Inspirational Romance – Vanessa Kelly, Author

I’m so pleased to have acclaimed historical and romantic suspense writer Cheryl Bolen on the blog today. Cheryl is the author of more than a dozen Regency-set historical romance novels. Her books have placed in several writing contests, including the Daphne du Maurier, and have been translated into 11 languages. She was named Notable New Author in 1999, and in 2006 she won the Holt Medallion (Honoring Outstanding Literary Talent) for Best Short Historical Novel. Her books have become Barnes & Noble and Amazon bestsellers.

Cheryl also writes romantic suspense as well as Regency romance, so let’s find out about that, too.

You had a distinguished career as a journalist before you began writing romance. Why the switch and why the Regency Period?

I didn’t consciously decide to switch. I wrote the two simultaneously for many years. My first efforts at fiction were romantic suspense, but I wasn’t able to sell those. After I sold my first book, a historical romance titled A Duke Deceived, in 1997, I just decided I’d rather write fiction exclusively. I still like doing articles and blogging about Regency England, which is all non-fiction.

You’ve recently taken another branch in your career – writing for Amazon’s Montlake imprint. Was it hard to switch gears from historical romance to romantic suspense?

When Montlake originally approached me to write for them, it was on the strength of my historical romance sales, but then when they said they were looking for serial authors, I instantly thought romantic suspense was a better fit for serials. Before I sold my first book, I’d had a lot of success with romantic suspense in contests for unpublished authors, but after I sold a historical, I put all my eggs in one basket, which isn’t the best thing to do for job security. After I started indie publishing some of my out-of-print historicals, I decided to publish some—but not all—of the romantic suspense novels that had never found a publisher. Not every one was well written enough, but surprisingly, the first book I ever wrote (Capitol Offense) when I was in my early twenties didn’t suck too badly. After re-editing it and updating it a lot, it’s now out, and the reviews have been favorable.

What can you tell us about the new book. It’s in serial form, right?

So glad you asked about my serial, Vanessa! In my Kindle Serial I’ve combined two of my favorite things: traveling to see England’s stately homes with researching English history. My lighthearted romantic suspense, Falling for Frederick, is about a lovely doctoral student who comes across the dead body of the curator of archives in the basement of Siddley Manor, owned by Frederick Percy, Lord of Rockford. Together, my heroine and Frederick have to crisscross England, searching stately homes for a priceless medieval artifact which may lead them to the murderer.

I’d like to say a word here about the Kindle Serials. At present, they offer a new episode of approximately 10,000 words (3 chapters for me) every two weeks. They may be changing the frequency to every week. Whenever someone purchases one of these serials, they pay a one-time fee of $1.99 and automatically get all episodes that have thus far been published. Then each new installment is free. When mine is finished at the end of April, Falling for Frederick will be available as a full-length novel as well as an audio book. It won’t be available internationally until that time. Currently, it’s only available at Amazon.

What’s up next in Cheryl’s writing world?

I’ve been catching my breath. I just finished writing the serial. I had two books come out in October, including a Regency-set inspirational romance (Marriage of Inconvenience) for Love Inspired Historical, a division of Harlequin. Like with Montlake, the senior editor there asked me to write for Love Inspired. She was a joy to work with, and I’ve found a huge market of readers who don’t necessarily want their romances sexy. I need to do proposals for a second stately home murder featuring Frederick and Antonia as well as Book 3 in my well-received Regent Mystery series.

Sounds great! Folks, Cheryl is graciously giving away a copy of her new Harlequin book, Marriage of Inconvenience. To be eligible to win, just tell us which genre you prefer, historical romance or romantic suspense, and a bit about why. Or do you like both?

And by sure to stop by Cheryl’s website for info on all her books!

I’m very excited about my guest blogger today. She’s Deeanne Gist, and she writes “edgy” inspirational historical romances. Her delightful books have received HUGE amounts of critical acclaim. She’s won two consecutive Christy Awards, is a three-time nominee for the RITA Award, and has been nominated for or won an astounding number of other awards, too.

And here’s just one example of the reviews Deeanne consistently garners, this one for Deep in the Heart of Trouble, which received a Top Pick from RT Books Reviews:

“Gist does it again! Her signature prose is consistent and she delivers a thoroughly delightful and entertaining story that’s worthy of our time and attention. Not only won’t you want to put this book down, you’ll want to enjoy this story again and again.”

Deeanne has a new book out called Love on the Line, a historical romance starring a rural telephone operator and a dashing Texas Ranger.

And now I’m going to turn things over to Deeanne, so she can tell us all about her new book.

ONE RINGY-DINGY…

We have an old rotary pay phone hanging on a wall in our gameroom. I’d always get tickled when teenagers came over and asked how to use it. Yet I found myself in that exact same position while researching my new release, Love on the Line. It’s about a turn-of-the-century switchboard operator and a Texas Ranger who goes undercover as a telephone repairman.

The only exposure I’d had to switchboards was from the old Laugh-In episodes with Lily Tomlin (dating myself here). Suffice it to say, I had a lot to learn. Not just about switchboards, but about how telephones worked back in the day. Since my book is set in a rural Texas town, there were party lines. I wasn’t sure how those worked either.

Then, of course, my hero was an undercover telephone repairman. So, I also had to learn how to repair the phones, string the lines, climb a telephone pole, etc. It was quite the education. Did you know they didn’t use safety straps back then? The men simply climbed the pole, then wrapped one leg around it to hold them steady while they did their work. Crazy!

And the telephone operator did much more than connect two parties together. She served as News Central and answered a huge range of questions. What’s playing at the opera house? Who came in on the afternoon train? Where’s the doc? Are the streets outside of town dry or muddy? I lost my cow, will you find out if anyone has seen her?

Talk about having to know everybody’s business! And the party lines were a hoot. Several people would share the same line. Each family had a specific ring. For example, the Smiths might have three short rings. But the Jones had two shorts and one long. Even still, everyone on your line heard the ring and if they wished to pick up and listen in, they certainly could.

Bottom line, I no longer rib the kids when they don’t know how to use our rotary. I simply show them how it works and feel rewarded that I’m passing along a little slice of history to this generation of techno-wizards.

Vanessa, here. Deeanne, thanks for that lovely glimpse into the past. Readers, I bet that whetted your appetite for Love on the Line, didn’t it? And here’s the blurb to pique your interest even more:

Rural switchboard operator Georgie Gail is proud of her independence in a man’s world … which makes it twice as vexing when the telephone company sends a man to look over her shoulder.

Dashing Luke Palmer is more than he appears though. He’s a Texas Ranger working undercover to infiltrate a notorious gang of train robbers. Repairing telephones and tangling with this tempestuous woman is the last thing he wants to do. But when his stakeout puts Georgie in peril, he realizes more than his job is on the line.

Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? And what an original sounding story! For more about Love on the Line, visit Deeanne’s beautiful website. While you’re there, make sure to check out her blog and sign up for her newsletter.

For my readers today, Deeanne is giving away a copy of Love on the Line. Just tell me if you remember having a rotary phone in your house, or whether you’ve only ever used a mobile or walk-around phone. One person who comments will win a copy of Deeanne’s wonderful book.

Guest Author: Cheryl Bolen & Giveaway!!

Guest Author: Deeanne Gist & Giveaway!