After a few rough mornings, we are finally springing forward at The Knight Agency and treasuring our extra hour of sunshine. The changing of seasons, especially to spring, is always exciting because it means warm weather is fast approaching. After a particularly cold winter, we are definitely looking forward to spending more time outside.

As usual, a lot has been going on behind the scenes at TKA. This past month we were thrilled to learn that Knight Agency authors received a whooping twelve PEARL nominations. Big congrats to all of the authors who were recognized for their work. You can find the nominee breakdown in our Agency News section. We were also delighted to celebrate two New York Times bestseller hits, including Nalini Singh's ARCHANGEL'S KISS premiering at #9, and Rob Thurman's fifth Cal Leandros novel, ROADKILL debuting on the extended list at #35.

As Rob Thurman's fans may or may not know, Rob is short for "Robyn." In our Authors' Corner feature this month, the author gives us a witty, inside look at what it's like to be a female author who mostly writes from a XY-chromosome point of view (it certainly makes for some interesting book signing events...).

Reviewers are smitten with Lydia Dare's Westfield Brothers series. Publishers Weekly declared, A CERTAIN WOLFISH CHARM, "a delightful Victorian paranormal romance debut." So who is exactly is the woman behind the Dare nom de plume? Well it's not exactly "a" woman -- try two.

Jodie Pearson, president of the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, and Tammy Falkner are the masterminds behind the curtain. Jodie, a Regency expert, knows the ins and outs of cravats and phaetons, and Tammy is a paranormal connoisseur who makes sure the historical paranormal series shows off its wild streak. Together, they are a match made in writers' heaven.

TKA: Give us the dreaded elevator pitch, LOL. What is the A CERTAIN WOLFISH CHARM about?

There are two of us that make up the team of Lydia Dare, so we’ll try to make it clear which of us is talking.

LYDIA/TAMMY: Simon Westfield, the dangerous Duke of Blackmoor, has spent his entire life creating scandal and mayhem in hopes that someone will either oust him from society completely or accept the beast lives within him. Led by the pull of the moon, he knows he’s in trouble when the lovely Lily Rutledge knocks on his door, asking for help for her nephew, his ward. Lily quickly finds herself ensconced in his house and ruined, and no closer to finding help for her nephew than she was in the beginning. Yet she finds something even more intriguing, a most enchanting secret that is part of the man she loves. Lily can accept his beastly side. But can Simon?

TKA: The Westfield Brothers series has an impressive seven-book arc. Did you envision seven books while you were querying? If not, how long of an arc had you planned in the beginning, and how difficult was it to expand?

LYDIA/JODIE: Oh, we’re always thinking of where to go next. The Westfield Brothers series was always intended to be a trilogy. In the second book of the series – TALL

DARK AND WOLFISH, our hero Benjamin takes us to Scotland in search of a witch with healing powers. But that witch isn’t alone. She has four coven sisters. As soon as we introduced them, we knew we’d write their stories too.

LYDIA/TAMMY: Once we knew their stories had to be told, it was a matter of finding men strong enough to tackle a coven of five strong witches, each with her own mystical and perplexing power. That’s how we ended up with vampires.

Were you at all dissuaded by the already flooded field of paranormal authors, or did you feel the “historical” niche distinguished you from much of the competition?

LYDIA/JODIE: I don’t think that thought ever entered my mind. I was strictly writing Regency Historicals, so when we decided to team up, there really wasn’t another way we could have gone.

LYDIA/TAMMY: As soon as Jodie and I started talking about this series and mapping it out, we knew it would be Regency (because that’s where Jodie lives) and we knew it would be paranormal (because I’m in love with all things fantastical). The market never came to mind, aside from the fact that we felt like we had something exciting and new. Thank goodness Deb Werksman with Sourcebooks liked our Lycans as much as we did!

TKA: What was your journey to publication like?

LYDIA/JODIE: I started out writing screenplays. In fact, I met my ex-husband at the Sundance Film Festival 13 years ago. I was there with my screenwriting partner (I’ve always worked well with others) shopping a script. After I got married and started a family, my writing fell by the wayside. A few years ago, one of my ex’s Hollywood friends asked to take another look at my script, which was an historical set drama, and he suggested I look into writing romance novels. I hadn’t considered that since I was in junior high, but a light bulb went off in my head. And I haven’t stopped writing since. That was in early 2007. I immediately joined my local RWA chapter (Tammy joined right about the same time), which has truly awesome members, and I found an invaluable mentor in Claudia Dain.

LYDIA/TAMMY: I’d never really put pen to paper, aside to writing poems and things for friends and family, until after our second child was born six years ago. I didn’t want to go back to work and began to read Elizabeth Lowell. She creates romantic suspense unlike any other, ones in which you feel like you’ve learned about something at the same time. And I had an idea for a romantic suspense novel. That was the first novel I sold, although it’s no longer on the shelves.

Honestly, I don’t think Jodie and I would be where we are without our local RWA chapter, the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers. For one, we wouldn’t have met. And two, we have had a fabulous group of collective brains to pick throughout the whole process.

TKA: How have your travels influenced your writing? What places have or will be making an appearance in the series?

LYDIA/JODIE: Oh, I’m a big traveler. On my last trip to England, I spent time in the southern counties of Essex, Surrey, West Sussex, and Hampshire (where 2 of the Westfield Wolves series is set). London should finally be making an appearance in the last two books of our current contract.

TKA: Why did you decide against writing solo?

LYDIA/JODIE: I don’t think either of us is opposed to writing solo. In fact we both have several completed manuscripts that are solo projects. But when this team came about, it was kismet. We balance out each other’s strengths and weaknesses. In our spare time (which is few and far between these days) we do still dabble in our own individual projects.

TKA: What would you say are the pros and cons of trying to maintain a singular author identity?

LYDIA/JODIE: That is REALLY hard for me. I tend to talk, and talk, and talk. If I was just representing myself that wouldn’t be a problem – but I don’t want to ever say anything that Tammy would disapprove of, since I’m representing her too in the public eye.

LYDIA/TAMMY: I’m not a big talker. Jodie talks. Much like with our writing, Jodie and I have gravitated toward what suits us well. For example, Jodie’s very character driven, while I’m quite plot driven. In our publicity, Jodie “talks” much more than I do, simply because she always has something to say. I maintain our website and do other behind-the-scenes stuff, which is what I enjoy. The hard part is when one of us slips up on our role, like the time Jodie posted on the Lydia Dare facebook page that she had a terrible cold and was finding it hard to stay awake at work. My boss saw it and told me to take the rest of the day off. Keeping our comments generic unless we can specifically let people know who’s speaking is key.

TKA: What can we expect from your next book, TALL DARK AND WOLFISH?

LYDIA/JODIE: Tall, Dark, and Wolfish takes Lord Benjamin Westfield on a quest to find a mystical, healing witch north of the border in Scotland. He can no longer transform under the light of the full moon, which, for a werewolf, is NOT a good thing. Unfortunately for him, when he finds the fabled witch, she has four coven sisters who try everything in their power to keep him from the one he seeks.

LYDIA/TAMMY: You can expect an introduction to the witches who will all get their own stories before the seven book series is done!

For more information about Lydia Dare, visit www.LydiaDare.com.

The dynamic writing team behind hit debut author Lydia Dare will be the featured guests in our chat room this Thursday, March 25th at 9pm ET. Both Jodie Pearson and Tammy Falkner have plenty of experience to share about getting an agent, perseverance through writer's block, working in a team and much more. We'll also be giving away copies of the first book in their Westfield Brothers series, A CERTAIN WOLFISH CHARM!

When: Thursday, March 25th @ 9pm ET
Where: TKA's chat room**: http://client1.sigmachat.com/sc.php?id=115545
How To Chat: Enter any combination of username and password. Login.
**Your computer must be Java enabled to chat.

Mars Versus Venus

This is the story of a woman trapped in a male pseudonym, and, by the way, there is no surgery for that issue. I write from a male first person point of view ninety-nine percent of the time. I always have. I started writing when I was ten years old and not once did it occur to me to write a female main character. Why? Am I anti-female? Am I a non-feminist who foolishly believes strong female characters can’t kick butt in bustiers and leather pants? Nope. I’m all for smart, tough female protagonists (and I realize their wardrobe choice is most often made by the marketing department, not the author.) So why then? Why do I like writing male characters best? Who’s to blame that I don’t fall in a range of fifty percent male characters, fifty percent female? Is there anyone to blame in fact? Oh, yeah.

My mother.

When I was a kid, that woman watched so many reruns of Star Trek and Starsky and Hutch that when I grew up I wanted to be two things: an astronaut or a homicide cop (with a partner who wore tight jeans and drove a bright red car to stake outs). And then there was Simon and Simon and Magnum PI. We had one television. I was at her mercy.
Maybe if I’d waited until I was older to start writing, I’d have been more influenced by Xena or Buffy, but I was ten and when I was ten there was no Xena or Buffy. There was Wonder Woman, but fighting crime in patriotic colored underwear seemed somehow wrong. Very, very wrong.

Futuristic Romance - HEART CHANGE by Robin D. Owens and BLAZE OF MEMORY by Nalini Singh

Magical/Fantasy Romance - ANGELS' BLOOD by Nalini Singh, POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT by Shayla Black and BURNING ALIVE by Shannon K. Butcher

Shapeshifters - BRANDED BY FIRE by Nalini Singh

Time Travel - WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO? by Laurie Brown

Overall Best Paranormal Romance -
BLAZE OF MEMORY by Nalini Singh and DARKNESS CALLS by Marjorie M. Liu

What are two things aspiring authors can do to make themselves stand out at a pitch appointment during a conference or workshop?

PAMELA HARTY: I always want authors to try to be as relaxed as possible in a pitch because when they are less nervous they do a better job. I also like authors to be prepared and to know that what they are pitching is at least a potential fit for the TKA list.

LUCIENNE DIVER: For a pitch appointment, it’s really the concept and the presentation of it that will stand out. The pitch can be a tough skill to master —because it entails boiling your entire novel down to a sound bite. However, it’s something that will be done over and over again for a novel

that advances. Agents will need to pitch it to publishers, who will need to pitch to their marketing departments, etc., etc.

I meet tons of people at conferences, and those who make the greatest impression are the ones who volunteer to drive or show the pros around, or those I meet in more casual settings, like at meals, so that I get to know them a little better under less stressful and formal conditions.

ELAINE SPENCER: The first thing is an overall sense they can create when they come in – when they approach the pitch and sit down be sure to talk to the agent, not at them. Sounds silly, but I’ve said it over and over -- I want to be engaged. Also, try to connect with the agent on some sort of personal level, make it known that you are interested in pitching that particular agent, not just any agent that’s sitting in front of you. Whether it be mentioning a client you know the agent works with or something you’ve heard them mention on a panel or interview, making note that you know the agent and connecting with them on a memorable level is something that always sticks with me.

MELISSA JEGLINSKI: Be prepared is both #1 and #2 for me as far as pitch appointments go. Be aware of what you are pitching and be ready to tell me the key points. It's fine to be a bit nervous and to have notes to look at. I certainly never expect anyone to recite their plot line off the top of their head. Just a few weeks ago, I was at a conference taking appointments and a writer sat down in front of me and asked: "Are you an agent or an editor?" If she didn't even know who I was, why was she pitching her project to me? If you are properly prepared and show a knowledge of the industry and also a knowledge of what I'm looking for, there is a much great chance I'll request your project.