Done, Dusted and a 4 from the Romantic Times

I have sent off the latest manuscript. Undoubtedly my editors will discover its current flaws and help me to make it as strong as humanly possible. I know the Viking is going to be coming back for a repeat visit. Sometimes, a second round of revisions is a necessary thing. The worst thing is to have a manuscript published where years later you are kicking yourself.

Much to my surprise and delight, I discovered that Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife received a 4 from the Romantic Times. The headline reads: A family in conflict, an ambitious hero bent on vengeance and a bold woman hiding a secret quest for salvation combine for a heady, tension-filled, passionate sequel to Taken by the Viking.

And was therefore very good for swatting The Crows.

I do hope people enjoy the book. I loved writing Sela and Vikar.

contests, Byron and governesses

The contest winners from my newsletter contest are: Caroline and Lois. I have contacted them privately . Many thanks to everyone who entered.

I have finished reading Other People's Daughters. While interesting, it did not give me as much of a background about governesses as the Victorian Governess did. It did however explore the life of Claire Clairmont, the woman who seduced Byron and lived in a complicated menage a trois with Shelley and her step-sister Mary. Clairmont bore Byron a child -- Allegra who died of a childhood illness. Bryon comes across as rather a misogynist pig and utterly selfish. Mad, bad and dangerous to know can certainly be applied to him in this instance. And I did find it ironic that he did not hold much store by an educated woman and yet his daughter Ada was such a brilliant mathematician.
Clairmont had an eventful early life to say the least. While she is waiting for her legacy from Shelley's estate, she ends up as governess. However such was the notoriety of the family that even in Russia, she had difficulty and lost lucrative positions.
I suspect that some of the problems for women of that era and class was that there was no other real option. What was possible in the 18th century became closed to them. And do not get me started on the lack of life insurance or the Married Women's Property Acts. Or how they were expected to provide for their brothers and rarely do the brothers appear to have come through.
The problem with studying the governess is that really there is not much primary source material. It is interesting that much of the governess literature revolves around the governess as Cinderella.
Anyway, I now have a good handle on the governess as an institution. Its myths and mythologies as well as its grim realities.

Sometimes a story is out there waiting

I am about to start my next HMB Historical. Now my editor and I have spoken about it. We have agreed that it is to be a governess in the early Victorian era. governess heroines are popular heroines for HMB. Actually they have been a popular for novelists going back to Brontes. Jane Eyre is an absolute classic and one of my favourite books. It has been ever since I discovered it at my great aunt's house and spent way too long into the night reading it.

I also used to be a big fan of the gothics -- Victoria Holt in particular delved into this genre.

But for a number of reasons, including my just accepted book, I did not want to go down the gothic route. I had thought of different scenarios. What could I do? And more importantly did I want to do it?

One of the research books that I purchased yesterday -- The Victorian Governess by Kathryn Hughes -- has provided a clue. Suddenly the whole story is unfolding in my mind and it is not going to be a gothic. Actually, the Victorian Governess has sparked several ideas, and I may have to figure out a way to write them all, but I am going with the one I am most excited about.

The other research book I bought -- Other People's Daughters --The Life and Times of the Governess by Ruth Brandon also looks good. I adore the cover, btw. And the combo of the two have sent my brain whirling.

Anyway, I am taking Anne McAllister's advice and starting this story. The other story -- well that couple will have to remain stuck in the at home for awhile longer.