NYT Bestselling Author Shirlee Busbee + Giveaways!

Whoo-hoo! I’ve got Shirlee Busbee, New York Times bestselling author, here with me today talking about writing panster-style and making me break out in a cold sweat! Even though I’ve been writing in a very similar fashion as Shirlee describes here for some time now, just seeing it in black and white makes me anticipate a full-body erruption of hives. Eeeek! On the other hand, it’s reassuring to know the method work for a NYT bestseller!! Maybe I’m on the right path after all.

Shirlee is generously giving away 3 books today! A copy of WHISPER TO ME OF LOVE, PASSION BECOMES HER & DESIRE BECOMES HER, so make sure you leave a comment and sign up through the rafflecopter widget below!

But first, let me introduce Shirlee’s brand new release: DESIRE BECOMES HER

Shirlee’s up Gillian Dashwood is a widow with a scandalous past. Half the town believes her guilty of murdering her first husband, a notorious and depraved gambler. Now, two years later, Gillian goes to stay at her uncle’s estate and there meets Lucien “Lucifer” Joslyn.

Luc arrived in England from France months ago, suffering from the effects of an infected gunshot wound. Once recovered, he won a small fortune at the gaming tables. Knowing her reputation, Luc is suspicious of Gillian and her motives. Gillian is equally suspicious of Luc. She despises gamblers and yet, despite all the reasons why she shouldn’t, she finds herself responding to Luc’s undeniable attractiveness.

But could she dare to risk her heart with such a man?

You can pick up DESIRE BECOMES HER at these locations:

 Now…here’s Shirlee…

I’m a seat of the pants writer, or a ‘pantster’ in writer speak. What that actually means is that I haven’t a clue, or much of one, what direction my story will go. Oh, sure, I have an idea (sort of), a location (definitely), an era (of course) and I know the names, character and physical description of my hero and heroine, but many times (most) that’s it, folks.

It’s as I flesh out my two main characters that the first glimmer of a storyline, or plot, if you want to get technical, begins to unfold in my mind. Sometimes, it’s magic the way the story just becomes clearer and clearer to me, other times, it’s a struggle from start to finish. And there are always those days during the course of any book of just sitting staring at the screen, willing something clever and inspired to appear before me. Never happens, the work just progresses agonizing word by agonizing word. Or to use one of my favorite quotes, “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” Gene Fowler. Boy, did he get it right.

DESIRE BECOMES HER, the second book in the Joslyn Family Series, fell sort of in between clear and clearer and drops of blood forming on my forehead. I loved Luc from the moment I introduced him in RAPTURE BECOMES HER (the first Joslyn Family book). But he was tricky character. He was half-French at a time England was at war with France, illegitimate and a gambler, yet I had to make him fit into the upper reaches of English society. It helped enormously that his half-brother, Barnaby, was Viscount Joslyn — that opened a lot of the right doors. It also helped that Luc’s skill with the cards made him a desirable player at the gambling hells in London where he rubbed shoulders with the aristocracy. Since he wasn’t a bad guy at heart, with a few rough patches, I got him established amongst the ton. Maybe not the very top reaches of the ton but part of it.

The widow, Gillian Dashwood, Luc’s ladylove gave me some bad moments. Believed by the ton of having murdered her husband I had to have enough evidence to make it believable, yet not so much that she was on trial for murder. Placing her in her Uncle Silas’s house right under Luc’s nose was a flash of inspiration and believe me, it came to me in a, er, flash :-). Getting them married was another easy stretch in the book, but dealing with those bloody vowels and tying it all in with her husband’s murder… Yikes. I think, in the end, it worked, but you’ll to read DESIRE BECOMES HER and decide for yourself if I got it right.

                     

Author of historical and modern romance, Shirlee Busbee has enjoyed tremendous international success since her first novel Gypsy Lady was published in 1977.  Shirlee’s books have been translated into numerous languages and she is a household name to romance readers around the world.

Shirlee is married to her best friend, Howard, and the couple celebrate their 48th anniversary in 2011. Shirlee and Howard reside in Northern California on a lovely ranch were the couple is kept busy with their beloved Mini Schnauzers, prize winning Shetland Ponies and of course Shirlee’s writing!

Shirlee is writing constantly and has now dipped into blogging. Visit her blog were she writes about her every day life, and how she creates her much loved stories.

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