Virginia & LucasThis was an emotionally exhausting book to write, even though I loved every minute of it. I think this was also my most anticipated novel. After my first novel was published, I had lots of questions about the mysterious and slightly eccentric Earl of Annesbury, Lucas Calvert. I wasn't always entirely certain what to do with him. But after I wrote the first line of The Gentleman Physician, wherein Virginia is a secondary character, I knew that these two belonged together.
Two months before this novel was published, I listed it for pre-orders. Nearly 2,000 orders were placed. Virginia and Lucas's story drew people in, touching a chord with many. I've received emails from people who have lost their spouse, lost their parents, expressing how much this story meant to them and thanking me for my approach taken to grief and healing. This story is very close to my heart. I'm grateful I did it justice, but know that I had a lot of help. My dear friend, and one of my critique partners, Megan was essential to helping me find the balance between grief and hope. My other critique partners gave me encouragement and invaluable feedback. I'll forever be thankful for their help. |
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Blog Posts about The Earl and His Lady
The Earl and His Lady: New Book Smell
My Unorthodox Planning Method
Reviews from Our Book Confessions: Feel Deeply
The Earl and His Lady: New Book Smell
My Unorthodox Planning Method
Reviews from Our Book Confessions: Feel Deeply
Tell Us About Lucas!
I hear this constantly! I recently took a poll of readers on my Facebook Reader Group asking which of my first four heroes was their favorite. Lucas won! So I wrote up a little bit about him and posted it there as a reward. Here's the same information here.
Lucas Calvert, Lord Annesbury, took me by surprise when I started writing about him. The first time I wrote about him was in The Social Tutor. He was my fairy-godfather character, whose only reason for existing was to help my hero and heroine of that story get together.
But Lucas had a story to tell. As I started delving in to his background, trying to learn why he would want to meddle in someone's love life, and why he would see himself in the benevolent role of rescuer, I learned all about him, his brother Marcus, and the love of his life - his Abigail.
I stepped back in time with Lucas when I wrote my novella - if you've read it before, you get the smallest glimpse of him as a very young man - and I thought that would be enough. I thought I would be done with him.
And then, I wrote Julia's story. The Gentleman Physician. That's where we met Virginia, and the instant I wrote Virginia's first line in that story, I knew she was meant to love again.
Sometimes, people think writers see the end from the beginning. That's not always true for me. When I first wrote Lucas, he was a strong character already. I didn't see that he really needed his own love story, as he'd experienced great love in his life. But he loves to rescue people. And Virginia desperately needed rescuing by the end of The Gentleman Physician.
When I dug more into Lucas's background, I also discovered how much he had wanted to be a father. The very desire was built into him, and had been since childhood. There I was, writing Virginia's story as a subplot, with her two little boys mourning the loss of their father, and all three of them needed to be rescued, healed, and loved.
And Lucas was already there, with a connection to Virginia through her cousins, and everything fell into place.
I actually don't cast my characters very often. They usually come with their own unique look in my imagination. But I DID cast Lucas, when he was on the outskirts of my stories, so I had a better hold on describing him. If you want to know what he looks like, look up a picture of Teddy Sears. I've never seen that actor in anything in my life, but when I saw a photograph of him - when he was about 35 years old - I knew he was perfect for the part.
Lucas Calvert, Lord Annesbury, took me by surprise when I started writing about him. The first time I wrote about him was in The Social Tutor. He was my fairy-godfather character, whose only reason for existing was to help my hero and heroine of that story get together.
But Lucas had a story to tell. As I started delving in to his background, trying to learn why he would want to meddle in someone's love life, and why he would see himself in the benevolent role of rescuer, I learned all about him, his brother Marcus, and the love of his life - his Abigail.
I stepped back in time with Lucas when I wrote my novella - if you've read it before, you get the smallest glimpse of him as a very young man - and I thought that would be enough. I thought I would be done with him.
And then, I wrote Julia's story. The Gentleman Physician. That's where we met Virginia, and the instant I wrote Virginia's first line in that story, I knew she was meant to love again.
Sometimes, people think writers see the end from the beginning. That's not always true for me. When I first wrote Lucas, he was a strong character already. I didn't see that he really needed his own love story, as he'd experienced great love in his life. But he loves to rescue people. And Virginia desperately needed rescuing by the end of The Gentleman Physician.
When I dug more into Lucas's background, I also discovered how much he had wanted to be a father. The very desire was built into him, and had been since childhood. There I was, writing Virginia's story as a subplot, with her two little boys mourning the loss of their father, and all three of them needed to be rescued, healed, and loved.
And Lucas was already there, with a connection to Virginia through her cousins, and everything fell into place.
I actually don't cast my characters very often. They usually come with their own unique look in my imagination. But I DID cast Lucas, when he was on the outskirts of my stories, so I had a better hold on describing him. If you want to know what he looks like, look up a picture of Teddy Sears. I've never seen that actor in anything in my life, but when I saw a photograph of him - when he was about 35 years old - I knew he was perfect for the part.