Interview with Victorian & Steampunk Author, Jillian Stone

To help kick off my new interview venture and to celebrate her debut release, Jillian Stone has graciously agreed to answer some questions. She will also be giving away a signed copy of AN AFFAIR WITH MR. KENNEDY (The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard) to one commenter today.

***UPDATE: THE WINNER OF THE SIGNED ARC IS:
ALDEN ASH!!
CONGRATS!***

In addition, all commenters on this post will be entered in a special giveaway promotion: Jewelry inspired by the romantic notion of recapturing lost time as the French title ‘Le Temps Perdu’, specifically a Steampunk watch necklace from the Time Travel Collection by Yolanda Pang.

Let’s cyber travel over to Poetic Designs and see for ourselves just how whimsical this watch necklace is!

The promotion for AN AFFAIR WITH MR. KENNEDY (The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard) begins here at my blog and Jillian will post the winner of the watch necklace on February 22 at Get Lost in a Story. Comment on any of her blogs or interviews and you are entered to win. Each time you visit a different blog and leave a comment your name gets entered again! For a schedule of her interviews and blogs go to contact/press on her website. Good luck everyone!

1. What drew you to writing Historical Romance in general and specifically to setting stories during the Victorian Era? Your other series is steampunk, what inspired you to write in two sub-genres that are so closely related but also so wildly different?

Regency seemed like a crowded field, and I didn’t want to write about the aristocracy. I also didn’t want to write a mostly character driven plot. I began to notice that a few romance writers were writing in the Victorian period. I was particularly drawn to the Amanda Quick novels, which were historical romance but also incorporated mystery, suspense and occult elements.

Then I got to thinking about Scotland Yard detectives. It seemed to me that Yard men were always portrayed as bumbling inspectors, five moves behind Sherlock Holmes. So I thought, what if there was an elite group of detectives? I began to do some research and found out that there was a division of Scotland Yard created in the 1882 called Special Branch. I added a dash (as in dashing) of James Bond Steampunk and that was the start of The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard. The heroines in each book are fascinating, progressive Victorian women. There is an Impressionist painter, an industrialist and a ballerina/jewel thief/spy!

Phaeton Black, my paranormal investigator started out as an exploration into writing historical paranormal with Steampunk elements. As it turns out I really enjoy writing paranormal, it works my imagination in interesting ways. There is something freeing about using pure imagination!

2. What’s the strangest bit of historical trivia you’ve picked up in your research?

As you know the Victorian era spans 75 years. I write in the late Victorian era, circa 1887–1897. I guess one of the most interesting things I uncovered early in my research was how obsessed the British middle class was with sex. They may have covered their piano legs out of modesty, but they liked nothing more than to talk about sex, categorize it, condemn it and in the case of prostitution, patronize it. In 1887, venereal disease in the military was down from nearly 50% to 29% The Lancet medical journal in 1887 estimated that there were approximately 80,000 prostitutes working in London. This is out of a total population of 2,360,000 or 3%. Women working the streets were a common sight, particularly around the theater districts like Leicester Square and Covent Garden. I love using this kind of research (and a black fog) to create atmosphere/world-build.

These next few questions assume that time travel is possible. So, if you could go back to Victorian England:

3. What modern conveniences would you miss most?

Just about all of them! What would you miss least? My Oral-B battery-powered toothbrush.

4. What would be the hardest for you to adapt to in the Victorian Era?

Women had very few legal and property rights. We couldn’t vote.We were admitted to university but could not earn a degree. I would be a placard carrying suffragist. Would you prefer to live in your steampunk universe compared to either current day or Victorian times? Absolutely! I would become an inventor of steam and clockwork powered machines of convenience!

5. Where would you fit into Victorian society?

I hope I would be tolerated as a bohemian/suffragist/artist/writer. Where would you like to visit most? Explore London from West to East end. Any historical figures you’d like to meet? William Melville, Director of Special Branch, Scotland Yard. Many of the writers and artists working in London and Paris, particularly the impressionist painters.

6. What describes your perfect Romance Hero?

I love to write different kinds of men, but one of my favorites is a brilliant, reserved alpha, who also happens to be a passionate lover. And of course we want to know…Who’s your favorite so far? Zak Kennedy or Phaeton Black? My favorite hero is always the one I am writing. So right now, Phineas “Finn” Gunn is my favorite. In some ways he is my most complex hero to date.

7. If you could, what advice would you go back and give yourself when you were just starting out as a writer?

Enjoy every moment of the process. Write stories you are passionate about.

8. You’ve been a storyteller for years, but took a side trip through an award-winning career in advertising and art direction. How long have these stories been bouncing around in your brain? Which character or situation came to you first that made you realize you had to write these stories?

Five years ago I decided to give novel writing a shot. I gave myself three years to write and market a manuscript. At the end of that period, I would reevaluate. So I spent a year on a medieval trilogy. Right in the middle of book two, I landed on this idea for a romantic suspense novel set in late Victorian London about a Scotland Yard agent––Mr. Kennedy. Both the character and the story wouldn’t let go!

9. Are you a reader? What are some of your favorites?

I used to be more of a reader, now I’m more of a writer! When not reading research, I read across just about all the sub-genres: historical, paranormal, some steampunk, urban fantasy and erotica, but I’m pretty selective. A few favorite authors: Gabaldon, Feehan, Kleypas. This past year I read Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale––blew me away.

10. Your Victorian Romantic Suspense novel An Affair with Mr. Kennedy (releasing Jan 31, 2012) won the 2010 Golden Heart and sold to Pocket Books and your sexy, paranormal investigator novel, The Seduction of Phaeton Black (releasing April 3, 2012), won the 2010 Romance Through The Ages Erotica category before selling to Kensington Brava. What advice regarding time management and work/life balancing can you share? What’s been the hardest to overcome and what’s made this wild ride manageable?

I have no advice on this subject as I am still trying to figure out how to write novels to deadlines, work on book promotion and have a life. Invite me back at the end of this year when I have completed the PHAETON BLACK books for Kensington, maybe I will have a few handy tips!

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About the Author

Jillian Stone was born a storyteller. A skill that got her into considerable trouble as a youth until she solved the problem by becoming an advertising creative. And the career did seem to suit her as she won many national ad awards including the Clio and the New York Art Director’s Club Gold. What more could she ask for? Create her own worlds? Become goddess of her own universe? Yes! So, she began to write fiction. Her Victorian Romantic Suspense novel AN AFFAIR WITH MR. KENNEDY won the 2010 Golden Heart and sold to Pocket Books. Her sexy, supernatural Steampunk novel, THE SEDUCTION OF PHAETON BLACK, won the 2010 Romance Through The Ages Erotica category and sold to Kensington Brava. Jillian lives in California and is currently working on the next adventure for both series.

Visit Jillian at her website or “like” her Facebook page.

Buy from: Powell’s | Amazon (Kindle) | B & N (Nook)| Indiebound

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Your Turn: Jillian loves creating spyware, circa 1887 for the Scotland Yard detectives that is slightly futuristic, like a dry cell battery torch (flashlight) or a gun silencer. These devices were in the process of being invented so a prototype gadget was possible!

What is your favorite spyware gadget from a spy novel or movie?

All commenters today have a chance to win a signed ARC of An Affair with Mr. Kennedy and will be entered in Jillian’s blog tour ‘Le Temps Perdu’ Steampunk watch necklace giveaway.