Winners of the Anna Campbell Giveaway (calling Felicia!)

Congratulations to FELICIA (of Pennsylvania) for winning the draw for the "international" prize of DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES in the Anna Campbell giveaway.  Please email me on alison@alisonstuart.com and your prize will be winging its way to you.  

(In fairness to all, if the prize is unclaimed within 7 days we will redraw it.)

And congratulations to JENNIFER ENSOR for winning the draw for THESE HAUNTED HEARTS. Your prize will coming to you directly!

Taking tea with...Anna Campbell (and a Giveaway!)

Welcome to this week's Taking Tea with Ms. Stuart.

I am delighted to welcome one of my most favourite writer pals with whom to share a good cup of tea and the odd cucumber sandwich -- the marvellous award winning, regency writer Anna Campbell.

It is my particular pleasure to set out my best china and silver tea pot for Ms. Campbell to talk about her new release, DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES (love the title, Ms. C.!) but wait there's more...she's offering a GIVEAWAY of her new book so read on...

Hi Alison! Thank you so much for having me as your guest today.

I’ve got a new North American release this week (hoping to get it into Australia and New Zealand in the near future). My e-novella DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES from Grand Central Forever Yours has been billed as “Sons of Sin” 1.5. I think this is so cute – like it’s trying to squeeze in on the sofa.

Hey, I’m a writer, I don’t get out much! And in a way this novella is trying to squeeze in – it’s the delicious little appetizer between two big feasts, the gothic drama of SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROGUES’ BED and the (hopefully) sexy games of A RAKE’S MIDNIGHT KISS which comes out at the end of August.

Here’s the Amazon link for DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES.  It’s available at the bargain price of 99 cents!

And here’s the blurb:

Lady Lydia Rothermere has spent the past decade trying to make up for a single, youthful moment of passion. Now the image of propriety, Lydia knows her future rests on never straying outside society's rigid rules; but hiding away the desire that runs through her is harder than she could have ever dreamed. Now as Lydia prepares for a marriage that will suit her family, but not her heart, Lydia must decide what's more important: propriety or passion?

Simon Metcalf is a rake and adventurer. But for all his experience, nothing can compare to the kiss he stole from the captivating Lydia Rothermere ten years ago. Simon can scarcely believe he's about to lose the one woman he's never forgotten. The attraction between them is irresistible, yet Lydia refuses to forsake her engagement. With his heart on the line, will Simon prove that love is a risk worth taking?

You can read an excerpt on my website here: http://annacampbell.info/daysofrakes.html

This story is unashamedly romantic. It’s about the reunion of star-crossed childhood sweethearts, Lady Lydia Rothermere and Simon Metcalf, after ten years apart.

I think the title’s very romantic. Even more, that gorgeous pink cover really conveys the lush emotions of this book. Look at the scattered roses and the melting body language. If he doesn’t kiss her in the next five seconds, I think we’re ALL going to combust!

I’ve had some beautiful covers in my time, but I think this is one of the nicest. I love how the people at Grand Central Publishing really try to match the tone of the books – and the colouring of the characters too. Lydia is my first redhead and Simon is one of those golden blonds, a bit like Anthony Andrews in THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL movie.

In fact, Simon will make it two blond heroes in a row – up until now, my only blond hero was the Marquess of Ranelaw in MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION. Sir Richard Harmsworth, the very Scarlet Pimpernelish hero of A RAKE’S MIDNIGHT KISS, my next release, is another blond.

Clearly, I’m going to be working my pictures of Anthony Andrews hard for the next few months! And again, it’s a beautiful cover!

So do you like your heroes dark and dangerous or blond and shiny? Do you have a favorite blond hero from a romance? Who’s your favorite blond man? Robert Redford? Brad Pitt? Baryshnikov? Do blonds have more fun?

Anna has a download of DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES for a commenter from North America today and as a consolation prize for our international visitors, a download of her ghostly romance THESE HAUNTED HEARTS for a commenter from outside America. Please let us know where you’re from when you comment and good luck! 

WATCH OUT FOR ANNA'S NEXT RELEASE....!

(Interesting topic, Anna...I am not immune to the charms of the blonde haired hero - Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe won me over completely as the tall, blonde and dangerous to know guy and let's not forget David Wenham in Sea Change or (be still my fluttering heart) Rupert Penrys-Jones in anything...but most particularly in Sense and Sensibility as Captain Wentworth. Tall, blonde AND wearing a stock and riding boots!)

Taking Tea with Ms. Stuart

Tea...an innocuous infusion of the cured leaf of the camellia sinensis tree in hot water.

Hard to believe that this simple leaf has been the cause of wars and was once so priceless it had to be stored in locked cabinets. It is synonymous with the British and the Chinese cultures and the tea ceremonies of Asia, particularly Japan, are complex and fraught with significance. Many a family problem is sorted over a "good, strong cuppa" and it is produced in times of stress and emotion to calm the nerves.

Writing stories set in the seventeenth century means there is little opportunity to introduce tea drinking* (as it did not come into Britain until the 18th century) but in GATHER THE BONES, set in 1923, tea makes a frequent appearance.

I am, of course, anglo saxon in my origins and upbringing. Tea, strong with a good slosh of milk, flows through my veins. One coffee (fresh beans of course - I would die before I drank instant coffee again!) to start the heart in the morning and then a good cup of tea mid-morning and another in the afternoon. It is so much more than just a  drink. It is a punctuation mark in my day. A time to stop and reflect on how the day is going and what needs to be done next. It is a social icebreakers...my first instinct on seeing a visitor at the door is to offer them a cup of tea.

My pantry groans with every variety of the good camellia sinensis and a selection of "fruit" and "herbal" teas but when pushed into a corner, I revert to a traditional black tea. Of late I have become rather fond of  Twining's (so called limited edition) Australian Afternoon Tea. It is probably just the sweepings of the floor with a fancy label but who cares, it hits the spot!


Even in British culture there are so many 'traditions' around tea...does one pre heat the tea pot? How many spoons (one per person and one for the pot)? Milk first and then tea or tea first and then milk (I tend to the latter)? Do you take the pot to the cup or the cup to the pot?  Personally I find the tea bag, stick it in nice mug and pour the boiling water over it, BUT I do love an occasion to bring out my lovely Villeroy and Boch tea pot or on high days, my silver tea pot (which pours like a dream).

My favourite tea pot

When I lived in Singapore, that curious blend of cultures eponymised by that small city state came to the fore. Every posh hotel had its own version of "High Tea", a hark back to the languid colonial days when the taking of tea, accompanied by a substantial repaste filled in the long hours of the afternoon and quelled the hunger pains before the formal evening meal (that often did not start until after 8.00 pm).

If it is travel advice you are after, I would advise you resist Raffles and its much hyped High Tea and go instead to the Shangri La Hotel (just off Orchard Road), where a tea menu is presented for your delectation and served in elegant Wedgwood china (also the food is better!).

At the other end of the cultural spectrum, I was a frequent visitor to a tea shop in Chinatown where the proprietor would, with great dignity, talk about the history of tea in Chinese society and take us step by step with the fine art of the Chinese tea ceremony (which involves much sloshing of water in great contrast to a Japanese tea ceremony where the slightest misplaced drop of water would be a disaster). At this tea shop, frequent visitors kept their own blends in a locked cabinet, somewhat akin to a humidifier in a cigar shop. A delicate yum cha always rounded off the visit.

I love my American friends but I am afraid that, culturally, I am yet to meet a decent cup of tea in America. This probably dates from the time someone suggested tea mixed with the water of Boston Harbor might make a heady brew and frankly most tea I have drunk in America still tastes like it has been made with the water of Boston Harbor. I have taken tea at the Grand Hyatt in Washington where the beautifully coiffed grand dames of Washington Society gathered, little pinkies poised (where did that idea come from?) over afternoon tea. Gasping for a decent cup, you can imagine my disappointment when my tea arrived on a well appointed tray with linen napkin and in a proper tea pot...accompanied by whatever white stuff passes for coffee cream, so beloved of the Americans. MILK, people, you drink proper milk with tea - NEVER cream and never, ever, powdered coffee cream!

The Boston Tea Party

On one of our visits to Washington we took time out to visit friends on a posting to the JAG school in Charlottesville. This particular friend is a most proper gentleman so fearing he may be mourning a good gin and tonic, we went stocked with Bombay Sapphire, which he accepted most graciously. With a long face, he said, if he had thought about it, he would have asked for some decent tea and produced from the pantry a packet of dried brown leaves which had the instructions for making tea in a coffee dripolator on the side. He quivered in indignation and I have to agree, having stayed in many American hotels, tea made with hot water from a coffee machine and drunk with powdered coffee cream is the devil's own brew.

So many stories...so many cups of tea: Japanese tea ceremonies, Nepalese tea, Russian tea (apparently the national drink of Russia...not vodka), army tea (was it really infused with bromide?), billy tea and damper...these I will save for another day.

It is such a social drink that Ms. Stuart has decided that she will invite her writer friends to partake in the occasional cup with her and discuss books and writing in a civilised fashion. Watch this space for my new column "Taking tea with Ms. Stuart..."

Anna Campbell

In fact Ms. Stuart is delighted that  best selling author and raconteur Ms. Anna Campbell has sent back her card and agreed to be the first to take tea with her. For delightful conversation and the sampling of the camellia sinensis, Ms. Campbell will be taking tea with Ms.Stuart on Friday 5th July. A Giveaway is promised...

All this talk of tea...and a quick glance at the clock reminds me it is time to partake of my morning beverage. Would anyone care to join me, and please if you have a moment, do share a short comment about your favourite type of tea or a tea travel story.

Ahhhh......

*Post script:  I did however get an opportunity to introduce coffee in THE KING'S MAN. Coffee first arrived in London in the early 1650s

Release Day - GATHER THE BONES

No new mother likes to be told their baby has funny ears or Aunt Georgina's nose and for an author, release day can be both exciting and frightening. You are sending your baby out for public scrutiny. Inevitably there will be those readers who don't connect with your writing and a writer has to learn to take the bad reviews with the good. We should be experts at rejection but we're not. We love our baby - even if it does have a huge nose and ears like Dumbo...

So after a long, long break, my baby is now out in the big, wide world.  Be gentle...

I am thrilled that award winning writer, Anna Campbell not only read the book but agreed to provide the cover quote. Thank you, Anna!

"GATHER THE BONES is breathtakingly romantic. This moving and dramatic love story will haunt you long after you turn the last page. Anna Campbell, author of SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROGUE’S BED"

For the time being it is only available as an ebook and can be found at AMAZON KINDLE, BARNES & NOBLE,  Lyrical Press and other reputable on line stores. With ebooks, the reviews and feedback at these sites is so important so please leave a review or rating. 

It is also up on Goodreads. 

Tomorrow is party day...I shall be hosting an online Launch Party at my Author Facebook page . There will be readings, giveaways and other fun...so watch this space.

In the meantime here is the Book Trailer for GATHER THE BONES (Or Gather the Bones - the movie)

The horrors of the Great War are not the only ghosts that haunt Helen Morrow and her late husband's reclusive cousin, Paul. 

Unquiet spirits from another time and another conflict touch them.

A coded diary gives them clues to the mysterious disappearance of Paul's great-grandmother in 1812, and the desperate voice of a young woman reaches  out to them from the pages. Together Helen and Paul must search for answers, not only for the old mystery, but also the circumstances surrounding the death of Helen's husband at Passchandaele in 1917.

As the mysteries entwine, their relationship is bound by the search for truth, in the present and the past.

HEROES - Pt 1

The Australian Romance Readers Convention (ARRC09) is coming up next month and I will be appearing on a panel with Stephanie Laurens, Anna Campbell, Sara Bennett and Kinley Macgregor...wow...that's pretty august company! I will be the quiet one on the end!

The topic of the Panel is "What's so great about rakes and assorted historical heroes?" It should be a lot of fun.

I don't write about rakes... not sure I could if I tried. My heroes are men with pasts, dark secrets that make them the way they are.

So in honour of ARRC and the panel, I am repeating an early blog I did which is a "Character Interview" with the hero of BY THE SWORD, Jonathan Thornton. I will post an interview with the hero of THE KING'S MAN in the next day or so.

I hope you enjoy them! (They were a lot of fun to write)

Interview with Sir Jonathan Thornton Bt. at Seven Ways Hall, Worcestershire.
JT: Are we on?
AS: Let me adjust that microphone…going live…
AS: Sir Jonathan Thornton, welcome. It’s 1660 and London is buzzing with the news that the King is to be restored to the throne. As a loyal supporter of the royalist cause how do you feel about that?
JT : Well, delighted, of course. It’s been a hard time for those of us who remained loyal to the King.
AS: In what way?
JT: Our estates have been subject to heavy fines and the continual threat of sequestration. As an outlaw, had I inherited Seven Ways on my grandfather’s death, the entire estate would have been forfeit.
AS: But didn’t your grandfather find a solution to that problem?
JT: He did. The old fox left it to my young cousin, Tom Ashley, but even the Ashley family’s parliamentary connections couldn’t entirely prevent the privations of the last few years. Of course, my marriage to his mother didn’t help much either.
AS: There were those of us who were surprised at your decision to settle down with Kate. You had, how can I put it, a wild youth?
JT: I can’t deny that I was the cause of my parent’s despair on more than one occasion. My mother , god rest her, never recovered from that troop of Parliamentary horse trampling her garden and ruining her orchard. Of course I look back now and regret that I never really made peace with my parents before they died.
AS: Any other regrets?
JT: Of course I have regrets. I’ve always had a tendency to act with my heart rather than my head and people I care about have got hurt in the process, badly hurt. Thank heavens for the wisdom of age and the love of a good woman to knock some sense into me.
AS: I presume you are talking about Kate?
JT: Of course.
AS: And how did you meet Kate?
JT: She was working in the garden at Seven Ways. I’ll never forget it. She wore an old, shabby gown and a battered straw hat. I thought I’d never seen a woman look quite so lovely. At the time I had a price on my head and no intention of falling in love. That’s what I mean about my heart ruling the head. Talk about a doomed relationship.
AS: But you managed to overcome the problems?
JT: We did, but our happiness came at a price. If you have a little time to spare, let me tell you the story….
Read Jonathan and Kate’s story in BY THE SWORD by Alison Stuart
For more information on the period, how the story came to be written and to read an excerpt go to http://www.alisonstuart.com