The Making of Lord Bachelor
If you’d asked me four years ago if I ever wanted to write a contemporary romance, I would have politely said, ‘never’. My first love is Regency romance. Up until three years ago, I couldn’t imagine, for a minute, writing about cell phones and high speed internet. I wanted to write about Spencer jackets and men in cravats. I wanted Alpha males in Hussein boots and feisty woman with more to offer than her hand in marriage.
All this changed, however, after I stood at my kitchen window, washing dishes and tossing around the idea of a modern-day fairytale. Now, I wanted a rich man, poor woman premise. Of course, the hero did have to have a British accent.
What I remember the most about writing Lord Bachelor was waking up at two o’clock in the morning with the two main characters, Edmund and Abby, chatting away in my head. Have you ever heard the saying, “Writer’s block is when your imaginary friends stop talking to you”? Well, I believe all writes have this on a coffee cup somewhere or pinned to their Pinterest board, because there has noting been more true. Of course, these ‘imaginary friends’ have the worst timing in the world.
With Lord Bachelor, Abby and Edmund came to me in middle of the night, whether I had to get up and go to work the next day or not. Regardless, I’d trudge to my writing chair and start taking dictation one what they were saying. Sometimes the pages resembled a movie script.
Then, several re-writes...okay, many re-writes later, I was ready to introduce Abby and Edmund to the world, or at least to a few of my friends and my favorite beta reader and grammar ninja, Kathy. The satisfaction of what I’d written came when one of my friends compared Abby’s and Edmund’s conversations to Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy.
As with every manuscript, however, Lord Bachelor continued to evolve, even after I’d typed the words, The End, after the last sentence. Secondary characters grew, and became bolder and more alive. Outside influences also made their way inside the pages, one being a British band called…no, not One Direction. The Beatles! My son, then nine, had every Beatles album ever made, so he played them on his turntable from morning ‘til night. He even helped me pick the album I mention in the book. You’ll have to read to find out which one.
Another influence includes Charlotte Bronte’s, Jane Eyre. Although Abby and Edmund banter back and forth like Ms. Bennett and Mr. Darcy, Abby finds a companion in poor Jane. As well, even though Lord Bachelor’s premise is a about reality television dating show, I must confess I don’t watch them. Between working full time, my son’s Rock School band practice, Star Wars Trilogy movie night, and writing my next novel, there isn’t much time.
All the same, I hope you enjoy reading about Abby and Edmund as much as I enjoyed writing about them.
