It’s my huge pleasure to introduce debut Avon historical romance author Miranda Neville. Miranda’s first book NEVER RESIST TEMPTATION sounds absolutely delicious, not just because it’s a luscious love story but also because the heroine is a skilled chef. It’s currently available in all good bookstores. You can find out more about Miranda and her wickedly tempting books at her website: www.mirandaneville.com
Miranda very kindly agreed to be my victim…uh, guest on the blog today. So here are five questions with Miranda Neville:
ANNA: Miranda, congratulations on the release of your debut historical romance NEVER RESIST TEMPTATION which is out at the end of February. Can you tell us something about this story?
MIRANDA: Jacobin, my heroine, runs away from her uncle when he loses her in a game of cards. She’s learned to be an expert pastry chef and she gets a job in the Prince Regent’s kitchen, disguised as a young man. That’s all fine until her uncle – one of the Prince’s friends — is poisoned by a dessert she made. Someone’s setting her up to take the fall so she escapes again and ends up working for – the man who won her in the card game! Anthony, the Earl of Storrington wants to use her as an instrument of revenge but he’s soon torn between his attraction to her and his other goal.
ANNA: I know food plays a major part in this story. What made your mouth water? Apart from Lord Storrington, obviously!
MIRANDA: Jacobin is a pastry and dessert cook so NEVER RESIST TEMPTATION gives some of the recipes she makes for her employer. Ironically Anthony, Lord Storrington doesn’t really have a sweet tooth. However, he learns to appreciate her confections in certain contexts. Ahem. Whipped cream anyone? While I was writing the book I was on a diet and lost 50 pounds so my appreciation of her pastries was entirely vicarious.
ANNA: What was your favorite book when you were 12?
MIRANDA: That’s easy. I must have been about 12 when I first read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and it’s been my favorite book ever since. LITTLE WOMEN came a close second. Around that time I also started scarfing up everything by Georgette Heyer and Jean Plaidy.
ANNA: Describe your ideal holiday location.
MIRANDA: Anywhere but England! If that sounds odd, you have to understand that I grew up there and all my family live there, so that’s pretty much where I spend my vacations. Sometimes I long for sun, beaches and drinks with umbrellas. I love museums and art galleries and had a marvelous five days in Rome two years ago. And I have a friend who moved to Hawaii and keeps asking me to visit. If I get really stuck with a deadline I’m going to take my laptop to her veranda for a working holiday.
ANNA: Do you cast your novels? If so, who would you cast as Jacobin and Lord Storrington in NEVER RESIST TEMPTATION?
MIRANDA: I mostly use period portraits and my own imagination for inspiration but the hero of my WIP does bear an uncanny resemblance to Daniel Craig. And one of my earlier efforts definitely featured a Brad Pitt look-alike. I could see Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet as Anthony and Jacobin.
ANNA: Thanks, Miranda! Great answers! And it sounds like a great book!
Miranda is a brave woman. She’s blogging with the Romance Bandits on Tuesday, 10th March. Pop by to find out more about this sparkling new addition to Avonlandia and to win a signed copy of her debut book NEVER RESIST TEMPTATION!
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Samantha James, enjoy afternoon tea, and discuss her newest release, Bride of a Wicked Scotsman which arrives in bookstores Feb. 24. I love Samantha’s books and neither dust, dogs, nor deadline will keep me from reading one of her books when it comes out. So pull up a chair, help yourself to some tea, and let’s enjoy our chat.
LH: What makes this Scotsman so wicked?
SJ: Thus far in the trilogy, we’ve see Alec in his role as the Duke of Gleneden, head of the family. But in Alec’s book, the sexy, rakish, wicked side of him is revealed. Alec is charmingly audacious, very, very much a ladies’ man. And of course, there’s the fact — unbeknownst to all – that he’s the descendant of a pirate!
LH: What can you tell us about the curse?
SJ: I’ll do one better. I’ll let it speak for itself!
From out of the mists and magic steeped in time came a myth — a myth that was born on the lands of the people who came to be called the clan McDonough. It was here, on the very tip of the peninsula, in this place where the wind meets sea and sky, and the sky the earth, where Druids reigned and pagans came to worship their Celtic gods in a temple ringed with standing stones. It is here, said the tale, that the Circle of Light first came to be, beget by the Druid priests. Conjured from sea and sky and water and earth, a symbol of the eternal cycle of life. Of purest silver it was made, a simple pattern, weaved together, a circle that had no end and no beginning.
The Circle of Light resided high upon an altar of stone — floating, suspended with a power of its own, slowly rotating, ever turning, shimmering with myriad color and warmth. The Druids proclaimed that all people of the clan McDonough who worshiped — all who believed in its powers of endurance, would be blessed.
So wondrous was the Circle of Light that St. Patrick himself came to see it. He, too, blessed the Circle, and all of the McDonough and their lands. He decreed that it should remain forever in this place of ancient worship; the clan was charged with its guardianship. In thanks for this blessing, the clan McDonough built their church in honor of St. Patrick, bringing fortune and favor to their lands and people.
As time and tide went by, the McDonough came to believe that to lose the Circle of Light — this enduring cycle of life — would be to lose their good fortune. Such was their belief. Such was their faith. Night after night throughout the centuries, high above the statue of St. Patrick, the Circle of Light was seen through the window to the north, casting out its glow. Shifting and shimmering through mist and moonlight and the darkest night, bringing forth luck and prosperity to the lands of the McDonough as promised. Like a crown of warmth and hope, its light could not be dimmed.
Until the night the Black Scotsman came plundering across the seas, to the land of the McDonough where he seized the Circle for his own . . .
And the truth of the legend came to be.
LH: Reading the excerpt posted on your website, www.samanthajames.com, I loved how you brought one of F.J. Sparrow’s characters to the costume ball. Loved the entire excerpt actually. Alec seems to be quite a bit of fun, and I can already tell that the heroine is a great match for him. I read in another interview that you’d saved his story for last because he needed a special heroine. How did you finally find her and how is it that she’s his match?
SJ: You noticed the F.J. Sparrow character! I wondered (read: hoped) if that would happen. That costume ball was so much fun . . . Back to Alec, though. Somehow I couldn’t see Alec falling for a white-gloved, fashionable London debutante. He’d be bored silly. He needed to be paired with someone who didn’t conform to Society’s ways. Someone who was more unconventional, more adventurous. And rather than see Scottish vs. English yet again, I thought it would be more fun to pit Irish vs. Scottish.
LH: If Bride of a Wicked Scotsman were to be made into a movie, who would play the hero?
SJ: Do I have to have just one? Because it could be Pierce Brosnan. Or Hugh Jackman. Or Gerard Butler. But if I have to choose, well, I’ll go with Pierce Brosnan. He’s first in the alphabet.
LH: Tell us five things about Samantha James that we might not know.
SJ: My favorite food is
peppermint ice cream.
My least favorite food is berries—any kind of berry. And mushrooms. And fish. Oh, that makes three. The strange thing is, my husband detests those same foods.
I’m a back-seat driver. Does t
hat make me a control freak?
My favorite vacation spot is Scotland. Anywhere in Scotland.
I stayed in a haunted castl
e – really. Yes, in Scotland, of course. Alas, I must have been sleeping when the resident ghost appeared.
LH: Oh, I’ve always wanted to visit haunted castle! How fun! Although I don’t know if I would have slept a wink.
Samantha, I want to thank you for joining us today. It’s been a delight as always. To those joining us today, what questions do you have for Samantha?
- Bride of a Wicked Scotsman – March 2009
 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.
 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!
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?
 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.
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