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:
Rainy
Day Books (my local indie)
Amazon (Kindle Edition)
Amazon (Mass Market Paperback)
Barnes and Noble
The Book Depository (free shipping worldwide)
Books-A-MillionAmazon (Kindle Edition)
Amazon (Mass Market Paperback)
Barnes and Noble
The Book Depository (free shipping worldwide)
IndieBound
I-Books
Walmart
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.
ReplyDeletejanie1215 AT excite DOT com
One of my favorites is Catherine from CSI. A former stripper and single mom trying to get the job done.
ReplyDeletemce1011 AT aol DOT com
I think i don't have any favorites female criminologists
ReplyDeleteeli_y83@yahoo.com
Hi Heather -
ReplyDeleteWhen 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
Congrats on the newest release! Loved Sweet Enemy :)
ReplyDeleteI 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
Good morning everyone!
ReplyDeleteI 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.
Heather- I love Temprance. She's fabulous and she would my all time fave for tv.
ReplyDeletecountessofmar AT yahoo DOT com
I don't have a favorite. By the way, the book cover is lovely.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
I too grew up with Nancy Drew (and The Hardy Boys), and later Agatha Christie. Loved, loved, loved those books.
ReplyDeleteI 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
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. =)
ReplyDeleteiqb99@yahoo.com
Congratulations, Heather! Great character introduction. Looking forward to the read!
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI loved Sweet Enemy and I'm really looking forward to reading Sweet Deception.
Congratulations on the book! I like the criminologists on CSI.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Jane Rizzoli is one of my favorite criminologists, which I'm interpreting as a detective. :)
ReplyDeletelvsgund at gmail.com
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 :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new release! It sounds so great.
June
manning_J2004 at yahoo dot com
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 :-)
ReplyDeleteI 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
I like Laura Holt from Remington Steele, Kate Beckett from Castle and Temperence Brennan from Bones.
ReplyDeletepenfield716(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
I like Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote and Miss Marple.
ReplyDeleteyenastone at aol dot com