Shadows and Silks by Sofie Darling
Please welcome Sofie Darling author of Shadows and Silks
Sofie Darling will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Shadows and Silk Series
(Three Lessons in Seduction/Tempted by the Viscount)
by Sofie Darling
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GENRE: Historical Romance
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INTERVIEW:
- What or who inspired you to start writing?
- Three inspirations come to mind. First, I’ve been a lifelong reader of the classics. I read Great Expectationswhen I was eleven years old. So, in some ways it feels like the language of the historical romance has been coded into my DNA.
Second, in my second year at university, I’d turned in a simple English paper, like I did everyday as an English major. When I received it back, the professor wrote a note on the back: “By the way, you write beautifully.” That really stuck with me.
Third, when I was nursing my first child, I read Mary Jo Putney’s Fallen Angels series. The stories are powerful and emotional and just lovely. That was when I knew I had to try my hand at historical romance someday.
- How did you come up with ideas for your books?
- Usually, my ideas come from two sources. Mostly, I read outside the genre I write. I enjoy spy novels, mysteries, and general fiction. They provide a broader perspective on the world and usually trigger some ideas that are fresh for the genre I write. Another idea generator is general doodling on a blank sheet of paper with no lines. I call it playtime in my head and just let ideas flow without judgment or editing. This can lead to an interesting place.
- As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?
– For the time being, I’ll continue to write my Shadows and Silk series. I have six books planned, and I’m about to turn in book three to my editor. From there, I’ll either start on the second half of the series, which will be the next generation of characters, or I’ll start a whole other series in a different genre that I’m slowly brewing.
- Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?
– I do belong to a critique group. Everyone writes something different in the group, which keeps it interesting. While I definitely benefit from having my own work critiqued, I feel that an equal benefit is listening, contributing, and absorbing the critique of another’s work.
Also, as a side note, I’m a closed-door writer, so my work doesn’t get critiqued until it’s completely finished. In other words, I’m not having my work critiqued chapter by chapter. I feel that would hinder my writing. But that’s just me. Everyone has a different take on this and has to approach it in the way that sparks creativity and learning.
- When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?
– I decided to start submitting my work the summer after what would be my debut novel, Three Lessons in Seduction, won a writing contest and finaled in two others. For me that was the signal it was time.
- What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)
– I’m not really sure this is advice, but Jodi Picoult famously said you can’t edit a blank page. This helps me get writing when my perfectionism tries to get in the way of putting words on a page. Get the idea down now, perfect it later. That’s my take on it.
The worst advice? Hmm. I can’t think of anything specific, but I usually run from any advice that has the word “should” in it.
- Do you outline your books or just start writing?
– Ah, the old plotter vs. pantser question. 🙂 I’m an unapologetic plotter. The early stages involve lots of yellow stickies of ideas, conversation snippets, and plot points that can be moved around until I have a story. Then I start writing.
- Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?
– I’m continuing work on my Shadows and Silk series. In the next few weeks, I’ll be turning in book three, Her Midnight Sin, to my editor. It’s an enemies-to-lovers story that has the hero and heroine vying for the same country estate. It will have pirates and apple brandy. 🙂
- What is your favorite reality show?
– My younger son and I have started watching old seasons of The Great British Baking Show. It’s delightful! We’ve even made Mary Berry’s Cherry Cake. I’m sad to report that the cherries sank like Mary Berry warned they might. Still delicious though. 🙂
- Anything else you might want to add?
- Thank you so much for interviewing me on your lovely blog today. This was fun!
BLURBS:
Three Lessons in Seduction blurb:
Lord Nicholas Asquith needs his wife. Too bad he broke her heart ten years ago.
Can he resist a second chance at the love he lost?
When Mariana catches the eye of the man at the center of an assassination plot, Nick puts aside their painful past and enlists her to obtain information by any means necessary, even if it means seducing the enemy agent.
Even if the thought makes his blood boil.
Only by keeping his distance from Mariana these last ten years was he able to pretend indifference to her. With every moment spent with her, he feels his tightly held control slipping…
Can she trust the spy who broke her heart?
Mariana spent the last decade forgetting Nick. Now she has the chance to best him at his own game, an opportunity she can’t resist, even as her view of him begins to shift. Increasingly, she wants nothing more than to seduce her own husband . . .
It’s only a matter of time before mad passion ignites, a passion never convincingly extinguished. A passion that insists on surrendering to the yearning of the flesh and, quite possibly, of the heart.
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EXCERPTS:
“Unbutton your dress?” Nick repeated. It wasn’t possible he’d heard those words in that order.
“Have you spent a single minute of your life bound within layers of corset, shift, and tightly buttoned dress? Has this ever been required for one of your spy missions?”
He couldn’t miss the scorn in her voice. “Never.”
“Then you’ll have to trust me when I suggest that it’s a bloody fantastic idea for you to unbutton me. You’ve done it before, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“I haven’t,” he said, his voice incapable of more than a low, gravelly rumble.
She blinked, and a moment passed.
Reason bade Nick exit the room and abandon the entire proposition. Under no circumstance should he close the distance between them and place his hands on Mariana’s body. Paper thin layers of chartreuse silk and muslin between his fingers and her skin wouldn’t be enough.
A few quick steps could carry him to her.
A few quick steps could undo him.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Sofie spent much of her twenties raising two boys and reading every book she could get her hands on. Once she realized that she was no longer satisfied with simply reading the books she loved, that she must write them, too, she decided to finish her degree and embark on a writing career. Mr. Darling and the boys gave her their wholehearted blessing.
When she’s not writing heroes who make her swoon, she runs a marathon in a different state every year, visits crumbling medieval castles whenever she gets a chance, and enjoys a slightly codependent relationship with her beagle, Bosco.
WEBSITE:
BUY LINKS:
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Lessons-Seduction-Sofie-Darling-ebook/dp/B074WGWGMK/
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Lessons-Seduction-Sofie-Darling-ebook/dp/B074WGWGMK/
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/sofiedarlingauthor/
Twitter:https://twitter.com/sofie_darling
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/sofiedarlingluv/
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Sofie Darling will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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