Bronwyn Scott’s latest book, How to Court a Rake, is here, folks, and I’m honoured that a version of it has been packaged up as a two-in-one historical along with my very first Regency. How to Court a Rake is Bronwyn’s 74th book for Harlequin/Mills & Boon. Yes, 74th! I am in awe. As well as writing her novels, Bronwyn is a full-time college professor of Communication Studies, plus she has three children and two dogs! I caught up with her to hear about her life as an author…
Did you always want to be an author – why?
I always remember loving to write. Writing short stories was absolutely my most favourite activity to do in school as far back as third grade. I think telling stories is a great way to reflect on ‘what ifs’ and ‘what would I do?’ Or ‘why would someone choose to…’ What would it be like to (live in a certain time period) (be a talented horse rider) (be ambitious but desperate?) I am inspired by the stories of others. For instance, I find the lives of musicians and artists historically interesting because most of their lives are spent living in precarious circumstances and the struggle to survive and thrive is extraordinarily real.
Can you share a little of what How to Court a Rake is about?
My latest book kicks off my 2025 series, One Year to Wed, which features three brothers (sons of a third son of an earl, so you know they’re getting nothing inheritance-wise) who have been given titles by the Crown. In order for those titles to become hereditary, they must wed within a year or forfeit the titles upon their deaths, which given their line of activity for the Crown, could be sooner rather than later. The first book is Caine Parkhurst’s story.
He’s a diplomatic agent and a rake who is now a Marquess. But even a title doesn’t make him quite decent. He’s deeply involved in privately supporting the Greek independence movement and causes of that nature have shaped his life. He’s had no time and no room for long-term, permanent relationships and he really believes he can’t have one without endangering the person he’s with. But now, the Crown is sending the strong message that it wants him to settle down and that competes with his sense of loyalty to his country. The heroine is Lady Mary Kimber, which some folks may remember from Cinderella at the Duke’s Ball and from The Art of Catching a Duke. She has had the misfortune of being ear-marked for two dukes who both chose to marry elsewhere. One more false move on her part will see her pristine image tarnished, and yet marrying a duke was never her dream, just her parents’. Still, dancing
with Caine Parkhurst will prove to be dangerous to her in ways she could not imagine. The story unfolds from there.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I read a lot of history and I like to dig into events and years that are not often covered in order to keep things fresh when I can. I also like to transpose modern day what ifs into historical time periods. But it can also be as simple
as: what if I won the lottery? Then, what if I (a female) won the lottery in 1833? What would my life be like? What would make that life better or worse? What challenges would I face, socially, economically, personally? Sometimes there’s inspiration in listening to kids fight over who took what from someone’s closet. Would it really change someone’s life if they wore someone else’s clothes? Hence, the premise around which Cinderella at the Duke’s Ball was based.
What’s so good about romance?
Happy endings and all the different ways people can get there. I teach interpersonal communication at the
college and I really like bringing interpersonal theory to life in my stories. For instance, the hero and heroine often struggle to overcome their obstacles until they engage in two techniques I talk about in class a lot – mindful reframing and (when in the heat of argument or when an argument is brewing on the horizon) ask themselves ‘what am I bringing to this discussion? How will what I say add to our ability to resolve the problem?’ Once my hero and heroine do that, they’re on the road to relational success.
Where do you like to go to write?
I have two dogs who love to lay in front of the fire, so mostly, I write at the coffee table in the family room next to the fireplace so the dogs are quiet and happy. The coffee table has a top that lifts up, so it’s a good height for writing and I can tuck my laptop into the storage underneath when I’m done.
I did not go anywhere for this book specifically, but I have been to Greece prior to this book and I’ve used the Greek independence movement in books before (The Secret Life of a Scandalous Debutante, and Rake Most Likely to Sin).
What’s your Friday night and Saturday day perfection?
Friday night fun is playing games with my kids when we’re all home. We love to play Game of Thrones Risk. I am always House Stark and I overuse the Robb Stark card all the time – IYKYK. But the game we love the most is
Villainous because the whole family are Disney nuts. We even keep an excel spreadsheet full of game data – win/loss records, who won with what character, how many times have they won with that character, who was everyone else playing when that character won etc. My favourites to play are Lady Tremaine (who has to unlock the ballroom and get the stepsister(s) inside before ball gown Cinderella can stop them) and Madam Mim from Sword and the Stone. A good Saturday is doing projects around the house, and shopping with my daughter.
Any plans for the months ahead?
This is the year of my 75th book with HMB (How to Tempt an Earl) so that’s big! It’s amazing to think about my journey to this point. The book comes out in June/July and it’s the second book in the One Year to Wed series. And then the third book in the series comes out Nov/Dec. So this year will be all about the series. Meanwhile, I’ll be writing three new books – a Victorian about a sourdough heiress from San Francisco in London, and a Grand Tour duet. So, it will be a busy year.
Your top tip to become an author…
Write what comes naturally to you. Don’t get caught up following trends or popular things. By the time we see the trends out on the shelves, it’s too late. Read the genre you want to write in. Study it, dissect it. Figure out what you love about a particular writer or a particular story and learn from it. I have authors that I love for their ability
to capture and present human emotion, while I also have authors I love because of all the unique detail in their stories – and figure out what kind of detail that is. Is it a big event in the background or is it ‘quiet’ detail that gets subtly dropped in? This can all be instructive in honing your own style.
Thank you for being on my blog, Bronwyn. Readers, we hope you enjoy the new book!
