It’s been a looooooooong time since I’ve gotten to give a character a car. A horse, yes. Picking out a type of carriage, sure. But a car? I haven’t written a story with a car in years. So when I began to ponder turning my Victorian trilogy into an Edwardian one, one of my first thoughts was, “Oh wow–I need to pick out a car for Justin!”

Perhaps I should give you a little history first. Way back when I was twelve, I had this idea for a book. Which, I said, I would write until I finished it! A little over a year later, I scratched the words “The End” enthusiastically across the last of my hundreds of pages of notebook paper. The book was called Golden Sunset, Silver Tear. It was about Brook, who was raised as a princess in the fictional country of Bratinburg before discovering through the help of her best friend Justin, future English duke, that she was really British. Her bead necklace contained clues to what led to her parents’ deaths and her own fate.

Two years after that, I discovered Monaco. So Brook became an adopted Grimaldi. Another three years, and I gave the book a major overhaul to update the writing but kept the plot in place. Another three years and I was out of college, had my first baby, and was determined to make this book as good as the others I’d written in the intervening years. So I chucked pretty much every scene, kept the premise, changed names where necessary, and retitled the book Fire Eyes.

In 2007, the book landed me an agent. But alas, though a few publishers took it to committee, it always struck out. So fast forward back to two weeks ago, when my (second) agent said, “Do you have anything Edwardian?” and I said, “No. But I could.” =)

This is so much fun because I know these characters inside out and upside down. So tossing them into a world 50 years after where I first envisioned them leads me to all sorts of fun decisions. Would Brook still have been content with stolen solitary horse rides, or would the changing times have upped her rebellion? Would she now be borrowing cars for her stunts? Oh, you bet she would. So I open now with her sliding a gloved hand along the side of a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. And, when its owner (Justin) catches her in the act of taking the wheel, she demands a driving lesson of her longtime friend.

Thankfully, I’m married to a man who can answer all my stupid questions about first-generation cars. Like, “Okay, so you crank it to start it . . . how do you turn it off?”

Hubby: “You switch off the magneto.”

Me: “The mag-what-o?” Oh yes. It required a bit of an education, LOL.

Thus far the automobile has found many fun places in the three chapters I’ve rewritten of Fire Eyes (which has been retitled yet again). Justin has just received his Silver Ghost from his father–who bought for himself one designed by “that Bugatti chap” as my Earl of Abingdon says. Justin’s best friend, once a rogue aristocrat who chose to sail the high seas instead of attend his estates back home, is now a race car driver in the first Grand Prix and rallies. The debut Indianapolis 500 will be coming up within the pages of my book, and you can bet Lord Thate will be there. =)

For historical writers, there’s nothing truer than “If you change the setting, you change the whole book–characters included.” It’s very true. And this change of setting will cause many, many a change to this first-ever novel I wrote. But oh, isn’t it fun to see how my characters adapt to the times!

Last week I was chatting with a mother and daughter who had read and loved Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland, and they mentioned how much they love Wiley. Which, of course, made me realize I’d better finish up that proposal for a sequel wherein he’d be the hero so my agent can get it out to my editor. See if we can get the publisher to agree that a story about Wiley would just be perfect. 😉

Thinking about that so soon after trying to figure out an actor to represent Thad, hero from my second Culper Ring book, made me realize that one of my potential Thads would in fact be the perfect Wiley. So sorry, all you fans of James Paul Marsden–he’s out of the running for Thad and gets the distinction of being my fun-loving, fiercely loving Wiley Benton. =)

For those of you who have read Annapolis, you know Wiley pretty well. On the whole, he’s a fun fellow. He himself says in Lark’s story that he detests being in a foul mood–it doesn’t suit him. Wiley would much rather be laughing, teasing, joking . . . but when someone he loves is threatened or hurt, then you’d better watch out. Because underneath the smiles, Wiley is a warrior who knows how to fight to win.

Also in Annapolis, Emerson accuses Lark of being like her brother, ready to charge into battle like a hothead, not caring about the consequences. Well obviously, I couldn’t let that go ignored when plotting out Wiley’s story. We’re going to see plenty of his fun-loving, gentle side. And we’re also going to see Lieutenant Benton charge into action–and nearly lose all he was fighting for because of it.

The funny thing is that while I was searching for some historical events to anchor this story around, I realized that nothing . . . happened in the year 1784, after the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Nothing happened in 1785. Or in ’86. Or . . . you get the idea, LOL. There were things, of course, just not that could reasonably have a part in a story set in Williamsburg. And given how history played a HUGE role in Annapolis, that was kinda frustrating.

But then I stumbled across some fun little tidbits. Like, did you know that Virginia passed an act in ’83 freeing any slaves who had served in the Revolution on their masters’ behalf? But some were denied because they were in intelligence and not just regular soldiers. Hmm . . . I can work with that. Not that Wiley’s slaves could have gone in his place, as he was there himself, but still . . . I can work with that.

And also interesting was when I looked up the College of William and Mary, which is in Williamsburg. It has some fun traditions dating back to before the Revolution, including the very first Greek-letter fraternity, a secret society that wanted to take fraternities back to their roots of academic excellence and away from revelry. (Yeah, um . . . whatever happened to that? LOL) Naturally, Wiley has to have been one of the founding members back in ’76, before the war took him away. Fun, eh? Secret handshakes and all that jazz.

And so my Wiley has a face and a story. Not that we have any idea if that story will be snatched up by my publisher, but let’s hope so. Because oh, this guy deserves his love story. And boy, is he going to get one, with the most unlikely of heroines . . . 😉

I usually post a Remember When more appropriate to the Resurrection season this week, but every thought I have about it today I discover I’ve already posted about, LOL. So I’ll get reflective tomorrow, but today we’ll keep talking about whatever I’ve been researching.

A small excitement I had recently was getting the enthusiastic go-ahead from Harvest House to plan a novella to use for promotional purposes between the releases of Ring of Secrets and its sequel, tentatively titled Mask of Truth. This story will be the happily-ever-after of a character from Ring of Secrets, the second book being about his daughter.

So as I started thinking about what could happen in this snippet of a story, I realized I still needed to have the tension of war–given that it’s in all the other stories. And I knew approximately when I’d need this book to be set. So an idea niggled, I did a wee bit of research, and I commenced grinning. 

The French Revolution. Perfect.

Most of the Revolution was a bit too late for me, but those first days of it would be just perfect. My hero, though British, could make his way into France as a favor to a friend. The favor being to find this friend’s estranged wife and daughter and bring them back to England before the violence he suspected was brewing could erupt.

So of course, my hero does. And of course, he finds the daughter, my heroine. And of course, they’re going to fall in love. But, of course, that brewing violence is going to spew over just in time to cause some difficulty. Climax around the storming of the Bastille, anyone?? 😉

I’m going to have to do some whirlwind research about the French Revolution for this one, but I’m looking forward to writing this character’s romance. =) He deserves his happily ever after. Of course, after fighting in the American Revolution, his first thought upon ending up in France during theirs is going to something along the lines of, “Another revolution? Really? Grrroooooooaaaaaaannnnn.” LOL

Two weeks ago I featured my lovely new heroine, Gwyneth Fairchild. So this week, I figured it would be fun to do the same to her eventual heart-throb, Thaddeus (Thad) Lane.

Now, I haven’t yet found a perfect image for Thad, so feel free to help me out there! If you think of an actor or painting or something that just screams “There he is!” please pass along a link! I’ll post a few possibles, but I’m not sold on any of them yet.

Thaddeus Lane was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the third child but first son to the hero and heroine from Ring of Secrets. With a chemist/philosopher for a father and a former-spy for a mother, one may have expected that Thad would follow the rest of his family (including his sisters) into the world of intellectualism. But instead, Thad seized upon the intrigue and followed it into adventure.

In the years leading up to the War of 1812, there was opportunity aplenty for adventure on the high seas, and that’s where Thad went. I picture him tall and lanky. Handsome, but in a way that makes him pleasant to look at without making women swoon right and left. He’s a privateer, so picture him standing on the deck of a romantic-looking ship, ready to swash some buckles. (Or maybe buckle some swashes? LOL) 😉

But the real key to this guy is his personality. You’ve probably met someone like him–he’s the type that could make friends with a rock. With a wall. With men, with women, with old and young, with allies or enemies. He’s the type that makes his nieces and nephews squeal with delight just by walking into a room, the type that every other privateer in the Atlantic, Caribbean, or Gulf has met and liked.

He’s the kind that absolutely everyone, everyone trusts. Which of course makes him the perfect intelligencer. =)

Thad is a man with secrets abounding, but no one ever thinks it of him, because he seems so open and honest. But while all the American privateers happily send along to him any information they have on British movements on the seas, they have no idea that he’s using it all to compile false information to feed back to their enemies. Who, after all, would suspect that open, honest Thad is capable of such duplicity? They know he’s organizing them a bit–a born leader, that one–but no one ever suspects that he’s the linchpin to American intelligence work during the war.

Thad’s also a softie with a quick sense of humor (he’s going to have some oh-so-fun exchanges with his socially-bumbling father) and a sense of responsibility for way more than is actually his responsibility. The first glimpse we’ll get of that is the fact that he married his friend’s widow several years earlier just to provide for her and her son in her final year of life. Of course, said friend comes back from his supposed-death a year after that . . . on the surface, this friend will be grateful his family was cared for when they assumed him dead. But I’m guessing there’s going to be a spark or two that flames up because of it through the course of the book. =)

Now, when Gwyneth arrives on the scene, Thad’s going to be a bit torn. He’ll greet her with the same good humor with which he greets everything, but a daughter of a British general? Entrusted to the care of his family during the closing months of a war with England? Yeah . . . he’s none too sure about this pretty, conflicted little gentlewoman.

Which is going to make it tons of fun.

Opening her heart could mean a noose around her neck.

Winter Reeves is a Patriot daughter forced to hide her heart amid the Loyalists of the City of New York. Though she has learned to don a mask to hide her thoughts, she has also learned to keep her ears open so she can pass information on British movements to her childhood friend and his Culper Ring. Never before has she had a problem hiding her true heart behind an image of brainless beauty. But then, never before had someone seen straight to her soul.

Bennet Lane returns to New York from his Yale professorship with one goal: to find Washington’s spy hidden among the ranks of the elite. Romance was supposed to be nothing more than a convenient cover story for his search, a way to gain entrance to the world he had so long shunned—though women are terrifying, baffling creatures that inevitably render him bumbling. But when he meets Winter, with her too-intelligent eyes under her too-blank face, he finds a mystery too intriguing to be ignored.

In a world where loyalty can be bought and sold, where no one can be trusted, and where threat dangles ever before them, Winter and Bennet must find a way through the snares of intrigue . . . before their secrets can swallow them whole.

Now for the fun! You can find the full board here: http://pinterest.com/roseannamwhite/ring-of-secrets/