Sunday, May 13, 2012

Giveaway and Guest Post with both authors from An Improper Bride: Tarah Scott and Kyann Waters

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!!!  Authors, in my opinion, are included in Mother's Day.  If they do not have a flesh and blood child, their efforts at breathing life into their characters stand for the same hardships as birthing :)  Throughout their disappointments, achievements, and growth, authors stand by their creations as surely as we do our own little miracles.  Today I have 2 very special guests that will be popping in a out answering questions about their brilliant collaboration : An Improper Bride.  This was a wonderful book!!  I will give a day to make up your own mind before I sway you with my glowing praise!  So be forewarned....lol...there is a hot hot Scottish Lard who is waiting to steal your hearts!  And here to tell us about their mutual children are their creators.  Take it away Ladies!!!


Tarah—
It’s really wonderful to be back at Close Encounters With The Night Kind. Today, I’m here with the wonderfully talented KyAnn Waters. We collaborated on our latest release, the erotic Scottish Historical An Improper Wife.

Nikki---
I'm so glad both of you are here!!

Tarah---
A proper young lady should never attend a Masque...Aphrodite is no lady.

Betrothal to the callous Lord Blackhall painted a future devoid of love. Upon his death, Lady Caroline Wilmont is promised to the younger brother. Caroline refuses to allow her first taste of desire to be at the hands of a man who would rather have any woman but her. This, her last night of freedom, is to be a memory of lust that she can take with her throughout her loveless marriage. As Aphrodite, Caroline attends a masque determined to find a man to initiate her into the intimacies of erotic love. 

Taran Robertson, Viscount of Blackhall, makes no secret that he despises his obligation to marry the Sassenach heiress chosen for him by his father. As a last foray before his wedding, he attends a masque. However, the spirited vixen he meets and seduces has secrets...secrets that just may reveal he’s to have an improper wife.

Oh boy, did we have fun writing this one! Wouldn’t you agree KyAnn?

An Improper Wife is written in the traditional Scottish Historical romance with a Scottish lord in need of money, a wealthy English noblewoman, a healthy dose of humor, a bit of suspense and, of course, plenty of sexual tension. Well, this is a twenty-first century historical romance, so maybe sexual tension is an understatement. An Improper Wife is erotic romance, but we were careful to preserve the historical setting and tone.

An Improper Wife is set in 1798, a tad bit before the Regency period, and toward the end of the eighteenth century, when the English Crown limited privateering—you may recall that privateering was, essentially, the government sanctioned pirating of enemy ships. This limitation didn’t stop our heroine’s uncle from profiting very nicely as a “privateer” and, therefore, having a nice chunk of change with which he bought marriage to an earl for his niece. What better historical romance is there than a marriage of convenience?

Of course, a marriage of convenience is filled with all kinds of opportunities for fun. Which is why, what was supposed to be a novella soon turned into a full length novel!

Most collaborations are written by one of two methods: each author writes a specific character, or they write every other chapter. We chose a more synergistic method and rewrote and revised each other’s additions to the book. As we passed the book back and forth, layering each of our rewrites over scene after scene, we ended up with a story that is uniquely different from our respective works and styles. We’re both a bit of pansters, so with the story idea in mind, we let the muse direct us. How cool is it to receive a book back from your writing partner to discover a new direction you hadn’t considered? It’s like reading a new book with each revision. So much fun!


KyAnn –
I totally agree, Tarah. I never would have tackled a hot Scottish Highlander historical on my own. You bring such a way with historical color and flavor that breathes something new and beautiful to a story. I know you feel the same about my strengths. The twists and turns, and the scorching hot sex all contribute to making Taran and Caroline two of my favorite characters we’ve written. Strong Alpha hero and an even stronger heroine. No other woman could bring him to his knees. And when he’s on his knees….whew. Wild and sexy, just the way we want our erotic romances.

So for those who love their romances with a stubborn, yet hot Scottish hero, a refined yet feisty English heroine, and sizzling with hot sex…lots of deliciously wicked sex, then An Improper Wife is going to be a story you’ll enjoy.


An Improper Wife is now available at Total E-Bound

So how can you grab a copy of this book?  Be sure to comment and ask these lovely ladies a few questions and fill out the rafflecopter!!  Good Luck!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway





66 comments:

Lilian said...

I would love to ask how many revision did it take for both parties to be happy with the book?

Tarah Scott said...

Lilian, that is an excellent question. To be honest, we lost count of revisions because of the way we kept passing the book back and forth. But I would say that we each had a crack at the first draft about three times. (As we said in the interview, we were revising and rewriting one another's work as we received the book.) Then, once the first draft was finished, we each revised the book twice. That's when the book was submitted for publication. Once the book was accepted and edited, we each took one round of edits (then each took a look at the final line edits.) Thankfully, edits were relatively easy!

Patti P said...

I would ask do you sit and chat and flesh out the whole general story before you begin or just start with a beginning and shoot for the hea?

Patti P said...

I would ask do you sit and chat and flesh out the whole general story before you begin or just start with a beginning and shoot for the hea?

Patti P said...

I would ask do you sit and chat and flesh out the whole general story before you begin or just start with a beginning and shoot for the hea?

Tarah Scott said...

Patti:

We flesh out the characters quite a bit, their backgrounds, motivation and conflicts. We start with a setting and what we think each characters' goal is. Of course, that evolves. Heh heh. As for plotting or an outline of some sort, no, we haven't done that. KyAnn and I have written two other books together, one very short, one a novella. An Improper Wife grew in length as we wrote. We were very surprised!

Joanne said...

Would you two write together again? Would you write with any other authors?

Unknown said...

It sounds delicious! Love a man in a kilt ;)

Did you both decide on the cover together as well? It's beautiful!

I wish you both the very best of success with it and all your works!

~Ava~

Unknown said...

It sounds delicious! Love a man in a kilt ;)

Did you both decide on the cover together as well? It's beautiful!

I wish you both the very best of success with it and all your works!

~Ava~

Tarah Scott said...

Joanne:

We would definitely write together again. We have one other small book planned and are kicking around another idea.

I do write with another author, Evan Trevane. Together, we write as T. C. Archer and have published half a dozen books, with twice that many wips. We do have a writing career together. Evan writes hard sci fi on his own. As with KyAnn, the books he and I write are very distinct from those we write separately.

Tarah Scott said...

Ava::

Gotta love a man in a kilt! Heh heh. You have great taste.

The cover artist for An Improper Wife is Lyn Taylor, but, yes, KyAnn and I did collaborate as to what we wanted from them. So glad you like the finished product!

heather said...

Sounds like a great story. I love how yall rewrote and revised each others addition. Did yall ever disagree with the direction the other was taking the story?

heather said...

Almost forgot, Happy Mothers Day!

Kassandra said...

What was the most difficult part about writing with another person?

Tarah Scott said...

Thanks, Heather! Happy Mother's Day to you, and to every other mother.

Kassandra, ROFL. Well, we writers are a possessive lot by nature. The hardest part of writing together is letting go and not being married to our own words. A collaboration really does have to be about the story--not that author(s). Which does make for a fabulous story.

Christine A. said...

Happy Mother's Day ladies! Congrats on the book it sounds great and I look forward to reading it. How did you choose to write about this era and what was your favorite part of the book? What is your favorite food/drink while reading/writing? Thanks.

Tarah Scott said...

Hey, Christine. We chose to write about this era because it fit the Masque balls, which is how our story opens. Also, we were able to take advantage of the fact that pirates were still very active in British history.

My favorite food and drink? Coffee and tea are my favorite drinks. Food, anything! heh heh.

KyAnn said...

Hi everyone,
I'm KyAnn Waters. thank you for sharing part of your Mother's Day with us.

I agree--there is nothing hotter than a man in a kilt. I love a stubborn hero who has a weakness for the woman they want.

My stories with Tarah are the only collaborations I have published. Although I have 30+ published works of my own. www.kyannwaters.com. you can also follow me on twitter and facebook. https://twitter.com/kyannwaters
http://www.facebook.com/KyAnnWaters

thanks
KyAnn

KyAnn said...

I eat carrot sticks for snacks. love baby carrots. And i only drink coffee, water and tea, so it's always one of the three. :)

KyAnn said...

I also want to clarify my name is KyAnn Waters - not Walters as the blog post is titled.

thanks
KyAnn

Krystal Larson said...

How did you decide on the plot?

Tarah Scott said...

Krystal:

Initially, we had a novella planned, so the plot was very straight forward. We loved the idea of our heroine attending one a masque with the intent of having a little fun before she was to marry the next day. So we researched the time period those parties took place. We were around twenty five thousand words in when we realized we were going to go well beyond our planned thirty-thousand words. We agreed to let the story take us as far as it wanted. As each of us got another idea, we discussed the idea, then it was full speed ahead.

divavixenqueen said...

Congratulations. The book sounds really great.

Is regency highlander romances your favorite genre,
or, are there other genres you, like just as much?

KyAnn said...

Hi divavixenqueen

this is my first and only historical highlander story. I will definitely revisit the genre in the future.

Right now I have a sci-fi in the works and a gay cowboy story. I always have plots popping in my head, I make a few notes so I don't forget, but most of them never become books. too many ideas, not enough time in the day for writing :)

Tarah Scott said...

Divavixen:

An Improper Wife is actually set in the Georgian era. I have yet to write a Regency. The Regency period is a very unique era and requires a very specific voice that I absolutely adore, but haven't found I have a voice for. I have written in the Medieval period, the early sixteenth century, and have skirted the Regency period with an Improper Wife, and my upcoming September release, which is just post Regency period. Heh heh. As you can see, I've steered clear of that short Regency period. I do write paranormal and romantic suspense. Each genre has its unique challenges. I love them all!

Anonymous said...

Is this the first book you have wrote this way? It sounds really good. Thanks for the interview and giveaway. I cant wait to read the review either.

Unknown said...

I love historical! Haven't read one in a while. And the cover is amazing!

wanda f said...

Hi Happy Mothers Day everyone hope you all have a wonderful day.Who or what would you say has influenced your writing the most ?

Anonymous said...

The book sounds great! Congratulations! What advice would you give to someone wanting to collaborate with another person to write a book?

Tarah Scott said...

Hey, Rachel! How you doing, girl? An Improper Wife is actually the third book KyAnn and I wrote.(Technically, our second book, but the third of our three books to be published.) I can't wait to read the review too! Nikki's review is our first for this book and we're on pins and needles!

Tarah Scott said...

Thanks so much, Lauren!

Wanda:
Gosh, who or what has influence my writing the most? That's a tough question. As far as my historical books, I was very influenced by the classics. My historicals have been classified as modern classical, which I think says it all. I write for the modern market, but work very hard at a classical style.

As for who has influenced me the most, my writing teacher, who is now my main critique partner has been very instrumental. I love Stephen King and Anne Rice, and have studied their style of writing--that's a lifetime of study! I'm far from done.

Tarah Scott said...

Amanda:

Well, my first piece of advice is to choose that writing partner very carefully. Writing is a very personal endeavor. A collaboration is a marriage of sorts. You must be certain you have some common ground. After that, you'd better have lots of trust. Trust the person knows their stuff. Trust they won't take personal your changes to 'their' work. And trust that there are no hidden agendas. If you can do these things, the partnership has a real chance of producing something special--without destroying the friendship.

Robin said...

This sounds like a fantastic book! I am glad it turned into a full-length story. How long did it take to write?

KyAnn said...

I have to give an award in patience to Tarah. I don't always play nice in the playground lol put she will put me in timeout (I'd prefer a spanking but she knows that :P ) until I quit being a brat. it goes to show our friendship is as strong as our writing relationship. you have to be able to trust that a bad day that bleeds into your writing relationship is still just a bad day.

KyAnn said...

since we both write together and have projects of our own, the collaboration on this took a little longer. We started it maybe two years ago. I don't recall the exact timing.

Unknown said...

Thank you Ladies, that was very interesting, I'm always curious to see how co-writing works in practice. I would like to ask you, what is your favourite (and least favourite) part about co-writing?

ps. and gorgeous cover, congrats! :-D

Tarah Scott said...

ROFL. KyAnn, try five years ago. During the time that KyAnn and I were writing An Improper Wife, I parted company with my agent, which meant I was suddenly left with about a dozen books with no homes! That consumed a bunch of my time for about a year. Of course, from the time we finished the book to publication was nearly a year. If we put the actual time on the clock, it was probably a year, given that we were writing our own work as well.

Tarah Scott said...

Stella:

I would say my favorite part of the collaboration process is seeing what I got back from KyAnn upon revision. It really can be like a new book. That element always kept the story fresh for me.

The least favorite element? That's a tough one for me. I collaborate because I actually like the process. Therefore, the one thing that is the toughest--having to compromise, is the very thing that makes collaborating exciting. Never being quite sure what turn a collaboration will take, and finding a way to work with something I wouldn't have written pushes me as a writer. I think I like living on the edge!

Shelley Munro said...

Wow, that sounds like so much fun and an excellent way to get out of a writing funk. I need to find a writing partner to play with!

Your book sounds great and is set in an era that I adore. On to the buy list :)

June M. said...

Does writing with someone help you when you get stuck? I would think that having 2 people who both know the characters would lessen the chance of having writer's block because you could bounce ideas off each other more.
Congrats on the release.
Happy Mother's Day

Tarah Scott said...

Thanks, Shelly!

June,you're right. There really isn't any getting stuck in a collaboration--especially with two people like KyAnn and I! We're both very strong personalities. Heh heh.

Lexi said...

Sounds like a great collaboration! This had to be so much fun to work on together.
And I love masked balls, so many chances for things to happen...and to act improper. =) Glad you were here so I could hear about this great book, must go add it to my TBR list!

April Alvey said...

What A Great Collaboration It Was Awesome. I Gotta Have This Book. I Put It On My Wish List. I Gotta Ask A Question How Hard Is It To Write A Book With Another Author And Did You Guys Fight Over How The Book Was To Be Written Or Who The Hero Or Heroin Would Be.

Tarah Scott said...

Thanks, Lexi! Be sure to let us know what you think.

April, writing with another person is a sensitive process. Each person has to be honest, but keep in mind they are dealing with another talented author who simply sees things through their own glasses. We didn't fight over the process at all. How we wrote the book, and the hero and heroine were to be were a few of the important things we agreed upon before writing a single word. As the story evolved, we talked over all major changes as they came to us. Really, the idea behind a collaboration is to create something different from what you would create on your own, so that new ideas that bloomed throughout the draft were what made the project the most fun.

bas1chs said...

Do you think you just uniquely work together or do you think you might write something with other writing partners?

sienny said...

Hi ladies! Congrats on the book and happy mothers day

Well, all my questions are already asked and answered above. So i think i'll asked a quite an out of topic question, inspired by 2 sheeps rapid fire question round :D Which would you prefer if anyone offer you a softdrink? Coke, pepsi, rootbeer, else?

Linda said...

Congrats on your book & it sounds like a yummy one. How did you get together & decide to collaborate on writing?

Tarah Scott said...

bas1chs: KyAnn and I have a unique chemistry, but I do write with Evan Trevane. Together, we write as T. C. Archer, and half a dozen books in print, with twice that many in progress.

Sienny--Rootbeer!

Tarah Scott said...

Linda:

An Improper Wife is actually the second book we began writing together, and the third to be published. Our first book, Born Into Fire, is an erotic paranormal that we were inspired to write with the hope that my then agent would like to represent the book. I have since parted company with her, so KyAnn and I took matters into our own hands and found publishers.

Unknown said...

Hi Everyone!! I was on electronic lock down and it looks like I missed a party!! So sorry about the typo KyAnn!!! I would have changed it earlier but I was stripped of all electronic devices for the day!! So much for doing what you want on Mother's Day huh? LOL!!! I hope everyone had a fabulous one!!

mcv said...

Happy Mom's day everyone.
I adore Scottish romances and the book sounds delicious!
There were so many good questions that I have a hard time thinking of one.
Who designed the cover?

books4me said...

Happy Mother's Day! Sounds like a great book. As you've written a few books with diffrerent authors, do you prefer to write alone or with other authors?

Nay Nay said...

Have you written anything with anyone other than Evan and KyAnn?
I like the cover of the book and I am putting it at the top of my wishlist.

Tarah Scott said...

Heh heh, Nikki. I would be in hell if I was stripped of my electronic toys!

Mcv--Lyn Taylor designed that cover. She did a great job, didn't she?

Tarah Scott said...

books4me--I like both writing alone an coauthoring. Of course, I've enjoyed the collaborations because my writing partners are so awesome!

Nay Nay--Evan and KyAnn are my only writing partners. I don't know if I should push my luck. LOL. I've been incredibly lucky so far.

KyAnn said...

I just returned home from spending a good portion of the day at my mom's house. Not the greatest way for my hubby to spend his birthday. lol He knows he had no chance of celebrating his birthday watching soccer, not when he was up against a gaggle of mothers. :)

Unknown said...

What a great sounding book! Definitely going on the summer reading list!
2 Q:
1. Is there an author you would like to write collaboratively that you haven't yet?
2. If you could cast this as a movie, who would you cast?

Mel
bournmelissa at hotmail dot com

Mary Preston said...

What was the most fun thing you discovered during the collaboration?

Tarah Scott said...

Mel--who I would like to collaborate with? Stephen King. Think he'll agree? heh heh. As for who I would cast if this book were a movie, I haven't a clue! I'm not up on the younger actors today. I still think of actors Robert DeNiro, and Sean Connery. Sean is amazing, but a bit to old for this part. Though, if I could play opposite him, I'd say we should give it a go!

Tarah Scott said...

Marybelle--your question is easy. I learned just how naughty a love scene could be. KyAnn is the queen of erotic romance. I found I loved the sexy, naughty, and downright gritty sex we wrote in this book.

Fedora said...

Ooh, congrats, both of you! Looking forward to reading this joint effort! Will you be writing together more? A series perhaps? Did you do anything special to celebrate together this shared release?

f dot chen at comcast dot net

Helen said...

the cover is so pretty how did you decide on it

Gale Nelson said...

how do you come up with the names of your characters in your books

Tina B said...

I love the blurb of this book! The cover isn't too shabby either. ;)
Congrats on your new release, ladies!
Most of the questions I wanted to ask were already answered.
I assume this is a standalone book, but would you want to turn it into a series?
I cannot wait to read it! Thank you for the opportunity.

Barbara said...

This sounds like a great book...I love with authors collaborate. I'm always curious about your names...are they the ones you were born with or did you take an alias? And if you chose an alias...how did you go about that?

barbbattaglia @ yahoo.com

Dustykatt said...

What do you like to eat when you're writing?

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