By Kathryn Smith

11.16.09

I opened my eyes. Looming over me was Verek. The last time we met on a beach he’d teased me and lost some clothes – a rather splendid sight. Right now, he looked grim.

“No more training tonight,” I told him warily. “I’m not up for it.”

Verek shook his head and squatted beside me. The muscles in his thighs bulged beneath the fine fabric covering them. “I’m here to serve summons on you, my lady.”

My lady? Usually he called me ‘Princess’ and only in the most mocking of tones. “That’s a little formal isn’t it?” I laughed. Verek didn’t. So I sat up. “Shit, Verek. What kind of summons?”

He sighed. “Tonight you will stand before the Nightmare council and face inquiry into your actions.”

My heart gave a thud. “My actions? What I have I done?”

He looked almost sympathetic. “The Warden was there when you brought Noah into our world, Dawn. You broke the rules and now you must stand before the counsel and explain yourself.”

Explain myself? Part of me wanted to tell him just what he could do with his summons – what the Warden could do for that matter. I hadn’t known when I brought Noah into the Dream Realm during our fight against Karatos that it was something I wasn’t allowed to do, never mind that it had been something I shouldn’t be able to do.

How could they punish me for doing something no one ever thought possible? But apparently it fell under some rule about not endangering humans. Please, I had been trying to save Noah, not hurt him.

“This is bullshit,” I told him. “The council is freaked out by me and is looking for a way to keep me under control.” I was daughter of the lord of this realm! Just who did this Warden person think he was?

“What if I refuse?” I asked.

Verek’s rugged features hardened. “Then I am to bring you back to the castle in shackles to await the proceedings.”

“My father won’t stand for that.”

Now he looked downright pitying. “It was your father who gave the order.”

Oh, damn.

Kathryn Smith 2009

Want more? DARK SIDE OF DAWN  will be on shelves Nov 24th! Haven’t read book #1? BEFORE I WAKE is available at bookstores and online.

By Kathryn Smith

10.8.09

1. A masked ball is a very convenient locale to begin an anonymous seduction, especially if your duke is easily identified in his costume. Only take care that your disguise is not quite so easily penetrated.

2. Should you engage in a second encounter with your duke, be sure to leave behind a memento of the occasion on the pillow for him to find the following morning.

3. Do not be jealous if your duke seems enamored of your alter-ego. It was, after all, what you planned.

4. Be careful what you wish for.

5. It’s hard to have a future with a man haunted by his past.

6. One should always improve oneself through a variety of reading materials, especially risque periodicals.

7. Always have a robe handy. You never know when the duke’s brother might barge in.

8. When the duke asks you to marry him, say yes. Chances are he wants the marriage as well, despite acting as though he’s leading you to slaughter.

9. A strong back bone never goes out of style.

10. A man worth having is worth fighting for — and with.

CONTEST!!! Give me YOUR rules for When Seducing a Duke! As many or few as you would like. One lucky poster will win a copy of The Pearl,  the scandalous periodical upon which Rose’s favorite naughty magazine, Voluptuous is based! Contest closes Oct 30th @ 12 midnight EST. Good luck!

By Julia Latham

03.30.09

I have a guilty secret—my characters are like real people to me. And I can talk to them—or channel them? I don’t know what it is, but I thought I’d let you in on a little chat I had with Adam Hilliard, secret earl of Keswick, the hero of my April book, Taken and Seduced.

 

Julia Latham: Hello, Lord Keswick.

Adam Hilliard: Please call me Adam. I cannot reveal my true name.

JL: Ah, yes, you’re the secret earl. Care to explain that?

AH: I can say little, only that my family was killed long ago, and to keep my brothers and me safe from an unknown murderer, we were raised in secret.

JL: It seems a lot of things you do have to be kept secret. Since you claim to be an honorable, noble knight, why have you become a kidnapper of women? If anyone is innocent, it’s Florrie Becket.

AH: I have never kidnapped a woman before this. And she is an innocent, but her father is not. He killed both of my parents and never paid the price. ’Tis time for him to deal with an armed opponent. If he will not face me in honorable combat, I must convince him to do so by holding his daughter captive.

JL: And is it all working out for you?

AH: She is nothing like her father, I admit. I expected bold arrogance, but she is too kind, full of a trembling courage that impresses me. I am trying to keep her afraid of me, but with little success, and I cannot figure out why.

JL: Perhaps because you admire her.

AH: There is much to admire. Instead of treating this dangerous journey—and her kidnapping—with the seriousness it demands, she acts as if she’s on a light-hearted adventure. Do women always behave so…unexpectedly?

JL: You ask as if you don’t know.

AH: I have spent many years in training. There was little time for women.

JL: Surely you can explain that better!

AH: I took a vow of secrecy.

JL: Right. How could I have forgotten?

AH: Florrie thinks she can change me, but I will not allow her to affect my sworn mission.

JL: You let me know how that works out…

 

To find out how Adam fares, read Taken and Seduced, by Julia Latham, which will be on bookstore shelves March 31.

 

 

 

By Sophia Nash

02.23.09

Sophia, let me begin by saying what fun it is having the chance to interview one of my fellow Avon authors, especially since we’re both from the Washington DC area and coincidentally share the same literary agent. But enough preamble, since I know what readers are really dying to hear about is Love with a Perfect Scoundrel, the third installment in your enthralling Widows’ Club series.

1. Can you give us a little taste of what we can expect in Grace’s story, due to hit bookstore shelves on February 24th?

A Taste? How about: A rugged, wildly attractive mysterious stranger tempts twice-jilted countess to unleash her hidden reserves of desire while snowbound in the wilds of Yorkshire …

Michael Ranier is definitely my very favorite hero to date. He gives Luc St. Aubyn (from A Dangerous Beauty) a run for his money in more ways than one. Aside from the intense chemistry between the hero and heroine, I really enjoyed writing the interactions between the three male characters in this book. They reminded me of all my handsome, cocky male cousins trying to outdo one another on every level. And the ladies in the club grow even closer as more bits of pieces of their pasts were revealed.

This is a stand alone book (just like the other books in the series) which means you don’t have to read them in order. In fact many people have written to say they prefer to read them out of order!

2. Each of your books in this series feature widows and the club formed by the outrageous Dowager Duchess of Helston. What attracted you to the idea of writing stories about widows? And why do your widowed heroines keep changing the name of their club? Can’t these ladies make up their minds <g>?

The idea for the series came during a luncheon with a group of my friends when someone asked how all our lives would change if our husbands suddenly were taken from us. The responses were startling. Some said they would never recover. Others said they would survive and make a new life. And most shocking was one who admitted she would be relieved. I was intrigued that one question revealed so many different answers—and a series was born.

Soon an image formed in my mind of a mysterious dowager duchess who comforts a bevy of women left alone in the world and the gentlemen whose fates intertwine with the ladies’ own. I set the first two books in Cornwall, England — truly one of the loveliest places I’ve seen in the world. But with the third book, I moved the location to London and Derbyshire.

And no, just like me, these ladies can not arrive on a suitable name for their club. The Widows Club sounds just like a bunch of old crows. Merry Widows is a bit overused. They tried Barely Bereaving Beauties, and now The Wicked Ways of Willful Widows. Who knows what it will be by the end of the series…

3. I know I’ll be savoring every page-turning moment of Love with a Perfect Scoundrel and be left wanting more when it’s over. To tide us avid readers over, can you share a few hints about the next book and how long we’re going to have to wait until we can read it?

There is a novella (see below) to break up the lull between books. But I can give this hint: The working title for the fourth book is “Four Weddings & a Scandal.” This will probably not stick given the title of the anthology! But it does give you a feel for the content… A huge secretwill be revealed in the last book (and one of the weddings might surprise you!)

4. You have a novella coming out this summer in the Four Dukes and a Devil anthology. Will the story feature another willful widow or an entirely new set of characters?

Tracy, I am so excited to be in this anthology with you, Jeaniene Frost, Elaine Fox, and Cathy Maxwell. I have always wanted to savor the challenge of a short story. It was so much fun that I am hoping we get to do it again! And yes, the novella, “Catch of the Century” is a spin-off story from the series. It is completely stand alone but readers will also catch glimpses of the Duke of Helston and the outrageous Dowager Duchess as well as two other characters (including the heroine) from the series.

5. And lastly–because enquiring minds want to know–what is your favorite movie? Favorite book? Favorite food? And if you could go anywhere in the world all-expenses paid, where would you go and why?

Ack, I LOVE movies…and have so many favorites. I just finished watching “Intolerable Cruelty” again yesterday, which I love. The plotting and repartee is priceless. Favorite book? Now, I know you’re joking. There are too many to list. But the book I reach for the most? The DICTIONARY! Favorite food? Sushi and French desserts. Fave dream trip? Lately, I’ve had a hard-to-ignore hankering to go to Australia. I keep waiting for Anna Campbell to step up to the plate and invite me, but alas, I think she is secretly afraid I will eat all her Tim Tams and never leave. Scotland and Ireland are a close second and third.

By Sophia Nash

02.22.09

Hi everyone! Tracy and I belong to the same local writer’s community and since we’ve both got books coming out on Tuesday, we thought it would be fun to interview each other…

Hope you enjoy!

Best wishes,

Sophia Nash

1. Tracy, I’m so excited a fellow Washingtonian has joined the Avon family! And I know readers are clamoring to hear all about your new series. Can you tell us a little about the Byrons of Braebourne and the first book, Tempted By His Kiss, which will be available on Feb. 24th?

Sophia, thank you so much for the warm welcome! It’s great to have an opportunity to chat with you and all my readers here at AvonAuthors.com. I’m tremendously excited to be writing for Avon Books and about the release of my new Byrons of Braebourne series.

The series is set in Regency-era England and will follow the Byron siblings––a daring bunch known for their scandalous ways and rakish exploits. Just like Lord Byron, the poet, my Byrons are every bit as ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know,’ as their poetic non-relation. There are eight of them––so lots of romance and excitement lies ahead!

In Tempted By His Kiss, soldier and spy, Lord Cade Byron, returns home to England after being tortured by the French. Wounded in both body and soul, he buries himself in his remote Northumberland estate wanting only to be left alone. But fate intervenes when a snow storm lands orphaned Admiral’s daughter, Meg Amberley, on Cade’s doorstep. Stranded together, Meg’s reputation is soon compromised. A false engagement and a London Season seem like the perfect solution . . . until they find themselves tempted by a kiss that just may lead to forever.

2. In the past you’ve had back to back-to-back releases (i.e. three books in three consecutive months): the Trap Trilogy and the Mistress Trilogy. Can you tell readers and writers what are the pros and cons of writing/releasing books in this fashion?

You’re precisely right, Sophia, that both my Trap Trilogy and my Mistress Trilogy were originally released on a back-to-back schedule. That kind of quick release schedule is one that many readers really love, since it allows them to get deeply involved in a fictional world, knowing they’ll only have to wait a few weeks at most to read the next book in the series. The downside, however, is that once those three months are up, there are no new books until the author has time to write more. This lag between books is one of the biggest drawbacks for both readers and authors alike. There’s a definite element of instant gratification with back-to-backs, but then there’s the “withdrawal” of having no new novels from a favorite author for as long as a year or more.

In addition to the lag time between releases, writing back-to-backs is a very intensive process that can be draining for an author in terms of energy and creativity. This is one of the reasons I’ve decided to transition to a more traditional release schedule for my new Byrons of Braebourne series. I want to keep writing great stories that readers love, and being on a schedule that allows me to produce one book every few months, instead of three right in a row, will help me stay creatively fresh and full of new ideas!

Plus, the upside for readers is that while they’ll only be able to read two full-length Tracy Anne Warren novels in 2009, they’ll get two more in 2010. So actually, over a two year period, they’ll be one book further ahead in the series than they would be with a three book back-to-back release! A win for author and reader alike.

3. A week from now, after I devour Tempted by His Kiss, I know I will be dying to know the story behind book two, Seduced by His Touch. Can you drop a few hints now? Please?

Since you asked so nicely, Sophia, how can I possibly resist? Seduced By His Touch is about rakehell brother Jack, and I can safely assure you that he is a very bad boy! When a game of cards goes horribly awry, Jack finds himself deeply in debt to a rich shipping merchant. But the merchant doesn’t want his money. Instead, he wants Jack to woo and wed his spinster daughter. But there’s a catch . . . Jack has to convince her it’s a love-match!

4. Ahem, a little bird told me you’ve also got a novella coming out this summer. Is it part of the Byrons of Braebourne series?

It sure is! My novella is part of the Four Dukes and a Devil Anthology (which curiously enough features a novella by you as well, Sophia!), and is scheduled for release on June 30th! The story features a Byron cousin, India Byron, who finds herself in need of rescue from an unwanted suitor. To create the illusion that she’s being courted by another man, she demands a kiss from the devilish Duke of Weybridge. Little does she know what she’s started when she finds him only too happy to oblige.

5. OK–cramming all the things I’m dying to know in one long question: Chocolate or Vanilla? Tea or

Coffee? Alpha Male or Beta Male? Tiger Red or Bridal Blush? Angelina or Jen? And cats or dogs? (OK, I know the answer to the last one ; }…

Chocolate––hands down.

Tea—I adore tea, and not just because I write Regency historicals.

Alpha or Beta Male—Alpha. Although I like Beta’s sometimes too!

Bridal Blush—I adore soft pastels.

Jen—but only because Brad should have broken it off with her before he hooked up with Angelina.

Cats—Yes, you do know the last one. To see pictures of my three adorable cats and learn more about my books, please visit my website at www.tracyannewarren.com!

Sophia, it’s been wonderful chatting with you. Thank you so much and happy reading everyone!

By Jordan Dane

02.18.09

 Imagine the horror of going to your teenager’s bedroom one morning only to find her missing. Her bed hadn’t been slept in and her clothes are gone.

In 2000, that’s what one mother in Florida faced. Her only child had conspired against her and ran away. And worse, she later discovered that her daughter had left the country—without having a passport. From the moment I read this news story, I was hooked and had to know more about how such an atrocity could happen. The teen’s trail might have gone ice cold, but her mother pushed authorities in a direction.

She knew where to start looking.

Only six months earlier, the girl had received a computer for a gift—a thoughtful present from a mother who wanted the best for her child. But this gift soon brought a virtual menace into their home. A charming and anonymous stranger lured the 14-year old girl to Greece—a man she’d met in a teen chat room. We’ve all heard stories like this. But after researching the facts behind this case, I was amazed at the audacity of this Internet predator.

And I wanted to shed light on the shrewd tactics of online predators in my upcoming book—Evil Without A Face (Feb 2009, Avon, $7.99)—the first book in my Sweet Justice series.

The online predator not only manipulated the teenager in Florida, but he also convinced law-abiding adults to cooperate with his schemes. These people thought they were helping an abused kid, but they didn’t know the facts, check with her family or contact local law enforcement. This stranger duped an employee of the local phone company into arranging for a private cell phone to talk to the girl directly. His slick manipulation scored him a purchased airline ticket (without a direct connection to him) and a clandestine ride for the girl to the airport. But after he bribed a child pornographer to acquire an illegal passport for her to leave the United States, the girl was out of the country before her mother knew she was gone.

And the chase to save the girl was on—a mother’s worst fear.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. This happened in 2000, before the added airport security measures were implemented after 9/11 in 2001. The girl would never have been allowed on a plane without proper ID. But after contacting a source in the airline industry, I was shocked to learn how many children travel unaccompanied and without a valid ID on domestic flights these days. So this extraordinary Florida case became the framework for my novel, Evil Without A Face. And I chose to set part of the story in the unique venue of Alaska where I had lived for ten years.

My novels have the feel of being ripped from today’s headlines because real crime inspires me. Who says crime doesn’t pay? Violence is like the ripple effect on the surface of still water. The wake radiates out from the victim and touches many people. In my books, I give a voice to the many victims of crime.

In Evil Without A Face, an illusive web of imposters on the Internet lures a deluded teen from her Alaskan home and launches a chain reaction collision course with an unlikely tangle of heroes. A new kind of criminal organization becomes the faceless enemy behind an insidious global conspiracy. And the life of one young girl and countless others hang in the balance. This is the initial driver to my new series. With an international setting, these thrillers will focus on the lives and loves of three women—a bounty hunter operating outside the law, an ambitious vice cop, and a former international operative with a mysterious past. These women give Lady Justice a whole new reason to wear blinders.

And their brand of justice is anything but sweet.

After researching the case in Florida, I became more concerned for naïve kids socializing in cyberspace—young people like my nieces and nephews. Savvy online criminals lurk in anonymity and carry on without fear of repercussion. I’m an active member of MySpace and Facebook and know how they operate. But these social networks aren’t the problem—the criminals are. And as you’ve seen in the headlines and on TV, the online community has become a real hunting ground for predators.

Why not? It’s easy pickings.

For the most part, the Internet is an invaluable tool. And it breaks down the barriers between countries, allowing many of us to have international friends. But the anonymity of cyberspace attracts all sorts of users with criminal intent. Terrorists have found new high-tech ways to recruit online and they have duped some Internet users into funding their activities or have resorted to outright stealing through subterfuge. And since crimes that cross over jurisdictions and international borders are harder to prosecute, offenders often get away with their schemes. That’s why I wanted to write Evil Without A Face and dole out my brand justice. After all, who couldn’t use a liberal dose of ‘Sweet Justice’ when reality becomes stranger than fiction?

How has your use of the Internet changed over the years? Have you become more suspicious of certain behaviors from online strangers? And if you have children who use online resources, can you share some tips on how you keep them safer?

By Kathryn Smith

02.9.09

Hi everyone! A bit of blatant self-promotion here. I’m guesting on the Romantic Times Ask The Author forum for the next couple of weeks. Come on by and chat about my books and ask me whatever questions you might have. One lucky poster will win the entire Brotherhood of the Blood series autographed!

Hope to see you on the boards!