Interview with Jillian Stone {A DANGEROUS LIAISON with DETECTIVE LEWIS}

Book #1, Released Jan. 2012

Please tell readers a little bit about yourself.

In 2010, my manuscript for AN AFFAIR WITH MR. KENNEDY won the RWA Golden Heart and I went from no agent or publisher to signing with Richard Curtis and being offered a three book contract by Pocket Books. That summer, THE SEDUCTION OF PHAETON BLACK also won the erotica category of the 2010 Romance Through the Ages contest for and I was offered a three book contract by Kensington Brava. Needless to say I’ve been busy writing books this past year and a half! I live in Southern California and I am currently working on a special Pocket Star e-novella for The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I was an art director in advertising and studied graphic arts and film in college, so I will always think of myself as more of a visual arts person than a writer. But about five years ago, I began writing fiction in earnest and was very fortunate to do well in writing contests, which helped to get my work noticed by agents and publishers.

Please tell us about your latest release.

I’m excited to share my latest release from The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series. A DANGEROUS LIAISON WITH DETECTIVE LEWIS is a fast paced road trip romantic suspense, with the hero and heroine on the run from Edinburgh to London by train, velocipede, landship and submersible!

Here’s the blurb:

What inspired you to write this book?

As a film student, I studied all of Alfred Hitchcock’s work and I particularly admire the romantic suspense films: Rear Window, North by Northwest, and To Catch a Thief. Thrills, chills, adventure–perhaps there’s a mystery to uncover, or a villain to capture, but at the story’s core, there is a love story.

I had an idea that was based on a villain and his small private army of minions who are essentially anti-progressives. In 1887 England, that meant that they were anti-industry, anti-machinery, anti-invention. Today they would be anti-technology. I then came up with a string of grisly murders and a beautiful industrial heiress whose father has just been killed by one of his one machines–accident or murder? Scotland Yard suspects the darker of the two and sends a detective up to guard the young heiress. Then I added a complication for the romance–Rafe and Fanny have a past.

Can you tell readers who are not familiar with the series what the premise of the stories are about?

The best way to describe these detectives is that they are an elite force–think late Victorian James Bond with a dash of Sherlock Holmes. Historically, there really was a division of Scotland Yard called Special Branch, which was originally formed to combat the dynamiters in the early 1880’s. Think of them as a historical version of our Homeland Security.

Book #2, Coming Sept. 2012

Please share with us who or what is the antagonist of your story.

The antagonist, Bellecote Mallory is an 1887 version of an anti-progressive. He is out to throw more than a cog into Britain’s industrial revolution, he and his private army are systematically murdering inventors and industrialists by their own machines. Mallory proved to be an interesting challenge to write. I wanted him to be dangerous, darkly provocative, and sympathetic. He has a horrific backstory which is revealed in the novel. I think it is a huge challenge to write a complex villain and I hope readers enjoy him.

Without giving away spoilers, can you share your favorite scene from the book?

Fanny and Rafe run across a lot of quirky, interesting characters in their road trip from Edinburgh to London, but one of my favorite moments happens right after they escape from the bottom of a mine and just before they are discovered by Professor Hamish Minnow. Their velocipede (bicycle) race ends in a crash, a very heated argument and a bit of rolling around in the dirt. Wonderful fun to write!

With the book being part of a series, are there any character or story arcs that readers jumping in somewhere other than the beginning need to be aware of?

Each book stands on it’s own, but they all share supporting characters/detectives from other novels in the series, including Alfred, the bomb sniffing bloodhound. Alfred steals at least one scene in every book!

What was one of the most interesting things you learned in researching your book?

I learn inspiring, fascinating things with every book, but there is a research story involved with the inception of The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series. In 2o10 I went to see the new Wolfman movie in which Hugo Weaving played a detective from Scotland Yard. It occurred to me that Scotland Yard men were always portrayed as either bumbling or unlikeable officers of the law, five steps behind Sherlock Holmes. Then I had an Oprah-ah-ha moment watching the film. Wasn’t it about time someone wrote about these men as heroes? So I did some research and discovered Special Branch, a section of the Metropolitan police Criminal Investigations Division. One thing led to another and The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard was created.

Tell us a little bit about your hero and who makes his perfect other half.

The reader first meets Detective Raphael Lewis in AN AFFAIR WITH MR. KENNEDY. When I was writing him in book one this is how I envisioned Rafe’s backstory: He is an estranged second son of an Earl whose family is land rich and cash poor. He jilted his fiancée and his own mother hasn’t spoken to him in five years. He comes off as a rake, but he uses these roguey traits to help him hide from his past. In A DANGEROUS LIAISON WITH DETECTIVE LEWIS Rafe is a beta male with alpha hero courage. As the story unfolds, the reader finds out just how decent and caring Rafe really is–but I can’t reveal much because I’m no spoiler!

What drew you to the time period in which the story is set?

So much is happening in late Victorian London. Britain is at the height of its power, the industrial revolution is in full swing, the suffragette movement is catching on and London is awash with strange anarchists groups and angry worker’s learning how to organize and strike for betters hours and wages. Really a dynamic time and amongst all this, there are love stories.

And Victorian’s were no prudes! In fact, they were fascinated by the subject of sex. But they were also rather hypocritical and closeted about it. The emerging middle class (small percentage of population) were the staunch moralists. The peerage and the rich pretty much did whatever they wanted, and the poor survived. It is estimated that six out ten poor women periodically worked as prostitutes to help provide for their families.

Book #3, Coming Nov. 2012

What can readers expect next from you?

The next book in The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series, A PRIVATE DUEL WITH AGENT GUNN, releases at the end of this November. Here’s the blurb:

PHINEAS “FINN” GUNN is an undercover operative for two of Britain’s most sensitive intelligence organizations. Now, the cunning, reclusive agent is asked to take on an unusual burglary case. A rare, stolen jewel has been found on a dead anarchist fished out of the Thames. What intrigues Finn most about the case is a woman from his past, a Miss Catriona de Dovia Willoughby, ballerina and suspected anarchist sympathizer. Much to Finn’s utter disdain and amazement, he finds his attraction to the devilish, impertinent beauty stronger than ever. When he is subsequently robbed by the clever cat burglar he pursues the menacing jewel thief from ballroom to musicale.

Cate Willoughby knows she must stay sharp and move fast if she is to evade Mr. Gunn and recover the jewels that are rightfully hers. When Finn catches her red handed, their steamy encounter makes her realize their attraction is far from over. She suggests an alliance with the intrepid detective, but before they can recover the gems she betrays Finn and disappears.

Believing Cate is secretly in league with the Spanish anarchists, Finn gives chase by land, sea and airship. Once he catches her, what they discover about each other opens deep wounds and carefully kept secrets, but might these strange and startling revelations ultimately bring Cate and Finn closer together?

Can you leave readers with a little teaser from the book?

The pistol felt heavy, solid, and quite unexpectedly soothing in her hands.

Like it or not, there was something comforting about this Yard man—a handsome, dashing ghost from her past. She studied his chiseled jaw and the firm, wide-set mouth.

The rascal covered her hand with his and showed her how to squeeze the trigger. An index finger slipped over hers and a tingle coursed through her body.

Those dazzling green eyes of his sparkled with mischief. Heat rushed to her cheeks. He opened her hand and kissed the pulse point of her wrist. “You have the same effect on me.”

She tried to withdraw, but he held on and dropped six bullets into her palm. She raised the gun with two hands, as instructed.

His gaze swiftly turned black. “Never. Ever. Point a gun at someone, unless you intend on using it.”

“And what if I do mean to use it?” Fanny bit her lip. After a good long stare down the barrel, she lowered the pistol.

Gently, he pried her fingers off the handle and trigger, pocketing the weapon. “I promise you: before we part company, you will have ample opportunity to exact revenge upon me.”

“Please make sure of it.”

Where can readers find you on the web?

Website: http://jillianstone.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JillianStoneBooks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4946569.Jillian_Stone
Twitter: @gJillianStone