Saturday, July 6, 2013

Unwanted jewelry class launched Becky's career

Hi Becky, welcome to Adventures in Authorland. Please get comfortable and tell us a little about your adventure.

How many books have you written? Which is your favourite?

BANKING ON TEMPERANCE is the third book in my Cotillion Ball Series. The fourth one, THE TEMPESTUOUS DEBUTANTE, will be released in the fall, also through Crimson. These books are historical romances, each set in America in the decade leading up to the Civil War. I also write contemporary romances, the first of which, Blame It On The Brontes, was released in May, through Soul Mate. As for my favourite, I’m going to steal Eloisa James’ line as say it’s the book I’m working on right now, which happens to be the fifth in my historical series.

In which genre do you prefer to write and why?

I think switching gears from historic to contemporary each time I start a new project allows both genres to be better. Writing a period book requires a large amount of research to get the facts straight, so leaving that world and that type of writing, and doing something contemporary, offers me a fresh perspective on things. Falling in love hasn’t changed that much from the 1800’s to today, just the trappings of society.

Can you give us some details about your upcoming release/s?

I currently have one contemporary being shopped around. It’s about a 41-year-old woman who is suddenly an empty nester for the first time since she was 18. She takes an impetuous road trip to celebrate her independence and runs smack dab into a tornado—and a man named Cyclone. The fifth book in the historical series is my current WIP. It’s about the eldest brother in the Fitzpatrick household, Halwyn, who is a clueless knight in shining armor.

Have you ever travelled to a place and come away with a story unexpectedly?

My debut contemporary came about in just such a manner. My sister hijacked me into going to a jewelry-making class, which I really didn’t want to go to. This particular class was on constructing a necklace from sea glass, and, between instructions on how to make it, the instructor gave us some history of the glass, and told us stories about her own family and how they search the shores as a group to gather the glass. I very quickly decided I needed to write a story about sea glass and jewelry-making, and gathered up all the handouts this woman provided. When we left the class, my sister asked me if I was inspired, and I said yes, but I never wanted to make another necklace! I came home and wrote the story in a matter of months.

What historical person would you want to meet and why? 

This one’s easy for me. I’d like to have dinner with Thomas Jefferson and talk to him about the western expansion of the United States that he set into motion. What a fascinating time, and what a progressive man!

If you could time travel back, or forward, for one day, where would it be and why?

Also an easy question. I’d want to be living in America in the 1840s, and head to Oregon in a covered wagon. My dad reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s father. He always wanted to move when the neighbors got too close, so I’m sure if we lived in that time period, we would have been a member of a wagon train.

BANKING ON TEMPERANCE—Book 3 in the Cotillion Ball Series

     Basil Fitzpatrick was born into a life of privilege. In 1856, at 23 years of age, he is the owner of the St. Louis branch of the family banking business. He has his pick of the ladies and life by the horns. Temperance Jones and her family are far from privileged. Her father is a circuit-riding preacher from Pennsylvania. But the rumblings of a war between the North and the South force the preacher to move his family to Oregon rather than to take up arms against his fellow man. However, hardship and sickness have slowed their pace, and they are forced to spend the winter in St. Louis, waiting for the next wagon trains to leave in the spring.

     Basil is drawn to the large family the moment they roll into town, partly because they remind him of his own big family in New York. But also because of the eldest daughter, Temperance. She is a tiny, no-nonsense spitfire who is bent on fulfilling her father’s wish to get the family safely to Oregon. Basil is only interested in finding a mistress, not a wife. He knows if he allows Temperance into his heart, he is accepting the obligation of her entire family and their quest to settle in Oregon. He wants Temperance like he has wanted no other, but the burden of her family may be too much for him. And he can’t have one without the other.

Excerpt:

     Temperance sputtered and fumed, breathing fire as the door to Basil’s apartment staircase closed behind him. That no-good, self-centered ass! How dare he say their friendship had been destroyed by her ambition! If they’d truly been friends, he would have stood by her and championed her clever attempts to get her family moved westward. But once he introduced her to Jake, it was as if he’d turned his back on her. She could take him turning his back on her as a woman, but not as a friend. She yanked open the door and ran up the stairs.
     “How dare you!” She didn’t bother to knock at the top of the steps, she was so angry.
     He turned to face her, but didn’t reply.
     “Well? How dare you say that I’m the one who turned away from your friendship? You’ve become my best friend here in town, Basil, and I miss our good times. You never come to the restaurant anymore, and you barely talk to me at all here. Do you want me to quit? To leave?”
     “Yes.”
     “Yes, what?”
     “If you know what’s best for you, leave, right this minute.”
     “Why? Because you’ll tell me something I don’t want to hear?”
     Basil crossed the room to her in two strides. He placed his hands on either side of her face and growled, “Not because of what I’ll tell you, but because of what I’ll do.” He lowered his mouth to hers, crushing her tender lips beneath his own.
     Temperance stood still, in shock at what was happening. The breath whooshed out of her lungs. Her arms hung by her sides, but her mouth and tongue were doing battle with Basil’s. She moved her arms finally, and wound them around his broad shoulders, welcoming him. Her back was up against the wall as Basil continued to kiss her with all the pent-up passion that had been building between them for months. She pulled him closer, reveling in his scent of spice and man. She tasted the tobacco on his breath, along with mint, and thought there had never been so delightful a combination.
     This is where I belong. Not Oregon.
     A small moan drifted from her mouth as she sunk her fingers into his hair. He ran a row of scorching kisses from the left corner of her mouth up to her temple, then down to the pulsing vein in her neck. As he tugged gently, her whimpers became stronger. She was desperately kissing his hair, his forehead, anything she could touch. His moans matched hers as the torrid, sensual dance continued.
     His hand drifted to the buttons running down the front of her dress. He slowly unbuttoned each one, taking the time to kiss each inch of new skin he uncovered. Temperance thought she would surely combust from the sensation of his mouth on flesh that had never before been touched by a man. She squirmed and wrapped her fingers into his hair.  “Oh, sweet Lord,” she cried out.
     Basil pried his lips from her, and backed off a step. He ran his hand through his hair. Temperance couldn’t talk. She couldn’t breathe. Her senses were still writhing out of control. He backed away one more step, staring at her with lust-filled eyes.
     “That is why you should never set foot in this apartment. If you come near me again, I’ll not stop. I will have all of you, and ruin all your plans for marriage to Jake. And that is why we can no longer be friends. You’ve made your choice, Temptress. Now leave me alone.”

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 Thank you for stopping by Becky. Good luck with your sales.

Jean

 

10 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your book! I love the frontier and the excitement of the era. So much possibility. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks, Sandra, for stopping by. I keep uncovering all these great events in the decade leading up to the Civil War and wonder why it's been such a neglected part of our history. It was a great time to be an American.

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    1. Thanks, Lynn! Edits just got finished on Book 4, which is due out in September. Why stop with a trilogy? I'm going for 9 of them!

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  3. Your title is so clever, Becky! Congrats on the series.

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    1. Thanks, Lauren, for visiting today. The series is a lot of fun to work on, but I also like interspersing them with contemporaries, which are so much faster to write.

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  4. Thanks, Jean. for hosting me here today. I appreciate the insightful questions, and enjoyed being here today.

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  5. Hello Becky, looking forward to reading more of your work.

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  6. Becky,your book sounds interesting. It's fun getting to know SMP authors through these interviews.

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  7. Very interesting interview. I love jewelry making - and sea glass. I'm going to have to check out your first contemporary novel! :-)

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