Sri Savita Shares About Sensual The Deed With The Duke on Her Release Day!!!
Summer might be over, but Sri Savita provides us the sensual and summery experience that she loves in romances (as a reader and) as a writer with the newest Cards of Passion release. The Deed With The Duke is a decadent enemies to lovers tale, layered with Sri’s academic and literary touch. She describes her process and inspiration with us on her release day.
How did you get involved with The Cards of Passion series?
Dr. J. and Mischa Eliot asked if I’d be interested in joining the project and I was excited to be part of a collaborative series that had an interesting concept around weaving a theme from the cards that Dr. J. created into a story. I chose desire, and since my story was going to be set in the Regency era, Dr. J. and I discussed having my story almost serve as a prequel to lead into her story.
Tell us all about The Deed With the Duke!
The Deed with the Duke begins with the hero, Raaz Panchal—the Duke of Wednesbury—searching for the missing deed to his late father’s beloved cottage. He travels to Robin Hood’s Bay, but when he arrives in the countryside, he learns the home is not vacant, and a beguiling woman—the heroine, Camelia Parikh—claims it’s her property now. Hijinks ensue and sparks fly in a forced proximity situation!
I knew I wanted my story to be a love letter to Indian representation in regency romance by making them the main characters rather than only present in the backdrops of these stories, imported goods, on the table, and in the clothing. I also wanted my story to be a love letter to what I love about historical romance and stories in general with a very warm, kind, gentle, cozy, and summery experience for the reader, my characters, and me. It’s been great to see that the first chapter has largely stayed the same since then, and the story conveys the deep emotion, romantic chemistry, and tension that I love to read.
You work in academia, tell us how that adds to your writing and vice versa.
With a Ph.D. in Psychology, research is naturally part of the fun of crafting fiction for me, and I enjoy bringing my passion for learning, reading, language, and psychology to my characters and stories. As a historical romance author (and reader!)I love prose and line-level editing is one of my favorite things, the writing is as much a character as the setting and characters are in the genre, and my background as a psycholinguist lends itself to thinking about prose deeply while drafting and editing to capture readers’ attention for a reading experience that is immersive, well-paced, and evokes a lot of emotion with only a few sentences.
Lust-at-first sight! What do you like most about writing erotic scenes?
Yes! For a shorter novel I went with lust-at-first as a guiding trope for the romance, but while the story might begin with insta-lust, there is not immediate fulfillment because my favorite thing to build up is the romantic chemistry, tension and seduction, and I want that to spring from a well of deep emotion and intimacy between the characters. So, there is an initial spark of longing that builds to a more deeply rooted desire over the course of the story, and the growing connection between the characters. That blend of emotion and heat is what creates a compelling erotic scene for me—and creates a connection between characters that I can feel and believe in as both a writer and reader.
What is next for Sri Savita?
I’ll be sharing more about a free exclusive story for my newsletter subscribers soon that is a companion tale to The Deed with the Duke. Additionally, I’ll be writing a bonus epilogue for The Deed with the Duke for subscribers as well. After that, I’ll be focusing on writing happily-ever-afters for Raaz’s four younger siblings. When you read the book, you’ll see who’s next in the epilogue. I’ve also got a couple other secret regency romance projects in the works that I can’t say too much about yet, but stay tuned!
