INTERVIEW/ GIVEAWAY: Delilah Marvelle

Hey peeps! I'm hanging out with Delilah Marvelle today. We're talking about her work and especially about her Rumor series. The latest book in the series, Forever a Lady, was released on July 24th and already has a number of rave reviews.

Please help me welcome Delilah to RR!

Author Bio

Delilah Marvelle spent her youth studying various languages, reading voraciously and playing the pianoforte. She confesses that here ends the extent of her gentle breeding. She was a naughty child who was forever torturing her parents with countless adventures that they did not deem respectable. Confined to her room on many occasions due to these misadventures, she discovered the quill and its amazing power. Soon, to the dismay of her parents, she rather enjoyed being confined to her room and finished writing her first historical romance (which was a heart-stopping 800 pages long…) at the age of fourteen. She is a two time Golden Heart finalist and the winner of The Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Sensual Historical Romance of the Year.  You can visit her at her website at www.DelilahMarvelle.com or her blog, which explores the naughtier side of history, at www.DelilahMarvelle.blogspot.com.

You can also find Delilah on Facebook, Twitter andGoodreads

Hi Delilah! Thank you so much for being here today at Riverina Romantics. I can’t wait to learn more about you! Can you tell my readers a little about yourself?

Thank you so much for having me! A little about myself? Heh. I’m a historical romance writer and have to say I love what I do and feel blessed to be able to live my dream. I still can’t believe I’m getting paid to fantasize about history and men, lol.

Do you have any pets?

No. Unless my husband and two kids count, lol. I absolutely love animals but I also know with a full time career, two kids who haven’t made it college and a husband who is working 2 jobs, it wouldn’t be an environment where an animal would have received much attention. Which is why I opt not to have

one.

Where did you grow up?

I actually grew up in Chicago in a pretty rough neighborhood until I was about 13 and was fortunate to be moved into a better school system and neighborhood. Up until that move, though, I saw a lot, learned a lot and have had many stories to tell ever since :)

Do you have a degree? Is so, in what?

I have two degrees. One in English Literature and one in the Culinary Arts.

Culinary Arts? Wow! What is a typical day in the life of Delilah Marvelle?

Writing, writing, eat, writing, writing, research, research, writing, kids, school work, husband, dinner and bed (sometimes, lol). That’s the simplified version of it. I don’t write during the summers. Or at least, I try not to, as I enjoy spending the summers just hanging out with my kids. During the schoolyear, my typical writing schedule is to get the kids out the door and start writing at 7:15 a.m. I can’t write whenever there are people in the house. It may sound strange, but I feel like their energy is bleeding into my ability to focus. When writing about history, one has to immerse themselves in a different world and I find it’s hard to do that when you’re surrounded by people who remind you your world is fake, fake, fake, lol. So I basically write from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. I break for lunch, but it’s usually less than 10 minutes and I got back to work. When I’m on deadline, I’ll write as much as 12 hours in a day. But I usually try to keep it to the 7:15 a.m.-4 p.m. schedule. It allows me to unwind and do stuff with my family in between the madness of writing.

I heard that you speak Polish fluently. How did you learn it?

I’m first generation Polish. So I actually learned how to speak Polish first, from my parents who only spoke to me in Polish since I was born. It’s the best and only way to learn any language. When you’re young. I even went to Polish School every Saturday, which not only elevated my Polish but taught me to learn to love history in the way American Schools weren’t. In Polish School we learned about world history in a way they weren’t teaching it in American Schools and it opened my eyes into seeing a different and more fascinating side of history.

Any hobbies, interests or special talents you'd like to enlighten us about?

I absolutely love to run. Especially during a day when the weather is just perfect. During my 5 mile runs, I come up with the best ideas for my books. I think it’s the amount of oxygen filling my brain, lol. Either way, I really love to run. I also love to cook. I went to culinary school and because I now write full time, cooking has turned into a different sort of passion. Whenever I can, I try to make a new dish every night. (Of course, when I’m under deadline, it doesn’t happen). I can play the piano and competed regionally. I also took ballet for several years and Tae Kwon Do. I’m learning the more I do, the more I have to write about. After all, you can’t write about life if you’re not living it, right? :)

I played piano as a child. My stage fright was so bad that my mother could see me shaking from the audience at my recitals LOL. How long have you been an author, and what is your genre of choice?

I have been a published author since 2008 and my genre of choice is Historical Romance. Or my version of it anyway, lol.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Yes. My father would read to me in bed every night when I was young and half the time I was forever complaining to him that I didn’t like the endings. So he’d tell me to write my own ending. And I did. My first entry into the writing world was when I was about 7 or 8 and wrote a better version of Peter Pan where Peter goes home with Wendy and stays with her. (Basically the premise of Hook. I wrote it first, lol.)

Loved that movie! How long did it take before you got your first big break?

It took me 11 years, over 200 rejections and over 40 manuscripts before I finally got my big break. Needless to say it was a long journey but one I was glad to take as it taught me a lot about myself and the industry.

What was the first book you ever published?

Mistress of Pleasure. And I had so much fun writing it! The premise is that it’s about an elderly retired courtesan who opens up a school to educate aristocratic men on the topic of love and seduction. It’s all tongue and cheek and a nod to Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones.

Are you a full time author or do you do it on the side?

I am a full time writer. I’m fortunate I was able to be a full time writer even when I was trying to get published because my husband supported my both in my dream and financially. It was a great way to stay home with my kids, too.

What kind of support have you received from family/friends to help you continue writing?

I get endless support. My husband is *amazing*. He always goes above and beyond to ensure I’m following my dream. My kids are the same way. They all have to make sacrifices to enable me to write. My husband takes the kids for the weekend to let me write, too, when I’m under deadline. Without the support of my family, I wouldn't be able to survive this business. It takes so much out of you mentally sometimes that you really need to surround yourself with incredible and supporting people to pull you through.

Where do you do most of your creative work, and how do you get into your creative zone?
I do most of my creative work in my writing room or in my vacation home. All I need to get into my creative zone is two things: my computer and silence. My mind just focuses better in the silence. In particular, when I’m alone. I can’t focus unless I’m alone. Part of it is that in creating a historical world, you have to pull yourself out of the modern world and that’s hard to do when you've got people walking around you, reminding you it’s a modern world.

What type of research do you do for your books? Were you surprised or shocked by anything you learned?

I do an incredible amount of research. It’s what I love to do most. I try to travel for my research, and go to the actual places I’m writing about, but when I can’t, I dig into libraries (The New York City Library in particular) and dig into my collection of research books. I always google for books that came out in my era as I believe it will give me the closest glimpse to the historical reality I’m looking for. I’m particularly fascinated by the naughtier side of history and even have a whole blog dedicated to it called A BIT O’MUSLIN. I post anything and everything having to do with sex and history. And yes, I am always shocked and surprised by the things I continue to learn. The biggest eye opener for me when I first started researching sex and history was coming across the history of the dildo and that it’s much older than people think. The oldest dildo in the world (that has been found, that is) is 28,000 years old. I never learned that in school! LOL.

Too funny! Which part of writing books comes easy to you? What parts are difficult?

Dialogue comes the easiest for me, without any doubt. I can hear the dialogue exchange in my head more than anything and it’s simply a matter of trying to keep up and typing it all out as fast as I can to keep up with the dialogue. What parts are difficult? I would say writing a book that steps up from my last one. I’m always competing with myself to write better books, but it gets difficult, because the more I learn about myself and writing, the more I realize what I’m NOT supposed to do.

Is there anything you would like the readers to take away from your writing?

I want my readers to walk away from my books knowing no matter what a person goes through, there is always love and a happily ever after waiting. Always. Love is what gets us through the bad times and enables us to better understand ourselves and those we love.

Can you tell us about your newest release?

FOREVER A LADY is the flip side of the story people didn't get to see in Book 1, FOREVER AND A DAY. We get to see the Forty Thieves (a gang mentioned in book 1) in action in the bowels of the Five Points and how they came to be in existence, given the story is about its leader, Matthew Milton. Without any doubt, Matthew is what I call a gruff romantic. He loses everything (including the sight in one eye) but believes he still deserves everything, including a woman so high above his social circle, he can't reach the ladder. You think that stops him? Hell no. And that's where the fun begins. He is a refined pirate of the streets while Lady Bernadette is a rich widow who is done following the rules and decides to make a few of her own. It was so much fun writing this story. I got to explore sensuality levels that step beyond the first book.

So, what’s next for you? Are there any projects that you’re currently working on? When do you plan on publishing it?

Aside from finishing the Rumor series this December with FOREVER A LORD, I’ll also be finishing up the School of Gallantry series. The series centers around a retired elderly courtesan who educates aristocratic men in the art of love and seduction. Not by taking them to bed, but by shoving them into a real classroom. It’s very tongue and cheek. I have received so many requests pertaining to my first series, and seeing there were still three books left in the series that have yet to be told, I’ve decided to finish the series. LADY OF PLEASURE, book 3 in the series, will be released March 1, 2013. I’m really excited about re-visiting this series!

Thanks so much for stopping to chat with me Delilah! Before I let you get back to your writing, could you please let my readers where to go to learn more about you?

Thank you so much for having me! They can visit me at my website (www.DelilahMarvelle.com), where I post 28 random facts about me and they can visit me at my BIT O’MUSLIN blog (www.DelilahMarvelle.blogspot.com) and learn more about my dirty sense of humor and history. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter.

Delilah Marvelle's Tour Info:

August 3 - RCJReZine Blog

August 6 - Books-n-Kisses

August 7 - Book Reader Addict

August 8 - Books N Love

August 8 - Riverina Romantics

August 9 - United by Books  

August 10 - Reading Between The Wines

August 11 - Cocktails N Books

August 13 - Book Lovin Mamas  

August 14 - Book Monster & Literal Addiction

August 15 - Ramblings From This Chick

August 16 - Reading Romances

**WIN A DAY WITH DELILAH MARVELLE!**

Want to meet Delilah and spend an entire day with her? Here's how!

Delilah Marvelle will fly out to your hometown and spend an entire day treating you like the Lady that you are.  From facials to pedicures and wine and dinner, Delilah will also hand deliver an exclusive copy of her December release FOREVER A LORD, which wraps up the Rumor Series. 

​Contest runs from August 1st to August 31st 2012. 

​OPEN TO CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES CITIZENS ONLY.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER!!

The Rumor Series

Forever Mine (Rumor Prequel)

Love can open your eyes... 

Lady Augustine Jane Ascott longs for a man who will do more than offer on her hand in marriage.  She wants a husband she can trust, someone who will shield her from the darkness of the world.  Her heart was broken when her younger brother was kidnapped years earlier, and she still carries the pain of his loss. 

When the handsome Duke of Wentworth makes his feelings for her known, Augustine's past demons warn her away.  Besides, every woman in London knows he's devoted to the memory of his late wife.  But is it possible he cares for her after all -- and that their love can bring them the peace they both crave?

READER PLEASE NOTE:

Bonus Chapters from FOREVER MINE that were not included in this Prequel Novella are available for free download.  Click HERE to download them.  These two bonus chapters are the untold story of what happened to Nathaniel from Augustine's point of view.  While the publisher opted not to include the two chapters in FOREVER MINE, due to its dark nature, I feel this story and the entire series is incomplete without them.  These two chapters, in my opinion, are critical in understanding Nathaniel's story whom the entire series is based on.

Buy Links:

Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Forever and a Day (Rumor #1)

Rumor Has it…

Some memories really are unforgettable... 

Roderick Gideon Tremayne, the recently appointed Duke of Wentworth, never expected to find himself in New York City, tracking down a mysterious map important to his late mother. And he certainly never expected to be injured, only to wake up with no memory of who he is. But when he sees the fiery-haired beauty who's taken it upon herself to rescue him, suddenly his memory is the last thing on his mind.

Georgia Milton, the young head of New York's notorious Forty Thieves, feels responsible for the man who was trying to save her reticule from a thief.  But she's not prepared for the fierce passion he ignites within her.  When his memory begins to return, her whole world is threatened, and Roderick must choose between the life he forgot and the life he never knew existed...​

Buy Links:

Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Forever a Lady (Rumor #2)

Rumor has it we are closer to the truth...

Two different classes, One common desire... 

Bernadette Marie Burton may be the richest widow in England, but like her dreams of finding true passion, her reputation is deteriorating.  Cruel gossip, loneliness and hoards of opportunistic suitors have her believing Society couldn't be more vile....or dangerous.  So when an attacker threatens her life, she finds safety in the most unseemly of places: the arms of a mysterious, Irish-American gang leader.

His fortune stolen, young Matthew Joseph Milton is done playing the respectable gentleman.  In the slums of New York, only ruffians thrive.  But from the moment he arrives in London and encounters the volumptious Lady Bernadette, he  can't help but wonder about the finer pleasures he's missing.  Or just how much he's willing to risk -- not only to bed her, but  to prove his worth...

Buy Links:

Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Delilah is giving away a paperback of Forever and A Day AND Forever A Lady to two (2) winners per site - 1 book per winner. To enter this US ONLY giveaway just fill out the form below. Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway