1. What is your next book called and when
is it coming out?
HER ONLY DESIRE will go on sale at the end of March, 2007, launching
my hot new Spice Trilogy! In an encore to the Knight family series,
the trilogy features three exciting new who will
be arriving in Regency London from India under the British Raj.
Fearless cavalry officers Gabriel and Derek Knight and their gorgeous
sister Georgiana are an adventuresome, exotic trio. Don’t
miss out on the fun as they arrive to knock some of the stuffing
out of the stuffy London ton. Georgie, the youngest, is tempted
to follow in the footsteps of her scandalous aunt, the Duchess Georgiana
Hawkscliffe (aka the Hawkscliffe Harlot), and as for the guys, word
soon spreads among the ladies of Society that these stunningly handsome,
deadly soldiers also happen to be masters of the Kama Sutra…
Previous Knight couples will also be making plenty of cameos in
these stories, so if you’ve been following the series, you’ll
be happy to meet with old friends again. Ballantine is further supporting
my Knight series with a reissue of the book that started it all:
The Duke, Robert and Bel’s story. (The Duke is Book One in
the main Knight family series.) As of now, the publication schedule
for the trilogy goes like this:
Her Only Desire – March 27, 2007
Her Secret Fantasy – Autumn 2007
Her Every Pleasure – Spring 2008
2. What can you tell us about HER ONLY
DESIRE?
“Georgie” Knight is the niece and namesake of Georgiana,
the Hawkscliffe Harlot, the scandalous duchess at the center of
the Knight Miscellany. Georgie has one of the few surviving copies
of her aunt’s rebellious writings, and has been strongly influenced
by them, to the point where she now holds the shocking view that
women are equal to men and should be treated as such. She refuses
to marry unless the man who would win her hand treats her as an
equal.
She is also an interesting character because although she was raised
among the British ruling class of India, she has imbibed a great
deal of the local culture. This is due to the fact that as a child,
with her mother dead, her father caught up in the business of the
East India Company, and her brothers far away at boarding school,
she was raised by her kindhearted Indian servants.
So, she has one foot in British society as the belle of a high-ranking
family, and the other foot in the culture all around her, with as
many Indian girlfriends, both Hindu and Muslim, as British ones.
She is vivacious and compassionate, with a great deal of intelligence
behind her startling beauty.
Ian Prescott, the Marquess of Griffith, will be a familiar face
to readers who have been following the Knight series. But trust
me when I say that there is a lot about Ian that you don’t
yet know—I think you can safely call it a bit of a dark side—things
that even his best friends, the Knight brothers, don’t know
about him.
You may recall that he is a widower and father to a small son, and
that his main role in life aside from being a rich and powerful
politico is as a diplomat. Thus, he arrives in India on a mission
to negotiate a treaty to try to stop a war from breaking out. At
this point in history, you see, England did not control the whole
of India.
There were still large regions where the proud maharajahs still
ruled from their glittering palaces, and some of them had huge armies,
untold riches to fund their wars, and enough power to pose a serious
threat to the British. I don’t mind telling you I have been
enjoying myself immensely working in this fabulous setting….
Tigers roaming the forests, painted elephants, exquisite temples
covered with erotic carvings, dancing girls, intrigues in the harem—it’s
such a fun change of pace! The first half of this story takes place
in India at one of these spectacular maharajah’s palaces,
while the second half takes place in the Regency London that we
all know and love.
At any rate, Ian arrives in India knowing about the young Georgiana
and well aware that for a very long time there has been talk of
a grand alliance between their two noble houses, vis-à-vis
marriage, but he wants nothing to do with putting himself through
the ordeal of marriage a second time, and moreover, the minute he
meets Georgie, he knows she’s trouble. For her part, she thinks
he’s an uptight, arrogant Englishman who has probably only
come to India to line his own pockets, like so many other government
official types have done. And yet for some reason, the two are wildly
attracted to each other and just can’t seem to keep their
hands off each other…
3. What are you going to be working on
after the Spice Trilogy?
Well, I am torn between two different ideas for a new Regency Historical
series. Actually, dear reader, I wouldn’t mind getting your
opinion on this!
Keep in mind that I’m sticking with Regency Historicals either
way; my area of debate is in the stories’ tone. As you can
see in my Knight books, I love writing very emotional, intense books
and most of the time, there’s some sort of suspense or adventure
subplot going on, too. But many of you have also said you really
like the humor and wry wit in my books, and with all that’s
going on in the world these days, I think we can all appreciate
a book that makes us laugh. It’s tempting to put the dark,
scary type of stories aside when we seem to have “dark and
scary” out there in the real world in abundance these days!
At any rate, with my two different series ideas, one set of books
would be dark and suspensy (you could call it Regency Romantic Suspense),
whereas the other series is more light-hearted and fun – instead
of a lot of intrigue and danger going on, it would be more focused
on the people, more like intelligent Romantic Comedy.
Which of these sounds more appealing to you? I aim to please, so
why not send me a quick note and tell me which of these you’d
vote for? What are you in the mood for these days in your romance
reading; and particularly for those who have read a number of my
books (or all of them!), what would you like to see me try next?
(FYI, this would be work that you wouldn’t come out until
some time in 2008.)
I love both of these ideas, so I’ll be happy either way. Of
course, I can’t guarantee the outcome of your feedback, because
obviously my publisher does have some say in the matter *g* but
I’d love to know what my readers are in the mood for these
days. Thanks!
Email me at GaelenFoley@aol.com
and cast your vote:
4. In what order should I read the Knight
Miscellany books?
I purposely wrote the stories in such a way that anybody can jump
in anywhere and read them in any order, but if you would prefer
reading the series chronologically, it goes like this:
1. The Duke
2. Lord of Fire
3. Lord of Ice
4. Lady of Desire
5. Devil Takes a Bride
6. One Night of Sin
7. His Wicked Kiss
Plus, these three, which will be released as noted above…
8. Her Only Desire (March 27, 2007)
9. Her Secret Fantasy (Autumn 2007)
10. Her Every Pleasure (Spring 2008)
If you don’t see the book you want on the shelves, just ask
your friendly neighborhood bookseller to order one for you. “Makes
a great gift!” :P
5. Will you be writing about the duchess, Georgiana, the mother
of all the Knight siblings?
No, sadly. She is an exciting character, true, but she doesn’t
cut it for heroine material in my view. This was a (fictional!)
woman who hurt too many people in her own selfish pursuit for excitement,
and too much of a narcissist to qualify as a true heroine.
6. Will you be writing stories about any of the other secondary
characters from the Knight series?
Ah, yes. You remember that very serious, dutiful chap, Ian, Lord
Griffith, who has been in a few of the books and grew up with the
Knight brothers? He’s a widower with a young son, frequently
away from London because he serves as a diplomat with the Foreign
Office. Well, he’s going to clash with Georgie and our girl’s
going to do a tap dance on his noble head.
7. In what order should I read the Ascension Trilogy books?
Again, these can be read in any order, too, and you’ll still
know what’s going on, but the “correct” order
for the Ascension books is:
1. The Pirate Prince
2. Princess
3. Prince Charming.
I hope you enjoy them. These books are very special to me.
8. Are you ever going to write another
Ascension book? What about writing Leo’s story?
I have no plans to write another Ascension book at this time, but
you never know. For now, I’ve really said everything I wanted
to say about Ascension. The trilogy feels complete to me.
9. Have you ever thought about writing
a different kind of book besides historical romance?
Thought about it, yes, but not in a serious way. I am very happy
writing Regency/Napoleonic era historical romances. For the foreseeable
future, this is where I’m happiest and where my passion lies.
10. Are all your books still in print?
Yes! Happily, they are all still available. (In fact, The Pirate
Prince is in something like its fourteenth printing by now.) If
for some reason you can’t find the GF book you want in your
local bookstore, they can usually order it for you at the front
desk and have it in within a few days.
11. Many reviewers have noted the historical
accuracy of your novels. How do you do your research?
I’ve been studying the Regency period for about nine years
now, and have developed a multi-pronged approach to research that
includes: an entire wall covered with reference books; subscriptions
to numerous magazines, such as “Realm,” e-zines such
as “The Regency Library” and newsletters such as “The
Regency Plume” that specialize in the period and/or English
history and culture. I have an audio and video library of pertinent
tapes, documentaries and period movies, as well as a file cabinet
dedicated to all manner of research topics, from “Almack’s”
to “Zoo’s of Regency London.” My file cabinet
also holds maps, climate charts, stagecoach routes, recipes, diagrams
of houses, dance patterns, calendars of actual Regency years, etc.
Another pillar of my research is membership in the Beau Monde chapter
of RWA. The online loop of the Beau Monde chapter is an invaluable
information exchange. We are lucky enough to have numerous experts
in various areas of Regency history who are kind enough to share
their knowledge. I also have a number of experts I can turn to as
a last resort or to make sure I’m getting the nuances of a
complex historical situation.
I’m also a great believer in hands-on research, so I try to
experience a little taste of the things my characters experience.
Horseback riding, English country dancing, cooking up Regency recipes
in my own kitchen, attending chamber music recitals on period instruments,
taking any excuse to go out to a fine English tea—I’ve
even taken up fencing!
I spend a lot of time in antiques stores to keep a sense for the
past, and also museums, either art, costume, carriages, furniture,
whatever. I particularly like visiting living history museums where
re-enactor guides in period costume show visitors how things used
to be done in the old days. Lastly, I budget for research trips
to England every couple of years—my favorite aspect of research,
except for the jet lag!
Note: If you are researching the Regency period yourself, don’t
miss my new Links page!
12. How do you make your characters seem
so alive?
One way is by doing extensive character backgrounds on each of the
main people in my story before I ever start writing. For example,
the character chronology. This is a year-by-year life story from
birth onward, bringing the character up to the present time (of
their story). In a historical novel, you can parallel the various
years of a character’s life with the great events of the day
and think about how those events impacted this person. Doing character
work ahead of writing text is also a good way to get a long of the
research done in advance so that you don’t have to break your
writing flow once you launch into drafting the story.
13. How long does it take you to write
a book?
About eight months, though I’m determined to pare that down
a bit.
14. How do you decide on titles for your
books?
Usually I’m not the one who decides. Titles are a big deal
and these days many authors don’t title their own books. I
did title the Ascension trilogy books myself, but they were pretty
easy. The rest of my titles have been a committee effort generated
by the editorial, marketing, and sales departments of my publisher,
those unsung heroes, with input from both my agent and me. The content
of the novels is all my doing, but the packaging (title, book-cover,
back cover blurb, etc.) is the realm of various departments at my
publisher’s.
15. How do you decide what to put on
the book cover?
Ditto the above. The author usually has little to do with the book
cover. I’m just as surprised as you when I first see my new
book covers. It’s one of the high points of the whole process,
really. My editor asks for my input, which she shares with the art
department, along with her own ideas for the cover, but if they
don’t like my ideas, they’re not obligated to use them.
I don’t get hyper about it because I’m not a graphic
artist or a marketing expert. I’m just a storyteller! So,
they have more meetings to discuss it, and again, Sales and Marketing
each get to have a say in it, too. The head designer in the art
department contracts a freelance artist to carry out the design.
When the artists have a mock-up ready, they send me a copy.
Everybody in the process takes a look at it, then it might be tweaked
a little, such as a slight change in the color. Small changes are
ok, as long as we don’t go over budget. Covers can be extremely
expensive to produce, especially those with step-backs, foiling,
and embossing. After that, the cover is sent to the printers’
and becomes a “cover flat”.
16. Is Gaelen Foley your real name or
a pen name?
It’s real, baby! Just like the rest of me. <g> It’s
Irish, so I’m told, translated from Gaelic as “She Who
Must Be Obeyed” – according to my husband. Someone told
me recently that it means either “tranquil” or “healer,”
but I cannot confirm that. To the best of my knowledge it is related
to the name “Caitlyn.”
17. What are all those different languages
that your books are published in now?
Aside from English, I’m in Spanish, French, German,
Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Norwegian, Korean, and Chinese.
I would like to tell you how meaningful this is for me. See my Abroad
page for more detail.
A long time ago, when I was a teenager trying to decide what sort
of life to pursue, I was torn between trying to become a novelist
or taking a different educational path that would eventually lead
to a job with the U.S. State Department or working for the United
Nations. All I wanted to do was to promote kindness and understanding
among people across the globe, because, frankly, it’s a basic
spiritual belief for me that we are all the same underneath our
different surface customs, and all one family. It never occurred
to me that by writing love stories and letting a worldwide giant
like Bertselsmann publish them (parent company of Random House)
I could do the very same thing, only on a much smaller scale and
in a more personal way. I’m so glad I made the choice I did.
(I don’t think I could stand dealing with a bunch of politicians
everyday, LOL.)
18. How did you get started writing and
break in to the business, i.e. how did you sell your first book?
It took me five and a half years to sell my first novel, and in
fact, the first manuscript that sold was actually the fifth one
I had completed. That fifth manuscript became The Pirate Prince,
and I still have all 28 rejections that I got on that book saved
in a folder somewhere, from both agents and editors.
I couldn’t get an agent until after the publisher had made
me an offer. What can I say? Nobody wanted me! LOL. Once I had an
offer on the table, I called up an agent I respected and asked her
to conduct the negotiations for me. It probably wasn’t necessary,
I realize now, because first-time authors usually get a standard
deal from all publishers, but I had no idea what I was doing on
the business side of things, so it was the right decision for me.
19. I’m an aspiring writer. Do
you have any advice for me?
Sure. Click over to my Tips
for Aspiring Writers article and enjoy. I won’t lie to
you, the chances of becoming a published author are statistically
daunting, but I firmly believe you can do anything in this life
if you focus on mastering one thing, do it for the right reasons
(i.e. more than just personal gain), and refuse to quit.
20. Do I need to have an agent in order
to get published?
In today’s competitive climate, an agent definitely gives
you an edge, but as I explained above, I sold my first book without
one, so it can be done. It’s just harder and it takes longer,
and there are fewer publishers willing to consider your material.
So I would say it’s worth your time to try to get an agent,
but it’s not the end of the world if you can’t. A lot
of times agents will put blinders on, only picking up unpublished
writers who are writing the hot thing of the day, but editors can
afford to take a broader view and judge a work on its own merits.
If they fall in love with an unusual book, they are in a position
to take it on and find a way to make it work. That’s exactly
what happened to me with The Pirate Prince. There wasn’t an
agent in New York who would touch it with a ten-foot pole—some
opined in their rejection letters that pirate stories don’t
sell, ahem (tell it to Johnny Depp)—but the maverick editor
who picked my book up off the slush pile realized that a lot of
people would love this kind of swashbuckling adventure story. Thank
goodness such editors exist!
But back to agents: If you don’t know the first thing about
finding one, here’s what you need to do. Go to your local
library, trot over to the reference section, and have a nice long
sit-down with the latest edition of the Writer’s Market. Flip
to the Agents section and read each entry to see if they will handle
romances, or whatever you’re writing. Copy down the name of
the agent and contact info, and add them to your list. It’s
important to keep good records about when you sent what to whom
and what the response was.
Your cover letter should include any writing contests that you have
finaled in or won, and pertinent educational, career, or biographical
information that might help to explain why you are qualified or
especially suited to write your book. You can also add anything
special, unique, or impressive about you that the publisher could
use as a marketing hook to get the public interested in you.
RWA (Romance Writers of America, visit www.rwanational.org
for more info) publishes an annual ‘Agent Roundup’ of
reputable agents who handle romance.
A final note: NEVER PAY A READING FEE to a literary agency. A reading
fee is a heads-up that the agent is not somebody you want. Good
agents earn their income by selling authors’ books to publishers
and collecting their commission on the sale, not by charging aspiring
writers for reading their material. It’s a scam!
21. Do you ever critique manuscripts
for aspiring writers?
No, but there are lots of good places to find critique partners
on the internet or through your local RWA chapter. Oftentimes your
local library or college will have writer’s groups that you
can go to for free.
22. You’re one of my favorite authors
and I have all your books. Is there anything I can do to help tell
people about your books?
I am always happy to accept a little help from my friends! If you
are so inclined, you can tell others how much you liked the book
by giving it a plug on Amazon.com or BN.com. It need not be lengthy
and you don’t even have to sign your name if you’re
shy. This is always very helpful. I appreciate the support! Also,
if you go to a bookstore and you don’t see any of my novels
on the shelves, you could point that out to the staff. They want
to know what you want to read, after all--you’re the customer,
and they want to make you happy!
23. Do you ever do book tours?
At the moment, my main priority is getting the next book written,
but I will make sure readers hear about it if and when I finally
put a book tour together. It’s always such a blast to meet
my readers in person. Warning: I’m a talker. Get me chatting
and you might never be able to shut me up.
24. How can I get your autograph?
Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to me at:
Gaelen Foley
Author
PMB 320
4017 Washington Road
McMurray, PA 15317-2520
I will send you a signed bookplate sticker to insert in your copy
of my book. If it’s for a special occasion such as a birthday,
or a gift for a friend, let me know in your letter and I will be
happy to autograph it accordingly! Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.
Thanks!
25. How do I join your mailing list?
Simple! Just send a blank email to gaelenfoleynewssubscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Click here and hit Send, and you will be automatically added to
this safe, private announcement list. Your email addy will be private,
by the way—I do not share that info, being a bit of a privacy
fiend myself. Nor will I flood your mailbox with irritating chatter.
Basically, I’ll just let you know when I have a new book out,
or when I’ve posted a new article on writing or history, etc.
that you may be of interest to you. Thank you again so much for
reading my books.
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