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Showing posts with label The Reluctant Debutante. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Reluctant Debutante. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Historic or Contemporary? Why Not Both?

Depending on who you talk to, I’m either a writer of historic romances, or an author of sexy contemporaries. No, I don’t have a Jekyll/Hyde personality, but sometimes I do feel like I’m using both sides of my brain when I write. I liken it to the Olympics, where the same person competes in various disciplines of the same sport—say downhill skiing, where the object is to go fast and slalom skiing, which calls for precision and accuracy. The basics are the same, but it’s the tricks of each that make them unique and special.

Historical romances for me are like slalom skiing—orderly and analytical. I need to get my facts straight before I begin writing. The Cotillion Ball series takes place in America in the late 1850s and 1860s. Those years were tumultuous times in the country, as the threat of civil war loomed on the horizon. But it wasn’t just the war that happened during that time. Western expansion caused many Americans to move from one coast to the other, gold was discovered in California, railroads and telegraph lines carved pathways across the face of America. What this translates to is plenty to write about, but I’d better make certain my facts are in order. If I have a wagon train going west, it better leave from one of the towns where the trains began, and it better happen in the correct time period.

Fashion is another factor. Do my heroines wear hoop skirts or were they passé? Did women walk by themselves during the day in downtown New York, or did they need an escort at all times? Are the words I’m using too modern? It’s a constant game of checking and double-checking facts. I love to write and read historic romances, but they are difficult, tedious and time consuming to achieve.

By contrast, contemporary romances are just the opposite. They’re the downhill skiing in my eyes. Quick and sometimes verging on out of control. Yes, I still need to fact-check, especially if I’m placing the book in a part of the country I’m not familiar with, or if I’ve got things in the book that I know nothing about—bull riders, motorcycles, lobstermen, tornadoes, jewelry makers, to name a few. But I don’t need to obsess over whether the word was in use in the 19thcentury, and I can use words that I know didn’t see the light of day until the year 2000 or beyond. It’s liberating to me to be able to write a contemporary, and I can find all kinds of fun things to write about. 


 
I like to change things up after I write a historical and compose a sexy contemporary. But as I write each genre, I’m thinking of the next one, and what I’ll write. So by the time I finish a contemporary, I’m ready to slide back into my world in the 1850s, and can tackle the new story with fresh ideas. Regardless of what the sub-genre is, the basics are still the same. There must be a compelling love story, and the writing has to sparkle. Without those two elements, no one will care what type of writing you do. It’s kind of like skiing. You can sign up for whatever kind of specific discipline you want, but you’d better first know how to ski. 

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Recent Release -- The Reluctant Debutante (Cotillion Ball Saga Book 1) by Becky Lower

Book One of the Cotillion Ball Series

Beautiful Ginger Fitzpatrick wants nothing to do with New York City’s conventional society— after all, she is a bloomer-wearing suffragette who holds a position in her father’s bank! Her mother is determined her willful daughter must go to the popular Cotillion ball and look for a suitable husband during the “season”—and Ginger is given no choice.  But when she meets her brother’s best friend, handsome Joseph Lafontaine, the mysterious man sets Ginger ablaze with a mere glance—and gives her second thoughts about remaining single.

Joseph knows he can never have Ginger. He’s totally unsuitable as a husband for this spirited, cultured woman, for many reasons. He’s from the rough-and-ready Western city of St. Louis, and he’s her brother’s best friend. But there’s one thing he can never overcome: he’s a half-breed Ojibwa, forever tainted in the eyes of these high-society whites from the East. Despite the budding love between them, her family will never accept him.

Joseph returns to St. Louis, and months later, Ginger follows with her father to attend to banking business there. Through a twist of Fate, a deadly accident brings Joseph and Ginger together once more, and this time, neither will allow another separation. Can they find happiness together despite their different backgrounds? It’s all or nothing for THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE


EXCERPT


     Ginger Fitzpatrick was in a pickle, that much was certain.
     Her mother took her by surprise at breakfast by announcing to the family that Ginger would participate in the Cotillion ball two months hence. While her younger sisters squealed in excitement, Ginger couldn’t find her voice to object to her mother’s idea. She knew she must, considering that her father was known to grant every wish his wife had, but Ginger could only stare in confusion. And that wasn’t the worst of it. 
     “George,” her mother stated calmly to her father, “you must relieve Ginger of her duties at the bank so I have time to teach her the rules of etiquette she’ll need for a full season of events. Dear Lord, I have only a couple months to cram in everything.”
     Astonished and stunned, Ginger turned to her father, hanging onto a thread of hope that her valued involvement at the bank would save her. 
     “Let me think about the best way to handle the shift in responsibility, darling. I’ll make sure Ginger is free by the end of the week.” He glanced at Ginger’s stupefied expression and reached across the table for her hand. “Perhaps we could also offer a reward of some kind. Possibly a trip to St. Louis if she gets through the season without incident?”
     He had actually smiled over the breakfast table at her. As if the allure of a trip would make everything all right. 

We had a little problem with getting the Kindle edition published.  It is now available

       

Thursday, August 16, 2018

New Release -- THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE by Becky Lower

Book One of the Cotillion Ball Series

Beautiful Ginger Fitzpatrick wants nothing to do with New York City’s conventional society— after all, she is a bloomer-wearing suffragette who holds a position in her father’s bank! Her mother is determined her willful daughter must go to the popular Cotillion ball and look for a suitable husband during the “season”—and Ginger is given no choice.  But when she meets her brother’s best friend, handsome Joseph Lafontaine, the mysterious man sets Ginger ablaze with a mere glance—and gives her second thoughts about remaining single.

Joseph knows he can never have Ginger. He’s totally unsuitable as a husband for this spirited, cultured woman, for many reasons. He’s from the rough-and-ready Western city of St. Louis, and he’s her brother’s best friend. But there’s one thing he can never overcome: he’s a half-breed Ojibwa, forever tainted in the eyes of these high-society whites from the East. Despite the budding love between them, her family will never accept him.

Joseph returns to St. Louis, and months later, Ginger follows with her father to attend to banking business there. Through a twist of Fate, a deadly accident brings Joseph and Ginger together once more, and this time, neither will allow another separation. Can they find happiness together despite their different backgrounds? It’s all or nothing for THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE


EXCERPT


     Ginger Fitzpatrick was in a pickle, that much was certain.
     Her mother took her by surprise at breakfast by announcing to the family that Ginger would participate in the Cotillion ball two months hence. While her younger sisters squealed in excitement, Ginger couldn’t find her voice to object to her mother’s idea. She knew she must, considering that her father was known to grant every wish his wife had, but Ginger could only stare in confusion. And that wasn’t the worst of it. 
     “George,” her mother stated calmly to her father, “you must relieve Ginger of her duties at the bank so I have time to teach her the rules of etiquette she’ll need for a full season of events. Dear Lord, I have only a couple months to cram in everything.”
     Astonished and stunned, Ginger turned to her father, hanging onto a thread of hope that her valued involvement at the bank would save her. 
     “Let me think about the best way to handle the shift in responsibility, darling. I’ll make sure Ginger is free by the end of the week.” He glanced at Ginger’s stupefied expression and reached across the table for her hand. “Perhaps we could also offer a reward of some kind. Possibly a trip to St. Louis if she gets through the season without incident?”
     He had actually smiled over the breakfast table at her. As if the allure of a trip would make everything all right. 

Kindle edition coming soon.