When you’re brainstorming for a new story, what usually comes first for you, the plot or the characters?
Oh, definitely the characters. They usually appear in my mind without bidding and then I wonder what their story is. It usually takes off from there…
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Now this is an interesting one. Originally, I would have always said I was a pantser, but then I guess we’re always growing and changing, so now I would say I’m a bit of both. It changed when recently I started three different projects, one after another, and couldn’t decided which one to focus on and finish. That’s when I realised that if I plotted them out before writing them, I could switch more easily between them without losing the threads of each of the stories.
I used Excel to plan each of the stories out, with new tabs for every time the storyline was altered, chapter summaries, POVs, etc. – something I would have avoided like the plague before. But now, this seems to be really working, and as a result I can have more projects on the go and not have to choose between ideas. Plus, I’m much less likely to lose ideas because they’re largely recorded somewhere!
When you’re writing, who is more in control, you or your characters?
Well, there’s a bit of both in that too. I know where I want a particular scene to go, I know what I want to happen, but every now and then, it’s usually in the dialogue, it veers off. Generally, it’s when a character is speaking and I realise that they wouldn’t think or do what I want them to do. We usually ultimately end up in the same place, but there has to be allowances if you want your characters to come across three dimensional.
What are your favorite research resources?
I’m a big fan of my collection of historical research books which are quite often taken out and thumbed through while I’m writing a story. I also pick my friend’s brain’s, other authors, and spend a lot of time online. I’m always careful with online research and make sure the sources are credible. An especially great thing is to read about other author’s research as they often have ideas of where to look for information that you maybe haven’t thought of.
Would you tell us about your latest release?
There’s a lot I could tell you, but I don’t want to give too much away so I may be a little cryptic here and there:
Fool Me Twice is the story of a woman who has to build her life up from the ashes of an old one, and in doing so becomes the talk of the town. Set in 18th century London, a city of wealth and poverty, pleasure and vice, Caro Worth the heroine finds her talent at cards can keep her in the manner of a lady of quality. To protect her virtuous self, she takes on the persona of her dead father’s illegitimate daughter and becomes an infamous gamestress.
But all the while, she is planning her future and desires a rich and titled husband to secure it for her. So whilst she makes money at the tables at night, she is cultivating friends in the ton and courting the attention of eligible bachelors in the day. This is all going according to her plan until the reckless and irresponsible younger son of a Viscount Admiral comes barrelling into her life. Tobias Felton is neither eligible, nor will he go away, and soon she has bigger problems in the form of an insidious Marquis. Falling from one catastrophe to another, Caro has to determine what is really of worth in this life and whether love is worth more than money and titles.
What are you working on now?
This is definitely the most exciting of questions to be asked in my opinion. I am currently working on a connected novel to Fool Me Twice, kind of like a sequel but not quite. I’m really enjoying working on it, especially getting into the characters who are quite hilarious at times. I am also plotting out another Regency romance based largely in Cornwall and of course, I usually have a fantasy on the go, so I am writing the second in a trilogy I have planned, the first of which is called The Edict which I am looking at getting published.
Do you have an excerpt from your latest release you would like to share?
Chapter 1
“Are you always so demanding?” asked Lord Avers, smiling saucily and flashing his white teeth as he gave up a card to the player beside him.
“Always,” replied Angelica Worth, turning from the retreating waiter she had ordered to do her bidding and plucking a card from the table with her small, sprite-like fingers. Her blue eyes glinted as they ran over the cards in her hand. “I like to have my own way,” she said simply, preparing for her last lay, “even if it is detrimental to my circumstances.” She extracted some cards from her hand and placed them on the table. “In this case, it is not.”
As she leant, far from innocently, across the table and draped her elegant hands across her winnings, she was greeted by a cacophony of groans. Players threw down their cards, the game over, but not one failed to notice the pale white bosom of the female gamester. Angelica knew what she was doing. Of course she did. This was not the first time she had gamed in a hell, and it was not the first time she had won from these men. Let them stare, let them imagine, let them fantasize about the woman they thought a harlot. If it distracted them enough to forget they had lost to her, to play her again, and to lose again, then all the better.
“Alas, in this case it is to my detriment,” said Lord Avers, still put out by his loss.
Angelica returned the saucy smile he had given her earlier. A delicate crease appeared at the corner of her mouth, causing the patch near her red lips to lift teasingly. Her light blue eyes gave him a coquettish look, and she parted her lips to reveal a hint of her white teeth.
At this display of her charms, Lord Avers’ face softened. It always worked—the hint of suggestion and those feminine wiles with which she could even the odds in a male-dominated arena.
A waiter appeared, offering Angelica a glass full of amber-colored liquid on a mock-silver tray. She took a sip, the sweet orange-flower Ratafia leaving honey-like trails down her throat. She rarely drank, especially whilst gaming, but this evening was at an end and she deserved it. By the sheer exercise of her wits, she had dragged her household out of the financial gutter it had dug itself into over the last month. She would drink now and enjoy these short hours of respite before more money needed to be won.
In the brief quiet while she sipped her drink, she forgot about the staring Lord Avers and glanced over her glass rim at John Williams, the servant she always brought with her. He stood at the far wall, blending into the mahogany with his brown woolen frock coat. If he had been a more noticeable person, he might have looked out of place, but he was the kind of man who was invisible. That was why Angelica brought him, as her protection, as a sort of bodyguard-come-chaperone, if a bastard female gamester could have one of those. All she asked of him was that he stand by while she gamed for hours. He would say nothing, do nothing, but his presence would inevitably calm her, and she always received his company gratefully on the dark, early-morning journeys home. John acknowledged her look with a brief glance and then resumed his study of the middle distance.
“You know,” mused Lord Avers, watching the card dealer clear the table which was now empty of players, “I think you some kind of witch. You fly in, you take my money, and I am all the happier for it.”
His brown eyes were the sort a woman could get lost in, his smile the kind that would melt a heart of ice. But Angelica Worth was not interested in getting lost, and her past had more than hardened her heart. She had come to Town for one reason, a reason that would not be served by an illicit liaison.
She laughed suddenly, the action lighting up her often-serious countenance. “You flatter me, my lord.” And it was real flattery. She was quite aware of the sway Lord Avers held over the marriage mart with his dashing good looks. She had watched him, in another time, at another place, as another person, captivate many a woman who afterwards set their cap at him.
Unfortunately for her, Lord Avers was the third son of the Duke of Mountefield, destined to play his life out as an officer in the army with no larger financial prospects. And for Angelica’s alter-ego, the full daughter of her father, her real self whom she played during the day, such a match would be impossible. Miss Caro Worth—a respectable woman who would have no more to do with gaming than she would a low-cut dress—would not spend the rest of her life trailing after his Majesty’s army, no matter how beautiful the eyes of the man….
What three words would the hero of your story use to describe his love interest?
Brave, loyal and vulnerable.
What three words would the heroine of your story use to describe her love interest?
Reckless, humorous and noble.
Do you prefer writing your heroes, your heroines or do you like writing both equally?
I used to prefer writing my heroines, I suspect being a woman myself was a large reason for that, however, for Fool Me Twice I definitely began to enjoy writing male protagonists too. There’s a lot more you can do with a male hero in an historical romance than I at first thought. It’s something I’m looking at exploring more in the future.
What are your favorite genres to read and write?
Historical Romance and Fantasy.
Where can we visit you online?
You can swing by my website, tweet me or come and Facebook me.
When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?
I love to read, hang out with friends, horse ride, spend time with the ol’ husband and I especially love to try out historical past times like carriage driving and visiting stately homes!
Books:
Author Bio:
Philippa Jane Keyworth, known to her friends as Pip, has been writing since she was twelve in every notebook she could find. Originally trained as a horse-riding instructor, Philippa went on to become a copywriter before beginning a degree in History. A born again Christian, Philippa lives in the south of England with her handsome husband.
Philippa has always written stories and believes that, since it is one of her loves and passions, she always will. In her early writing career, she dabbled in a variety of genres, but it was the encouragement of a friend to watch a film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice that began her love affair with the British Regency. Since then, she has watched every Regency film and TV series she could get her hands on and become well acquainted with Georgette Heyer’s novels which gave her the inspiration to write her own.
Both as a reader and a writer, Philippa believes it is important to escape into a world you yourself would want to live in. This is why she writes stories that will draw you into the characters’ joys and heartaches in a world apart from our own. Her debut novel, The Widow’s Redeemer (Madison Street Publishing, 2012), is a traditional Regency romance bringing to life the romance between a young widow with an indomitable spirit and a wealthy viscount with an unsavory reputation. The novel has been received well by readers and reviewers who have praised the heartfelt story and admirable characters. Her second novel, The Unexpected Earl (Madison Street Publishing, 2014), explores another romance in the Regency era when an impetuous young woman has her life turned upside down by the reappearance of the earl who jilted her six years ago. Her third novel, Georgian romance Fool Me Twice follows the double life of gamester and lady of quality Caro Worth and the haphazard younger son of an English noble (Madison Street Publishing, 2016).
So, what are you waiting for? Get swept away into another time with characters you will learn to love, and experience Britain in the 18th century and Regency like never before.
About the BookTitle: Fool Me Twice
Author: Philippa Jane Keyworth
Genre: Historical Romance
In the gaming hells of eighteenth century London, orphan Caro Worth is leading a double life. By day she plays a proper gentlewoman on the lookout for a wealthy husband. By night she plays the infamous Angelica, her fictional half-sister with a talent for cards and an ability to finance the life her respectable self has built. An introduction to a rich Marquis brings marriage and security within Caro’s grasp…until the arrival of the unpredictable and totally ineligible Mr. Tobias Felton.
Dismayed by Felton’s persistent appearances, shocking frankness, and enigmatic green eyes, Caro watches helplessly as he comes closer than anyone to guessing her secret, but when complete and utter ruin threatens, she finds that Felton’s suspicions just might become her salvation. As the walls she has built to protect herself crumble down around her, Caro learns that no matter how careful your plans, life and love have a habit of falling quite spectacularly out of control!
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