Welcome, Michelle...can you tell us a little about To Trust a Thief? To Trust a Thief is about a young lady who must team up with a master thief in order to find a priceless necklace that both of them desperately need. Along the way, these enemies and rivals fall in love, and they must decide what is more important – loyalty to those who are counting on them, or the love they have for each other. If they make the wrong choice, they might lose everything.
How did you come to be a part of Entangled's new Scandalous line?About a year and a half ago, I’d just split with my agent (she’d signed me for non-fiction but after my first NF book I decided I wanted to focus on my true love, romance) :) I decided to try subbing To Trust a Thief to some of the new small pubs that I’d started hearing about. So I turned to Google :D I did a search for pubs that accepted non-agented submissions and came across Entangled. I checked out their submission guidelines, looked at the editors’ wish lists, took a deep breath and hit send. I’d actually subbed to a few other publishers and received an offer from one of them. I let Entangled know and after a fabulous phone call, they made an offer as well. As my book is historical, I was told it would be one of the first releases of their new historical imprint. I was, and am still, over-the-moon thrilled to be a Scandalous author :)
What kind of research goes into the writing of your historicals?It depends on the story and the setting. I have a degree in history and have spent a large chunk of my life researching just for fun so I tend to know the “big” things about my favorite subjects and locals, but still need to research the small details. I often won’t know what I need to research until I come to it in my manuscript. For example, in To Trust a Thief, I needed to research if toilets were in common use yet (they weren’t); what sorts of flowers bloom in England in Jan; how long a corpse will have hair (that one was fun to look into) :D; what sorts of guns were used in the 1850’s; were trains a common form of transportation yet…that type of thing. It’s actually really fun (for me anyway lol) to find all these little details that help make the story authentic.
Why are historicals your chosen genre?
I have always loved history. In fact, I used to want to be either an archaeologist or Egyptologist. I read encyclopedias for fun and have since I was little :) Biographies and non-fiction books on my favorite time periods are all over my house. Historical romances were also the first real novels I started reading when I was younger. They were my first love :) So when I started writing, creating historical romance stories was a natural path for me to take. I also write other genres, urban fantasies, contemp romances, etc. But historicals will always have a special place in my heart :)
Do you have any advice for an aspiring writer? Don’t ever give up and learn patience :) Absolutely nothing in this business moves quickly and if you don’t develop a little patience, you are going to spend a lot of time pulling your hair out. You will also experience a lot of rejection and setbacks. If writing is what you really want to do, find a way to do it. And don’t give up, no matter what.
Do you have a favorite book that you've written?
To Trust a Thief will actually always have a very special place in my heart. It’s the first book I ever wrote. I’ve completely rewritten it at least half a dozen times :D It’s unrecognizable from that first version :) But with each revision I loved the characters and the story more and more. It took a long time to find it a home, but the fact that it eventually did makes it even more special to me. It’s the little book that could lol
What are some of your favorite books/authors?Ohhhh, I could write a book on this topic alone lol But, a few of my faves are Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series, all things Harry Potter, the Twilight series (and not ashamed to admit it :D ), the Hunger Game series…I’m sensing a pattern here lol I have a lot of stand alone books I love as well, but I really do like to hang out with my favorite characters for awhile :)
Anything you'd like to reveal about yourself that your readers might find surprising?
Hmmm I tend to lean more on the overshare side so there probably isn’t much people don’t already know :D Well, despite the way I often come across online, I’m actually a fairly shy person. Though I’m not as bad now as I was growing up. Until I was in my 20s, I wouldn’t even go pump gas or return a movie by myself. I always made my brother go with me :D Thankfully I’ve gotten over that to some degree, but it still might take me a little bit to loosen up around new people. When I do though, all bets are off :D
What are you working on now?Right now I’m working on edits for book 1 in my Blood Blade Sisters trilogy and finishing up the first draft for book 2. It’s a historical romance series that will follow Cilla, Brynne, and Lucy Richardson, three sisters in post-Gold Rush California who become “Robin Hoods of the West” in order to right the wrongs committed by their corrupt brother against the townspeople and themselves.
Each book will follow a different sister - Book One will introduce the sisters and their bandit ways with Cilla being front and center. Book Two will follow Brynne, while Book Three will tell Lucy's story.
About Michelle:Michelle McLean is the author of historical and paranormal novels, including TO TRUST A THIEF (Entangled Scandalous Jan 2013), a historical trilogy, BLOOD BLADE SISTERS (Entangled Scandalous 2013), and a zombie fairy tale retelling WISH UPON A STAR (Entangled Ever After Oct 2013). She is also the author of the educational non-fiction book HOMEWORK HELPERS: ESSAYS AND TERM PAPERS.
Michelle has a B.S. in History, a M.A. in English, and tends to be a bit of an overly organized mess with an insatiable love of books and more weird quirks than you can shake a stick at. She is also a contributor on The Naked Hero, and the Operation Awesome, Scene 13, and Scandalous book blogs as well as maintaining her personal blog.
If she's not editing, reading or chasing her kids around, she can usually be found in a quiet corner working on her next book. Michelle resides in PA with her husband and two young children, an insanely hyper dog, and two very spoiled cats.
Michelle has a B.S. in History, a M.A. in English, and tends to be a bit of an overly organized mess with an insatiable love of books and more weird quirks than you can shake a stick at. She is also a contributor on The Naked Hero, and the Operation Awesome, Scene 13, and Scandalous book blogs as well as maintaining her personal blog.
If she's not editing, reading or chasing her kids around, she can usually be found in a quiet corner working on her next book. Michelle resides in PA with her husband and two young children, an insanely hyper dog, and two very spoiled cats.
Michelle’s Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/michellemclean
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.m.mclean
Twitter: https://twitter.com/michellemclean
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.m.mclean
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4253087.Michelle_McLean
Website/Blogs: http://www.authormichellemclean.com
http://thenakedhero.com/
http://operationawesome6.blogspot.com/
Website/Blogs: http://www.authormichellemclean.com
http://thenakedhero.com/
http://operationawesome6.blogspot.com/
Master thief Bryant Westley is also looking for the fabled necklace. He knows Min’s got information he can use so he poses as her dance instructor and tries to seduce it from her. What he doesn’t count on are his feelings for her. He offers to partner up in the search – even though she is a distraction he can’t afford.
Things become more complicated when Min realizes that her convenient engagement means more to her fake fiancé than her and that she’s fallen in love with Bryant. Bryant realizes that he can’t double cross the young lady he’s come to love. Can they find the necklace together and admit their love before it’s too late?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/To-Trust-A-Thief-ebook/dp/B00BFQDH8A/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1358727396&sr=1-1
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-trust-a-thief-michelle-mclean/1045656940?ean=2940016034812
Books on Board: http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=viewbook&BOOK=1457235&TITLE=To+Trust+a+Thief&AUTHOR=Michelle+McLean
Apple iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/to-trust-a-thief/id595225849?mt=11
Praise for TO TRUST A THIEF:
“This book has everything--chills, mystery, romance, and heartbreak. I loved every single page.” –Cole Gibsen, author of KATANA
“Michelle McLean's debut historical romance is a wonderful read. Filled with romance, mystery, intrigue and characters I could really care about, this is a fun read.” – Christine Fonseca, author of the Lacrimosa trilogy
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GIVEAWAY:
To enter to win an e-book copy of To Trust a Thief just leave a comment for Michelle with your email address. Book will be sent to the winner from the publisher.
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