Recently I was delighted to interview Margo Maguire whose latest release WILD sounds exactly that. Margo writes historical romance set in both the Middle Ages and the Regency and there’s often more than a touch of magic in her stories. So here’s Margo!

ANNA: Margo, your latest historical romance is WILD which came out in January. Can you tell us about this story?

MARGO: I would love to! The premise of WILD was to pit a prim and proper young spinster against a young man with no sense of propriety, no decorum. I came up with Grace Hawthorne, the companion to a dowager countess, and Anthony Maddox, the heir to an earldom who was lost on safari in Africa as a child. Twenty-some years later, Anthony is back on his grandmother’s estate (that would be Grace’s employer) and Grace is given the task of making him a suitable earl. Of course Anthony loves to push Grace out of her comfort zone with his inappropriate, “uncivilized” behavior. And Grace pushes back with strict rules to govern his actions. Yet in spite of their differences, sparks of attraction fly between them interfere with what each one thinks he or she really wants.

ANNA: Sounds great! There’s more than a touch of Tarzan in this latest book. Do you have a favorite version of Tarzan? Why?

MARGO: [Blush] I am embarrassed to admit I never read any of the Graystoke novels. But I did see the Johnny Weissmuller film version on TV as a kid. I should see if I can rent it one of these days and see if I remember it correctly. There was Jane, of course …and Cheetah. And weren’t there a few Nazis wandering around the jungle? WILD doesn’t have any scenes of Africa (nor does Anthony do that “Tarzan call”). For WILD, I had to figure a way for Anthony to have remembered English, or else the dialogue in the book would have been problematic. He had an old bible that he read during his years in Africa. So, er, to answer the question … I guess the Johnny Weissmuller version would be my favorite Tarzan – because it’s the only one I can remember!

ANNA: What’s coming up next?

MARGO: TAKEN BY THE LAIRD is coming out in October. It features a brooding Scottish castle, a brooding laird, and a runaway bride. I love adventure-romances, and this one is full of it – there’s smuggling, and a daring sea rescue… not to mention a lot of steamy interludes between the hero and heroine. It’s going to be a perfect book to curl up with on a chilly autumn night!

ANNA: What’s your favorite film?

MARGO: Independence Day – with Will Smith and Bill Paxton. I know that seems weird for a romance author, but it has all the elements I love – including a bit of romance!

ANNA: Tell us five quirky things about Margo Maguire.

MARGO: I’m almost always reading four or five books concurrently.

I used to be a director of the 17-18 year-old division of a large travel ice hockey association. I can quote all kinds of hockey rules. Aren’t you glad you know this? (ANNA: Delighted, LOL!)

I have more pets than I ever wanted: two 90 lb Labrador Retrievers and two house cats. And somehow, they all get along!

My body doesn’t tolerate caffeine. I can’t even drink a coke without having problems with it! And yet, I somehow manage to live a full and happy life.

I do my computer “mousing” with my left hand. It was awkward at first, but when I broke my right hand and had to have pins and a cast, I didn’t have any choice. Now that I’m used to it – I won’t go back!

ANNA: What makes a great romance hero?

MARGO: He’s a man with issues to resolve, but the issues don’t turn him into a whining wimp – they propel him forward toward a resolution. He is strong in his own way, and learns to appreciate the heroine for all of her strengths. He is never threatened by her (OK, maybe at first, but he gets over it pretty quick!). He has an innate kindness inside, but it’s not always obvious – except to the heroine. He can appreciate humor and irony, although he doesn’t always apply those insights to himself. Most of all, he will protect and respect the heroine from the very start – even before their love has a chance to get off the ground.

ANNA: Lovely description of a romance hero, Margo! Thanks for being my victim…uh, guest today! I’m really looking forward to reading WILD! Sounds like it combines two of my favorite themes – the fish out of water and opposites attract.

Gayle Callen caught up to Susan Elizabeth Phillips to talk about her new book, What I Did For Love–and no, Gayle isn’t stalking her again, although there are some videos on the Avon Books site that are pretty incriminating…

GC: Your new book, WHAT I DID FOR LOVE, deals with celebrities. How famous are you?
SEP: Nothing like starting off the interview with a little sarcasm… Let’s just say that I’m not quite as famous as Bram and Georgie, my hero and heroine. Wait! At our neighborhood bookstore last week, a customer asked me if I was Janet Evanovitch. Does that count?

GC: What’s one thing we’d be surprised to learn about you?
SEP: I’m a terrible speller, I can cry at the drop of a hat, and I have a crush on Tim Gunn from Project Runway. As for my other secrets… Not telling!

GC: Which classic have you always meant to read and never got around to it?
SEP: Any classics I meant to read, I’ve already read. A few I’ve never forgiven myself for opening. MOBY DICK springs to mind.

GC: Do you have any favorite place to write?
SEP: I have a beautiful office. (See photos) But I end up carrying my laptop to our upstairs guest room. Laptop doesn’t connect to Internet. Guest room has a beat up Laz-E-Boy. ‘Nuff said.

GC: What is your favorite word?
SEP: Ice Cream. Oh, wait, that’s two words. Still…

Debut Avon Author Jaime Rush recently took the time out of her busy schedule to have a chat with the lovely and talented Julianne MacLean. Here’s what was said:

JR: You have said that you enjoy the process of making video trailers, and the video for The Mistress Diaries is indeed spectacular. What is it that appeals about both making them and putting them out there for the public?

JM: We’ve had great fun filming those videos, and mostly it’s just for the pure joy of it. My husband is a doctor by day, but filmaking is his creative outlet. He loves making movies, and works on a lot of projects in our local area (Nova Scotia is a popular place for movies. Part of Titanic was filmed here, and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, among many others). My husband also has a wacky sense of humor, and we wanted to something outside the box, which would purely entertain.

JR. Your recent books seem to play with that tantalizing theme of forbidden love. In The Mistress Diaries, for example, she is a noblewoman and he, a mere groomsman. In When a Stranger Loves Me, she is an heiress, and he, a stranger with no memory of his previous life. She must seduce him to have the child she needs to secure her family’s estate. Have you purposely been drawn to this theme…or is it something in your own life that inspires?

JM: (Tracy – the hero in The Mistress Diaries is the son of a duke (not sure where the groomsman comes from, LOL!) – but it was still forbidden because he was engaged to another woman.)
Yes, I’ve always been drawn to this theme of forbidden love, because it makes the obstacles intense and emotional. Wanting someone when you can’t have them can drive a person to the point of obsession. Also, a love scene where both characters are trying to resist “going all the way” is very exciting to write. It adds an element of danger and conflict and inner turmoil to the scene. In WHEN A STRANGER LOVES ME, there’s also the possibility that the hero might have a wife, but he can’t remember because he has amnesia. It made their decision to make love so much more complex. I also love it when passions threaten to override common sense. I’m sure we’ve all been in the position of knowing in our heads that something is not prudent, yet we still want to do it. The lure of the forbidden – it’s a universal theme as old as Adam and Eve.

JR: Amnesia has been used many times in novels. What makes this fascinating situation different in When a Stranger Loves Me?

JM: It’s funny, it is a classic theme, but I haven’t read that many historicals lately that have used it. For a while there were a ton of contemporaries with the world “amnesia” in the title, and I’d certainly heard many editors over the years say that “amnesia sells.” So people obviously like it.

I wanted to do one for a while, but I also wanted to make sure that it was not so much an external plot device, but more of a characterization issue. I wanted the lost memory to be a great sense of torment for my character, and cause him inner pain and confusion and sorrow. I think I accomplished that with Blake. He had to rediscover his identity, not just in an external sense (to learn that he was the son of a duke who needed a wife) – but also internally. He didn’t know if he was a scoundrel deep down, or a decent, responsible man, because he had no history in which to recall his previous actions in life. He felt torn between both traits sometimes.

JR: What is the best thing about being a romance writer?

JM: Reliving the experience of first love, over and over again.

JR: What is the most indulgent thing that you do for yourself?

JM: I insist on private time when I need it – whether it’s to read a book or watch a movie by myself. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who is an amazing Dad and loves to do fun things with our daughter, so I never feel guilty about it.