Rae Summers's Blog, page 2
January 19, 2013
‘Dear Julia’ wins the P&E poll!
My 1920s novella, Dear Julia, has taken 1st place in the Short Romances category of this year’s Preditors & Editors poll. Thank you so much to all my lovely friends who voted.
In the words of Angie from Romancing the Book, in this story “Rosalie likes fixing things – and people. William doesn’t want to be fixed, but he really doesn’t have much say. He underestimates her one time too many, but is soon just as captivated by her as she is with him.”
If you haven’t yet read this book … come on, you know you want to!
December 23, 2012
Blaze: Free to download today only
I know I’ve left this rather late in the day, but you still have what’s left of Sunday to grab your free copy of Blaze, the anthology of romances produced by the Minxes of Romance (my CPs and I).
This collection of eight short stories, varying from fun and flirty to seriously sexy, is centred around the retained firefighters of a Lake District village. Seven hot firemen and one hot firewoman, none of whom will escape the heat of passion unscorched.
For Sunday 23 December only, this is available free on Amazon and Amazon UK.
November 13, 2012
Release day!
An Innocent Abroad is now available! This coming of age story is set on the Amalfi coast of Italy in the early 1920s.
Fresh from finishing school, Isobel Harrington is sent to spend the summer in Italy with cousins in order to catch the eye of the eligible Hon. Christopher Barrett.
But rather than Christopher, it is enigmatic Italian Stefano who awakens Isobel’s sensuality, and who introduces her to the daring new idea that anything is possible, if only you want it enough.
Get your copy at Amazon, Amazon UK or The Wild Rose Press. And it’s available at a special discounted price on All Romance eBooks.
Let’s Misbehave is also currently on sale at the low, low price of just $1.99 from The Wild Rose Press or from Amazon.
July 20, 2012
HMS Dartmouth and the Battle of the Adriatic
When most of us think of the First World War (known as The Great War until yet another war devastated the world) we think of the muddy trenches across the fields of France. But the battles were fought in the skies and seas of Europe too.
My hero in Dear Julia is a former naval commander, a veteran of the naval battle of the Adriatic. When I researched the naval battles of The Great War, I chose to place William on the HMS Dartmouth, a light cruiser in service from 1911 to 1930, after stumbling across an article from The Times newspaper of 19th May 1917.
The article reports on an engagement between the Allied and Austrian forces off the Italian coast. What particularly caught my attention in this article were the lines:
During her passage back, H.M.S. Dartmouth was struck by a torpedo from an enemy sub-marine, but returned into port with three men killed and one officer and four men missing – believed dead – and seven wounded. There were no other casualties to our ships.
Digging further, I discovered that one of the wounded was a naval commander. No names were mentioned, so my Commander William Cavendish became one of the wounded.
What finally sealed William’s fate was when I discovered that at the outbreak of the war, HMS Dartmouth had been stationed in the East Indies. What if William received a last minute appointment to this ship before it sailed across the world? What if he couldn’t see his sweetheart before he set sail? What if he had to leave her a letter promising his heart and leaving her a ring as a proposal? And what if she never received the letter, and believing he’d left without making her any promises, she then met and married someone else?
If you’ve come to this blog to find the clue for the Sizzling Summer Reads contest, then you’ve already found the answer. If not, then click here to enter and win.
July 17, 2012
‘An Innocent Abroad’ has a release date!
My third 1920s novella will release through The Wild Rose Press on 14th November. Just in time for everyone to stock it on their new Christmas kindles!
Check back here tomorrow for the answer to my question in the Sizzling Summer Reads contest which is running all month. If you haven’t already checked out this contest, click on the link in the right sidebar.
July 13, 2012
Tribute or Rip-off?
I have a confession to make. Dear Julia is not original. In fact, many elements of this story have been ‘stolen’ from some of my favourite books. I believe I’ve worked these elements together into a unique story, and in doing so paid tribute to some of the great writers who’ve preceded me.
My heroine, Rosalie, owes her existence to my favourite Georgette Heyer heroine, The Grand Sophy. Sophy is a larger-than-life young woman with an unconventional upbringing. An army brat, raised by a single Dad, she’s spunky, energetic, and resourceful woman who likes to ‘fix’ people. And that’s Rosalie.
Rosalie’s hero, Commander William Cavendish, and his sidekick Peters, have also been directly lifted from a favourite novel, one I read often as a youngster: The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden. In The Diddakoi, a reclusive former navy man lives alone in a big house with his lone man servant, eschewing all contact with women. Their names and stories may have been changed but I’ve always been a little in love with Admiral Twiss, which made it very easy for me to fall in love with Commander Cavendish!
Another favourite Heyer novel, Venetia, provided the inspiration for the closing scene in Dear Julia. Without too many spoilers, the rakish hero of Venetia is drunk when the heroine finally accosts him in his home and declares her love. I can only imagine how Heyer, writing in the demure 1950s, enjoyed writing her sozzled hero, but I can tell you this was the most fun scene in the book for me to write.
Finally, there are odd lines inspired by EM Forster’s Room with a View and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. If you spot them, leave a comment on this blog post telling me what they are, and I’ll send you a free copy of my first novella, Let’s Misbehave.
July 9, 2012
The origins of ‘Dear Julia’
Dear Julia started with an email from my publisher, The Wild Rose Press. They put out a call to their historical writers to submit novellas for an anthology called Love Letters. A letter needed to trigger the story, but the letter could be anything – a ‘Dear John’, an inheritance, a love letter.
I hadn’t even reached the end of the email and I knew exactly what I wanted to write.
A few years ago a friend of mine wrote a short story for a magazine contest in which a young woman remodels her home and finds a letter that had been left on the mantelpiece for her years earlier.
Mandy very kindly gave me permission to steal her idea – and earned herself the dedication at the front of Dear Julia.
And so the story was born. My heroine, Rosalie, is remodelling her father’s new house when she find an envelope behind the old mantelpiece addressed to ‘Julia’. The envelope also contains a ring, so Rosalie goes in search of the mysterious Julia. Instead, she finds William Cavendish, an embittered recluse.
What happens next? Read the book!
June 25, 2012
Sizzling Summer Reads
The Romance Reviews are running a month-long summer party with prizes, games and books galore, running from July 1st to 31st. Click here to find out more about the event. Check back every day throughout July, as there are daily give-aways as well as the chance to win $100 worth of gift vouchers.
I’m participating in the competition, so watch this space for the Dear Julia clue that will be hidden in my blog posts over the next couple of weeks.
June 12, 2012
And the winner is …
Yes, I know it’s Tuesday and I’m a day late, but here at last is the winner announcement:
Winner of a copy of Dear Julia is Skyla (ak Raquel)! Please get in touch to claim your prize.
To all the other commenters who entered – Maria, Pamela, Flora and Cherie – let me know if you’d still like a copy, and I’ll send you a PDF version. I’m just going to ask for one favour in return: would you be so kind as to post an honest review on either Amazon or Goodreads once you’ve read it?
June 8, 2012
Launch Wave Contest
Dear Julia is now available in all good eBook stores near you. To read the opening chapter, you can follow the Dear Julia Launch Wave, starting here on the Minxes’ blog. You can also follow the wave on Twitter by using the hashtag #DearJulia.
Once you’ve read the opening extract, pop back here with the answer to this simple question, and you can win a copy of Dear Julia.
Question: who is the intended recipient of the letter Rosalie discovers?
Leave your answer in the Comments section. Entries close Sunday night, and the winner will be announced on Monday.
Dear Julia is on sale through Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, AllRomance eBooks and direct from the publisher, The Wild Rose Press.
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The discovery of a long-lost love letter in a house she’s redecorating sends Rosalie Stanton on a quest to find its rightful owner.
Since his return from the Great War, William Cavendish has lived as a recluse. His peaceful existence is shattered by the return of the letter that once held all his hopes — and by its bearer, the irrepressible Rosalie, who bears an uncanny resemblance to his lost love.
As Rosalie sets out to lure William back into society, she realises that in him she might just have met her match.
