Do Bad Girls Deserve a HEA?

Thanks, Lucienne, for having me visit today!

I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.

That’s what Jane Austen said about Emma, the heroine of her novel by the same name and it’s something I was very conscious of all the time I wrote A Most Lamentable Comedy. I knew I was taking a risk with Lady Caroline Elmhurst (and with the hero, too, Nicholas Congrevance) but I had to do it.

I wrote Comedy partly to demonstrate that my first Regency chicklit The Rules of Gentility wasn’t a one-off book, but as much as I enjoyed Philomena (the heroine of Rules), I had this rule of not writing about virgins prancing around in drawing rooms (oops), and I really didn’t think I could break it again. Editors might expect me to always write about naïve babbling fashionistas and then what would I do?

And for my own entertainment, I needed a change. So I picked a minor character from Rules who was quite obviously rude, unprincipled, and dishonest—oh, how I loved writing Caroline. Mrs. Giggles defined her as a gloriously flirtatious hussy with a PhD in gold digging which pleased me no end. She proved to be even more outrageous as the book progressed. Occasionally I would utter a mild protest and then I just let her rip.

Here’s an excerpt, Caroline closing in on her next mark. She and the hero have just met and are on their way to take part in amateur theatricals at a house party in the country:

How very fortunate that he has been abroad, and how relieved I am to find that my reputation has not crossed the Channel. If he had been in London, it would be an entirely different story. Indeed, it is a miraculous stroke of luck that he is a blank slate upon which I can rewrite myself, provided he does not listen to vulgar gossip from his fellow guests.

“You enjoy the theater, Lady Elmhurst?”

“Oh, I adore it.” I clasp my hands to my bosom (he watches) and sigh deeply (he blinks). “It is tremendously diverting. It is one of the great pleasures of town.” I do not mention that cards and flirting and activities well beyond flirting behind closed doors are what I really prefer. “And of course I enjoy music; I play a little upon the pianoforte--my friends say I am not totally devoid of taste--and I have a very small skill with watercolors.”

“Otterwell has some very pleasing prospects on his estate. I expect you will wish to sketch them. Perhaps I might be permitted to accompany you, Lady Elmhurst.”

“That would be delightful, Mr. Congrevance.”

The question, of course, is whether I should take him as protector or husband. As enamored as he seems to be of the countryside, there is a good chance he will want to settle on some tedious estate and commune with his cows. He might expect a wife to slop around there with straw in her hair and breed!

But I was worried. What if readers agreed with Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest that The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means. Do Caroline and Nicholas, a pair of well-matched rogues, deserve a HEA? And isn’t it a rule of fiction that characters should undergo transformation?

The last thing I wanted my hero and heroine to do was reform. I was having too good a time. Nor did I want them to reveal hearts of gold. Instead, I brought out what they had always possessed—self-awareness, humor, loyalty—and let them find what they really needed. At the beginning of the book they both want money. At the end, they have both found a sense of community and purpose as well as true love.

You can buy A Most Lamentable Comedy at bookdepository.com which offers free shipping worldwide, or if you comment or ask me a question Lucienne will enter your name into a drawing for a signed copy.

 A MOST LAMENTABLE COMEDY

THE FIRE KING by Marjorie M. Liu – July 28
The latest in the author's bestselling Dirk & Steele series. Night Owl Romance says,
"Marjorie M. Liu has penned another gripping novel of extraordinary characters with a thrilling plot that will have the reader entrenched within the danger and the heart-wrenching emotions…. The Fire King is an extraordinary tale of romance, intrigue, and fascinating characters that will keep the reader turning the pages in anticipation."

LION HEART by Doranna Durgin – August 1
Shape-shifters, protectors, conspiracies, romance...what's not to love? Amelia Richard of

 CAPE STORM

 BUNDLE OF TROUBLE by Diana Orgain – August 4
Genre Go Round calls it "chicklit meets noir." PW calls it a "charming debut thriller." I call it sheer fun. A wonderful novel in which new mom Kate Connelly battles diaper blow-outs, sleep-deprivation and a murderer to clear her family.

I have to out Janet Mullany as having one of the best novel openings I've ever read.  See for yourself (from THE RULES OF GENTILITY): "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman of fortune and passable good looks amuses herself in London with fashion, philanthropic works, and flirtation until a suitable gentleman makes an offer.  I consider the pursuit of the bonnets and a husband fairly alike - I do not want to acquire an item that will wear out, or bore me after a brief acquaintance, and we must suit each other very well."  Janet, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways....

A Case History or What To Do About Historical Overload by Janet Mullany

The subject  was dressed in girls’ clothes until about the age of five. He was frequently beaten with great severity. At the age of seven he was sent to a boarding school where he was beaten, tortured, and possibly sexually abused, and as he grew older, became one of the torturers himself. When he was a teenager his family ordered him to join the equally harsh and brutal environment of the Royal Navy.

His dreams of becoming a naval hero were dashed by the death of his father and elder brother (several other siblings had died in the family) and when only in his early twenties he had to take charge of a large and complex estate.

He thinks women are either whores or marriageable, couldn’t find a woman’s erogenous zones if handed a map and compass, hates the French, Catholics, and Jews, drinks heavily, and will fight to the death anyone who he thinks impugns his honor.

Yikes, he’s a psychopath!

No he isn't. He’s the hero of a Regency-set romance and I created this case history to show how sometimes history is too much history. And I didn't even mention the head lice or (lack of) dental hygiene...

As historical writers we have to be fairly picky about what history we use and don't use, and what and how we translate. Because while we want to give a sense of the past, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a rose-tinted interpretation, we want to identify what we hold in common with our historical characters as well as what makes them different. We want to build a convincing historical world and still have the reader identify with our characters.

So, let’s reexamine the case history.

________________________

 Janet Mullany was reared in England on a diet of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer and now lives near Washington, DC. She has worked as an archaeologist, waitress, radio announcer, performing arts administrator, bookseller, and proofreader.  In addition to her most excellent novels featured above, the first book in Janet's Immortal Jane Austen series will be released in 2010.

  Yesterday's winner of a signed copy of UNLACED is miintikwa !  Please get in touch with me at Lucienne(dot)Diver@knightagency.net with your address and we'll get it right out to you.  Congratulations and enjoy!

Today we have another giveaway of a signed copy of FORBIDDEN SHORES by Jane Lockwood.  Comment here and I'll draw a name tomorrow morning for the win.

</lj>And now, a few words from indomitable Jane Lockwood:

Thanks, Lucienne, for inviting me to guest blog today.

 Lucienne talked a bit on Monday about the definitions of erotic romance, erotica, and romantica. I’ve given up trying to define what I do—I mean, so long as your agent knows, you’re in safe hands, right?—although I do like this definition of erotica vs. pornography: if it takes two hands to hold the book, it’s erotica.

 I find that if I mention I write erotic romance to non-writers, or even that I occasionally teach a workshop on the subject (in the company of Lucienne and Pam Rosenthal www.pamrosenthal.com) I get a strange reaction, a mixture of disbelief and shock. I’m pretty sure I don’t meet the preconception of a romance writer or an erotic romance writer (whatever that might be--tattoos, leather, spiked collar, leashed boytoy?). I’m sort of surprised myself.