Hey, everybody! Thanks for celebrating some big things with me this past month! There will be more to come. But, today, I’d like to re-introduce my friend, Alison DeLaine, and share about her upcoming book, A Promise by Daylight. For lovers of historical romances and hot heroes, this one’s for you! And be sure to stick around, because I’m giving away FIVE copies of Alison’s book!
Hi, Alison! Tell us, A Promise by Daylight is autobiographical, right?
Oh, definitely! It all comes from my personal experience disguising myself as a man in the household of a sexy duke, where I spent most of my time realizing that his virility was impossible to ignore. (ha)
Mmm… virility is always good. So your Duke of Winston is pretty hot?
Winston is more than just hot. In fact, it’s a good thing Millie isn’t squeamish, because Winston is… well… He’s a little raunchy. At least, he was. Before he decided to change. But it’s not easy for a man to change when he doesn’t know what to do with himself if he’s not debauching. And it’s especially difficult for a rakehell to change his ways when there’s a young woman (disguised as a man) who is trying to prevent him from changing his ways! Yep, you read that right—Millie has her own agenda, and she quickly realizes that if the duke reforms, she’ll lose her best chance at accomplishing her goal.
Sounds like fun! What’s your favorite thing about writing romance novels?
Without a doubt, my favorite thing is writing that sizzle between the characters. I love putting a man and a woman together who are at odds for some reason—but who are completely, undeniably, never-felt-it-like-this-before attracted to each other. My favorite thing about romance novels is the tension between that crazy desire and whatever it is that is making them believe they can’t be together. THAT is what the romance genre is all about!
Now, I just happened to notice that you dedicated A Promise by Daylight in part to me! Can you let everyone in on our Quiet Room joke?
Sure! Just for background, people should know that the Romance Writers of America national conference is a magical thing where 2,000 romance writers converge on a major hotel and all the men’s bathrooms turn into ladies’ rooms.
Back in the day, I sometimes shared a room with Christie and another fabulous author, Faye Hughes. Christie and Faye were members of the Published Authors Network (PAN) — something that, back then, I could only aspire to. I was a “PRO” member of RWA, but I dreamed of one day getting to wear a pink PAN ribbon at the conference (because of course that was the important thing), sign books at the autographing (definitely secondary to the pink ribbon), and… take a few moments of R&R in what used to be called the “PAN Quiet Room.”
What was the PAN Quiet Room, you ask? Well, I don’t know. It doesn’t exist anymore, so even though I’m a PAN member now, I will never know its secrets. But back then, the three of had some fun joking around about exhausted published authors needing an escape from the unpublished hordes.
“Gee, I wonder why there’s no PRO Quiet Room?” I joked to Christie and Faye one evening as we sat in our hotel room talking.
They looked at each other. Looked at me. “There is,” they said.
“Where?”
They pointed to the bathroom.
Much hilarity ensued, and from that point forward there was no end to the “If you need me, I’ll be in the Quiet Room” jokes. Those were some really good times that I will never forget. Thanks, Christie and Faye…and thanks so much for having me today, Christie!
Thanks, Alison! Loved having you! Now, I’m going to be giving away five copies of Alison’s book to some lucky readers. Just comment below about your “Quiet Place” and you’ll be entered. Check back next week to see if you’ve won!
![Unbreakable[4]](http://christie-craig.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Unbreakable4.jpg)
