In the Author Spotlight: Rachel Brimble

Cate: Please welcome Rachel Brimble. Rachel, will you please share a short bio with us?
Rachel: I am married with two daughters and live in the UK, very near the famous Georgian town of Bath. I started writing toward publication when I became pregnant with my second daughter, eight years ago. My journey started with short stories and articles before moving on to novels in 2006.
When I’m not writing I enjoy reading (everything from the back of cereal boxes to huge biographies according to my husband!), watching TV and spending time walking and talking with my family and our beloved black Labrador, Max.

Cate: Tell us about your latest release and where it's available.
Rachel: My latest release is called ‘The Arrival of Lily Curtis’ and it is published by The Wild Rose Press. It is available directly from their website at www.thewildrosepress.com or www.amazon.com.
It is a Victorian historical romance between a young girl desperate to escape the constraints of an arranged marriage and a Viscount who has an embedded fear of breaking a promise even if that promise is a figment of his imagination…

Cate: Love the title - and the cover's wonderful too. Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Rachel: This is a scene the hero and heroine share near the beginning of the story – the tension between them is palpable…
The clock ticked like a heartbeat behind him, the fire crackled and spat. Andrew unconsciously held his breath waiting to see what this unpredictable woman would do next. One minute she seemed so full of grace and intellect, the next full of fire and resentment. The two distinctions in her personality shouldn’t have fit but they did— inexplicitly so.
“Well, what do you say?” he pressed.
She dropped her gaze and curtsied, throwing him off-guard once again. He felt his jaw tighten as he looked at her bowed head.
“I thank you, sir,” she said. “But I know my place and to sit with you and your guests would be most unacceptable.”
He stared at her. “Unacceptable?”
“Yes, sir.”
Andrew watched her for a moment longer before slowly crossing his arms. “You have a very genteel way about you,” he said. “One would almost suspect you have been educated.”
She snapped her head up, another flash of color darkening her cheeks. “Not at all, sir. I…I try to better myself and the way I speak, that is all.”
He smiled. “Really?”
“Yes, sir.” She paused, a sudden glint in her eyes. “Of course, if it is not to your liking, I can always revert to common speech and bad manners. It comes easily to me either way.”
Andrew felt the burst of laughter bubbling beneath his diaphragm and could do nothing to stop it erupting. It burst from his mouth and reverberated around the room. Uneasy laughter rippled around the table, joining him in his amusement. He ignored them, not caring about anything else but this enigma in front of him. His friends clearly laughed because of who he was rather than their shared delight, Lily on the other hand didn’t seem to care who he was and would say just what she pleased.
“You are quite agreeable just the way you are.” He grinned. “If you wish to continue with your duties, then I will not stop you.”
He walked back to his chair and sat down. “Nicholas, another bottle of wine if you please. I have the distinct feeling a long night is ahead.”
“Of course, sir.”
Andrew tried and failed to wipe the smile from his face as Lily threw him a look of satisfaction before obediently following Nicholas from the room. He picked up his glass and took a long mouthful.
Lily Curtis may be just what Cotswold Manor needed right now.

Cate: Wonderful! Can you tell us why we're going to love your hero?
Rachel: Oooh, because Viscount Andrew Westrop is dark and brooding but also has a deep and naughty sense of humor. With his strong, athletic physique, he is a man easily capable of controlling a sixteen hand horse or lying gently with a fragile woman before he takes her over the edge…
Sorry….yes, he’s quite a nice man. I’m sure you’d like him ;)

Cate: Ooh, I love a naughty sense of humor. :) Tease us with one little thing about your fictional world that makes it different from others.
Rachel: It’s different because it’s Victorian, it’s different because my hero and heroine are different kinds of people living in a time when everything had its place. The are both rebels of opposite kinds – she doesn’t want to be dragged into an arranged marriage, he wants to run his aristocratic home in an alternative way. Together, they would be fantastic, innovative and exciting…if only they could see it that way, of course!

Cate: What's next for you?
Rachel: I have my fourth contemporary romance being released in January 2011 by Lyrical Press but this one isn’t suspense, although it does have a couple of pretty villainous characters in it! Set in the fictional town of Foxton, England, ‘Getting It Right This Time’ is a story of a mother of a young child and the man who has always loved her. This is their second chance at love but will they blow it like they did the first time? Pride is a deadly sin for a reason…

Cate: Congrats! What inspired you to draft your first story?
Rachel: I’ve wanted to write since I was a child but life took over and I never put pen to paper until I was at home with my eldest daughter. I enrolled in a distance learning course and that was it, I haven’t stopped writing since. And now I couldn’t stop if even I wanted to! My need to write is a compulsion and I truly believe I will never stop now – EVER!

Cate: Do you have a writing routine?
Rachel: I recently started working part-time so my writing routine is no more! I fit it in around work, the house, the kids and everything else that happens during the day. My output is definitely less than it used to be but I have found that even if I make sure I do at least 500 words a day, they soon add up.
That may sound like a lot to some people and nothing to others but to me it’s achievable most days, even if I have to write in 100 words stints! If you have to write, you have to write…

Cate: Exactly - whatever works. :) Where can readers find you on the web?
Rachel: I am usually blogging or interviewing somewhere on the net so feel free to ‘google’ me to find out where I am but my own site is:
www.rachelbrimble.com
My publishers:
www.thewildrosepress.com
www.eternalpress.biz
www.lyricalpress.com

Cate: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Rachel: Yes!! Especially the ones who have read my books! I am struggling to decide what to write next…please, please, please will anyone tell me their favourite book of mine?? I’d love to get an idea of what my readers enjoy the most, that way, that will make the decision of what I write next!

Cate: Very interesting! Readers, Rachel is also giving away a book to a random commenter... so start commenting, and be sure to let her know what you'd like her to write next! She'll pick a winner on August 23rd.

Thanks for being my guest Rachel! Best of luck with all your projects. :)

In the Author Spotlight: Rachel Brimble

Cate: Please welcome Rachel Brimble. Rachel, will you please share a short bio with us?
Rachel: I am married with two young daughters and live in near the famous Georgian city of Bath in the UK. I work part time for my husband who is a financial adviser and spend the rest of my time writing or reading. I love to watch BBC costume dramas and a lot of US drama shows like True Blood, Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives!

Cate: Tell us about your latest release and where it's available.
Rachel: My latest release is The Sharp Points of a Triangle and it is available at Eternal Press. It is a story of re-united lovers, Hannah Boyd and Jamie Young. Their journey is set in the UK and full of fun, frolics and lots of sexy romance! I loved writing this book and hope the readers sense my love for these characters as they discover their story.

Cate: Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Rachel: Hannah Boyd has been crowned the youngest Independent Financial Adviser in the UK. She has kicked out her boyfriend whose idea of romance is leaving a present of skid-marked boxers on the bedroom floor, or sharing a chilli-kebab in front of the football on a Saturday night. She is successful, single and about to secure the one of the wealthiest men in England as a client. But then the one person she never wanted to see again reappears as her biggest competitor…and temptation.
Jamie Young never stopped loving her but is now competing against Hannah in the cut-throat business world. He has to find a way to secure both the lucrative client and her. Will she agree to work to him so he can keep her close and let him mend the heart he broke so badly? Or has he lost her forever?

Cate: Love it! You've gotten great reviews, too - congrats. What inspired you to write about the theme?
Rachel: It was inspired by a newspaper article I read about where two reunited lovers got married just six months after meeting again. Romantic? Yes. But such a quick and happy ending is very unlikely to keep a reader riveted so I came up with lots of conflicts to keep them apart. Including two exes, a flatulent boss and a huge dose of rivalry.

Cate: Any specific inspiration for your characters (an actor/actress or personal hero)?
Rachel: No particular inspiration because most, if not all my characters start talking to me first of all and then I write their story – but having said that, I do tend to pick an actress’ and actor’s picture to stick on my office wall and attribute their physicality to the hero and heroine.

Cate: How do you pick the character’s names?
Rachel: It depends – sometimes the name comes to me once I start writing the novel outline, sometimes I close my eyes and point at a spot in the phone directory and sometimes I give them my friends names. Hannah is my youngest daughter’s name and Jamie is my husband’s best friend’s name (who actually likes to think I gave him the raw material for hunky Jamie, the character….not true at all!)

Cate: Do you feel as if the characters live with you as you write? Do they haunt your dreams?
Rachel: They certainly live with me – they talk to me mostly when I’m ironing or walking my black Labrador, Max. Their story is constantly in my head – plot changes tend to come in the bath and sex scenes when I’m cooking!

Cate: What's next for you?
Rachel: My next release is due out July 23rd – an historical romance entitled The Arrival of Lily Curtis and published by The Wild Rose Press. I also have a contemporary women’s fiction novel under consideration with a UK agent, which I hope to receive some good news about soon!

Cate: Best of luck! At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
Rachel: I written from a very young age but started writing with a view to publication when both my children start school full-time in 2005. My first novel, a romantic suspense entitled Searching For Sophie was published by The Wild Rose Press in January 2007.
I was told by email and I cried and cried like a baby, drank a few glasses of wine with my hubby and ended up dancing around the kitchen. Yes, I was kinda happy!

Cate: Describe your writing in three words.
Rachel: Emotional, comic, sexy

Cate: Do you have a writing routine?
Rachel: I write every day without fail – I like to aim for 5,000 words a week rather than a daily amount. I often exceed that amount but refuse to put myself under pressure because past experience has proven I become a bit of a basket-case if I fail, LOL! I write around the day job and looking after the kids so my writing tends to be done in short sharp bursts of creativity that I go back and re-write or edit when I have a good two hour spell on a Saturday and Sunday.

Cate: Wow-every day’s NaNoWriMo for you! That’s great.
What’s the most challenging aspect of writing? Most rewarding?
Rachel: The most challenging for me is the actual plotting! The characters usually come into my head fully formed and chatting incessantly but then it’s the problem of what to do with them and what their conflicts are.
The most rewarding is seeing my book released in print – nothing beats holding my own book in my own hands. Fantastic!

Cate: What’s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?
Rachel: Mmm, hard one. I haven’t really had any comments that are off-the-wall or strange but I have had lots of comments and each of my books has received five star reviews so I’m keeping quiet in the hope that my success continues in the same vein, LOL!

Cate: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
Rachel: My favorite romance authors are Nora Roberts, Nicholas Evans, Jodi Picoult but I read straight across the genres. At the moment I am reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Cate: What impact do electronic readers create on the bottom line for authors? Or in people/the environment in general?
Rachel: Even though I love holding my print copies in my hands, I truly believe that e-reading can only be good for the future of the environment and also spreading an author’s name around the globe. E-books are convenient, cheaper and so accessible that it has to be a win-win for both author and reader.

Cate: Where can you be found on the web?
Rachel: www.rachelbrimble.com

Cate: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Rachel: Which sub-genre of romance is your favorite? I’d love to gauge what readers enjoy the most and why. I write across the romance genre but each story depends very much on my mood when the idea strikes, is that the same for what makes a romance reader pick up a certain book?

Cate: Readers, Rachel is giving away a book to a random commenter... so start commenting. She'll pick a winner on 1st April 2010. Be sure to leave your email address so Rachel can contact you!