Interview with Natasha Blackthorne and International Giveaway

Please help me welcome author Natasha Blackthorne to Book of Secrets!  Her latest release is the historical erotic romance GREY'S LADY.  Hi, Natasha! 

Please tell us a little about GREY'S LADY.

  

Grey's Lady is the story of a poor but beautiful young woman who works hard in her half-siblings' struggling shop. But she's been educated above her current situation. Spirited and sensual, she finds her life dreary and feels trapped. She has a secret life where she plays seductress to wealthy, handsome gentlemen. She does it for the thrill of conquest and erotic pleasure.

She's been hurt deeply by life and men and she's just not interested in trading independence for security. She's not looking for either marriage or protection from a man. Her motto is to seduce a man once, love him only once and then leave him burning.

Grey is the owner of one of the largest shipping/mercantile companies in 1812 America, raised by a stern, profit minded Calvinistic father. Wealthy and powerful Grey is in total control of his life and his world. He likes it that way. He uses his wealth to control his relationships. He likes to have women admire and depend on him for the luxury and sexual pleasure he can give them.

Beth targets handsome dark haired, silver-eyed Grey as a sexual conquest. Grey doesn't know he's about to be hit by a force he cannot control. Beth doesn't know she's about to meet her match.

When their eyes first meet, they see the emptiness the other feels. A brief, torrid sexual encounter in Grey's closed carriage starts a chain of events that neither of them is prepared for. Beth is determined that each encounter they have is their last. Grey is determined to gain her commitment and add her to his cache of mistresses. Which one--the merchant prince or the poor-but-beautiful seductress--will win?  

What was your source of inspiration behind this book? 

I find the idea of how our sexuality touches us at such a deep basic level fascinating. It can strip away all intellectual defenses. At it’s best, sexual intimacy can bring about a surrender that encourages wholeness.

Grey’s Lady is a story that came to me while researching another story. I read a book about social history that detailed power and sex relations between men and women in Philadelphia in this time. Power relations between the sexes were really complex and not quite what popular consensus about this time period leads one to assume. That world was very interesting to me. It got me thinking on all the possibilities.

One day Grey came into my mind as a character and he showed me this opening scene. It is a gray, rainy day and he’s in the bookseller’s. He sees this incredibly beautiful, feminine looking woman and exchanges a glance with her. For a split second, he sees beneath her facade and catches a glimpse at how sad she is. And it echoes his own emptiness and sadness that he’s suppressed so much, he’s become numb to it. And after this moment, he is never the same. He goes from being a man in total control of his emotional life into a man consumed by the need to possess this woman.

Beth has a secret life. She plays seductress to men—well not just men but wealthy, powerful Gentlemen. And she controls the interaction by being the seducer and also by limiting the affair to one assignation. She’s an extremely sex positive, uninhibited, sensual woman but only in her secret life with the gentlemen. In her normal life, she’s a devoted sister and aunt and works hard in her family’s struggling shop. She’s excited by dynamic, powerful, handsome men but she feels she can never expect marriage with one of them because of her social status. Philadelphians in this time use the terms Better Sort, Middling Sort and Lower Sort. She’s very aware of social position and social power and her lack thereof.

Grey is millionaire merchant prince in a time when millionaires are rare. He uses his wealth to control his mistresses through their greed for luxury and he doesn’t value emotional depth in his relationships. He just wants sexual convenience. He also likes to feel needed and appreciated but only for what he can provide in material ways and erotic pleasure.

They both try to keep control over others and to keep distance while attempting to fill their emotional needs through sex but they are failing to do so adequately. They both feel empty inside when they meet each other.They are isolated by their secrets and their self-protection.

When they come together and they have this overwhelming attraction and explosive interaction, the question becomes can deep sexual intimacy work a miracle and lead to the opening of their hearts? Can they save each other from their isolation, from their auto-suppression of their true selves?
Grey's Lady is the story of a poor but beautiful young woman who works hard in her half-siblings' struggling shop. But she's been educated above her current situation. Spirited and sensual, she finds her life dreary and feels trapped. She has a secret life where she plays seductress to wealthy, handsome gentlemen. She does it for the thrill of conquest and erotic pleasure.

She's been hurt deeply by life and men and she's just not interested in trading independence for security. She's not looking for either marriage or protection from a man. Her motto is to seduce a man once, love him only once and then leave him burning.

Grey is the owner of one of the largest shipping/mercantile companies in 1812 America, raised by a stern, profit minded Calvinistic father. Wealthy and powerful Grey is in total control of his life and his world. He likes it that way. He uses his wealth to control his relationships. He likes to have women admire and depend on him for the luxury and sexual pleasure he can give them.

Beth targets handsome dark haired, silver-eyed Grey as a sexual conquest. Grey doesn't know he's about to be hit by a force he cannot control. Beth doesn't know she's about to meet her match.

When their eyes first meet, they see the emptiness the other feels. A brief, torrid sexual encounter in Grey's closed carriage starts a chain of events that neither of them is prepared for. Beth is determined that each encounter they have is their last. Grey is determined to gain her commitment and add her to his cache of mistresses. Which one--the merchant prince or the poor-but-beautiful seductress--will win? 

For readers who are not familiar with your books, please share some background information on your series.

The Carte Blanche Series is all about powerful gentlemen and their seductive mistresses. Unconventional relationships with fairy tale endings playing out against the dramatic settings of New York City and Philadelphia in the early years of the Republic. 

Can you tell readers a little bit about the world building in your book/series? Were there challenges or obstacles you had to overcome?

I spent about six months totally immersing myself in the time period. I read a lot of biography and social history. I prefer to build my characters from the bones outward.

I want to understand their world. What do they eat on a daily basis? What does the air they breathe smell like? What memes and philosophies are they bombarded with each day? How does it feel to be dressed in their clothes, what do the fabrics feel like on their skin, are they constricted in their movements? 

Yes, the story and the characters are more important than the history details. But if I don’t understand my characters from the bones out, I cannot create their world nor recreate how they act and react with any kind of authentic feel. 

Even if they go against their society, I need to understand what it feels like to be in that society and that world before I can know how to show why this person believes and reacts different from the norm. I need to understand what it feels like to be in that society and living by those rules before I can know what it feels like to go against those social norms. Any behaviour that is atypical to that society, I need to justify with the character’s past and what shaped them. 

I still do research as I am writing for specific questions of the plot but I need to have that foundation built first.

We usually never talk about villains in books during interviews. Share with us who or what is the antagonist of your story.

The antagonists in this story are the inner demons that both Beth and Grey deal with and how these hidden factors affect their interaction. The result is an explosive battle of wills. In Grey's Lady we mostly just see the results but the sequel White Lace and Promises gets deeper into these issues.

Who is your target audience? Have you been able to crossover into other audiences too?

I want to entertain those readers who love historicals and a character driven, deeply psychological/emotional/erotic plot.

How do you create your characters' names?

When I do research, I collect lists of names for the period, both first names and surnames. I keep separate lists for America and England. If it is not a period name then I look deeper into their back-story to see why they would be given this unusual name. 

Why do modern women still crave the alpha male in romance novels?

Probably the same reason why men are fascinated with femme fatales. :)

What can readers expect next from you? 

I have one novella and several novels coming soon from Total E-Bound Publishing.

White Lace and Promises, a novella and the second book in the Carte Blanche series, is the sequel to Grey’s Lady and as I said, it gets deeper into Grey and Beth’s inner demons and how they come together to fight them. It is scheduled for release Dec 26, 2011.

Alex’s Angel is the third book in the Carte Blanche series and it is scheduled for release on February 28, 2012. It is a full-length novel set in Philadelphia in 1793. Here is a short blurb: In the wake of a devastating epidemic, sheltered Emily Eliot finds herself alone, making her own decisions for the first time. When desperation leads her to sell her virtue, she walks straight into trouble.

Enter one gorgeous, golden haired gentleman bent on protecting her…Alexander Dalton came to the Blue Duck Tavern seeking to lose himself in sexual pleasure. Yet when he saw the delicate and vulnerable young woman, he couldn’t turn away. But he needs her to believe in him a lot more than she needs his protection…Alex’s charming smile hides a dark secret that could destroy their chance at happiness. Will their passion burn them up or bring them together?

The next book in the Carte Blanche series is titled Emily's Seduction and it is scheduled for release April 23, 2012.

I have another full-length novel, an English Regency scheduled for release on April 09,2012.

I am currently at work on a novel for the Carte Blanche series and have several other novels and a few shorter stories planned in my notebooks. 

Other than writing, what are some of your passions in life? 

History, Cats, Reading, Music 

Where can readers find you on the web? 

My blog: http://natashablackthorneblog.blogspot.com/
My website: http://natashablackthorne.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Author-Natasha-Blackthorne/100002385587652
Twitter: Nblackthorne
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4878430.Natasha_Blackthorne
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a3557879/Natasha-Blackthorne/
I am most active on Facebook. 

Can you leave readers with a little teaser or excerpt from your book? 

I would love to. I think this scene represents some of their conflict. They are both determined to be the one who is making the conquest of the other throughout the story. Just FYI, Total E-Bound is a U.K. Publisher and they print in British English:

Impulse seized her and she caught hold of his lapels. “Kiss me.”

He leaned closer. Heavens, anyone could come along and catch them. Oh the risk… But her breath quickened and her nipples stiffened, straining against her stays. She closed her eyes, tilted her head up. Waited.

And waited.

“How many men since me?” He laid his large hand at the base of her throat and a thrill went chasing through her. “Look me in the eye.”

Her lids fluttered open and his gaze pierced into her with such intensity she gasped. “It has only been two weeks.”

“Answer me, Beth.”

Another thrill trembled through her. Fear or anticipation? She couldn’t say. “None.”
Still holding her throat, he studied her for several long moments. She set her jaw, refusing to waver under his scrutiny.

He bent and his mouth pressed hers, hard and hasty. Passion spiraled, took her soaring to the stars. Lassitude weakened her and wetness seeped between her legs. He lifted his head. She tightened her hands on his lapels, trying to pull him back. He resisted, his eyes trained on her like a stag with a doe.

Kiss me. Just kiss me, you arrogant jackanapes.

“Now, go.” He released her, set her veil back in place and left her there.

She gaped at his departing back, watching how he moved, so tall and proud. Over-proud. Did he have any idea what a rarefied class he found himself in? She didn’t go around asking just any man to kiss her. She had very high standards and she shared herself with only a select few. She was bestowing quite an honour on him and yet he reacted as if she were the one who ought to be grateful. And to add insult to injury, he hadn’t even kissed her. Not truly.

Readers may find my entire first chapter posted here as a free read: http://dreneebagbypresentsfirstchapters.blogspot.com/2011/08/greys-lady-by-natasha-blackthorne.html (Adult content. This link is for 18 and over only.)

 Available at: Total-e-Bound

Giveaway Details:

Natasha is giving away an eBook copy of GREY'S LADY to one random commenter!  (18+ only, please.)  The contest is open internationally.  To enter, please leave a comment with your e-mail address.  Contest open until 10/23/2011 @ 11:59 pm CST.  Good luck!