Promotion

I am posting on uk historical romance with this great news today click on the link at the top of the page for more information.

Kate

Characters: Can't live without them

Adore them or loathe them where would we be without them. Our characters. The Lovedays frequently drive me crazy when they do their own thing and change the plot entirely. Yet that is positive as a novel is created through action and reaction.

In the new work in progress I have a different dilemma. The story has moved on to Bryn (Adam's ward) searching to discover his past when his memory returns and the adventures that follow. He is easy to deal with. But it also features Rowena the oldest of the Loveday children. She is the image of her mother, the scheming fortune-huntress Meriel shown on the cover here. She has her mother's cunning and beauty and from her father has inherited the reckless spirit of the Loveday men. But who is her father. She naturaly believes it is St John who married Meriel but there has always been a question mark hanging over her paternity as at the same time as St John, Adam was also Meriel's lover. The personality of her father is also her guiding force.

St John adored Rowena and could refuse her nothing. She was spoilt and her wilful nature has put her at odds with her family. When I began writing her story in the latest novel, I had real problems with her until I realised that actually I did not like this spoilt selfish brat. Major crisis here as she was to be the main heroine in the story and the reader must have empathy with her or they will lose interest in the story. I could make Meriel transparently evil as she was a secondary character and fed upon the weaknesses of others. This would not work with her daughter.

Putting my own prejudices aside and aware of Rowena's troubled childhood - abandoned by her mother, her devastation at the death of her father and feeling betrayed by him for the loss of her home and security - it was obvious that by the time she became a young woman she would be a complex character with many emotional issues to be resolved. She is also wily and secretive and to make her work as a character readers will want to succeed, I spent a week doing a complex character profile and realised that the only way Rowena would work was to allow the reader into her head in a very different way than I have used before. It is still in its experimental stage in the writing and like all early drafts it will either work or its back to the drawing board.

I do sometimes feel that today's teenagers are an alien race who dance to a completely different drum to their parents. Although the rules for them in Rowena's time were much stricter than today and the consequences far more dire if they were cast out of their homes, they faced the same problems we all did as teenagers in trying to find our way and hopefully achieve success without too much trauma.

I am hoping that readers will see in Rowena every generations need to break free and be true to themselves and that her story will truly be one that transcends time.

Fun with characters

Calling all Loveday fans! Feel free to jump in and recommend actors for the roles of the leading characters. I am fascinated by the interesting suggestions. Don't be shy. There are NO wrong answers!

Marilyn S who is a regular contributor to the Loveday blog posted the above following our fun and interesting weekend participation in picking stars to play Loveday characters. I thought it deserved a second slot.

Love to hear your comments. Hope you like the pics of Richard Armitage and Rupert Penry-Jones. We've also had Chris Pine(the new Capt Kirk)nominated as Adam and the lovely Johnny Depp who could play a multi-role as all the Loveday men as far as I am concerned.

You pays your money and takes your choice

Two very different covers here for The Loveday Secrets. The hardback cover with the woman's full face and gorgeous moorland scene behind is an image of Georganna. The poignant story of hers and Thomas's unusual marriage and the consequences that arise have a dramatic effect on all the family. The paperback with only a partial view of a woman's face is now the new look for the series so you definitely have to decide who you think fits this role. The new look has had a very positve response from booksellers. What do the readers think?

Who is on the cover books 7 and 8

More on the women on the covers again now. THE LOVEDAY PRIDE is one of my favourites as I love the colours and it has a Cornish seascape behind it. It could be Gwen as she features strongly in this one. It could be Bridie as she is yet to appear on a cover. It could even by Hannah who is still challenging Harry Sawle at great danger to herself. However I personally would have her as the more mature Senara now very much a cultured woman who has not lost her affinity with those less fortunate than herself. Also the moon over the water links in with her pagan upbringing and her strong ties to nature.

What are your ideads on this? I'd love to hear from you.

THE LOVEDAY REVENGE shows Felicity and her involvement with the family. She is very much a more feminine influence in this darker story of retribution and bringing the smuggler Sawle to justice. I love the colours of this dramatic background.

Maypoles, morris men and mayhem or the joys of a butterfly mind

Today I am blogging on historical romance uk click on top of page for this article.
Kate

Correction to list

I was away with the faeries when I put up the post yesterday as I am sure readers will realise that Honour and Loyalty were books 5 and 6 in the series. I have been checking the printer's proofs for Conspiracy this week (a rush turnaround as it will be published at the end of June) so have been overworking the brain cells. Book 3 The Loveday Trials was the odd cover out as it shows a tine mine and was chosen as an evocative Cornish scene instead of a woman.

Who is on the cover Books 4 and 5

THE LOVEDAY HONOUR is one of my favourite covers and I think it really depicts the feisty and free-spirited Tamasine. After the briefest of appearance in The Loveday Trials she arrives dramatically into the family's life as Edward Loveday's love-child, whose existence had been kept secret from him. Tamasine was unstoppable in her quest for adventure and discovering such exciting relatives. Her story was a joy to write and the heartbreak of her first ill-fated romance the most poignant. The covers shows her as I had pictured her and I loved the atmospheric skyscrape and its colours.

THE LOVEDAY LOYALTY continues Tamasine's story and also brings more to the fore Hannah and her struggle to run her late husband's farm and raise her children. She is in direct conflict with Harry Sawle, the ruthless and unprincipled smuggler but he finds he has met his match in her. The cover shows Hannah as a self-possessed and capable woman, her passionate nature bridled and now channelled into protecting her own.

Are these the women you thought they were?

Images on covers Part 1

First of all happy St Georges Day to all my readers and for any outside of the UK who do not know the significence of this day St George is our patron saint. The 23rd April also commemorates Shakespear's birthday and was also the date of his death.
My great love of history and patronism always made we wonder why we did not as a country do more to celebrate this day. Was it luck or coincidence, if there is any such thing as coincidence, that my own special way of celebration was for that day to mark the birth of my daughter Alison and son Stuart. Although both were born on the 23rd Apri, their births were two years apart. Happy birthday to them and anyone else who shares the day with them.

Marilyn asked me recently to reveal the identities of the Loveday women on the book covers. This is a question I have been asked many times. At first I always left it that as readers get very fixed ideas of what each character would look like, it was best for them to decide. I shall give you my idea and would be interested if readers agree or disagree. Today I will deal with the latest cover of Adam Loveday, Fortunes and Scandals.

The beautiful blonde on Adam Loveday shows a woman of great determination and capable of manipulating men for her own ends. It is Meriel Sawle.

The image on Fortunes is linked with nature and the sea and shows a woman self-assured but more mysterious. There is still a lot more of character to be revealed through later books. It is Senara.

The image on Scandals has to be Gwendolyn. A woman breaking free of her family restraints and prepared to risk all for the man she loves. A woman who is idealistic and has yet to face greater challenges to come.

What are your ideas?

CORNISHWORLD INTERVIEW April/May 2009 issue

This beautiful, informative glossy magazine has a double page spread on Kate Tremayne and her Cornish series of historical novels about the Loveday family.

I am really thrilled with this coverage and interview which talks about my love of Cornwall and how it has influenced my writing. I enjoy this magazine which is full of interesting articles and pictures of Cornwall.

Kate Tremayne

REPRINT NEWS

Great news for all fans who have been unable to get a copy of THE LOVEDAY TRIALS. It is being reprinted and will be available next month. The Loveday Trials is the third book in the series.

Kate Tremayne

DO WE LEAD OUR CHARACTERS OR DO THEY LEAD US?

This is the fabulous new cover for The Loveday Conspiracy. It was a constant inspiration to make the story as dramatic and emotive as possible. It will be published in hardback in June and paperback in October.

I have just delivered THE LOVEDAY CONSPIRACY to my editor and it has been my most challenging novel in the series. Throughout the books the themes have been multi-faceted and there was more than one conspiracy the family were involved in. One male thought he could outwit the women’s moral outrage at his conduct only to find that when they band together they are formidable opponents. Both Adam and Japhet Loveday have their own plots to bring an enemy to heel, and when they work together to serve their country in a conspiracy to bring a traitor to justice, they discover their own lives are in danger.

As with all intricate plots the drama must be kept tense and the high action plausible at all times. The unfolding of the story is carefully choreographed and the characters given their motivation to act out the events on the page. Yet in the heat of the plot with emotions from the characters running high, do we strictly adhere to the storyline we have created, or do we allow our characters to dictate their next move. I believe that if you know your characters as well as you know your best friends they follow the necessary plan mapped out for them. However, like even best friends, there can be a hidden agenda they had not previously shown to us, or a side of their nature they had kept firmly in check until circumstances bring it bursting forth.

With the wild blood governing the emotions of the Loveday men, the unexpected is always possible. The dramatic conclusion of the final conspiracy in this novel was fast paced and action packed. Then suddenly without warning the characters are no longer acting out the scenes as I had intended. They interceded to mould the events in their own irrepressible fashion. All the time I tried valiantly to keep them on track, the scenes did not work to my satisfaction, and with the deadline looming this was very stressful. One morning they just took over. For most of the last three chapters I had to sit back at the end of my writing day dominated by the shock of how they had reacted, yet knowing that this was the only course that they would have taken. What emerged was an even more suspenseful and a greater page-turner. The price I paid for this was I was left each evening in a state of semi-panic thinking ‘how do I get them out of that scenario?’ and also keep everything plausible and achieve a satisfactory and inevitable conclusion for the reader. The Lovedays had literally dictated how they would have reacted to the danger they faced, which was far more emotive that all my careful plotting and I knew I had to follow their lead.

That is the joy of our writing and the challenge. It was also amazing how after several sleepless nights how little I had to edit previous chapters for the resolution to be exactly right for an exciting and unexpected ending.

I believe most of our writing is done on a deeply subconscious level, the depths of which even we as the writer are not always aware.

I also announce that following our exciting invitation to contribute to the Risky Regencies blog that the winner of my competition was Pamela Bolton-Holifield.

Kate Tremayne
Labels: Kate Tremayne, The Loveday Conspiracy; The Loveday Books Blog

Good news for readers outside the UK

I receive emails from all over the world saying that fans sometimes have trouble finding the Loveday books in shops or online. The good news for you in that the UK online company THE BOOK DEPOSITORY not only discount the Loveday books but worldwide postage is free. They give a prompt and efficient service.

Happy Reading
Kate Tremayne

For West Country Fans

On Saturday THE WESTERN MORNING NEWS is running an article about me and the Loveday Books and how I get my inspiration. The Loveday Secrets should also be reviewed. Hope you enjoy it.

Kate

website link

I am delighted that finally I have got the Loveday blog linked to my website. I would love this to be fully interactive with lots of questions and comments from readers. You do not have to have a blog account to make a comment. Click on the comments and you can type in your name as some readers have done already. Tell us about your favourite characters and scenes.

At the moment I am writing the final scenes for the LOVEDAY CONSPIRACY and the next book will jump a few years and start the adventures and romances of the next generation. Any of your thoughts on this will be interesting.

I would like to thank all of you who emailled me having read Secrets and many said it was your favourite so far. Keep the emails coming. They inspire and uplift me often when I need it most.

Kate

Happy New Year

Another extract from THE LOVEDAY SECRETS

Here is another taster from THE LOVEDAY SECRETS. An old adversary returns and for Adam and Senara secrets could be uncovered from the past that could destroy their reputations.




An hour later Adam returned to Boscabel still unsettled by the visit from the lawyer. Since his last meeting with the excise officer he had not given Beaumont much thought, but with Sawle hanged and no longer a threat to Beaumont, it did now seem strange that he had not been seen patrolling these waters. Sawle had not been the only smuggler operating in the district.
Unwilling to upset Senara, he pushed his fears aside. His wife had enough worries with the arrival of the boy who had lost his memory. Yet it had never been easy keeping anything from his wife. She was incredibly perceptive at sensing a person’s moods, her gypsy blood giving her an uncanny intuition concerning people and their future. Her premonitions had been proved right on too many occasions for him to doubt her ability. She had always feared Beaumont’s vindictive nature, and had not the excise officer shot Edward Loveday when Beaumont had been in the pay of Harry Sawle.
Adam shuddered. He had thought the smuggler’s death would have freed him from the sinister shadow the man had cast over their lives. Then annoyed at the way his common sense had deserted him, Adam drew a sharp breath. He did not fear ghosts or any man alive. Yet he could have wished that his last meeting with Beaumont had been less acrimonious: that he had not lost his temper and threatened to run him through if he ever found him snooping on Loveday land again.
Beaumont had not been seen in the area for months when Adam had met him in a chance encounter close to his cousin Japhet’s land at Tor Farm. With Japhet out of the country, the farm had been rented to a tenant. Adam had been out returning from a visit to Sir Henry and as it was a fine afternoon had taken a detour to ride past Tor Farm and assure himself that all appeared in good order. Since a previous tenant of the farm had allowed contraband to be stored in the barn against the express instructions of the family, Adam kept a closer eye on his cousin’s property. He had been alerted by a flash of light coming from a small coppice. It could only have been caused by sunlight glinting off metal or glass. He had dismounted and approached on foot to see a lone figure crouched behind a tree with a spyglass to his eye, watching the farm from the cover of a small coppice. Across the fields the tenants twelve year old daughter Millie was standing at the water pump. From the state of her bodice and skirt she had slipped over and landed in horse droppings. Her mother was berating her and pulling at her skirt and top as she stripped it from her to soak in the water from the pump. Millie was crying and the water splashed over her petticoats moulding the linen to her budding figure.
‘Have you taken to spying on young girls?’ Adam had sneered.
Beaumont snapped shut the spyglass and glowered at him. ‘There was a landing on the coast last night. This farm has been used to store contraband in the past. I was checking whether anything looked suspicious. My men are searching other farms by the moor.’
‘I warned you to stay off our land?’ Adam challenged.
‘As an officer of the crown I have my duty to perform. The Loveday’s may proclaim their innocence but you have been hand in glove with smugglers in the past. With Sawle as a brother-in-law what else would we expect? You even built a ship for Sawle so he could outrun the revenue cutter. For all we know you are in partnership with him. It would not be the first time your land has been used.’ A head shorter than Adam, Beaumont’s thin face was now heavily scored with lines of debauchery and excess.
The insults plucked at Adam’s pride and his temper crashed through his reason like storm waves over a breakwater. ‘Or that you have acted too hastily against us. I have not forgotten that you murdered my father.’
‘I was doing my duty. He resisted arrest.’ Even though Beaumont had to tip back his head to look up at Adam, he glared along his hooked hose with arrogant disdain.
‘We both know that is a lie.’ Adam had closed the space between them, his fists bunched as his anger ground through him. He could see sweat glistening on Beaumont’s face.
‘Lay a hand on me and I’ll have you arrested for attacking an officer of the King about his duty.’ Beaumont blustered and fumbled to draw his sword.
Despite being unarmed, Adam challenged, ‘It could be worth it.’
Beaumont was backing away to where his horse was tethered, his sword held ready to counter an attack. His boot entangled in the knee-high bracken and he stumbled. Adam leapt forward and ducking the lunge of the blade landed a punch on the officer’s jaw. At the force of the blow Beaumont dropped the sword and Adam swiftly delivered two more blows to his head and body. Beaumont was knocked to the ground and covered his head with his hands.
Adam picked up the fallen sword and pointed it at his enemy.
‘Don’t kill me. I beg you. Don’t kill me!’
His cowardice disgusted Adam. Because of him his father had died. He did not deserve to live. Yet where was the honour in killing such a coward?
Breathing heavily, Adam had controlled his anger and stood back. ‘Any smuggler who uses our land to store their goods knows that we will summon the authorities.’ His voice was thick with warning. ‘Get on your way, Beaumont. This time I will not stain my hands with your craven blood. But if I ever catch you within a mile of our land again I will know your actions are intent upon dishonouring our name and I will kill you.’ He slashed the sword down on a granite boulder in the undergrowth and the steel snapped in two and he threw the hilt as far as he could.
Beaumont had staggered to his feet holding his hand to his bleeding face. ‘This assault and your threats will be reported to the authorities.’
Adam had turned from him and walked away. Yet for some days afterwards he had expected the militia to arrest him. Nothing had happened and he assumed that Beaumont had slithered away to lick his wounds on the other side of the county. It was not until he remembered the incident now that he recalled that at the time Beaumont had not been in his naval uniform. If he had not been on duty what had he been doing in the area?

THE LOVEDAY SECRETS PAPERBACK PUBLICATION

DECEMBER 11TH Publication Day

A new cousin was introduced to the series in The Loveday Secrets who brought with him a dark family secret that could destroy them all. This is an extract of their reunion.

‘Adam, St John, Thomas, at last we are all together. Will you not greet our dear cousin Tristan Loveday? I believe you thought him dead these past twenty odd years,’ Tamasine Loveday excitedly announced.
There was a frozen silence from the men. Tamasine was shocked by the naked fury on her brother Adam’s face.
‘Tristan, what trickery did you use to gain my sister’s acquaintance?’ Rigid with anger Adam bowed stiffly to Tamasine. She was wide-eyed with shock, her hand raised to her face to veil her expression. Adam clipped out. ‘Sister, you have made a grave error of judgement inviting this scoundrel into your home. I refuse to acknowledge him as kin. If you are wise, you will ask him to leave at once.’
‘So speaks a true grandson of George Loveday,’ replied Tristan with equal venom. ‘Unforgiving to the end and still believing your twin’s lies.’
‘I know what I saw that fateful night. You brought shame to us all,’ Adam flared.
‘In the heat of the moment – we all had much to answer for that night.’ Tristan challenged. ‘Do you think I have not regretted what happened? I was a youth caught up in such turbulent violence I did not know what I was doing. Did any of us? I am not the same person today. Did that night not change you, cousin?’
Still bristling with fury, Adam swivelled on his heel and marched from the room. Throughout, the exchange St John had allowed his twin to speak, a look of horror on his face.
Tamasine regarded St John with astonishment. ‘I thought this reunion would be a delightful surprise. What possessed Adam to take so violently against Tristan.’ She was shocked that Adam, the most reasonable of men, could regard one of their family as an enemy.
St John shifted uneasily and glared at Tristan with contempt. ‘How dare you trick our sister in this fashion, What lies did you use to slither your way back into our family?’
Unperturbed Tristan held his cousin’s condemning glare and adjusted the ruffles at his wrist. ‘Your sister has a kinder heart than my Trevowan kin.’
‘She does not know how you betrayed us. I will not stay in the same room as you.’ St John also marched away. The darkest night of his life had come back to haunt him. And if the truth were ever known it could be the cause of his ruin.
Thomas was equally puzzled. He remembered only that Tristan had run away from Trevowan as a youth and that their grandfather, who had given the ne’er-do-well a home, had been repaid by treachery,

THE LOVEDAY SECRETS is published in paperback by Headline on 11th December.

Kate Tremayne

Inspiration for Work in Progress

Inspiration of WIP



A time of panic for me is receiving the finished cover of the novel I am writing and I've still got another 25,000 words to write bringing all the threads and theme of the story to a dramatic climax. This is the cover of THE LOVEDAY CONSPIRACY due out June of next year. There are three conspiracies running through this story involving different members of the family and I also wanted a surprise ending that united the family now divided in their loyalties. On seeing the cover which creates an atmosphere of darker elements and mystery a twist ending suddenly came to me. I love the new look to the covers and this one in particular.

Kate Tremayne

Award nomination

Dear Kate

Adam Loveday has been nominated for the Christmas Awards. Your friends and family, publisher can vote for you if they take a look and send an email.

http://redrosesforauthors.blogspot.com/2008/11/christmas-awards.html



Best wishes and lots of luck.