Sarah MacLean: THE SEASON

I told you this was going to be a busy week, and today I have the incredible pleasure of introducing you to Sarah MacLean, author of THE SEASON.

Okay, so some of you might find this strange considering the kind of freaky paranormal stuff that I write, but I have to confess that I love (LOVE!) a good historical romance. THE SEASON is in my Amazon cart right now, beside the Forest of Hands and Teeth (which for those of you who don’t know, is about a world post-zombie-apocalypse).

So, I’m an enigma, right? Right! But here’s the deal, I love the gowns (not in the zombie book). I love the language. And I love the settings.

Which brings me to THE SEASON:

Seventeen-year-old Lady Alexandra Stafford doesn't fit into the world of Regency London — she's strong-willed, sharp-tongued, and she absolutely loathes dress fittings. Unfortunately, her mother has been waiting for years for Alex to be old enough to take part in the social whirlwind of a London Season so she can be married off to someone safe, respectable, wealthy, and almost certainly boring. But Alex is much more interested in adventure than romance.

Between sumptuous balls, lavish dinner parties and country weekends, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get entangled in her biggest scrape yet. When the Earl of Blackmoor is killed in a puzzling accident, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth. It's a mystery brimming with espionage, murder, and suspicion. As she and Gavin grow closer, will Alex's heart be stolen in the process?

Romance and danger fill the air, as this year's Season begins!

Sarah MacLean is the author of THE SEASON, a YA novel coming in March 2009 from Scholastic. She grew up in Rhode Island, where she spent much of her free time bemoaning the fact that she was more than a century too late for own Season. Her unabashed addiction to historical fiction helped to earn her a degree in European History from Smith College before she moved to New York City to pursue a career in publishing. After receiving a Masters in Education from Harvard University, Sarah returned to New York, where she lives with her husband, their dog, and a ridiculously large collection of romance novels. She is currently working on a series of regency-set romances to be released in 2010 from Avon/HarperCollins.

So, here’s the way this works, Sarah. I’ll ask you five questions and one bonus. Elaborate as much as you wish, except for the one-word bonus!

Here we go:

1) Would you rather be the Bestselling Rockstar Author or an Acclaimed Literary Award Winner?

Oh, Bestselling Rockstar Author, please. Then I'm just writing plain old books that people like to read. Acclaimed Literary Award Writers are too remarkable (and a little scary).

2) Make people laugh, cry, or hide under the covers?

Laugh. Teary from happiness at that perfectly romantic scene where the hero realizes he's in love with the heroine works too.

3) Retire early or just keep writing from your beach house(s)?

Keep writing from my beach house!

4) FaceBook or MySpace?

Facebook. MySpace scares me.

5) After a period, one space or two?

Two. Much to my editor's dismay. When I'm done with my first draft, the first thing I do is Find __ and Replace with _.

And your bonus question: What ONE WORD of advice would give to any aspiring writer?

Read.

Thanks Kimberly! This was so fun!

This book is getting great reviews and I say: BUY IT! For more about THE SEASON, and its lovely author Sarah, check out her website at http://www.macleanspace.com/!