Today I am very happy to host Charlene Roberts on the blog. Charlene has recently released her second novella from Ellora’s Cave, A Gentleman’s Savior, and has agreed to answer a few of our questions. She has also generously donated a copy of one of her books! More details about her giveaway can be found after the interview.
Congratulations on your new release, A Gentleman’s Savior. Can you tell us a bit about the story?
Stephanie Henderson is an only child who lost her parents. The two things that keep her going are her best friend and the painting classes she takes during the evenings. Her art teacher believes Stephanie holds special talents, so she challenges her and a few other students to create a painting based on the torso of a sculpture. When she’s finished, Stephanie can’t take her mind off her painting, and, against her better judgement, goes down to the community centre where it’s kept. Staring at the naked man in the painting, she touches it and is transported back in time to Regency England. She’s in the exact same spot as her painting and has to think really fast!
When she figures out how to travel back to the present, her art teacher is there and explains that Stephanie’s reliving her past life, which ended tragically. If Stephanie wants her life back, she has to figure out how to save herself in the past.
What can you tell us about the hero and heroine?
I love Regency books, and the prim and proper etiquette they follow. Makes me think that someone wants to rebel at some point! Gabriel Roberts fought in the Napoleonic Wars, so has a tough guy attitude; he can take care of himself and cares less what people think of him. But when he’s around Stephanie, he’s like a teddy bear, unless she does something to rile his anger. Which she does! 😉
Stephanie is a no-nonsense woman. While she follows the etiquette rules of Regency, her stubbornness does appear from time to time, which keeps Gabriel on his toes! She’s been on her own for awhile during the present time after her parents’ death, so she finds it hard to put her independence on the backburner when she travels back to Regency England. It makes for some interesting conflict.
How did you come up with the idea for A Gentleman’s Savior?
A friend introduced me to the Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mystery books and I fell in love with them. I love a good mystery (read them for years) and seeing it incorporated into a Regency novel the way CS Harris did was amazing!
My book is similar; mostly taking place during the Regency era, Stephanie stumbles upon a plot to kill the Prince Regent and tries to convince Gabriel that they have to investigate. That was the fun part – writing the mystery. The Regency details were a lot harder!
As for the time travel, I had always dreamed of what it would be like to live in the past. So, I combined the two together and voila! A Gentleman’s Savior was born.
Can you share an excerpt?
Sure! I’ll give you a sample of the beginning, where Stephanie goes to the community centre to look at her painting:
On Friday, Stephanie decided to go straight to the community center after work. The thought of not seeing her Regency lord until Wednesday bugged the shit out of her. She needed a visual dose of his taut, muscular body to keep her fantasies running strong over the weekend.
At the center, Stephanie hurried inside, the silence in the building eerie. There was always something going on at the center, but since it was after hours, the hallways now stood empty. The classroom doors were all closed and the early evening twilight lengthened the shadows in the long, narrow corridor.
Stephanie walked quickly, her heels clicking with swift purpose. If she couldn’t find the janitor before he left for the weekend… She shook her head. It wasn’t the end of the world for Christ’s sake! It was only a painting, after all.
A movement ahead and to her right caught her attention.
“Excuse me?” Stephanie called out, seeing the familiar blue coveralls. “I was wondering if you could help me.”
The old gentleman stopped and turned to look at her. “What is it?”
It wouldn’t be easy getting him to unlock the door. She would need to come up with a good reason. “I’m one of Leila Rowe’s evening art students. I can’t find my paintbrushes and I think I may have left them in the storeroom.”
The janitor sighed, rolling his eyes heavenward. “Come on.” He led the way to the storeroom and pulled out a large ring of keys, taking his time selecting one. “You artsy folk can be a pain sometimes.”
“I beg your pardon? What are you talking about?” Stephanie demanded, standing aside as he swung the door open and flicked on the overhead light.
“I’m talking about your weird requests. In the fifteen years I’ve worked for the center, the Adults Arts Program is the strangest.”
“In what way?”
“I’ve seen my share of people just like you, coming in here at weird hours, asking for me to open the storeroom door so they can stare at their masterpieces.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“They always forget to turn off the light and latch the door so it locks behind them, that’s what’s wrong! I can’t be standing here watching them ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over their paintings.” He made a limp gesture with one hand.
Stephanie managed to keep a straight face. “I’m only here to find what I want.”
“You’ll remember to turn off the light and lock the door behind you?”
“I promise.”
The old man nodded and walked off.
Stephanie walked in and shut the door behind her. Five easels stood in a row at the back of the storeroom, the paintings covered with sheets to protect them from prying eyes and careless fingers.
She moved forward, not knowing which one was hers, and yet she walked purposefully toward the last easel to her right, partially cast in shadow. Lifting the sheet, Stephanie gazed at her naked hero, feeling the rush of pride and slight embarrassment as she stared at his body.
His gaze almost seemed to beckon her to reach out and touch his warm skin, to kiss the full lips curved slightly upward with a mysterious smile, to grasp his cock in both hands and feel its silky skin glide over her fingers.
Stephanie let out a small gasp—she hadn’t realized she was holding her breath. Reaching out with one finger, she grazed her lord’s cheek ever so slightly…
*****
London, England, 1817
Friday evening
“My love,” murmured a low voice.
Stephanie stood absolutely still, waiting until her eyesight adjusted to the dimness. She stood in front of a mirror and saw her wide, frightened gaze staring back at her but nothing else. “Who’s there?” she whispered.
A low, sensuous chuckle. “Oh, I think you know,” said a deep voice. “You enticed me back to the house, remember?”
A slight scraping of metal on metal and a flame grew brighter in an oil lamp. In the mirror’s reflection, Stephanie gasped as a naked man stood behind her, his skin gleaming in the lamp’s warm glow.
As she slowly looked at the reflection of a four-poster bed, the man’s clothes strewn across the floor, she felt a nauseating lump grow in her stomach.
Stephanie could just glimpse a dark moustache and beard, trimmed to accent the man’s sharp cheekbones. Long, dark hair, slightly disheveled, covered his shoulders. As for the rest of him—she knew what to expect, but still experienced the heated flush that overwhelmed her face as she took in the full sight of hard, muscular flesh. She couldn’t see his eyes but she knew their color—the color of the lush green grass she had painted weeks earlier in her landscape painting.
Stephanie closed her eyes, believing it was all a dream.
“Is something amiss?”
She shook her head, opening her eyes. “No, I’m fine.” And taking a deep breath, Stephanie turned around.
His stance, the way he looked at her with that smile…
His eyes.
It was true.
She was inside her painting!
What do you like about writing for EC?
EC gave me my chance when I wrote a shorter than normal novel. EC accepts so many different lengths and genres, some as short as 7,000 words (Quickies) to full-length novels up to 100,000 words I believe. They are also more open-minded about the type of stories that cross their desk, which is great. My editor is also to the point, which is what I need when editing. She really cracks the whip!
While their erotic lines are doing amazingly well, their Cerridwen Press is now only open by invitation only. Hence the reason why I have to shop my urban fantasy outside of EC.
You have a full time job and train as a fitness model. How do you find time to write?
Lately, I’m finding it harder and harder. My fitness competition has been put on hold until next year, but currently, I’m sticking to my training 2 times a week with a personal trainer (I have to eventually increase it to 4 times a week in order to see proper results). The nutrition has been a LOT harder. How the hell do you give up chocolate and other goodies for 3 months? That’s a question I’m still trying to answer! lol
Writing now happens in the evenings when I get home from work or training. Unfortunately, I can only spend about 2 hours max each night to write. It’s not enough time. During the weekends, it’s a bit better, but after working for 5 days of the week, I need these weekends to recuperate or get things done that I couldn’t do during the week. I need to be a full-time writer or win the lottery! 🙂
What can we hope to see from you in the future?
Right now I’m editing a Viking fantasy/time-travel erotic manuscript. It’s based on the Viking gods (think Thor, Loki, Odin, etc.), and my archaeologist heroine is going to learn and discover more about them up close and personal. I’d like to get the edits done and submitted before the end of September.
I also have an erotic comedy contemporary in the works, but about half way through I got stuck, so it’s on the backburner. I also was working on an Egyptian erotic novel, but got stuck on that one too (lol). It’s a time-travel/futuristic erotic story. I also finished an urban fantasy manuscript that I’m shopping around to agents. Lots of ideas, and too little muse!
And now for a little fun – what are you reading now?
SHADOW BLADE by Sesseria Glass. Recommended by Chris Szego, manager of Bakka Phoenix Books, Toronto, Canada’s oldest sci-fi bookstore. It has Egyptian mythology mixed with urban fantasy, which I love, and this book is doing it justice. I’ll be getting the 2nd book in the series.
Favorite movie?
Lord of the Rings – the whole thing, not one of the 3 DVDS. I never get bored watching it.
Favorite actor/actress?
Sandra Bullock – funny as hell, and she reminds me of me sometimes. She always bounces back from whatever crap gets thrown her way. She’s a strong, intelligent woman and I respect her tremendously.
Actor is harder; for anything action-packed and testosterone-filled, give me Gerard Butler, Jason Statham, that type of guy. But an actor who can be character-driven, I’d say Hugh Jackman. He’s done both and is great. Hmm, so is Viggo Mortensen, now that I think about it. And Benicio Del Toro…. 🙂
Favorite food?
Chocolate, what else? I’m trying to cut out the bad stuff and aim towards a more vegetarian lifestyle, but it’s been a very difficult journey. I’ll get there though.
Thank you for stopping by today, Charlene. I love your fertile imagination and you never disappoint – no matter where, or when, you choose to lead me!
People can learn more about Charlene from her blog at www.charlenelroberts.wordpress.com. She also blogs at The Kittens, and of course, her books can be found at Ellora’s Cave.
And now, the giveaway! To enter all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog entry. One lucky commenter will win their choice of one of Charlene’s books – A Gentleman’s Savior or her first book, Under Cover of Night. The winner will be announced on Sunday September 12.
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