1. Did you always
dream of being a writer?
I always loved to write but I never really dreamed of
being a writer until I finished my first full length novel and realized it
might actually be good.
2. How did your
writing career develop?
In a word – sex. I wrote my first book as a historical
romance/coming of age story entitled Idyllwild. I submitted it to numerous publishers
and agents, and received nothing but silence and rejections in return. So I
deleted the first few chapters about a girl growing up in the country, spiced
up the love scenes and added a few more. Voila – I had a relatively tame erotic
historical romance entitled Portrait of Passion. I submitted it to a publisher
specializing in erotica and a wonderful young editor found it in the slush pile
and offered me a contract for a three book series. I learned a lot from that
experience and now self-publish my books, enjoying the freedom to make each
book as sexy as the story and characters dictate.
3. Your newest novel
is called Taming
Beauty, what is it about?
Taming
beauty is the story Miss Lilith Aberdeen, an independent young woman living on
the fringes of London society who allows herself to be drawn into the Earl of
Dunaway’s machinations to marry off her sister to Baron Malleville, a reclusive
Cornishman.
4. What was your
inspiration for the book?
I’ve always loved the Beauty and the Beast fairy
tale. Not the modern, animated version, but the older, darker versions written
and rewritten in the eighteenth century, with the tangled familial relationships
and sibling rivalries underlying the romantic tale.
5. Can you tell us
more about the main character(s)?
Lilith is the illegitimate daughter of the
Earl of Dunaway and Gwendolyn Aberdeen, a notorious courtesan from a long line
of courtesans. Raised by her selfish, melodramatic mother and her mostly absent
rogue of a father, Lilith is a bit jaded and not the least interested in love,
marriage, familial affection or other fairy tales of a fantastical nature. Jasper
Grimley, Baron Malleville, has lived in self-imposed exile in Cornwall for more
than two decades, punishing himself for his youthful follies and caring for his
family as best he can while rebuilding the estate he nearly destroyed. At first
glance, Jasper is the wounded beast of the tale, but as their story unfolds, it
becomes clear that it is Lilith who is in need of healing and taming.
6. Where and when do
you write your stories?
I write whenever I have a few hours to devote to a
story, often late into the night when the house is quiet and my tired brain
somehow reaches deep into my subconscious for inspiration. As for where I
write, my husband created a beautiful office for me tucked away in the farthest
corner of our house. He decorated it like a nineteenth century lady’s sitting
room with soft blue and creamy-white walls, elegant, spindly-legged furniture,
a wire mannequin to display my corset collection, silk fans on the walls and a
pillow-strewn daybed.
7. What do you do and
enjoy when you’re not writing?
I love to read, of course. I like to cook when
the mood strikes me, explore historic sites and cities, close the drapes, turn
off the lights and binge watch tv series for hours on end, spend time doing
anything at all with my wonderful husband and my son (when he can spare time
from his busy schedule for his mother), and love on our menagerie of rescued
dogs and cats.
8. If you could switch
places with a characters from a book, who would it be and why?
Elizabeth
Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. I’ve always felt somehow connected to her
character, with her love for her family no matter how they plague her, her
refusal to settle for security or sacrifice her future happiness, her ability
to not only recognize when she has been wrong but to admit it, own it and move
on. And she gets to wear all those lovely, diaphanous gowns and live happily
ever after with Mr. Darcy. What could be sweeter?
9. What books have influenced your life most?
Pride and
Prejudice, because it introduced me to the regency era in a way no college
professor or text book ever could, and touched a chord in me with its
complicated family dynamic.
10. What are you working on at the moment?
I am currently
writing Courting Chaos, the second book in what will be a four book series featuring
the Earl of Dunaway’s daughters.
11. What do you enjoy
most about writing?
I enjoy so much about it, but mostly I just love creating
characters and then allowing them to grow and expand as they will, even when
they take off down paths I hadn’t anticipated when I began their stories.
12. Pick three authors
you want to have dinner with and tell us why.
Loretta Chase, first and
foremost. She has inspired me with the strong, independent, complicated
heroines she has created and I imagine her to be very like them. Jane Austin,
of course, because she lived in a complex era for women and managed to navigate
it with grace and elegance and a certain degree of independence. And finally,
Anne Rice, because she seems a bit eccentric and her erotic fairy tales are
simply sublime.
13. Imagine Taming Beauty would be turned into a movie, who
would you cast for the main characters?
Tamsin Egerton to play Lilith, Jake
Gyllenhaal to play Jasper, and Rob Lowe to play the Earl of Dunaway.
14. You have published
a lot of books, can you tell us more about some of them?
Portrait of Passion,
Widow’s Wicked Wish and Unraveling the Earl make up my three book Idyllwild
Series. They tell the tale of three siblings bound together in ways they have
only just discovered. Beatrice, Olivia and Henry are very different characters
and each travels a different path to reach Idyllwild and find love, passion and
forgiveness. Fans of historical romance with plenty of heat will enjoy this
series, especially Unraveling the Earl which is my favorite of all the books
I’ve written to date.
15. How would you
describe your style of writing?
I write emotional, sensual romances featuring
unorthodox heroines and steadfast heroes, convoluted familial connections,
unravelling secrets and surprises, and plenty of twists and turns to keep the
reader engaged until the very last page.
16. Coffee or tea?
One
tall coffee with plenty of sugar and milk first thing in the morning and
multiple unsweetened iced-teas throughout the day.
17.Paperback or
e-reader?
E-reader all the way these days. I just love being able to carry my
entire library around me with me!
18. Mountains or the
sea?
I love the sea…I even have a scene in Taming Beauty where Lilith sees the
ocean for the first time and thoroughly loses her composure at the vastness of
it.
19. Summer or winter?
I
live in South Florida, so most years I find myself desperate for even a week of
winter, but at heart I’m a summer gal.
20. Sweet or salty?
Both. Together. I snack on sweet raisins and salted almonds all day.
Author Bio & Social Media Links
Write About What You Know.
Every Creative Writing Teacher and College
Professor said these words to Lynne Barron in one form or another. But what did
she know?
She knew she enjoyed the guilty pleasure of
reading romance novels whenever she could find time between studying, working
and raising her son as a single mother.
She knew quite a bit about women's lives in the
Regency and Victorian era from years spent bouncing back and forth between
European History and English Literature as a major in college.
She knew precious little about romance except to
know that it was more than the cliché card and a dozen red roses on Valentine's
Day.
Then she met her wonderfully romantic husband
and finally she knew.
Passion, Love and Romance.
And she began to write.
Website:
http://www.lynnebarron.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/lynnebarron06
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Lynne-Barron/e/B00IQS82DU
No comments:
Post a Comment