Xina Marie Uhl is here today to tell us more about the heroine of All Mouth and No Trousers: A Sweet Romance (An Icebound Tale) set in the exotic locale of Antarctica.
But before we start the interview, mark your calendars for Monday, Feb. 8th at 6:30PM! Xina, Autumn Bardo, Zenobia Neal and I will be doing a free panel discussion on Loving Historical Romance for the Santa Clarita Public Library. Click here to register for this fun event. Blogger Erin Davies will moderate. Click on the event under Feb. 8th to register.
LM: Xina, tell us about Eletra Yellowsmith.
XU: Electa Yellowsmith, a self-possessed, smart-mouthed secretary on the British Antarctic Base. She’s beautiful and well aware of her effect on men, and she uses that to her advantage. She’s also quite choosy, and knows just what she wants: the blustery, recently divorced, utterly clueless commandant.
LM: What are her greatest strengths?
XU: Persistence and cleverness. Once she knows what she wants she zeroes in on accomplishing her goals. That doesn’t mean she’s always successful, though.
LM: What are her greatest weaknesses?
XU: She can come off as haughty in order to keep herself from being hurt. It’s not easy for her to be vulnerable, and putting her heart on the line doesn’t come natural.
LM: What are some of her favorite foods?
XU: Champagne, caviar, and shortbread biscuits.
LM: Sounds good to me! Will readers like or dislike this character, and why?
It depends on which of the Icebound tales they read. According to the main character in Whiter Pastures, she’s not sympathetic, but that’s okay since she has a minor role there. She’s a main character in All Mouth and No Trousers, and as such she’s amusing and interesting to read about.
LM: What first gave you the idea for the Icebound stories: Whiter Pastures and All Mouth and No Trousers?
XU: A combination of factors: my love of explorer stories, fascination with the Antarctic, desire to make people laugh, and coming across this article: 106 of the Least Popular Baby Names in American History (I’m determined to write stories in which I name my characters each of these).
LM: LOL, that’s a lot of names! I’ll have to check out the article. What do you like best about Icebound stories?
XU: They are fun despite the rather grim history of Antarctica. I love to write about quirky people and these characters have unlikely adventures which makes them even more fun.
Two romantic novellas in the Icebound series, an ongoing collection of polar delights.
Behold dogsleds and penguins.
Howling winds and cold, pitiless wastes.
This is Antarctica, where the intrepid inhabitants of the frozen ends of the earth battle the terrain, and each other, to find love—in a past much like that of the early 1900s.
Reluctant spinster Florance Barton fled to the British Antarctic base to escape a scandalous love affair. Amidst the handful of other women there, Florance is the perfect chambermaid, meek, mild, and forgettable. No one has a clue that she’s also a novice spy.
When handsome young Handy McHanagan arrives at the base, he sets everyone agog. He’s charming, artistic, and … an accomplished gardener. His arrival may be a mistake on the part of naval command. Or is it something more sinister?
Killer seals and subzero ice storms and aren’t the only danger in Antarctica: a enemy spy is on the loose. Florance has been ordered to choose between queen and country and her heart. Because penguin is off the menu now–and murder is its replacement.
Amidst the scientists and explorers at the British Antarctic base in 1900 there are a few women who serve as maids, cooks, and nurses.
Then there’s Electa Yellowsmith.
The beautiful blonde secretary has no problem attracting male attention, but she’s got her eye set on Commander Gorge Elderbatch. He may yell like a longshoreman and drink like a fish, but Electa likes the cut of his jib, and the idea of being an officer’s wife.
Gorge has enough trouble with ice crevasses, blizzard forecasts, and upcoming polar expeditions without his smart-mouthed secretary defying him at every turn. What could a looker like her want with a grump like him, anyhow? Especially since he’s sworn off women after his disastrous divorce.
Gorge may be as dense as an iceberg, but Electa hasn’t yet met a man she couldn’t charm. Though if that doesn’t work she has plenty of schemes that just might. The result is a comedy of errors and explosions in a frostbitten frontier.
Buy Links:
All Mouth and No Trousers: https://books2read.com/u/mZjx9R
Whiter Pastures: https://books2read.com/u/bPZKxj
Author Details
Website: http://www.xuwriter.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/xinamarieuhl
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XinaMarieUhl/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xuwriter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/xuwriter
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Xina-Marie-Uhl/e/B00E7AKNR4
Newsletter signup link http://bit.ly/30qhIAS (Includes a free short story when you sign up)
Other books published:
Necropolis: https://books2read.com/u/3Gd8nO
The Cats’ Guide to Human Behavior: https://books2read.com/u/mVKjoZ
The King’s Champion: https://books2read.com/u/4DWXvk
Lady Law and the Texas DeRangers: https://books2read.com/u/38MkoL
Xina, thanks for visiting! See you on the 8th.
Linda McLaughlin
