Tantalizing Tuesday

Hello everyone! It gives me great pleasure to bring you another one of the neat ladies I met at Romance Bandits -

Anna Campbell!!!

Since we're entering November, a time that we should be thankful, and many of us are struggling to find reasons to be thankful for many reasons (spouse/person we know in Iraq, someone we love fighting cancer, or having lost someone in our lives), we need to remember to look past our troubles and be thankful for what we have. Easier said than done, right?

Well, sometimes laughter is the best medicine, or escaping to a different place works too. That's what books are for. In a time when so many of our favorite movies and TV shows are being remade due to lack of an original idea, many authors continue to come up with original ideas, and Anna Campbell is one of those authors!

I managed to pick up Untouched and Tempt the Devil from my local libraries and have them in front of me right now. I just did what I would do if I found them in a store - pick them up and read the first page. The problem with doing that is, I almost forgot I was supposed to be writing this blog intro. It was quite painful to pry myself away!

Who wouldn't want to know why people were referring to Grace Paget (Untouched) as a whore, especially when the girl herself didn't know? But that's what's so great about the start of this story, the reader is just as confused as the heroine. Truly wonderful beginning.

While Tempt the Devil starts out differently, the reader still wants to know why the Earl of Erith wanted Olivia Raines for his next mistress and why she had such power over him without having spoken a word yet.

That's the power that Anna Campbell has. She hooks you with a great piece of meat and happily you chomp on it as she reels you in! Her latest work, Captive of Sin, seems to be in that same fashion. I heard about some nightgown issues that just fascinated me, because I love nightgown issues!

Not only is she a great author, but she's a very neat person to talk to. We've had some very great discussions via email, and it's no wonder why I've brought her into the moonlight today. She's just not someone to keep to yourself, but a treasure you must share! I hope all of enjoy her interview as much I do!

In case you aren't aware of it, Anna Campbell lives on the other side of the ocean from us, so we gave her some slightly different questions.

Let’s start with some trivia about you:

ME: In the U.S., we celebrate Thanksgiving with a large feast (akin to early harvest celebrations), family gathering and in some cases, prayer. Do you have a similar holiday in your country? If so, what is it called and when do you celebrate it?

ANNA: Hey, Carrie and Moonlighters, thanks for having me as your guest! And happy Thanksgiving to you and your readers! I love the idea of a holiday where one gives thanks. We actually don’t have an official holiday like that down here in Australia. The closest we’d come – well, at least we eat lots including turkey, and it’s a real family gathering – is Christmas. We adopted a lot of the British Christmas traditions, although these days, we’re such a multicultural society, anything goes. Because it’s generally really, REALLY hot, the big Dickens Christmas with all that food and plum pudding has been replaced in some families by seafood or a barbecue. Lots of people go to the beach. Oh, by the way, my family always does the big traditional thing. You feel awful eating all that heavy food when it’s sweltering, but that’s part of our Christmas experience in Oz!

ME: What, if any, holiday traditions (decorating, gathering with friends and family for a meal, etc.) do you have?

ANNA: Well, Christmas, as I said, includes a lot of the British stuff. You know, trees and decorations and carols and lots of cards with snow on it – never really got that! Not a lot of snow in Australia at Christmas, although I did visit Tasmania one December and there was snow on Mount Wellington up behind Hobart. My poor little Queensland self in her shorts nearly froze her nether parts off!

ME: What was your most memorable holiday and why?

ANNA: Oh, too many to mention. Just pulling one out of the air, I think it was when my brother and his wife brought their first child and the first niece/grandchild in my generation down for her first Christmas. There was something lovely about the continuation of the family at that celebration.

ME: If you were to have a Thanksgiving meal with us, which would you put on your plate: white or dark turkey, white potatoes or yams, green beans or corn, bread rolls or crescent rolls? (If you have other ideas for a Thanksgiving feast, please share them!)

ANNA: MMMMM! Roast dinners! I don’t think I’ve ever had a yam. Is that like a sweet potato? I’d definitely have both types of turkey, potatoes, green beans and corn, and probably crescent rolls. Is there gravy? I love gravy with my roast dinners!

ME: What, in your opinion, was the oddest food served at a holiday dinner you’ve attended?

ANNA: One of the funniest – well, in a macabre way! – was when my brother caught a stack of mudcrabs and Mum decided to do a special entrée. Mudcrabs are a large and rather aggressive local crustacean from Moreton Bay where I grew up. The entrée was delicious however cooking the crabs was a bit of a fiasco. They kept getting away from us and clattering across the kitchen floor. Herding an army of angry mudcrabs with a broom? Priceless!

ME: Tell us 3 things you are thankful for this year, please.

ANNA: What a lovely question! Only three? OK, I’m always thankful for my lovely friends. Life would be so much poorer without them. I’m thankful my fifth book has just been accepted by Avon (MY RECKLESS SURRENDER, summer 2010), especially as for a lot of my life, I didn’t think I’d ever see one of my books in print. I’m thankful for my tottering TBR pile. How cool that I’ve got all those wonderful books ahead of me! What bliss!

ME: Just for fun, if you could be among any of the original members of that first Thanksgiving, who would it be, the Pilgrims or the Wampanoag (Native Americans)? Why?

ANNA: Hmm, given my fondness for roast dinners, I don’t think I should be running around revealing too much flesh. I think those copious black dresses that cover EVERYTHING might be just the ticket. So a Pilgrim’s hat for me!

ME: Considering that feast, what do you think that first harvest celebration meal would be? What would the meal be if it happened in your country?

ANNA: Man, I’m learning a lot doing this blog. I had no idea what they ate at the first Thanksgiving. And now, thanks to the History Channel, I’ve got a really good idea. Check out this link: http://www.history.com/content/thanksgiving/the-first-thanksgiving And there’s a menu too – might have skipped the seal and the eagle! But the seafood looks great! In Australia, if there had been a Thanksgiving dinner in 1788 when the first settlers landed, I think they would have had goat and mutton (brought over from England), kangaroo, fish and shellfish (Sydney’s coastline abounds in great seafood), birds like pelicans or herons, potatoes, turtles, maybe seaweed soup! Farming was a problem for the first settlers so I doubt they would have had many greens!

Now, let’s get to your writing:

ME: Why historical? Why hot romance versus actual regency? What’s the draw?

ANNA: I’ve always loved historical romance, right back to when I was a little girl and I used to watch Errol Flynn swashbuckle his way into many a wench’s heart. I love the way a great historical sweeps you into a different world – and hey, the glamorous clothes and settings don’t hurt either! If you’re talking about traditional Regency, the market for that has pretty much evaporated, sadly. It’s a pity. I used to enjoy a lot of those books. I think a higher level of sensuality suits the passionate, intense stories I tell and I love the way the characters are naked (in every sense of the word!) in a good sex scene!

ME: If you could describe your writing with a word or phrase, what would it be? What do you want readers to take with them when they've finished reading your story?

ANNA: I use the phrase ‘passionate historical romance’ in my marketing material and I think that pretty much covers it. I hope readers go through an intense emotional journey with my stories and emerge with a sigh of satisfaction as my characters get their happy ending after all their travails.

ME: Have you ever written holidays into your stories? Why or why not?

ANNA: What a good question! I haven’t written any holidays into my stories – I guess it’s just never occurred to me. Yeah, I know, that’s a wimp of an answer.

ME: Who decides what you write about, you or your muse? What kind of influence do you have over your story, or is the muse always the one basting the turkey?

ANNA: Mmm, turkey… Mind you, I’m still waiting to find out if I get gravy! What was the question again? Oh, muses. I tend to write from my subconscious, which I suppose you could say is where my muse lives. I know if I try to get the characters to do what I want instead of what they want, they go quiet on me and the book doesn’t progress. Mind you, the upside of that is that if the characters are in charge, I know the story’s coming alive.

ME: Have you ever based a character on a real-life person? If so, why? Was it simply to immortalize them or was there more to it than that? If you can, tell us the name of that person, please! We’re all curious here!

ANNA: Actually I haven’t! Really, truly. I’m sure elements of people I’ve known have crept into my characters but I’ve never consciously based a character on someone I know.

ME: What character did you have the most fun creating and why?

ANNA: Actually my characters tend to pop up from my subconscious fairly fully formed so I’m not sure how much creating I actually do. My hero and heroine go through such hard times, perhaps fun isn’t the best description for writing their stories. I usually have great fun with secondaries though. Ben Ashton, Verity’s Yorkshire-speaking brother, in CLAIMING THE COURTESAN was huge fun, especially when he was pretending to be Ben Ahbood, the mute eunuch. In UNTOUCHED, my fun character was actually a dog. Wolfram was great to write about. In TEMPT THE DEVIL, the fun character was Olivia’s gay friend Perry with his awful taste in home decor. He was such fun, he makes a reappearance in MY RECKLESS SURRENDER. In CAPTIVE OF SIN, I loved writing about the hero’s best friend, Akash. He’s one of those smooth, incredibly capable, rather mysterious types who turns up when you most want him. A little like an Indian James Bond!

ME: If you had the opportunity to meet just one of your characters in real life, who would it be and why? Which of your characters would you never want to meet under any circumstance and why?

ANNA: Oh, my goodness, what an interesting question. Clearly I’d LOVE to meet all my heroes – but then I might have trouble choosing between them. Hmm, I have enormous respect for Olivia Raines from TEMPT THE DEVIL and I think she’d have an unusual perspective on life. Actually, I think I’d like to met Wolfram. He was such a nice pooch! ;-)

I’ve written a couple of dastardly villains. Kylemore’s mum from CLAIMING THE COURTESAN was awful! Matthew’s uncle from UNTOUCHED was even worse, I think. In CAPTIVE OF SIN, Charis’s stepbrothers are really greedy and violent but I don’t think QUITE as bad as the other two I mentioned. I don’t want any of these people moving in next door, thank you very much!

BLURB:

He pledged his honor to keep her safe . . .

Returning home to Cornwall after unspeakable tragedy, Sir Gideon Trevithick comes upon a defiant beauty in danger, and vows to protect her whatever the cost. He’s dismayed to discover that she’s none other than Lady Charis Weston, England’s wealthiest heiress—and that the only way to save her from the violent stepbrothers determined to steal her fortune is to wed her himself! Now Gideon must hide the dark secrets of his life from the bride he desires more with every heartbeat.

She promised to show him how to love—and desire--again . . .

Charis has heard all about Gideon, the dangerously handsome hero with the mysterious past. She’s grateful for his help, but utterly unwilling to endure a marriage of convenience—especially to a man whose touch leaves her breathless. Desperate to drive him mad with passion, she would do anything to make Gideon lose control—and fall captive to irresistible, undeniable sin.

EXCERPT:

Winchester, early February, 1821

“Good God, what have we here?”

The man’s deep voice pierced Charis’s pain-ridden doze. She flinched, stirring from her cramped position. For one dazed moment, she wondered why she was shivering in fetid straw, instead of snuggled in her bed at Holcombe Hall.

Blazing agony struck and she stifled an involuntary moan. And a curse for her rank stupidity.

How could she forget the danger long enough to fall asleep?

But she’d been blind with exhaustion when she’d stumbled into the stable behind the sprawling inn. Unable to manage another step even though she hadn’t come far enough to be safe.

Now she wasn’t safe at all.

The light from the man’s lantern dazzled her bleary eyes. She discerned little more than a tall shape looming outside the stall. Choking with panic, she clawed upright until she huddled against the rough planking. Blood pulsed like thunder in her ears.

Muffling a whimper as she moved her injured left arm, Charis crossed shaking hands over her torn bodice. Scenting her terror, the big chestnut horse that filled most of the space shifted restively.

As the man lifted the lantern to illuminate Charis’s corner, she shied away. Beyond the ring of yellow light that surrounded him, menacing shadows thickened and multiplied up to the high pitched ceiling.

“Please don’t be frightened.” The stranger made a curiously truncated gesture with one black-gloved hand. “I mean you no harm.”

The rich baritone was sheathed in warm concern. He made no overt movement toward her. Charis’s crippling fear didn’t subside. Men, she’d learned from cruel experience, lied. Even men with velvet voices, smooth and cultured.

A sharp twinge in her chest reminded her she hadn’t drawn breath since he’d found her. The air she sucked into her starved lungs reeked of horse manure, hay dust and the sour stink of her own fear.

She turned her head and really looked at the man. Her throat jammed with shock.

He was utterly beautiful.



We might have tall red woods,


but take a look at this image from Tasmania (and it's not their tallest)!