Interview with Author Janet Mullany and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome to RFTC author Janet Mullany. Janet is celebrating the recent release of her book Hidden Paradise and has stopped by to answer a few questions. So please give Janet a nice and warm welcome.

Janet Mullany, granddaughter of an Edwardian housemaid, was born in England but now lives near Washington, DC. Her debut book was Dedication, the only Signet Regency to have two bondage scenes (and which was reissued with even more sex in April 2012 from Loose-Id). Her next book, The Rules of Gentility (HarperCollins 2007) was acquired by Little Black Dress (UK) for whom she wrote three more Regency chicklits, A Most Lamentable Comedy, Improper Relations, and Mr. Bishop and the Actress. Her career as a writer who does terrible things to Jane Austen began in 2010 with the publication of Jane and the Damned (HarperCollins), and Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion (2011) about Jane as a vampire, and a modern retelling of Emma, Little to Hex Her, in the anthology Bespelling Jane Austen headlined by Mary Balogh. She also writes contemporary erotic fiction for Harlequin, Tell Me More (2011) and Hidden Paradise (September, 2012).

Places to find Janet:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter |

First off, can you tell us a bit about you?
Thanks so much for having me visit! Where to begin… First, I don’t have any sort of exotic sex life. I don’t even have any sort of exotic life. I was born and raised in England and came over here many decades ago. I work for a baroque music organization, I have a grownup daughter who is my biggest fan but is horrified that her mom writes porn (her definition), and I’m a docent at a federal-era house for fun, which is why I wrote all that stuff about historic house restoration in Hidden Paradise.

Did you always want to be a writer?
Not really. I wrote lots of stories when I was a kid but I think everyone did. I started writing when I had time on my hands but had to look busy at a job! I’ve always read a lot and I think that’s the most valuable thing a writer can do—it helps you develop your voice and gives you an instinctive feel for flow and pacing. So I’m a reader first and most of my books are really ones I wrote because they were the sort of books I wanted to read.

What kind of writer are you? Pantser or Plotter?
I’m an uneasy combination. I write with a very vague outline and hope everything winds up and falls into place. So far I’ve been lucky.

Where do your ideas come from?
For historicals, generally a strange historical fact. For instance, one idea I’ve had knocking around is a story about a woman who accompanies her best friend (and husband) on her honeymoon, which is what people did during the Regency. I find this intriguing—a honeymoon in those days was traveling around staying with friends, but even so, you’d think the companion would feel like a third wheel. That story could go any number of ways, and in any number of subgenres. What if the heroine was in love with her best friend’s husband? What if he confided in her about uh, marital difficulties? Or her best friend did? Or in every house they visited the host (a hot young bachelor Duke) pursues the heroine and at the end of it she has a choice of half a dozen suitors? Or the new husband is a werewolf? Or…

A la Twitter style, can you describe your book (or series) in 140 characters or less.
#GoodCleanDirtyFun #NoPanties #TightPants #LoveStory #ContemporaryRomance #RegencyReenactment #JaneAusten Buy the book now, you’ll like it.

What are some of your favorite kinds of stories to read?
I like books with very strong writing and complex characters, not necessarily romance, and I’m very fond of mysteries.

Do you have a favorite book and if so what is it?
This isn’t actually my favorite book but I read it recently and it blew me away. It’s One Was A Soldier, by Julia Spencer-Fleming, the latest in her mystery series starring the chief of police and Anglican priest in a small upstate New York town. The priest has returned from a tour of duty in Iraq and with other vets she’s battling PTSD and addiction, and it’s a brave and wonderful book.

What are the scenes that are the hardest for you to write?
I don’t know that it’s scenes so much as linking between them. I like readers to figure things out on their own but editors always tell me that I have to throw in a few hints linking the last scene to the next.

If you could have dinner with any three authors, who would you choose and why?
Austen, Byron, Dickens. It would be a riot. And I wonder who’d go home with whom.

Last question, are you working on anything right now?
Yes, I’m writing a book very vaguely inspired by The Arabian Nights set in an alternate 18th century Europe about the ambergris trade. And fiddling about with various ideas.

Question for you all—how do you think the third wheel story I mentioned would play out? How would you like it to play out? If I like your idea and write it, I’ll mention you in the acknowledgments. And remember that nothing says hot romance like a water buffalo, so please tweet this interview.

CALL IT SENSE AND Sensuality… or, let’s talk about the purple passion.

Louisa Connelly, a recently widowed Jane Austen scholar, needs some relief from her stifling world. When a friend calls to offer her a temporary escape from her Montana ranch, she is whisked into a dizzying world of sumptuous food, flowing wine…and endless temptation.

She’s an honored guest at Paradise Hall, an English resort boasting the full experience of an authentic Georgian country-house weekend. Liveried servants tend to the every need of houseguests clad in meticulous period costume: snug breeches, low-cut silken gowns and negligible undergarments.

It’s Mac Salazar, a journalist immersing himself fully, deeply, lustily in the naughty pleasures of upstairs-downstairs dalliances, who piques Louisa’s curiosity-and libido-most. He’s a dilettante straight out of a novel: uninhibited, unapologetic and nearly insatiable. But Lou’s not romantic about this much, at least: Paradise Hall is a gorgeous fantasy, nothing more. A lover like Mac is pure fiction. And the real world beckons…

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble |

Lou took a deep breath, enjoying the solitude and silence. She took inventory of her outfit and gathered her fan, gloves and fancy red-and-black reticule. Her remaining silk flowers wouldn’t work with this gown, or her headdress, a small turban which was little more than a twist of the same fabric sewn into a circlet. But she needed some sort of adornment, some bling. She looked at her meager collection of jewelry and picked out the ruby on a fine gold chain that Julian had given her for their wedding. When was the last time she had worn this? At his funeral?

For you, Julian, she thought. You should have been here tonight. This should have been our moment, and you would have loved the discovery of the conservatory. You’d be out there with the Paint Boys, bashing off plaster, given half the chance.

She threaded the necklace carefully around the turban, adding a few clumsy stitches to secure it with the sewing kit the room provided. By candlelight, her inadequate housewifery would pass and the ruby, a large square-cut stone, glistened. Perfect.

A touch of glossy red on her lips and she was ready, and only just in time. She joined a flow of guests down the stairs, where women in gorgeous gowns and men in Regency evening wear or military uniforms mingled. Footmen passed through the crowd with trays of champagne. There was a little more light than usual in the foyer and she guessed the floral arrangements concealed hidden lights. A few flashbulbs exploded as they descended the steps, members of the media incongruous in modern clothing, and a couple of camera crews.

A man stepped forward and bowed, dressed in a severe black swallowtail coat and snowy white linen. His evening trousers were black knit that shone with the luster of silk and clung to his beautiful physique, a lock of dark hair tumbled over his forehead. He extended a gloved hand to her.

“Mr. Darcy, I presume,” she said.

Want to win some goodies from Janet? Check out what's up for grabs.

Up for grabs:

• Janet will pledge $1 for every comment made on the blog tour to Heifer International (which has absolutely nothing to do with the book but is one of her favorite nonprofits), up to $250.
• 1 lucky winner will receive the eBook of their choice from this list of Janet's books: Forbidden Shores (erotic historical romance w/a Jane Lockwood), or Tell Me More (contemporary erotica) or The Rules of Gentility

To Enter:

• Please leave a comment answering Janet's question: How do you think the third wheel story I mentioned would play out? How would you like it to play out?
• Please leave your email address along with your comment to be entered. 
• Giveaway ends October 12th

Good Luck =)