Interview with romance author Linda Nightingale

My special guest today is Linda Nightingale and we’re talking about two of her paranormal sci-fi romance audiobooks, Morgan D’Arcy: A Vampyre Rhapsody and Love for Sale.

During her virtual book tour, Linda will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky, randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.

Bio:

Born in South Carolina, Linda has lived in England, Canada, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta and Houston. She’s seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a truck pulling a horse trailer, having bred, trained and showed Andalusian horses for many years.

Linda has won several writing awards, including the Georgia Romance Writers Magnolia Award and the SARA Merritt. She retired from a career as a retired legal assistant, just joined the Houston BMW Club, and the stars in her crown—two wonderful sons. In a former life, she must have had to walk everywhere because today she is into transportation with fine taste in expensive horses and hot cars! She likes to dress up and host formal dinner parties.

Please share a little bit about your current release.

Now in audiobook as well as print and eBook, Morgan D’Arcy: A Vampyre Rhapsody, a paranormal, follows a vampire on a journey through his loves over the centuries. The book is comprised of short stores, each with a different heroine.

The greatest enemy of a vampire is boredom. Four centuries of existence have taught Lord Morgan Gabriel D'Arcy to fear nothing and no one. Humans and their weapons have little chance against his preternatural speed and arcane powers. Vampires are viral mutations of human DNA. Still, the Vampyre code requires secrecy, and he has learned to hide his nature from the world. The lure of mortality, of a life in the sun, puts Morgan again and again at the mercy of calculating human women though they fail to consider his charm and determination into the equation. However, even grooming a future bride from infancy proves to be fraught with heartbreak. And second chances are not always what they seem unless... you are Morgan. Immortality and beauty, aren’t they grand?

Love for Sale is a sci-fi romance about a disillusioned dreamer and her perfect man—a sentient android indistinguishable from human. March signs on the dotted line buying Christian. Soon, they are embroiled in lies and secrets that threaten their happiness—indeed their lives.

March Morgan still believes in true love, but her faith in finding her soul mate is slowly vanishing. She’s been married but never in love. So, it is a miracle to find that fantasy exists on the last page of a glossy women’s journal. Mayfair Electronics, Ltd., in black and white, offers Love for Sale. The London firm has engineered sentient androids indistinguishable from humans. She flies to England and meets the man she has been searching for her entire life.

Christian requires no programming to love March at first sight. He’s handsome, cultured…absolutely perfect…and a little different from the other androids. He has an unexpected independent streak. March signs on the dotted line, buying her dream man. They return to Houston, but soon her past and his future threaten their Happily Ever After—indeed their lives.

What inspired you to write this book?

Rhapsody is a companion book to Sinners’ Opera, Morgan’s and Isabeau’s story. They are the hero and heroine in Sinners’ Opera. (more about that later). It tells of Morgan’s love affairs over the century…until he finally meets his soul mate, Isabeau.

Love for Sale was inspired by the early robots. I wondered what androids that were totally like humans would be like. My Muse awoke, and we imagined an answer. Love for Sale began life as a short story and won first place in the Houston Writers Guild short story contest.


Excerpt from Rhapsody:

“I didn’t expect to be greeted by an English lord when I applied for the Andorra position.” She swirled the red wine in her glass. “I must say I am more than intrigued. If my situation at the Institut were such that I could volunteer my services…”

“I’m quite willing to pay.” I nodded to the sommelier. “Pour, please.”

He delivered a new glass, filling it with a wine to compliment the starter. I wished I could taste the white Bordeaux, but I’d be violently ill. With my fresh glass, I saluted my savior. Some god somewhere had answered my prayer. She gave me a stunning smile, raising her wine stem in acknowledgment.

I returned my untouched beverage to the table. “I have a few questions, if I may.”

She inclined her head, the mellow light caressing her glossy auburn hair. Amusement twinkled in her eyes. Dr. Wolfe was fully aware she had ambushed me, gaining the temporary advantage.

“I’m sure you know this is a dangerous adventure. Of greater importance, to me, you must keep everything you learn in the strictest confidence.”

She frowned. “The Institut is, of course, interested in the Andorran tragedy. I’d thought to use my findings in my work.”

“That’s quite impossible.”

“Why does an English nobleman wish to research anthrax?” She sipped her wine, never breaking eye contact. “As you say, the mission is perilous.”

“That, and other revelations, will come in time. If you commit to the position, you will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.”

Amber shouldered back in her chair, crossed her arms, and stared into the distance. I studied the emotions flitting across her face. She was more than interested but not thrilled with the need for secrecy. The whisper of conversation and clink of silverware on china intruded on the sudden quiet as my companion considered the demands of the job. Her pupils dilated, darkening her eyes. Deep in thought, she was truly lovely.

She roused, tossing me a coquettish glance. “You had no idea I’d be a woman, and I didn’t dream my employer would be so handsome, Lord D’Arcy.”

Since both are audiobooks, here are the links to visit my website for audio excerpts:

Rhapsody:    http://lindanightingale.com/morgan-darcy-vampyre-rhapsody/

Love for Sale:           http://lindanightingale.com/love-for-sale/

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m actually working on a vampire novel called Sinners’ Waltz. It’s the prequel to Sinners’ Opera and Sinners’ Obsession, both published by a Canadian publisher. The rights on Sinners’ Opera just reverted to me, and I’ve sent it to my editor at TWRP. Sinners’ Waltz follows Morgan’s final years as a mortal and his mutation into a vampire.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When my first book, Gemini Rising, was published. It has since been reissued as Her Brother’s Wife by Bianca Swan (pen name for my erotic romance) and released by Lot’s Cave Publishing.

Do you write full-time?

Yes. I retired in 2014 from a career as a legal assistant.

If so, what's your work day like?

I don’t write every day. I write when my Muse whispers in my ear.

If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

Promote, or so it seems..

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

All of them. I’m quirky. No, seriously, I overuse ‘glide’. Everybody in my books glides instead of walk, run, etc. I also like to have Morgan tossing his ‘mane’.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A writer.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

If you can’t tell by reading about Morgan, I love tall blond men with long hair and blue eyes. Know any?

Links:

Twitter | Facebook | Website – Visit and look around. There’s a free continuing vampire story.

Blog - Lots of interesting guests & prizes | Goodreads | Pinterest | Amazon

Thank you for being a guest on my blog!

Thank you for allowing my characters and me to be guests!

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Interview with romance author Linda Nightingale

Romance author Linda Nightingale is here today to talk about writing, and her new novel, Love for Sale.

During her virtual book tour, Linda will be awarding a sterling silver and genuine turquoise earrings valued at $45 as well as author-signed swag (US/Canada ONLY, an international winner will receive a choice of one digital book of Linda's) to a lucky, randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Something of a gypsy (actually nothing quite so romantic!) born in South Carolina, Linda has lived in England, Canada, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Houston. She’s seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a truck pulling a horse trailer, having bred, trained and showed Andalusian horses for many years.

Linda has won several writing awards, including the Georgia Romance Writers Magnolia Award. She is the mother of two wonderful sons, a retired legal assistant, member of the Houston Symphony League and enjoys events with her car club. Among her favorite things are her snazzy black convertible and her parlor grand piano. She loves to dress up and host formal dinner parties.

Welcome, Linda. Please tell us a little bit about this book.
Love for Sale is a sci-fi romance that began as a short story. The short story won its category in the Houston Writers Guild contest. Then languished in my computer for years before an author friend encouraged me to make it into a book.

What inspired you to write this book?

I begin any book with one character—typically the hero. He starts the story then other characters enter to tell their tale. I am definitely a punster.


Excerpt from Love for Sale:
“Inane? I find you with another woman in the bedroom, and this conversation is silly? Oh, no, Christian. Did you invite her here?” Why couldn’t she stop hurting herself and let him go, lock the door and email Mayfair for a courier pickup?

Folding his arms across his chest, he leaned against the door. “She knocked. I answered and kept her outside until it started to rain. She was talking about the club and telling me, again, that I’d be a success as a male dancer. Being a success at something would be a bloody miracle. At any rate, half-jokingly, I asked her to teach me to dance. The End.”

“Not quite. Why did you slip her out behind my back?”

“I wished to avoid a scene like this.” His voice shaded deeper, darker. “And I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“There, it’s said. You can come back in now and stop pretending you’re leaving.” She waved a hand, half-heartedly beckoning. “You’ve got nowhere to go.”

He inhaled sharply as if she had punched him in the stomach. “I’m quite aware of that fact. I do not like seeing you this upset. Please call Mayfair tomorrow. I’ll voluntarily deactivate. They will dispatch a FedEx pickup for me.”

She raked a hand through her hair. “Oh, my God, what have you done and why? What have I done? Paradise Lost.”

“Why can’t you trust me?” His sad expression pierced her heart.

Nearly human. Though he didn’t have a heart, his emotions could be damaged.

“Because I don’t trust men.” An angry sob caught in her throat. When she could again speak, she croaked, “In general. Well, almost. I learned that lesson at my mother’s knee.”

“I’m not even almost any man.” He lifted his hands in a pleading gesture. “Return me to Mayfair for reprogramming. I don’t care. I only want to stay with you.”

“You have a funny way of showing it,” she said in a lethal whisper, her voice then rising in outrage. “If I’d been earlier or later, would I have found you bucking in bed?”

Looking stricken, he stood silent and straight, a bare-chested god with ice blue eyes.

What exciting story are you working on next?

My next book is way out of my paranormal realm. But I raised, trained and showed Andalusian horses for many years. I LOVE horses. Gambler’s Choice is about the equestrian set. A wealthy socialite goes to England in search of the perfect horse. Instead she meets the perfect man—a baron with the manor house, the title, but not the money. He is darkly handsome and mysterious, but danger surrounds him. Could Becca lose her heart as well as her life? Available soon from The Wild Rose Press.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When my first book was published in 2012. Because of its controversial nature, I never expected Gemini Rising to be published.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I retired from a career as a Legal Assistant in February last year to write full-time. I write in the mornings, generally, or late at night. I’m now a Content Strategist for an advertising agency, working contract, part-time.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I write by the seat of my pants. I like to drink Pellegrino while I’m writing.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A writer. Or a brain surgeon. Maybe a rocket scientist. Hum. Maybe a street cleaner or garbage collector. Well, perhaps, a wife and mother—achieved that!!! Hum. There are so many choices. A race car driver.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I love them. Like all authors, readers are paramount. My dearest wish is to transport them, immerse them, in the worlds of my imagination. I’d like for them to love the characters chattering in my head. Am I schizophrenic? No, just a writer.

Links:

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