Tuesdays Comings and Goings

Monday I am (or was) at Unusual Historicals talking about this month's theme, Love Affairs.

Tuesday (being today lol) I'm over at Fang-tastic talking about the ever sexy and sarcastic James Blackthorne and his story, Dark Desires of the Druids IV: Temptations and Treachery. I do hope you'll stop by!

Wednesday I'll be at Slip into Something Victorian with a brief bit on Alan Pinkerton, the Scottish American detective and spy best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.

Hmm, noticing this maybe I should move my excerpts from Mondays to Tuesdays so I'm not behind with this. Ah, well, I still recommend checking out Unusual Historicals, lots of great authors over there!

Dark Desires of the Druids IV: Temptations and Treachry

The final in my Druids series. Though I'm never opposed to adding more to the verse, the arc I set for myself is finished. If I did another story centered around this time and place, it wouldn't have much (if anything) to do with my core characters. I won't rule out to a story set in contemporary times, however. *G*

The story arc was 3 books, this one was added because, well...I wanted Isadore to have a story. Poor woman deserved a happy ending of her own! She deserved love and passion and adventure. James Blackthorne is perfect for her. He's sexy, moritvated, and needs her, which is what Isadore wants to be-needed.

Temptations & Treachery: Philadelphia June, 1884

Lady Isadore Harrington is a well-bred English lady. She's traveled the world in search of magickal artifacts to help her people and has seen the best and worst of humanity. But she's never taken time for herself-never done just for herself. Going to Philadelphia as the magicker emissary between England and the Americas, she intends to rectify that.

Then she meets James Blackthorne. Tall, handsome, witty, commanding, he brings out feelings in her she's always wanted to experience but never has. He makes her want him, makes her forget all else but him. Virginal, but far from naïve, Isadore is tempted to experience everything James has to offer. Cautious by nature, she offers her body to him and discovers all her sexual desires fulfilled.

But the magicker world is far from safe, and Isadore is threatened from many who are jealous and distrustful. Temptations abound, but treachery is never far behind.

With a last look at the door, and fighting the urge to race after the man, James moved next to Lady Isadore.

“Are you all right?” He leaned against the archway, the room spinning around him.

Takoda entered with a light. Jacobs, the butler, looking disheveled, moved behind him already lighting the downstairs rooms.

“I have to admit,” she said moving closer to James. Her hair tumbled down her back, her eyes were grey-blue again as they gazed steadily at him. “I hadn’t expected this kind of welcome.”

Offering a weary smile, James’ hand touched the back of his head, but no blood coated his fingers. Looking concerned at his movement, Isadore circled him and moved her gentle fingers onto the back of his head.

“Were you injured?” she asked, exploring his scalp. “What happened upstairs?”

“Just a bump,” he said. And winced as she tilted his head forward, causing the room to swim again. “I caught him snooping upstairs, for what I don’t know.”

The companion—what was her name—said something to Lady Isadore, who answered in the same language. James had never heard it before, but then her
fingers massaged his scalp and he forgot about it.

“Morgana’s been out of residence over a year,” he said as her fingers moved over his neck.

“Yes,” she laughed, her breath soft on his skin.

Taking her fingers in his hand, he half turned and smiled. He leaned down to help the other woman stand. Takoda appeared, then, with a cloth wrapped around ice. James started to reach for it, but he handed it to the companion instead.

Snorting in amusement, he looked around the area. Smashed bit of pottery and ceramics, broken slabs of furniture; Takoda stood to one side, the companion next to him.

“Not the welcome I expected to give you,” he offered. Her hand was soft in his and James rubbed a thumb over bare knuckles. “I can’t let you stay here. Not tonight at least. It’s probably best for you to stay in my house this evening.”

5 Cherries from Whipped Cream Reviews:
Excerpt: In this fourth book in the Druids series, Isabel Roman takes us back to Philadelphia of the late 1800’s. The characters are superb and complex. Isadore is a strong woman, much like all of the heroines in Ms. Roman’s Druid books. But unlike the others, Isadore is an innocent.

4 Nymphs from Literary Nymphs:
Excerpt: Isabel Roman has done a wonderful job of telling of the treachery by the characters that felt they needed the control. There is a joint effort of the council to staunch the problems that arose so they could try to live peacefully. I am hopeful that this is not the last in this series, and I am looking forward to the other books written by this author.

4 Cups of Coffee from Coffee Time Romance:
Excerpt: Passion, jealousy, greed, power and many more corruptible feelings are all present in this story. The bottom line of the story is that ultimate power corrupts and the author explored the idea that maybe no one person should hold the knowledge of such power. The storyline moves very well and drew me into the plot right away. Worth reading for someone who loves the mythical world of magic.

Friday Guest: Caroline Clemmons

Today Caroline joins me. A Texan, she writes the kinds of stories I gobbled up in high school and college, when I had time to indulge in romance books. Who needed to study? ;)

What draws you to the Civil War/post-Civil War era?

Write what you know. I positively love American history, but especially that of the South and West. No matter where my books begin, the characters end up in Texas. I am more familiar with my own family's history during the mid to late 19th century, and that makes this time especially interesting for me. My family lived in the South moving West at that time, so that's why my books are set in those locales. My dad told stories of his family most evenings at the dinner table. The tales fascinated me then, and still do. Since then, I've learned much more about our family through genealogy and gleaning other relatives' stories. This stuff is better than fiction, believe me! One branch of our family was, um, shall we be polite and say eccentric? Like my friend, Jeanmarie Hamilton, I use a real family setting and/or incident in my novels and then make up the rest to suit my characters.

What else are you working on?

Am I ever glad you asked! I am working on several books at once:

My WIP (what writers call their work in progress) is a time travel, TEXAS SHOWDOWN, set in Central Texas and aimed at The Wild Rose Press' Faery Rose line. In it, a woman from 1896 travels to present day to find someone else living in her home--but it's not her home any longer. The heroine is named after my brother's fiancee and has Penny's red hair, and I'm eager that the book turn out well. Of course, my brother's fiancee is not a time traveler--at least not as far as I know. No, I'm sure she's not. They were childhood sweethearts, so I know she's been around the same length of time he has. Unless . . . no, I won't go there.

I'm awaiting galleys [for non-writers' info, that's the final check of the book text before release] on a western historical, THE TEXAN'S IRISH BRIDE, set in Central Texas. The cover for this book is so great! Nicola Martinez designed the cover and it turned out better than I could ever have hoped. This story is about a rancher who delivers horses to a buyer. On the way home, he rescues a young woman from two kidnappers who are attacking her. In the rescue, he kills both men but is severely wounded himself. During his recovery with her family, he is forced to wed her. He ends up taking her eccentric family home with him. His bride is the most superstitious person he's ever met, her father never uses two words when a thousand will do and has a blessing or toast for every event, and her mother is ill and hooked on laudanum. The heroine has two brothers, and one is a major mischief-maker and thorn in the hero's side. It was a fun story to write and is set in my favorite time, 1885. I can hardly wait for readers to see this book!

I am also involved in edits on a sweet contemporary, TEXAS FIREWORKS, set in West Texas for TWRP's Sweetheart Rose line. In this book a struggling woman in Dallas inherits land and cash in West Texas and must live there for a year to make her inheritance final. The hero and heroine don't have sex because they keep being interrupted. She has a teenaged brother for whom she's guardian, and the hero is a widower with two young children. This one is set near Lubbock, where I grew up, and in the area where my uncle lived and my cousin and her husband still reside. Of course, the characters have no resemblance to anyone in my family, but the setting makes me nostalgic. The name of the small town has been changed. Writing about a fictional town is way easier than using an actual town or city. The make believe place can have whatever businesses and residences I decide! I may make this a series by writing two other books in the same locale with the same extended family because I have the books already plotted.

I'm kinda, sorta, thinking about revising a contemporary, SNOWFIRES, set in West Texas and Dallas for the Champagne Rose line of TWRP. It needs a LOT of revisions, so I'm not certain I can salvage it, but the editor was kind enough to make detailed suggestions. Sometimes, though, it's easier just to ditch a book and start a new one instead of beating a dead horse. I like the characters in this one, so I'll probably persevere in whipping it into better shape. Maybe. We'll see.

Oh, I agree. My first serious uncompleted ms is languishing and I think I can turn it around, but I'd only be able to salvage maybe 3 scenes. THREE scenes from a 75,000 story! Breaks my heart.

Now might be a good time to say I have a book due to be released on June 4, 2010 from The Wild Rose Press, OUT OF THE BLUE. This story is a time travel from TWRP's Faery line. It's set in North Central Texas. In it a clairvoyant young woman healer from 1845 Ireland jumps off an Irish cliff to escape a mob that blames her for their rotting potatoes. She lands in present day Lake Possum Kingdom near the bass boat of an injured detective. He won't let her out of his sight until he discovers how she knows details about his late partner that no one but he knew. He believes she may be in league with whoever shot him and killed his best friend partner. That cover is also great and also from Nicola Martinez.

I certainly hope you'll stop back in June!

What’s your dream story? The one that becomes a New York Times runaway bestseller, the one you hope to one day write?

My favorite story is usually my WIP. Yet, in the back of my mind, I have this BIG story set at the end of the Civil War in which two cousins travel from Georgia to Fort Concho on the Concho River near San Angelo, Texas. Maybe I'll get around to writing it someday. Since the cousins are both female and are going to visit the brother of one, it's more a saga than a traditional romance--although both women find love while they're rescuing the one's brother. There are murder, mayhem, and major struggles in this one. I love books with danger in them, don't you?

And in that vein, I've also written a couple of mysteries that I have yet to market. One is about a young woman who manages her family's garden center and landscape company. The other is about a deputy who becomes sheriff (it's not a police procedural, but more a character study involving a sheriff). I've started a third mystery which actually seems more promising than either of the other two. But what do I know? Impossible to be objective about one's work. I've searched for an agent, but haven't found one. Wrong, I had a BAD agent once who pretty well ruined my career. Now I'm searching for a GREAT agent. I think it's easier to get struck by lightning.

Anything else you’d like to share?

As you can tell, I love writing--even when I am having trouble, even when I'm revising, even when I have to open a vein and bleed my soul onto the page. I'd write even if no one paid me [which is almost true now]. At least with TWRP, my books have great covers and the editors are also great! I guess I'd write even if no one read my books. Oooh, wouldn't that be sad? No, I'd probably print them up myself and give them away if I couldn't sell them. Hopefully, it won't come to that.

I will have to pay for the printing of a book about my father's Johnson/Johnston family that my brother and I are working on. Our dad asked me to do a book about his family. Even though he's passed away, my brother and I want to honor his wishes. Besides, this stuff is fascinating to me. My brother has helped me track down people and facts and we hope to have the book printed late this spring or early summer. I'd already done a book on my mom's family and one about my mother-in-law. I don't publish just boring and dry charts and names. Yawn. My family books include as many anecdotes as I can collect as well as lots and lots of photos. As you can imagine, family history is important to me and I want to preserve it for posterity!

Thanks for having me as your guest.
Thank you, Caroline, for dropping by!

Thursday Progress

Stumbling block overcome! Wrote close to 10,000 words since this time last week. It really is all about the breakdown. I'm closing in on the halfway mark for the chapter-scene breakdown and know this is the reason I had so many difficulties getting to this point.

Overall plot, Act breakdown, Cliff for each act, Chapter breakdown, Scene breakdown, Write.

I'm trying for a chapter a day, or 3-4 chapters during the work week. If I have the weekend set aside for writing, 3-4 more on Saturdays and Sundays.

What about you? What are you working on? Are you stuck on a chapter/scene?

Wednesday Review: Northern Roses and Southern Belles

No, I'm not reviewing my story, In the Shadows, this week. I'm all for self-promotion but that seems beyond the pale. This week's review is Caroline Clemmons's Long Way Home.

This story starts with action and doesn't stop. But the romance between Parmelia and Derreck is what really makes this story. I love a good betrayal story, where the past needs to be explained and the hurt of abandonment overcome. I don't know why, but it's always been a favorite. Maybe because they have to work doubly hard to have that happy ending. Caroline's story comes through.

Have I convinced you? Will you go buy the anthology now? It's well worth it, not only for the historical aspects, but for the very different stories you'll find here. Trust me. And if you don't, check out James Miller's review. Jim has a Civil War blog and is passionate about the era.

E-book. Paperback. Amazon.com. Barnes & Noble.

Tuesdays Comings and Goings

No guest blogging this week, but if there are any Victorian writers out there (meaning any story set between 1837-1901 in any part of the world) and you'd like to guest blog on Slip into Something Victorian, drop me a line!

If you'd like to promote any other book, and want another spot for a blog tour, you can do so here. I'm always open to hosting fellow writers.
isabel@isabelroman.com

As for the rest of the week, I have several guest spots next week and need to get cracking on those blogs!

Happy Writing!

Dark Desires of the Druids III: Desert & Destiny

The third of my Druids stories and the final one in the Witch Hunters arc. I really had a lot of fun with this story. The research was intense, but Egypt during this time was so interesting!

And Arabelle, she has issues, but isn't weak. Far from it. Gareth, he has more issues, lots of bitterness and resentment but grows--evolves. Remember, he's Raven's jilted lover from Murder & Magick. He resents every second he has to be near Raven's husband's Malcolm but the all need to pull together to defeat the Witch Hunters and find the Repository of Knowledge.

They came together out of need, helpless to resist the passion between them. but when an old enemy tries to kill Arabelle, will Gareth realize the depth of his emotions? Or will the desert swallow them all?

Desert & Destiny: England, April 1883

Following the treasure-lined path he had earlier, he found Arabelle Bahari exactly where they’d left her, standing before her father’s now-empty desk.

Not entering immediately, he remained in the shadowed hallway and
studied her. Her shoulders were slumped and head bowed, and Gareth didn’t think it was the overwhelming presence of six powerful magickers who invaded her sanctuary that caused this display of emotion.

A single tear dropped from her cheek to the desktop.

Although she was the most exotically beautiful woman he’d ever seen, Gareth was surprised at his reaction to her. He wanted her with a fierceness he’d never experienced. Never expected.

“Are you going to stand in the shadows for what’s left of the night?”

Her voice was even huskier now, putting him to mind of moonlight on her skin as that golden skin wrapped around him. When she looked up, her eyes were clear as glass, the blackest of glass.

“I was worried about you,” he said, stepping into the brightly lighted office. “You lost a friend tonight, that could rattle anyone.”

“I’m not rattled,” she said, voice melancholy. “I’ve lost friends before. As magickers.” She tossed her head and her long black hair whirled about her. He hadn’t noticed it before, the silk of it, the length. It added to her allure. Gareth wanted to feel its weight, feel it against his skin, wrapping around them as they made love.

“We grow all-too accustomed to losing those we care for.”

Making the effort, he rounded the desk to stand before her. He debated
taking her hand, uncomfortable with such displays. “Yes. We’ve lost too many, to
the point where our grief has hardened us.”

“I’m surprised,” she said, leaning a hip against the desk.

“That I understand grief?” Gareth offered a short bitter laugh. “You’re not the only one who’s lost those she loves.”

“No,” Miss Bahari said, “I’m surprised the grief of those outside your circle affects you.”

Angered with her callous remark, Gareth grabbed her upper arms and shook her. They were slim and muscular beneath the loose white top she wore. “I didn’t ask for this, Miss Bahari. I was born to it and have done the best I could under the circumstances in which we live. It’s never been just my life at stake.”

“You’ve protected yours,” she snapped back, “but what about the rest of us?”

She didn’t try to break away but her voice fought him, her eyes blazed fury at him. Some small part of Gareth thought he shouldn’t be so attracted to her anger, but it was soon drowned out by his own anger, anger and desire.

“You denied us the chance to learn from you. Even now, I can feel my own magick increasing with your nearness. Yet you’ve left us in the cold.”

“It was not,” he said softly, still holding her, “my intent.”

The air shifted between them, then, sparked around them. She hadn’t moved, hadn’t tried to break free since he’d grabbed her. Suddenly her hands were on his face, pulling him forward. Her mouth was on his, hot and greedy. The spark turned to an inferno and he embraced it.

5 Cherries from Whipped Cream Reviews: The location this time, Egypt of the late 1800’s, is one of contrasts. There are luxurious hotels catering to the tourists and crumbling hovels that the native people live in almost next to each other. The characters are, as always, richly charismatic and superbly detailed. The women are strong and intelligent, and as willing to jump into the fray as the men are. The action is fast and exciting, the mystery engaging, and the romance is searingly hot.

4.5 Nymphs from Literary Nymphs: Isabel Roman has done a wonderful job of writing about ancient Egypt, the Magickers power to control the flow of life, and how love will survive. I especially love the fact that she added a twist to the couple’s lives without their knowing. Once the group retrieved the book they were looking for, I felt as though there should be something more, and hope that Ms. Roman will make me a happy camper continuing this series.

4.5 Tombstones from Bitten by Books: The romance develops so naturally. Especially when considered how the foundations were purely physical, Ms. Roman does an excellent job of developing the passion into true romance.