Welcome, all, to Writer Wednesday!
This week I’m excited to bring you Regency historical romance author, Rachael Miles. Regency is my favorite subgenre of romance, and I’m squeeing because I’ve found a new author for my “must read” list – I hope you add her books to yours, as well.
Settle in (hopefully before the air conditioner, if it’s as hot where you are as it is here in Virginia – goodness gracious!) and enjoy as you get to know Rachael a bit better, and then find out about her latest release, Chasing the Heiress!
Which type of romance do you love most, and why?
I’m a pretty omnivorous reader, and I love all sorts of romance. But of course, historicals hold a special place on my shelf. I especially enjoy ones that evoke a real sense of the period, whether by describing the furnishings or the dresses or the ways that people interacted differently than we do now. And if those historicals can include a bit of suspense all the better!
Name one interesting thing you learned in researching/writing your last book.
I knew that women followed the camps during the Napoleonic wars, but I hadn’t realized that 4-5 officers from every regiment could take their families with them. In Chasing the Heiress, the heroine Lucy learned how to nurse from working in the field hospitals, so I also had to learn what treatments would have been used in sewing up gunshot wounds or in treating them after. It was fascinating – and a bit terrifying – to read what were considered to be helpful treatments.
Name two things people don’t know about you.
1. I tend to name the wild life in my backyard. The groundhog is Eleanor. The two chipmunks who live in the retaining wall are Pyramus and Thisbe.
2. I find historic gardens fascinating, and I love touring them. Most recently I visited the small—but very interesting—Shaker garden at the Shaker village in Chatham, NY. Perhaps this is part of what made Sophia Wilmot in Jilting the Duke such a special character for me.
What fellow romance author do you recommend reading, and why?
Who I recommend usually depends on what sorts of stories the person I’m talking to likes. If they want something tender, I point out Jodi Thomas, If they want something sparkling, I say Cathy Maxwell. If they want something spicy, I recommend Christine D’Abo. If they want a story with multicultural characters, I suggest Jenny Holiday’s contemporaries. If they want YA, I’d suggest Kara Bietz’s debut YA novel coming out in November, Until I Break. I’m reading an advance copy, and it’s gripping!
What one piece of advice do you wish you’d had when first starting out?
Write every day. Whether just a sentence or a paragraph, don’t wait for inspiration or large blocks of time. Just write: you can revise later. I learned this when I first began writing professionally as an academic, and it’s a lesson that served me well when I started writing novels.
What’s your favorite romance novel of all time, and why?
When I was a child, I discovered The Perilous Gard, a Newberry Honor book by Elizabeth Marie Pope. The story follows a girl in the Renaissance who is exiled through no fault of her own by Elizabeth I to a distant estate. She stumbles over a mystery that she must solve or lose the young man she has come to love. It was my first real experience with historical fiction and with self-determinative young women protagonists. I read it over and over.
A Bit on Chasing The Heiress:
Heiress on the Run
Lady Arabella Lucia Fairborne has no need of a husband. She has a fine inheritance for the taking, a perfectly capable mind, and a resolve as tough as nails. But what she doesn’t have is the freedom to defy her cousin’s will—and his will is to see her married immediately to the husband of his choosing. So is it any wonder that she dresses herself as a scullery maid and bolts into the night?
Colin Somerville’s current mission for the home office is going, well, poorly. Of course, who would have expected otherwise for a rakish spy tasked with transporting a baby to the care of the royal palace? But when, injured and out of ideas, Colin stumbles upon a beautiful maid who knows her way around children, it seems salvation has arrived. Until he realizes that though Arabella may be able to help him survive his expedition, he may not escape this ordeal with his heart intact…
Buy Chasing the Heiress here:
Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Amazon
A Bit On Rachael:
Rachael Miles writes romance novels set in the British Regency. Jilting the Duke and Chasing the Heiress—the first two novels in her debut series The Muses’ Salon, published by Kensington Zebra Shout—received 4-star reviews from RT Book Reviews and positive notices in Publisher’s Weekly.
Identified as a ‘strong new voice’ by Mary Jo Putney for Omnivoracious.com, Miles is a former professor of book history and nineteenth-century literature. Miles lives in the woods with her indulgent husband, three rescued dogs, an ancient cat, and a herd of deer who love her vegetable garden.
Want to connect further with Rachael? Find her here:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest
Thank you so much for joining us, Rachael! You’re positively delightful.
We’re back from New York City in time for Writer Wednesday! WAHOO! Did you miss us last week? We missed YOU!
Name two things people don’t know about you. 
What is your favorite romance book of all time, and why? 
