Reticules, women of dubious backgrounds, and Shehanne Moore.

Today I am thrilled to have as my esteemed guest, Scottish author and great friend, Shehanne Moore. Shehanne writes smexy historical romances - no frills, fainting, or fluttering of eyes here. Her 'ladies' - the heroines of her novels - display qualities some would describe as conniving, sluttish, and dishonest. But most readers embrace the feisty heroines, loving their strength of character, their humour, their choice of men, and their get-up-and-go. She calls them the Sisterhood.

When I spoke to Shehanne, she said she'd like to get readers of this post involved in a mystery, with a wonderful prize for those who solve it. It's not a difficult problem to solve, and it is a lot of fun.

Here's what Shehanne said when I screwed up my eyes at the mention of the word 'reticule', not sure I'd ever heard the word before.




So? Just what is a reticule exactly? Before anyone should get too excited, like one of my blog readers did that day, it’s a woman’s handbag.


My heroines carry them a lot in my book. Being a historical author you try to give a little authenticity. I’m just not sure that any of my heroines would carry one like that one. Dress Like this either. I mean I just cannot imagine my heroine Lady Fury taking a swing at the hero, Captain Flint, dressed like that.   

Noelle Clark, a million hugs for inviting me to your lovely blog today. I haven’t brought the hamstah dudes along which means they will moan more than ever and you just might have to ask them back. I haven’t brought my reticule either. What I have is a little picture of four bags.

And I have four heroines. So I am wondering how easy it is from the description to match the heroine to the bag. 


We can get to the contents later. Fury’s is likely to be a brick given the amount of swipes she takes with that bag, whereas my new heroine, Lady Malice, well, she likes to keep cards in hers.  Her business cards.

So, what do we know of these ladies? 

Lady Fury

Well, the heroine of the Unravelling of Lady Fury as you might guess has a great fondness for silks, satins, perfumes,  spending money she does not have, dressing in evening gowns at ten in the morning and despite everything, the hero.  She’s a lady, don’t you know? At least she things she is and her taste reflects that. She’s also a pirate’s lady….

Next up, Kara McGurkie from His Judas Bride.

Well, the title speaks for itself, doesn’t it, if you think about these things brides have?

Her bag probably contains a wedding garter…for strangling the groom with.

Did I also say my heroines are a bit like that?

Kind of ready to commit murder if need be?

Sapphire, the heroine of Loving Lady Lazuli, doesn’t quite go that far but like Fury, she does have a corpse to dispose of.

What can I tell you about Sapphire? She’s an ex jewel thief, doing the poor grieving widow bit. But her reticule isn’t very likely to have anything in it. God no. She’s more than likely to plant her ill gotten gains on you…although there was that one time she didn’t…. 

Finally, last but not least we come to Malice, owner of Strictly Business, a strictly business like business, I  turn a blind eye to, and heroine of The Viking and The Courtesan.

Malice isn’t quite all she seems and I think her reticule reflects that fact.  

We’ve been talking reticules. I think it’s time for an extract concerning one.  

She snapped her reticule open. In it, in addition to the other things ladies kept in their handbags, was a gauze square. It was not the one she had worn that night she attempted to seduce him, obviously. That had been trodden underfoot or tied around the head or hips of some Viking, or other. But it was similar. The gauze square was nothing to her business card.
That she removed and pressed into his hand.
        “I believe you contacted this agency.”
“Malice...” The manner—the starkly horrified manner-- in which his brown eyes roamed it, spoke oceans.
“Yes?” She shrugged her scantily clad shoulders.
“That was... That was...”
“Obnoxious of you. Especially the lies you told. About me.”
“But, Malice...”
“Yes, Cyril?”
“Malice, whatever, whoever said such things about you...”
She held up a gloved hand. “Cyril, before you go further, there is something you should know.”
“Yes?”
“I am Strictly.”

Now I asked if you could guess whose handbag is whose? I’ve also numbered them. So why not guess in the comments box here, leaving your email addy and I’ll draw  a winner from those who are right. 

The book isn’t available till 29th July but I do happen to have a free copy of The Viking and The Courtesan for that person. 

Pre-sale links. 

http://amzn.to/1M7Mh3R

http://amzn.to/1gz67YL

BLURB 

In 898 AD she wasn’t just from another land. 

Wrecking a marriage is generally no problem for the divorce obtaining, Lady

Malice Mallender. But she faces a dilemma when she’s asked to ruin her own. Just how businesslike should she remain when the marriage was never consummated and kissing her husband leads to Sin--a handsome Viking who wants her for a bed slave in name only?  

She came from another time. 

Viking raider Sin Gudrunsson wants one thing. To marry his childhood sweetheart. Only she’s left him before, so he needs to keep her on her toes, and a bed slave, in name only, seems just the thing. Until he meets Malice. 

One kiss is all it takes to flash between two worlds

But when one kiss is no longer enough, which will it be?  Regency London? Or Viking Norway? Will Malice learn what governs the flashes? Can Sin?  

Where worlds collide can love melt the iciest heart?

BIO

When not cuddling inn signs in her beloved Scottish mountains alongside Mr Shey, Shehanne Moore writes dark and smexy historical romance, featuring bad boys who need a bad girl to sort them out. She firmly believes everyone deserves a little love, forgiveness and a second chance in life. 

Shehanne caused general apoplexy when she penned her first story, The Hore House Mystery—aged seven. What didn’t she work at while pursuing her dream of becoming a published author? 

Visit her blog to find out about past releases and hear more about her forthcoming time-slip, The Viking and The Courtesan.
historical,

http://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/

www.pinterest.com/shehanne/

https://twitter.com/ShehanneMoore

http://shehannemooreweeblycom.weebly.com/‎com.weebly.com/

http://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/‎.wordpress.com/

http://furiousunravelings.wordpress.com/.wordpress.com

https://www.facebook.com/ShehanneMoore

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shehanne-Moore/163736780417433?ref=br_rs

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kilting-the-Book/1400031303553598?ref=ts&fref=ts

Thanks to EE Carter for this interview

Reposted from

http://eecarter.com/index.php/tuesday-book-club-noelle-clark-honors-promise/

An interview by awesome Historical Romance author Elizabeth Ellen Carter.

Tuesday Book Club – Noelle Clark: Honor’s Promise

Chesterfield couch, in royal purple – just perfect for our distinguished guest on tonight’s show.

I’m delighted to have great friend and fellow Queensland writer Noelle Clark as my special guest on the famous purple couch. Noelle is a warm, talented lady who is so incredibly supportive, so I’m especially thrilled to be able to ask her a few questions about her latest novel, Honor’s Promise, the second of three stories set on Robinhill Farm in Ireland. The first, Honor’s Debt, I devoured in an afternoon. It is a wonderful read and I highly recommend it.

Welcome Noelle!

This is your first series. Was that always intended to be the case? Or was there some point in the process of either writing Honor’s Debt or in the planning for the book when you knew that this would be more than just one title?

About half way through writing Honor’s Debt I could see that with such a large cast of characters, it would be good to get to know some of them in greater detail. Two families living side by side for generations, working hard to eke out a living on their farms, and then came the double-bed factor – Dermot and Cherry got married – further cementing the ties between the O’Dohertys and the Cullens.

As with any family, their lives can seem dreary and monotonous on the surface but in reality they undergo issues that place stresses on all of their relationships. But the glue that holds them all together is their loyalty, love, and friendship, and of course, the fact they have their feet planted deeply in the soil of the farms they love.

So a series has evolved where we follow their lives, loves, disappointments, and achievements. Book 2 is set three years after Book 1, and the final book – Honor’s Legacy, is a further five years on. So, for eight years, we witness changes that many readers will identify with.

No way could the stories of the O’Dohertys and the Cullens not be a series.

How do you get to know your characters? What do you do to keep an ensemble cast such as the family at Robinhill Farm straight in your mind?

I know each character of the series well. In my head, I can hear them talk, the cadence of their voice and Irish accent. I know how tall they are, their build, their weaknesses and their strengths. Truth is, I’ve come to know them all so well I’ll be very sad indeed when I type ‘the end’ on Book 3, marking the end of the series.

I do a very detailed biography – complete with inspiration photo – of the two main characters of each book. This includes giving them a birthdate so I can look up their personality type, identify their traits, nature, and quirks. Each subsidiary character has a profile too, so that they can shine in their own way without overtaking the story. I create a document for each character, and spend considerable time making sure that their name suits them. For instance, the name Liam means ‘loyal, strong willed warrior and protector’. Once you read Honor’s Promise, you’ll see how apt this is.



Honor’s Debt gave us a view into to the challenging world of animal husbandry and the realities of farming life in the 21st century. I understand Liam is looking at alpacas to diversify – tell us what brought him (and you) to that point.

In Book 1, my hero Bryan began breeding Zwartble sheep – a fairly rare and at one time endangered species. In Book 2, it’s my heroine – Aislin – who is the alpaca breeder. Liam is very interested in them, but his first love is the large and productive dairy herd.

I love writing animals into my books as characters in their own right. If you’ve read Rosamanti, you’ll know all about the gorgeous goat Geraldina, who had a love affair with my hero Pietro.

Animals are such a normal part of our lives that I can’t possibly leave them out of stories about ordinary families like the O’Dohertys and the Cullens. Animals give stories a touch of normality, a real slice-of-life experience for the reader.



Honor’s Promise is a journey of discovery for Liam isn’t it. You get the sense that he feels like he’s missing out a lot and is wondering whether the grass is greener away from the farm. It must be hard for him because he also has clear cut responsibilities.

Liam is going through inner agony. No one could love his family and his farm more than he, but when he becomes uncle to Honor and Cherry’s children, he yearns for his own family. A certainty that he will never meet the right girl makes him feel suffocated, trapped, and lonely. He’s lived on the family farm all his life and,until recently, he’s been content with his lot. Now he’s become aware of a desperate urge to spread his wings, to see the world—but he knows he can’t. The chances of him finding a wife in the tiny village of Timpelaire are a million to one. But, well, we’ve all heard about the ‘luck of the Irish’.

Tell us about the girl who capture’s Liam’s heart.

Aislin O’Neill – Ash – is the opposite of Liam. She has no family ties, no sense of home, and no sense of obligation to anyone.

Strong, determined, and fiercely independent, Ash forges ahead with her own life and career despite some tragic setbacks that nearly sap her of any future. A past love affair that turned toxic has scarred her deeply, and she is in the process of hiding from the real world when she meets Liam.

Her epiphany comes when she realises that, just like the words of Shakespeare, she must be true to herself and follow her own moral path, even if it means giving up her job — and perhaps relinquishing her determination to never fall in love again.

About Honor’s Promise
Loyalty is high on Liam Cullen’s agenda, but lately he’s been feeling restless. He wants to run away from the endless routines of life on the family farm. He contemplates busting free of the sometimes suffocating confines of the close-knit family. He’d like to see the world. Maybe meet a few girls.

Riddled with guilt that he could even consider such a thing, the final blow comes when Liam’s abilities as a first rate farmer are questioned. He sees red and his quick temper is sorely stretched. He struggles inner demons and attempts to fight the inevitable – until he meets the girl with the blue-green eyes and the copper-colored hair.

Without knowing it, Aislin O’Neill sweeps Liam off his feet, and transports him to a place he’s only ever dreamed of. It’s soon apparent that Aislin has her own inner battles. Will she break her self-imposed vow to never get involved with anyone again?

About Noelle Clark
Noelle Clark is an Australian author of contemporary romance novels and historical fiction. Her books weave romance, intrigue and adventure into colourful, exotic, and interesting locations around the world. Noelle infuses real life experience of places, culture, and people into her stories, giving the reader an authentic taste of the location. Her novels feature strong, mature heroines and heroes, who—often without knowing it—are ready for new beginnings.

Noelle lives close to the sea in sunny Queensland, Australia, and shares her home with one cat and two dogs. She has two grown up children and four very small grandchildren. When Noelle’s not writing and travelling, she procrastinates a lot by thinking about travel and perfecting ways to get out of doing housework. Oh, and she babysits her grandchildren a lot.

Buy Links
Amazon
www.noelleclark.net

E.E. Carter - Moonstone Conspiracy

I'm very excited to have award winning historical romance author, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, here with
me today to discuss her brand new release - Moonstone Conspiracy - the sequel to Moonstone Obsession.

Q. Firstly, congratulations on the release of Moonstone Conspiracy, the sequel to your first book, Moonstone Obsession. The first was set in 1077 – how much later is Moonstone Conspiracy set?
Moonstone Conspiracy is set two years later in 1972-1793 and things are very much different. The glorious French Revolution which was supposed to bring reason, progress and secular enlightenment has descended into a bloody madness history would call the Reign of Terror. England still remains on a knife edge still economically weakened but facing peril inside its borders too.

Q. What specific research did you do for this time in history?
In some respects it was a continuation of the research for Moonstone Obsession. When James and Selina got to Paris at the end of 1790 they were there with England’s Ambassador, Earl Gower. By the end of 1792, most likely following the arrest of Louis XVI, England closed its Embassy.

What amazed me was the speed of the descent into murderous, blood-thirsty anarchy.

What was also interesting is that the National Assembly of France didn’t technically declare war on England in early 1793, they declared war on George III.

They had hoped that Radical elements in Britain would rise up against the Crown and would join a world-wide revolutionary movement.

Q. How important to you is to have the setting, era, and speech perfectly suited to the time the book is set?
I think there has to be a balance with dialogue because you’re writing for modern audiences. Today conversation is a lot less wordy, a lot less flowery. It’s important to be mindful to avoid glaring anachronisms and I found myself doing a lot of research into lots of different areas including boxing, types of carriages – even how sugar was prepared for the table. There are a lot of Regency and Georgian enthusiasts among readers who are sure to pick up on any inconsistencies

Q. Is there any link between the names you’ve chosen for your leading characters, and people from real history?
I have included mention of a number real life historical figures, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, George III and William Pitt the Younger – of course, but there is also reference to the boxer Daniel Mendoza, the French doctor Philippe Pinel, Robespierre, Lord Mansfield... To me a historical romance doesn’t feel authentic if there is no reference to news, events, people and issues of the time. We don’t live in a vacuum, the times in which we live influence our views. So it is important for me to represent the characters as real people engaged with their time.

Q. Will readers warm to Lady Abigail Houghall straight away, or warm to her as the book progresses?
I think readers will understand Abigail very quickly even if they don’t condone her past. At the beginning of Moonstone Conspiracy, we see Abigail emerging from a very dark place.

The events at Bocconoc House two years earlier left her uncertain and broken – two things Abigail has never been in her life but now she’s picking up the pieces of her life the best way she knows how.

Q. Daniel Ridgeway is a man with his own past and problems. What is it about him that attracts Lady Abigail?
Daniel is the first man who has ever seen Abigail for herself. He knows of her past and doesn’t hold it against her. In many respects he brings out her better nature and encourages it.

Mind you Daniel’s past has scarred him. He holds himself responsible for a tragic death and that has coloured his approach to love and relationships.

Q. What can readers expect from your current works in progress?
I’m working on two very different stories at the moment. I’m just about to wrap up a short story called September Harvest set in the late 19^th century which has a little bit of a Thomas Hardy feel to it and my next major work is called Dark Heart which is set in 3^rd Century AD Rome just as the Empire is in its death throes.

What appeals to me about that is I can’t recall another novel set during the time of the Barracks Emperors – everything I’ve read so far centres on the Golden Age of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

I see a lot of parallels between that period of history and today.

Q. Your first two novels, Moonstone Obsession and Warrior’s Surrender, have both been runaway successes. Any news for a sequel for Warrior’s Surrender?
Thank you very much!

I don’t have any plans for a direct sequel to Warrior’s Surrender but I do have some very exciting plans for a new Medieval series set around Yorkshire in the early 13^th century.

I’ll be co-writing them with my husband. They’ll be a blend of  history, action, mystery and, of course romance.

Watch the stunning trailer for Moonstone Conspiracy:

BLURB

What would you gamble for love?
For her unwitting but eager participation in helping her corrupt cousin rob the Exchequer, Lady Abigail Houghall – a scandalous star of the London Beau Monde – has spent the last two years enduring the relative drudgery of life in the town of Bath. Under threat of transportation to the Colonies for her sins, Lady Abigail is forced to live with a maiden aunt and pen nonsensical weekly letters detailing the town’s social activities to mysterious ‘Aunt Druscilla’ in London.
As she plots to escape both her gilded cage and the stifling convention of an England that casts her as wicked, Abigail is awoken abruptly by the Honourable – and handsome – Daniel Ridgeway to the clandestine role she has been playing unawares and the price she may yet have to pay for her freedom.Daniel is a man with his own past and problems – an estranged family, a missing friend, an old flame and a mission to thwart those who would export France’s bloody revolution to England.
As Abigail is drawn deeper into his dangerous world, she realises she is falling in love for the first time, comprehending a world beyond her own self-interest, and must decide between the life she knew and the life she might have – if they survive.
From Bath’s lush Assembly Rooms to the seedy backstreets of London and the claustrophobic catacombs of revolutionary Paris, the sequel to Moonstone Obsession weaves a story of rejection, romance and redemption where the stakes are life itself.

“I’m glad you remembered our appointment.”

Abigail recognised the droll voice and so did not even bother opening her eyes.

“It’s not yet midnight,” she replied and felt the couch shift as Daniel’s weight settled down into it.

“In our business, we take opportunities whenever they occur.”

Abigail opened her eyes and opened her fan to hide a yawn. He did not look fatigued. If one was to assign his expression right now, she would have described him as being studiously nonchalant.

“And what business are we in, Mr Ridgeway?”

“A very dangerous one.”

“I don’t recall signing up for a dangerous business,” she retorted, keeping her voice low to prevent anyone overhearing. “If my experience of your business over the past two years is any guide, stultifying boredom would be a better description.

“You can tell Aunt Druscilla that my obligation to her is complete. I’m going abroad at the end of this season.”

A slow feline grin spread across his face.

“Are you now?”

Fatigue fled and Abigail straightened in her seat, ready to rise to the challenge.

“Are you going to stop me?”

“I don’t particularly care what you do after this season,” he told her. “If you can’t give me what I want by the end of June, then you’re not half the woman Blakeney thinks you are.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth  Ellen Carter’s debut novel, Moonstone Obsession, was published in 2013 by Etopia Press. Earlier that year, the Regency adventure romance had been shortlisted in the Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Awards for Best Unpublished Manuscript. Set in England and France during the French Revolution, it was heralded as ‘edge-of-seat adventure and intrigue’ and ‘a rollercoaster of love, blackmail, ill-gotten gains, treason and trickery’ with Carter described as ‘a writer worth keeping an eye on’ with ‘a hint of classic suspense novelist Daphne du Maurier’.

Her second novel, Warrior’s Surrender, was published by Etopia the following year. Set in Northumbria in 1077, it sets the relationship between a displaced Saxon noblewoman and a Norman baron against the turbulent backdrop of England in the years following the Norman invasion of 1066. Reviewers found the novel ‘a fast moving and passionate read’ with ‘strong characters, an intriguing plot, and plenty of action… a sexy romance to be savoured’. Readers agreed, voting Warrior’s Surrender Favourite Historical Fiction in the 2015 Readers & Writers Down Under Readers Choice Awards.

Also in 2014, the short story Moonstone Promise, spinning off from Moonstone Obsession as part of Etopia’s Valentines Heat anthology, followed the fortunes of one of the supporting characters back home to 18th century Pittsburgh in a tale of ‘second chance romance’.

Carter moved up to 1802 for the light-hearted romantic short story Three Ships, part of the Christmas 2014 anthology A Season To Remember, and ventures briefly into contemporary romance for the first time with her Romance Writers of Australia annual Little Gems competition placegetter, The Tin Bear, publishing in August 2015.

And another Moonstone Obsession character, the sinful Lady Abigail Houghall, features in the full length novel Moonstone Conspiracy, coming from Etopia Press in 2015.

Carter is currently working on her fourth novel, set in ancient Rome and tentatively titled Dark Heart, which will bring together the elements for which she has become known in just a few years – in-depth historical detail woven through gripping adventure and captivating romance.

The author lives in Australia with her husband and two cats. A former newspaper journalist, she ran an award-winning PR agency for 12 years.

http://eecarter.com/

   

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