Elizabeth Guest Chats with Amanda Quick about SECOND SIGHT

Elizabeth Guest: I'm excited to be announcing that the first book in the Arcane Society series, SECOND SIGHT, is out in paperback this week (Tuesday, to be exact), but here to warn folks that this is definitely not your Mama's romance novel. Tell us why this one is special, Amanda.

AMANDA QUICK: As you said, SECOND SIGHT is the first book in my new Arcane Society series -- that means readers can expect romantic-suspense with a strong psychic twist. It is set in Victorian England when psychic research was all the rage. Between you and me, all that gaslight-and-fog stuff really works for this kind of story. (EG: You can say that again!) For those who are following the series, this is a chance to meet some of the ancestors of those Jones men they encountered in WHITE LIES. It also provides a bit of history about the origins of the Arcane Society, a secretive group devoted to paranormal research.

ELIZABETH GUEST: Love those Jones men! And I have to say, I got a real kick out of your heroine in SECOND SIGHT, Venetia Milton.

AMANDA QUICK: Well, it isn't as though she doesn't have enough trouble as it is. She's worked hard to become a fashionable photographer catering to Victorian Society's elite. Her career has enabled her to provide a comfortable living for her brother, sister and elderly aunt.

ELIZABETH GUEST: Disaster looms, however.

AMANDA QUICK: It does, indeed. Venetia has some closely held secrets, not the least of which is her uncanny psychic ability. Now her life is in danger because she has viewed the unique aura of a killer fleeing from the scene of his crime and she can identify him. But the really unsettling news is that the husband she believed conveniently dead has just returned from the grave. Gabriel Jones is standing on her doorstep and he is very interested to meet the woman who claims to be his wife.

ELIZABETH GUEST: I'm fascinated by her predicament. I mean, what does a widow who was never a wife do with an inconvenient husband?

AMANDA QUICK: Can't answer for every woman who ever found herself in that position, but Venetia consigns hers to the attic. I mean, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

ELIZABETH GUEST: LOLOLOLOLOLOL Sorry, but that's very funny. (Clears throat apologetically.) You've said on more than one occasion that, while you enjoy reading vampire stories, you don't write them. You love psychic romantic-suspense, however.

AMANDA QUICK: Oh, yeah.

ELIZABETH GUEST: As a long time reader of yours (since Day One, Book One), I've noticed that you've used the paranormal twist off and on over the years in a lot of your books. With the Arcane Society series, though, you're pulling out all the stops.

AMANDA QUICK: I'm pulling out all the stops as far as the psychic stuff goes, but, you're right, I don't do full-on supernatural. There are no vampires, werewolves, witches, magic, etc. in my books. It's not for lack of trying, trust me! When I saw that trend coming a few years back I tried to write a vampire novel. After all, we're talking the Ultimate Alpha Male and who doesn't love Alphas? But I just couldn't get into the core story. The psychic element does fit perfectly with my core story however, because I see psychic talents as being just a step or two beyond normal, human intuition. And everyone possesses a little intuition...

ELIZABETH GUEST: So, Inquiring Minds want to know: Will every AQ from now on be part of the Arcane Society series?

AMANDA QUICK: No. In fact my new hardcover, THE RIVER KNOWS, which will be in stores in April, is not connected to the series.

ELIZABETH GUEST: Can't wait to read and reread both books. Thanks, Amanda, for the great chat. Readers, you can click on any of the links below to order the paperback edition of SECOND SIGHT immediately. This is your chance to get in on the ground floor of the Arcane Society series!