10 Fascinating Facts from Alyssa Alexander’s IN BED WITH A SPY!

What a treat I have for you today! I typically feature contemporary writer friends of mine. I am DELIGHTED to draw your attention to a fresh, outstanding voice on the historical fiction scene. Alyssa Alexander, an incredibly gifted writer, garnered praise from critics and readers alike with her debut THE SMUGGLER WORE SILK. She has come back even stronger with book two of her A Spy In The Ton series, IN BED WITH A SPY.  Both books are RT Top picks. Alyssa is my agent buddy and someone I have loved getting to know. Why don’t you get to know her right now? 🙂

 

 

Thank you, Kennedy, for having me! I’m excited to share my next book with everyone, and even more thrilled to be here today.

Writing a book is both a joy and a labor of love: details to keep straight, writing when my fingers can’t move quickly enough to keep up with my brain, and writing when my muse is being stubborn. And sometimes I write in the strangest places, such as on the back of an envelope at a gas station because it’s the only piece of paper in my purse. But it’s always, always, a dream come true. For me, that dream continues tomorrow (!), when my second book in the A Spy In The Ton series, IN BED WITH A SPY, hits the shelves.

 

There are also funny moments and inspirational moments when writing a book, and times where I simply put my head in my hands and realize I’m crazy. Here are a few of those moments during the writing of IN BED WITH A SPY.

1. I wrote almost the entire first draft of IN BED WITH A SPY in the coffee shop across the road from my day job. I think I lived on tall skim chai lattes for a good six months.
2.  In one scene, I state the number of seconds in an hour…and I miscalculated. Thank you to the copyeditor who noticed I’m really bad at math!
3.  I listened to the theme from Mission Impossible while writing the action scenes. I may, or may not, have acted out a few of those scenes in my home office as well. I promise the curtains were closed, however, so my neighbors didn’t run away screaming.
4.  Come Away With Me by Norah Jones is the inspiration for the emotional sex scenes because, first, there is song-writing in this book, and second, it’s all about lies. And if only Angel and Lilias could leave all the lies behind, life and love would be a lot simpler.
5.  I spent hours researching the color of British heavy and light cavalry officer uniforms (scarlet and blue, respectively) and whether they used swords or sabres (again, respectively), and I still got it wrong and had to change it during the edits. In fact, despite the hours of research, I even had to double check it for this post.
6.  I tossed out and completely rewrote the last 100 pages…about six weeks before my deadline. But, oh, is the ending better for it!
7.  I spent at least two hours researching carriage lamps, what they were made of, and whether they were actually invented or something I’d conjured in my imagination—and finally came across a patent for them a few years before the book took place. Turns out, they’re real. Yay!
8.  The hero, Angel, has a crooked nose because it was broken, which, as our heroine Lilias noted, saves him from the burden of perfection. You’ll have to read the end of book #1 in the series, THE SMUGGLER WORE SILK, to find out how it happened.
9.  I spent hours and hours and hours—weeks, really—researching violins, what they were made of, how one played them, and how to keep them in good working order. I also spent a lot of time on YouTube watching violin videos…There is a very, very good-looking model who is an amazing violinist as well.
10.  Last but not least, the working title was Deception. I’m very, very glad it was renamed IN BED WITH A SPY! Enjoy!

Thanks again for having me, Kennedy, and I hope everyone has a glimpse into not only some fun facts about IN BED WITH A SPY, but the writing process as well. Since I’ve teased you with some details, here is the prologue of IN BED WITH A SPY. (And now you know why I had to research British uniforms and weapons!)

 

June 18, 1815

On a bloody field near Waterloo

 The woman shouldn’t have been in the thick of battle. But she rose out of the acrid smoke, perched high atop a chestnut horse and wearing the blue coat of a light cavalry officer.

The Marquess of Angelstone staggered through rows of trampled corn, shock rippling through him as the woman’s sabre flashed. A shrill whistle sounded overhead. Instinctively, Angel ducked as cannon artillery pounded into the ranks, blasting into the earth and showering him with dirt and black powder.

The woman on horseback didn’t flinch.

He staggered forward, coughing, ears ringing, as soldiers around him fell or scattered. Pressing a hand to his jacket pocket, Angel fingered the square shape of the letter he carried there. He hadn’t known he’d have to fight his way to Wellington to deliver it.

The horse turned a tight circle, one of the woman’s hands gripping the reins while the other brandished a cavalry sabre. Her grip on the blade was untrained, her movements awkward.

But fury and hate blazed from her eyes and fueled her sabre as it sliced across the chest of a French soldier. The man collapsed, shrieking and clutching at welling blood.

The woman turned away, already arcing her sabre toward another enemy soldier, and Angel lost sight of her.

Reflex sent Angel’s bayonet plunging as a Frenchman reared up in front of him, face contorted by fear. When the man screamed, regret shot through Angel before he forced it away. It was kill or be killed. There was no time for regret.

He surged forward with the ranks of foot soldiers, compelled to look for the woman. The muddied ground sucked at his feet, threatening to pull him beneath thundering hooves and panicked soldiers. Broken cornstalks slashed at his face. The sulfur smell of black powder burned his nose, mixing with the scent of men’s fear.

He fought past a charging enemy soldier, spun away from another and saw her again.

Soot streaked her grim face. She grinned at the enemy standing before her—and the smile was terrible. The man paled, but aimed his rifle at her. He was not fast enough to beat her sword.

When that soldier, too, fell under her sabre, she looked up. Over the dead soldier and through the swirling gray smoke, Angel met her eyes. They were a chilling, pale blue and held only one thing.

Vengeance.

She pulled on the reins and her horse reared up, hooves pawing at the air. Angel planted his feet and braced for impact. But the hooves never struck. The woman kept her seat, her jaw clenched, and continued to hold his gaze.

The battle faded away, booming cannons falling on his deaf ears. The gray, writhing smoke veiled every dying soldier, every hand-to-hand battle being waged around him.

He only saw her merciless eyes. Blood roared in his ears and the beat of his pulse became as loud as the cannons. A high, powerful note sang through him.

The woman’s horse whinnied as its hooves struck the earth again. Standing in the stirrups, she thrust her sword aloft and howled. The battle cry echoed over the field and carried with it the sting of rage and unfathomable grief. She wheeled the horse, spurred his sides and charged through battling soldiers, her blond hair streaming behind her.

And she was gone, obscured by clouds of dark smoke and the chaos of battle.

 

Alyssa Alexander is the author of THE SMUGGLER WORE SILK, which garnered 4.5 Stars and Top Pick from Romantic Times and has been nominated for 2014 Best First Historical by Romantic Times. Her second book, IN BED WITH A SPY, releases December 2, and received 4.5 Stars and Top Pick from Romantic Times as well as a Starred Review from Publisher’s Weekly. She is a Google-Fu aficionado, lives with entirely too many cats, and is grateful every day for the wonderful Mr. Alexander and her small boy-child, Biscuit, who often wears a knight-in-shining-armor costume. She also likes bacon, thunderstorms, very high heels and long naps.

 

 

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IN BED WITH A SPY

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