RIPE FOR PLEASURE Book Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway with Isobel Carr

I am pleased to have Isobel Carr at Book of Secrets today.  Her new release is RIPE FOR PLEASURE, an erotic histsorical romance.  Welcome, Isobel!  I asked her to answer the following question:

Where do you find inspiration for writing in your daily life?

Everywhere. Everything feeds the beast. My godmother is also an author and she taught me that. Anyone who is friends with a writer should know that at some point that writer WILL use your stories in their books. In RIPE FOR PLEASURE, the dog is based on my own Mastiff (and his sisters, who belong to my sister and my best girlfriend and her husband). The villain’s personality was inspired by Arlo Givens from JUSTIFIED (love that show!).  The heroine’s circle of friends came out of biography I was reading (THE LADY IN RED byHallie Rubenhold, fabulous book about the scandalous divorce of Lady Worsley). The heroine’s cool persona I stole from Joan on MAD MEN. The lost treasure the hero is looking for I stumbled across years ago when researching the history of the kilt (I think it was on Electric Scotland, a site I adore). And yes, the treasure is real, and still missing to this day.

Also, my daily life might not be like a lot of other people’s . . . I grew up as a re-enactor, so I have a lot of strange experiences actually doing the stuff my characters do (everything from riding sidesaddle and driving a carriage to eating period food and wearing period clothing). That part of my life is absolutely inspiration and fodder for my writing. If I don’t know how to do something, there’s usually some re-enactor friend I can call or email for help with the description. I even know a couple Gaelic speakers!

In my opinion, a writer can’t live in a bubble, even with the internet at their fingers. What you read and see and do all informs and shapes your writing. And the more you do of all three of those, the more your writing will flourish.

About the Book:

Ripe for Pleasure
By Isobel Carr
ISBN: 9780446572750
Release Date: 5/01/2011

Second in line, first in love.

A secret society of younger sons, sworn to aid and abet each other, no matter the scandal or cost.... Their fathers and brothers may rule the world, but they run it . . . and when it comes to passion, they refuse to accept second best.

Searching for hidden treasure, finding forbidden fantasy.

London's most sensual former courtesan, Viola Whedon, is incapable of being seduced-she does the seducing. Until she meets Leonidas Vaughn. Her salacious memoirs have made her the target of half the lords in England, and Vaughn is the only man she can turn to. When he promises to protect her-and to make her beg for his touch-the alluring beauty finds both offers impossible to refuse.

Leonidas Vaughn secretly believes Viola possesses a fortune given to his family by the King of France. So the strong and sexy Vaughn charms his way into Viola's life . . . and her bed. But when their arrangement is consummated, he'll experience pleasure far beyond his wildest fantasies-and realize his heart may need the most protection of all.

About the Author:

ISOBEL CARR is single, child-free, and a committed "dog person" (the bigger the dog the better). She has taught creative writing, horseback riding, and seminars on historical costuming. She can start a fire without matches and hitch a team of horses to a wagon. She can also spend nine hours in a Victorian corset without a problem but can't wear heels for more than four hours. She laughed all the way through every episode of Colonial House, and if she could only watch one movie for the rest of her life, it would be Impromptu.

http://www.isobelcarr.com/

Twitter: @IsobelCarr

Giveaway Details:

Thanks to Hachette Books, I have 2 copies of RIPE FOR PLEASURE to give away! To enter, please leave a comment with a way to contact you.

Contest open to residents of the US and Canada. No P.O. Boxes, please. Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if they win the same title in two or more contests, they will receive only one copy of the title (or one set in the case of grouped giveaways) in the mail.

Contest is open until Sunday, 5/15/2011, at 11:59 pm CST. Winners will receive their books directly from Hachette. Good luck!