Sarah MacLean's Blog, page 16

Eleven Songs that Helped Write Eleven Scandals

There is no question that music is connected to creativity. I like to think that it's not a coincidence that the root of the word music is muse.

ASIDE: Don't believe me? Check it: According to my trusty etymonline.com, music evolved into English in the mid-13c., from 12th Century Old French (musique) and, further back, Latin (musica) and, ultimately the Greek, mousike techne, meaning "the art of the Muses." Have I mentioned recently how much I love etymology?

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Me and music. Now . . . what you may not know is that Eric is a musician and, frankly, something of a snob about all those notes and frets and clefts and whatever else. He plays like, 12 instruments, including this thing. And he likes to judge me harshly for my taste in music (mainly because of these guys, but not a little bit because I own this album. And this one).

I'm sure I'm not alone in this . . . I'm sure that somewhere out there, at least one or two of you has a partner who likes to mock your undying affection for the Barenaked Ladies. Or, fill in the blank with the artist of your choice.

To them I say, "Whatever."

Because, the truth is, your muse is who he/she/it is. And for me, my muse shifts and evolves and shows herself through odd and completely unpredictable music with each book. For The Season, it was Strauss. For Nine, it was Jason Mraz and The Barber of Seville. For Ten, Brett Dennen and Mozart. And for Eleven . . . it was just weird.

And so I give you, Eleven Songs that Helped Me Write Eleven Scandals:

1)   Carla Bruni, Quelqu-un m'a dit

2)   Colin Hay, Beautiful World

3)   Beethoven's Piano Concerto #5 in E flat

4)   Ani Difranco, 32 Flavors

5)   Train, Meet Virginia

6)   Dave Matthews, Crash

7)   Mozart's Horn Concerto #3

8)   Cibelle, Minha Nequinha

9)   Jack Johnson, Better Together

10)  Barenaked Ladies, One Week

11)  Ravel's Bolero

I like to imagine that my muse has dinner with all these people periodically. And then I get a good chuckle at the idea of Ani Difranco and Mozart having dinner together. I mean, really. What on earth is that conversation like?

And now you've had a little glimpse into my crazy world. So . . . tell me . . . who is your muse hanging out with these days? An artist? A composer? A specific song? Share below in comments for a chance to win a mixed CD from my muse and me!

I'll choose a winner at random on Friday.

BREAKING NEWS: Eric has now read this post and says he will add in a CD of music that is "actually good." So, there you go. Now you really want to win. But watch out. This CD might get weird.

Eleven Questions with Bella Andre!

It is no secret that I love Bella Andre. I mean, I *really* love Bella Andre. Her books are hotter than hot…her men are alpha's to the core, and she is *so* *SO* cool. Like, way cooler than me. Like, way *WAY* cooler than me. But she answers my emails, so that ups my cool quotient by a factor of 23 or something, I'm thinking.

Anywho…when I came up with the idea for Eleven Questions, I knew I *had* to ask Bella…and I'm so so happy I did, even though it appears that some of these questions were not at all difficult for her (like number 1!). So…

1) Alpha or Beta?
Seriously? Are you really asking *me* this?
ALPHA

2) Virgin Widow or Secret Baby?
Ooohh. Virgin Widow. By a hair.

3) Time Travel or Futuristic?
Time Travel

4) Hot as Sin or Cold as Ice?
Well considering one of my books is called Hot As Sin, I'll have to go with that. :)

5) Spinster or First Season Out?
Depends. Who doesn't love a good ward/guardian story? Then again, the spinster finding emotional/sensual awakening is always fun.

6) England or Anywhere but?
Cotswolds, please!

7) Vampire or Shape Shifter?
Uh….can I go back to my answer for question number 1: Hot ALPHA guy.

8) Small town or Big city?
Small town.

9) Wallflower or Belle of the Ball?
Wallflower. I always loved those librarian stories. Super smart girl meets super hot guy!

10) Unrequited love or love at first sight?
Both are yummy. What about love at first sight that became unrequited? :)

11) Bella's choice! Answer Bella's questions in comments by Friday for a chance to win an e-copy of the bestselling (and AWESOME) third book in her Bad Boys of Football series–Game for Love.
Super-sexy or super-sweet?

For the record, I love Game for Love…I am such a sucker for books where the hero and heroine have to fake being in love for the good of the world around them…and it is a SCORCHER! You won't be disappointed! And if you've never read anything by Bella, may I recommend Take Me? And it's sequel, Love Me? One word: Hot twins. Ok, two words. I was distracted by remembering the hot twins, and thus found it difficult to count.

Don't forget to come back all month for more Eleven Questions posts…and set your watches! Only eight more days until Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart!

Eleven Questions for Courtney Milan!

I love having Courtney Milan on the blog. Seriously. She's so clever and funny, and I just knew that I had to convince her to hop into the hot seat for Eleven Questions…I was not disappointed–although I did spew tea over my keyboard at one point, which is no fun.

Welcome Courtney!

1. Alpha or Beta?

Hard choice. I personally like alphas with a beta core. Or betas with an alpha core. Basically, I like men who are strong, reliable, in charge, and deeply, deeply vulnerable. So whichever choice gets me that, that's what I want.

2. Virgin Widow or Secret Baby?

I like secret widows and am deeply, deeply in favor of virgin babies, but I have to say that I do not want either virgin widows or secret babies. Can I do that?

3. Time Travel or Futuristic?

Assuming I can't time travel to the future, futuristic. I'm reading Children of Scarabeus by Sara Creasy right now, and it reminds me why I love science fiction.

4. Hot as Sin or Cold as Ice?

Cold as Ice, baby. I say that because I'm working on a Cold as Ice hero right now, and he is HOT. There is something about having a guy that needs to have his emotions cracked wide open that really does it for me. I don't think I've ever managed the Hot as Sin hero.

5. Spinster or First Season Out?

Spinster. Very much spinster. But I have to point out that of the heroines that I've written (or am currently writing–I count one, two, three, four, five, six, seven possible heroines) only three have had a season–Lady Kate in Trial by Desire (and we don't see her season) and Lady Margaret in Unveiled (and we don't ever see her in a season, either). The other four did not come out.

Specifically:

Lavinia Spencer was the daughter of a man who owned a lending library. She wasn't going to come out, ever.

Jenny Keeble was a fortune-teller who lived on the fringes of society.

Jessica Farleigh (from the upcoming Unclaimed) is a courtesan.

Miranda Darling (from the slightly-less-upcoming Unraveled) is a wig-maker.

There's another heroine who isn't named here, and she's from my secret project–so secret that I'm barely mentioning it and you didn't hear it from me!–but she did have a First Season Out, and it was AWFUL. So bad that she is definitely in the spinster category.

I love playing with class differences, and it shows up in my writing all the time. (And the series I'm thinking about when I finish this one is fraught with class tension–but no more about that.)

6. England or Anywhere but?

I love to read both England and anywhere but, and there's so little anywhere but that I go for anything set anywhere but; but I happen to be writing quite happily in England myself, at least for the moment. Although I've been much, much happier since I moved out of London. Right now I'm in Bristol. It's exciting!

7. Vampire or Shape Shifter?

Well, it rather depends what shape we're shifting into, doesn't it? For instance, I have this idea for a series about Squid-Shifters. The tagline would be: "Sexy Cephalopods!" Strangely, my editor doesn't seem to think this is a good idea. There are tons of nonsexy shifters: worm-shifters, eel-shifters, lobster-shifters… you get the point. But wolf-shifters, leopard-shifters, tiger-shifters? Mrow. They could totally defeat a vampire.

I have this other idea for an urban fantasy about vampires. Vampires in my world would be strange, sickly creatures, 96% of whom die within days of creation. The 4% who survive would be the bad-ass masters of everything. I didn't make up that 4% figure, by the way–it's based on Actual Science. (Unlike vampires.) My hero is turned into a vampire who is supposed to die. He would be like Colin in the Secret Garden. My editor doesn't think that a book about a puny, sickly vampire is a good idea.

I also have this idea for a book about a cult of vampire ophthalmologists. I figure that anyone who needs to puff air in my eyes is quite possibly evil. In any event, they've been blowing air in people's eyes for decades now, and it's really a mechanism to implant tiny codes in our brains so that they can control us…. This would be an awesome book. It would be like THE MATRIX meets your eye appointment.

For some reason, people keep telling me I should stick to historicals.

8. Small Town or Big City?

Big City. Totally Big City. It's so much easier to hide in big cities, and in big cities you can deal with poverty and violence and mechanization and child labor–not that you can't deal with these things in small towns, but I love that big cities make people impersonal strangers, and then having romance personalize the impersonalization.

9. Wallflower or Belle of the Ball?

Wallflower. I was always with the nerds in the corner. The nerds in the corner had a lot of fun, you know. Don't discount them.

10. Unrequited love or love at first sight?

BOTH. Unrequited love at first sight. That's Unveiled–he sees her, he wants her, she hates him. It has all the deliciousness of knowing that this person is The One combined with the angst of antagonism.

11. Courtney's choice! Answer her question in comments, and one lucky winner will receive a copy of Unveiled!



So, I described one of my Brilliant Story Ideas (TM) about evil ophthalmologists as "The MATRIX meets your eye appointment." This is officially known as a "movie pitch": you take a concept that everyone knows and loves, and you give it a fresh, exciting twist. I have never been able to successfully pitch a book this way, mostly because when I manage to get something resembling a movie pitch out, it's always something like "the MATRIX meets your eye appointment." In other words, I take a concept that everyone knows and loves and make it sound totally unpalatable.

You can totally beat me, though. I want to hear your crazy ideas. I want you to mix peanut butter with chocolate. I want you to take TITANIC to the dentist, and see what happens when AVATAR meets THE CHIPMUNKS.

So tell me–what's the craziest book idea you never want to read?

For the record, vampire ophthalmologists is where I lost control over my tea. I told you you'd have fun! Leave your answer in comments below, and we'll choose a winner on Friday!

Eleven Scandals Book Trailer!

I can't believe it's only two weeks until the release of Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart…to tide you over (and give you a taste of what's coming on April 26th), I give you the trailer for the book!

In Which I Make a Plug for Pre Ordering…

So, unless you have just stumbled upon the blog in your search for "Who would win in a fight, a mole or a koala," you know that I've got a book coming out. Soon. Very. Very. Soon. In fact, in two weeks, exactly.

And it looks like advanced copies are trickling out to reviewers, which is awesome…but unless you're a book reviewer, you probably won't be able to find a copy of Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart any time before April 26th.

As my first signing isn't until April 27th, you can't get a *signed* copy of Eleven Scandals until then (although that event is SUPER DUPER AWESOME and will be LIVESTREAMED on the Internet…and includes ELOISA JAMES!!) *BUT* when you preorder the book (or any of Eloisa's!) from my local Indie (WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn), it will be signed by me (or Eloisa)…before being shipped to you!

As an added treat, your package will include bookmarks and this fun "Do Not Disturb" sign, which made its debut at the RT convention last week!

(clicky to embiggen)

And the back:

(click for embiggenation)

For those of you who don't do print books anymore…never fear! While I can't come to your house and sign your Kindle or Nook…Eleven is out on the e-devices on the same day it's available in stores! And, you can send me a Self-Addressed-Stamped-Envelope, and I'll happily send you bookmarks and doorhangers! Email the Goodies line for more info on that!

So…tell me…are you a preorderer? A same-day bookstore goer? Or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, buy-the-book-whenever-you-happen-to-find-yourself-next-in-a-bookstore book buyer?

Eleven Questions for Lavinia Kent!

I'm so happy to host Lavinia Kent for Eleven Questions today…as you know, I've plans to celebrate the release of Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart all month long with a host of wonderful authors stopping by to hop in the interview chair and answer some hard-hitting questions about romance!

Eleven Questions for Lavinia Kent:

1. Alpha or Beta?

As far as reading goes, I am all about the Alpha man. I think it's part of why I like historicals so much. The hero can act in ways that I'd hate in a modern man, but can accept in a man of a different time. If a modern hero drank in the morning, smoked, visited prostitutes, gambled away a fortune, and perhaps killed someone in a duel, I am not sure that I could ever see him redeemed. If he did the same things in the Regency . . .

Real life is, of course, a very different story. I don't want to think what I'd do to the man who tried to treat me the way some of my favorite heroes would.

2. Virgin Widow or Secret Baby?

I am a sucker for a Secret Baby – and have very little patience with Virgin Widows. I can't say I've never met one I believed, but there are very few that don't make me snort.

A Secret Baby is such a great device to bring about conflict while at the same time tying the couple together. If there's a baby, there's no way that they can just go their separate ways.

3. Time Travel or Futuristic?

I can go either way on this one. I love J.D. Robb, but I am not big on post-apocalyptic worlds.

I really enjoy a time travel that displays humor in showing how out-of-place characters can act when displaced to a different time, but often I'm unsatisfied by the endings. They either seem contrived or depressing. But, if you give me Jamie from Outlander, I don't really care. I just smile happily.

4. Hot as Sin or Cold as Ice?

Hot as Sin. I like a good slice of deep emotion and torment.

5. Spinster or First Season Out?

Neither or both. It all depends on the story. I have a hard time with innocent, naïve misses. I like that Alpha man, but I want a heroine that can go toe-to-toe with him and win. I want a heroine who is smart and understands how the world works.

I laugh at myself as I write this, because the first of my The Real Duchesses of London stories has a heroine who, despite having been married for several years, is still quite innocent (but definitely not a Virgin Widow). I had a wonderful time writing about her awakening to the world after hearing rumors that her estranged husband was the father of her best friend's child. My favorite novellas have always been reconciliation stories, and it was a real treat to get to write my own.

6. England or Anywhere but?

I don't care. I've come to think of myself as wanting England, but when I look at my favorite books, they can be take place anywhere. (And after cleaning my basement this weekend I really know that's true). I have Westerns, and books that take place in Asia and India. I used to love Greek and Roman stories, although I haven't read one in awhile. And Vikings. Sigh.

My favorite non-England romances are probably Gilded-Age American. I love the Astors, and imagining New York during that time period.

I think the only setting I don't like are ones where I know the history is going to turn really depressing. I don't want my romance to end in Georgia right before the Civil War or in the American West as the Indians are being slaughtered. I want to not only have my hero and heroine have a "happily-ever-after," but to imagine that their children can as well.

7. Vampire or Shape Shifter?

I've never read a Shape Shifter book that I adored. I am not opposed to the idea, but I've just never found the one that made me start to dream and imagine. I'd actually love recommendations if anybody knows of a "have-to-read" one.

8. Small town or Big city?

I am not big on the American Heartland small town. I grew up in one, so perhaps it's too familiar for me. As with almost everything else I can be persuaded by a great book, but I am unlikely to pick one up unless I get a strong recommendation.

I enjoy small towns in other countries, where the whole setting is much more alien to me. I like settings that let me fill in all the details with my imagination.

9. Wallflower or Belle of the Ball?

Wallflower. I always love the idea of seeing beneath the surface. I love books where either the hero or the heroine is not that attractive to the outside world, but they are wonderful and special within their love's point of view. Who doesn't want a hero who slowly sees the heroine as becoming more and more beautiful?

10. Unrequited love or love at first sight?

Unrequited love. I love it when my gut clenches in fear that it will never work out. I don't mind love at first sight, but it's never drawn me into a book.

11. Lavinia's choice! She's turning the tables on you…answer her question in comments for a chance to win Taken By Desire!

I have two questions: First, Autocratic Duke or Unrepentant Rake? (my two favorite heroes)

My second (and yes, time for the self-promotion, but I really am curious) is completely unrelated.

Does anyone watch the Real Housewives of . . . and do you have a favorite housewife? I always see questions about who is one's least favorite housewife, but never about the one viewers really like.

I am very excited about my The Real Duchesses of London coming out this summer on Avon Impulse (an internet exclusive), and as I start work on my third and fourth novellas for the serial I'd love to know what readers enjoy most about the show.

The serial is based upon a series of mysterious and scandalous cartoons that appear in shop windows and force my duchesses to reexamine their lives and to fight for what they really want.

I love the idea of a Real Housewives… twist in historical London…and I can't wait to read these serials, Lavinia! Thanks for coming over to play!

Answer either (or both!) of Lavinia's questions in comments for a chance to win her Taken By Desire!

Women's Education and Romance

I'm going to be away from the blog for the next few days, headed up to my alma mater, Smith College for a week of writing and a very very exciting panel…Romance Literature: Love it or Leave it.

The panel will celebrate the opening of the Smith College Friends of the Libraries Reading Room, which is fitting, as I was a friend of the library when I was a student at Smith, and I continue to be a friend of libraries now. I'm particularly excited because it will feature my fellow Smith alums May Chen (editor at Avon Books), Judith Arnold, Stephanie Dray/Draven, and the "Book Maven," Bethanne Patrick!

People don't think of women's colleges as being a place where romance gets read, thought about, or written…but I have said many many times that, while I was reading romance long before I got to Smith, it was there, in Northampton, that I really started to *think* about romance. Aside from having a gaggle of friends who all read romance (and who all loved to *talk* about romance), I also studied the genre as part of my American Studies coursework. This was before teaching romance was "cool"…and I can remember having huge arguments in class with other students who thought the genre was "perpetuating the myth of male dominance." I could never get behind that. I thought romance was a feminist genre all the way. Literature by women, for women, about women, offering women *exactly* what they want.

So, yeah. I'm super excited about this panel…if you're in Western Massachusetts, it's open to the public…and I'd love to see you there!

April 13, 2011, 4:30pm

Smith College Alumnae in Romance

Neilson Library Browsing Room

Smith College

Northampton, MA

Eleven Beautiful Moments from Saundra Mitchell's The Vespertine

It's only logical that I would begin my month of celebration in preparation for the release of Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart with one of my smartest and cleverest critique partners…Saundra Mitchell.

I'm thrilled to turn the blog over to  Saundra who, aside from being a wonderful friend, also happens to write historical YA better than anyone out there. Saundra's most recent book, The Vespertine , is a beautiful gothic novel that is lyric and lovely. I cannot recommend this book–and it's mind-blowing sequel, The Springsweet–enough.

Take it away, Saundra!

Sarah's taught me a lot about writing romance since we first met, and she did most of it without laughing at me. Like HEA- I had no idea what that meant, only that I had to have it. But she also taught me that romance is about moments. I kept that in mind when I wrote THE VESPERTINE, a historical romance set in Baltimore, 1889.

It's about a young woman who goes to the city to find a husband, but discovers she can see the future in the fires of sunset. Add one completely inappropriate suitor in the shape of a bohemian painter, with a dash of a city consumed by the spiritualism fad, and you get THE VESPERTINE. I'd like to share 11 moments from that summer; I hope you enjoy them!

11. "There are good men who won't care that the package is dented, should its contents delight them."

10.  All my life, I'd lived on our cliff, looking down on a fishing village so small I could raise my thumb to cover it. A summer in town had been beyond my imagination. This great chaos and cry, smelling of sea and smoke and open ground- this was a city.

9.  He slipped his hand into mine, and I forgot how shocking and awfully mannered that made him. I forgot everything but the mystery of his touch. He wore no gloves, and mine were only lace, so I felt his touch skin to skin.

8. I probably should have been sweet on him, and his fine manners. But, I admit, it thrilled me when Nathaniel gripped my hand too long, then reached inside the cab to settle my hems. "Do forgive me," he said, eyes meeting mine as he brushed gloved fingers over my boot. "I've no reputation of my own, and I forget they matter."

7. Plucking two arrows from the quiver, Zora handed one to me, and nocked the other against the bowstring. "Like so," she said. She expected me to take in the details as she drew the string back. It hummed, the echo of a carillon when she released it, and the arrow gasped as it flew.

6. They seemed like multitudes, hundreds of eyes, a symphony of laughter, but I looked for only one. He was there; he burned like a tattoo, I only had to find him. I cut between bodies, thoughtlessly wicked as I skimmed past the backs of stranger gentlemen.

5. It would be quite rude to say outright that I should hurry off now to find a respectable man to keep me- ruder still for Miss Burnside to point out that she thought that as likely as my learning to fly. But she had to graduate me in some way, so she lit her fingers on my shoulder and said, "Good luck to you in all your endeavors, Miss van den Broek."

4. Though now he stood behind me, I could make out his shape as keenly as if I saw it. Each step he took vibrated through me. Though he stopped at a charitable distance, his murmurs slipped into my ear, intimate as if he pressed his lips to my skin. "I hear glorious things about you."

3. Zora rested her head against mine. "For that, I'm running away with an actor."

"Good luck finding an actor who could keep you in tea," Mrs. Stewart muttered. Satisfied that we would lose neither our bags nor our virtue on the road, she stepped down. A plume of dust rose at her hems, earth pounded tender by the constant fall of boots and horseshoes.

2. "Mock if you will, but it's true. If Mr. Witherspoon finds himself otherwise diverted tonight, then I'm his fool. There's nothing I can do about it. We're the only ones who know he was obligated to me at all."

1. He turned his face up to me. I could have knighted or executed him in that moment, with him bended at my knee. Instead, I sank into his gaze. A distant rhythm of thunder swept through his voice when he asked, "Are you mine now?"

So those are eleven moments from THE VESPERTINE; I hope you enjoyed them! Sarah may have taught me some tricks, but she's the master. I just know you're going to flip over ELEVEN SCANDALS TO START on April 26th. It's a deliriously delicious denouement to her series, and you're going to fall in love with Simon and Juliana the way I did.

Awww…thank you, love!

Uhm…can we talk about "I hear glorious things about you." and how much I LOVE that line? What Saundra has mastered in The Vespertine is the unbearable *anticipation* of young love…the sensation, the hesitation, the constant edge-of-your-seat-ness…I promise you, romance readers, you won't be disappointed by this one. It's gorgeous.

And one of you is going to win it, you lucky ducks!

Share your favorite beautiful line from any book in comments below…and we'll choose a random winner on Friday to win a copy of The Vespertine!

Now that I'm using WordPress, no need to leave your email publicly! I will get it on the back end! Huzzah for technology!

 

Kieran Kramer & I are giving away a Kindle!

This is a good one!

The lovely and talented Kieran Kramer (author of RITA nominated When Harry Met Molly and the upcoming Cloudy with a Chance of Marriage) and I have teamed up over on Facebook to give away a Kindle!

You see, Kieran and I share a release date this month–Cloudy… and Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart are both releasing on April 26th! To celebrate, we've decided to hold a Facebook contest, as Kieran's just started her fan page there, and I'm in the process of migrating from "friends" to "fans" because Facebook limits the number of friends you can have (which sounds kind of mean and definitely antisocial, don't you think?).

Anyway…here's how you can enter to win a brand spanking new Kindle!

1) Head over to my facebook page, and "Like" me…I know..it sounds so desperate. Just go with it, though, ok?

2) While over there, visit Kieran's page, and "Like" her…Don't worry, she's cool. I vouch for her.

BAM! You're entered!

When Kieran and I reach 2000 fans (each), we're giving away a Kindle! I know, I know…that seems like it could take a while…and you want your Kindle NOW PLEASE…well, one way to speed up the process is to tell your friends on Facebook!

To sweeten the deal, Kieran and I are giving away $25. gift certificates to the online bookstore of one winner's choice every time we increase our fan base by 500 fans (combined)…we're almost there for our first one…so help us hit that mark!

xoxoxo

 

Eleven Questions with Katharine Ashe!

It's a big day here on the blog…not only is it the first full day of our redesign, but it's also the launch of release-month excitement for Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart! Throughout the month, I'll be hosting a group of my favorite authors, both YA and romance…and they'll be sharing their own lists of eleven! Today, the wonderful Katharine Ashe is in the hot seat, answering Eleven Questions for romance lovers!

Katharine's most recent book, Captured by a Rogue Lord, was released last week, and is on shelves now…and I have to say, Katharine has brought back the pirate romance with swashbuckling flair! If you're a pirate fan, you absolutely won't want to miss her Rogues of the Sea series!

Let's get started!

1. Alpha or Beta?

Alpha, yet understated. Elegant, intelligent, urbane, he charms with little effort and threatens with barely a word. He needn't shout his power and authority; they are understood. Strong men respect him, weak men fear him, and ladies cast their garters at his feet (not usually in public, although there have been occasions…). Rumor has it that he is not the indolent town rake he appears, but quite another sort of man altogether—a dangerous man, and deadly. If rumor is referring to Lord Alex Savege, aka the pirate Redstone in CAPTURED BY A ROGUE LORD, rumor is most assuredly right.

2. Virgin Widow or Secret Baby?

That depends upon what sort of virgin, precisely. After all, a lady may no longer possess her innocence yet still be quite innocent of the intimate pleasures to be enjoyed in a truly worthy gentleman's company.

3. Time Travel or Futuristic?

Throw a modern woman into the past without cell phone, laptop, lipstick, or debit card, then confront her with a gorgeous, shamelessly virile male bearing a sword and mounted on a blooded horse… Ideal.

4. Spinster or First Season Out?

I admire the vivacity and confidence of a feisty young miss recently introduced into society. But the measured maturity of a lady who has seen a bit more of life—and perhaps suffered a little from it—takes all my sympathy. For beneath that levelheadedness may lie a heart longing to love and to be loved (that is, in a literal sense, if you understand my meaning). So it is with proper, mature, entirely on-the-shelf Miss Serena Carlyle. Years ago she gave her virtue to a nasty man she thought she loved and ever since has not quite regretted it as much as she probably ought. In fact—let's be honest—she hasn't regretted it at all. Instead, in her dreams she wishes for a not-so-nasty man to come along this time so she can do it again. And again. And hopefully again.

5. Hot as Sin or Cold as Ice?

The hotter and more sinful the man, the harder and more delectable the fall. When Alex and Serena first encounter one another in a dark parlor during a ball, the sin they commit sends them both falling quite hard, indeed.

6. England or Anywhere but?

Who can resist a London fete, a drive along the Serpentine, or a house party at a grand country estate? But the adventure and thrill of the wide-open sea calls. A gentleman, even a lady, must on occasion heed that call.

7. Vampire or Shape Shifter?

Can he shift into a Hugh Jackman shape and a Colin Firth shape? 'Cause then I'd have to go with shape shifter.

8. Small town or Big city?

In the big city a lady can enjoy the pleasure of encountering a gentleman in a dark alley in the middle of the night yet still feel safe as kittens with her coachman waiting right there on the corner. But back home in her village in the countryside, encountering that very same gentleman on a deserted pathway might be… shall we say?… quite a bit less than safe. Delectably so!

9. Wallflower or Belle of the Ball?

Gossip column in a London newspaper, June 1816: "Wallflower meets rakish earl and swiftly becomes his own private Belle of the Ball."

10. Unrequited love or love at first sight?

Love at first sight, which in the case of Alex and Serena happens after love at first kiss. (Darkened parlors do tend to put things at sixes and sevens. And speaking of…)

11. Katharine's Choice! Answer below for a chance to win a copy of Captured By a Rogue Lord!

Curricle race or a hand of whist?

I think "love at first kiss," is the best one at all, don't you? Thanks so much for coming over, Katharine!

What a fun round of Eleven Questions! Leave your comment below to win Captured By a Rogue Lord…we'll choose one lucky commenter on Wednesday. Now that I'm using WordPress, no need to leave your email publicly–I will get it on the back end! Huzzah for technology!

And be sure to stop back all month long to see what other authors think…and to share your own answers!