Today I have the honor of bringing to you author Lydia Dare. Lydia is the writing team of Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson. Both Tammy and Jodie are active members of the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers and live near Raleigh, North Carolina. Their next two books will also feature gentleman vampires: In the Heat of the Bite (July 2011) and Never Been Bit (September 2011). Please help me welcome Lydia toThat’s What I’m Talking About.
Twimom: Lydia, welcome and thank you for stopping by.
Lydia (both of us): Thanks for having us.
Twimom: Lydia is a pseudonym for two writers: Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson. How long have you been writing together and how did you start? What are your inspirations?
Lydia (Jodie): We started writing together in October 2008, not that I’m counting.
Lyda (Tammy): Oh, she counts. Don’t let her fool you. X number of pages until I don’t have to deal with Tammy anymore. Then we decide to write another book. As for inspiration, I think we both get inspired by our side-characters. They walk into a scene and then we just have to tell their stories. That’s how William Westfield and Prisca came to be. And all the coven witches. And Dashiel. Dash was such a bad boy that he just had to be redeemed.
Twimom: Your new release, It Happened One Bite, is the first book in your new romance series featuring gentlemen vampires. What first attracted you to telling vampiric tales?
Lydia (Jodie): Well we started off telling wolfish tales, but after four Lycan books we wanted a little change. However Tammy is in charge of all things paranormal, so I’ll let her field that question.
Lydia (Tammy): The witches of the Coig were so strong in their own right, that I just felt like they could handle the super-sexy undead gentlemen. We had actually tossed around the idea of vampyres when we first started mapping out our Regency paranormal world. But we decided Lycans would be fun, too, and we wrote them first. The vampyres are a good addition to our world, and we hope the readers like the twist they bring with them.
Twimom: Well, I for one agree that the vampyres are an excellent addition to your Regency world! Can you tell my readers more about your future plans for this new series?
Lydia (Jodie): I’m really trying not to give too much away in the form of spoilers. So I’ll simply say in It Happened One Bite we get to meet James Maitland, Baron Kettering, an Elizabethan era vampyre and his maker Matthew Halkett, the Earl of Blodswell, a former knight in the Crusades who is then the hero of In the Heat of the Bite. There is something special about these men, but I can’t say more than that.
Lydia (Tammy): The witches get to meet the gentlemen vampyres, who are much too gentlemanly too bite a woman without being properly introduced. These three men share a bond, much like our Lycans did. They’re a family of sorts, but you’ll have to read more to find out about it.
Twimom: Oh… Blodswell is the hero of the next book?! I’m so excited! (Readers – he is very dashing!). I’m very excited to read the upcoming books!
Your other series, The Westfield Brothers, features werewolves, and sets certain things in motion for your current series. Please tell my readers more about these interesting books.
Lydia (Jodie): I love that series, which you would expect, right? But I really do. The first book A Certain Wolfish Charm started it all. It is the tale of Simon Westfield, the Duke of Blackmoor, and Miss Lily Rutledge. The pair has been charged with raising her nephew/his cousin who is beginning to show signs of the change. The second book actually takes place at the exact same time, but in Edinburgh – Tall, Dark and Wolfish tells the story of “broken” wolf Lord Benjamin Westfield who seeks out a healing Scottish witch, Elspeth Campbelll, to cure his ailment. And we finish of the trilogy with The Wolf Next Door which focuses on the middle, silver-tongued Westfield brother, Lord William, and their neighbor Prisca Hawthorne with whom he has a past.
Lydia (Tammy): Then we had a hero walk into The Wolf Next Door, disguised as a horrible villain at the time. But he had his own story to tell. That was the fourth book, The Taming of the Wolf, which came out last fall. In that book, we actually meet one of the vampyres, but I’m not sure many readers caught the reference. I hope they did. Because it sets the stage for the future of the rest of the coven.
Twimom: Readers, read my review of the most recent Westfield Brothers book, The Taming of the Wolf HERE.
And yes, I did catch that reference! 🙂
Ladies, do you write any other genres?
Lydia (Jodie): We have each have individual projects we are working on. Everything I’ve ever written has been set in the Regency.
Lydia (Tammy): My favorite genre to read has always been Regency-set historicals. I like the society, the rules, the heroes and heroines, and I love the Regency rake. But writing with Jodie has been the only time I’ve actually written it. My own personal pursuits fall more toward the contemporary and suspense. Twimom: I always like to ask authors about their reading habits… What types of books do you enjoy reading? What was your favorite read in 2010?
Lydia (Jodie): I remember the days when I could devour a book a day, but those days are long since gone. Most of what I read these days are research books. I do however, always find time to read Sabrina Jeffries. And I adored The Truth About Lord Stoneville.
Lydia (Tammy): I don’t get much time to read, lately, but I do take the time to read the releases of all my friends from the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers group. I also like to read young adult novels, mainly because I have a teen and I like to see what he’s reading and what he’s most interested in. I am a big fan of fantasy and paranormal, and gravitate toward anything humorous and suspenseful.
Lydia (Jodie): Oh, I’m so glad you said that, Tammy. I read YA too, for the same reason – teenage son. Last year I was mesmerized by The Hunger Games trilogy!!
Twimom: What upcoming 2011 releases are you most excited to read?
Lydia (Jodie): Well, as soon as I have time I plan to read Jeffries’ How to Woo a Reluctant Lady and later this year her To Wed a Wild Lord. I’m also looking forward to Deb Marlowe’s How to Marry a Rake.
Lydia (Tammy): I’m waiting for the same ones as Jodie. I hope I get them first so I can hold the over her head after I read them. I have a large queue of books on my iPad from where I buy the new releases. I hope I have time to get to them soon!
Twimom: Jodie and Tammy, once again thank you so much for taking the time to tell my readers a little bit about yourselves and your writing. It was wonderful chatting with you.
Lydia (Jodie): It was so much fun being here! Thanks again, so much for having us!
Lydia (Tammy): Thanks for letting us hang out with you today. We hope the readers love this new series as much as we do.
You can find Jodie and Tammy as Lydia Dare on line at
GIVEAWAY: I have two (2) copies (two winners) of It Happened One Bite to giveaway here at That’s What I’m Talking About. Thank you to Sourcebooks (www.sourcebooks.com) for sponsoring the giveaway of Lydia Dare’s latest book. To enter, please leave a comment and your email at the end of today’s interview or yesterday’s review of It Happened One Bite. Winners restricted to US and Canada mailing addresses, only. Contest open from March 16, 2011until Monday March 21, 2011 at 9:00 PM EDT. Two (2) winners will be selected from the comment entries using random.org.
I didn’t know Lydia Dare was 2 peeps. I was just talking about her books with a friend last night.
truckchick(at)hotmail(dot)com
The Westfield Brothers series is patiently waiting in my TBR pile. I really have a lot of catching up to do so I’m ready for It Happened One Bite!
cbandy10@hotmail(dot)com
I’m going to have to add these series to me TBR pile. Thanks for introducing us to them!
I learned something today. I had no idea Lydia Dare was a collaboration. Great interview!!
I love Lydia Dare books! I would love to win this one! Regency and Vamps two of my favorite things! Thanks for sharing!
evjochum[AT]aol[DOT]com
I love Lydia Dare’s books. I had know idea it was actually 2 different authors! I am totally into the wolf/man shifters. I’d love to win It Happened One Bite
I love Lydia’s books and can’t wait to read this one. Thanks for the interview. (Email in profile.)
Hey! I had no idea Lydia Dare was a collaboration either! I guess I will see both of Lydia Dare at AAD in Philly – yay!!
spazp at me dot com
Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay in responding. For some reason I couldn’t get my computer to work and work today. 🙂
JeepDiva ~ I hope you were saying good things. 😉
Cindy ~ You should see my TBR pile! I can commiserate and then some.
Una ~ I hope you’ll enjoy the books. 🙂
Vixen ~ Thanks so much! So far things have worked well for us as far as collaboration goes.
Johanna ~ Thanks! That’s so sweet of you to say. 🙂
Joyce ~ I hope you’ll love the vamps as much as you did the wolves.
LSU ~ Thank you so much! One of my favorite things to hear.
Pamela ~ We will be at AAD in Philly! We’ll look forward to seeing you there. 🙂
…. ~Jodie
I’m looking forward to reading It Happened One Bite. I love the mix of historical and paranormal.
Barbed1951 at aol dot com
Oh, thanks, Barbara! I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
~Jodie
I love finding new authors- I was surprised to find out though its two people writing as Lydia Dare.
do you always agree on how a story goes?
vampiremistress2010(at)gmail(dot)com
I love the Westfield Series. I had no idea Lydia Dare was two people, I love learning new things everyday. I love the mix of paranormal and historical, they are my two favorite genres.
sharilynn06@att.net
I can’t wait to read this book! I have had it on my wishlist for months now. It looks so good.
iqb99@yahoo.com
I really love this series, can’t wait for the next one!
jas1195@hotmail.com
Great Interview I would love to win this book
I enjoyed reading the interview! Would so love to read this, thanks for the chance to win!
chibipooh(at)gmail(dot)com