I think most authors have a favourite book, hero or heroine,
amongst the books they write. I would have said my first heroine, Emmaline Devereux
(His Dark Enchantress), was my favourite, with her sister-in-law Juliana Clifton
(His Ocean Vixen) a close second. Now, I think my latest heroine, Phoebe Fisher,
has topped the lot.
When I first had the concept for my series, Those Regency
Belles, I wanted characters who were young ladies but not necessarily titled.
Hester Dymock (Book 1) did marry a lord and so became a lady, Charlotte Gray (Book
2) accepted a proposal from the gentleman in her life, and Phoebe Fisher, an
educated farmer’s daughter, becomes a lady in her story.
Right from the beginning, Phoebe, as had Julian Clifton when
I was writing His Dark Enchantress, kept intruding in the writing of Hester and
Charlotte’s stories. If I hadn’t already had plans for her, I would have had to
come up with something, so insistent was she to be on the page. Phoebe, having
no pretensions, quite sound common sense, and giggling a lot was fun, right
from the beginning. She was also quite a little flirt in an honest-to-goodness
way.
I set the story in my home county of Gloucestershire, in England, and thought I knew its history well. In researching several themes to make sure I had my facts right, I came across other snippets of history and information that I thought might be fun to include. Other facts came from books I read and internet searches, although that can be a dangerous route to take as one fact often leads to another and then it becomes like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates – which one do you pick? One I could not let go of was the exhibition of animals from the Royal Menagerie held in Well Walk, Cheltenham, on June 12th, 1812. What animals were exhibited? You'll have to read the book to find out!
I also found that catalogue shopping for their homes was something applicable to both the Georgian and Regency eras. How about this hand-dyed leather chair and
Persian silk rug? Both appear in my story.
Phoebe Fisher will be released in June, 2022. I hope you enjoy reading her story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Victoria Chatham
Sounds like a good book. Looking forward to reading
ReplyDeleteThanks, Janet. I hope you enjoy it when it's released.
DeleteI love historical research. You always find something unexpected to add color to the story. This one looks promising. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteFor this one I found a thesis on George III's Royal Navy and learnt so much.
DeleteThere are some characters I grew so fond of, I wrote sequels just to keep interacting with them. Good luck with your new release!
ReplyDeleteI think our characters become like family and friends. Some you love, some not so much, but hopefully they are always interesting.
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