Friday, September 5, 2014

Nancy Lee Badger Presents Angela Quarles

Angela has published a book I have waited for, for some time. She had mentioned it on various writer loops, and I could not help but fall in love with the title, Must Love Breeches. Take it away, Angela!

I know a common question writers are asked is: Where do you get your ideas? So I thought I’d share how my time travel romance Must Love Breeches came into being.

The original germ for this story was wondering who would be cool to meet if I went back in time. I’d originally conceived going back to Jane Austen’s era, but that idea has been well-trodden. But I knew I’d like to go back to around that time, so I kept noodling around for historical figures in that era that the heroine might meet. When I came across Ada Lovelace, I had my answer. Born Augusta Ada Byron, she was the only legitimate daughter of the famous poet and bad boy Lord Byron and his wife, Annabella Milbanke. What a tumultuous and intriguing marriage that was! I had a hard time reining in Lady Byron in this story, as my interpretation of her personality is not favorable, and she was just oh-so annoying to me. I had many more scenes with her, as she lent herself easily to being an antagonist, but this novel isn’t supposed to be a rant about her and they were cut.

At first I toyed with the idea of having the heroine be a love interest for Charles Babbage, and that the heroine would then be the reason (inspiration) for him completing the Analytical Engine. But I was fleshing out this story in October for NaNoWriMo, and I knew that in order for him to be the hero, much more research into his life and personality would have to happen than I had time for before the competition started, so he was dropped as the hero (poor Charles). I’m glad I made that decision! Babbage does appear in one scene though, so there’s that. Ada, however, remained as a main secondary character and I had a lot of fun researching her and her accomplishments.

The title took me until the third draft or so, however. It started out as A Heart for Every Fate, which was a line from a poem by Lord Byron, but it didn’t fit the story’s tone. Then it became To Our Future, but that suffered from the same problem. I work in a bookstore and was making up puns off of titles in the store, and Must Love Dogs had me think of Must Love Breeches and I knew I had my title.

I have asked Angela to share 3 things readers might not know about her:
1)  I once tried learning Irish Gaelic! Whoah, was that a challenge! And that’s coming from someone who’d once learned Finnish, which is often touted as one of the more difficult languages. But yeah, Irish Gaelic was definitely much more difficult and I gave up after a bi

2)  In my twenties I directed a small local history museum outside of Atlanta.

3)  Patrick Henry, of “Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death” fame, is my 5th-great uncle (I’m descended from his sister)

BOOK BLURB
She's finally met the man of her dreams. There's only one problem: he lives in a different century.

"A fresh, charming new voice" – New York Times bestselling author Tessa Dare

HOW FAR WOULD YOU TRAVEL FOR LOVE?

A mysterious artifact zaps Isabelle Rochon to pre-Victorian England, but before she understands the card case’s significance a thief steals it. Now she must find the artifact, navigate the pitfalls of a stiffly polite London, keep her time-traveling origins a secret, and resist her growing attraction to Lord Montagu, the Vicious Viscount so hot, he curls her toes.

To Lord Montagu nothing makes more sense than keeping his distance from the strange but lovely Colonial. However, when his scheme for revenge reaches a stalemate, he convinces Isabelle to masquerade as his fiancée. What he did not bargain on is being drawn to her intellectually as well as physically.

Lord Montagu’s now constant presence overthrows her equilibrium and her common sense. Isabelle thought all she wanted was to return home, but as passion flares between them, she must decide when her true home—as well as her heart—lies.

Excerpt from Must Love Breeches

A reenactment ball was the perfect setting for romance. Or not.
Isabelle Rochon fidgeted in her oddly-shaped-but-oh-so-accurate ball gown, surrounded by women who’d sacrificed historical authenticity for sex appeal. Red carpet ball gowns in the nineteenth century, really? Once again she was like the dorky kid participating in dress-up day at school when everyone else had magically decided it was lame.
“Gah. I feel like a green robot with strange battle armor.” Isabelle pointed to her dark green dress, the shoulders flaring out almost to a point, exaggerating their width. “What were the fashionistas in 1834 thinking?”
“I have no bloody idea.” Jocelyn squeezed the poof of fabric at her shoulder. “These huge-ass sleeves are ridiculous.”
“Ah, screw it, we’re having fun, right? I’m not going to self-sabotage the ball. Not after all the time I spent obsessing over my costume.”
“And obsessing over the etiquette rules.”
“That too.” Besides, how fun was it to learn Jocelyn shared her obsession with guys in period clothes and bodice-ripper romances?
Isabelle eyed a guy strolling past in tight-fitting, buff-colored pantaloons. She pitched her voice to be heard over the string quartet. “Hmm. How about the clothes on that daring derriere?”
Jocelyn sucked on her olive and plopped the empty stir stick into her martini. “Oh, yes. Definitely a breech-ripper.”
Isabelle choked on her Bellini, the champagne fizz tickling her throat and nose. This was the first opportunity they’d had to socialize outside work, so she treated this moment delicately, afraid to puncture the mood. No need to point out he sported pantaloons, not breeches.
She should ease up on the drink, though. She didn’t want to get plastered at the Thirty-fourth Annual Prancing Through History Reenactment Ball. Especially since her new colleagues would be around. And her boss. She needed to impress him.

How can my readers buy your book?  
Amazon (universal)    Kobo     ARe   

What’s next for you?
Now that I've embraced being an indie, I plan to indie publish my steampunk romance, Steam Me Up, Rawley, set in Mobile in 1890, in January/February of 2015. After that, it will be Book 2 in the Must Love series, which will be Must Love Chainmail, another time travel, this time set during Madog's rebellion in 1294 Wales. 

More about the author
Angela Quarles is a geek girl romance writer whose works includes Must Love Breeches, a time travel romance, and Beer & Groping in Las Vegas, a geek romantic comedy in novelette form. She has a B.A. in Anthropology and International Studies with a minor in German from Emory University, and a Masters in Heritage Preservation from Georgia State University. She currently resides in a historic house in the beautiful and quirky town of Mobile, AL.

You can find more information about
 Angela Quarles and her book, 
Must Love Breeches 
at:
blog    

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