Milka!
You are the Winner of Miranda Neville’s debut novel, Never Resist Temptation.
Email us at riskies@yahoo.com with your snail mail address.
Congratulations!!!!
Milka!
You are the Winner of Miranda Neville’s debut novel, Never Resist Temptation.
Email us at riskies@yahoo.com with your snail mail address.
Congratulations!!!!
Because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I’m going to copy my friend Mary Blayney‘s idea and talk about interesting ancestors. Mary’s family has a very interesting fellow in the the family tree, Major General Lord Blayney, whom she wrote about on History Hoydens (part 1 and part 2) and who lived during the Regency, fought against Napoleon’s army, and became a prisoner of war. He even wrote a book about it, available on Google Books.
My ancestors are not so impressive, but there is one who has a good story. In 1836, My great great grandfather, Joseph Batt, brought his wife and eight of his nine children from Alscace Loraine to America. On the voyage over, there was a terrible storm and it looked as if the ship was certain to perish. My grandfather, a devout Catholic, prayed to the Virgin Mary, promising her he would build a shrine in her honor if she spared his family from the storm. The storm subsided and the family arrived safely in their new country.
Batt made good on his promise. He settled near Buffalo, New York, where his oldest son had already settled. Soon he prospered. He built a chapel on his land, just as he’d promised. The chapel still stands today: Our Lady Help of Christians in Cheektowaga, NY.
The Chapel has been rebuilt a few times, but a painting of Our Lady looking down on the ship still hangs above the altar.
I wish I could say I visited this chapel, but I haven’t. I did not even know about it until I was well into adulthood. Although when I was growing up my family often visited our Buffalo relatives, I’ve been there rarely as an adult and my unsentimental family just never talked about or visited this wonderful place.
How about you? Do you have any interesting stories of ancestors?
Only a little more than two weeks before the release of The Unlacing of Miss Leigh. Also on April 1, you can get The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor from eharlequin. Check my website that day for the links.
Today our guest is Miranda Neville who offers us a tasty new Regency treat in Never Resist Temptation. Miranda originally hails from the UK but now lives and writes in Vermont. Her Avon debut promises to whet our appetites for more! Please give Miranda a delicious Risky welcome and one lucky commenter, chosen at random, will win an autographed copy of Never Resist Temptation.
1. This is your debut novel! Tell us about your book.
First, thank you so much for inviting me to visit the Riskies. A copy of Never Resist Temptation will go to one commenter.
Never Resist Temptation starts with that old romance staple—one I never get tired of—the heroine who is lost at cards by her wicked uncle. Jacobin, being a feisty lady, runs away and goes to work as a pastry cook at the Brighton Pavilion. Then her uncle is poisoned by a dessert she made and she’s on the run again. The good news is she’s been offered another job; the bad that her new employer is the winner of that card game. Anthony, the Earl of Storrington, has his own reasons for employing a pastry chef. He’s unaware of her true identity but things soon heat up between them.
“…genuine, lusty and fun.” Publisher’s Weekly
“…a delicious and delightful read.” Romantic Times 4 Stars
“I adored Never Resist Temptation.” Michelle Buonfiglio’s Romance B(u)y The Book
“Don’t resist the temptation – pick up the book!” Romance Novel TV
…
2. We love to hear about a new author’s journey to publication. Tell us about yours and include your “The Call” story!
I went into this as clueless as anyone. I’d always had the yen to write an historical romance so I did. Once I joined the RWA and tried to sell the book I discovered all the things that were wrong, like 10,000 words of backstory in the first three chapters. I did get some encouraging words on my writing from agents, editors and contest judges, but I gradually realized even the slimmed down version was unlikely to sell: it was too “traditional Regency.” I abandoned it, along with its half finished sequel, and spent a weekend thinking about a plot and characters that worked in what I’d learned about the current romance market.
I can’t really describe how the story evolved but it really came together. The first draft took six months and I enjoyed (almost) every moment. Then I went the usual route: appointments at conferences, contests, agent queries, and garnered my fair share of rejections. Once I won a contest and had an editor request the full, I began to get some interest from agents. Meredith Bernstein (what a great woman!) took me on and sold the book in three weeks. She called me one morning to say a couple of publishers had turned me down, then the same afternoon to relay an offer from Avon (thank you, most wonderful Lucia Macro). I went from wild despair to swilling champagne in a matter of hours.
2. Who can’t love a book that includes pastries? Tell us something about your research for the book, especially the cooking part.
Reading Ian Kelley’s biography of the great French chef Antonin Carême was the catalyst for the story. I wanted to incorporate his tenure as the Prince Regent’s chef. I was intrigued that female cooks were much more prevalent in England than on the continent. Carême didn’t like employing women as cooks and didn’t appreciate the female cooks who worked for Prinny. This gave me the idea of having Jacobin disguised as a young man. Cross-dressing roles are such fun, and Anthony is very confused by his initial attraction when he thinks she’s a boy. Most of the recipes described (and in some cases quoted) in the book come from Carême’s cookbooks. I tracked down details about period kitchens, stoves, utensils and so forth, though much of it never made it into the story.
4. We’re all about being risky here. What was risky about your book?
Hmm. I like to use a lot of humor, even in the sex scenes. Is that risky? And talking of risk, I am always aware of the chance of conception and I think the intelligent hero and heroine should be too. I like to see sex followed by pregnancy or fear of pregnancy, or use of some preventive measure. The rather crude forms of contraception available back then are perhaps given too much credence in romances, but that’s OK. I was nervous having my 88-year-old father read the book but he took it very well (of course, he thinks his daughter deserves a Pulitzer). We had an interesting discussion about coitus interruptus!
5. What is it about the Regency era that drew you to it?
My favorite historical eras have two things in common: great power and great clothes. The Regency saw Britain established as Top Country and its aristocrats wielded enormous influence. Masters of the Universe in fabulous costumes (yes, I loved Colin Firth in the wet shirt).
6. What’s next for you?
I’m contracted for two more books at Avon. The series (hopefully eventually a trilogy) is set in the world of Regency book collectors. Bibliophilia is a strange obsession, inspiring rivalries, murderous skullduggery and (a fact sadly absent from the historical record) sexual passion! I worked in Sotheby’s rare books department for several years so I’m returning to my roots here.
Miranda will be stopping by so feel free to ask her questions about Never Resist Temptation, French cooking, or working in Sotheby’s rare books department. And remember. One lucky commenter will win an autographed copy of Never Resist Temptation.
So, this Tuesday is St. Patrick’s Day! The day when everyone gets to be just a little bit Irish. As you all know, I’ve been deeply immersed in late 18th century Irish history for my WIP (which is finally closing in on The End, slowly but surely!), and I thought about pulling out some of my mountains of research for a post today.
But, let’s be honest–St. Patty’s Day isn’t really about oppression and uprisings (though there are plenty of great, sad ballads about such to be heard in every bar on the day!). It’s about dyeing your dog green (disclaimer–I would not do this myself, because my dogs probably wouldn’t stand still for it, but a guy I knew in college did…), putting on a silly hat, and going to parades to wave at other green dogs, bands, and step dancers. It’s about going to a pub to listen to jigs, eat some fish and chips, and have a pint.
So, in honor of the day, here’s a brief history of everyone’s favorite St. Patty’s day drink, that wondrous Irish institution–Guinness!
Arthur Guinness was born in Celbridge, County Kildare, in 1725, where he first learned the art of brewing from his father Richard, whose job as land steward to the Archbishop of Cashel included overseeing the brewing of beer for the workers. In 1759, Arthur signed a 9000-year lease on a disused brewery in St. James’s Gate in Dublin for the price of 45 pounds per year.
He started by brewing ale, and in the 1770s started brewing porter, a newish type of English dark beer that was growing in popularity (the distinctive feature in the flavor is the roasted barley, which remains unfermented. It gives Guinness its dark color and taste). This porter proved so successful that by 1799 Arthur had ceased brewing ale, and by the time of his death in 1803 he left a highly prosperous business behind (he also left a widow, the former Olivia Whitmore, and 21 children, 10 of which lived to adulthood). His son, Arthur Jr., then took over the brewery.
Arthur Jr. grew the business even further, expanding the export trade (the first Guinness exports was in May 1769, with six and a half barrels of ale sent to England), and brewing a new beer “Extra Superior Porter.” By the 1830s, the St. James’s Brewery was the largest brewery in Ireland.
A couple of good sources are: Guinness’s Brewery in the Irish Economy: 1759-1876 by Patrick Lynch and John Vaizey, and Iowerth Griffith’s Beer and Cider in Ireland: The Complete Guide. You can check out the Guinness website here, and Little Shamrocks for some fun Irish trivia. And this is a great recipe for chocolate Guinness cake (chocolate and Guinness! How can you go wrong? And it’s from Nigella, too)
I’m off to a parade this afternoon, and then to listen to some Irish bands at a local “pub” (not a totally genuine pub, natch, but the bar did come from a pub in Ireland that was being torn down! So at least it looks authentic…) What are your plans for the day? Do they involve Guinness???
This morning, I gotta warn you, I am MEGA-CRABBY. There are many legitimate reasons for this, not just pantomime ones, including not sleeping enough because the husband was away last night, and while I like it when he goes away (MI-5! Jammies by 9! Brussels sprouts for dinner!), I find it hard to get to sleep. So last night I had a whiskey at 12:30, which helped, but then I felt lame I had to use a crutch. And woke up headachey and sleep-deprived.
And I am aggrieved by a few online situations, which led me to think about how the internet–that is, the corner of it inhabited by romance authors and readers–is similar to the world of the ton, as described in our books:
*Claustrophobic. You can’t get away from it, unless you check out of Society/the Internet entirely.
*Gossipy. Everybody knows everybody else’s business.
*Reputations are made, and destroyed, with a few quick strokes.
*You can get, and give, the cut direct: Not responding to email, declining to follow someone on Twitter or friend them on Facebook.
*You can also make friends quickly, based on a few common interests: Finding a husband, not finding a husband, what you like to read, whether you’re interested in knitting, or reading, or vampires.
*Certain sites or group of sites seem to have their own Almack’s style patronesses: Either you’re in or you’re out.
Do you think these general guidelines are true for any social group? What do you like best about the Internet ton? What do you like the least? And thanks for joining the Riskies group today!
Megan