Please Welcome My Guest

Please welcome my guest, Rachel Brimble. Rachel lives with her husband and two young daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK.  After having several novels published by small US presses, she secured agent representation in 2011. In 2012, she sold two books to Harlequin Superromance and a further three in 2013. She also writes Victorian romance for Kensington--her debut was released in April 2013 and she has since signed for three more.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family and beloved black Lab, Max. Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England.

Balancing Contemporary and Historical Romance - How I Divide My Writing Styles

I often get asked how I divide my time between contemporary and historical novel writing and in an ideal world, I like to alternate the two subgenres to keep my writing fresh and interesting. For the reader and me!

I began my career writing contemporary because I’d always been told to ‘write what you know’. I have devoured romantic suspense for as long as I can remember and so my first two novels with The Wild Rose Press were romantic suspense. I then wrote a romantic comedy. Throughout writing and promoting these books, my mind started to wonder whether I could attempt an historical….after all, I didn’t ‘know’ how to abduct or murder anyone as the characters did in my first two books :o)

Like most (if not all) writers I read voraciously and reading historical work, whether novels or biographies, is amongst my favorite choices. I love history! I am drawn to British Royal history especially, but also love the social and industrial changes of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. As I was, and still am, intimidated by including real people and events in my work, I decide my first attempt would be Victorian and focus entirely on fictional characters and their emotions.

Emotion is key in romance. Love, hate, revenge, loss, joy and tenacity would have been felt in the same way in the late 1800s as they would today. So with this thought at the forefront of my mind, I dove straight in and wrote The Arrival of Lily Curtis (The Wild Rose Press). It sold a lot more copies than my previous contemporary work so that gave me the confidence to continue.

Today, I am lucky enough to write contemporary romance and romantic suspense for Harlequin Superromance and Victorian romance for eKensington.  I love that my writing has fallen into a routine that I find so satisfying. I now aim to alternate my releases between contemporary and historical…although this year, it is a little more heavy on the contemporary!

The Temptation of Laura is the sequel to my debut with eKensington, The Seduction of Emily. Laura

started out as a secondary character in the first novel, but even as I was writing her smaller part I knew she deserved her own story. Laura is a prostitute struggling for a better life while harboring a lifelong love of the theater. When her path crosses with stage star, Adam Lacey, her entire life is bound for a stratosphere beyond her wildest dreams…

Here is the blurb & buy links – look out for book three, What A Woman Desires coming in January

2015!

The Temptation of Laura

Laura Robinson has always been dazzled by the glamour of the stage. But perhaps acting and selling one’s favors are not so different—for Laura must feign pleasure with the men she beds to survive. Now, with her only friend at death’s door and a ruthless pimp at her heels, escaping her occupation seems impossible. Hoping to attract a gentleman, she attends the theater. Yet the man Laura captivates is no customer, but a rising star and playwright…

Adam Lacey has been driven to distraction since the moment he saw Laura. She is his ideal leading lady come to irresistible life—and so much more. Certain they can make the perfect team on and off stage, he is determined to win her heart—and discover her story. But that is precisely what Laura fears. And she has no idea that Adam harbors shameful secrets of his own. Will the truth free them to love—or destroy all their dreams…?

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

  

Katherine here - Rachel likes nothing more than connecting and chatting with her readers and fellow romance writers. She would love to hear from you!

Links:

Website

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

 

Please Welcome My Guest

Please welcome my guest, Romance Author Rachel Brimble.

Rachel lives with her husband and two young daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK.  After having several novels published by small US presses, she secured agent representation in 2011. In 2012, she sold two books to Harlequin Superromance and a further three in 2013. She also writes Victorian romance for Kensington--her debut was released in April 2013 and she has since signed for three more.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family and beloved black Lab, Max. Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England.

Tell us something about yourself both writing and not writing related.

Writing related - I often wonder how I manage to keep getting published when the biggest writing challenge for me is plotting. How do I keep writing books when I can’t plot??

Not writing related – my favorite waste of time is sitting in front of the TV watching endless US crime dramas and knitting my latest project…badly ;)

That's funny I can't plot either. Do you have a writing routine? Where do you usually do your writing?

Even though I’m a stay at home mum, I treat my writing as a job and work the entire time the kids are at school – once they’re home, I pop back and forth to the laptop until about 7pm and then it’s family time. I usually write sitting on the sofa with my huge black Lab fast asleep beside me.

Why do you write in the genre/sub-genre that you do?  Any plans in the future to write in a different one?

I currently write mainstream romance and romantic suspense for Harlequin Superromance and Victorian romance for eKensington. As much as possible, I like to write alternately for the two publishers as it keeps me fresh and excited about what I’m writing. I ALWAYS want to try different subgenres, but as I am currently contracted to write three more novels by June 2015, I’m not sure if or when this will happen. If I could, I’d like to try a medical or cowboy romance in the future.

Hmm. A cowboy romance. There's just something about a cowboy, isn't there? How do you stay motivated when writer’s block hits or your muse won’t cooperate?

Not very easily! With every book, I hit about 40,000 words and come to an abrupt halt. It’s painful. I panic every time and doubt my ability and the story. The only way to stay motivated (or should I said productive), is to write through it. A full page is a hell of a lot easier to revise than a blank one!

What’s the best writing advice you were ever given? 

To allow yourself permission to write a ‘crappy’ first draft – amazing how much more you write if you know the opportunity is there to change it!

I couldn't agree with you more. It took me a long time to accept that the first draft doesn't have to be perfect, just the final draft does. Tell us about your current release in a couple of sentences.

The Seduction of Emily is set in Bath and is very much a story of revenge and the chase for liberty.   

When two very different people, from very different backgrounds come together for a unified goal, the results can be life changing…

Can you tell us a little about your next project?

My next book is the sequel to The Seduction of Emily. The Temptation of Laura is set in Bath’s theater world and is about a prostitute striving for a better life, and a star of the stage who wants to help her get there. This is a story of love, trust, possibility and true happiness.

 

After that, my third Harlequin Superromance is released in March 2014. What Belongs To Her is book three in the Templeton Cove series.

As for my next writing project, I have just started my fourteenth novel. With the working title of The Passion of Monica, it’s another Victorian romance for eKensington, featuring a secondary character from The Temptation of Laura as the heroine. This is Monica’s story :o)

The Seduction of Emily is available to buy now from eKensington. Here is the blurb and buy links:

Seduction is a wicked game, and no one plays it better than the devilish Will Samson in Rachel Brimble's captivating new novel. . .

Since girlhood, Emily Darson has accepted that she will marry Nicholas, the son of her father's trusted business partner. The marriage contract safeguards her family legacy, Emily's fortune, and everything she values--except her independence. Only when a sinfully handsome scoundrel enters her life does Emily realize quite how much a loveless match will cost her.

Will Samson has advanced from expert pickpocket to confidence trickster of the highest caliber. Now he has come to Bath to exact vengeance on the man who destroyed his mother--the man Emily will soon marry. But from his first glimpse of the enemy's bewitching, spirited fiancée, Will's plan changes.

Amid the ballrooms and salons of elegant society, heated glances explode into scandalous kisses. Revenge is sweet, but surrender will be irresistible. . .

Amazon US

Barnes & Noble

Amazon UK  

 

Just wanted to pop in and say if you haven't read one of Rachel's books, you don't know what you're missing. On a side note, she likes nothing more than connecting and chatting with her readers and fellow romance writers. Rachel would love to hear from you! You can contact her at any of these links:  

Website

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Please Welcome My Guest...

Please welcome my guest, Romance Author Rachel Brimble. Rachel writes a wide variety of romance sub-genres including suspense, historical, comedy, and contemporary.  She lives in England near the Georgian town of Bath with her family.

Tell us something about yourself both writing and not writing related.

My writing is entirely self-taught having left school at 16 to work in a bank – I learned through trial and error and online courses and now write for Harlequin and Kensington. I am very proud! (Like you couldn’t tell…)  :o)

I’m married and mom to two young daughters, I love to read, knit and walk the English countryside. The thing that makes me smile most often is when people continue to compliment my curly hair when no-one realizes I haven’t had it professionally cut for 15 years. My hairdressers are either my husband or eldest daughter hacking at it with kitchen scissors!

I haven't had my professionally cut in years either. My mom cuts it for me. She cuts most of my sisters' hair too. Do you have a writing routine?  Where do you usually do your writing?

I feel very blessed that I am able to stay at home and write around the kids and home. I work from 8.30-3.30 during the week and every spare minute afterward until 7pm and then it’s strict family time. The weekends are as much as possible without them noticing ;)

I usually write on the living room sofa with my big black Lab sleeping beside me.  :o)

Why do you write in the genre/sub-genre that you do?  Any plans in the future to write in a different one?

I love romance! I love the feel good factor and watching two people grow and learn in order to be with each other and have their happy ever after. My writing gives me great joy and takes me out of the problems of real life every day.

I’ve no plans to try a different genre at the moment but if I were to try something else it would be crime – most likely cozy mystery.

What a great way to explain why you write romance. How do you stay motivated when writer’s block hits or your muse won’t cooperate?

I write through it – always!! When you are contracted and have deadlines, you can’t allow writer’s block to enter your vocabulary. Time and again I’ve felt that a book isn’t working and I need to scrap the entire thing and start again. I haven’t the time, or the courage, to do that so I force myself onward. Following drafts can be used to sort out the mess.

Currently, my deadlines are my own but I feel the same way. If I don't write at least 5 days a week then I find myself not writing for weeks on end and that's no way to keep a writing career alive. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

Ohh, this is a difficult question…I haven’t really done anything strange in the name of research but I have used my real life experience of being rescued from the French floods in 2010 in my upcoming book with Harlequin in August. I have written a step-by-step record of what happened in the most terrifying 12 hours of my life. You’ll have to buy the book to see what happens… ;)

That definitely follows the old adage, "Write what you know." What’s the best writing advice you were ever given? 

“Allow yourself to write a crappy first draft” – best advice EVER!!!

What do you like to do in your leisure time?

See question 1, lol! I read, knit and walk as much as possible – any free time after that is spend languishing in a bubble bath or drinking far too much wine and eating too much food with friends and family.

Sigh, I can't remember the last time I was able to languish in a bubble bath...I'm so jealous. :o) Tell us about your current release in a couple of sentences.

The Seduction of Emily is a story of two people struggling to release themselves from the bonds of their parents’ decisions in very different ways. The heroine from a monetary decision, the hero from a need to avenge an act of violence on his mother.

Sounds interesting. I'll have to get a copy. Can you tell us a little about your next project?

My next release is out in June and something completely different – a sexy, romantic comedy from Omnific Publishing. Here’s the blurb:

There isn't a situation that can't be fixed by a coat of chocolate body paint or a liberal smear of Champagne Lick, right? Wrong!

Ever since her father was murdered by a gang of youths, Sienna Lloyd has named herself Potterford’s protector—her sexy lingerie shop is a place where the town’s women can visit and feel safe. But when that shop is in danger of closing, Sienna needs a solution that will keep her in Potterford, where she can always look out for her mother, friends, and clients.

The answer? Move the shop to her home at 16 Marsden Place. The problem? Her new neighbor, the delicious but seriously uptight Jack Beaton. Oh, and his four-year-old twin girls.

Jack has just moved to the tiny town of Potterford in a bid to start over. To build a new life that keeps his children safe from their violent and sex-crazed mother. So when he discovers his neighbor intends to open a sex shop right next door, Jack will do anything to ensure it doesn’t happen…including fighting every ounce of his attraction to the shop’s owner and his innate need to trust again.

Wow, sounds great. I'm going to have to put this on my list too. Anything else you’d like to share?

I LOVE hearing from other readers and writers. I am an avid Twitter fan and that’s where you will find me far too often throughout the day. Here are my links:

Website

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Rachel mentioned the book she wrote based on her rescue from the 2010 French floods that will be released by Harlequin later this year, but she didn't mention that she already has a wonderful book that's been released by Harlequin.  I'm posting a picture of the cover of that book - Finding Justice. I've read it and I highly recommend it.