Maggie Mackeever's Blog, page 3
December 28, 2015
THE UNCOMPROMISING HERO
When I wrote the first book in the series that became The Edinburgh Vampires (Ravensclaw, first published as Waltz with a Vampire), I wasn’t thinking of writing a sequel. I was under contract to Kensington, and the book was meant to be a one-off, playing against type — the vampire who doesn’t mind being a vampire, the heroine who is more inquisitive than afraid. I thought of it as ‘A Regency Romance with Vampires’. By the time I was done with the book, however, I’d fallen in love with the characters. Then Kensington dropped their Regency line and I was left in the position of doing anything I wanted (though it didn’t seem like that at the time).
Eventually, that freedom led to the second book in the series: Vampire, Bespelled. At that point, I knew I would continue with a third book somewhere down the road. What I didn’t realize, until it came time for that third book, was how difficult it would be to write. I reworked the first seven or eight chapters seven or eight times trying to find the right approach.
Or, more specifically, the right heroine.
Cezar, the hero of A Judgment of Vampires, is the vampire Master of Edinburgh. Cezar doesn’t suffer fools gladly. More cerebral than physical, though he can be very physical, he is both powerful and dangerous, the quintessential alpha male. His character was firmly established in the first two books.
Unlike his comrades, first Val and then Andrei, Cezar isn’t one to angst/obsess over a female, human or otherwise. He has far too many other things to contend with. Romance has no place among his priorities.
Well, hell, I thought. This book is supposed to be, at least on some level, a romance.
It seemed obvious to me that my heroine was going to have to be, like Cezar himself, rather more than human. I had numerous ideas and presented them all. Cezar wasn’t interested. I couldn’t make that part of the story work.
Other parts of the story, however, were moving along quite nicely. I was on the right track with everything else. Finally I conceded and changed my original heroine to a secondary character, then brought in a different female for Cezar’s consideration.
This time, to my relief, he approved.
I have never had a character be so calmly uncooperative. It wasn’t a matter of me writing scenes that weren’t right for him, but more a matter of him simply refusing to be present in those scenes.
Contrary creature.
I should have expected no less. He is the vampire Master of Edinburgh, after all.
Filed under: Writing
November 23, 2014
The Return of Dulcie Bligh
The indomitable Baroness Bligh packs up her friends and family, along with her pets and the Chief Magistrate of Bow Street, for a relaxing country Christmas, which — as often is the case with Dulcie — turns out to be nothing of the sort. Ghosts, murder, forbidden trysts and romantic misunderstandings: what can a lady do but try and set things right?
Quite a while back, I wrote a series of Regency mystery/romances featuring the eccentric and inquisitive crime-solver/matchmaker Baroness Bligh. The books were, in order: DULCIE BLIGH, THE BARONESS OF BOW STREET, THE RIGHT HONOURABLE VISCOUNT, AND BACHELOR’S FARE. I polished them all up for eBook reissue and didn’t think much more about the books until last year, when a reader wrote to tell me how much she’d enjoyed Dulcie and her family, and asked if I’d consider continuing the series. At that point, I remembered that there was a fifth, unpublished, Dulcie book — actually it was third in sequence of writing, a Christmas story that got lost in the shuffle when Putnam decided not to continue the series and Pocketbooks took it up in a slightly altered form. I dragged out the manuscript, decided that I really liked the plot but disliked the way I’d written it, and set out to bring everything up to date. I didn’t finish the rewrite in time for last Christmas, but did manage it this year.
And so, here is the missing Dulcie story, minus 14,000 of its original words. The rewrite was challenging, since I don’t write the same way now as I did then, yet wanted to remain true to the style of the original stories. It was a great adventure. I ended up falling in love with the characters all over again.
Filed under: Writing 
August 23, 2014
Vampires in Edinburgh
Several years ago, I wrote several traditional Regency Romances for Kensington. The last of them was a play-against-type vampire romance with strong Regency overtones. I called it Ravensclaw. ‘Too Gothic’, said the powers that be, ‘and furthermore the word ‘vampire’ has to be in the title.’ They then gave it a hugely misleading cartoonish cover.
Well, the rights have to that book have finally reverted, so I finally get to use the title of my choice. And give it a more appropriate cover. In the interim, I wrote the second book in the trilogy (which also has a brand new cover), and am currently writing the third.
RAVENSCLAW. The Edinburgh Vampires, Book 1
Emily Dinwiddie, current overseer of the Dinwiddie Society for the Exploration of Matters Abstruse and Supersensible, knows full well that fantastical beings exist. Werewolves. Shapeshifters. Vampires. To her regret, she has not yet been privileged to meet one of these creatures in, as it were, the flesh. However, that is about to change. Will Count Revay-Czobar be a blood-sucking fiend so foul she cannot bear to look at him, let alone ask his help? Will he see her as a tasty tidbit, and force her to defend herself?
Valentin Lupescu, Count Revay-Czobar, is not the sort of supersensible being read about in books. No vampir melancholia for Ravensclaw. No regret for past lives, lost loves. His situation suits him well enough, save for his tendency to get bored. When Emily arrives on his doorstep,d raped about with every vampire-repelling charm devised by mortal man, he sees in this freckled, bespectacled spinster the source of more potential amusement than he’s enjoyed in a score of decades.
She wants him, of course. It is the nature of his kind.
He wants her also. Which is not at all the say these matters generally play out.
A quest. A curse. Passion and perplexities. Mystery, mayhem and madness in the dark streets of Regency Edinburgh’s Old Town.
EXCERPT:
Ravensclaw reached out one graceful finger and pushed Emily’s glasses back up to the bridge of her nose. The Count was toying with her as if he were a cat and she a witless rodent. Emily elevated her umbrella and poked him in the chest. “I would prefer that you keen your hands — and your thoughts — to yourself, my lord.”
“Would you, indeed?” he asked softly. On the hearth, the wolf-dog stirred.
Emily took a firmer grip on her umbrella. She had no desire to skewer her host, but neither was she eager to make the intimate acquaintance of a vampire’s fangs. Rather, she didn’t think she was. At least, not yet., She did have a certain curiosity–
“What you don’t know can’t hurt you,” murmured the Count. And then, without the slightest hint of fangs, he smiled. It was a roguish captivating smile that said ‘you’re the most delicious thing I’ve seen in a long time and I’m going to gobble you up slowly and savor every nibble’ as clearly as if he’d spoken aloud.
Emily blinked. Ravensclaw must surely be the most irresistibly, wickedly beautiful being ever put on God’s green earth.
In whatever century that had been.
And she was staring at him like a smitten schoolgirl.
Oh, bloody hell.
VAMPIRE, BESPELLED: The Edinburgh Vampires, Book 2
Sarah Kincaid is a widow with a knack for charms and herbs. Her marriage left her disillusioned. The last thing she needs is for an annoying green-eyed man to interfere with her peace of mind.
Andrei Torok is a warrior with a demon mistress and an unrelenting headache. He is weary of his existence. The last thing he needs is to have long-buried emotions stirred by a quick-tempered, sharp-tongued lass.
Moreover, Andrei is vampir.
And Sarah is not.
Sarah believes in vampires no more than she believes in the lasting nature of sentimental attachments formed by the perfidious opposite sex.
Andrei is smitten with her, nonetheless.
Add mysterious artifacts and inconvenient corpses. Curses and spells. Vengeful preternatural beings, a deadly vendetta, and a pesky ghost…
A romantic misadventure in Regency Edinburgh.
EXCERPT:
Sarah closed one hand into a fist and cuffed him on the ear. “Release me at once, you lout!” The intruder promptly set her on her feet. Perversely, she then wished that he had not.
Gleaming Hessian boots, tight buckskin breeches, a coat of green superfine that hugged his magnificent shoulders like a second skin…
He was lean, muscular, and altogether overwhelming, with chestnut hair long enough to brush his collar, eyes hidden behind round dark spectacles, harsh sculpted features made even more savagely compelling by the scar that slashed one cheek from temple to jaw before continuing across his throat.
Sarah wondered for a startled second if brooding about love spells had brought this splendid specimen into the shop. He was not handsome, certainly, but she’d had her fill of handsome. A battle-scarred warrior, however, who might take up his sword on her behalf–
What was she thinking? Sarah was done with men. Selfish,self-centered, self-indulgent beasts.
He removed his spectacles, revealing eyes the color of green ice. Lass. That is harsh.
Perdition. Now she was hearing things.
MOON MADNESS: The Edinburgh Vampires, Book 3.
Coming in 2015
Filed under: Writing 
February 10, 2014
The Last Loversall
The Loversalls first appeared in print in AN EXTRAORDINARY FLIRTATION, the last of several Traditional Regencies I wrote for Kensington.
I burned out on Traditional Regencies a long time ago, and said I wasn’t going to write any more. But while writing the Tyburn books, and making myself crazy trying to get the historical details right, I needed to take a break and decided to write a novella in the style of those older Regencies. Since I had so much fun with the Loversalls in FLIRTATION, especially Zoe, I decided to revisit them. The result was POINT NON PLUS.
Sometimes a character walks onstage and demands his own story. That’s what happened with the second novella, QUIN. Then, because I’d written two novellas, and had a continuing character left unresolved, (and was still having fun), I wrote a third, which is available on Amazon today (click on the image) and at other venues soon.
Here’s the blurb:
The legendarily libidinous Loversalls are notorious for their amorous adventures, their erotic escapades. Alas, Beau Loversall has lost his enthusiasm for such pursuits. It is, he fears, a result of advancing age. But then he reluctantly rescues an innocent, and most provide her a proper duenna–
A comedy of manners, Regency style.
The three novellas will be available in a single edition later in the year.
This really is my last Traditional Regency.
She said…
Filed under: Books, Writing
July 26, 2013
The Tyburn Trilogy, Book II: The Purloined Heart
Maddie Tate was a very minor character in The Tyburn Waltz, a mere plot device. But when I decided that Tyburn should be the first of a trilogy and was looking around for a plot for Book II, she tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Ahem. Remember me?”
Since The Purloined Heart is more traditional than Tyburn and The Judas Kiss (Book III, 2014), I think of Maddie’s story as the creamy filling in an Oreo cookie. It’s available now in both ebook (Kindle only for three months) and print formats. http://amzn.to/13b9efA
And, in celebration, The Tyburn Waltz is temporarily .99 on Amazon. http://amzn.to/18Eba0Z
Bon appetit!
Filed under: Writing
July 7, 2013
On Sale! Lady Bliss
One of my favorite Fawcett Regencies (traditional/humorous) is currently .99 on Amazon. http://amzn.to/11sscPX
Excerpt:
“Marry you?” Had Viscount Roxbury not been so excellent a horseman, he would have lost his seat. “Good God, Jynx!”
“Don’t refuse me, Shannon!” his companion protested quickly. “At least not before you’ve listened to what I have to say! Consider it from the practical point of view — unless your affections have become fixed elsewhere?”
Lord Roxbury gazed down upon her with a fascinated expression, and admitted himself heart-whole.
“Excellent!” said Jynx, and edged her mount closer. No easy matter, this arrangement of matters matrimonial whilst riding in Hyde Park. “Or– The idea is not repugnant to your feelings, Shannon? I am shocking forward, I suppose. But you won’t mind that!”
Blurb:
When lovely, lethargic Jynx Lennox invites Viscount Roxbury to join her in a marriage of convenience, he rather surprisingly agrees. But the pathway to the altar is fraught with pitfalls, including gaming hells and card debts, misplaced betrothal rings and the onslaught of true love, and mos especially the viscount’s most recent flirt, the notorious — and notoriously bird-witted — Lady Bliss.
Originally published in — gasp! — 1986.
Filed under: Uncategorized, Writing
May 29, 2013
Coming in July: The Tyburn Trilogy, Book II
Poor Maddie Tate. widowed with two children. Seven and twenty years of age. An ordinary sort of female, no more memorable than a potted palm.
Lucky Angel Jarrow. Temptation incarnate, lazy and spoiled — and why should he not be, when the whole world adored him, save for the notable exception of his wife?
Maddie Tate and Angel Jarrow. In the ordinary course of events, their paths might merely have crossed. But then came the Burlington House bal masque, when Maddie saw murder done.
And fled straight into Angel’s arms.
And neither of their lives would ever be the same.
EXCERPT:
Angel knew from long experience when a woman needed kissing, and this woman needed kissing now. By him. Here in Lady Rutherford’s garden. Where they were seated, once again, on a convenient bench.
He’d give her a friendly kiss, Angel decided, as atonement for his unsettling talk of danger and death; an affectionate kiss, not the sort that scorched paint off every building in the vicinity. He would soothe instead of arouse, and enable her to forget her troubles for a brief space of time.
At least that was Angel’s intention when he took her in his arms.
She said faintly, “We must not,” and relaxed against him nonetheless.
Angel knew they mustn’t. But her breasts were soft against against his chest, and she smelled of peppermint again.
By the time Angel managed to wrestle his baser instinct into submission, which was no little while later, Mrs. Tate was again arranged across his lap. Angel had no notion how she’d gotten there. He didn’t want her to leave. She nipped his earlobe. He groaned.
Maddie opened her eyes, regarded him with bemusement, and then sprang to her feet. Angel remained seated. His breeches had grown uncomfortably tight.
She tugged up her bodice, twitched down her skirt, smoothed her hair, so flagrantly flustered that he experienced another sharp stab of desire. He wanted to drag her beneath him on the bench, feel her body arch against his, hear her bed him for completion, notions so heady that it took him a moment to realize Maddie was indeed speaking to him. She concluded, “I fear I have little self-control where you are concerned.”
He smiled at her. “Whereas I have none at all.”
“Why should you?” she said somberly. “When females are forever flinging themselves at your feet. This cannot happen again. I am not for you, or you for me.”
Angel didn’t follow her out of the pavilion. He was in the grip of some strong emotion. It took him several moments to recognize it as regret.
Murder, mystery and romance in Regency London.
Scheduled for release July 2013.
Filed under: Uncategorized
June 23, 2012
Regency Novella #2: That Rascal Quin
I’d only meant to write one novella, because I’d never tried short fiction, and was in the mood for a Traditional Regency. But then a minor character walked through the door and caught my fancy, and when that story ended, I wasn’t ready to let him go.
Therefore, available next week in ebook format from all the usual suppliers: QUIN, A Traditional Regency Novella. 149 pages; 22,101 words. ISBN 978-0-9826239-8-5. Price: $2.99.
Lord Quinton, the Black Baron. The most wicked rakeshame in all London. The most jaded. The most bored.
He cannot count all the females he has debauched. The duels he has fought. The games of chance he lost, and won.
Yet still he sometimes wonders if a man might expire of ennui.
But then,one day, his past strolls up to his front door and slaps his jaded face.
And Quin discovers that dormant passions may still be enflamed.
EXCERPT:
Quin reached out and touched her hair. “Kate by candlelight. I was admiring your nightdress.” His fingers moved down her throat, came to rest against her pulse. “So modest and demure.”
Her heart was beating frantically. As Quin must realize. Kate leaned toward him, as entranced as any reptile by a snake charmer’s flute. And then she recalled this charmer’s countless conquests, and drew sharply back.
He quirked a quizzical eyebrow. Kate rose, crossed the room and paused in the doorway to her own bedchamber. “I am not naive. You would like to banish me to the ranks of those other women whose details you have forgot. I shan’t let you, Quin.”
He made no move to prevent her leaving, said not a word in his defense. Before her good sense could desert her altogether, Kate closed the locked the door.
Excerpt Copyright 2012.
There will be a third novella later this year. The Loversall saga has yet to be tidily resolved. At that point, all three novellas will be made available as one volume in print format. Meantime, three more of the Kensington Regencies will be made available in ebook format. And somewhere in the I’ll finally finish the sequel to TYBURN, THE PURLOINED HEART.
It’s good to be busy.
Filed under: Writing
Novella #2: That Rascal Quin
I’d only meant to write one novella, because I’d never tried short fiction, and was in the mood for a Traditional Regency. But then a minor character walked through the door and caught my fancy, and when that story ended, I wasn’t ready to let him go.
Therefore, available next week in ebook format from all the usual suppliers: QUIN, A Traditional Regency Novella. 149 pages; 22,101 words. ISBN 978-0-9826239-8-5. Price: $2.99.
Lord Quinton, the Black Baron. The most wicked rakeshame in all London. The most jaded. The most bored.
He cannot count all the females he has debauched. The duels he has fought. The games of chance he lost, and won.
Yet still he sometimes wonders if a man might expire of ennui.
But then,one day, his past strolls up to his front door and slaps his jaded face.
And Quin discovers that dormant passions may still be enflamed.
EXCERPT:
Quin reached out and touched her hair. “Kate by candlelight. I was admiring your nightdress.” His fingers moved down her throat, came to rest against her pulse. “So modest and demure.”
Her heart was beating frantically. As Quin must realize. Kate leaned toward him, as entranced as any reptile by a snake charmer’s flute. And then she recalled this charmer’s countless conquests, and drew sharply back.
He quirked a quizzical eyebrow. Kate rose, crossed the room and paused in the doorway to her own bedchamber. “I am not naive. You would like to banish me to the ranks of those other women whose details you have forgot. I shan’t let you, Quin.”
He made no move to prevent her leaving, said not a word in his defense. Before her good sense could desert her altogether, Kate closed the locked the door.
Excerpt Copyright 2012.
There will be a third novella later this year. The Loversall saga has yet to be tidily resolved. At that point, all three novellas will be made available as one volume in print format. Meantime, three more of the Kensington Regencies will be made available in ebook format. And somewhere in the I’ll finally finish the sequel to TYBURN, THE PURLOINED HEART.
It’s good to be busy.
Filed under: Writing
December 5, 2011
A Regency Novella: Point Non Plus
Yes, I said I wasn't going to write any more romances. I also said I wasn't going to write any more Traditional Regencies.
Clearly I can't be taken at my word.
(Traditional Regencies, at least as I write them, are comedies of manners. Low in sizzle. High in humor. Set in early 19th century England.)
Some characters stay with me long after their story has been written. Zoe Loversall — first encountered in An Extraordinary Flirtation – is one.
***
Coming January 9. 2012 from Vintage Ink Press, in the various e-book formats, available at all the usual sites:
ISBN: 978-0-9826239-9-2
At seventeen, Zoe Loversall was the toast of London, with so many admirers that they were known as 'Zoe's Zoo'. At seven-and-twenty, she is a runaway Contessa, determined to experience everything life has thus far withheld.
Zoe returns to London, determined to seek her ruin and her revenge. There she sets her sights on Lord Quinton, a man notorious for the women he has bedded, the men he has killed in duels, the amount of liquor he consumes, the fortune he is doing his best to gamble away.
Lord Quinton is bored beyond bearing by females wishful to be rid of their virtue, and so he informs Zoe.
Zoe, however, is not so easily convinced.
***
To read an excerpt, visit my website:
http://www.maggiemackeever.com/maggiema/Previews.html
And, because I had so much fun with all this, there will be a sequel, Quin, later in 2012.
Filed under: Writing 
