Straight Chatting from the Library: Elaine Fox

Welcome Elaine Fox to The Library. She has come to chat with us as part of her virtual book tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for the anthology Once and Forever. Her story in the book is "The Princess and the Pinot." The authors of the anthology will award a digital copy of the book to five randomly drawn commenters and one grand prize of a $50 Amazon GC will be awarded to a randomly drawn commenter. You can see the other stops on the tour here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/11/nbtm-tour-once-and-forever-by-mary.html.

Thanks for coming by The Library. What is the favorite book you remember as a child?
,br> I was a huge fan of Albert Payson Terhune’s Lad books, starting with Lad: A Dog. Lad was an astonishingly smart and stalwart collie, and the stories were told from his point of view – which is how I learned what ‘point of view’ was. I can still recall the moment the teacher asked me who was telling the story, and it dawned on me that it was the dog, and that that was unusual.

Then I grew up a little bit and when I was about twelve I read Elswyth Thane’s Yankee Stranger, which in hindsight I believe changed the course of my life. I fell in love with love. Or rather, stories about love. And I discovered it was possible to have a second family, a fictional one, that felt nearly as real as my own.

So now, is it any wonder I write romance novels, many of which have dog protagonists?

What is your favorite book today?

I have to go with Pride and Prejudice, which is a cliché for romance novelists, I know, but I absolutely love it, think it’s brilliant, and have read it more times than I can count. But, just to cheat on the question a little, I also adore To Kill a Mockingbird.

Tell us about your current book in 10 words.

Shy girl overcomes fear – and taunting fairy – to win guy!

What are you reading right now?

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I had just read Fool by Christopher Moore, and was in the mood for something else in that time period but whew! Talk about genre whiplash! They’re both great, however.

Dog-ear or bookmark? (don't worry—Librarian Judith won't hold it against you—much)

Bookmark! I hate defacing books! I barely even break the spine when I read.

Favorite book you've read this year?

I think I’d have to say The Last Letter From Your Lover, by Jojo Moyes. I got lost in that book.

When do you do most of your reading?

In bed, before going to sleep. I have to have that transition between real life and dreamland.

Re-reader or not?

If it’s not already obvious from the earlier questions, I am absolutely a re-reader! Every time I read an Austen book I get more out of it, and they work for pretty much every mood. But it’s not just Jane Austen; I’ve re-read so many books, and gotten more out of them each time, that it makes it nearly impossible to get rid of any!

Which leads me to:

Keep books or give them away?

I keep them. And having just moved last month I can tell you that I have paid for this propensity with considerable amounts of sweat, and perhaps some blood and tears as well. I keep thinking that I should get rid of some, make room for new ones, but then I look at my old friends, these multiple families that I have become a part of and that have become a part of me, and I don’t know how to let them go. Maybe on the fifth – or fiftieth – rereading of some of them I’ll decide I’ve had enough. But if you could see my office you’d know that this does not happen often!


MEET THE AUTHOR

NY Times Best Selling author Elaine Fox began her career writing time-travel romances, such as Rita-finalist Traveler, and Impostor (both now available as e-books on Amazon and Barnes & Noble), then added historicals to the mix. After six books with Leisure Books, she moved to Avon to begin writing contemporary romances. Her first, Maybe Baby, hit the USA Today Bestseller list and eight more novels and four novellas followed, with several of them also reaching the USA Today list.

Most recently she participated in the anthology Mirror, Mirror from Berkley Publishers, which debuted at #3 on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Elaine lives just outside of Washington, D.C., with a small Cuban dog and a lovely Argentinean man. Elaine is trying to learn Spanish.

Website ~ Facebook

READ THE BLURB

Once and Forever - An anthology
By Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Emelle Gamble, Lavinia Kent and introducing Evie Owens

From five compelling authors, five original novellas which will make you laugh and cry, and believe in a love that once found will last forever. Meet a duke, a psychic, a bodyguard and a professor…and one "guardian fairy" in absorbing stories ranging from regency and contemporary romance to paranormal and women's fiction.

Playing for Keeps by Mary Blayney

Actress Kendall Marshall is determined to get an autograph for her sick sister from famous TV personality Mike O’Hara, the Oprah Winfrey of sports. In the process she meets his brother, security consultant Steve Marshall, lands a job on O’Hara’s show and gets in the way of a man set on causing big trouble. As the stalkers attacks escalate, Steve and Kendall are thrown together and find it impossible to ignore the chemistry between them.

The Princess & the Pinot by Elaine Fox

When a beautiful woman shows up at the Vineyard Inn, wine manager Kim is certain she’s been sent by fate for the inn’s owner, Cooper. Self-effacing to a fault, Kim knows she can’t hold a candle to Principessa Bella, who also seems to know even more about wine than Kim herself, but her heart has belonged to Cooper since they shared one kiss as teenagers.

While Prin sweeps easily into the job of sommelier at the renowned inn, Kim is afraid Prin will sweep just as surely into Cooper’s arms if she doesn’t do something about it. Can she tell Cooper how she feels without losing even his friendship?

Kim is willing to try except for one problem: she’s almost certainly losing her mind. Or is that belching, swearing, smoking, farting fairy – who claims to be trying to help her – real?

Duets by Emelle Gamble

Duets offers alternating looks into the lives of two women who would seem to have little or nothing in common.

Screen star Molly Harper is on the verge of marrying a man who has swept her off her feet, thought perhaps hasn’t swept all her feelings for her first love away. Anne Sullivan, happily married for twenty-five years, is fighting to hold onto the man she loves, and hold off a confrontation that could shatter her family’s image of what they are.

Duets confronts a past secret that ties these two women’s lives together, just as chance events turn Molly and Anne’s worlds upside down.

Never and Forever by Lavinia Kent

Never and Forever is the beginning of the love story of two people who shouldn’t belong together. Molly, Miss Wilkes, runs an employment agency helping women of quality find positions perfected suited to their characters. Although her father held the title of Earl for just over a week before his death, Molly has never wanted to be a lady. She knows her place in this world – and it is not at the center of society.

The Duke of Radford also knows his place in this world – and it’s above everybody else’s. He cannot imagine a world without all the privilege and power that comes from being Radford. He’s had foreign princesses and heiresses dangled before him for years. Why would he ever have interest in a simple woman who doesn’t even understand that she should want to be a duchess?

Can these two overcome the obstacles of their own beliefs and realize that love can make all things possible?

Never and forever are both a very long time. Where will their love fit?

The Psychic Detective by Evie Owens

Psychic Martin Sterling doesn't trust cops--and the feeling is mutual. Detective Erin Healy needs more than a ghost story to save her job and reputation. Her partner is dead, a million dollars in drugs and money is missing, and all the evidence points to her.

Can a sexy psychic and a by the book cop, trapped between the living and the dead, unearth the truth? Or will a cold-blooded killer get away with it all...