Author: judeknight

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An Interview with Adolph Fouret, Monsieur le Duc de Malbourne, and Madame Michelle Lemaître

Mariana Gabrielle, author of Royal Regard, provides us with an insight into her duc de Malbourne, in this account of an interview by a researcher of her imagination.

While researching the remaining French noble families scattered across Europe, I have interviewed hundreds of émigrés from Scandinavia to Portugal and Ireland to the Austrian Empire. While other scholars are focused on dynastic details, I am fascinated by the human condition.

After thirteen requests to meet with Adolph Fouret, Monsieur le duc de Malbourne, the last surviving member of la famille Fouret, I was invited to his small manor house near Dover, inherited from his late duchess. While the house is no more than thirty rooms and two stories, the surrounding property encompasses tenant farms, a fishing village, a quarry, and a sizable parcel of woodland.

According to diocesan records, Monsieur le duc is past fifty, but apart from hair greying at the temples, might be at least ten, even twenty, years younger. His face remains relatively unlined, his figure tall, back straight, and limbs well-muscled, perhaps a sign of continued interest in swordplay, such skill still legend in Paris.

malbourneWe have been joined by Madame Michelle Lemaître, presumably his paramour, if not wife in common law. As we settle into worn wing chairs in a rarely used parlor, Madame Lemaître pours a fine hock, welcome refreshment on an overly warm day.

Monsieur le duc seems disinclined to idle chatter, waiting patiently for me to begin, never asking me directly to state my business. Madame Lemaître, however, makes it clear by manner and gesture that she would prefer not to entertain company, particularly not mine.

Research indicates you lost most of your immediate family during the Revolution.

“All,” he clarifies. “I lost all of my close relations. Four sisters, their husbands, and all of my nieces and nephews went to the guillotine, twenty-six in total, two still babes. Also, four aunts, two uncles, and nineteen first cousins murdered. My wife and child as well, if one believes fear can cause death in childbed.”

After long minutes of silence, Monsieur le duc hands his glass to Madame Lemaître to refill. As she does, her dagger-like glances attempt to cut out my tongue. His dark eyes, by contrast, are dull and motionless, staring past me, face chiseled from ice above his entirely black ensemble.

“It is not enough Monseigneur must live through this?” She finally snaps. “You come to stir up old troubles, long buried? Finish your questions and leave him in peace.”

Sipping the wine slowly, carefully, he awaits the next question as though I, myself, am a guillotine.

What is your greatest fear?

“Monseigneur is not a coward,” Madame Lemaître growls, staring down her nose at me until Malbourne clicks his tongue.

“Ma chére, the gentleman is not so unwise as to call me a coward.” The look on his face first demands, then accepts, an apology to the lady, whose indignation remains palpable.

Once satisfied his honor is intact in her eyes, he taps the back of her hand and says simply, “I am a Fouret; I fear nothing.”

RR memeWho is the greatest love of your life?

“I have never thought love so important I should count its worth.” Madame Lemaître’s face turns away, eyes downcast, shoulders tensed. “Romance is for peasants who have no money to keep them warm, nor family name to bring them notice.”

His idle index finger tucks a strand of loose hair from her coiffure behind her ear, drawing her attention back to him.

What is your most treasured possession?

His fingers tighten on Michelle’s knee as he shrugs, “I was able to save a folio of sketches by Jean Clouet when I escaped the Revolution. It has been in my family almost 250 years.” His hand slips under hers next to her leg, intertwining their fingers. Her lips turn up infinitesimally.

Where would you like to live?

His nostrils flare and the heel of his latchet shoe begins tapping against the floor, stopping only when she grips his hand so tightly two sets of knuckles turn white.

Forcing his gritted teeth apart, he finally answers, “Had verminous peasants not overrun my family’s land during the farmers’ uprising, I would be living now at le Chateau de Fouret in the Vosges Mountains. This estate…” He waves his hand about the small, dusty room. “This manor house is a hovel.”

What is your greatest regret?

His face twitches as though trying to stop the sneer manifest in his voice. “That I did not execute every peasant in Alsace in 1785.”

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

“Monseigneur is sixteenth in line for the French throne,” Madame Lemaître exclaims, as proud as if he had discovered a cure for the Black Death. Her hand flies to her mouth, apparently unsure if she should boast on his behalf. The incline of his head both reassures and confirms her claim, and his thumb caresses hers.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

“I find men, on the whole, an inferior breed.” His hand smooths a wrinkle in Madame Lemaitre’s sleeve, trailing a fingertip down her forearm. “Women are much more satisfactory companions.”

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

RR meme2“That must depend, monsieur,” he laughs, “whether the woman will grace my bedchamber or my dining hall. For a lover,” he says, tugging at a lock of Michelle’s greying red hair, “I prefer a flame-haired wench of loose morals who will meet my appetites.” When she blushes, he taps the tip of her nose and almost smiles.

At the smallest movement of her head toward his shoulder, he shifts away and the hair pull becomes a warning to keep her place. “Were I to take a second wife, which is not my inclination, I would seek a woman whose conduct will bring credit to me, a noblewoman of sophistication and refinement.”

Madame Lemaître sniffs and turns her shoulder to Malbourne, but at a sharp pinch to her arm, she turns back, watching his face closely, stopping her motion when he raises a brow. As she settles against the back of the sofa, he rests their joined hands on her thigh.

“In either case,” he says, attention on Madame Lemaître, eyebrow still raised, “I value obedience most highly. It is best for females to be subject to the will of their fathers or husbands, lest their capricious natures bring them to harm.”

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

“I detest commoners. They are lazy and stupid and smell of pigs.”

Clearly, given her heavy rural Lorrain accent, Madam Lemaître is not of noble birth, but a stark nod denotes complete agreement.

“The bourgeoisie, though, are grasping, ill-mannered vipers.” Ignoring the flush on her cheeks, the only indication thus far of her pedigree, he continues, “It is hard to know which is worse.”

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Madam Lemaître laughs aloud before he answers, an ironic twist to his lips, “Chastity is a ridiculous notion, but for faithful servants of God and unwed noble daughters.”

On what occasions do you lie?

“You say now Monseigneur is a liar and a coward?” Madam Lemaître tugs at his wrist, as though to pull him out of the room. “He is cousin to the Kings of France, monsieur, and you are no one.” She waves her hand as though to sweep me from the room. “Not a horse dropping on Monseigneur’s shoe.”

With a firm jerk, he reseats her at his side and silences her outburst. “Noblemen do not lie,” he says, with the barest twitch of his shoulder.

At her harrumph, he adds, “Clearly, I must remove Michelle before she does you some injury. I should not like to be you, monsieur, should she find reason to use teeth and talons in my defense. Ma doux pute has a sharp tongue but her fangs, they are like rapiers.

“If you do not believe me…” he says, a teasing note in his voice, tugging at the knot in his black cravat, “I can show you…” The corners of his lips turn up, closer to a smile than at any time since my arrival, seeking her reaction from the corner of his eye. For a moment, he appears inexplicably young, like a small boy playing a prank.

She slaps at his knee and giggles, so he abandons his mischief and they rise, Malbourne holding her snug against his side. One of her arms reaches around his waist; the other rests lightly on his hip, and with her head tucked under his chin, he absently caresses her cheek. Placing a kiss on the crown of her head, he says, “I expect, monsieur, you can find your way out.”

To learn more about le duc, read Royal Regard.

10344772_332286826980418_8952381697101373143_nAfter fifteen years roaming the globe, the Countess of Huntleigh returns to England with her dying husband. She soon finds herself plagued by terrible troubles: a new title, estate, and sizable fortune; marked attentions from the marriage mart; the long-awaited reunion with her loving family; and a growing friendship with King George IV.

Settling into her new life, this shy-but-not-timid, not-so-young lady faces society’s censure, the Earl’s decline, false friends with wicked agendas, and the singular sufferings of a world-wise wallflower. Guided by her well-meaning husband, subject to interference by a meddlesome monarch, she must now choose the dastardly rogue who says he loves her, the charming French devil with a silver tongue, or the quiet country life she has travelled the world to find.

Buy/Review Links

Smashwords * Amazon * iTunes * Barnes and Noble * Kobo * Goodreads

Social Media 

MariWebsite * Facebook * Twitter * WordPress blog * Pinterest * Amazon Author Central

Goodreads Author page

Author Bio

Mariana Gabrielle is a pseudonym for Mari Christie, a mainstream historical and Regency romance writer. She is also a professional writer, editor, and graphic designer with twenty years’ experience and a Bachelor’s in Writing from the University of Colorado Denver, summa cum laude. She lives in Denver, Colorado with two kittens who have no respect at all for writing time.

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Romance fiction is escapist

child-12I had the best compliment last night. One of the people at the Facebook launch party for Farewell to Kindness sent me a direct message that said:

Your talent is amazing and all the days that the kiddos have been sick , had a fussy baby, and getting ready for family to come I have also gotten to escape to a country fete. You really know how to draw your reader in and make them excited about the next day’s events and all the characters.

I’ve been an undiagnosed coeliac for most of my life – plagued by gruelling headaches, rashes, abdominal cramps, nausea, and bone-deep exhaustion. And I raised six children, one through cancer and then disabilities caused by the chemotherapy. And I worked full time after my youngest started school.

Books were my escape. When I was reading a good book, I went to another world where the problems and challenges belonged to someone else, and where good won over evil. Badly written books didn’t do it for me; but a book that captured my imagination took me on holiday.

Books kept me sane, refreshed me, and sent me back into my life ready for the next challenge.

To know I’ve performed the same service for another person is beyond amazing. I’m touched, humbled, and exhilarated, all at the same time. Thank you, Crystal.

Romance fiction is escapist? Hell yeah!

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The maws of despair – an excerpt from Encouraging Prudence

Further to my article on Newgate, here’s an excerpt from Encouraging Prudence.

Chapter 13

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The gray walls of Newgate shadowed the street, and the stench of human despair reached out, so strong that Prue imagined it had a bodily presence that would drag her through the felons’ door and into the prison.

She froze before the heavy door, and one of the guards shoved her forward, roughly but without malice. “Not going to get better if’n you stand here,” he told her.

Inside, the system moved into ponderous action. She, and the charges against her, were catalogued, and she was passed into the hands of the prison staff. She felt a wave of horror as the guards left her alone with the keepers, as if her last connection with the outside world was walking away from her.

No. David would not abandon her. She had only to endure until he could make arrangements.

“P. Worth. Thief and murderer,’ the keeper who had spoken to the guards reported, as he ushered her into a dirty cramped little room where two keepers waited, one behind an untidy desk, and the other hunched over a meagre fire.

“Accused, awaiting trial, and innocent,” Prue said, amazed that her voice sounded so calm when she had to force it through a throat stiff with panic.

The keepers both snorted their amusement. “How much?” the one behind the desk asked.

Prue had no idea what he was talking about. “How much what?”

“Money. How much can you pay for a bed? For food?”

The runners had taken all of her money along with the money and jewels planted in her belongings. She had nothing. David would come. She had to believe that.

“A friend of mine is coming. He will bring whatever money I need.”

“Your friend,” he managed to invest the word with salacious meaning, “isn’t here now. We need money up front, not a thief-whore’s promises.”

“I have no money on me, but Mr Wakefield will take care of it when he comes.” She would not panic. She could endure this.

The man behind the desk shook his head. “Have to be paid, sweetheart. Cash or kind.”

The other man, the one in front of the fire, spoke for the first time, “We could be kind if she was kind, what do you say, Merton?”

They leered at her, and she glared back. “Mr Wakefield will avenge any insult to me,” she told them.

Something got through to them. Her assumed confidence, perhaps, or her upper class accent. They exchanged uncertain glances, then frowned at her. The bully behind the desk came to a decision. “Right, then. We’ll ‘ave that dress. Worth a bob or two that is.”

“And the shoes,” chimed in his accomplice. “Three shillings the shoes, two shillings the dress. Get you a bed in the main ward for a week, that will. Can’t do fairer than that.”

Prue backed against the wall. They weren’t seriously intending to take her dress and shoes, were they?

They were. “Come along, off with them. I could ‘elp you, if you like.” The accomplice approached her, his leer stirring old ghosts so that she had once again to swallow against a suddenly closing throat.

“Hold them safely,” she instructed coldly. “Mr Wakefield will redeem them when he comes.”

The stone of the floor struck cold up through her stockinged feet, and cold radiated off the grimy stone of the passage walls as the two keepers escorted her through the prison in her shift. She was battered on every side by the constant din — shouting, screaming, screeching, crying, and various unidentified bangs and clatters. And the rank smell got worse the closer they came to the place where she was to be confined.

One keeper unlocked the door while the other attempted to put his arm around Prue. She slid sideways to evade him.

In response, he gave her a rough shove through the doorway, so that she stumbled and almost fell. The door clanged shut behind her, audible even through the tumult that her entry had barely dented.

She was in a open space — a courtyard around 40 feet long and 10 feet wide made smaller by the number of women and almost twice that number of small children occupying it. Three tiers of rooms had barred windows onto the courtyard. Through the door of the nearest one at ground level, she could see rows of pallets on the floor.

Slowly, her eyes began to make sense of the constant churning movement: children running in and out of groups of women who were arguing, gossiping, playing cards and throwing dice, cooking over small fires, nursing babies, disciplining toddlers, drinking, eating, and shouting. In one corner, an argument descended into a hair-pulling fight, and further down the yard, a group of women who had been singing suddenly broke into a high-kicking dance, arm in arm in a long line.

The noise was indescribable, but not as intensely offensive as the smell: rotting food, human waste, unwashed bodies, all blended into a stench that made the inside of her nostrils feel grimy.

She would burn her stockings and her shift when she was free of this place.

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Introducing The Teatime Tattler

Tittle-Tattle2The Bluestocking Belles have started a gossip rag. On The Teatime Tattler, we plan to have character sketches, interviews with characters, scenes with characters, and gossip about characters. What makes this different is that the entries won’t be excerpts. They’ll be original pieces, written especially for for The Teatime Tattler.

I put up the first article – a little scene set in Longford, where one of the local ladies is snooping to find out whether her competition for the fete pastry prize is instead competing on the preserves bench. She finds a tasty bit of gossip she doesn’t expect when the earl’s man knocks on the back door.

Click on the link above to read the sketch, and come back each Saturday and Wednesday to find out what the Belles and our guests have written for your delight.

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Fun with formulas

This blog post arises out of another discussion at work about romance novels, and specifically the idea that romance novels are formulaic.

In a sense, it’s a fair comment. Books that can be classified into a specific genre are, of course, books that fit the pattern associated with that genre. They follow a formula, just as pies follow a formula in that they have pastry and a filling. Within the formula, though, the scope is enormous.

The person making the accusation usually means the term in a negative way, however. They have in mind the idea that the characters are stereotypes and the plots predictable. They may even believe the old myth that the first kiss must occur one third of the way through chapter six. Bless them. They’ve probably been reading romance all their lives and calling it something else.

So I thought I’d talk about a few literary devices, just to show you that, in the final analysis, all literature is formulaic.

The12FacesofHumanKind-TammoDeJonghTropes are recognisable patterns

At Facebook parties, I’ve been offering guests a trope bingo card. In the 25 squares of the card (five by five) are common historical romance tropes, and the goal is to match a book to a row of them. Four is a win. Five is a bigger win.

So what are tropes? They are literary patterns – story elements that a writer can expect readers to recognise. Historical romance has the virgin widow, the arranged marriage, second chance love… there are dozens of patterns a writer can draw on, knowing that readers will feel a sense of familiarity.

It’s the author’s job to take that pattern and either turn it on its head or combine it with other patterns to make an unexpected whole.

Stereotypes are unproven assumptions

Stereotypes are different. Stereotypes are oversimplified classifications of people or things. We stereotype when we look at one or two characteristics and make a huge number of assumptions about the person or thing based on prejudices rather than experience.

Stereotypes can occasionally be useful: the evil drug lord is probably a reasonable character to have. But good authors might also use stereotypes for characters that take a more central role, only to break them in an interesting way.

Archetypes are characters that all human cultures recognise

Some characters are universally recognisable. When we recognise them in a story, we know the role they will play, and we gain a deep satisfaction from seeing them play it. The hero is an archetype. Here’s a description I found of his (or her) characteristics:

Motto: Where there’s a will, there’s a way
Core desire: to prove one’s worth through courageous acts
Goal: expert mastery in a way that improves the world
Greatest fear: weakness, vulnerability, being a “chicken”
Strategy: to be as strong and competent as possible
Weakness: arrogance, always needing another battle to fight
Talent: competence and courage
The Hero is also known as: The warrior, crusader, rescuer, superhero, the soldier, dragon slayer, the winner and the team player.

Different pundits offer different numbers of archetypes, from four to as many as 47. The key is that they are cross-cultural; you find them in all human story-telling in one guise or another.

Plot lines can be classified

Some people suggest that all of literature consists of only seven basic plots. Others find as many as 36. A couple of years ago, I sat down with half a dozen different lists and came up with 13. Interwoven, and with different tropes and archetypes, they create an infinite number of stories, but here they are in their elemental form. I’ve expressed them as situations rather than exploring the whole plot line, because each of the 13 takes a different trajectory, depending on whether it leads to a happy ending or a tragic ending.

  1. The worth of a good character is not recognised.
  2. The overreaching and egotism of the hero or heroine causes disaster.
  3. Actions by the hero or heroine in the past eventually catch up with them, and they must pay their debt.
  4. One character (either hero or heroine) is torn between two love interests, often a spouse and another person they prefer.
  5. The villain tricks or tempts the hero, the heroine or both into detrimental action.
  6. The love between the hero and the heroine is forbidden.
  7. Something precious is taken away, leading to a search.
  8. The hero or heroine is repeatedly foiled, but keeps trying.
  9. A sinner is required to do penance over a long period of time.
  10. A hero or heroine must defeat a monster and restore order to the world.
  11. A hero or heroine travels in search of priceless treasure and fights evil and overpowering odds.
  12. The hero or heroine is thrust into an alien environment and make their way back to normal life.
  13. Evil grows ever stronger, bringing the hero or heroine almost to death, and they are saved only by miraculous intervention.

 

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An interview with Susana Ellis

P13 copyToday, I’m welcoming another Bluestocking Belle to the blog. Susana Ellis writes sweet regency romances. She says she has always had stories in her head waiting to come out, especially when she learned to read and her imagination began to soar. Voracious reading led to a passion for writing, and her fascination with romance and people of the past landed her firmly in the field of historical romance. Susana lives in Toledo, Ohio in the summer and central Florida in the winter.

Read on to find out about the box set she is launching, with other authors, on 1 April, for a description of her story in that set, and for my interview with Susana. Her contact links are at the bottom of the post.

Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles

The stories in Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles are sweet Regency romances with Waterloo themes.

You are all invited to

Amazon buy link

400 x 600About Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles

Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles is a celebration of the bicentenary of the showdown between Wellington’s “Infamous Army” and Napoleon’s Grande Armée.

 A collection of nine sweet Regency stories of courage, hope, and the miracle of love surviving in uncertain times, brought to you by nine distinguished historical romance authors.

Jillian Chantal • Téa Cooper • Susana Ellis • Aileen Fish • Victoria Hinshaw • Heather King • Christa Paige • Sophia Strathmore • David Wilkin

 About Lost and Found Lady

 On April 24, 1794, a girl child was born to an unknown Frenchwoman in a convent in Salamanca, Spain. Alas, her mother died in childbirth, and the little girl—Catalina—was given to a childless couple to raise.

Eighteen years later…the Peninsular War between the British and the French wages on, now perilously near Catalina’s home. After an afternoon yearning for adventure in her life, Catalina comes across a wounded British soldier in need of rescue. Voilà! An adventure! The sparks between them ignite, and before he returns to his post, Rupert promises to return for her.

But will he? Catalina’s grandmother warns her that some men make promises easily, but fail to carry them out. Catalina doesn’t believe Rupert is that sort, but what does she know? All she can do is wait…and pray.

But Fate has a few surprises in store for both Catalina and Rupert. When they meet again, it will be in another place where another battle is brewing, and their circumstances have been considerably altered. Will their love stand the test of time? And how will their lives be affected by the outcome of the conflict between the Iron Duke and the Emperor of the French?

An interview with Susana Ellis

When did you begin to write, and why?

Learning to read was like a lightning bolt to my imagination. I read everything I could get my hands on from that day forward. When I was nine I used to write plays for my friends and me to act out at recess. With all that was going on in my head, it seemed natural to write them out, but in those days the chance of becoming a published author seemed remote, so I became a teacher. I’ve only begun writing seriously for publication in the past three years, since leaving teaching.

Why do you write in your chosen genre or genres?

History and the way people lived in the past has always fascinated me. I want to know how they thought, what they did everyday, what they wore/ate/read, where they traveled, who they married and why, and pretty much everything. I’m especially fascinated by the courtship ritual—how they become acquainted and fall in love and marry first before falling into bed. I find it so much more romantic that way.

Do you base any of your characters on real people?

Not usually, although the characters in my story Lost and Found Lady (in the Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles anthology that releases April 1, 2015), are based loosely on Harry and Juana Smith. Harry was a brigade major in the Peninsular War who met Juana (a descendent of Ponce de León) after the Battle of Badajoz, and married her four days later. Like Harry, my hero is one of Wellington’s Explorer Scouts, and like Juana, my heroine is a Spanish girl. But that’s where the resemblance ends. Rupert and Catalina have their own story to tell.

Who is your favourite character in the book you’re showing us today?

Catalina, because she refuses to accept the bleak life she faces as an illegitimate peasant girl with little hope of a decent marriage. The marriages she observes in her daily life aren’t particularly appealing, and for a while, she envisions finding freedom in a convent.

 What’s your favourite scene and why?

One of my favourites is in the beginning where Catalina mentions to the priest who teaches her that she would like to emulate Sor Juana de la Cruz of 17th century Mexico, who became a nun because she couldn’t otherwise study and write as she wanted. Although 150 years have passed, she reflect sadly that the role of women hasn’t changed all that much. And while many things have changed since 1812, equality has still not been reached, and will not be in my lifetime, I fear.

What was the hardest scene to write and why?

I don’t usually write about battles, but when your hero is in the army at Waterloo, you can’t leave the readers hanging! I agonized over the scene for several days. My mother told me somebody was going to have to die, meaning one of my characters. I told her no happy ending ever had a character die in the end! But they did see the grim side of things, with all the dead and wounded after the battle, and I imagine those images won’t leave their memories any time soon.

What is the most memorable book you’ve read in the last three months, and why has it stayed with you?

I’ve been reading Georgette Heyer’s The Spanish Bride, which is largely an account of the adventures of Brigade-Major Harry Smith and his Spanish bride Juana as they traipse around the Iberian Peninsular with the British army. Believe it or not, I do a lot of my “research” from reading fiction. It’s so helpful to get a glimpse of what it was like to follow an army, which you don’t get from non-fiction sources.

What do you like doing in your spare time?

Reading, cooking, traveling, blogging, and, of course, writing.

What was your favourite book when you were a kid?

I used to read Nancy Drew books voraciously, so much so that I used to get punished for reading “too much.” My mother used to tell me one chapter a day was enough, and I always told her it was impossible to do that because the chapter always ended with a hint that something exciting was going to happen in the next one.

If you could give that kid one piece of advice, what would it be?

The sky is the limit—don’t let yourself be intimidated by the impossible.

Where do you want to be in 10 years’ time?

Alive, in good health, and still writing. If you’re asking about my plans for becoming a best-selling author, well, that would be great and I’ll still aim for that, but I won’t consider my writing career a failure if that doesn’t happen.

Meet Susana

Website • Facebook • Twitter

Susana’s Parlour • Susana’s Morning Room

 

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Why book reviews matter

Book-review-imageWhen I published Candle’s Christmas Chair as a free Novella way back in the middle of December last year, I set myself a stretch target. 10,000 downloads by the beginning of April when Farewell to Kindness was published? Unlikely, I thought, but wouldn’t it be magical?

As readers of this blog know, my expectations have been blown out of the water by the actual figures. I was at 10,000 by halfway through January, and today’s download figures stand at just over 44,000. That’s a lot of books!

Now, Candle is a free book, and it’s impossible to know how many of those copies are languishing in a TBR dungeon on someone’s Kindle or iPad.  But let’s say that a quarter of the people who downloaded the novella have actually read it. Let’s say 13,000, just so my next piece of arithmetic is easy.

So how is it doing in the review stakes? Duplicates make it hard to get an exact figure, but between the various Amazon sites, Goodreads, and other book eretailers, Candle has around 130 to 140 reviews. (Hah! Now you know why I picked 13,000!)  It’s all very rough, of course, but I’m guesstimating that one reader in 100 has written a review.

How reviews help readers

Do you read reviews? Lots of people do. Finding out whether someone else liked or disliked a book (and, more importantly, why) can help you to choose between the huge array of books available. With over a million fiction ebooks on Amazon, some sort of filtering system is essential.

Here’s a comment from a reader I found when researching for this article:

As a reader, I tend to look at the range of ratings for a book, in the first instance. If they are wide-ranging, to me that says, ‘this could be a good book, but just doesn’t float everyone’s boat’. If they are all of a low-rating, then chances are the book might be missable! Difficult however, when there ARE only one or two reviews – it is good to see a number of reviews to get a feel for the book’s reception.  [Cathy Speight commenting on Book reviews: are they important)

How reviews help writers

Reviews offer writers a lot. Reviews (good, bad or indifferent) make a book easier to find by pushing it up through the rankings in google search and on the sites of eretailers. Good reviews encourage writers to keep writing. When someone in a review mentions something that shows they know what I was trying to do, the glow can last for days. For example, I loved the review that mentioned my favourite gift that Candle gave to Min, and said how romantic the reader found it. I thought it was romantic, too! I loved that bit. I’m so glad the reader did.

Bad reviews help writers too. I wrote about this in another blog, but suffice to say I can learn from valid criticisms, and simply accept that tastes differ and not everyone will like what I write. Bad reviews still count for search rankings, and a well written bad review that says why a reader didn’t like a book may even attract a reader who enjoys what the review writer didn’t.

How to write a review

So please, if you’ve read a book (not just mine, any book), write a review. Especially, write a review if you have strong feelings about the review. Here are some tips from Amazon on how:

  • Include the “why”: The best reviews include not only whether you liked or disliked a product, but also why. Feel free to talk about related products and how this item compares to them.
  • Be specific: Your review should focus on specific features of the product and your experience with it. For video reviews, we recommend that you write a brief introduction.
  • Not too short, not too long: The ideal length is 75 to 500 words. Video reviews have a 10-minute limit, but we recommend 2 to 5 minutes to keep your audience engaged.
  • Be sincere: We welcome your honest opinion about the product–positive or negative. We do not remove reviews because they are critical. We believe all helpful information can inform our customers’ buying decisions.
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An interview with Sherry Ewing

11086780_10206606130775444_1686985195_oToday, I’m starting something new: interviews with guest authors, starting with my friend and fellow Bluestocking Belle, Sherry Ewing.

Sherry Ewing is a self-published author who writes historical and time travel romances to awaken the soul one heart at a time. Her three books are all currently on bestseller lists on Amazon, and her latest release, Only For You, is currently in the top 20 on a historical romance list.

Sherry, when did you begin to write, and why?

Although I wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember, I didn’t actually start writing until 2008 when a friend of mine asked why I hadn’t written that novel I always wanted to write. Since my children were for the most part grown, I had the time to throw myself into the manuscript. It’s a total train wreck since I’ve learned so much in the past several years on the craft of writing, but I hope to edit it in the next several months with a release in early 2016.

Today, you’re showing us Only For You. (See below for an outline and buy links.) Who is your favourite character in the book?

It’s hard to determine whether my hero or heroine is my favourite characters since I love them both. But if I must choose, then it would be Katherine. She’s a modern day woman thrown back in time who quickly adapts to her new surroundings as she begins her life with her very medieval husband.

What’s your favourite scene and why?

Katherine and Riorden share their dreams so there is one dream scene in particular, when they think that all hope is lost, that is very memorable to me towards the end of Only For You. But I’ll let your readers find it out for themselves since I don’t want to give any spoilers.

Most writers start as avid readers. What was your favourite book when you were a kid?

I’m probably dating myself when I tell you I read The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss as a teenager. It was my first historical romance and I’ve been hooked ever since. She is most likely the reason why I write in this genre today. She was my ideal author and I wanted to write wonderful stories that carried me away to another place in time just as she did.

If you could give that kid one piece of advice, what would it be?

Just because an English teacher tells you that your writing will never amount to anything, don’t let that stop you from going after your dreams of becoming an author. Keep on writing and never give up. It may take years for those dreams to become reality, but in the end it will be worth it!

Only For You – A medieval romance with a hint of time travel, Release date March 17, 2015

One gorgeous cover!

One gorgeous cover!

Katherine de Deveraux has it all, or so she believes, when she begins her life with her husband Riorden. But as she settles into her duties at Warkworth Castle, she finds that an easy life is not only difficult but downright dangerous to her well-being.

Consumed with the haunting memories of his father, Riorden must deal with his sire’s widow who just happens to be his ex-lover. Yet how could he know just how far Marguerite is willing to go in order to have the life she feels they were truly meant to live?

Torn apart by circumstances neither Katherine nor Riorden could ever imagine, Time becomes their true enemy even while Marguerite continues her ploy to keep Riorden at her side. With all hope lost, will Katherine and Riorden find a way to save their marriage and have their happily ever after ending, or will Katherine be whisked back to where Time truly feels she belongs?

Buy Links:

Amazon; Barnes & Noble; iBooks; Kobo; Amazon Australia; Amazon Canada; Amazon UK

Find Sherry on social media:

Website & Blog: http://www.sherryewing.com

Bluestocking Belles: http://bluestockingbelles.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherryewingauthor

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/SherryLEwing

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/sherry_ewing

Tsu: https://www.tsu.co/sherryewing

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Newgate prison – a habitation of misery

fig.1_maltonnewgate_fmtMy latest story has taken me into Newgate prison, immortalised (if the word is appropriate in the context) in Fielding’s Moll Flanders, and in 1807 still the place described by notorious highwayman   Captain Alexander Smith as a ‘dismal prison… a place of calamity… habitation of misery, a confused chaos… a bottomless pit of violence, a Tower of Babel where all are speakers and none hearers.’

newgate-prison-entry-gateAt the time, it housed around 300 women in a space intended for 50, and they often brought their children with them. Many slept on the floor, without bedding. Looking through the proceedings of the neighbouring court, the Old Bailey, I found many convicted women had two, three, or even four children under 7, and into prison with mother they would go.

Everything was for sale. The keepers weren’t paid, but lived on the bribes of prisoners and their families. So much for a bed, so much for a meal, so much for a pail of water, so much for coals to cook or to keep warm. Those who were wealthy could be housed in comfort, and could have visitors and their own reading matter, clothes, and food.

Those who were poor were thrown to the mercies of the other prisoners, and were likely to have whatever little they still owned taken from them. The prisoners ran their own affairs inside of the walls, with a tough culture of gangs who intimidated those who didn’t fit in. The keepers simply kept the prisoners from leaving.

Prisoners weren’t classified beyond the general classification of debtor and felon, and people awaiting trial were imprisoned with those sentenced and awaiting transportation or execution; first time offenders with hardened criminals; the young with the old.

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Elizabeth Fry, the Quaker reformer, first visited in 1813:

The turnkeys warned them that the women were wild and savage, and they would be in physical danger. However, they went in anyway. On that and two more visits, they brought warm clothing and clean straw for the sick to lie on. Elizabeth also prayed for the prisoners.

Elizabeth said:

‘All I tell thee is a faint picture of the reality; the filth, the closeness of the rooms, the ferocious manners and expressions of the women towards each other, and the abandoned wickedness, which everything bespoke, are quite indescribable’

After several visits, family problems kept her away, but she returned several years later and began a long process of reform. (Note, though, that the painter doesn’t quite believe in the reform. At her feet, the children play with dice. And the women on the far right are passing a bottle.)

Elizabeth Fry