| 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.
