Title: Mistress of Pleasure
Author: Delilah Marvelle
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Zebra
ISBN: 978-1420104486
1. First off, congratulations on the big novel sale! Give us the elevator pitch. What’s your book about?
Thanks much for the congrats! MISTRESS OF PLEASURE is the first book in The School of Gallantry series. It’s a steamy, humorous historical romance which takes place in London 1830. Here’s a quick elevator pitch: Being the granddaughter of a renowned courtesan, Maybelle de Maitenon has absolutely no interest in her grandmother’s school in London where gentlemen receive instruction – in the art of love and seduction. Her only desire in life is to remain independent, free from men and the shackles of marriage. But when her grandmother falls ill, forcing Maybelle to take over the operation of the school and all of its male students, complete chaos and love works its way into every aspect of Maybelle’s life. She eventually discovers that real pleasure isn’t something that can be taken, but rather something that must be given.
2. Most new novelists have an interesting story to tell about their journey to publication. What’s yours? Did you use an agent? Make sure to tell us about the day you found out you’d sold a book.
I’ve been writing for eleven years and have over 200 hundred rejections letters to show for it. Yep. Over two hundred. I even have one rejection letter from my own editor. LOL. So it was an amazing journey for me, to say the least. I first finaled in the Golden Heart in 2005 and then again in 2007. The experience of being a Golden Heart Finalist and being surrounded by so many talented authors was mind blowing. Truth be told, after eleven years and having no book contract to show for it was pretty disheartening. But if you surround yourself with the right people who continue to push you toward your goals, you’re bound for success. When I found out I was a Golden Heart Finalist for the second time in 2007, I wondered if things would be different. And though I didn’t win, something equally amazing happened. My fellow 2005 Golden Heart Finalist Victoria Dahl, who writes amazing historicals for Kensington, asked me what was going on with my writing. She even had me pitch my story to her, bless her heart, and upon hearing the premise of Mistress of Pleasure told me that I should submit to her editor, John Scognamiglio at Kensington. She then queried him on my behalf. I was in complete awe of Vicki. For she went above and beyond for me, though honestly, I didn’t think it would go anywhere. Next thing I knew, she e-mails me saying that her editor, based off her query, wanted the complete!! I was very excited, but I didn’t expect it to go any farther. So I sent off Mistress of Pleasure on August 8th (no my memory isn’t that good, I simply write everything down in my calendar) and on August 16th(yes, that’s eight, count ‘em, eight days later) the editor from Kensington called. Only I wasn’t there. I was at the bookstore buying research books.
He left a message and told me to call him back. And nothing else. I was thinking this had to be it. I’d never had an editor call me before. But at the same time, I also remembered that I didn’t include a synopsis out of my haste to get it out the door. What if it was a phone rejection? I’d never gotten one of those before… When I called him back, the editor had already left the office and wouldn’t be in the following day, either, which was a Friday. So I had to wait four days after my editor’s call to figure out what it was he wanted. Painful, to say the least. But it gave me time to mentally prepare in so many ways. When I finally connected with John, I found out that he did in fact want to buy the book as part of a two book contract. I still can’t believe it.
3. Do you have another book in the pipeline? What are you working on now?
I am working on book 2, Lord of Pleasure. It’s the second book in the School of Gallantry series. What’s crazy is that the entire series all happens at the same time. Very difficult to pull off, but I’m having too much fun piecing it together for anyone to tell me otherwise. So even though all the books will be stand alones, they will also have the same scenes in each book, only flipped and from a different point of view. And in each book you learn more and more about the school and the people in it.
4. What’s your writing process like? Morning writer, night writer, or something in between?
I write Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. When I’m on fire, I don’t even eat or go to the bathroom during those hours, yet alone pick up the phone. I also have to be alone when I write. And it has to be quiet. Otherwise, I can’t write. Needless to say, this proves to be a bit of a problem for those living with me…
5. There seems to be an unusually high percentage of writers who own cats. Here at the The First Book, we’re doing a study to find out if there’s a direct relationship between writing success and cat ownership. Do you own a cat? If so, tell us about him or her. If not, tell us what you have against cats.
No. I don’t own a cat or any animal for that matter. And it has nothing to do with me not liking cats or animals. At this stage of my life, I simply don’t have the time to give all the love that an animal deserves. Someday, though. Someday.
[...] Her Interview at The First Book: September 1, 2008 [...]
OMG! I just finished reading this book and it’s amazing. I must admit, I don’t read historicals very often and I don’t read “hot” romance very often. But the story for this is very well done and I stayed up until 3am because I had to get to the ending. I’m dying now for the rest of the books. Great Job Delilah.