1--What is the title of your latest release?
CODENAME CHARMING
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
When a bright and bubbly personal assistant finds herself embroiled in a tabloid scandal, with the papers claiming that she’s having an affair with her royal boss, the palace PR team come up with an immediate and horrifying solution. To divert attention from the false rumors, Pet will fake a temporary romance with Matthias, the royals’ massive, silent, brooding bodyguard. Even though he’s consistently ignored her attempts to befriend him and barely says a word to her, unless they’re clashing over their very different ideas on how to look after their well-meaning, accident-prone boss. No potential for disaster at all—and they’d definitely never fall in love for real…
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Codename Charming (and the previous book, Battle Royal, where the hero and heroine meet briefly for the first time as secondary characters) feature protagonists who work for a fictionalized British royal family, so an excellent excuse to set them in London, one of my favorite cities in the world.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely. I think Pet would make the best type of friend—she’s fiercely loyal, fun, and empathetic, and would have your back in any situation. Likewise, Matthias, who’s basically a big, protective teddy bear behind his intimidating, stern exterior.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Pet: loyal, protective, hopeful.
Matthias: loyal, protective, stoic.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Perseverance, I think! This was my longest write to date, because I just wasn’t happy with the first version of this story and basically ended up doing a complete rewrite. Writing isn’t always a smooth path, and it can be very frustrating when you end up having to start over or try a different angle (or multiple different angles!), but it’s all a valuable learning experience, as well, and worth it in the end when the final story feels “right” for your characters and hopefully does them justice.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I wish I could be the sort of writer who can just draft very quickly and then refine later, but I’ve always been more of a revise-as-you-go person. I write and edit on a sentence-by-sentence level and always have—which unfortunately doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t still have to make large, painful cuts during the actual editing process! :)
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Lemon meringue pie.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I have some issues with chronic pain, so to be able to manage very long writing days, I often write stretched out with my laptop propped up against my knees. I have a wall of whiteboards that I use for planning, so I can just look up and check where I am in the outline when I need to. Water and snacks within reach. And plenty of comfy cushions and pillows!
10--Who is an author you admire?
I admire anyone who sits down and pours their heart into a story, because it’s hard work and can be intimidating to put your work and voice out there into the world, especially for all of us who are more introverted. But to name just one–I’m a huge fan of Susanna Kearsley. She does impeccable, fascinating research and fuses that with the most gorgeous, imaginative, lyrical storytelling. Every time I read one of her books, I’m just totally immersed and fully in that world; the setting lives and breathes for me.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Pride and Prejudice. I watched the ’95 miniseries adaptation with my mum when I was around ten or so, and couldn’t wait another week for the next instalment, so she bought the book for me. I was so engrossed that I took it to school and would read it at lunchtime; my teacher saw me with it and turned up the next day with her own copy of Jane Eyre for me. I’d always loved reading—I was one of those kids who looked forward to the Book Bus coming to my neighborhood every Friday night and would check out about fifteen books—but Pride and Prejudice was really the gateway for me into reading and eventually writing romance, and becoming the person that I am.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
This is a bit of a face-palm moment for me, because “the call” is such a milestone moment and I didn’t properly realize that mine was even happening until after the fact! In 2014, I’d come to a now-or-never turning point, where I’d decided that if I wanted to make my dream come true, I needed to push myself, sit down and finish a new manuscript, and actually properly try to put my work out there.
I had submitted my manuscript to the publisher and received a call from one of the lovely editors, telling me that they loved the story, but wondered if I could expand the word count and make it dual POV, which I was happy to do—but I was so surprised and thrilled to even hear from them that in the moment, I thought I was being asked to do a revise-and-resubmit, and only fully realized later that it had been “the call” and the book was definitely going to be published.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
First and foremost, romance in all of its subgenres. I love contemporary and historical, but I’m also a massive fan of paranormal, fantasy, and sci-fi romance. I also read a lot of mystery novels, and I adore classic detective fiction. I collect different editions of Ngaio Marsh’s books.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
The ’95 Pride and Prejudice is technically a miniseries, but I’ll sneak it in there! It’s my biggest comfort watch and even the sound of the opening music makes me feel a bit better on a bad day. While You Were Sleeping is probably my favorite classic rom-com, and my best ever cinema experience was watching The Return of the King on opening night. I still remember the whole theatre cheering when Aragorn arrived with the Army of the Dead.
15--What is your favorite season?
Autumn. The changing colors are so stunningly beautiful where I’m living in New Zealand. Closely followed by winter, especially on a cozy snow day—as long as you have nowhere to be! I love being inside by the fire. I’m definitely a cooler-weather person (within reason). Summer is my least favorite season.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Honestly, I love celebrating other people’s birthdays, but am not that fussed about my own. I usually have a nice dinner and my mum still makes me a cake, which is lovely. I do seem to have started a tradition of doing something a bit extra on a milestone birthday, however; I went paragliding and ran off the side of a mountain for my thirtieth—which has set a worrying precedent going forward, because everyone’s now expecting me to jump out of a plane next. (Which will not be happening.)
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I really enjoy K-dramas and highly recommend Descendants of the Sun, Suspicious Partner, and Her Private Life. I’ve also recently been rewatching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube, a multimedia vlog-style adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that’s still just as good a decade later. And if you need a laugh, then Derry Girls is always brilliant.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Definitely Italian. I love experimenting with different pizza recipes, especially. Soups of all kinds and risotto are also a staple in my diet. I like comforting, one-bowl meals on winter nights.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Catch up on sleep! :) Also reading, of course; going to museums and art galleries, the theatre and ballet, cuddling my dog, listening to music, and contemplating some form of exercise (…key word usually being “contemplating”).
20--What can readers expect from you next?
My next release will be an Audible Original that I’m very excited about, and then hopefully lots more stories to come!
Following Battle Royal, beloved author Lucy Parker pens another delicious romantic comedy about a fake relationship between a grumpy royal bodyguard and the charming, sunny assistant who melts his cold, hard exterior.
Petunia De Vere enjoys being the personal assistant to lovable, bumbling Johnny Marchmont. But the job has its share of challenges, including the royal’s giant, intimidating bodyguard, Matthias. Pet and Matthias are polar opposites—she’s spontaneous and enthusiastic, he’s rigid and stoic—but she can sense there’s something softer underneath that tough exterior…
For Matthias Vaughn, protecting others is the name of the game. But keeping his royal charge out of trouble is more difficult than he imagined because everywhere Johnny goes, calamity ensues, and his petite, bubbly assistant is often caught in the fray. Matthias hates the idea of Pet getting hurt and he’s determined to keep everyone safe, even if it means clashing with his adorable new coworker.
When a clumsy moment leads to a questionable tabloid photo, the press begins to speculate that Pet is romantically involved with Johnny. To put an end to the rumors, the royal PR team asks Pet and Matthias to stage a fake relationship and the two reluctantly agree. But as they spend more time together outside of work, they begin to wonder what real emotions this pretend connection might uncover. Especially when a passionate kiss leaves both of their heads spinning…
Romance Comedy | Romance Contemporary [Avon, On Sale: August 15, 2023, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780063040106 / eISBN: 9780063040113]
Lucy Parker lives in the gorgeous Central Otago region of New Zealand, where she feels lucky every day to look out at mountains, lakes, and vineyards. She has a degree in Art History, loves museums and art galleries, and doodles unrecognizable flowers when she has writer’s block.
When she’s not writing, working or sleeping, she happily tackles the towering pile of to-be-read books that never gets any smaller. Thankfully, there’s always another story waiting.
Her interest in romantic fiction began with a pre-teen viewing of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Firth-style), which prompted her to read the book as well. A family friend introduced her to Georgette Heyer, and the rest was history.
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