Are you ready to Rumba?

Anyone who has been reading this blog for awhile knows how much I love "Dancing with the Stars." So much so that I finally got up off of my fat ass and started taking ballroom dance classes in January. Right now, I take Jive, Hustle, Salsa, and my favorite dance, the Rumba.

Why do I like this dance in particular so much? Besides getting to dance to really groovy music (including a very sexy version of California Dreamin by Jose Feliciano), the dance is just sexy. According to Wikipedia, the dance is the slowest and most erotic and sensual of all the ballroom dances. It tells the story of a man and a woman in love, or more aptly, lust. The man persues the woman, flirting with her, and she flirts back, but ultimately she rejects him and casts him away.

Sounds cool, no?

I decided to do a little research to learne the origins of the dance that we now know as Rumba. The word Rumba is a really a generic term, covering a variety of names (i.e., Son, Danzon, Guagira, Guaracha, Naningo), for a type of West Indian music or dancing. The exact meaning varies from island to island.

There are two sources of the dances: one is Spanish and the other African. Although the main growth was in Cuba, there were similar dance developments which took place in other Caribbean islands and in Latin America generally.

Like a lot of other dances, the "rumba influence" arrived in the 16th century with the black slaves who were imported from Africa. Their native Rumba folk dance is essentially a sex pantomime danced extremely fast with exaggerated hip movements and with a sensually aggressive attitude on the part of the man and a defensive attitude on the part of the woman. Music is played with a staccato beat in rythm with the expressive movements of the dancers. Other instruments include the maracas, the claves, the marimbola, and the drums.

During the second world war, a dance called the "Son" was a popular dance in Cuba. It was a modified slower and more refined version of the Rumba. Still even slower is something called "Danzon", which was the dance of the very wealthy in Cuban society. Very small steps are taken in this dance, with the woman producing a very subtle tilting of her hips by alternately bending and straightening her knees.

Our American Rumba is a modified version of the "Son". The first attempt to introduce the rumba here in the United States was by Lew Quinn and Joan Sawyer in 1913. Ten years later band leader Emil Coleman imported some rumba musicians and a pair of rumba dancers to New York. Then in 1925 Benito Collada opened the Club El Chico in Greenwich Village and found that New Yorkers did not know what the heck the Rumba was all about.

There was beginning to be a real interest in Latin music which began during the late 1920's. Xavier Cugat (former husband of Charo) formed an orchestra that specialized in Latin American music. He opened at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles and appeared in early sound movies such as "In Gay Madrid". Later, Cugat played at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. By the end of the decade he was recognized as having the outstanding Latin orchestra of the day.

In 1935, the actor George Raft took a break from playing his usual gangster parts and played a role closer to who he really was in New York, the part of a suave dancer in the movie "Rumba", a musical in which the hero finally won the heiress (Carol Lombard) through the mutual love of dancing. I haven't seen it but the description makes it seem incredibly melodramatic with him dying at the end during their dance (apparently his character has a bad ticker!).

In Europe, Latin American dancing owed much to the enthusiasm and interpretive ability of a man by the name of Monsieur Pierre . During the 1930's with his partner, Doris Lavelle, he demonstrated and popularized Latin American dancing in London. They introduced the true "Cuban Rumba" which was finally established as the official recognized version in 1955.

Right now, I'm taking Bronze level classes. Which means that if I were to compete, this would be the medal level that I would be in. According to the International syllabus, here are some of things that I should be learning:

Bronze (thanks to Dance Sport UK for the steps)

Alemana (spot turn)
Basic movement
Closed hip twist
Cuban rocks
Cucarachas (learned, has nothing to do with cockroaches)
Fan (just learned)
Hand to hand
Hockey stick (have no idea)
Natural opening out movement
Natural top
New Yorker (learned)
Progressive walks
Shoulder to shoulder (just learned)
Side step
Spot turns (learned)

I'm not sure if I'll ever be good enough or up to competing, but I'm certainly having more fun learning than I've had in awhile. Of course, I leave each class feeling as if I'm in immediate danger of needing a hip replacement! I've also begun to watch the competition on "Dancing with the Stars" much more closely since I know most of the dances now.

I admire the celebrities who do this show even more now. Not only is it physically demanding, but most of them are performing steps that only competitors who are in the Silver and Gold class perform. And they have to learn most of these steps in a week. I'm still trying to learn fan after two classes!

Thanks for reading,

EKM

Welcome Caridad Piñeiro!

This week, The Lady Novelist welcomes RWA NYC's Golden Apple Author of the Year Caridad Piñeiro, author of the popular The Calling vampire series from Silhouette Nocturne and The South Beach Chicas Catch Their Man out now from Pocket Books to rave reviews.

Four single girls + Four sexy men = Trouble for one confirmed bachelorette who just wants to hang with her amigas!
Reporter Sylvia Amenabar loves her vida loca. Just months ago, she and her three best friends—Adriana, Juli, and Tori—were happily single, hoisting mojitos at their weekly get-together. Now, everything’s changed. All four women have sexy men in their lives—and Sylvia’s not sure she likes it that way.

Ever since handsome cop Carlos Ramirez took a bullet for Sylvia after an investigative report went south, she’s been fighting their intensifying attraction. Sure, he’s gorgeous and great in bed—and nearly died for her—but Sylvia has sworn never to let a man be in a position to break her heart that way her father did by abandoning her and her mother.

Besides, who has time for the whole the relationship dance? Sylvia’s got a reputation to maintain as Miami’s hottest new journalist. But when her latest assignment threatens to smear Adriana’s boyfriend, Riley, and too-good-to-be-true Carlos, and her mother is hell-bent on reuniting with her father, Sylvia finds that life and love and family aren’t things you can control!

Q: Tell us a little about yourself, what is your background and how long have you been writing before you were published.


I wrote my first book in the fifth grade when the teacher assigned a class project – to write a book that would be included in a class lending library. I went home and started writing and my poor mom had to type 120 pages. It was no surprise that the book was a romance since even at that age, most of what I had been reading had strong romance elements. I kept writing through junior high and high school by becoming involved in the school literary magazines, but after my graduation from high school, I set out to write my first novel. I kept at it through college and law school and thanks to Fern Michaels, a version of that novel went to Kensington. Unfortunately it wasn’t acquired, but a few years after that I sold Kensington my first contemporary romance, NOW AND ALWAYS.


Q: What made you choose romance?

I’d been an avid reader and one summer, after reading SHANNA, I realized that what I was reading was romance. I began devouring every romance I could find on the bookshelves and it occurred to me that what I was writing was also romance. There was never any doubt in my mind that the stories I wanted to write were within the romance genre.


Q: What you do love about writing vampire romances?

I love the dark and turbulent emotions of not just the vampires, but the humans in THE CALLING novels. Writing my vampire romances lets me explore those dangerous elements of human nature that I might not be able to do in one of my women’s fiction books. It lets me play off the danger of the humans against that of the vampires. What that ultimately shows is that there is good and evil in all kinds of mortals and immortals. The vampire novels also let me push the envelope sexually at times, since the vampires have sometimes had centuries of experience and what they need to please them may differ greatly from what a human needs. Or then again, it may not, which is why there are so many aspects that I can explore in THE CALLING vampire novels.

Q: What do you like least about it?

I don’t think that it’s a question of not liking it, but rather that after a number of books dealing with the greater levels of violence and emotional pull in THE CALLING series, it demands a break to doing something different. That’s why I love writing the Chicas books and romantic suspense stories. With sexy settings and totally different themes, I can rejuvenate from dealing with the darkness of THE CALLING and the Manhattan local for the series. Nevertheless, there is something about THE CALLING that always pulls me back and has me thinking of ways to continue to build that world and explore the many characters within it.

Q. What sparked THE CALLING Series? Was it a character? A scene you just couldn’t get out of your head?


I was a Buffy and X-Files fan and thought, “What would happen if I combined the basic elements of both of these shows?” THE CALLING was born – a blend of the vampire world, supernatural and real-life suspense together with the mortal demands of being a kick-ass FBI Agent and having a non-human lover. What could be better? Once the initial germ of the idea came to me, Diana Reyes was the first character to pop into my head. Actually, she had been popping into my head for quite some time while I was trying to finish up a series of baseball books for Kensington. No matter how hard I tried to shove her aside, Diana always returned and I knew then that I had to write her story, which was released as DARKNESS CALLS in March 2004.


Q: What did you do that made your vampires different from what we know of about vampires in fiction?

Since I wanted my vampires to play a real role in the suspense elements in the stories, they had to be able to venture out during the day and also, there had to be a risk factor for their participation, namely death. When I researched existing vampire lore, I realized I would not be the first to allow vampires to venture out into the sun, but I was careful to explain the why of how they did it. When it came to the death part, I wanted more than just the traditional stake through the heart/beheading kinds of deaths. Because of that, I made them more physically vulnerable. They could survive traumas that a human could not, but immense trauma would still begin a cycle that could kill them if they didn’t feed. I also dropped a secret into DANGER CALLS about vampire blood. That secret has blossomed into an ongoing story arc with Diana Reyes beginning in DEATH CALLS. I won’t spill more about it, but let’s say that the vampire blood secret will result in major changes in this character over the course of the next THE CALLING novels in 2008 and 2009. Plus, there’s another little secret that will emerge in HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE which includes FATE CALLS, another novella in the series. HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE will be released in December 2007.


Q: Anything that constrained you or that you had to plot carefully around?


I did have to take into account the existing vampire mythologies and not deviate from them too greatly. When I did my own spin on things or did a change from something accepted, I made of point of explaining it carefully so that vampire purists would not be upset by the changes I had made and incorporated into the mythology of THE CALLING.


Q: Did you have to do any major research for this book? Did you stumble across anything really interesting that you didn’t already know?


I’m always doing research for THE CALLING. Some of it was scientific so that I could realistically create that vampire blood secret I mentioned. Sometimes it relates to other vampire mythologies. For example, DEVOTION CALLS featured a spin on a Latin vampire legend – a chupacabra or goat sucker. In an upcoming 2008 release, FURY CALLS, you’ll meet an Asian vampire and see the differences between them and our mostly European concept of vampires. I try to do these things so that each book in THE CALLING series is fresh and different for the readers. HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE features Hadrian, a vampire from Ancient Rome. There are flashbacks to Ancient Rome as well as information about the pagan celebrations and beliefs that have been incorporated into some of our Christmas holiday traditions. I enjoyed researching those aspects of the story since I love history.


Q: Vampire romances in recent years have exploded. Do you think the market is becoming saturated?

I am asked this question often. I think that surviving in a crowded marketplace is a matter of not only good writing, but getting the word out there about your work. The existence of many other similar books makes it harder for a writer in that genre. They need to find a way to rise up out of the crowd. If you’ve established a following, it is sometimes easier to survive when there’s a glut of similar books, but you’ve still got to deliver a good book. As for the market becoming saturated, there are certainly quite a number of vampire romances out there now.


Q: As well as writing for Silhouette Nocturne, you also write romantic suspense. How do you balance writing paranormal, chick-lit and romantic suspense?

I adore the change of pace and locale that writing in multiple genres provides. It lets me try something different with each book and also helps to keep me from using “writing crutches” when I find myself in a bit of writer’s block. I also find that tackling the specific elements of the various genres sometimes helps me look at the elements in the other genres in a unique way. Hopefully that keeps the books fresh and possibly brings new ideas into the other genres.


Q. You’ve also branched out into writing women’s fiction for Pocket Books with the South Beach Chicas series. How has that been different for you than writing category?

Writing a longer book is quite different because you have the time to add secondary plots and characters as well as explore the complexities in the characters’ personalities with greater depth. That has provided me with the opportunity to build the basic world of the South Beach Chicas with just one book. In comparison, to build the basic world in THE CALLING, with all the secondary characters that visit in the various books, took several novels. I love writing about the South Beach Chicas because much like Diana Reyes, they are all strong and successful women who know what they want out of life and are determined to get it. What I also love about the Chicas is the humor and lightness that comes with setting the books in South Beach. It lets me create an entirely different world and provide my readers a glimpse of another side of my writing and also, my Miami culture which is worlds away from my Manhattan culture.


Q. You have a full time job, a family and you publish several books a year. How do you balance your time?


It is a juggling act to balance all these things and occasionally there is a bobble. What I do try to do is to always prioritize, although I must stress that for me, family always comes first. They are the reason for everything else that I do. As for the full-time job (attorney) and the writing, they are both careers that are mentally and physically intensive. I know it sounds weird to say physically intensive about jobs that involve a lot of sitting, but anyone who has spent four or more hours in a chair while concentrating on their computer will know what I mean. It does drain you. For that reason, I try to keep my weekday writing to the train commute to and from Manhattan. On the weekends I will schedule to do three or four hours of writing. However, if there’s a deadline or a change in publishing schedules, I will work at night to finish a manuscript. I guess the key to finishing all those books is – I write as often as I can and nearly every day. By doing that I am able to write a few books each year and prepare proposals for future books.


Q. What/Who do you like to read?


I love urban fantasies and romantic suspense. My favorites right now are Kim Harrison, Kelley Armstrong and J.D. Robb. I also make it a point to read my fellow authors at Silhouette Nocturne, Silhouette Romantic Suspense and an assortment of Latina writers, like Tracey Montoya, Lara Rios and Berta Platas.



Q. What is your writing process? Do you plot extensively first or do you tend to “fly in the mist?” Has your process changed over time? Do you write multiple drafts or clean up as you go?


I write every day usually. When I begin a book, it’s always the characters that come to my head first. I then create a story around what will allow me to challenge them with their greatest fears. For example, in BLOOD CALLS, the hero is a vampire who was once a Spanish Lord who had been betrayed by his wife and recently lost a lover. What would be the perfect foil for a vampire like that? A terminally ill woman with secrets.


After I decide on the characters, I lay out the start, middle and end of the book. I fill in everything else while I’m writing the novel. Lately, I have been forced to do the dreaded synopsis first, but I really prefer going with a looser idea for the book and letting the story and characters to dictate what happens.


Q: What are some of the changes in the romance genre since you’ve started writing?


For starters, romances are definitely sexier and the heroines seem to be more alpha. When it comes to the sexiness factor in modern romances, I love a book that has good sex scenes, but I think that it’s important that those scenes don’t overwhelm the romance in the story. As for stronger women taking charge in romance novels, I think this is absolutely wonderful. I’m glad that I’m able to show women like that because I think it reflects the changing roles of women in today’s world.


Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?


I would advise them to learn about the craft and the business either before or while they write their first book. I didn’t do that and found that the revisions I had to make and the many awkward steps I took toward getting published were as a result of my not knowing about either the craft or the business. Another piece of advice would be to not take rejections too seriously. Every writer, even one who is multi-published, deals with rejection since not every story sells. If you can take something positive from the rejection do so and most importantly, NEVER GIVE UP! If you love to write, keep on writing.


Q. There was a recent article called "Harm in reading romance novels," Do you think romance novels harm or empower women?


I have no doubt that reading romance novels empowers women in many ways. Many romances show women in positive roles and taking charge of their lives. That’s definitely a good thing. Reading romances helps take women away from the stress and issues of their every day lives and we all know that reducing stress is also a good thing. Sharing books with friends or discussions about the novels or online at the various romance websites likewise helps to build a sense of community and hopefully, enlighten women as well.


As for those that think that women can’t discern the fiction in romance novels from real life – they are chauvinists and that term is not limited to men. There are many women that I’ve met who have adopted chauvinistic opinions about romance. Would these individuals ask the same question about a man who reads James Bond? Do they worry that men who read such spy novels will believe that they, too, are sexy spies? Do people ask non-romance male authors if their readers cannot discern the fiction in their novels from the reality of their lives? I think not.




Q: Romance has garnered the biggest market share in genre fiction, yet it gets the least respect in popular and literary culture. Do you have any thoughts on why that is? Do you find this prejudice changing?



I truly believe the prejudice against romance is based on a general societal denigration of things that are important to women. Look at how women are treated differently in virtually every aspect of our culture, from salaries to health care to basic car repairs. I remember going to buy my car and the salesman wanted to explain about the wood in the dash and the stereo system while I wanted to know if the car had a standard H shifting pattern and the availability of a six cylinder model. Presumably the latter were “guy things” that he thought me incapable of understanding.

While there are many romance writers and publishing professionals struggling to change the perception of romance, in my opinion it is still an uphill battle. Despite that, I am hopeful that the prejudice will change as more and more people take notice of the number of people reading romance, including men, the popularity of the genre, and the varied and accomplished backgrounds of so many romance writers.


Q. What are you planning to work on next?


I am at work on the next three novels in THE CALLING vampire series. I am also considering the next SOUTH BEACH CHICAS story, namely, Adriana’s story. I think that so many women have male best friends who could or do become lovers that Adriana’s story will resonate with many women and I hope that I will be able to write that story. Beyond that, I’m developing some other romantic suspense stories as well as two paranormal single titles.




Thanks Caridad for stopping by! SOUTH BEACH CHICAS CATCH THEIR MAN is out now today, and you can still order her Silhouette Romantic Suspense SECRET AGENT REUNION (4 Stars from RT) from Eharlequin or Amazon.com.


Stay tuned for more interviews with our RWA NYC authors in the future as well as our Lifetime Achievement winner Wendy Corsi Staub.

Thanks for reading!

EKM

In Rembrance, 9/11, Jane Wyman

Today is the anniversary of 9/11 and in contrast to that day, the weather is foul. I still vividly remember that day. Even though the weather was wonderfully sunny, I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, as if something awful was going to happen. I attributed it to nerves because it was the first year that I was responsible for our annual Wine & Cheese reception for the publishing industry here in New York (now called the Golden Apple Awards). I had no idea that as I headed upstairs to my desk with my bagel and coffee, the world was about to change for so many people.

I still remember taking the last subway home before they shut them down, sitting on my bed watching the television almost mesmerized by the images. I felt like I was in a fugue state. All I could think of was how could this have happened? It didn't seem possible. I couldn't even cry, I was just numb. The people that managed to get through to see if I was alright, including a friend who I'd lost contact with due to the machinations of the ex-best friend. I remember the relief in ex-sweetie pie's voice when he finally reached me. The knowledge that if I had still been working at Deutsche Bank, I would have been on my way to work across from the Towers that morning. Going back to work the next day was surreal. Everything had changed overnight irrevocably, yet there I was at 9:00 a.m. as if nothing had happened. I remember feeling so angry about it. It didn't seem right somehow, to be at work when so many people were still missing, yet we were just supposed to go on with our lives. But things would never be the same for any of us.

Now six years have passed, Ground Zero still hasn't been rebuilt, Osama bin Laden is still at large (but apparently he's been able to get to the drugstore to avail himself of some Revlon for Men), Ann Coulter is ranting on television about the 9/11 widows, and the people who lost so many and so much are still dealing with the after-effects. New York Magazine just did an article this week about a young woman, who's only consolation is the time she spends at a camp for kids who've lost parents in 9/11. They've become her closest friends through their shared tragedy. But she still hasn't really dealt with the loss of her father that day.

So in honor of 9/11, I urge people to go to the web-site: My Good Deed to help make a difference.

Also, Jane Wyman died. To those of us born in the sixties and seventies, Jane Wyman will always be Angela Gioberti Channing on Falcon Crest, one of my guilty pleasures during the 80's. It wasn't as glityzy or glamourous as Dynasty and Dallas, it was more American Gothic in a way in the way that Angela Channing controlled her family on the show. Watching her on the show led me to her earlier films, including Johnny Belinda for which she won the Academy Award after a decade of mostly small forgettable parts in movies.

What I admired most about Jane Wyman was her refusal to talk about her first husband Ronald Reagan. In this era, where stars are willing to reveal everything including what kind of underwear they like, and their favorite sexual positions, her lack of candor seems refreshing and right somehow.

She never had a bad word to say about him, and when he died, she was quite complimentary, calling him a "Great, kind, gentle man." If only every celebrity could be that reticent. But then again if they were, what would I write about?

Oy Britney!

Okay, it's Monday morning, and I'm barely coherent. I didn't get home from my night job until 4:00 a.m. and I had to somehow manage to crawl into work today by 10:00 a.m. My normal work hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. but there was no way in hell that I was going to make it on 2 hours of sleep. As it is, I'm in that twilight fugue state where there are lovely colors floating around in front of my face.

Part of the reason I had to work so late was because of the MTV VMA awards. I didn't get to watch them, but because I was writing hybrids (A hybrid is like a special commercial) and the writers doing the MTV awards wrote the hybrids by accident as part of their show, I had to wait and rewrite them.

So I didn't get to see Ms. Spears performance if it can be called that until this morning, and seriously it wasn't worth the wait. How is it possible years in this business to lip-synch badly? This performance wasn't just bad, it was lethargic, it was listless, it was kareoke. She was performing in front of millions of people, not to mention your peers in the industry, after basically being the butt of the joke for the past 3 years, and she blew it.

Was it nerves? Too much benadryl? Acid-reflux? Knowing that your ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake had just won an Emmy award and was there with his hot new girlfriend Jessica Biel? What was it Brit that made your performance so sucktastic? Because she was barely more coherent than I am right now. All of her previous VMA performances were forgotten in an instant (remember when she sang 'Slave For U' with an albino snake around her neck?). Now what everyone will remember is Britney wandering around the stage like she lost her way.

The song "Gimme More" is not a bad song, it's about wanting someone so badly that you just want them to give you more, and she looked like she'd hadn't take a crap in a week. Or had piles. If that's the case, they do have surgery for that. Maybe if the stage manager had waved a drink or some cheetos at her, she would have been more animated. Even the first line of the song when she says, "It's Britney bitch" sounded lame.

The sad thing is that Jennifer Lopez, who performed at Fashion Rocks, out sang her and out danced her. And let's face it JLo ain't Kiri Te Kanawa. Britney could barely arouse herself enough to do even the most basic moves. Seriously, I could have danced better than she did and I'm also most twice her age.

Here was Brit's chance to show the world, she was back with a vengeance and she blew it. Personally, I think she needs to lay low for awhile, and not be seen out and about. And stop partying with Criss Angel, Mind Freak, for crying out loud. Next thing you know, she'll be dating Kid Rock.

I need some sleep,

EKM

In Remembrance - Madeleine L'Engle

I had another post planned today but then I just found out on Yahoo that Madeleine L'Engle passed away yesterday.

My junior year of high school, I was fortunate enough to have Madeleine L'Engle as a creative writing teacher. It was probably one of the most exciting things to have happen in my young life. She was a total inspiration, and I probably learned more in that one year, than I've learned since. She was just a total joy to be around, and was so interested in everything that we had to say, and her critiques were spot on.

I had read A Wrinkle in Time and A Swiftly Tilting Planet in grade school, but the books of hers that I loved the most were her books about the Austin family. I sympathized with Vicky Austin when Maggy Hamilton moves in with her family. As I grew up reading the books, Vicky grew up. Along with Judy Blume's, and Norma Klein, her books guided me through my adolescence.

She was also married to Hugh Franklin who played Dr. Charles Tyler on All My Children. I don't know what excited me more when she came to teach. He even took over her class one day when she had a speaking engagement and couldn't teach. We were privileged enough to be able to have her read bits and pieces from her newest work in progress, which became A Severed Wasp.

It was the first time that I had been that close to a real writer, and to hear her read her words to us was something that I still treasure to this day. If I'm a writer at all, she had a great deal to do with helping to shape me. I read a quote in the Associated Press article that I felt encapsulated exactly who she was as a writer and as a person.

"In my dreams, I never have an age. I never write for any age group in mind. When people do, they tend to be tolerant and condescending and they don't write as well as they can write. When you underestimate your audience, you're cutting yourself off from your best work."

It's wonderful that 3 generations of children have fallen in love with her books, and I hope that future generations still find her books on shelves alongside Harry Potter and Her Dark Materials.

EKM

Scandalous- Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset

This post starts a whole series of Scandalous Women of history here at The Lady Novelist. I was actually inspired to write this post after reading Victoria Dahl's post over at History Hoydens about poisons.

The lovely woman on the right is Lady Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset. She was an English noblewoman who was the central figure in a murder scandal during the reign of James I of England.

She was born Frances Howard, the daughter of the second son of the Duke of Norfolk. He was later made the first Earl of Suffolk which made her then Lady Frances Howard. Her father was apparently a wealthy and powerful noble, despite being a second son.

When she was 13, she was married off to Robert Deveraux, 3rd Earl of Essex, son of the infamous Lord Essex, favorite of Queen Elizabeth and great-great grandson of Mary Boleyn. His grandmother was Lettice Knollys who married Queen Elizabeth's other favorite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (Jean Plaidy wrote a wonderful novel about her called My Enemy the Queen). The Earl was 14 at the time, and the marriage was made for political reasons. They were seperated after the wedding because it was considered that sex and an early pregnancy would not be good for either of them (a novel notion to be sure). Essex went off on a tour of Europe, and when he came back, his wife pretty much wanted nothing to do with him.

While her husband was away, Frances had fallen in love with the Earl of Somerset. Also, her husband came back with smallpox which was highly contagious and could have killed him. Rumor has it that she may have given him something called a "love-philter" to keep him impotent and away from her. Instead of being upset by his wife's apparent distaste for him, Essex spent most of his time hanging out with his buddies.

Finally, Frances took the necessary steps to have her marriage annulled, actually she got her father and her uncle, the Earl of Northampton. to do her dirty work for her. Like today, the gossips of her era, watched the proceedings with open eyes and ears. Frances confessed that she had made every attempt possible to make herself sexually available to her husband, but alas she was still a virgin.

As was the fashion, she was examined by a team of experts, who would then testify that she was indeed still virgo intacta. However, it was rumored that she might have substituted another woman, which was easy to do since she would have been examined from behind a sheet to protect her modesty.

Essex of course did not take his manhood being besmirched lightly. He claimed, of course, that he was perfectly capable with other women, just not his wife. He claimed that she was verbally abusive to him, and that was why he was incapable of doing the deed.

Where does the murder come in? Well, Somerset had a very good friend Thomas Overbury's, who was totally against the idea of his friend marrying Frances after her annulment went through, and was quite vocal about it. Not only that but the Earl of Somerset who was Viscount Rochester at the time, told Frances what his friend had said. Uh oh, you can see where this is going. It's a classic tale of a man caught in between his woman and his best friend. These things never end well.

And in Sir Thomas Overbury's case, it ended in his death. But first, Overbury wrote a poem called "His wife" which detailed a list of virtues which a man should demand in a woman before he marries her. WTF? Outrageous but this was the 17th century after all. Let's see a guy try that nowadays. So Overbury threw down the gauntlet so to speak with Frances when he wrote this poem.

Her first step was to try and discredit Overbury with the King. It was apparently easy to do since Overbury had become a tad arrogant with his success, and the King personally disliked him, considering that he had a malevolent influence over Somerset. She somehow managed to get the King to offer the ambassadorship of Russia to Overbury who declined the post which pissed off the King. So he threw Overbury into the Tower on April 22, 1613. With Overbury in the Tower, the Howards managed to win the King's support for the annulment of Frances's marriage to Deveraux, which was granted. Two months later Fraces and Carr were married. It was apparently the wedding of the season, celebrated by no less a personage than the poet John Donne.

As for Overbury, he died in the Tower 11 days before the annulment was granted. Two years later, rumors abounded that Overbury had been poisoned while in the Tower. Frances confessed, although her husband denied any knowledge, and both were sentenced to death. Eventually they were pardoned (I have no idea how they swung that! But apparently the King was afraid of what Somerset might have said about him at the trail), although 4 others were executed instead including the apothecary who supplied the poison.

The details of the murder came out during the trials of the accused. Frances wasn't satisfied to just have Overbury in the Tower, she wanted him dead because hey, he could still talk and try and convince Carr not to marry her. She needed him silenced. She got rid of Sir William Wade, the Governor of the Tower, and her own man, Sir Gervaise Heiwys placed in the position. Overbury was plied with sulferic acid in the form of copper vitriol, probably in his food or drink.

Like Rasputin, he had a strong constitution and it took months for him to die, since they were apparently giving him very small does of the poison, probably to make it look like he'd taken sick in the tower with some lingering disease, instead of just killing him out right which would have looked really suspicious.

Somerset of course was disgraced, even though he pleaded innocent to the crime. No one is quite sure whether he knew what Frances was doing and turned a blind eye because of his love for her, or whether or not he was an innocent dupe, who fell in love with the wrong woman. The Carrs had one child who later married the 1st Duke of Bedford. I remember reading somewhere that their marriage wasn't any happier than her previous marriage to Deveraux. Which is kind of understandable, since she had his friend murdered and almost got them executed!

Overbury's poem however was a sensation. It went through 6 editions in one year when it was printed after his death, and was one of the most popular books of the 17th century. Ironic in a way that his poem took on such a life of it's own, after he lost his.

One of Somerset's descendants has written a book about the murder called Unnatural Murder by Anne Somerset.

So was Frances really wicked? Or just a woman desperate to hold on to her man? After all, she was taking a huge risk of having her marriage annulled to one man. What would have happened to her if Somerset had been convinced by Overbury to throw her over? There was so much gossip about her, Essex, and Somerset. Her reputation was in danger of being ruined by Overbury. I'm sure in her mind, he had to go, and then her life would be perfect.

Thanks for reading,

EKM

Welcome Patt Mihailoff

It is the dawn of Camelot and the wind whispers of a great and changing time.Through trickery, Gillaine Madeen, a woman of middle years, is chosen as the Harvest Maid. Refusing the "honor" she runs right into Lachlan Gilwayden the Highland Liege of Loch Vayne Hall. While he had no intention of exercising the rite of Jus Primae Noctis — the Right of First Night — her obstinate demeanor and subtle beauty make him disregard his better judgment and allow his lust to rule.A child is born of that union while Lachlan is on crusade. Something has awakened in the liege, something he thought he would never feel, but he is forced to remember his secret and that while he may welcome the son, he is forbidden to accept the woman.When Lachlan claims his son Gillaine follows, thus setting in motion her destiny.


The Lady Novelist is pleased to welcome first time author Patt Mihailoff. Patt is another chapter member of RWA NYC and is having a banner year! Not only is her first full length book being published by Cerridwen Press (and isn't that the most amazing cover ever?) but she also has two more books in the pipeline coming from Cerridwen.

Patt has to be one of the biggest cheerleaders for our chapter. She is always ready to listen, to give big hugs when people sell, and to generally pitch whenever she is needed. For example, every year, she makes the certificates and badges for our GAA awards that are like works of art. She's also been known to invite writers to her house for the weekend for some tough love aka writer's boot camp. I don't know what the chapter would do without her.


Tell us a little about yourself, what is your background and how long have you been writing before you were published.

Well I’ve been around so long, everyone knows almost everything about me. I grew up in Queens New York, relocated to New Jersey in 1993. How long have I been writing? It seems like my first draft of anything was done on Papyrus at the foot of a pyramid.
I’ve always enjoyed writing, and wrote what I thought was a pretty good murder mystery when I was in high school. Back then of course there was no one to help with “the process”, so it stayed in my loose leaf until graduation. Therefore its safe to say a really long time.


What made you choose romance?

The Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt and The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. and I am not ahsmaed to say FABIO, YES! I bought books with his bare chested-long-haired-big-bodacious muscles on the cover. Lastly, I love the lovin.


Ring Dancer's Destiny includes characters from Arthurian legend such as Merlin and Nimue. How did you become interested in this time period?

I have always been a fan of historicals, fantasy and legends. There’s something mystically beautiful about the Arthurian tale. It’s been done and redone, but I never seem to be able to get enough. John Boorman’s Excalibur, ( my all time favorite) had me glued to my seat from the first moment I saw it. Merlin, First Knight and The Mysts of Avalon are all so filled with magic, romance, and history that it just moves my imagination. I’ve always been a fan of chivalry, and a man fighting for the honor of a woman.

What you do love about the time period? What do you like least about the time period?

I love how the legends are born and then made into stories that area passed on and become relevant throughout time. I never liked the way servants are treated, which is why I always use them in stories positively. I don’t like the cruelty.

Anything that constrained you or that you had to plot carefully around?

Oh goodness yes and thank God for imagination. Since we all know that there are only a few plot lines, I didn’t want to do everything that had been done. I wanted to keep the plot feasible, especially the romance between Merlin and Nimue. I added Mab (Queen of the sorceresses) as a contentious bitch because I wanted to add a little spice to their interactions. I also wanted the lake protectors to be vivid, since I am hoping they will be prevalent in the sequel.

What sparked this book? Was it a character? An historical event? A scene you just couldn't get out of your head?

Yes it was Guinevere. And although this book is not exactly about her I needed a different tact. I like to write about the children BEFORE they are who they become. In this book Guinevere is just a five-year-old princess who has been abducted by a witch who has seen her future, and wants to make sure that she never becomes Arthur’s queen.

Did you have to do any major research for his book? Did you stumble across anything really interesting that you didn't already know?

The Library and the internet is my saving grace. As you know long before this new movie coming out about Excalibur I not only researched the history of the sword but found that I liked my forging of it much better, especially the way Nimue had to explain it Merlin.
The Once and Future King— T.H. White, Firelord Parke Godwin, Medieval Scottish Kings by Teresa Eckford and so many others.

What made you decide to make this the focus of your book?

My focus was that I love the era, but I wanted the focus to be on the Scottish Laird, intertwining English lore and complications surrounding them.

What/Who do you like to read?

I like reading a wide variety of books. Bios, historicals of all kinds, especially westerns, medieval and horror.

Care to share a bit about your writing process? Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Most of the time I can’t plot for crap. However the McGuyver of plotting is Kathye Quick who helps me whenever I get stuck. Like most authors I am too close to my work, that is when you call in the ear of Darlene James. She finds the holes, she helps fill them and then rallies me on to completion.

Do you write multiple drafts or clean up as you go?

Nope! One draft and I get it on the paper mistakes and all. When an idea comes into my head, its usually so fast that I simply have to start writing, no matter where I am. I will do it in the bathroom on tissue if I have to but I have to get it down. Keep a pad by my bed and sometimes I have awakened with an idea or a “literary nodule” as I call them and had to put it down. This of course is also because I am dangerously close to an age when C.R.S (can’t remember crap) becomes a real issue.

What are you planning to work on next?

I just finished Single Heart-Single love, a Historical western epic. I am almost done with THE PLEASURE PLANET. It’s a sci-fi story also with a Scottish back story. (love those kilts) Also the sequel to Ring Dancer’s Destiny. (with all the little kiddies are teens and twenty-agers).

There was a recent article called "Harm in reading romance novels," Do you think romance novels harm or empower women?

You know what? Suddenly there’s harm in Poland Spring bottled water. But do people stop drinking it? NO! The only harm you will find in a romance is when a woman reads one and finds out her man ain’t doing half the stuff that the men (usually written by women) should be doing. What harm? They it not realistic, Yeah I heard that one too. But let’s face it girls, for the most part sometimes fantasy is better than the real thing. Fantasy don’t have headaches, doesn’t dry up, won’t finish too fast (wink-wink) and it doesn’t fall asleep afterwards. And while you may not be able to snuggle up to a fantasy, it doesn’t fart either.

Yes, romance novels can be very empowering, especially with today’s heroines being as strong as they are. People get so stuck in a past rut. Romance novels are not all about the hugging and kissing all through the book. (although that would be fine with me). It’s about the journey, the trials, the tribulations and yes the damned heartache, because romance can be heartbreaking. Please don’t make me tell you about my tear-jerking-play-Gladys Knight-and-Elvis-records-all-day-until-tears-put-out-the-pilot-light in the oven I stuck my head in, days. It ain’t pretty.

I like romance. I liked the bodice rippers (yeah! that’s right I said it!) and like the women today that range from super heroine to the shy wall flower that becomes a kick ass bitch and let’s not forget the wise cracking-take-no-prisoners women who always gets her man. Okay now go ahead and ask me what I don’t like about the industry… Oh okay that’s another interview.

Thanks Patt! Ring Dancer's Destiny is available now from Cerridwen Press.

Stay tuned in future for more interviews with our Golden Apple Award winners Caridad Pineiro, and Wendy Corsi Staub.

Thanks for reading,

EKM

September Book Recommendations

It's a new month, and I have more book recommendations for ya'll. I'm also very tired because I ended up having to write half of Saving Grace on TNT last night at work (check out Reward TV.com if you want to see what I wrote) since the assigned writer went home sick, meaning that for the third night in a row I didn't get home until after 1 in the morning. So I'm less than coherent today. Staying up that late you tend to get punch drunk after awhile. It's like you enter a fugue state. Plus I spent the weekend watching programs on Princess Diana. And I have three dance classes tonight. But don't cry for me Argentina, I will hopefully be more awake tomorrow.


My first book recommendation is Janet Mullany's Rules of Gentility. What a gorgeous cover and what a delightful book. I must confess I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book when I heard it described as Jane Austen meets Bridget Jones. And it was told in alternating first person POV's, but once I plunged in, I couldn't stop reading. Both the hero and the heroine are absolutely delightful and I didn't want to leave the world that Janet Mullany had created. I just wanted to live there reading about more delightful adventures of Inigo and Philomena. What wonderful Regency names! I totally pictures James McAvoy as Inigo while I was reading it, shades of Becoming Jane.



In the same vein, Lost in Austen, was a total treat. Written by Emma Campbell Webster, who only graduated from Oxford University a mere four years ago, Lost in Austen is a Jane Austen adventure that you create for yourself. The reader plays Elizabeth Bennett, and like other create your own adventure books, you can go in many different directions if you make the right or wrong choices. Even though I've read Pride and Prejudice numerous times (and watched the Colin Firth version even more times), I still made a few wrong choices that ended up getting me killed, and/or destitute. A fun way to spend a rainy afternoon with a cup of tea.

Now for something completey different, Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster. I read about this book on Cara Lockwood's blog, but I'd seen the book in the bookstore for awhile. If you're a fan of MTV's Daria, and like snarky, sarcastic, bitter humor, you will love this book. I read her first book, Bitter is the New Black, about what happened to her when she lost her high-powered corporate job and spent two years unemployed during which she auditioned for NBC's The Biggest Loser, and gained Bill Rancic from The Apprentice as a landlord. Maybe it's just me, but I just love the idea that she all of a sudden decided to get married solely in the hopes of getting great presents that she and her boyfriend could use like money. Reading this book was like finding my soul sister from another mother (and not just because we're both Scorpios!). Finally someone who is even more of a sarcastic bitch than I am.

This last book, Primo Time is by the renowned English actor Sir Antony Sher. Unlike Ian McKellan or Patrick Stewart, he's not as well known on these shores apart from his roles in Mrs. Brown (he played Disraeli) and Shakespeare in Love. But in England, he's performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company for over twenty years. I had the good fortune of seeing him play Richard III when I was in college, a performance I still remember because of the vividness and uniqueness of his portrayal. Primo Time is a book about the journey he took adapting Primo Levi's autobiography about his time in Auschwitz during WWII. The book is not just about the creative process that he went through adapting a book that seemed to defy adaptation, but also his own insecurities as an actor. During this time, he was suffering from incredible stage fright after being an actor for over 35 years. Anyone who has ever performed on stage can identify. Stage fright doesn't go away no matter how many years you perform, and it can get worse. Laurence Olivier suffered from severe stage fright in his later years as did Ian Holm. How he deals with it, as well as personal issues with his mother and dealing with living Primo's life on stage, make this book compelling reading.

Thanks for reading,

EKM

In Remembrance - Princess Diana

Today marks 10 years ago that Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris with Dodi Fayed and Henri Paul. The past few weeks have seen a flurry of Diana related programs, including the rebroadcast of the Martin Bashir interview (which I had to watch for work), and several Princess Diana movies, incuding one really bad one on Lifetime.

My first ever trip to London was the summer that Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles and I have been fascinated with her ever since. She was only 2 1/2 years older than me, and I had a hard time wrapping my mind around someone that young taking on the responsibility of being married and becoming a member of the Royal Family. After all, my most pressing concern that summer at 16 was the crush that I had on one our tour guides, Malcolm (who looked like a Jewish Paul Macartney), listening to Duran Duran, touring England and Scotland, and trying to decide what colleges I wanted to apply too.

I watched the Royal Wedding on the telly at the home of a friend, waving my British flag in solidarity. The next day when we arrived in Edinburgh, stores already had a copy of her wedding dress in the window! I brought piles of books on the Royal Wedding and Charles and Diana.

Three years later, I was doing my semester abroad my junior year of college. No sooner had I arrived in London, then Princess Diana gave birth to Prince Harry. I skipped class one day to go to the State Opening of Parliament where I managed to get a front row viewing spot to see her arrive in one of the coaches with her hair pinned up with a tiara.

Back in the States, I still kept up with my royal watching. I eagerly bought Andrew Morton's book, although by that time, although I was still a fan, I knew that the truth of their marriage lay somewhere between He Said/She Said. I went round to Christies to see the dresses that she was auctioning off for Charity.

That final summer that she was alive, I was again in London studying acting at the Royal National Theater studio. The tabloids were full of her vacations with Dodi Fayed. I'd already had another royal encounter when Princess Margaret was sitting two rows in front of me at the Royal National, and I'd passed her by on my way out of the theater while she was waiting for her car.

I had the impression that the whole Dodi thing was just a summer fling, something to pass the time while her sons were away with her father. Who hasn't found themselves involved in a relationship they might not ordinarily have considered out of sheer loneliness? I flew back to the States the week before she was killed.

I remember vividly sitting up in bed watching Saturday Night Live with ex-sweetie pie when the news hit, and how annoyed he was with me when I switched over to CNN. It was hard for me to believe that she was dead, and that her death could have been prevented so easily (she wasn't wearing a seat belt, she didn't listen to the security concerns of the Fayed security team, she and Dodi could easily have stayed at the hotel all night).

I watched the funeral at my apartment (it started at 5 a.m. NY time and I knew that ex-sweetie pie was nto going to watch it with me). Looking at the Princes walking behind their mother's coffin, along with Prince Charles and Prince Phillip and Earl Spencer is an image that will always stay with me with.

Her image and her life still continues to fascinate people even now 10 years after her death. Magazines still sell thousands of copies if her picture is on the cover. What is it about her that still fascinates people? I think it's her vulnerability, her very humaness, her kindness and her compassion. Even though she was a princess, she still somehow seemed at once both like us, and unlike us. Not even being a princess can keep you from suffering and being bulimic.

I don't believe that there was a conspiracy to kill her to get her out of the way so that Charles could marry Camilla. There are too many variables that contradict that theory (for one, who knew that Henri Paul would have been so drunk?).

My hope is that she's finally at peace, and that she's proud of the men that her son's have become.

Thanks for reading,

EKM

What Your Name Means

What Your Name Means

You entered: Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

There are 19 letters in your name.Those 19 letters total to 101There are 8 vowels and 11 consonants in your name.

What your first name means:

Shakespearean Female 'King Richard III' Elizabeth, Queen to King Edward IV.
Hebrew Female My God is bountiful;God of plenty. Elizabeth was mother of John the Baptist in the bible.

In England Queen Elizabeth I and II. One of the most frequently used names in England.

Greek Female From the Hebrew Elisheba, meaning either oath of God, or God is satisfaction. Famous bearer: Old Testament Elizabeth was mother of John the Baptist and one of the earliest known bearers of this name; Queen Elizabeth II.

English Female My God is bountiful;God of plenty. Elizabeth was mother of John the Baptist in the bible. In England Queen Elizabeth I and II. One of the most frequently used names in England.

Biblical Female The oath or fullness of God
Arthurian Legend Female Sister of Mark.

Your number is: 2

The characteristics of #2 are: Cooperation, adaptability, consideration of others, partnering, mediating.

The expression or destiny for #2:

A number 2 Expression gives you the tools to work very well with other people. Your destiny is in the role of the mediator and the peacemaker. In many ways you are dependent on others and seem to function best in a partnership or in some form of group activity. Modesty runs deep in your nature, and you can work comfortably without recognition of your accomplishments. Often, others get credit for your ideas, and this is of little real concern to your since you are such a willing team player. As you grow in this direction, you become sensitive to the feelings of others, you are ever diplomatic in handling complicated situations. Cooperative, courteous, and considerate, you have the capacity to become an outstanding facilitator. You know how to organize and handle people. You are a good detail person because you rarely overlook anything. Tactful and friendly, nearly everyone likes you.

The negative 2 personality can be over-sensitive and easily hurt. Too much of this number in your makeup can make you very shy and uncertain. Sometimes the excessive 2 energies makes one apathetic and somewhat indifferent to the job at hand; the ability to handle details is hampered in these cases.

Your Soul Urge number is: 5

A Soul Urge number of 5 means:

The 5 soul urge or motivation would like to follow a life of freedom, excitement, adventure and unexpected happening. The idea of travel and freedom to roam intrigues you. You are very much the adventurer at heart. Not particularly concerned about your future or about getting ahead, you can seem superficial and unmotivated.

In a positive sense, the energies of the number 5 make you very adaptable and versatile. You have a natural resourcefulness and enthusiasm that may mark you as a progressive with a good mind and active imagination. You seem to have a natural inclination to be a pace-setter. You are attracted to the unusual and the fast paced.

You may be overly restless and impatient at times. You may dislike the routine work that you are engaged in, and tend to jump from activity to activity, without ever finishing anything. You may have difficulty with responsibility. You don't want to be tied down to a relationship, and it may be hard to commit to one person.

Your Inner Dream number is: 6

An Inner Dream number of 6 means:

You dream of guiding and fostering the perfect family in the perfect home. You crave the devotion from offspring and a loving spouse. You picture yourself in the center of a successful domestic unit.


Well, I hate to say it but this is pretty accurate, particularly the impatience part. My theme song could be Queen's "I Want It All, and I want it Now" Although not the part about being restless, and not being able to commit to one person. I was in a committed relationship for over 8 years, and it certainly didn't end because I couldn't commit further.

You can try it for your self here

Welcome Maya Rodale!

The Lady Novelist is happy to welcome RWA NYC member Maya Rodale, whose first book The Heir and the Spare just came out this month from Berkeley Books.


The Heir and the Spare
All of London is raving about the newly arrived American, Emilia Highhart. She has beauty, charm, wit, and a hint of the exotic.

Unfortunately, grace is decidedly not one of her virtues. Staircases, doors, even floors have proven her enemies, often leaving Emilia prostrate and mortified in a pile of muslin. Nevertheless, at her first ball, her dance card soon fills with the names of highly suitable men. But Emilia’s eyes are on just one man—the one her aunt points out as the entirely unsuitable Lord Phillip…

In fact, he isn’t Lord Phillip. While Phillip, the heir, goes about spending the good family’s funds, his identical twin, Devon, the spare, must attend society functions as Lord Phillip—all because of a few blasted minutes’ age difference. Soon, both twins are vying for Emilia. And, under the not-so-watchful eye of Lady Palmerston, aunt and chaperone to the young lady, Emilia is unknowingly courted by two different men with the same face! But only one of them is the love of her life…

What made you choose romance?

I chose romance because I love the stories, and because I love the community around it. Plus, writing romance novels always makes for good cocktail party conversation.

The Heir and the Spare is set during the Regency. How did you become interested in this time period?

Regency set historicals were among the first romance novels I read, based on book recommendations from my mom. I read them exclusively for my first year of romance novel reading.

What you do love about the Regency period?

I love the corsets, carriages, candlelight…but these are not particular to the Regency. What I love about that era, as opposed to other historical time periods or locations is the role society plays in the novels—the parties, the rules, and that particular regency tone and wit. I also believe that the popularity of this era is due to the fashion at the time—especially compared to say, medieval dress. Plus, I find the aristocracy fascinating, and that is such a huge part of Regencies.

What do you like least about the Regency?

The necessary suspension of disbelief regarding female shaving practices (no leg shaving or underarm shaving!).

Anything that constrained you or that you had to plot carefully around?

One of things I love about the Regency era is the rules of society that are like built in obstacles for the hero and heroine. For example, it was highly improper for a man and young woman to be alone together, and yet such moments are key to romance and falling in love. Thus, my Negligent Chaperone, Lady Palmerston, was born.

Rather than constraints, I see such things as challenges for my imagination. For me, that is all part of the fun of writing.

What sparked this book? Was it a character? An historical event? A scene you just couldn’t get out of your head?


It all started with an idea I had for one scene: A young lady is getting ready for bed one evening when a very handsome man bursts unexpectedly into her room. She thinks confuses him for her betrothed, who is the man’s identical twin. I thought the novel would begin with this scene. And then I thought it would be in the middle and then…basically, what remained from that initial idea was twin brothers and a very confused heroine.


As for what made me actually sit down and write the book: An agent I had previously worked with said that I needed to be writing romance novels now. She said that she would have a look at something I wrote, and consider taking on the project. I told her I would have something for her in three months. I went home that afternoon and started writing…and didn’t stop until the novel was done three months later.

Did you have to do any major research for his book? Did you stumble across anything really interesting that you didn’t already know?

I did a bit of research in the beginning...but I ought to have done more, as one amazon reviewer pointed out— I forget about the war of 1812 and the impossibility of making a fortune in shipping in America during a blockade. Whoops!

Usually, however, I find myself often looking up the same things: forms of address and what would be removed first-a corset or a chemise.

From history classes about that time period, I’ve realized that the world presented in historical romance novels is quite different than what actually was. I doubt any readers want certain things portrayed accurately…the men, particularly the aristocratic ones, were generally not as progressive as they are in romance novels, and it is very unlikely that real women of the era could get away with half of what romantic heroines do. That, and the drafty old houses, chamber pots, and horse manure piling up on the streets are things that I think are best left un-mentioned.

What made you decide to make your heroine American?

In order to be truly confused about the twins, and as open minded as she is about them, she needed to be foreign to England. As for being American, they say to write what you know, so that’s what I did.

Your hero is an identical twin. What made you decide to write about twins? Was that a conscious decision? And what did you find out was one of the problems about writing about twins?

The identical twins came out of the original scene that sparked the novel. I’ve said before that one shouldn’t write a twin novel as their first because it’s hard! The biggest challenge was having the heroine confused, but having the reader enlightened. Maintaining that often determined which POV a scene would be written in.

But identical twins provide a great opportunity to write about learning to see the person underneath external appearances. As one person remarked, one could say the same of all romances. It’s just more obvious with identical twins.

What/Who do you like to read?

For historicals, I love Loretta Chase, Eloisa James and Julia Quinn, among lots of others.
For contemporary set Romances, I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jennifer Crusie. When I’m not reading romance, I read non-fiction. My current favorite non-fiction topics are economics and neuroscience. Go figure.

Care to share a bit about your writing process? Are you a pantser or a plotter? Do you write multiple drafts or clean up as you go?

d) all of the above!

I do what I call “pre-production”, and that involves some research, writing character descriptions and histories, as well as sitting around “wool gathering” about the story. By the time I sit down to write, I have a pretty good idea of the novel I’m going to create.


Generally, my writing process is the same as if I am traveling somewhere new. I write down the address of my destination. I look at the map. I print directions. And then I leave all of that at home, accidentally, and then I wing it once I am on the road. So basically, I know where I am going with a novel, and have a general idea of how I am going to get there, but I am open to detours, getting lost, etc, just so long as I get there on time.


And, golly, I wish I “cleaned up” as I went along, especially when I print out 300+ pages and then have to revise them all at once. But I don’t because I get too excited cranking out that initial draft to stop and look over it.

What are you planning to work on next?

I’m finishing up the second Negligent Chaperone book, tentatively titled Love Among The Ruined, in which the “bad” twin, Phillip Kensington, from The Heir And The Spare is the hero.

A Rake in an abbey falling in love with a woman he can’t have…A lusty nun who despises him…

There was a recent article called "Harm in reading romance novels." Do you think romance novels harm or empower women?


I firmly and truly believe that romance novels are empowering to women and to men. Frankly, I can’t think of anything more beneficial to humanity as a whole than romance novels.

I literally wrote the book (or a book) on why romance novels are not only not harmful, but empowering, inspiring, promising, and good. The book, It’s My Pleasure, co-written with my mother, examined women, religion, literature and history and found why romance novels are considered bad, and they absolutely are not.

Having said all of that—I have yet to meet someone who reads romance novels and has a poor opinion of them. When I encounter people who do disdain romance novels, I feel sorry for them and think that they clearly need more romance novels in their lives. Heck, maybe they are simply jealous of the rest of us romance readers and our lack of shame about our own pleasure.


Thank you, Maya for stopping by!

Coming up an interview with Cerridwen Press author Patt Milhailoff!

Are you a Good Girl or a Bad Girl?

You Are a Normal Girl

You are 50% Good and 50% Bad Sure you've pulled some bad girl stunts in your past. But these days, you're (mostly) a good girl.

Are You a Good Girl or a Bad Girl?

Book recommendation: Rejection, Romance, & Royalties

I just finished Laura Resnick's book Rejection, Romance and Royalties, and I can't recommend it enough. It should be on every writer's bookshelf, irrespective of what genre you write, along with Stephen King's book On Writing and any book by Carolyn See and Anne LaMott.

Laura reveals the gritty truth on what it's really like to be working writer, and it ain't all hearts and flowers. She deals with the years when she had a hard time selling, the frustrations of dealing with a new editor after being orphaned, how hard it can be to get those checks from your publisher, even with an agent.

But she also talks about the joy and satisfaction she gets from being a writer, not to mention the perks that can sometimes come your way (I so want to be invited to that sci-fi/fantasy conferene in Nantes!)

Off topic: I was squealing like a fan girl when I saw that the great Carole Nelson Douglas left me a comment on my blog after my post on POV. I have loved CND ever since I read my first Irene Adler novel.

The historical detail of late 19th century Europe of the books, not to mention the she has fleshed out a minor character from the Holmes canon into a living, breathing human capable of taking center stage is amazing. Anyone looking for a mystery novel set in fin de siecle Paris should pick up her Irene Adler novels.

I should clarify further on my post on POV. I'm not averse to novels that have third and first person POV. My first YA is partially narrated in first person POV but it's very limited. 3/4 of the book is in third person. I think if the first person narrator in Interpretation of Murder had been a more dynamic character, it might have made a difference. Still, I found it jarring when the author later narrated a scene from Stanton Younger in the third person, after having him narrate for most of the book.

Thanks for reading,

EKM

Hell Hath No Fury.....

I'm sure we all know the rest of the quote. I thought I had seen everything or heard everything about what women have done to men who dumped them or hurt them, until I watched MI-5 this morning, when Vicki Westbrook to get back at Tom Quinn (played by the wonderful Matthew MacFadyen who played Darcy in last year's Pride & Prejudice) had cards made up that intimated he was some kind of escort and then plastered them all over London in phone booth's and sex shops.

Wow, that was one pissed off woman. Unfortunately for her, she attempted to get back at the wrong guy. Her actions interfered with an MI-5/CIA operation dealing with President Bush's visit to the UK, so the CIA scared the crap out of her by picking her up at her job, and then ransacking her apartment in front of her. The head of the London office, Christine, basically told her to get the hell out of dodge for a few days and to never darken Tom Quinn's doorstop ever again.

Wow, that sure beats nuisance calls or signing your ex-boyfriend up at various porn sites on the internet. Or getting hold of his credit card and charging hundreds of dollars, or calling up his new girlfriend pretending to be delivering the results from his STD test. Not that I've done any of that.

My way has all ways been to cry a lot, and to be incredibly reasonable when a guy breaks up with me. I think the most I ever did was just call up the guy afterward to let him know that I thought he was a shit, but that's about it.

It just goes to show you what extreme behavior some people are willing to indulge in when they've been hurt or pissed off. Thinking about this episode of MI-5, it made me wonder what a woman in the 19th century might have done if she was discarded by her lover. Would she have gone away quietly, or would she have tried to find some way to make her former lover pay? Beyond the usual trying to make his wife or bethrothed think the relationship was still on.

In Sidney Sheldon's The Other Side of Midnight, when Noelle discovers that she's been dumped by her American lover who promised to marry her, she waits until the child she is carrying can feel, and then causes herself to miscarry. Of course, the only person she ends up hurting is herself, since she can then no longer have children.

What is the most extreme thing you've ever heard of anyone doing after they've been dumped? Or what have you done after a guy has dumped you?

Point of View

I've been thinking a lot about point of view the last few days as I struggled to finish the mystery novel I was reading. Part of the problem, besides the historical inaccuracies and the generally uninteresting mystery, was the point of view shifts that the author employed.

Most mystery novels are written in the point of view of whoever is investigating the mystery, whether from third person point of view or third person point of view. Occasionally, in novel, you might have sections narrated in third person from the point of view of the killer. Carole Nelson Douglas used this to effect in one of her Irene Adler mysteries. Part of the reason most mystery novelists stick to one point of view is that the reader knows just as much as the protagonist does about whodunnit. Clues are revealed to the reader as they are revealed to the detective.

Well, in this novel, the point of view jumped from the first person point of view of a young doctor interested in psychoanalysis (did I mention that Freud, Jung, and Abraham Brill were characters in the novel?), to the point of view of a whole host of other characters including a young police detective, a young victim of the killer (who turned out not to be a killer), Freud, Jung, another doctor who was minor in the story, the coroner, the Mayor of New York, the mother of the victim, and the wife of another character.

That would have been enough but at one point the author switched from giving us the Stanton Younger's thoughts in the first person to telling a scene from the third person point of view, but it was still Stanton Younger who's thought's we were privy too.

After awhile all the point of view shifts from first to third to all these different characters was driving me nuts. Personally I would have preferred it, if the author had stuck to either the first person point of view or third person. As it was, the mystery portion of the novel at certain times took a back seat to the struggle over whether or not psychoanalysis would ever get a foothold in this country, which was interesting but it kept stopping the story cold.

Since I've been writing my romance novella, I've very conscious of whose head I need to be in for a scene. One rule of thumb that I've always adhered to is who has the most at stake in the scene, hero or heroine? And written my scene accordingly.

Of course there are some writers who can head hop in the middle of a scene. Nora Roberts is quite brilliant at this, but not every writer is capable of pulling it off. That's why it's great to just do a scene from one character's point of view. And then if necessary, start the next scene, with the other character's reactions to what happened in that scene.

I think it takes a lot of experience to jump back and forth between first and third person in a novel, and this writer just didn't have the skill to pull it off.

EKM