Maya Rodale's Blog: Maya Rodale's Blog, page 34

To Do: Revisions

The editor has spoken. And the husband. And my writing buddy. It is now time to dive back in to the trials and tribulations of my tattooed duke and my writing girl in disguise so that the story goes from good to great. A friend once said to me, "writing is rewriting." This is, alas, true.

Here is what is on the agenda for the next few days:

More sex scenes. Hotter sex scenes. Fictional sex scenes. Prepare yourselves. Frankly, I'm blushing already.
More housemaidly duties. Terribly sorry, housework shall intrude! But our poor heroine will have to do it, not us.
Little details…always need tending to. Clarity, consistency, etc, etc.Especially as, oh, I decide to cut out characters at this stage in the game. One of the hardest parts of writing novels is keeping track of who knows what and when.
Line edits. And new scenes. And then line edits again.

Here's something funny about this world we live in: this book, The Tattooed Duke, isn't even done yet but you can still pre-order your copy! But first things first…so I shall return to my revisions. And when they're done, I shall give myself a treat!

Do you reward yourself for finishing tasks and projects? If so, what's your treat of choice?

Walking along Fleet Street, London

These days, Fleet Street looks like any old street with tons of little boring shops, like banks and eye-glass stores and shops that sell newspapers and candy. If you look up, however, you can see how things used to be:

Some shops and a few pubs have stuck around, though. I took note of this pawn shop–it seems like I could possibly use this in a novel, or at least refer to it:

And then there was this old building (below), which represents a stunning missed opportunity. I took this photo because the building looked so old and there was a little alleyway to the right which just seemed ripe for dark, dangerous encounters. We noted that it said Cheshire Cheese (yuk–the husband and I don't like cheese). And then we walked along. Well, goodness go ahead and slap us upside the head since it turns out this old pub, Ye Old Cheshire Cheese, had been around since before the great fire and "has all sorts of literary associations" like Richardson, Dickens, even Mark Twain! Curses!

Speaking of pubs for my characters, we also noted the Tippery, The Cock and Bottle (as it was called then–hehe) and The Old Bell:

Last but not least, the real quest was to find #57 Fleet Street. I thought The London Weekly needed an address and made that up because I thought it sounded good. The husband and I were actually quite excited to see what it might be! This is it:

I'm pretty sure this is newer construction, but I kind of like it. Had I been able to do more in-depth and on the spot research prior to writing my books, perhaps I would have selected another building. But then again, maybe not. Can't you just see Knightly's office behind those bow windows?

Any of those pub names sound like a good character hang-out?

Maya's Must Reads for August

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that we're all avid historical romance readers here. For the longest time, I didn't even realize romance novels came in categories other than historical–I thought it was Regency, Medieval or Pirate. But then I discovered that sometimes you really just need to unloosen the corset strings and devour a contemporary set romance novel. Something about the straight-shooting language, broad's that can be a bit tougher and sassier, and a man in jeans.

This month I needed contemporaries. I read English-y ones in preparation for my London trip. And then on the flight home I read some small-town America ones. Yup, this city girl loves those. Here's what I recommend:

True Confessions by Rachel Gibson

Small town sherif that looks real good in jeans and a uniform–check. City girl going country with a secret, scandalous writing job–check. Mystery and scandal–check. I'm not going to write synopsis of all these books because that's been done, but I will tell you that when I was reading this on the airplane, a woman in my row asked what I was reading because it had me laughing out loud so much. Super funny and very sexy.

Playing Dirty (Hqn) by Susan Anderson

I found out about this one from Eloisa James's Barnes and Noble column on mortifying moments in novels (cringe!). The hero of this one took a bet in high school that he could score with "the fat girl" otherwise known as our lovely heroine. Of course, the exchange of money occurs in the high school cafeteria (scene of so many awful moments!) but she snaps out wicked retort: "I think I should get part of that…One session with Quick Draw McGraw here pretty much put me off sex for life — and if that doesn't entitle a girl to a cut, I don't know what does." Snappy dialogue like that sold the book, and it's a fine read about these two getting together years later. Also, a man in jeans and a mystery. Yea!

The Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham

Ms Wickham  is otherwise known as Sophie Kinsella, the author of the Shopholic books (which I devoured even as they stressed me out). This one is much more chic-lit than romance but I really enjoyed the modern voice and some plot twists I didn't expect. So the wedding girl in question, Milly, had a secret marriage (yes!) and the truth comes out two days before her wedding. More and more secrets are exposed, including her sister's secret pregnancy (yes!). This one doesn't really follow a romance novel formula, which I found refreshing. Even though there were no men in jeans.

Lastly, I must thank all my Facebook friends and folks on the twitters that recommended contemporary novels for me to read! I got some good tips (Rachel Gibson, in particular) and a good stash on my TBR pile.

Are you strictly into historicals, or do you read contemporaries?

Any titles you recommend?

St. Brides, church of the press

Even though I'd written quite a bit about St. Brides Church in London, I hadn't been until just the other day! It's a fairly prominent setting in A Tale of Two Lovers–the heroine's rival gossip columnist, The Man About Town has his "calling hours." Julianna and Roxbury even marry there! St. Brides is known as "The Church of The Press" or "The Church of Journalists" largely because of it's proximity to Fleet Street (former home of the press). The museum in the basement also called it "The Phoenix of Fleet Street" because it continually came back after fires and bombings and all sorts of destruction. When I read about this church, I had to include it in my Writing Girls series. And then I had to visit it.

The husband and I found it off a narrow little lane, just off Fleet Street. Suddenly the traffic and noise fades away and there is a quiet little churchyard.

We passed through this little gate. It's all quite pretty.

Inside, the church feels incredibly intimate. Here's a picture of the interior, complete with The Man About Town. Readers of A Tale of Two Lovers know that he would kneel at the altar, as if in prayer and people would kneel beside him and whisper their gossip. "The ton's willingness to tattle on their own never ceased to amaze him." But I digress. I got a kick out of seeing a scene from one of my books come to life like this.

Each of the pews are sponsored/paid for (however you want to phrase it) and named for great publications and key individuals–that's what all those plaques on the pews are. We had a very interesting time reading them all. Some date back a few hundred years; some a pretty recent. Below is a close up shot of just one.

Off to the side of the altar was a table set aside to honor journalists that were lost or killed on the job. It was a reminder how dangerous the profession can be while they provide such a valuable service to the rest of us.

There's a small exhibit in the basement of the church, covering the history from the 14th century up to today, but that is a story for another day. It's now time for my second cup of coffee and the reading of today's news!

In search of a fascinator

The great fascinator hunt involved one small shop, me, my mum-in-law, a lovely sales clerk and quite a selection. It was also complicated by the "which dress to wear?" drama–one silver linen and one a pink silk. Of course, I didn't bring either to the store, further frustrating our attempts to find a fascinator that was "just the thing." But we tried. Please do witness:

This one felt a bit too bridal:

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The hot pink version just felt a bit much:

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This one was cute, but felt a bit like bunny ears. This is also about the time I realized I ought to have done my hair and make up and worn a more stylish shirt if I was going to be doing a photo shoot for the internet. Curses!

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I actually quite like these next two, but the colors weren't quite right for either dress:

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In the end…I'm rather sorry to say that I suffered my usual in-store angst and failed to make a purchase! Thus I attended the wedding fascinator-less. About half the women wore them, the other half didn't. I do think I shall keep an eye out for one–you know how you find something when you're not urgently looking for it. And so…this is not the end of the great fascinator hunt!

And I could also go back and purchase one of the above…

Which one do y'all like the best?

My Must-Haves for Happy Travel

I love taking trips and traveling. I love going out, exploring, and seeing the world (Much like The Tattooed Duke). I hate being cold, unprepared, or hungry—and I will not eat airplane food, not even if the flight is ten hours. So I have figured some things out to make traveling a sort of treat.

Get the right gear and do not check baggage. It'll save time and stress. To make this possible I highly recommend this suitcase by Patagonia. I have a larger bag of theirs that has been everywhere in 14 years and still looks new. And this one…golly! It has wheels and backpack straps. It fits everything. It fits under a seat

This is the best suitcase ever

Kindle! Magazines! True story: the month before my honeymoon I saved all the magazines that came in the mail and reading those occupied my flights from New York City to Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro. Do you think I subscribe to too many magazines? That was before I got my kindle, which is perfect for traveling. But you still need a magazine to read for take off and landing.


Mac Air. It's skinny, but it's kind of stupid (I have an old one). But goodness, it's a delight when you're dashing from one terminal to another in a layover of approximately 4 minutes. And I get great writing done on airplanes and trains.


Oatmeal packets or cup o' soup—all you need is some hot water, which the flight attendants will often provide, free of charge. But let's face it, travel can be stressful and a gal needs a treat so I flying is the only time I'm allowed to have my Chex Mix, which I love, but is surely all kinds of bad.


Moist towelettes, lip gloss, a shawl. I swear by these towelettes from Herban Essentials. Lip gloss is my drug of choice and a shawl does double duty as blanket and/or pillow. Oh, and a passport and a credit card, which is really all you need.

What are your essentials for happy traveling?

London, here I come!

One of the perks of marriage to an English rogue is fairly frequent trips to England. His mum and I both agree that the visits are not nearly as frequent as we'd like, but given work schedules, dog sitting and travel costs, we do all right. So off we go, later this week. Here's what is on the schedule:

My first proper English wedding! I'm rather excited for it, but I've mainly been puzzling over fascinators. To fascinator or not to fascinator? This is my big opportunity and while I've been internally debating the matter, I haven't been shopping the matter. At the Avon party, Miranda Neville told me that Etsy has nice ones. My mum-in-law said there's a shop on the High street where she got hers for my wedding, so I foresee a visit there.

Family time. There are birthdays to celebrate and siblings to see! Who knows what other fun activities are in store? At our last trip we all visited one of those old historic houses that are scattered all over the place and then had an extended family party that involved drinking Pimm's Cups on the lawn. Delightful!

Rioting. I jest! But really, I was nervous there for a while, as one of my favorite London activities is…

Wandering around Mayfair to see if I meet a duke or something. Up and down St. James's street I go, with moments of loitering outside of White's and other expensive shops. I wander off to pop into Hatchard's (as do my characters in The Heir And The Spare), Fortnum and Mason (where the Queen is shopped for), and generally observe if there are any shops, buildings, sights or stuff that needs to be included in my novels. Ah, research!

Visiting Fleet Street. I've been before, when I was concocting the idea for my Writing Girls, but I haven't been back since. My quest: find out what is located at 57 Fleet Street these days (that being the randomly selected fictional address of The London Weekly). And I keep wanting to send Knightly to a coffeehouse or pub across the street, so I'll have to see if there is one that's been around for a few hundred years (my money is on yes). Oh, and then dashing into St. Brides a la Lady Julianna and that Man About Town….

Any London sightseeing suggestions for me?

More importantly, should I wear a fascintor to the wedding? Discuss!

New Book! New Title!

Some attentive readers of my coming soon page, bless your hearts, may have noticed something changed over there. Something like, oh, the title of the next Writing Girl Book. Don't look now!

Do you have any idea how many people must approve a title before it's official? Me neither. But it sounds like a lot—editor, publisher, sales team, marketing, all the buyers for the major accounts, etc, etc. None of whom have read the book at this point, because it's still not really written.

This is just a fact of publishing. Some folks get their corsets in a twist because their title, The Secret Seduction Of  The Rakish Rogue's Mysterious Midnight Mistress Of Pleasure perfectly expresses the plot, themes and characters of their novel. Some folks say this won't fit on a mass-market paperback and leave room for some naked man chest, which is what really sells the book, let's face it.

Alas, my first chosen title for WG#3 will not be coming to a store near you. Rest in peace, Brave New Lord!  I am a touch sad, as I did own a certain fondness for this title. Mainly because it's sort of cleverness, if I may say so, makes me giggle. But here's the kicker—we (that big list of title-approvers, above) want something that will make a reader go "OH!" and "Oooh" and "Hey, hold this for a second will ya?" because they have to free up a hand so they can pick up the book with the alluring title (and the naked man chest on the cover). We felt that we could cook up something much more mmm, ooooh, delicious.

The entire point of this blog post is to announce the NEW TITLE! And that would be….[insert drumroll and fanfare here]…

THE TATTOOED DUKE

While on the subject of titles, I have to ask: how much does the title play into your book purchasing decisions?

Cute puppy pictures make me happy

It's Friday, kittens! At the end of another crazy week, over here at my place, there's a mad dash to get out the door so as not to be late to an all-day meeting. Joy. Raptures. I am so excited for the weekend! Instead of scratching out a thousand words in a frantic rush, here's a picture of that super cute pup, the Lady Miss Penelope. She knows how to live the good life, doesn't she?

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The Lady Miss Penelope Reclines On Other People's Clean Pillows

Are you relaxing this weekend, like that lil' red dog? Any fun plans for the weekend?

Celeb Gossip Pop Quiz!

It's that time again! Test your knowledge of celebrity gossip (or your mad googling skills) with these questions. Whoever gets 'em all right gets a prize–a copy of This Duchess Of Mine signed by Eloisa James herself! If there's more than one correct submission, I'll pick a random winner. If you ever needed a reason to read People Magazine, this is it. Have fun, kittens!

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1. What show do these ladies star in?

2. What's the big news about it this week?

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3. Alas, J.LO is getting another divorce. How many times has she been married?

4. What are the names of her twins?

5. American Idol is paying this lady the BIG bucks. How much is her new contract reportedly worth?

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This handsome fellow from the excellent film, The Proposal, is on the market after:

6. A divorce from which actress?

7. Secretly dating this South African Oscar winner.