Interview and Giveaway with Lydia Dare - authors of The Taming of the Wolf

I'd like to welcome the writing duo of Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson, also known as Lydia Dare, authors of a fantastic historical paranormal romance series. I had a few questions and they were more than willing to answer:

In the third book in the series, The Wolf Next Door, Dash was quite the villain. In your current release, The Taming of The Wolf, he is the hero. I didn’t think I’d like Dash but I really did! I also loved that Cait didn’t just accept him and fought him every step of the way. Is it difficult to come up with new scenarios to create conflict between the hero and heroine?

Lydia/Jodie – Thanks, Patti. I’m so glad you ended up liking Dash after all. I don’t think we’ve had any issues with coming up with new scenarios yet. I think all of our heroes have been different from each other and the same goes for our heroines. And for me, that makes the story easy to write. Dash will react differently in any given situation than Ben or Simon would, so the story will be different because he’s the main character. Same goes for the heroines. Cait will make a different choice than Elspeth would, and so on.

Lydia/Tammy – Running out of conflict is impossible, in my opinion, especially when you have meddlesome coven-sisters to help it along should you get stuck. Those ladies are an endless supply of trouble.

Lydia Dare is actually two authors working together - I’m always interested in how a writing team works. How did you meet and begin writing as a team? Did either of you write alone before you became Lydia Dare?

Lydia/Jodie – We both belong to Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, based in Raleigh NC. Tammy and I both joined at the same time and became friends a few years before we decided to try writing together. I have a handful of finished manuscripts that are solely mine, but before writing novels, I was screenwriting.

Lydia/Tammy – We were both writing solo. I had one book published with a small press and was writing a contemporary paranormal when I met Jodie. We started writing these books kind of like a game of round robin, and I don’t think either of ever thought anything would come of it. But two months after we started, we had a complete manuscript. Not long after, we’d sold the series and we now have ten books coming out with Sourcebooks.

Have you always known the storyline from the beginning or do you just write as it takes you? Do you know how many books will be in the series? We’ve already met wolves and witches, and coming up we’ll meet vampires. Are there any other supernatural creatures lurking around?

Lydia/Jodie – We never know what will happen in a story, just that it will have a happy ever after ending. We know who our characters are when we start the book and we know what conflict we’re starting off with, but no idea how we get to the end. :) As of right now there will be a total of 10 books in the series. The four that came out 2010, three scheduled for release in 2011, and three more that we’re just starting on for 2012. Anything can happen after that. As for other supernatural creatures, we’ve talked about a couple different options, but we haven’t seriously considered anything else yet.

Lydia/Tammy – In Tall, Dark and Wolfish, Ben mentions that witches aren’t real. And the thought of going out to find one to heal him is ludicrous. So, even though there were witches and Lycans in our fictional world, they didn’t know of one another’s existence. The same goes for vampyres. In light of this, I think there could definitely be other beings in the Regency period.

It looks like the next two books will feature vampires and the witches. Will we still see the wolves around?

Lydia/Jodie – Actually the next three books will feature vampyres and the remaining witches of Caitrin’s coven. Benjamin Westfield has a cameo in each book as his wife is part of the same coven and therefore connected to the other witchy heroines. Poor Ben, those witches do love to torture him.

Lydia/Tammy – There’s nothing I like more than a cameo from a former hero and heroine in a series. I like to see how they’ve wizened and how they’ve grown. I also like to see them have children or otherwise live happily ever after. So, I think you’ll see more of all the original “cast” before this series is over.

In your Wolf books, the wolves mate for life and only change at the full moon; are the “rules” for vampires the traditional ones that follow common folklore or do you add any twists?

Lydia/Jodie – I think our vampyres follow the common folklore for the most part. No walking in sunlight unless you have a special piece of jewelry, etc. There is one major difference, but it would be a complete spoiler, so I can’t reveal it.

Lydia/Tammy – I think they’re completely different from the stereotype. But only OUR vampyres are different in that way. A former generation of the Còig set the stage for our vamps to be quite special. And I hope the readers find it to be a refreshing change.

What types of books do you like to read for fun? Do you read books in your genre or do you prefer to stay away when reading for pleasure?

Lydia/Jodie – I used to read ALL the time, and mainly historical romance. Tammy likes to say I live in the 19th Century, and that’s kind of true. These days, we’re so busy that I really only have time to peruse research books. I need a vacation with a stack of books so I can get caught up on the latest offerings of my favorite authors.

Lydia/Tammy – When we’re writing wolves, I try to stay away from wolf books. When we’re writing vampyres, I stay away from those. I want to try to keep our characters and their world as unique as possible and always afraid something I’ve read will seep into my writing. But I love historicals. I read a lot on my iPad, when I can find the time.


Thanks so much ladies for stopping by; I love the wolves and can't wait to meet the vampyres!

The Giveaway: Thanks to Sourcebooks, I have 1 set of the 4 Lydia Dare Books (A Certain Wolfish Charm, Tall Dark and Wolfish, The Wolf Next Door and The Taming of the Wolf)to give away - 1 winner, US and Canada only, please.

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Contest ends Friday, December 3.

THE TAMING OF THE WOLF BY LYDIA DARE—IN STORES NOVEMBER 2010
A fresh and imaginative world of noble werewolves, each of whom encounters nearly insurmountable problems in his quest to live a normal life among England’s Regency society.

Dashiel Thorpe has grown up with the sobriquet “The monster of Eynsford.” Each full moon, when he turns into a wild beast, he has been chained to the wall to protect those around him. He has never before encountered a creature like himself, until he goes to visit his university friend and encounters a family of Lycans living just next door.

When the full moon turns the pack of them into wolves, Dashiel’s feral ways bring him to near-disaster, and when he bites Caitrin McLeod he unknowingly sets off a chain of events that could lead to his ultimate destruction.

Banished to Scotland to find a mentor and get trained in how to be a proper werewolf, Dashiel must also find Caitrin and persuade her that she’s his only chance for salvation…

About the Author
Lydia Dare is the writing team of Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson. Both Tammy and Jodie are active members of the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers and live near Raleigh, North Carolina. They are working together on their next paranormal historical trilogy as Lydia Dare, which will be released by Sourcebooks Casablanca in 2011! For more information, please visit http://www.lydiadare.com/.