I'M BAAAAAAACK WITH AWARD WINNING AUTHOR, LUCINDA BRANT

I've been away for a while ... leaving poor Charli to her own devices ... he he he

What a better way to celebrate being back in the game then doing an author interview? Not just any author, but an award winning author, whose tales continue to inspire me.

As an aspiring author of historical fiction, I am fascinated by the tales of other like-minded authors. In truth, there are never enough hours in the day to write and read to my hearts content, but I do try!

But enough about me ... take your hand off the keyboard for a moment and welcome, Lucinda Brant, Georgian storyteller extraordinaire. Set in the 18^th Century England and France, full of brazen wit and adventure, her tales are a nice blend of romance and mystery, “crimances” if you will, as she so aptly describes her books. Even her covers are breathless!

As a historical writer, I often get sucked down the 'rabbit' hole if you will, whilst researching. One thing leads to another, and before you know it, three hours have gone by. Obviously, I'm fascinated by the period in which I write - Medieval - thus, I wanted to know how important history is to Lucinda. This is what she said:

Essential. When I write about the weather, such as the Thames freezing over in January 1763, the noblemen in government such as Bute, Rockingham and Newcastle, a riot that occurred at the Theatre Royal or of a particular house in a particular square or street in London, Bath or Paris, you can be confident I have done my research. History sets the stage for my characters to inhabit, so it must be just right so they can give their best performance.

As for falling down the rabbit hole ... here is the lady's take:

I guess I have been researching all my life – well, since the age of 11 when I fell in love with the 18^th Century – France and England in particular. I bought Cobban’s History of Modern France 1715- 1799 (rather a serious work for an eleven-year old!) and a pocket French dictionary and I was off and running. I now have a library of books on Georgian England and the France of Louis XV. Of course, these days, there is always the Internet!

Though there are so many things about the medieval era that enthrall me, I wanted to know what intrigued, or drew Lucinda into the Georgian period?

To be honest, at first it was the clothes, not worn by women, but by the men. I was intrigued that males could wear lace at their wrists, red heels, satin and brocade, and still be considered real men. Georgian gentlemen were metrosexuals 250 years before the term was invented. They cared about their appearance, were interested in fashion, went shopping, loved sport and women.

The Georgian period was also an exciting time of discovery – of new countries (Australia) of revolution (the American War of Independence and the French Revolution), of new ideas and free press; a time when people starting taking an interest in nature for nature’s sake, in cultivating rare and exotic plants (pineapples) and designing elegant town squares, building Palladian mansions and filling them with wonderful Chippendale and Sheridan furniture.

Though I'm a liberal woman, who loves her freedom, sometimes, as a historical writer, we cannot quite understand, and therefore, write, how women really were in the past. But to be true to the time period, we must, at the very least, try. With the sensibilities of today, so vastly different from those of the past how does Lucinda reconcile the differences, and find a balance with your characters?

I try to be true to the sensibilities of the 18^th century while writing in a way that is accessible to readers today. I don’t care much for historical romances that have very modern-thinking characters dressed up in period costume.

And of course, I must know, what sparked the author inside her?

I was a voracious reader as a child and once I had read all of Jean Plaidy/Victoria Holt/Philippa Carr’s novels, and the novels of Anya Seton and Taylor Caldwell, I decided to write my own. I wrote my first novel in Middle School during Math class and my best friend would read the installments each lesson. I also wrote to Jean Plaidy and told her – I still have her reply, typewritten with her real name, not her pen names, and address on the envelope. I so treasure that letter – and was thrilled to think she wrote her actual name and address on the envelope so I knew who she really was and where she lived! I was twelve at the time.

As for her characters ... Lucinda "hear(s) their voices, they are real ..." So folks, you've heard it from the best ... she hears voices too! But mostly, she desires nothing more than for her readers to be entertained, and "wholly immersed in the 18th Century."

As voracious readers, Charli and I had to know what was next?

I am busily writing the third novel in the Roxton Series, Autumn Duchess, and also putting the final touches to the second novel in my Georgian Historical crimance series Deadly Affair.

After that... perhaps a fourth book in the Roxton series, telling Evelyn’s story some years after he ran off to Italy with Dominique, the Farmer-General’s daughter, in Midnight Marriage. He returns to England a widower and a broken man, seeking revenge on the person he believes responsible for his incarceration in the dungeon of a small European principality on charges of espionage.

Now before we let her leave, we had to as the customary funnies ...

You are a sandwich, describe yourself on a menu.Roast beef very thinly sliced, a smidgen of French seeded mustard, a slice of crumbling cheddar, a mountain of freshly shredded iceberg lettuce, lots of salt and pepper, between two slices of country-grain bread.

If you could be a superhero, what would your name and power be?

Sir Trevor Time-Traveler. Naturally my power would be traveling back in time – I would stop off in Georgian London for my wardrobe and have my tailor run me up a stupendous velvet frockcoat with silver lacings on the skirts and Chinoiserie embroidery on the cuffs with matching breeches and whacking great diamond buckles to secure the enormous leather tongues of my high heeled shoes. Under all the lace and velvet I have a washboard stomach and massive calf muscles. I am never impolite and always stand up when a lady enters a room. I have perfected the secret art of fighting off a villain with my bare hands without breaking a sweat or one of my carefully manicured and buffed nails.

What is your porno/stripper name? Using the traditional formula take the family pet’s name and the street you grew up on? For instance, Charli’s is Betsy Orchard, AJ’s Ginger King Edward.

Bella Copeland. And with such a classy name I would be the Madam of the establishment!

It was a pleasure to have you, Lucinda! I can't wait to read Autumn Duchess

A.J.

Be sure to visit Lucinda over at

If you'd like to win a copy of one of Lucinda's fabulous books, hop on over to her Facebook page, and click 'Like' as well as leaving a comment below. A winner will randomly be selected, so please leave us your email information. Now hurry ... go like this fabulous author!

Any self respecting historical reader will, so go shoo ...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lucinda-Brant/158411160851531?v=wall

http://www.lucindabrant.com/

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Feature: Great Openings, by Ann Lethbridge

Today we're doing things a little different. Actually, we're not doing anything at all. Yesterday, as I perused my iReader, I came across a very pertinent post by multi-published author, Ann Lethbridge over at Seduced by History. It's a post I wish I'd had the good fortune to read in my early days of writing. So, without further adieu, I give you what all writers NEED, and MUST accomplish in their very first paragraph, sentence ...

More than a hook, a killer opening ...

Last week I had the privilege of reading a few five-hundred word story openings provided by aspiring authors. I was not being asked for a critique, so I was unable to offer advice and I didn't know their names, or anything about them.

I was concerned that almost all these openings suffered from what I saw as similar problems. If it had been possible for me to give feedback on these snippets, this is what I would have said.

• A reader expects to be carried into your world in a very few lines or they might not get past the first page. One way to do this is to start with action, or dialogue. If you start where something is happening or even better, where everything changes for the worst for the point of view character, the reader will want to read on. People love conflict and disaster, so if you can hint at it, or even provide it at the beginning your book will open with a bang.
• Providing the details up front of why and how a character arrived at the point when the book opens can cause a reader to yawn. For example, the character thinks about his miserable childhood, his awful time at school and his recent accession to a title, which will allow him to improve his life. In the meantime, nothing has happened in the story. This is an information dump. I see it over and over again in contests. It is also telling.
• The best way for a reader to get to know your character is to see them in action. This character, for example, could be entering a ballroom, greeting people who in the past had snubbed him and piercing them with his superior wit. The reader would be intrigued. Why would this man act this way? Or he could dive in to rescue a citizen from a band of thugs in a bad part of town. Why is he there? Why is he willing to be involved? Show us whatever it is you want to show us about who this person is, or thinks he or she is right now, by having him or her react to their world. Intrigue us to read more by not telling us why.
• Avoid large casts of characters in opening scenes. Readers can be confused and/or impatient with too many people to keep track of, especially when they don't know who is important to the story.
• Don't have your character physically describe themselves, either by looking in a mirror, or by thinking about their appearance. She turned her bewitching blue eyes on her visitor, is, if you turn it into the characters' own thoughts: I turned my bewitching blue eyes on my visitor. How often do you think about the nature and color of your eyes when you look at someone entering your front door? If you can put yourself inside your point of view character's head, see only what they see, feel only what they feel, your reader will be right there with you. And they will want to read on.
• Know where your story starts. I have this terrible habit of wanting to write prologues full of action. My editor is very smart. She makes me take them out. Writing the prologue puts my head in the right place for the story. Deleting it, doesn't spoil or change the story at all, indeed it leaves a question to be answered later when the reader needs to know the answer. Don't start your story too early. Start where things begin to go wrong, often in a romance at the point the hero and heroine meet.
• If your book starts with a bang, in the middle of action with conflict, with questions, try to keep the tension going. Don't have your character go off and change their gown, for example, so you can get in some description, while the furious hero waits in the drawing room. Have her confront him right away. Keep the reader wanting to know what is going to happen next and keep things happening.
• A great first line is wonderful. An art form if done well. If it is followed up by telling and passages of description, its impact is lost.
• Look at the openings of your favorite authors. What did they do right? Were you bored but only continued reading because you knew in the end they would deliver? Did you skip ahead? Were you breathlessly intrigued? An editor who is breathlessly intrigued by your opening page or two might well buy your book.

Do I perfect openings? No, but I do strive for them and try to keep all these points in my head. I think I spend more time on the opening paragraphs than I do on any other scene in the book. I hope these little pointers will be of as much help to you as they are to me.

Ann writes Regency Historicals for Harlequin. Her next book, The Gamekeeper's Lady is available December 1, 2010. You can find her at her blog http://www.regencyramble.blogspot.com or her website http://www.annlethbridge.com
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After reading Ann's post, I rushed over to my bookshelf and chose about ten of my recent reads. This is what I came up with ...

1. "They came for her at dawn. Through the long, dark hours Elizabeth had stared from the window at the garden made darker by the rain ..." The Queen's Captive, Barbara Kyle

Why this line? I'm not going to lie, I was sold at, 'They came for her at dawn.' The line is brilliant. Came for who? And why had they come at such an ungodly hour? What has she done, or rather been accused of doing? I want to know.

2. "Every woman should marry for her own advantage since her husband will represent her, as visible as her front door, for the rest of her life." The Other Queen, Philippa Gregory

The every woman line ... how true! In times gone by, woman of the noble class were seen as no more than chattel to be pawned, married off, well, and, expected to produce an heir. Yet one gets the impression that THIS woman knew her worth, and moved through life accordingly.

3. "The city reeked of sweat and grime. Eidolon's citizens gathered in the chilly, dank air of the commons, their eyes turned to the cloaked figure standing tethered to a post on the center platform ... musing over the prisoner's identity." Son of Ereubus, J.S. Chancellor

Immediately, I was drawn into Chancellor's world, of fear and anticipation of an execution, but who is it? I wanted to read on to find out.

I can't stress enough how critical it is for new writers to carefully craft a truly genius first line, paragraph, and even chapter. So, now 'tis your turn ... What are some of your favorite opening paragraphs?

Big thanks to Ann for allowing us to feature her post on our blog!

AJ