Love Affairs: George & George

By Zoe Archer

George Eliot's personal life proved to be just as fascinating as her novels. Born Mary Ann (sometimes written as Marian or Mary Anne) Evans in 1819, Evans largely educated herself in liberal arts, theology and foreign languages. She joined a collection of unconventional thinkers that included Charles Bray and Charles Hennell, and their humanist principles helped shape her own ideals and spiritual convictions. In January 1842, Evans refused to accompany her father to his evangelical Protestant services, and their religious differences remained a source of conflict that lasted until his death.

Evans moved to London in the early 1850s and became the assistant editor of the Westminster Review. She had an affair with the owner of the Review, John Chapman, but not only was Chapman married, he had another mistress. In 1851, she met critic and novelist George Henry Lewes. Lewes was a bohemian in an open marriage. His wife, Agnes Jervis, had three children by Lewes, and several children by other men. Within a year of meeting Lewes, he and Evans began a relationship that became the basis of much controversy.

By the end of 1852, Evans and Lewes began living together. In every way but legally, Evans and Lewes considered themselves married. Friends and relatives disparaged the couple and the effect their relationship had on their professional careers. Evans called herself Mrs. Marian Evans Lewes. She and Lewes travelled many times to the Continent a number of times and shared several homes. Lewes supported Evans' literary ambitions and encouraged her to write fiction. Their relationship caused considerable public scandal, especially considering that the relationship was conducted openly. She persisted in her writing endeavors. She began to use the pseudonym George Eliot both as a means of eluding criticism of her private life as well as to separate her fiction from other, more domestic genre work written by female authors. Many admirers of her novel Adam Bede were shocked when it was revealed that novelist George Eliot was, in fact, the scandalous Mrs. Evans Lewes. It was years before she and Lewes were accepted in polite society, despite the popularity and acclaim her work received.

Evans and Lewes remained together until his death in 1878. In 1880, she legally married a man twenty years her junior. She and John Walter Cross were reportedly very happy together, but their time as a married couple was not long. Evans died seven months into their marriage. Her wish to be buried in Westminster Abbey was denied, due largely to her spiritual beliefs and her unconventional relationship with Lewes. She was buried beside Lewes in Highgate Cemetery, but in 1980, a commemorative stone was placed in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey, solidifying her reputation as one of the most accomplished, influential and remarkable authors in the English Language.

Research: My Research Library

By Zoe Archer

If you've been reading the Unusual Historicals website this month, you have probably noticed a commonality between all the authors who post here. Sure, some of us write about Celtic Britain, some favor Medieval Spain, and others, like me, set their books all over the map. But one shared attribute is that we all, in our strange way, love to do research. If we didn't, you can bet we wouldn't spend our vacations dragging our significant others through dusty archives and to obscure historical sites in order to take pictures of grass-covered ditches.

Some of the best research is the kind we perform ourselves: physically going to the location that we write about and absorbing, first hand, the experience and sensations of place. A few years ago, in preparation for a historical novel which I am currently writing, I traveled to several National Trust homes in England that offered access to the servants' quarters and kitchens.

Unfortunately, travel can get pretty expensive and it takes a lot of time. That means that the majority of the research has to be done through the internet or, even better, via books. Lots and lots of books. Some books can be found at libraries (especially university libraries), but eventually, the avid researcher is going to create her own research library.

Ask my husband: whenever we travel, I invariably find my way to a used bookstore and pour through the shelves, searching out the perfect, obscure out-of-print tome about 18th century fencing academies. He patiently carries armfuls of books as I ransack the shop. But once the books are paid for and hauled home comes the next, crucial step: storing and organizing them.

I'm a firm believer in the principle of organization. If I have to search all over the house for the book about Roman prostitutes, I waste time and could lose valuable threads of inspiration. If I have a place for everything, and everything in its place, then I can zip right to the book I need and move on. Great theory--but theory isn't practice.

For many years, my research books were scattered all over the house. I had some culinary history books here, some there. Books stacked up on the floor next to my desk. Books in boxes stored in closets. Books everywhere but where I needed them. When I finally was able to write full time, my husband looked at this "system" and vowed to do something about it.

Reader, never let it be said that romance novelists lack romance in their own lives. Sure, my husband isn't a spying duke or aristocratic pirate, but he's hero material all the way.

He built me a custom bookcase to hold my research library.

Could anyone ask for a more swoon-worthy guy? I don't think so.

I direct your attention to these photos of my research library. Now my piles of books have somewhere to go. Each shelf has been organized and labeled. Shelves for Victorian books. A shelf for Folklore & Mythology. Social History. Science & Technology. It's a research dork's dream. I also have boxes holding loose papers and photocopies.

I turned to my research library many times whilst writing my upcoming novella, "The Undying Heart," to learn more about the Crimean War, as well as information about military uniforms of the 1850s and the telegraph. What a relief to know that the knowledge I needed was right beside me the whole time, so I could focus not on hunting down the books but on writing about undead soldiers and the women who love them!

Granted, the bookcase doesn't hold all of my research materials. There just isn't enough room in my office to hold them all. The Food History section extends to the bookcases my husband put in the dining room. There are books about the History of Jazz and Los Angeles in the hallway. And my theory texts, left over from grad school, linger in the living room. It's a fair assessment to say I have books in every room of my home.

But my pride and joy stands right beside my desk, shelves laden with information. It has room to grow, yet somehow I know, given my insatiable appetite for books and research, that the shelves will soon fill and my wonderful, handy husband will build me yet another bookcase. Because I'm that kind of research glutton and because he's that kind of hero.

Review: On the Wings of Love

By Delia DeLeest

I had the privilege of getting a sneak peek at Elizabeth Lanes latest, On the Wings of Love, and was immediately brought back to 1911 where flying machines were just starting to make their mark on the world. Where I live in Hawaii, we think nothing of hopping a plane for quick inter-island flights--it's a simple fact of island living. I've never fully appreciated the skill and bravery those pioneer aviators needed to get into a flimsy machine made of canvas and wood and soar where, previously, men had only dreamed of going.

Alexandra Bromley's fascination with this new technology, along with her attraction to handsome pilot Rafe Garrick, was completely believable, as was her desire to flee the confines of the straight-laced society she was born in and to stretch her wings both figuratively and literally. I think she is a perfect example of those brave young women who were just starting to come into their own at the beginning of the last century.

I could also feel for Rafe, torn between his pride in Alex's accomplishments and his fear for her safety. I was real curious how things were going to get wrapped up in the end. Elizabeth did a wonderful job tying everything up in a very believable fashion.

Hopefully, this will be the beginning of many early twentieth century historicals to hit the shelves in the future. My final comment: they say you can't judge a book by its cover, but in this case, please feel free to do so. The cover art is absolutely gorgeous!

Delia
Available Now: IT TAKES MOXIE
Coming Soon: EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

The Historical Series

A repost by Anna C. Bowling

There's no denying series are popular in publishing right now, and when done right, can make readers happily return for more and more, enjoying the ever-expanding cast with each new release. Other times, readers (and sometimes the authors themselves) look at one more Fluglehorn Family logo stamped on the newest release and run screaming into the night, only to be found hours later at the local coffeehouse, nursing a chai tea in the corner and muttering something about not being able to tell the Flugelhorn-Smythes from the Flugelhorn-Joneses. In some cases, whispering "but that makes him her step-cousin" to a dining companion crafted from an empty Styrofoam cup and a handful of stirrers.

There are readers who can be quite content jumping in at book sixteen, figuring they'll catch the rest later if they like this one, and enjoy whatever installment they can pick up when they can. There are readers who must start at book one and proceed in order (with debate over whether story chronology trumps release date if applicable) or mountains will fall, puppies will die and their matinee idol of choice will wake up ugly. Any way we look at it, it's an important aspect of publishing.

Saying "series" seems easy enough; in modern parlance, it can refer to any linked books, but to be more specific, let's consider breaking it down into sub-groups. Sequels, sagas, spin-offs, not to mention prequels.

At the moment, it's easy to find historical romance series that will follow groups of siblings, friends, soldiers or schoolmates, mostly staying within one time period; everyone's around the same age, and about in the same period of their lives.

Every once in a while, there is what I term a direct sequel--Hero and Heroine from Book One are also Hero and Heroine in Book Two, with new events to test their mettle and their union. We've seen this more in the earlier days of the genre, as in Rosemary Rogers' Steve and Ginny books or Valerie Sherwood's Lovesong trilogy, but Jennifer Roberson's Tiger and Del in her Sword Dancer books had to fight through six volumes for their well-earned HEA. Yes, I know the books were marketed as fantasy, but they're romance, I tell you. For some readers, another trip to the well for a beloved couple is a welcome revisit, but for others, once the original HEA is in place, that's the best way to leave it.

Sagas have long been a historical fan's delight. Bertrice Small's O'Malley clan has covered a few centuries, from matriarch Skye through mentions in the author's contemporary erotic works, crossing with the equally prolific Leslie clan. To bang the old school drum again, Aola Vandergriff's classic Daughters Of... series followed three sisters from the 1850s through 1920s, with lots of marrying and burying in between. While some readers (me, me, me) enjoy seeing a hero and heroine at different stages in their lives, passing on the torch to daughters and sons, and eventually grandchildren, others might prefer not to have to see age change the young lovers who first stole their hearts.

The spin-off may be more common in television, but there's no reason it can't work in historical romance. The hero's friend who didn't get the girl can strike off for a new land, or the new world, be lost at sea, presumed dead, or any other number of reasons he (or she!) might leave First Story Land and begin a new life elsewhere.

Then there's the standalone (a term which has always confused me, but I think that's just me)--the book with no sequels, prequels, spin offs, or connections left, right or diagonal. Sometimes a story that ends with one couple's HEA is exactly the right note.

For me, I prefer to write stories that are one to a customer, but if a truly outstanding secondary character had something to do on their own, I'd consider it. Not all supporting characters can support their own stories, command their own spotlight, while some do it quite well.

So, readers, what sorts of connected books do you like best? Least? What about the one-offs? Writers, what's the best thing about crafting connected stories? Hardest? When should a series end? When the original protagonists age? Die? The historical period changes? Something else? Never?

New Orleans Pre-1803

I figured I'd actually blog about my unusual historical time this month. Between this blog and several others I am either on or own, it's hard to think of new and exciting things to write about. You'd think a writer would have a plethora of ideas, but frankly mine are all story related.

Bloodlines takes place in the 1790s in New Orleans. Technically this was a Spanish territory then, but the city was such an amalgamation of cultures it was only a technicality. New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, sieur de Bienville, and named for the regent of France, Philippe II, duc d'Orleans. It was transferred to Spain in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris, then back to France in 1800 Treaty of San Ildefonso: October 1, 1800 (refusal to give up Louisiana would probably mean war with both the US and France, which was inevitable with France, but Spain couldn't afford that, either) who then sold it to America in 1803–-The Louisiana Purchase.

In 1790, the city was a bustling metropolis, full of life, music, free blacks who made a better living than many whites, upper class white plantation owners, and Yellow fever, smallpox, and cholera epidemics. They had the highest rate of deaths in North America, and gained the moniker of the City of Wet Death.

Searching websites for information on New Orleans' history is impossible, there are so few out there, and what's available skim over pre-Louisiana Purchase history. In April 2005 I went for a week's visit of touring and non-Mardi Gras fun. (Have been there during Mardi Gras, and it's only reinforced my intense dislike of crushing crowds.)

During the vampire tour I learned a lot of great history that seems to be missing from much of what's findable now. For instance, Anne Rice didn't need to do much research outside her city, it was all right there for her to mine. The French government bribed and tricked its women to head to N.O. to continue the colony. Over 1/2 the inhabitants died from cholera and yellow fever in any given year. Individual plantation owners were required, by law, to build and maintain the levees. I guess if they didn't, they'd not only have their own property damage to content with, but a bunch of angry neighbors on their doorstep demanding compensation, too.

I have a ton of other information sitting in a large pile waiting for me to sort through for this story. I've outlined Bloodlines, know the plot itself inside and out, but it's the flavor of the town and era I'm working on. Plus, the more research I do into the city itself, the more I love that history. I now have another three books planned for New Orleans, one during the early days of Reconstruction, one several years later (early 1870s or thereabouts) and one contemporary. They all have Bloodlines as the basis of their plot.

A few books I have on this are:

The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld by Herbert Asbury
Beautiful Crescent: A History of New Orleans by Joan B. Garvey and Mary Lou Widmer
Street Names & Picayune Histories of New Orleans by Elaine Lacoste

Plus a bunch of little paperbacks from the plantation I visited. No, I can't remember the name of it, and do you think I can find those paperback? Of course not and I'm in a slight panic about that. They have to be here, but in which pile of books? I heard it survived Katrina. It was about a 30 minute drive outside New Orleans proper, and well worth the tour-truck sickness I endured.

Punctual Punctuation

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.~~Mark Twain

originallytherewerenopunctuationmarksorevenspacesbetweenwords

But that was rather difficult to read. The Romans sometimes used a dot between words, which later changed to a space and became standardized with the printing press, as did many other punctuation conventions--more about that later. The Greeks gave us paragraphos, or paragraph breaks--a horizontal line inserted when starting a new line of thought. Of course, there might be three or four pages of text in one paragraph, but what breaks there were certainly did aid in readability.

The period or "full stop" still wasn't used consistently. Medieval scribes often used daggers, flowers, birds, and other ornaments to indicate paragraphs or footnotes. In fact, punctuation was used more for speaking--reading the text out loud--than for reading silently. In other words, where a speaker should pause, the writer inserted some sort of mark. No regard was made to such things as dependent clauses, dialogue, or things of that ilk.

So let's skip ahead to a Venitian printing shop in the late 1400s, and visit Aldus Manutius (1449-1515). What an innovator he was. He was the first to publish classics without annotations or other distractions. Italics typeface is attributable to him. Periods, commas, and some grammar conventions came about because if his scholarly efforts. And yet, the print shop stayed in business for years, so he must have been somewhat profitable while swimming against the tide. His grandson, the younger Aldo, recorded punctuation rules in 1566. Three generations of the Manutius family defined the look and content of books today.

The Next Generation

At the beginning of the 1600s, punctuation was still used more for elocution than to delineate syntax. Not until Ben Jonson's posthumously published work, English Grammar (written in 1617 and published in 1640), was punctuation used syntactically and in a way that made sense. This small book can be somewhat daunting to read, however.

"There resteth one generall Affection of the whole, dispersed thorow every member thereof, as the bloud is thorow the body; and consisteth in the Breathing, when we pronounce any Sentence; For, whereas our breath is by nature so short, that we cannot continue without a stay to speake long together; it was thought necessarie, as well as for the speakers ease, as for the plainer deliverance of the things spoken, to invent this meanes, whereby men pausing a pretty while, the whole speech might never the worse be understood."

That means punctuation makes a sentence more easily comprehended. Makes one appreciate Strunk & White.

Contemporary Punctuation

From Punctuation in English Since 1600, which cites Encylopaedia Britannica:

"It was the lexicographers Henry Watson Fowler and Francis George Fowler in The King's English, published in 1906, who established the current British practice of light punctuation. Punctuation in the United States has followed much the same path as in Britain, but the rules laid down by American authorities have in general been more rigid than the British rules."

Even today, punctuation rules are fluid and each publishing house has its own "style" which may or may not conform with late 20th Century's accepted standards. Most large publishers are using fewer and fewer commas whether a pause is indicated or not. My publisher, however, inserted hundreds of commas in my last book because they adhere to the standard comma rules. They do not, however, adhere to the standardized rules for interrupting dialogue with body motion--there's a house "style" for that. It behooves a writer to read a few books from her targeted publisher to find out how that house punctuates. There are vast differences.

Just for fun, try the Eats, Shoots & Leaves' Punctuation Game.

Contest!!! For a chance to win Into the Woods by RR Smythe, join the Keely list (announcements and newsletters only). Winner will be drawn from the list of subscribers at 11:59pm June 30.


Jacquie



Jacquie Rogers
Faery Special Romances (May 2007)
Take a look at the book video
Royalties go to Children's Tumor Foundation,
ending Neurofibromatosis through Research

New book list

In late May, after a couple of blog members sent me updates for the Book List, I dutifully incorporated the information...then forgot to upload it. The "new" list is available now, by clicking HERE or by clicking on the "Books By Our Authors" link on the blog's main page.

As always, I invite the blog's regular contributors to send me info on their print and ebook works, including books which haven't been published yet but are officially contracted, and books wherein some of the information has changed since last being reported (a change of publication date, for example). Specific information includes:

• Author (preferably in the format of "Last Name, First Name"
  
• Book title
  
• ISBN (or "TBA" if not yet established)
  
• Format (Mass Mkt, Trade, Hardcover, or Ebook)
  
• On Sale Date (if known)
  
• Publisher
  
• Category (see current list for examples)
  
• Country (default is US)
  

Kim (who will try to remember to upload your changes, but cannot give guarantees! :)

Books That Changed My Life

Like most writers I love books. So what did I buy on a recent trip to Walden Books? THE BOOK OF BOOKS by Les Krantz and Tim Knight.

It contains lists of books:
American West Novels
Crime Fiction
Golf Novels
...and so on.

Reading these list got me to thinking what books that changed my life or expanded my reading world? I narrowed the list to the 20th century authors.

Here is my list in no particular order.

1. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: this book changed how I looked at my own southern culture.

2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee: this book gave me a glimpse of the south where my parents grew up.

3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: this one triggered my love of the 1920s.

4. Fair Oaks by Frank Yerby: this one pulled me into historical romance fiction.

5. The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss: this one rocked my world.

6. The Roselynde Chronicles by Roberta Gellis: with these books I fell in love with the medieval world.

7. The Proud Breed by Celeste de Blasis: she introduced me to the sweeping, multi-generational historical romances.

8. The Book of Lists by David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace: this series of books made learning easy and fun.

9. The Fifties by David Halberstam: this massive work helped me understand the world I was born into.

10. Timeless Passion by Constance O'Day Flannery: introduced me to the world of time travel.

There are several authors whose body of work changed my view of the world. One such author is Flannery O'Connor. Her writing is thought provoking. She had a real understanding of GMC and human behavior. Her last collection of short stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge, is a must read

What are the books and writers that changed your world?

WWII Alternate Histories

This is an addendum on a previous post on Alternate History. Despite the romance industry's insistence that WWII novels don't sell, oh, boy do they ever! It's a hugely popular time period, especially with so many of that generation dying off every day.

Two new books that are out this month are on WWII Alternate History, another hugely popular genre (the What if Hitler was killed question is probably the most popular one). They're not romance, but the plot twists sound interesting.

1945 by Robert Conroy (not Newt Gingrich who has a book of the same name)

...Military extremists, honor bound by the Japanese code of Bushido, kidnap
Emperor Hirohito hours before he's set to announce his country's formal
surrender in the aftermath of the atom bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ~Publishers Weekly

Macarthur's War: A Novel of the Invasion of Japan by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson

With the American navy still smarting from Pearl Harbor and (here's the twist) a
crushing defeat at Midway, Gen. Douglas MacArthur secures control of the Pacific
theater. ~Publishers Weekly

Better late than...

...well, refer to the picture in "Back to the Real World" (I love a cat I can relate to!) and the comment I posted there as to where I was and why I'm late with uploading the latest Unusual Historicals book list! And actually, that's not the entire story. While my daughter & I were living it up in NYC, two of our goats decided to give birth (I had predicted that one would have her babies while we were away -- she ended up with triplets, two of which have survived -- but the other goat surprised me because she barely looked pregnant). So most of the post-con week for me has involved keeping an eye on the new babies -- four including the one born before the con -- and keeping the billy in his pen so the nannies won't conceive again! No easy task, that. He has made a full-time career of trying to sneak, wriggle, chew, head-butt and/or kick his way out.

Anyway, the new book list Excel spreadsheet has been uploaded here (or click on the "Books By Our Authors" link in the blog's header). The only person to email me any additions for this upload was Sandra Schwab to announce her May 1 Love Spell release, Castle of the Wolf. (To find it in the spreadsheet, since it's not yet May 1, click on the "Future" tab near the bottom of the Excel window.) Congratulations, Sandra, and best of luck with it!

As a reminder, anyone can send me info on new books and updates to previously reported titles at any time. I recommend you either check the list for the fields I include, or email me (kimheadlee"at"earthlink.net) for details.

PASIC Con and Book List

Anybody else going to Manhattan this weekend for the PASIC (Published Authors' Special-Interest Chapter of RWA) conference? I leave tomorrow (Thursday 3/29) and plan to return Sunday. Since my agent has moved to San Diego and I don't have a NY editor, currently, the highlight is going to be more geared toward showing my daughter Manhattan for the first time. Another writer-friend, not involved in RWA, is coming too, so she'll be able to escort my daughter while I attend con functions. We also have tickets to attend "Curtains," a brand-new Broadway murder-mystery-musical-comedy that sounds like a lot of fun. Since there's three of us, and the con hotel is notorious for its small rooms, we decided to book at another hotel nearby, but if anyone on this list is going to the con and would like to meet, please drop me a line at kimheadlee(at)earthlink.net. I plan to check my email before I leave for the airport tomorrow morning.

Also, anyone with updated book release info, including ebooks, who would like their information included on the Book List, please send the details to me at the Earthlink email address. If you have any questions about the type of info I am looking for, download the current list by clicking on the "Books By Our Authors" link either here or in the blog's header. It's in Excel, with separate worksheets for "Current", "Ebooks", "Future", and "Archive" lists. All but the "Ebooks" worksheet refer to print books. And you need not have a firm release date to be included on the "Future" list, so for those of you with new, signed contracts in hand -- congratulations, and email away! I will compile everyone's input and upload the new file after I return from NYC.

Some recommended reading

Just thought I'd share a bit about some outstanding novels I've read lately...

One firmly falls within the bounds of this blog group: SON OF PERDITION by Louise Gouge. Though part of a series, it stands alone fairly well. Gouge takes Captain Ahab of MOBY DICK fame and gives him a family, including the title character, Timothy, whom the readers see fighting for love as well as the chance to prove that the "sins of the fathers" truly are not visited upon the sons in his case, all framed within the tumultuous period of the American Civil War.

One is definitely unusual in its construction, though it's "historical" only in the sense that the heroine must grapple with the years-past loss of her beloved first husband before she can learn to move forward with the present love of her life: VIOLETTE BETWEEN by Alison Strobel. Without giving away any spoilers, let me caution potential readers that the chronology may be a bit difficult to follow at first -- I have to admit I am not a fan of nonlinear storytelling -- but in this case the emotional payoff for sticking with the story is outstanding.

And, finally, this one is a contemporary novel -- I'd call it far more action-adventure or possibly miliatry thriller than anything else, in fact the "romance" aspect seems tacked-in as an afterthought -- but it is definitely an exciting read, and interesting in its Middle Eastern setting: ALLAH'S FIRE by Gayle Roper and Chuck Holton.

What recommendations can you offer?

A Contest from Marjorie Jones -- That's Frau Jones to you!

I'm foreign!

To celebrate the German release of The Jewel and the Sword, re-titled Rescuer of my Heart or Retter meines Herzens in German, I'm holding a contest.

Many of the German translations of American romance novels are re-covered for the German release. Many of them are re-covered with old recycled American covers. A friend of mine, Jolie Mathis, actually received a bona-fide Fabio cover for her German translation of The Sea King.

We had alot of fun in our critique group when one of our members found the original American title to which that cover belonged. And that gave me an idea ...

So here's the deal. I'm posting the image of my new German cover. The first reader to send me the link to an image of the original book wins a copy of The Jewel and the Sword (the American version.) You can send the link to me via the contact page of my website.

So search those memories, keeper-shelves, where-ever you might find the answer, because I honestly don't know. And I would love to. That's the whole point of the contest. I'm hoping some lucky winner will recognize it right off the bat and email like... oh.... now!

Wow... I'm GERMAN! How kewl is that?

Danke,
Marjorie

Another idea for the Face-Out List

Another bit of functionality I can add to our group's Face-Out list is a means of linking your book's title to, say, Amazon.com in case a potential customer wants to buy your book right away. If you have an Associate ID (with Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or with the similar Barnes & Noble program, or whatever), then I can program that into the link so you get a few extra pennies whenever someone makes a purchase. Just send the info -- preferably the full URL you wish me to use for each title -- before Feb. 1 to my email account, kimheadlee@earthlink.net.

Kim

Announcing the Unusual Historicals Face-Out List

Greetings!

It is my pleasure to report that, after discussions with Moderator Carrie, I will be maintaining a list of Unusual Historicals members' current, future and backlisted releases. This list will be an Excel spreadsheet directly linked to the group's sidebar. I call this tool the "face-out list," because a very helpful service readers can perform for their favorite authors in bookstores is to turn the books face-out on the bookshelf for a more eye-catching display. I did have a fan tell me she had noticed LIBERTY because of the Roman sword ("gladius") depicted on the book's spine, and went on to purchase the book, but I know from experience that a customer is more likely to buy a book, especially one written by an unknown author, if the front cover is on display.

To that end, all of you contributors who have current, contracted, or backlisted books are welcome to forward the following information to my private email (kimheadlee@earthlink.net) account:

• Author's Name
• Book's Title
• ISBN (or TBA if under contract)
• Format (Mass market, Trade, Hardcover)
• On-Sale Date
• Shelf life (number of months; default to 6 if you're not sure)
• Publisher or Imprint
  
• Category -- default is Historical Romance because of the nature of this group, but I am not averse to including other books members have published
  

Since I envision this tool to be used primarily in "stick-and-brick" bookstores, I deliberately have left ebooks off the list. I would be delighted if someone else is willing to manage a similar list for ebook titles, including ebook editions of printed books.

Authors are welcome to email me their books' data -- and updates, in the case of future releases, such as a change in ISBN or on-sale date -- at any time, but I will post a call for updates about a week prior to releasing the updated list. Currently I envision posting the updated file once per quarter. Consider this post to be the official "call for updates" for now -- I plan for the first file to be posted on or about February 1st, but I will switch (for the sake of my own memory) to the traditional fiscal quarter system (January 1, April 1, July 1, October 1) beginning in April.

Kim D Headlee
Author, LIBERTY, writing as Kimberly Iverson, HQN Books, ISBN 0373771347, on sale now
Author, DAWNFLIGHT, ISBN 0671020412
Contributor, THE FANTASY WRITER'S COMPANION, ISBN 1896944159