Tell us a little about your newest release A Wedding in Springtime.
Five minutes into Miss Eugenia Talbot's presentation at
court, notorious rogue Mr. William Grant makes her laugh before the queen,
ruining her debut. To hush up the scandal, Genie needs to make a brilliant
marriage, and fast. Genie's aunt hires a matchmaker to find a
suitor—anyone except the infamous William Grant—but amiable Genie shows a
disturbing tendency to follow her heart. When a traitor creeps closer,
threatening to ruin more than just her reputation, Genie and Grant are drawn
into a dangerous world of deceit and intrigue, where losing their hearts could
mean their ultimate undoing.
Is this the beginning of a new Regency Series and if so what
is up next?
Yes, this is the beginning of a three book series following
Regency couples brought together by a mysterious matchmaker to London's elite
society. The next book, Midsummer Bride is scheduled to be
released November 2013, followed by Winter
Wedding in 2014. I am also excited to
be writing some crossover novellas that connect my medieval Highlander books
with my Regencies. Highland Bride's
Choice will be coming out as an e-book this fall and will tell the story of how
the ancestors to my Regency heroes married Campbell brides.
If you could go back in time where would you go?
Tough question! There
is so much I would like to do and see.
As a writer I would love to visit Regency London and actually see, hear,
feel, taste, do all the amazing things of that age. Which makes me wonder - in 200 years would
people want to come back in time to visit us?
What do you hope readers take with them after reading one of
your stories?
I hope my readers have a fun time reading my stories and
feel encouraged, hopeful, and refreshed.
I started reading romance novels during a stressful time in my life and
they helped give me a needed break, some hope, and a laugh, which helped me
through some rough times. If I can give
that experience back to someone else I would be very happy.
Did you have any other careers before devoting yourself to
being a full-time writer?
Ah, the day job. When
I'm not writing about my Regency rogues I work part time as a research
psychologist. I think working in the
field of psychology has been helpful in creating believable characters. Even the villains don't think of themselves
as such. Everyone needs to have a credible
back story, even if it never makes it to the page, I need to know it so I can understand
the character from their own unique point of view.
What’s something fans would find fascinating about you?
Gosh, I'm not sure spending hours upon hours typing away at
the computer gives me a lot of time to be fascinating! Let's see, I have had bad luck (or good luck
depending on how you look at it) getting caught in electrical storms when
enjoying the great outdoors. I've been
caught on the top of a mountain ridge, in a canoe in the middle of a lake, and
on a mountain trail with a grizzly bear.
Yah, maybe that's why I don't go hiking so much any more...
What books or authors have most influenced your life?
When it comes to Regency romance my two bigger influences
are Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer.
Both have inspired me greatly by creating a world I wanted to live in. Another influence, though it might sound
strange, it my love for Masterpiece theater mysteries. I love the rich historical settings and of
course the mystery. I like to put a bit
of a "who-done-it" in every book.
Do you work on one project at a time? Or do you multi-task?
My brain is happy when I can work on one project at a time
but that is not always possible. Usually
I am living somewhere betwixed and between.
For example, right now I am blogging about my newest release, A Wedding in Springtime, while I am
doing copy edits for Midsummer Bride,
at the same time as I am writing Winter
Wedding. Makes me dizzy just
thinking of it.
As a child, what did you want to be when
you grew up? How has that childhood dream affected your career?
I wish I could say I wanted to be a writer
but it never crossed my mind! When I was
a kid I wanted to be a teacher, because I wanted to be like my mom. As I grew up I realized I could embody many
of the attributes of kindness, compassion, intellectual curiosity doing many
different occupations, such as research and yes - writing.
What tools do you feel are must-haves for
writers?
I find my white board to plot out stories
to be very helpful. I have recently
tried writing with Scrivener, which I have found helpful as well. These tools are great, but one of the most important
things is to live a balanced life. The
brain doesn't work well when you are so tired your head hits the keyboard. Sleep, exercise, good food, friends, and
hobbies other than writing are all important.
What's
the weirdest thing you've ever done in the name of research?
I once asked an acquaintance who was going
to Scotland to tell me how me how it smelled.
Lots of things I can get from the internet, but how a place smells is
not one of them. It made perfect sense to
me at the time, but I think she must have thought I was crazy!
Please share any links you would like listed in the
Interview. Website, blog, Facebook, Twitter.
Thank you for inviting me to chat! I love to hear from readers so come visit me
at my website, facebook,
or twitter.
Contest:
Amanda is giving away one copy of A Wedding in Springtime. Leave a comment with your email address to be entered. Contest is open to US and Canada residents only and a winner will be drawn on May 8th. Remember to include your email address or your comment will not count.
Nice of you to give away A Wedding in Springtime. I laughed Amanda when you mention in your interview that you had asked someone to tell you how Scotland smelled..it must smell like Canada lol. Just to mention, that I love to write a review when I read a book! Have a beautiful day!
ReplyDeletenlaverdure88@videotron.ca
Interesting research question
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
Great interview. I enjoyed it a lot. I lveod Scotland.
ReplyDeletedebby236 at gmail dot com
Enjoyed the interview :-) smiled at the day job helping with char dev :-)
ReplyDeletegamistress66-at-aol-dot-com
My brain is much happier if I just concentrate on 1 thing at a time too (poor thing gets confused if I try to do more than one thing, lol).
ReplyDeleteI would think that smells would be the hardest thing to get right if it is something that you are not familiar with personally, and something that is easily overlooked :)
June
manning_J2004 at yahoo dot com
A Wedding in Springtime sounds like a delightful story. I love the Eugenia's nickname Genie, it's cute as well as unusual. I'm looking forward to reading her story.
ReplyDeleteBarbed1951 at aol dot com
I enjoyed the interview and look forward to reading A Wedding in Springtime.
ReplyDeletejmcgaugh (at) semo (dot) edu