Linda Berdoll's Blog, page 3

Update

I am sixty-eight chapters into The Ruling Passion...twelve more to go.

BTW

For those readers who have read my books several times, do you recall if there was ever an encounter between Wickham and Juliette?

I was quoted (correctly) as saying that The Ruling Passion was to take us to the Darcy children's romances, say fifteen years into their future. As it stands now, that is highly unlikely. I am far too slow a writer (and can't seem to keep the Darcys out of bed long enough) to take them that far.

As my first book premised, marriage is not where romance ends, it is where life begins.

The ruling Passion, be it what it will
The ruling passion conquers reason still.

In England, late Regency was a dicey time for all classes. As much as Mr. Darcy would like to stay far from London, he cannot. Menace is afoot and misapprehensions abound, therefore The Ruling Passion will only take us another five years into their lives.

Thanks so much for your encouragement!

Linda Berdoll

FANDANGO

Fandango will be available only at this website beginning next week. We will have a shopping cart up for those of you who would like to order a copy. As for the storyline, this is from the back cover:

Rich and bored to sobs, it is inevitable that Annabella Chase will leave a string of broken men in her wake. On the way to everlasting love, she takes several detours. The first is when her heart is captivated by the sun-tanned sinews and wind-swept locks of a handsome whaler. In her path soon falls Asher Price, indifferent to everyone and determined to stay that way. Even the headstrong Annabella learns that it is one thing to ask for trouble, quite another to offer it a chair.

There are few truths in 1849 San Francisco. One is that every soul in town came to escape from something--or someone.

Fandango is not the Darcys, but I hope you will enjoy it nonetheless.

Linda Berdoll

Fandango has finally been completed to suit me and is in ...

Fandango has finally been completed to suit me and is in the editing process. I would love it to be out by the end of the year, but that seems unlikely.

As for The Ruling Passion, I am well into it and very happy with how it is going. I offer my apologies for being as slow. Granted, I'm an inveterate re-writer, but this book requires additional time in that I have to make certain that the plot and characters are true to what occurred in the MDTAW and D&E.

I'll not burden you with further whining, but only say that I feel a kinship those of you who like my take on the Darcys. You must be the romantic sort--and have a great sense of humour!

Cheers,
Linda Berdoll

UPDATE - Fandango

There is a tentative publication date of next summer for Fandango. With any luck, The Ruling Passion will soon follow.


Thank you for the birthday wishes - and (v. belatedly) I send one back to taintedtears2.

To Lou: Although foreign rights have been sold for Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife in several languages, the only one I know of in print is in Korean. I have a copy of that one. I ought to scan it and put it up because the cover is very different. It is of a dancing couple and a hot pink flap around the bottom with some writing on it. I would love to know what it says - and whether the text is abridged;) If I hear of others, I'll let you know.

Note to Mallard:
I have often stated that when it comes to Regency England, I am hardly an expert. No doubt my accuracy leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to the use of titles, etc. However, I do take exception to several other of your points.

As to your assertion that the draft did not come about in England until early in the 20th century, I quote J. Christopher Herold, The Age of Napoleon, P. 252: "PM Addington's government called the entire nation to arms. The result was ludicrous. In the first place, the government defeated its own purpose by exempting all volunteers from the levee en masse. Before the end of 1803, 342,000 volunteers had enrolled. Now to be a volunteer, all a man had to do was to put on a uniform, join his local volunteer association, and do a bit of drilling; in every other way his life continued as usual." P. 253: "Men fit for service who did not volunteer were subject to universal conscription, which operated by lot;..."

On any number of occasions I took license with distances and the time it took to get there to forward the story. But when Darcy took Elizabeth to London after their wedding, it had nothing whatsoever, to do with an expeditious journey.

If, as you say, there were no wild turtles then or now in England, turtle soup must have been made from turtles harvested from the sea, or, dare we think it, raised on turtle farms. Let us, for argument's sake, presume that the turtle Mr. Darcy teased Elizabeth about was an escapee from either the farm or the cooking pot.

In vain I have searched for a book (pamphlet, memoir, magazine article) that details the flora and fauna of Regency England. You must know of one. Could you be so kind as to direct me?

Thanks for you input,
Linda Berdoll

The Ruling Passion

It is really encouraging to hear from readers who want to read more of my personal take on Darcy & Elizabeth's story. We hope to have my third continuation, The Ruling Passion, out next year. Sometimes, however, the publishing business moves with all the grace and speed of a pregnant elephant. I'll certainly keep you abreast of any movement towards a publication date.

Note to Rebecca Francois: I thank you for your kind corrections. They should have been caught by my editors. (They probably should have been caught by me as well, but when one has the opportunity to blame others for something, it is a comfort to do so.) If my story ventures into France (it doesn't at this time, but truth is once I get started there's no telling where it'll go), I'll certainly know who to ask for any particulars.

Fandango is now in the hands of my publisher. Perhaps some readers might enjoy that in the interim. As soon as I know anything about publication dates, I'll post them.

It is a pleasure to hear from you all.

Linda Berdoll

A Big Thank You!

I want to thank so many of you who have taken the time to write and let me know how much you enjoyed my books. I am now working on the third in the Darcy series. As I have the story laid out, it will carry them into the next generation.

It begins with a death.