Sweet Deception: 5 Fun Facts with Heather Snow
Winner, winner…Cate Sparks!!!
Heather Snow knows the science of love. With a degree in chemistry, she’s the brilliant, highly creative author of the popular Veiled Seduction novels, in which mystery, danger, spies, headstrong heroines, dark heroes and sexual tension sizzle off the pages! Heather’s also a really sweet, fun person–I can’t wait to see her in Kansas City, where she lives, when we both attend the 2013 RT Book Lovers’ Convention!
I think what Heather said about writing historical romance on her website is so clever, I’m going to cut and paste it right here for you to enjoy:
One of Heather’s favorite quotes is from Carl Jung, who said, “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” Her background in chemistry prepared her for writing romance better than one might think: There are rules to follow, and some you can break when you want to experiment. Historical romance, like science, requires careful research. Most chemical reactions require a catalyst to drive them, just like characters require motivation to drive the story forward. And finally, both chemistry and writing, if done well, involve a precise mixture of elements and careful manipulation to achieve that perfect reaction that makes you want to sigh with satisfaction.
Isn’t that cool? Heather’s 5 Fun Facts are all so fascinating, too. And the excerpt from Sweet Deception rocks! Welcome, Heather. We’re so glad you’re here! And don’t forget, awesome readers, to leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of Heather’s book, Sweet Enemy!
SWEET DECEPTION
A Veiled Seduction Novel
Book 2
Signet
August 7, 2012
In the dark, the greatest lover can become the most dangerous conspirator…
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.
5 Fun Facts About SWEET DECEPTION:
1. My heroine, Emma Wallingford, was inspired by the characters of 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?) In the first draft of Sweet Deception, Emma was a little more emotionally closed off, approaching mild Asperger’s (which I found terribly interesting!), but my publisher asked me to warm her up a bit. Luckily, I still found her terribly interesting when I was done. I hope you do, too!
2. I put a bit of my real life in the scene where Emma lures Derick out to the creek by the caves for a picnic. My husband notoriously filches food from my plate when I’m not looking, claiming ill-gotten gains taste all the sweeter (which Derick does). Also, I spent hours and hours playing the game Emma forced Derick to play as children at the lake where I spent my summers growing up—oh, and I can be a bit imperious while I’m playing it.
3. The original idea for this story centered around a missing maid that led to the discovery of other missing women. It did feature the crude geographical profiling that Emma does in the book, but it had her hunting a serial killer instead of a traitor. However, as characters are sometimes wont to do, Derick showed up on the page and insisted this was his story as much as it was Emma’s, and that he was a traitor hunter, thank you very much. He hadn’t spent 14 years behind enemy lines to just show up at his family home and get drawn into someone else’s murder investigation. He wanted to be there for his own reasons. He was all fine and good with letting Emma work out most of the crime, but he fully intended on bringing his expertise to bear, as well. Therefore, they would be hunting a traitor—end of story. Pesky characters. Still, I was able to put most of the research I had already done to use…I just had to come up with a different set of bodies for them to find—rather than missing women, they were now looking for missing couriers and War Department agents, etc.
4. The geographical profiling methods Emma attempts to catch the killer with are ones she could have devised at the time and also ones that could have worked. In fact, simple as they are, police forces still use the methods depicted in Sweet Deception, though their accuracy leaves something to be desired. Nowadays, of course, we have much more sophisticated equations—the most famous being the Rossmo formula, which you may have seen employed to catch killers in a couple of episodes of the television series, NUMB3RS. This incredibly complex equation, run by computers, takes in account everything we know about how killers operate, derived from nearly two centuries of crime analysis.
5. Derick’s title is Viscount Scarsdale, a name I chose for him in the previous book, Sweet Enemy (in which he plays a small part), simply because I liked the sound of it. I knew nothing else about him at the time, not where his family home was, etc. When it came time to write Sweet Deception, I chose the Peak District and Derbyshire for reasons important to the story. Only later did I learn that there really was a Viscount Scarsdale in the County of Derby, only his title wasn’t created until 1911.
Thank you so much for having me, Kieran! I’d be happy to give away a copy of my debut, Sweet Enemy, today!
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Leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of SWEET ENEMY by Heather Snow and a signed copy of IF YOU GIVE A GIRL A VISCOUNT. Giveaway open to US/CA. Ends 12/21.
If you’ve found this post on Kieran’s Goodreads page, click here to leave a comment.
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.
Connect with Heather:
Author Site | Facebook | Twitter
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Claiming your prize: Winner will be contacted via email and will have 7 days to reply, or a new winner will be chosen.
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Category: Contests, Guest Authors, Post by Kati | Tags: 5 fun facts feature, heather snow, sweet deception 26 comments »
December 17th, 2012 at 8:59 am
would love to read the book! sounds good.
December 17th, 2012 at 9:19 am
Very interesting stuff! I thought I wanted to read her books. Now I know I do. Thanks!
December 17th, 2012 at 11:15 am
Love the first book and I am sure the second book is just as good!
December 17th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
I’m so glad you decided to create “chemistry on a page instead of in a lab,” Heather! Historical romance is my favorite reading genre…and I adore that your stories include a bit of mystery too…another fave of mine.
December 17th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Your heroine inspiration is pretty and looks like a no-nonsense lady. I could just imagine what your heroine is like
I can’t wait!
December 17th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Ilove your books and Sweet Deception was amazing! I can’t wait for Sweet Madness!
kp_kazamei(at)yahoo(dot)com
December 17th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Thanks for the giveaway! Sweet Enemy has been on my TBR list for a long time.
December 17th, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Love a brainy scientific female heroine. lol I would love to win these books.
Lisa B
modokker at yahoo dot com
December 17th, 2012 at 5:43 pm
That was really interesting to read the background info on who, what and how you based Sweet Deception!
girlygirlhoosier52 at yahoo dot com
December 17th, 2012 at 6:15 pm
I always love hearing the background and behind scenes of a book, it really brings fantastic characters to life even more. I cannot wait to read this!
December 17th, 2012 at 6:22 pm
*G* I have all the dvds of the show Numb3rs. It was one of my favorites when it was on. Thanks for the inside look on how you came up with the characters. It was fun to read!
Thanks for the generous giveaway!
December 17th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Fascinating facts.
December 17th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Hi Kieran and Heather!
I think we should all start in a write in campaign to Heather’s publisher that there needs to be at least 10 books in the Veiled Seduction novels! I just want it to end with the release of Sweet Madness next April!
I appreciate the study that went into Heather a degree in chemistry because I barely squeaked through it in High School. Do you see me shuddering when my Guidance Counselor suggested I take Physics the next year all those years ago? She said that since I got the highest grade in my Biology class the year before that I should take as many science and math classes as possible. I guess she didn’t know that the reason I had done so well is that all the other girls in my class had paid me whenever there was something to be dissected!
I’m always amazed how much work you both do with you stories to keep them true to their time periods and wondered if there was a trick you learned to find the relevance of making them believable and close to what may have actually been consistent even if not usual.
December 17th, 2012 at 9:33 pm
I love your inspiration characters. I really enjoy Numbers and Bones, Charlie and Temperence are intesting people and smart. Sweet Deception also souns like it has great characters as well.
December 17th, 2012 at 11:41 pm
Sounds fantastic! I love Heather’s books!
December 18th, 2012 at 7:26 am
What a great giveaway. Heather I can’t wait to read Sweet Deception. Thanks for the generous giveaway Heather and Kieran.Happy Holidays.
Carol L.
December 18th, 2012 at 10:48 am
I love smart heroines. I really enjoyed Numbers and Bones. Thanks for the giveaway. These books sound fantastic.
December 18th, 2012 at 1:11 pm
Sounds like a great read! Thanks for the giveaway!
December 18th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
I love Numb3rs & Bones and the way they work out the clues to solve the mystery. Heather’s female characters have such interesting skills!
December 19th, 2012 at 1:45 am
Hello Kieran! Thank you SO much for hosting me–I had great fun thinking up facts about Derick and Emma’s story.
Sorry to be so late to the party, but I’m on holiday with my family and we’re in a place with difficult internet. Right now, I’m using my phone as a hotspot and popping in. I am so delighted to see so many wonderful comments and wish I could respond to each one, but I’m unsure how long my connection will last, so I wanted to say THANK YOU for all of your kind words! And Happy, Happy Holidays to all!
December 19th, 2012 at 1:46 am
Oh, and Kieran, I’m very much looking forward to seeing YOU in Kansas City at RT as well
December 19th, 2012 at 1:55 am
Sweet Deception sounds intriguing. Historical stories are educational as well as entertaining. I will be trying to see how much Heather includes about her own experiences.
December 19th, 2012 at 3:02 am
Just love smart heroines, which is why I LOVED Sweet Enemy so much. I can’t wait to read about Miss Emma and Lord Derick!
December 19th, 2012 at 7:42 pm
I love a good historical romance with an added mystery element to it. It makes it all the more fun to read. Although I haven’t read any of Ms Snow’s books yet, she is now on my to read list. I can’t wait to read Sweet Deception.
Thank you for the giveaway!!
December 20th, 2012 at 7:02 am
I love your giveaway! !!
December 21st, 2012 at 5:43 pm
It was a true pleasure having Heather here with us this week. Heather, I hope your 2013 is your best writing year EVER! You’re such a lovely lady and talented writer, and I know you have many more great stories to share with us.
I also wish a fabulous year for all my reader friends. 2012 was such a whirlwind year! For all of us, may 2013 be a year of excitement, joy, peace, people to love, and many, many great books to read!
XOXO