[My guest today has a different sort of prize, one that fits the Victorian setting of her book. Read on for details! ~ Lisabet]
LS: Jeanette, can you tell me a a bit about where the idea for
this book came from? It sounds like a pretty original premise.
I
wish I felt original! I totally stole the idea of telling the same
story, from a different point of view, from Stephanie Meyer. I felt
horrible for her when the rough draft for her new novel, retelling
the Twilight story from Edward’s point of view, got leaked
online. But when she said she was just stopping, and didn’t plan to
write anymore, I was a bad person and read what she had so far.
It
was the answer to my problem! I had no intention of writing anything
more after Wealth and Privilege. I took my cues from Margaret
Mitchell and Gone With the Wind – she did her research
thoroughly, so did I. She filled the story with bits of history that
makes the reader feel completely immersed in the historical events of
the time, so did I. She ended the story ambiguously, so did I.
But
my readers were wrapping their hands around my neck and saying, “You
ARE writing another book!” I’d left the story in the midst of the
Schrodinger’s cat superposition. My heroine is both alive and dead.
I personally didn’t know which was the answer, any more than
Margaret Mitchell knew if Scarlett ever got Rhett back.
Meanwhile
my readers are threatening to kill me… following Stephanie Meyer’s
example gave me a direction I could actually take. Wealth and
Privilege was from a male point of view. Maybe I didn’t know
what was going to happen next, but I could figure out what was going
on in her head, when up until now we only knew what was going
on in his head.
I
re-read my own book, and my head just exploded. There were so many
things to cover! Where was she, what was she doing all the times she
disappears out of Thomas’ life in Wealth and Privilege. I
ended up with a first draft for Brains and Beauty that was 638
pages… I had to cut back drastically before I went to print.
Besides
finding out the number of ways in which things are never what they
appear to be in the first book, I also had to answer a question that
many readers wanted to know. I actually had one reader tell me, “You
don’t have to tell me whether or not Regina is alive or not. What I
really, really want to know is, who is the father of Meredith’s
baby?”
And
honestly, I didn’t know! But I was going to have to figure that
out. When I did figure it out, it astounded me. I had no idea when I
wrote the first book. But when I put the characters and situations
and pieces together, they all fit.
It
did give me a hint I will remember for future books; putting in a few
minor characters, throwaway cameos with characters that show up for
just a little bit, is a good idea. You never know when you might need
them in the future!
Blurb
Regina Waring seems
to have it all. A loving husband, a successful business, and the
most expensive wardrobe in town. But nothing is what it appears to
be. Her husband is critical and demanding, the business teeters on
ruin, even the opulent wardrobe is a clever illusion.
Regina’s
life is one long tiptoe through a minefield; one wrong step and her
entire life is going to blow up and destroy her. Attempting to hold
it all together, she appeases the husband, dresses the part, and
never, never says what she is really thinking. That would get in the
way of getting things done. And, if there’s one thing Regina did
really well, it was getting things done.
Enter
Thomas Baldwin. Young and handsome and completely off limits, Regina
is smitten at first sight. Then, to her great astonishment, he
slowly becomes her best friend. He’s the one person in her life
who never lets her down. Torn between her fascination with him and
her desire not to ruin a marvelous friendship, she tries to enjoy
each moment with him as it comes.
If
only that were enough.
Excerpt
There
was grunting, and the sound of wood groaning, and then a wet thump as
they lifted and threw something. Regina could tell that there was a
little more room behind her shoulder blades. There was more grunting
and dragging and thumping. Then she heard them both groan.
“What’s
going on back there? Have I been cut off at the waist?” she asked.
Not being able to see what was wrong, or the progress they were
having, was making her anxious.
“The
next layer is completely wedged in. We can’t do this without
tools,” Isaac told her.
Both
men hurried away from her, making her worry for their safety. She had
also found their company reassuring. What if neither one of them was
able to find her again?
That’s
when she saw the flickering orange glow in the distance. “No.”
Yes.
It didn’t seem possible – but in the midst of water floating
below, and pouring from above, something had caught on fire.
Regina
started listing in her head all the accelerants that might be
contained in a single drygoods store: tar, pitch, turpentine,
kerosene. How many homes used all of them? How many gas lines were
ruptured all over the city? How many wood stoves were knocked into
them? There was no way this heap would NOT be set on fire.
And
here she was, stuck, in the middle of it. No doubt about it, she was
about to die in the same town in which she was born. It was a shame,
really. She had such high aspirations.
Jeanette
Watts only lived in Pittsburgh for four years, but in her heart, she
will always be a Pittsburgher. She missed the city so much after her
move to Ohio, she had to write a love story about it.
She
has written television commercials, marketing newspapers, stage
melodramas, four screenplays, three novels, and a textbook on
waltzing. When she isn’t writing, she teaches social ballroom
dances, refinishes various parts of her house, and sews historical
costumes and dance costumes for her Cancan troupe.
Links
Webpage
Facebook
Twitter
Giveaway!
Jeanette
Watts will be awarding a Victorian cameo necklace to a randomly drawn
winner during her tour. Use the Rafflecopter below to enter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
