I’d like to
welcome Linda Rae Sande, author of The Brothers
of the Aristocracy: Boxed Set to my blog today.
RW: Tell
us about yourself, your family, where you live, etc.
LRS: Thanks
for having me, Rochelle! I’m a single nerd who loves action/adventure movies
and hockey. I used to work as a technical writer in 3D graphics and animation,
so I still follow that industry. During the day, I run a small print shop and
at night I write books. Although I used to have tropical fish, I live alone in
Cody, Wyoming.
RW: How
many hours a day do you spend writing?
LRS: Usually
around two hours, although I’ve been known to do a six-hour marathon on a
weekend day. I still have a day job, but I don’t know that I would write more
than I do if I wasn’t employed full-time.
RW: Why
did you decide to write? What genre was it?
LRS: I’ve been a
writer for years, usually because my jobs as a technical writer have required
the skill, but I was a reader first. I love books! I love how I can escape this
reality just by opening a book and reading. My passion was science fiction when
I was growing up and in high school, but a friend used to pass me her
historical romances. There were a few of those that made me think I could do a
better job. I mentioned it to a distant relative, and she basically dared me to
write Regencies. About the same time, I was doing genealogical research and
discovered information about ancestors who lived in England. Imagining their
stories drove me to write novels set in the Regency era.
RW: Has
your life changed since you became a writer?
LRS: Oh,
yes! Mostly due to the added travel, since I attend several book conventions
every year. I love meeting readers as well as interacting with other authors
and industry professionals. It’s a great opportunity to get out of the writing
cave and learn what’s going on in the publishing world.
RW: Who
are your favorite characters among the books you’ve written?
LRS: George
Bennett-Jones (who debuted in The Kiss of
a Viscount and appears in several more) was one of my first beta heroes. He’s
the guy I wish I had in my life. He takes great pride in seeing to it his wife
is happy.
The other favorite would be Samantha Fitzsimmons, the
daughter of a viscountess. She’s artistic and smart and takes things as they
come. As a young lady in the Regency era, she makes the best of what would be a
frustrating experience for any modern woman.
RW: Would
you like to write a different genre or sub-genre than you do now?
LRS: Not
yet. I still have plenty of characters who need their stories written, so I’ll
be sticking with Regencies for awhile.
RW: If
I were a first-time reader of your books, which one would you recommend I start
with and why?
LRS: The
Passion of a Marquess is just a great
tale of two castaways on a deserted island, so although it’s mostly about them
and how they deal with their situation, there are background characters who are
also frantic to find them. Those background characters are common to the other
books.
I love that my readers appreciate the world in which
these books take place. They seem to like revisiting familiar characters.
RW: What
book for you has been the easiest to write? The hardest? The most fun?
LRS: The Story of a Baron
was the easiest. It’s a book-within-a-book, and since my books all feature at
least two couples, this one allowed one of the couples to read a book (and fall
in love as they did so) that featured the other couple (who were so mismatched,
it didn’t look as if they would get their HEA). This one combined my love of
reading with some fun characters.
Tuesday
Nights was the most difficult. Its timeline is necessarily
long, and although I would have preferred to tell it in a series of flashbacks,
there were just too many for a reader to have to track. The main character in
that one, Michael Cunningham, is an excellent businessman, but he can’t keep
track of his own life. Readers complain that he seems dumb as a rock, but we
all know men like that—men who are great at their jobs but who don’t remember
birthdays or anniversaries or who lose track of time.
The most fun book to write was The Gossip of an Earl. By the time I wrote it, I had a world of
diverse characters who could all share their dismay at being featured in a
weekly gossip newspaper—and do something about it.
RW: What
do you do to relax and recharge your batteries?
LRS: Go
to the movies! I prefer watching them on the big screen, in a theatre, where I
can’t be distracted by anything.
RW: If you were to create your own fantasy
land, how would you describe it?
LRS: Rolling
hills of green grass that never needs to be mowed are dotted with trees that
keep their leaves year-round. The weather is always late spring, and the stone
and stucco cottages never need maintenance. Every one has a huge library filled
with books, and there is at least one large-screen TV. The internet connections
are all lightning speed. The weekly order of groceries is delivered to your
front door, and someone who loves to cook makes all the meals. The movie
theatre is within walking distance. And everyone does for a living what they
have a passion to do.
RW: Those are all the
questions I have for you. Thank you for speaking to me.
LRS: Thanks so much, Rochelle!
The
Brothers of the Aristocracy: Boxed Set
Three RONE Award nominees
make up this set. The Love of a Rake
features two rakes, two horses, and two not-so-marriage-minded women who just
need a bit of horse sense. When brothers trade places, one is bound to fall in
love in the name of the other in The
Caress of a Commander. An explorer searches for a missing duke and finds
ancient artifacts, pirates, and Aphrodite in The Epiphany of an Explorer.
Excerpt from The
Caress of a Commander
“It appears as if this palm
tree has decided to claim the next dance with you. Perhaps you’ll grant me the
one after that?”
Lucida’s eyes widened when
she looked up to find the Earl of Bellingham looking down on her, mischief
apparent in his hazel eyes.
For a moment, Lucida was
left speechless. Obviously, the earl had paid witness to the palm moving in her
direction just as she suspected it had done! Perhaps he had even seen its frond
fondling her shoulder!
And now he had come to
rescue her!
Would he challenge the
potted plant to a duel, she wondered? For having impugned her honor by
caressing her bare shoulder without her permission to do? For nearly grabbing
onto her sleeve so she would be forced to fight with the devilish frond until
she would have to tear it from its leaf in order to escape? But, no, she
realized as she remembered the rest of what he had said about accepting its
offer of a dance.
Did he honestly think she
would accept the offer of a dance from a potted palm? Why, she would be left
doing all the work of leading the dance given the palm was quite secure in its
Chinese pot!
And then she realized the
earl was teasing her, his lips slowly spreading into a grin that made him
appear far more handsome than he did when she had watched him dance the waltz
with Lady Jane.
Her own lips soon matched
his before she dipped a curtsy. “I actually gave the palm my apologies only a
moment ago,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “He was being rather too
friendly given we’ve never been properly introduced,” she explained as she
angled her head. “And now I fear he didn’t take it well,” she added, moving a
few inches farther away from the insistent frond.
Linda Rae Sande
A self-described nerd and
lover of science, Linda Rae spent many years as a published technical writer
specializing in 3D graphics workstations, software and 3D animation (her movie
credits include Shrek and Shrek 2). An interest in genealogy led
to years of research on the Regency era and a desire to write fiction based in
that time.
A fan of action-adventure
movies, she can frequently be found at the local cinema. Although she no longer
has any tropical fish, she does follow the San Jose Sharks. She makes her home
in Cody, Wyoming. For more information about her books, go to her website:
www.lindaraesande.com.
Buy Links:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37904533-the-brothers-of-the-aristocracy
Contact Linda Rae
At: lindarae@lindaraesande.com
Website: https://www.lindaraesande.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lindaraesa
