I'm on Pinterest, Pricing Changes, and Other News

I've been meaning to mention this for sometime now and keep forgetting. I recently changed all the pricing on my paperback versions from $14.99 to $12.99 with the exception of THE LADY'S MASQUERADE which is now $10.99.

I've also brought the price down on the e-versions of A
ROMANTIC REGENCY COLLECTION to $1.99. Four novellas for the price of two.

And I also brought down the price of THE EARL'S ENGAGEMENT to $2.99. So I hope if you haven't read it yet, you will.

I've also finally put this into paperback.







If you didn't know this, and I'm sure you didn't because I've only mentioned it once in a teeny tiny little aside at the bottom of a post, I'm on Pinterest. I have all my books there, with pictures of my characters, or rather, who I'd like to think they are.

I recently added LADY CADORET'S LONGING (something I've been meaning to do for awhile and just haven't been able to get to it. It took me awhile to find the right pictures of Edward and Daniel.

And I found some pictures of houses where I think my characters might live so I added those to my boards as well.

I'm in the process of making boards for the other books that will (hopefully) be coming out this fall. (see below)

You can find me on Pinterest here 

(If the link is broken, it's http://www.pinterest.com/RegencyAnne)


In other news, I've also started on THE LADY'S SECRET, a prequel to THE SEDUCTION OF MR. SUMMERVILLE. Falling asleep one night, I thought of the most fabulous opening lines and jumped out of bed to write them down. When I transposed them into my file on the computer, I felt compelled to keep writing. The word count is not very high, but it is a start.

I've also begun another novella, LADY OLIVIA'S UNDOING, another prequel to THE SEDUCTION OF MR. SUMMERVILLE. This one deals exclusively from Lady Olivia's viewpoint. And I believe this novella will make a few readers go hmmmm.... I love Lady Olivia and knowing she carries a great secret, I've been wanting to spill it for some time. In this little tome, you find out what it is, and as Lady Olivia's world falls apart, you get to see how she does or does not cope.

I would like to say the Not So Secret Story Project is done, but it's not. Not too much longer now to go and I do need to have it done by the 22 so I'm working day and night to finish it up. Then it's off to the critique partners and beta readers for consideration, then we revise and hopefully format for publication. Soon, very soon.

And then I will be working on THE CAPTAIN'S LADY, book two of The Reluctant Grooms series. This book has been sitting on my hard drive for almost 8 years and in such a state of disrepair, it's much like the first version of THE LADY'S MASQUERADE. I need to really get in there and revise it. Hopefully, that won't take too long. I'm hoping by Thanksgiving.

And then we're onto the final books in the series and will hopefully wrap this up in the Spring of 2014.

After that, I have another series planned. I think. I'm working on the outline now. But I'm not really looking into that for some time. Maybe after next summer.

So, I hope you'll stick around for the next little while. Things will be happening.

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week.

Anne Gallagher (c) 2013

Intimate Portrait -- Lady Olivia

Over the course of my years writing, I find myself working on two or three stories at a time. This gives my brain a break from the tedious details one may find oneself enmeshed in in a particular plot. While working on the Not So Secret Story Project, Lady Olivia burst into my subconscious and wouldn't leave me alone. I've had her story in the back of my head for awhile now, thinking I would get to it when I finished what I'm working on now.

But she wouldn't let go and so I decided to sit down and write the opening paragraphs. Well, the opening paragraphs turned into three chapters. So I sit here with almost 7,000 words of her novella and itching to finish it. The reason, I believe, she was so insistent in the first place was that I needed to find a picture for her cover. Which meant I needed to find a picture of her.

Lady Olivia #1

Oh, I had a picture of Lady Olivia when I first started writing my stories. She was a sweet little old lady who had nothing better to do than play matchmaker for friends. But as the stories evolved, she became much sharper in my mind. I also needed to do a genealogical tree to figure out just who she was related to. As a member of the Aristocracy, everyone is eventually related to everyone else. And if that is so, then she isn't as old as I portrayed her to be.

Lady Olivia #2

So, I found this Lady Olivia. She fit the part a little better. She's a little bit younger, a little bit prettier, and I know her character from watching period dramas on the BBC. She also played Mrs. Bennett in Sense and Sensibility, so there is that. However, as much as I liked her for Lady Olivia, there was something missing. And I figured out what it was as I started writing her story. She's not sexy enough.

John Quiggins

Not that a sweet little old lady can't be sexy, but she's got to play alongside Quiggins. I had always intended for Lady Olivia and Quiggins to fall in love, as a secret backdrop to everything else that's going on in my little Regency world. And as I found Quiggins very early on, I thought him the best possible Quiggins there could be. Yes, I love Quiggins. He's the strong silent type, and very capable of making women swoon. He's also gentle, kind, and has a few secrets of his own.



Lady Olivia #1 was certainly too old. Lady Olivia #2, was the right age, but I found as I was writing this story, she's just not sexy enough. I wanted someone who could pass off the aristocratic air, yet remain a woman. Judi Dench and Helen Mirren could pass muster, but they're not soft enough for me. I needed Lady Olivia to have that touch of vulnerability, yet be tough enough to fight with the men. And I finally found her.

Lady Olivia #3 we have a winner

I think she is the perfect embodiment of Lady Olivia, heart and soul. Vulnerable, soft, sexy, yet with that face full of character. And if I do say so myself, I think she and Quiggins make a perfect match.

Lady Olivia is hands down my favorite character that I've ever written. She's tough when she needs to be, but gentle as well. She believes in doing what's right, even when it's wrong. She likes to meddle in other people's affairs, especially when it comes to love.

Having had her first husband die on her, she spent ten years of her life alone (until she met Quiggins). And during that time, she was a wreck. Sure she had her charities, what rich woman didn't. She had her friends, she had her garden. But until she met Quiggins, she didn't have love. When he appeared, it was as if a light was turned on inside her and wouldn't turn off. If she was going to be in love, then everyone else should be as well.

However, in this new story I'm writing about her, I get to tell her secret. Her one very big, very ugly secret, that if it ever came out, her whole world would be upside down and she would be cast out of Society. Oh yes, my friends, cast out. Because what Olivia did was so nasty, so heinous, so disgustingly out of character for her, people will be shocked. Shocked I tell you.

This little novella also ties up a few loose ends that have been straggling around from my other books. A few reviewers had qualms about what happens after the books end, so I decided to tie everything up in a nice neat bow before we get to the final novel in the series.

 THE SEDUCTION OF MR. SUMMERVILLE.

Yes, we get to know Lady Olivia's secret beforehand, but what follows in TSoMS is how it all plays out. I think it's going to be a fine ending to a very satisfying series. Well, at least I hope so.

Don't worry, Lady Olivia will certainly get her comeuppance, and Society will be shocked indeed, and I am purposely going to make you wait until the very last page to let you find out what happens to her, but just remember, I'm a romance writer. Everyone gets a happy ending.

So, what do you think of my new Lady Olivia?

Anne Gallagher (c) 2013

The Not So Secret Project Story Update

For any of you keeping up with this Not So Secret Project, I thought you would all like to know, I'm half-way through writing it. I propose it to have 10 chapters, some short, some long (the first chapter alone is 10 pages) and hoping to have the total come in around 40-50K words. At least that's what I'm hoping for. We'll see how that works out.

Also, I found a title (YAY! You can't even begin to know how much it drove me crazy NOT to have a title before I started writing). And if I do say so myself, it's a very fine title for a book such as this.

Because, if you haven't heard, this is NOT my usual Regency romance. Let's get that out of the way right now. This story is about the enduring friendship between two women teachers. As I've mentioned before, this story is a prize for the winners of an auction held at my daugher's school in April. Yes, it does have a romantic storyline that runs through it, but it is not primarily a romance.

Also, there's a lot of religious history embedded in the pages, (as the winners are teachers at a Catholic school). I try to maintain a little bit of factual history in all my books, so this one is no different. My views on the Catholic faith are not relevent, but the characters, (who are based on REAL ACTUAL LIVE people) are. I don't jam them down your throat, there's no preaching, and there's no "inspirational" theme (not my genre folks) it's more or less a commonality of the characters that binds them together.

And I have a cover. But alas, I'm not revealing that or the title until I get the okay from the women I'm writing it for. But let me tell you what, it's a great cover if I do say so myself. A little different from my usual Regencies, but with the same theme, if you know what I mean.

I'm gearing up for a publication date for October 1, 2013. Why so long if I propose to have the book all wrapped up and ready to go by the end of August? Well, this book is also part of a fundraising project for said school, and part of the royalties will go to help the new media center. So I'm going to be promoting it for a few weeks before hand.

I'm also planning on doing a paperback version for it (as I said, fundraising project) which should come in under $10-. I also plan on having a book signing at some point, so that should be fun if I can get my ducks in a row.

And I think that's it.

Hope you're having a terrific summer, and I'll see you next week.

Anne Gallagher (c) 2013

Intimate Portrait -- Rory, the Earl of Bailey

First and foremost, I just wanted to let you all know, that I have FINALLY gotten around to rewriting/revising Rory and Rosamund's story. After much consternation reading the reviewer feedback, I decided to change a few things, add a few things, and soften much of the ending. I hope that helps.

*****

Rory, or Gregory Scott, Earl of Bailey, is a fairly new character for me. Whereas, William, Robert, and Richard, have been with me since I first started working on the Reluctant Grooms series (almost 10 years ago), Rory came into being recently. (In book years, about two years ago.)

Scott G.F. Bailey

He's based on a composite of several different people I know, most notably, one Scott G. F. Bailey, a fantastic writer of literary genius. Scott allowed me to use his name for Rory's character (naturally I changed it around a little bit), and though never having met Scott in person, I do know that he puts his writing first and foremost above all else in his life. (Well, after his lovely Mighty Reader of course.) And that is what I took away from Scott to create Rory.

Almost from the very beginning, Rory declares he's not in want of a wife. In THE LADY'S FATE, where we initially meet Rory, he is duped into coming to London to rescue the fair Lady Violet from the vicious rumors circulating about her. She needs a husband because Haverlane is not forthcoming in his declaration of love for her. Lady Olivia has a plan and that plan is to make Haverlane jealous enough to come up to scratch. Naturally, it works, because I wrote the book. Haverlane denounces the rumors surrounding Violet and they finally marry and fade off quietly into the sunset.

But then, I had Rory's character I really enjoyed and wanted to do something with. I also had a secondary character named Rosamund (who's also been with me since the inception of THE LADY'S MASQUERADE from 10 years ago) and I thought, Hey, why not put those two together.


And so Rory had his story.

Rory, to me, is a lot like Darcy in his initial aspect. He looks down his nose at Rosamund because, even though she is a lady, she acts fairly common. What he doesn't understand is that she's trying to save her family from utter destitution. What he comes to realize, is that the poor girl had no choice. After a debilitating humiliation during her first Season, Rosamund gives up her life in Society to take care of her now, aging and infirm father. No one truly knows what Rosamund's life is like at Primrose, especially her extended family, and when Rory is thrust into the middle of it, his eyes are opened.

Rory comes across at the beginning of THE EARL'S ENGAGEMENT as a pompous aristocrat. Which he is. I wanted him that way, otherwise, how could he change so dramatically as the story moved forward.

However, what I really liked about Rory is that underneath all his snobbery, is a good, kind, gentle-hearted man, who will do what's right for the people he loves. In the beginning, naturally, Rory has no idea he's doing all the things he's doing because he loves Rosamund. He declares he's doing them in his regard for Rosamund's father. Which he is.

Rosamund is a surly character (I mean, wouldn't you be too if your life was spent in drudgery), and thinks Rory is only at Primrose to out her for writing her father's last research paper for the Royal Historical Society. He's not, but she doesn't know that and treats him abominably. Even after he does all the things he does for her and her parents.

It was so much fun to make these two characters fall in love. I also like the way they changed their ideas about one another. Rory makes a declaration to Rosamund, that he thinks of her as "a most beloved sister." And Rosamund goes into a tailspin because her parents and old governess keep telling her he's doing all the the things he does for her. She has no clue what to believe.

And the more Rory spends time in her company, the more he realizes what a strong, independent woman she is, so unlike the ladies of Society, (who are mostly all cut from the same cloth). His idea of a most beloved sister was shaken to the core when he sees her at a dinner party, all dressed up and acting like the lady she is supposed to be.

I know that was kind of cliche, seeing the ogre turn into a Princess, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it. I mean, how else could Rory understand that Rosamund, would indeed be the perfect wife for him.

Sharing only one kiss in the entire book, I think the romantic aspect of the is story is genuine. Rosamund is clearly undone by the kiss, and her eyes are opened to the idea that she does love Rory. He is not the thorn in her side that she made him out to be.

And Rory, finally realizing he does love Rosamund, takes the hero's role to new heights and finds her father's missing fortune. Yes, another cliche, but isn't that what hero's are supposed to do -- rescue the damsel in distress?

*****

It's funny how over the years, every story I write is my new favorite. From William and Penny, to Greenleigh and Illora, and Dorcas and Daniel, Davingdale and Ophelia, to Robert and Fiona, and Ellis and Violet. I love all my characters and their love stories, but I think I love Rory and Rosamund's love story the best.

(Okay, maybe second best. I still love Violet and Ellis more.)

Anne Gallagher (c) 2013