Wednesday 26 February 2020

Welcome to Regency Author - Audrey Harrison


I’m delighted to welcome Audrey Harrison to my blog.

Audrey Harrison - Author

Hello Audrey – It’s lovely to have you on the blog, and I’m sure your Regency readers are looking forward to reading what you have to share with them today. But before we discover more about your latest Regency release, Lady Edith’s Lonely Heart, here are a few questions which will hopefully give your followers an insight into some of the things that matter to you.


Arabella: Authors can release books, making them available to readers in various ways…via an agent, or working directly with a traditional publisher, or they can even go the self-publishing route. Which method of publishing do you prefer, and why?
Audrey: For me it’s always been the self-publishing route. I’ve been told by publishing houses that there is no market for Regency Romance (!) My readers would suggest otherwise. Being self-published also gives me the opportunity to be in total control of every aspect of the publishing process – I admit to being a control freak! – and it helps me to connect to my readers and publish to my writing programme. I love the flexibility of it, that’s not to say it’s easy. It can be damned hard work, but I think the benefits outweigh the work needed.

Arabella: How do you research your Regency novels and characters?
Audrey: I have over 400 books at home which include diaries of Regency people, recipes, etiquette, and all forms of living in the Regency time. A lot more research is done than actually appears on the page, but I hope it helps my stories to be more authentic. Actually, the diaries are hilarious and can be quite rude! Life was a lot more risqué than appears in a lot of the Regency novels of today.





Arabella: Who or what inspired you to write your latest Regency release, Lady Edith’s Lonely Heart?
Audrey: I very often have an idea milling around in the back of my mind to start with. With Lady Edith’s Lonely Heart, it was that I found out The Times newspaper had been advertising Lonely Heart’s Ads since the 1600s. The moment I found that out at some point it was inevitable that I’d do a story around letters. I also love the films The Shop Around The Corner and You’ve Got Mail. I think the written word is a very romantic way to communicate.


Arabella: If the person of your dreams (husband/wife/partner/or Regency beau) were to invite you out, where would they take you, and which vehicle would they use:
1) Phaeton
2) Landau
3) Curricle
4) Barouche

Audrey: I don’t think I’d feel safe on a Phaeton! I had the opportunity of travelling around Stamford in a Landau as part of their Georgian Festival last year. It was quite cosy, very noisy and I loved every minute, so that would be my choice.

Landau Carriage
  
Arabella: Which is your most favourite period drama or historical film you’ve seen to date, and why is it so special?
Audrey: I’ve already mentioned The Shop Around The Corner (1940), but I suppose I’d have to say my absolute favourite is Alastair Sim’s A Christmas Carol/Scrooge (1953). Christmas is my favourite time of the year and I just love this version. It’s such a wonderful film of hope.

Arabella: When writing a book or chapter, which do you concentrate on first: plot, character, or setting?
Audrey: As I’ve mentioned with Lady Edith’s Lonely Heart, it was an idea which led to a plot. My two-part story about Foundlings, was written after a visit to The Foundling Hospital in London and Mr Bailey’s Lady developed from my own town’s industrial heritage. So I find that anchor and then develop the story around that.

Arabella: A slice of Chocolate Cake, a piece of Fruit, or Burger and Fries?
Audrey: A slice of cake, every time, but not chocolate cake I’m afraid. I love cake (which you can tell from my picture)



Cherry Cake Squares

Arabella: What advice would you give to someone who is starting out on their writing journey?
Audrey: Publishing has changed so much in recent years, it’s now accessible to us all. I think that’s amazing. I’ve done it and I’m from a very working-class background in the North of England (yes, I do have a funny accent!). I would urge everyone who has that overwhelming urge to write, to get their stories out there. Don’t write in secret, like I did for years. I’m overwhelmed that readers enjoy my books, but if I can do it, anyone can! 


Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, Audrey. Your latest release, Lady Edith’s Lonely Heart, sounds amazing.
I’m in awe of the fact you've ridden in a Landau Carriage. And if only I'd been in Stamford to see you riding on-high in all your Regency splendour...
All the best and wishing you lots more happy-ever-after Regency writing.
Arabella



About Audrey Harrison


Audrey Harrison - Author


AMAZON UK KINDLE STORYTELLER COMPETITION FINALIST 2018!

I was born about two hundred years too late.

In the real world I always longed to write, writing a full manuscript when I was fourteen years old. From the moment I could read I had my head stuck in a book. They were my prized possessions. Work, marriage and children got in the way as they do and it was only when an event at work landed me in hospital that I decided to take stock. One Voluntary Redundancy later, I found that the words and characters came to the forefront and the writing began in earnest.

So, although at home more these days, the housework is still neglected and meals are still late on the table, but I have an understanding husband. Most of the time!

Social Media




Book Blurb   Lady Edith’s Lonely Heart

A dashing tale of romance from a bestselling author of Regency Romance.

She is under pressure to find a husband she doesn't want.
He keeps to the fringes of society because of family constraints.
Will the written word be enough to bring two lost souls together?
Lady Edith Longdon is an heiress, in danger of being classed a spinster, and disillusioned with the fops, dandies, and fortune hunters surrounding her in society. Deciding it’s time to take her future into her own hands, she devises a foolproof way of finding someone she can love. She's convinced nothing could go wrong…
Lord Ralph Pensby, overwhelmed by a sense of obligation, and with no one he can turn to, is adrift from those around him…
Two people drawn together, both on a journey which will affect them in ways they could never have foreseen. Secret correspondence, mistrust and confusion, not to mention cads of the highest order, make this novel a fast-paced, heart-warming story, with appealing characters and a strong sense of time and place.

Perfect for lovers of all things Regency.


Wednesday 19 February 2020

Welcome to Regency Romance Author - GL Robinson

I’m delighted to welcome Regency romance author GL Robinson to my blog.

GL Robinson

Hello Glynis – And thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat today. It was lovely to connect with you through the Romantic Novelists’ Association. I find the RNA to be a great group of authors and affiliate members with whom to share the writing journey. I’ve learnt so much from sharing with them, and hope you have too. But before we discover more about your latest release, ‘Cecilia or Too Tall to Love’, here are a few questions which will hopefully give your readers and followers and insight into some of the things that matter to you.


Arabella: How did you manage to get your first Regency novel published and what did you learn from the experience?
Glynis: I managed to get Imogen or Love and Money published when, like a 19th century explorer, I hacked through the impenetrable jungle that is Amazon! I had given up on the idea of traditional publishing when I realized it would take about a year for a book to come out. Since I’m 72 and have six books and counting, I thought I might be dead before I saw them all in print! Of course, it helped in the decision-making that I’d already been rejected by a couple of publishers!  


Arabella: If you could choose, which would it be: A walk in the woods, a walk along a beach front to dip your toes in the sea, or a day shopping for clothes?
Glynis: Ooh! Definitely a walk along the beach.  I come from Portsmouth, which is, of course, by the sea, and my boarding school was in Bournemouth – Boscombe, actually. It’s now the Royal College of Chiropracters! The nuns used to walk us two by two down the zig-zag cliff paths in our navy-blue uniforms. We’d change in one of those huts (not there any more) and swim as early as May in the freezing water.  We had those sagging wool swimming costumes some of your older readers might remember.  Attractive, they were not! I attribute my amazing good health to those bracing expeditions!  Nowadays, I live in the USA and spend the winter in Florida, so the beach is readily available, or would be, were it not for the appalling traffic. As for clothes, I’m 6ft tall and of a build that doesn’t accord with any sizing known to man, so clothes shopping is definitely not for me!




Arabella: Who or what inspired you to write your latest Regency release, Cecilia or Too Tall to Love?
Glynis: I already talked about going to boarding school. My younger sister was with me.  We used to read Georgette Heyer under the covers with a torch after lights out. Regency Romances have been a life-long passion, but I never even considered writing one, or anything. Then my dear sister died unexpectedly in 2018 and honestly, the day after her funeral, I sat up in bed and the first story came to me whole and entire. I wrote it in under a month. I’m sure it was she who inspired me, and continues to do so.  Writing has been integral to my grieving process and has seen me through it. I am publishing the second book, Cecilia or Too Tall to Love in February, and the third, Rosemary or Too Clever to Love, (discern a pattern?!) in May.

Arabella: Learning the special symbolism of flowers became a popular pastime in the 1800’s.
A Pink Rose symbolises: grace, happiness and gentleness, and a Forget-Me-Not symbolises: true love memories. Do you have a favourite flower, and does it hold a special symbolic mean or sentiment for you personally?
Glynis: I love flowers and have a garden in upstate New York where something is in bloom from April till November. The winters are too cold for anything to bloom. My birth month flower is the gladiolus, which I used to seriously dislike. I thought them boring.  But as I’ve got older, I’ve come to love them. They bloom all up the stem if you pick off the dead heads at the bottom.  That strikes me as amazingly resilient.  It’s as if they’re saying you think I’m done, well watch this! A good motto for an older woman! I also recently found out that if you give them to someone, it says that he or she pierces your heart with passion. Also a good motto for an older woman!


A View of Glynis's Floral Garden 

Arabella: Some authors write at first light, others need a mug of coffee or a glass of wine before putting pen to paper. When writing, are there any “essentials” you need to help the words flow?
Glynis: No, I can write anywhere, any time.  All I need is my keyboard and a bit of peace and quiet. I have arthritis in my fingers (thanks, Mum!) and never write longhand.  We always go to Florida on the car train and I tippy-tappy all the way down. I don’t plan my books in any real way.  I know where the story is going, more or less, but once my characters come to me, they tell me what I need to know.

Arabella: Are there any organizations, writing, or reader groups that you belong to?  And, how do they support or help you in creating your novels?

Glynis: I belong to the wonderful RNA and love the exchanges between authors on their FB sites. The questions that come up are the ones we all face: how to query, how to attract an agent or publisher, how to market, etc.  It’s a wonderfully supportive group. I also belong to two Book Groups, but, do you know, in over thirty years we’ve never discussed a Romance, until they were kind enough to choose my first novel. It’s so strange, as Romance (as a general category) is by far the best-selling category on Amazon.  I think people just assume Romances, and Regencies in particular, are all fluff and totally lack gravitas. We had a very interesting discussion of Imogen or Love and Money in my Book Group, so I decided to include Conversation Starters at the end of Cecilia or Too Tall to Love. I hope people enjoy using them!

Arabella: You’re halfway through the work-in-progress, you’re about to kill off the hero and there is going to be no happy-ever-after. In other words, you’re stuck! If you had to contact an “author/publisher/editor friend” for guidance, who would it be?
Glynis: I’d email my never-met-but-good-email-friend AudreyHarrison, accomplished and well-known writer of Regency Romances, fellow member of the RNA.  She has been a fount of wisdom and a patient explainer on my publishing journey.  I recently also e-met Val Portelli, another RNA member who’s been really kind. We’re hoping to collaborate on an Anthology.  Having said that, I’d NEVER kill off my hero!! Regencies don’t do that and anyway, I love them all too much! The odd fencing wound or gunshot, perhaps, from which the heroine lovingly nurses them back to full vigour!

Arabella: Your next Regency WIP (work in progress) is on schedule, and it’s time to take a break and relax. Which Jane Austen adaptation would you choose to watch (again J) ?
1) Persuasion
2) Pride and Prejudice
3) Northanger Abbey
4) Mansfield Park
Glynis: Definitely Pride & Prejudice, which I think I can quote practically line for line.  I love all of Jane Austen but I think P & P one of the finest books ever written.  The story arc, the characters, the precision of the language – absolutely wonderful.  I think the TV multi-episode adaptation was the best, particularly for the casting of Mr. Collins and Lady de Bourgh, who were absolutely perfect.


David Bamber as Mr. Collins

Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Lady Catherine de Bourgh

Arabella: Do you have any great writing, publishing, or marketing tips you’d like to share to “want-to-be” historical authors starting out on their writing journey?
Glynis: I’m so new on the journey myself I hesitate to give advice, but I would say that if you are an indie publisher you cannot have too many reviews of your book ready to be published the minute it goes up.  This is one time not be afraid of shameless self-promotion, so use all the groups, friends and contacts you have to ask people to preview your book. You can make it free for the first few days so they can get the book and give you a verified purchase review.  Another thing, don’t forget to put a note in your book, asking readers to give you a review. I didn’t do either of those things with my first book, thinking, probably as we all do, This is so good people will rush to read it! Nope!  It just ain’t so!


Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, Glynis.
The fact you were rejected by a few publishers when you first started out on your publishing journey…well, who hasn’t been? I think I can count on one hand the number of authors that have sailed through a book's publication without an agent’s or publisher’s rejection.
But I think what will take away with me from our ‘virtual’ Chit-Chat it that I’m so pleased you were able to tell us a little bit about your grieving process and how your sister has inspired you to write, and how writing has helped you to honour her memory. Thank you.
Good luck with your latest release, Cecilia or Too Tall to Love, and wishing you lots more happy-ever-after Regency writing.
Arabella Sheen


About GL Robinson

GL Robinson

I’m a product of a convent boarding school in the south of England in the 1950’s and early 60’s. You can probably guess I received an old-fashioned education. It actually could have been in the middle ages.  We used those desks with inkwells and it was only after a year or two that we started having ink pens with refillable cartridges. I learned a great deal about the humanities and practically nothing in the sciences. I understand Latin, speak French fluently and my German isn’t bad. I read the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English when I was 16 and Shakespeare is an open book. But the only science I remember is the ditty: Miss Cummings (our teacher) was a scientist, alas she is no more, for what she took for H2O (water) was H2SO4 (sulphuric acid). Not bad, eh? Words to live by!
I met my American husband while working in Brussels and Bonn and had three children in a foreign tongue. I’ve lived in the USA for over 40 years and retired from my job as a French professor about six years ago. I have seven grandchildren and the same husband I started with.
I began writing Regency Romances 18 months ago after the death of my beloved sister who was in the convent with me all those years ago. We used to read them under the covers with a torch after lights out. My books are dedicated to her. You can see a pic of us together at Portsmouth Dockyard in the About Us section on my website: https://romancenovelsbyglrobinson.com/


SOCIAL MEDIA:


I don’t do Instagram yet, but soon, when I’ve recovered from the effort of the others.  Bear in mind I grew up in a house with no inside plumbing, let alone a phone or television!




BOOK BLURB:   Cecilia or Too Tall To Love

What does orphaned Cecilia Beaumaris, a too tall, too outspoken gentlewoman with no pretensions to beauty and no fortune, do when she is forced to leave the boarding school she has been living in for nearly fifteen years?  She decides to open her own school, of course. But she can’t touch her small inheritance until she is twenty-five, so she has to live temporarily with her aunt and uncle.  But they don’t want her.  To get her married off, they invent a fortune she doesn’t have and she’s besieged by fortune hunters. Enter Lord Thomas Allenby, a handsome, fashionable fribble, who has his own reasons for wanting to escape the marriage mart. He persuades her to announce a faux betrothal, but it doesn’t work out quite how Cecilia expects.

Against the background of early nineteenth century London, with its fashionable Mayfair mansions, East End slums and the development of public education, this is the story of how one woman seeks to improve the lives of impoverished girls by opening a school for them.  The effect on her own life is beyond her wildest imaginings.


BUY LINKS:



You can also sign up on GL Robinson's website for a free short story...

Wednesday 12 February 2020

Welcome to Regency Author - Sue Barr

I’m delighted to welcome Sue Barr to my blog.

Sue Barr - Author
  

Hello Sue – I’m so pleased we were able to connect through social media, and I always marvel at how supportive and encouraging various reading and book groups can be when sharing ‘book’ news.
But before we discover more about your latest release, Georgiana: Pride & Prejudice continued… here are a few questions which will hopefully give your readers and followers an insight into some of the things that matter to you.



Arabella: Are there any organisations, writing, or reader groups, you belong to? And, how do they support or help you in creating such wonderful, inspirational novels?
Sue: I belong to the Romance Writers of America and its satellite branch, The Beau Monde.

Arabella: Where do you read? Sofa or bed or ____?
Sue: Everywhere. Sitting. Standing. Laying Down. Walking.




Arabella: In your latest Regency release, Georgiana: Pride & Prejudice continued…, who is your favourite characters and why?
Sue: My latest release is Georgiana: Pride & Prejudice continued… Book Three. My favourite character. Hmmm…. That’s like trying to choose your favourite child. The most obvious answer would be one of the two main characters, but I have a bit of a crush on Viscount Ashton. He had cameo appearances, but stole the show in each of them.

Arabella: When writing a novel, how do you work? Are you a plotter or pantser?
Sue: For over ten years I was a true blue pantser, but I’m finding that I have to plot out these stories because of the interweaving characters and timelines. It’s a four-book series and a calendar with each event is a MUST and this led to plotting out the scenes, etc., etc. It wasn’t as scary as I thought.

Arabella: It’s your day off. The WIP (work-in-progress) is going to plan and you’re free to do what you like. Which would you prefer to do?
1) Spend a morning in the grounds of a stately home or historic building?
2) Find the nearest library and sit in a quiet corner with a research book?
3) Scour the local antique shops and flea markets looking for Regency bargains?
Sue: If the answers above are my only choice, I’d tour the grounds of a stately home or historical building. I do all my research in my office and I loathe shopping.

 
Ruthven Park - Ontario


Arabella: We all have a long list of books we keep meaning to read but never have the time for --- which book is a must read for you this season?
Sue: I’ve got a few on pre-order (Ella Quinn and Suzanne Enoch) and that’s the length of my TBR. I’m retired and so I have the leisure of a few hours a day to read. In fact, I read three books yesterday. (Yes, I’m an extremely fast reader and No, I don’t skim. Ask my husband. He, to this day after 38 years, does not know how I do it.) (Neither do I.)

Arabella: Which historical locations, cities or buildings have given inspiration when writing your Regency novel(s)?
Sue: I try to stick to the ones most familiar to readers and so my characters shop at Hatchard’s, Gunther’s, Bond Street and may, or may not, be a member of Almack’s. So far, I’ve only included White’s, but I have researched the other men’s clubs and one day may use them.


Almack's Assembly Hall


Arabella: What about your future plans? Any books or series in the making?
Sue: I am working right now on Mary: Pride & Prejudice continued… Book Four. This revolves around Mary Bennet and Colonel Fitzwilliam. I’m enjoying this so much because no one expects Mary to attract such a prestigious person and the Colonel… well he has deep seated issues and night terrors from being a seasoned military man. The dynamics are fun to write.


Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, Sue. I’m keen to discover if you develop Viscount Ashton into a lead character in your next Pride & Prejudice continued… series.
All the best for your latest release, Georgiana, and wishing you lots more #Regency romance writing…
Arabella


About Sue Barr


Sue Barr - Author


‘The prairie dust is in my blood but no longer on my shoes.’

Although it’s been over thirty-seven years since Sue called Saskatchewan home, her roots to that straight-lined province and childhood friends run deep. The only thing strong enough to entice her to pack up and leave was love. When a handsome Air Force pilot met this small-town girl, he swept her off her feet and they embarked on a fantastic adventure which found them settled in beautiful Southwestern Ontario when hubby retired from the military and began his second career as an airline pilot.

Sue started writing in 2009 and sold her first manuscript in 2010. Always a reader of Regency romance, she discovered Jane Austen Fan Fiction. Almost immediately a question popped into her head, ‘Whatever happened to Caroline Bingley after her brother and Mr. Darcy became engaged to a Bennet sister?’, and the Pride & Prejudice continued… series was launched.

Sue is a member of Romance Writer’s of America and its satellite chapter, The Beau Monde. She is one course away from achieving her Professional Creative Writer’s certificate from the University of Western Ontario’s continuing study curriculum. In her spare time, she cans and preserves her own food, cooks almost everything from scratch and grows herbs to dehydrate and make into seasoning. Hubby has no complaints other than his trousers keep shrinking. At least that’s what he claims…. Her sons and grandkids don’t mind this slight obsession either.

Website:  https://suebarr.ca





Blurb:  Georgiana: Pride & Prejudice continued… Book Three

She longs for true love...

A dowry of thirty thousand pounds places a hefty weight upon the shoulders of Miss Georgiana Darcy. Her tender heart has been broken before by a cad who cared not one whit for who she was, but as a prize to be won, and she fears no man will ever see the worth of her heart.

Duty and honor...

These are the stalwart columns which hold up the life of Maxwell Kerr, Fifth Duke of Adborough. After rescuing Miss Darcy from an inescapable compromise, an offer of marriage is as natural to him as breathing air. When he discovers this is not the first compromise she has evaded, anger becomes his faithful companion and threatens their tenuous bonds of love and respect.


BUY LINKS:   



Wednesday 5 February 2020

Welcome to Regency Author - Annie Burrows


I’m delighted to welcome historical romance author, Annie Burrows to my blog.

Annie Burrows

Hello Annie – It was wonderful to connect with you through the Romantic Novelists’ Association where authors and affiliate members gather, virtually and in-person across the globe, to offer one another "writerly" support. As a Regency reader and author, I’m eager to learn some of the writing secrets that have made you such a successful and prolific Regency romance author for Mills and Boon publishing...do tell. 😉 
But before we discover more about your latest Regency release, The Scandal of the Season here are a few questions which will hopefully give your readers an insight into some of the things that matter to you.


Arabella: Authors can release books, making them available to readers in various ways…via an agent, or working directly with a traditional publisher, or they can even go the self-publishing route. Which method of publishing do you prefer, and why?
Annie: I prefer to be traditionally published.  I did begin to think about self-publishing at one time, but then I discovered that I’d have to find an editor I could work with, to check over my work, find a cover artist to design my covers, and then do a lot of marketing if I wanted my books to look professional, and reach a buying audience.  I much prefer to let the publishing house take care of all that side of things, and just concentrate on writing the best book I can.

Arabella: A slice of Chocolate Cake, a piece of Fruit, or Burger and Fries?
Annie:  That sounds like a three course meal to me!  Melon for starters, burger as mains, and the chocolate cake for dessert.



  
Arabella: Who or what inspired you to write your latest Regency release, The Scandal of the Season?
Annie: The Scandal of the Season started out when I took part in a workshop with Michelle Styles, at a romance readers convention in Germany.  We created a fictional duchess, who was instructing a girl from trade how to behave in society, in order to have a fun session where modern women could learn about Regency manners and attitudes.  (I played the part of the duchess, and very snooty I was, too!)
And I began to think what fun it would be to write about an impoverished duchess introducing a girl from trade into society, for a fee.  The duchess in question would have to resort to all sorts of shenanigans in order to make this girl presentable, which is where the heroine, Cassandra Furnival comes in.  The duchess is her godmother, and offers to restore her damaged reputation if she will pretend that the girl from trade is her friend, thus making it acceptable for society hostesses to include her in invitations to their parties.  At first, Cassandra thinks of her as a fairy godmother, who whisks her up to London, dresses her in finery, and takes her to balls.  But then she meets a man from her past, who is determined to put a stop to her schemes…

Arabella: If the person of your dreams (husband/wife/partner/or Regency beau) were to invite you out, where would they take you, and which vehicle would they use:
1) Phaeton
2) Landau
3) Curricle
4) Barouche
Annie:  I think I would have to choose an outing in a curricle.  Preferably, I’d like to race down to Brighton, clinging onto my hat with one hand, and the guard rail with the other as my driver overtakes all the slower, lumbering vehicles that get in our way!


Carriage - Curricle

Arabella: Which is your most favourite period drama or historical film you’ve seen to date, and why is it so special?
Annie: I just adore the 1946 adaptation of Great Expectations, starring John Mills and directed by David Lean.  The story has so many layers, apart from the moving love story between poor deluded Pip, and the haughty Estella, giving glimpses into many layers of the society of the time.  And the adaptation itself is so skilfully handled, from the chilly, bleak atmosphere of the marshes in the opening sequences, to the glittering and rather hectic ballrooms of London.  Not only that, but every time I watch it I notice another little detail in the background which is so accurate that it makes me want to cheer.

Arabella: When writing a book or chapter, which do you concentrate on first: plot, character, or setting?
Annie:  Characters.  My stories always start with the characters.  I usually picture them in a specific scene or situation, (which is often problematic) and start wondering how they are going to get out of it. How their background and childhood will influence the decisions they make, and their attitude to life and the people they encounter.  Their behaviour drives the plot.  And sometimes I forget about the setting altogether, and have to remind myself to go back through the work and make sure I have given at least a bit of a hint as to the time of day, or the weather!

Arabella: How do you research your Regency novels and characters?
Annie: I read biographies of people who lived in that era.  It never ceases to surprise me how eccentric many of them were.  No matter what story I could come up with, there is always a real person who did something far more outrageous!  I also read factual books, such as “Quacks – Fakers and Charlatans in Medicine” by Roy Porter, “Flunkeysand Scullions – life below stairs in Georgian England” by Pamela Horn, and “For King and Country – the letters and diaries of John Mills, Coldstream Guards1811 – 1814”.
More recently I have begun to use Louise Allen’s brief guides to Georgian and Regency life.  At the moment I am poring over her “Stagecoach Travel”, as I’m writing my next book, which opens in an inn where my governess heroine is waiting while she changes coaches.


A Selection of Annie's Research Books


Arabella: What advice would you give to someone who is starting out on their writing journey?
Annie:  Probably sounds obvious, but just sit down and write.  As often as you can.  Nobody can really tell you what method will work, because we are all so different.  Some people write best very early in the morning, some at night.  Some need complete quiet, some prefer to be in a café.  Some people need to plot everything out in minute detail before they can start, others need to just launch into the mist and see what happens.  And the only way you can find out what sort of writer you are, is to see what works for you.


Thank you for joining us on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat today, Annie. I’m sure your readers are amazed to read about all the research work you do in order to write such spellbinding Regency romance novels.
And, I must say…you’ve whetted my appetite to read Louise Allen’s – “Stagecoach Travel”. I’m keen to see how you incorporate some stagecoach facts into your next Regency romance.

Best wishes and good luck with your latest release, The Scandal of the Season
Arabella Sheen



About Annie Burrows


Annie Burrows

  
Annie Burrows has been writing light-hearted Regency romances for Mills & Boon since 2007. Her first book, “His Cinderella Bride” was the top seller in the historical line that year.

Subsequent books have gone on to win the coveted Reviewer’s Choice award from Cataromance.

Her books have charmed readers worldwide, having been translated into 19 different languages.

Annie’s latest release is: “The Scandal of the Season” which is available in the UK, US, and Australia, now.

Social Media

Facebook:  AnnieBurrowsUK
Twitter:  @NovelistaAnnie

  



Book Blurb:  The Scandal of the Season

Her name is ruined.

But her heart is untouched!

Having saved Cassandra Furnival from scandal once before, it shouldn’t have surprised Colonel Nathaniel Fairfax that she was now attempting to lay siege to the Ton’s eligible bachelors! Determined to thwart her plans, he’s as astounded by her defiance as by her beauty. But nothing shocks the jaded soldier more than discovering her innocence. Restoring her reputation is set to bring about the scandal of the season!

For more information, or to contact the author, please visit her website or Facebook page as shown.

BUY LINKS:
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Forbidden Stowaway - Arabella Sheen - EXCERPT 2

   Chapter One - Excerpt 2 Olivia was taken to the back of the tavern, where the landlady pulled aside a dark velvet curtain to reveal a ro...