Royal Reviews: Victoria Vane Interview and Giveaway

Please help me welcome Victoria Vane to Royal Reviews!

1. Welcome to Royal Reviews! Tell us something about yourself, so that we can get to know you a bit better…

I am a die-hard history geek, a horse lover, and a romantic. I also love animals- especially horses and have owned thirteen of them. I currently have an Arabian gelding named Princeton. I live in the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountain, have been married for thirty-one years and have two grown sons.

2. Your Contemporary romance novel, Slow Hand, is out now—congrats! Could you tell us about it?

Thank you! SLOW HAND is the kind of story that could happen to anyone. My heroine had a crappy childhood and has been estranged from an alcoholic father for most of her life. Her life is completely disrupted when she gets a phone call notifying her of his death. As the only kin, she has to travel to Montana to see to his burial. When a chain of events lead to the loss of her wallet, she finds herself helpless and stranded. Her knight in shining armor turns out to be the probate lawyer- who is also an incredibly hot cowboy. But Nikki has sworn off cowboys…Or has she?

Here’s a link to my book trailer that was recently featured as a “Must See” on the USA Today Romance Blog: http://youtu.be/UWXU89hat6s?list=PL7204C8CEE51620BF

3. What inspired Slow Hand?

Much of Nikki’s backstory is autobiographical - the bad childhood, alcoholic father, and even her emotional meltdown at the airport. The hero is entirely fictional, although he was inspired by my first cowboy crush – also named Wade Knowlton!

4. What was it like switching from writing historical romances to contemporary?

I really took the same basic approach to my writing. Although I have owned horses most of my life, I knew almost nothing about the cattle industry. Since I am a research geek, I made two trips to Montana and Wyoming to learn everything I possibly could related to my stories. I have visited almost every place I mention in these books.

As far as the actual writing goes, I thought it would be really hard (next to impossible) for me to make the leap to contemporary because I didn’t think my writing voice would ever translate, but once the characters came to life it was really easy. I just let them tell the story.

5. Do you do anything special to get into the right frame of mind for writing? Is there a soundtrack you write to?

I have a very musical muse. What I mean is that I am unable to write without it and my music is always different depending on what I’m writing. Music also helps me to immerse myself in my characters. I tend to be drawn most to music that tells a story. While my playlist for my upcoming Cowboy series varies widely, (from the traditional country sounds of George Strait to the hard rocking Nickelback) all of the music serves to set the tone for the individual books.

My play list for SLOW HAND was almost all country music (some George Strait, Big and Rich, a smattering of Carrie Underwood and lots of Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton.)

Give it All We Got Tonight – George Strait

Rollin’ – Big and Rich

Wild West Show – Big and Rich

Got a Little Country – Blake Shelton

Cowboy Casanova- Carrie Underwood

In Love with The Girl – Luke Bryan

I Don’t Want this Night to End- Luke Bryan

Mine Would be You – Blake Shelton

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye – Luke Bryan

6. What can readers expect next in The Hot Cowboy Nights series?

Dirk’s story, ROUGH RIDER, will be releasing in February. Since my stories are all character driven, it’s not light and flirty like the first book but more intense as Dirk is a wounded vet. I think readers will be very happy with both the steamy romance as well as the way Dirk and Wade reach a reconciliation in their broken relationship.

7. What inspired you to become an author?

It just happened! I had never planned on it. I had never written anything at all before my first book but one day a story came to me and wouldn’t let me go, so I knew I had to write it. That was 2008 and the book was THE HIGHEST STAKES written as Emery Lee. It took 14 months to write and was published in 2010. It’s a work of historical fiction set in the world of 18^th century horseracing. I decided to try historical romance in 2011 with a hit little novella called A BREACH OF PROMISE. I now have 13 published novellas and novellas with seven more under contract with Sourcebooks and Kensington.

8. Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring authors?

If you want to succeed you have to work your butt off, and never give up!

In rural Montana…

Wade Knowlton is a hardworking lawyer who’s torn between his small-town Montana law practice and a struggling family ranch. He’s on the brink of exhaustion from trying to save everybody and everything, when gorgeous Nicole Powell walks into his office. She’s a damsel in distress and the breath of fresh air he needs.

Even the lawyers wear boots…

Nicole Powell is a sassy Southern girl who has officially sworn off cowboys after a spate of bad seeds—until her father’s death sends her to Montana and into the arms of a man who seems too good to be true. Her instincts tell her to high tail it out of Montana, but she can't resist a cowboy with a slow hand…

Buy Links

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Author Bio

Victoria Vane is a multiple award-winning romance novelist and history junkie whose collective works of fiction range from wildly comedic romps to emotionally compelling erotic romance. Her books have received more than twenty reviewer awards and nominations including the 2014 RONE Award for Treacherous Temptations and Library Journal Best E-Book romance of 2012 for The Devil DeVere series. Victoria also writes historical fiction as Emery Lee and is the founder of Goodreads Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers and the Romantic Historical Lovers book review blog.

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