Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Interview & Giveaway: Kate Pearce

Today I have a very special treat for you - a mix of the Tudors, vampires and romance. That's right - please welcome the prolific romance author Kate Pearce, here to talk about her latest novel, Kiss of the Rose, the first in the upcoming (and I'm sure, bestselling) Tudor Vampire Chronicles. It seems like Henry VIII will never go out of style!

Henry VIII is a pretty popular guy nowadays, don't you think? The Tudors are everywhere, so tell us what your particular reason was to use him in your novel. And where do the vampires fit in?

I studied Tudor politics as part of my degree and I've always enjoyed reading novels about them so when my agent suggested I try and write Tudor Vampires, it all seemed to click! As my starting point, I used the notion that the Tudors came to power unexpectedly and that it would've been a great opportunity for them to win the crown with some paranormal help. In my mind, this resulted in an alliance with the Druids. The Tudor family are from Wales and I reckoned the young Henry VII might well have been exposed to some pagan religion as well as Christianity. In my paranormal world the Vampires are an offshoot of the Druids, so there is a natural enmity between them which leads to all sorts of problems over the centuries.

Did the book require a lot of research?

Yes it did. But then as a history major I love to research and know how to do it competently. For example, the costume book I consulted had about 6oo pages of text in it which proved a little time consuming! And after all the research only a tiny proportion of the history ended up in the book because it is primarily a paranormal romance.


Tell us a little bit about the heroine.


Rosalind Llewellyn is an anomaly in her own time, the first woman to be born with the mark of Awen which means she is entitled to train as a Vampire slayer - a most unladylike thing to do. She is very strong and a great match for the arrogant hero, Christopher Ellis who begins by underestimating her and ends up respecting and loving her.


How is this book different than your other titles - and there are many of them!


I've written a few, haven't I?! My books for Kensington Aphrodisia, Ellora's Cave and Virgin Black Lace 'Cheek' are all classed as erotic romance and brought out as e-books or trade-size paperbacks. Kiss of the Rose is different because it is a paranormal, historical romance in mass market format. I like to write different things and this was a new challenge for me.


Tell us about your writing routine. Also, what's next in store for Kate Pearce?


I write about 4 hours a day when the kids are in school and the house is relatively quiet. Along with writing new stuff I also have to deal with edits, copy edits, galleys, blog writing, promotion, etc. This means it gets very busy sometimes. I try and write a minimum of 2000 words a day to keep on my tight deadline schedule.


Coming up next is a novella in a Kensington Brava anthology called "Lords of Passion" with Virginia Henley and Maggie Robinson, which comes out in early December and then next year I have 2 books out around February, 2011 Simply Forbidden from Kensington Aphrodisia which is the 6th book in my Regency erotic romance House of Pleasure series, and Blood of the Rose, part two of the Tudor Vampire Chronicles which centers around Anne Boleyn.


Brace yourselves - Kate has generously offered to give away a copy of Kiss of the Rose to one lucky winner. Read it before it's all over the blogosphere! Here are the giveaway rules:


-the contest ends August 25th.

-there will be one winner.

-make sure you leave your email in the comment - no email, no entry!

-the giveaway is open internationally! (Kate rules!)


BONUS ENTRIES:

+2 for following (old and new followers)

+2 for leaving the link in your sidebar (+4 for leaving a graphic)

+2 for tweeting about this (leave a link!)

+4 for blogging about this

+4 for visiting Kate's website and coming back with the title that you find most interesting


This giveaway has been advertised on Giveaway Scout.

23 comments:

Kris said...

Great Giveaway! I've heard a bit about this one and would love the chance to read it!
+2 follower

ksg_amg(at)yahoo.com

Ashley said...

I would love to read this!

hewella1 at gmail dot com

Wall-to-wall books said...

Whoa! Now there's a cover!

No entry here, not my kind of book, but def. like the cover.

I will help spread the news for you.

Anonymous said...

I love the cover...sounds like a great book to read.
Please enter me...
RJB
loki304[at]tds[dot]net

Alexa said...

Sounds like a great book! Thanks for the contest.

+2 for new follower
+4 for blogging about the giveaway. (I posted it under the giveaways tab on my blog http://pages-of-forbidden-love.blogspot.com/)

My email is apk1princess(at)live.com

~Alexa~

Anonymous said...

The cover is gorgeous! "Kiss of the Rose" sounds like a really interesting book and I'd love to have the chance to read it!

xx.mackenzie.15@hotmail.com

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

I'm really looking forward to reading this one!

+2 sidebar here: http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com/

+2 tweeted here: http://twitter.com/in_the_hammock/status/20998655023

+2 follower

+4 I think simply insatiable looks the most interesting b/c i love historicals :)

thank you for the contest!!

inthehammockblog at gmail dot com

Spring said...

Thanks so much for the chance to win this!

+2, I'm a new GFC follower (Spring)

+4 for blogging, http://bit.ly/bBParG

+4 for visiting Kate's website and coming back with the title that you find most interesting-- I love the titles of all her 'Simply' books. I've read a few of them and love them. I plan to own them all in the future. I love me some m/m!

Thanks,
comethespring at gmail dot com

Spring said...

P.S.- Nikola, is that a photo of Randy Harrison in your profile? I'm a huge QaF fan.

Anonymous said...

Very sexy cover and sounds like my kind of book so count me in please! :)

vampyre_girl204@yahoo.co.uk

Unknown said...

Thanks for having me on your blog :)

Nikola said...

Kate, it's an honor!

Chantel said...

Thanks for the great giveaway!

+ 2 I'm a follower
+ 2 Tweet: http://twitter.com/cityslicker127/status/21021317570

cwilliams127 at gmail dot com

Julie S said...

Great giveaway! Count me in.

I'm a new follower.

juliecookies(at)gmail.com

Sweet Vernal Zephyr said...

This looks like a great read for me, please add my name to the hat. I can easily see this story getting me interested in watching the Tudors even though I am not into tv too much.

+2 I'm an old follower
+4 You're on my blog today!

Thanks and have a great weekend

Miranda
mdwartistry at yahoo dot com

Stacey Smith said...

Sounds like a realy Great Read.Can't wait to get my Hands on it.
+2 Follower Via GFC
+4 Blog about this on my myspace blog
http://www.myspace.com/sasluvbooks

sasluvbooks(at)yahoo.com

jc said...

+1 This book looks interesting, would love to get my "eyes" on it.

+2 I'm a new follower, thanks for the giveaway.

yumihamano@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

I would love to read this. Count me in please.

+2 I'm a follower

+4 visited Kate's website-Simply Sinful sounds good

peacelily_2006(at)yahoo(dot)com

Teresa (Read All Over Reviews) said...

oooo Sounds amazing!

+2 Follower Via GFC

misled.ghosts(at)gmail.com

Moridin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aimee said...

Sounds like a great book; please count me in. Thanks!
+2 GFC Follower
+2 tweet http://twitter.com/pixie13sweeps/status/21916219187

gevin13{at}gmail{dopt}com

mrsshukra said...

Kate Pearce is a new author to me and I like discovering new authors!

+2 Old GFC follower

+4 Kate's persistence and patience are admirable. It took 5 years before her first book was published!

delilah0180(at)yahoo(dot)com

Allison said...

Thanks for this giveaway!
+2 Follower

allisonsbj3(at)gmail(dot)com