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Monthly Archives: November 2012

Reflections on Two Years as an Author

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Susanna here, for my regular third Friday post. 

An Infamous Marriageis my third published book, and I’ve been thinking lately about how much my life has and hasn’t changed in the two years and change since The Sergeant’s Lady came out.



On the surface, my world doesn’t look that different. I’m still not at a point where I’d feel safe in quitting my day job, so Monday through Friday, 8:00 to 5:00, I’m focused on the glamorous world of academic research administration.

My coworkers all know I write, though sometimes they seem surprised that I’m still at it. It’s as if they think that after a book or two, I would’ve gotten the writing urge out of my system.

I’m confident in saying that won’t happen. I started writing at age 8–a highly derivative tale of talking horses in a Narnia-like fantasy world–and I look forward to many more years of storytelling.

What has changed is that now I have two careers. I thought I was treating writing as a career before I sold, but it goes to a different level once you add all the business aspects of being an author. Contracts, royalties, tax records, promoting your new release while you work on edits for your next contracted book and simultaneously draft the book after that, etc. I love it, but I’d never claim it’s easy. I sometimes joke that Mr. Fraser and I form a three-career household.

Since I’m still in the middle of my blog tour, commenters on this post can enter my grand prize contest. At the end of the tour, on December 6, I’ll be giving away a $50 gift certificate to their choice of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Powell’s Books to one commenter on the tour as a whole. You get one entry per blog tour stop you comment upon, so check out my blog for the whole schedule!

Over to you. Let me know what you think of the cover or of romances involving the Battle of Waterloo, or tell me what’s keeping you busy these days. If you wish to be entered in the drawing, include your email address formatted as yourname AT yourhost DOT com.

Posted in Writing | Tagged , | 8 Replies

New Book! Born to Scandal

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I have a new book out!
Born to Scandal is my homage to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It’s the story of a governess and a lord complete with secrets and betrayal.

From the back cover:

“People talk as if there is something wrong about Lord Brentmore. Something about his past.”Lord Brentmore–half Irish peasant, half English aristocrat–grew up under a cloud of scandal. Even money and a title aren’t enough to stay the wagging tongues of the Ton. But he’s vowed that his children will never experience the same stigma.
After the death of their infamous mother they need a reputable governess. Anna Hill is too passionate, too alluring, but she fills Brentmore Hall with light and laughter again–and its master with feelings he’d forgotten.
But a lord marrying a governess would be the biggest scandal of all!

I’ve received some reviews!

5 Stars! “Beautifully written, with a delicious romance, Born to Scandal by Diane Gaston was written to be savored and enjoyed as we do with all fine wines.” — Debby, Cataromance

4 Stars! “Like the original, Gaston’s homage to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre is a story about lies and betrayal with a governess at the center. This one is well written, brimming with emotion and populated with characters readers will come to care about and root for. And, best of all, the governess gets her happy ending!” — Maria Ferrer, RT Book Reviews

We often ask our guests where the idea for their books came from. I am not sure where the idea for Born to Scandal came from. In fact, I can’t remember writing the first chapter. My friend Julie brought back a full manuscript of mine that she had in her possession. Loose inside it was this first chapter. I didn’t even remember it. After reading it, I did remember my idea for the story, my desire to tell a governess story, like Jane Eyre.

So when I needed a new story idea, I went with this one.

Another thing I liked about it was the challenge of writing a story where not much happens except the hero and heroine working out their relationship. There’s no villain, no battle scenes (sigh!), no road trip–except a short one.

To celebrate the release of Born to Scandal, I’m giving away one signed copy to one lucky commenter.

What do you remember about the first time you read Jane Eyre?

 

Posted in Giveaways, Risky Book Talk | Tagged , , | 16 Replies

How was your Thanksgiving?

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I’m sorry I don’t have a Regency-relevant post for today. I’ve been fighting a nasty cold and just remembered it’s my day! So let me tell you about yesterday.

Given my cold, it turned out to be a very good thing that we weren’t going anywhere or hosting anyone for Thanksgiving this year. I was able to have just the kind of Thanksgiving I could enjoy.
I woke up at about 5:30AM, too congested to fall back asleep. So I got up to have some breakfast, tea and meds, and it turned out to be blessing, because I caught this gorgeous sunrise. The photo doesn’t even do it justice.
My daughters and I shared the cooking tasks, so I was able to spend a lot of time resting on the couch and watching the Finding Bigfoot marathon. Sasquatch fascinates me, as do the Loch Ness Monster, crop circles and anything else on the fringes of science and fantasy.
I was very proud of my daughters. My youngest made deviled eggs and the cranberry sauce (so much better than the stuff that comes out of a can).  My oldest baked honey apple pies, using a recipe from my grandmother’s Lithuanian church ladies’ cookbook.
We worked together on the rest of the feast: herb roasted turkey breast with cider gravy (a Rachael Ray recipe), stuffing muffins (also Rachael Ray) and sweet potato and apple casserole from The Best of the Finger Lakes cookbook. We washed it all down with Finger Lakes Riesling and sparkling cider. Yum.
I feel blessed to have had such a lovely day with family.
I hope you had a wonderful day, too.  Did you do anything special?
Elena
Posted in Frivolity | Tagged | 6 Replies