MONDAY'S MUSINGS: AMAZING PEOPLE

Did you have a restful weekend?

I imagine many of you are just about blogged out after April’s A-Z. It takes a lot out of you, doesn't it? I've also found it to be fun and many of the topics fascinating. Don’t you love seeing the creativity our blogging community? It reminds you how disparate our community is in interests. Even though I didn't comment much due to my shoulder and typing difficulties, I did read some great posts.

I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to Kat Sheridan for expert handling the blog in April during my absence. If not for her, my blog would have been on hiatus for the month. I had actually cancelled several guests due to the upcoming surgery and recuperation time. She offered to host Over Coffee for me—that blew me away for a number of reasons. For one, I know she’s in the middle of researching and writing her latest book and I know the work involved with the blog posting 3 times a week and herding cats, erm, guests. And it was April A-Z challenge and no way would I ask someone to take that on, friend or no.

Kat has been an occasional contributor and host Over Coffee for a couple of years. I've been around and participating in the A-Z for the last three or four years and am familiar with it. Kat, on the other hand, wasn't. I mentioned that she could handle the blog however she wanted during my absence. Kat has a wide range of interests, is well read, and has a wicked sense of humor. I love that about her—never dull and boring. You can imagine my surprise when she wanted to do A-Z, in our quasi way of three times a week. I sent her all the information on A-Z and the links. She was a real trooper and dove right into A-Z. I was impressed with the interesting subjects chosen and participating guests willing to contribute.

None of this would have been possible without some amazing people. I want to thank my writing group, The Writing Wombats for their support and help as well as Central Ohio Fiction Writers members who helped and their historical romance group that stepped up as guests and articles. My thanks to Mark Koopmans for the offer to help with articles if needed. I also want to thank all of you for the support you gave Kat in my absence.

I’m 5 weeks post op. The shoulder is healing at what feels like a snail’s pace. I still tire easily. My range of motion and manipulation is still limited. I can type with two hands, but only in short duration. So even taking up the reins of Over Coffee again, I’m still wobbly. And now, new pain from intensive physical therapy—I call it the Midwest chapter of the Spanish Inquisition, J Hate those pretzel maneuvers. Commenting will still be tough for me. Just be patient with me. I will get around to y’all as I can. It's not a lack of interest or caring just pesky limitations. J

Any favorite posts in A-Z you like to share with me? Did you have a favorite post from Kat’s hosting the Over Coffee? Did you do anything fun this weekend you’d like to share?    

INTERVIEW WITH SUSAN MALLERY

My guest is New York Times Best selling author, Susan Mallery. She's written over a 100 books and each is sexy, full of fun, humor, unforgettable characters and a great story. Susan is preparing to go to Romance Times Booklovers Convention in New Orleans (if you go be sure to stop and say hi), but she took the time to answer some questions about writing as well as the latest in her series, Fools Gold. 

Susan, how did you get started writing romance novels?

From the time I was about thirteen, I loved reading romance novels.

I had never thought about actually becoming a romance writer because I thought writers were exotic people who lived in France, wore black all the time and talked about things like dead philosophers. While I was in college, I saw that a local adult education center was offering a class on How to Write a Romance Novel. I signed up for that class, the very same day, began writing my first romance novel.

The book was awful, but the class changed my life. It was 8 weeks long and I knew by week 6 that I wanted to make a career as a romance author. I stayed in school to complete my degree (in accounting of all things) then walked away from a job offer to try my hand at romance writing. My first romance novel sold in August 1990 and was published in January 1992. From that point on, I have been a romance author, and I've never wanted to be anything else.

What’s the hardest thing you've had to face or as a writer? How did you overcome it?

The hardest part of what I do is making sure each book is better than the one before. In the beginning, when I was still learning, it was pretty easy to improve. But now, after over 100 books, it's challenging. But that's always the goal. There's not a single day that I sit down to write without thinking about how to do it better than I did yesterday.

You wrote in a recent Facebook post that you started writing a new Fool’s Gold book for 2015 and rewrote the beginning a few times because you didn't know the heroine well enough yet?

When I’m ready to really get started, I write until the characters click for me, usually about a chapter. I have to know who they are so that I can know how they will react to whatever might happen in the book. Once I know them, I stop writing and thoroughly plot the story.

Because of all the prep work, once I get to the actual writing of the book, I can write pretty fast.

WHEN WE MET’s hero, Angel Whittaker, appeared in your 2005 book Living on the Edge. What made you decide to bring him back?

I never forgot about Angel, and I always knew I’d write a book for him when I found the perfect woman for him. When I started brainstorming this year’s Fool’s Gold romances, Taryn Crawford came to me. She’s a very powerful, confident, self-made woman. She needed a man who was equally strong, someone who would stand up to her when need be, and someone who would cherish and protect her when she wasn't feeling all that strong. Angel, who’d been hovering in my subconscious for years, stepped forward and claimed her.

Angel, this very serious, hard-core sniper type was going to have to move to a quirky small town in California. I paired him up with buddies from the military who opened a bodyguard academy in Fool’s Gold last year.

What makes Taryn stand out from the other heroines you’ve written?

Contradiction is what makes any character come alive, and Taryn is full of them. On the surface, she has it all together. She runs a very successful PR firm. She has a wardrobe that couture fashion models would envy. Your first impression of Taryn is that she wants for nothing… but she went through a lot of pain to get where she is today. She’s a survivor. She has pulled herself up from very tough circumstances, and to do that, she has had to guard her heart. But there’s a softness, a vulnerability inside her that no one but Angel can see. He will treasure her forever.

What was the biggest surprise that occurred while you were writing their story?

I was a little surprised by how hot things got between Angel and Taryn. I tend to write sexy, but Angel and Taryn are a little older than my typical hero and heroine—40 and 34, respectively—and significantly more experienced. They know what they want, and they’re not afraid to ask for it. There were times when these two were so in-your-face with their sexy repartee that I was sort of gasping and laughing as I wrote.

Oh, I can’t wait to read this one! 

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, B-A-M

Angel Whittaker earned his scars the hard way, but the scars that can't be seen are the ones that haunt him the most. Since he moved to Fool's Gold, California, he's cobbled together a life for himself as a bodyguard trainer. If he's not exactly happy, at least his heart is safe.

Working with pro-football superstars taught tough-talking PR woman Taryn Crawford one thing—she can go toe-to-toe with any man. But then dark, dangerous former Special Ops Angel targets her for seduction…and challenges her to resist his tempting kisses.

Even in four-inch heels, Taryn never backs down. Unless, somehow, Angel can convince her that surrender might feel even better than victory. Excerpt

What’s next for the town of Fools Gold?

Up next are BEFORE WE KISS and UNTIL WE TOUCH, featuring two of Taryn’s partners at Score PR. Sam Ridge, a former NFL kicker, has to hire Dellina to help him plan a major company bash. He’s very reluctant to work with her because a few months ago, they had a little fling that went terribly (and comically) wrong. Dellina’s going to make him pay a little bit before she forgives him. So much fun to watch a strong man grovel!

At the start of UNTIL WE TOUCH, former quarterback Jack McGarry is shocked when the mother of his personal assistant and best friend Larissa Owens tells him to fire Larissa because the big-hearted beauty is in love with him. That’s news to Jack… and when he tells Larissa what her mom said, it’s news to Larissa, too! She’s not in love with Jack. Except, just by saying the words, her mom has opened both their eyes, and things between them suddenly get very hot.

Susan, thank you for taking time out of  your busy schedule to answer some questions and visit with us today! 

Z is for Zombies! Or Why I Love the Walking Dead

Here it is, the last day of the fun, fantastic A-ZChallenge! We’re wrapping it up in grand style with guest author Dana Fredsti, discussing her love of zombies. This also marks my last day for awhile as your guest hostess, as Sia McKye takes back over the helm on Friday and serves up fresh, interesting new discussions Over Coffee while I, like Puff the Magic Dragon, slip into my (writing) cave. But I’ll be stopping by now and then and hopping through all the great new blogs I’ve found as a result of this wonderful challenge! Thank you all for being such wonderful, supportive commenters this month! And now, take it away, Dana!  ~ Kat Sheridan

 

Why Zombies?

I get asked that question a lot. I get asked "why write about zombies" so often that lately my first impulse is to answer something along the lines of, "Damned zeds killed my family. Writing about them is the only way to deal with the pain." This response would be as accurate as "yes, I write about zombies only because I want to cash in on their current popularity," which is to say neither response is correct.

The assumption that the only reason I write about zombies is because they're popular and I'm some sort of literary whore with nothing but dollar signs in my eyes when I write about the walking dead is, quite frankly, insulting.  

I've been into zombies (in a platonic, non-necrophilia kind of way, thank you!) for years. My very first date movie was Dawn of the Dead. The original, not the remake. Slow, blue-faced zombies, shopping mall, four protagonists with actual character arcs. One of the first movies that really explored the visceral horror of  mindless walking corpses that ate living flesh. Sure, the makeup is dated, but the film is a classic for a reason. And I totally blame it for starting my fascination with zombies as flesh-eating ghouls.

Is there a glut of zombie related movies, books and TV shows out there?  

Sure.

Is this a bad thing? 

Not to me or to people like me, who barely had anything as far zombie-themed entertainment for years.

Even after the original Dawn of the Dead was released to some critical acclaim, other than a few foreign horror films and a smattering of books and short stories (thank you, Skipp and Spector, for the Book of the Dead anthologies), and some fan fiction (I personally found it scary how many teenaged boys were out there with fantasies of having big guns, rescuing the only surviving hot chick around, getting laid, and then having the hot chick die after taking said boy's virginity), there was very little out there for zombie enthusiasts.

Luckily Shaun of the Dead and the remake of Dawn of the Dead, along with 28 Days Later ushered in a new era for the zombie. Even after those movies it took a few years before they reached their current level of popularity, but thanks in part to the likes of World War Z and The Walking Dead, if you're craving a new zombie book or movie, you're pretty much in luck. I used to pride myself on having read or watched pretty much everything out there, but I can't keep up any more.

Not all of them are created equal. Some of the books and movies aren't very good. But at least we have a variety to choose from instead of being forced to read about angsty vampires or hunky werewolves (not that there's anything wrong with vampires or lycanthropes) when we're in the mood for a good, old-fashioned zombocalypse!

 

Let's chat: Are YOU prepared for the zombocalypse? Have a hiding place selected? Ever read a zombie novel?

 

 

 

Plague World: The thrilling conclusion of the zombie apocalypse begun in Plague Town and continued in Plague Nation! The zombie plague has gone airborne, and the conspiracy that began it all reaches the boiling point. Having been ambushed in San Francisco, which is now full engulfed in the zombie plague, Ashley and the wild cards must pursue the enemy to San Diego. There they will discover a splinter of their own organization which seeks to weaponize the plague. But that isn't the worst news. The plague has gone airborne, makign it transferable without physical contact. It cannot be controlled by anyone, so reports of the zombie swarm are coming in from across the United States - and across the world.

 

Amazon  Dana's Website

 

 

 

Dana Fredsti is an ex B-movie actress with a background in theatrical sword-fighting (a skill she utilized in Army of Darkness as a Deadite and fight captain). She’s addicted to bad movies and any book or film, good or bad, which includes zombies. She’s the author of the Ashley Parker series, touted as Buffy meets the Walking Dead, as well as the cozy noir mystery Murder for Hire: the Peruvian Pigeon, and several spicy genre romances under the name Inara LaVey. She lives in San Francisco with her boyfriend David Fitzgerald (who writes erotica under the pen name Kilt Kilpatrick), their dog Pogeen, and a small horde of felines.

 

 

 

 

 

Kat's "Z" Book List

 

Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope: Classic swashbuckling adventure and romance. I loved this book!

 

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler. Biographical fiction of a legendary woman at the dawn of the Jazz Age.

 

Zebra book cover: I Married Adventure by Osa Johnson. 1940s autobiography of an adventuress and her wildlife photographer husband. Anyone who knows me knows I love zebra print and don’t hesitate to use it in my decorating. Seriously, this would look sooo good on my bookshelves. Or coffee table. Or nightstand. Only the first and second editions have this iconic cover, later transformed into a purse by Kate Spade, another item I can’t afford. These editions are now collectibles, meaning WAY out of my price range. If you happen to trip over one in a yard sale or thrift shop, please grab it up and remember it would make a lovely Christmas present for your zany, zebra-loving blogger friend!

 

 

 

 

Will You Be Ready Image by By Kenny Louie via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

 

 

The Xs of Fiction - Guest Editor Beth Hill

We’re getting close to the end of our A-Z Challenge! Unless we want to discuss xylophones or x-rays or x-rated books, we needed to cheat a bit on the letter and make an eXception. Our guest today is one of our blog favorites, editor eXtraordinaire, Beth Hill, to talk about the “Xs” of writing fiction. ~Kat

Fiction writers face many rules, some detailing what to do, others detailing prohibitions, maybe even exclusions.

Some rules come from the wider world of writing, proven rules that make all communication easier. Some rules come specifically from the world of fiction. And many rules come from the experience gained by the long chain of writers who wrote before us, shared so we can call on the know-how of those who’ve already made the mistakes and learned how to correct them.

I don’t want to lay out rigid rules today, certainly not all the do’s and don’ts of fiction. Let’s instead look at options to strengthen both story and story-writing skills. Consider these the Xs of fiction.

Gain experience

Write often. Write more than you’ve written in the past. Read in the genre you want to write. Read in genres you have no familiarity with. Study successful fiction.

Become an expert

Master an area or a topic that you like and then master an area or topic that gives you fits. And then master a topic you know nothing about. These areas can be writing related—dialogue, pacing, subtext—or simply topics that appeal—landscaping, the Boer Wars, space travel. Expand your knowledge.

Explore
Follow links from one topic you study to the next. Don’t always be content with surface knowledge, though that may be all you need for a writing project. Give yourself the opportunity to delve deep into topics and follow even the most tenuous of links between topics.

Don’t explain

When you write, don’t insist that characters explain why they do a particular action. Simply show them in action and allow the reader to draw her own conclusions. Keep readers actively involved by giving them just enough so they don’t get lost and enough that they’re tempted to figure out what’s going on before revelations are uncovered.

Go easy on the expletives

No, not the cussing kind, the grammatical kind. There or it followed by forms of the verb to be can leach power from a sentence, especially when used again and again or to open new scenes or chapters. They can also add unnecessary words. Example: There was a boy racing down the lane vs. A boy raced down the lane.

Expose character weaknesses

Show characters’ limitations in action. Make fictional people real by giving them weaknesses that work for the story, that add to the story.

Express emotion

Show characters as emotional people touched by what happens around them. Show that actions have impact, that they change characters. Show that actions and the words of others touch characters’ hearts and drive them to respond and maybe even retaliate.

Extend invitations to the reader

Hook the reader on page one, giving her a reason to read the opening pages, and then keep her hooked. Make your story opening an invitation to your fictional world. Entice and intrigue.

Create extraordinary characters

Make your main characters memorable. They don’t have to be a Superman, but they should have quirks or behaviors or emotions or desires that make them stand out from every other fictional character.

Write extraordinarily well

Learn the basics, learn more than the basics, and don’t be satisfied with being mediocre at any of the writing elements. Expand your skills.

Take some scenes to the extreme

Push events, reactions, and emotions. Surprise characters as well as readers. Be bold and not timid.

Exaggerate

Exaggerate character problems and solutions, but without falling into obvious caricature.

Exceptions

Keep in mind that there are always exceptions to every rule. Figure out how and when to break rules in ways that create memorable fiction.

 

Beth Hill is a freelance fiction editor who loves the creative power of words. You can find her online at A Novel Edit and read other writing and editing tips at The Editor’s Blog.

 

Kat's "X" Book List

 

 

 

Strapless by Deborah Davis: Biography. The story behind the famous Madame X painting by John Singer Sargent, a tale of art and celebrity, obsession and betrayal.

Three Weeks with Lady X: Eloisa James. A duke, a lady, a romance

 

Author X: The Inner Secret. Click the "author X" link to learn more about the mystery of who this author was.

 

 

Cartoon Pencil With Cross Mark Image courtesy of chanpipat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Abstract Colour Pencil Image courtesy of tigger11th / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Man Writing With His Pencil Image courtesy of Boians Cho Joo Young / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

V is for Vines: Dystopian Alternate History

Working our way through the A-Z Challenge, today's letter is "V". In this case, it stands for the vines that are a feature of the dystopian alternate history created by our guest Dale Cozort in his Exchange series of books. Take it away Dale!    ~Kat Sheridan

Black vines cling to sterile, concrete-like ground, black leaves chittering in the wind that whips across a treeless landscape, a sea of black with nothing poking through it, nothing flying above it. Barbs along the vines are useless, vestigial. No animals big enough for them to grab survive in this shattered piece of world. Thumb-sized multi-legged forms, as black as the leaves, scuttle among the vines, the largest surviving animals.

That’s the environment where much of my novel Devouring Winds takes place. The rest of it, ironically, happens in a bountiful world, overflowing with animals, unspoiled.

Devouring Winds is the second novel in a series. The premise: near future Earth encounters a series of Exchanges, temporary swaps of town-sized pieces of our reality with an alternate reality where humans never developed, and the world is still dominated by animals.

In the first book, a cult with mysterious ties to the US government colonizes the alternate reality during an Exchange, cutting themselves off from the rest of humanity. Computer guru Sharon Mack and her autistic daughter are also cut off and take refuge with the cult.

The second book brings another Exchange, this one with the black vines reality. The new Exchange takes us from a fresh, exuberant world to a tired, depleted one. The black vine reality developed industrial civilization while our ancestors were still spearing mammoths. That civilization then spent nearly fifty thousand years in a cycle of destroying itself, pulling the remnants back together and repeating the process.

As one of the characters comments, nuclear wars should be one to the customer at most, but the black vine reality kept fighting, going beyond nuclear weapons to even more destructive devices. Now, a few thousand refugees from our reality face the power of this ancient and powerful reality.

I enjoyed writing Devouring Wind. I like asking big questions. What would an industrial civilization look like after fifty thousand years, with technology giving ever-increasing power to countries and individuals? How much of our civilization could a few thousand isolated humans maintain? What would their lives be like? How would they react to enforced isolation from so much of our culture? No new television, books, videogames or music unless they produced it themselves. Cut off from new styles, new slang, new celebrities, never knowing if Lindsay Lohan is in or out of rehab, even if they wanted to know.

How would they react to enforced closeness, never being able to get away from relationships that went bad? How would they settle quarrels with no courts and no lawyers?

I try to address all those questions, and have a lot of fun doing it.

Let’s chat: If you were cut off like the characters in Devouring Wind, what would you miss the most? The least?

 

"They're coming for us, from the sky and emptiness." This is the unnerving prediction of Bethany Mack, the autistic and strangely prescient daughter of technology guru Sharon Mack. After the last Exchange—a literal swapping of sections between two different realities—Sharon and her daughter are trapped in the wild alternate version of Earth called Bear Country. They’ve taken refuge at Fort Eegan, an outpost built by a peculiar cult with mysterious ties to the US government. But a new Exchange brings terrifying new consequences.

Fort Eegan now faces beings with technology superior to theirs and a millennium-old history of mass violence. The Exchange also blocks Fort Eegan's precious water supply, threatening deprivation now and catastrophic floods in the future. The older and far more threatening civilization also brings a weapon capable of devouring everything in its path, including Fort Eegan.

Even more dangerous than the threat from the new Exchange are the humans of Bear Country. Roaming the countryside, ruthless escaped convicts hold hundreds of women hostage. With supplies dwindling, they eye Fort Eegan's dwindling resources. Inside and outside the fort, restlessness grows among the isolated humans and conflicts fester, including a deadly love triangle. Fort Eegan's only hope is that Bear County's humans unite before they are all blown away by the devouring winds.

 

Amazon

Dale Cozort lives in a college town near Chicago with his wife, daughter, three cats and a lot of books. Dale is a computer programmer and teacher as well as a long-time science fiction fan.

 


Kat's "V" Book List

Victoria Holt – author of many classic gothic mystery romances

The Secret Life of Violet Grant: Beatriz Williams. Manhattan 1964 and Berlin 1914. A great beach read.

Night Vision:  A Jake Lassiter novel by Paul Levine. A fast talking lawyer and hilarity.

Image courtesy of TeddyBear[Picnic] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

"T" is for That Genre Otherwise Known As Young Adult

As we wend our way through the alphabet in the A-Z Challenge, today's letter is "T", for "Teen", a.k.a Young Adult. Our special guest is author Natalie D. Richards to tell us about the joys and challenges of writing for the Young Adult!

And some quick blog business: The winner of Susan Gee Heino's book from our "R is for Regency" blog post is Natalie Aguirre. Please contact Susan at: http://www.susangh.com/ContactMe.html.

Now, take it away Natalie!

Oh, you write for teens, huh?  How come?  I hear this question at least once a week. And I always have the same reaction—a brief deer-in-the-headlights pause before I suck in a breath and explain my passion is and always has been teen literature. That The Greats doesn’t make me think of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens (though I’m a fan of both) but rather of Judy Blume, John Green, Laurie Halse Anderson, and my newest love, Rainbow Rowell. In short…I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to write Young Adult.

But…you’re not a teenager! Despite the fact that I wear Chucks, suck down girly faux-coffee drinks at Starbucks, and talk as quickly as humanly possible all the time, I am definitely on the wrong side of thirty to be passing as a high-schooler. So, yes, it’s true, I’m not a teen. I’ve been found out!


The truth is, teenager or not, I’m profoundly moved by the teenage experience. I’m convinced there’s no more amazing time in a person’s life, where we begin to really shape who we are, what we want, and what kind of mark we will leave on this crazy world. I couldn’t fathom writing for an audience I love more.

So while it’s been done before, I figure I’ll do my shot today at busting three myths about Young Adult fiction.

MYTH:  Teen books need to be simple because your readers are younger. The quality isn’t the same as it is in adult books.

FACT: Horse poop! My readers are studying literature in school on a nearly daily basis, are you? Also many teens are voracious readers. I know teens who read three to five books a week. A WEEK!

As for the quality question, I have a quick assignment. Go read 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. Or Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Or Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. If you still have questions about the quality of Young Adult fiction, I’ll be very happy to discuss them.

MYTH:  Teen books are chock full of all that fandangled modern-day music and slang. I can’t keep up!

FACT: Actually, most of us avoid it. In truth, by the time a book releases, we’re already on to the next phone, tablet, band, song, TV show, etc. Pop culture can be a part of teen literature, but it’s generally used sparingly.

MYTH:  Teen books are easy to write.

FACT: There are no easy books to write. From picture books to romance novels to literary masterpieces—they’re all hard for different reasons. And yes, as much as I love writing my books, it certainly hasn’t been a walk in the park!

 

Kat and Sia, thank you both SO much for having me today. I can’t wait to hear from some of your visitors!!

Let's chat: Natalie says: So how about you guys? Have you read any teen fiction? Do you have a favorite? Or maybe you want a recommendation? Hit me up!

 

 

Natalie D. Richards is the 2014 YALSA Teen Top Ten Nominated author of Six Months Later, a YA thriller about a girl who falls asleep in Study Hall and wakes up six months later to a suddenly perfect life that’s anything but.
 

Natalie was born and raised in central Ohio (Go Bucks! Go Jackets!) where she lives with her husband, three children, and a seventy pound dust-mop who swears he’s the family dog. Six Months Later, her debut novel with Sourcebooks Fire, is available in bookstores now! Her second book, Gone Too Far, is due to be released in January of 2015.

 

Amazon

 

 

 

 

The "T" book list:

 

Daniel Tammet: Much like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Tammet has savant syndrome (autistic savant). His books are a beautiful look inside his extraordinary mind.

 

Travis McGee: Noir-ish knight-errant, salavager, beach bum, finder of lost things created by John D. MacDonald.

 

The Trade: by Colby Marshall. Reporter McKenzie McClendon is on the trail of a serial killer stealing unborn babies from women's wombs. Suspense thriller.

 

R is for Regency and a REWARD!

UPDATE: The winner of one of Susan's books is Natalie Aguirre!! Congrats Natalie! Please contact Susan as soon as possible via her website, http://www.susangh.com/ContactMe.html 

Our guest today on the monthlong A-Z Challenge is Susan Gee Heino, discussing all the Reasons "R" is for Regency! And quick note, the winner of Donna MacMeans' book from our P is for Paranormal day is Chrys Frey. Chrys, please contact Donna via her web site at www.DonnaMacMeans.com . And now, on to Susan!

 
 

Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy

Thanks so much for having me here today! I hear we're doing a run-through of the alphabet, so today's blog is brought to you by the Letter "R". Yes, it's an awesome letter. I love it. Why? Because "R" is for Regency!
 
I'm a little bit passionate about the Regency time period, and especially for historical romances set in that time period. Basically, the English Regency was a short little span of years, 1811 through 1820. The king was suffering from an ailment that made him, well, completely off his rocker. While he was out of commission--locked in a tower, really--his son became Prince Regent to look after things in his stead. That's where the term "Regency" comes from.
 
So what makes romance novels set in this time period so very special? Well, I'm glad that you asked! Let me give you a whole list of What I Love About Regency Romance. You might even notice, they all start with the handy little Letter "R".

Rules:  Society of the time had some very strict rules and regulations for respectable behavior. Our heroes and heroines have to tread very carefully on that thin line between risk and ruin, destruction or bliss. It makes for a very entertaining dance!

Romance:  History, nobility, love, longing and beautiful dresses. Who could want more?

Rescues:  The era was still a time when women had few opportunities in life. My heroines often feel trapped, hopeless, confused. Sometimes they need a little help, but once they learn who they really are they find a way out.

Risk:  The course of true love never does run smooth. Sometimes you just have to be willing to lose it all in order to gain everything.

Rogues and Rakes:  Oh yes, what would a Regency Romance be without the hero and his checkered past? We love to read about the hard-hearted duke who's sworn never to love; the cynical earl with emotional scars, the dashing lord who can't be snagged--but then is. By the end of the book you can sum these ruffians up in one fabulous word:  Reformed.

Rollicks and Romps:  Witty banter, quirky characters, boisterous ballrooms, mistaken identities, compromising situations, and all manner of clever misadventures. Yes, this is what sets Regency Romance apart from the crowd, if you ask me. Love love love these rambunctious elements of fun.

 

REWARD!!!

One lucky commenter will win their choice of either a sexy (hot) or a mild (sweet) Regency romance! The winner will be announced on this post on Wednesday, as well as on the regular Wednesday post. So join the conversation!

 

Let's chat: "R" you a reader of Regency Romance?  Recite, relate or reiterate what you enjoy most. If you've got a favorite author or a recent read or even a pet peeve about Regency Romance, tell me about it. Even if it doesn't start with the Resilient letter "R".

 

Want to get a taste of Susan's hilarious Regency?

 

When Miss Mariah Langley inherited beautiful Renford Hall she planned to stay there forever. Now the Earl of Dovington has shown up to evict her! With guests arriving and tempers flaring, the spinster and the earl engage in a battle of wits and wooing! The Earl's Passionate Plot novella is available for only 99 cents on Amazon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Gee Heino's lighthearted Regency Romances are full of quirky heroines, wicked banter, and dashing cravat-wearing heroes. Adventures ensue, hilarity happens, but the hero always ends up with his lady. And vice versa. Ms. Heino lives in rural Ohio with her non-cravat-inclined husband, two very remarkable children, and an accidental collection of critters. She loves to hear from readers so please visit her at www.SusanGH.com or connect on social media.

 

 

The "R" book list:

 

 

 

James Rollins: Action adventure blending science and history

 

M.J. Rose: Thrillers that blend mystery and magic

 

Raven Morris: Scorching hot erotic romance