Gift of Desire (8 page)

Miss Dorsett turned to Oliver, her look smug and self satisfied. Nick almost laughed at her misconception. Oliver had never been interested in her at all. Nick had been randy, and Miss Dorsett obviously willing. Though she had preferred Oliver’s blond good looks, it had been Nick playing at seduction while a bored Oliver looked on. But someone else had clearly caught Oliver’s attention.

“There was a blonde woman, tall and rather cool, talking with your aunt earlier. Who is she?” Oliver asked. He placed a tender kiss upon Miss Dorsett’s palm, as if the question was merely meant to delay her and not the only reason Oliver hadn’t walked in the opposite direction when they parted ways.

“A cool blonde?” she asked with a frown. Then she laughed, and there was a wicked gleam in her eye. “You must mean Lady Vanessa Carlton-Smythe.” The way she said the name clearly indicated she did not care for the quiet, blonde beauty.

When Nick heard the name his heart sank. Even he had heard of the Carlton-Smythes. Lady Vanessa, the daughter of an Earl, was as out of reach as the moon to fellows like him, no matter what Nick had seen in her eyes as she’d watched him. His sinking heart turned to an acute pain in his stomach as he recognized the look on Oliver’s face. Oliver wanted a new toy, and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Don’t bother,” Miss Dorsett said dismissively. “She won’t grant you an audience. The high and mighty Lady Vanessa is too good for the likes of you. She thinks she’s too good for the likes of just about everyone.” Her look turned spiteful. “But I’d like to see you try. Wouldn’t that set everyone’s tongues wagging?” She laughed. “Lady Vanessa, unwed at twenty-two, reduced to accepting you two as suitors. How rich!”

Nick didn’t care for her tone. Actually, he didn’t care for her at all. When she kept her mouth shut she was only tolerable. When she spoke she became completely intolerable. With a sigh he realized he wouldn’t have wanted to go any further with her than he had, even if they hadn’t been interrupted. He’d lost interest in her almost immediately. That had been happening more and more lately to both him and Oliver. It was the reason they’d come back from the continent after almost three years abroad. Nick was beginning to think there wasn’t a woman alive who could hold their interest for more than an hour.

“Yes, how rich,” Oliver agreed in a pleasant tone. “Now, off to the drawing room with you.” He dismissed her lightly with a little tap on the bottom, as if she were a naughty child. With a huff, Miss Dorsett turned and stalked out of view.

“I hope you don’t come to regret that rather cavalier dismissal,” Nick observed, leaning his shoulder against the wall.

“What could you have been thinking to choose that one out of all the women here tonight?” Oliver asked, exasperated. “A ready quim is one thing, of course, but I know for a fact you are not that desperate. I distinctly remember sharing a rather nice fuck just the other night.”

Nick shrugged with one shoulder. “I wanted to fuck tonight. I wasn’t aware there were limitations on that particular pastime.”

“There aren’t.” Oliver leaned his back flat against the opposite wall and crossed his arms while he regarded Nick. “But you aren’t one to indiscriminately fuck when the urge strikes. Care to tell me why tonight was different?”

“It wasn’t.” Nick looked away, toward the drawing room. “I was very discriminating. I determined that this party was a crashing bore and the only thing that could save the evening was a nice, clandestine fuck. With my best friend, of course,” he added, bowing slightly in Oliver’s direction. “And I chose the most willing, and likely, candidate in the vicinity.”

Oliver bowed back. “I thank you for the thought. But next time, let me choose the candidate.”

“Oh no,” Nick said, standing up straight. He pointed at Oliver and glared. “I choose young ladies with loose morals and absent chaperones. You choose wide-eyed, innocent well-bred young ladies who get us shot.”

“I got shot. Not you. And you have never been disappointed in any of my choices.”

“I was greatly disappointed in Mathilde, since she got you shot.”

Oliver sighed. He sounded so long-suffering that Nick had to grit his teeth against his annoyance. “Before I was shot, you were not disappointed,” he pointed out, irritatingly patient. “And I readily admit she was an ill-conceived choice, but how was I to know her ancient husband was such a good shot? Spaniards aren’t known for their accuracy, after all.”

“But they are well-known for their passionate tempers,” Nick ground out. He shook his head. “I knew that, too, and should have said no.”

Oliver grinned conspiratorially. “She was worth it, no?”

“No.” Nick’s reply was flat but adamant. “And neither is this one.” He pleaded, his hands outstretched. “Please, Oliver, not again. There are plenty of merry widows who would gladly share our bed. Please leave this Lady Vanessa alone.”

“She looked so…isolated,” Oliver mused. “As if she lived separate from the world.” He looked at Nick then, and Nick was frozen by the desolation in Oliver’s face. “I know that feeling. She’s very lonely.”

And that was that, wasn’t it? If Oliver wanted Lady Vanessa, then Nick would help him get her. For both of them.

Introduction:

When my first book, Eden’s Pleasure came out with Elloras Cave in 2005 I had a lot of feedback along the lines of “Ooh, you remind me of Samantha Kane!” And I was like,
who is this woman
? I checked on the EC site and there she was. She had a series called ‘Brothers In Arms’, which was set during the Regency period and featured
two soldiers returning to one woman
.

I downloaded that sucker as fast as I could and read it on my PC, (no ereaders in those days) and I LOVED IT.

And when I finally got to meet Samantha she turned out to be funny, witty and great fun to hang out with on a dance floor. Over the years we’ve kept in touch, occasionally been up for the same awards together and been proud of each other’s success. Last year at the Romantic Times conference we were laughing that somehow we’d morphed into the Grand Dames of Regency Erotic Romance and were considered trailblazers by all the young things. So this interview is to set the record straight on how Samantha Kane came to be…

1. Did you always want to be a writer?

Yes, I did. I was in a creative writing class all the way back in elementary school, and entered a local writing contest in 4th grade with a poem about a man who kills his wife. (I don’t have that poem anymore. Not sure why. Perhaps my parents felt it was too macabre.) I went on to write for both my high school and college newspapers, including editorials, and finally gathered the courage to write a book when I went off to graduate school.

Funny story, last year at a New Year’s Eve party we were playing one of those silly games where you pick a card and everyone has to answer a question. The question was, what did you want to be when you grew up? My answer: a writer. One woman looked at me and said, “Fuck you for living the dream.” LOL

2. Did you ever imagine you’d end up writing erotic Regencies? (I didn’t)

No, not really. The first book I wrote bordered on erotic, though I didn’t know it at the time. I didn’t even know that particular genre existed. But I pushed some envelopes and people who read it told me how hot it was. (That book is still awaiting rewrites, as most writers’ first books are.) But then I discovered Ellora’s Cave and erotic romance and it was as if the heavens opened and inspiration rained down upon me. *cue harp music here*

3. Do you
feel
like a Trailblazer?

Actually, sometimes yes. I know the modest answer would be no, but I’ve sworn to tell the truth to the best of my ability. The fact is, that I still read newer books and sometimes think, before Brothers in Arms there were no series like this, at least not published. The funny thing is that at the time, I didn’t. I didn’t see it as anything new or revolutionary or unique. It was just something that I wanted to read and couldn’t find out there and so I wrote it. Only after the fact, and getting feedback from readers and other authors, did I realize that it was an original concept and it started something.

4. What’s the most important thing to you as a writer?

I want my stories to evoke an emotional response in readers. Not just a physical sort of knee jerk Oh-that’s-hot reaction, but something that tears their hearts out and makes them cry and laugh and rejoice with the characters. Everything I write is aimed at getting that emotional response, because I think that’s what readers really want and love. I know I do. And a big part of that is making my characters memorable and sympathetic and identifiable. My writing starts and ends with characters.

5. How has your process changed/developed over the years?

I started out a ‘pantser’. I just started writing and let the story go wherever it wanted until it arrived at a sort of end. Now I’m a plotter. I plot the heck out of a book, mainly because it’s my weak point as a writer. I could go on and on and on about the characters I love, from what they had for breakfast to how they spend each and every minute of every day. But that would make for some very boring,
Ulysses
-like stories, and God knows I don’t want to go there. So I plot out very meticulously what I want to happen and what needs to happen to get from point A to point Z in the most efficient and entertaining way. Plotting has been my salvation as a writer. And I think the difference shows. If you look at my first four books you can see that meandering path. But with my science fiction story
Tomorrow
, and the fifth Brothers in Arms story,
Retreat From Love
, the writing is cleaner and the stories much more focused and intricate.

6. What do you think are the most important things about writing an erotic historical?

Believability would be number one. We know we’re dealing with a time period where the characters we write—mainly upper class, well-to-do British characters, would not engage in the sorts of erotic relationships we write about. So we have to create a world within a world—a place where these things could believably happen. I’m always telling people that there’s as much world building in an historical series as there is in a paranormal series, it’s just a different kind. We have to maintain the integrity of the history while creating a fictional playground where our characters can interact. For Brothers in Arms I created a select group of friends who were veterans of the Peninsular Wars and who suffered from PTSD (although it wasn’t named such at the time or discussed in that way), and who are willing to accept each others idiosyncrasies and polyamorous relationships because they understand the difficulties of adjusting to civilian life after the atrocity of war.

The second most important aspect of writing erotic historical romance is research. In order to create our world within a world, we have to fully understand the history of the world in which we are working. Doing the proper research also makes the stories more believable.

The third most important thing is to remember that even though we’re writing historical romance, we’re writing it for a contemporary audience. There can be too much historical detail, and even too much historical accuracy, for a contemporary reader. Writers need to make sure to keep it sexy and exciting for a modern reader.

7. What would your advice be to new writers? NY, Digital or Self-Pub?

My advice would be to just write what you love. Then do the market research as to where you think the best venue for the story is. I really think the industry is equalizing all of these publishing venues, and the important thing is to be realistic about your own time and talents, and do the market research, listen to what industry insiders are saying, don’t believe the extremes, and go for it. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer for anyone, just different approaches with similar outcomes.

BUT, before you make this decision, during the writing process, join a writer’s group of some kind. Get a critique partner. Editing is a positive process, not a roadblock. You want to produce the most polished, entertaining product you can to bring readers back for more. Never publish, or allow to be published, anything that isn’t your very best work.

8. What’s your favorite book that you’ve written?

I can’t. That’s like asking me which is my favorite child. I love them all! I put my heart and soul into every book. I love different things about each one. Cherry Pie (which I’m planning to re-release sometime next year) is my most emotional book, I think. I love the characters from At Love’s Command, which has the most fun hero to write, Derek Knightly. I love the letters that begin each chapter of Retreat From Love. The futuristic setting of Tomorrow was so much fun to create, and I love all the little subtle (and not so subtle) tributes to Star Wars. Love’s Fortress has my most physically and emotionally damaged characters and is my most emotional historical. The Saint’s Devils , my non-erotic historical series, has a character based on Sherlock Holmes who looks like Thomas Jefferson and a reformed gang leader from St. Giles—what’s not to love there?! And Islands was a tribute to my father and his service in the Pacific during WWII. So you see? I can’t choose. It’s impossible.

9. What other writers do you admire? (apart from me obviously ;))

This is a hard one. Admire is quite different from love. I love to read lots of different authors. But admire? Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, of course. She was my first romance book, and I loved everything she wrote. Talk about a trailblazer! There was no romance genre until she began writing it. I admire Eloisa James. She’s a class act all the way, and was a bit of a trailblazer herself. Her historical romances were so different than any others on the market when she began writing. Laurel K. Hamilton for going where no one in mainstream fiction had gone before, with her zombie hunting female lead character and polyamorous storylines. Lee Child for showing us that you can have a character with almost no emotional growth or arc and keep him fresh and exciting and make readers love him time and time again. He gives the readers what they want, which is something a lot of authors ignore in their quest for accolades from the writing community.