Historical Hearts Launch Party - Day 4

Dear Reader

I am so glad you have found your way to our Historical Hearts Blog. I’m Annie Seaton and I love all things historical. I write Steampunk romance.

I live on the beautiful east coast of Australia, where I spend most of the day sitting in my writing chair, gazing at the ocean and dreaming up stories. I have found my niche writing steampunk, where strong heroines and brooding heroes fight together to make their alternative world a better place.

I have recently signed with Lyrical Press, and I am looking forward to seeing my first novella, Winter of the Passion Flower released in March 2012. I am currently working on my second steampunk project, Summer of the Moon Flower, a novel length follow up.

Steampunk? What is steampunk you ask? Sounds slightly steamy?

Steampunk as a literary genre began to gain popularity in the 1980s. It began as a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy, and developed as a rebellious response to the science fiction that preceded it. Steampunk includes the core elements of

· Steam power

· Alternate history settings (mostly Victorian/Edwardian era England, and sometimes the wild, wild west)

· SF/Fantasy elements

· Devices that reflect the period but are ahead of their time. For example, difference engines, airships, and all sorts of clockwork and steam powered devices

I will let you peek at a directional perambulator, a device in my upcoming steampunk novella (March 2012) as an example.

“Steam lift,” Indigo spoke loudly above the humming. “Precision movement defined by the cogs. The perambulator ascends, descends and moves sideways if needed." 

Steampunk is warm, sassy, and larger than life. The new direction is now steampunk + romance and a major appeal is the historical setting, and a steampunk author can use familiar settings and times.

Steampunk romance has the potential to offer something familiar, yet different. Authors can stretch their creative wings. Sassy heroines can stretch the limits of Victorian dress codes...

Her signature red bustier topped an emerald green skirt embossed with the symbols of industry flowing around her ankles, neither satisfying air safety dress regulation for dirigible travel. 

Both excerpts from Winter of the Passion Flower – Annie Seaton (Lyrical Press March 2012)

So welcome to our blog, come along and say hello. I have some beautiful postcards and elegant pens for the person who can list three steampunk romance novels in a comment below!

Enjoy our launch week, come back and visit again.

Good Luck!

Annie.

Hello everyone. My name is Cassandra Samuels and I love everything Regency. The clothes, the manners, the people, the history, the entertainments, the clothes, the furniture, the music – did I mention the clothes? I think you get the picture and he looks a lot like Colin Firth. Hmmm I’ll let you think on that for a moment....

Right, onward! I am currently unpublished and writing – you guessed it – Regency Historical Romance. I love dashing Dukes, masterful Marquis’, enigmatic Earls and virile Viscounts – I mean who doesn’t? I love to write strong sassy ladies who give my heroes an adventure in love they never expected all with a touch of humor.

I will be blogging - Cassie’s Regency Tidbits. There will be interesting people of the period, historical trivia and other interesting things. My first blog will be about the language of the fan. It seems amazing that so much could be conveyed simply by placing your fan in a particular way. I hope you will enjoy my Regency tidbits’ and will let me know what you want to know about the Regency Period.

What do you like about the Regency era? As an incentive to creative answers there is a small prize up for grabs, an “I love Darcy” key ring all the way from the Jane Austen Tea House in Bath.

Good Luck!

Cassandra.

G-day all! I'm Danielle Lisle. The girls of Historical Hearts have asked that I introduce myself. My first thought was to shake your hand, but the limits of cyberspace make it rather difficult. Instead, I’ll have to give you a hot and steamy mental image of what I read and love to write. Surely that will imprint me in your memory? Well, let’s see... 

Men is skirts. In know it’s not all that sexy (well, perhaps it is if you swing that way) but stick with me and think of a Scottish warrior with a deep, thick accent (Gerard Butler *moan*) with bulging muscles, softly furred chest, his long, bulging and deliciously thick .... sword and eyes that could slay a woman’s soul. Oh yes, I have your attention. Now, this man in a skirt IS sexy!

Every writer writes for a different reason. I write stories of love, desire and passion, for a simple reason – I want to live it! Yep, I want to be that heroine, the damsel in distress who is saved by the hunky (and yes, sometimes damaged too) hero. I want him to whisk me away, cave man tactics and all, exposing me to the deep and dark passion of his soul. *sigh* Name me a woman who doesn’t want that?

You can likely gauge from my thought process in writing the above, that I write ‘naughty’ historical romances. Yep, I like it hot and there is nothing hotter than some hot and heavy passion leading the way to everlasting love.

I love reading all types historical’s as well. It’s not always romance, though granted most times it is. I find the path our ancestors have travelled to get the world to where it is today, remarkably fascinating. It is therefore my goal to have my stories as detailed and accurate as possible. Well, settings and events are at least. Everything else is totally my imagination. *cheeky grin*

Come on a whirlwind ride with me as I travel the strange and distant lands of our past and meet some very hunky men along the way.

Win Me!!!

Tell me what gets your blood flowing in the books you read. What is it about the hero or heroine that makes you refuse to put the book down regardless of the time of night? What is it that makes you say ‘to hell!’ with the pile of dishes in the sink or the dirty washing vying for your attention? All comments will go in the draw to win a copy of Judith Ivory’s, Angel in a Red Dress.

Good Luck!

Danielle.

Welcome to our Historical Hearts Blog. Hi I’m Elle Fynllay, one of your tour guides as we take the magical journey back through the mists of time. We’ll be passing back through Victorian time , stopping for a quite extensive view of the Regency period, back, back through the time of Cavaliers and Roundheads, deeper and deeper in to the mists to Medieval period and even deeper to the Time of the Romans and Druids.

My period is a medieval time where Kings, Lairds and heroes lusted for land, love and glory and their women lusted for…their alpha males, of course. My first novel “Siege of the Heart” is an alliance between an Anglo-Saxon Laird’s daughter and the Norman knight that brings his wealth and strength to the marriage but can the castle survive the turmoil between its fiery Lady and the Norman knight who has staked his wealth on a betrothal and can they both survive the treachery within the castle. There is more than one way to win a castle; through siege, battle or treachery. Who will win? Who will survive?

Back to modern times: The deeper we go in time the less we have evidence of the period. From the Medieval period we have manuscripts and a few drawings to refer to. In Regency, we often hear accounts of the plethora of ancestral paintings on the wall. Well Reader, look around you. How much of your history is on display? In this day and age of digital display there is little “Hard Copy“, that is, actual paintings or photographs of family that we can put our hands on. I have three silver finish photo frames, that will hold a 5’’x7” (13x18cm) photograph to give away to a reader who comments on their favourite time period and why.

Good Luck!

Elle.

Note: For your chance to win today's prizes, when answering the trivia questions or replying, please leave your name, email address and what draw you'd like to enter. Of course, you are more than welcome to enter all prize draws up for grabs. Good Luck!

Historical Hearts Launch Party - Day 3

Welcome to the Historical Hearts and the seventeenth century world of me, award winning writer Alison Stuart.

Roundheads and cavaliers, heroes in bucket boots, lace collars and broad-brimmed hats? My passion for the English Civil War began in childhood and spills into my writing world. The ripples from this short, violent period of English History are still felt into today's democratic parliaments and I love nothing more than sharing this passion with my readers. I just wish I could convince more publishers of its worth as a rich source of romance and conflict.

Fortunately my two published English Civil War novels, THE KING'S MAN and the award winning BY THE SWORD are available in digital and print form at all reputable online sources. See my website www.alisonstuart.com for details of my writing. While the English Civil War is my passion, I love all periods of history and as I am currently working on a Regency and a World War One set novel, my blogs could be on any subject!

To celebrate the launch of Historical Hearts, I am offering a critique of the first 3 chapters of a historical novel (can be any period). Just enter the Comments section below and provide me with an alternative ending to the first sentence of my novel THE KING’S MAN. It begins “Thamsine Granville had not begun the day with the intention of killing Oliver Cromwell, but.........................”

The most outrageous answer will win but everyone who enters my contest will receive a prize of an ebook of THE KINGS MAN.

Looking forward to sharing history with you!

Good Luck!
Alison.



Welcome to the Historical Hearts launch party!

I’m Dana Scully. I write historical romances set around the tenth century in Wales. I’m currently unpublished, but that will change. As an unpubbed (and even once I am pubbed—LOL), I’ll be blogging inspirational pieces. Little somethings to keep you going on your own personal journey—whether it be in writing, reading, or life in general. Yes, my blogs will be writing related, but you’ll be able to take the main point and apply it to your own life and hopefully receive a bit of a boost from it too!

To get the ball rolling, I’d like to hear what inspires you. Is it the end of a good romance—that ahhhh happily ever after moment, is it hearing a feel good story on the nightly news, or perhaps a walk in the woods, or playing with your children...? What makes you feel good about you, about life, about the world in which we live?

I have a beautiful carved Welsh love spoon to give away to one of you wonderful bloggers. (I’ll be writing more about these tokens of love and affection in a few weeks...) So get blogging!

What inspires you? I hope to chat with you soon!

Good Luck!

Dana.

Hello and Welcome to our new Historical Blog site, where we hope you shall visit whenever the mood to enjoy fun and interesting things from our past takes your fancy. Or just come and cruise through the authors' works to see what's new with our books and writings.

My name is Mary deHaas and I am a devoted romance writer, who is currently unpublished. If it takes place in a drafty old castle, in the dry desert sands or upon the wild open seas, as long as a story spans the tyranny of time and conjures up the past, then it's the genre of history that I love to write about the most. I am also an artist--who paints pretty much all the above as well. I have a saying: "stay still long enough; I will paint you".

I have many favorite time-periods and thanks to my characters, I get to venture wherever I wish with each new story I write. My current WIP is a ST (single title) set off the Ivory Coast, during the 1850's. Allow me to share a little of my imagination with you through my love of art and my passion for writing.

I have a lovely hand-painted porcelain coaster and gum-leaf bookmark to give-away for a lucky person who knows where the *Ivory Coast* refers to in the history books.

Good luck!

Maryde.

Note: For your chance to win today's prizes, when answering the trivia questions or replying, please leave your name, email address and what draw you'd like to enter. Of course, you are more than welcome to enter all prize draws up for grabs. Good Luck!