Pages

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Welcome Ella Quinn!

Today on my blog we have the soon-to-be NY Times Best Selling author of Regency Romance... Ella Quinn!

I had the honor of interviewing her. Come and meet this awesome lady!  Leave a comment with your name and email for a chance to win a copy (either print or ebook - your choice) of her Regency Romance - The Secret Life of Miss Anna Marsh!



     Ella’s studies and other jobs have always been on the serious side. Reading historical romances, especially Regencies, were her escape. Eventually her love of historical novels led her to start writing them.

     She is married to her wonderful husband of twenty-nine years. They have a son and granddaughter, Great Dane and a Chartreux. After living in the South Pacific, Central America, North Africa, England and Europe, she and her husband decided to make St. Thomas, VI home.

     Ella is a member of the Romance Writers of American, The Beau Monde and Hearts Across History. She is represented by Elizabeth Pomada of Larsen-Pomada Literary Agency, and published by Kensington. Her debut novel The Seduction of Lady Phoebe, will release in September 2013

Website: (Up soon) www.ellaquinnauthor.comwww.ellaquinnauthor.com

 


Marie: Ella, how long have you been writing?

Ella: Just over two years.

Marie: What inspired you to write your first book?

Ella: I knew I wanted to write something, but didn’t know what. I’d heard “write what you know,” but I didn’t want to do that. Then I read an interview with an author who said, “write what you read.” After that, my muse moved in, and a scene of an angry Regency lady came into my head, so I wrote it down. A month later, I had 100,000 words.

Marie: Which of your characters do you relate to most and why? 

Ella: I don’t think I relate to any one character. I bond with my males first. I know exactly where they are coming from. My females take a little longer to finally give me their stories.

Marie: What book have you read too many times to count? 

Ella: Probably all of the Georgette Heyer historical romances. Devil’s Cub is one of my favorite.

Marie: What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received? 

Ella: Write three books for publication. I’ve since learned that some people write many more than that, but that advice started me off.

Marie: If you could hop into the life of any fictional character, who would it be and why? 


Ella: Probably Sophy Stanton-Lacy from Heyer’s Grand Sophy. I love the way she goes out and does what she wants to. Though I probably wouldn’t marry my cousin.

Marie: What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books? 

Ella: How absolutely amazing and generous the romance writing community is. I have never met such a wonderful group of people in my life.

Marie: Ella, please tell us about your story: (I love your cover, by the way....)

Ella: You’ll meet Miss Anna Marsh and Lord Rutherford in The Seduction of Lady Phoebe. Anna is twenty-one. When she first came out, she expected Rutherford to propose. He didn’t for two reasons: First, he was her brother, Harry’s, best friend and second, he thought she was too young. When Anna’s brother died, they sort of drifted apart, though Rutherford always intended to ask Anna to marry him at some point. What Rutherford doesn’t know is that life changed drastically for Anna after Harry died. Because of that she now insists that he accept her as she is now and not as she was before. But when Anna hears Rutherford describe her as easy to manage, all bets are off.

This story has two and a half love stories, spies and smugglers.

Here is the blurb and a marvelous cover quote from the lovely Sally MacKenzie.





THE SECRET LIFE OF MISS ANNA MARSH on pre-order now. Releases ~ November 7th,  2013

“Let yourself be seduced by this sexy mix of spies, smugglers, and happily ever afters.” —Sally MacKenzie

Since she was a young girl, Anna Marsh has dreamed of Sebastian, Baron Rutherford asking for her hand in marriage. But that was in another life when her brother Harry was alive, before she vowed to secretly continue the work he valiantly died for. Now as Sebastian finally courts Anna, she must thwart his advances. Were he to discover her secret, he would never deem her a suitable wife…
Sebastian has always known Anna would become his wife someday. He expects few obstacles, but when she dissuades him at every turn he soon realizes there is much more to this intriguing woman. Somehow he must prove to her that they are meant to be together. But first he must unravel the seductive mystery that is Miss Anna Marsh…

Excerpt:

     “Good morning, my dear,” Aunt Lillian greeted her. “Are you riding with Lord Rutherford again today?”
     Anna swallowed. “Yes, he should be here soon. I need your advice. How do I convince Percy that I have no interest in him? The man is a coxcomb and a dead bore.”
     Lillian laughed. “Get betrothed. That will stop him. Unfortunately, he is the type of man who cannot understand that he is not irresistible to women.”
     Anna took a sip of tea and said thoughtfully, “I wonder if I can deny him when he comes to visit.”
     Her aunt raised a brow. “That’s rather hard to do when he brings his mother along.”
     Almost every day since Anna’s return, Lady Blanchard had come to call, accompanied by Percy. “I suppose you’re right.”
     “You’re spending quite a bit of time with Lord Rutherford. Do you have intentions?”
     Anna shook her head. “No. He does.”
     “I thought you liked him.”
     Anna set her cup down. “I do, but we won’t suit.”
     Lillian frowned slightly. “This conversation is becoming distressingly akin to an interrogation. If you don’t wish me to know . . . ”
     “Oh, no. It’s not that.” Anna rushed to reassure her aunt. It would be good to talk with someone. “Rutherford wants to marry me, but I heard him describing what he wants in a bride, and it is not who I am.”
     “Ah, I see.” Her aunt’s eyes sparkled. “A challenge?”
     “Not really. We haven’t spent much time together since shortly after Harry’s death. He will soon come to realize I am not for him. We will be no more than friends.”
     Aunt Lillian brought her cup to her lips. “Are you quite sure?”
     Anna sighed. “Yes. So you see, Rutherford is not the problem. Percy is.”
     “I take your point. He is rather a bother.” Lillian’s brow wrinkled. “Let me put my mind to it and see what I can come up with.”
     “Who is rather a bother?” a pleasantly deep voice asked from the door. “I hope you don’t mind. I told Ledster not to announce me.”
     Anna couldn’t help smiling. Having him around was like old times. Still, it hurt, and she wished he’d figure out soon that he didn’t want to marry her. “Good morning, Rutherford. No, I don’t mind. Would you like some tea?”
 

32 comments:

Nancy S. Goodman said...

Wonderful interview ladies...I love your muse, Ella. An angry Regency lady, indeed! Go get him Phoebe. And Anna Marsh is wonderful! Tweeted

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Nancy, thank you for stopping by and sharing!

Collette Cameron said...

Ella,
As, always, a wonderful interview, Ella! I love your feisty Phoebe!

Connie said...

I am so thrilled to discover this blog! My kind of reading. “Clean romance with humor....” just doesn’t get any better that this.

I’m really looking forward to reading “I Must Be Dreaming.” The plot just “speaks” to me!

Looks like I have found a new haunt. :-)

Unknown said...

Another great interview, Ella. I have that blue dress on the sidebar on my pinterest site:):)

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Hi Collette. Thanks for stopping by!

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Karen, thank you. The blue dress is Marie's. I have so much to put on Pinterest, and can't figure out how to do it.

Administrator said...

Marie, I enjoyed this interview. Thank you both. I loved meeting Ella through your blog!

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed the interview and loved the excerpt!

Andrea Cooper said...

I cannot believe you've only been writing a couple of years. What a talent you have.

Brenda said...

Ella, I also bond with my hero first.
Wonderful interview. I had no idea you've only been writing for two years. With your talent, I thought you have been writing for many years.
Congratulations!

Sandra Owens said...


Ella,
I always bond with my males first, also. I've often wondered why that is.

Enjoyed the interview Maria and Ella.

Sandra

Marie Higgins said...

Ella, it was so much fun to interview you. I'm so very jealous that you've only been writing for two years and already you got an agent and a big publishing company. But I've read your work and I understand why you are where you are today. (still jealous, though!)

And I love that you bond with your heroes better. I'm glad I'm not the only one! lol

Angelyn said...

I love Heyer's Devil's Cub--rake extraodinaire. That blue dress is pretty..

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Thank you, Granny.

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Hi Angieia, thank you so much!!

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Thank you so much Andrea. That's so nice of you to say!

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Brenda, thank you.

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Sandy, I put it down to being around seriously Alpha males in my early adult hood.

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

LOL, Marie. I'm jealous of people who discovered writing sooner than I did.

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Angelyn, he really was.

bn100 said...

Very nice interview

bn100candg at hotmail dot com

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Thank you. I'm glad you liked it.

Daryl Devoré said...

Fabulous excerpt.
Tweeted

Callie said...

Hi Ella, Nice to 'see' you again! Best if luck with your two upcoming releases. Another great interview.

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Thank you, Daryl!!!

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

LOL, Callie. Thank you and thanks for stopping by!!

Jenna said...

Fab interview, ladies. Loved this excerpt! Tweeted!

Ella Quinn - Romance Novelist said...

Hi Jenna, thanks for stopping by!!

Stacey Brutger said...

Wonderful interview!

I love the dress on the cover. I can't wait for your books to be released.

Jeanne M said...

Hi Marie and Ella!

I'm so excited that Ella already has three more books coming out after The Secret Life of Anna Marsh!

Ella, I was wondering about the research you do before writing a story and what was the most interesting quirky thing you have found out!

I love that the information you have on your website and loved that you showed pictures of the type of high perched phaeton you have Anna driving in her story!

jeannemiro(at)yahoo.com

Dana Oswald said...

So Marion Browning-Baker or “Ella Quinn” as you call yourself today - you can run from your criminal history but you cannot hide. You DID NOT go to the Virgin Islands “to retire, write romance books, and live in paradise” despite what you try to tell your readership. And there was certainly nothing “fortuitous” about this move to the tax hide-out Virgin Islands either as you claim in your author interviews. You fled the country of Germany in less than 60 days after they charged you with federal tax evasion where you evaded taxes for no less than 15 years as a lawyer operating a business on German soil. How smart was that when you bragged about it to one of your clients which you then ripped off for over $50,000 in legal fees?

Now you have a totally new identity. There is no lawyer reference in your bio anywhere despite that you spent most of your adult life as a lawyer. In fact, you even removed your law degree from Campbell University in NC and are now calling it a master’s degree in “Political Science and Government” on LinkedIn. But the reality is that you were a totally unethical lawyer who stole money from EVERY ONE of your military clients in Europe from 1995 (which was after the US Army kicked you out as a JAG lawyer) and until your Georgia State Bar disbarment on April 15, 2013 which is shown on their website.

As far as we are concerned, you have an active network now of at least 75 ex-clients and you OWE THEM a lot of money. We have legal counsel and there is a class-action lawsuit in the making. So “Ella” or whatever person you are playing today, do not believe that this is over and we will see you in court as who you really are: disbarred lawyer, tax fugitive, and criminal Marion Browning-Baker.