Giveaway, Guest Post, and Excerpt: "The Ambassador's Daughter"

As part of the blog tour for "The Ambassador's Daughter" by Pam Jenoff, I have a guest post by the author and an excerpt from the book! I'm also hosting a giveaway for a finished copy of the book!

Now on to the book!

"The Ambassador's Daughter"
by Pam Jenoff

Publisher: Harlequin Mira
Release Date: Jan 29, 2013 
Summary from goodreads.com:  

Paris, 1919.The world's leaders have gathered to rebuild from the ashes of the Great War. But for one woman, the City of Light harbors dark secrets and dangerous liaisons, for which many could pay dearly.

Brought to the peace conference by her father, a German diplomat, Margot Rosenthal initially resents being trapped in the congested French capital, where she is still looked upon as the enemy. But as she contemplates returning to Berlin and a life with Stefan, the wounded fiancé she hardly knows anymore, she decides that being in Paris is not so bad after all.

Bored and torn between duty and the desire to be free, Margot strikes up unlikely alliances: with Krysia, an accomplished musician with radical acquaintances and a secret to protect; and with Georg, the handsome, damaged naval officer who gives Margot a job—and also a reason to question everything she thought she knew about where her true loyalties should lie.

Against the backdrop of one of the most significant events of the century, a delicate web of lies obscures the line between the casualties of war and of the heart, making trust a luxury that no one can afford.

Guest Post:


Question:   When you come up with an idea for a novel how do you envision the book?

Pam Jenoff's Answer: A book for me often starts with an image or scene – a woman walking a child across Krakow’s main market square during the war for example, or a woman waking up in a Nazi prison.  Often times I don’t know who the person is or how he or she came to be in a particular situation – I have to write to find out as the story unfolds.  I typically let myself write freeform whatever comes out, dialogue, scenes, internal narrative, in no particular order.  Then, when I reach about 150 pages or so, the mass of writing becomes unwieldy, and I start to organize it into chapters, using a separate outline document to keep track of it all.  I have some sense where the story will wind up, though not how we will get there – and there are always things that surprise me along the way.


Excerpt:

“The decision to come had not been mine. ‘I’ve been asked to go to the peace conference,’ Papa informed me unexpectedly less than a month ago. He had previously professed no interest in taking part in the ‘dog and pony show at Versailles,’ and had harrumphed frequently as he read the details of the preparations in the Times. ‘Uncle Walter thinks…’ he added, as he so often did. I did not need to listen to the rest. My mother’s older brother, an industrialist who had taken over the electronics firm their father founded, could not attend the peace conference himself after contributing so much to the war machine.”

Participate in a Live Chat with the author, Pam Jenoff at Booktrib.com on Tues, Feb 5, at 3:30 PM

GIVEAWAY RULES:

BookTrib and the publisher have generously provided a copy of "The Ambassador's Daughter" for a lucky follower of my blog!

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :)

• US and Canada only
• Must be a follower to enter
• Books will be mailed out by the publisher/publicist
• Must be 18 or over 

• Ends Tues Feb 12

Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway