Note: CJ lives ‘down under’ so she will not be available until later this evening but go ahead and commnet for a chance to win this yummy sounding book!! AZG

Let’s welcome C.J. Archer to our June Book Brew event.

CTR: Please tell us a bit about the work you are featuring today. The ISBN and buy link is always good and maybe some background or “story behind the story’ to pique our readers’ interest. Many readers would like to know any what special people or events may have inspired you to write this particular story. You can provide a blurb here also!

CJA: Thank you for having me here at the Book Brew.

I love a good pirate. But I love a bad pirate even more. Give me a man who has plenty of swash and buckle, a past as murky as the seas he navigates, and a code of honor as unbreakable as he is. I couldn’t resist writing about such a man and the one woman who throws his life off-balance. But as I’m incapable of writing anything “normal”, I put my hero and heroine onto an airship and told them to get along up there or else.

The Adventures of Miss Upton and the Sky Pirate is a steampunk romantic adventure. Don’t be put off by the genre’s name. Steampunk is simply a story set in alternate historical world. It usually has a Victorian feel as this was the time when steam powered engines and machines came into their own. Steampunk is more than machinery however. It’s also about attitude and adventure. The movie A League of Extraordinary Men is a good example, as is Soulless by Gail Carriger and The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook. Other paranormal elements are often included in steampunks. I’ve used witches, or hellhags, to highlight the inequality of a world that values man-made machines over natural-born talent.

Here’s a blurb for The Adventures of Miss Upton and the Sky Pirate:
Tilda Upton’s talent at finding things with the aid of a talisman puts her on the edge of the dangerous hellhag category. Rather inexperienced in using her magic, she’s prone to mistakes. It is one such mistake that lands her in debt to the Chief Royal Inventor who blackmails her into retrieving an Oriental and his machine. But to find the Oriental she needs to intercept an airship and the best way to do that is through piracy.

Tilda turns to the notorious Black Jack Knight, a sky pirate known for his cruelty and cleverness who dislikes passengers, particularly of the female variety. Fortunately for Tilda he accepts a currency she can provide””the location of a man who witnessed his brother’s murder, a murder which Jack was falsely accused of committing. Together they fight corsairs, a mad inventor and their growing attraction to each other in order to retrieve the man Tilda has been forced to find, only to learn his machine could destroy her.

Buy Links:
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LGRZGG
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004LGRZGG
Barnes and Noble http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Adventures-of-Miss-Upton-and-the-Sky-Pirate/CJ-Archer/e/2940011191541?itm=1&USRI=the%2Badventures%2Bof%2Bmiss%2Bupton
Other ereaders: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/39676

CTR: “Bad boy” heroes have been a staple of the romance genre for a long time. What do you think is the special appeal of a lead character who lives outside the law or the normal constraints of our culture? What is your favorite take on this theme? Goodness knows it can appear in any sub-genre from the Regency to the Western, and also works well in paranormal tales and futuristics as well!

CJA: The bad boy is pure fantasy for most romance readers. In real life we don’t want the bad boy, we want the man who gets along with our mother, takes out the trash every Thursday night and plays with the kids. But reading romance is not real life, it’s exciting and we can put ourselves in the heroine’s shoes. We can imagine that bad boy has eyes only for us. He might snub his nose at convention, be broody and dominant and scary, but in the end he sheds that tough exterior because he’s head over heels in love with us (um, I mean the heroine). It’s powerful stuff to think that a deep love can change a man for the better. Besides, it helps that he’s the sexiest man alive and has shoulders you can sink your teeth into.

CTR: Looking back over your lifetime of reading do you have a special book or two along these lines that sticks in your mind and maybe inspired your work to a degree? How about a real life character either historical or contemporary that you admired even if they were not quite “politically correct’ or within the letter of the law?

CJA: One character springs to mind immediately. Years ago I read The Lymond Chronicles, a series of 6 books by Scottish writer Dorothy Dunnett set in the early 1500’s. The hero, Francis Crawford of Lymond, is complex and compelling. Dunnett writes in such a way that you’re never really sure what Lymond is up to or why until the very end. In many ways my character of Black Jack from Miss Upton and the Sky Pirate was modeled on him, not so much in looks but in personality. His crew love him and would die for him, he’s fiercely loyal and protective of his own, and he has a complicated past he must come to terms with. I admit I love them both.

CTR: Recently as we have more kick-butt heroines and “tough ladies’ featured in romance and other genres, we’re seeing more bad girls as well as the perennial bad boys. Do you like this? What would you think of a switch and the usual good girl and bad boy theme with a bad lady and a very straight and narrow sort of guy? I have a weakness for the women in all eras who dared to stand up and fight for what they believed in. History is full of them if you look. Some were more outlandish than others but I could visualize a whole series of stories taking the old hero-to-the-rescue and reform-of-the-rake notions and turning them around! Would you consider writing such a book?

CJA: I love a mentally tough heroine, whether she’s kick-butt or not. I tend to read more historicals as that’s where my passion lies so it’s not easy to have a physically tough woman unless it’s also paranormal. I’m not really a fan of bad girls as such, but I do like a woman who stands up for what she believes in, as well as fights against the stereotypes of her time. I like to think all my historical heroines are a-typical in that regard. I give them an education, a fast wit and an attitude as strong as their hero’s. I like to think that’s why the heroes fall in love with them – because they’re different to all the other women around him, and he can’t help but respect her and love her for that. As to writing a tough heroine, I’d love to write about a modern-day woman who goes back in time and shakes up the ordered world of a very straight-laced lord. Fun!

CTR: Before you leave us today, please tell us where we can learn more about you and your books, how to find your blog, website, twitter or Facebook pages, etc.

CJA: Thanks for having me here! Your questions were insightful and really got me thinking about the genre that I’ve grown to love. You can find out more about me and my books at my blog http://cjarcher.blogspot.com/ and follow me on twitter http://www.twitter.com/CJ_Archer.

CTR: Thanks so much for sharing our event today and giving readers an inside look at you and your work! Live well and prosper (many sales)!