Hello Rose. How are you today? My name is Cherokee and I am excited to be able to have this interview with you. Today, I hope to learn more about you the author, and person, as well as your book, ‘Intentions of the Earl, in the first of a three part series. So grab some baked goodies off the table then sit back in the comfy recliner, while the readers learn a bit more about Rose Gordon.
Why don’t we begin by you telling us a little bit about yourself, and how your day begins?
Well, besides writing books, I am a stay-at-home mom with two wild little boys who are ages four and five. As I’m sure you can guess, my hands are quite full. To start the day, I get up at five in the morning and shove my husband out of bed—yes, I do mean that in an almost literal sense. After making him breakfast, I head to my inbox and answer my e-mails. Fortunately, this doesn’t take me long and I’m usually able to be done answering them and nearly done with my blog post before he leaves for work and my boys get up. From there, it’s another round of breakfast followed by a morning of matchbox cars and Legos with small intervals of writing squeezed in between if time allows.
In the making of Intentions of Earl, was there anything in your life that inspired the making of this story and those that follow?
All the books I’ve written have something in common with my life. Normally an event or a recurring theme, but not exactly a plot or storyline. My parents argue with that thought. They claim I’m Brooke and my husband is Andrew from Intentions of the Earl due to our personalities and whirlwind courtship followed by a hasty marriage. I do see the similarities relating to the courtship and marriage since my husband and I dated only three months, became engaged and eloped two days later, however, his personality is different from Andrew’s. I plead the fifth on my looks and personality being somewhat similar to Brooke’s…
The other books have events or themes in common with my life, too. I’ve tried to write a book that has nothing in common with my life and I find I can’t do that. As they say, write what you know.
Why not share some insight on Andrew’s and Brooke’s encounter?
Neither Andrew nor Brooke has any idea what’s coming for them when they first meet. They only meet because Andrew has reluctantly accepted an agreement that will bring about his fortune after he finds a way to publically shame one of the Banks sisters. Boldly, he wastes no time in trying to get the ball rolling and goes to the townhouse where the Banks family is staying to meet the sisters. Instantly, he realizes Brooke is the right sister for his mission and begins to woo her in every way he can from rides in the park to stolen kisses in the “sword room” at the British Museum to secluded, unchaperoned picnics at a house party. Brooke, known for her tendency to flout the rules falls right into Andrew’s snare as she simultaneously falls in love with him.
Andrew realizes quite late in the game he’s lost his heart, but knows if he doesn’t do what he’s promised to do, Brooke—or one of her sisters—may face a worse destiny than the one he’s going to create. Warring with his feelings, Andrew eventually has to decide if he’s willing to risk the devil’s wrath, better known as the man who set him up, by taking Brooke as a wife or send her away and lose her forever in order to regain his fortune and fulfill his bargain.
Can you tell us a little about the other two books in the series?
The other two books are about Brooke’s sisters, Madison and Liberty, who both play decent sized roles in the first book. During Intentions of the Earl, the Banks family goes to a house party where Mr. Banks is introduced to a very quiet, reserved country vicar named Paul and is asked to be his mentor. Liberty cannot stand Paul. The reason? He’s an improper bore. Or so that’s the reason she claims anyway. The real reason is never actually stated, but it can easily be surmised from reading the book that she was attracted to him all along and took his lack of response to her incessant gabbing as an insult. Insulted and hurt, she blows everything he says and does out of proportion and retaliates in the worst way, which actually leads to why they marry. After they’ve married, they have a comical time of it as they must both learn to adjust to the other while love slowly seeps in and creates a bond black secrets and a naughty masquerade cannot keep apart.
*The third book follows the withdrawn and slightly melancholy Madison and that no-good villain, Benjamin Collins, Duke of Gateway from the first book. Madison has previously loved and lost, what she doesn’t realize is the man who really broke her heart is the one she just married. Benjamin, the villain-turned-hero, truly does have a good heart, which, like Madison, he, too, had crushed before. Following their disastrous wedding night, he’s put into a position where he must woo her and let her see he’s not the heartless villain her sister and brother-in-law portray him to be or lose her for a second time.
Where do you find the inspiration to begin your creativity of your stories?
The first one came about due to boredom of the traditional fortune hunter theme that seems to be so popular with historical romances. I wanted something different and when I couldn’t find it, I created it. From there, all the books that follow have been written (or are on a list to be written) have overlapping characters. The first three books are all about the three sisters, but my next series kicks off with the sisters’ cousin who plays a minor role in two of the books and is mentioned a few times in the third. It would appear that I get so attached to the secondary characters that I cannot let them rest until they have their story, too; that’s what drives my creativity to keep writing more.
When you put pen to paper do the characters consume you until then last page?
Absolutely. I can honestly say the characters drive my books to places I hadn’t thought to take them. I’ve had a few “renegade characters”, mostly heroes, who I couldn’t make behave on paper so I had to create heroines to keep them in check. When I’m not writing about these people, I am certainly thinking about them.
In what order do you write? For example starting beginning to end, combining parts, in random order or in development cycle?
Depends on the book. Intentions of the Earl I wrote from start to finish, no skipping. Liberty for Paul, I wrote a good three-fifths but then I couldn’t sit still because I knew what I wanted to happen closer to the end of the book so I went and wrote all about the masquerade then came back to write the connecting chapters. After that, I wrote the end of the book. To Win His Wayward Wife was a lot of skipping around. I think three or four scenes were written out of order because I couldn’t stop thinking of the perfect dialogue for the upcoming scenes that it was making it difficult to write. So, I just skipped head, wrote the chapter and saved it for when it was time. I have a fourth book coming out in the fall and I can honestly say I would have written it start to finish, except my son knocked my laptop to the floor and killed the hard drive when I had close to sixty thousand words written. While waiting to see if the file could be recovered, I wrote twenty thousand words, picking up where I’d left off only to find the file couldn’t be found and I had to start all over from chapter one. So once again, the book was written out of order. My fifth book was written in order and so far I haven’t skipped around with my sixth. In short, I have no set method to my madness. It all just depends on the book and the situation.
Rose, how would you describe your work station?
A disaster. Because I juggle writing with watching two little boys I don’t closet myself off in a nice clean, quiet room to write. Instead, I sit at the dining table where I can spread all my pens, notes and other junk out and type while objects are flying overhead.
When is your best time of the day to write?
The afternoon. By then my kids are tired of playing with me and they’d rather play with each other or play quietly by themselves. This allows me a greater amount of time to just sit and write without being pestered every three minutes. Not to mention, my husband isn’t home yet. He’s worse than the kids and once he gets home, there’s no writing going on I’m afraid.
Where do you see yourself in the next two years with your writing?
Still writing. I do have plans for what I’ll be writing for the rest of this year and next. For the year after that, I have a few ideas for a project I’d like to do involving an American based novel so we’ll see how it works out.
If you could travel to any place in the world, for a week, where would you go for some rest and recreation?
I’d like to go to England and Scotland to travel the countryside and actually see all the places I write about in my books.
What is there about Rose that she usually tries not to let anyone know about her?
Just about everything! I’m a very private person. But, since I have to say something, I will admit I am a total nerd. On the Internet that’s easy to keep that fact covered up, but in real life I am the nerdiest nerd you’d ever meet, very similar to Alex Banks, the nerdish cousin from my books. I guess it could be said I’m a combination of Alex and Brooke. I don’t always follow the rules, nor do I care overmuch about someone else’s opinion, but I’m also a nerd who has an unusual obsession with numbers and physical science.
If a genie gave you three wise wishes, what would you wish for?
1. The perfect editor who will fix all my typos. 2. A beautiful colonial style house out in the middle of nowhere where my kids could run free outside all day. 3. To never have to pay taxes again! I’m rather boring, I know.
You have just won a day to spend with any celebrity of your dreams. Who would you choose and how would you spend your day?
This is hard… All right, Reese Witherspoon. Sadly for her, I’d spend our day together peppering her with the usual annoying questions she’s probably used to about everything from juggling her career with being a mom to why she took certain roles and what she thought while acting them out.
Thank you, Rose, for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend time with us today! I wish you the best in your writing career.
You are more than welcome. Thank you, Cherokee, for taking time to interview me, the pleasure has been all mine.
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