Wednesday, June 2, 2010
A Tempting (and contentious) Interview with Margaret Rowe
Maggie Robinson and her semi-evil twin Margaret Rowe holed up recently in a quiet corner of the Revenge over a pitcher of Courtesan’s Cutlasses to discuss their mutual future. Maggie is the debut author of Mistress by Mistake, the first of the Brava Courtesan Court Trilogy, who was sweet enough to visit us not long ago. Margaret writes erotic historical romance and debuts herself with Tempting Eden from Berkley Heat on June 1.
Maggie (sipping delicately from her cut glass): So tell me what was running through your alleged mind when you came up with the plot for Tempting Eden? (paling to match her unfortunately graying hair) You won’t let our children read it, will you?
Margaret (tossing her bangs back and reminding herself to call her hairdresser ASAP): Don’t be ridiculous. It is widely known in the family as ‘the bad book.” Now, if they choose to buy it like everyone else, I wouldn’t dream of interfering. I have no inhibitions. And one must eat.
Maggie (frowning): You look well fed enough to me. It’s a good thing our grandmother is dead, or reading Tempting Eden would kill her.
Margaret (frowning back): Look, you’re no sylph yourself. And I can’t argue with my muse. Poor Eden turned up abused and anxious for me to tell her story. And anyhow, someone said on Amazon after reading Mistress by Mistake they’d never read the word cock so often in a book. So shut up.
Maggie (taking an altogether unladylike swallow of her drink): You are deliberately provoking. Prurient. Presumptuous. Why, you know nothing about domination and submission!
Margaret (raising an eyebrow that needs plucking): So? You think watching a YouTube video on lace-making makes you an expert? I did my own research. Eden helped me right up until The End.
Maggie (sniffing): At least you gave her a happy ending and a hot hero, Hart. It was the least you could do after tormenting her with that horrible Ivor. (Shudders) “When he was done, she’d be the greatest whore in all Christendom.” Talk about an over-the-top first line. Aren’t you ashamed?
Margaret: “Honestly, Charlie! You’re ruined anyway! What difference does it make?” That’s two exclamation points in your first two sentences. Get a grip.
Maggie: Speaking of two, I have two more releases this year—a novella in Lords of Passion with Virginia Henley and Kate Pearce on November 30, and Mistress by Midnight on December 28.
Margaret (yawning): Any Wicked Thing comes out next January. I’ve got the better title. And a duke in a castle. Top that.
Maggie (checking her watch): Look at the time! Eight bells and all is well.
Margaret (looking around): Where’s Jack anyway?
Maggie: Hellion’s got him tied up in her cabin until you disembark—she’s not taking any chances.
Margaret: Ooh! Hart ties Eden up with the curtain cords. What’s Hellion using?
Maggie (rolling eyes): I think that’s enough for today. I suppose you want me to tell the Pirates you’re giving away a copy of Tempting Eden today.
Margaret: I can tell them myself. (addresses readers) Just tell me the first line of the book you’re reading right now in the comments below. I know mine is better.
Maggie: You are insufferable.
Margaret: I know you are, but what am I?
Bo’sun (cutting in): Thank you Margaret for joining us today and special thanks to Maggie for handling the interviewing duties. (ducks a flying grape) Why don’t we get right to the comments before these two start the hair pulling. Get out those books and let’s get this show on the road!
Maggie (sipping delicately from her cut glass): So tell me what was running through your alleged mind when you came up with the plot for Tempting Eden? (paling to match her unfortunately graying hair) You won’t let our children read it, will you?Margaret (tossing her bangs back and reminding herself to call her hairdresser ASAP): Don’t be ridiculous. It is widely known in the family as ‘the bad book.” Now, if they choose to buy it like everyone else, I wouldn’t dream of interfering. I have no inhibitions. And one must eat.
Maggie (frowning): You look well fed enough to me. It’s a good thing our grandmother is dead, or reading Tempting Eden would kill her.
Margaret (frowning back): Look, you’re no sylph yourself. And I can’t argue with my muse. Poor Eden turned up abused and anxious for me to tell her story. And anyhow, someone said on Amazon after reading Mistress by Mistake they’d never read the word cock so often in a book. So shut up.
Maggie (taking an altogether unladylike swallow of her drink): You are deliberately provoking. Prurient. Presumptuous. Why, you know nothing about domination and submission!
Margaret (raising an eyebrow that needs plucking): So? You think watching a YouTube video on lace-making makes you an expert? I did my own research. Eden helped me right up until The End.
Maggie (sniffing): At least you gave her a happy ending and a hot hero, Hart. It was the least you could do after tormenting her with that horrible Ivor. (Shudders) “When he was done, she’d be the greatest whore in all Christendom.” Talk about an over-the-top first line. Aren’t you ashamed?
Margaret: “Honestly, Charlie! You’re ruined anyway! What difference does it make?” That’s two exclamation points in your first two sentences. Get a grip.Maggie: Speaking of two, I have two more releases this year—a novella in Lords of Passion with Virginia Henley and Kate Pearce on November 30, and Mistress by Midnight on December 28.
Margaret (yawning): Any Wicked Thing comes out next January. I’ve got the better title. And a duke in a castle. Top that.
Maggie (checking her watch): Look at the time! Eight bells and all is well.
Margaret (looking around): Where’s Jack anyway?
Maggie: Hellion’s got him tied up in her cabin until you disembark—she’s not taking any chances.
Margaret: Ooh! Hart ties Eden up with the curtain cords. What’s Hellion using?
Maggie (rolling eyes): I think that’s enough for today. I suppose you want me to tell the Pirates you’re giving away a copy of Tempting Eden today.
Margaret: I can tell them myself. (addresses readers) Just tell me the first line of the book you’re reading right now in the comments below. I know mine is better.
Maggie: You are insufferable.
Margaret: I know you are, but what am I?
Bo’sun (cutting in): Thank you Margaret for joining us today and special thanks to Maggie for handling the interviewing duties. (ducks a flying grape) Why don’t we get right to the comments before these two start the hair pulling. Get out those books and let’s get this show on the road!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Books by the Crew
65 comments:
We scale the rough bricks of the building's facade.
Interesting book, "The Alchemy of Stone" ...steampunk scifi, really fascinating.
And sounds like absolutly nothing like the any of Mags's books!
*head still spinning
Good morning Pirates! Margaret is still in bed, but I got up to write. I'll go wake her up---anybody got a refreshing bucket of cold seawater?
I'm not reading anything right now. I told myself no books till after my third book is handed in. I'm not even going to open a book, because that would tempt me beyond reason!!!! LOL There's FIVE exclamation marks for you, Margaret!
Love the interview! Totally brilliant. And Maggs, I love the depraved side of you! And the good side too, but don't be too good. You gotta have a little wicked in your life!
Maggie--er--Marg--er...whatever :)
Love you both!
I know what book I'm reading now (A Touch of Scandal-Jennifer Haymore) but since I don't have it with me, I can't tell you what the first line is. I'm only allowed to read it at night when I've made my word goal for the day, which means it stays beside the bed so it won't tempt me.
Am off the ship for a bit to the doctor and Walmart. Ah, the romantic life of a writer! We'll both check back when we get home, buut we have no doubt that you can carry on without us.
Everyone is off to an early start!Good morning and thanks again both Maggie and Margaret for joining us on the ship today. Margaret sounds like a real handful, but you reigned her in well, Maggie. :)
I forgot to bring the book I'm reading with me, so thank goodness for that Amazon "look inside" feature.
Ophelia Beliveau jammed her fangs back up where they belonged, puncturing her thumb, so the goddamned things slotted back down.
I told y'all I was reading a vampire book. Almost done and it's been pretty good. She's not the classic vamp. Not undead, no problem going in sunlight, no sparkle (thank goodness). It's Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil by Barbara Monajem.
I've loved the Christendom line since the first time I heard it. Can't believe I finally get to read the whole book.
She wondered how everything had come to this.
Fortunate Harbor, Emilie Richards
That's the first line to the prologue. The first line of chapter one is a winner: "So much time had passed since Tracy Deloche had gotten it on with a man, that last night, she'd actually made a list of things to do just so she wouldn't make an embarrassing mistake."
I love the split-personality interview. Any writer who properly appreciates the exclamation point is OK with me. :)
I'd had more than my fair share of near-death experiences; it wasn't something you ever really got used to. --Breaking Dawn, Stephanie Meyer.
(Janga's first chapter first line is CRACKING ME UP.)
I love the Maggie-Margaret interview. HILARIOUS! And the Christendom line will live in infamy forever, I'm sure. It's caused BUZZ for years!
M & M -- great interview! (You must be a Gemini -- LOL) And congrats on yet ANOTHER book release (I typed it first without the word "book" -- just didn't sound right. LOL)
And as for a first line. . .mmm. I just finished a book last night, and haven't started a new one -- I'm in limbo!
I love the interview!
And I'm pretty sure that if I didn't already know Maggie was a fabulous writer, knowing someone left a comment about her usage amount of cock in her book would get me to buy it and read it for myself. That should be your selling point, Maggie.
I haven't read a book in ages. The time I have to read is taken by the amount of writing I still have to do on my manuscript (since I can't fly like the wind *cough* Ter *cough* and finish in 9 weeks). The last book I read was Kim Harrison's Black Magic Sanction and the first line is: "Tucking my hair back, I squinted at the parchment, trying to form the strange angular letters as smoothly as I could."
Harrison is not known for her smooth beginnings.
Sin, I noticed the Avon blog writing prompt today -- sounds like they created it just for you. :)
I'm reading Dangerous by Diana Palmer - first line is...
Kilraven hated mornings.
Congrats on the new release!
Hellie, the beginning of that chapter just gets funnier when she starts enumerating her list, which includes a zebra stripe push up bra and thong. LOL!
Janga has convinced me. I'm writing this book down. I've never heard of that author, is she new?
Loved the interview. Maggie and Margaret are both evilly delicious, like a rich chocolate mousse you shouldn't be having.
I'm halfway through Elizabeth Peters' The Mummy Case (the third Amelia Peabody book). The opening line was: I never meant to marry.
Also, if you have not yet read Amelia Peabody books, you so should. They are hilarious. Hellion, for some reason, I think you would really love them.
But going back to TEMPTING EDEN, I absolutely loved this book. From the first line to the last . . . it's pitch perfect.
I see how you are, Janga. Another ARC. LOL! Okay, these Happiness Key books sound interesting. Need to look them up.
Oh no, DRD. Now I have to at least LOOK.
The one about post-apocalyptic New Orleans? Sounds like a good one for Chancer and Hal too.
Great split personality interview and great question. I'm re-reading my books since I have nothing new lately (except textbooks). First line of the book I just finished (the heroine to the hero)...
Stay away from me, ye bloody prig!"
Innocence Undone, Kat Martin (1997)
This first line really did capture the hero. He was such a jerk at times. Still, I couldn't put the darn book down. Makes me think that I start out with my hero being too much of a good guy...and need to break out the exclamation point in my first line. LOL
Melissa - I have to admit, this is bringing me around to want to use the exclamation point. LOL! I don't think I used it but maybe once in the whole book. I need to whip that puppy out more.
Donna - That Avon stuff wouldn't be on your HOA, would it? LOL!
Bo'sun, my HOA today seems to only have two things on it, and they're both fighting for the top spot. LOL
1) Take a nap
2) Eat some food
It's probably my least productive HOA ever!
Melissa, I'm a HUGE fan of exclamation points. I use way too many of them in my blog comments, but I can't seem to hold myself back. I haven't used any in my books' first lines though. . .Mmmm. You may have planted a seed in my brain!
Loved the interview.
I didn't know that Maggie had a dark side though!
Drat. that's another lovely illusion shattered.
AND Terri reading Vamp books.
Drat and Drat again. Another beautiful vision of a pure all American lass, shattered.
I'm reading Cathy Maxwell's 'Seduction of an English Lady' at the moment. The opening line is:
"Nestled in the very heart of England where the Hodder and Ribble rivers meet,is a valley so green and unspoiled, it sparkles like a gem of the realm."
The heroine dwells in a cottage in this valley, enjoying a blissful existence, until the hero arrives on horse back to inform her that the cottage is his. He won it from her brother in a card game.
Another blissful dream shattered!
I'm going to post this now and if the moderator pounces again, I'm giving up and opening the scotch bottle! :lol:
It worked, Q! And so sorry to shatter your image of me. But as I said, no undead, no wood stakes or burning in the sun. She's not even immortal. So she's more like a regular heroine who just happens to have fangs. And healing spit and super-sonic hearing.
Q, I'm starting to think you're getting moderated because you aren't ROWDY enough. LOL So maybe you should hit the scotch bottle before trying to post. :)
Very funny interview M & M. Sounds a bit like my sisters and I having A Discussion.
The first line of the book I’m reading right now is …
Honestly? Would you believe?
With love to my chilll…
errr Sorry. That’s the acknowledgment. The first line of the story is …
“Honestly, Charlie! You’re ruined anyway!
What a Great story, Maggie! I almost hate to finish it. *sniff* Saying goodbye to people I‘ve grown fond of, even if they’re just fictional, makes me rather sad. And now I’m rather curious. So maybe I’ll start reading MBM from the beginning. Only this time I’ll keep track of how many times Maggie used the C word. Research. Someone’s gotta do it!
My DH heard me laughing … a low, wicked laugh… while I was reading MBM.
“Funny book?” he asked.
“No,” said I . “It does have its humorous moments. But it is a serious book. And well written . Its just … the woman who wrote it looks so Innocent. And the part I’m reading right now Is anything but!”
Ter,the Happiness Key books are new, but Emilie Richards has been around for ages. The Trouble with Joe, one of my top 20 categories, was published in 1994. Prospect Street has been on my top 100 list since 2002, and I love her Shenandoah Album books. I like her Ministry is Murder mysteries too. She's a very versatile writer. :)
I like the exclamation point for the first line. I guess it works with dialogue, which makes sense for getting into the action.
Love that one Q found of Cathy Maxwell's "blissful dream" start and then wham!, it's not as it appears. I wonder though if an editor/agent gives those "build up" openings a chance.
I wanted to check out more so I grabbed a random handful of books:
In a letter: Someone is trying to kill me. I'm almost sure of it. (now that's a good one!)
Headline: Police Call of Search for Missing Socialite
Mysterious?: At least it didn't show. (What didn't show?)
*yawn*: Caitlin Donahue knotted the thread and bit if off close, then added the shirt to the pile of others. (Mending laundry? Seriously? *LOL* I guess I also don't know if I like the convention of starting out with the name.)
Janga - I noticed that from her website. I still get amazed at all these authors I've missed over the years. Though I don't read category so that's no surprise. But even the other books I hadn't heard of.
Melissa - I've heard the thing about using the name, but at some point, you have to throw it in there. Mine isn't in the first line, but I think it's in the second. LOL! And I could go with the laundry line since it establishes something concrete about the heroine before her world is altered. That sentence tells a lot. What she does, that she's likely not a woman of means, there is a pile so she has a lot of work to do, and, of course, that her life is dull.
That's a lot to learn about a character in the first sentence.
Can't stay and play a whole lot today but wanted to wave hi and add my support to Maggie/Margaret! Tempting Eden looks delicious. Can't wait. And I do love the first line.
Hannah Reid, Duchess of Dunbarton, was free at last. I also used the look inside feature to post the first line of the Mary Balogh I'm going to pick up later today (right now I'm in between books).
Also... Congrats Ter on finishing the mss!!!!... Congrats Marnee on the new addition!!!! (I love exclamation points - as evidenced by many of them in almost every comment I make)
Thanks, Irish! Gotta love all the excitement over here today. LOL!
I have this vision of myself, in about ten years, having these sorts of detailed arguments with my alters... Not a pretty site. All those swords and pistols...
Chance -- don't wait 10 years -- I wanna see it now! :) (So does the Captain Jack Bobblehead.)
Seems like that Bobblehead might be more realistic with a bobble something else!
;)
Terri!!! You finished!!! Now that's the proper use of exclamation points. :)
Thanks everybody for playing the first line game---I'm getting intrigued by a lot of your choices. If only I had time to read, but between the unpacking and the doctor stuff and trying to finish a novella, I save books for right before I go to bed and then I fall asleep over them. :)
I had a lot of fun doing the "interview"---it was all genius Terri's idea. I'm a Libra though---perfect harmony and balance, so what I write is making me crazy, LOL. Crazier.
Thanks so much for having me on the ship again. I got a big box of Tempting Edens the day before yesterday and can't wait to send someone one.
P.S. WTF is with the captcha? I keep forgetting to add it. Duh to me.
OMG, a baby around here too? Yay!Congrats Marnee and family!!!
LOL! We're not sure where the captcha came from, but if you actually sign in, then it goes away. So much easier that way.
And I had the idea but you pulled it off! I could see Margaret lounging, filing her nails, throwing off the insults like it was nothing. LOL! And then Maggie in her pearls and twin set trying to pretend she's never even heard the word "cock" let alone used it in abundance.
Yes, a baby! Can you believe it, M.R.? (I'm going with that so I can address you both at the same time.)
Not that someone on this ship getting knocked up should be such a surprise...
Chance - That needs to be more stable or else it might break off. And what good would Jack be without.....his sword?
Maybe it could bobble in time with the head...
Seems like that Bobblehead might be more realistic with a bobble something else!
And here I am thinking you're talking about a bobble BUTT. LOL Silly me.
Not that someone on this ship getting knocked up should be such a surprise…
Yikes. Good thing I don't have to worry about this anymore. LOL
A bobblebutt? Donna? What are you drinking?
And can I have some?
The Mags might need some, too!
Where is that two topper glass I stashed somewhere...?
Okay, bobblebutt just made me spew water...errr....I mean rum on my monitor.
Sorry, Bo'sun!
And Chance, I swear somebody slipped a roofie into my Glittery Hooha -- I am sooooooo tired today for some reason. In fact, I apologize ahead of time if I slip into. . .zzzzzzzz
Yeah! Bobblebutt? How the hell would that work, anyway?
And I really thought we'd already established that despite the eyeliner, Jack didn't really swing that way...
Smack her one, Bo'sun! No napping on my bar! I gots drinks ta serve!
I wish I could apply eyeliner that nicely. Sigh.
And I don't know why I'm so tired. Yeesh. I'll just go back to my quarters. Maybe one of the Hotties can sing me a lullaby.
Man, you go to sleep with the vision of a bobblebutt in yer mind and I can imagine the nightmares...
Might want to stick around and get good and drunk, then pass out!
So, Mags...whoever wants to answer can... What made you go with two names and two genres?
Excellent question, Chance. I want to know that too, since I'm writing in two subgenres right now (contemp and historical).
I'll wait for any more drinks until after I hear the answer! (Which remind me -- I saw an article today about 10 different kinds of mojitos. Wow. I always thought the original was enough.)
The bobblebutt is making me think of those old Opus cartoons. Remember those? With the penguin whose ass kept falling off? I love those cartoons.
God, if only that would happen to MY bobblebutt! LOL
Bloom County! Yeah! Good old Opus and Bill the Cat. And the Mac that walked and talked...
How many Mojitos? And can I get that article!?
Let me see if I can find it again, Chance -- so you can update your Barkeep Manual back there (I know, it's just a bunch of parchment stapled together, but still. . .)
http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/mojitos
Wow, those are impressive. Though a Rhubarb Mojito? I don't think so...
Yeah I am not much of a rhubarb fan.
I thought it was kind of cool that it was based on mojo, meaning "to cast a spell". :)
Did we chase them all away, Chance? :) If so, I'm stringing my hammock up here on the main deck.
C'mere, Hotties. I need somebody to help put some sunscreen on my back.
Ever tried to lay on your back in hammock? Good luck!
*snicker
How else do you lay in a hammock? LOL! Face down?!
What are you people smoking today?
Chance, sorry to be AWOL or whatever the naval equivalent is. Internet crap happening with new service. Both MRs write historicals---Margaret is just darker and dirtier. When I had 2 publishing contracts, we decided to split me. Rowe is my son's middle name, Margaret's on my birth certificate, so maybe when I sign books, I'll remember---altho I alread wrote Maggie in a Margaret book---the prize winner got both signatures, LOL.
Poor MaggieMargeet! If it makes you feel any better ...I have a hard time remembering who I am too! LOL
Ever tried to lay on your back in hammock? Good luck!
There's a Story here. Fess up, Chancee!
Blast! I meant lie on your face while hotties put suntan lotion on the back...
Man! What a day!
Thanks, Mags! I wondered seeing how historicals are walking a narrow line anymore when it comes to hot historicals and erotic historicals...
"The wind howled around his ears, and the blasting rain beat at his exposed skin like a cat-o'-nine-tails." First line of Gwyn Cready's Tumbling Through Time.
Congrats Maggie on your release of Tempting Eden.
Blast! I meant lie on your face while hotties put suntan lotion on the back…
Actually I was more worried about sliding OUT of the hammock once I had the sunscreen on! LOL
Barbara, I like that first line -- I enjoyed Gwyn's Seducing Mr. Darcy -- that was a lot of fun.
I'm reading The Making of a Duchess, here's the first line:
"Julien woke suddenly, his eyes wide and focused on the ceiling above his bed."
Thanks for the interview Maggie/Margaret. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed Mistress by Mistake and can't wait to read Tempting Eden. Congrats on all your hard earned success!
Post a Comment