The FABULOUS KATHLEEN BALDWIN

LADY FIASCO

My Notorious Aunt 

Book One

A Traditional Regency Romance

Ink Lion Books

Can a lady with a reputation for disaster, stumble into love?

An unusual heroine, Fiona Hawthorn grew up running free. Without a mother to restrain her, she spends her days riding her horse neck or nothing across her father’s fields and swimming like a sea nymph. But inside a prim and proper Regency sitting room Fiona is bound to overturn the teapot or accidentally trip the footman. Her illustrious Aunt Honore decides to take the hoyden in hand, but amidst the strictures of the Beau Monde, Fiona is a fish out of water.

When she was younger, Lord Wesmont was her hero. Sadly, he came home from fighting Napoleon a hardened man. Nothing can breathe life back into his cold heart, nothing except, perhaps, the love of an unusual young woman who regularly turns his life upside-down.

Lady Fiasco is a Sweet Traditional Regency Romance.

Read a little, Buy the book

KATHLEEN BALDWIN loves adventure. She roamed the Rockies, wandered the desert, enjoyed way too many classes in college, was stalked by a cougar, lost an argument with a rattlesnake, fell in love at least a dozen times, and married her very own hero. Together they’ve raised four free-spirited adventurous children. 

THE Q&A

ANGI: When you roamed the desert, what was the favorite thing you found?

KATHLEEN: Most people think the desert is barren and dry, but I loved hunting for hidden springs, and finding secret watering places hidden in the rocks. I still dream about squeezing through some rock wall and discovering a hidden oasis.

Here’s a photo my son took that shows what I mean.

ANGI: What's your most favorite time of day?

KATHLEEN: Afternoon. I adore afternoons. I feel so contented and languid in the afternoon. Some of my best writing occurs in the afternoon.   

ANGI: What's your favorite song and is there a YouTube video?

KATHLEEN: I’m kinda stuck on Andrew Bird, Fiest, and Band of Horses right now. I like almost all of Band of Horses songs, but I got hooked on No One’s Ever Gonna Love You. Their official video sounds good, but the visuals are weird. Here’s a better one.

ANGI: What do you see most often where you write?

KATHLEEN: Well, this is embarrassing…

I don’t see my shamefully messy desk, or the big ugly printer, or even the computer screen. I’m mind-walking in another world. Sometimes I even close my eyes so I can see it better.

I’m there.

It’s like a virtual reality for me. Have you seen that new show, Intelligence? I’m not saying I’m smart like that guy, but if you’ve seen him walk around a virtual crime scene, that’s how it feels for me. It’s as if I can walk around my characters and look at them and observe their environment.

For instance: my heroine in Lady Fiasco is upset because the Prince Regent just tripped while dancing with her. That’s not enough information for me. I have to get close and observe her face as she runs out of the ballroom. I want to know what she’s doing and seeing as she flees. I need to watch what’s happening around her?

Most of that never gets on the page; hopefully the significant bits do. I see the whole scene, complete with details, the characters’ emotions, and actions. I have to experience it or I can’t write it.

ANGI: Who’s your favorite villain?

KATHLEEN: Have you seen Three Musketeers with Milla Jovovich playing the part of Milady. She’s a fabulous villain. I adore that movie. Don’t miss it it you have4n’t seen it. Great fun. It’s a steampunk/alternate history/humourous/rendition of the musketeers. And it doesn’t hurt that it also stars Orlando Bloom and Matthew Macfadyen – two of my favorite actors. 

ANGI: If you lived in Regency England, would you want to be a debutante?

KATHLEEN: Heavens no. I’m afraid I’d be as klutzy as my heroine in LADY FIASCO. One thing I would like, though, is to be invisible and see what it was really like. We glamorize all of that ballroom stuff but day to day life was pretty harsh.  

ANGI: Where is your absolute favorite place to visit?

KATHLEEN: The wilderness. ANY wilderness. And the more mountainous the better. Yellowstone and the Tetons are big favorites. But last fall I had a wonderful time whitewater rafting on the Colorado in Moab. Here’s a photo of hubby and me on some easy stuff.

ANGI: If you had a fairy godmother, what would you wish for?

KATHLEEN: The ability to slow down time, except I’d be able to work at normal speed while everyone else was in slow motion. Wouldn’t that be awesome? I might actually catch up with everything I’m behind in.

ANGI’S GOTTA ASK: Tell us a little about your favorite thing in LADY FIASCO.

KATHLEEN's GOTTA ANSWER:  Well, I get a kick out of Fiona’s horribly sociopathic aunt. But my favorite thing is that my heroine, Fiona, is athletic and capable (she’s one of the rare women in the Regency era able to swim), but in a social setting she feels awkward and uncoordinated. That’s so me. My favorite scene is early on in the book when the hero thinks she’s in danger being at the lake by herself. She claims that she’d just jump in the water and swim away from any intruder. It ends with a challenge – a race.

FIND KATHLEEN:

Website   Facebook   Twitter  @KatBaldwin    Goodreads  

Pintrest    Blog     Previous GLIAS interviews:

UP NEXT for KATHLEEN:

MISTAKEN KISS will be out in eBook later this month. It is book two of the My Notorious Aunt series. This one is a nod to one of my favorite authors, Oscar Wilde. If you like Ideal Husband or the Importance of Being Ernest, you’ll enjoy Mistaken Kiss. It was a Holt Finalist and received 4.5 stars from RT.

Book three in the series: CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH will be released as an eBook in August.

STRANJE HOUSE, A School for Unusual Girls, will be out from TOR Teen in March 2015.

PREVIOUS RELEASED by KATHLEEN: 

I’m pleased that favorable reviews keep coming in my YA fantasy romance DIARY OF A TEENAGE FAIRY GODMOTHER. It now has 30 reviews and a 4.6 rating on Amazon.   

KATHLEEN'S giving away a free eBook copy of LADY FIASCO (international readers, too)

Note: COMMENTERS are encouraged to leave a contact email address to speed the prize notification process. Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address.

NEXT UP ON GLIAS: Join us tomorrow for Bill & Sharo Hopkins. I'll be back next week with Susan Meier.  ~Angi Morgan

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KATHLEEN WANTS TO KNOW: Who is your favorite villain?