Contest & Conversation with WEDDED IN SCANDAL's Award-Winning Author, Jade Lee

Please give a warm welcome to bestselling author Jade Lee. I am so excited that she has dropped by. I noticed that she has a few friends joining her today. Why, I believe it is that arrogant and dashingly handsome Robert Percy, Viscount Redhill and his beautiful bride, Lady Helaine …previously Mrs.Mortimer.  This is truly a wonderful surprise. When I received word that Ms. Lee was going to be here I had no idea that it would be so crowded. Look over there, I see the happy couple has just walked in with our esteemed hostess, Ms . Jade Lee herself. This crowd is tight, but let us make our way through. I am dying to hear from the horse's mouth just how Robert and  Helaine finally tied the knot. Let's say hello, shall we? Here, take a glass of champagne and follow me. I just spotted the happy couple chatting with Miss Lee. This is the perfect time to ask a few interesting questions and feed our curiosity about her latest release, WEDDED IN SCANDAL. Come now, this looks like it will be loads of fun. =)

WEDDED IN SCANDAL

From

Award-Winning

Historical Romance 

Author

Jade Lee

Why do you write?  Um…do you want the truth or the hype?  Hype goes like this (to be read in a high floofy voice):  I write because I was born to create stories of love and happily ever after.  It’s my joy to bring such happiness into the world! 

The truth is more like this: I need therapy but I’m too cheap to pay for it, so I work out my issues on paper.  You may laugh, but seriously, I’ve got ISSUES.  Nothing really traumatic, but that drive to find love comes from an inner mess of I Will Never Be Loved.  I’m too…insert problem here.  I’m too fat, I’m too stupid, I’m too whatever.

Now add to my insecurities a natural ability to tell stories.  (My mom used to call it lying).  Anyway, I can craft whole scenarios, complex stories where I get my wish fulfilled.  Want to ride a dragon?  I can create that!  Want to slay the studly man-god?  I can do that!  Plus with an English degree (MFA from USC), what else was I going to do?  Technical writing?  BLEH!  Too boring.  So, I ended up in fiction and, honestly, it’s a really hard job.  It turns out I needed to learn story crafting and scene structure.  But I did.  And now…I do this every day and it’s a good thing.

Plus, in my books, I’m never too old, too ugly, too stupid, or too anything.  I’m just perfect!

Name one eye-opening thing you learned from your book research.  -- In the regency period, brides didn’t focus on the gorgeous dress as much as we do now.  That came in more in the Victorian era.  Most people couldn’t afford an elaborate dress.  What was really special for them, what went on the mantle for years, was the bride’s slippers.   She often had a special pair just for her wedding.  On the sole would be written the bride’s name, the groom’s name, and the date.  And that’s what sat in a place of honor on the shelf.  And that’s why book 2 of the bridal series features the shoemaker as heroine.  Because in the regency, that was a key component of every wedding.

Do you have a favorite motto? – Wow, you are delving into my secret, inner workings.  I’ve confessed about my need for therapy, now here’s the next one.  I’ve got the usual mottos for writers: “Apply Butt to Chair”  and  “Just Do It.”  Those are to get my ass writing.  But the saying that keeps me going when things are really dark is as follows:  Courage expands your world; fear shrinks it.    So when I’m worried or afraid – I ask myself if I want my world to be tinier or to push to expand.  Usually I want more space, so I push despite the fear.  And believe me, there’s fear every day that I sit down and face a blank page.  Or if I look at my credit card statement.

Do you have a favorite fictional hero?  Favorite fictional heroine? -- Always!  All of them!  Okay, to be serious – I adore the heroes in this series.  Wedded in Scandal has…well, my husband as hero.  He’s a hardworking guy who is surrounded by flakes.  And yes, that  gets to him.  Especially when the flakes turn out to be right.  My husband hates it when that happens, as does Robert.  The normal guy surrounded by madness is a favorite hero of mine and you can see shades of him in a lot of my books.  But Robert is special because he’s allowed to be funny, too.  I usually reserve the jokes and the humor for secondary characters, but in Wedded in Scandal, Robert gets to riff back.  He gives as good as he’s gotten and that was FUN to write!

And book 2 of the series, Wedded in Sin has Sherlock Holmes getting knocked on his butt by love.  Well, the hero isn’t really Sherlock Holmes.  Not exactly.  But Samuel is a guy who lives in his head constantly.  Who sees the details and puts them together logically.  Problem is, love isn’t logical.  It doesn’t add up neatly.  And he is just flat out confused by it.  That’s why it was great to write him.

Have I gone on too long about my heroes?  Well, that’s because they’re awesome.  As for a favorite heroine, I was drawn to this series by the idea of a woman running her own business in the Regency period.  I’m struggling daily with this concept – being a woman running a small business (which is what a fiction writing career ends up being) – and so I was fascinated by how women in this period managed to do it then when I can’t seem to get a hold of it now.  Each of my heroines manages in her own way, but all of it adds up to surviving the best way they know how.  That they find love along the way is a miracle all its own.  And who doesn’t want to read about a miracle?  (especially when it has good sex in it!)

Which fictional character would you hang out with? – Of my books?  All of them.  After all, I DO hang out with them, all day, every day that I’m writing the book.  Which takes months!  As for other fictional characters, wow…there are so many!  I love Jim Butcher’s Dresden.  I would hang out with Firefly’s Mal.  (Also in Serenity)  Wolverine doesn’t do it for me as much as Gambit.  Hmmm…have I been mentioning just men?  Go figure…

What is one of your favorite book covers, your own or someone else’s? – This is a HARD question.  Berkley has done beautiful covers for this series.  Love, love, love the bridal gowns.  I tend to adore man chest covers. What can I say?  I like beefcake.

What would readers be surprised to learn about you?  -- I’m very shy.  HAHAHAHA.  No, I’m really not.  Okay, they might be surprised to know that I was a pro racquetball player many, many years ago.  But then two weeks after going pro, I blew my knees and that was it for any professional athletic career.  I still play, but nowhere close to the level I was at back then.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever learned by Googling your name? – It turns out that Jade Lee is also the lead Asian porn star.  Or she was when I started writing.  Some of her titles have been fun, but I live in fear that my relatives think that I’m somehow involved in Pussyman’s Escape from LA and Butt Row 2.  I’m not involved.  I swear!

Jade, please share with us more about “WEDDED IN SCANDAL” released by Berkley. – Well, I’ve already talked a bit about it.  It’s a series set in a bridal salon in Regency London.  There is a wedding in every book, but of course the story is about the women behind the scenes, the ones creating the dresses and working to make the wedding a very special day.  (If you want to learn about the love story of the first bride/groom, you have to check out the prequel novella—Engaged in Wickedness)  The first book Wedded in Scandal is about a woman with a terrible secret and the man who insists on digging into her life.  He’s driven to make her his mistress, until he realizes who she really is.  And then he needs to marry her, but wait…the SCANDAL!

I noticed that WEDDED IN SCANDAL is set in the Victorian era? What is it about this time period that piqued your curiosity that made you set your series in? (Forgive me Jade...Duh, of course its Regency, (turns beet red...so embarrassing) – No, no!  It’s Regency!  And I have always loved the time period.  Plus I love exploring the idea of a woman trying to run her own business in that time period as I mentioned above.  As for my fascination, I grew up reading traditional regencies.  I love this time period and don’t want to ever leave it!

Okay, I want to give a warm welcome to, Lady Helaine and Lord Robert Percy, Viscount Redhill. (Waving frantically, trying to get the besotted couple’s attention). I know you two have gone through a lot to get to your happily ever after so I will try to be brief. (Blushes scarlet as she catches the intimate glance between the newlyweds, clears her throat).Okay, so you two are still in the honeymoon stage, I see. I would like to know what each of you thought when you first laid eyes on the other. Was it love at first sight?

Robert answers quite stiffly, “Of course it was.  Who could resist such beauty?”

Lady Helaine snorts indelicately.  “I hated him on sight.  Arrogant, persistent, and so certain that I was meant to be in his arms.”

            “Well, you were and you are!” he answers, tugging her close.

            “You tried to have me arrested!”

            “You tried to bamboozle me!”

            The bickering continues…

When you met, did you believe in true love? You can both answer. I’m quite curious to know both of your opinions.

            They both answer in unison.  “Absolutely not!”  Then Robert continues.

            “I’m rarely wrong, but how delightful to find out the truth in this case.”

            Helaine merely blushes.

Helaine, name the one thing about Lord Percy that you believe won your heart.

            “He had to swallow his pride—which is quite a big thing to swallow, you understand—and ask for my advice.  My BUSINESS advice!”

            “You swore you wouldn’t tell a soul!” Robert whispers while looking rather embarrassed.

My Lord, name one thing about Helaine that you believe changed your outlook on love.

            “She completely confounded me, you know.  Everything I expected, she declared the exact opposite.  And then, damn it all—”

            “I was right!” Helaine cries.

            “Well, you weren’t wrong.  So I suppose that means—”

            “That we’re destined to be together.  You, dear husband, need me.”

            “Desperately.”

            “Good because I find I can’t live without you either.”

Now back to Jade

Jade, while you were writing Helaine and Robert’s story was there a scene that popped out the most? – The first one where they meet.  It took me forever to find the right tone, but once it hit, I loved, loved, loved it.  It was perfect.  You can read the excerpt of the scene on my website.  It starts funny, sparkles, then ends with a bang! http://jadeleeauthor.com/books/bridal-favors-series/wedded-in-scandal

Jade, what is more difficult to write: an intense sexual scene or a heart-wrenching emotional scene?  Why?  -- Aren’t they the same thing?  Well, no I suppose not exactly.  But intense sexuality requires emotional wrenching.  Burning passion without the emotional intensity devolves into, he thrust, she liked it.  He did it again.  And they had their seventh orgasm of the night.  Yawn. 

So all my love scenes are rooted in something emotional that is gripping and immediate.  After all, over 70% of communication is non-verbal.  So the love scene is a great deal of communication about something very personal and very intense to both characters.

So to answer your question, they’re equally difficult and equally fascinating!

When you were writing “WEDDED IN SCANDAL” did you have music playing in the background?  If yes, what type?  Does music play an intricate part in your writing? – Whenever I played music as a child, my mother turned it off.  At home it was classical or nothing.  And who wants to study to classical.  So, I learned to focus and create my own music with the stories I told myself.  Which means now I write better in silence.  I hear music of a sort whenever I write, but to have something else playing in the background would be too jarring.  It would never match what I hear in my head.  So…I write in silence.  Or to whatever is playing at Starbucks.

Which do you find is most important to you as a writer, voice or story? Why? – They’re intricately entwined.  You can’t have a good story that doesn’t have a voice to go with it.  And you can’t have a good voice without a vehicle for it—in my case a fictional story.  So they’re equally important, equally hard to define.

Jade, please share with desperate readers where they can connect with you in cyber world. =) – Easiest to link from my website: www.JadeLeeAuthor.com  Email me at jade@jadeleeauthor.com   I’m also on facebook.com/JadeLeeBooks.  Twitter: @JadeLeeAuthor 

I know this is a difficult question with there being so many amazing authors out there to choose from but who are some of the GOT-TO-HAVE authors in your TBR pile?  Jim Butcher & Elizabeth Hoyt

What’s next in the works for you?  When can readers expect to see it out on shelves in their local bookstores?  More brides!  And my Harlequin alter ego Kathy Lyons has a great book about shared erotic dreams out now titled  Night After Night…

Jade thanks so much for stopping by and chatting with Romantic Crush Junkies readers and myself; it has really been a blast getting to know more about you and your books.

Product Details
ISBN-13: 9780425245934
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Publication date: 3/6/2012
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Edition description: Original
Pages: 336
Sales rank: 764
Series: A Bridal Favors Novel Series, #1
Order

Overview

For his whole life, Robert Percy, Viscount Redhill, has worked hard to maintain a sterling reputation. And while it's socially acceptable to seduce delectable dress designer Mrs. Mortimer, Robert learns too late the heartbreaking truth about who she used to be. No one would fault him for taking Mrs. Mortimer as his lover, but Robert knows that she should be the wife of a peer of the realm, not a mistress in hiding...

~ CONTEST~

RCJR is proud to present Penguin Group  bestselling author Jade's first installment in her spectacular A Bridal Favors Novel series, WEDDED IN SCANDAL, released earlier this month.   

THE PRIZE: Two lucky readers will win their very own copy of WEDDED IN SCANDAL

To enter: Please leave a comment for Jade Lee including your email address.

*Connect with RCJR eZine at:

***

Contest is open to ALL

It will runs until March 23, 2012

I will contact the winners directly on March 24, 2012

HAPPY READING! =)