Interview & Giveaway with Grace Burrowes

Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Grace Burrowes to the blog today. 

Grace, can you please share with us a little about yourself
GB: I didn’t start writing novels until I hit my late forties, when the offspring had flown the nest, the legal career was under control, and some unstructured time came my way. I pretty much haven’t stopped writing since.

Have you always wanted to be an author?
GB: I’ve always enjoyed writing, but it never occurred to me to pursue writing professionally. I had a couple dozen manuscripts completed, and enough friends had asked what I was going to DO with all those stories… THEN, I began to think about writing for publication.

Can you share with us your typical writing day.  Is there anything you have to have while writing?
GB: I have to have peace and quiet. I don’t think I could compose new material at a coffee shop, though I admire those who can. My typical day is get up early, deal with the household beasts, play a few games of solitaire, then start writing. I usually get only a scene or two done each day, and then go on to reading copy edits, proofing galleys, or doing research unless it’s a lawyer day. The last thing I do before turning in at night is read over what I wrote that morning, in hopes it will lodge in the old sleep brain and generate brilliant moves in tomorrow’s scenes.

Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?
GB: Most rewarding is when a reader lets me know that my books gave them some joy, some relief from life’s cares and woes. I read romance novels for 35 years before I started writing, and oh boy, do I know what a good read can do for a bad day. It’s also rewarding when a reader will let me know I’m wrong. There’s a hilarious Latin typo in Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight, and I really like that my readers could let me know that, and do it in a genuinely helpful manner.

The challenging part I will try to phrase delicately. The pioneers in the romance field created and perpetuate a legacy of kindness, mutual support, and honorable behavior. With the advent of the internet, and the anonymity and lack of accountability that go with it, that ethic is being eroded in some spheres. This is sad, but this is by far a minority among romance writers and readers, and, I hope, a shrinking minority at that.

Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?
GB: Love to! Lady Eve’s Indiscretion is a story about the youngest Windham sibling, Eve, who ran off with a footman as an adolescent, and realized too late what a disastrous choice she’d made. Seven years later she’s trying to avoid a wedding night lest the extent of her folly become known to anybody else, but Lucas Denning, Marquis of Deene, has other plans for her. Eve has to get back on the horse, physically and emotionally, and a little bit at a time, with the help of a man who loves her, she accomplishes that goal spectacularly.

How did you come up with the idea for this story?
GB: I love horses, and while I’ve had my share of falls, none of them have been particularly bad for me or the horse. I’ve known people who’ve taken bad falls, though, and it’s a tough trauma to get past, particularly if your horse was also hurt. I was also a teenager once upon a time (my daughter is not convinced of this), and I made some stunningly awful choices, as most of us do. My imagination got hold of those two concepts and went to work on them, and Eve’s story was the result.

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

GB: Of course! I’m working on Book Three of a regency trilogy around the theme of captivity, and looking at all the things that can ensnare us, and keep us from the happiness we’re capable of. Love and courage are always part of the way out. My current heroine, Brenna, has to find the courage to trust the husband who spent ten years at war rather than come home and take his place at her side. Michael, her swain, has a lot of trust to rebuild with her, but he’s just the fellow to do it.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

GB: Joanna Bourne is at the top of the list. Her books stand ahead of chocolate on my list of guilty pleasures. Mary Balogh has gotten me through many a tough week, Judith Ivory is well represented on my keeper shelf. Love Jennifer Ashley’s Scottish Victorians, cannot get enough of Julie Anne Long’s Pennyroyal Green series, and adore Carolyn Jewel’s Regencies and her paranormals. Loretta Chase, Meredith Duran, Sherry Thomas, JR Ward… I could go on…

Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style?
GB: Interesting question. My readers might be better able to answer that. I think I share with many authors the idea that the characters need an arc. They can be ordinary people at the beginning of the book, even not-so-endearing people, but love must give them the courage to be more than they thought they could be.

Open your book to a random page and tell us what’s happening.
GB: Lord Deene’s brother-in-law, Jonathan Dolan, is trying not to betray how smitten he is with his daughter’s governess (and succeeding only in his own mind).

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

GB:  As I write this, Jennifer Ashley’s Seduction of Elliot McBride is at the top of the TRP. Kristin Callihan’s third Darkest London story, Winterblaze, comes out at the end of this month, J.R. Ward’s, Lover at Last, is coming out in March.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
GB: Thank you so much for inviting me here!

LADY EVE’S INDISCRETION

BY GRACE BURROWES

IN STORES FEBRUARY 2013

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound | Indigo/Chapters | Sourcebooks | Discover a New Love

 Lady Eve’s Got The Perfect Plan…

Pretty, petite Evie Windham has been more indiscreet than her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Moreland, suspect. Fearing that a wedding night would reveal her past, she’s running out of excuses to dodge adoring swains. Lucas Denning, the newly titled Marquis of Deene, has reason of his own for avoiding marriage. So Evie and Deene strike a deal, each agreeing to be the other’s decoy. At this rate, matrimony could be avoided indefinitely…until the two are caught in a steamy kiss that no one was supposed to see.

 Praise for Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal:

“Burrowes delivers red-hot chemistry with a masterful mix of playfulness and sensuality.”—Publishers Weekly Starred Review

“A tantalizing, delectably sexy story that is one of the best yet from an author on the way to the top.”—Library Journal Starred Review

“A delight…strikingly unique characters with realistic emotions and exciting antics.”—RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars

“Captivating…historical romance at its finest and rife with mystery and intrigue.”—Romance Fiction on Suite 101

A little more about Grace: 

Grace Burrowes is a bestselling and award-winning author of historical romances. Her debut, The Heir, was selected as a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year for 2010 in the romance category, and Lady Louisa’s Christmas Wish won RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Historical Romance of 2011 and was also nominated for the prestigious RWA RITA© award. The author of the bestsellers The Heir, The Soldier, Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal, and Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish, Grace is a practicing attorney and lives in rural Maryland. She’ll conclude to the Windham Family Series with Lady Jenny’s story in October 2013, and will begin a new regency series with Darius in April 2013. She also has a Scottish Victorian series as well, beginning with The Bridegroom Wore Plaid, which was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2012. Please visit http://www.graceburrowes.com/ or follow her on Twitter: @GraceBurrowes for more information.

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