A Research Heavy Novella by Lucy Felthouse

My Timeless Desire novella, Love Through Time was a first for me in a couple of ways. One, it's my first novella. I started out writing short stories and am building up to longer pieces, and this was my first. Two, the tale turned out to be quite research heavy. As a contemporary short story writer, I don't have to do much research at all for my stories. Love Through Time, however, was determined to be different.

My novella is a veritable smorgasbord (I've always wanted to use that word) of genres. It's a contemporary, historical, paranormal, erotic romance. If you're wondering how it can be contemporary and historical, perhaps I should explain. There are historical elements to the piece, with references back to the past, which is where much, but not all, of my research came in.

The main character in the story, Emily, is a book conservator. This is where some of my research came in. I needed to know enough about what book conservators to do to clean and protect books to talk convincingly about it in my book. After Google didn't come up with much of help, I turned to Twitter, and also sent an email off to The National Trust (a charity in the UK that looks after stately homes, historical sites, archives, etc). Luckily for me, the answers that I needed came through pretty quickly and I was able to continue writing.

Another element of my research was to do with the historical elements of the piece. Without giving too much away, World War II is mentioned – so I had to do some fact checking before I mentioned certain events. Also, I needed information on photography, i.e. what sort of photographs were taken and when, and when colour photography was introduced in the UK. Google, Wikipedia and Twitter again helped me out here. What would we do without them?

Add in the visits I make to country houses for pleasure (Love Through Time is set in a country house) and you have yourself quite a lot of research there. But I enjoyed every minute of it, and I hope that the resulting story gives as much enjoyment to readers as it did to this writer.

*****

Westbury Manor is a stately home with a fascinating past, and when book conservator Emily Stone starts uncovering it, she's startled by what she finds . . . .

Emily arrives at Westbury Manor with a job to do. She's to clean and conserve all of the books in their impressive library, preserving them for future generations. Not long into her stay at the house, she bumps into the night guard, George. She'd expected an old, balding guy with a comb over, so the hunky chap she actually meets is a very pleasant surprise. The introductions complete, George leaves Emily in peace to get on with her job. But when a falling photograph sets off a chain reaction of ghostly events, Emily and George are thrown together in order to find out who—or what—is causing them. Their investigation uncovers a tragic past, a lost love, and a stunning secret.

Excerpt:

Emily received some strange looks and frowns from the people she passed as she walked across the graveled drive toward the front entrance of Westbury Hall. She could appreciate their confusion. It was closing time for the stately home, and the last of the visitors were being politely ushered out of the building, yet she was heading inside. She'd been invited. She had a job to do.

An elderly lady stood in the porch, smiling and nodding as she held the door open for those departing the hall. Most of them seemed in no hurry to leave, stopping to make comments to the woman at the door, thanking her for a lovely visit and so on. Emily waited patiently to the side, allowing the patrons to leave before attempting to enter. When the staff member—most likely a volunteer, Emily thought—caught sight of her, she gave her a polite nod of acknowledgment.

Finally, the last of Westbury Hall's visitors moved out, leaving Emily free to enter. Climbing the single, stone step to the threshold, she took the hand already offered her.

Shaking Emily's hand with a surprising firmness, the woman said, "You must be Miss Stone." Her smart appearance and the intelligence in her eyes indicated that despite her age, she was far from past it. "I'm Mrs. Thompson, house supervisor."

"I am," Emily replied, dropping her hand back to her side, "but please, call me Emily. It's lovely to meet you. So, house supervisor? Do you live on site?"

Indicating Emily should step inside the entrance hall, Mrs. Thompson proceeded to close and lock the porch and front doors of the house, securing them in.

"I do," the older woman said, turning back to face Emily, "I have rooms in a separate building just off the back of this one. So you needn't worry about me disturbing you."

"Oh no," Emily said, worried she'd inadvertently rubbed Mrs. Thompson the wrong way. "I didn't mean that. I was just curious. You're more than welcome to see me at work, Mrs. Thompson; although, I'm afraid you won't see anything terribly exciting."

Mrs. Thompson smiled now, the warmth reaching her eyes. Emily sighed silently with relief. She'd yet to see the extent of the work she had to do, but she'd been told it was no easy task, so she could be here for some time. The last thing she needed was to upset any of the staff.

"Oh, you'd be surprised, my dear. This is a fascinating old place. Of course, all these old houses have history, but Westbury Hall's is particularly rich."

Emily smiled. The woman's enthusiasm was infectious. "Well then," she replied, "I can't wait to learn more about it. I hope you'll feed me full of historical tidbits while I'm here?"

Mrs. Thompson gave an enigmatic smile. Then, startling Emily somewhat, she turned smartly on her heel and walked deeper into the house. "Come, my dear, I won't hold you up any longer. I'll show you to the library, where you'll soon start uncovering Westbury's illustrious history for yourself."

Buy link: http://www.nobleromance.com/Books/348

*****

Lucy is a graduate of the University of Derby, where she studied Creative Writing. During her first year, she was dared to write an erotic story - so she did. It went down a storm and she's never looked back. Lucy has had stories published by Cleis Press, Noble Romance, Ravenous Romance, Summerhouse Publishing, Sweetmeats Press and Xcite Books. She is also the editor of Uniform Behaviour and Seducing the Myth. Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Celebrating Nopeming Shores - Parnaormal Romance

Readers often ask what the inspiration for a book was. On the release day for Nopeming Shores  it seems very fitting to share the unusual inspiration for the book by the two people who wrote it. J. Andrew Lockhart joins me today, adding his thoughts after mine.

Margie writes:

Current events were part of the story inspiration. I conceived the basic plot about 18 months ago, when my brother in-law was deployed to Afghanistan. I saw how difficult it was for my sister to have her husband gone.

Personal tragedy inspired the character, Gabe. Years ago, my father was violently taken from me. I think anyone who's experienced a sudden loss, recognizes the turmoil it creates. You have a million questions that can't always be answered. You wish you could have been there in that last instant of life to sooth their journey into the afterlife.

In the hours, days, and weeks following my father's death, the Holy Spirit visited me several times. Despite any notions you may have of me, I am a practicing Catholic, and I believe and love the intercessions of the Holy Spirit. They brought me great comfort.

On one occasion, my father's ghost also visited. I won't deny it was shocking to see him - frightening even. Luckily, he was whole again, and able-bodied. He walked to the foot of my bed and waved goodbye. He wore a wry smile, as if to say, it's okay now. I won't say that after these visits, everything was hunky-dory, but I had a bit of peace to cling to.

So, I had these ideas about not wanting to let go of the one who has died, and the pain survivors must endure. That became the angst Gabe and Lily felt. They were in their early 30s, and married for about six years. Although Gabe had a dangerous job in the military police, Lily and Gabe didn't let that control their future. They had plans to start a family – to have their happily ever after. In an instant, their future was taken from both of them.

Lots of times, we get the notion that spirits soar into some sort of bliss after death, and spend eternity with a smile on their face. I'd like that to be true, but I really don't believe it. In this book, Gabe is as devastated by what happened as Lily is. It's so bad, that his spirit can't leave the confines of earthly existence. God grants him the opportunity to help Lily rebuild her life and, in turn, help him sever his ties to humanity. Don't expect a religion lesson; this story is about two people coping with their grief.

My friendship with J. Andrew Lockhart led me to choose his poetry as a gentle way for Gabe to reach out to Lily. I found a kinship with Andrew because his own tragedies and together, we really understood the story and the characters.

Andrew's turn:

When Margie first asked me to write poetry for the book, I was uncomfortable about writing for a fictitious person. The more I saw, though, the more I realized that I had so much in common with Gabe.

When I was 30 I had an intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke. My wife and I had a one year-old son, and I was beginning my life as an attorney. My world ended on that day.

After years of rehab and memory loss, I ended up an elementary music teacher, a father of four children, and a writer.

My story, after 15 years, has a happy ending, but many times I think about what would have happened if I had ended up like Gabe. That is what drove me through this book. It was much more emotional than I thought it would be. I would spend many nights thinking about how I would handle his situation, and how my wife would have taken it. It took me a while after the book was over to be able to write as "me" again.

I'm very glad that I did it, though. I actually learned from Gabe, and I was also able to give Margie the insight from a man who has "been there." I think it's a wonderful story.

 

J. Andrew Lockhart and Margie Church

We hope you enjoy Nopeming Shores. After you've read it, please you tell us what you thought.

CONTEST!  Has a ghost or spirit ever communicated with you? If so, tell us how or what happened. One commenter will win a copy of Nopeming Shores. Don't forget to leave your email address.

Diagnosis, Love - Thoughts

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to share a few things that have been on my mind about Diagnosis, Love - my paranormal romance.

Writing Diagnosis, Love gave me the chance to address several issues in my life and wrap everything up into a neat short tale. Melanie Marr's leukemia reflected the frustration, helplessness and fear I felt when my brother was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. (Although he was initially given a 30-40% chance of survival, after following chemotherapy and radiation treatments he's been cured for several years now.)

I regularly give blood and urge everyone to do so. As the slogan says: It's in you to give! Melanie Marr represents all those phlebotomists I've met at the blood clinics over the years, and it was my small way of paying them back for their dedicated service.

Then it just seemed right to have a doctor fall in love with one of his dying patients, especially when that patient also happens to be a health professional. Jakob Farkas filled that role perfectly. The fact that he's an immortal vampire, or claims to be one, gives a dying woman desperate hope for a new life.

Finally, I'm also an art fanatic, and the caves in Lascaux have always intrigued me, ever since I was old enough to look through art history books, yeah, I'm talking about Gombrich, Gardner and Jansen. Who were these ancient artists who felt compelled to draw on the cave walls and ceilings? So, of course, I just had give my explanation and to also set the climax of the Diagnosis, Love in one of the caves!

That's it. Just some thoughts on a hot summer day.

For those of you who haven't read it yet, I hope you will take a look at Diagnosis, Love.


Available from Noble Romance Publishing.

Ingrid, ;-)

ESCAPE INTO ROMANCE AND DANGER

Did you ever have one of those days? Or a lot of those days? Days when you thought your head would explode at the monotony of your life? You rise at the same time each day, go through the same morning ritual, then it’s onto your job. Maybe you’re a corporate drone and cubicle dweller as I was. Mind-numbing. Boring.

Many a morning as I drove to work, I’d fantasize about something extraordinary happening to relieve the boredom. I don’t mean any earth-shattering event, or anyone’s getting hurt. Just something different. Like I’d come upon a bank robbery in progress and be taken hostage by one of the robbers. Oh, wait, I could get hurt. I didn’t want to escape my cubicle-dwelling world that badly. Maybe the robber is really a sexy undercover FBI agent. That led to other kinds of fantasies I won’t go into. But you get my drift.

Escape, romance, danger. Don’t we all need a little of that in our lives? My life isn’t altogether boring, and of course, I’ll take mundane over dangerous. But isn’t it fun to escape once in a while?

That’s where reading comes in. It gives me the escape I crave. As a child, I devoured everything I could find to read – cereal boxes, billboards, clothes tags. It didn’t matter. If it had words on it, I was hooked. Reading opened a whole new world to me and allowed my imagination to soar.

Within the pages of a book, we can be the FBI heroine fighting a deep secret from her past while trying to bring the bad guys to justice. Or we can be the ordinary woman thrust into extraordinary circumstances, caught up in international intrigue and murder. Or we can go back in history and be a young, unmarried daughter of a duke who wants freedom from the constraints of the rigid mores of her class.

And then there are time travels. I love them. Don’t you? I love fantasizing about going back to a time before all our modern conveniences and learning to deal with a more primitive way of living. I’d probably fall apart if I time-traveled, but the heroes and heroines in the time-travel romances I read always cope with their new environment. And they find love along the way. Pure escapism.

Paranormal books and movies are scorching hot now. There are the Twilight movies and books and Harry Potter and the vampire shows on TV. Some popular culture experts say the uncertainty in the modern world makes people gravitate toward the supernatural. Maybe they’re right. Or maybe the paranormal taps into that dark part of us that civilization can’t completely suppress. I enjoy reading paranormal romances. I love witch stories and shifter stories and fallen angel stories. Vampire stories - not so much. I’m afraid of vamps and believe they exist.

Regardless of what sub-genre I read, a good love story is central. I crave happy endings as much as I crave escapism. If, in addition to the romance, the book also has twists and turns, a mystery, maybe a murder or two, and a ghost, werewolf, or witch, that’s even better.

Do you sigh when reading a hot romance and imagine yourself in the arms of that handsome rake of a duke, that sexy tortured werewolf, that pirate who wants to plunder your charms? Then you know what I mean.

Do you ever fantasize about escaping your routine world? And when you do, do you pick up a book and allow it to fly you to exotic places? I hope you do.

I feel like going to Regency England today so I’ll read that book about the duke’s restless daughter. Tomorrow I might want to meet a sexy werewolf. And after that, I may just meet that hunky FBI agent who’s working undercover and takes me hostage.

What about you? What are you reading?