Ways to Be Wicked (30 page)

THE DISH

Where authors give you the inside scoop!

From the desks of Julie Anne Long and Sarah McKerrigan

Dear Readers:

From fiery ballerinas to kidnapping hunks to marrying a rock star, Julie Anne Long and Sarah McKerrigan dish in this author-to-author interview.

JULIE: Hey, Sarah! What on earth are we going to do for our Dish thing? Do you want to talk about your book? Frankly
, I
want to talk about your book. Specifically, I’d like to know why your heroine is gripping a big dagger. And how do I get abs like hers? And who is that bestubbled hunk lurking in the shadows? What’s their story?

SARAH: That buff and brazen blonde is Helena, one of the three warrior maids of Rivenloch, and there’s a very good reason she’s wielding that sword. See, this cocky Norman knight, Pagan Cameliard, is about to subject Helena’s little sister to a fate worse than death: marriage. In order to save poor Miriel, Helena decides to kidnap Colin du Lac, bestubbled hunk and Pagan’s right-hand man, to use him as a hostage. Thus the book’s title,
CAPTIVE HEART
(on sale now). Speaking of titles, I
love
yours! How did you come up with
WAYS TO BE WICKED
? How many ways are there? And can we learn them by reading your book? Tell me more.

JULIE: Ah, so
that’s
the secret to a toned body— kidnapping hunks! (But don’t try this at home, boys and girls.) It sounds like your heroine, Helena, knows a thing or two about being wicked. And
speaking
of
WAYS TO BE WICKED
(how’s that for a segue?): I found that title by riffling through my ’80s record collection—it’s the name of a great old Lone Justice song. And there are
infinite
ways to be wicked, by the way. (You can see my hero and heroine, Sylvie Lamoreux and Tom Shaughnessy, engaged in one of the more, ahem,
popular
ones on the cover of the book.) Sylvie is a fiery ballerina and the darling of the Paris Opera when a mysterious letter sends her across the English Channel in search of a past she never knew she had. She lands—literally—in the lap of London’s most notorious man, the gorgeous Tom Shaughnessy, owner of the bawdy White Lily theater, and fireworks ensue.

WAYS TO BE WICKED
(on sale now) is the second book in my Regency-set trilogy about the Holt sisters, three girls separated when they were very young when their mother, the mistress of a famous politician, was framed for his murder and forced to flee, leaving them behind.
Beauty and the Spy
is the first book in that trilogy. Isn’t
CAPTIVE HEART
part of a series, too, Sarah? Can you talk a little bit about it? And speaking of secret pasts—don’t you have a little secret past of your own?

SARAH: Wow, Julie, it looks like we have more than a few things in common! Yes,
CAPTIVE HEART
is also my second book in a trilogy about sisters, though mine are Scots warrior maids, twelfth-century damsels in shining armor. In my first novel,
Lady Danger,
that same doomed-to-be-wed Miriel is saved from the altar by the sacrifice of her oldest sister, Deirdre, who disguises herself as Pagan’s bride. Unfortunately, all this happens unbeknownst to Helena, who is already escorting Colin away at swordpoint. But Colin deems wild Helena a rather captivating captor, and Helena’s resolve to ransom him is somewhat compromised when she becomes, well,
compromised.
Still, it takes a return to the besieged Rivenloch castle, where they’re forced to fight a common foe, to bring the lovers together at last.

As for
my
story, why yes, I
do
have a secret past! I started out as a singer in The Pinups, an all-girl rock-and-roll band, played drums once in a Tom Jones video, and married the current bass player of the classic rock band America. But I’m not the only one with a musical backstory. Hit it, Julie!

JULIE: OK, I confess: I wanted to be the female version of Bono when I grew up, so I played guitar, sang, and wrote songs in San Francisco bands for years. But you know, Sarah, when you think about it . . . now that we’re romance authors, we still spend our days with passionate men who excel at, um, wielding their instruments. (Ha!) We just write stories about them.

Sincerely,

WAYS TO BE WICKED

www.julieannelong.com

CAPTIVE HEART

www.sarahmckerrigan.com