Interview with Natasha Blackthorne, author of White Lace & Promises and Alex's Angel

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Today we are visiting with Natasha Blackthorne. I have read and reviewed one of her books – Grey’s Lady, and I’m currently working on her next two, White Lacey & Promises and Alex’s Angel. I asked Natasha to respond to a few questions; here are her answers:

Barb – Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing.

Natasha – Since my first memories, I have always had stories play in my head. I felt much pressure to capture these. When I learned how to draw, I drew pictures to try and do this. When I learned how to write, I started keeping little journals. For years, I wrote down the daydreams that my mind spun for me in private. Just for me. I didn’t think about publishing them. My husband urged me to write more seriously. Finally one day I decided to apply myself to learning how to really write. Every day for several years, I spent all my free time reading books on writing craft and taking classes and also applying what I learned to my writing. I wrote several practice novels that reside on a CD in my desk.

Grey’s Lady was the first story that I felt confident enough about to submit for publication in the spring of 2011.

Barb – Tell us about your two books – White Lace & Promises and Alex’s Angel

Natasha – White Lace and Promises is the sequel to Grey’s Lady. Beth and Grey are deeply in love but can love survive their differences? sugarbeat's books romance books romance novel reviews historical contemporary erotica

Does “I do” always guarantee a happily ever after? Not if the people in that marriage refuse to change their ways of looking at life and their patterns of behavior. When patterns of behavior are ingrained due to issues of self-image and childhood conditioning then the prospect of changing is even more daunting.

This is the underlying conflict in my new release White Lace & Promises. Grey Sexton may have decided to commit himself in marriage and offer Beth McConnell the protection and position of his name but has he really changed his mode of operation in relationships?

After an idyllic courtship where Grey had been more than generous with his time and attention, Beth is shocked at the compartmentalized life he expects to live as a married man. Having grown up without a father of her own, Beth knows it would be unwise to start a family with a man who will not share himself with those closest to him.

However, this is the first time Beth’s two worlds—Elizabeth, a good, dutiful young woman and Beth, the naughty seductress— have come into collision with each other. Besides the man who originally seduced her, Grey is the first person to know her as both Beth and Elizabeth. She shows a softer, far more vulnerable side to herself here than in Grey’s Lady as she struggles to find a way to bring these two sides of herself together. Meanwhile she’s also dealing with her half-siblings’ increasing pleas that she share her newfound wealth with them. Beth wants most of all to have a place where she feels she truly belongs and is wanted for her true self. She’s never found it. Now it appears that she never will.

Seeing himself primarily in the role of provider and protector, Grey is determined to separate Beth from the family he can only view as opportunistic leaches that play on her affections. However, his neglect of her undermines his ability to influence her and leaves her vulnerable to her own insecurities and the advice of others.

Under the weight of all these issues, their marriage comes to an impossible impasse. Grey has come up with what he thinks is the best of all possible solutions. Can Beth accept it?

Alex’s Angel is the story of Emily Eliot and Alexander Dalton. It takes place in Philadelphia in 1793. It has a subplot with a historical focus on the issues related to the build up to the Barbary Wars and the after effects from a devastating yellow fever epidemic. Emily Eliot is a strong willed yet compassionate artist who uses her art to draw attention to the plight of the mariners who were held in captivity by pirates in Algiers. Alexander Dalton is a wealthy philanthropist with a mysterious past who comes into her life. He may prove to be the one thing that could distract her too much from her art and her mission. Emily will have to decide if there is room in her life of crusading and causes for love and devotion to one special person?

Here is the blurb for Alex’s Angel:

He needs her to believe in him a lot more than she needs his protection…

In the wake of a devastating epidemic, sheltered Emily Eliot finds herself alone, making her own decisions for the first time. When desperation leads her to sell her virtue, she walks straight into trouble.

Enter one gorgeous, golden haired gentleman bent on protecting her.

Alexander Dalton came to the Blue Duck Tavern seeking to lose himself in sexual pleasure. But when he saw the delicate and vulnerable young woman, he couldn’t turn away.

Emily is alarmed by her own intense responses as this charismatic and carnal man introduces her to erotic pleasure. Having lived as a virtual prisoner of her grandmother’s suffocating manipulation, Emily bridles under Alex’s possessive, protectiveness. And Alex’s charming smile hides a dark secret that could destroy their chance at happiness.

Will their passion burn them up or bring them together

Barb – Do you create an outline before you start writing, or do you let the characters take the story away?

Natasha – I let the characters show me the story!

Barb – When you made your first sale, how did you celebrate and with whom?

Natasha – The first story to be accepted by a publisher was Grey’s Lady. I felt internal pressure to keep going and I celebrated by starting another story.

Barb – What is it you love most about writing? What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Natasha – I like the research and I love when a character is really showing me detailed scenes and I get so into this that I lose myself.

The hardest part of writing is getting to and staying in that place where I have lost myself and the character’s experiences are flowing. Now that I am serious about writing, I tend to want to take conscious control and just get things underway. The moment I start doing that, I am on the way to getting blocked or writing material that I won’t be happy about later.

With each book I have worked on since becoming “serious about writing”, I have become better about letting go and getting back to the way I used to create. I’d love to be a conscious plotter with charts and graphs made out before I begin writing scenes. But it is just not the best way for me.

Barb – Do you have a favorite character from your stories or are they like your children and you can’t choose between them?

Natasha – My favorite character tends to be the character that is showing me the story at that moment in time.

Barb – Do you see yourself in any of your characters?

Natasha – Not really. I see my characters as individuals. In my writing, I want to try and get out of the way as much as possible and let things flow. I don’t want to see myself in my characters, I want to see them clearly as they are.

Barb – What book are you currently reading?

Natasha – War on the Run: The Epic Story of Robert Rogers and the Conquest of America’s First Frontier by John F. Ross

Barb – Where can your fans find you ?

Natasha – I am most interactive on Facebook, readers are welcomed to “Friend” me or to “Like” my author page. I post a lot of cat pictures, so be warned.

Barb – Where is your work available?

Natasha – Grey’s Lady and White Lace and Promises are available at Total-e-Bound, All Romance E-Books, Amazon and Fictionwise. Grey’s Lady is also available at Barnes and Nobles.

Alex’s Angel is available at Total-e-Bound and can be purchased in formats compatible with all current e-readers.

Barb – What project are you working on now?

Natasha – I am into a period of deep research. I will soon be working on edits for a novella that will be released by Total-e-Bound in July as part of their Bodices & Boudoirs collection.

Barb – Anything else you’d like to add?

Natasha – Thank you for interviewing me Barbara, it was a lot of fun.

I’d like to thank Natasha for dropping by and sharing. Be sure to drop by tomorrow to read my thoughts on White Lace & Promises.