Measure for Measure: by Anna Campbell

Today, we've got talented, multi-award winning historical author, Anna Campbell, to visit!  She's here to tell us about one aspect of her research for her latest release!

Over to you, Anna!

Thanks, Sharon. Hiya Love Cats! Thank you for inviting me back here. I love visiting!

Last week, I had a new book out. That’s always an exciting event in Campbellandia, as you can imagine. WHAT A DUKE DARES is the third book in my Sons of Sin series and it details the turbulent romance between childhood friends Camden Sedgemoor, Duke of Rothermere, and Penelope Thorne. 

 
Speaking of rocky, things literally start out that way. While the majority of the story takes place back in England in stately homes and glittering ballrooms, the beginning of WHAT A DUKE DARES is a road trip. Pen, my intrepid and headstrong heroine, is facing down a band of marauding bandits in a ramshackle inn in the Italian Alps in February when who should turn up to save her but the man she’s spent nine long years trying to forget, Camden Rothermere? Even worse, Cam insists upon escorting her home to England (why doesn’t she want him to? I think you need to read the book to find out!).

I’ve illustrated this blog with photos from my own trip to this spectacular part of the world in 1985 (apologies for the faded colour!). Imagine these high, rugged mountains covered in thick snow and someone trying to cross them with a horse and carriage and you get an idea of Pen’s travel difficulties. My friend and I were in a very nippy little Citroen and it was April, but even then a lot of the high passes were closed and snow and ice frequently made driving dangerous. 

This particular book involved a lot of travel for the characters. People always seemed to be popping off here and there. There was not just the Italian journey, there was a yacht trip from Genoa to England, a trip to Cam’s Derbyshire family seat, and a journey from London to Liverpool. I don’t know about Pen and Cam, but I was ready for a cup of tea and a nice lie-down by the time I got to the end of writing it! 

The problem, for a writer at least, of all this travel is that you need to be careful with your timing. There’s nothing worse when a reader finds themselves ripped from the story because someone travels from London to Edinburgh in a couple of hours when only horse-drawn transport is available. So I needed to work out just how slowly people were likely to travel through the Alps in midwinter (answer: very slowly indeed) and I needed to estimate distances and likely travel times for all the other journeys. Luckily in the Regency, high speed mail coaches published schedules for their routes so working out believable travel times in England is reasonably straightforward. 

But what happens when your characters leave dry land? I’m a very enthusiastic swimmer but boats are beyond my ken apart from the fact that they float (hopefully!) and if you point them in the right direction, they’ll carry you to interesting places. 


I needed approximate timing for Genoa to Folkestone on the Kentish coast under the power of sail alone. So I called on an expert! My talented writer friend Helene Young lives on a yacht so I requested her help in charting a voyage for Cam and Pen on a thoroughbred of a boat, and she came up trumps with a trip of around a fortnight. Just right for my story! That’s Helene in the photo holding her Australian Romantic Book of the Year Award from 2011.  Sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s who you know!


I hope you’ll travel to your nearest bookseller (even if they’re as close as the internet!) and check out Pen and Cam’s tumultuous love story. For all the physical journeys they undertake, their greatest journeys are the shifts their hearts and minds make! Only then can they look forward to happily ever after.

But of course, that’s true about any worthwhile romance novel, isn’t it?

So let’s talk fantasy travel. If you could do a road trip anywhere at all, where would you go? Who would you choose as your traveling companion and why? I’ve got a signed copy of WHAT A DUKE DARES (international) for someone who leaves a comment today. Good luck! 


Where to get WHAT A DUKE DARES:
Amazon
The Book Depository
Barnes and Noble
Booktopia

Books, Laughter and Learning

by Jennifer St George

The last two weeks have been huge for me.  I was part of the team (the Communication Manager) that put on the Byron Bay Writers Festival, 1-3 August. It was the most successful Festival in the event’s 18-year history.  Ticket sales were up 20% on last year as were sales from the onsite bookshop.  I’d spent the preceding six months talking to journalists from all forms of media about the event and the resulting coverage has been fantastic.

Jennifer St George and Amy Andrews signing books
at the Byron Bay Writes Festival

The Festival was also my first foray into being a Festival participant. Fellow LoveCat Amy Andrews and I featured on the panel, Be Still My Beating Heart: Writing Romance chaired by the hilarious Mandy Nolan. As we were scheduled at the same time as Jeanette Winterson OBE, I was worried about audience numbers, but by the end of the session our marquee was almost full. 

The panel was fantastic fun and we tackled a number of the myths about romance writing and generally had a fabulous time.

So I wrapped up that Festival and spent the next two days preparing for the Romance Writers of Australia conference, Romance Rocks being held in Sydney.  I ran two workshops with Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and romantic suspense author, Helene Young; participated in a debate at the Literacy High Tea; was an interviewee on a panel about début authors and had fun with my fellow LoveCats in a session on writing category romance.

Michelle Douglas, Rachel Bailey, Jennifer
St George and Annie West at RWA
conference

The debate was brilliant. The topic was Alpha Heroes are Better than Beta Heroes.  I was on the affirmative team with Cherry Adair and Christina Brooke. The opposing team consisted of Amy Andrews, Sarah Wendell and Anne Gracie. Yes, quite formidable opponents.  Our team sang, knitted, role played and argued with passion.  But sadly, we lost. 

The Australian Romance Readers Association held an amazing book signing event. It was lovely to meet readers and sign a few books.

Amidst the mayhem of the leather and lace cocktail party, the Gala Dinner and catching up with friends, I attended lots of highly informative workshops and will focus on bringing those lessons learned to my current manuscript.

I arrived home last night inspired and invigorated and exhausted. It's such an incredible privilege to have been immersed in literature and books for the past two weeks. Books!  How could you live without them?

I’d love to hear about an event you’ve attended recently that inspired you. 

Jennifer St George's sexy stories feature courageous, career-minded heroines, strong heroes in glamorous international settings. The Billionaire’s Pursuit of Love is available now at Amazon, iTunes, Destiny Romance and Google.

CATWALK Caption Contest!

  
Zeus!  Wonder Dog!

(Helene Young's Super Pooch Visits with Sharon Archer!)

CAPTION ME TO WIN!

I feel very privileged to be hosting award-winning author, Helene Young's wonder dog, Zeus, on the LoveCats' CATWALK, today.  He's very generously offering a copy of Helene's latest release with Penguin Australia,  Burning Lies, to one of our clever captioners!

More details at the bottom of our post but for now, the spotlight's on you, Zeus!

Name: Zeus the Wonder Staffie 

Abode:
Beanbag. Oh sorry, did you mean Tropical North Queensland where it's beautiful one day, perfect the next?

Human Slave:
Slave? That's a cat thing. I prefer to call them 'special friends' - it's more inclusive. Graham is good fun, but Helene is quite wonderful.

Likes:
The beach (but who doesn't!)

Dislikes:
Little white fluffy dogs - especially when they yap.

Ambition: 
Justice for all animals (except little white fluffy dogs...)

Sociable or Aloof:
I'm very sociable, but it's important to choose friends and colleagues carefully so a quick lick of their knees normally sorts them out.

Night Owl or Early Bird:
Early bird but really only because my 'friends' work best at that time.

Favourite Pastime:
Swimming, giving my 'friends' exercise by letting them throw sticks for me, playing on the beach.

Favourite Toy:
Tennis balls (I have around 50 in my collection from the local tennis park!)

Best Friend: 
Charity - she's a sweet eight year old human who lives up the hill and comes swimming in my pool with me.


What do you like to sharpen your claws on:
Oh dear, that's so cattie... I like to keep my claws neat and trim and I find walking on the edge of gutters and footpaths does that quite nicely.

Most embarrassing moment:
I don't do embarrassing, only heroic, and modesty prevents me from sharing :-D



Bravo, Zeus!  It's been great to have you with us!

I can't wait to read the captions for your picture - you look so adorable on that heart-covered cushion!

Here's more about Helene's next exciting romantic suspense...

Burning Lies!

Kaitlyn Scott is searching for the truth about her husband’s death, even if that means revisiting the most painful day of her life. But what she uncovers is a criminal willing to stop at nothing to keep his secret.

 

Ryan O’Donnell, an enigmatic undercover cop, is investigating arson attacks when he is drawn into Kaitlyn’s world. He tries to fight his attraction for her, hoping the case might put his own demons to rest, but it only threatens to push him over the edge.

With Kaitlyn and Ryan on a collision course, the arsonist seizes the chance to settle some old scores. As the Atherton Tableland burns, the three of them are caught in a fiery dance of danger and desire, and not everyone will come out alive.

Dash over to Helene's website to read this EXCERPT!