Month: December 2017

Author Speed Dating – Holly Mayes

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I love discovering new authors, so I wanted my blog to be a place where readers and my author pals could come together. Only we like to do this Speed-Dating style. Check out a new author and her work here every Wednesday, and if the spark is there, you’ll have a match.

This week’s guest: Holly Mayes

16 Questions

1. If you celebrate, name a holiday food you would eat your weight in if you could do it guilt-free.

Not sure if it falls under the category of a holiday, but white wedding cake. All other foods pale in comparison.

2. Give the title of the first manuscript you ever wrote. How many years ago did you pen this masterpiece, and whatever happened to it?

I wish I could remember the title of it; unfortunately, I don’t. I was in elementary school, and it had to do with two girls and one loved square dancing. I won a young author’s award and got to visit an author at MSU.

3. If you could keep only the possessions that would fit in one suitcase, and you were limited to two books – one you wrote and one by someone else – which titles would you tuck inside your bag? Explain your choices.

This gives me anxiety. I can’t even imagine not being able to bring all my favorites. My book would be my very first novel, GEMS. I’m proud I was able to finish a full-length book. The other book would be any of the series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They’re classics, and I grew up reading them.

4. In the winter, would you rather be zipping through powdery snow on skis or a snowmobile or escaping to a sandy beach? Now how do you really spend most of your winter?

Sandy beach. All the way. But how I really spend my winter is cussing and shoveling snow away from my vehicle on the back roads we live on after I get stuck in snow drifts.

5. Which character in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is your favorite, and what does that say about you?

I didn’t grow up believing in Christmas, but I do remember watching it. I guess I’d have to say Rudolph, although I feel like he’s the obvious choice. I don’t recall many other characters in the story. Wasn’t there an abominable snowman or something, too?

6. In which genres and sub-genres are you published, and which others do you plan to add to the list in the next two years?

My first book is a speculative fiction YA novel. My second novel is a contemporary romance. My third book (just released) is the follow up to the first novel. I’ll be working on more fiction in the future, but I’m also interested in memoir. I feel like I’m all over the place when it comes to my writing.

7. If you could visit the studio and hang out with any visual artist, past or present, whose creative space would you be invading? Why?

Annie Leibovitz. Definitely. She’s iconic and has been pushing the limits for years. I used to study photography in school. Her work has always mesmerized me.

8. Do you listen to music when you’re writing? If so, name some of the artists whose work you use to get you creative juices flowing.

I can’t listen to music with words. It throws me off. I listen to Shakuhachi Sakano (Bamboo Flute Music, Japanese Flute), or the Relaxing Music Orchestra or Classical Piano stations on Amazon Prime.

9. What are you reading now, and what is the best book you’ve read in a long time?

I’ve taken a bit of a break from writing so I can “fill the well” again by reading. I just finished THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey. Great read, couldn’t put it down. The best book I’ve read in a long time would probably have to be ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE by Gail Honeyman. 

10. What is your strategy for writing over the holidays?

I don’t. Haha. I know better than to stress myself out like that. Writing is hard enough as it is.

11. Name three things that are in your purse or pockets right now.

My jack knife my Uncle David gave me, a notebook for writing down thoughts or notes, and about a million stupid cards to every different store I go to that always end up hiding from me at the cash register when there’s 5 people lined up behind me rolling their eyes and saying “c’mon already” under their breath. 

12. Do you write a synopsis before you write a book, and, if so, does your finished product look anything like that road map?

I’ve never written a synopsis. That’s probably what scares me away from traditional publishing. How the devil do I know what’s going to happen until my characters tell me?

13. Are you a fan of reality TV, or could the current Bachelor marry every contestant on Cake Boss and then sing his lungs out on The Voice for all you care?

I usually don’t get stuck on TV, but it is the holidays, and I’m not in the middle of writing so, yeah, I kind of got attached to The Voice. Because Adam Levine…omg… (insert drooling image here). Except for recently he had some pervy pornstar mustache thing going on, and no. Just no.

14. What is your biggest dream for your writing career? The New York Times bestseller list? A movie deal? Your own island in the Caribbean? All of the above?

I guess it’d be nice to think about hitting it big with a novel. But at the same time I think that could be stressful. I’m getting more introverted the older I get, and I don’t like people enough to be recognizable. The people who do follow me and enjoy my books make me happy with their encouragement. That’s enough for now.

15. What is your biggest hope for a reader when she opens one of your books?

That I was able to transport them to the world that was shown to me by my characters and my setting. If they can forget real life for a moment, my job is done. If it lingers after they’re done reading, then double bonus.

16. Are you more a Times Square-ringing-in-the-New Year-type on New Year’s Eve, or will we find you at home, tucked into bed by nine o’clock.

Home tucked in bed. I wake up super early.

 

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GEMS

By H. J. Mayes

 

 

 

My head is cradled between my hands as I crouch on the floor. The only sound is my own voice screaming the word “no”, echoing in the walls of my mind. Bits of dust and plaster make my mouth bitter and force me to cough.

There seems to be damage to the hearing in my left ear, but sounds register around me. My hearing picks up the sound of sirens, howling in the distance above ground and coming closer. Coughs and moans rise from the dust near me.

My blurry vision sharpens as I wipe my shirtsleeve across my eyes. The explosion has not affected my legs or arms; they’re intact and moving with little pain.

The door to the break room is thrown open; it’s actually off the frame and tilted in the hallway. Lights flicker on and off, there are wires swinging from the ceiling.

As I stagger to my feet, that’s when I see them. My breath catches and panic makes my chest feel tight.

The leader of the group is slumped over the overturned table in the corner. The other man is buckled on the floor by the door; his head tilted and blood trickling from his mouth. The canvas bag still in his hand. Neither of them is moving. The third one is on the floor by my feet, the needle tossed off to the side.

Bile rises in my throat.

What did I do? Where’s Jack?

Someone with dark hair—maybe Jack’s hair—is unconscious in the hallway by the door. I rush over to him and lean down, gently pulling him back to see his face. It isn’t Jack, but someone else. His face is bloody and some of his teeth are missing, possibly from the door hitting him in the explosion. I pull back, gasping in shock.

The main leader inside the room groans and struggles to sit up. He rubs the dust from his eyes, shaking his head as he stands. When he makes eye contact with me, he slowly reaches for a gun lying near him on the ground.

I stumble backward further into the hallway and trip over someone else. It’s Joe. He’s not moving either. His leg is twisted backward at the knee.

My scream echoes through the hallway.

The lights in the ceiling begin to pop, one by one. As the emergency lights flicker on, the man with the gun appears in the break room doorway. He’s holding his arms up to protect himself from the breaking bulbs raining down on him.

I’m not sure who these people are, but they knew my name and they weren’t worried about my abilities. That’s not what I would consider a normal reaction if people find out who, or what, I am.

 

***

GEMS, Book 1 in the GEMS Series, may be purchased through Amazon.

 

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About Holly

Holly Mayes is a native of Michigan and enjoys reading, writing, photography and spending time with her two daughters, husband, cat and dog.

She has been published for her short stories in the Lansing Community College Washington Square Review, the women’s online journal When Women Waken, and the Rescued Pets Anthology by Splattered Ink Press.

GEMS is her first full-length, speculative fiction novel about a group of teens with super powers. The second book in the GEMS Series (GEMS-LOST) was released October, 2017.

Her romance FADE TO BLACK, the first in the Love in Bloom series, is currently available on Amazon.

Connect with Holly on Facebook or Twitter.

 

 

 

Author Speed Dating – Shae Ross

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I love discovering new authors, so I wanted my blog to be a place where readers and my author pals could come together. Only we like to do this Speed-Dating style. Check out a new author and her work here every Wednesday, and if the spark is there, you’ll have a match.

This week’s guest: Shae Ross

 

16 Questions

1. If you celebrate, name a holiday food you would eat your weight in if you could do it guilt-free.

Green bean casserole. My brother and I used to hide the leftovers from each other in the back of the fridge!

2. Give the title of the first manuscript you ever wrote. How many years ago did you pen this masterpiece, and whatever happened to it?

CRUSADE. I wrote the first scenes of CRUSADE the summer between college and law school, which is to say, a long time ago! When I left my job to pursue writing, I had intended to publish CRUSADE, but in 2015 the new adult sub-genre was much more popular than medieval historical. Rather than finish CRUSADE, I let myself get distracted by Jett Trebuchet and Ryan Rose. I wrote their story in, PRETTY SMART GIRLS, LACE UP and sold it on my first pitch. I still plan to publish CRUSADE, someday soon. 

3. If you could keep only the possessions that would fit in one suitcase, and you were limited to two books – one you wrote and one by someone else – which titles would you tuck inside your bag? Explain your choices.

Gosh, what a question! It makes me sweat to think of only having two books. I would pick my third book, RUSH, because characters from my first two books appear in RUSH—that way I’d kind of have them all with me, right? As for the other title, it’s a tie between PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, by Jane Austen, and OUTLANDER, by Diana Gabaldon. (I’d give up at least one pair of shoes to add in a third book though!)

4. In the winter, would you rather be zipping through powdery snow on skis or a snowmobile or escaping to a sandy beach? Now how do you really spend most of your winter?

Hmmm. I’m not crazy about either. Cold weather sports set off warning signals in my mind. I like the beach, but I don’t like to sit still that long. My idea of dream land is wandering through a city that has historical sites to explore, great cafes, and shopping markets!

5. Which character in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”  is your favorite, and what does that say about you?

I haven’t watch RTRNR in so long, I can’t remember the personalities. If there’s a reindeer who’s slightly rebellious and bossy in a non-offensive sort of way (usually), who likes to sing and dress fancy, that’s me! 🙂

6. In which genres and sub-genres are you published, and which others do you plan to add to the list in the next two years?

I’m published in Contemporary, New Adult and Romantic Suspense. I’ll publish another Romantic Suspense next, then likely another New Adult. After that I’d like to publish my Historical and a Women’s Fiction book with strong romantic elements. I have all of these books in progress at various stages. It’s just a matter finding the time to finish!

7. If you could visit the studio and hang out with any visual artist, past or present, whose creative space would you be invading? Why?

I’d love to hang out with Nora Roberts for a day and see what her writing process is like.

8. Do you listen to music when you’re writing? If so, name some of the artists whose work you use to get you creative juices flowing.

YES! Music inspires me, and I love listening to music almost as much as I love reading and writing. I make playlists on Spotify and listen to mixes on Pandora. I’m more of a genre listener than a specific artist listener. Some of my favorites include Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, Carla Bruni, Melody Gardot, and Madeleine Peyroux.

9. What are you reading now, and what is the best book you’ve read in a long time?

I’m reading MOLLY’S GAME, by Molly Bloom, and NO EXCUSES, by Brian Tracy. One of my favorite recent romance reads is BLUE-EYED DEVIL, by Lisa Kleypas.

10. What is your strategy for writing over the holidays?

On busy days, I still try to squeeze in three hours of writing. I like to write every day, and I’m incredibly irritated with myself when I don’t. I look at the week ahead and try to time block out writing sessions.

11. Name three things that are in your purse or pockets right now.

Biofreeze, for neck and shoulder relief, a permission slip for my son’s next field trip, and a can of cherry vanilla soda.

12. Do you write a synopsis before you write a book, and, if so, does your finished product look anything like that road map?

I do write a synopsis. The finished product follows the synopsis, but has a lot more twists and turns in the road.

 13. Are you a fan of reality TV, or could the current Bachelor marry every contestant on Cake Boss and then sing his lungs out on The Voice for all you care?

Yeah, not really a fan.  I much prefer drama, especially if there’s a romantic element or historical setting. Right now, I am loving, Good Behavior on TNT, The Crown on Netflix, and Knightfall, which just began on the History Channel.

14. What is your biggest dream for your writing career? The New York Times bestseller list? A movie deal? Your own island in the Caribbean? All of the above?

My biggest dream is to keep writing and continue to balance my other priorities effectively—time with my husband, kids, extended family and friends. The above mentioned honors would be thrilling, but none would feel like success unless the people I’ve signed up to  love, honor, and cherish are with me and they know that I’m with them. So far, so good!

15. What is your biggest hope for a reader when she opens one of your books?

I hope my readers experience what I want to experience when I read a book. I want to feel the characters’ emotions. I want to laugh, cry, think, learn something I didn’t know, be captivated by the hero and completely immersed in the story. Oh, and of course, I want the happy ending. Always.

16. Are you more a Times Square-ringing-in-the-New Year-type on New Year’s Eve, or will we find you at home, tucked into bed by nine o’clock?

My husband and I are pretty social. We enjoy going out as much as we love chilling with our neighbor pals at home, but we’ve never been big on going out on New Year’s Eve. We’ll be home.

 

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Bottom of the Sky

By Shae Ross

 

 

He stops and flips upright in the middle of the moonlit river. His hands hold my waist as our feet cycle. “Why are we stopping?” I ask.

“So you can kiss me.”

His hands catch my ribcage lifting me as he tows me in.

My palms flatten against his slick, hard chest. “I make the rules, right?”

He shakes his head, and a wicked smile sprouts from the perfectly shaped lips. “This is no man’s land…the river is ruled by nature.”

His grin widens, ripping something open in my heart, and I think maybe this isn’t such a bad thing. He obviously needs the distraction and so do I.

I meet his kiss. His head slants over mine, and I open for him, sucking him in. Our bodies bob from the force of his treading feet, keeping both of us afloat. His hand slides to my back, slinging me in flush to his body. My breath jams in my throat when I feel him, thick and hard against my stomach, teasing the nerves gathered low in my belly.

“John…” I break the kiss and gasp a short breath. “I need to conserve some energy if I’m going to make it to the other side.”

He chuckles softly, twirling our bodies until we’re in the current again, but when I stroke to swim beside him, he glides underneath me, looping one of my hands over his shoulder and the other under his chest. I surf his back as he swims, resting my cheek on the wet strands of his hair, feeling the muscles of his chest moving under my fingertips with each stroke. Weightless and languid, water floods my limbs, caressing my bones. I’m floating through the Sky as if I’m on my way to heaven..

After several moments, John’s body shifts and his arm contracts. He’s caught the ladder to his dock, supporting our weight with one hand. He dips a shoulder and swings me in front of him. I point my toe and find a slippery rung. The ladder sinks as he steps onto the rung below mine, brushing my back with wet skin, gripping the rails and cocooning me with warmth.

Everything about this moment makes me want to stop and take it in.

I sway into him feeling his cheek brush my temple. He curves around me, dropping a hand to my stomach. I arch as it travels up and his knuckles graze my cleavage, prickling the sensitive skin. A voice inside echoes this isn’t me as his fingers continue upward, sliding to the side of my neck, but this is me with John.

“If you don’t want this, Gianna…” his voice sounds almost tortured. “Climb up.”

My toes curl, standing firm on the rung, submerged like anchors. His mouth lowers to the side of my neck, and I tilt giving him full access.

“If you don’t climb up now, I’ll keep touching you…”

 

***

BOTTOM OF THE SKY, a March 2017 release, may be purchased from Amazon.

 

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About Shae

Shae Ross grew up in Ferndale, Michigan. She attended Michigan State University and continued her education at Detroit College of Law. Prior to 2014, she spent the majority of her career practicing corporate law and engaged in entrepreneurial ventures.

After having too many stressful days at the office, Shae began to pursue her dream of writing and signed a contract with Entangled Publishing. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes who deliver stories filled with sass, smarts and sizzle.

Learn more about Shae through her websites, www.shaeross.com, or through her Amazon Author Page or Goodreads. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, and join her newsletter here.

 

Author Speed Dating – Diana Stout

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I love discovering new authors, so I wanted my blog to be a place where readers and my author pals could come together. Only we like to do this Speed-Dating style. Check out a new author and her work here every Wednesday, and if the spark is there, you’ll have a match.

This week’s guest: Diana Stout

 

16 Questions

1. If you celebrate, name a holiday food you would eat your weight in if you could do it guilt-free.

 Halloween candy pumpkins.

2. Give the title of the first manuscript you ever wrote. How many years ago did you pen this masterpiece, and whatever happened to it?

“Choose for Happiness,” a non-fiction how-to article that I wrote and sold in 1979 for $52.

3. If you could keep only the possessions that would fit in one suitcase, and you were limited to two books – one you wrote and one by someone else – which titles would you tuck inside your bag? Explain your choices.

GRENDEL’S MOTHER (I wrote) and POWER VS. FORCE, written by David Hawkins.  GRENDEL’S MOTHER because it’s a book about survival and being true to yourself. POWER VS. FORCE because it shows why one needs to live in peace without stress; example, “Force is arrogance; power is characterized by humility….Power serves others…force is self-serving.”

4. In the winter, would you rather be zipping through powdery snow on skis or a snowmobile or escaping to a sandy beach? Now how do you really spend most of your winter?

Snowmobile, only because I hate the heat and I don’t ski, don’t want to.  In truth, I’m a house plant in all seasons. I’m writing, reading, or watching movies.

5. Which character in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is your favorite, and what does that say about you?

The narrator snowman, Burl Ives. I loved his roles.

6. In which genres and sub-genres are you published, and which others do you plan to add to the list in the next two years?

Contemporary romance (novel, novella, short story & play).  Epic fantasy (GRENDEL’S MOTHER).  I’ll be adding screenplays of romance/suspense, family/Christmas romance (definitely a Hallmark movie!), and romance/comedy.

7. If you could visit the studio and hang out with any visual artist, past or present, whose creative space would you be invading? Why?

Claude Monet for landscapes or Norman Rockwell for the stories told.

8. Do you listen to music when you’re writing? If so, name some of the artists whose work you use to get you creative juices flowing.

Sometimes. Movie soundtracks, nature sounds, Dean Martin, Lionel Ritchie, Barbra Streisand, Lou Christie, plus I have a playlist I put together of various favorite singles that include the Barry Manilow, Bee Gees, Bing Crosby, The [Canadian] Tenors, Il Divo, Chad & Jeremy, Jefferson Airplane, Rod McKuen, Shania Twain, and Kenny G.

9. What are you reading now, and what is the best book you’ve read in a long time?

Best book in a long time, hands down was THE MARTIAN, by Andy Weir. Read in a single sitting. I rarely finish books unless they’re really good. Currently reading Dan Brown’s, ORIGIN, and THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES by Peter Wohlleben (nonfiction).  Plus a couple more. I’m always reading several books at the same time.

10. What is your strategy for writing over the holidays?

Because my girls and their families spend time with in-laws or other relatives, I’m home alone…writing, reading, going to a movie theater or watching on TV. People feel sorry for me, but I enjoy it! Usually eat pizza or some other fun food.

11. Name three things that are in your purse or pockets right now.

Kleenex tissues, money, lip gloss.

12. Do you write a synopsis before you write a book, and, if so, does your finished product look anything like that road map?

I’m a plotter. I create an outline that’s anywhere from 5-25 pages long. Yes, my book generally follows that road map. I do a lot of character journal writing while I’m plotting. By the time I’m done, I know a lot about my characters that has nothing to do with physicality and everything to do with wounds, secrets, and emotions.

13. Are you a fan of reality TV, or could the current Bachelor marry every contestant on Cake Boss and then sing his lungs out on The Voice for all you care?

Do survivors lose weight? Huge fan of reality TV. I so wish they’d do a Bachelor or Bachelorette for seniors!!!!  I don’t dare list all the shows I watch.

14. What is your biggest dream for your writing career? The New York Times bestseller list? A movie deal? Your own island in the Caribbean? All of the above?

To win an Oscar for best original screenplay. To have Hollywood producers and actors beating down my door wanting me to write for them.

15. What is your biggest hope for a reader when she opens one of your books?

That they can’t put it down and that they didn’t want it to end. I do hear it, and I never get tired of hearing that.

16. Are you more a Times Square-ringing-in-the-New Year-type on New Year’s Eve, or will we find you at home, tucked into bed by nine o’clock?

I don’t like large crowds, so it’ll be the latter. Even though I’m up late, I rarely see the ball drop. I’m usually watching a movie or catching up on my DVR recordings.

 

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Grendel’s Mother

By Diana Stout

 

All journeys begin with a single step. I could say my journey began when I was made dead, a no-name ghost in the woods. Or when I first met the dragon when I was too young to be afraid. Or maybe my journey began when the pains started, soon after the last thread of light disappeared in a horizontal sliver crushed between dark ominous clouds fast filling the sky and the earthly boundaries of both my chains and comfort as deemed by the gods:  the raw wilderness. Was it only less than a year ago that I was a naïve child, believing that the life ahead of me was mine to choose? So innocent. So lost in my own little world of supposed freedom.  Self-centered as only a child knows at the time. What a difference a year makes.

At the moment, I am working within my wilderness, attempting to catch a wild pig. The temperature has dropped, with late, major winter storm clouds moving in too quickly. I need major sustenance for the next couple days, if not weeks, and this yearling can satisfy that need. My spear is ready. I hold my breath, waiting. Now all I need is for the pig to turn parallel to me, so that I have a broader target, where I can hit a major organ.

I’m cold and don’t relish hunting in the dark but I have no choice. I let go of my discomfort. Up until now, I’ve been able to ignore the pains, the tightening of my mid-section. Thankfully, the clouds aren’t covering the full moon high in the sky…yet. The moon provides enough light for me to hunt. My hands, face, and any other exposed skin are blackened with mud, and I wear enough fur that I smell like the forest and the animals within.

The pig turns. I throw my spear. It hits right where I aimed—its heart. It squeals loudly, takes a couple steps, and drops. I get up from my kneeling position, where I was hidden in the tall grass, moving far slower than I want. My huge belly makes me awkward and slower than I like. I gasp as my belly tightens, again. Mentally, I count. Finally, the muscles relax. I need to hurry.

***

GRENDEL’S MOTHER, an epic fantasy, can be purchased through Amazon. To learn about its creation, read Part I – Grendel’s Mother: Its Genesis and Development and then Part II.

 

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About Diana

An award-winning writer, Diana Stout has written in multiple genres, fiction long & short, non-fiction for adults & children, as a playwright, columnist, blogger, author, and screenwriter. She’s served as an academic reviewer, contest judge for multiple writing organizations, and is a former English professor. Today, she’s returned to her creative writing roots and invites you to learn more through her Sharpened Pencils Productions website. Current projects include romance novellas, reprints of novel romances, publishing screenplays (thriller/suspense, Christmas, and drama), a writing how-to series of books, and a historical based on a true story. Learn more about Diana through her blogs –  Only for the Brave writing blog,  Into the Core intuitive blog and Behind the Scenes  – and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads and Instagram. Subscribe to her newsletter here.

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A Note from Diana

Thanks for much for asking me to speed date with you, Dana! Happy Holidays to everyone and a prosperous new year.

Author Speed Dating – Katharine Ashe

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I love discovering new authors, so I wanted my blog to be a place where readers and my author pals could come together. Only we like to do this Speed-Dating style. Check out a new author and her work here every Wednesday, and if the spark is there, you’ll have a match.

This week’s guest: Katharine Ashe

 

 

 

16 Questions

1. If you celebrate, name a holiday food you would eat your weight in if you could do it guilt-free.

Homemade ginger bread (with hot chocolate on the side!).

2. Give the title of the first manuscript you ever wrote. How many years ago did you pen this masterpiece, and whatever happened to it?

Teen Girl Lusts After Hot Landscaping Guy Who Turns Out to Be Heir to a Fortune. Seriously! I don’t remember the actual title, but that was the gist of it. Eventually I started writing historical romance, but I still write hot heroes with secret identities.

3. If you could keep only the possessions that would fit in one suitcase, and you were limited to two books – one you wrote and one by someone else – which titles would you tuck inside your bag? Explain your choices.

I CAN’T!!! I love too many books to choose one, so here’s my latest favorite, which I found doing research for my next novel: THE LOVE OF STRANGERS: WHAT SIX MUSLIMS STUDENTS LEARNED IN JANE AUSTEN’S LONDON by Nile Green. It’s a look at English Regency-era history that most of us lovers of historical romance have never seen, and it’s all about friendship and love. I adored it. Among my novels, I would tuck THE EARL  in the suitcase. Enemies from childhood, the hero and heroine are fleeing together through the Scottish countryside from an angry mob, and they have turn to each other for survival. I adored writing how the scales fell from their eyes as they learned and grew and fell in love. And it makes me laugh.

4. In the winter, would you rather be zipping through powdery snow on skis or a snowmobile or escaping to a sandy beach? Now how do you really spend most of your winter?

Always the beach! But I love snow too. 🙂 My fave winter treat is curling up on the couch before a crackling fire and reading or writing.

5. Which character in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is your favorite, and what does that say about you?

Rudolph! I’ve never really fit in. That said, I have yet to pull a sleigh — but, you know, I’m hopeful someday… 😉

6. In which genres and sub-genres are you published, and which others do you plan to add to the list in the next two years?

I mostly write big, epic, emotional love stories set in the early nineteenth-century British Empire. I’ve written a time-travel novella, a Regency ghost novel, and a contemporary novella too, and I have a series set in the Regency period with a special fantasy twist to each novel.

7. If you could visit the studio and hang out with any visual artist, past or present, whose creative space would you be invading? Why?

Oh oh oh, please!!! Sir Thomas Lawrence, the brilliant British portrait artist. The hero I’m writing now (in THE PRINCE) is a portraitist, and I’ve modeled his style on Lawrence’s.

8. Do you listen to music when you’re writing? If so, name some of the artists whose work you use to get you creative juices flowing.

Not usually while I’m writing. But for each book I do make a playlist—my own personal soundtracks that inspire characters and scenes, and that I play when I’m driving, walking the dog, running, or doing errands. Depending on the novel, the music runs the gamut from Taylor Swift and Avril Lavigne to The Heyday and Breaking Benjamin. The soundtrack for my latest novel, THE DUKE, includes a lot of Scottish traditional music and epic movie soundtracks.

9. What are you reading now, and what is the best book you’ve read in a long time?

Today I read two fascinating history articles: one on Mary Shelley’s revolutionary novels and the other on medieval smugglers between Spain and North Africa—and both of them gave me ten different ideas for novels! I love history. It’s full of fantastic story ideas. 🙂 For best book, see #3 above. And I also just read Kate Claybourn’s debut contemporary romance BEGINNER’S LUCK, which was pure adorable small town pleasure.

10. What is your strategy for writing over the holidays?

Revise revise revise! I have a January 2nd book deadline. 🙂

11. Name three things that are in your purse or pockets right now.

A Sharpie pen (for signing books), a little notebook bound in Black Watch tartan, and a tiny Advent daily prayer book.

12. Do you write a synopsis before you write a book, and, if so, does your finished product look anything like that road map?

I don’t write a synopsis. I usually plot on a big whiteboard (using Alexandra Sokoloff’s totally brilliant system). Sometimes the novel even comes out looking like what’s on the whiteboard! 🙂

13. Are you a fan of reality TV, or could the current Bachelor marry every contestant on Cake Boss and then sing his lungs out on The Voice for all you care?

Binge watcher here. I tend to like historical mysteries, love stories, light modern comedy, and Superhero® shows. So, not a reality TV fan, but I never say never. 🙂

14. What is your biggest dream for your writing career? The New York Times bestseller list? A movie deal? Your own island in the Caribbean? All of the above?

Honestly, to make enough money each year to be able to keep doing this for a living. I simply adore writing love stories and sharing them. That’s my dream. (Although, you know, an amazing sports car and a neat little flat in—say—Verona, Italy, would be swell too.)

15. What is your biggest hope for a reader when she opens one of your books?

That she will laugh and sigh and cry and fall in love and read the final page with a big happy smile of pure joy and satisfaction.

16. Are you more a Times Square-ringing-in-the-New Year-type on New Year’s Eve, or will we find you at home, tucked into bed by nine o’clock?

Tucked in bed (after eating every flaky pastry appetizer available in my grocery store freezer section, natch).

 

***

 

The Duke

By Katharine Ashe

 

“You do not frighten me.” She snipped the syllables to hide the quaver.

His gaze that was black in the dim light scanned her face—her cheeks and hair and lips and chin.

“Then you are unique among women,” he rumbled. “Now remove that key from your bodice and open the door.”

“Why won’t you speak with me?” This was frankly terrifying. She had not anticipated this or planned for any scenario like this. She had imagined that when she finally cornered him he would act like a regular person and converse. Unwisely, she realized belatedly. He had never been anything like a regular person, after all.

“Five and a half years, yet not even a little small talk?” she said. “Come now. Let us give it a try. I will start. I hear you have become a duke. And an abductor of innocent maidens. And possibly a practitioner of the dark arts. How do you find all of that?”

“Lass.” The word was a warning shift of tectonic plates. “Open the door now or I’ll be taking that key.”

“You cannot deter me, Urisk.” Now her words quivered quite obviously. “Either you will sit down here now and answer my questions until I have asked them all, or you will in fact be obliged to take the key from me.”

In the darkness, the gleam in his eyes was like a knife’s blade.

“As you wish,” he said as though he whispered in her ear.

Her heart slammed into her lungs.

His hand surrounded her hip.

She gasped.

He was not smiling. Large and strong, his five fingers and broad palm took complete possession of her flesh.

“The key now,” he said very deeply. His fingers moved on her. Not painfully. Rather, stroking, kneading as though she were bread dough.

She swallowed over the shock clogging her throat.

“No,” she croaked.

He bent his head and in the murky silence in which the gay music of the ball was only a distant echo, she could hear his breathing, each inhale and exhale a perfectly controlled statement of composure.

“You are certain?” he said as calmly as though he were asking if she preferred tea to coffee.

“Yes.”

His hand slid up her side and wrapped around her waist.

“What are you doing?” she rasped.

His thumb stroked along the ridge of her lowest rib and a cascade of pleasure descended.

“Getting closer to that key,” he said.

***

THE DUKE, a Devil’s Duke novel and a September 2017 release from Avon Romance, may be purchased from these and other retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million.

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About Katharine

Katharine Ashe is the USA Today bestselling author of historical romances that reviewers call “intensely lush” and “sensationally intelligent,” including her latest novel, THE DUKE, which won starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus, and an RT Book Reviews Top Pick!, and is on Amazon’s list of the Best Romances of 2017. Katharine lives in the wonderfully warm Southeast with her beloved husband, son, dog, and a garden she likes to call romantic rather than unkempt. A professor of history, she writes romance because she thinks modern readers deserve grand adventures and breathtaking sensuality too. For more about Katharine’s books, please visit www.KatharineAshe.com.

Katharine is also Dr. Katharine Brophy Dubois, Lecturing Fellow in the departments of History and Religious Studies at Duke University where she teaches courses on history and popular culture, and organizes the UNSUITABLE Speakers Series about women, fiction and popular culture.

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A Note From Katharine

Thanks for inviting me to speed date, Dana! Happy New Year’s, everybody! xoxo