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Monday, November 24, 2014

Mia Marlowe Interview & Giveaway

Hello Lovelies! Please help me in welcoming Mia Marlowe to Royal Reviews!


 
1.    Welcome to Royal Reviews! Tell us something about yourself, so that we can get to know you a bit better…
Mia: I’m married to my college sweetheart, mother to two grown daughters and “beloved person” to two needy dogs. I love to travel and see new places, which is a good thing because I’ve lived in 9 different states, 4 time zones. My favorite Christmas present of all time was ballroom dancing lessons from my DH, because it was the promise of a long string of date nights.  

 
2.    Your Regency romance novel, A Rake By Any Other Name, is out now—congrats! Could you tell us about it?
Mia: This is the first book in my new series. It starts out with Richard Barrett, Lord Hartley, being recalled to Somerfield Park because his father, the marquess, took a nasty tumble off the manor house roof and has pretty much lost his marbles. Unfortunately, Richard discovers the family fortunes are in as much a shambles as his father’s wits and the prevailing opinion is that he needs to marry Miss Sophie Goodnight, a great heiress. However, Richard is half convinced he’s already in love with Lady Antonia Pruett, and Sophie Goodnight shows no interest in cooperating with their parents plans to make her the next marchioness.  

 
3.      How do you find just the right blend of history and romance?
Mia: History is in the setting, in the background. It informs the customs and dress and mode of thinking of my characters. Romance is about the journey from one heart to another and that has to take precedence because it transcends its time period to speak to our hearts now.
 

4.    Do you do anything special to get into the right frame of mind for writing?
Mia: I just get into my “writing chair”—a comfy leather recliner with a lovely view of the pasture and woods behind our house. Quite often, I have a writing buddy. Mack, my rat terrier, has shown an amazing ability to lie perfectly still, imitating an armrest, for hours while I type away on my laptop.
 

5.    What can readers expect next in Somerfield Park Series?
Mia: Book Two, Never Resist A Rake, comes out next May and features the return of several characters from A Rake by Any Other Name. It would be hard to say more at the risk of spoiling the ending of Book One!

6.      What inspired you to become an author?
Mia: I’ve always been an avid reader, but I never thought about writing a novel until I met a romance author. Her husband worked with mine at the same IT firm and we met at a company picnic. She was witty and lots of fun and I thought to myself, “If she can do it, I can do it.” The Greeks have a word for that. It’s called “hubris.”  

I had a very steep learning curve, but I dived into the writers’ craft with abandon. I produced 1 ½ sad, practice manuscripts (I say ½. It was 300 mortal pages of waffling on that was beyond salvation!). Anyway, my second completed manuscript sold and I’ve been in print since 2006. A Rake by Any Other Name is my 26th published work. 

      8. Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring authors?
Mia: Have a teachable heart. Try to learn something from everyone. Writing is an ocean and no one has plumbed its depths yet.


Thanks for having me here today, Royal Reviews! I’d like to open up to questions from your readers. Let’s have an “Ask Me Anything” day. Of course, you need to remember that I write fiction for a living. If I don’t know the answer, I’m likely to make something up!
 
 
 


A Reluctant Lord. A Resistant Lady. A Superfluous Fiancée.
And a Devastating Family Secret…
 
When Richard Barrett, Lord Hartley, is abruptly called home to take the reins of the estate, he discovers the extent of the family’s financial straits. The remedy: marry the heiress their families have picked out for him. Unfortunately, he’s already planned to marry someone else.
 
Miss Sophie Goodnight isn’t too keen on becoming his purse with feet…and she sabotages all attempts to woo her. But when Lord Hartley discovers the shenanigans in his father’s past, he realizes that deciding between two beautiful women is the least of his problems.
Buy Links for A Rake By Any Other Name:
 
Mia Marlowe is a rising star whose Touch of a Rogue was named one of Publishers Weekly‘s Top Ten Best Romances for Spring 2012. Mia learned about storytelling while singing professional opera. She knows what it’s like to sing a high “C” in a corset, so she empathizes with the trials of her historical heroines. Mia resides in Boston, Massachusetts. For more visit www.miamarlowe.com.
Giveaway

3 comments:

Kimberly Sue said...

There is noooo way I could narrow it down to just ONE favorite fictional rake! Over the past 15 years, I've read hundreds of romance novels...so I've been introduced to hundreds of rakes...waaaaay too many to choose just one!! lol

traveler said...

A fictional rake who is really intriguing would be Sebastien St. Vincent. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

Jan Hougland said...

I love Mia's comment that "Romance is about the journey from one heart to another and that has to take precedence [over the historical background] because it transcends its time period to speak to our hearts now." I've not heard it said any better. I'm going to have to remember this because I want to be able to quote it when someone asks me why I read historical romances. :-) Thanks so much for this post. jdh2690@gmail.com