Interview & Giveaway with Sabrina Darby

Hi Sabrina, Welcome to Anna's Book Blog! I'm glad to have you here. To start off can you tell the readers a little about yourself?
Let’s see.  I’m a big Gossip Girl fan (Chuck & Blair all the way!), my favorite chocolates are from Martine’s Chocolates in Manhattan, and I adore both the book and film versions of A Room With a View.

Of course, if you want my official bio, here it is:

Sabrina Darby has been reading romance since the age of seven and learned her best vocabulary (dulcet, diaphanous, and turgid) from them. Her debut book with Avon Red, On These Silken Sheets, was a Favourite Erotic Romance finalist in the Australian Romance Readers Awards and a Best First Book finalist in the National Readers’ Choice Awards. Her new Regency novella, The Short and Fascinating Tale of Angelina Whitcombe, releases July 31st from Avon Impulse. She can be found online at TheBallroomBlog.com, SabrinaDarby.com and Twitter.com/SabrinaDarby.

The Short and Fascinating Tale of Angelina Whitcomb is your latest release, can you tell us a little about it and the series?
It all begins because of Mrs. Martin who is despairing of ever having grandchildren. Her son, whom she calls Georgie, did his part in the fight against Napoleon as a Royal Engineer, and now, battle scarred and taciturn, lives in a crumbling castle. Unbeknownst to him, his meddling mother decides to put out an advertisement to find him a mistress.

I had so much fun writing this story because I'd set myself a creative challenge: what woman would be the perfect match for him? And based on the title of the story, you might just have a guess what my answer is!

The official blurb for the book is:

Wanted:
A beautiful young woman—preferably one with no connections, who won't ask too many questions—to spend two weeks in the North of England with an obstinate, aloof, and utterly handsome man.

Must love dogs, fixing up crumbling castles, and gorgeous and complicated war heroes who may or may not be hiding hearts of gold under their gruff exteriors.

Must not, under any circumstances, fall in love . . .

Simpering misses need not apply.

What is your writing day like?

I do my best writing first thing in the morning or in the evening after dinner. However, my schedule is fairly in flux. This means, some days I get to write all day and others I barely touch my manuscripts.  If I *am* writing, it is nearly always punctuated by calls to my sister, who is my alpha reader. And if I am on a tricky scene, I can be found every 15 minutes checking twitter and other Internet sites.

When your not writing what kind of books do you like to read?

This is changing. I used to read a lot of historical fiction and historical fiction style fantasy, a la Guy Gavriel Kay. And one of my favorite books is by experimental literary author, Carole Maso. But these days, I've been reading a lot of romantic suspense.

What are 3 things that are "must haves" for you when you sit down to write a book?

My latte (thanks to my husband who makes them for me!), my sister (who is my alpha reader and steers me back when I go off course) and a curiosity about the characters and story.

How did you come up with your idea for The Short and Fascinating Tale of Angelina Whitcomb? Anything particular inspire you while writing?

The idea started as a blog post on TheBallroomBlog.com (http://www.theballroomblog.com/2011/09/advice-desired-most-urgently/) and developed into a series of ever increasingly ridiculous situations, which just had to become a story! However, for the hero (who is an engineer), I was also inspired by days as an undergraduate at M.I.T.

If you could give your lead characters one piece of advice, what would it be?

This is an excellent question, but I'm afraid if I give them any advice, they might rationalize their way to a shorter story! They simply have to struggle through the process of falling in love as we all do.
   

Since becoming published, what has been your favorite part of the process?

I love meeting all the people in the romance community, from the editors to the cover artists to authors, bloggers and readers.

What do yo love most about writing historical romance?

I love to play with the idea of the modern in the past. And I also love to write in a time when if a person wanted to disappear and start a new life, they could.  It makes the theme of redemption that much more powerful.

If you can please tell us what is next for you?

Next up is more Regency! Although, I do have some contemporary stories I am looking forward to typing out, but those will have to wait a bit.

The Short and Fascinating Tale of Angelina Whitcomb can be purchased at these retailers:

All Romance Ebooks | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to Sabrina & Author Rescue I have an ebook copy of The Short and Fascination Tale of Angelina Whitcomb to giveaway. To enter leave a comment along with your email address. Open to everyone. The winner will be announce on August 9th. Good Luck!