Dark, deep and devastating….

Tags

Black Wolf Books, Book review, His Judas Bride, Loving Lady Lazuli, Splendor

 

“When it comes to being anything, do you seriously think I chose this life? We’re none of us armored, sweetheart. Not the way we arrive here anyway. We only wish.”

His Judas Bride-5*Review @ShehanneMoore

 

My Thoughts…

‘Dark, deep and devastating aptly describes this historical romance, set in the beautiful but often brutal highlands of Scotland. 

Kara and Callm are both damaged by life and forced on a path of avenge and revenge, even though it is often at odds with the people they once were before tragedy struck.  Their meeting is unconventional and neither want to surrender to their passions, it’s too dangerous.

Kara needs to keep to her plan to save her son, Callm has already lost too much, his people are everything, and he can never put his personal pleasure above their safety. Love becomes a weapon rather than a balm and the resultant passion reflects this with vivid imagery.

If you want to relive history with all the rough edges and raw emotion, this story with its complex, challenged characters will consume you.

I received an ARC of the second edition from the author in return for an honest review. 

Threatening to leave in the hope of bringing him to his senses was a bad idea, when he’d no senses to speak of, let alone ones she could blackmail him into.

My Thoughts…

Lady Splendor was once the lowest of the low, now she needs to find a way to keep her new lifestyle, and that means a chess competition that only men can enter. There is lots of fun in this story as Splendor risks all to achieve everything she desires. 

Kendall Winterborne is a dissolute rake, who dislikes being challenged or made a fool of. Splendor does both and with their history, their relationship is never going to be easy going. Passion escapes, but they are at war, and anything more than physical attraction seems both unwanted and unobtainable.

A thoroughly  entertaining, romantic tale, which is full of witty dialogue, sizzling scenes and unforgettable characters, perfect holiday reading,

I received an ARC of this book from the author.

Shehanne Moore -Splendor -London Jewel Thieves #2 – 5* Review @ShehanneMoore

He was not a man she could help, any more than she was a woman who ever did such things

My Thoughts…

Loving Lady Lazuli is a tense, character-driven historical romance which gives the reader a unique perspective on life and love in Regency England. The power of society and its harshness when crossed is implicit from the first chapter. Lord Devorlane Hawley returns to his ancestral ten years after he left in disgrace. Now the unexpected fifth Duke of Chessington he wants revenge for his ten years of exile where severe mistreatment changed him from a naive youth to a cynical man.
The prodigal is thrown into an unexpected homecoming party. Bored a young woman attracts him. Is she the girl who caused his disgrace a decade ago? Cassidy fears her secret is uncovered and leaves the party abruptly. With the threat of the noose for being a jewel thief hanging over her Cassidy (Sapphire) tries to find the documents that prove her claim to Barwych hall.
Their relationship is laced with misunderstanding, humour and poignancy. Both distrust, threaten and cheat each other. Devorlane demands she becomes his mistress for his silence and help. Cassidy (Sapphire) agrees until she discovers his life-threatening secret and reclaims the advantage. The historical attraction between Devorlane and Cassidy (Sapphire) rekindles and ignites despite his hateful behaviour and her scheming. When their passion overwhelms secrets emerge which affect them profoundly and make them face their emotional involvement.
Memorable characters give this unusual historical romance a realistic edge which makes Loving Lady Lazuli a passionate, enthralling read.

https://t.co/FoLB7SPT93

 

Character Interrupted. An interview BY Jean Lee

Tags

Black Wolf Books, Character development, Fallen Princeborn Stolen, Historical romance, interview, Jean Lee, London Jewel thieves, Loving Lady Lazuli, Shehanne Moore, Small Press, Splendor, Starkadder Sisterhood, Ya author

 

#Author #Interviews: #historicalromance #writer @ShehanneMoore discusses #character development, #series #writing, #research, & starting a #smallpress #publisher

Jean Lee – Let’s first begin with what you write—smart, sexy, historical fiction. You delve into various time periods with your books, such as the 9th century in The Viking and the Courtesan and the 19th century in Splendor. What process do you go through when choosing the right century for a story’s setting? That is, if Splendor took place in another century, would it still be the Splendor we know?

Probably not. The stories are influenced by the time, the characters too, although they don’t always abide by the constraints of them. Mind you Splendor would be a shopaholic , running up debts galore in any time because some things are timeless. She’d be having to manage everything too. So I guess a bit of both would be true. I generally stick to the Georgian/Regency period—it’s a sort of genre in own right. BUT I do like to dabble and I do spend time thinking of how I will set a book physically within that period, in terms of imagery etc.. There’s also things that happen when I write.

I mean there was never meant to be a Viking in The Viking and The Courtesan. That was a straight Regency. But then halfway through chapter two, the little voice whispered, ‘You know that Viking story idea you have, the one you’ve never really got the idea for the heroine ‘s goal in? How about you just use it here?’ Much as I want to ignore that little voice, I can’t.

Jean Lee. – Such a question should mean I ask you about research, too. I know you’re very passionate about your research to keep the period lifestyle true to history. 

Visit my pages on BookFunnel & Instafreebie today!

Jean Lee. What’s your process in making the research phase as productive as possible?

You know people think I do a lot of research. I don’t . Too much can kill a story and read like a Wikipedia cut and pastes. At the end of the day I don’t want to know every detail of the time a story is set. I can read a history book for that. I want to read of the things that are universal. The things that stand the test of time. But I have always loved history, especially social history, ever since I can remember. I guess that’s what I have at my fingertips when I write. And of course, I will check a historical timeline detail where it is pertinent to a character, or setting, if I want a certain backdrop.

Jean Lee – One thing I love about all your books is that these characters are layered with feeling. They desire, they hate, they aspire, they love, they fear. Your books are so, so much more than the “meet-cute” kinds of romances out there populated by characters with little more than a single quirk each. These characters can get downright wicked, like Devorlane Hawley in Loving Lady Lazuli. How do you bring together both light and dark natures into your characters to keep your stories compelling and un-put-downable?

SHEY – Now Jean, it’s all right, I won’t set the dudes on you and the check is in the mail. You are way too kind. I just love characters. I want to write about the human condition and let’s face it sometimes it’s downright ugly. Okay, Devorlane Hawley, for example, page one, is not a man you would want to meet. He’s plainly gone to hell in a hand cart, is behaving outrageously and now he’s come into the dukedom because his older, perfect brother is dead, he’s for turfing out his sisters, his late mother’s ward, installing some floozie he’s scoured London to find and setting up a pleasure palace in the ancestral home. By page two/three he’s noticing that his home is nothing like he remembered, it’s a mess, his oldest sister is a drunk and that’s needling at what humanity he has, because it’s plain these years have been hard and the family have regrets. The fact is he’s the family black sheep, the man who made the kind of messes we can all make when we’re young. And that law-abiding, God fearing family let him go down for a crime he never committed, largely for  the sake of peace. By the end of chapter one he’s spotted the woman who did commit that crime and his goal instantly changes. Now he’s becoming the architect of his own doom in many ways.

No-one’s all bad—I think it’s important to remember that when you write. But we are all flawed in some way, a bundle of contradictions, the sum and substance of our life experiences. That’s what I’m trying to blend. Ultimately underneath everything Devorlane Hawley isn’t a bad man. In some ways he’s man interrupted by his earlier experiences– and what has shaped his life since has been hardship and brutality. So the race is on then to see if he can become the man he could be, or are the flaws going to get in the way. I spend a lot of time peering through my fingers going… I wouldn’t have done that, to my characters when I write. AND I let them drive everything. I seriously never have any idea where a story is going next.

Jean Lee- Yet another thing I dig (someday I’ll learn to write questions better), particularly where the  London Jewel Thieves are concerned, is that the series doesn’t just revolve around one heroine; rather, each book focuses on a different character of a group. I love how these different perspectives give us a richer look into their world, as well as fresh looks at characters we’ve met in the other books. Which heroine came to you first? Did she bring all the other thieves with her, or did they start telling you their own stories later on?

Good question. Actually the heroine of a short story I have yet to turn into a full length, came first. The idea was there of the jewel thief gang and being forced into stealing because for one reason or another they’ve fallen into the clutches of the man who runs this gang. BUT Cassidy Armstrong aka Sapphire from Loving Lady Lazuli came first in terms of the writing. Originally it was a standalone but as I wrote it, and I was working the background, I thought of that short story and the whole thing just fell into place. The idea of giving the women the name of a jewel, of the Starkadder Sisterhood, and of setting the books after the gang has broken up. So it’s about them having to find their feet by whatever means and keeping one step ahead when there’s prices on their heads.

Jean Lee – Lastly, congratulations on beginning your own small press! I’m so excited to see what Black Wolf Books will bring to readers—your own books, and the books of other authors. You’ve been writing for publishers for a number of years, but now you are both publisher and writer. How would you say your earlier experience prepared you for this change? What’s been the biggest “culture shock,” as it were, with donning the publisher robe?

Shey – Thank you so much Jean and ALSO for having me here today AND congrats on your own forthcoming release. Sure to be a rip along read. MAY I SAY HERE ON TO MY FOLLOWERS, JEAN IS WELL WORTH CHEKING OUT.

Shey- I have wanted to set up Black Wolf Books for about four years now but life got in the way. But I’m there now. I think the writing industry is in a constant state of flux. When I first subbed back in 2012, you still went the traddy route. Yes there were self published books but not so many, nor the same amount of tools to do it. I mean Amazon makes it so damned easy actually now. I have a lot of experience in the writing business that goes way back before 2012 and I’ve been able to use most of it now.

I think the biggest shock…well learning curve was formatting for ebooks and for paperback. Amazon does make it easy I just got in a flap till I mastered it. I initially paid a formatter for the print version for Splendor. I was too scared to do it, in case I messed it up. But when it came back like a dog’s dinner, I stood at the foot of the mountain and told myself to get up there. That it wasn’t anything like the time I took over the editing and design of a magazine and didn’t know how to draw a text box…

Jean Lee. Are you looking for submissions right now? If so, what kind and do you have any guidelines to share?

Shey – Well we are not officially open in that I didn’t want swamped. I wanted to feel my way, get out my books, and the Mr’s book, before dealing with what could be an avalanche. And often I think publishers can take on way too many authors without concentrating on the ones they have. But we already have a signing of a YA author who has a trilogy. So I say to folks, contact me through my blog contact right now. And really so long as it’s good, I’m not laying down all kinds of conditions.

One of the reasons I wanted to do this is that I’ve seen a lot of authors get raw deals, not been able to get a book out cos it’s not fitting the mold, despite having books out. My aim in setting up BWB is to help authors. Believe me, I know how brutal this biz can be.

Jean Lee –  Lastly lastly I’m hoping you’ll allow the little Hamstah Dudes, that precocious batch of knowledgeable cuties  who share amazing author interviews & writing advice on your site, to come on over for a moment and have the last word, as they’ve been very good and patient all through our chat.the last word, as they’ve been very good and patient all through our chat.

 

Jean Lee – Many thanks to Shey for sharing her experience and stories with us! And don’t worry, Hamstah Dudes–Blondie’s working on a Halloween picture just for you. Hopefully I can stop by Shey’s site to share it! 🙂

 

 

Judging a book by its cover – dude tips.

Tags

book covers, Cover Design, Jewel thieves, London, Loving Lady Lazuli, New re-release, Regency England, Shehanne Moore

 

 

BLURB

A woman not even the ghost of Sapphire can haunt. A man who knows exactly who she is.

Only one man in England can identify her. Unfortunately he’s living next door.

 Ten years ago sixteen year old Sapphire, the greatest jewel thief England has ever known, ruined Lord Devorlane Hawley’s life when she planted a stole necklace on him. Now she’s dead and buried, all Cassidy Armstrong wants is the chance to prove she was never that girl.

But her new neighbor is hell-bent on revenge and his word can bring her down. So when he asks her to be his mistress, or leave the county with a price on her head, Sapphire, who hates being owned, must decide…

 What’s left for a woman with nowhere else to go, but to stay exactly where she is?

 And hope, that when it comes to neighbors, Devorlane Hawley won’t prove to be the one from hell.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Did I mention how devilishly hot Devorlane is? Mean and arrogant. But HOT.’

‘Doing some reading? What to read next.’

If you are looking for the traditional regency period historical romance, you won’t find it here. This was one of the darkest historical romances I’ve read in good long while.

The Book Review.

‘Balls ladies, she has balls. ‘

‘Doing some reading? What to read next.’

Writing a book review. A hamster dude’s guide.

Tags

Book review, Book reviewing, Loving Lady Lazuli, Oil and Water, P.J.Lazoz, Tips for writing a book review

 

 

https://t.co/Cuu9Zkdywn

 

 

 

 

 

 Loving Lady Lazuli

According to Romance Writers of America, romance books garnered $1.08 billion in sales in 2013 and accounted for 34% of the fiction market. With stats like that, I’m wondering why I didn’t choose the romance genre but then I remembered — I have no talent for it. Ah, but Lady Shey does. Loving Lady Lazuli is the classic storyline of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy meets girl again, but told as a relentless, breathy romantic mystery.

It’s been decades since I read a bodice-ripper if you don’t count the Outlander series by Diana Gabladon which markets itself as romance, but is really a hybrid — the love child of Romance and Historical Fiction — and I may have never read another one if I didn’t chance upon Shehanne Moore’s blog and struck up a friendship with the Lady Shey.

Now, announcing your desire to read a virtual friend’s book and write a review can be a tricky process even if they don’t live across the street from you because, well, the blogosphere has limits, too, writer’s tend to travel in the same circles, and you just don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Thank GOD that I just adored this book because all that worry is now a moot point. After reading a few chapters of Loving Lady Lazuli, I was hooked. Moore writes a self-described brand of romance that she calls “smexy”— a cross between smutty and sexy — a classic pot-boiler of a book with the trademark characteristics of historical fiction adding to its allure.

Loving Lady Lazuli is the story of Sapphire, the renowned London jewel thief who no one has ever seen. Sapphire’s greatest defense has been her invisibility. Her many costumes and identity changes have allowed her to remain elusive and because of that, the most successful jewel thief in England. But one evening Sapphire makes a terrible mistake. Her “mark”, the famous Wentworth emeralds, are in her grasp, but the escape route is not. Her partners have let her down and there is no way out except a long trek across an open field in winter, and in an evening gown, no less.

Complicating matters, there is a witness, the rich, young, handsome Devorlane Hawley who happens upon the bewitching Sapphire while driving by in his coach. The unsuspecting Hawley has no idea what’s happening when he offers Sapphire a ride. It all happened so quickly, that kiss, that hand where hands should not be when strangers are involved, the pawning off of the Wentworth emeralds into Hawley’s pocket without him even knowing, and her alighting from the coach before he could catch his breath and clear his addled brain. Months later, he’s been enlisted into the army, the rich man’s version of punishment for a theft, preferable to hanging from the end of a noose, but still a high price to pay for a crime he didn’t commit. She caught him all right, with a breathy kiss and a swift goodbye and he will use all his resources to exact revenge.

For ten years Devorlane harbored his enmity, for ten years, he replayed the events of that night, and for ten years he swore that one day he would find and catch Sapphire and make her pay for ruining his life. Ten years of feeding and nourishing that hatred which festered like the wound to his leg when, upon his return, he is met with a sight that makes his heart both soar and shatter — it’s her, Sapphire, sitting in his drawing room. Now who’s caught?

Want to find out? Then read Loving Lady Lazuli, a romantic page-turner of first order. You may want to ditch the tea and crumpets for something stronger!

Want more?  Go here to read an INTERVIEW with Shehanne Moore.

About Pam Lazoz.

P. J. Lazos is the author of the novel Oil and Water, about oil spills and green technology, and of Six Sisters, a collection of novellas; a blogger for the Global Water Alliance (GWA) in Philadelphia; on the Board of Advisors for the wH2O Journal, the Journal of Gender and Water (U of Penn); a member of the Jr. League of Lancaster; a former correspondent for her local newspaper (Lancaster Intelligencer Journal now LNP); a literary magazine contributor (Rapportage); an editor; a ghostwriter; an author of a children’s book (Into the Land of the Loud); an environmental lawyer; and, because it’s cool, a beekeeper’s apprentice. She practices laughter daily.

https://greenlifebluewater.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

 

‘I can kill you if I want,’ Seasonal greetings and Viking thralls.

Tags

Ann Fields, books, Carolee Croft, Christmas, Loving Lady Lazuli, Reviews, Thralls, Viking Customs, Vikings, writing

 

 

 

 

Loving Lady Lazuli – A Book Review https://annfields.com/2016/12/04/loving-lady-lazuli-a-book-review/ via @ann_fields

https://caroleecroft.wordpress.com/2016/12/06/book-review-loving-lady-lazuli-by-shehanne-moore/ via @CaroleeCroft

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween in Regency Times. Yes? Or no?

Tags

Halloweedn in Regency times, Halloween, Love spells, Loving Lady Lazuli, recipes, Regency

 

Devorlane Hawley : Hamsters? I am being interviewed by hamsters? I thought I had stopped taking hallucinatory things?

Sapphire : Well, to answer your question, I think it is very clear from the work of Robert Burns, Halloween was still alive and kicking in Scotland. In his poem Halloween he talks about stealing out alone and throwing blue hamsters…sorry, yarn into the cooking pot and winding it back to find the name of your future spouse.

SO I think we can say that that these kind of superstitions might be sort of acted out, depending on the household south of the border.

Let’s face it we all like love spells, now don’t we?

Devorlane Hawley :  We might also have a bonfire. Burn a few things. What do you think Saff?

Sapphire : That would of course be more for Guy Fawkes, Dev. Lay off, You’re scaring the little things.

Devorlane Hawley : I’m just making sure you don’t steal one and put it in my pocket.

Sapphire. : Certainly.

 

Sapphire : Not exactly. No………… I think we were more in the burn and die category.  

Devorlane Hawley :  Now Saff, you’re doing the scaring. As you can see historical romance authors may set a lot of their stories at Halloween but we don’t  really keep it. We are however very interested in gothic novels. Saff reads this kind of tripe all the time. ……

Devorlane  Hawley : And if I look in my crystal ball, I can see that when it comes to future generations dressing up at Halloween, Regency times still has this to offer. ….

 

Devorlane Hawley:  So we’re not a complete lost cause, here in Regency England.

Sapphire   :   Exactly. But Dev, we wouldn’t like to scare the little creatures out of their fur now would we, so I think we should leave them with a little something for their Halloween suppers……..

100g plain chocolate

• 5 tablespoons soured cream
• 125g chocolate biscuit crumbs

• For decoration
• 5 tablespoons chocolate biscuit crumbs
• 5 tablespoons icing sugar
• 24 silver dragées (silver balls) for the eyes
• 25g flaked almonds
• 12 (5cm) liquorice strings
• 1. Melt the chocolate and combine with soured cream. Stir in 125g chocolate biscuit crumbs. Cover and chill until firm.
  2. Roll by level tablespoonfuls into balls. Mould to a slight point at one end (the nose) to form hamsters.
  3. Roll each hamster in chocolate biscuit crumbs. On each hamster, place dragées in appropriate spot for eyes, almond flakes for ears and a liquorice blob  for the tail.
  4. Chill for at least two hours until firm.

Have yourself a merry jewel thieves Christmas

Tags

Christmas, Loving Lady Lazuli, Mulled Wine Jelly, Regency Christmas Traditions, Regency games, Snapdragon, Twelfth Night Cake, Wassail bowl

 

 

 

 

Dudes…..can we just quit the racket–

 

 

 

No tree.

But we do decorate the house with garlands and greenery. The Yule log gets brought home on Christmas Eve to burn in the fireplace for as long as possible.

On the day itself, people go to church and come back to a celebratory Christmas dinner. Turkey, or…well…..

Goose. Definitely goose. Not to mention venison.

 

A real biggie is Jan 6th though. That’s party time. People play games such as ‘bob apple’ and ‘snapdragon’.

You can actually read about these games here when Shey invited Elyzabeth M Valey to help organise Dev’s homecoming party.

https://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/let-elyzabeth-entertain-you/

A popular drink is the Wassail bowl.

 

Well, Dev has his dark side and as one reader noted, he’s not afraid of it either. But a wassail bowl is punch, or mulled wine, prepared from spiced and sweetened wine or brandy, and served in a large bowl garnished with apples.

A forerunner of today’s Christmas cake, the ‘Twelfth Night Cake’ is the centrepiece of the party and a slice is given to all members of the household.

Traditionally, it contained both a dried bean and a dried pea.

The man whose slice contained the bean was elected king for the night; the woman who found a pea elected queen.

Well, without giving to much away, you will understand that everything I’ve just said re a Regency Christmas isn’t the kind of Christmas Dev and I can have.

Absolutely. But Dev will sneak away from Chessington and at least we’ll be together. His sister Tilly will naturally get micked with Ruby,  and Dev and I will just have to spend some quality, romantic time together, here in our little hideout, generally making this Christmas Eve our first.  I mean we have had two ruined ones.

UHMMMMMMMM.

 

 

 

 

The Dead Don’t Walk…

Tags

Etopia Press, Gathering Leaves, Halloween, His Judas Bride, Loving Lady Lazuli, Millais, The Unraveling of Lady Fury

 

 

I chose this painting by Millais

I chose this painting by Millais because

 

Dudes…can we lay off please, or you so know what is going to happen to that Hamstah Week? And that will sorely disappoint your fans.

Now then, I chose that painting…well..all right, I never chose it as such 

 

 

 

No, I sort of wasn’t actually. What I was going to say was

Yeah. Look at that pink pig there with flying wings. Isn’t it pretty?

Now, what was I saying? Oh yes, the painting and how it inspired me to

 

 

What I was trying to say, maybe not very well, is that I have two heroines in two books left with a disposal problem. 

SO the painting by Millais, It’s Halloween,

I do like to play up horror in the ordinary in my books. It adds a little suspense… although obviously my characters who tangle with death in some way, aren’t bad people.

I just find my inspiration in the ordinary, as you can see……

And that painting did inspire this scene in Loving Lady Lazuli, which is as much as I am going to share with you today.

“I’m tellin’ yer, soddin’ ‘ell, I’m tellin’ yer, yer can’t. Yer…”

“Just take his feet. Do it will you?”

His feet? Devorlane clicked his tongue in the hope of nudging Mephisto closer. The beast was finicky and he didn’t particularly want to be caught where Lord Koorecroft had told him not to be. Although, when he considered it, Lord Koorecroft’s specifics had been shrubberies. Shrubbery? He wasn’t even on her damned property, was he?

Whose feet and why, was what he had the burning urge to discover.

Of course, he could be mistaken about that. Maybe it wasn’t feet at all? Maybe it wasn’t anything?

“Pearl. The spade…”

The instruction was faint but, no, he did not mistake it. A spade. A spade and feet. A spade and feet meant one thing. He’d seen enough death to know.

He dismounted and crept  one or two steps down the incline through the faint mist coiling around his boots. The dew soaked them with each mushy step. If this baggage  was down there with a spade, he must be careful.

For that matter it might be his feet she was instructing Pearl and Ruby to get. Look at the things she’d managed to turn around on him so far. From sticking the Wentworth emeralds in the pocket of his best breeches, to bleating to Lord Koorecroft about the big bad Chessington wolf being in her shrubbery.

He turned and clapped Mephisto’s neck. It was better if he sent the animal back to Chessington.

Keeping low, Devorlane tiptoed  to the tree at the foot of the incline. The vantage point was not so good from there, but he thanked Christ for at least being able to bring the throb in his thigh under control.

“Oh!” that other serving girl, Pearl, wailed. “What’s that noise? What’s that noise, Rube? Listen. Do you hear it?”

He froze to the tree bark. The possibility existed they could just be gardening. It was the time of year for that, wasn’t it? Hell on earth, he’d been so long away from a garden of any sort he couldn’t remember.

“Only sound I don’t ‘ear is the soddin’ sound of yer bleedin’ diggin’. Put yer back inter it, yer lazy trout. Bleedin’ ‘ole won’t dig itself.”

A hole? There was only one kind he could think of. He’d thought of it when he’d edged down the hill. But now he’d done so his mouth dried. Shock, that he knew he must squash if he was still to have the element of surprise and turn this to his advantage, clutched his gut. Not who. Why? That was the thing he needed the answer to. Then he could go to Lord Koorecroft. It would be the end of her. There would be no passing off a corpse in her garden as a servant of the realm.

“But, Rube, I only got a trowel.”

“I don’t care if you’ve only got a spoon. Do what Ruby says.”

Her voice. He’d wondered, hadn’t he, that night, about what particular level of gutter-snipe she was. What hole she’d crawled from, for all the brilliant mantle of her entirely faked refinement never slipped for a second. Those words, that husky, slightly rough undertone , said maybe not a center of the earth one, but certainly one deeper than that grave they were obviously digging.

“But, Cass. Cass, listen. I swear I’m not imagining it. I can hear it. What if it’s—”

“Are you stupid? Devorlane Hawley’s nowhere about. He can’t be. I assured it.”

“I wasn’t thinking Lord Hawley. What if it’s Gil?”

“Oh, ‘ow the bleedin’ ‘ell can it be Gil? Jeesus-sake. Ain’t that Gil. Ain’t that only Gil there? Dead as the soddin’ dodo.”

“Ruby’s right, the dead don’t walk.”

Devorlane crept forward. Oh, didn’t they? He did not believe this, these words he had just heard, but now was the time to get through the border of bramble and bracken, to sidle  with the broken wall beneath his fingertips, and to peer, with a clawed breath, at the coronet of women, laboring in the cold of the early winter sunlight, digging, with a kind of desperation. At least she was.

A kind of something else too. His eyes unfortunately roamed the nicely rounded curve of her buttocks clearly outlined by the clinging gown. Soft. Velvet. The exact color of her eyes too.

When the throbbing ache in his thigh was under control for the first time today, why give himself another? Especially when her husband’s days of peace and tranquility had ended sooner than any of them anticipated by the looks of this. What seeped through the barrier of the sheet? Had she perchance assisted with his demise?

The thought determined him. Here was his chance. He was soldier enough to know there was dissent in the ranks. And man enough not to fear three women.

After all, what could they do to him, he thought, as he now stepped forward.

 Copywrite Etopia Press.

 

 

It’s so NOT hamstah week…

Tags

Etopia Press, His Judas Bride, It's so not hamstah week., Loving Lady Lazuli, Shehanne Moore, The Unraveling of Lady Fury, writing, Writing stakes

 

Hey, hey, hey, who said anything about that?

I don’t care what it is, this is not on…..

Do I really need to answer that? Sorry fellahs, but would she really do everything she does….to safeguard one of you?

Well, you like to think so. But just step back and ask yourself? Do you think that Sapphire would come back to Berkshire and stick it out against the one man in England who can identify her to prove you are her hamster? I don’t think Lord Hawley would appreciate a hamstah in his trouser pocket. I’m not even going there. And Kara would hardly try taking down a clan to get her hamstah back before you even go there.

Okay, well guys, you are making two points here.

One, The fact is I did use animals in His Judas Bride, largely to show that the hero was not quite as ruthless as all that. He has a dog, a sort of half wolf, half savage, half legged thing that is HIS dog and it’s one of the things Kara notices about him. He may curse at it and tell it to shut up but he is unfailingly kind to it. SO animals do have their uses.

 

Oh, for heaven’s sake,  just look at  all the books that have been written about animals…

 

and let’s not forget ones like

and even

 

And do I make a song and dance re the lack of humans?

The fact is someone who does not realize animals all belong with us on the planet is a sad person.

That’s point one. SECOND POINT– sorry, your story stakes have to be high as Everest, they have to be do or die stakes when it comes down to writing about why people do the things they do, why they will go to the wire, why they will go over that edge if need be. A reader must not only identify with the stakes, they must identify with the character that way. So ask yourself about these stakes at the start. it is not enough to have a plot.  A plot is just a plot. You need to flesh out the stakes and the conflicts.

And really, really, REALLY   sorry fellahs, but I don’t know you cut it with your er…. pitch….which isn’t to say you don’t have your  uses. Goodness did I say two points. No that’s a third.

Just not enough to cut it for a week……

 

 

To Catch a Thief…Some dating tips.

Tags

Jewel thieves, London Jewel thieves, Loving Lady Lazuli, Shehanne Moore, The Eustace Diamonds, The Hot Rock, The Moonstone, The Russian Concubine, tips for dating a thief, To Catch a Thief

 

Unlike his nibbs, Lord Devorlane Hawley hero of Loving Lady Lazuli….

Obviously. Although it’s not exactly how he is now. Now he’d sooner pour over the brandy and opium. Oh and the ladies. Still…

Isn’t he the smart one?  Of course there’s no such thing as actual thieving manuals. But it’s still…

Just what books might Dev have read that would have helped him identify the fact he’s dating a thief?  Not a lot in 1809 but scroll forward and how’s about,

Tink….I wondered just when you were gonna show up. Okay, then how’s about…

Better? Or maybe Trollope is a hit or miss? Well, then there’s what’s reckoned to be the first English detective novel..

 Or even…

No. She never. You know something, maybe this one

isn’t about a jewel theft, the first chapter when Valentina spits out the diamonds she’s swallowed is some chapter. Kate Furnivall will be here next week guesting too.

Putting the books Dev might have read aside, how might you know your new squeeze is a thief? Apart from the fact the candlesticks are missing from the mantelpiece and she already left you holding the bag like a prize klutz? I mean it just might be you give her the benefit of the doubt, unlike Dev.

WRONG. CORRECT.

CORRECT.

 

 

I think we’ve got it,

NOT.

 

 

 Hmmmmmmmm.

Only one man in England can identify her. Unfortunately he’s living next door.

Ten years ago sixteen year old Sapphire, the greatest jewel thief England has ever known, ruined Lord Devorlane Hawley’s life. Now she’s dead and buried, all the respectable widow, Cassidy Armstrong, wants is the chance to prove who she really is.

 But not only does her new neighbor believe he knows that exactly, he’s hell-bent on revenge.  All he needs is the actual proof.  So when he asks her to choose between being his mistress, or dangling on the end of a rope, only Sapphire can decide…

 What’s left for a woman with nowhere left to go, but to stay exactly where she is?

 And hope, that when it comes to neighbors, Devorlane Hawley won’t prove to be the one from hell.
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