Interview with Patricia Bates

Author of The Vicomte's Prize

Buy this book

How would you describe 'The Vicomte's Prize' to a new reader?

• Its a fast paced story of mistaken identity, secrets, loyalty, lust, and greed. Set during the reign of King Louis XV, it highlights the life at court, the oppulance, the jealousy, and the intrigue while delivering a passion fueled love story featuing two vastly different people.

What was the inspiration behind 'The Vicomte's Prize' ?

• Wow...as strange as it may seem the inspiration behind this story was reading about the Seven Years War and I thought how would those who were in court deal with it. Then you add in the angle of enemies within the court and the base for The Vicomte's Prize was born.

Which authors do you admire? How have they influenced your writing style?

• There are a lot of amazing authors out there who I admire both indie and traditional published. I'm a huge fan of Luna Joya - she has a way of writing that just is speaks to the reader.
  Big fan of Louis L'Amour - his writing about the unvarnished, gritty west spoke to the history lover in me and he's one of my go to authors. He was definitely an influence for my style - I tend to take off the rose colored glasses with my writing and focus on the grit, the edge, the darker side of history while wrapping it in a story that the readers can relate to.
  Julie Garwood - love love love her Scottish Highlander books.
  So amny more I could speak of.

Can you tell us a little about the locations in your book?

• The Vicomte's Prize is set in France, in Versaille to begin with and then moves out into the country where the main characters must learn to connect with each other and their passion and love grows. I picked Versaille because its such an oppulant place, full of gold and paintings and history that drips with the grandeur of that time. It also gave me a chance to showcase some of the historical details so often overlooked.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

• Pick a lane, stay in it until you're established and your readers will love you for it. Writing to market is key - know what your market is, who your readers are, and their expectations. If you can deliver on those expectations then you're going to find you are well ahead of the game.

What's your writing process?

• Short answer? Controlled chaos lol.
  I tend to get inspiration or an idea for a story and then start building up on the pieces that make it up. Where is set, what are some of the day to day things that a reader needs to know, how did they dress, what food did they eat. Those sorts of things. Then I move onto the characters and create character bibles for all my characters. Even minor characters need to be fleshed out in case they become the leads in further stories in the series.
  Then I do the blurb up and work on building the story. First draft is meant to be rough then I put it through two or three rounds of self edits, a round or two of critiques, more edits, and then when its polished send it out to betas and the ARC team members.

Which character in 'The Vicomte's Prize' has had the greatest impact on readers?

• Hmm I would have to say Helene, she's the kind of woman people will overlook. A servant of the Queen of France but there's so much more to her. Her story I believe touches the hearts of the readers and makes them root for her and remember her long after that final page has been turned.

If 'The Vicomte's Prize' were to be adapted for TV or film, who would you see in the lead role? Who did you have in your mind’s eye when you wrote him/her?

• Ooh, I would love to see this happen one day. It's a toss up on who would play the two main characters - Helene I think would be Kartina Law or Kiera Knightly
  Frederique is delicious - Hugh Jackman would make a wonderful Frederique or possibly Johnny Depp.

Where next? What are you working on now?

• Next is my Kidnapped Series a Scottish Highlander series set during the early 1300's. Its got it all - action, passion, betrayal, mistaken identities, greed, lust...and sexy highlanders lol.
  The first title in the series - The Mistaken Groom is due to release in late 2022, but will be available for preorder on Amazon, Kobo, BarnesandNoble and more the end of June 2022.
  I'm also working on fleshing out and relaunching one of my favorite books "Master's Mistress" along with bringing to life more books in the Celtic/Viking series so stay tune for that.

Authors – click here to learn about Profile