Blog Guest - Suzi Love

Today I'm welcoming Regency romance author and wonderful friend, Suzi Love to my blog. Suzi has recently sold her FIRST book to Crimson Romance, THE VISCOUNT'S PLEASURE HOUSE, which I can't wait to read. Welcome Suzi, I'm stoked to have you as a guest. To get things started, can you tell us a little about yourself?

Hello everyone, and huge thanks to Tamara for having me here today.

I'm from the sunnier parts of Australia and I mainly write historical romances which range in heat from sexy to erotic. I'm a proud member of Historical Hearts, the group blog founded by our gorgeous Tamara for historical authors of Romance Writers Australia. I'm a member of Romance Writers New Zealand, Romance Writers America, and have just finished a two year term on the board of The Beau Monde, a Regency era orientated chapter. I also belong to Hearts Through History and From The Heart, all three being chapters of RW America.

You're celebrating the release of your first book on the 3rd of December, 2012, and the second in April, 2013, both with Crimson Romance. Can you give us a little run down on what our fabulous readers will get to sink their teeth into with your stories.

My first book is called The Viscount's Pleasure House, an historical erotic romance, and the second book, Embracing Scandal, is an early Victorian era historical romance.

I judged Embracing Scandal in a competition (not knowing it was your book until later) and I LOVED it!! I'm so happy to see its finally going to be available for everyone to read. Like me and many writers out there you're a busy woman with not enough hours in a day. Where do you pull your time to write from and do you have any tips for those writers out there struggling to allocate time.

My writing life began when health issues forced me to give up outside work. I quickly learned to snatch whatever moments I had to get words down on paper, so my first books were all plotted during the many, many hours I spent in medical waiting rooms. I use a laptop tray so I can type, edit, or keep up with social media anywhere eg in bed, in front of TV etc and have a car charger for my laptop so I can work on the road. Plotting and chapter editing on-the-go at appointments became such an ingrained habit that my doctors now always ask which book I'm working on. My advice is to always carry a notebook, pen, and/or a small laptop to jot down random ideas, plot or edit, and to print out your current chapter for a paper edit while you wait for the kids at school, sports fields, or doctor's rooms.

Your new release sounds fantastic! Can you tell us a little about the book, and what triggered the idea?

The Viscount's Pleasure House is set in early Victorian London and shows the seamier side of life embraced by many of the rich, idle, and perpetually bored upper classes. The Viscount began the Pleasure House to fund his search for his mother and sisters, but catering to the appetites of the Upper Ten Thousand degrades him until the heroine and her two friends beg the Viscount to use his skills, and The Pleasure House, for their benefit.

Embracing Scandal is the first of my series about five scientifically gifted siblings from the upper classes who embrace the invention of steam engines and the engineering industries that accompany the spread of railways. My heroine, Becca, uses her mathematical gifts to invest in railway shares and save the family's finances but she and her scrumptious duke become embroiled in scandal when an unscrupulous syndicate of their peers try to stop them.

How long did they take you to write?

I can now laugh about this, sort of anyway, as it took me several long years to write 6 full books plus some shorts. I decided that until my health improved I would be better off learning the craft of writing, entering contests, and building up my knowledge and confidence slowly. Now that I have my first two books ready for release and other books in the submission process, I'm truly grateful I had time to join writing groups, meet other authors, build up my social media base, and learn as much as possible about 'How to be an author' before being plunged into the wild world of publishing.

So, what's next for our super talented Suzi Love?

Next? More of the same – LOL! More learning, more writing, more submitting to publishers, more establishing my name as an author.

Thanks so much for visiting, Suzi. It's been wonderful having you here. Congratulations again on your upcoming releases! I wish you many sales and great reviews. Which of course I know you'll get!!!

You can visit Suzi Love at her website and read her regular blogs about historical topics and discover some of the best historical places to visit around the world.

The cover and pre-orders for The Viscount's Pleasure House will be available in a couple of weeks at Crimson Romance, Amazon, Goodreads, and lots of other book selling places.