Introducing Reluctance

It is probably time I told you about my new book Reluctance, released on Good Friday, 6th April. It will be my first release for MuseItUp Publishing, and I must be an unknown quantity for most of you! I live in the UK, and I'm really proud of this book. Writing it was a good experience, not least because I got to describe the countryside around my home!

There’s a National Trust property called Gibside click not far from me, where George Bowes made immense wealth from the coal trade in the seventeen hundreds. We often walk by his house and the orangery, both of which are roofless shells now, but the stables and the Palladian chapel are probably just as they were in his day. He had no sons to follow him, so his daughter inherited everything and was reputed to be the richest heiress in the country. She made a most unfortunate marriage which scandalised society at the time. So much is true.

I thought I could use the basic thread, and the setting, and make a very good story out of it. The reasons people married then, as now, are many and varied, and I wanted to explore why a woman might give up her wealth, independence and property to a scoundrel.

My heroine, Frances, was the character who initially formed in my mind. Well educated, and with an aversion to marital duties after her first marriage, she had absolutely no incentive to marry again. Yet she would do so. What was it that changed her mind? That’s the question that intrigued me.

 I think the best thing about the hero/heroine is that they are first and foremost friends. From that, comes everything else. He, for different reasons, is also against marriage, but to say more would give away the plot. There's a villain, and he is very keen on marriage - but for all the wrong reasons! 1803 is an important year in my heroine's life and nothing will be the same once it is over.

 I’ve always lived within forty miles of where I am now in the Tyne Valley, Northumberland. The only continent I haven’t visited is South America – and I’ve no plans to do so! With a degree in English/History and recently retired from library management, I write almost every day – usually historical adventures. I’m currently writing about a male protagonist in sixteenth century France, and perspiring over a siege at St-Dizier in 1544, but I think I'll soon bring him back to Scotland. His French is suffering along with mine too much to stay!

I aim to write my blog three times a week and you can visit it here: Jen

I send the odd missive to Facebook and Twitter (@speckledbirds) and that’s about it.

Go read Reluctance link

and let me know what you think of Frances and Jack. Happy reading!

Jen Black