Boxing for Gentlemen with Sasha Cottman (and a book review)

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Last week, over a couple of glasses of very nice French champagne, good cheese and the wedding episode of Outlander, I badgered Sasha Cottman into joining me on my "Fun Facts" blog to talk about her new book, AN UNSUITABLE MATCH.

I am a huge fan of Sasha's charming Regency Romances. I love them because they are about real people (they may happen to be Earls and Lords) but at heart they behave like normal human beings. The younger generation bicker and hanker after unsuitable young men, or women and, most importantly, for all their faults their parents (yes they have parents) love them and want what's best for them.

In AN UNSUITABLE MATCH (which I have just finished reading - see review below) Sasha creates a particularly obnoxious villain who cheats at boxing... obviously no gentleman. I know the degree of research Sasha goes through and this charming little vignette reflects exactly what I mean when I say good research shines through unobtrusively.

BOXING FOR GENTLEMEN

Boxing at Gentleman Jacksons Boxing Salon

While writing AN UNSUITABLE MATCH I wanted to write a scene where the hero and villain of the book could encounter one another, outside of a normal Regency period social setting.

Boxing was a perfect way to show the contrast in character of the two men. David Radley, the hero, conducted himself as a gentleman should. Thaxter Fox, in turn, behaved exactly how a man with a shady and sordid past would conduct himself.

One fact I discovered as I researched boxing was that bare knuckled boxing was frowned upon by London’s elite. If you wished to join and box at establishments such as Gentleman Jackson’s Saloon in Bond Street, you had to wear mufflers. Wool stuffed, mufflers were the early 19^th century forerunner of the modern boxing glove.

Excerpt from AN UNSUITABLE MATCH

Thaxter Fox strode confidently over to where David stood and stopped. Rolling his head from side to side and doing a small jig on the spot, he gave the air of one who had seen more than his share of fights.

Neither of them bothered with the social niceties of a formal greeting.

‘Damn nuisance, these muffler things; what happened to being able to fight a man with your bare fists? I didn’t realise how many fops there were in London. I should not be surprised if they allowed girls to join this club,’ he sneered.

‘House rules, Fox,’ David replied, refusing to take the bait. A quick nod to his second and David was ready.

He punched his gloves together, mentally rehearsing for the moment he intended to land a solid whack to Thaxter’s head.

Lord knows you need a good thrashing.

AN UNSUITABLE MATCH

The Favourite Heiress…
 
Once engaged to the future Duke of Strathmore, the beautiful Lady Clarice Langham now finds herself in the humiliating position of celebrating his marriage – to another woman.  As a result of the scandal, it seems her reign as London's most eligible debutante has come to an end.  But things begin to look up when handsome and charming rake David Radley makes it clear that, at least as far as he's concerned, she's still the catch of the season.
 
The Illegitimate Son…
 
The eldest son of the Duke of Strathmore, David Radley has been raised alongside his father's legitimate children.  But while he is generally received as part of the family, not everyone thinks he should be, and especially not Clarice's father, the Earl of Langham, who forbids her from having anything to do with him.
 
An Unsuitable Match…
 
David's been in love with Clarice for years, and it isn't long before the attraction between them develops into something deeper. Yet he senses Clarice is hiding something and until she reveals her secret, she won't be free to follow her heart. Despite everything, David will not give up on Clarice, not even when another seems set to claim her…

AN UNSUITABLE MATCH is available from Destiny Romance  and at all good estores... AMAZON

Connect with Sasha Cottman on her WEBSITE, FACEBOOK and TWITTER

ALISON'S REVIEW of AN UNSUITABLE MATCH

I rarely do reviews (mostly because I am the world's slowest reader - 2 pages per night and I'm asleep)... but I devoured this story.

As I said above the one aspect of Ms.Cottman's story I love is the humanity of the characters.

This is the second in the Duke of Strathmore series and although we meet our old friends from Book 1, the book stands alone. 

The hero, David Radley, is deeply loved by everyone in his family, including his stepmother and despite the "stain" of his illegitimate birth, he has the confidence to move easily in society. Like David we met Clarice in the first book (LETTER FROM A RAKE) and there is nothing loveable about her... she dresses like a dowd, she is gawky, prickly and an unlikely contender for the love of David, who has something of a reputation with the glamorous married ladies of the ton.

But love her he does and this fact she has accidentally discovered. Unfortunately her father Lord Langham, who we did not form a good opinion of in the first book seems determined to keep these two young lovers apart and push Clarice in the direction of his heir, the ungentlemanly and thoroughly unpleasant Thaxter Fox. 

Clarice has her own secrets and the path of true love is destined not to run smoothly, despite the help of her own wise and scheming grandmother and the couple's loving friends.

Thoroughly recommended to anyone who is looking for something a little bit different in Regency Romance.  Oh... and don't expect it to be 'sweet', the couple have to earn their time together but when they do, the pages (and the sheets) sizzle... 5 stars!

Sasha and Alison dressed for a wedding... Outlander Wedding Ep!

Writer's Life: The Critique Group*

On the weekend my "critique group" met. It was loud, excited and fuelled by champagne but oh, so terribly important! Goals were re-established, current works in progress assessed, a new member welcomed, we brainstormed and a story opening was critiqued. They are my tribe and an absolutely integral part of who I am as a writer.


Writing is by nature a solitary past time but the trope of the writer in the freezing garret scratching away to the light of single guttering candle has been supplanted in the digital age by computers and internet. We are no longer alone, there is a whole writing community out there with whom to connect. Online workshops, elists, forums, blogs… but one thing remains constant: around the country, at any given time there is a little group of writers sitting around a table with printed paper clutched in one hand and a pen in the other. (There are also online critique groups but I have no experience of those so I will just talk about the “actual” critique group as opposed to the “virtual” critique group).

Most writers are introverts, so it takes a great deal of motivation (and courage) to join a critique group. Not only are you putting your writing on the line but also yourself and it’s that very vulnerability that either makes or breaks your experience with a critique group.

I started off as the lone wolf, driven partly by a need to keep this part of my life “secret”. It was only when I moved to Singapore with my husband’s work and found myself utterly stranded without direction or identity. Like a drowning woman I reached out and joined the ANZA Writers Group. In that group I found a core of wonderful women of different ages and different interests. As writers we were all different which meant we had to find some common ground on which to share our passion for writing. We found it in short story writing. Every month our convener would set us ‘homework’ of some kind which would more often than not translate into a short story. (Ironically my current release SECRETS IN TIME began as ANZA Writers Group homework). Because we were so different, critique was gentle but encouraging. That experience ended in the publication of two volumes of short stories by a local publisher (these days we would probably just have self published them and put it out as an ebook – how the world has changed). For a recent article about this group and what became of us all click HERE.

The ANZA Writers Group in 2002 at the Launch of NOT ALL PINK GINS

On return to Australia, I went back to lone wolfdom but having had the taste of what a good crit group could be, I went in search of another and found it. Through Romance Writers of Australia, a group had just been formed in my area. A bad experience with a potential new member had made the group a little wary but they invited me in and I now count them amongst my dearest friends.
What makes or breaks a critique group?

The members. It does matter that you find a group of people with whom you have something in common. There would be little point in me joining a group of science fiction writers. We would have very little common ground. Although the group in Singapore were quite disparate in their writing interests, we still found common ground in our writing. Universally we were women writing for women. My current critique group are romance writers but within that broad genre our interests are quite different but there is enough room to tolerate difference - although I will say in all honesty I don’t know whether we would operate so comfortably if a member who wrote erotica joined us. That’s not where any of us are or want to be. It is terribly important that the members of the group mesh together. So much of what makes a good group is trust.

How critique is delivered. Each member of the group needs to be clear about how they want to receive critique. We tend to use our face to face meetings for brainstorming, setting of goals and writerly business. We can circulate writing for critique by email but occasionally we have specific face to face critiquing sessions. It is here that the main danger of critique groups lie, I have heard stories of young writers whose spirit has been broken by harsh critiquing. I try to couch critique in the form of “suggestions only” and I would advise any writer to take from the critique the bits that are useful to you. There is a danger in absorbing everything – after all it is only someone’s opinion and I have seen young writers whose voice has been lost in a welter of over critiquing. Have faith in your own writing.

A good critique group has a range of experience within its members from experienced writers through to newbies. A good group will nurture and encourage new writers and even “experienced writers” need the support and encouragement of other people. Since I joined my little group, one of our members has had “the call” (Sasha Cottman's LETTER FROM A RAKE - out now!). We watched that story go from brainstorming to publication. It is OUR book! And my own, SECRETS IN TIME, was read and critiqued by the group members. I am no longer a lone wolf…I have my little pack to run with.

Alison's "tribe" at work on a writing retreat

How do you find a critique group? That is a surprisingly hard question to answer!

• If you are a member of Romance Writers of Australia you can contact the Group Liaison who can either help you start your own group or find a group in your area. groupliason@gmail.com
• Your local community centre may have details of local writing groups but expect to find a wide range of writing interests within such a group. The larger the group the more structured you will find it.

Looking for suggestions: What makes a critique group work or where/how do you find a suitable group?

(*based on an earlier post appearing on Long and Short Reviews May 13, 2013)

RWAus13 Day 3 - Exhausted but Happy

First an apology for not getting this out last night but quite honestly, Ms. S is ashamed to say that she didn't make it make to her room until late and then had to pack with an early start on Monday. So the Day 3 report is coming to you live from chilly, damp Melbourne (apparently the weather in Perth is perfect today).

First the Awards ceremony on Saturday evening. Traditionally this has been a formal dinner but this year the conference committee went with a late start, dessert and champagne only affair. This left us free to have an early meal with friends and it was a delight to share fish and chips with Nina Bruhns from Entangled Suspense. A charming and delightful visitor to our shores.

Pretty tables :-)

The room looked stunning with blue swirly spotlights over tables groaning with rich desserts and Baci chocolates. I don't have that much of a sweet tooth and I have to admit, having been awake since 4.00am and surviving a workshop, a roundtable and my traditional role at the AGM...I was actually quite weary! Our little writing group celebrated Sasha Cottman's First Sale

The awards winners can all be found on the RWA Blog but I do want to mention a very special award for an old and dear friend, Bronwyn Jamieson who was awarded Honorary Life Membership. Bronwyn and I met at our first conference in 1997 when she won the Emma Darcy Award and I came second. We have been friends ever since and she has worked her heart out for RWA. Well done, Bron!

RWA's Honorary Life Members:  Alison Stuart, Kez Delaney and Anne Gracie with newest member, Bronwyn Jamieson

Following the Awards was an "After Party". I managed a bad rendition of the "Nut Bush" and went to bed!

Sunday morning kicked off with a Harlequin spotlight. Great supporters of RWA, Harlequin Australia stuck with us through thick and thin. Interesting to see the new lines and move towards Single Title.

The next session was "Survivor Submission Island"--a panel comprising Abby Zidle, Laura Bradford, Nina Bruhns, Margaret Marbury, Joel Naoum and Alex Adsett, publicly appraise anonymous submissions.mThe entries are read out and the panel have a choice of putting up signs that say STOP or MORE and then gave reasons why they stopped when they did. Very interesting...the themes coming through seemed centred on pacing, scenes starting in the wrong place, too much exposition, labored dialogue. One thing that became very clear is the importance of establishing the genre of the story immediately and exactly WHY the synopsis is so important. On more than one occasion the panel members said "If I had the synopsis and could see where this was going...". I've heard of these sessions but never seen one live and kudos to the brave souls who submitted their work. One thing that struck me is how important hearing your work read out loud can be illuminating. It became so obvious where the passages dragged or the writing seemed clunky. One of the best sessions I have seen at a conference for many years.

Nina Bruhns had the next keynote. She has a "post it" on her computer "What is the WORST thing you can do to your characters?". It served as a healthy reminder to stick your characters up a tree and hurl rocks at them! Nina also gave permission to write what you want to write (but don't expect to pay the bills!). It is a question of WHY you are writing (which sort of echoed some of my self discussions of the past few weeks).

We then moved into the Breakouts. So much choice! I had a pitch so I was late coming into Sarah Wendell's workshop on Blogging 101. Actually it was on social media generally. Sassy and funny, Sarah may not have imparted any new information to me but what it did do is confirm that what I am doing in the social media space is about right. Indeed I found myself "tweeting" madly all through the workshops and flattened the battery on my iPad by the end of the day. A few tips I tweeted.

• Facebook is privileging images so if you want your post seen attach an image.
• Watch auto tweets...the timing could be inappropriate.
• Pinterest is about aspirations, doing and being. Not the best place to promote your writing.
• You MUST have a website because you own the content and it is your professional window to the world.
• Make yourself available to your readers by providing a way for them to contact you privately.
• You don't have to have a blog but if you do the key to good blogging is generosity, authenticity and consistency.

On to the Self Publishing Panel with Nina Bruhns, Kandy Shepherd and Cathleen Ross. Why? Well I am looking at plunging myself into the self publishing morass by the end of the year (watch this space!). Key take aways:

• Have a fabulous book, cover, formatting and most importantly an EDITOR
• Don't spam people on FB and Twitter with "Buy my book"
• Reviews are critical
• Self publishing is a business. You have to invest time and money.

Finally I rounded off the day with a discussion on psychopaths given by Ken Milling. Masters of lies and deception, psychopaths can be charming people. What they lack is empathy. They exist everywhere and can be found in the corporate world (know any? Think James Bond!).

The "Stand ups..." with Anne Gracie

Into plenary for the wind up. A few final words from guests Kim Hudson and Sarah Wendell and the announcement of next year's conference in Sydney (7-10 August 2014...get it in your diaries NOW). Best part of the weekend "the stand ups" orchestrated by Anne Gracie. "Stand up if you...published a book/submitted a manuscript/entered a contest" etc. Always gives me goose bumps!  

An evening of social catch up which I won't go into...suffice to say I shall be glad to be tucked up into my own bed tonight :-)

Thank you for the comments and joining me vicariously in Perth. Until next year :-) Can't wait.

Taking Tea with...SASHA COTTMAN

It is my great pleasure to have as my tea guest this week, "new to you" author, SASHA COTTMAN. Sasha is not "new to me" because we have been members of the same writing group for a couple of years now and like my fellow group members, we have journeyed with Sasha and her wonderful characters Millie and Alex ("the Great") from their first conception through to publication.


One of the aspects of her lovely Regency Romance, LETTER FROM A RAKE, that really struck me was Millie's love of tea, particularly a good chai. Now I have to confess I am not a fan of chai (although I do drink it black)...spicy tea with milk seems somehow wrong to me, so I have asked Sasha to explain to me what the lure of a good chai tea is all about!

Sasha Cottman

Thanks for having me over for tea this afternoon Alison. Unfortunately I forgot the champagne and my family decided they liked the look of the cake I had baked, but at least I remembered the chai. 

A "good" chai

I must say the milk and spices in the chai are a change from my usual Earl Grey. (Alison:  Errk...Early Grey again?)

It’s funny because when I say I am having a cup of chai; my Indian friends often shake their heads. Many people in the west are under the misconception that chai is a type of tea brewed with spices such as cardamom and ginger, when in fact chai is simply the Hindi word for tea.
(Alison - it is also the swahili word for "tea" - deriving as it does from the Indian workers brought to Kenya to build the railway)

Masala chai is the true term for the beverage made with spices. Depending on where the chai is sourced, it may come with the spices already mixed in with the leaf, or added later. Milk or sweeteners may be included as parts of the preparation, but my Indian friends assure me that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to chai.

I understand tea was not the drink of choice for everyone in Regency England.

We all have the image of people in England sitting around a dining table taking tea, but only the wealthy could afford good tea. During the Regency period, tea still came predominantly from China, and it was not until the Victorian era that the Indian tea crops took over as the major source of tea in England and the continent. Since tea had to travel a long way from China and was heavily taxed, it was very expensive. The ordinary citizen of London drank a horrible concoction of used, redried tea leaves, often mixed with all manner of foul additives.

How does chai feature in LETTER FROM A RAKE?

When Millie’s family in Letter from a Rake arrive in London, they are dismayed to discover they cannot source good Indian chai leaf. Alex Radley, Marquess of Brooke has a trick or two up his sleeve and manages to lure Millie Ashton into accepting a late night rendezvous on the promise of real tea from her homeland.

Excerpt from LETTER FROM A RAKE: 
Alex turned back to the stove and after locating the tea canister; he took it down from the shelf and brought it over to her. He lifted the lid and waved the tin under Millie’s nose. ‘Marsala chai, Miss Ashton,’ he announced with a certain degree of smugness.

Her eyes lit up with delight and she eagerly took hold of the canister. She held one finger up to signal that she had yet to judge his offering. Then she put her face over the opening of the tin and took a deep breath. She sat back in the chair, still clutching the tea canister and closed her eyes. 

‘Oh Alex, you have no idea what that aroma does to me and how much it reminds me of home,’ she murmured. ‘I had forgotten how wonderful it feels when the sharp edge of the tea finds its way to the back of your throat. I have missed it so much.’

About Sasha:

Born in England, but raised in Australia, Sasha has a love for both countries. Having her heart in two places has created a love for travel, which at last count was to over 55 countries. A travel guide is always on her pile of new books to read. 

Five years ago, Sasha accidently enrolled in a romance writing course. Other than Pride and Prejudice she had never read a romance book before. She soon discovered that the world of historical romance allowed her to combine her love of history with the passion of romance writing. 

Sasha has an MBA as well as post graduate qualifications in electronic media. Having worked as an accountant in a media group for many years, she now finds herself in the unique position of having seen both the business and creative sides of publishing.

Sasha lives in Melbourne with her husband, teenage daughter and a cat who thinks sitting on the keyboard is being helpful. Her family have managed to find all but one of her secret chocolate hiding places.

When not writing, she is busy working full time as a Chartered Accountant. On the weekends Sasha loves walking on the beach while devising new ways to torture her characters.

Letter to a Rake is Sasha’s debut novel.

FIND LETTER FROM A RAKE HERE:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Letter-From-Rake-Destiny-ebook/dp/B00DGLWEYK

Kobo http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=letter+from+a+rake

iBooks https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/letter-from-a-rake/id662840513?mt=11

Also available at Google Play, Readcloud, Angus & Robertson and Booki.sh

In the excerpt Sasha gave us, the smell of chai reminds Millie of "home". Smell is a powerful sense: the smell of cinnamon buns reminds me of a cold winter's morning in Harper's Ferry, the smell of Frangipani immediately brings back memories of my childhood home in Kenya......are there any smells in your life that bring back strong memories...?