All about BLOOD LILY

Now that the initial draft of Pink VII is done (done! Did I mention DONE?), I’m working on the Q&A section of the Readers Guide for the paperback edition of The Betrayal of the Blood Lily. There’s just one problem. I already know everything I wanted to know about Blood Lily. It’s an occupational hazard of having written the book.

Is there anything you would have liked to know about Blood Lily? About the characters, the history, the writing process? Any and all questions gratefully appreciated.

16 Comments

  1. Jessica S. on April 9, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    1. Penelope is such a different character from the previous heroines: she has no use for society, and her family background led her to develop the World’s Largest Chip on her shoulder. How much fun was it to depart from London society, not just geographically, but emotionally, too?

    2. Any chance you’ll send Alex’s father back to London to meet up with the Dowager Duchess? That could be several kinds of fun…

  2. Brenda P. on April 9, 2010 at 2:04 pm

    I would like to know more about Alex’s family. Father, Mother,step-mothers, sisters, brothers.

  3. Georgia on April 9, 2010 at 2:46 pm

    Here are a few questions that come to mind:
    1. Why did you choose to use blood lily in the title when the spies are all named after other flowers?
    2. Will the loose ends from Jasmine be addressed at some point? What happens to Tommy?
    3. The villain remained very much in the background. That made it hard to connect all the dots in the plot. Why did you choose that approach?
    4. Will this book somehow be connected to the remainder of the series?

  4. AnneK on April 9, 2010 at 2:50 pm

    I’m interested in how typical Alex’s family might have been in British India at that time. Was that complicated family tree, with half-siblings and a mix of legitimate and illegitimate siblings, indicative of that society?

    Secondly, Pen goes out of her way to avoid any normal routine that a woman in her position would have followed. Can you give a glimpse at what some other character’s day (Charlotte, for exapmle) would have been like while in India?

    Thanks for the opportinity to ask!

  5. Heather on April 9, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    Will we see Alexs brother, The Moonflower”,in the future books?

  6. Christine on April 9, 2010 at 8:52 pm

    Since Pen was “shamed” into her marriage to Freddy, what will be the social ramifications if anyone finds out about/suspects her adultery?

    And not so much a question, but I would love to see one of Alex’s sisters as the star of an upcoming book.

  7. AngelB on April 9, 2010 at 11:25 pm

    The one part of the book I’ve always wondered about was the timing of Freddy & Company taking off and then Pen & Alex following them. When Freddy mentioned the trip the night before, he didn’t imply they were leaving that night, just that he wasn’t going to sleep in their room. I can’t imagine they left in the middle of the night, but Pen and Alex left the very next morning and had to catch up to them.

    Did I read it wrong?

  8. anna on April 10, 2010 at 12:04 am

    You could revisit the questions that were on the B&N forum.

  9. Erica D on April 10, 2010 at 3:15 pm

    When Madayar put the cobra in Penelope’s bedroom, was it really to kill Freddy? Or was it to kill Penelope?

    Where did Penelope and Alex get married? Did her family or Henrietta come? Or the Dowager?

    Did Penelope and Alex live in India for the rest of their lives?

    Does Jack revisit in future books?

    Is Jack the man who held lady Charlotte captive in Temptation? The man had an odd accent and was very charming! I was wondering if that was Jack or a different spy.

    I have many many more questions! But those are the burning ones =D

  10. AngelB on April 10, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    anna: If you were directing that to my post…I thought I had read all of those and didn’t see anything. Do you have a link? If you were…please ignore. 🙂

  11. Ashley on April 10, 2010 at 10:04 pm

    I noticed the cover art for Jasmine and Blood Lily departed from the previous three books to a degree. What prompted the new look?

  12. Carole on April 11, 2010 at 10:35 am

    I’m not sure if someone asked this, but this has been eating me up inside:

    Will Jack revisit or have his own book?

    I like him! I think he’s nefty.

  13. Priyanka on April 11, 2010 at 3:37 pm

    Will either Jack or Tommy have his own book? I love both of them!

    I know this is a bit unlikely, but will all the characters (from current books and previous) come back together for a sort of reunion at all?

  14. anna on April 11, 2010 at 11:16 pm

    AngelB – nah, just that some questions were posed on the B&N discussion that Lauren might want to include. Or not. And some of the current questions were answered there. Tasty tidbits regarding future books and whatnot. Tasty tasty noms…

  15. Carol on April 14, 2010 at 9:15 pm

    1. Shortly after the group gets home with Freddy’s body, we stop seeing any scenes from Alex’s viewpoint. Was there a particular reason for this?

    2. I would have appreciated a glossary of the Indian titles/positions (e.g. Begum)

  16. Mary on April 27, 2010 at 7:42 pm

    Pen participates in many very masculine and wild activities in ‘Betrayal’. How much of a departure was it to write a heroine who goes roughing it halfway around the world after the other slightly more prim-and-proper girls?

Leave a Comment