Guest Author: Michelle Styles

Harlequin Historical author and longtime contributor Michelle Styles is back to talk a bit about her new releases--three books and a free online serial. The online serial, HIS STAND-IN BRIDE is set in Tyne Valley, the same place as her North American releases: A QUESTION OF IMPROPRIETY and IMPOVERISHED MISS, CONVENIENT WIFE. Her UK release is the THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS. Join us on Sunday for an interview with Michelle as well as a chance to win all three books!

The following extract is from A QUESTION OF IMPROPRIETY. The blurb reads:

A very improper seduction...

Diana Clare has had enough of London--the balls, the rakes you can never trust... Now, having returned home in disgrace, she is trying to forget what drove her from the ton.
But rake and gambler Brett Farnham, Earl of Coltonby, seems intent on making Diana remember exactly what it was like to be whirled around the ballroom and seduced by the glint in your partner's eye...

But Brett has 'mistress' rather than 'marriage' in mind, and Diana is not sure her reputation can stand up to another scandal...

Three releases in two months, plus an online serial. Michelle, how did you manage that?

It is all down to scheduling rather than superhuman feats of writing. Last year, THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS was out in the US, and the duo A QUESTION OF IMPROPRIETY and IMPOVERISHED MISS, CONVENIENT WIFE appeared in the UK in November 2008 and April 2009. However to help celebrate that duo's US publication, in September I was asked to write an online serial, HIS STAND-IN BRIDE. It is e-Harlequin's free weekly serial, which started on 15 November. The last segment goes out on 3 January. HIS STAND-IN BRIDE takes place in the Tyne Valley several months before the start of A QUESTION OF IMPROPRIETY and gave me a chance to revisit the world I had created. You can read the result here. The blurb reads:

Tyne Valley, 1813

When her sister eloped with someone other than her betrothed, Lady Anne Dunstan knew two things. One, that she completely supported her sister's making her own choice about who she would marry. And two, that Anne--the responsible one--would have to clean up the mess.

What she didn't know was how her sister's intended, Jason Martell, would take the news. Or how Anne would respond to the force of his presence, his rugged good looks, his less-than-gentlemanly advances.

Or to his proposal of marriage.

How does writing a serial differ from say writing a short story?

When my editor called and asked if I would write it, I knew I couldn't refuse even though the two week deadline was very tight. But it was only when I put the phone down, I thought--oh help! What have I done now? Particularly as I had just signed a new contract for four books which also has tight deadlines.

A serial has its own demands. Each chapter or segment must be a specific length and end with a definite hook or cliffhanger. Because people might start the story in say chapter four, it has to always be comprehensible. And the story needs to be able to stand alone and also be fully developed.

Did you enjoy writing it?

After I overcame my initial terror, it became quite fun. I was able to really concentrate on delivering a punchy story. Thankfully during the Unusual Historical panel at RWA Nationals in July, Carrie Lofty said that I tend to write self-made men. I knew when she said those words that they were my favourite type of hero. Part of my core story, if you will. And so I knew I had to take the opportunity and write a self-made man. And because of that, the story fell into place. I am happy to say that thus far I have met all my deadlines.

Core story?

Just before the Unusual Historical panel at the RWA Nationals, Jayne Anne Krentz gave an inspirational speech about her career. One thing she said was to know your core story. Know why you like telling a specific type of story. So I spent the afternoon wondering and then Carrie said the magic words and I knew.

So you write self-made men?

I am not really comfortable writing about men who have lived a life of privilege and have never had to struggle, who are merely caretakers of inherited wealth. Even the hero of A QUESTION OF IMPROPRIETY, despite being born into the aristocracy, has to struggle and has earned his own fortune. Some of the tension between Brett and the hero of IMPOVERISHED MISS, CONVENIENT WIFE, Simon Clare, is that neither recognises the other's struggle. All of my Vikings, including Ivar, the hero of THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS, have had to earn their place at the top table.

What's next for you?

After these three, my Roman Undone "A PERFECT CONCUBINE" is released in February. It is my first Undone and gave me a chance to revisit the world I created with SOLD AND SEDUCED. It was tremendous fun to write. Again the hero is a self-made man. (And it was written before Carrie gave me the insight!)

I am currently working on the first part of my early Victorian duo about two sisters who were kidnapped in the Sinai. The revisions are due this week and my editor is very excited about the story, provided I do the revisions correctly. The hero is a second son of a marquess who has found adventure and a fortune outside English society.

Are you planning on doing any more Vikings?

I had toyed with doing Thrand's story as an Undone, but I don't think the shorter format would do it justice and currently I am really enjoying writing in the early Victorian period. My current contract calls for more early Victorians in unusual settings rather than more Vikings. But never say never. I may eventually go back and give Thrand his story or I may start a new set of Vikings, perhaps later in the Viking period.

Thank you, Michelle, for stopping by and good luck with all your releases!

You can learn more about my work and read extracts from her releases on my website.

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For a chance to win all three of Michelle's current releases, please leave a comment or question. Michelle suggests commenting on what you think about the idea of core stories. Do you know your core story? Do you have a favorite core story to read? I'll draw one commenter at random on Sunday, December 12. Void where prohibited. Best of luck!

Disasters: Pompeii and Herculaneum

By Michelle Styles

August 24, 79 AD, and despite a few earth tremors, all was quiet and peaceful in one of the most popular and fertile regions of the Roman Empire. Due to the light soil rich in phosphorous and alkalis and the wonderful climate, the entire area of Vesuvius was considered to be a gigantic vineyard. Back in 19 AD, Strabo had written about the volcano, he also assumed that it had died having consumed all the inflammable material that fed it.

The population of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae was totally unprepared for the events that were about to unfold. Yes, they knew about the terrible earthquake in 62 AD, and perhaps some people had left the region. The Roman government had provided generous subsidises and they were rebuilding. The area continued to be popular with the elite.

The first they knew was a terrific thunderclap and a cloud of smoke and flames burst from the mountain. The entire area was covered in an eerie darkness. As Diones Cassio said, "People believed...the world was plunged once again into chaos, to be consumed by fire."

Pliny the Younger who was staying on the Bay of Naples watched the eruption and described it so accurately that such eruptions are now known as Plinian. These are violent eruptions with tons of lava pouring out along with vast quanitites of pumice and ash. All of this is accompanied by pyroclatstic material and mud flows.

The raining down of pumice and ash is what did for Pompeii which is 15 km from Vesuvius. Some people escaped but most were trapped. When the smoke cleared, the town had been covered in six metres of ash and pumice. It also meant the various bodies of people and animals who were trapped were preserved in a special way as the ash formed around the body. When excavating, the archaeologists were able to make highly evocative plaster casts.

Herculaneum on the other hand was only 7km from the volcano and became engulfed in pyroclastic flow which swept through the town, basically hot mud rained down and eventually solidified into tufa rock. The town was buried under 20 metres of rock which ensured various bits of wood survived. The inhabitants were first asphyxiated and then hermetically sealed together with all their possessions within this tufa rock.

Only three bodies were discovered in the town (compared to over 500 in Pompeii), and until 1981, it was thought most of the inhabitants had managed to leave. However they began to excavate the old harbour in 1981 and the true scale of the disaster became apparent as more and more skeletons emerged. In all about 149 skeletons had been found to date, including the remains of a sailor and soldier who appeared to have been trying to organise the doomed rescue attempt when the pyroclastic wave hit the town.

After the explosion, various relief was organised by the Emperor but the towns themselves remained cloaked in their robes of rock, deemed too difficult to rebuild. Other smaller towns were built on top and Vesuvius continued to erupt.

Eventually the names of Pompeii and Herculaneum were a distant memory. Then in 1709, Prince D'Elboeuf had a well dug and some Roman artefacts were discovered. Herculaneum was rediscovered and exploited. It was not until 1763 that Pompeii was discovered again. Because of the ease of excavation, after 1763, Pompeii received most of the attention.

Excavation work continues. In Herculaneum, much remains under tufa, impossible to excavate because of the modern town 20 metres higher. The Villa of the Papyri for example was excavated in the 18th century by the use of tunnels, and then it was sealed again in 1765. Work just recommenced in 1985 and continues today. New computer techniques are making it possible to read the badly damaged papyri and giving access to ancient knowledge. To visit the area is to walk back in time and to give a window into a vanished way of life. Unfortunately though the sites are not well protected and remain open to exploitation by unscrupulous people.

Michelle Styles has written four Roman-set historical romances including THE GLADIATOR'S HONOUR and SOLD & SEDUCED. Her latest UK release is COMPROMISING MISS MILTON, an early Victorian historical romance and is out now.

SOLD & SEDUCED Winner!

We have a winner for Michelle Styles's SOLD & SEDUCED guest blog. A free copy goes to:

JULIE!

Contact Carrie to provide your mailing address. The book must be claimed by next Sunday or another winner will be drawn. Please stop back later to let us know what you thought! Congratulations!

Guest Author: Michelle Styles

This week on Unusual Historicals, we're welcoming back Michelle Styles as she celebrates the US release of her Roman romance, SOLD & SEDUCED. Here's the blurb:

In just seven days, she will beg for his kiss!

Lydia Veratia made one mistake--and now her freedom is forfeit to the man who all Rome knows as the Sea Wolf. Sold into marriage, the one thing over which she still has control is her own desire. So when Fabius Aro offers her a wager--if she doesn't plead for his kisses in the next seven days, then she will have her independence--Lydia thinks it will be easily won.

But Aro is a dangerously attractive man. And Lydia is finding his lips more and more tempting...

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Welcome, Michelle. When can we find SOLD & SEDUCED in the bricks and mortar bookstores?

You can't. Harlequin Historical has released it in their Direct programme, which means it is being released as an e-book everywhere (including Amazon's Kindle and B&N's Nook platforms), and as a print book only through E-Harlequin. So if you want a print version, you will have to order it from E-Harlequin.

Is there any reason why?

SOLD & SEDUCED was first published in the UK in 2007. It was also felt that in general the Roman period has not done as well in retail as the Viking period, so they wanted to give the time period a chance to grow rather than being hampered by net sales considerations etc. The intricacies of scheduling are beyond me and I am just delighted that it has finally been released in the US. I believe A NOBLE CAPTIVE will be released sometime this year in Direct as well.

Are you going to write any more Romans?

At the moment I am concentrating on writing my Regency/Victorians and am busily researching the Ottoman Empire during the Regency period. However, I have promised my editor that I will try to write an Undone featuring Piso, who is Aro's second-in-command. I am not sure if I can write short and so it will be an experiment. Then there is the question of what to do about the Vikings, as several people have written requesting Dagmar and Thrand's story.

Given that you were speaking about Plautine plots in your Unusual Historical blog on Wednesday, does SOLD AND SEDUCED have a Plautine plot?

No, the one with a Plautine plot was THE ROMAN'S VIRGIN MISTRESS. SOLD & SEDUCED has a Beauty & the Beast premise. Beauty & the Beast, of course, is the reworking of the first half of the Psyche and Eros myth. The second half of Eros and Psyche is when Aphrodite becomes the mother-in-law from Hades. This happens to be one of my favourite set-ups.

You seem to know a lot about plotting structure. Is it a subject you are interested in?

Plot structure fascinates me because I love folk tales and folk lore. I really enjoyed Joseph Campbell's The Hero with A Thousand Faces, as well as Chris Vogler's The Writer's Journey and Blake Snyder's Save the Cat! series. It is the whole concept of Jungian philosophy about archetypes and tribal memories being applied to plot. It is also why I use enneagrams and Myer-Briggs when creating my characters. And I think it helps, particularly as a commercial fiction writer to use such things in your creation as they can help people connect and understand the deep character. Of the books mentioned, Blake Snyder's is perhaps the most accessible.

How did SOLD & SEDUCED come about?

I had been to a RNA workshop in 2005 and was in the car with Presents author, Kate Walker. Kate was describing some of her problems with her then-editor and the book that was just coming out--THE ANTONAKOS MARRIAGE. Suddenly a light bulb went on in my head as she said that the heroine was having to marry because of something her father did. I thought--ah, this is Beauty & the Beast, and then completely misunderstood the rest of Kate's point as I suddenly started to think how I could use it in my work, particularly as I wanted to explore the different types of Roman marriage. I told Kate about my inspiration and she was very gracious about it. Then when I later read THE ANTONAKOS MARRIAGE, I realised I had completely misunderstood what she was saying. Anyway, that book remains one of my favourite Kate Walker's.

Any other inspiration?

As I was working, I kept listening to the song--SOMETHING GOT TO GIVE, and that provided the idea about the kissing wager. In order to get out of an old fashioned marriage--one where the husband controls the wife's property, rather than having her family control her property--Lydia wagers Aro that she can go seven days without kissing him three times. In Spain and South America, SOLD & SEDUCED was called Siete Dias sin Besos or "Seven Days Without Kisses." I thought the Spanish cover was particularly striking.

Thank you for being here, Michelle!

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Michelle is giving away a print copy to one random person who posts a comment. As sometimes it can be difficult to think up something to comment on, Michelle suggests answering the question: What is your favourite fairy tale? We'll select a winner next Sunday. Void where prohibited. Best of luck!

Weekly Announcements - 22 Jan 10

Blythe Gifford's IN THE MASTER'S BED and Margaret Mallory's KNIGHT OF PLEASURE are both up for Best Historical of 2009 at The Season. You can vote now!

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The cover of Blythe Gifford's HIS BORDER BRIDE is now available--and it's gorgeous! We'll have more information soon.

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Join us Sunday when Unusual Historicals will chat with contributor Michelle Styles. She'll be discussing her latest US release, SOLD & SEDUCED, set in ancient Rome! She'll also be giving away a copy. Don't miss it!

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We'll also draw the winner of Zoe Archer's HALF PAST DEAD. You still have time to leave a comment or question for your chance to win.

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And stay with us through the coming weeks when we'll be featuring the best unusual historical authors! Carla Capshaw, Jennifer Linforth, Amanda McCabe, and Sandra Hill will be our guests. We hope you'll join us!

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Have a good weekend! Remember, you don't have to be an Unusual Historicals contributor to submit good news to the weekend announcements. If it has to do with unusual historicals, we'd love to shout it out to the world! Send announcements to Carrie. See you next week...

Excerpt Thursday: Michelle Styles

This week on Excerpt Thursday, we're featuring a taste of Michelle Styles' Roman romance, SOLD & SEDUCED, which is available now in the US for the first time. Join us Sunday when Michelle will be answering questions and giving away a copy!

When Fabius Aro went to the Veratii household, he expected to find the Flarian wine that Vertius had promised as payment for rescuing from the sea. Instead, Aro discovered Vertius's daughter Lydia had sold the wine. Unable to make payment, Lydia is sold into marriage to the man known as the Sea Wolf. In this excerpt, Aro explains the situation to his cheif captain, and gets a bit more than he bargained for.

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You can read the first excerpt from Michelle Styles's SOLD & SEDUCED here.

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'Could you have chosen a more disreputable place to drink, Piso?' Aro remarked when he had finally run his most senior captain to ground.

The bar was typical of Piso's watering holes, Aro thought crossing the narrow room. Dark even on the brightest day, and lit with too few olive oil lamps. The frescoes portrayed gaming with dice and knucklebones, an activity replicated on the tables that were dotted about it. Despite it being only the seventh hour, the bar was full of the flotsam and jetsam of humanity – labourers intermingled with branded slaves and other more dubious characters. The barmaid behind the counter also did a brisk trade in the pleasures of the flesh. The elaborately embroidered toga she wore and the explicit frescoes on the back wall proclaimed it.

Piso stood up, disentangled himself from one of the women and indicated a stool next to him.

'You can learn things here. The barmaid is an old and valued friend.' Piso gave a wide smile and signalled for another cup. 'Have you come to pay me the money you owe me? That wine was sold to Ofellius, weeks ago.'

'Why should I owe you anything?' Aro remained standing and kept his face without expression. 'It is you who owe me. Veratius did not sell anything.'

'But, but the wine has been sold to Ofellius.'

'The bet was Senator Veratius sold the wine to Ofellius. He didn't. You should pay attention to the wording of any bet.'

'I should know better than to bet against you. You have the luck of the gods. I had thought the denarii were mine this time.' Piso laughed and then he leant forward. 'If Veratius didn't sell the wine, who did?'

'You should be seeing to fitting out of your ship, not seeing to the knucklebones and listening to Forum gossip.'

'My men know what to do. Not everyone is like you, Aro. Some of us like to take refreshment and enjoy life.' Piso drained his cup of wine and wiped his mouth, giving a satisfied sigh. 'When do we load the Falerian? We can set sail before nightfall. The wind is still in blowing in the correct direction. A risk, true but with your good fortune...By all the gods on Mount Olympus, you are the luckiest man I know.'

'We don't.' Aro tossed a pouch of coins into Piso's lap. 'You were correct about the wine. It was sold. Congratulate me. Instead of acquiring the wine, I marry.'

'You're doing what?' Piso's large hands fumbled with the purse, spilling two coins on the table.

'Getting married to Senator Lucius Veratius Cornelius's daughter.'

'A joke is a joke, Aro.' The colour drained from Piso's face and he took a gulp of wine. Aro sat down on the stool opposite Piso, enjoying his friend's discomfiture.

'This is no laughing matter, my old friend.'

'Marriage? You? You have always maintained that marriage is for weak-minded fools who have nothing left to lose.'

'Do I look like I am joking?' Aro narrowed his eyes at the reminder of his view on marriage.

Piso shook his head slowly.

'Good, then you may wish me good fortune and join me at tonight's betrothal feast.'

'I would rather face the rocky shoals in the teeth of a gale than face marriage to respectable Roman matron.'

'I have faced the rocks outside Corinth in one of the worst storms Neptune has thrown up and lived,' Aro said with a shrug.

'By Hermes, I thought we were paying a visit to Poseidon's nymphs that day. You save my life and the rest of the crew that day with your superb navigation.' Piso held out his hand. 'See it shakes from the memory.'

'We made it through safely. Trust me now.'

'But marriage? That is a whole other venture.'

'And what makes you believe that the gods are not with me this time?' Aro raised his cup of wine to his lips and tasted the overly sweet wine. 'They were with me then, and they have not yet deserted me.'

'If you need a woman that badly.' Piso gestured towards the barmaid who sauntered over, her thin tunic leaving little to the imagination. 'Why not take Flora here or use one of the higher class houses of pleasure? What was that little matron from Baiae called? It is what you told me to do when I made a fool of myself over that little serving girl in Athens. You remember the one with the big eyes and the even greedier fingers?'

'I have had enough mistresses. I desire a wife.' Aro banished from his thoughts how Lydia's gown had hinted at her curves, the brief glimpse of her throat and the way her lips parted very so slightly when his lips had brushed her forehead. Physical desire had nothing to do with the reason he made his offer. It was a business transaction. It solved several problems. Most important, it eliminated the need to pay for a fixer. Senator Veratius had enough influence with the censor to ensure he would be elected to the senate. The sparkle in her eyes was incidental.

'Why?'

'You're not a Roman.' Aro began. His hand touched the ring he wore on a chain about his neck, his father's signet ring. A ring he would not wear on his finger until he had fulfilled his scared vow, until he had restored the honour of the Fabii.

'For that.' Piso gave a laugh. 'For that, I get down on my knees and thank Hermes and the other gods every night, they saw fit to make me Greek.'

'If I were Greek, I wouldn't have chosen this bar to drink in.' Aro regarded the various workmen, branded slaves and sailors who intermingled in the bar. The usual waterfront mob.

'We Greeks know excellent wine when we see it, and Flora is pleasing to the eye and not too pricey on the purse.' Piso tapped the side of his nose. 'Tell me why now. Why not earlier this year when that Roman widow was pursuing you all over Baiae? She was a patrician. What has changed?'

'Sulla's reforms are being done away with,' Aro said. 'I told you about this last Ides. The dictator's shadow was not very long.'

Piso wipe his hand across his face. 'Why do you need to be in that particular pit of snakes and schemers? You have enough money and estates as is.'

'I vowed to regain everything Sulla unjustly took from my family and I intend to keep that promise.'

'How so? How will marrying this woman give you anything you don't have?'

'Marrying a Veratii will mean give me the votes I need to enter the senate without having to resort to a fixer.' Aro tapped his cup against the table. 'Lucius Veratius Cornelius controls enough tribes to make men wary about voting against him. He has promised to support me. He wants his daughter married to a senator. When you think what the going rate for a fixer is... The loss of the gold is cheap compared to what I have gained.'

'Romans are slippery characters. There is many a man who has come to grief with a Roman woman. I would not trust them further than I could throw them.' Piso took a swig of his wine. 'This is why I stick to barmaids and women of easy virtue. You know where you and your money stand with them.'

'I am not a seaman, facing his first voyage. I have navigated around senators before.' Aro regarded the dregs of wine in his cup, remembering the negotiations he had with Cornelius Veratius after his daughter finally left the room. 'We drew up the contracts this afternoon. The betrothal takes place this evening, and the wedding tomorrow. I have been to see the priest. For a fee, he has agreed the auspices are excellent for tomorrow.'

'A toast to the favoured couple then.' Piso snapped his fingers and the barmaid refilled the cups. 'I drink to your happiness, my old friend.'

Aro ignored the cup of wine. Happiness was not part of the arrangement. 'To the marriage.'

SOLD & SEDUCED, Copyright 2007 Michelle Styles, used by permission of Harlequin Enterprises SA.

Guest Author: Michelle Styles

Unusual Historicals is delighted to welcome back long time contributor Michelle Styles who is here to speak about her new novel THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS, which is Michelle's third Viking romance. She assures us that while linked, each is a stand alone adventure. Romantic Times gave THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS four stars!

"No one touches my woman. She bears my mark. I claim her."

Dangerous warrior Ivar Gunnarson is a man of deeds, not words. With little time for the ideals of love, Ivar seizes what he wants--and Princess Thyre will not become the exception to his rule!

Mysterious and enchanting, Thyre rouses Ivar's desire the moment he lays eyes on her. With Viking factions engaged in a bloody feud, Thyre is yet another captive this hardened warrior conquers--but to be king of Thyre's heart will entail a battle he has never engaged in before...

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What inspired you to write THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS?

While I was writing TAKEN BY THE VIKING, I knew that I wanted to tell Ivar's story. Anyway, I happened to read Queen Emma and the Vikings, which is a biography of an 11th century English queen (wife to Ethelred the Unready and Canute) and peaceweaver. Her father was a Viking who settled in Normandy, and he met her mother when the mother took her sister's place in bed. And I thought what an interesting premise.

I did some more research and discover the whole concept of hospitality did extend to women sleeping with warriors. Several of the sagas mention it as well. And I knew I wanted to look at the relationship of Viken to its immediate neighbour to the East. Surprisingly this proved slightly more difficult to research, as really the only primary source documents covering the period had been well used by Tokien and Wagner to create their masterpieces. It would be difficult to have a king called Gandalf for example.

Was it easy to write, after all you already knew the time period and the characters?

THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS was an incredibly difficult book for me. I knew the story I wanted to tell but somehow I kept missing. My editors were very patient with me and believed in my ability to turn the story around. I think that faith and pushing paid off with the final story.

How long did it take you to write THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS then?

I write every single day and I try to write 2,000 words per day or thereabouts. However with THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS, I ended up taking a wrong turn to begin with or rather it wasn't a wrong turn, it just wasn't the right way to tell the story. And I realised this a few weeks after I turned it in. Once the revisions came back, I made sweeping changes and turned those in. However, my editor still was not happy, so I had to revise the ms again and again. All told it took about nine months. But there was waiting while I worked on another manuscript (COMPROMISING MISS MILTON).

And what can you tell us about the cover? It's lovely!

Isn't a great cover? I think it ranks up there with my favourite covers. I love the feel of it and the artist even managed to capture the fact that Thyre has a dimple in her chin. It is an important plot point and so I was pleased to see it there. Also I love the whole feel of the cover. It captures the mood of the book.

So Michelle, is the Viking time period popular and are you going to be writing any more Vikings?

Ah, the Viking time period is popular. My Viking books have been published all around the globe. It has always done well for HMB Historical and they are actively looking for new voices. I am just writing Regency/early Victorian at the moment and my editors think I am making a good contribution there and so they want me to concentrate on that. However, my editors are swayed by readers writing into them directly and I tend to follow editorial direction on which time period they would like. One of my great strengths apparently is that I am versatile and can bring a number of time periods to life. Also there are more publishing slots for Georgian/Regency/Victorian than there are for Unusual Historical. So if people want more Vikings from me, they will have to convince my editors who will then say in their very lovely voices--Michelle, you will write another one, won't you? Or at least a woman can dream!

On a more serious note, the editors, in particular Senior Editor Linda Fildew, are very committed to the concept of Unusual Historical and are looking for strong manuscripts in any time period. So if you have a good Viking, medieval, Australian western, Far Eastern, Egyptian that fits the Harlequin Historical guidelines, it is worth submitting. The bar is set high but it does happen. It is the first three chapters and a synopsis and you can submit via email. The short story line Undone has also expanded and is now publishing two stories per month, so they are actively looking for more stories there.

You are recently back from a research trip to Istanbul, will you be setting any Vikings there?

At the moment, I am researching a Regency set duet which has two cousins who were captured by Algerian pirates. But I know all about Varangian Guard in the Byzantine period. Carol Townend is currently working on something with Anglo Saxon warriors who were forced out after the Norman conquest and went to Byzantium. It all sounds rather wonderful and I can't wait to read it.

So what is next for you?

Next up is the February 2010 release of SOLD AND SEDUCED in the North American Direct market. This means it is going e-book (the Kindle edition, for example) and sold through the eHarlequin website.

After that, my May 2010 release will be COMPROMISING MISS MILTON. My editor sent through the blurb the other day and it reads like this:

Marrying the Governess!

Buttoned-up governess Daisy Milton buries dreams of marriage and family life in order to support her sister and orphaned niece. But maddeningly attractive Adam, Viscount Ravensworth, is one distraction that shakes Daisy's safe, stable existence.

Now ghosts from Adam's past in India threaten Daisy's future. Just what will it take to convince a tightly-laced miss to forgo society's strict code of conduct...and come undone in the arms of a reformed rake?

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Thank you, Michelle, for visiting. Remember to leave a comment to be put in the draw for a signed copy of THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS. I'll draw a winner at random next Sunday. Void where prohibited. Michelle suggests answering the question: Does a good cover make a difference when you buy a book, or does the back cover copy sway you more? We'll be curious to hear your feedback!

Seeds of Plots

Most of the time, I don't where my story ideas come from. They sort of grow. However, Sold and Seduced, my Roman set novel that is released in April in the UK had two distinct seeds.

The first came from a chance meeting with my now editor. Every year, Harlequin Mills and Boon has a glittering reception for its authors. At my first reception was I introduced to the new editorial assistant for historicals. We got talking and I mentioned that I was just finishing a manuscript with pirates. Great, she said -- I love pirates and dangerous men as heroes. My heart sunk. The pirates in A Noble Captive are not the heroes. But I thought -- how could I make a dangerous hero? And teh seed for my hero -- Fabius Aro was born.

But I didn't know the story I wanted to tell, just the hero who need a strong and interesting tale. Then about a week later, I was travelling back from a daylong workshop on writing with Harlequin Presents author, Kate Walker. She was explaining about her troubles with a manuscript. She said the sentence -- And the heroine has to marry X to save her father from prison. I will admit that I stopped listening at that point. The Beauty and the Beast plot with a very good reason for a Marriage of Convenience. If you are doing a M of C plot, you have to have a good emotional reason for the pair marrying. A tip I learnt very early on from an editor when she sent a long rejection letter explaining why a particular manuscript was not suitable.

My wheels in my brain were turning fast. I had a plot line for my dangerous hero -- and then I only needed to work out the specifics...how, why would my heroine feel compelled, why would her father agree, why would he disagree. That sort of thing. The things that make a plot a writer's own. I am a great believer that there are only a limited number of plots. In fact the Joseph Campbell/Christopher Vogler theory of the monomyth is very attractive. But I digress. I had the seed of an idea and then I had to adapt it to fit the historical milieu of the end of the Republic (Romans had four different forms of marriage).

The irony to this is once I did read Kate Walker's book. I realised that I had misunderstood her plot line totally. I was concentrating so much on my idea that her plot twist ( the heroine was being forced to marry an aging tycoon and not the hero) went over my head. And such are born ideas.

The next contest that I am running (and you do have to be a member of my newsletter) will be for a copy of Kate's book -- The Antonakos Marriage, and for a copy of Sold and Seduced. It is show how two writers can take the same seed -- a woman sacrificing herself for her family's sake and create two very different novels. The newsletter goes out on 1 April. And the details of how to join are on my website.

If you look at the US cover for Antonakos Marriage and Sold and Seduced, you will see a certain resemblance. The UK cover of S&S is lovely but has nothing to do with the story, except it evokes the general mood/feel. My editor who knew my story of the seeds swears it was a coincidence. My editor is known for her wicked sense of humour. I am not sure when Sold and Seduced will be released in North America. it will apparently have a different cover. (And yes I know it was the inside cover of Lyn Randall's Wife or Warrior) My next North American release will be in July with The Roman's Virgin Mistress.

What do other people think about the Vogler idea of the monomyth?