Q&A with Sophie Barnes

Romance authors seem to have an unending love-affair with fairytales. Why do you think that is—and what drew you to this much-loved fairytale?
When it comes to romance, we all long for the hero and heroine to live happily ever after. The greater the obstacles in their way, the greater our tendency to cheer them on, and let’s face it, Cinderella did not have it easy. I think I was drawn to this particular fairy-tale partly because it’s one of my all-time favorites, but also because it centers on something we can all relate to – the wish for a once in a lifetime opportunity to make our dreams come true. Compared to other fairy-tales, it’s probably also the one that’s easiest to adapt to everyday life. We can remove the fairy godmother and her magic wand without compromising the heart of the story. What we’re left with, is a young woman trapped in a difficult situation. When she’s offered the chance of a happily ever after, we want her to succeed, perhaps because inside every one of us there’s a little bit of Cinderella – that wish…what if?
The Kingsborough Ball turns out to be a lively affair, to say the least: gunshots, fireworks, scandals and stolen kisses abound! Where did you come up with the idea to create a whole series revolving around one, glorious evening?
To be honest, it all began with an idea for a short novella with Cinderella as the underlying theme. After submitting my proposal, my lovely editor called, offering me a three book deal instead. I felt like I’d won the lottery, so in a way that was definitely a “Cinderella moment” for me. I no longer had a novella to write, but three full-length novels. While they would all have the Kingsborough Ball as a back drop, I wanted each story to be capable of standing alone without the reader feeling as if they were re-reading the previous story from a different character’s perspective. To achieve this, I gave all the heroes and heroines one event they would all have in common – the Kingsborough Ball shooting. Outside of that, they all have their own separate stories to live, each with their own obstacles and villains.
You’ve had something of a fairytale romance yourself—getting married to the same man three different times in three different dresses is sigh-inducing and swoon-worthy. Do you draw on your own experiences in love and marriage when you write?
Absolutely. It says on my website that my heroes are based on my husband, and that’s definitely true. He has helped me so much by offering me an insight into how a man would react or what he might say in a given situation, and in fact, many of the dialogues between my heroes and heroines are based on conversations that he and I have had. Additionally, we know how wonderful it is to be together and how difficult it is to be apart. When I write, I draw on these emotions. In fact, I believe that being married and knowing what it’s like to care about someone else so deeply, to constantly worry about their welfare, makes me a better writer.
You’re the first historical romance author to migrate from Avon Impulse’s digital-first to Avon’s printed line. What was your publishing journey like?
It truly has been a whirlwind experience – I’ve achieved a lot in a very short time, but I’ve also worked extremely hard at it. Four years ago, I wrote to one of my all-time favorite authors in regards to one of her books. In my email, I mentioned that I was living in Ghana and that I was working on a manuscript (How Miss Rutherford Got Her Groove Back). She responded with something along the lines of, “how interesting – one of the editors at Avon (aka, the fabulous Esi Sogah) is from Ghana.” A year passed and I moved back to the US, upon which I wrote to this wonderful author again, inquiring if there was any chance at all that she might be able to put me in touch with Esi directly. Naturally, I expected a categorical “no”, but as I’ve since come to discover, everyone in the romance book industry is so sweet and helpful. Esi wrote to me shortly after asking to see my manuscript, and in August 2011 I received my first offer.
What’s next for Sophie Barnes and The Kingsborough Ball?
I’m currently working on the third book in the series which will be a friends to lovers story in which the assassin at the ball is revealed. This one will have a few twists and turns as our heroine finds herself in mortal danger and the hero sets out to rescue her. I think readers will be surprised by the villain’s identity – at least I hope they will, because it’s going to be someone completely unexpected. Once that wraps up I’ve a whole bunch of story ideas to work on. I’ll have to decide which one of them to pick for my next proposal.

Having just returned from this year's RWA in Atlanta, I thought I'd share a few of my pictures with you. This was my first conference and while it was a bit overwhelming to begin with, I can honestly say that it was an incredible experience, not only because of what I learned while I was there, but also because of the friends I made. Avon had a wonderful program planned for everyone which included not only signings (one was even an e-book signing in cooperation with Autography) but also a great party with a super cool photo-booth opportunity!

The Literacy signing at RWA in Atlanta - July 17th

With the lovely Katherine Ashe at the Avon signing

Had a great time talking to Sarah MacLean at the Avon party. She won the Rita for best historical romance which I thought was very well deserved. Congratulations, Sarah!

Had a blast with Jennifer Ryan (photo-booth moment)

Check out the massive "blinking" ring on my finger! Avon had lots of goodies waiting for us at the party

Tasty Summer Reads

I'm so thrilled to have been included in this wonderful summer blog hop which includes some really wonderful romance authors! My fellow author from the Five Golden Rings anthology, Viv Lorret invited me to join and in return I have invited the fabulous Kristin Vayden and Bronwen Evans to tell us what they're currently working on, so be sure to stop by their blogs as well.

Here's how the hop works: every author along the hop invites other authors to answer five questions about their current summer release or WIP (work in progress) plus a tasty recipe of their choice for you all to enjoy =)

Right now, I'm trying to cram in as many words as possible for The Danger In Tempting An Earl (book 3 in my Kingsborough Ball series) before heading off to the RWA conference in Atlanta next week. The first book in the series (The Trouble With Being A Duke) is all set to go on sale August 27th while book 2 (The Scandal In Kissing An Heir) is due for release December 31st.


Now, on to the questions:

1)When writing are you a snacker? If so, sweet or salty?

When I finally manage to steer my attention away from all the social media and

Update

My copy edits for THE SCANDAL IN KISSING AN HEIR arrived yesterday so I'm going over those at the moment as they're due back with my editor on July 1st. Meanwhile, I'm just over 1/4 of the way through my manuscript for the third book in the Kingsborough Ball series starring Lucien Marvaine, Earl of Roxberry and the recently widowed Katherine Langdon. We're going from friends to lovers on this one with quite a bit of intrigue/action piled on for good measure =)

Cover Reveal - THE SCANDAL IN KISSING AN HEIR

I have to say that I am so impressed by the talent at Avon - I could just sit and look at this cover all day. How amazing it is that it's actually on the front of one of my books!!! I couldn't be happier =)

Miss Rutherford Quote

Writing tip - open with a question

When embarking on a new project, the hardest thing for me is always that first sentence. There's a reason for that, I think, because it's that first sentence that's going to grab the reader's attention and hold it for long enough to get them hooked on the story. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received, was to open with a sentence that creates a question in the mind of the reader. As an example, I'll use the first sentence I wrote for THE SECRET LIFE OF LADY LUCINDA which reads as follows, "Run, Lucy, run - as fast as you can!"
The reader is being dropped, right in the middle of the action, and immediately wonders who Lucy is, why she's being told to run and what the urgency might be, but in order to find out, they'll have to keep on reading. Creating questions like this, not only at the beginning but throughout your book is what makes it impossible for the reader to put your book down, because they'll want to know what happens next, especially when such questions are placed at the end of chapters. It seems like such a simple trick really, and yet it's something that (at least for me) requires a conscious effort. In the end however, it's likely to make the difference between a page turner and a book that's easily put aside half way through, so I'd say it's well worth spending some time on =)