Excerpt Thursday: AMERICA’S FIRST DAUGHTER by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

This week, we're pleased to welcome authors STEPHANIE DRAY and LAURA KAMOIE with their latest release, AMERICA'S FIRST DAUGHTER, set in America's colonial period. Here's the blurb.

In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph—a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.

From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France.

It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father’s troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love—with her father’s protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William’s wife and still be a devoted daughter.

Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father's reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.

Advanced Praise for America’s First Daughter:

“America’s First Daughter brings a turbulent era to vivid life. All the conflicts and complexities of the Early Republic are mirrored in Patsy’s story. It’s breathlessly exciting and heartbreaking by turns-a personal and political page-turner.” (Donna Thorland, author of The Turncoat)

“Painstakingly researched, beautifully hewn, compulsively readable -- this enlightening literary journey takes us from Monticello to revolutionary Paris to the Jefferson White House, revealing remarkable historical details, dark family secrets, and bringing to life the colorful cast of characters who conceived of our new nation. A must read.” (Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Empress)

**An Excerpt from America’s First Daughter**

It was my haste that made me stumble halfway down the stairs. Only a wild, wrenching grasp at the carved wooden rail saved me from a broken neck. Alas, the heavy fall of my feet echoed up the staircase and drew my father from his rooms.

“Patsy?” he called, peering over the bannister.

I froze, breathless, my belly roiling with shock and anger and revulsion. I ought to have pretended that I didn’t hear him say my name. I ought to have hurried on, leaving him with only the sight of my back. I ought never to have looked up at him over my shoulder.

But I did look up.

There on the landing my father loomed tall, a tendril of his ginger hair having come loose from its ribbon, his shirt worn without its neck cloth, the stark white linen setting off more vividly the red flush that crept up his throat. Was it shame for his behavior with Sally or . . . ardor?

On the heels of giving witness to his behavior, the thought was so excruciatingly horrifying that heat swept over me, leaving me to wish I’d burn away to dust.

“Are you hurt?” Papa asked, hoarsely.

I couldn’t reply, my mouth too filled with the bitter taste of bile. Finally, I forced a shake of my head.

He glanced back to the door, then back at me, his hand half-covering his mouth. “Were—were you at my door just now?”

“No,” I whispered, as much as I could manage under my suffocating breathlessness. And how dare he ask if I’d been at his door when neither of us could bear the honest answer? Even if Papa didn’t know what I’d seen, he knew what he’d done.

He ought to have been downstairs with us, reacquainting himself with the little daughter who still didn’t remember him. He ought to have been sipping cider with the young man who fancied me, giving his permission to court. He ought to have been doing a hundred other things. Instead, he was preying upon my dead mother’s enslaved half-sister—and the wrongness of it filled my voice with a defiant rage.

“No, I wasn’t at your door.” I held his gaze, letting him see what he would.

My father paused on the precipice, clearing his throat, absently smearing the corner of his lips with one thumb. “Well—well. . .did you need something?” As if my needs were at the forefront of his thoughts.

My fingers curled into fists as a lie came to me suddenly, and sullenly. “I was coming up to fetch my prayer book.” Surely he knew it was a lie, but I didn’t care. If he challenged me, I’d lie again, without even the decency of dropping my eyes. I’d lie because between a father and a daughter, what I’d witnessed was unspeakable. And I’d learned from the man who responded with silence to my letters about politics or adultery or the liberation of slaves. . . .

Papa never spoke on any subject he didn’t want to.

Neither would I.

“Are you certain you weren’t hurt,” Papa finally murmured, “ . . . on the stairs?”

Rage burned inside me so hotly I thought it possible that my handprint might be seared upon the railing. I bobbed my head, grasped my skirt, and took two steps down before my father called to me again.

“Patsy?”

I couldn’t face him, so I merely stopped, my chest heaving with the effort to restrain myself from taking flight. “What?”

A heavy silence descended. One filled with pregnant emotion. I feared he might be so unwise as to attempt to explain himself, to justify or confess his villainous lapse in judgment, but when he finally spoke, it was only to ask, “What of your prayer book?”

Swallowing hard, I forced words out despite the pain. “I’ve reconsidered my need of it. I’m not as apt as some people to forget what it says.”

Buy Links:
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Add it to your Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25817162-america-s-first-daughter

About Stephanie Dray:

STEPHANIE DRAY is an award-winning, bestselling and two-time RITA award nominated author of historical women’s fiction. Her critically acclaimed series about Cleopatra’s daughter has been translated into eight different languages and won NJRW's Golden Leaf. As Stephanie Draven, she is a national bestselling author of genre fiction and American-set historical women's fiction. She is a frequent panelist and presenter at national writing conventions and lives near the nation's capital. Before she became a novelist, she was a lawyer, a game designer, and a teacher. Now she uses the stories of women in history to inspire the young women of today.

Website |Newsletter | Facebook |Twitter | AMERICA’S FIRST DAUGHTER Website

About Laura Kamoie:

Laura Kamoie has always been fascinated by the people, stories, and physical presence of the past, which led her to a lifetime of historical and archaeological study and training. She holds a doctoral degree in early American history from The College of William and Mary, published two non-fiction books on early America, and most recently held the position of Associate Professor of History at the U.S. Naval Academy before transitioning to a full-time career writing genre fiction as the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty books, Laura Kaye. Her debut historical novel, America's First Daughter, co-authored with Stephanie Dray, allowed her the exciting opportunity to combine her love of history with her passion for storytelling. Laura lives among the colonial charm of Annapolis, Maryland with her husband and two daughters.

Website |Newsletter | Facebook |Twitter | AMERICA’S FIRST DAUGHTER Website

Guest Blog: D.B. Jackson

This week, we're welcoming author D.B. Jackson, whose latest novel THIEVES' QUARRY is set in America's 18th century and follows Jackson's earlier novel, THIEFTAKER. The author will offer a free copy of THIEVES' QUARRY to a lucky blog visitor. Here's the blurb:

Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, September 28, 1768

Autumn has come to New England, and with it a new threat to the city of Boston. British naval ships have sailed into Boston Harbor bearing over a thousand of His Majesty King George III’s soldiers. After a summer of rioting and political unrest, the city is to be occupied.

Ethan Kaille, thieftaker and conjurer, is awakened early in the morning by a staggeringly powerful spell, a dark conjuring of unknown origin. Before long, he is approached by representatives of the Crown. It seems that every man aboard the HMS Graystone has died, though no one knows how or why. They know only that there is no sign of violence or illness. Ethan soon discovers that one soldier -- a man who is known to have worked with Ethan’s beautiful and dangerous rival, Sephira Pryce -- has escaped the fate of his comrades and is not among the Graystone’s dead. Is he the killer, or is there another conjurer loose in the city, possessed of power sufficient to kill so many with a single dark casting?

Ethan, the missing soldier, and Sephira Pryce and her henchmen all scour the city in search of a stolen treasure which seems to lie at the root of all that is happening. At the same time, though, Boston’s conjurers are under assault from the royal government as well as from the mysterious conjurer. Men are dying. Ethan is beaten, imprisoned, and attacked with dark spells.

And if he fails to unravel the mystery of what befell the Graystone, every conjurer in Boston will be hanged as a witch. Including him.

Thieves' Quarry is the second volume in the Thieftaker Chronicles, the new historical fantasy series from D.B. Jackson. Combining elements of traditional fantasy, urban fantasy, mystery and historical fiction, the Thieftaker books are sure to appeal to readers who enjoy intelligent fantasy and history with an attitude.

**Q&A with D.B. Jackson**

For those who are unfamiliar with the Thieftaker Chronicles, can you give us an overview of the series and some sense of what this newest book, THIEVES’ QUARRY, is about?

The Thieftaker Chronicles, which began with the publication last year of THIEFTAKER, tell the story of Ethan Kaille, a conjurer and thieftaker living in pre-Revolutionary Boston. The books are historical urban fantasies: historical for obvious reasons; urban fantasy because of the mystery element, because of Ethan’s magical abilities, which help him in his investigations and encounters with Boston’s unsavory side, and because the setting, while Colonial, is very much urban.

THIEVES’ QUARRY begins in the fall of 1768, as British troops prepare to occupy Boston.  A fleet of naval vessels is anchored in Boston Harbor, carrying the occupying soldiers.  And all of this is real -- the fleet, the occupation, the city’s oddly mixed response to the occupation as it began.  These things are part of the historical record. But I have added a ship to the invasion force, and using a spell of magic that Ethan senses early one morning, I then kill every man aboard this fictional vessel.  Authorities of the Crown come to Ethan seeking his guidance in solving the mystery of these nearly one hundred deaths, and Ethan finds himself drawn into political struggles and criminal dealings that endanger his life and the lives of every conjurer in Boston.

How has your degree in history helped you with your writing of this series?

I actually specialized in 20th century U.S. history and wrote my dissertation on the New Deal.  But when working toward my degree I studied all periods of U.S. history, and I always found the late Colonial Era incredibly interesting.  So I came to the Thieftaker series with some knowledge of the period, of its key events and issues, and of the sources I would need to consult when researching the books.  That was a great advantage.

But the sort of information I needed to write these books is actually not the same stuff that Ph.D. candidates study in preparation for their exams.  There were huge gaps in my knowledge of what everyday life would be like for Ethan and his fellow characters.  For instance, I had to know if the streets of Boston were lit at night in the 1760s.  That would be a fundamentally important fact of Ethan’s life on a daily (or nightly) basis, but it was of little concern to me when I was a graduate student.  (As it turns out, Boston did not get its first gas street lights until 1774, courtesy of no less a personage than Paul Revere.) Mostly, my familiarity with history and historical literature provided me with an understanding of what questions I needed to answer in order to cobble together an accurate portrait of life in Colonial Boston.

What was the most interesting thing you learned or found while you were doing your research for the Thieftaker books?

Actually, I had a number of fun discoveries along the way.  Most of them were small details that allowed me to add dimension and texture to my setting and historical characters.  For instance, while researching Samuel Adams, I learned that he was afflicted nearly all his life by a mild palsy of his hand and head.  I believe it was something like what we today call “essential tremor” or “benign essential tremor.” At one point I was searching for a physical description of Stephen Greenleaf, the Sheriff of Suffolk County, who was Boston’s lone law-enforcement authority, and who was charged with keeping the peace in the city though he had no police force at his command.  He is one of my hero’s antagonists throughout the series -- a very important character -- and I had no idea what he looked like.  And then one day, I was looking through an old, old volume on Google Books and there, suddenly, was a pen and ink sketch of the good sheriff.  That was an exciting day.

Another time, I was trying to find contemporary descriptions of the inside of King’s Chapel, one of Boston’s oldest houses of worship.  The information was hard to come by until I found a document that had been posted by an architecture firm that specialized in historical renovation.  This firm was working on a renovation of the chapel and had taken bore samples from the walls that allowed them to determine what color the interior walls had been painted at various times in the chapel’s history.  That was invaluable.

Are there more Thieftaker books in the works?  What do you have in store for Ethan next?

One of the challenges in a series like this one is to keep each book fresh and avoid giving readers the sense that the books are formulaic.  Of course, there are certain recurring elements to the stories:  the historical background, the character relationships, the magic system, the fact that each book is a mystery. But each story also needs to be different.  And so in the third book, A PLUNDER OF SOULS, I introduce a new character, who is to Ethan something like what Moriarty was to Sherlock Holmes.  To be more accurate, I reintroduce him.  This character, Nate Ramsey, first appeared in “A Spell of Vengeance,” a short story I wrote last year and published at Tor.Com.  In that story, Ramsey, who is also a conjurer, gets the best of Ethan.  Well, in book III, Ramsey is back.  It is the summer of 1769, and Boston is in the midst of an outbreak of smallpox (as it really was that summer).  I won’t reveal more, except to say that Ramsey is an even more formidable foe for Ethan now than he was when the short story took place, in 1763.

The fourth Thieftaker book will be called DEAD MAN’S REACH.  I don’t want to say too much about it except that it is set in March 1770, at the time of the Boston Massacre.

Can you tell us a bit about your creative process?  What is a typical work day like for you?  Do you outline, or do you prefer to “wing it?”

I tend to be fairly boring in my approach to my work.  I work slowly, steadily, systematically.  With the Thieftaker project I began by jotting down questions I had about Boston in the 1760s and then organizing my research around answering them.  When I had done enough research to feel comfortable starting to write, I outlined the whole book, as I usually do.  But as usual, by about chapter ten I had strayed from the outline enough that the rest of it was useless.  So I outlined the book again, this time from chapter eleven onward.  And then at about chapter seventeen, when that second outline had also outlived its usefulness, I outline the remainder of the book.

As for my typical day, it’s also pretty boring.  I get to the gym first thing in the morning.  I spend the rest of my day sitting in front of my computer, so getting a workout in first thing is good for my mood, my mind, and my waistline.  After that, I work through the morning, taking a couple of quick breaks.  I have a lunch, and then work through the afternoon until my wife and daughters get home and it’s time for dinner.  I tend to leave my evening hours and weekends for family and household stuff.  But otherwise I treat writing as a full-time job, because really that’s what it is for me.

What advice would you give to writers who are just at the start of their careers?

I think that the best advice I can offer to young writers is to love what they do, and I mean that on a couple of levels.  The writing business is hard.  The pay isn’t always good, publishing can be frustratingly slow, a writer’s future is only as solid as the sales numbers for his or her most recent book.  So, if a writer doesn’t love to write, if he or she isn’t driven to craft stories and books by love of the written word and devotion to the characters clamoring for attention in his or her imagination, there really is little other reason for doing it.

But “love what you do” also means love the stuff you write. Young writers will quickly find that the market is constantly shifting, moving from one “hot new thing” to the next.  Sometimes we get lucky and catch a wave at the perfect moment.  Occasionally we can respond to the leading edge of a trend and get in on it.  But most of the time, it’s a bad idea to try to write to the market.  Young writers are far better off writing the story they want to write, the story for which they have passion.  Love the book, because there is usually no telling if you can match the market exactly or not.  If a writer tries to write something just in order to be commercially viable, chances are the book will suffer.  Write what you love and regardless of the market, you’ll turn out the best book possible.

D.B. Jackson is also David B. Coe, the award-winning author of more than a dozen fantasy novels. His first book as D.B. Jackson, the Revolutionary War era urban fantasy, Thieftaker, volume I of the Thieftaker Chronicles, came out in 2012 and is now available in paperback. The second volume, Thieves’ Quarry, has just been released by Tor Books. D.B. lives on the Cumberland Plateau with his wife and two teenaged daughters. They’re all smarter and prettier than he is, but they keep him around because he makes a mean vegetarian fajita. When he’s not writing he likes to hike, play guitar, and stalk the perfect image with his camera.

Learn more about author D. B. Jackson at:

http://www.dbjackson-author.com

http://www.dbjackson-author.com/blog

http://www.facebook.com/dbjacksonAuthor

http://twitter.com/dbjacksonauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/dbjackson

http://amazon.com/author/dbjackson

Excerpt Thursday: Thieves' Quarry by D. B. Jackson

This week, we're welcoming author D.B. Jackson, whose latest novel THIEVES' QUARRY is set in America's 18th century and follows Jackson's earlier novel, THIEFTAKER. Join us on Sunday, when the author will offer a free copy of THIEVES' QUARRY to a lucky blog visitor. Here's the blurb:

Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, September 28, 1768

Autumn has come to New England, and with it a new threat to the city of Boston. British naval ships have sailed into Boston Harbor bearing over a thousand of His Majesty King George III’s soldiers. After a summer of rioting and political unrest, the city is to be occupied.

Ethan Kaille, thieftaker and conjurer, is awakened early in the morning by a staggeringly powerful spell, a dark conjuring of unknown origin. Before long, he is approached by representatives of the Crown. It seems that every man aboard the HMS Graystone has died, though no one knows how or why. They know only that there is no sign of violence or illness. Ethan soon discovers that one soldier -- a man who is known to have worked with Ethan’s beautiful and dangerous rival, Sephira Pryce -- has escaped the fate of his comrades and is not among the Graystone’s dead. Is he the killer, or is there another conjurer loose in the city, possessed of power sufficient to kill so many with a single dark casting?

Ethan, the missing soldier, and Sephira Pryce and her henchmen all scour the city in search of a stolen treasure which seems to lie at the root of all that is happening. At the same time, though, Boston’s conjurers are under assault from the royal government as well as from the mysterious conjurer. Men are dying. Ethan is beaten, imprisoned, and attacked with dark spells.

And if he fails to unravel the mystery of what befell the Graystone, every conjurer in Boston will be hanged as a witch. Including him.

Thieves' Quarry is the second volume in the Thieftaker Chronicles, the new historical fantasy series from D.B. Jackson. Combining elements of traditional fantasy, urban fantasy, mystery and historical fiction, the Thieftaker books are sure to appeal to readers who enjoy intelligent fantasy and history with an attitude.

**An excerpt from THIEVES’ QUARRY, by D. B. Jackson**

Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, September 28, 1768

            He heard the man’s footsteps first, boot heels clicking on the cobblestone street leading toward Clarke’s Shipyard. A moment later, Tanner came into view, a bulky shadow against the faint, distant glow of the comfortable homes of Boston’s North End. He walked with purpose, his hands buried in his pockets. Every few strides, he glanced back over his shoulder.

            Tanner passed Ethan Kaille without noticing him, though Ethan stood just off the lane, so close that he could have grabbed the man’s arm as he hurried past. With the concealment spell Ethan had placed on himself a few minutes earlier he could have planted himself in the middle of the street and Tanner would have collided with him before realizing he was there. Still, Ethan breathed into the crook of his arm, so as not to give himself away with a puff of vapor in the cool autumn air.

            He watched as the man walked onto the wharf and crept past the first of the shipyard warehouses. Tanner moved with more caution now, his steps on the gravel and dirt fill of the wharf nearly lost amid the sound of small waves as they slapped against ships’ hulls and lapped at the timbers of the pier.

            The moon, a night or two past full, hung low in the east, like some great, lidded red eye. Its reflection wavered on the smooth waters of Boston Harbor, casting just enough light for Ethan to mark Tanner’s progress as the thief slipped from shadow to shadow.

            Somewhere out on the wharf, amid the warehouses, Tanner had hidden a small package containing several gold watches that he had pinched from a watchmaker named Charles Short. All told, they probably were worth five times the ten pounds Short was paying Ethan to recover them. But Ethan tried not to think about that. A thieftaker’s reputation depended not only on his cunning, not only on his prowess with a blade or his brawn, or, in Ethan’s case, his skill as a conjurer, but also on his honesty.

            Unless that thieftaker happened to be Sephira Pryce. But he tried not to think about her, either.

            Ethan had been working this job for the better part of a month, watching the wharves, learning what he could of the men and women who unloaded trading ships when they arrived in Boston, even making inquiries with merchants and wharfmen about the captains of the various vessels . . .

            . . . After enlisting the help of a friend, Ethan had begun to watch Tanner, observing him from a distance as the man worked the shipyard, and following him through the narrow alleys of the South End to a small, rundown tavern where he spent most of his evenings. The thief was easy to spot: brawny and tall, mustached and fair-haired. He spoke with a faint Cornish accent, and he had a raucous laugh that frequently punctuated his own jokes.

            It had taken Ethan only a couple of days to decide that his friend was right. Tanner had to be their man. The Cornishman had returned to the shipyard warehouses several nights running, each time arriving after midnight, skulking through shadows, and crawling on his hands and knees out near the end of the pier. He had also met with a number of men who Ethan knew to be fences. But thus far, Ethan had yet to see Tanner exchange money or goods with any of them. And, on the one occasion when Ethan managed to get onto the wharf unseen and search for the watches himself, he found nothing.

            That was why he had come tonight. He had guessed that Tanner would return to the shipyard yet again, and this time he intended to confront the thief while he had the watches on his person. As Tanner continued along the side of the warehouses, Ethan eased onto Ship Street and began to make his way toward the wharf, still concealed by the spell.

            Out on Boston Harbor, in the distance and to the south of where Ethan walked, lights bobbed on the gentle swells: lanterns burning on a dozen or more British naval ships. Several of the vessels had been anchored within sight of the city for a week or more; eight others had sailed into view earlier this day. They were arrayed in a loose, broad arc, their reflections dancing and swirling like fireflies. They might have been beautiful had it not been for what they signified: more strife and fear for a city already beleaguered by its conflicts with the Crown.

            But these were worries for another time. Tonight, Ethan had business with Christian Tanner.

            He stole toward the wharf, placing his feet with the stealth of a housebreaker, peering into the shadows, trying to keep track of the thief. Before he had gotten far, however, he heard raised voices. A man cried out and was abruptly silenced. An instant later something -- or someone -- fell to the ground with a heavy thud. A torch was lit on the merchant ship nearest the end of the wharf, and then another.

            Ethan started running toward the commotion, but halted at the sound of an all-too-familiar voice. It was that of a woman, low and gravelly, so she sounded as though she was purring as she spoke. Except that her words didn’t match her alluring tone.

            “. . . Not very clever, Tanner,” Sephira Pryce said. “Mister Short isn’t pleased, and that means that I’m not pleased either. You’re new here in Boston, but that doesn’t excuse what you’ve done.” She stood over the man, and even from a distance, even in the flickering light of the torches held by her toughs, Ethan could see that she looked lovely. Black curls cascaded down her back, shining with torch fire, and her breeches and the tight-fitting indigo waistcoat she wore accentuated the generous, perfect curves of her body. “When you come to a new city you should inquire of those who are familiar with its customs and its habits. You should find out who to avoid angering, and who to avoid altogether. Wouldn’t you agree, Ethan?”

            This last she pitched to carry.

Learn more about author D. B. Jackson at:

http://www.dbjackson-author.com

http://www.dbjackson-author.com/blog

http://www.facebook.com/dbjacksonAuthor

http://twitter.com/dbjacksonauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/dbjackson

http://amazon.com/author/dbjackson

Part I - Treasonous Loyalty: Benjamin Franklin, the Intolerable Acts, and the National Debt

By Pearson Moore

He is inventor, diplomat, statesman, author.  Skilled in the craft of negotiation, unequalled in the art of courtship and love.  If we understand any of the founding fathers, surely we know him—his temperament, his beliefs, his motivations—better than any of the men whose vision, resolve, and oratory united colonists of disparate purpose into a single mind.  Yet, in flagrant challenge to our long-held beliefs, the greatest of the architects of rebellion considered himself first of all an Englishman.  Deeper, bewildering shocks await as we peer into this man’s life, accomplishments, and failures.

Following through history the cascade of events he set in motion late in the summer of 1774, we are not surprised to hear the shot heard ‘round the world on April 19, 1775, nor see with our own eyes the unanimous declaration he and his congressional colleagues signed a year later, during the hot summer days of July, 1776.  Perhaps, though, we are not only surprised, but shocked, to learn that this printer from Philadelphia—this Englishman—was almost single-handedly responsible for a greater number of American deaths and a deeper obligation of debt than any single person prior to the 1980s.  In fact, it is specifically because of the engrained Englishness of him that the American Revolution did not end in the spring of 1777, but instead engulfed the new United States, four European countries, and seven North American First Nations in a war that dragged on for eight and a half years, and became the inexorable trajectory that led to the French Revolution six years later, the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, and the debt crisis of the early 21^st century.  It is because Benjamin Franklin embodied an oxymoron—because of his treasonous loyalty—that French, not American English, to this very day is spoken in Montréal, Sherbrooke, and Québec, and the Stars and Stripes flies neither in Vancouver nor in Toronto.

The Englishman

The famous woodcut above does not represent a newly-patriotic Benjamin Franklin calling for united resistance to British overlords during the Revolutionary War, but rather a much younger Franklin’s appeal to fellow Englishmen to gather behind an earlier, but no less urgent, common cause.  Franklin’s stirring call to arms was not issued in 1775, nor even in the Stamp Act days of 1765.  Franklin created the woodcut in the early spring of 1754 (the version above was embellished by Samuel Kneeland of the Boston Gazette and published in May of that year) not in response to British tyranny, but in reply to French attempts to secure the continent.  The tone of Franklin’s oratory and written discourse was strongly in keeping with Kneeland’s sentiment, expressed by the scroll emanating from the snake’s open mouth:  Unite and Conquer.  Unite against Canada, and conquer the French.

Franklin spoke of Frenchmen as representing a race distinct and inferior from the civilized humanity found only among gentlemen obedient to the British monarch.  The French had strange laws and customs, the unnatural and subordinate nature of which was proven by French Canadians’ perverse ability to bring an entire continent of savages to their cause, which Franklin understood to be the removal of English colonies from what was otherwise a continent owned entirely by France.  Franklin’s way of looking at the long conflict in the 1750s has carried through to modern times, though we no longer think of the French as members of a distinct “race,” and we are not as likely to refer to Native Americans as “savages.”  Nevertheless, our interpretation of the events of that time is distinctly American, as indicated by the name we apply to the conflict.  While historians in Europe and Canada know the battles of 1750s North America as The Seven Years’ War, American historians refer to the conflict as “The French and Indian Wars.”

Franklin’s energy and passion in rallying opposition to the French was no sideline in a life otherwise devoted to scientific investigation.  His early immersion in science was not the sign of any infatuation with disembodied objectivity, but indication of a deeper sense of social propriety.  Political and social intercourse in his mind were paramount to the fullest expression of humanity.  He believed in the widest possible expression of arts and sciences, as long as creativity and industry were tempered by the greater call to civility and cohesive society.  France, to Franklin, was an impediment both to human freedom and to proper social order.

Social health could only be achieved in a milieu which rewarded those who lived life according to natural laws.  English customs were superior to all others in this regard, since rewards were not only possible, but could be expected to accrue to those who led virtuous lives.  No such rewards were possible under French custom and law, in Franklin’s mind.  In the colonies, and in England, there were gentlemen and commoners.  In France, on the other hand, there were peasants and nobles.  Franklin had started life a commoner, and in fact, one of the last of seventeen children born to a soap maker, he was not expected to have any impact on society.  But Franklin early on recognized the immutable underpinnings of English culture, and applied himself in earnest to the task of rising from the anonymous ranks of common men to become a respected and even revered English gentleman.  He knew instinctively that such a rise in social standing would never have been possible had he been born into the highly stratified and stagnant French socio-political system, and he came to despise French custom as destructive of the human spirit.  Once a peasant, always a peasant, always under the crushing thumb of hereditary nobility.  In the freedom-loving British Empire, on the other hand, social position was a matter of individual initiative.


More on Treasonous Loyalty: Benjamin Franklin, the Intolerable Acts, and the National Debt, coming soon.

Movie Adaptations: Last of the Mohicans

By Karen Mercury

This is my all-time favorite historical romantic adventure movie. The story is epic in nature--big, bold, and gloriously sweeping. It's about the love of Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), the adopted Mohican, and Cora (Madeleine Stowe), as war and tragedy swirl around them and they struggle to find their own private peace. Hawkeye is definitely not named Natty Bumppo, as in the book by, probably because the director (Michael Mann) realized how asinine that name sounds to our ears now.

Many supposed it was a pointless literary folly to make a film from such a famously unreadable and dense book, Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Mohicans." Daniel Day-Lewis signed on because he liked American history and wanted to play an iconic character that would challenge him. The success of the movie as a romantic adventure is probably due in no small part to the effort he went into creating the role--the workouts, the running, hand-to-hand fighting, even making his own weapons. Day-Lewis underwent a rigorous schedule of fitness training to build muscle, and a six month study of wilderness skills, from tracking animals and building canoes to fighting with tomahawks and loading and firing a flintlock on the run.

Set in upstate New York during the French and Indian War, The Last of the Mohicans follows Colonel Edmund Munro's daughters, the strong-willed beauty Cora and Alice as they travel to their father's fort. The treacherous Magua is their guide, and has a vendetta against the grey-haired colonel. Magua: "When the Grey Hair is dead, Magua will eat his heart. Before he dies, Magua will put his children under the knife, so the Grey Hair will know his seed is wiped out forever."

When their party is ambushed, a group of fur trappers, led by superb frontiersman Hawkeye, escorts the two women to the fort. Hawkeye travels with the Delaware chief Chingachgook, and his Mohican brother Uncas, tracking by noting marks on rocks and broken twigs. Hawkeye is the iconic son of Mother Nature in buckskin, all buffed and manscaped chest, uttering such classic lines with a disgusted curl to his lip:

British Officer: You call yourself a patriot, and loyal subject to the Crown?
Hawkeye: I do not call myself subject to much at all.

And my favorite line of all:

Duncan: I'll have you beaten from this fort!
Hawkeye: Someday, I think you and I are going to have a serious disagreement.

Director Michael Mann remains faithful to the essential spirit of Cooper's work, and actually improves upon it. Hawkeye becomes more human than the cardboard hero in Cooper's romance. In the film, the hero falls in love and swears a little. And the chemistry between Hawkeye and Cora is intoxicating:

Cora Munro: What are you looking at, sir?
Hawkeye: I'm looking at you, miss.

While stargazing, Cora expresses to Hawkeye her passion for the American wilderness: "It is more stirring to my blood than any imagining could possibly be." Though the romance is never made plain in Cooper's novel, we now see that Cora and Hawkeye are soul mates. It's just a question of whether they will live long enough for them to cement their bond.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe are both very believable as strong, independent frontier sorts. The passion they have for the land and for each other is palpable. You've probably seen the trailer with the scene under the waterfall, when Hawkeye tells Cora to "Stay alive. Just stay alive! Survive! I will find you!" before leaping in slow motion into the river. Most women say this scene is their favorite--that the vision of Hawkeye singling her out and vowing to rescue her alone is the ultimate in romance.

The scenes of British society in the American landscape have a thoughtfully composed elegance that resemble Old Master paintings. Though set in upstate New York, Mann took his production to North Carolina and the Appalachian mountains to find rugged wilderness. They needed over a thousand extras, including hundreds of Indians which Mann cast with mostly Iroquois. Indian rights activist Russell Means made his screen debut as Chingachgook, a small and central role as the titular "Last of the Mohicans."

The Last of the Mohicans races through its narrative with the adventurous spirit so unfortunately absent from Cooper's clumsy and simple novel.

What is your favorite historical adventure romance?

Karen Mercury's first three historicals, including STRANGELY WONDERFUL were set in precolonial Africa. Her latest, WORKING THE LODE, is an erotic romance set during the California gold rush. Available now!

Guest Author: Beth Trissel

This week on Unusual Historicals we're welcoming 2008 Golden Heart finalist Beth Trissel as she celebrates the release of RED BIRD'S SONG, set during the 1760s in the colonial Alleghenies!

Taken captive by a Shawnee war party wasn't how Charity Edmonson hoped to escape an unwanted marriage. Nor did Shawnee warrior Wicomechee expect to find the treasure promised by his grandfather's vision in the unpredictable red-headed girl.

George III's English Red-Coats, unprincipled colonial militia, prejudice and jealousy are not the only enemies Charity and Wicomechee will face before they can hope for a peaceful life. The greatest obstacle to happiness is in their own hearts.

As they struggle through bleak mountains and cold weather, facing wild nature and wilder men, Wicomechee and Charity must learn to trust each other.

***

Native American historical romance novel RED BIRD'S SONG is the story of my heart for many reasons. The initial encounter between Charity and Wicomechee was inspired by a dream I had on New Year's Eve--a highly propitious time for dreams--about a young warrior taking an equally young woman captive at a river and the unexpected attraction between them. That dream had such a profound impact on me that I took the leap from writing non-fiction essays to historical novels and embarked on the most amazing journey of my life. That was years ago and the saga continues. I also met the prophetic warrior, Eyes of the Wolf, in another dream at the advent of this adventure, so when I describe him in the book I'm envisioning a character I feel I know.

The setting for much of RED BIRD'S SONG is the same as my other strongly Native American novel, THROUGH THE FIRE, the spectacular Alleghenies. Much of the history depicted in the story was inspired by accounts I came across while researching my early American English/Scots-Irish roots and the Border Wars. The French and Indian War is the most well known, but there were others. Life in the frontier was unsettled even after The American Revolution had drawn to a close and warfare a reality. The boundaries of the frontier just keep shifting farther west. In the early-mid 18th century, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia was the colonial frontier and only hardy souls dared to settle here. The bulk of these were the tough Scots-Irish. If the Indians had only had to fight regular British troops they might ultimately have won because they scared the s--out of men trained for conventional warfare, but the long knives were another matter. They weren't easily intimidated and soon learned from their cunning enemy.

Although Hawk Eye in The Last of the Mohicans is an adopted Mohican, his lifestyle and behavior is that of a colonial frontiersman. The more rugged of these men dressed as he did, much in the Indian way. They hunted & fought with muskets, tomahawks, and their famous knives. Indians acquired these knives as well. They blended traditional weapons and ways of living with newfound tools and weapons of Western man. A highly adaptable people.

The attack at the opening of RED BIRD'S SONG in the Shenandoah Valley is based on one that occurred to my ancestors and is recorded by Historian Joseph A. Waddell in The Annals of Augusta County. A renegade Englishman by the last name of Dickson led the war party that attacked them. Initially I'd intended to make the Colin Dickson in RED BIRD'S SONG a villain but as soon as he galloped onto the scene I knew differently.

Wicomechee, the hero in RED BIRD'S SONG, is based on the Shawnee warrior by that name who lived early in the nineteenth century and to whom I have ties. The Moffett's, an early Valley family I'm related to, include a reference to him in their genealogy. Wicomechee's father, John Moffett, was captured in Kentucky by the Shawnee at the age of eight and adopted into the tribe. It's said he was a boyhood companion to the great chief Tecumseh, a chief for whom I have enormous admiration. The accounts of John Moffett and Wicomechee are recorded by Waddell. It's also noted that during the Black Hawk Wars Wicomechee recovered the captive daughters of a Dr. Hull and brought them safely into camp, which reminds me of Hawkeye in The Last of the Mohicans. I've included more on this amazing warrior at the end of the novel as a bonus for those who read it.

***

Thanks for this wonderful narrative, Beth, and for stopping by today! Readers, Beth will be giving away one digital copy of RED BIRD'S SONG to a lucky commenter. Just leave a comment or question for your chance to win. I'll draw the winner at random next Sunday. Void where prohibited. Best of luck!

Excerpt Thursday: Beth Trissel

This week on Excerpt Thursday we're featuring 2008 Golden Heart finalist Beth Trissel as she celebrates the release of RED BIRD'S SONG, set during the 1760s in the colonial Alleghenies. Join us Sunday when Beth will be here to answer questions and give away a digital copy of this beautiful, adventurous romance.

Taken captive by a Shawnee war party wasn't how Charity Edmonson hoped to escape an unwanted marriage. Nor did Shawnee warrior Wicomechee expect to find the treasure promised by his grandfather's vision in the unpredictable red-headed girl.

George III's English Red-Coats, unprincipled colonial militia, prejudice and jealousy are not the only enemies Charity and Wicomechee will face before they can hope for a peaceful life. The greatest obstacle to happiness is in their own hearts.

As they struggle through bleak mountains and cold weather, facing wild nature and wilder men, Wicomechee and Charity must learn to trust each other.

***

Charity swiped angrily at a tear. She'd run away, if she had anyone to run to. It wasn't right they were all dead.

On impulse, she jumped to the ground. "I'll go anyway," she muttered. "Eat nuts and berries and live in the woods."

"Will you go alone?" a low voice asked.

Sucking in her breath, she whirled around. Less than twenty feet away, grasping his musket, stood a tall young brave. Stripes of red and black paint blurred his striking features. His dark brown eyes riveted her in place. This warrior was like no other and the most savagely handsome man she'd ever seen.

God help her. She should flee now, but could only stare, open-mouthed.

She swept her disbelieving gaze over the loose black hair brushing an open buckskin vest that revealed his bronzed chest and shoulders molded into contours of muscle. An elkskin breechclout left a great deal of his hard thighs exposed. Despite the dread hammering in her chest, a fiery blush burned her cheeks. But it was the sheathed knife hanging on his left side and the lethal tomahawk slung on his right that snapped Charity from her near-trance.

In a rush of memories, she recalled the stories of her father's death under the scalping knife and neighbors who'd suffered the same violent fate. No Indians had been spotted in their settlement since the Shawnee grew hostile and war had erupted nine years ago, but the warfare had ended. Hadn't it?

Clenching ice-cold fingers, she dug her nails into her palms. "What in God's name are you doing here?" she forced past the dry lump in her throat.

"Watching you."

Guest Author: Carla Capshaw

This week on Unusual Historicals, we're welcoming back Carla Capshaw as she celebrates the release of her January Love Inspired Historical romance, THE DUKE'S REDEMPTION. Here's the blurb:

He came to the colonies for one reason: revenge. Drake Amberly, Duke of Hawk Haven, won't leave South Carolina until he's unmasked the colonial spy who killed his brother. Yet the more he sees of spirited Elise Cooper, the more he's moved by the happiness she brings him...never suspecting the dangerous secret she hides.

Her faith drives Elise to spy for the rebels, dreaming only of freedom for her homeland. Then she meets Drake, and learns that love could be hers, as well. When his pursuit of "The Fox" brings him dangerously close to the truth, she'll risk everything to prove that love and forgiveness are all they need.

***

Hi Carla, it's great to have you back with us at Unusual Historicals. THE DUKE'S REDEMPTION is set in Charleston, SC during the American Revolution. Tell us more about it.

THE DUKE'S REDEMPTION is about Drake Amberly, an upstanding English duke who dearly loves his family. Tragedy has shattered his faith in God and he wants revenge on the rebel spy accused of killing his brother. He disguises himself as a merchant and heads to war-torn Charleston to find the killer. Instead, he meets Elise Cooper a beautiful woman he's instantly drawn to. The trouble is, he falls in love with and marries Elise only to learn she's the spy he's looking for. Torn between his heart and doing what he thinks is right, Drake has to uncover Elise's secrets to learn the whole truth and what true love really is.

THE DUKE'S REDEMPTION includes lots of action, intrigue, love, betrayal, and spiritual conflict--a winning combination for a passionate inspirational historical. How'd you come up with your story line?

I love to read stories with major conflicts. My favorites usually revolve around characters on opposites sides of something, whether it's a war, social situation, political or religious ideal, etc. In THE DUKE'S REDEMPTION, I took all of those elements and thought up characters and a situation that fit one of my favorite time periods, the American Revolution. I came up with a Duke and an American spy who have to overcome all sorts of issues and situations to earn their happy ending!

This book is set in a very different time period from your debut title, THE GLADIATOR. Do you have a favorite historical period, or will you continue to explore a variety of eras in your work?

I love history in general, but I have to say Roman & American Colonial times are my favorites. In both of these settings there is so much going on. They're periods of upheaval and change. They're colorful, dramatic and dangerous. That being said, there are a lot of time periods I find fascinating and I hope I do get to explore other eras in my work.

Can you tell us more about your upcoming titles and current projects?

I just finished THE PROTECTOR, the sequel to my debut novel, THE GLADIATOR. It's the story of Quintus, a Christian man who's been enslaved for his faith and Adiona, a wealthy Roman woman with a questionable reputation. When someone tries to kill Adiona, she needs a bodyguard and Quintus is the perfect man for the job. The Protector will be out in July 2010.

Currently, I'm working on another colonial, this one set in Virgina after the Revolution and a Victorian Christmas novel that is loosely based on Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

One last question. THE DUKE'S REDEMPTION is a January release. Since it's almost February, can we still find it in the local bookstore?

Thanks for asking! THE DUKE'S REDEMPTION is only out for a few more weeks depending on when your local store brings in the new books. If you can't find it in your local store or discount outlet, you can still order it on any of the online shops like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.

Thanks for visiting, Carla!

***

Carla is giving away a print copy to one random person who posts a comment. Since it's difficult sometimes to think of something to comment on, Carla suggests answering the question: What is your favorite name for a romance hero? Check back with us next Sunday when we'll select a winner. Void where prohibited. Best of luck!

Excerpt Thursday: Carla Capshaw

This week on Excerpt Thursday, we're welcoming back Carla Capshaw and taking a look at her newest romance, THE DUKE'S REDEMPTION. Set in Charleston, SC at the end of the American Revolution, THE DUKE'S REDEMPTION is a Love Inspired Historical January release. Join us Sunday when Carla will be visiting to answer questions and give away a copy!

He came to the colonies for one reason: revenge. Drake Amberly, Duke of Hawk Haven, won't leave South Carolina until he's unmasked the colonial spy who killed his brother. Yet the more he sees of spirited Elise Cooper, the more he's moved by the happiness she brings him...never suspecting the dangerous secret she hides.

Her faith drives Elise to spy for the rebels, dreaming only of freedom for her homeland. Then she meets Drake, and learns that love could be hers, as well. When his pursuit of "The Fox" brings him dangerously close to the truth, she'll risk everything to prove that love and forgiveness are all they need.

***

Excerpt from Chapter Two

Charles Town, South Carolina
1781

The fine hairs on Elise's arms and the back of her neck stood at attention, alerting her to the odd sensation of being watched.

She glanced around the ballroom, trying to appear nonchalant. Her breath caught in her throat when she noticed the man observing her. He was dark, she noted, handsome in a fierce sort of way. His sculpted lips turned in a half smile, but it was the long scar along his jaw that intrigued her.

Tall and broad shouldered, the stranger cut a fine figure in a black waistcoat and breeches. His stark white shirt and elegant, but simple stock stood in sharp contrast with his golden skin. He wore his black hair tied at the nape, one of only a few men in the room bold enough to refuse a wig.

His gaze captured hers. His magnetic eyes bore into her, seeming within a moment to discern her darkest secrets. He rattled her nerves, made her instantly more aware of herself in a manner that was most disconcerting. To a woman used to being in the midst of trouble, he seemed the essence of it. She decided then to steer clear of him, for in one glance she knew his ilk: pure danger in masculine form.

Zechariah patted her hand. "Elise? Are you ill?"

She blinked and looked down into her spymaster's round face. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You've nearly drawn blood."

Her gaze fell to where her fingernails dug into his linen-clad arm. She released him immediately.

Zechariah fiddled with the froth of lace at his wrist. "Get hold of yourself, girl. You'll never accomplish what you must if you're more skittish than a colt."

Elise narrowed her eyes and bit back a sharp retort. She kept her expression cheerful so as not to give away the game to onlookers, but she resented his tone. She despised his hold on her life. But he'd offered the escape she'd prayed for as part of the bargain she'd made to free her sister. For now, she could do little but accept his sharp ways. Others believed she was his ward, when in actuality he was her warden.

"I'm neither skittish nor incapable of performing my task. The man by the mantle, the dark one, he startled me is all. I turned to see him staring a hole in my back."

Zechariah observed the man covertly. "That, my dear, is Drake Amberly, the man you're to investigate. You'd do well to encourage his interest. If he were to become besotted with you, it would make your task much easier."

Elise bristled with indignation. Her instincts warned Amberly was the one man in the Colonies she should avoid at all costs. "I have a troublesome feeling about him."

"Perhaps meeting him will alleviate the sensation." His tone cloaked a rod of iron. "Allow me to introduce you."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The unease she'd labored under for much of the day increased. Her palms grew moist. The closer she walked toward Amberly, the faster her heart raced.

When they came abreast of the man, Zechariah extended his beefy paw in greeting. He spoke loudly, competing with the party's din of music, dancers and conversation. "Amberly, I'm pleased to see you've joined us. I hope the journey from Charles Town was not too taxing."

"Not at all. The river was smooth, the boat swift. I arrived before an hour passed."

"Excellent, I'm glad to hear it." Zechariah rocked on his heels, his hands clamped behind his back. "I trust the maid saw you settled?"

"Most comfortably, thank you. Your hospitality is much appreciated."

Even as he spoke with Zechariah, Amberly's eyes returned to her face again and again. Heat rose to her cheeks for no reason at all. She hoped the powder and rouge she'd applied before the party disguised her reaction.

"We're pleased to have you here." Zechariah turned to her. "Amberly, I'd like you to meet my ward, Miss Elise Cooper. Elise, this is Mr. Drake Amberly, direct from London. He'll be staying with us for the next few weeks."

No one told her he'd be a long-term guest. She offered her hand politely, schooling her features to prevent her dismay from reflecting on her face. His large, tanned hand engulfed her much smaller one. He bowed and kissed the back of her knuckles. His scent of spice and soap teased her senses. She shivered, aware her response to him was profoundly peculiar. Only the force of her will kept her planted before him.

Intense, lushly lashed eyes caught and held hers. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Cooper. I am most fortunate to make your acquaintance."

His voice was deep and smooth except for a few clipped words that reminded her of the English upper class. The observation brought her halfway back to her senses. She had to remember her orders, not allow herself to be waylaid by a handsome face.

She giggled, resorting to her role as a featherbrain. Experience had taught her a man let his guard down around a woman he considered a simpleton. "I'm charmed, Mr. Amberly. A girl could lose her head with a man as handsome as you in the room."

"Why thank you, Miss Cooper. I'm flattered."

He seemed more amused than complimented. She tapped him playfully with her fan and gifted him with a flirtatious grin. "Surely not. I've seen the other ladies swarming you tonight. Most likely you've grown weary of praise." She motioned toward the dancers behind her. "Forgive my boldness, but would you be so kind, sir? I truly love to dance. Since my escort is the guest of honor, he's obliged to take a turn with the other ladies tonight. I fear I'll be left to sit with the matrons if one of you fine gentlemen doesn't take pity on me."

"It would be my honor, Miss Cooper. However, I never acquired the skill of dancing. May I interest you in some refreshment instead?"

"You never learned to dance? How unusual," she remarked, her eyes as wide and innocent as a babe's.

"Dancing isn't a sport in large demand on a ship."

She smiled coyly. His refusal to dance might work to her advantage. Perhaps she could get him alone, away from the crowd and music that would disrupt conversation and her ability to uncover more about him. "I so wanted to dance, but I suppose a glass of refreshment will do. Why don't you fetch us a drink? I'll gather my shawl and meet you in the garden. It's such a pretty night. I see no reason to waste it indoors."

Amberly grinned. "A superb idea, Miss Cooper. To the garden it is."