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Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
If the gentle reader wonders why Julia has neglected to provide much news of late, please look at the extensive list of blogs to which she has and will contribute this summer as part of the promotion for the REGENCY SILK & SCANDAL miniseries, including her Book 3, THE SMUGGLER AND THE SOCIETY BRIDE. You may find her Words of Wisdom (or at least commentary) posted at the Pink Heart Society; e-harlequin’s Community “Regency Silk & Scandal” Authors’ blog; the UK Historical Romance Authors; the Summer of Love; RomCon; Cataromance and Mysteries and Margaritas; dates and urls are listed below.
In the meantime, while working on the first book of her new Ransleigh Rogue series (see the Bookshelf page for details) she is preparing for Romance Writers of America’s annual National Conference, being held this year from July 28-August 1 in Orlando, right next to Epcot at the Swan & Dolphin hotels. She’ll be participating in a workshop entitled “Dressed for Historical Success,” for which Jeannie Linn, new Harlequin Historical author of Golden Heart winner BUTTERFLY SWORDS, created a wonderfully amusing video:
http://www.jeannielin.com/index.php/video-blog-preparing-for-rwa-2010/
View it and enjoy!
Tags: Blogging, Dressed for Historical Success, Ransleigh Rogues, RWA Conference
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Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
Julia’s just sent off the rewrites of Greville’s book (he’s the brother of heroine Joanna in WAIF, the disgraced estate manager who gets himself knocked over the head and wakes up on a prison hulk, about to become the newest crew member of the HMS “The Illustrious.”) While awaiting word back from her editor, she’s toying with the possibility of a new series about four cousins who go off to fight with Wellington, have their lives changed in unimaginable ways, and find new goals and lives with the help of one special lady. The proposal was called “The Ransleigh Rogues.” Keep your fingers crossed that the eds like this one!
Tags: Greville's book, The Ransleigh Rogues, what's next
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Thursday, March 4th, 2010
After funerals, illness, snowstorms, power outages…The Book That Would Not End, Greville’s book, is finally done and submitted to my editor. Drum roll signifyng relief, please! This book is the story of the brother of WAIF’s heroine, Joanna Anders Merrill. When we last hear of Greville in WAIF, he’s been abducted by the venal estate agent Barksdale, beaten and sold to a press gang. In Greville’s book (which I’m calling The Sailor and the Baron’s Daughter,) after the intervention of their noble cousin The Marquess of Englemere (Nicky from THE WEDDING GAMBLE) Greville has been rescued from service as a common seaman and, wounded after an action against pirates off the coast of Africa, sent back to the Coastal Brigade while the Admiralty settles the matter of his future. Also at Nicky’s intervention, he’s been invited to reside with Ned’s friend Lord Bronning, whose lovely daughter Amanda rejected Ned’s tentative courtship in WAIF.
Amanda is astonished and outraged when this grimy, wounded sailor limps over her father’s entry. What could Papa have been thinking, to have agreed to house such a specimen? Greville, a man whom eight months at sea at the bottom of the social ladder have given an entirely new perspective on life and his place in it, tends to agree with her opinion.
Amanda can’t wait to get to London to begin her Season and fulfill her life-long dream of making a brilliant match and becoming a political hostess to rival the fabled Duchess of Devonshire. Greville can’t wait to recover and try to figure out what he’s going to do with his life. It seems they have nothing at all in common…until an attraction they just can’t master and a danger to family and home throw the two together.
I’m waiting to see what my editor will think of Greville. There will surely be revisions. Then it’s on to the next project, another matter for which I’m awaiting my editor’s decision. It could be the first book in what I’m calling the Brotherhood of Badajos, the story of four soldiers who band together to survive the storming of that fortress city and pledge a lifelong friendship. Or something else. More on that later.
Tags: Greville's book, New Cover, New series, Regency Silk & Scandal
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Monday, January 18th, 2010
The holidays were both joyous and difficult as I was faced with the loss of my mom the Friday before Christmas. She was my hero and inspiration and will be sorely missed. (For a tribute to Mom and Inspiring Women everywhere, see my January 20 blog at Access Romance, http://www.accessromance.com/blog/) I’m also still wrestling with the last few scenes of Greville’s book, its completion long-delayed by events such as that bit of unexpected out-of-town travel. Only a few scenes left now, so I’m hoping to finish the first draft SOON!
Tags: Greville's book, the writing life
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Monday, November 2nd, 2009
As time marches on, I’ve spent the last month doing some blog posts–on the evolution of my Wellingford series (”Writing an Unconventional Series,” filed under “The Aspiring Author,”) on research and writing coincidences sparked by a copy edit inquiry (”On Copy Edits and Axminster Carpets,” filed under “Tidbits and Oddities”) and an in-depth character analysis for Hal Waterman (filed under “Behind the Scenes…The Characters.”) Hal is the hero of A MOST UNCONVENTIONAL MATCH, which is releasing this month in Italy under the title “La Sorella della Sposa.”
In the meantime, I’m still trudging along through the wip, story of Greville Anders, the fired estate manager brother of Joanna Anders Merrill, heroine of my current release FROM WAIF TO GENTLEMAN’S WIFE, and Amanda Neville, the girl who spurned WAIF’s hero Ned. BTW, some new reviews just came in on WAIF, now posted on WAIF’s page. Check them out and add your comments!
Tags: Amanda's story, Greville's story, new features, new Tidbits
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Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
The series that the 6 authors involved have been calling “The Silken Rope Scandals” now has an official title: Regency Silk and Scandal. Of course, we’re months away from having titles for each of the 8 books in the series, but the authors did brainstorm several lists (one all-heroine, one all-hero, one hero-and-heroine) for Marketing. Although we were given pretty much complete freedom on coming up with the overall and individual stories, I suspect Marketing will closely guard their right to name them. Watch this space for developments…
Tags: Regency continuity, titles
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Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
The turn-around time from submitting the manuscript to revision request to sending the revised book back was the shortest in my career–barely 3 weeks. Usually in that length of time I’d still be chewing my nails, wondering what my editor thinks of the story and nervously awaiting her response. I expect the exceptional speed has something to do with the fact that this is book 3 of the series and books 1 and 2 were due, and read, in December.
Whatever the reason, I was relieved that my editor was as pleased as I am with this story of earl’s daughter Lady Honoria Carlow, who flees London after a scandalous disgrace to take refuge with her aunt in Cornwall and try to figure out who engineered her ruin…and why. Enter handsome Irishman Gabe Hawksworth, known locally as “the Hawk,” currently captaining a smuggling vessel for the army friend who saved his life, and suddenly Honoria finds that exile to the rugged Cornish coast seems much more appealing.
Though her aristocratic family would be appalled at her attraction to a low-born free trader, there’s something about the well-spoken Gabe that calls out to the free-spirited Honoria, even as Gabe wonders about the story behind the unexpected appearance of this mysterious beauty. Until an attraction that should never have been becomes a compulsion too strong for either of them to resist…
Tags: Gabe, Honoria, Regency continuity
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Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
I’ve just turned in the rewrites for Ned’s still-untitled book, due out in late 2009. The editors are hinting it might not debut until December, alas—not a good month for a book with a Luddite rebellion rather than a Christmas theme! (for more info on Ned’s story, check here.) Please cross fingers and hope for an earlier release date. Also for a good title! It was submitted under “A Gentleman’s Wife.”
BTW, there will be an “Undone” historical e-book short released in conjunction with it, featuring two secondary characters who will play a major role in Ned and Joanna’s story. More details here as I get them…
Tags: booklist, Ned's book, release info, Undone
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Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
In case you’ve not heard of the project, I’ve collaborated with 5 other authors to produce an 8-book Regency continuity which features several major families and an over-arching storyline that extends across all eight books, although, of course, each book also stands on its own.
Three friends and rival spymasters, two scandalous affairs, one murder, and an innocent man hanged on the testimony of his best friend set the stage for the next generation to try to solve the mystery of the murder and redeem lives shattered by disgrace. The authors dubbed this continuity “The Silken Rope Scandals” since, it turns out, peers condemned to hang are executed with a rope made of silk. No common hemp for milord, please.
Though the “official” series title will be REGENCY SILK AND SCANDAL, we authors love fellow “continuista” Louise Allen’s slightly longer description of the project: “The Scandals of the Murdered Baron’s Mystery Gypsy Lovechild’s Forbidden Revenge Quest Involving Virgins and at Least One Earl” The best part for the writers, though, is that subject to editorial review, we were given complete freedom to come up with the concept, the characters, the plot—everything. It’s been fabulous fun working with such a talented group to torture, bedevil (and loosely connect) our various heroes and heroines!
THE SMUGGLER AND THE SOCIETY BRIDE features a heroine who is ruined and banished from society as revenge for the wrongs supposedly done by her family. Having fled London after a disgrace engineered by some unknown enemy, Lady Honoria Carlow is trying to figure out what to do with her life…and how to respond to her irritating immediate attraction to the completely ineligible but undeniably charming local smuggler revered as “The Hawk.”
Goodness, she’s thinking in disgust, hasn’t her humiliation taught her anything about avoiding such men? What she needs is something to occupy her suddenly empty hours that doesn’t involve preaching, needlework or making charitable visits to the poor, three genteel talents she does not possess.
Former army officer Gabriel Hawksworth is also more than he seems. Having become temporary captain of a smuggling cutter as a favor to the army comrade who saved his life, he wonders what brought this stunningly lovely lady to a small fishing village on the remote Cornish coast. For such an eligible maiden to make an extended visit to her spinster aunt during the height of the London Season seems most strange. Gabe scents a scandal…and if the lady’s morals are a bit less strict than her proper family would like, he’s just the man to offer her some diversion during her stay in Sennlach!
Check back here for news and updates about the release of this exciting series!
Tags: Gabe's thoughts, Honoria's thoughts, Regency continuity
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