Thursday, July 14, 2011

Guest Post and Giveaway with Vicky Dreiling

I am so happy to have Vicky Dreiling here on For the Love of Romance. I am a HUGE fan of Vicky's and her books. I could stay here all day and ramble on about the awesomeness of Vicky, but I won't. Though she is very awesome! And fabulous.


A little bit about Vicky Dreiling:
Vicky Dreiling is a confirmed historical romance junkie and Anglophile. Frequent business trips to the UK allowed her to indulge her passion for all things Regency England. Bath, Stonehenge, and Spencer House are among her favorite places. She is, however, truly sorry for accidentally setting off a security alarm in Windsor Castle. That unfortunate incident led her British colleagues to nickname her “Trouble.”

When she’s not writing, Vicky enjoys reading, films, concerts, and most of all, long lunches with friends. She holds degrees in English literature and marketing. A native Texan, she shares her home with her daughter and a spoiled mini-lop rabbit that lives in a slightly gnawed cardboard cottage.



You can find Vicky here: 


Vicky is here to give us a quick peek behind the scenes of her books plots and characters. Her newest, How To Seduce A Scoundrel, is amazing! Vicky was nice enough to send me an advance copy and I devoured it. I am thoroughly in love Hawk and I would love to be friends with Julianne. Plus, isn't the cover to die for? I love it. 


Genre: Historical Romance
Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing- Forever (July 1, 2011)
ISBN: 9780446565387


SCOUNDRELS, RAKES, AND ROGUES BEWARE . . .
Lady Julianne Gatewick is in a pickle. It started when her brother’s best friend—for whom she’s long nursed a secret tendre—agreed to act as her guardian for the Season, only to seduce her with a risqué waltz.
But when the music stopped and the expectant ton waited for the Earl of Hawkfield to claim her as his own, he made his disinterest clear. Rather than succumb to humiliation, Julianne does what any recently discarded, wickedly witty young miss would do. She secretly pens a lady’s guide to enticing unrepentant rakes . . . and it becomes the hottest scandal in London.
Every honorable rake knows that friends’ sisters are forbidden. But suddenly Julianne has a spark of mischief in her eyes that Hawk can’t resist. Try as he might to push her away, he spends his days listening for her laughter and his nights dreaming of her kisses. He’s always avoided innocents and their marriage-minded mothers, but has the man least likely to wed finally met his match?
ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR

So now I'll hand things over to Vicky. Take it away!

In my debut novel HOW TO MARRY A DUKE, I included an unusual high concept premise: The Bachelor in Regency England, minus the hot tub and camera crew. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started writing the book. I just watched the TV show, and after the idea popped into my head, I thought it would be fun to write.  In truth, it was very difficult to write the book, but I didn’t understand why until after I’d revised and polished the manuscript for my editor.

HOW TO MARRY A DUKE was only my second manuscript, so that contributed to my struggles while writing the story. I had a fairly steep learning curve, but I was very determined. It wasn’t until after I’d finished the book and started writing HOW TO SEDUCE A SCOUNDREL that I realized the complexity that I’d introduced into the novels.

Traditionally, most books have familiar plots such as marriages of convenience or secret babies. Often the books contain a subplot, such as a secondary romance. But, both Duke and Scoundrel had multi-layered premises. HOW TO MARRY A DUKE contained a matchmaker plot and forbidden love in addition to the overarching bachelor premise. There were also several subplots involved. Similarly, HOW TO SEDUCE A SCOUNDREL is spoof on The Rules--in Regency England. Like my first novel, Scoundrel also contains two traditional plots: the guardian and forbidden love. Again, subplots were involved. 

The biggest difference between the two books is that I had actually analyzed the elements in the first book, and that understanding helped make the writing of my second novel a bit easier. I’m currently writing a third book, HOW TO RAVISH A RAKE, and it too has a similar structure to the first two novels.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look into my writing process. May the Magic Romance Fairies be with you!


Thank you so much Vicky! I am so excited for How To Ravish A Rake. I already have a crush on Will, Hawk's younger brother, and I keep telling Vicky to write faster. 

Giveaway!

Thanks to the fabulous Brianne from Grand Central Publishing I'm giving away three (3) copies of How To Seduce A Scoundrel. All you have to do is leave a comment below. Also, make sure you follow For the Love of Romance and get an extra entry. 

The giveaway will be open until Tuesday, July 19th (midnight) and I will post the winners on Wednesday. 

14 comments:

  1. Jamie,

    Thanks so much for featuring HOW TO SEDUCE A SCOUNDREL on your cool blog. You're the best! But I'd better keep bad boy Will away from you - I don't want him to corrupt you LOL. Just kidding. Cheers!

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  2. Love Vicky and her books! I already have my copy of SCOUNDREL, and I can tell you - if you haven't read it yet, you are in for a treat!!!

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  3. Sounds yummy!

    Happy Reading,
    Laurielu
    bonafidereflections@gmail.com

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  4. I absolutely adored this book and I can't wait for the other books. Hawk is a hottie and I loved him.

    iqb99@yahoo.com

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  5. Congtaulations on the release. I read Vicky's first booka nd look forward to reading this one.

    penfield716(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  6. I don't usually read Regency, but this one sounds hot. Bad boys are always fun. Congratulations on the release!

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  7. This sounds sooooo good!!!! Thanks for the giveaway




    Zona716(at)gmail(dot)com

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  8. I was following Vicky on her blog tour but, fell and broke my hip the other day chasing a lizard in my bathroom. First chance since I got out of hospital yesterday to catch up on all that I've missed. I would so love to win this book. All the reviews and excerpts that I've read have truly whetted my appertite.

    Thank you again for another opportunity. By the way, I did catch the lizard eventually. lol

    dpd333 AT aol dot com

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  9. I can't wait to read this book! Sounds amazing! Thanks for the chance to win!

    evjochum[AT]aol[DOT]com

    follower

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  10. Thank you for this giveaway! I'm a new fan to your page. I'm following via GFC (Carly W).
    -Carly Waid
    carlymartellowaid@yahoo.com

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  11. Thanks for the chance to win this awesome book!

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  12. LOVED How to Marry a Duke and I cannot WAIT to read your latest, Vicky! Any tips on how to keep those subplots straight? Are you a plotter or a pantser or somewhere in between?

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  13. I'm an Anglophile, too! I've only been to England once, but I felt like I was coming home after being away a long time. It was hard to leave!

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  14. Hi, New follower of your blog and would love to win Vicky's latest book. Thanks for the opportunity to enter.

    misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

    for some reason blogger/google will not let me leave comment on this type comment form so have to use Anon.

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