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Category: Former Riskies

Interview and Giveaway With Jo Bourne

Welcome to the Risky Regencies, Jo Bourne! I am so excited to have you here to visit. Please, do come down from the pedestal I keep you on…

About Jo Bourne

Author photo of Joanna Bourne. She has short curly hair and glasses.

Joanna Bourne

Joanna lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge with her family, a medium-sized mutt and a faux Himalayan cat. She writes Historical Romances set in England and France during the Napoleonic Wars.

She’s fascinated by that time and place – such passionate conviction and burning idealism … and really sexy clothes.

 

Where to Find Jo

Website: http://www.joannabourne.com/
Blog: http://jobourne.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joanna.bourne.5
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jobourne

About Rogue Spy

Cover of Rogue Spy by Joanna Bourne

Cover of Rogue Spy by Joanna Bourne

Ten years ago he was a boy, given the name Thomas Paxton and sent by Revolutionary France to infiltrate the British Intelligence Service. Now his sense of honor brings him back to London, alone and unarmed, to confess. But instead of facing the gallows, he’s given one last impossible assignment to prove his loyalty.

Lovely, lying, former French spy Camille Leyland is dragged from her safe rural obscurity by threats and blackmail. Dusting off her spy skills, she sets out to track down a ruthless French fanatic and rescue the innocent victim he’s holding—only to find an old colleague already on the case. Pax.

Old friendship turns to new love, and as Pax and Camille’s dark secrets loom up from the past, Pax is left with a choice—go rogue from the Service or lose Camille forever. . .

Read an excerpt: http://www.joannabourne.com/

Our Risky Interview

Q: At the Riskies, we love research stories. Can you tell us about some of the research you did for this book?

The problem with talking about research in a book that’s hitting the shelf now, is that I wrote it and did the research for it a year or more ago. I have trouble remembering the research I did last Tuesday, (hint: it was about small rivers in Kent,) let alone what I was looking at in April a year ago.

I do remember Rogue Spy was stuffed with foreign language — Latin and Italian mostly — but with odd bits of this and that tucked in various places. I spent the whole writing year up to my keister in lists of Latin phrases, trying to find something Classical that would work in my dialog.

The Italian about drove me crazy. (Note to fellow writers — Google Translate is NOT sufficient.) I am soooo glad I was using Tuscan, the mother of modern Italian, rather than some other two-century-old Italian dialect.

Can I give a shout out to my publisher, Berkley? They gave me a copyeditor who apparently spoke all these languages (or knew how to do really good language research.) Anything I got right, the copyeditor did it.

Q: Have you ever come across a historical fact where you just went “Huh. Who’d a thunk it?”

One factoid that struck me recently . . .

In the Work in Progress I send my protagonists riding through deserted stretches of countryside, headed from London to the southeast coast of England. The Dover to Folkestone area.

Did you know the big road running down to Dover and Folkestone is a Roman road?

Okay. Okay. Everybody else in the world probably knows this.  Maybe I even knew this.  But I’d never thought about it.

The A2, Dover to London Road, is Watling Street, a Celtic trackway that was there when the Romans invaded and started paving everything. This is probably the road Chaucer’s Pilgrims travelled.

That was all not-so-useful factoid because I didn’t use the A2. My action was better suited to the A20.

I spend a lot of my time looking at period maps.

Q: Have you ever wanted to write in another historical period?

If I couldn’t write Regency/Napoleonic War books — let’s say the market dried up or became saturated or whatever — I’d probably scuttle over to Urban Fantasy.  It would be such a relief not doing half an hour’s research to find out when the bridge in Farningham, Kent was built. (It’s Medieval.)

If I were going to write in another historical period . . . Classical Rome. What delightful, ruthless, aristocrats. What politics. What clash of ideals.

Did I mention the really cool Roman clothing?

Q: Read any good books lately?

Oh yes.  Yes. Let me list a few Historical Romances that just came out or are about to:

  • Grace Burrowes, What a Lady Needs for Christmas.
  • Donna Thorland, Mistress Firebrand. (Okay. That’s not actually out yet.)
  • Mary Jo Putney, Not Quite a Wife.
  • Jeannie Lin, Gunpowder Alchemy. (Umm … that’s another one not quite on the shelves.)
  • Shana Galen, Love and let Spy.

Q: Volcanoes. For or against?

One has to applaud the showmanship. The edge-of-the-chair anticipation. The brilliant reds and oranges. The ionized lightning that flashes from the ominous plumes of black rising to the sky.

On the other hand, there’s the possibility one of them may bring civilization, as we know it, to an end. Or destroy all life on earth.

Not good.

So I’m fence-sitting on this topic.

Q: Favorite historical weapon?

Black, well-honed, carefully balanced throwing knives.  They are not so much weapons as works of art.  But you knew I was going to say that.

Q: What’s next for you?

I’m working fitfully and with varying levels of success on the Séverine story. We will see how that comes out. Eventually.

Giveaway

We’re giving away three copies of Rogue Spy! Digital or print, winner’s choice.

Rules: Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Must be 18 to enter. For a digital copy, you need to be able to accept a gift card from a US-based vendor.

Winner chosen at random from among the commenters at the blog. Comment before midnight Eastern, Friday, October 31, 2014. Alternate winners will be chosen for winners who do not reply to my notification after 10 days.

To enter, comment with your guess as to Jo’s favorite color. (Being right or wrong on this has no bearing on your chances of winning, so feel free to be creative.) Like, “Jo Bourne’s favorite color is the soft blue of the sky at dusk.”

As some of you may know, my novella One Starlit Night is in the boxed set Seven Wicked Nights.

Seven Wicked Nights by Carolyn Jewel and others

Last week, Seven Wicked Nights hit the USA Today Bestseller list at #126. This means Yours Truly and the rest of the authors in the set are bestselling authors! It’s still sinking in that that includes me. This boxed set will only be available for another month or so, so if you have $0.99 ….

Amazon | iBooks | Nook
| Kobo | Google Play

Tuesday, A Notorious Ruin came out. Risky readers of this book might well recognize some of the elements in the book:
A Notorious Ruin by Carolyn Jewel

Geneva Wafers:
In this post, I blogged about making Geneva Wafers from a period cook book, one of the most delicious desserts I’ve ever had. Seriously. Geneva Wafers make an appearance in A Notorious Ruin.


Running the office football pool
: A post in which I masterfully brought together gambling, The San Francisco 49ers, and the Regency. In A Notorious Ruin, my heroine, Lucy, does the non-computer-aided version of what I did when I was running the office football pool, which is to say, compile statistics and slice and dice them to find out … The 49ers were pretty much a lock to win the Superbowl that year. Which they did. Lucy does this with the results of boxing matches and an upcoming heavyweight battle.

Boxing. The hero of A Notorious Ruin is a nobleman and a boxer. Not a professional boxer, but a very very good amateur, and he discovers that Lucy is more expert than he is. Lucy and Thrale box. Just saying.

Amazon | iBooks | Nook
| Kobo | Google Play

Cover of Christmas in the Duke's Arms.

Christmas in The Duke’s Arms

Coming your way in October will be Christmas In The Duke’s Arms, an anthology of new and original Christmas novellas from Grace Burrowes, Carolyn Jewel, Miranda Neville, and Shana Galen. This is such a great anthology! I should have buy links shortly. In the meantime, here’s some information about the stories:

A Knight Before Christmas by Grace Burrowes

Sir Leviticus Sparrow is a man of business who means business when it comes to offering Penelope Carrington marriage under the mistletoe.

With her year of mourning at an end, Penelope Carrington must remarry in haste, or her portion of her late husband’s estate won’t be enough to dower her younger sisters. Shy, handsome man of business Sir Leviticus Sparrow longs to give Penelope a marriage proposal for Christmas—and his heart—but Sir Levi must first foil the other bachelors scheming to meet Penelope under the mistletoe in his place.

In The Duke’s Arms by Carolyn Jewel

What’s a Duke to do when he’s made an awful impression on the love of his life?

The Duke of Oxthorpe lost his intensely guarded heart to Miss Edith Clay when Edith’s rich cousin sought to attach the duke’s marital interest. So smitten is Oxthorpe with the former poor relation that he’s gone through intermediaries to sell Edith a property adjoining the ducal seat.

Edith doesn’t much care for the haughty duke, but as Christmas approaches, Oxthorpe reveals himself to be reserved rather than arrogant, considerate, and—blame the mistletoe!—an accomplished kisser. Will Edith hold Oxthorpe’s earlier behavior against him, or will she learn that the best holiday gifts can be the most unexpected?

Read Chapter 1 of In The Duke’s Arms

Licensed to Wed by Miranda Neville

If Lord Carbury could learn to take no for an answer, his marriage proposal might earn him a yes.

Wyatt, Viscount Carbury is much too busy to court a bride, but when his childhood neighbor, Robina Weston, is left orphaned and penniless, Wyatt dutifully adds marrying Robina to his list of responsibilities. Wyatt is dismayed to learn that for Robina, poverty and pride are preferable to sharing life with an arrogant, infuriating man who always thinks he knows best.

When Wyatt and Robina must endure Christmas in the country together, antipathy turns to interest, and then to unexpected attraction. Will they fight their feelings, or yield to the surprising gifts the holidays offer?

The Spy Beneath the Mistletoe by Shana Galen

Fledgling spies Q and Moneypence pursue love and a highwayman in The Duke’s Arms.

A Regency Christmas with a Dash of Intrigue…

When weapons designer Eliza Qwillen (Q) and Pierce Moneypence, clerk to the mysterious M, arrive in the English countryside, they’re unprepared for the dangers that await. The operatives are intent upon capturing the highwayman styling himself as the New Sherriff of Nottingham. Secret rendezvous, mistaken identities, and cat-and-mouse games challenge these fledgling agents, but rediscovering their passion for each other is the most rewarding mission of all.

This is a newsy post of news. To make it worth your valuable time, there are pretty book covers AND at the end of the post, a way to read my upcoming December release before it’s actually released. Consider yourself teased. And now, on to research books, holiday stories, a hot deal, a boxing hero, a free book, and a demon.

Boxing Book!

Most of you know by now that A Notorious Ruin features a boxing hero, among other things boxing. I did a lot of reading about boxing and boxing culture of the period for this book. There are lots of great resources in publications of the time, subject, of course, to any and all agendas that a given author might or might not have. It was fun reading.

You might recall that I posted about some great research from David Snowden, particuarly his book Writing the Prizefight, which yesterday won the 2014 British Society of Sports History’s Lord Aberdare Literary Prize. It’s a book you should consider having on your reference shelf. Snowden is on twitter as @PierceEgan so if you’re curating lists and the like, he’s a good follow.

Other Book News

Did you get your copy of Christmas in the Duke’s Arms yet?

Cover of Christmas in the Duke's Arms.

Christmas in The Duke’s Arms

There have been some very kind words about all the stories. So, hey! You should get your Holiday stories now!

My contribution is titled In The Duke’s Arms. Because you can never have too many dukes. Though I will admit I limited myself to one.

Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Google Play | All Romance eBooks | Print

Fresh Fiction (Reviewed by Monique Daoust) had this to say:

An Exciting, Sensuous and Romantic Regency Christmas!

Ms. Burrowes’ story is ingenious, sensuous, and elegant, and her vocabulary is positively dazzling! It’s spectacularly well-written, the characters are engaging, and it’s very witty; it left me giggling several times. A delicious story of seduction!

In The Duke’s Arms is simply wonderful! The characters are very complex and the interaction between Ryals and Edith is utterly compelling; it’s a joy to watch Edith try to tame the gruff Duke. The story is unhurried, and it’s quite the feat that Ms. Jewel can turn developing passion into something quite suspenseful. The author possesses a perfect knowledge of the period’s language and idioms and writes in a fluid, flowing style that perfectly suits her characters.

Ms. Neville’s contribution is joyful, playful, as expected splendidly written, and quite funny at times. I loved that Robina is a strong and independent woman within the rules imposed by society; she’s a wonderful character as is the dour Wyatt.

Ms. Galen certainly does not disappoint! Those already familiar with this brilliant series will rejoice at getting a final glimpse at some beloved characters. The Spy Beneath the Mistletoe is fast paced, exciting, dynamic; the characters are delightful, and it’s also very passionate. A more than fitting conclusion to a fabulous book!

And then there’s A Notorious Ruin

A Notorious Ruin by Carolyn JewelFrom a post at Avon Romance:

Ms. Jewel slowly exposed their good, bad & ugly & I loved peeling the many layers back & seeing their inner essence. Let chat about sex, because HELLO it’s a romance. Ms. Jewel uses all forms of NAUGHTINESS with swallowing-lightening shivers & quivers to all my girlie parts & assorted NEKKIDness!
— Patty McKenna Van Hulle

Make Kay of Fresh Fiction had this to say:

A long awaited sequel blends eroticism and Regency elegance…

Jewel did a superb job of evoking the era and locale. The lovely and explicit sex scenes also rang true and yet did not pull me out of the era, which I thought masterful. I am glad that Jewel has gone back to this series, and I’m looking forward to the next of the Sinclair Sisters to fall in love.

Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Google Play | Kobo | Paper

Seven Wicked Nights — Until November 16th!

Seven Wicked Nights by Carolyn Jewel and others

Seven bestselling historical romance authors offer seven sexy stories featuring dukes, lords, rakes, scoundrels…and the unforgettable heroines who bring them to their knees. These stories range in length from long novellas to delectable little bites.

This $0.99 collection goes away November 16th. You should get this while you can.

Amazon | Amazon UK | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Google Play

Scandal — Still Free!

Cover of Scandal

Scandal

RITA finalist and free at the vendors below. If you haven’t read me, this is a no-cost way to find out what you think.

This book took my breath away. – SBTB

WOW. Simply, wow. That is the only word I can use to describe this masterpiece. It has been such a long time since I have read such a rich, emotional and tension filled romance. Not only did Scandal have me hooked from the very first page, but this is the first book, in a very long time, where I had to read straight through into the wee hours of the night because I couldn’t put it down. When an author can write such a book, that book is destined for greatness. I wouldn’t be surprised if Scandal becomes one of the favorites of 2009, and perhaps placed on most reader’s lists for all time favorite historical. – Romance Novel TV

Readers looking for a deeply emotional and very well-written book will love this one. I have a certain weakness for flawed but redeemable characters, and this tale very much hit the spot. I cannot wait to see more historicals from this author in the future. –All About Romance

Jewel plays readers’ emotions like a virtuoso, ensuring they will eagerly follow her characters into dramatic, intensely passionate and gripping love stories that will steal your heart and make you beg for more. She grabs you at the first word and never lets go. – Kathe Robin RT Book Reviews

Amazon | Amazon UK | Nook | All Romance eBooks | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

And lastly, I tease and tempt you with an upcoming release and a way to read it before it’s on sale…

Cover of Dead Drop

Dead Drop – Not a Duke

Dead Drop turned out to be Book 6 in the My Immortals series. Demons instead of Dukes. It’s a short novel, at 42,000+ words.

I’m writing what I guess I have to start calling Book 7 in the series now. I have no buy links for Dead Drop yet since I don’t quite have final files yet. Sometime in the next two weeks. The on-sale date will be December 20th.

How, you are wondering, might you have the chance to read this before the book is on sale? Well, I set up a members-only section of my website, and I’m posting the chapters there every few days. Files are subject to update as I play whack-a-mole with typos lurking in the proofreading rounds.

If you happen to subscribe to my newsletter, you will get the login and password to the members only section and can start reading now. If you want. I’ve posted through chapter 6. I believe Chapter 7 will go up sometime tomorrow or the day after.

You can subscribe at my website.

There. That’s all the book news.

Ahhh…. The joy of vacation.  I’m just back from NYC where I was able to meet up with Risky Megan which was loads of fun. I am assuming she will have excellent news to share with us soon.  My trip to NY was writing business related as it turns out I got elected to the RWA Board of Directors. And yes, for those of you wondering, my tiara was a perfect fit. (grin) I looked very spiffy.

I’m home now and on vacation for the rest of the week, which is lovely and so far I have done an epic amount of not very much at all.

I am going to share an interesting thing I came across the other night as I was procrastinating, beginning my vacation doing important research.

This pdf about medieval pigments is my favorite thing ever  just about since that time I was working with my son on the Roman wax tablet project.

Don’t be fooled by the rather boring B&W cuneiform tablet photo on the first page. The rest of this document discusses pigments and bonding agents identified from the beginning of human history through about 1500 and talks about how to make them. With pictures.

This is fascinating for history geeks. And how did I find this you might ask? Because of twitter. Someone remarked on a story in which the author compared the heroine’s breath (or something) to cinnabar. And there was a WTF discussion and much wondering about cinnabar in food. And one person said the most they could find was some medieval references to recipes.

And I thought, huh. This cannot be right. If cinnabar was safe to eat we would be eating it now. And if it was not safe to eat, we would have stories that listed poisonous food people ate in times past, and we do not have such stories involving cinnabar. So I Googled the subject myself and found that first off, cinnabar is toxic. And second off, cinnabar and recipes occur in the context of recipes for paint.

And that lead me to the medieval pigments pdf which I read from start to finish with much excitement because that’s how we roll here at the Riskies.

It’s not much of a surprise to learn that modern chemistry has taken some of the vibrancy out of paint pigments. Some modern colors don’t have the iridescence of pigments that were once made from organic minerals or metals.  OK, yes, also much of the poison (but not all). Don’t distract me with product safety arguments. Orpiment, by the way, is actually arsenic. Who knew? Certain colors and their composition are lost to us. The ingredients point, as well, to the importance of world trade. Ear wax, my friends, reduces froth in a binding agent. I did not know that either. Nor do I know who dug around in their ear and said, huh. I wonder what happens if I put this in the binding agent for my paint?

Now I am sharing this information with you. Because that’s how I roll.

You’re welcome.

Old Books

Here is another great link I came across, about how medieval book collections were cataloged and indexed so they could be found on the shelves. It’s fascinating with loads of great pictures, too. I love the picture of the books chained in the shelves. Get your geek on and click on over.

New Books

I have decided to have a Risky contest in which the winner will receive 1 book from each Risky  — supplied by me. I can try to accommodate international but the expense might end up being prohibitive. I may need to send an alternate prize to a winner outside the US because shipping is crazy expensive even with Book Depository.

To enter, read the rules carefully then leave a comment to this post by Midnight Eastern on December 7, 2014.

Rules

Void where prohibited. Must be 18 to enter. No purchase necessary. International OK, but see the above. Family or employees of the Riskies can’t enter. (Sorry minions, but you’ll get your coal shortly so what’s your problem?) Your comment must be submitted by 11:59:59 PM Eastern on December 7, 2014. Winner selected at random from among the qualified entrants. One entry per person, please. Winner will be notified by email. An alternate winner will be selected if the winner does not reply within 5 calendar days. For digital books, the winner must be able to accept a digital gift from a vendor that allows gifting of books.

To enter, leave a comment where you complete one of the following questions:

1. At a Regency Ball, Lord Hawkington is  ……..

2. You are Lord Hawkington and you have noticed Miss Smythe has …..

Go.

 

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