I'm thrilled to welcome Christi to the blog for the first time!
USA TODAY Bestselling author CHRISTI CALDWELL blames Judith McNaught's "Whitney, My Love!" for luring her into the world of historical romance. While sitting in her graduate school apartment at the University of Connecticut, Christi decided to set aside her notes and pick up her laptop to try her hand at romance. She believes the most perfect heroes and heroines have imperfections, and she rather enjoys torturing them before crafting them a well deserved happily ever after!
Christi makes her home in southern Connecticut where she spends her time writing her own enchanting historical romances, chasing around her feisty seven year-old son and caring for her twin princesses in training!
Here's the blurb for Christi's latest release, The Heart of a Scoundrel.
Ruthless, wicked, and dark, the Marquess of Rutland rouses terror in the breast of ladies and nobleman alike. All Edmund wants in life is power. After he was publically humiliated by his one love Lady Margaret, he vowed vengeance, using Margaret’s niece, as his pawn. Except, he’s thwarted by another, more enticing target—Miss Phoebe Barrett.
Miss Phoebe Barrett knows precisely the shame she’s been born to. Because her father is a shocking letch she’s learned to form her own opinions on a person’s worth. After a chance meeting with the Marquess of Rutland, she is captivated by the mysterious man. He, too, is a victim of society’s scorn, but the more encounters she has with Edmund, the more she knows there is powerful depth and emotion to the jaded marquess.
The lady wreaks havoc on Edmund’s plans for revenge and he finds he wants Phoebe, at all costs. As she’s drawn into the darkness of his world, Phoebe risks being destroyed by Edmund’s ruthlessness. And Phoebe who desires love at all costs, has to determine if she can ever truly trust the heart of a scoundrel.
And an except to whet your appetite...
Everyone had their weaknesses. The trick to life was identifying those weaknesses and exploiting them; taking them and twisting them to suit one’s uses for that person. Edmund grinned. This was the moment where he’d effectively trapped Phoebe Barrett. “What of you, Phoebe? Do you, too, dream of far-off places and escaping,” he gestured about the walls of the museum. “This?”
She followed his gesture and then ultimately fixed her gaze upon that map trapped behind its crystal confines. “I do,” she said softly.
He put his lips close to her ear. “It begs the question, what would you escape from?” The safe answer she wasn’t aware of was, in fact, him.
Her brow creased. “That is a rather intimate question.” There was a faint hesitancy to those words that hinted at a logical, practical woman of some caution. She angled her head back, craning to look at him. “What if I were to say I’m not escaping but searching?” she asked, instead, proving she was not cautious enough, not when those unguarded words let him, a stranger, far more into her world than she should ever dare allow.
“And what are you searching for?"
For the span of a heartbeat that question was borne of a desire to know what would make a polished, English lady seek a life beyond the glittering world of their London Society. Why, when ladies were mercenary creatures, driven by greed and a lust for the material and their own pleasures?
Her expression grew shuttered. “I…” She flicked her gaze about and then settled her stare on his cravat.
He’d unnerved her. A triumphant sense of power filled him. It was entirely too easy.
“Do you know what I am searching for, Phoebe?” Revenge. Domination. Control.
Jan Schliesman: How often do you Get Lost In A Story?
Christi Caldwell: All day, every day. Stories are clamoring around my head, asking to be told. I’m a stay-at-home mother and author. So between nap times and driving my son about the state for therapy, there is a lot of time to get lost in my head.
Jan: Speaking of easy, what’s it like to write without distractions? (wink,wink;)
Christi: LOL! Oh, with my 7 year-old son and my one year-old twins, I have distractions a’plenty! ;) I require absolute silence to write. So I have learned to make the most of nap times, grandparent visits, and early bedtimes!
Jan: It was love at first sight when I met my hubby. What about you?
Christi: Yes!! It was love at first sight! Literally. I saw him in the hallways of my high-school when I was a sophomore. I was captivated. I remember saying to my good friend, “I’m going to marry that boy, someday.” She of course pointed out that I obviously had to speak to him first. Really valid point! And useful advice! ;) I introduced myself, and after one long-night phone call, we decided to ‘go-out’ exclusively! And we’ve been together ever since!
Jan: What snacks always occupy your writing space?
Christi: Diet-Lemon Snapple, and Jolly-Ranchers. : )
Jan: I went to your website and perused all of your book covers and there’s not a heaving bosom to be found. Most show the heroine’s back in a gorgeous ball gown. What’s up?
Christi: The gorgeous ball gowns came to be with my first series; the Scandalous Seasons. The series features feisty, strong, and confident heroines who teach their broken heroes loves. I wanted the covers to convey that heroine-centric concept.
Jan: While on your website, I found Uninterrupted Joy, the journal you wrote during your struggle to become pregnant. Can you share a few sentences about how being the parent of a special needs child changed your thinking of what’s truly important? (Jan & Tanner, 1997)
Christi: I always break my writing into two parts; the books I wrote before my son Rory was born, and the books I wrote afterwards. Before Rory, I had a vision of what I thought was important in life. When Rory was born and I learned of his diagnosis of Down syndrome, it threw into question everything I believed about the word perfect. Rory showed me the beauty of imperfection. The triumph to be found in struggle. The joy to be had in the simplest things. If he’d never come into my life, I would have continued along the same way; in a very uncomplicated, seemingly ‘perfect’ existence. But it wasn’t. He, through his imperfections showed me the true perfect of life…and that became the heart of every story I ever wrote, after Rory.
Jan: Any rituals you following while writing a book? Celebrate a certain way when it’s completed?
Christi: I have no special rituals when I finish a book! I’m just so eager to dive into the next one! I do celebrate the night it releases with chocolate ice cream or going out to dinner with my family.
Jan’s GOTTA ASK:
Christi’s GOTTA ANSWER: Oh, I’m glad I mentioned the ice cream celebration I have on release day, then! ;) Always chocolate.
Up next: To Wed His Christmas Lady, Book 7 in the Heart of a Duke series.
FIND CHRISTI CALDWELL:
Twitter: @ChristiCaldwell
Thanks so much, Christi, for sharing your writing world with us. Christi is giving away TWO autographed copies of her latest release, The Heart of a Scoundrel.
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Australia native Avril Tremayne is our Facebook party guest from 6-7:00 pm
Welcome to my special guests Naomi Stone (11:00 a.m.) and Barbara Longley (3:30 p.m.) And watch for my pop-in giveaways throughout the day, too. (Including some previews of my brand-new book coming in February!) I'm so excited to be partying with everyone today!
Naomi Stone is a Minnesota author who writes smart and fun contemporary fantasy. 
Barbara Longley is an award-winning and Amazon Best Selling author of contemporary and Celtic timetravel romance--perfect for today's party theme! 
