Tempt the Devil - Anna Campbell

Check out that cover!! An interview, and a hot guy to drool over! *Ahem*

Please welcome my special guest this week, the lovely Anna Campbell who is celebrating her third Avon release this month, Tempt the Devil.

Always a voracious reader, Anna Campbell decided when she was a child that she wanted to be a writer. Her first historical romance for Avon was the multi-award winning CLAIMING THE COURTESAN, followed by another Regency noir, UNTOUCHED, which featured on several ‘best of the year’ lists. Both UNTOUCHED and CLAIMING THE COURTESAN finaled in the 2008 RITA Awards and CLAIMING THE COURTESAN was a finalist in the 2008 Romance Writers of Australia Romantic Book of the Year Award. Her current Avon release is TEMPT THE DEVIL (a Romantic Times Top Pick) which came out in January, 2009. Her work has sold to Germany, Australia, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Russia, Japan and Norway. When she’s not writing passionate, intense stories featuring gorgeous Regency heroes and the women who are their destiny, Anna loves to travel and listen to all kinds of music. She has settled near the sea on the east coast of Australia where she’s losing her battle with an overgrown subtropical garden.

Thanks for joining us today, Anna. Can you tell us a little about your book, Tempt the Devil?

Tempt the Devil is another dark, sexy Regency redemption story. It tells the story of Olivia Raines, London’s most notorious courtesan, and the infamous rake, the Earl of Erith. Erith returns to London to make peace with his estranged family and as is his wont, he takes the most prestigious cyprian as his mistress for the duration of his stay. Little does he know that this decision will result in an overwhelming, passionate love that puts everything he wants at risk.

How did the idea for the plot come about?

This story was inspired by the classic film An Affair to Remember. It was my late mother’s favourite film so I watched it a LOT. We only had an old video version I’d taped off TV and I had to zap the ads for Mum. Because I saw it in bits, I started to think about the story beyond the grand romantic sweep which is the most obvious element of the movie. I realised that in many ways these characters could fit perfectly into the Regency. Terry Mackay was a kept woman, in other words a courtesan. Nicky Ferrante was if not a gigolo, certainly a rake. These charming, sophisticated people had set up lives that suited them fine until love came along and knocked them for a six. I liked the way they used wit to keep the world at bay. I liked the way they had very strict personal codes of honour, even if the codes of honour had nothing to do with conventional morality. I liked that they were older and thought they’d lost any chance at a life-changing love. So that was the genesis for Tempt the Devil!

I love sale stories (ok I am just nosy!!) so can you tell us about your road to publication - and your call story?

Actually I love sale stories too! I loved them before I was published – they made me think there was hope for me too! I finished my first book, a medieval historical romance, in between high school and university so I time my search for publication from then. 27 long years later, just before Easter in 2006, Claiming the Courtesan went to auction and Avon books bought me. Yay! As you can imagine, there were a lot of false starts, false trails and disappointments over that 27 years. One thing that kept me going was I did OK in writing contests so as a result, I would really encourage people to enter competitions. It’s a great way to get validation from someone who isn’t your mother or your cousin or your best friend and you never know, it might lead to something further down the track. I know a lot of people who sold their first book as a result of a writing competition.

What an inspirational story, Anna, and proof we must never give up when the going gets tough! Well, we're all about the love here, so please share your fave books, movies, TV shows or current fantasy squeeze (it's all in the line of research!)

How long have you got, Christina? Sadly, I’m a bit of a tart when it comes to favourites! One is never enough! I’ve got a list of favourite movies on my website although it does tend to change every week! I’d say right now my favourite movies are Dirty Dancing, Lawrence of Arabia, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and How to Steal a Million. My favourite TV show would be Spicks and Specks – for those who don’t get Aussie TV, it’s a game show about music and it’s huge fun! I pine the whole time it’s off over the Christmas season. Otherwise I love watching Jeopardy on cable. I seem to be a game show tragic, don’t I? Again, I’ve listed favourite romances on my website but my favourite classic books would be Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch, War and Peace and the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. My favourite romances would be the Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett (not strictly a romance but wow, what books!), Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase, Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale, A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson and A Rose at Midnight by Anne Stuart.

I'm a bit of tart in that way too!! What are you working on now?

I’ve just started another Regency noir set in the 1820s. It’s one of those “oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive” books.

Can't wait! How can readers keep up with your writing and books?

I have a website which I update every month. I pop in every few weeks to add to my author’s page on HarperCollins . I blog with the Romance Bandits and you never know what will happen there.