Back to Top

A Not So Respectable Gentleman? Release Day (Almost)

Updated on by

Tomorrow is the Release Day for A Not So Respectable Gentleman?
It should appear in bookstores and can be ordered online. (ebook versions is out Aug 1, and the Mills & Boon version is out Aug 3)

I’m both excited and a little sad that the book is finally here (almost). A Not So Respectable Gentleman? is the last book in the series that began with the anthology, The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor.

In 2007 the adventure began when Harlequin Mills & Boon editor Maddie Rowe invited Deb Marlowe, fellow Risky Amanda McCabe, and me out to dinner during the Romance Writers of America conference in Dallas, Texas. We thought she was just being nice. The Mills & Boon editors always do nice things like that for their authors during the conference. Turns out she offered us a Regency anthology and each a book connected to the anthology.

Deb, Amanda and I were already friends. We’d become especially close on the Regency tour of England in 2003. So this was a fantastic treat. Our only instructions were to set the anthology in the Regency.

When we later met in Williamsburg, Virginia, to plan the anthology, we decided to create connected stories about a scandalous family created by the love affair between a duke and a lady who left her husband, an earl, to live with him. Their children – his, hers, and theirs – became known as the Fitzmanning Miscellany.

The anthology was about the three daughters. Deb’s and Amanda’s books were about the Duke’s legitimate sons, and A Not So Respectable Gentleman? is about the illegitimate son.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

Since Leo Fitzmanning returned to London, he’s kept his seat at the card table warm, his pockets full of winnings and his mind off a certain raven-haired heiress.
Until whispers at the gaming hell reveal that Miss Mariel Covendale is being forced into marriage with an unscrupulous fortune hunter!
Leo must re-enter the society he detests to help her before returning to his clandestine existence. But he hasn’t counted on Mariel having grown even more achingly beautiful than he remembered. Soon Leo realizes that there’s nothing respectable about his reasons for stopping Mariel’s marriage.

Here’s what the reviews are saying:

a lovely romance with a bit of suspense and the power and strength of a family….Gaston’s talents for evoking the era hold true to form….–Kathe Robin, RTBook Reviews

What made this book such an enjoyable read was the quick pace of the story, with characters that were allowed to be intelligent and practical people, while also being flawed…the romance that Leo and Mariel find again in one another kept my attention from beginning to end, and I closed the book with a smile for their future together.–Sara Anne Elliot, Rakehell

It was great fun revisiting the family we created together. Because this was the last book, I made it a point to bring all the Fitzmanning Miscellany back. They play important roles in Leo’s story. In fact, what Leo must learn in this story is that he can rely on his family when all else fails.

In celebration of the A Not So Respectable Gentleman?’s release, I’m giving away one signed copy of The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor and one signed copy of A Not So Respectable Gentleman? to one lucky commenter, chosen at random. I’ll announce the winner on July 25.

A question for you. If a book is part of a series, do you have to read all the earlier books first? Or do you not mind if you don’t know all the details that came before?

Posted in Giveaways, Risky Book Talk | Tagged , , | 16 Replies

Romance in Books

Updated on by

I spotted this on someone’s Facebook timeline, and had to share–I am so grateful to my local libraries, and still remember the ‘whoosh’ of excitement when it was Library Day at my elementary school. I would borrow as many books as I could carry, even though one of the librarians told me I couldn’t possibly read that many books in one week.

I could.

I’m in Brooklyn without my son, who’s off having adventures–I’ve been working on A Hero’s Return, the next Loveswept book after Hero of My Heart, and am preparing to write the black moment–where he asks her to forsake what she is planning to do to be with him, and she says no–and that takes a lot of fortitude, so it’s taking me awhile as it builds in my brain.

But with the son gone, I hope to be able to get a lot more work done on this. Not to mention more date time with the husband, more outside time at night, and maybe more shoe shopping. And more reading? The worse thing about being a writer is that you suddenly don’t get to do enough reading–thankfully, I still commute to and fro work, and have waiting time in airports and such, so I still sneak as much as I can.

I’m currently reading Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. What are you reading?

Megan

Posted in Reading, Writing | Tagged | 3 Replies

Quiet

Updated on by

I just read Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. I found a lot of it spoke to me in terms of my own experience as an introvert. With the caveat that people are unique individuals and there are many other personality traits that affect behavior, also recognizing that introversion/extroversion is a spectrum (with some in the middle who are called “ambiverts”), Cain describes the strengths and weaknesses of introverts and extroverts and suggests ways they can learn from one another and work together more effectively.

Cain believes our culture currently undervalues introverts, with parents and teachers often pushing quieter children to be more outgoing, with open office spaces, an emphasis on group thinking, etc…  According to Cain, introverts are not necessarily shy (although some are). Nor are they antisocial. The real difference between introverts and extroverts is the level of stimulation each prefers. None of these are absolutes, but… Extroverts are more likely to enjoy large parties and are more comfortable meeting strangers; introverts prefer smaller, more intimate gatherings of good friends. Extroverts are better at multitasking while introverts excel at tasks requiring focused, solitary effort (like writing books).  Extroverts are more likely to be risk-takers while introverts are more likely to be the important voice of caution.
Cain says we need both and that each can learn from the other. Introverts can benefit from pushing themselves, especially in pursuit of a goal or cause important to them. Extroverts can benefit from learning to slow down and listen more.  But it is even more important that we learn to understand ourselves and work to our strengths, while appreciating that others may have different gifts.
If you’re not sure where you are on the introvert/extrovert spectrum, there’s a quiz you can take at http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com/quiet-quiz-are-you-an-introvert/.
I came out strongly introvert, which was no surprise as much of this book resonates with me. I truly enjoy spending hours alone working on my stories.  Although I also enjoy stimulating situations like writers’ conferences and I’ve even managed to give the occasional workshop, these do take me out of my comfort zone. As Cain recommends, I take time to prepare and I also try to work in some quiet time to recharge between activities. I will get up half an hour early to swim if there is a hotel pool; otherwise I walk.
Cain writes that Western society tends to favor the extrovert, while in many Eastern cultures introversion is seen as a sign of wisdom, neither necessarily being right. Cain also writes that until fairly recently in history, character was considered more important than personality. This means that during the Regency, introversion might not have had the stigma it sometimes does now. I think there still must have been some tension between the personality types, though.

Cain talks about couples who come from different ends of the spectrum, saying they have challenges to overcome but can also find that their differences can balance each other in a good way.

I think Jane Austen had an intuitive grasp of this. Although there are many ways to look at Pride and Prejudice, the introvert/extrovert dynamic can be seen as contributing to the tension between Elizabeth and Darcy. Consider this conversation:

“Perhaps,” said Darcy, “I should have judged better had I sought an introduction; but I am ill qualified to recommend myself to strangers.”
“Shall we ask your cousin the reason of this?” said Elizabeth, still addressing Colonel Fitzwilliam.
“Shall we ask him why a man of sense and education, and who has lived in the world, is ill qualified to recommend himself to strangers?”
“I can answer your question,” said Fitzwilliam, “without applying to him. It is because he will not give himself the trouble.”
“I certainly have not the talent which some people possess,” said Darcy, “of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done.”
“My fingers,” said Elizabeth, “do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women’s do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault–because I would not take the trouble of practising. It is not that I do not believe my fingers as capable as any other woman’s of superior execution.”
Darcy smiled and said, “You are perfectly right. You have employed your time much better. No one admitted to the privilege of hearing you can think anything wanting. We neither of us perform to strangers.”

Elizabeth and the Colonel clearly don’t understand Darcy, but she does have a point in that he could try harder. And then consider this bit, as Elizabeth learns to appreciate Darcy.

She began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her. His understanding and temper, though unlike her own, would have answered all her wishes. It was an union that must have been to the advantage of both; by her ease and liveliness, his mind might have been softened, his manners improved; and from his judgment, information, and knowledge of the world, she must have received benefit of greater importance.

If you’d like to know more about Quiet, check out Susan Cain’s TED Talk at http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html.

What do you think?  Did you take the quiz and if you don’t mind sharing, where did you fit? Any favorite stories that feature extrovert/introvert couples?
Posted in Jane Austen, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Replies

These are the voyages of the Steamboat Enterprise…

Updated on by

One of my current projects is an as-yet-uncontracted historical romance set mostly in America in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of New Orleans. And the first thing I realized as I developed the idea was just how little I know about my own country’s early 19th century history. What I do know is patchy. I learned a good bit about the War of 1812 researching my 2012 book, An Infamous Marriage, but my focus was on the war in and around Canada. Partly because of that research, I know Tecumseh, but he died in battle before this story started. I’ve learned about Cherokee history and the Trail of Tears–my husband’s family is Oklahoma Cherokee–but that doesn’t directly touch this story, either.

So I’m now in all-out research mode. Since I’m writing a road romance, I can’t just learn New Orleans. I have to learn about everywhere my hero and heroine would pass through on their way to safety–including what transportation methods and routes actually existed back then in what was still largely frontier country. When I mentioned this to my husband, who’s far more up on the history of technology than I am, the first thing he said was, “Steamboats.”

Now, when I hear “steamboat,” I picture something like the musical Show Boat, or maybe Mark Twain or the Civil War. (Told you the history of technology is one of my weak points!) But because I trust my husband’s instincts, I immediately started looking into it…and discovered that 1815 was just at the dawn of steam travel on the Mississippi. When my story opens, the Enterprise was in New Orleans.

Enterprise

She’d come all the way downriver from Pennsylvania, bringing much-needed supplies for Andrew Jackson’s army. During the rest of the winter and early spring, she mostly shuttled between New Orleans and Natchez. Later in the year she earned fame by sailing all the way upriver (up rivers, plural) to her Pennsylvania home port. Though the journey took many months, it was a portent of the future. Before steamboats, travel upriver on the Mississippi was impractical–rivermen would float down on flatboats, barges, or canoes, then abandon their boats and walk or ride overland to their homes in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, or other points north.

Once I found out there was a steamboat–and one named Enterprise!–I had to set my hero and heroine aboard her. They’ll get off at Natchez, though, and take the Natchez Trace…which is a story for a future blog.

Have you ever stumbled across a piece of history that wasn’t what you expected it to be? And do you have any historica blind spots like mine for technology?

Posted in Research, Writing | Tagged , , , | 9 Replies
Follow
Get every new post delivered to your inbox
Join millions of other followers
Powered By WPFruits.com