Rose Lerner's Blog, page 36

"Does she care for olives?"

When I turned in the manuscript of A Lily Among Thorns, my editor at the time (the fabulous Leah Hultenschmidt) commented on a particular scene, "Your men are so good about bringing women exactly what they want to eat in the ballroom."
"Huh," I thought, "I guess there are scenes in both my books of the [...]

David Tennant was originally cast in this movie and left the production

So I sincerely apologize if any of you have seen this movie and loved it. My mother always taught me that it's not nice to say ick about what other people are eating, and I really believe that. So if you liked Burke & Hare with Simon Pegg, please don't read this.
Sonia and [...]

"much Relief by Blisters"; or, Rose loves research

The heroine of my current WIP is the widow of a small-town printer/newspaperman, her brother-in-law having inherited the paper on his death. It's an important part of her story, so I'm reading Freshest Advices: Early Provincial Newspapers in England by R. M. Wiles. It mostly focuses on the first half of [...]

Redemption arcs ftw

I went to see Thor yesterday! I really loved it. Among other things, I thought it did a fantastic job of creating established relationships and a sense of history–I really believed Thor and Loki were brothers, that Thor and his friends were lifelong friends, &c. It really felt like people knew each [...]

The Big Con, cont'd

I finished The Big Con by David Maurer, the book I was talking about in my last post. Look at these entries from the glossary:
The countess: Mrs. Maurer. Also the Raggle.
How sweet is that?? ("Raggle" is later defined as "an attractive young girl.")
There was also this which, as a word origin [...]

Captain Kirk would make a great con man, wouldn't he?

I'm currently reading a reprint of David Maurer's 1940 The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man. It's totally fascinating; among other things, I had no idea how much the glamorous conmen of the first half of the 20th century relied on payoffs to crooked police and local political systems for protection from [...]

Q&A with Susanna Fraser (and a giveaway)!

I posted last week about my critique partner Susanna Fraser's new release, A Marriage of Inconvenience, and how fabulous it is (as is her first book, The Sergeant's Lady, which just happens to be on sale for half-price from Carina this month!). This week we are lucky enough to be a stop on her [...]

Quick book rec

My critique partner, Susanna Fraser, has a new book out today from Carina Press: A Marriage of Inconvenience!

(She gets the best covers, seriously.) I read this book in critique group, and I can tell you that it's awesome. The hero in particular has one of the most charming narrative voices I've ever seen [...]

Making someone a cake is an incredibly intimate thing

I moved this week! My new apartment is still filled with boxes but I can already tell I'm going to be very happy here.
I hired movers, which I've never done before. It was an interesting experience–I never thought about it before, but movers get a really unique insight into people's lives. At one point, I [...]

I've a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly

I went and saw the new Jane Eyre movie with a couple of friends last night. Has anyone else seen it yet? I cannot recommend it enough. You know that movie that plays in your head when you read a book? It felt like they were filming directly from that. But then at the same time, it felt like I was reading the book for the first time, experiencing it in a whole new way and seeing things about it I never saw before.