Thursday, September 29, 2011

One Knight Only by Michelle Miles!

Here’s the blurb:A snarky Faery princess, a Scottish knight with a gambling problem, and a murderous earl all add up to one thing: Trouble. Maggie’s medieval education never prepared her for life in the Middle Ages!Do-gooder Maggie Chase throws her thesis out the window when she wakes up in the arms of a hot Scottish knight. When she realizes she’s somehow ended up back in time, she embraces the persona of Lady Margaret. But she may be in over her head when she realizes she has to keep the sexy knight alive during a jousting tournament in order to get back to her own time.Sir Finian “Finn” McCullough is a gambling man and owes a very large debt to an evil earl who is after his family estate. When the beautiful and outgoing Maggie arrives in his bed, he can’t remember tupping her the night before and thinks she’s a spy for one of his neighboring clans. He intends to find her kinsman and return her safely but he can’t resist her charms, her smart mouth or her sex appeal. Instead he keeps her close, taking her with him to an important jousting tournament—one he has to win or lose his castle forever.

Michelle was gracious enough to answer some questions for me:

1) What was your inspiration for OKO?

My inspiration came from my love of the Middle Ages and knights in shining armor. Initially this was a straight historical which I started in 2005. I stopped working on it for three years and then picked it back up again, rewrote the beginning, added some paranormal elements. It worked better. Then I stopped again and didn’t pick it up until late 2010, finishing it early this year. I’m glad I did. It was a fun story to write.

2) Talk about your research process for the story--fun or drudgery?

Fun – I enjoyed reading about jousting and learning how to do it (the story is set during a jousting tournament in the mid 1300s). My go-to book was Life in the Middle Ages and a costume book that showed what clothes looked like throughout the centuries. I also read up on how they talked, what they ate at banquet, etc. It was a lot of fun,

3) Where do you find inspiration for your writing?

In the least expected places. The book I just finished was inspired in a roundabout way by the HBO show Game of Thrones. I also got an idea for a story from Scooby-Doo (which has yet to be written).

4) Who was the most fun to write in the story (Your favorite character)?

This is a hard question because I loved them all so much. They were all a lot of fun to write. When I finished editing the book and turned it in, I actually missed them. I guess if I had to choose, I’d pick Elyne, my faery princess full of snark. :)

5) Any advice for beginning writers?

No matter how many rejections you get, never give up. Learn the craft and the industry, write what you love and be the best storyteller you can be.

Congratulations Michelle!

A Native Texan, Michelle loves hockey, football, baseball, drinking coffee, cross-stitching, and shopping for shoes and Coach handbags. You can read her daily antics at her blog, Ye Olde Inkwell. Michelle is also a regular contributor to Pop Culture Divas and Plotting Princesses.