Get to know Rachel Bailey better!

About Rachel          

I live with my own personal hero and four dogs on the east coast of Australia. Our house is on my dream property – 10 acres of native trees on the side of a hill, within driving distance to the beach.

At school, I wasn’t particularly interested in writing or English. Science was my favourite subject and I took chemistry, physics and biology. My mother still teases me that I’d take my science textbooks away on holidays with us.

After school, I enrolled in a science degree (of course) but impulsively changed to an arts degree on the first day. I double majored in psychology and went on to do a second degree, this time in social work.

I loved practicing social work, but now have the perfect job – I spend my days in the peace and quiet of my trees, surrounded by my dogs, making up stories for a living.

Reading

As a teenager, I was a voracious reader of science fiction, until one day when I was 16, I saw Pride and Prejudice on television. The old version with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson. I adored it. I’d seen it in the TV guide and, since I had a crush on Laurence Olivier after seeing him in Henry IV, I’d taped it.

I watched that tape so often I can still recite most of the dialogue by heart. I sought out the book, devoured it, then found every other Jane Austen book and read and reread them frequently. I only discovered romance as a genre about four years ago. Imagine my delight when I first read modern versions of Jane Austen!

Now I read most subgenres of romance, from category to historical to romantic comedy. Such a banquet!

Favourites:

TV shows: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Joss Whedon is a god.

West Wing. Great writing, great acting, great everything.

Singer: Josh Groban. He gives me goosebumps.

Food: Chocolate. Soft, so it coats my tastebuds.

Restaurants: Indian and Thai.

Wine: Sauvignon Blanc. Preferably from NZ’s Villa Maria – since I visited that winery, I’ve barely drunk anything else.

Authors: Jenny Crusie and Jane Austen. Both have fabulous wit, sparkling dialogue, great characters and happily ever afters.

Season: Spring. It’s not too hot, not too cold.

Flower: Lily. Any and all types.

Awards:

During my unpublished years, I won the following:

• RWAustralia’s Emerald Award 2007
  
• Washington Romance Writers Marlene Award 2007
• RWAustralia’s Valerie Parv Award 2006
• RWAustralia’s Emerald Award 2006
  
• NTRWA’s Great Expectations 2006
• RWNew Zealand’s Jane Porter Award 2006

I also had various placings in contests and awards.

With permission, this information is shared from here. She loves hearing from readers, so email her!

Corporate raider takes contract wife

In a merger tailor-made for the tabloids, tycoon Ryder Bramson sought Macy Ashley’s hand in marriage. But his true goal was to buy her father’s company—and thereby wrest control of his own conglomerate from his illegitimate brothers. To ensnare Macy in his web of intrigue, Ryder first offered the beautiful businesswoman a job in his start-up. Yet slipping the ring on her finger proved more difficult.

AT THE BILLIONAIRE'S BECK AND CALL?

 The S-Factor: Sizzling and Sexy. 5 hearts.
Another fabulous love story from Desire author Rachel Bailey. Chocolate, a beautiful woman and a sexy CEO, her boss with an agenda. Talk about one steamy and roller coaster romance!

As emotional as At the Billionaire's Beck and Call was to read , I loved author Rachel Bailey's, Ryder Bramson. He knew what he wanted and he went after it, and that was Macy. However, I prayed in the end he would realize how much he loved her and what a special life they would share together. Happy endings are what make the perfect romance and you won't want to miss reading Macy's and Ryder's story.
Reviewed by Marilyn of Pink Heart Society.

Recently I read AT THE BILLIONAIRE'S BECK AND CALL and reading about all those chocolates made me go "yum" so I went to check the story behind the book, as told by Rachel Bailey:

Behind the Book

At the Billionaire's Beck and Call

So, I needed to give Ryder and Macy a company. Ryder owns lots of companies, and Macy has worked her way up through a variety of them too. But Ryder needed one company in particular to entice Macy to work for him... I don't know about you, but I find that most everyday questions can be answered by

Q: What can I do to unwind? A: Chocolate. Q: How to butter up my sister into doing me a favour? A: Chocolate truffles. Q: What will I get my dog, Oliver, for Christmas? A: Dog chocolate. Q: What would entice my other half to make me his special chocolate chilli cake? A: Surprise chocolate coated almonds.

You can see where this is leading, I'm sure. My question that day was, what type of company should the American magnate Ryder start in Australia to lure Macy into working for him (and bring her closer to his goal of convincing her to marry him): a chocolate company.

Obviously.

Of course, I needed to do a lot of research. I visited many chocolate shops and sampled their wares. I melted some chocolate to see how runny it would be in the scene [spoiler alert!] where Ryder dabs melted chocolate onto Macy. Nothing was too much trouble in my chocolate obsession research. 

Sydney Harbour

During the story, Ryder and Macy go for a short trip to Sydney, and while they’re there, they take a private cruise around the Harbour. If you’ve been to Sydney and seen the Harbour, you’ll know how spectacular it is.

If you haven’t been, here’s a picture and a snippet from the Sydney website:

http://www.sydney.com.au/harbour.htm

“Sydney Harbour is commonly referred to as the most beautiful natural harbour in the world. Those who come to see it will understand why. The 240 kilometres of shoreline encompass approximately 54 square kilometres of water, which translates to an enormous area for exploration and discovery. Although there are exclusive homes dotted around the water's edge, there are large tracts of parklands, reserves and gardens that balance the harbour environmentally. It is possible to walk around much of the harbour edge and picnic in many spots. On a warm sunny day, the harbour is a vibrant blue and dotted with hundreds of sailing boats, cruise boats and ferries.”

So you can see why I had to put Ryder and Macy on a private cruiser for lunch while they were there. It’s such a stunning venue!

She is also one of the LoveCats at Love Cats DownUnder. So you can catch her blogging there!

For more information on upcoming books by Rachel, please visit her website. There are also some helpful articles for aspiring writers.

So does all this talk of chocolates make you crave for it? Imagine reading about Macy feeding chocolate to Ryder! Talk about sensuality enhanced!