Transcript
[00:00:00] Katherine Grant: All right, well, welcome back to the Historical Romance Sampler Podcast. Today, I am joined by New York Times best selling author, Erica Ridley. Erica is the author of witty, feel good historical romance novels, including The Duke Heist, First in the Wild Winchester's Family of Caper Committing Siblings.
[00:00:20] Other fan favorite series include The Dukes of War, Rogues to Riches, and The Twelve Dukes of Christmas. And those all feature roguish peers and dashing war heroes amid the splendor and madness of Regency England. When not reading or writing romances, Erika can be found eating couscous in Morocco, ziplining through rainforests in Costa Rica, or getting hopelessly lost in the middle of Budapest.
[00:00:45] Welcome, Erica.
[00:00:47] Erica Ridley: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:00:49] Katherine Grant: I'm so excited to have you here. Um, so today you're reading an excerpt from Hot Earl Summer, which is the next book in the Wild Winchesters. So for any readers who haven't yet caught up on the series, can you give a quick pitch on what they're missing out on?
[00:01:04] Erica Ridley: Sure, so this is a, a very fun series, if I do say so myself, because, uh, we've got this wild family of caper committing siblings. What that means is if you've ever seen the TV show Leverage or heard of Superheroes, they've got kind of a Robin Hood vibe, so they're out, uh, fighting for justice, whatever it takes, and there's heists in every book, lots of Banter and shenanigans and it has been a blast to write and I hope you have a lot of fun reading them as well
[00:01:32] Katherine Grant: It is a really fun series and it is like you said like they're after justice and it's kind of found family vibe So it's a lot of fun.
[00:01:40] Go read it But first hear this excerpt from hot Earl summer, which is coming out in 2024. Is that right? Yes Okay, so here's the blurb. No one's ever heard this yet before because this is an excerpt of a book that hasn't been released. Bold, curvy Elizabeth Winchester loves cuddling hedgehogs almost as much as she adores vanquishing villains with the sharp blade concealed inside her cane.
[00:02:07] Despite others opinions about her body and gender, nothing will stop her from seeing justice done. When her next mission drops her at the dastardly earl of Densmore's castle, she is prepared to duel like gentlemen. Only to be locked inside. Her trusty sword cannot defeat the castle's hidden traps, or protect her heart from the devilishly handsome rogue guarding the keep.
[00:02:31] When reclusive inventor Stephen Lennox agreed to impersonate his cousin for a few days, he did not expect the earl to vanish altogether. Nor could Stephen predict mounting death threats, or the arrival of a beguiling, blade wielding spinster who declares herself his new bodyguard. As the earl's enemies lay siege to the castle, Stephen fights his way past Elizabeth's defenses.
[00:02:55] She will share his bed, but when the adventure concludes, she vows to sever their affair, unless he can somehow convince a swashbuckling siren to surrender her heart. I'm very excited for this, so I'll let you take it away, Erica.
[00:03:11] Erica Ridley: Thank you so much. This was, um, a lot of fun, a lot of fun to write, um, Elizabeth is so swashbuckly and Stephen is this hilarious, uh, tinker.
[00:03:23] So he makes these Rube Goldberg devices. So he has filled this castle with booby traps, essentially, like thinki goonies. There's machines everywhere and, uh, leads to a lot of fun. So here is a scene where they lay eyes on each other for the first time. Another day, another batch of ominous correspondence.
[00:03:46] With a sigh, Stephen opened the newest missive from Richard Reddington. Did Sons of Viscounts truly have nothing else to do all day but scribble increasingly bloodthirsty threats to the earl next door? Stephen skimmed the letter. Reddington was demanding immediate occupancy of Castle Harborough grounds.
[00:04:05] Consider this your official warning, Stephen read aloud. We're watching you. If you fail to hand over that deed, Mr. Reddington shall assume control by force, even if it means laying siege on his own castle. Oh, for the love of God. Stephen wouldn't fall for that. No spoiled lordling was choleric enough to storm his own castle.
[00:04:28] We're watching you, Stephen repeated in aristocratic accents of all the idle idiotic threats. Reddington's country estate did adjoin the castle property, but a dense strip of wood stretched between them. Reddington could station a man at every window of his resplendent manor, and at best, all he would see were three acres of trees.
[00:04:50] Nonetheless, the sinister tone was unsettling enough that Stephen dropped to the stone floor for a round of press up exercises. His anxious thoughts tended to ping and flail and spiral, like the complex machines he'd put together. concentrating on the flexing of his muscles and the breaths in his lungs, calmed the noise, and helped Stephen to think.
[00:05:12] He was angry, was the problem. Angry with his flighty cousin for losing a castle he didn't own in a card game, who was also vexed with himself for being hoodwinked into this ruse to begin with. Nonetheless, Stephen was undeniably a better earl than the earl. In addition to settling accounts and making profitable investments, and overseeing improvements on the various entailed properties, Stephen had also gone ahead and given every member of staff a rise in wages.
[00:05:40] After which, boredom had threatened, which was why Stephen had turned this castle into his laboratory away from home. He missed his books and his bed and his devices. Even though there were more staff in Castle Harbrook, the building somehow felt emptier and lonelier. A bold claim from a man so lonely, he spent every waking moment filling the emptiness in his life with machine after machine.
[00:06:05] Nonetheless, Stephen would defend this castle to the best of his considerable ability. Richard Reddington would not cross Castle Harbrook's threshold without Stephen's knowledge and authorization. No one would. Bells clanged overhead. Stephen jerked his head up to stare at them. Those bells were part of an early warning system he'd installed to ring when the property line had been crossed.
[00:06:29] Had the hidden archer been replaced with an even bolder attack? Stephen kept telescopes in all four of the castle's corner turrets, but those bells specifically signaled that a vehicle had arrived on the northern side, facing the street. It wasn't a delivery. The most recent shipment had come in yesterday, and the next wouldn't arrive until tomorrow.
[00:06:49] He hurried to the stone windows. A cross breeze flowed through the large rectangular openings on all four sides of the cylindrical turret. Ducking so that he could not be seen, Stephen pressed one eye to the telescope. A humble pony cart trudged into view. It was an ordinary country gig, simple, mud splattered, the pony lumbering up the private road was just as unassuming, brown, short of stature, a general air of boredom with its task.
[00:07:17] Inside the gig was a long, thin crate, and a woman, whose visage was hidden beneath an enormous wide brimmed bonnet. He could not guess her age without a glimpse of her face, but one daintily gloved hand clutched the handle of a stout wooden cane. The beast drew to a stop. The woman climbed out of the gate with obvious gingerness, as though the ride up the hill had been exactly as arduous an experience as the pony cart's appearance implied.
[00:07:46] The wind whipped her dress against her body, revealing plump curves. Stephen changed his mind about being able to guess her age. The morning gown was of fine quality and tailored to flatter the woman's voluptuous shape. This was a young lady. Walking like an old woman. Fashionable, but unchaperoned.
[00:08:06] Moneyed, but riding an absolute turnip of a pony cart. Stephen was certain of his conclusions, yet they did not sum up to anything he could compute. The more he watched the woman, the less he understood. Was she here to sell him something? She left her crate in the gig, and the gig untethered. The pony, for its part, seemed content to gnaw at the tall green grass, of which there was plenty.
[00:08:30] The grounds were covered in flowers and greenery for the pony's pleasure. Another gust of wind rose from the west, sending the brim of the woman's bonnet flying up away from her face. Just for a second, it was enough. Stephen swallowed hard. He had no idea who this woman was. But she was extraordinarily beautiful.
[00:08:49] A missionary, perhaps. Here to chastise the Earl for failing to attend church on Sunday. Again. Perhaps the crate was full of Bibles. He tilted his telescope to keep her in sight. The woman glanced around the door for the knocker. Stephen had removed it months ago to make the entrance less welcoming. She made a fist with her free gloved hand and banged on the door with that.
[00:09:12] He would never have heard it were it not for another system he'd installed to carry sound up through narrow tunnels he'd bored into reinforced stone walls. Surely Dunsmore wouldn't mind. In order to eavesdrop on any enemies who might approach. Stephen called it a whispering wall because it transmitted the slightest sound.
[00:09:29] The visitor banged again, louder. Stephen did not respond to her call, neither did the servants. Before the earl abandoned his castle and its occupants, he had instructed his staff just as firmly as he lectured Stephen. Let no one in. Undaunted, the woman lifted her cane and used that to rap against the castle's thick oak door.
[00:09:50] This could be heard with or without the aid of any listening contraptions. Its racket also went unanswered. I know you're in there, she called up. I can see smoke from your kitchen. Stephen fought the urge to yell back, your logic is unsound. Smoke from the kitchen means someone is at home, but it doesn't mean that I am.
[00:10:11] For one, this rejoinder would give away his position. For two, perhaps she was here to visit one of the scullery maids. He was certain this visitor wasn't here for the Earl of Densmore. No man with half a brain would leave a woman this beautiful behind. She rapped again with the heavy cane. Please, she pleaded.
[00:10:30] I've come from so far. Take pity on a weary traveler. I beg you. Stephen could not help but feel sorry for her predicament. She seemed harmless and nice enough, but rules were rules for a reason. If he let her in just because she was pretty and carried a cane, who knew what would be next? An army of missionaries with five carts worth of Bibles?
[00:10:52] She rapped one last time, then heaved a breath. Silence stretched around the castle. Even the wind stilled, and the birds silenced, and the tree leaves ceased to rustle. No one was answering her plea. Not even nature itself stirred. Have it your way, she muttered. Stephen heard the words as clearly as if the fetching visitor were whispering against the back of his neck.
[00:11:15] Beth the Berserker it is. He blinked. Perhaps he had not heard her clearly. It had sounded as though she'd said, The woman marched toward the pony cart with her cane held high, like a field commander leading a platoon of marching soldiers into battle. She handed a bit of carrot to the pony, then tossed her cane inside the gig and ripped off her dainty gloves.
[00:11:36] With her bare hands, she wrenched open the wooden crate. From in its steps, she withdrew two enormous battle axes. Stephen stared in disbelief as the woman raised each inch of the air. Beneath the feminine poofs at her shoulders, muscles visibly flexed in what had previously seemed to be deceptively soft flesh.
[00:11:56] Axes held high, she marched back to the front door without slowing her pace or panting for breath. She looked like a Valkyrie descending upon a battlefield. Who was this woman? The latest intimidation tactic by Richard Reddington? Was the archer not enough? Tell Reddington and not to be bothered, Stephen called out through the window.
[00:12:16] The woman jerked her gaze up to the turret, her previously pretty face a twisted mask of fury. How dare you imply I hold any affiliation with that scoundrel! Interesting. Before Stephen could apologize for his erroneous assumption, the woman let out a primal scream, ears splitting enough to break glass, then began striking at the 10 inch thick oak door with enough force to rattle the iron hinges.
[00:12:41] There was no chance of anyone cutting through wood that impenetrable with an ordinary blade. Or, perhaps, Stephen amended, there was no chance of anyone ordinary doing so. Beth, the berserker, was anything but ordinary. Five minutes later, neither the screaming nor the thrashing showed any signs of slowing.
[00:13:00] As the woman struck at the door with her axes, shards of wood flew up at all angles, spraying the air around her as though she were caught inside a dust storm. He either had to get rid of her, which seemed unlikely, or allow her in. Which was forbidden. Then again, at this rate, Steven wouldn't need to allow anything.
[00:13:19] It might take Ms. Berserker three days of frenzied chopping, but one way or another, this woman was slashing and hacking her way into the castle. Very well. Steven Murmured have it your way. He rose to his feet and pressed a lever.
[00:13:35] Katherine Grant: Oh my gosh. That's so amazing. I love it. There's so much going on in that scene.
[00:13:42] Erica Ridley: It was a lot of fun. Yeah, she has no idea what she just walked into.
[00:13:47] Katherine Grant: I don't think he has any idea who he's welcoming in. Also true. Well, I have a bunch of questions for you. Before we get to them, we're going to take a break for our sponsors, so we can go ahead and drink some water.
[00:14:00] All right. And we are back with Erica Ridley, who just read an amazing excerpt from Hot Earl Summer. When is that coming out, by the way? August. August 2024. All right. Well, it's up for pre order. At least I saw a cover for it.
[00:14:14] Okay. So readers, you can go pre order that right now. So you find out what happens once the battle axes are dropped, I guess. Um, I have so many questions for you and One is in that scene, you were really establishing obviously the characters, but also this incredible setting of the castle and also what Steven has done to the castle.
[00:14:39] So I'm curious first, did you, have you always wanted to write a book about a castle and then how did you start thinking about what would this castle specifically be like?
[00:14:49] Erica Ridley: Well, so a fun thing for me with this book is that I, I am in fact interested in castles. And so when I visit places that have them, I always take tours and things like that.
[00:14:58] Um, but I've never written a medieval novel, I think because of the limitations, just the differences of the time period and what stories can be told. So it was very fun to kind of have the best of both worlds and to have the regency atmosphere and technology, but also have an older castle. So yeah, I got to use some old, old research for a new book.
[00:15:18] Katherine Grant: Yeah. And was something like the whispering wall, did you invent that or is that something you've encountered?
[00:15:25] Erica Ridley: So it's a mix of a couple different things, without spoiling the later thing in the book, I will say whispering walls have invented, have existed for a long time. Um, but also, uh, in addition to how Stephen is using the interior of the wall, um, for, for centuries as well, we have had the acoustics where you could whisper on one side of a large chamber and hear it clearly on the other side but not in the middle, things like that.
[00:15:48] So that kind of technology did exist, although most people would not have known how to employ it.
[00:15:53] Katherine Grant: Got it. I've done that at Grand Central Station. So yeah, what you're talking about. Um, and so there's so much physical comedy, but also physical, physical beats in this scene. And it sounds like throughout the story about, um, you know, weapons that she's using levers and bells and machines.
[00:16:17] Is that something that you hold clearly in your head from the get go or do you have to like sit down and brainstorm? Okay. I want this machine to do this. And if it's doing that. It's this has to happen. Like, how do you go about creating that physical element?
[00:16:30] Erica Ridley: Well, so when it comes to his Rube Goldberg machines, I do kind of make those up on the fly.
[00:16:36] I just kind of try and think what's, what's funny, what would be the most ridiculous thing that he can do in this moment. Um, There's a line later in the story that's something like, I didn't know adding milk to tea could be both time consuming and deadly until I met you. And that is how he lives his life.
[00:16:53] Everything is just way more than necessary. And so it was a lot of fun trying to come up every time with just a different sequence of events that, you know, that could happen with his machines, whether it's a boot knocking into whatever and so forth. Um, and then just also trying to think of, you know, like, what doesn't need a machine?
[00:17:12] And so what kind of machine would he build to do that?
[00:17:14] Katherine Grant: Yeah. I'm thinking right now of, um, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Have you ever seen that? Yeah. Yes. With like the egg machine and like the haircut machine, that's the visual I have right now. Um, so then throughout the Wild Wynchesters, each sibling kind of has their own talent that they bring to this.
[00:17:37] to the capers that they commit. Um, so I'm curious, uh, first of all, how much you knew about all of that going into the series? And then secondly, like, for example, uh, you've teased in the blurb that Elizabeth is really good at dueling. Like, how much do you need to know about dueling to be able to write a character who's good at dueling?
[00:18:02] Erica Ridley: Yeah, so I did sit down and brainstorm when I was writing the very first book what each of the siblings various talents would be. And so some of them have one key thing that they can do, in Elizabeth's case she's not just good at sword fighting, she can also throw her voice and, you know, mimic people so that also comes in very useful
[00:18:21] during the capers that they perform. Um, and so I generally have had to do quite a bit of research into some of the different skills, because they're not skills that I have. And in a previous book, I actually went to a shooting range with a bow and arrow and, you know, experienced firsthand, you know, like, how does that whole thing work?
[00:18:38] It went badly enough that I did not sign up for fencing lessons.
[00:18:43] Not my thing. Learned that lesson.
[00:18:45] Yeah, I totally bruised my arm with the bow, and I'm not good at it. Yeah, but I have a lot more respect now for, for archers, like I learned about that, and I do have friends that do fencing, uh, for whom I can ask questions.
[00:18:58] Uh, in this book specifically, she's not always fencing in the way that you would if you were doing so professionally and following rules. She has to very much defend herself against someone who's not fighting fair. Uh, so there's a little bit more flexibility in that way too when it comes to the fight scenes.
[00:19:15] Katherine Grant: Yeah, that's awesome. Um, so do you find that you have an idea, research it, write it? Do you constantly do research and that informs your ideas? Is it a combination? How do you approach that?
[00:19:31] Erica Ridley: So it's a little bit of a combination. If I have an idea but it's about something that I'm completely clueless about, then I probably will stop and research it and make sure that it's viable first.
[00:19:41] Sometimes I can, I can get ahead of myself and then it turns out that the thing I wanted to do you can't really do or, or whatever. Um, but other times it's, it's so easy to go down a rabbit hole of research and, you know, you just mean to jump on Google for 30 seconds and five hours later you've consumed half of Wikipedia.
[00:19:58] Um, so I, I do try to put a little limit on it. I have a little child lock on my phone when it comes to these things, uh, so that I do write. And so, but I do look up things as I go. I, I try to train myself to just leave notes for things that I can look up later if it's not critical in the moment. Like if I need to know, you know, how many hours in a, on a horse from this place to that place, or like what.
[00:20:21] Style of boots, would she have worn in this year or something like that? It's not plot critical. But if it is something that would determine the course of the scene, then I do stop and research in that moment before I move forward.
[00:20:32] Katherine Grant: Yeah, that makes sense. I also leave brackets for myself. I'm like, deal with this later.
[00:20:37] Exactly. Um, so I am curious. You have been writing for a while now you have a big body of work, and I am behind you in terms of that but I'm beginning to develop my own body of work and I'm noticing in myself that I'm returning, not necessarily I mean I am returning to tropes, but I also am beginning to feel like, Oh, this is a theme that I guess I have this question because I keep returning to it.
[00:21:05] I'm curious whether you have noticed any themes in your work that come up for you and If you have thoughts on that.
[00:21:15] Erica Ridley: Yeah, like there's some that came up without my intention. Uh, for example, it wasn't until I'd probably written eight or ten of them that I realized hidden identities or, or, you know, secret identities were a thing for me.
[00:21:27] But I, I love it. I love those in stories. And apparently I love to write it too. Uh, so yeah, that, that kind of thing and found family comes up a lot in mine. But I think that also comes up in my, in my real life. So I'm kind of writing my worldview or my experience in that way without consciously doing so, of course.
[00:21:45] Katherine Grant: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I think, for me anyway, my writing is Part of the way I process the world. And so these things that I'm beginning to pattern recognize, it's helpful for me to pattern recognize guys, I can say, Oh, maybe I need to think about how that comes back into my real life. And what do I want to do with that?
[00:22:05] Um, you recently announced that you are also going to be writing a YA horror series, or at least a book, a YA horror book. A book, yeah. Um, I am curious, in writing that book, did you discover or were you surprised by any ways that horror and romance have things in common?
[00:22:30] Erica Ridley: Um, that's a good question. So there is kind of a romantic subplot in my horror novel.
[00:22:37] So, so there is just straightforward there, there is a love interest there. Um, but also I would say it, my first, my first historical romance novels were gothic. And so I would say writing horror is closest to that. It's, you know, setting the scene and the vibe and, you know, having things be ominous matters more in that kind of book.
[00:22:57] So there's a lot of similarities there.
[00:23:00] Katherine Grant: Oh, that's an interesting, I don't read a lot of horror, so I didn't have that in my mind, but it's interesting that for horror, there's so much establishment that needs to be done to make it that genre. That's very interesting.
[00:23:12] Erica Ridley: Yeah, it's very much a vibe thing, you know, something that wouldn't be scary, there's a knock at the door, you know.
[00:23:18] So what, right? But, but you can make it scary. But it's, it's very much, you know, you have to set the mood.
[00:23:25] Katherine Grant: Oh, that's interesting. Well, thank you so much for joining the episode. Where can our readers keep in touch with you?
[00:23:35] Erica Ridley: Uh, so I can be found on all the socials as Erica Ridley, E-R-I-C-A, and uh, also my website, erica ridley.com. So I look forward to meeting you on the internet.
[00:23:47] Katherine Grant: Yes, I recommend signing up for Erica's newsletter.
[00:23:50] There are free books involved and fun updates from her travels. And also, um, you always get the news when there's steals and deals on some of the books.
[00:24:01] Erica Ridley: So very true. Yeah, I will keep you informed.
[00:24:06] Katherine Grant: Thank you again, and we will keep in touch and happy reading.
[00:24:10] Erica Ridley: Excellent. Thank you for having me.