiction in the past; if you haven’t you have no business whatsoever being a writer of fiction).

Zadie Smith gives this cogent piece of advice (yes! yes!)

Work on a computer that is disconnected from the ­internet.

And then mentions that Jean Plaidy used to write five thousand words before lunchtime and spend the afternoon writing fan letters. Just thinking about it makes me want to lie down.

I loved these gems from Roddy Doyle:

Do keep a thesaurus, but in the shed at the back of the garden or behind the fridge, somewhere that demands travel or effort. Chances are the words that come into your head will do fine, eg “horse”, “ran”, “said”.

Do, occasionally, give in to temptation. Wash the kitchen floor, hang out the washing. It’s research.

And again from Zadie Smith:

Don’t panic. Midway through writing a novel, I have regularly experienced moments of bowel-curdling terror, as I contemplate the drivel on the screen before me and see beyond it, in quick succession, the derisive reviews, the friends’ embarrassment, the failing career, the dwindling income, the repossessed house, the divorce . . . Working doggedly on through crises like these, however, has always got me there in the end. Leaving the desk for a while can help. Talking the problem through can help me recall what I was trying to achieve before I got stuck. Going for a long walk almost always gets me thinking about my manuscript in a slightly new way. And if all else fails, there’s prayer. St Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers, has often helped me out in a crisis. If you want to spread your net more widely, you could try appealing to Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, too.

Have you read either of these articles? What did you think?

If you’re a writer, what’s the most valuable piece of advice you were ever given?
And as a reader, what advice would you give writers?

Guest blogging and giving away a copy of Improper Relations (later) today at Lust In Time, and tomorrow I’m a guest at Victoria Janssen‘s blog. And don’t forget my contest.

The people have spoken. Our read along choice is Heyer’s Venetia.

How about a start-reading date of March 10?

I think that should give everyone time to get to their favorite library, bookstore or online retailer to obtain a copy.

It occurs to me that some of us may be the Thrive Under Pressure types and may feel the need to delay reading until the very last minute and then engaging in a Venetia fest of page turning. Others of us may be the Steady As She Goes type who will adore a schedule.

I don’t wish to force anyone into an unsuitable reading style and yet we must accommodate the group. The goal, of course, is to reach a point when we have all read the book and can then yak away about what we think whilst having our minds blown from the insights and opinions of other esteemed Read Alongers.

Therefore, I propose a reading schedule with ongoing discussion of the book over the course of, say, 2 to 3 weeks. Anyone who wants to read the book in a big gulp toward the end can certainly do that, but no complaining about spoilers. We Risky types can deal with a little chaos, I’m sure.

I also propose that we be amenable to change — if it turns out we’re all a bunch of over achievers and everyone reads the book by the first weekend, then we adjust accordingly.

Do please weigh in with your suggestions, thoughts, time frames etc., in the comments.

Also, I feel compelled to mention that I elected to obtain the HQN edition of Venetia and while it has a lovely cover and must say I’m disappointed with the quality of the paper. It’s newsprint. For the money, I expected something a bit more durable. I suppose I won’t feel about about writing notes on the pages. I haven’t started reading yet . . .

Comment away.

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