Today's guest is romance novelist Regan Walker. She's touring her new novel, Against the Wind, and is here to tell us a bit about that and herself. The novel is a Regency romance available from Boroughs
Publishing Group.
Regan will be awarding either Racing with the Wind or Lunchbox Romances that tie into the triology, The Holly and the Thistle and The
Shamrock and the Rose (winner's choice) to a randomly drawn commenter during
the tour. If you want to be entered for a chance to win, leave a comment below. And if you'd like to increase your chances of winning, you can visit other tour stops and leave comments there.
Bio:
As a child Regan Walker loved to
write stories, particularly about adventure-loving girls, but by the time she
got to college more serious pursuits took priority. One of her professors
thought her suited to the profession of law, and Regan realized it would be
better to be a hammer than a nail. Years of serving clients in private practice
and several stints in high levels of government gave her a love of
international travel and a feel for the demands of the “Crown” on its subjects.
Hence her romance novels
often involve a demanding Prince Regent who
thinks of his subjects as his private talent pool.
Regan lives in San Diego with her
golden retriever, Link, whom she says inspires her every day to relax and smell
the roses.
Welcome, Regan. Please
tell us about your current release.
Against the Wind is the second in my
Agents of the Crown Regency trilogy. It’s set in 1817 in England and tells the
story of Sir Martin Powell, a spy for the Crown who returns from spying in
France during Napoleon’s reign for one last assignment from the Prince Regent.
In his one night of leisure, he meets Katherine, Lady Egerton—in a
bordello—never knowing she is the daughter of an earl and a dowager baroness.
While still knowing little about each other, he will sweep her away to the
Midlands—and into the storms of revolution.
What inspired you to
write this book?
I
was listening to a Ricky Martin song, “Nobody Wants to Be Lonely” and the scene
of Kit in the bordello came to me, a young woman whose life has been shattered
standing before a window, bathed in moonlight, staring out into the night, a
“broken arrow.” She hears a voice behind her, a man in the shadows, saying
“Come to me.” And from that one scene, I wrote the novel.
Excerpt:
Chapter 1
London, April 1817
She is
dead.
Katherine, Lady
Egerton, stared at the still form lying on the bed. Beloved sister, friend of
the heart…Anne was gone. One minute she was struggling for breath, the next she
lay silent and still. The only person in the world Kit loved more than life had
left her.
They
are all gone now. The sudden solitude tore at her heart.
Kit smiled sadly, gazing through
eyes filled with tears at the frail body lying before her. The brown mouse. Anne’s name for herself. Delicate even as a child,
she had not long survived her marriage to the cruel Earl of Rutledge. Kit knelt
at her sister’s bedside, assailed by grief and guilt, and reached for Anne’s
hand. Could she have done more to save her sister from the dread disease? Could
she have done more to protect Anne from the heartless man who was her husband?
Pale in death, Anne was still
beautiful. Kit had often sketched that heart-shaped face. Not a mouse, but a much-loved sister with a kind, unselfish heart.
Kit had seen the end coming in the
last few months, months through which she’d faithfully cared for Anne. The
coughs that wracked her sister’s slight frame had grown worse as Anne seemed to
fade before Kit’s eyes. Kit knew she was losing her even as she willed that
weak body to heal. The physician said he could do nothing; each time he left
shaking his head and telling Kit to make “the poor girl” comfortable as best
she could. Kit had tried to save Anne, doing the only thing she knew by giving
her syrup of horehound and honey. But such a small measure was not enough.
Then, too, her sister had seemed to welcome death.
Suddenly, the room grew cold. Kit
felt his presence, a looming evil
behind her. She took a deep breath and summoned her strength.
“Leave her and come to me.”
Rutledge’s tone was harsh and demanding. Kit had no need to see him to know his
face would be twisted in an odious scowl, his lips drawn taut. “It is time.”
“I must see to my sister.”
“You need do nothing. I have
arranged for the burial. Come away now.”
Kit knew what he wanted, for she had
seen the lust in his dark eyes. What at first had been sideways glances became
leers and unwanted touches. Though she’d lived in his home since the death of
her husband the baron, Kit had avoided the earl, rarely leaving her sister’s
bedside. She had been thinking of a way to escape, but her exhaustion in caring
for Anne these last days left those plans incomplete. With meager funds, her
options were few.
When she failed to rise at the
earl’s direction, his hand roughly gripped her shoulder. She stiffened at the
pain of his fingers digging into her skin.
“I have waited long for you,
Katherine, enduring that mockery of a marriage to your sister while all the
while it was you I wanted, you I was promised. Now I shall have what is mine.”
“No!” She rose swiftly, stepping
back as she turned to face him. Revulsion rose in her throat. What did he mean
by those words? She never had been promised to him!
His smirk transfigured what many
thought of as a handsome face. Hadn’t Anne at first been fooled by his
aristocratic features and wavy brown hair? One had only to look closely to see
his nature reflected in those thin lips and narrow eyes now focused on Kit. A
deep furrow between his brows bore witness to his long having insisted upon
having his way. When Kit sketched him, it had been as an attacking hawk.
“What will you do?” he asked smugly.
“Where will you go, m’dear? You are alone and without funds. I am the one who
has provided food and shelter for both you and your weak sister, though I
wanted only you. You are mine,
Katherine, and I will have you.”
Terror seized her. Cornered, her
eyes darted about like an animal snared in a trap. His tall figure blocked the
door to the corridor; the only way out led through his adjacent bedchamber. She
fled toward it.
She hastened into the room as he stalked
after her, knowing she had but seconds, and her eyes searched for a weapon,
something to hold him at bay. At the side of the fireplace were tools, short
bars of iron that could fend off a man. But could she reach them in time?
He lunged for her just as she ran
toward the fireplace. His body collided with hers, and she fell upon the wooden
floor with a thud. Pain shot through her hip. His body crashed down upon hers,
forcing the air from her lungs. She gasped a breath just as his mouth crushed
her lips, ruthlessly claiming dominance.
Tearing away, she pushed against his
shoulders with all her might, but his greater strength held her pinned to the
floor. His hand gripped one breast and squeezed. She winced at the pain, but
that was quickly forgotten the moment a greater terror seized her: His aroused
flesh pressed into her belly.
Violently she struggled, but to no avail. His
wet lips slid down her throat to her heaving chest as his fingers gripped the
top of her gown and yanked at the silk. Kit heard the fabric tear as he ripped
her gown and the top of her chemise, and she felt the cool air on her naked
breasts. Frantic, she mustered strength she did not know she had. Twisting in
his grasp, she reached for the iron poker now a mere foot away.
His mouth latched onto her breast
where he voraciously sucked a nipple. Lost in his lust, he did not see her
grasp the length of iron, raise it above him, and bring it crashing down on his
head. Stunned by the blow, he raised up, his eyes glazed. Kit let the bar fall
again, this time with greater force. Blood spattered her chest and face as his
body went limp. He slumped atop her.
Kit’s heart pounded in her chest
like a bird’s wing beating against a cage. Frantically she shoved his face from
her breast and rolled his body to the floor.
Unsteady at first, her breath coming
in pants, Kit rose and looked down at the crumpled form lying before her, every
nerve on edge as she gazed into that evil face, now deathly pale. Blood oozed
from a gash in the earl’s left temple. There was no sign of life, no movement.
I
have killed him!
Fear choked off her breath as she
wiped blood from her face with a sleeve, and with one last look toward her
sister’s bedchamber she raced from the room. Footsteps sounded down the hall.
Alarmed at the prospect of encountering one of the earl’s servants who would
summon a constable, Kit knew she must find a place to hide, and there was
nowhere to hide in the house. Quietly stealing into her bedchamber, she grabbed
her cloak and reticule, stuffing inside it the one piece of her jewelry that
could be sold to sustain her, and fled the dwelling.
Out on the street, she paused to
draw her cloak tightly around her, desperate to cover her torn and bloody gown.
Where could she go? Who would shelter her in the state she was in, given the
deed she had done?
Only one name came to her.
Willow House.
What exciting story
are you working on next?
I’m
writing Wind Raven now, the third in
the trilogy. The hero is Sir Martin’s brother, Captain Nick Powell. You meet
him in Against the Wind. A privateer
during the War of 1812, he is now a merchant sea captain in the family
business. A rake and an emotionally wounded man, he loves all women yet he
loves none—that is until he meets an impudent American named Tara McConnell who
he is forced to take as a passenger on his way to Baltimore. However, the
Prince Regent diverts him to the Caribbean to investigate a certain pirate. It’s
research intensive since it takes place on a schooner and I have to learn all
the nautical terminology. And I’ve a very worthy pirate to understand, too.
It’s so important to get all that “right,” elsewise some clever reader will
point out that I got it all wrong! I hope it will be out late 2013.
When did you first
consider yourself a writer?
I
have been writing nearly all my life and I suppose seriously the last few years,
but I did not consider myself an author until I saw my first novel, Racing with the Wind, published and
available on Amazon in July 2012. I knew I’d finally made it!
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?
Other
than part time work, I have not had a full time job in some time, which allows
me to write more than I could otherwise. Typically I rise early, walk my Golden
Retriever and fix a protein drink and then I hit the computer for social media
and my blog. I am active on Goodreads as well as Facebook and Twitter. I may
write in the morning but more typically in the afternoon. Unless I’m in final
edits in which case I’m editing all day. I read in the evenings as I’m an avid
reader/reviewer with my own Regan’s Romance Reviews blog dedicated to
historical romance lovers, http://reganromancereview.blogspot.com.
What would you say is
your interesting writing quirk?
I
like visuals for the scenes I’m writing and typically my typed research notes
include pictures of places and buildings, even food, from the period in which
I’ve set my story. For example, I spent all morning today in Bermuda (yes, the
island), researching the history, Hamilton harbor, the food, the flowers and
the people who lived there in 1817. I always feature real people as some of my
characters. Being in Bermuda for many hours made it seem almost like taking a
vacation. I also write to music and have a 3-hour playlist featuring many of
the movie scores of French composer Alexandre Desplat.
As a child, what did
you want to be when you grew up?
As
a child I wanted to be outdoors and the idea of being a naturalist appealed.
But it’s hard to make a living doing that unless you want to be a forest
ranger. So, eventually, though I did major in science and took a fair amount of
wildlife biology classes, when I looked at my options, I decided to go to law
school. So I have both a science and law degree. Most of my career has been
spent in the legal profession, but it’s all that left-brain stuff that left my
right brain sadly neglected for a long time. Now it is now being cultivated
with my romance writing.
Anything additional
you want to share with the readers?
Oh,
I love to hear from readers, what they like, what they want to see in my next
novels, just anything!
Links:
Amazon buy link for
Against the Wind:
Thanks, Regan!
Readers, don't forget about the giveaways!
