Interview with Cassandra Dean, Author of Historical Erotic Romance
Please join me in welcoming Cassandra Dean to the blog today. First I had a few questions for this fabulous author of historical erotic romances, and then she gives me all the scoop on one of her most popular books. Cassandra will be giving away a signed Teach Me postcard and a Teach Me magnet to a random commenter at every stop, and one commenter on the tour will win the Grand Prize of a $15 Amazon gift card, a Teach Me mug, a signed Teach Me postcard, and a Teach Me magnet. (Open to International Entries) So be sure to leave a comment, enter the Rafflecopter, and you can see the rest of the tour schedule here.
Normandie: What was the inspiration behind this book?
Cassandra: The idea for TEACH ME happened while I was lucky enough to enjoy a three month holiday in Europe. I was sitting on a bus tour in Scotland, staring at the back of heads, when the scene that eventually became the epilogue of TEACH ME popped into my head. Well, I desperately scrambled for pen and paper and had a rough draft a couple of months later.
N: Which character spoke to you the most while you were writing this book or which was you favorite?
C: Ohhh, I can’t choose! I love Elizabeth and Malvern equally. They are both facets of my own personality and I feel such an intense kinship with them. That’s not weird, is it? I mean, they’re fictional. Heh.
N: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
C: I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I can’t remember not wanting to be one, however I thought that path was for people way cooler than me.
One day, though, I found a romance writing group and with the encouragement of my friend and critique partner, Lucy Clark, I started to think maybe, just maybe, I was cool enough to become a writer.
N: Tell us about your favorite atmosphere for writing.
C: I like having the TV on in the background. Something about the drone switches my brain to ‘write’.
Apart from that, I’ll grab writing time wherever I can. Life’s pretty hectic, so if I can catch a twenty minute session on the train home from the day job, I’m pretty happy with that.
N: Tell us about your “discipline” for writing. Are you consistent – writing at the same time every day or do you write in spurts and stops?
C: Hahahahahaha! Oh…You were serious? 
Totally not disciplined at all. I wish I was. Unfortunately, real life often intrudes so, as I’ve said above, I’ll grab my writing time wherever I can.
I find I write mostly at night. I’ve always been a night owl, so I’m at my most productive from about 10pm onwards. It wrecks havoc with my sleeping patterns, but I do get a lot done.
N: Do you have a project in the works that you’d like to tell us about?
C: Certainly! I’m currently working on the third in my Silk Series, SILK & SCARS, featuring a lady law scribe and a scarred duke, as well as the third and final book in my Diamond Series, EMERALD SEA, featuring a gunslinger and the lady who hires him, bent upon revenge. Finally, I’m working on my version of Sleeping Beauty for a new line of books from my publisher, Decadent Publishing.
N: How do you make yourself stand out in a competitive market?
C: I try to write the very best book I can. I think all we authors can do is write a ripsnorter of a tale and go from there. A very smart editor once said, the best promotion is your next book.
N: What do you do when you’re not writing?
C: I watch TV. I watch A LOT of TV. I read. I cook. I work the day job. Hang with family and friends.
Hmm. That’s pretty boring, isn’t it? Maybe I should make something up…
I save the world from an evil invasion of three-headed aliens from a distant planet on the other side of the universe with my band of trusty misfits, brought together by our grizzled old mentor and secretly funded by every government in the world.
Ah. That’s better.
N: What are you reading right now?
C: Right now I’m reliving books from my past, starting with Jude Deveraux, who was one of the very first romance authors I obsessed over.
N: What is your favorite color?
C: Wine red. I just love that colour.
N: Favorite food?
C: Ohhhh, so many! I’m on a bit of an Indian bender at the moment, and I love me a bit of garlic and cheese naan. Mmmmmm.
N: If you had to be stranded on a desert island – who is the one person you’d like to be stranded with, and what one luxury item would you like to have with you?
C: Macgyver. He’ll totally get us out of there with a palm frond and a rubber band.
Luxury item…hmm. Maybe a pilotable island like in the Imperial Leather ad from my childhood. I’d link to it, but I can’t find that ad anywhere. I’m sure it existed…
N: If you could be any animal what would it be? Why?
C: Oh man. Um. I don’t know…a cat? Because we’ve always had cats and I love them?
N: What is something readers would be surprised to learn about you?
C: I’m Australian. Yep, come from the land down under, peeps!
About Teach Me
Ever curious, Elizabeth, Viscountess Rocksley, has turned her curiosity to erotic pleasure. Three years a widow, she boldly employs the madam of a brothel for guidance but never had she expected her education to be conducted by a coldly handsome peer of the realm.
To the Earl of Malvern, the erotic tutelage of a skittish widow is little more than sport, however the woman he teaches is far from the mouse he expects. With her sly humor and insistent joy, Elizabeth obliterates all his expectations and he, unwillingly fascinated, can’t prevent his fall. Each more intrigued than they are willing to admit, Elizabeth and Malvern embark upon a tutelage that will challenge them, change them, come to mean everything to them…until a heartbreaking betrayal threatens to tear them apart forever.
Excerpt
“I haven’t actually kissed that many men, so I was wondering if we could experiment. With kissing.” She looked at him, all that was expectant and eager. “What do you think?”
Malvern didn’t hasten to reply, much needed clarity arriving with her request. She wanted to kiss? Innocently kiss when he could instead pull down that thrice-damned bodice and encase her nipple with the wet heat of his mouth? Kissing was the appetizer to a meal, not the main course. But how was she to learn if he didn’t show her the error of her ways? “If you feel it will benefit your education, by all means, we should undertake it.”
Her brow creased, and he knew she wondered at his words. And then, she smiled.
Such a smile should not be so radiant. His heart, disturbingly, started to pound.
“Excellent.” She came toward him and, with little more than a soft touch, coaxed him to his feet. “So, how should we proceed?” Her gaze wandered to his mouth.
He ignored the rush in his ears. “Start, and if you require any instruction, I shall provide it.”
She nodded, her gaze still on his mouth. Her hand curled around the back of his neck and, lifting herself onto her toes, she touched her lips to his.
He restrained the shudder that threatened at her touch. Bloody hell, such a reaction was absurd. Slowly, she brushed her soft mouth against his, her lips parted, her breath whispering over him. His already laboring heart grew worse, setting his blood to thrum through his veins.
The response was incommensurate to such a pedestrian embrace. Remaining still, he fought to give lie to his reaction, to pretend she had not just reduced him to a green boy with nothing more than her lips upon his.
You can pick up your copy of Teach Me today:
Amazon Decadent Publishing Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Cassandra grew up daydreaming, inventing fantastical worlds and marvelous adventures. Once she learned to read (First phrase – To the Beach. True story), she was never without a book, reading of other people’s fantastical worlds and marvelous adventures.
Fairy tales, Famous Fives, fantasies and fancies; horror stories, gumshoe detectives, science fiction; Cassandra read it all. Then she discovered Romance and a true passion was born.
So, once upon a time, after making a slight detour into the world of finance, Cassandra tried her hand at writing. After a brief foray into horror, she couldn’t discount her true passion. She started to write Romance and fell head over heels.
The love affair exists to this very day.
Cassandra lives in Adelaide, South Australia.
You can find her here:
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