Interview + Giveaway with Brooklyn Ann

April 9, 2013 by booklovinmamas 21 Comments

1.) Tell us 5 things about yourself that readers may not about you. 

1. I love to swim, but I hate to get wet.
2. I’m a semi-professional dart player.
3. I sing karaoke.
4. I had a baby on 9-11-01. He’ll be 12 this year. ☺
5. I’m ambidextrous.

2. What does a typical writing day look for you? 

I throw on my robe and slippers, light a cigarette, fire up my laptop, sip my Red Bull, and ask my characters, what’s up? Sometimes they’ll tell me readily, other times I have to drag it out of them. Usually a cat climbs on my lap and interrupts me.

I alternate between bouts of furious writing and pacing around the house trying to find the right words. Sometimes I put on my headphones and listen to music to lure the muse.

3. Tell us a little bit about “Bite Me Your Grace” and why readers should check it out. 

Like any debutante in regency London, Angelica Winthrop is expected to make a good marriage. However, the debutante has other plans. She wants be a gothic novelist like her idol, Mary Shelley. To accomplish this, Angelica will ruin her reputation and render herself unmarriageable so she may use her dowry to support her writing career.

Ian Ashton, Duke of Burnrath and vampire Lord of London, is looking to repair damage done to his reputation due to the publication of John Polidori’s The Vampyre. When Angelica breaks into the duke’s mansion seeking inspiration for her next ghost story, Ian discovers her and, mistaking her for a thief, bites her. Gossip spreads about the incident, and her reputation is slaughtered. Angelica is elated. 

When Ian hears Angelica is ruined because of him, he devises a way to save her reputation, as well as his own. He will marry her. To his surprise, she is less than amenable to his proposal.

This book was a lot of fun. I wrote it during a tragic period in my life and found light-hearted distraction and entertainment in Angelica’s antics. I hope for readers to find similar cheer and escape in the story.

4. What inspired you to write “Bite Me Your Grace”? 

My mother had passed away and after a few months of soul-crushing grief, I started writing again. I wanted a complete departure from my other darker works. I wanted a mischievous, naïve heroine with a fresh, untainted outlook on life with room to grow. I wanted to play in a world completely different from my own… which is why I decided to write a Regency.

After finishing the novel, I realized that I’d also made the character of Angelica’s mother the antithesis of my own. My mom was awesome and supportive of my hopes and dreams.

5. Did you have to do any kind of research for your book? 

Tons! Ironically, it was research that started the book. I’d wondered when vampire fiction started in the history of literature. When I discovered that it began in the Regency era, I was struck by the idea for the novel. After that, I spent hours researching everything from 19th Century toilets to the coronation of the king.

6. What was the easiest and hardest scene to write in “Bite Me Your Grace”, without giving too much away? 

The hardest scene to write was definitely when Ian and Angelica were torn apart by a tragic misunderstanding. Sad parts are never easy for me. I even have a hard time reading them.

The easiest was the part when Angelica breaks into Ian’s house, before she discovers he’s a vampire. The consequences of her reckless action came naturally and were a lot of fun.

7. Fun Question: If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? 

It’s a tie between Cornwall and New Orleans. I’d been researching Cornwall for book 2 and fell in love with its sea swept beauty, ancient castles, and lush green hills and forests. And I’ve been in love with New Orleans since my first Anne Rice novel. In fact, the heroine in book 2 hails from that enchanting city.

8. Fun Question: Describe yourself in 3 words. 

Eccentric. Nerdy. Chatterbox.

9. What is up next for Brooklyn Ann? 

More romance, of course! I’m currently working on Book 3, but I can’t say much about it now, so here’s a brief description of Book 2, ONE BITE PER NIGHT which will release in November:

When Vincent Tremayne, Earl of Deveril and Lord Vampire of Cornwall becomes guardian to Lydia Price, he vows to get her off his hands as soon as possible. But once Lydia sets eyes on the enigmatic earl, she is determined to win his heart…for eternity. 

10. Do you have anything specific to say to your readers? 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my stories. Without you there would be little reason or motivation to write. I live to hear you ask, “What happens next?” ::HUGS::

Bite Me, Your Grace

(Bite Me, Your Grace #1)

by: Brooklyn Ann

Publishing Date:

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Genre: Historical Romance

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | IndieBound | Sony | Google | Discover a New Love | Sourcebooks

Description:

England’s “vampire craze” causes much vexation for the Lord Vampire of London, Ian Ashton. To save his reputation, Ian enlists aspiring authoress Angelica Winthrop without realizing she has hidden plans of her own. 

Angelica Winthrop’s life goal is to ruin her reputation, avoid marriage, and become a gothic authoress like her idol, Mary Shelley. To find inspiration for her new story, she breaks into the home of Ian Ashton, Duke of Burnrath, not knowing she will be coming up against the Lord Vampire of London. Romance sparks and reputations are at stake. But who knows the real difference between fact and fiction?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Brooklyn Ann 

Website/Blog

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