Today we're pleased to welcome author Valerie Bowman, also an H&H contributor, whose forthcoming novel Secrets of a Runaway Bride is out today! She's here to talk Gretna Green, Scotland, and what, exactly, makes it such an intriguing location for romance readers and writers alike... Welcome, Valerie!
Today I thought I’d give a little insight into a certain location. A location that plays a large part in my latest historical romance novel, Secrets of a Runaway Bride. A location rife with scandal and the litter of ruined reputations. A location just over the Scottish border from England, full of possibilities and danger. What is that location? The infamous town of Gretna Green, Scotland.
So, how exactly did a tiny town in Scotland become the focus of so much intrigue?
It all began with Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act of 1754. When the English Parliament passed that act, it prohibited several things. Before the act went into effect, in England young men and women over the age of 16 (but younger than 21) were able to merely declare themselves married in front of witnesses. After the act was passed, couples in the throes of a passionate love affair had to hightail it to Scotland to have their quick (and unapproved) weddings. You see, in Scotland, a boy age 14 and a girl age 12 could marry (as opposed to the legal age of 21 in England and Wales). And again, all they had to do was declare themselves married in front of witnesses…and then get to the business of consummation, of course.
Miss Annie Andrews is finally free to marry the man she loves. With her overprotective sister out of the country on her honeymoon, nothing can prevent her flight to Gretna Green—nothing, that is, but an abduction by the wrong gentleman.
While contemporary and erotic romances are getting more of readers' attention, historical romance continues to deliver, with more and more new authors busting out their dance cards and writing dashing heroines and delicious heroes. Here are some of historical romance's most auspicious debuts:
Today, we're thrilled to have Author Valerie Bowman (and regular H&H contributor!) at Heroes and Heartbreakers. Valerie's Secrets of a Wedding Night is released tomorrow, and is a delicious Regency-set historical which author Lisa Kleypas says is “too delightful to miss.” Thanks for joining us, Valerie!
Point of view (POV). When you get a bunch of writers together, those three letters can start a good, old-fashioned donnybrook. These days it seems everyone’s got an opinion on the subject. I’ve even seen readers mention it in book reviews. It’s a topic I find fascinating since the trend lately is to have a very rigid, controlled POV, even if there are multiple POVs in the story itself. I, personally, love a good head hop if it’s done well and with some finesse. Changing POVs within a sentence or paragraph = no. Changing POVs in a chapter or scene (without the obligatory scene break!) = I’m on board.
Settle in. Today we’re talking angst. You know the scene that knocks your heart into your throat and solidly lodges it there? The scene that makes your eyes scour the page faster as you worry for the characters? The scene you can read again and again and still be drawn in every last time? Yeah, that scene.
I love Downton Abbey! The wide pans of people walking through all the gorgeous rooms of the manor house, the to-die-for clothing, the upstairs/downstairs plot lines, the sisterly snark, Isis, the dog, and oh, the intro music.
