Kim: Welcome back to SOS Aloha! I had the privilege of meeting you at RT in Chicago! What was your favorite experience?
Grace: The quartet that sang at the SOS mixer was high point. I have a degree in music and for a time supported myself playing piano. Those four vets were so clearly enjoying themselves, and the music was terrific.
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| Seasoned Sound performed at the SOS Military Tribute |
Kim: I thank you for donating books to the SOS Military Mixer - I appreciate your support! In your bio, you wrote that you are "sixth out of seven children and was raised in the rural surrounds of central Pennsylvania." Your debut series, the Windham family, has eight siblings. Did your family inspire the series? Do any of your siblings’ characteristics describe your characters?
Grace: In the sense that my idea of family is “large” family, and that historically, Regency families were quite large (King George had fifteen children, for example), yes, my family inspired the Windhams. Thank God, my siblings are all still extant, though. My sense of how the Windham siblings interact is true to my family—with compassion and honesty, sometimes more of one than the other. The only characters who are drawn from family members, though, are Their Graces, the Duke and Duchess of Moreland. My parents have been married for more than 65 years, and they know things about love and devotion that most of us will spend our lives guessing at. Percival and Esther have exactly such a love.
Kim: Now that you are a "seasoned" author, with your fifth book now published, what advice do you offer to aspiring authors?
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| King George III, Queen Charlotte, and their six elder children |
Kim: Now that you are a "seasoned" author, with your fifth book now published, what advice do you offer to aspiring authors?
Grace: Eighteen months ago, I was unpublished, so I will only accept the “seasoned” appellation with fear and trembling. That said: Write more than you aspire to write. While everybody else scampers around from one workshop to another, drops the names of this or that craft book author, and proses on about their word counts and how many people they’ve queried, you write. Write, revise, and write some more. One of the reasons an editor took an interest in me was because I had twenty completed MS when I started pitching.
Kim: Tell us about LADY MAGGIE'S SECRET SCANDAL?
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| Dame Maggie Smith in DOWNTON ABBEY |
Kim: Tell us about LADY MAGGIE'S SECRET SCANDAL?
Grace: Lady Maggie is the Duke of Moreland’s by-blow, living a retiring if lonely life apart from her ducal family. Maggie’s reticule goes missing, with contents she absolutely cannot allow to become public. She hires investigator Benjamin Hazlit to retrieve the reticule, but ends up losing her heart to a man whom she cannot bear to have learn her secrets.
That’s the official story. The real story is I was more surprised than anybody at what a great hero Benjamin Hazlit made, and how truly difficult Maggie’s choices are for her.
Kim: What's next for Grace Burrowes?
That’s the official story. The real story is I was more surprised than anybody at what a great hero Benjamin Hazlit made, and how truly difficult Maggie’s choices are for her.
Kim: What's next for Grace Burrowes?
Grace: I am finishing the Windham series, of course. I’ve also started a trilogy of Scottish Victorians, which will debut with “The Bridegroom Wore Plaid” in December 2012. There’s also a plan afoot to publish an entire series of Windham spin-offs next April, and that is keeping me quite busy and quite happy.
Mahalo, Grace, for the cozy chat! I posted my review of LADY MAGGIE'S SECRET SCANDAL on Amazon at this link. Sourcebooks is giving away a print copy of LADY MAGGIE'S SECRET SCANDAL to one randomly selected commenter:
Lady Maggie Windham Has Secrets…
And she’s been perfectly capable of keeping them...until now. When she’s threatened with exposure, she turns to investigator Benjamin Hazlit to keep catastrophe at bay. But Maggie herself intrigues Benjamin more than the riddle she’s set him to solve. As he uncovers more and more of her past, Maggie struggles to keep him at a distance, until they both begin to discover the truth in their hearts...
Praise for Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal
“Delicious... Burrowes delivers red-hot chemistry with a masterful mix of playfulness and sensuality, and her themes of healing and familial strength give this page-turner unusual depth. Charming and original with superb characters ready to walk off the page, this is a splendid addition to any Regency fan’s bookshelf.” —Publishers Weekly Starred Review
“An unconventional tale of strikingly unique characters with realistic emotions and exciting antics. It’s always a delight to read one of Burrowes’ creations...” —RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars
And she’s been perfectly capable of keeping them...until now. When she’s threatened with exposure, she turns to investigator Benjamin Hazlit to keep catastrophe at bay. But Maggie herself intrigues Benjamin more than the riddle she’s set him to solve. As he uncovers more and more of her past, Maggie struggles to keep him at a distance, until they both begin to discover the truth in their hearts...
Praise for Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal
“Delicious... Burrowes delivers red-hot chemistry with a masterful mix of playfulness and sensuality, and her themes of healing and familial strength give this page-turner unusual depth. Charming and original with superb characters ready to walk off the page, this is a splendid addition to any Regency fan’s bookshelf.” —Publishers Weekly Starred Review
“An unconventional tale of strikingly unique characters with realistic emotions and exciting antics. It’s always a delight to read one of Burrowes’ creations...” —RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars
Grace Burrowes is a prolific and award-winning author of historical romances. Her debut, The Heir, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and was selected as a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year for 2010 in the romance category. Both The Heir and its follow-up, The Solider, are New York Times and USA Today bestsellers. She is a practicing attorney specializing in family law and lives in a restored log cabin in western Maryland without a TV, DVD player or radio because she’s too busy working on her next books. Please visit www.graceburrowes.com, follow her on Twitter: @GraceBurrowes, and check out www.sourcebooks.com for more information.
To enter the giveaway,
1. Leave a comment about what's in your purse - any secrets?
2. The Sourcebooks giveaway is open to US residents only. But I'll giveaway a Hawaiian print coin purse to one international reader.
3. Comments are open through Saturday, May 12, 10 pm in Hawaii. I'll post the winner on Sunday, May 13.
Mahalo,
Kim in Hawaii
NO secrets in my purse. For one I just cleaned it out & two, my daughter tends to go through it when she pops i, when I am on the computer & we are chatting.
ReplyDeleteMy purse doesn't contain any secrets, but it holds my wallet, keys, phone, gum, and makeup.
ReplyDeleteNo secrets in my purse. There is always a book as well as the ususal detritus and too much change.
ReplyDeleteNo secrets in my purse except maybe a year old gum!
ReplyDeleteDo not enter me in this drawing, I have this book.
I am always surprised at what's in my purse. I carry a large shoulder bag, and my daughter took to calling it, "The Vast Lonely," because all manner of things would emerge from its depths. Spare hair brushes, tons of loose change, candy bars packaged back when Walt Disney was alive... if something turns up missing, the first place I go looking is in the bottom of the Vast Lonely.
ReplyDeleteIf there are any secrets in my purse, I may never find them. I did find a baseball the other day.
ReplyDeleteAloha, Wilovebooks! I think you and your purse should request tickets for LET'S MAKE A DEAL. I can hear Monty Hall asking for a baseball ... and you'd win a $100!
DeleteI carry a very small purse, usually one with lots of pockets to keep things organized. When my boys were small I carried larger purses to hold sippy cups, hot wheels, boxes of animal crackers, but as they got older I slowly went to smaller bags...so they wouldn't use my purse for storage. Sometimes I miss finding a hot wheel at the bottom of my purse. Occasionally there are secrets tucked away in one of the pockets...but I won't tell.....
ReplyDeleteJust wait for the the grand kids and those beanie babies...
DeleteI have so much stuff in my purse, that it's sometimes hard to find anything. However, the one thing I do know to find in an emergency, is my Mace spray. I keep this to protect myself and always have my hand on it when walking to my car in a car park.
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a great opportunity to win Grace's book.
That is a smart move, Diane. I know what my next present to my daughter will be.
DeleteOoh, The Vast Lonely is a great name for a purse! I might borrow that! My purse is full of crayons, makeup, receipts, shot records, toys, granola bars... it's a crazy mess!
ReplyDeleteAnd if you ever cleaned out all the loose change, you could probably spring for week's groceries, but then you'd have to buy some hand weights to give you the same work out. How are Marines always prepared without carrying purses?
DeleteNo secrets, just regular stuff, drivers license, cr/dbt card, tissues, ck book, lip gloss, handcream, sunglasses, pen and paper, etc.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read this series.
Thanks for the great interview Grace and kim and your great review on Amazon Kim.
misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com
There are no secrets in my purse just a bunch of stuff that needs to be cleaned out.
ReplyDeleteMy purse always has tissues, mints, lotion, wallet, pen, hair clip, brush and makeup. I don't keep anything unusual in it. I used to carry more in my purse but I got tired of carrying so much weight.
ReplyDeletegeishasmom73 AT yahoo DOT com
No secrets in my purse. Just a bunch of loose change (mainly pennies ) that have collected on the bottom of it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm missing some gene, but an organized purse with no surprises... nah. You ladies impress me, though. You probably write all your novels with detailed outlines, and that discipline eludes me too.
DeleteI also carry a The Vast Lonely. I have my meds, eye drops, money, keys, handicapped placard, daily diary for appointments or things I want to remember, brush, keys, and a LOT of kleenex.
ReplyDeleteCathy, I think tissues multiply biologically somehow when left in dark places too long. Same with MacDonalds napkins. It's mysterious, and yet, when you really, really, REALLY need one, there are none to be found.
DeleteMy mother's purse contained enough to set up an ER room. Mine is minimalist, to the extreme--particularly when traveling. Your library card is not of any use in Asia, Africa, Europe, wherever.
ReplyDeleteI am the anti-fan of loyalty cards. I carry around a wad of them, for groceries, gas, hair cuts, book stores, you name it, and they have a loyalty card. Why? Seems to me the grocery stores at least give you the same price whether you have the card or not, but those cars surely do clutter up my wallet.
DeleteI've always had huge purses, everything but the kitchen sink. My family may make fun of it but I'm always the one to carry those extra keys, or sunglasses, or chapstick, etc. etc. I keep secret money in my purse lol.
ReplyDeleteAnd a book or two, right?! I do not lie--tell the nice people I do not lie. Two books at least...
DeleteHi Kim!
ReplyDeleteI loved your interview with Grace. I love the Windham series and I'm thrilled sh is planning a spin-off!
I never leave the house without popping my Kindle in my purse! It's not a surprise to any of my friends or family but I do get "looks" from people in the grocery line, bank line, physician's office!
Since I'm a Type I diabetic which was diagnosed in childhood so I also carry multiple supplies for my insulin pump. Believe me it's not so bad now but before I had my pump when I had to pull out a syringe and needles to inject insulin I had many strange looks and reactions - especially at airports going through screening! Every time I traveled guess who always got pulled aside for a "pat down"? Now we travel by car instead whenever possible!
Jeanne, my sister is a type I with a continuous monitor and a pump. We're thinking of doing a trip to Europe and I just can't wait for those airports... but thank goodness for the medical technology, because it really contributes to her quality of life.
DeleteNo secrets in my purse---just lots of junk that needs to be cleaned out.
ReplyDeleteYou can always find many pens, a note pad, wallet, pain medication, hand sanitizer, a book &/or my Kindle, chapstick, kleenex, lotion, etc. Nothing really out of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteThere are no secrets in my purse. I carry the usual basic stuff along with coupons and a book.
ReplyDeleteI don't have anything too interesting in my purse, just a wallet, sunglasses, reading glasses, a little notebook, pen, nail clippers and tweezers, a small calculator, business cards, tissues, bandaids, Cinnamon Altoids, lip gloss and a surprise Target gift certificate that I have to remember to spend. There's also space for my keys and iPhone when I leave the house. :D
ReplyDeleteYeah, my phone goes into the old shoulder bag, and invariably, when it rings, it has gotten caught in some rip tide within the purse, and isn't find-able until the call has gone to voice mail... maybe Newtonian physics don't apply in the Vast Lonely.
DeleteNo secrets in my purse and I carry the usual: wallet, phone, calendar and pen. Also keys and a book if I'm going someplace where I may have to wait.
ReplyDeleteNo secrets in my purse. I have one of those super neat and functional purses and only take what I need. This includes a stripped down wallet, a phone...and I think that's it. Sometimes if my clothing has the right pockets I don't even carry a purse. Hmm, now it makes me wonder about secrets people may carry.
ReplyDeleteNa, I don't think purses are mandatory unless you're traveling with children. Then you carry purse in the vain hope that your stuff will stay separate from their stuff. The universe smiles down on such pretensions and says, "HA."
DeleteA carry a tiny purse so there's not enough room for secrets. The closest thing to a secret in there is lip gloss. The secret part is that I don't even use lip gloss! Why do I carry it? I don't know...it's a "just in case" kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteNo secrets in my purse. It just has the essentials.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes have to go to court as part of my job. The bigger superior courts have always had metal detectors, but some of the smaller small claims branches did not. Shortly after 9/11, I had to go to a small claims court branch, and the deputies were now hand- searching anything you carried in. A big burly cop said to me - ma'am I need to search your purse. I groaned as I handed it over to him and he zipped it open and began to rifle through the contents. I had all kinds of junk in there - crumpled up receipts, gum wrappers, tissue, candy, feminine products, lord knows what else. I apologized for it being such a mess. He just smiled and said he'd seen far worse. From that time on I vowed to keep a neat organized purse! So I try to keep any secrets to a minimum now.
ReplyDeleteWell, since my purse is usually in a tote bag...one never knows what will be found in either...crochet hook, book, granola bar, lotion, scissors, etc. Not a secret but not easily cataloged either!
ReplyDeleteDepends on what day you ask. If I am by myself, I tend to carry my clutch with the bare minimum..license, insurance card, cash. If I have the children with me, then the "suitcase" comes out. EVERYTHING is in there..diaper, wipes, markers, coloring books, hot wheels.... you may even find the crushed animal crackers and smooshed fruit snacks at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteMel
bournmelissa at hotmail dot com
I don't think there are any secrets in my purse, except. . . My RA doc just made me change purses because he weighed mine and it weighed in at 6.5 pounds. So, I changed and cleaned some things out. Some things. There could be secrets in my purse when I carry my Nook around. Secrets to find out what is on my Nook!
ReplyDelete