…is Eva S! Congratulations! Please send your snail mail address to riskies@yahoo.com to claim your prize

This Sunday we welcome Harlequin Historicals and Kensington Brava author Terri Brisbin (who is also a 2009 RITA nominee)! Comment for a chance to win a signed copy of The Conqueror’s Lady…

Riskies: Welcome to the blog, Terri! Tell us about your July release, The Conqueror’s Lady. Where did you find the idea for this book?

Terri: I love the classic medieval romances about a victorious Norman knight and a Saxon lady and I tried to think of a twist on that premise–in researching the battle, I discovered that the Bretons were blamed for a big misstep that nearly cost William his invasion so I wondered if that was true or if the Bretons got the bad press? LOL! Anyway, after meeting a very sexy Breton harpist in Scotland, I decided my heroes should be Breton knights, all linked by being fostered by the same man. So, The Conqueror’s Lady is the first of my trilogy–Knights of Brittany.

In this, Giles Fitzrobert is the first one to be sent to lands granted by William and he needs to fight his way in! As he arrives, he interrupts a wedding between his betrothed and another man and Giles is not happy. Fayth is trying to hold everything her father worked so hard for together and ends up married to a warrior who may have been her father’s killer. But of course they begin to learn about each other and there is much more there than meets the eye going on…

Riskies: Did you find any interesting research tidbits?

Terri: Yes!!! William the Conqueror had anger management issues and poison seemed to be his favorite weapon of choice when taking out his enemies. The story of his rivalry and hostilities with Conan of Brittany were verryyy interesting. FYI–Conan died after wearing poisoned riding gloves…poisoned LEATHER riding gloves. Did I mention that William’s mother was apparently the daughter of a tanner? Ahem…

Riskies: And what is “risky” about this book?

Terri: Any time an author begins a new series, it’s risky…Will the readers like it? Will it all work out the way I planned? Will the characters do as they’re told and stop whining about it being THEIR story? All those things and more went through my mind as I wrote this story.

Riskies: And tell us about your July “Undone” release!

Terri: Now, this is the RISKY thing I wrote! It’s amazingly difficult for me to write these shorter length stories–I am used to having 350+ manuscript pages to tell my stories, so asking me to write something good in 1/3 of that for a novella was hard. But this Undone is 1/2 of a novella, so the same elements–plot, characters, emotions, relationship–all had to be a oart of it…and it had to make sense, too!

So I decided to tell the story of how the Knights of Brittany decided to fight for William and introduced the noble-born knight Simon, whose father fostered the other 3. It is Simon’s wedding day to the lovely, feminine Lady Elise and Simon worries over how things will go between them. Lady Elise has the same worries and they spend the day trying to be the person they think the other wants them to be. Simon is wooing her gently and Elise is tempting him to the brink of his self-control.

Riskies: I see on your website you have lots of beautiful pics of Scotland! What are some of your favorite places there?

Terri: I do love Scotland! A couple of my favorite places are Edinburgh (so much to see and do, oh my!), Pitlochry (a small Victorian village in the Cairngorm mountains) and the Highlands. And Islands. Too many places to list, really. I’m planning a trip for September and my problem is that I want to visit too many places there!

Riskies: And what’s next for you?

Terri: I am so excited to share that after my July Harlequin Historicals release, my next book will be in December and from Kensington Brava! A Storm of Passion is a medieval historical, set in Scotland when magic still glimmered in the Highlands and Islands. It’s a story of a gift and a curse and forces so strong that only love can prevail, if it can be found. That is also the first of a new trilogy so there will be two more to follow in 2010 and 2011, and they promise to be very emotional and sexy romances.

The next one out from Harlequin will be Brice’s story–I’m writing that now, so I suspect it will be a Spring 2010 release?

Also, Kensington just asked me to do a novella for an anthology headed up by Susan Johnson–THE Susan Johnson! I am so excited to be part of that project. I don’t have a title (or even an idea!) for it yet, but it is scheduled as a May 2010 release.

Please check my website for all the details, and for a new contest I’m going to do over the summer. Mills & Boon, the UK Harlequin company, is releasing all 3 of my Highlander novels this summer, so I’m doing some giveaways of the British editions. Lots of new stuff and I’ll be announcing it through my website and newsletter.

Thanks to the Risky Regencies for inviting me here today! Please ask me questions–I’ll be stopping in during the day and would love to hear from readers and writers…

So last week was a fun-filled extravaganza of friends, books, and great food! I still haven’t quite recovered (the suitcase is only half-unpacked, and the new books from our trek to the Strand are piled up waiting for shelf space to open), but I did learn a few things:

1) On Thursday evening, Diane and I joined Andrea Pickens at ABT for Le Corsaire (based on the Byron poem!), and I learned some plotting tips. All a story really needs to be exciting are some fights, an abduction or two, a pirate grotto, a ship wreck, an eeeevil villain, and a hunky shirtless guy. Pretty clothes don’t hurt, either.

2) Those old Harlequin covers are hilarious! Why don’t we have more like that now? And great titles like Pardon My Body and Love Me and Die… (this exhibit is up until June 12, if you’re in the NYC area)

3) BEA is, well, very large. And very crowded. And full of eye-catching book displays that meant I kept tripping over my feet while trying to look at them AND walk. I only got 2 free books, though, unlike Kwana and her 4 big bags full. Next time, I am sticking with her for the whole day. (Crush It!!)

4) Rose laasi + Chicken tikka + Dinner with friends like Hope Tarr, Megan Frampton, Diane, and Kwana = Awesome (street fairs with cheap summer dresses and jewelry on the way to the restaurant just makes it that much better)

5) Cocktails called “French Lavender” are really, really yummy (thanks to Elizabeth Mahon for suggesting Dove Parlor!)

6) I want to live in the Decorative Arts galleries at the Metropolitan Museum

7) Lady Jane’s Salon is totally as much fun as it looks. I wish I could get together something like that for romance fiction lovers here! (And finding out how covers evolve was very interesting, thanks to my editor at Grand Central Publishing)

8) Recording podcasts = Not as fearsome as I thought

9) Sadly, I missed a week-long display of costumes from the Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet in the lobby of the Time Warner building. This is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I was kicking myself when I found out (after we had already left NYC)!

10) I always feel so much more energized and ready to write after spending time with friends. Now I can’t wait for RWA, which is only 5 weeks away! (Who is planning to be there? We’re hoping to get together a Riskies gathering…)

(And thanks to Kwana for the NY pics!)

Gillian Layne, you’ve won an autographed copy of Jennifer Haymore’s A Hint of Wicked! Please send your address to us at riskies@yahoo.com

The Riskies are very excited to welcome debut author Jennifer Haymore to the blog today! Her first book, A Hint of Wicked, is out this month from Grand Central Publishing. Comment for a chance to win an autographed copy…

Riskies:Welcome to the blog, Jennifer! Tell us about A Hint of Wicked…

Jennifer: Thanks so much! This is one of my favorite blogs, so I’m thrilled to be here! A Hint of Wicked is the story of a woman who’s spent 7 years mourning her husband lost at Waterloo to finally marry again, only to have her first husband appear less than a year into her new marriage. She’s legally bound to her first husband, her second husband is appealing to the courts, and she’s completely torn between the two men.

Riskies: Sounds exciting! How did you come up with the idea for this book?

Jennifer: My husband usually brainstorms with me, and one night I wanted to brainstorm some new ideas for a Regency. He said, “What do you think of a husband walking in on his wife having sex with someone else?” I shuddered and said, “That’s a horrible idea–nobody likes adultery in their romance!” He said, “Hmmm…but what if she doesn’t know she’s committing adultery? What if…what if she thinks her husband is dead?”

Hehee! That’s how A Hint of Wicked was born. I took that idea and ran with it. My husband read an early version of the manuscript, and after he finished he turned to me with a scowl on his face. “This is nothing like I imagined it,” he said. “Nothing!” I just grinned at him and said, “Too bad.” It was his original idea, but MY story, after all!

Riskies: And what’s “risky” about this book? (this one should be easy, LOL!)

Jennifer: AHOW strays a little from some of the established conventions of romance. There is truly more than one hero in this book, and one doesn’t get a happy ending. As much as I wanted my heroine to end up with both men (and as much as she wanted it!), it wouldn’t have been a realistic ending for the character in the world she lives in, not to mention that her husbands wouldn’t have accepted such a resolution. Fortunately, she does end up with the man who is right for her, and the other hero will get his own HEA in a big, big way—A Touch of Scandal will be released by Grand Central in April 2010.

Also, I don’t want to give away spoilers, but I will say the heroine is sexually attracted to both men. And she has certain fantasies I would definitely call risky…

Riskies: Did you find any interesting or surprising research tidbits that went along with this book?

Jennifer: Oooh, I found tons. I spend hours reading through books and resources written in the early 19th century. From theatre reviews (the performance of A Vision of the Sun depicted in AHOW was actually performed in Covent Garden on that date) to medical journals (I feel like an expert on laudanum and opium overdose now!) to dinner menus, I had a great time with all of it.

Riskies: And what’s next for you?

Jennifer: I’m finishing up edits on A Touch of Scandal as we speak. By the end of the month I’m going to start work on Lady Rebecca’s story. (Rebecca is the younger sister of one of the heroes in A Hint of Wicked), and I’m so excited about that!

Thanks for having me here at the Riskies!

You can visit Jennifer’s website for more information and research info! Remember–be sure and comment for a chance to win a copy of this very intriguing book!! And join us next weekend as we welcome Terri Brisbin…