#Authorpalooza2010 Guest Author: Leslie Dicken

Today is my last day of my Authorpalooza. And of course I can't let this day go out with a bang..

I have two wonderful ladies here today so please leave some much deserve love for my first guest of the finale of Autorpalooza2010

is:

Leslie Dicken

How long have you been writing?

That depends on how you define "writing." I've been writing since high school. That's when I wrote my first romance - long hand in a notebook. I wrote several more books that way until the computer became mainstream and I joined RWA. But if you ask me about serious pursuit of publication - that's about ten years.

How thrilled where you when you heard your first book was going to be published? Do you still get excited when you receive from your publisher a new shipment of your latest novels?

It was amazing when Samhain said they would buy THE PRICE OF DISCOVERY. Wow, was I really good enough for someone to put their faith in me? Since Samhain is ebook first, I didn't see those print books for several months. I get excited every time I see my name out there on a book.

What's one day in the life of Leslie Dicken like?

Ha! Ok, here goes:

7:30 - get up, make sure 5th grade twins are up and getting ready for school

9:00 - get to work and spend the day wishing I was home writing instead

5:00 - leave work, get kids from sitter

5:30 - 9:30 - spend time running kids to various activities or hanging out with family

9:30 - 11:00 - write if I still have the energy!

(wow! now that's a full day! hehe!)

Do you have a current project you’re working on or something you plan to begin soon?

I'm currently writing a Victorian steampunk titled THE IRON HEART. At this point, between 1/3 and 1/2 of the way through it. It's been both fun and challenging.

In your opinion, what is the most difficult part of being a published author?

The time you need to spend promoting yourself is valuable time you could be writing. Especially for someone like me who doesn't write full-time. There are many opportunities for promotion that I know I've let slip by, but there is only so much I can do.

What’s the most rewarding?

Hearing how much people have loved your work. I still get a thrill out of it. Whether it's a review site/blog or friends or strangers, knowing someone has stayed up to read what I wrote is mind-blowing.

 

If you could co-author a book with any of your fellow authors or anyone from anywhere, who would you choose and why?

Wow, that's a hard question. I think it would be my dear friend and critique partner Lisa Paitz Spindler. She and I have very different styles and are strong in different areas. I think if we could work out a way to combine that, the book would be awesome!

Describe your writing process.

Um, open the document, read what I wrote previously, edit it and then keep moving forward. Seriously, I don't do much hard-core plotting. I start with general ideas and characters and dive in. Then as I go along, I tweak and change things. The story and characters are organic. The book rarely ends up the same as how I originally envisioned it.

What is the most interesting place you’ve ever visited?

Not sure I can answer this...I've been to several. I love to travel and see new places: Wales, England, Hawaii, Mexico, Belize, Caribbean

What can we expect to see from you in the near future?

The print version of BEAUTY TEMPTS THE BEAST is out tomorrow May 2, 2010.

(Congratulations Leslie!)

Also, Samhain is re-releasing my first historical A TARNISHED HEART in ebook in July, 2010.

And, of course, I hope my current work-in-progress THE IRON HEART will find a wonderful home soon!

[End of Interview]

Thank you so much Leslie for joining my Authorpalooza.

Below is what you can win today from Leslie.

For those in the U.S. you can win a print copy and for those international sweethearts, you can win a download copy of Leslie's book.

Just follow Leslie on twitter @LeslieDicken - tweet a hello and tell her V sent ya!

Be a blog minion..

Answer me this...

What is your favorite mythical character or figure?

 

Beauty Tempts The Beast

Cover

The blurb

And the sneak peak excerpt provided by

Leslie Dicken....

Is the enemy of her enemy a friend…or a beast?

Lord Ashworth is scarred by a night of terror years ago that left his face in ruins and his life in shreds. He hides in Silverstone Manor, using rumors that paint him as a horrible, murdering monster to keep visitors at bay. Yet he can’t shake the feeling that the rumors might be true. He tells himself it’s better this way. If his memories ever resurface, at least he will be the only one hurt by them.

The woman on his doorstep, however, simply refuses to fear him. That’s not only an oddity, it’s a threat to his secret…and his heart.

Vivian Suttley has seen the face of evil more than once in her young life. She’s on the run from the latest, a cruel man determined to force her to marry him. Whatever the whispers about the reclusive Ashworth, surely it’s nothing compared to the bleak, violent future she leaves behind.

Ashworth saved her once before, and he’s her last hope for refuge. Yet she wonders if she’s truly safer at Silverstone—or if she has just made the biggest mistake of her life.

Product Warnings: This book contains a lot of sexual tension and a several sexual scenes, have a fan ready!

[Sneak Peak Excerpt]

Vivian sat up, her blood chilling.

The far corner of the room was too dark to see if someone stood amongst the shadows. But there had been a noise. She was certain of it.

She swallowed the fear expanding in her throat. There were no monsters. No ghosts. No demons. Only mortal souls who conspired to rouse terror in her heart. Was one of those souls Lord Ashworth?

“Who’s there?” She pushed the bed curtain aside.

The floor creaked again, a draft of cool air spun through the room, then the tapestry slammed against the wall.

Vivian glanced at the shadows at the door to the hallway, then the door to Lord Ashworth’s room. Both were closed.

“Make your presence known.”

The fire snapped. Wind whistled. No one answered.

She had enough. She’d been terrorized in the hallway, but she’d not allow it in her bedchamber.

Vivian slid down from the bed and reached for her gown. She quickly pulled it over her head then straightened her shoulders.

“I’ll not sit idle while you spy on me.” She took a step forward. “Be known that I am making my way toward you, so you may as well show yourself.”

But the air was still. The sense of eyes watching her was gone.

She crossed the room with only the light of the fire to guide her, now certain she would find no one standing in the shadows.

The room was empty, save for sleeping spiders.

Someone had been here. She was not going mad. Drafts may whistle about the room, draperies may flutter, fires may dip and brighten, but floorboards did not squeak on their own.

Vivian paced before the tapestry, the wood creaking beneath her feet. Chilly air slipped under her nightdress, blew strands of her hair.

She crossed her arms, nearly shivering, and stopped where the air blew the hardest. How could air blow with such force if she were on the opposite wall from the window? Not only that, the window was closed.

Vivian reached a tentative hand out to the tapestry. The frayed weave was rough against her fingertips as she pushed and poked the fabric. She felt nothing but sturdy wall and then…

“Dear Lord, of course!”

Vivian lifted the edge of the wall-hanging and a blast of air rushed against her skin. The thin, black rectangle in the stones must be an opening to a secret passageway!

A knock at the door startled Vivian. She dropped the tapestry and stepped away from the wall.

“Vivian. May I come in?” Lord Ashworth.

She glanced around for her robe. Where was it? She’d been weak and half-faint when she was brought to bed earlier.

The door latch clicked as Vivian bent to lift open the trunk lid.

“Faith…”

Her knees weakened at the seductive purr in his voice. She rose and turned to face him. A bottomless hunger darkened his stormy eyes, desperation lurked in the tightness of his lips.

Despite her fright of a few moments ago, a dizzying tingle raced down her legs. Her dream came rushing back and the memory of her shattering release stilled her breath. The air between them sizzled, snapped. Drafts surrounded her skin like a lover’s caress, tightened her nipples and dried her mouth.

Vivian stared at him, at the rising chest under his white shirt, and the precise cut of cloth on his muscular legs.

Lord Ashworth cleared his throat then thrust a hand through his hair. “Vivian, I came in to check on you. I heard voices. I…”

His voice trailed off as his gaze swept down the front of her nightgown. She glanced down to see her nipples poking through the thin white fabric.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced away. “I heard a noise. Someone was in my room, watching me.”

[End of Sneak Peak Excerpt]