Ha! I bet that got your attention.
Well, maybe not, as you’re not getting the full glory of me sitting here in a torn t-shirt and faded madras shorts on a very sweaty morning. My hair is already forming lank hanks. Ugh! Aren’t you glad video email is in its infancy? If you’re not, YOU SHOULD BE!
Firstly, thank you, Sybil, for inviting me to blog. I’m really looking forward to a lively discussion! I admire the way you girls don’t pull your punches.
There were questions a while ago on this site about whether my heroine was a real prostitute or not. Even though the book was called Claiming the Courtesan. Apparently too many people had seen virginal widows in romance novels and suspected I might be touting a chaste courtesan as a variation on a theme.
Mind you, a chaste courtesan story has possibilities…
The idea for Claiming the Courtesan came to me as I thought about the lot of most women in early 19th-century Britain (or anywhere, really).
Career and educational opportunities were extremely limited and if you were poor and without the support of friends and family, life could be dangerous, insecure and unpleasant, at the very least.
My heroine, Verity Ashton, loses her parents when she’s fifteen and is left with a much younger brother and sister to support. She takes a place as a maid at the local manor but unfortunately for her long-term prospects, she’s beautiful enough to stop traffic (bet her hair doesn’t go nutty in humidity!) and she’s fair game for the son of the house.
All this is backstory and only emerges as the book progresses, but bear with me. Verity is forced into a position where selling herself is her only choice. That’s a common story – the streets of Victorian cities thronged with prostitutes who’d once been servants and had lost their reputation and therefore any chance of finding respectable work. But Verity triumphs over her circumstances. She’s brave and smart and resourceful and raises herself up to become Soraya, the most sought-after courtesan in late Regency London. There she catches the attention of the Duke of Kylemore and you have the basis of Claiming the Courtesan.
Faced with Verity’s choices, I don’t think I would have had any alternative. And at least a courtesan had some control over her affairs. I like to believe I’d have managed that. Being beautiful enough to stop traffic, however, might be a bit more of a stretch…
Where’s that shampoo?
Anna, I think the biggest reason you would have been a courtesan is naturally because you’re just a Cooze. 🙂 But I love you anyway.
Awww, Kate, you have the nicest way of telling a girl she’s got no morals! Love ya right back!
Well I think you would be a great courtesan for the same reasons I would be. Your funny and you can use words prettily to make any man feel good.hehe
What type of hair does she have? Does she use VO5? (which is my favorite shampoo and at .99 cents how can you go wrong!)
Interesting, Michele. You put the seduction in the mind. I’d actually agree with you in many ways! Maybe we should talk about a business proposal!
Katie, I’ll definitely pass on the VO5 hint to Soraya (snort!). although now she’s a duchess, she can probably buy the expensive stuff! Actually, she’s got the hair I always wanted. That long straight black silky stuff that falls in a satiny veil, like Olivia Hussey has in the old Romeo and Juliet. I’ve got ultra-fine mousey stuff that just goes nuts!
Anna, I can’t wait to read your book, it sounds so good. From all the postings on FanLit, I think you have a pretty good sense of humor, and I bet it comes through in your writing. Which is a big yeah for me, I love a good humorous read with a good sensual story, and if she’s a courtesan, I am guessing there is plenty of sensuality.
I wonder what women with hair like mine did back in the day? My hair is the kind that likes to get a little curl and alot of frizz on muggy days, I have to have Ion silk drops to keep it under control or I look like a scarecrow with rotten straw (black hair) on top. So very attractive, NOT.
Terry Jo, glad we’ve got onto the really important stuff – HAIR! Actually, one of the reasons I’m always glad I live in the 20th century is shampoo. My hair just goes lank within about an hour of washing. Imagine if washing was something I only did once a month! Ewwww! As you say, so very attractive. NOT!!!! I always give my heroines gorgeous hair – lots of it, manageable, long without going ratty at the ends (like mine used to!). That’s the fantasy for me! Well, maybe the hero too….
Um, I’m not sure whether you will like the book – it’s definitely the dark, angst-ridden, emotional sort of romance. Not a lot of laughs! I love a good sensual romance with laughs too (think Loretta Chase or Connie Brockway) but this ain’t it! Can I tempt you to try some dark chocolate?
Never fear Anna, I love the strong dark stories also. Who am I kidding? I love just about every kind of romance! The same can be said for chocolate ;0) I am definietly going to get this book, if for no other reason than the gracious time you spent with us aspiring writers at FanLit, that counted for a lot in my book, er, esteem, well you get the picture!
Hi Anna:
I think you’d make a fantastic courtesan if circumstances didn’t allow you to first establish yourself as a Jane Austen contemporary. Men would no doubt find your cleverness and witty repartee intoxicating and enlightening. I can envision your spirited banter over a wide range of subjects… from the latest scandal in Society to the price of bananas in Australia…
Terry Jo, thanks for saying that about Fanlit. But you guys were such fun to hang out with. And I was just amazed at how much talent I saw in the entries. I hope Avon does it again. And let’s face it, a few months earlier, I would have been as unpublished as anyone else in that contest and gnashing my teeth because I was an Aussie and I couldn’t enter (still think that’s rough, powers that be at Avon!). So I know how seemingly impassable and yet how narrow the barrier between being an unpublished wannabe and a published author is. And hey – an accidental pun – LOVE ‘EM! Let me take a PAGE from your book, my dear…
Jen, I’ll talk about bananas with you any time. And strangely, for anyone else reading this, that’s not a euphemism. We have had LONG conversations about bananas. Oh, the glamorous life of a writer!
She did what she had to. Since I’ve recently converted to dark chocs, I’d love to check this out.
wow… you either know jen or she is seriously doing some sucking up to win the book
::brings a tear to my eye::
You go girl!
Screw back in the day, for the right price I might do it now. LOL kept woman sounds like a rock’n job. As for hair? I have ass long red hair that needs to be cut. Oddly enough don’t use VO5. heeee
Jenny, glad to hear you’ve come over to the dark side….
Sybil, Jen is someone I linked up with at Fanlit and as I say we regularly shoot the breeze! She’s bought her copy already and I’ve promised her a freebie as well so I think she’s just being nice. Awwww!
Ass long red hair? You sound like a romance heroine!
damn… did you pay her? I am impressed *g*
yep… it is way long… freakishly long needs to be cut.
Yes, only the finest courtesans had your rapier wit, Miss Campbell, though I’m not sure they were so addicted to puns!
Happy debut day, my dear!
It isn’t at wal-mart yet! Uh… what? I was waiting for more meds for my migraine! I was already there… I had to look.
really
there is no way for me to walk into a store that HAS books and not go look