Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Special Guest - Natasha Blackthorne

Seeing as I'm discussing scenery this month, I asked Natasha to tell about the place where her story takes place. 


Here's what she had to say.

The inspiration for Grey’s Lady came after I had read deeply about the era. Philadelphia in this time is the Athens of America. It is a city filled with beautiful houses hidden behind garden walls and bricked sidewalks lined with shade trees. It is also a city known for its elegant ladies. It is a sophisticated city, very different in mood from the commercial New York City and the still quite Puritan Boston.

At the same time, the New England merchants and their world appealed to me. I was fascinated by the stories of the men who earned their fortunes at sea privateering and then spawned the legacies that would create our rising national commerce.

I read another book on the hidden world of Philadelphia and the sexual power exchange between men and women. A very unique world, different from what is often thought of in this time in the United States. A world where upper class gentlemen took mistresses from among the lower classes. A secret world of clandestine meetings in disorderly houses and inns and bedchambers when husbands were away.

So the idea came to me, through the character of Grey, to have one of these staid, business-minded merchants from the north come and fall in love with one of these beautiful, beguiling women from the lower class in Philadelphia. And through Grey, I saw Beth. I saw first that moment in the booksellers when he first saw her. I saw how she boldly approached him and how it made him react.

And then little by little I saw why she did what she did. My story began to develop with an unconventional, seductive heroine and a different sort of Cinderella story at its core. I enjoy the themes of self-protection, surrender and rescue and I enjoyed exploring them in this story. As often is asked in these types of stories, who really rescues who?

The sequel to Grey’s Lady is titled White Lace and Promises and is scheduled for release Dec 26, 2011.


Blurb-

Flouting the moral standards of Jeffersonian America, temptress Beth McConnell lets no man touch her heart. Her motto is love them once and leave them burning.

But when she boldly seduces Grey Sexton, a self-controlled merchant prince from New York, she finds herself too fascinated by his ice-over-fire nature to stay away. His possessive determination to own her, body and soul, threatens to expose her secret erotic life to public shame.

But Beth will only surrender her love to a man she can trust. And Grey's materialistic approach to relationships leaves her little reason to believe he can ever give her what she truly needs.

For these two cynical yet lonely people, can deep sexual intimacy work a miracle and lead to the opening of their hearts?

Excerpt -

Impulse seized her and she caught hold of his lapels. “Kiss me.”

He leaned closer. Heavens, anyone could come along and catch them. Oh the risk… But her breath quickened and her nipples stiffened, straining against her stays. She closed her eyes, tilted her head up. Waited.

And waited.

“How many men since me?” He laid his large hand at the base of her throat and a thrill went chasing through her. “Look me in the eye.”

Her lids fluttered open and his gaze pierced into her with such intensity she gasped. “It has only been two weeks.”

“Answer me, Beth.”

Another thrill trembled through her. Fear or anticipation? She couldn’t say. “None.”

Now, tell us a like about you Natasha.


I have always been a daydreamer who told myself stories of love and romance set in other times and places for my own pleasure. Eventually my story worlds became so real, they demanded to be brought out of my imagination and onto the page. It gives me great joy to finally share them with you. I hope you enjoy my story world.

I am married to my own hero and we share our life with a very quirky calico cat. I hold a BA in History and I especially enjoy studying social history and biography and this is where most of my story ideas come from. I like to know my characters from the bones outward, the air they breathe, the food they eat, the thoughts and social movements and morals that were influencing them in their times.

I also enjoy reading psychology and sociology and literature. I enjoy music from many different genres.  

I write emotional, evocative, Erotic Historical Romance from the Georgian and Regency Eras, set in both England and America. Whether they are bold or shy, my heroines' strong desires and deep emotions drive the plot—and drive their heroes to the point of no return.  

You can usually find me hard at work researching and writing my next story.

http://natashablackthorne.blogspot.com/

Twitter:  @Nblackthorne

Book Trailers:  http://www.youtube.com/user/Natashasromancevideo



Okay, everyone be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate. Also follow the tour and continuing to leave comments increases your chances of winning. 


Thank you so much Natasha for stopping by I look forward to reading your book,

Anita 

16 comments:

  1. "Grey’s Lady" is already on my reading list. It looks wonderful.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I absolutely can't wait to read Grey's Lady.
    It's certainly my kind of story. Thanks for the opportunity. Love the blurbs/excerpt.
    Carol L
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am enjoying what I'm reading about 'Grey's Lady'. Sounds like an interesting book. I was intrigued to see that book 2 'White Lace and Promises' is also about Beth and Grey. I take it the second book is a continuation of their story, is that correct? What were your reasons for writing 2 books about the same H/H? This is interesting because not too many authors do that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks everyone for your comments and Natasha for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Am certainly eager to read "Grey's Lady" it sounds like a wonderful story, very interesting characters. Enjoyed reading the blurb.

    skpetal at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Intriguing. I live in the City of Brotherly Love. It's on my TBR list.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Everyone,

    Anita, thank you for having me as a guest today.

    Marybelle and Karen, it is good to see you here.

    Karen, I chose to write a sequel to Grey's Lady. There was more of their story to be told but it is a different story than Grey's Lady, a different set of challenges for them. I think having sequels or series with the same H/H is more common in e-books, especially Erotic Romance. In an Erotic Romance, the conflict is more tightly tied to the most intimate factors in the relationship, as opposed to being tied so much to an ongoing external situation. I tend to think that when the intimate relationship shifts, then it is easier to have two shorter stories about the same H/H than one long story. At least this is the way it felt to me when writing Grey’s Lady and White Lace and Promises. There’s a natural end to one story at the end of GL yet there’s more story to be told in White Lace and Promises but with a different perspective. So thank you very much for such an interesting question.

    Jean and Gale, good afternoon. I am glad you stopped by to comment and I am so happy that you found my story intriguing. I hope you enjoy the story. Gale, I find the history of Philadelphia in this time very interesting and this is why I chose it as my setting for this story.

    Natasha

    ReplyDelete
  8. "Grey's Lady" sounds great! I've added it to my must read list. I love reading complex historicals and this sounds like it has a little bit of everything in it, social history, secret romance and complex characters. Thanks for the blurb

    junegirl63(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good afternoon Maria,

    The characters certainly are complex. They have been hurt by life and have adapted coping mechanisms that do not always suit their best interests. I find this kind of character more interesting when I read and so this tends to be the kind of character I write as well.

    Thank you for stopping by and commenting today.

    Natasha

    ReplyDelete
  10. I haven't read historical romance in a long time but this book might bring me back to the genre.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good evening Jacki, i am glad you stopped by. Thank you for such a lovely comment. :)

    Natasha

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just wanted to say thanks again to Anita for showcasing Grey's Lady and thanks to everyone for commenting.

    Natasha

    ReplyDelete
  13. Grey's Lady looks so good!


    Robin D
    robindpdx (at) yahoo (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for sharing, Natasha! :-)

    justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm always interested to know what inspired the stories in the first place. Thanks for sharing it with us!

    chibipooh(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congrats on the release. :-) You've got one hot book.

    Wendi

    ReplyDelete