Guest Author & A Giveaway: Julie Anne Long

Hi friends! Birthday month is almost over 🙁 And not a single present! But that’s okay, because you know what? I have presents for you! And you know what’s a great gift? A fun visit from author Julie Anne Long! She’s answered some questions, and is also sharing an exclusive excerpt of A Notorious Countess Confesses which isn’t out until October 30! Whee!!!

Ms. Long is also a sneaky one, so keep an eye out for her! 😉 Anyway, let’s start out with those questions!

1. Which would you prefer wearing – cowboy boots or stilettos?
Cowboy boots. Where else would I keep my miniature pearl-handled  derringer?

2. As a child, did you ever imagine your stuffed animals came to life?
“Imagine”? What do you mean? Didn’t…yours?  I suspect my Breyer horses of galloping all over the place while I was sleeping.

3. What do you think about clowns?
I try not to think about clowns.

4. What author promo has been most effective for you?
It’s so difficult to meaningfully quantify the impact (though it’s tempting for anyone who likes to analyze things, and boy do I) of any particular promo. I think I’ll instead offer a bit of advice: think the smartest (and it sounds simple) thing any author can do is to make sure the readers who love her books know when she has a new one coming, however that works best for you—newsletter, Facebook, Twitter or so forth.  Maintain a consistent, ongoing connection with your readers. It’s such a pleasure.

5. What was your favorite book as a child? Which character in it did you most want to be?
I loved so many books as a child it’s nearly impossible to choose one. But when we were little, my sister and I went through a phase where we were obsessed with all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. We played “Little House on the Prairie” every day. We baked mud pies on baking day and pretended to milk our poor Malamute (she was the stand-in for a cow) and churned fake butter. If I could have been Laura Ingalls Wilder riding Black Beauty, that would have been SWEET.

6. What kind of toothbrush and toothpaste is on your bathroom counter right now? What about your toothbrush? Are there brands for either you prefer?
My toothbrush, huh? It’s pink. And has bristles at all different heights. The toothpaste is Crest and apparently it does an awful lot of things—whitens, brightens, scrubs, freshens my breath—and the tube is huge, about the size of a forearm, maybe because I bought it at Costco.

7. If you were to become a bear, which type would you choose?
I think I might like to be a Giant Panda. I quite like the idea of the word “Giant” in front of my name.  Their scientific name, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, translates to “black and white cat-foot,” and I’m for anything to do with cats. They’re omnivorous, and so am I. Black and white as a color combination never goes out of style.  And they look unbearably (unbearably. Ha!) puffy and adorable, but they’re still BEARS, and they might just attack anyone who irritates them.

8. What is your secret plan for world domination?
Little do you all know, but I’ve been dominating the world for some time now. You are all puppet s in my intricate master plan. 😉 But I’m a benign (and subtle) despot.  But you have nothing to fear: unlike Chase Eversea in Since the Surrender, I don’t have any issues with puppets.

9. Do you collect anything? If no, have you ever collected anything? What did you do with it?
I don’t collect anything with real conviction. Unless you count, of course, books (then again, I’m sure most of the people reading this blog have prodigious libraries).  I love very old books, but I don’t have a lot because  I like to come across them serendipitously—I love thrift stores and rummage sales and the huge Friends of the Library sale at Fort Mason for that sort of thing. I have several books with lovely worn Art Nouveau covers. I have a few special Art Deco objects. The older I get the less stuff I seem to want, and I’m particular about what I acquire.

10. What five deceased authors would you invite to a dinner party?
Deceased authors?!? That’s an alarming notion! Are they zombies? Will I need to serve brains??
If I may resurrect five authors, let’s see…if I don’t do this completely off the top of my head I’ll be mulling forever, so I’ll do this completely off the top of my head. I want to laugh, think and flirt during my dinner party, and I want my guests to get along with each other and have a wonderful time, and you didn’t specific fiction authors (and I love wriggling through a loophole), so I’ll invite Jane Austen, Benjamin Franklin (a thinker and a flirter if ever there was one), Richard Feynman (Nobel Prize winning Physicist; I read his book “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman”, many times—he was a kick. I wish I knew him), and George Gordon, Lord Byron. I think they’ll all hit it off.

Exclusive excerpt from A Notorious Countess Confesses, coming October 2012
copyright 2012 Julie Anne Long (It’s so exclusive and early Avon hasn’t even posted the cover on Amazon yet! Eee!)

A little bit of set-up here: Shortly before this excerpt takes place, the Countess of Wareham and Reverend Sylvaine had an inauspicious and very brief first encounter, right after morning services at the church in Pennyroyal Green. They’re coolly polite to each other, but our jaded countess is unmoved by the admittedly handsome vicar,  and Adam privately thinks the countess, though beautiful, seems remote and untouchable, “as sealed and gleaming as a jar of preserves,” and therefore not terribly interesting to him. When Lady Wareham  and her maid run into a little carriage trouble on the Sussex downs and the countess steps out of her carriage while her maid goes in search of help,  they have another little encounter when he accidentally startles her. Do impressions change? Let’s see…

She leaped back with a stifled shriek, clapping her hand to her heart.
“Sweet Merciful Mary Mother of God, ye shouldna sneak up like that! Ye creep like a cat ye bloody big …”
She stopped.
A very ripe Irish accent, long dormant but apparently healthy and whole and frisky and unleashed by shock, echoed across the countryside. Bloody big bloody big bloody big …
Ohhhh. The shame of it.
She wanted to close her eyes and sink deep, deep into the earth.
Instead, she forced herself to look up—very up—at who proved to be the Reverend Adam Sylvaine, the vicar.
He appeared entirely unruffled. Apart from his eyes, that was. They fair danced like flames with wicked, wicked, downright un-Christian mirth.
One of her horses whickered into what threatened to be a never-ending silence.
Be a gentleman, she silently willed him. Leave it lie. Pretend you heard nothing at all.
Up his eyebrows went.
“Biiiig …” he prompted.
She eyed him stonily.  Bastard, she was tempted to complete. Why not? In for a penny, in for a pound.
He waited. Patient as Job. Wicked as Lucifer. Amused as hell.
“Vicar,” she completed inanely, finally, on a mumble.
His head went back as though this was almost too good to be true, then came down on a nod.
“I suppose I am,” he agreed thoughtfully, though his voice held a suspicious tremble. Stifled laughter. “I suppose I am a big …vicar …. Though no one has ever before accused me before of creeping like a cat. Something to do with being … well, big, I suppose.”
The vicar was taking the piss out of her, as her brother Seamus would say, and quite effectively, too.
She looked full into his face then. His eyes were such a disarming blue—the color of deep, still water, of Lough Leane in Killarney—they made her strangely restless. It was if the weather inside him was always clear and temperate. Like his conscience and unblemished soul, no doubt, she thought sardonically. An unprepossessing black wool coat—Weston hadn’t stitched up that one, she knew this for certain—whipped behind him in the stiffening wind, which was also doing its best to pluck a carelessly knotted cravat from the confines of a gray, striped waistcoat  of no discernible pedigree.
And as though it they were was a beckoning road, her eyes followed the line of longer, finer, harder thighs than a vicar had any business possessing down to the dusty, creased toes of his boots. Which most definitely had not been made by Hoby.
Her eyes stayed safely on the ground. She took advantage of a moment of unexpectedly necessary composure gathering in the wake of the revelation about his thighs.
“I thought vicars were supposed to wear dresses.”  She said this almost testily. At least she had gotten  control of her accent.
“Oh, a dress is optional.”
Ping! Insults bounced from him, it seemed.
“And by ‘dress,’ I suppose you mean ‘cassock’?” he added helpfully. “Difficult to creep like a cat in a cassock, you see, Lady Wareham. It swirls about one’s ankles, flaps noisily in the breeze. One needs stealth to stop iniquity in its tracks.”
In … iquity?
The word was a slap.
But … perhaps he was jesting? Surely he was? Did he know about her? Was the whole of this horrid village going to take turns plaguing her in turns? Would they turn out with boiling oil?
“Is that why you’ve suddenly appeared? Did you scent iniquity on the wind then, Reverend Sylvaine? Do you roam the Sussex countryside sniffing for it, like a truffle-hunting pig?”
He didn’t reply for so long she finally turned to look at him.
To find he’d gone as rigid as if he’d been driven into the ground.
Something about that stillness made her think that angering him would be very unwise, indeed. Which seemed a peculiar thought to have about a vicar. But despite the fact that he wasn’t blinking, he didn’t seem angry. He was studying her the way one might study a lock about to be picked. The only movement was his hair. The breeze lifted it, let it fall, lifted it, let it fall. Hidden in the dark blond were dark gold or copper threads and strands sun-bleached to silvery fairness. In the silence and stillness it was absurdly fascinating.
“I’ve dozens of cousins and a number of siblings, Lady Wareham. If you’ve siblings, you won’t be surprised to learn that my hide is quite callused. It’s nearly impossible to offend me.”
Well.
He said it evenly. As if he hadn’t just seen right through her, and neatly incinerated her defenses, as surely as if she were a petulant child.
“Some might interpret that as a challenge, Reverend.”
He went quiet again.  And then he smiled. Very, very faintly. Just enough, it seemed, for her to notice the elegant shape of his mouth. To tease out one dimple at the corner of it. And when at last he spoke, again she felt his voice more than she heard it, like fingers brushed along the short hairs at her nape. It had gone soft, so soft. But somehow it wasn’t gentle.
“Oh? Did you come to Pennyroyal Green for challenge, then, Lady Wareham?”
She stared at him.
He stared back.
And to her astonishment, heat slowly washed the back of her neck, the backs of her arms, and tightened the bands of her stomach. It was suddenly more difficult to breathe. It occurred to her that she’d never seen a man who was so … contained. Yes: That that was precisely the right word. As though something in him, some potential, required control. And whatever it was, whatever he was, pulled at her. The way earth pulled water into it. It felt stronger than she was, and her entire life had depended upon her being stronger than anyone.
She turned abruptly away. She inhaled in the hopes of clearing her head, but the traitorous air had turned to wine or some such; her thoughts staggered like foxed heirs at a gaming hell.
He was only a vicar, she reminded herself. The man had caught her in a rare moment of weakness amidst a particularly vulnerable episode in her life. That was all. And she was very weary, of course. After all, the church nap had hardly been the restorative kind.
She tugged her pelisse about her more snugly and stared toward her halted carriage with a little frown. Where the devil was Henny?
“It seems one of our horses threw a shoe,” she said finally. Her voice was fainter than she would have preferred.
She wondered if she’d disappointed him.
He’d been watching her. She half suspected he knew the number of her eyelashes now.
“I see,” he said easily enough, after a moment. “I was on my way to visit a parishioner when I saw your stopped carriage. And as since there’s no worry about brigands on this road since One-Eyed William haunted these parts a few decades ago, and as this isn’t precisely one of the more scenic parts of Sussex, I feared something might be amiss.”
One-eyed William? Was he jesting?
She said nothing.
“I’ll just have a word with your driver then, shall I?”
When she didn’t reply—for she couldn’t seem to find her voice—he turned. She listened to him take one step, then two steps away, and somehow the sound of his footsteps seemed like the sound of failure.
“Reverend Sylvaine …”
He stopped, turned back toward her, his brows raised in a query.
The surest way to regain her power was to deploy what made her powerful.
“I must ask your forgiveness. I fear you startled me from my manners, and … I’ve never before met a vicar, you see, and it seems like such an interesting, important role. Pray, how does one become a vicar?”
She, possibly better than any other woman in England, knew the way beneath any man’s ramparts—whether he was the Home Secretary or the King of England or a coal monger: It was flattery, served up with flirtation and innuendo.
She was startled when Reverend Sylvaine drew up visibly, instantly almost comically wary.
“One of the best ways, I’ve learned, to become one is to be related to the family who owns the living,” he living.” He said shortly. With just a hint of irony.
And said nothing more.
“Must one be faultless of character? Entirely … free of vices?”  She folded her hands before her and aimed her gaze up at him through her lashes with the precision of a rifleman.
The vicar glanced down at her demurely folded hands as though she’d unlocked a pistol. And then he slowly looked back up into her face.
He hesitated.
“I suppose it depends on how one interprets the word.”
A masterpiece of circumspection, that sentence.
His eyes were now unreadable as an empty sky, shuttered. Hers, she was fairly certain, thanks thank to some collusion between her thick black lashes and the color of her eyes and the angle of sunlight and the sheer intent to charm, were sparkling.
“Have you any vices, Mr. Sylvaine?” Her tone implied that she sincerely hoped he did, that she would be understanding and forgiving, would indeed find them fascinating, and that her own would nicely complement his.
The vicar was now as tense as a bunched fist.
And then a faint dent appeared between his eyes.
Alas, by no stretch of the imagination could she interpret this expression as “bewitched.”
“None, I’m certain, that would interest you.” He said it gently, and turned his head just slightly back toward the road, where his duties apparently awaited. As though, of all things …
… he was bored.
She was speechless.
“I should think it’s safe enough to walk alone along this part of the green, Lady Wareham, but perhaps you oughtn’t go far until you know the country better. Perhaps you’d prefer to wait inside your carriage out of the cold?”
She knew when she’d been dismissed. Pride—and astonishment—prevented her from flailing.
“Seeing to the safety of your flock, are you?” she managed almost lightly. Her voice was faint from the jostling her pride had taken.
He smiled politely. “And to my duty as a gentleman.”  More of that peculiar, distancing gentleness.  “I apologize for startling you. It wasn’t my intention.”
To her horror, heat bloomed in her cheeks again.
“My maid is very nearby,” she said shortly, struggling to hide her embarrassment. “And I don’t mind the cold.”
“I’ll just see if I can be of some assistance to your driver then, shall I?”
When she said nothing, he made a very elegant bow and turned away from her. She stood still as a stone, watching as he hailed the driver and her footman, who greeted him cheerily. All those male heads gathered together, the wigged one and her stocky, hatless driver and Mr. Sylvaine’s fair one, conferring in low voices. While the driver gently held the horse’s head by the harness, the vicar bent and lifted up the glossy animal’s hoof and inspected it. Evie watched in astonishment as he tugged his cravat free of his waistcoat and carefully, almost tenderly, wrapped the horse’s hoof to the evident approval of her staff.
And then he turned and waved a farewell, striding up the road, no doubt toward his original destination. Cravatless.
She watched him go.
At last she heard the huffing of Henny’s breathing before she saw Henny, and then Henny crested the hill, skirts lifted in her hands, exposing a few inches of thick, sturdy ankle decorously covered in thick, sagging, thick woolen stockings. “I fear no one answered me knock at the door, m’lady.”
She dropped her skirts and froze in place when she saw her mistress’s face.
Her eyes went wide.
Then she narrowed them shrewdly and swiveled her great head about and raised a hand to shade her eyes when she saw Adam Sylvaine walking away, posture like a soldier’s, stride long and easy.
Silently, they both watched him.
They in fact watched long enough for it to become ridiculous.
He never once looked back.
“Now that one is a man,” Henny pronounced finally. As though they’d been debating the topic.
Evie snorted. “The country air has curdled your brain.” She tossed her head and strode toward the carriage. Henny followed on her heels, still huffing.

So what do you think of the excerpt? Are you sold? Gonna preorder it right now? [Getting my hints? ;D] So you know the drill – ask Julie Anne Long any question you want! And one lucky commenter gets any two Pennyroyal Green series books of his/her choice! Fantastic!

0 thoughts on “Guest Author & A Giveaway: Julie Anne Long

  1. June M.

    Hi Julie Ann,
    Congrats on the upcoming release. I was wondering if you have a specific number of books planned for this series or is the number still open?

    Reply
  2. Becky Ward

    I loved the excerpt! I have added this title to my list to get. Julie when you have free time, What do you like to do the most? Also will you be writing more of the Pennyroyal Green Series?

    Reply
  3. Jud

    Julie:

    You prefaced your newsletter announcement of this guest blog with “Hello, my darlings!” Where did that come from? Surely not from UK comedian Charlie Drake, who used it as his catchphrase until a serious injury on a live TV show derailed his career. But that must have been in the 60s, and there’s no way you can be as ancient and decrepit as me.

    Reply
  4. a zhen

    Hi Julie Anne ! Congratz on your upcoming release . Agree with the cowboy boots. I also have the same question with Jane , will you ever write alice’ book?

    Reply
  5. Mary Preston

    I think I held my breath reading that fabulous excerpt. SOLD!!

    I want to ask if Julie Anne actually has a miniature pearl-handled derringer?

    Clowns are creepy!!

    Reply
  6. marie

    Hi Julie Anne, thanks for the excerpt.That is going to be one interesting addition to the Pennyroyal Green Series. Just entered your next website contest and enjoyed reviewing the book to find the answer. Now for my question: Do you already have the rough outlines for the subsequent books in the series written?

    Reply
  7. JoAnne

    Loved the excerpt – definitely will be added to my TBR pile which gets taller all the time. Now that summer is here should be able to get through quite a few of them.
    My question would be, If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go and why? Also, what is your favorite place that you’ve already been to?

    Reply
  8. Grace Burrowes

    I will wait months for this book, and savor it for years, but I’ll probably read it in a day, then re-read it immediately thereafter. So one MUST know: What’s next, who’s next, when are they coming out, and THEN WHAT?

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Grace, you’re so sweet!! It’s *such* an honor to know you love my books. And I honestly I can’t divulge yet who’s next (after Adam) or when it’ll be released. But I promise I’ll keep everyone posted the moment I know!

      Reply
  9. Sue P.

    Looks so great, but will have to wait. Not up to here in the series yet. Thanks for the fun interview. It’s great when the questions give us some insights into you and aren’t all about the boo, your writing style, etc. Great fun!

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Hi Eli! I’m so pleased to be here — thanks for stopping by to say hi! I love writing books because I love visiting new worlds, and the challenge of creating them—and the characters who live in them— is delicious. And I love putting a hero and heroine through their paces and giving them a happy ending — it’s so much fun to write the kind of story that *I* would want to read.

      Reply
  10. Polly

    Great interview, excellent excerpt, and I am sold. Actually I was sold when I read my first Julie Anne Long novel (on a recommendation by Grace Burrowes). I promptly headed out to hunt down additional works by this author, and I can’t wait for the new one in October (it is on my ‘buy it’ list already.)

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      So lovely of Grace to recommend my books, Polly,and I’m delighted her recommendation worked out for you! 😉 Can’t wait to hear what you think of A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES — hope you love it. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  11. Beth Re

    Have you ever thought about writing a different genre? If so what would it be? Thanks for the interview and excerpt

    Reply
  12. Lauren S.

    Hi Julie, the excerpt looks great!

    Olivia? Next book? I can’t wait to find out what you have in store for her and Lyon.

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Hi Lauren! So pleased you enjoyed the excerpt! There’s a pretty big development for Olivia in A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES. That’s the only hint I’ll give for now. 😉

      Reply
  13. Terri Russell

    What was your favorite book to write and why? I love your books my favorite “Is to love a thief” I love Lily. Thanks for your wonderful writing….don’t stop!

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Hi Terri! I’m so happy you love my books—thank you for telling me! To Love a Thief remains a big reader favorite, I know.And you know, I’d never confess to a favorite book—the other ones might find out and feel bad!! 🙂 Actually, they’re all my favorite as I’m writing them. I love the newness and delicious adventure of telling a new story.

      Reply
  14. Julie Anne Long

    Good morning, girls! It’s 6:44 here on the West Coast, the cat is fed, and I’m having my first of what will likely be many cups of tea today. My thanks to our lovely hostess for inviting me during her birthday month—Many happy returns, LIme!! And thank you so much for stopping by, ladies. So pleased to see you here! Let me see if I can answer some questions—I think I’ll answer a few in one comment and post it so you know I’m here, then I’ll answer a few more, and so on…

    Jane and A Zhen—Alice’s book (from TO LOVE A THIEF) is actually in progress!! I hope to finish it soon-ish, and I’ll definitely let everyone on my mailing list (and FB, and Twitter, and so forth) know when it’s ready.

    June M. — I have plans for all the major players in the Pennyroyal Green series to get their own books—and a number of minor players, too (possibly in novella form). I’m not sure precisely how many books this will be, but for now, as long as readers are loving the series I’ll continue it. Major story lines will be resolved and new ones introduced, is the plan. We’ll see how it goes!!

    Jud—LOL re Charlie Drake! I suppose it’s a happy coincidence. I haven’t heard of him!

    Marie—I have a very good idea of what will happen in subsequent books (and a VERY strong idea of what will happen in Lyon’s book), but I can never really outline — as I write new story directions often reveal themselves, so any outlines becomes obsolete pretty quickly. LOL. It’s nerve-wracking sometimes, but I also like to be surprised by my characters and storylines, so it’s also entertaining.

    Reply
    1. marie

      Julie Anne, I have all the respect in the world for authors. I have loved to read all my life as did both my parents but have never been able to write myself. I am more of a technical writer, grammar and spelling, great at diagramming sentences et al. lol

      Reply
  15. Karen Lewis

    Hi Julie Anne! I can’t wait to purchase A Notorious Countess Confesses. Thanks for the excerpt. My question is this… if you could spend 24 hours with one of your characters, whom would you choose and why?

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Hi Karen! I tend to fall in love with my heroes, so right now I’d love to spend at LEAST 24 hours with Adam Sylvaine in A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES. 😉 At LEAST. He’s gorgeous, strong, caring, staggeringly confident and completely unpretentious. My kind of guy. 🙂

      Reply
  16. Sumiyati E Monoarfa

    I love what I have read so far…can’t wait to find out more about Reverend Slyvaine. In your interview you mentioned Fort Mason…do you live in or near San Francisco? I love the sales at Fort Mason. I also looked up the “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Fenyman….found it on links+ at the Alameda Public Library. Thanks for mentioning him.

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      So happy you enjoyed what you’ve read, asnd I AM from the Bay Area, Sumiyati! 🙂 And isn’t that Fort Mason sale a wonderland of books?? I think you’ll enjoy the Richard Feynman book — it’s pretty irresistably entertaining. 🙂

      Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Deadlines are WONDERFUL motivators. 🙂 Plus, I like the roof over my head and the food on my table, and if I don’t meet my commitments I don’t get paid. LOL. Although a certain amount of procrastination is always built into the process. I like to think of this more as “story gestation” rather than “goofing off on the internet.”

      Reply
      1. amandajward

        Excellent answer. If I think about what I have to write, it doesnt happen for me, when I go to write then I’m distracted from all corners by 3 kids and hubby. Helllllp!

        Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      So pleased you enjoyed the excerpt, Karen! And falling in love is nothing if not confusing, half the time. 🙂 As for clowns — the whole notion of them is primarily baffling to me. LOL. I’ve yet to meet anyone who loves them!! But I’m sure clown fans exist. 😉

      Reply
  17. lsureader

    I pre-ordered this book as soon as it hit the Kindle shelf. It’s good to see Adam will be getting his own HEA in this one. Thanks for the excerpt.

    So, what food will you be serving at this dinner for deceased authors? I am particularly interested, of course, in dessert.

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Yay! So glad you proe-ordered! Hope you love it. 🙂 As for dessert…in my house, chocolate is always food of the Gods and Goddesses. How about a dark chocolate mousse with raspberry coulis? Prepared by my skilled houseboys? (since this is a fantasy, after all…)

      Reply
  18. Catherine Griffith

    I pre-ordered this book for my kindle as soon as it was available. I do wonder how you come up with what outfits your characters will wear (i.e. colors, fit)?

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Thanks for pre-ordering, Catherine — I so hope you love it as much as I do! 🙂 As for dressing my characters…their clothes must reflect their characters. E..g., in this excerpt, you’ll notice that the countess is noticing that Adam Sylvaine isn’t dressed like the typical prosperous gentlemen she knows — and she recognizes quality clothes when she sees them.

      Reply
  19. Mary Doherty

    I was sold long ago when it comes to Julie Anne Long’s books. Loved the excerpt. Thanks for the giveaway!!

    Reply
  20. Allisia

    Julie,
    I love when you give us a look at what’s to come! That is a great way to advertise and get us hooked on your book even before it’s out!!! I have been waiting for this book since Adam came on the seen with Chase, as I read I became instantly drawn to him!

    My question is: where do you get the name from in your books? The titles and land they have?

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      So glad you’re enjoying the sneak peeks at A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES, Allisia! And I hope you love Adam as much as I do. 🙂 Giving a book a title is kind of an art — it has to be catchy, and it has to capture the book — and hopefully, it’ll be a little unique, too! It’s always a challenge! LOL. Generally I come up with the titles, but sometimes it’s a collaborative brain-wracking effort between the author and her publisher.

      Reply
      1. Allisia

        Thank-you Julie I know the feeling, I’m writing a book now that I plan on submitting to Avon in hopes it is published. It was hard to figure out the title that said what I wanted 🙂
        how do you come up with the titled gentleman and what land they own?

        Reply
  21. Chelle Sandell

    SOLD!! Lock, stock, and barrel! It’s a definite must-have! And I agree with the cowboy boots, no clowns, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. I even had the braids for a bit. I had the series up until a few years ago when my mom inadvertently sold them in a garage sale. Grrr. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  22. Josie C

    Can’t wait for this book! I have been hooked to you since I read LIKE NO OTHER LOVER. It’s one of my all-time favorite books. Are you planning on writing books about Ian, Jonathan or Polly Hawthorne? Other than Olivia and Lyon, I’d really love to read a book about Jonathon and if he really will have, according to the Gypsies, ten children 😉

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Hi Josie!! I’m so glad you’re hooked—and I’m thrilled LIKE NO OTHER LOVER is one of your all-time favorite books! You’ll see more of Polly in A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES…and let’s just say you’re in luck when it comes to a story about Jonathan. 😉 I’ll let you all know more very soon!

      Reply
  23. Vicki H

    Book sounds awesome. And I do have a qquestion because for the life of me I don’t get it. Now my daughter has the same issue and she can’t explain it. What is the thing that bothers so many people about clowns? Zombies I can understand, hate em. But clowns?

    Reply
  24. Linda Morris (@LMorrisWriter)

    No need to enter me in the contest–I have all the Pennyroyal Green books. They’re fantastic. This heroine reminds me a little bit of Cynthia Brightly from “Like No Other Lover,” my absolute favorite of your books and one of my favorite romances ever. Maybe a little bit used to being able to manipulate men and not knowing what to do with one she can’t? I’m dying to read this book!

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Hi Linda! thanks so much for stopping by!! I remain THRILLED that you’re loving the series. So pleased. And I think if you’re a fan of LIKE NO OTHER LOVER in particular you’ll really enjoy A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES…she is indeed a self-possessed woman aware of her own power. And Adam is VERY no BS. 🙂 But she’s different from Cynthia in that she’s a bit more experienced, more worldly, I think. You’ll see. 🙂 Ca’t wait to hear what you think.

      Reply
  25. Larisa

    That is a smoking hot excerpt. And I thought Dryden & Phoebe were the must-have couple in Pennyroyal Green.
    Is Charybdis based on one of your own cats? If not fluffy and stripped I’d swear my black tom wandered into you office as a character model.
    Thank you for Hours and Hours of excellent entertainment and escape!

    Reply
  26. Julie Anne Long

    Hi Larisa! I’m so glad you liked the excerpt! 🙂 Thanks for stopping in to say so. Charybdis (from HOW THE MARQUESS WAS WON) is kind of a hybrid of many of the cats I’ve known and loved, all of whom have been characters in their own ways. If you’re a cat lover, you know what I mean. 🙂

    Reply
  27. Chris Thom

    Wow. After that excerpt my brain is going in so many directions that it may explode! And I know you will serve up a plot to explain this meeting that i never imagined! How will I sleep at night???hanks for the tease – love your books!

    Reply
  28. Kim

    Thanks for the excerpt! I’ve been enjoying this series so much, especially how you parcel out tiny clues in each book regarding Olivia and Lyon. As for questions, since Adam is a member of the clergy, is there a confessional scene in this book? That could be fun with the countess. Secondly, I know you were a member of a band. Is there a favorite song that you wish you could record?

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      I’m so thrilled you’re enjoying the series, Kim!! There’s a fairly major development for Olivia in this book, I should tell you. 😉 There’s definitely a confession of sorts, in A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES. I think you’ll enjoy it! As for favorite songs — ooooh, so many favorite songs. I think it might be fun to record Patti Smith’s Because the Night. That’s a sexy, passionate song, and it works with my voice. 😉

      Reply
  29. Linda Morrison

    Hi julie! I noticed you only invited 4 dead authors. 😉 Oh, and I skipped the exerpt because it’s too frustrating to await the remainder. I also skip any teasers in the backs of books or posted on Facebook. I’m easily confused on whether I’ve read a book before and have learned that reading teasers makes my brain melt.

    Reply
  30. Connie Fischer

    Hi, Julie! I enjoyed the interview today! I do have a very serious question. What is the name of your big fat orange cat? See? Isn’t that important too? 🙂

    Reply
  31. Dulce

    I made it! Thanks for posting this on fb. I am so sold, I’ve been sold since the Duke of Falconbridge’s story, which is my absolute favorite! Can’t wait to read this one. I thought the release was sometime in November? This says October which is better! lol

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Hi Dulce! So glad you could stop by to say hi! 🙂 And you know, the release date for A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES *is* October — but the 20th!! LOL. In publishing terms, that makes it a November book. I’m so glad you’re looking forward to it. Hope you love it. 🙂

      Reply
  32. jeannemiro

    Hi Limecello and Julie Anne!

    Julie Anne I love your books and since I read your first release each new book seems like an Anniversary party. You may have to wait for a long time for the next one to come around but when it does you fall in love all over again!

    Julie Anne. remembering that Limecello’s exact words were “ask Julie Anne Long any question you want!” my question is did you find out anything about her that her faithful followers don’t know?

    We know that she can be direct but also thoughtful and she keeps on writing
    about things that keep us coming back for more but what is the one thing she would love us to ask her about and could you find out the one thing that bothers her the most? (With the exception of people wanting to find out things like this that is),

    Inquiring minds want to know!

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      Hi Jeanne! Thank you so much for stopping by — your’e so sweet!! I’m so go, so grateful for readers like you who’ve been with me from the very beginning, and I couldn’t be more thrilled you love my books so much. I’ll continue to do the best I can to make sure that stays true! And I love A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES, so I hope you will, too. 🙂 And honestly…it’s hard to answer a question like “what bothers me the most?” I suppose it changes day to day, but I now know the difference between the little things and big things, and try to focus on the positive rather than things that bug me. Over the years I’ve learned from and even eventually profited from every challenge or difficulty I’ve ever experienced, and in hindsight I know that everything leads to where you need to go. To get all zen on you. 😉 But it’s true. I prefer to focus on gratitude, and one of the things I’m most grateful for is passionate readers like you, who read my books and spread the word about them, and like Limecello, whose blog is a labor of love of reading and romance. You make me feel lucky!

      Reply
  33. http://kathy-kozakewich.blogspot.ca

    Hi Julie,

    No question, just want to say that, once again, you’ve tantalised and teased… and now we have to wait! I’m not very good at waiting, but for another JAL book from the Pennyroyal series I guess I can bide my time. 🙂

    Awesome excerpt, but then I’m not in the least surprised.

    Many heartfelt congratulations to one of my all-time favourite authors!

    Kathy

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      So lovely to hear from you Kathy!! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by — I’m so glad you did. 🙂 Very happy you enjoyed the excerpt, too, and ‘m truly honored to be one of your all-time favorite authors. I promise I’ll do my best to keep things fun for readers in the interim between now and A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES release!

      Reply
  34. Christina Gross

    Hi Julie! I am a fan of your writing and own all the previous Pennyroyal Green series. Can’t wait for A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES. Please choose me!!

    ~Christina

    Reply
  35. Shannon Seal

    Hi Julie

    I love the excerpt and am so pleased to have another Pennyroyal Green series. My question is – which of your characters would you like to meet another author’s character – and which author and character?
    Cheers
    Shan

    Reply
    1. Julie Anne Long

      I’m absolutely an animal person, Jeanne! I love all of them. 🙂 And it’s hard to resist the temptation to include animals in all of my books (as you may have noticed. LOL. Hope you love A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES when it’s released!

      Reply

Join the conversation!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.