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Yikes! I may have confused which bookcover Michelle Buonfiglio of Romance B(u)y the Book said had Nathan Kamp on the cover. It might have been this bookcover!!

This fellow does look like Nathan Kamp!

So who is A REPUTABLE RAKE?????

My apologies to the model on A Reputable Rake. I am certain there are many readers dying to identify you. When I find out who you are, I will do a whole blog on you!

Diane (slinking away after making a major boo boo, she thinks)

This weekend I attended Washington Romance Writers Spring Retreat in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, one of the highlights of my year. On Sunday of the Retreat we always have someone speak seriously on the Romance industry. That speech comes right before Nora Roberts’ speech, which is never serious! This year our guest speaker was Michelle Buonfiglio, Romance Columnist for Romance B(u)y the Book (www.WNBC.com/Romance) and her companion site Romance: by the Blog (http://romancebytheblog.blogspot.com/) I knew nothing of these sites! Michelle reviews Romance novels in her column and is a wonderful advocate for the genre. I urge everyone to read the column and visit the blog.

Michelle announced to the group that my cover of A REPUTABLE RAKE (on display along with our other authors’ bookcovers) featured cover model Nathan Kamp.
Here is the cover:

(I think my Rake is sooo handsome and I love that hint of devilment in his expression)

Here is a photo of Nathan Kamp:

What do you think? Is this the same guy?

If you would like your very own Rake, A REPUTABLE RAKE by Diane Gaston should be available in your bookstores TODAY.

By the way, Romance B(u)y the Book will feature an interview with Nathan Kamp on May 9 and May 16.

Speaking of cover models, I’ve teamed up with Richard Cerqueira for a promotion at the Romantic Times Booklovers convention in Daytona Beach May 16 to May 21. For attendees, I will be raffling two cover flats of THE WAGERING WIDOW, signed by me and Richard Cerqueira. I’ll also be giving away Richard’s bookmarks.

Here is a picture of Richard on my February release, THE WAGERING WIDOW:

Well, that’s Richard’s hand, but a very strong and sexy hand.

Here is a better photo from the book spine:

And another—not in Regency garb.

Richard is perfect in Regency clothes ( and out of them, too! ) I hope all of him appears on the FRONT of one of my books sometime. Properly dressed in buckskins and hessians, of course.

Aren’t I lucky in my Regency heroes?

And just so you do not think I am unfaithful to GB

Cheers!
Diane

Let’s face it. I’m in this business for the heroes.

What could be better than spending your days with some hunky gentleman in pantaloons, Hessians, and a coat by Weston, who says things like, “You’ve bewitched me, body and soul.”

Sigh!

The Regency gives us such wonderful heroes. Wealthy marquesses and dukes. disreputable Rakes (as opposed to my Reputable Rake, on sale in May, shameless self-promotion here), corinthians, gamblers, impoverished vicars, and my favorite–

The soldier.


I’m with Mrs. Bennett when, in Pride & Prejudice, she says, “I remember the time when I liked a red coat myself very well—and, indeed, so I do still at my heart.”

That’s me. Show me a man in his regimentals and I’ll show you a potential hero.

Take a look at these fellows:

Sigh!

Maybe I love military heroes because my father was an Army colonel. I grew up with that whole military mind-set of duty and honor and country. Woke up to reveille. Went to sleep hearing taps. Or maybe it was listening to all those Chivers audiotapes of the Sharpe series, hearing William Gaminara read, “Sharpe swore.”

Writing a soldier for a hero gives so much dramatic potential. The hero faced hardship, faced death, experienced scenes we would find horrific. He’s honed his body to be strong. When he returns to England from war, he must look on the society to which he returns in a whole new light. I think it makes for lots of interesting possibilities.

I have a brazillion books on the Napoleonic war. Three of my favorites are:

Waterloo: Day of Battle by David Armine Howarth. It tells the story of Waterloo from the soldiers point of view.

Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket by Richard Holmes, This book covers everything about being a soldier during that time period.

Galloping at Everything: The British Cavalry in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo, 1808-15 by Ian Fletcher. This covers all the major operations engaging the cavalry and discusses some of the controversy around them.

I have another book that makes me sad: Intelligence Officer in the Peninsula, Julia Page, editor. These are the letters and diaries of Major the Hon. Edward Charles Cocks, a man who loved soldiering with a passion that makes the journals occasionally boring. It makes me sad because the war takes his life. Even Wellington grieves his loss.

I’d love to write a series of Napoleonic war love stories, sort of Bernard Cornwell-style but with a really satisfying romance. A lofty dream.

Okay, let’s face it. I just want to spend my days with some hunky officer in regimentals.

Diane

Okay. It’s not Regency but it is Gerard Butler as Spartan King Leonides at the Battle of Thermopylae 480 BC. Hey, he’s a soldier, too, right?

Dreadfully Important Survey here. Much more important than that census nonsense. The fate of the world hangs in the balance.

And the pictures here of handsome men are entirely relevant, and not there for any superficial, oh-aren’t-they-cute sort of reason.

1. If Horatio Hornblower (as played by Ioan Gruffudd) had a fistfight with Jack Aubrey (as played by Russell Crowe), who would win? And how much would you pay to watch them fight? How much more would you pay if they fought without their shirts on?

2. How about Jack Aubrey versus Captain Wentworth (as played by Ciaran Hinds)? Or would you be too afraid that Anne (as played by Amanda Root) would beat you to death with her umbrella for watching?

3. How about Wentworth versus Hornblower?

4. If the three captains actually fought, would that be like Regency mudwrestling?

5. Would Richard Sharpe (as played by Sean Bean) be able to wipe the floor with any of them?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Cara


Warning–today’s post will be Very Shallow and Not At All Edifying. Mostly because my spring allergies have kicked in, and my medicine has me even fuzzier-headed than usual. But also because of a book I just finished reading.

The book was “Kiss and Tango” by Marina Palmer, a memoir that had not a single thing to do with the Regency, but was a tale of the author quitting her dull advertising job in New York and taking off to dance the tango in Argentina. (Can this be my new career ambition, too???). She also had hot sex with many hunky tango guys, which leads me to this.

Palmer says “…this city [Buenos Aires] contains the most beautiful men per capita (we’re talking both quantity and quality). To that end, I have devised an index that will hopefully enable others to draw their own conclusions.
The Beautiful Men Index Per Square Mile:
Athens 0
Rio 4
New York 8
Paris 15
London 17
Venice 79
Buenos Aires 86”

She then goes into her reasons for these numbers, which makes me really want to go to South America. I then got the idea (this was excellent time wastage, BTW) to scan my romance “keeper” shelf and devise my own hot guy index based on favorite heroes. here goes:
Medieval/Renaissance 16
Regency 26
Victorian 9
Misc. 11
Paranormal 6

I will have to analyze these statistics as soon as the Benadryl wears off.

In the meantime, what are some of your favorite “great hero” books? Or “beautiful men” cities? (I’m especially interested in hearing about THAT…)

As for the Orlando picture–well, it’s Monday, and I just felt like it. 🙂