May 15
Hey loverlies new and old. Welcome to We heart Historicals, a celebration of Historical Romance. Today’s special guest is the amazing and absolutely hilarious Victoria Dahl. She’ll be giving away a copy of A Rake’s Guide to Pleasure. All you have to do is leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win but remember in order to enter or win you must be 18 years or older.
Don’t forget to join us next week when authors Beth Williamson, Colleen Gleason, Donna Grant, Leigh Greenwood join us! And this weekend drop by and be one of the winners of The Red Door by our own Jackie Barbosa!
EMMA & JACKIE: Your debut book, To Tempt a Scotsman, was a Golden Heart winner. Before we talk about what it’s like to be a GH winner, tell us a little bit about your contest history before that. Were you a contest diva who entered a lot of contests for unpubbeds, and how many different manuscripts did you have on the contest circuit before that win?
VICTORIA DAHL : I was a bit of a contest slut. I didn’t use a critique partner at that point, so I honed my craft using contests. The feedback was invaluable! By the time I won the GH, I’d had four full manuscripts on the circuit.
EMMA & JACKIE: So, tell us what it’s like to win a Golden Heart. We need to experience this vicariously through someone!
VICTORIA DAHL : Honestly, it was amazing. First of all, I didn’t have a local chapter, so having a “class” of finalists to get to know was wonderful. We were all at the same level, so we’ve really taken the journey together. Secondly, the experience at conference was unbelievable. As soon as you get there and claim your ribbon, the party starts. This is real, serious networking. I was unpubbed and unconnected and suddenly I had 100+ friends who were also finalists. Plus, everyone who notices your ribbon stops to say congratulations. It really is like being princess for a week. I made so many friends during that conference.
EMMA & JACKIE: What did you do to celebrate?
But my husband and kids met me at the airport with roses and candy and I cried like a baby. Again, no one at home knew what the GH was, but my husband still told everyone all about it.
EMMA & JACKIE: How did you wind up selling the GH manuscript? Was it a direct request from an editor who read it in the finals or some other way?
VICTORIA DAHL : It wasn’t a magic bullet. Other people got requests for fulls from the editor judges, but I didn’t. The historical market was slow at that point, so my agent had never even asked to read my historicals. (I was trying my hand at paranormals back then.) After I won, my agent called me. “Hey, I’ve never read that book, have I? You’d better send it to me.” She sent it out, and a few looong months after winning, I finally got the call from Kensington!
I started to hear that the market was awful, and I had an idea for a light, funny vampire book, so I dropped historicals and moved on, figuring it just wasn’t my thing. When I landed an agent with my first paranormal, she didn’t even ask to SEE my historicals. Over a year went by. I submitted a couple of books to the GH contest. I wrote a second paranormal. I didn’t sell anything. Then I finaled in the GH with To Tempt a Scotsman and my fate was sealed! I’m back to my roots, baby!
EMMA & JACKIE: The trend in traditional historicals seems to be toward steamier books. I think of your books as very steamy, but that’s because there’s a lot of sexual tension in them. Can you talk a little bit about how you sustain that high level of sexual tension between your heroes and heroines throughout the story?
VICTORIA DAHL : Sexual attraction is often the most important conflict between my characters. In fact, sometimes, sex is the most important plot point. It was just so fraught with danger and consequences back then. I like to give my characters an irresistible attraction and then give very important reasons why they should never, ever consummate that attraction. (Psst. That never manages to get in their way.)
EMMA & JACKIE: You write some of the most kick ass heroines I’ve ever read. Seriously, they aren’t victims. They’re strong but still have an underlying softness that’s sometimes only shown to the hero. How do you find that balance between toughness and sweetness?
So I think the women of my youth contributed to my female characters. When my heroines need help, they find it very hard to depend upon others, but that trait is both a strength and a weakness.
EMMA & JACKIE: What makes a hero you fall in love with?
I also love a damaged hero. If he wasn’t damaged before the story started, I feel a deep need to torment him on the pages. This is sick, I’m sure, but it makes me melt. My very favorite trope is having the hero think the heroine has died at some point in the story. Oh, God, that gets me every time.
It took me months to come up with a contemporary idea, but once I started writing it, it was a blast! Erotic romance was a surprise bonus. After I sold Talk Me Down, my editor asked if I’d write an erotic short story as Molly, the writer heroine from Talk Me Down. I had a lot of fun with that. I’m hoping she asks for more.
EMMA & JACKIE: Who and what kinds of books do you like to read? Which authors inspire your own writing?
As far as historicals, Connie Brockway is my absolute favorite. I also love Loretta Chase and just discovered Carrie Lofty’s debut novel which was an electrifying look at the Robin Hood legends. For contemps, I often turn to Susan Elizabeth Phillips because she cracks me up. And my critique partner, Jenn Echols, is my absolute go-to for YA.
EMMA & JACKIE: Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers? New releases? Special projects? Signings, etc?
As I said, my schedule is out of control! Here’s what I have coming up in the next few months:
June 1: The Wicked West, an erotic short story from eHarlequin
July 1: Start Me Up, my second contemporary
August 1: One Week As Lovers, my 2009 historical release!
September 15: “Laird of Midnight” in the Highland Beast anthology.
January 1: Lead Me On, the third & last contemporary in the Tumble Creek series.
I’ll be signing at RWA in July, of course! And this Saturday, May 16th, I’ll be speaking in Utah at my local chapter meeting about how to get your foot in the publishing door! Visit www.UtahRWA.com for more info on Saturday’s meeting.
Thanks so much for the invitation to blog with you this month!
Comments: 17
Thank you Emma & Jackie for featuring historical romances. Despite what anyone says I don’t think historical romances will ever be dead. At least I hope not because it is one of my fav genres. Sad to say that I have not read one by Victoria, but I am going to have to rectify that real soon. Loved your interview with her, and can’t wait to read one of her books!
ps: I like it when an author I like writes in multiple genres. That way no matter what kind of book I am in the mood for, I have an author I know I will enjoy.
I always like to hear stories of how the success finally came – and in this case, it really is deserved.
I’d love to win a copy!
Hi! I haven’t read your books but I would love to try them. I like steamy historicals too. Those are the ones I have always gravitated to.
BTW I am so glad you guys are running the I heart historicals event! I will always enjoy this genre, it’s the genre that introduced me to romance!
Hi Victoria,
So many books to look forward to. Can’t wait to read an excerpt of “One Week as Lovers.”
This was such a great interview and post, ladies! I really enjoyed reading it. I’ve been looking for books to read, and I’m about to start “Talk Me Down” so I’m excited :) I definitely want to read your historicals as well, Victoria, and am so glad someone decided to read and publish them!
Oh, I never thought historicals were dead. Or, at least I hoped they weren’t. It was the first genre I read when I first started reading romance and I still can’t seem to get enough of them today. I enjoyed reading your interview. Congratulations on all your success!
Oh wow! I think I have a book by Ms Dahl around here somewhere! :) The name is definitely ringing a bell! :)
Great interview!
Hi Victoria! Your first book with your Scotland hero was yummy! That’s on the keepers shelf. I still need to venture out to get the second book. I’ve only been as far as the big food store and sadly they didn’t have yours pout! I’d love to be in your contest for the RAKE :D So beautiful on the Golden Heart! How does that contest work? Is it one to win before your book is published, right? I really doubt that historicals are not of interest. I hear about them so much from readers and I buy so many of them and I know that Zebra line was the best thing they ever did to debut these authors because I love following them for the rest of their books! Do you celebrate each of your releases? You should!
It was great to chat with you!
Hi everyone! Thanks so much for the warm welcome!
Hey Caffey! The GH is sort of an end game contest. You get no feedback on the work, so the whole point is to final in it. Basically, you just enter every year and keep your fingers crossed (without holding your breath.) The year I won was the only year I ever finaled, but it’s exciting to hope for each time it rolls around.
I just love historical romances, but I haven’t read anything yours yet.
please count me in for the giveaway
[...] Rake’s Guide to Pleasure, by Victoria Dahl, at Emma Petersen (end date not [...]
What are you reading?
I’m reading An Indecent Proposition by Emma Wildes
What are you loving?
I am loving Emma’s book!
What’s your favorite historical sub-genre?
Honestly, I like them all. But I’d say 19th-century European Historicals are at the top of my list right now.
What is the first historical you read?
Historical Fiction: River God by Wilbur Smith
Historical Romance: Ransom by Julie Garwood
Which historical changed your life?
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
I’d be terribly saddened if historicals were ever truly dead. They are my favorite. And I’d love to win this one!
Congrats on the Golden Heart award! I love historical novels and this one sounds STEAMY!!! (fanning myself) Thanks.
pamelashockley(AT)netscape(DOT)net
I loved your first book, and this one sounds very inviting. Add my name in the contest please.
teresa.fav@gmail.com