Risky Book Talk - Risky Regencies

Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Buy My Book

April 26, 2012 January 8, 2013 Janet Mullany 12 Comments

The book is The Malorie Phoenix and to save time you don’t have to read the rest of the post but you can go here for to buy for Nook and here for Kindle.

There is a villain called E****! No kidding (I think you can guess a villain-type name). Not a spoiler, he’s so obviously up to no good from his first oily manifestation on the page, when he oozes his way into the heroine’s life with a Nefarious Scheme.
H/h first have sex by fireworks in Vauxhall Gardens.
There’s a secret baby!
I narrowly escaped yet another sex in the maze scene later in the book, when, realizing I had one in both Dedication and A Most Lamentable Comedy, I hurriedly rewrote it to be sex in the stable. With horses watching. As you know, the use of sex scenes in mazes is rigidly administered by the Regency Police and I am licensed for only two every five years. Too late I remembered some heavy breathing in the presence of a horse in Improper Relations.
(Yes, I’m cross-selling)
There’s an awesome book trailer, for which CPE Bach very kindly composed the music:

There is a super awesome tagline: She plays a deadly game but nothing is as dangerous as love.
The hero has one of the best-ever names in Romancelandia–Benedict de Malorie, Earl of Trevisan. I just love those vaguely Frenchified “we came over with the Normans” type names.
But there’s another character in the book called Evelina Stanley who was named in honor of my friend’s late golden retriever mix (whose name was Stanley, not Evelina. The dog, not the friend). The heroine is called Jenny.
… and finally–THE CLINCHER, LET’S MAKE A DEAL–this is my cheapest book ever! $3.99! Go for it.

If you are a genuine blogger or reviewer you can request a review copy from NetGalley.

Would you like to win a copy of The Malorie Phoenix? Give me your reasons why you are qualified to win (although as usual the random.org thing will apply): did you have a hamster named Stanley? A haddock named Edwin? An exciting experience in a maze? I will give away two copies and announce the winners on Friday evening at about 10 pm, so you must either leave a neutered version of your email address or make sure you check in then.

Dedication: A blast from the past and contest

April 19, 2012 February 10, 2013 Janet Mullany 10 Comments

It’s a historic day–actually two days ago it was a historic day when the digital, rewritten, heated up (but it was always hot) new version of Dedication was released.

Isn’t it a fabulous cover? You can buy it here and watch the book trailer here.

Just for giggles, I’m reposting excerpts from the original Riskies interview from 2005 when the first edition (strangely a Signet Regency–a trad!) was released, when this blog was a mere infant. Updated comments in this color.

Q. How did you think of writing this particular book? Did it start with a character, a setting, or some other element?

The first scene–that of a man knocking at the door of a London house early in the morning– came into my head strongly enough that I was able to build the plot and characters from there. I don’t know why it works this way for me, but it does. Heck I wish it still did. Somehow that was very evocative.It’s one of those classic beginnings, like the hero leaves town and/or the stranger comes into town: think about how many books are constructed like that.

Q. How long did it take? Was this an easy or difficult book to write?

It took years, the luxury of the first book! It was a much revised book, but it was always easy to write. It began first as a single-title regency set historical, and had a rather convoluted plot. Adam was a codebreaker for English intelligence, and Fabienne his major suspect as a spy. I also had the villain eaten by Adam’s pigs, something I’ve always regretted losing. I had a near miss with an editor who suggested I drop the spy plot and make it more a comedy of manners, so I revised it and she rejected it via form letter (one of those character building moments). It was never was a comedy of manners, and it continued to bomb until it won the 2004 Royal Ascot Contest (sponsored by the Beau Monde) and Signet made me an offer for it later that year. I had to chop off 20k words, so the subplot almost disappeared, but at least almost all the sex stayed intact! Then I got the rights back and dithered around with it, missing the phenomenon of self-pubbing by selling to Loose-Id. I rewrote fairly extensively and restored some of the subplot and expanded upon the sex. I repaired, I hope, the gaping hole near the end which reviewers kindly attributed to the drastic shortening of the book; it wasn’t. It was a combination of me galloping to the finish line and being a lousy plotter. Anyway, with this version you get, er, more bang for your buck.

Q. Tell me more about your characters. What or who inspired them?

I’ve no idea where Fabienne and Adam came from. I think they were based on what I didn’t want to write about or read about. I was interested in characters who had had experience in life, including good relationships with other partners, friends, and family, and who had not been holding grudges or harboring revenge plans for decades. In other words, fairly complex and healthy people, who were mature enough to solve their own problems but were also human enough to make mistakes. So that’s how I ended up with a heroine in her late 30s and a hero in his early 40s, both widowed. And that was really unusual seven years ago, amazing though it may seem. I had to have a hero of a certain age with viable sperm, it’s central to the plot, but I think he’s one of the sexiest men I’ve written (glasses, cries a lot, nice hands–my sorta guy). And in this version I could actually show Fabienne with one of her lovers, something that was only hinted at in the original version, because in 2005 only minor female characters had an adventurous love life and they usually had to pay for it by coming to a sticky end. Sadly, the double standard is still with us, I think.

So the contest–I’ve told you about Adam, my favorite hero. Now tell me about your favorite sort of hero. Easy. I’m giving away two downloads of Dedication as prizes!

The fine print: You must include a “safe” version of your email address, eg riskies at yahoo dot com in your post. I will announce the winners here on Saturday morning, giving you two full days to tell your friends about this fantabulous contest. I will email the winners directly to ask about formats. If I don’t hear back from you within a week you’re toast. Sorry! 18 and over.

Megan Sells Some Books!

April 13, 2012 February 11, 2013 megan 17 Comments

I am at the Romantic Times conference this week, and so far have not indulged my introverted side and broken down in tears. Yet.

And this week the news is out and official–I’ve sold two Regency-set historicals to Random House’s Loveswept line:

Megan Frampton’s new Regency-set historical romance, HERO OF MY HEART, the first in a back-to-back Soldier Series wherein an opium-addicted marquess suffering from PTSD and a vicar’s daughter enter into a twisted marriage of convenience to save each other, to Sue Grimshaw at Loveswept, for publication in early 2013, in a two-book deal, by Louise Fury at L. Perkins Agency (world).

I am working on the final revisions now, and then I’ll be starting to write the second book in the deal. I still can’t quite believe it, and I’m so thrilled readers are going to be able to meet Alasdair and Mary. I love these two, even though he is an autocratic selfish jerk, and she is far too chipper in the morning.

Megan

The Idea Elf and the Plot Fairy

April 5, 2012 February 12, 2013 Janet Mullany 6 Comments

I’m following Caroline’s lead in the business of shameless self promotion by showing you the book trailer I made for Dedication:

And now we have that over with, I’ll share the secrets of my plotting process with you. First of all, I have a visit from the Idea Elf. The Idea Elf whispers in my ear something like “Why don’t you write a book about …” and then his colleague, the Plot Fairy, comes to visit.

Yes, really. They are little people dressed in green and the Plot Fairy has lovely gauzy wings. They flit. They are cute. The Idea Elf tends to come around when I’m halfway through something and I have to tell him to go away and then he sulks. The Plot Fairy is a shy and wondrous creature whose visits are always unexpected and infrequent. I don’t know why the Idea Elf is male and the Plot Fairy female but it provides an excuse to post a pic of Orlando Bloom (who isn’t nearly as pretty as himself and the Idea Elf is rather more sort of green and wizened).

So here’s the latest from the Idea Elf:

As you know, a single woman, a friend or sister, was often invited to accompany the happy couple on their honeymoon. So Character A, companion to Character B, is in love with Mr. C. and then to her astonishment he proposes to Character B. B invites A to accompany them on their honeymoon. Now this is interesting because it could go a number of ways and so could they. It could be extremely sexy. It could be tender and reflective. It could be… calling the Plot Fairy. Come in, Plot Fairy. Plot Fairy, are you there?

Character A (a completely different A) is a woman whose reputation is dodgy because she’s had a string of failed engagements. Current fiance B turns up and begs to be set free because he’s gay and the guilt is driving him nuts. She suggests: a threesome … a drive in the park to clear his head … that he find her another potential husband superquick … Mayday, Plot Fairy. Are you receiving me?

Downton Abbey done right in the Regency: a houseful of conniving servants, upstairs-downstairs love affairs, and then … a body in the library (the butler done it with a blunt instrument!) … missing jewelry … a rude parrot … trapdoors … secret passages … a gaggle of women invited by the hero’s mother to try out for the position of bride … I’m actually writing this one and where is that Plot Fairy when you need her?

A terrible virus attacks the hot Dukes of Regency London, turning them into small brown dogs. The plucky heroine, an amateur scientist, joins forces with a renegade doctor to save the flower of England’s aristocracy but her heart is torn between him and a hot Duke whose DNA may provide the cure.

Now, are there any of these you’d actually want to read?

Free Fall With Bonus Shameless Self-Promotion

April 4, 2012 November 17, 2022 carolyn 3 Comments


Cover Of Free Fall. This guy is a demon.

Well. How often does the Risky Regencies have a picture of a demon? Not so often!

Free Fall, A My Immortals Series novella is available now on Kindle.

OMG REALLY????

Yes, Really. You should rush out and buy it now.

Buy Free Fall from Amazon or see below for another way to get this story.

OK, I’ll stop playing with fonts now. But it was fun. I kind of want to do that again.

About Free Fall

Attorney Lys Fensic has spent her life controlling a psychic power that kills. Her ability to lock herself down falls apart when her ex, a mage, sends enslaved demons to kill her. In a psychic free fall, she turns to tough guy Telos Khūnbish for help. But is he a mage as she’s always suspected or is he something far more dangerous?

Free Fall is set in the My Immortals series world where demons and magic-using humans called the magekind are not quite getting along. Most people have no idea they’re living in what amounts to a magical war-zone. Free Fall is based on the short story Future Tense but is considerably expanded and includes scenes that were censored from the short story. This novella is about 35,000 words (130 pages).

I should mention the censored stuff is way hot. Smoking hot. If you’re bothered by demon sex you should not read this story. Also, there are no Regency gowns. Sorry.

Review Copy Anyone?

In the meantime, anyone who agrees to post an HONEST review of Free Fall on Amazon should leave a comment on this post. I’ll send you a .MOBI version of the file.

An Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

11:40 AM. Lobby of 101 California Street, San Francisco, California

He was here. Telos Khūnbish had come. Relief nearly demolished her, it hit so powerfully. He was here, and now, improbably, she believed everything was going to be all right. Her life was irrevocably screwed, but she believed. She ignored the noise of the lobby and the man standing beside her. He was irrelevant. What a damn sad commentary it was that after nearly ten years in the city, Khūnbish was the closest thing she had to a friend. Maybe even a real friend, because he was here, and she believed she’d get through this.

Her heart kicked up a notch when she got a clear view of his black BMW turning onto Front Street. Now, of course, she wondered if she’d made a mistake involving him. She didn’t make a habit of asking for help. She wasn’t good with people. She wasn’t even sure she’d asked right. Seems she had.

The BMW was definitely looking to park. Good thing. In less than ten minutes the lunchtime rush would start, and she’d be in real trouble. Even now, there were too many people around.

“My ride’s here,” she said to Jack, the man standing beside her. She didn’t make eye contact because that would be dangerous. Instead she stared at his tie, but that turned out to be a mistake. The dark red silk looked like blood streaming down his chest. She focused on the shiny marble floor and the tips of his Oxfords. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Let me carry your things.” Jack reached for the moving box that contained the personal contents from her office. He knew Michael, and that meant she couldn’t trust him. Simple fact. She couldn’t trust anyone who knew Michael Ford.

“No.” She gripped the box tighter and looked at the street again, as if Khūnbish could help her from afar. The BMW was waiting for a van to pull away from the curb. Khūnbish had never met Michael. That was part of the reason she’d called him. That, and she didn’t know anyone else.

“Lys.” Jack was thirty-ish, good looking, and in line to make partner in the next two years. He did good suit. He was a competent lawyer and a decent litigator.

She faked a smile and looked at Jack without directly meeting his eyes. Over the years, she’d gotten good at faking contact normal people never thought twice about. She lifted the box an inch. “Hardly weighs a thing.”

Jack smoothed a hand down the river of blood that was his tie. She held her breath, half expecting his palm to come away smeared red. He reached for her moving box, and she jumped back, heart slamming against her chest. Either Jack didn’t get it, or he was in league with Michael and meant her harm. He kept moving toward her.

“Don’t.” The word came out sharp and loud. The security guard at the lobby reception area looked over. She was close to losing it. Way too close. Blocking shouldn’t be this hard for her, but the last several days had been…difficult. Not enough sleep. Not enough to eat. Too much caffeine. Far too much stress.

“Lys. Come on.” His tie vibrated at the edges of her vision. Blood red. A river of red. He reached for the box again. “I’m only trying to help out.”

She risked a look at his face. His smile was hesitant, a little irritated, but that would be normal if he really just wanted to help. Just a regular person trying to be nice. Part of her didn’t believe it. He knew Michael, and Michael had tried to kill her.