Ahh, Regency England. NOT my favorite time period, although when I wrote Swept Away, it was the *hot* time period and everyone and their cousin was trying to be the next Georgette Heyer. I knew I couldn't quite do all the drawing room stuff and etiquette and fancy prancers, so I came at it from a different angle, letting my story take place, for the most part, out by the windswept sea shore where the heroine had been banished because *she* didn't like the rules and regulations being imposed on her either. And I gave my hero amnesia so he wouldn't have to remember which pinkie to lift whilst sipping tea.
The greatest compliment I got, when all was said and done, came from Romantic Times:
"Swept Away is like few other Regency-set historical romances because Marsha Canham brings a new dimension to the era."
An odd thing--and not all that uncommon in the publishing world-- happened with Swept Away, however. The same month it was released, another book with the same title came out, written by Candace Camp. Our names were close alphabetically, so the two books were side by side on the shelves. Add to that, the fact my cover was orange and turquoise with semi-abstract /cartoonish/contemporary artwork that belonged in the travel section...and the book hardly made a splash. In fact, it was barely a year later I received official notice from the publisher that they had taken it out of print. No more new copies would be coming off the presses. It was kind of like telling me my kid was too ugly to be in school. Now, of course, I'm happy to have the rights back. I had the very great pleasure of redoing the cover myself...several times in fact LOL. You might find it in the blue version, or you might find it in a sunset pink version. Either way, it's the same book. A Regency but not a Regency *s*
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