Hi peeps!

I’m so thrilled to be here chatting with you all about Decadent Tease and my contribution, SILK & SCANDAL! I was so very flattered to be asked to launch the brand new imprint from Decadent Publishing and I’m extremely excited to finally be able to share with you what we’ve all been working towards.SILK & SCANDAL is part of Decadent TEASE: Captivate, the historical line of Decadent Tease and features a circumspect barrister and a scandalous lady. Mr. Thomas Cartwright and Lady Nicola Fitzgibbons have known each other for years, a firm friendship developed over the wall that divides their homes in London. However, when Nicola’s diplomat father receives a post in Hong Kong, Nicola must follow him. Eight years pass. Then, Nicola returns to London and…shenanigans!

And now, an excerpt:

Eight years ago…
Thomas Cartwright and Lady Nicola Fitzgibbons were friends. Over the wall separating their homes, Thomas and Nicola talked of all things – his studies to become a barrister, her frustrations with a lady’s limitations.

All things end.

When her diplomat father gains a post in Hong Kong, Nicola must follow. Bored and alone, she falls into scandal. Mired in his studies of the law and aware of the need for circumspection, Thomas feels forced to sever their ties.

But now Lady Nicola is back…and she won’t let him ignore her.

Sounds nifty, right?

I had so much fun writing SILK & SCANDAL. Nicola and Thomas leapt almost fully formed onto the page, strong characters who almost wrote the story themselves. I had a little help, though.

When I was asked to write a story for Decadent TEASE: Captivate, I had to think up a tale quick smart! I fretted that I wouldn’t come up with something, that I wasn’t creative, that OH MY LORD, HOW HAVE I DONE THIS BEFORE???* Luckily, that day I was due to meet friends in the city, so I hopped in my car and drove. Now, I tend to do my best thinking while driving — I’ll fix that plot hole, come up with a character motivation, create a world — so on the drive in to the city I came up with SILK & SCANDAL!

I was also influenced by a TV show (just for something different**). At the time, I was a bit obsessed with Silk, a UK show featuring barristers fighting for the chance to gain Silk, or become a Queens Counsel. I thought, why not have the hero of SILK & SCANDAL be a barrister, perhaps looking to become a Queens Counsel in the future. So I did a bit of research on those who practised the law in 1846 and discovered quite a few barristers became members of the British parliament. Well, Thomas can do that, surely! So, Thomas became a barrister seeking to gain Silk and a newly minted member of parliament.

Now, what about the heroine? I had in my head, clear as a bell, a scene in the opening chapter, where Nicola swans back into Thomas’s ordered life and demands his attention. She’s worried he will shun her because of all the scandals that have followed her, but she tries to hide it behind a bright smile. Well, of course! Of course Nicola must be prone to scandal, to disrupt Thomas’s life as much as possible. After all, that’s what heroes and heroines are supposed to cause in each other’s lives, right?

Then, because I wasn’t content with one story, I decided to pen a whole series. The Silk Series features peeps who are involved with the law and those that love them. Back in the day, Thomas went to university at Cambridge, making firm friends with his fellow students. These lads spent a lot of time in the local pub, where two local girls regularly sat themselves down at their table and debated the law…I’m currently writing the second in the series, SILK & SCORN, and I’m having heaps of fun discovering these characters and their stories.

So, I have the hero and heroine of SILK & SCANDAL and a whole new series, all because of a TV show. Thanks, Silk! Incidentally, Silk has been renewed for a third season – I wonder what stories it will inspire?

Thanks so much for hanging with me, peeps. I hope you enjoyed reading a little bit about SILK & SCANDAL, and that you all check out Decadent Tease. There’s some wonderful stories coming from fabulous authors!

Cassandra Dean
Cassandra and Lucy ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Tumblr ~ Pintrest ~ Amazon.com

* Yes. Us writer types are that insecure and paranoid. Fun times, no? 😉

** I am a fiend for finding inspiration in TV shows. See ENSLAVED! 

BIO:
Cassandra grew up daydreaming, inventing fantastical worlds and marvelous adventures. Once she learned to read (First phrase – To the Beach. True story), she was never without a book, reading of other people’s fantastical worlds and marvelous adventures.

Fairy tales, Famous Fives, fantasies and fancies; horror stories, gumshoe detectives, science fiction; Cassandra read it all. Then she discovered Romance and a true passion was born.

So, once upon a time, after making a slight detour into the world of finance, Cassandra tried her hand at writing. After a brief foray into horror, she couldn’t discount her true passion. She started to write Romance and fell head over heels.

The love affair exists to this very day.

Cassandra lives in Adelaide, South Australia.

• About the Author
• Posts in the Past

Decadent Publishing

decadentpublishing.com/

• The Perfect Sub with Jayson Locke
• Cursed with Cate Masters
• Silk & Scandal with Cassandra Dean