by I confess. I’ve been unfaithful.
Oh, I still love medieval England and its history. But despite a lifelong love affair with the country and its royal family, I’ve been tempted to stray, to dabble on other shores, with other stories, in other settings.
And so I had a fling.
With Flanders.
You heard me right. Innocence Unveiled, my June book, is set in the city of Ghent, in medieval Flanders.
I can hear your shocked protestations. Didn’t she love England? I thought what she had with the 14th century England was something special. And, most of all:
Where the heck is Flanders?
We’ll start with that last question. During the Middle Ages, there were a handful of duchies clustered where Belgium and the Netherlands now stand. Referred to as the Low Countries, their connections to England were close. Edward III’s wife, Queen Philippa, was from one of them, and trade ties were strong.
But these are excuses. The truth is that I strayed across the channel to follow a story. One that couldn’t take place any where else.
This book was sparked by a true incident, reported by the chroniclers. As King Edward III was trying to gain support for his claim to the throne of France, he sent an “embassy,” or diplomatic mission, to the Continent to recruit allies. Along with the diplomats traveled a number of “bachelor” knights, each wearing an eye patch and swearing not to speak until he had performed some deed of arms in France. My hero is one of those knights, but instead of staying with the group, he rides off alone.
Of course I had to follow him.
So I invite you to come along and explore the charms of unknown shores. You’ll find much that’s familiar: My hero is the bastard son of an English princess and the English king and queen even make an appearance.
So I’m not really unfaithful. I’m just being true to my English royal bastards and following where they lead me. (My next book takes me back to the sceptred isle. Honest!)
So give in to temptation. Enjoy a slight indiscretion and discover how much fun a little fling can be.
Are you ever tempted to stray from a genre or setting you’re loyal to? When you do, how do you “cheat”?
Well, I guess I’m a regular doxy, then! My true love is the unusual setting. I adore all time periods and most of the usual places but if I catch wind of something out of the ordinary I’ll drop everything to go catch that one.
Yes!!!
Let’s hear it for Flanders! 😀
I LOVE that your book is somewhere other than England!
I always knew I loved the Flemish!
It is a very interesting book and you should pick it up next time you are in the store.
I am not sure which I would say I liked more…. this or the Harlot *g*
What are you writing next Blythe?
Let’s hear it for Unusual Settings Trollopes, Short heeled wenches and other floozies!
Let’s! *raising glass (of water, sorry) for all of us doxies*
Thanks for all the support for my indiscretion. *g*
Sybil, glad you’ve enjoyed both my books so much! In answer to your question, I’m working on a spin off from The Harlot’s Daughter. It’s the story of her sister, Jane.
I strayed from writing mysteries to writing romances. To make things more complicated, when I write a mystery, I can’t help adding a romance inside of it. The same is true for mysteries. When I write mysteries, I can’t help but include a romance.
I guess I have a split personality.
Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com
Author of Two Wrongs
and of Girl of My Dreams
Hi Blythe, you wanton woman, you!
Fling away, as long as we are invited along on the ride!
The Flemish are famous for their tapestries, right?
Jane: Yes, the Flemish are famous for their tapestries, but most of the examples you would see are a little later than my story is set. But they were famous for clothmaking at this time. England would export wool and import the cloth made from it by the Flemish weavers. See how I ramble on? This is all a part of the story, actually, as you can probably tell from the excerpt.
Hi Blythe, I have most of your books and this one’s on the wishlist next time I go shopping. I like that the setting in Flanders and that the heroine is in trade. I would have followed your Knight myself, lol.
I like to read a variety of time periods so I guess I cannot stay faithful but it’s fun to be fickle.