Postbox in New Jersey

When I was young, I devoured books like candy corn on Halloween. No book was safe. I had my own library card from age three (it was yellow). By the age of twelve, I'd read every single book in the house.

As I grew older, I developed a sense of taste. Sure, I read every chance I got, but I noticed that sometimes authors took stories in directions other than where I wanted them to go.

"No, no," I said. "That isn't right." (Who kills Humperdinck?)

But these authors weren't listening to me. Sigh.

I got started writing my own stories by writing the tales other authors didn't.

As a teen, I read the Belgariad by David Eddings.  Good stuff for me at that time and that place.

Later I wondered, why is it the farmboys are always secretly hidden princes who must save the world? What if the farmboy was really a farmboy. And what if he didn't want to go off on adventures?

Thus a story was born.

Later, I read Dave Duncan's "A Man of His Word" series.  Also enjoyed it. Satisfying world-building, understandable characters, quests for intangible stuff.

Then I got to the end.  I wholly expected the ending to go one way. Duncan took it the other way. When I read that, my little Mormon heart went, "WHAT?!?  You've got to be kidding me!"

It was like reading a hot and steamy romance (extra spicy) and getting to the sex scene. Our Hero and Our Heroine are about to Get It On. They've torn off their clothes, exchanged Meaningful Glances, then leap into bed...

...to spend the rest of the night doing nothing more than holding hands. Maybe not even that. Maybe only linking pinkies.

AND THEY PLAN ON DOING THAT FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.  For them, a condom is another name for a townhouse.

By gum, I vowed, I would not do that to my readers.  If I give my characters a vision of the future, we're gonna go all the way. Eucatastrophe!  Or Death! All or Nothing!

Man, I LOVE this stuff!

Yeah.

And another book was born.

Many of my stories take that road someone else could have taken, but didn't.

Sometimes I understand why an author chose the path they took. Other times, I am left to my bafflement.

I'm not unique in this; I've had readers tell me that they expected my story to go one way and I took it another.

If we all liked the same pathway, all our stories would be rather monochrome and predictable.  And where's the fun in that?
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Her Grace believes that disappointment in a novel isn't an all-bad thing, if it inspires her to write something better.  Currently, she is doing just that.

Oh, the Scandal!

Puck had his number, all right.
Could have been worse.
He could also have been twerking.

On 8 September 1890, several members of the Marlborough House set, including HRH the Prince of Wales (eventually King Edward VII) partied hard at Tranby Croft.

Whilst there, Sir William Gordon-Cumming cheated at cards... And Got Caught.  (Should I mention that gambling at baccarat was illegal at this time?)

A few of the guests thought this was not cricket.  On 10 Sept they approached HRH with their concerns.

In the end, everyone made Sir William sign an agreement, duly witnessed by all present, including HRH Essentially, he would never play cards again in exchange for everyone's silence.  A gentleman's agreement, in other words.

Shame it was a Lady who broke it.  Daisy, Lady Brooke, Countess of Warwick and current mistress to HRH  (yes, THAT Daisy), had to go and gossip about the whole thing.  Babbling Brooke could never keep her trap shut about anything.

Within forty-eight hours, the whole on-dit was all over the ton.

Sir William, terribly embarrassed, sued every signatory on that agreement for slander.  Eventually, HRH got dragged up as a witness and severely chastised.  After all, he knew something illegal was going on, and according to Queen's Army Regulations, he should have dobbed in a fellow officer.  (Not the first time HRH had been dragged to court as a witness in a scandal.)

Poor Sir William was found guilty, and that was pretty much the end of him in Society.  He retreated to Scotland to cry in his whiskey for the rest of his life.

Meanwhile, the Queen was Not Amused at the shameful behaviour of her son. There was quite a to-do about that.  HRH never did recover from this one.

Lessons learned:
1. Don't play illegal gambling games.
2.  Don't cheat at cards.
3. Don't get caught.
4. Don't sign anything that can come back to bite you.
5. Don't sleep with other men's gossiping wives.
6. Don't gossip.
7. Don't piss off the Queen.
8. Don't go up in court against a member of the royal family. Everyone will take his side.