Interview - Barbara Burke

Whaddya know? A Friday Interview on a Friday!

We'd like to welcome Barbara Burke, author of Not2Nite - A Candy Hearts Romance to Romance Spinners.  As this beautiful WWII novella was released this week, you can grab a copy if it right now:

Amazon | KoboBooks | B&N

When ARP warden Molly sees a light shining through the darkness of London on a cold winter's night in the middle of the blitz she's infuriated with the careless American who struck it. Doesn't he know there's a war on?

Guy's just trying to find his way through a maze of unlit streets. He's very sorry and Molly reluctantly forgives him. When he accompanies her on her nightly rounds the two learn about each other, themselves and whether it's really possible to fall in love in only one night - especially when there's no guarantee of tomorrow.

Normally the phrase "Not Tonight" is considered the antitheses of romantic. However, as this novella is set during The Blitz in London, the idea that one will not die tonight lends a thread of hope to this title. That totally worked for me.

So let's have a chat with Barbara Burke:

HWK: Nice to see another historical Candy Hearts story. What inspired you to set your story during the Blitz?

BB: It’s nice to be another historical Candy Hearts writer. Thank you for inviting me to be on your blog, Your Grace. I’m generally a Regency writer, but unless I wanted to incorporate time travel into my story I knew I would have to write something Victorian or later because Sweetheart Candies came out in the 1860s. I thought about a WWII story for purely practical reasons. It seems to be a hot period right now (my daughter finds it an incredibly romantic time, for example, and she’s right; who doesn’t love Casablanca?) and I thought that might help sales. Also, I’m a big fan of the music of that era – my husband and I like ballroom dancing and I adore the foxtrot – so that was a bit of a spur. When I started researching it I became absolutely fascinated. So much so, in fact, I’m now writing another one about an aviatrix who ferries planes for the RAF.

HWK: What lessons can the iGeneration, living in this world of technology and terrorism, learn from the Greatest Generation, who lived through WWII?

BB: I suppose it’s to work together. I did a lot of research for Not2Nite – which basically means I sat around reading a lot of memoirs when I should have been actually writing. One of the things that stood out for me was how people looked out for each other and put their own personal concerns aside. I’m sure there was lots of moaning, but the things that everyday Brits put up with because ‘there’s a war on’ was absolutely gob-smacking. And they carried on doing so. Rationing was still going on in the 1950s so they could pay off their war debt to the United States. I can’t imagine that happening today.

Having said that I have no problem with Millennials – I even have one of my own. I think they’re an absolutely wonderful generation – smart and connected and caring. I can’t wait to see how they do when they’re in charge.

HWK: Is there an element or theme you like to include in all your stories?
BB: Well, I’d like to have a cat in every story because my co-workers – and I use the word workers in its most forgiving sense because they’re even less productive than I am - and constant critics are cats, but that doesn’t always work out. Other than that I like snappy dialogue and I refuse to allow my heroine to randomly do something completely stupid just because the hero has entered the building. No humiliating falls or senseless spills. My heroes fall for competent women. Molly, my heroine in Not2Nite, actually gets knocked down by Guy, the hero, come to think of it, but she certainly doesn’t come across as incompetent because of it.

HWK: I agree that Georgette Heyer is one of the great writers of the 20th Century. What, in your eyes, makes her works great?

BB: Well, I was being a little tongue-in-cheek with that remark. Let’s say she’s one of my favourite writers of the 20th Century. I don’t think she’s got a single book I’ve only read once. I’m the kind of person who can read something over and over again and continue to derive pleasure from it and she comes through in spades for me. Her characters are drawn so deftly and her dialogue just sparkles. And, of course, she owns the Regency. She invented a genre! How many writers can make that claim?

HWK: A Nigerian Prince shows up on your porch with the $2.5 million you won in the Spanish Lottery. However, it comes with a condition. You cannot spend it on yourself, or anyone you know personally. What do you do with it?

BB: Hmm, $2.5 million doesn’t buy anything like as much as it used to so I’ll have to be careful with it. The town I live in, which is the provincial capital so there’s no excuse, no longer has a library downtown and I think that’s a huge problem. So I guess I’d use the money as seed to get things started to build a downtown library again. People on the street would have access to books and the Internet and a warm and comfortable place to sit and read. And just as a general principle there should always be a downtown library everywhere there’s a downtown. Now let’s get to the more interesting part of the question: tell me more about the Nigerian Prince.

HWK: Preach it! If you could convince the world of ANYTHING, what would it be?

BB: Good grammar isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. (Thus speaks a woman who has been known to start a sentence with ‘and’.) If there’s one thing that sets my teeth on edge it’s people who misuse the language and then shrug it off with a casual ‘you know what I mean’ as if that’s any kind of excuse. I once saw a British television show in which the protagonist (who I will love forever) walked into an office and noticed a large sign on the wall which used the word ‘your’ when it should have been ‘you’re’. When he pointed it out and was met with indifference he sighed and said: “You’re the one who looks stupid”. That’s exactly how I feel. I try not to be too pedantic about it. And (see, there I go using ‘and’ at the beginning of a sentence) though it drives me crazy I’m trying to force myself to accept that words change and now it’s okay to say disinterested when one means uninterested and decimate when one means devastate. However, I will never accept people being referred to as ‘that’ instead of ‘who’. It’s The Man Who Would Be King not The Man That Would Be King. Who are we to argue with Kipling?

Having said that, I’m a typical Libra, which means I can see both sides of any issue. You wouldn’t believe how many hours of sleep I’ve lost debating the merits of the Oxford comma with myself.

HWK: I'm rather fond of the Oxford comma.

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Not2Nite is out now for lovers of WWII and Romance. Get it from your favourite ebook retailer or wherever all good ebooks are sold. 

Amazon | KoboBooks | B&N

600 Year Old Butt Song From Hell

See this guy's butt?

It's got the music of the damned tattooed all over it. What sin did this guy commit to get his own cursed song inked into his behind?

Here's a pullback shot of the picture:

And here's the whole triptych by Hieronymus Bosch - "The Garden of Earthly Delights":

Anyhow, some genius student by name of Amelia from Oklahoma Christian University noticed this guy's shame in a painting. After she and a mate had snickered over it a while (embarrassment is part of this guy's penance for his sin. Man, what did he do?) she decided to transcribe it.

I'm liking Amelia. She's a music/arts major with a bit of computer science thrown in. This is exactly the sort of whackadoodle thing I would have done at university.

Apparently I'm not the only one who's intrigued by her music.  Will, the wellmanicuredman, was also taken by this cursed little tune and he did a rather lovely arrangement, with lyrics. I can't embed it here, so go listen to it. You'll like it.

I wish I knew the guy's original sin. Must have been a doozy, because here we are, six hundred years later, giving him grief.

__________________________
Her Grace's blog post today is brought to you by a love of music, a strange sense of humour and TASE Day.

Historic Heroes, Contemporary Readers, Part III

-or-

Historic Heroes--Contemporary Woman's Wishlist

Poor Historical Romance author! You just don't have it easy, do you? On one hand, you want your story to be as historically accurate as possible, from historical facts to setting, to characterisations, the lot.

But on the other hand, you must realise that your contemporary readers are very much products of their time and generation. The social mores of the Nineteenth, the Seventeenth, the Fourteenth centuries are very different. With the exception of a bunch of Uppity Mormon Women and a few other raving Bluestockings and Bloomer Girls, women were pretty much considered the Weaker Sex.

So where do all these spit-fire redheaded bodice-splitting heroines you keep writing about come from?

They are the offspring of the marriage of history wearing idealism's ballgown and a modern marketing dork.

I don't envy you, Historical Romance author. You must come up with characters that your contemporary readers can identify with, without creating a time paradox.

It's a shame your contemporary readers don't understand the hard work you've put into your dialogue, to make sure that your vocabularial and grammatical choices are historically accurate. Sixteenth Century Bronwyn is not going to utter the phrases, "Okay," "Hey guys," or "What's up?" And they don't understand the hours of research you've delved into to make sure that manners, mantles and mores are correct yet invisible.

Instead, they analyse every detail of clothing, places, names, addresses, Almack's layout, and heaven forbid you make the mistake of letting a woman enter the clubs on St James.

But they will not forgive you for writing a heroine who sits meekly by, waiting for the man to come to her, even though that's often what happened.

And they absolutely will never forgive you for writing a hero who would be interested in such a milksop.

And thus, I present to you, dear Historical Romance author, the Contemporary Woman's Wishlist.

1. Our Hero must be strong and sensitive at the same time. Historically, men were supposed to be strong and stoic, yet we want our Historical Romance heroes sensitive as well. He's got to be strong to the world, yet sensitive to the Heroine.

2. Our Hero must be one smart cookie. Literacy is a must, even though there were lots and lots of men throughout history who couldn't even read, much less read well. We want Our Hero literate! (Don't believe me? How many Historical Romance heroes have you come across who couldn't read?) He'll be top of his class, the cleverest of the lot, and never gets the wool pulled over his eyes (unless it's required for the plot, or is pulled by the heroine). The Renaissance Man is alive and well, if only in fiction.

3. Ambition. Yes, indeed, we want Our Hero to be going somewhere. Pirate captains as the very least, thenkyewverramuch, and if he must be midshipman, he must be an upwardly mobile midshipman. (Right, Mister Hornblower?) None of this "contented with his lot", no farmers (unless they're gentleman farmers) and certainly no lower class. We've all read Catherine Cookson and have no interest in some poor, drunken wife-beating factory worker. Give us something that resembles our 21st Century meritocratic values, even though such values would surely be out of place in historical contexts. (Your contemporary readers just don't understand why"aping one's betters" and "getting above one's stations" were such bad ideas.)

4. Our Hero must be dashingly, no, devestatingly handsome! He must be all that is noble and worthy and rich and titled and good and wonderful and for some unfathomable reason, manages to remain a bachelor until his thirties. After all, Contemporary Woman is in her thirties and has no desire to lust after a Hero who's in serious need of therapy, has some nasty hangups or psychotic ex-girlfriends, and for some unfathomable reason, Jailbait just isn't that appealing. Also, Our Hero being heavily in debt is no good.

Now, is that too much to ask? Well, too bad, because that's what we want.

You know all those good qualties we like about C21, and all the wonderful escapist romantistic idealism we like about "The Good Old Days?" We want it all.

Thank you, Historical Romance author. I expect you to deliver soon.

Historic Heroes, Contemporary Readers, Part II

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A Man's Man vs The S.N.A.G.:

Does Eleanor of Aquitaine have much to answer for?

Eleanor of Aquitaine is credited with being the one to spread the idea of courtly love around Europe. In the idea of courtly love, the lover attempts to gain the attention and adulation of his ladylove through acts and deeds of honour and kindness.

To be soft-spoken, poetic, considerate and gentle were all ideal male behaviour in courtly love. And what a contrast from the traditional definitions of masculinity: virile, strong, brave, aggressive, stoic, logical, independent.

Wow.

What an accomplishment for a woman, to take the big strong manly man and get him, of his own free will and volition, to spout the words, "I wuv you, my snuggy-wuggums."

(But the man is not some blind dupe who will follow slavishly. He cottoned on that if he puts aside all his powerful masculine traits for a brief while, and approached a woman on her terms, he'd be granted access to hidden delights he previously could only wet-dream about.)

So thus was introduced a behavioural counter to all the macho grunting, scratching and thirty seconds of uninsipring sweat in bed that most men were known for. Eleanor single-handedly introduced civil behaviour for knights towards the fairer sex. Romance was born.

Since then, women have enjoyed the sense that men were courting them simply not to get under their petticoats, but because the man admired the whole woman, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually as well as physically.

Now chicks dig this, which is why so many of them write tales of manly men who abandon their masculine traits (temporarily, of course) for love of the heroine. Then, reverting back to his masculine ways (without completely losing his sense of courtly love) he proceeds to take her to bed and prove his virility, and then cuddles her afterwards. (Chicks dig this as well.)

It's not so much the abandonment of the masculine traits a woman seeks, but rather the aquisition of a sensitivity towards the feminine needs.

We like our heroes masculine yet sensitive. We like the Mister Darcies, Colonel Brandons and Leopold Mountbattens. What we don't like are the Man's men like Mister John"Don't apologize—it's a sign of weakness"Wayne. Absolutely nobody can imagine the Duke saying, "I love you, despite myself."

Then in the late 20th Century a disturbing knee-jerk reaction permeated society: Machismo. (Personally I blame the 50's first, then the 70's.) Suddenly men wanted to be Macho men with fur on their chests and engage in the preening and strutting and fast cars and their bevy of "bitches and hoes" while eschewing any and all traits that smacked of femininity. After all, real men don't eat quiche.

Now, the macho man is nothing like the historical masculine man, who was willing to embrace the ideas of courtly love and woo a woman as a whole being and not just as a convenient [censored], and the contemporary woman missed historical masculine man very much.

Then, in a knee-jerk reaction to the knee-jerk reaction of Machismo, along came the Sensitive New Age Guy (or S.N.A.G. for short--and hey, Metrosexuals? I'm looking at you too!). Here was a guy who is in touch with his feminine side. He's sensitive (of course), thoughtful, kind, considerate, weak, limp-wristed and effeminate. While he may be appealing at first, wooing us with his empathetic sensibilities, when it comes time for his to sweep us off our feet and carry us off to the bedroom, instead of consummating our hormonal desires, he offers, instead, to go with us to couple's counselling.

(Hello! We don't want counselling! We wanna be schtupped! Where are your cojones?)

So now we have Contemporary Woman who loves the old-fashioned thought of a masculine man who is all sinewy thews, strong chins and lofty titles like "Lord Devlin, Marquis of Baddington" who will be admired greatly among his peers, ride a fine horse, fight a duel with aplomb and yet have his heard and sensibilities turned by a pair of fine eyes and finer ankles. Yes, we want him to be sensitive to our needs, but not at the expense of those lovely masculine virtues that attracted us in the first place. He must take Contemporary Woman gently into his arms, then kiss her fiercely, leaving her breathless and wanting more.

So let us give Contemporary Woman a man who is strong, virile and powerful and is intelligent enough to recognise her value as a woman, who cherishes her not just for her sensibilities, but her intelligence and also her very fine pair of bazoombas. She wants the best of all worlds. Not asking much, is she?

Eleanor may have much to answer for. She introduced us to the concept of courtly love. Now we have been spoiled.

And although Eleanor may roll her royal eyes at us, I think we will draw the line at Lord Devlin calling us "Snuggy-wuggums."

Next time: Historic Heroes--Contemporary Woman's Wishlist.

Welcome to Romance Spinners

Hello everyone.

My name is Lea Schizas, one of the contributing authors to this awesome anthology. We all have Cheryl Wright to thank for bringing us together. In the process, we've forged yet another cyber connection we may never have found if it wasn't for our dear editor, Cheryl.

My contributing story is titled, "Night of The Gray Sky" and can't tell you how exciting and eager I am to see our collection published.

I am the author of the Young Adult fantasy/adventure, "The Rock of Realm", and the paranormal suspense/thriller, "Doorman's Creek". You can find more information on me and my books here: http://leaschizaseditor.com

Lea Schizas

Why my Scottish story is so English

Research is a wonderful thing. I can loose all sense of time when I'm immersed in history.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about life in the 1670s, but it wouldn't have been much fun living through it. So much research didn't make it into the short story, but it gave my characters a grounding and from there I could move forward.

In Scotland, things were pretty grim. Make one political mistake and you'd lose your lands and chattels. If you were on the winning side, you'd get your share of the spoils.

That's how the Beaumont family came to occupy (the fictional) Halkirkie Castle. They were English and were given Halkirkie Castle and the title of Duke as a reward for success in battle. However, the ties to England would have been very strong, so it's natural they would leave the 'miserable' winters and head south.

As the youngest of five sons, Charles would have received little or no inheritance, so he would have needed to marry a rich heiress, or find a way to make his fortune. Joining the military would have been a smart move - if he survived, he'd get a share of the spoils and could become very rich.

When Charles decides to remain in Halkirkie for the winter, he finds the castle transformed into a gambling den. Hmmm, gambling. Now there's an idea!

My take on The Enchanted Faerie

Welcome to our blog!

I am Holly Greenfield, one of the contributing authors to The Enchanted Faerie anthology. When Cheryl Wright, our editor, presented this opportunity to me I was ecstatic. I write historical, parnormal romance. Two genres I love. The theme for this anthology couldn't have been a better fit. An even greater appeal was the setting. Scotland is one of my favorite places in the world, and researching the country and its history has become a hobby of mine. Celtic history is fascinating to say the least.

Writing the story of Calinda Avatar of Beltane and her reluctant search to find love was so much fun. Once I started it all flowed so smoothly. Her character spoke and loud and clear as did the hero. What could be better than finding true love right under your nose?

Working with the ladies in Romance Spinners has been great. We span the globe and yet even from such a distance our minds fell in sync for this anthology. Each of us had something wonderful to contribute and I for one have learned so much from this experience. Collaborating efforts is a fun process when your working with such a wonderful, talented group of writers.

I look forward to the release of our anthology so that readers, like you, can enjoy reading the stories as much as we loved writing them

Until next time,


Holly


You can learn more about me at http://www.hollygreenfield.com/ Stop by anytime. I love having company.

working on the anthology

Hi Everyone.
I am one of the contributing authors to the Enchanted Faerie Anthology. I was so honoured to be invited to participate, and had such a wonderful time with my story of Jamelia and her search for true love. I generally write contemporary romance, so it was a challenge to work on an historical piece. Everyone in the group was so supportive of one another, however, that any doubts that I had were soon squashed. We've created a wonderful book that I'm sure any reader will really love.
If anyone wants to see what I usually write, my web URL is www.judybagshaw.com
Drop by and have a visit.
Judy

The Enchanted Faerie - What's It All About?

This is the temporary cover for our romantic anthology, The Enchanted Faerie. 

But how did it all come about? We have Cheryl Wright to thank for that. She set us all a challenge to write a short story with a common theme.

Cheryl set the scene: In the highlands of Scotland, in 1678, there is a gypsy, Alishandra Orona. She has an enchanted faerie that will guide the holder to their one true love. The cost for the service is 100 gold coins.

Cheryl created the character names and provided suggested towns where they might live, but the rest was up to us. From this premise, we set about challenging our characters to not only come up with the money, but to know true love when they found it.

We shared research and had a wonderful time in our characters' heads. It's been hard letting them go, but we've had such a lovely time we're sure to be making another anthology in the future.

Soon it will be time to release our bonny lasses onto the wilder world. It's going to be a great adventure.

Come In Spinners

Welcome to the Romance Spinners blog.

We are romantic writers without borders. 

Our debut anthology, The Enchanted Faerie, is coming soon.

Stay tuned for news, reviews, and all things to do with writing.