8/08/2012

Meet Miss Emma Wallingford, heroine of SWEET DECEPTION



Lady criminologist, Miss Emma Wallingford, unknowingly finds herself tangled in the dangerous final mission of Lord Derick Aveline, a spy who also happens to be her long lost first love. But when deception, however sweet, is the name of the game, no one can be trusted. And every love—and every life—is at risk. (Second in the Veiled Seduction Series).

Meet Emma Wallingford…

Thank you for coming back to celebrate the release of my second novel, SWEET DECEPTION, which was released yesterday!

Also yesterday, I introduced you to our hero, Derick Aveline. Today, meet his childhood nemesis turned heroine, Miss Emma Wallingford.

The Inspiration:
For me, Emma was a cross between Professor Charlie Epps, from the crime show, NUMB3RS and Professor Temperance Brennan, from the crime show, Bones. (Is it any surprise, then, that throughout most of Sweet Deception, Emma is hunting a killer?)









If I were better in photo shop, I would play around and see what kind of face I could come up with from these two, but I think the art department at NAL did a fantastic job, and indeed, I looked at this early rendering of Emma many times while writing.


Now, let’s introduce you…

NAME: Emma Annalise Wallingford (29)



THE OUTER PERSON:

A firecracker. As petite as Derick is tall, she is compact and full of energy.  She is delicate boned, with wide shoulders.  Her eyes have an endearing asymmetrical shape, with the right eye being slightly larger and more almond shaped, her nostril a touch larger, her lip slightly more plump…a fact that the perfectionist in her has always noticed. Her eyes are amber, glowing almost gold against her pale skin and dark hair. Her teeth are tiny, white and straight and her smile is kind, and while given freely to those around her, is rarely used for herself.



She moves quickly, is always moving…on the go, mentally and/or physically.  When she is working mentally, some part of her can’t stand still, she constantly rubs the fingers and thumb of her left hand in  circles against each other.  Maybe to activate both sides of her brain?



She dresses practically, with little use for fripperies and will, indeed, throw on anything available.



THE INNER PERSON:

Miss Emma Annalise Wallingford is…well, peculiar.  Not in a bad way, of course, but everyone in her small northern Derbyshire village has known since she was a child that Emma possessed a mind unlike most, brilliant in a way that escapes their understanding.  And while many consider it wasted on a woman, the villagers and businesses have come to rely on Emma’s sharp mind and logic, as more than once her suggestions have helped the town and its people prosper.   As the sister of the local magistrate, Emma has gradually taken over her brother’s position since the accident several years ago that left him in a rolling chair and that has since deteriorated his faculties.  While Emma enjoys her role, she also feels out of place.  She finds it somewhat difficult to relate to others…her mind works on a different plane, and she can be overly literal, very black and white. She’s perceived as eccentric but she feels socially awkward.
She’s also obsessed with perfection, hence—or perhaps because of— her love for mathematics and its perfect nature, and is therefore hyperaware of her own imperfections.   Still, overall she’s happy, though a desire to do more with her abilities and energy burns within her.  Mostly through correspondence, she has been working on a large scale project aimed at using statistics and cartography/geography to better discern patterns and find a correlation between crime, poverty and education levels to fulfill that need. The realities of her personality and of the life she has chosen, as well as a painful broken engagement have convinced her she’s not destined for love or marriage, but she believes all lives have a purpose, and plans to use her gifts to benefit mankind.



I hope, with these brief introductions, you can see how the logical, practical Emma and Derick, the spy who relies on gut instincts, will clash.

Come back tomorrow to learn one of the movies behind the theme of SWEET DECEPTION…

Leave a comment for me today to be entered into a drawing for a copy of my debut, SWEET ENEMY (or if you've already read it, I will substitute another historical romance...many to choose from!) You MUST leave your e-mail in the comments section to be eligible… Here's a question for you: Who have been some of your favorite female criminologists, past or present, from books, television or movies?

Heather Snow is a historical romance author with a degree in Chemistry who discovered she much preferred creating chemistry on the page, rather than in the lab.  She lives in the Midwest with her husband, two rambunctious boys and one very put upon cat.  Find out more or connect with Heather at:

Facebook www.facebook.com/AuthorHeatherSnow
Twitter www.twitter.com/HeatherSnowRW



SWEET DECEPTION Available NOW:

Books-A-Million
IndieBound
I-Books
Walmart

18 comments:

  1. My favorite is Dana Scully from The X-Files. I love how she always tries to look for a scientific reason for everything that occurs. She and Mulder definitely complement each other.

    janie1215 AT excite DOT com

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  2. One of my favorites is Catherine from CSI. A former stripper and single mom trying to get the job done.
    mce1011 AT aol DOT com

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  3. I think i don't have any favorites female criminologists

    eli_y83@yahoo.com

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  4. Hi Heather -

    When I think of my favorite mysteries I immediately think back to 1959 when I was 12 and would go to the local library to find the newest Nancy Drew mystery. They originally came out in 1930 and were written by a variety of writers but had been updated starting in 1959 but were revised starting in 1959.

    At the time when you thought of a "detective" a female didn't automatically come to mind and I feel that it helped form the idea to young girls that they could advance of their skills into the working world and jobs that we take for granted today.

    jeannemiro(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  5. Congrats on the newest release! Loved Sweet Enemy :)

    I think that I'm gonna throw in my vote for Dana Scully from X-files too. I loved that series, for how weird and outrageous it was and for how they always dangled a Scully/Mulder romance.

    efender1(at)gmail(dot)com

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  6. Good morning everyone!

    I love hearing about everyone's smart, tough heroines. (And yes, I totally agree with you about Nancy Drew, Jeanne!)

    Thanks for coming by to celebrate with me.

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  7. Heather- I love Temprance. She's fabulous and she would my all time fave for tv.
    countessofmar AT yahoo DOT com

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  8. I don't have a favorite. By the way, the book cover is lovely.
    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  9. I too grew up with Nancy Drew (and The Hardy Boys), and later Agatha Christie. Loved, loved, loved those books.

    I also enjoyed Stephanie Zimbalist's "Laura Holt" character on REMINGTON STEELE (although Pierce Brosnan was nothing to sneeze at, LOL) and Stefanie Powers' "Jennifer Hart" character on HART TO HART.

    seytype at hotmail dot com

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  10. I can't really think of many female criminologist besides the girl from Bones. I know I'll think of someone as soon as I leave this comment. =)

    iqb99@yahoo.com

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  11. Congratulations, Heather! Great character introduction. Looking forward to the read!

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  12. I always enjoyed Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. She seemed like a harmless old woman, but she was sharp as a tack. :D Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum is a great criminologist as well.
    I loved Sweet Enemy and I'm really looking forward to reading Sweet Deception.

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  13. Congratulations on the book! I like the criminologists on CSI.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  14. Jane Rizzoli is one of my favorite criminologists, which I'm interpreting as a detective. :)
    lvsgund at gmail.com

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  15. I guess one of my first criminologists that I loved was Dr. Kaye Scarpetta, a medical examiner in a series by Patricia Cornwell. I followed this series for years before making the move to romances :)
    Congrats on your new release! It sounds so great.
    June
    manning_J2004 at yahoo dot com

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  16. Lol, funny how even before I read this post I found a lot of similarities between dr. Temperance Brennan (aka Bones) and Emma: I just loved how she jumbled up those sayings, made me think of Bones' "I don't know what that means" moments :-)

    I also like Kate Beckett, who is a cop so basically a criminologist even if she isn't such a scientist...

    stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com

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  17. I like Laura Holt from Remington Steele, Kate Beckett from Castle and Temperence Brennan from Bones.

    penfield716(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

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  18. I like Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote and Miss Marple.

    yenastone at aol dot com

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