Regan lives in San Diego with her golden retriever, Link, whom she says inspires her every day to relax and smell the roses.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
Your book takes place in Regency England. Why did you select that particular era? How much research did you have to do into the history of the time, the clothing and the customs?
I always do a tremendous amount of research. For the first book, it was work on Regency London in 1816, and also the real life characters I used from Paris as well as geography, and buildings in existence at the time. I suppose that research never ends as an issue pops up and sends me scurrying down a rabbit trail. Like the time I needed to know what kind of trees grew in the place where a scene was set or what guests did at house parties. For my new release, Against the Wind, I did volumes of research on the Pentrich Rebellion that shook the Midlands in 1817, and the inns of the Midlands and the 6th Duke of Devonshire, to name just a few things. There are many historical figures in that book so much of my research went into getting them right.
What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?
My favorite scene is the one where Martin and Kit first meet in the bordello, Willow House. It was the first thing that got me started writing the book. I was listening to a Ricky Martin song, “Nobody Wants to Be Lonely,” and the scene with Kit came to me, a young woman whose life has been shattered standing before a window, bathed in moonlight, staring out into the night, a “broken arrow.” She hears a voice behind her, a man in the shadows, saying “Come to me.” It’s a very unusual encounter and I had to understand what might lead a proper lady to make love with a stranger. I even consulted with a psychologist friend to make sure I portrayed it in a believable manner.
Tell us about the main characters; their situations, their quirks - and what brings them together.
Sir Martin is from a wealthy sea merchant family who after an argument with his father ten years earlier ran off to serve the Crown in Paris as a spy. He was knighted for his work by the Prince Regent and is being recalled to London for one last assignment. He is charming and winsome but also scarred by a past failure that haunts him. Kit, who is actually Katherine, Lady Egerton, is a young woman who has lost everything: her parents, her sister and her dreams. Alone and with little funds, she runs to the one woman who has always cared for her—Miss Abby—her former nanny who is now the owner of an elegant bordello. It is there she encounters Martin who is having one night of pleasure before buckling down to work. He cannot believe the beautiful redhead he meets there is a courtesan. And he is right; she isn’t. Kit is a dowager baroness and the daughter of an earl—and an artist who sees everyone through an artist’s eyes. She thinks Martin is nearly beautiful when she sees his face bathed in firelight. She sees her brother in law, a violent man who lusts after her, as an avenging hawk. She will draw the faces that figure prominently in the uprising that will take place in the Midlands.
What are you working on currently? Can we expect more of Martin and Katherine?
Currently I’m writing the third book, Wind Raven. While it begins in London in 1817, much of it is set on a schooner in Bermuda and the Caribbean. The hero is Martin’s sea captain brother, Nick, whom you meet in Against the Wind, and the heroine is Tara, an impudent American patriot from the family who built the Baltimore clipper ships that were so successful in the War of 1812. She was raised on her brothers’ ships and thinks she can act the crewmember on Nick’s ship but he’s not having any of it. Right now, I am deep in all the nautical terms from the period as well as the history of Bermuda in the early 1800s. Ah yes, there is also a very handsome pirate, Roberto Cofresi out of Puerto Rico. All that work is why I don’t write a book every few months. Each involves a lot of inquiry into the past.
Yes, you will see Martin and Kit again in Wind Raven—they will meet up with Nick and Tara in St. Thomas near the end of the book just before Nick and Tara sail to Baltimore.
A night in London’s most exclusive bordello. Agent of the Crown Sir Martin Powell would not normally indulge, but the end of his time spying against Napoleon deserves a victory celebration. Yet, such pleasure will not come cheap. The auburn-haired courtesan he calls “Kitten” is in truth Katherine, Lady Egerton, a dowager baroness and the daughter of an earl as elusive as she is alluring. She flees a fate worse than death. But Martin has known darkness, too, and he alone can touch her heart—as she has touched his. To the English Midlands they will steal, into the rising winds of revolution.
AN EXCERPT
“Is making love something you do not wish to do?” he said. “As I recall, you seemed to enjoy it as much as I did.” Then, more tenderly: “Besides, I have missed you, Kitten.”
“No…I cannot. I am not your…your…” She could not bring herself to say the word. Their one night together had been a wonderful, amazing, and yes, passionate experience, but it could never happen again. She had escaped for one dreadful night into a dream. Into his arms. As much as she wanted those around her again, wanted to lie with him, she could not allow it. This was not who she was. Not who she was raised to be.
CONTACT THE AUTHOR - AND WIN A PRIZE!
Follow Regan by visiting her website, blog and following her on Twitter:
website: www.reganwalkerauthor.com/
twitter: @RegansReview
Regan will be awarding either Racing with the Wind OR Lunchbox Romances that tie into the triology,The Holly and the Thistle and The Shamrock and the Rose (winner's choice) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/04/virtual-book-tour-against-wind-by-regan.html
