A Close Encounter with Georgiana Louis and friend

Today we are truly lucky.  One of my good friends, Georgiana Louis has brought a friend to visit.  I know you'll make welcome, Her Grace, Annabelle, The Duchess of Lincoln.

Her Grace enters the room and smiles kindly on me, staying my curtsey (phew, because these days it's a tad wobbly.) But I pull out a nice comfy chair for her and offer a beverage.  She accepts a cooling glass of water as she settles her voluminous skirts around her.

Georgiana winks conspiratorially at me. "She's lovely.  So I'll just leave you to it." The with a tinkling laugh she's out the door.

I blink owlishly.

"You Grace..."

However the lady in question is so gracious. "Pish Posh. Call me Annabelle.  All my friends do." And with a wickedly naughty grin she let's me know it's time to start.

I don't have a lot of time... something I'm now beginning to regret.


(IN)What is your idea of perfect happiness?
My husband and children by my side, healthy and happy.

(IN)What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Colin Lyre, the Duke of Lincoln. My husband.

(IN)What is your most marked characteristic?
My face, unfortunately few people bother to realize that it is only an external covering.

(INW)hen and where were you the happiest?
When my husband came to Scotland after I left him.

(IN)What is your greatest fear?
That my choice’s will negatively impact those I love.
(IN)Which living person do you most despise?
My husband’s sister in law. Hateful, vindictive woman.

My friend Georgiana creeps back into the room and I'm almost out of time.  I'd love to know more about this woman, but I have to be fast now.

(IN)What is your greatest regret?
Trusting Patrick Miller on the night he tried to rape me.

(IN)What is the quality you most like in a man?
Honesty.

(IN)What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Courage

(IN)What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Beauty, it is so fleeting.

Now she's standing and I know my quick interview with her is at an end. She smiles and leans in, softly touching my cheek before she leaves the room.

(GL) I wrote her story as she told me... Read on for an excerpt.

 

Excerpt:

Annabelle had not enjoyed her days off from the ton circuit. She had spent them eating pastries, and now wondered if she would fit into the expensive wardrobe her mother had paid for. She had also spent the week trying not to think about a certain Duke that invaded her thoughts even whilst she slept.

She dressed carefully for the opera. She had never been to the opera before and would most likely never get to again. Especially not in a Ducal box which she would be sharing with Victoria and her older brother John tonight.

 “Annabelle, the Duke’s carriage has arrived.” Her mother’s voice rang shrilly through the house. Her mother was more nervous than Annabelle was, if that was possible. She still could not believe that Annabelle had made a friend in a Duke’s daughter when she was more accustomed to talking to farmers and friends of the vicarage.

“I’ll be down in a moment,” Annabelle called out, smoothing her dress down her slim waist and noting the roundness of her full breasts that her opera dress did nothing to disguise.

“Good night mother,” Annabelle kissed her mother on the cheek, grabbed her cloak and headed off into the night with Victoria and her John.

“Good evening to you Miss Collins,” John nodded his head slightly as the carriage did not allow him to stand and make his bow.

“Good evening Mister Dunford. Hello Victoria.” Annabelle breathed, almost unable to get past the anxiety in her stomach she grabbed for her friends hands.

“Oh Victoria, what if I do something wrong? What am I meant to do at the opera? I have never been and I’m so nervous. Please tell me everything.”

Victoria and John both laughed loudly making Annabelle blush crimson.

“You do not do anything other than be yourself. Walk in, watch the opera and walk out.” Victoria smiled confidently and Annabelle felt her stomach drop nervously again.

“But will I have to talk to anyone? Will people be able to see me?” Annabelle stammered again.

This time only John laughed, but Victoria smiled.

“Of course people can see you. That is half the fun of the opera. Being able to see what everyone else is wearing and doing but not having to talk to them.”

Where to buy The Reluctant Duke - Red Rose Publishing

About Georgiana Louis

Georgiana Louis is a wife and mother of two little girls. She loves the world of fictional romance and has long given up reading anything else.
Escapism in its safest form, she enjoys reading all sorts of romance as well as writing it. Come, enjoy her world, where everything ends as it should, happily ever after.

You can visit Georgiana at her website

News!

Yeah I seem to be missing in action a lot at the moment.  So what have I been up to?

Lots, I tell you.  Lots!

Where to start?  Okay ARRA - what a blast!  Honestly, it was so much fun.  I got to meet up with other Authors I chat to a lot.

Khloe Wren, Imogene Nix and Georgiana Louis - all trying to outgrin each other.  Lovely ladies I am so proud to call my friends.  Yes, we did misbehave just a little bit.

Hazel Gower, Angela Castle and Kate Belle shared a table, so you can imagine the hilarity that went with the main evening.  Kate did mention something about the wine...

And of course, the lovely Jan Graham was there too!  Hi Jan!

Did someone say group Author photo?  Haha Yes there was over 60 of us again attending.  So getting a group photo was like herding sheep.  They did, however, get there in the end!

I attended the author book signing (yes I was signing) and giving away Imogene Nix sleep masks, bookmarks and even mentos!  The New Author panel - most people laughed... *phew* and scored a few books to bring home and read.  (Well just one... five... okay twenty eight... including those I won and those I bought!) oh and the Keynote Address by Anne Gracie!  Oh my!!! Wish I could get hold of the video she ran.  Oestrogen ran like a river while that was on.

On a purely personal note, my oldest daughter was inducted as her schools Student Committee Secretary.  I know she'll do a good job.  Doesn't she look pleased with herself?

 Ah and my latest news.  I made my dozen!  Contracts that is :)  Today I received word that my near futuristic romance, Hesparia's Tears has been picked up by Total-E-Bound.  (The home of Blame The Wine, The Blood Bride and so on...)

I don't have any further information yet.  But here's the blurb:

What will happen when the past catches up?

Galan is from Hesparia, where the females are dying out.

Jessa has a past, one she hasn’t earned but cannot escape from.

What will happen when opportunity knocks?

Galan travels to earth, hoping to plead the case for Hesparia. He doesn’t expect Jessa or The Quickening.

Can he make the case for women to migrate to Hesparia? Can they trust one another with their hearts. And can Jessa really escape her past?

 Hesparia’s Tears.

I've also still got one title out on submission - Loving Memories (A romantic suspense)... and one getting closer to submission - A Soldier... My Soldier.  It needs some tweaks and work... but it should be ready soon.  It will be my first "real contemporary" with no paranormal elements or suspense or sci fi... lol, I'm sure you get the idea.

Yes, for all I've been quiet, I have been busy!

Okay, time to sign off for now!  Have fun, be good and if you can't, well... enjoy yourself!

Imogene

A Close Encounter With... Georgiana Louis

Today, my friend and fellow Hotter Than Hades author, Georgiana Louis is joining me.

Hey sweetie!  Grab a seat and get comfy! Today you were going to talk about your road to publishing, so I'll hand over the floor (VBG)

My journey to being published.

The question I most frequently get asked when I tell people in the real world I am a published author is: 

“How did you do that?”

I always laugh and say, “I wrote something, submitted it and got a contract.” But it wasn’t that simple.

The first story I ever wrote is still lost in hard discs at my parents place. It was rejected by Harlequin five years ago and now that I know what I know about writing, I am not the least bit surprised.

The second story I wrote ‘Nanny Wanted,’ I submitted and got a similar response. I was getting slightly disenchanted by this time. I had no reason for this, mind you. I had never taken a writing course or done any research, but I read a lot and thought I could write a decent story.

I gave up writing for a while and took up reading again.

Enter stage left, books by Sabrina Jeffries, Eloisa James and Julia Quinn. I fell in love with Regency romance and didn’t go back to short sexy romance. 

Whilst on a holiday with hubby, I ran out of books, shock horror! But I had an idea based around the Regency requirements of ‘an heir and a spare’ male child to make sure the title stayed in the one blood line.

I began writing The Reluctant Duke and the subsequent three stories. ‘The Spares’ series was born.

I loved my characters, truly fell in love, and decided I would submit to Avon. No response, hmmm. But I still loved my story and decided to actually do some research and found the world had changed. E-books were now the craze! I found a website that listed good publishers for Historical Romance and looked down the list. The first romance I EVER read (at age 11) was called ‘Red Rose For Love’, so when I saw Red Rose Publishing on the list, I thought it appropriate.

I sent my manuscript off and within a month I had a contract for my first story! Unbelievable.

After that the journey was a bit flat. I sent in two more manuscripts but didn’t get speedy replies and the main CEO didn’t return my many emails.

However, I had made friends with some of the other authors on the Red Rose facebook page and I waited.

Then an email came from Belle, my own editor and everything fell into place. She fixed up my first contract, added a series one and a Christmas one for Nanny Wanted which I had edited.  She talked to the CEO and is still an awesome support and communicator.

That was eight months ago and I have now joined many writing groups. Both on line and in person. These groups give me people to bounce ideas off, critique partners and general partners in virtual crime. My writing styles have expanded dramatically and I LOVE ebook submitting. I always struggled to stretch my stories out to the required lengths of the traditional publishers, whereas now I can write the story as it is. Whether that is three thousand words or fifty. Sweet or very erotic, I love it all.

I have had two stories published by Red Rose Publishing recently but am still waiting on The Reluctant Duke’s release, sigh. It should be out early March.

That is the other thing I forgot to mention. Publishing moves at a GLACIAL pace. When I asked The Australian Romance Writers Group if that was normal, most of them laughed and said “Yes, it gives you time to write something new.” So I did.

This is an excerpt of The Reluctant Duke for you lovely bloggers... Oh and that was the other HUGE learning curve. The need to self promote through facebook, twitter, websites, blogs and blog hops. Sigh. I am soooo not technologically advanced. A computer is little more than access to email and a type writer for me... but of course I have relented and thanks to beautiful friends like Kissa Starling and the lovely Imogene Nix, I am getting myself together.

Excerpt:

“What’s wrong with Mr. Mc Tavish?” Annabelle demanded again, her voice raising a couple of notches.

“Nothing, he’s a good man,” Colin admitted reluctantly.

“Then what’s the problem?”

He tugged at his cravat, it was too tight. How was he going to get out of this?

 “I just do not want you regretting marrying for less than what you deserve,” Colin admitted quietly.

“And what’s that?” Annabelle asked just as quietly.

“Love, or at least passion.”

 “I do not believe you can fall in love in just two weeks,” Annabelle answered quickly.

“But passion, yes, I have found that.”

Pure rage filled Colin. Red clouded his vision as his temperature rose.

“Passion? You have found passion with him?” He advanced on Annabelle like a lion circling his prey.

Annabelle nodded and Colin growled again, pulling her into his arms. The need to stake his claim on her undeniable.

“Like the passion you have found with me?” he ducked his head and ran his lips down her throat.

Annabelle gasped but leaned into him. “That is not fair to say to me. You do not want to marry me.”

Colin laughed low in his throat. “I would if I could,” he pressed his lips to the spot beneath her ear.

“What?!” Annabelle shrieked, pushing hard against his chest.

“Annabelle, you have no idea how much I want you,” Colin admitted, rolling his hips in an provocative gesture that only caused him to feel more frustrated.

“You want to seduce me, you do not wish to marry me,” Annabelle went to pull away again, struggling harder but Colin held her tighter.

“I would never seduce you. I would marry you in a heartbeat if I was not a Duke.” Colin murmured beneath her ear.

Annabelle laughed now, with so much bitterness and anger that when she tried to pull away he had to let her go.

“What do you call this then?” She motioned angrily to their surroundings.

“Is this the part where you offer to make me your mistress instead? Or do you already have one like most men of rank do?” There was no disguising the jealousy in her tone or the disgust.

“I would never insult you with such an offer.”

Annabelle’s eyebrows raised high in silent question.

“And no I do not have one.” He answered honestly, shocked she would ask.

 “Well my lord... I’m sorry... Your Grace, from what I have learnt in the past few weeks it would be very unusual for you not to have one, and insulting in the extreme for you to say that you would marry me if you could.”

“I’m not lying, I have never had a mistress, but I am aware that most men do. And I was speaking the truth, I would marry you in an instant if I had met you two years ago.” Colin told her earnestly. She had to believe him, he was telling the truth.

“What’s different now?”

“Everything.” Colin said bitterly, turning away from her.

“My father once told me that I was born his spare, but he had no real reason to need one. He had actually wished for a daughter the night I was born. In ten generations the Dukedom has always passed from first son to first son. I am the first second son to inherit in my family and my mother has spent my life telling me I was not needed... or really wanted.”

“Oh, Colin,” Annabelle reached out her hand to touch his shoulder, consoling him with the touch he had never had.

With a frustrated roar Colin grabbed her and spun, pinning her up against the wall.

“You will never know how much I burn for you, only you.”

“Show me,” she whispered recklessly placing her hands on his warm chest.

Author Bio: 

In the real world I am happily married to my own hero, the mother of two beautiful little girls and a chiropractor. 

However, I have always loved to read. Escapism in its safest form, I wanted nothing more than to pick up one of Eloisa James' books, or relax with Julia Quinn.
 

One day though I realised I had an idea, a series of friends that each had their own story to tell. I jotted down a few ideas, sat at my computer and guess what? The Spares was born!

I haven't looked back since.

Where can you find Georgiana Louis?

Website  Hotter Than Hades  Blog

Thanks for visiting with me today!  Oh and if you are in Brisbane you can find Georgiana Louis hanging out with me at the ARRC2013 this weekend.  Pop on over and say hi!

Imogene