**Please note: the giveaway is now closed.  Winner will be announced shortly.

As promised, I’ve got a another giveaway this week. . . .

I’m delighted to welcome Sherry Thomas today!

Sherry and I met last year at the RWA conference in D.C. and got a chance to hang out at the RT Convention in Columbus this past April–and I have to tell you, she is a riot.  And I’m such a fun of her writing–she writes fabulously angst-y, emotionally complex historical romances.  I read Delicious last year after meeting Sherry and loved it.  So when I saw her newest release, His At Night, available in the RT goody room I immediately snatched up a copy and devoured it as soon as I got home from the conference.   Here’s a little more about the book:

Elissande Edgerton is a desperate woman, a virtual prisoner in the home of her tyrannical uncle. Only through marriage can she claim the freedom she craves. But how to catch the perfect man?

Lord Vere is used to baiting irresistible traps. As a secret agent for the government, he’s tracked down some of the most devious criminals in London, all the while maintaining his cover as one of Society’s most harmless—and idiotic—bachelors. But nothing can prepare him for the scandal of being ensnared by Elissande.

Forced into a marriage of convenience, Elissande and Vere are each about to discover they’re not the only one with a hidden agenda. With seduction their only weapon against each other—and a dark secret from the past endangering both their lives—can they learn to trust each other even as they surrender to a passion that won’t be denied?

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So without further ado, here’s Sherry to tell us more about His At Night and her writing process:

Q. When did you first realize you wanted to write, and how did you get started?

I wrote bits and pieces of—what else?—love scenes throughout college, but never really thought about a whole book because I didn’t know where the stories would go beyond their opening love scenes.  (They were kind of awesome, by the way, full of old romance chestnuts mixed with the most overdone sci-fi clichés.  If you want a virgin courtesan whose clothes split apart along electromagnetic lines embedded in the fabric, I’m your gal.)

Then I read a bad romance when I had the least patience for bad romances, threw the book across the room, and declared to my husband that I could do better.  Wise man that he was—and is–he said nothing as I spent the next eight years not getting published.

Q. What is it about writing romance that appeals to you?

You mean besides virgin courtesans whose clothes split apart along electromagnetic lines embedded in the fabric?  : )

I like creating characters and testing them in all kinds of trying situations.  I like fiddling with words.  I love the community of readers and writers.

Once upon a time I heard about this survey on what women would most like to be and romance writers came in second, right after goddess.  So really, it’s all good.

Q. What do you do on those writing days when you’re stressed, worn out, or distracted?

 

I eat, I goof, I play computer games and surf the interwebs endlessly.  What can I say?  I have the worst self-control ever.  When distractions appear, I wave the white flag without shame or hesitation.  So I can only be thankful that I’m not stressed or fatigued all the time!

Q. What can you tell us about your current release?

 

His at Night is my attempt at light fare.  The premise is that of a gentleman spy who pretends to be an idiot, which lends itself to all kinds of comical situations.  And then he is trapped in marriage by the one young woman he wants to avoid above all, so now he’s totally screwed–and the fun really begins.

Q. Can you share a brief excerpt from the book?

 

I’m sending this tidbit because it made my husband laugh out loud.

 

“But do you know what the most important aspect of judging a dairy cow is?”

“No, I‘m sure I don‘t, my lord,” she said, stabbing her knife into the muffin on her plate.

“Mammary development, Miss Edgerton, worth a whopping thirty-five percent of the overall score. The udder must be very large and very flexible. The teats must be of a nice size and evenly placed. Milk veins, extensive; milk wells, capacious.”

He was no longer looking at her face but at her chest. “I don‘t believe I‘ve viewed a dairy cow quite the same since. Now when I see cows, instead of just saying to myself, ‘Oh, look, cows,‘ I study their udders and teats for their conformity to the principles of animal husbandry—and for the sheer enjoyableness of studying udders and teats, of course.”

Q.  Fun questions: What are you watching on TV these days? (Or what are you reading?)

 

Not so fun answer: We don’t watch TV in our house.  Not for any noble reasons, but because when our Senior Kidlet was a tot, he would be so enthralled by the TV that we couldn’t budge him to do anything else.  So one day we made the decision to just turn off the TV.  It wasn’t a permanent decision, but as we weren’t following any particular shows on TV at that particular moment in time, we didn’t really miss it.

This, however, doesn’t mean we never watch any TV shows.  If we hear enough about it, we’ll get around to it.  I watched the first three seasons of House on DVD, the fourth season kinda lost me though.  We recently finished the whole series of the rebooted Battlestar Galactica—loved it so much!  And within the last two weeks we zoomed through the first two seasons of Lost.

And Mad Men and Glee, someday.

The most recent book I finished is an apocalyptical YA called Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.  I got it after Senior Kidlet requested it, but then I got totally into it.  And finished it in front of my shower, naked, because I’d stripped for my wash, but couldn’t put the book down.

Q. What are you listening to on your Ipod?

 

Hanging head in shame: I don’t have an Ipod.  And you probably guessed it: my cell phone doesn’t do anything except making phone calls.  I’m so amazingly low-tech sometimes it takes my breath away.  : )

Q. What is your biggest weakness (shoes, purses, chocolate, etc.)?

 

Hmm, first you have me doubt my fitness for modern life, now you have me doubt my chromosomes: I have very few pairs of shoes, hardly any purses, and don’t generally keep chocolates at home—although I will gladly eat them elsewhere!

As a person, I don’t have any consistent weakness, i.e., nothing my husband can point to and commiserate with his friends about—if he were the kind of man to complain his wife before others, which he most definitely is not.  Thank goodness for the strong, silent type.  : )

What I do have are fits and bursts of situational madness.  There was a time when I lugged in tons of clothes from White House Black Market.  Their clothes fit me so well, but ultimately I can’t live on just two colors.  Not long ago I’d buy huge containers of roasted pepper hummus and bags of pita chips from Costco, and then just sit down and demolish it all—until I realize the havoc that much hummus and pita chips wreaked on my butt.  And then from time to time there would be casual games that get me so addicted I have to delete them from my computer, because I can’t get anything else done.

I really miss scarfing down a tub of hummus at a go.

Q. Complete this sentence: One fun thing about me that people might not know is……

 

From everything I’ve said so far—no TV, no music, no nothing–it might seem to folks that I’m completely disconnected from pop culture.  But that is the furthest thing from the truth.  I learn everything I need to know from celebrity gossip blogs.  I know the stars of movies, TV, music, and even sports. I know who has slept with whom and who hates whom, who’s popular, who is cheap, who is genuinely nice, and who is completely fake.

And of course I know the latest situation in the Jolie-Pitt household!

* * *

Thanks for joining us, Sherry!  For all of you, Sherry has generously offered to give away a copy of His At Night to one lucky person who leaves a comment or question below.  The giveaway will remain open until 10pm CST on Friday, July 2nd.  More information about Sherry and her books can be found at her website.

Good luck and happy reading!