Interview with Jeannie Ruesch Author of CLOAKED IN DANGER (Giveaway!!!)

Happy Friday to you all! If you're looking for a great read for this weekend, check out Jeannie's book CLOAKED IN DANGER, which I reviewed yesterday. LOVED IT!

Now, I'd love to introduce you to Jeannie Ruesch! An amazing, historical romance author, and my friend. Her and I met years ago when we worked on a blog together--MAMAWRITERS. We had a blast and I'm so pleased for you to meet her and get to know her work. 

***GIVEAWAY ALERT!!! Leave a COMMENT and SHARE this blog if you can, for your chance to win an e-copy of CLOAKED IN DANGER!***

1. What do you love most about writing historical romantic suspense?

Hi Eliza! Thanks for hanging out with me today! :)  Wow, where to start with this answer?  All three elements, historical, romance and suspense, I truly love and enjoy writing.  I love delving into historical times and finding out how people then are similar and different from us.  I love the hope that romance provides, the way that a good love story can fill us with joy.  And I admit to being fascinated by the darkness, the shadows, the blurring of lines between right and wrong and why people do what they do.  Combine the three, and I’m in heaven. :)  

2. Do you plan to write in other genres?

Suspense in any time period fascinates me, so I might be included to try contemporary suspense.  But I love history and I love bringing the world of today's romantic suspense into historical settings, so I'll probably stick with that for a while.  After the Willoughby siblings have had their say, the next series I'm planning will have books set in multiple eras, all connected by one town full of tragedy, mystery and secrets.  I can't wait to dig into that! 

3. I loved Something About Her and Cloaked in Danger was icing on the cake! Do you have more books planned for the series?

Yes, two more planned.  Lily and Cordelia have staked their claim on having their own books, and I'm working on those now.  Lily's book is set 3 years after Cloaked in Danger ends, and suffice it to say that her life has not turned out as planned and she's ready to fight for the life she wants.  Cordelia hasn't exactly been a typical heroine, she's somewhat bratty, and I'm enjoying delving into the whys and hows of who she is and what she really wants out of life.

4. What was the most interesting fact you found while researching your book?

Aria's father is an antiquarian (archeologist), and when I was trying to decide what treasure he was on the hunt for, I discovered that much of Cleopatra's treasures were destroyed after her death.  Octavian ordered all likenesses destroyed — it was as if he wanted to wipe her off the map.  I love the irony in that.  He wanted her to fade into history, and in fact, she became one of the most famous, honored women of all time.  Just makes you want to stick out your tongue and say, "So there!" to him.

But it left the door open for Gideon Whitney to be searching for something that, at that time, had not been discovered -- any artifacts of Cleopatra.  It was fun to imagine what her jewelry must have looked like, what it would have felt like.

5. Did you come across anything in your research unintentionally that you HAD to put in your book because it was so fascinating?

I like finding small details that characters can interact with, something of the times that would be considered like how we see Coca Cola cans in people's hands today.  One of the scenes in my book is set in Vauxhall Gardens, and when I was researching the layout of the gardens, I read about the paintings that decorated the supper boxes.  I though, here is a perfect detail that my characters can interact with.  Something that was normal in the time period, taken for granted, an every day item to anyone who visited the Gardens regularly.  In the scene, my heroine is dealing with a friend/suitor and I thought showing their opinions about the paintings was a great way to illustrate aspects of their relationship.  The painting in question was See Saw by Frances Hayman (below). 

6. What do you think is an essential character trait to have in a hero/heroine?

Flaws. I think the most fascinating characters are the ones who don't always know the right thing, do the right thing.  They need to be human, and we all have our strengths and weaknesses.  And the very nature of a novel means that we're going to test the heck out of those strengths and weaknesses, so they'd better appear real and leap from the page.   For the romance aspect of things, it's not about finding the "perfect" person, it's about finding the perfect person for YOU.  And a book is no different.  Our flaws and best features match up with our significant others, and hopefully compliment and balance each other.  I hope that I did a good enough job in showing that Aria and Adam do balance each other.

7. The history/setting in your books are more like a secondary character, when did you first fall in love with historical fiction?

One of the first experiences I had with historical fiction was in reading Bertrice Small's book Beloved about Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra.  I was fascinated and I remember thinking, how much of this if fact and how much is fiction?  So I went searching to find out and I was enthralled to learn that Zenobia was a historical figure, who led a revolt against the Roman Empire and was delivered to Aurelius in golden chains.  The weaving of the history and the love story Small created was so amazing to me, and I was hooked.  

8. Is there anything you'd like to share with or ask readers?

I'd love to give my thanks to our historical romance readers out there!  There are so many fascinating authors with great stories to tell (including Eliza's!) and we truly appreciate you and your love of the genre. 

About Cloaked in Danger

Publication Date: January 27, 2014

Carina Press
eBook
ASIN: B00F93X7ZI

Aria Whitney has little in common with the delicate ladies of London society. Her famous father made his fortune hunting archaeological treasures, and her rustic upbringing has left her ill prepared for a life of parties and frippery. But when Gideon Whitney goes missing in Egypt, Aria must embrace the unknown. Armed with only the short list of highborn men who’d backed her father’s venture, she poses as a woman looking for a husband. She doesn’t intend to find one.

Adam Willoughby, Earl of Merewood, finds London’s strangest new debutante fascinating, but when he catches her investigating his family’s secrets, he threatens to ruin her reputation. He doesn’t intend to enjoy it so much.

When their lustful indiscretion is discovered, Adam finds that he regrets nothing. But now, as Aria’s father’s enemy draws near, Adam must convince his betrothed that she can trust him with her own secrets…before it’s too late.

Praise for Cloaked in Danger

“Cloaked in Danger has all the elements readers crave— larger-than-life characters, a vivid and believable setting, heart-pounding romance and just the right amount of mystery. Don’t miss it! It kept me reading deep into the night.” — New York Times Bestselling Author Brenda Novak

“In ‘Cloaked in Danger’ Jeannie Ruesch has crafted a taut, emotional thrill-ride through the streets of Regency London. Archaeological adventure and drawing room intrigue are combined in a story that will keep you reading late into the night. Jeannie Ruesch is an author to watch.” — RITA Award Nominated Author Elizabeth Essex

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About the Author

Jeannie Ruesch wrote her first story at the age of the six, prompting her to give up an illustrious, hours-long ambition of becoming a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader and declare that writing was her destiny. That journey to destiny took a few detours along the way, including a career in marketing and design.

Her first novel, a fairy-tale like historical romance, was published in 2009, but the darker side of life had always captivated her. So after a dinner conversation with friends about the best way to hide a dead body, she knew she had to find a way to incorporate suspense into her writing. (The legal outlet for her fascination.) Today, she continues writing what she loves to read – stories of history, romance and suspense. She lives in Northern California with her husband, their son and an 80 pound lapdog lab named Cooper.

She is also the creator of the WIP Notebook, a writer’s tool to help stay organized while you write, which you can find at her website. You can also follow her on Facebook,Twitter, Goodreads and Pinterest.

Guest Author, Elyse Mady on 18th Century Pleasure Gardens

Today on History Undressed, I am pleased to introduce to you another debut author, Elyse Mady.  Today she will be discussing gardens with us.  But not just any gardens--pleasure gardens.  Enjoy!

18th Century Pleasure Gardens

by Elyse Mady 

Just like today, entertainment was big business in the 18th century. From mechanical clockworks to public assembly rooms like the Pantheon, pleasure gardens like Marylebone and Vauxhall, concerts, plays, spectacles, fireworks, and readings and sermons for the high minded, there was always something to catch the attention of a English person with a few shillings to spare.


Fashions changed, new excitements arose, out-of-date ones languished. Yet while London’s pleasure sites were certainly the largest and most diverse, celebrated in books like ‘Evelina’ and ‘Cecilia’ and immortalized in biting drawings by Rowlandson, by the end of the Georgian era, almost every town of a respectable size could boast of being home to events of a similar nature, at least some of time.

But lest you think that whiling away a few free hours was all anyone had on their mind, behind the crowds of giddy revellers, battles of a political, cultural and social kind were being played out with a ferocious, if often unspoken, intensity. It was only after the Restoration in the 1660s that public leisure activities like pleasure gardens slowly came into their own. As a result of these new activities, Culture – its consumption, its control and its dissemination – became a battleground, albeit a polite one, during the long 18th century, as changing economic realities, new technologies, new lifestyles and the continuing urban intensification, changed how individuals across social strata viewed themselves and their participation in the cultural dialogue of the era.

The middle class not only wanted to participate in the cultural dialogue, as time went on and their purchasing power increased, they also began determining the types and varieties of public entertainment on offer, eschewing the restrictive and often exclusive privileges of the upper classes in favour of activities that were more reflective of their lifestyles and moral concerns.

But frankly, who wants to think politics when there are pleasures like New Spring Gardens, or to give them their more familiar name, Vauxhall Gardens, to enjoy? Who knows? It’s a fine summer night. There might be fireworks on display, and Mr. Hook’s music to enjoy, supper in the Rotunda and perhaps, if you’re very lucky or very naughty (or both!), you’ll head down the dark walks for an assignation of the amorous sort.

James Boswell wrote that:

Vauxhall Gardens is peculiarly adapted to the taste of the English nation; there being a mixture of curious show, — gay exhibition, musick, vocal and instrumental, not too refined for the general ear; — for all of which only a shilling is paid.

The main walks were lit at night by hundreds and thousands of lights, suspended above revelers in the trees and from stands. Crowds of up to 60,000 people filled the gardens on occasion. In addition to the wide, central paths, there were countless ‘dark walks’ along which lovers and prostitutes alike strolled. There were concerts and music, often performed by leading stars. Songs and lyrics were composed on topical events: royal celebrations, naval battles, military success, and songbooks and concert programs with the lyrics and tunes were widely disseminated. Over time more fantastical features were built: new supper boxes, a music room, a Chinese pavilion, a gothic orchestra that accommodated fifty musicians, and ruins, arches, statues and a cascade.

A 1762 guide, “A Description of Vaux-hall Gardens, being a proper companion and guide for all who visit that place” describes the scene thus:

THESE beautiful gardens, so justly celebrated for the variety of pleasures and elegant entertainment they afford, during the spring and summer seasons, are situated on the south fide of the river Thames in the parish of Lambeth about two miles from London ; and are said to be the first gardens of the kind in England.

As they are commodiously situated near the Thames, that those who prefer going by water, can be brought within two hundred yards of this delightful place at a much easier expence than by land.

The season for opening these gardens commences about the beginning of May, and continues till August. Every evening (Sunday excepted) they are opened at five o'clock for the reception of company.

As you enter the great gate to which you are conducted by a short avenue from the road, you pay one shilling for admittance. The first scene that salutes the eye, is a noble gravel walk about nine hundred feet in length, planted on each side with a row of stately elm and other trees ; which form a fine vista terminated by a landscape of the country, a beautiful lawn of meadow ground, and a grand gothic obelisk, all which so forcibly strike the imagination, that a mind scarce tinctured with any sensibility of order and grandeur, cannot but feel inexpressible pleasure in viewing it.

Advancing a few steps within the garden, we behold to the right a quadrangle or square, which from the number of trees planted in it, 15 called the grove : in the middle of it, is a superb and magnificent orchestra of gothic construction curiously ornamented with carvings, niches, etc. the dome of which is surmounted with a plume of feathers, the crest of the prince of Wales. The whole edifice is of wood painted white and bloom colour. The ornaments are plaistic, a composition something like plaister of Paris, but only known to the ingenious architect who designed and built this beautiful object of
admiration.

 

In fine weather the musical entertainments are performed here by a select band of the best vocal and instrumental performers. At the upper extremity of this orchestra, a very fine organ is erected, and at the foot of it are the seats and desks for the musicians, placed in a semi-circular form, leaving a vacancy at the front for the vocal performers. The concert is opened with instrumental music at fix o'clock, which having continued about half an hour, the company are entertained with a song : and in this manner several other songs are performed with sonatas or concertos between each, till the close of the entertainment which is generally about ten o'clock.

Public gardens like Vauxhall, with their emphasis on diversion, spectacle and social intermingling played a significant role in influencing taste, introducing fashionable trends and developing new cultural precepts, both for the emerging middle class and the defending upper classes. They merged the classical with the commercial, and made the exotic accessible to the everyman. They were playgrounds after a fashion and Vauxhall, as the largest, longest lived of all the spectacular English pleasure gardens, was enjoyed by Londoners and immortalized by its authors and painters, for nearly 200 years, until finally closing its doors forever in 1859.

About the Author:

An enthusiastic and voracious reader of everything from 18th century novels to misplaced cereal boxes, Elyse has worked as a freelance magazine writer for the past several years.

Her first work of fiction, The Debutante’s Dilemma, was published by Carina Press in the fall of 2010. She is also working on a number of contemporary romance manuscripts as well as a full length historical novel set in the 1780s.

In addition to her writing commitments, Elyse also teaches film and literature at a local community college. In her free time she enjoys (well, enjoys might be too strong a word – perhaps pursues with dogged determination would be better) never ending renovations on their century cottage with her intrepid husband and two boys. She blogs at www.elysemady.wordpress.com and can be found on Facebook and Twitter as @ElyseMady.

One woman in search of passion

Miss Cecilia Hastings has achieved what every young lady hopes for during her first London season…in duplicate! She’s caught the eye of not one but two of England’s most eligible bachelors. Both Jeremy Battersley, Earl of Henley, and Richard Huxley, Duke of Wexford are handsome, wealthy and kind, the epitome of proper gentlemen. But Cecelia doesn’t want proper, she wants passion. So she issues a challenge to her suitors: a kiss, so that she may choose between them.

Two men in love with the same woman

Friends since childhood, and compatriots on the battlefields of Spain, falling for the same woman has set Jeremy and Richard at odds, and risks destroying their friendship forever. But a surprising invitation to a late-night garden tryst soon sets them on a course that neither of them could have anticipated. And these gentlemen quickly discover that love can take many forms…