Richard and Rose

This month began the re-release of the Richard and Rose series.
They’ve had a bumpy ride, both in the real world and in theirs, but they’re back (again!).
They started when my children were little. To counteract the relentless progress of Thomas the Tank Engine, I started writing. I’ve always written, and it’s proved a good friend. I love my children, but you can only read the story of James stuck in the ditch so often!
When I first conceived the story, Richard was an unprepossessing man, a minor nobleman who slid in and out of stately homes almost unnoticed, solving crimes. But when I started to write him, a high-born dandy strode from the pages, one that could never be unnoticed!
The whole series took a right turn, and they never stopped. I wrote eighth altogether, and they went through a series of publishers, so they’ve been edited more than any other series I’ve ever written.
First with NBI, then with Mundania, then Samhain, they gained fans and rankings, and I was thrilled to bits. Then last year, Samhain announced it was closing, and I knew it was time for Richard and Rose to go it alone.
They’re written in the first person, the only series I have ever done in that style. Richard needed a filter, so Rose, the woman who loves him, tells the stories. They developed from less of a crime-solving duo to a couple coping with the consequences of Richard’s past. Because I wondered what happens to a rake when he changes his mind. Surely there could be consequences?
And there are, and it takes eight books to work it out.
There should have been nine, but I found one book, which had the slave trade as its theme, impossible to write. It was just too painful and the research regularly had me in tears. Maybe one day I’ll finish it!
All the houses in the book are based on real ones, and it’s been wonderful to feature photos of them on the cover. I started with Calke Abbey, a phantasmagorical place, restored by the National Trust to be exactly as they found it, half-neglected, occupied by a family more concerned with nature than the interior of the house. Once scene, where I describe the nursery, is taken directly from my notes that I made the first time I visited the Abbey.
Here it is:
“I have rarely, if ever, seen such a shocking sight. Toys lay strewn about randomly, as though the children had only just left the room, but they were mildewed and black with damp. A baby house lay open in the corner, its delicate contents poured out on the floor in front of it, as if the house had vomited them.
A doll I would have loved to own when I was a child sat on a table, its beautiful silk gown torn and rotted. I picked it up. It had a vacant look because it hadn’t been loved for such a very long time. It wore a fontanges, one of those high headresses fashionable fifty or so years before, and as I placed the doll back down again the head-dress slid off. It took the wig with it, leaving the doll obscenely bald.
I shuddered. “I don’t want to stay here too long, Mrs. Peters. This nursery isn’t pleasant.” Mrs. Peters didn’t seem to feel it, but she nodded. We wrote down what we needed to, and hastily left.
The night nursery was next to it, and on the other side the little room once occupied by the night nurse, or the nursemaid. To our surprise, we found this much neater than the other rooms. Someone had neatly folded the bedding away, the drawers and cupboard were bare—all much more normal in appearance.
“Perhaps this room was discontinued for use before the rest of the house was abandoned.”
“Very likely, ma’am.” Mrs. Peters didn’t venture any theory of her own.”

Later in the book, a very important scene happens in the nursery. I made up a story for the governess in “Yorkshire,” but it’s one of the tales I never got to tell.
Maybe it’s for the best. It wasn’t a happy ending, and I do like those.

You can get or preorder the books here. 

Yorkshire , Devonshire, Venice, Harley Street, Eyton, Hareton Hall, Maiden Lane, Lisbon  

And you can read more about the books here: http://lynneconnolly.com/richard-and-rose/

Veiled In Blue

Veiled In Blue is the next to last Emperors of London book, and one readers have been waiting for. Julius’s story!

In all the series I write there is one character readers write to me about the most, and there are two in Emperors of London. One is Julius Caesar, Lord Winterton, the son and heir of the Duke of Kirkburton. He’s at loggerheads with his unfeeling mother, trying to keep his sister Helena out of her clutches. She has set the future roles of all her children, and Helena is to be the helpmeet.

But Julius finds a distraction. He wants to check on one of the children of the Old Pretender, a young woman adopted by a country vicar and his wife. Because he doesn’t want to make waves, he goes as plain Mr. Vernon.

And it’s there that Julius meets his fate, in the little village of Appleton. He desires her, then he falls for her, but he makes a fatal mistake that could cost him the love of his life.

Writing this story was a delight, not least because I got to write an aristocrat-in-disguise story. Julius is forced to face discomforts he doesn’t usually encounter in his normal life. People don’t bow and scrape to him, and they don’t immediately fuss over him. Being Julius, this comes as a relief, rather than a problem. He looks on the visit as a holiday.

Until danger strikes. Of course danger strikes. It wouldn’t be any fun if it didn’t!

Unlike most of the children, Eve knows she is a daughter of the son of King James II. She doesn’t really believe it, and being a practical woman, she doesn’t care very much. It doesn’t affect her day to day life in this, to her, boring part of England. She has suitors, one in particular, but when Julius bursts into her life, everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

One of the sources for this book was Fielding’s “Tom Jones,” although there isn’t anyone quite as vulgar as the Squire. I’d loved to have done my version, but there wasn’t a place for him. But Tom starts his journey in a rural community very much like the one in Tom Jones. People who knew their places living their lives and occasionally indulging in scandal. The other thing I couldn’t put in the book was the number of spankings! Children were regularly punished, and it was very much “spare the rod and spoil the child” that prevailed. Putting that into a modern book would lead to accusations of cruelty. In one of the earlier Emperors books, I put how the father of the heroine chastised her in that way. The readers didn’t like it, and hated the father far more than I’d planned!

So when I write the books I do have to bear the modern reader in mind. What was perfectly acceptable then isn’t any more. But I try to make my books authentic. It’s problems like that that make the writing process fascinating. I won’t write anachronisms, like the aristocratic lady wandering around London on her own or refusing to marry on principle, but I do temper the stories to suit the modern reader. 

You can get Veiled In Blue here:

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Publisher - Kensington Books
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Duelling Pistols

I’ve been writing a duel in my latest book, so I wanted to brush up on my research. My duel takes place in the mid 1750’s and it’s an affair of honour over a lady. The poor lady is like to be ruined by having two men fighting over her, but they’ll sort that out later!

In the mid 1770’s the “duelling code” was introduced, but this was after the time I’m writing. Nevertheless I used it as a general guide, since they were doing many of these things before.

First, duels were illegal. If a duellist killed his man, he could be prosecuted for murder. That rarely happened, partly because most duels weren’t to the death, and partly because duellists were rich and influential men.

What we see in a lot of films seems to be largely correct. The person challenged would choose the weapons, usually swords or pistols, but they could in theory choose anything. They would meet early in the day, somewhere quiet, but often word would get around and men would turn up to watch the duel and to bet on the outcome.

The combatants had seconds, and it was up to them to arrange matters like the meeting place, and getting their man there on time, and providing neutral weapons. They would examine the weapons to see if they were tampered with, and load the pistols, or sometimes provide them preloaded.

Although duelling was outlawed, and punishable by death if a member of the armed forces took part in one (if he wasn’t dead already!) that didn’t seem to stop determined participants. However, there were some trials, and they became public sensations. In 1736: Henry St Lawrence and Hamilton Gorges fought to the death, and Mr. Gorges stood trial for murder. He was acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. The cause of the scandal involved the deaths of two of his family in a carriage accident.

And of course, Byron was involved in a duel, which led to his conviction for manslaughter. But the man was a walking scandal.

Some duels were over legal disputes – an argument over an inheritance which could have dragged on for years was settled in 1712 when the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Bohun met. Unfortunately, both were killed and their seconds found guilty of manslaughter.

If the participants were wounded, nobody came to court, but there was always that chance.

And the duelling pistols! They were the epitome of the gunsmith’s art. Although most people didn’t indulge in duelling, most men owned a pair of duelling pistols, because they were so beautiful. Not to mention costly! But looking at them today, all I can feel is a chill.

Lynne Connolly

http://lynneconnolly.com

A LADY AT MIDNIGHT

Another Melinda Hammond romantic adventure is about to be e-published! 

A LADY AT MIDNIGHT is set in the 18^th century, so a Georgian adventure this time: gorgeous, elaborate gowns, bewigged gentleman (although our hero is a "modern" man who wears his own hair), and much use made of fans, swords and pistols.  It features my favourite type of heroine – not the most beautiful woman in the room but one with wit, humour and strength of character. She is not looking for love and romance but finds it anyway, in the shape of the handsome Earl Rossleigh.  

When A LADY AT MIDNIGHTwas first published I was very pleased with its reception: the review from Romance Reader at Heart says -

"If you're a fan of books with prose written in the style of Jane Austen and the like, or a fan of writers from the U.K., then Melinda Hammond's A LADY AT MIDNIGHT is right up your alley….Ms. Hammond is definitely an author that has done her research and knows her period history."

 

Published originally in 2005 by Robert Hale, I am delighted to have the chance now to add a new cover and release it on Kindle as an e-book.

When Amelia Langridge accepts an invitation to stay in London as companion to the beautiful Camilla Strickland, her thoughts are merely to enjoy herself a little before settling down as the wife of the dull but dependable Edmund Crannock. 

Camilla's intention is to capture a rich and noble husband, and her mama is only too delighted to allow Amelia to remain quietly in the background. Then Camilla attracts the attention of the pleasure-loving Earl Rossleigh and it seems that she will realise her ambition, but the earl is intent on another, much more dangerous quarry, and it is the level-headed Amelia who finds herself caught up in the earl's tangled affairs...

A LADY AT MIDNIGHT will be e-published on Amazon very soon - look out for it!
(PS - If anyone would prefer the hardback version I have some available, so do please contact me.)

Melinda Hammond

DANCE FOR A DIAMOND - Robert Hale 2005, Kindle 2014

Sarah Mallory

AT  THE HIGHWAYMAN'S PLEASURE - Harlequin March 2014

A Georgian romance set in North Yorkshire

Hi, this is Jo Beverley, bestselling historical romance author whose books are rarely seen on shelves here in the UK, even in charity shops. I tell you, that is a weird thing. As if I've shifted over into another dimension.

However, you can buy them on line from all the usual places.

My new book for 2011 is An Unlikely Countess, which is set in North Yorkshire, which is where we were living when I wrote it. That's a picture of old Northallerton up there. A photograph, which is hardly Georgian, but the best I could do to capture the old town.

Inspired by the Oscars*G* I created a video over the weekend, mostly as a way to show some of locations such as that from An Unlikely Countess, or used as inspiration, though giving them context turned it into a bit of a book trailer.


Anyway, it was fun. If all you want to produce a sort of video from still images, I recommend Photo Story. It's an old programme, but it's a free download it from Microsoft, and once you learn its fairly simple ways, it's easy to use.

If you like the video (it's just a few minutes long), I'd be delighted if you passed it on via Facebook, Twitter, and the usual places. Here's the link.

The pub date for An Unlikely Countess is tomorrow, March 1st, but for some reason the UK sellers have a release date in May! I have urgent messages in to New York about this, but if you have any feedback, please let me know. It's available in print and e-book, of course.

I'm promoting it with: "A Prudence who isn't prudent, and a Cate who isn't at all effeminate. Add an impetuous marriage, and we have a most unlikely countess."

It's received lovely reviews -- which you'll see on the video if you give it a try.

Cheers,

Jo