After the "Happily Ever After"

Did you ever watch a movie that ended with the prince and his new bride riding into the sunset while a soaring orchestra played them off the stage? The audience goes home, content with the idea that the happy couple will only have bright days ahead. Or maybe the audience didn't care anymore - after all, the pursuit of happiness is what some people want to see.

Not me!

It occurred to me that most of my novels have a marriage in the early half of the book. It's usually a marriage of convenience, such as in Tame the Wild Wind, when Jed suggests Cassie marry him to keep her uncle from tearing her away from the ranch she loves. Of course, his ulterior motive is to secure himself to her so she won't take him to court, thereby exposing him for who he really is! In my new book, In the Arms of an Earl (available in paperback June 7th!), Jane and Frederick marry for love, but their trials begin after they say, "I do."

Some readers don't like weddings early on in the story - they see the wedding as the reward for persevering with the characters throughout the pages. I wondered why I like all these rushed weddings and I realized it happened when I was very young, watching Cinderella for the first time. Once the carriage pulled away and Cinderella waved goodbye, all I could think of was, what happens now?

Did they have kids? Did they live with his father? Was the evil stepmother a wicked stepmother-in-law? There were so many unanswered questions!

I used to "finish" fairy tales and romantic old movies with my dolls, making them pick up where the movie or story left off. Prince Philip awakened Sleeping Beauty with a kiss, and then in my world, they had lots of parties, explored all over Europe, and moved into their own castle. Snow White, ditto. I still like to imagine what happens after the curtain drops and the movie or story or musical is over. Sometimes, it even inspires a new story of my own.

I know other readers and authors feel the way I do. Some of my favorite romances involved plots where the couple was already married through a good part of the book. Eloisa James's This Duchess of Mine begins with an estranged husband and wife, and Lavyrle Spencer's classic, Twice Loved, was the story of a husband who was presumed dead and returns to claim his bride.

So, forgive me, gentle readers, if you'd rather cut the cake at the end of the book. Once I got married, I noticed my plots and characters have changed as I did. As any modern wife knows, there's more to come after the wedding gown is put away.

But that doesn't mean it's anything but exciting! Just a new adventure waiting to be had!

Growing Up in England

Surprise! I was an Air Force brat, and we lived in England for almost ten years. The first school I ever attended was at Feltwell, in Norfolk. In the beginning, I was the only American student in the school, and quickly adapted my speech patterns to fit in. For instance, "Mommy" became "Mummy," and I started asking "to use the toilet" instead of "I have to go potty!" With my ethnic background of Mexican/Filipino on my mom's side, boy, did I stand out among the redheaded and blond English kids!

We went to Peterborough one cold day and stood outside in the rain for 2 hours in order to catch sight of the Queen! On another occasion, we saw the Queen Mother, and my brother (then about 9) jumped out of the queue to touch the hem of her coat. We moved back to California a few years later, and when I was 13, we moved back to England, but in the Cotswolds region of Gloucestershire. I attended a U.S. owned boarding high school, which gave me an extraordinary education. All of the students were military or government brats like me, and there was a closeness I have never seen in kids since.

Going home to the serenity of the Cotswolds every weekend was the best part of the week. Mom and Dad would bundle us in the VW bus and we would go touring to the stately homes and castles and palaces in the area. I've stepped in sheep poop at Blenheim Palace (birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill), laughed at the monkeys in the safari park at Longleat, and talked to a ghost at Berkeley Castle. At least, I think it was a ghost. It might have been my brother making a scary noise!

I once crossed a busy street in our local town of Cirencester to say good morning to HRH Princess Anne, who nodded politely and said good morning to me. I was floating in the clouds for months, thinking that I had actually spoken to a princess. I sent birthday cards to HRH Prince Edward when he was in Cambridge University, and hoped I'd be the first American princess! No luck.

England, Scotland, and Wales are beautiful places filled with rich history, culture, scenery, and with as many varied characters of people as you could hope to find anywhere. My first few romance novels I wrote are all set in England, and I believe it's because of the history and romance of the countryside as well as the towering spires of London that first inspired me all those years ago. If I close my eyes, I can picture myself in the hushed mezzanine at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden before the ballet starts. Or I'm in the National Portrait Gallery studying Richard III's piercing gaze. Or I'm wandering through a pasture, treading a well worn path that has been traversed by other walkers for the last few hundred years.

I hope to return some day, but in the meantime, please enjoy my little glimpse of English life in my books. I promise there will be more to come!

I'm #4 on Kindle's FREE e-books!

Thank you to all the readers and lovers of historical romance out there who have put IN THE ARMS OF AN EARL in the 4th position for free Kindle books! You've left some beautiful reviews that have truly touched me and reaffirmed my dedication to my art.

Notice that I say "art." Writing romance is not a hobby to me and not yet a full time career (are you listening, Fate?). Rather, it is the part of me that best expresses who I am.

One kind reader said that my characters from ITAOAE reminded her of those from Pride and Prejudice. The reason for it is this book was originally going to be the first of a "P&P Sisters" trilogy I hoped to write. The original title was MISS BENNET IN LOVE, featuring Mary's story. However, when I shopped it around to various publishers, none of them wanted to touch Mary, since the few previously published books about this character have not been successful. My choice was to either indie-publish (read, self publish!) or change the story to a stand-alone with nothing to do with P&P. Changing Mary Bennet into Jane Brooke wasn't very hard, since Mary is really a marginal character, but I had fallen in love with my version of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet that I had to keep them the way I'd written them! So, if my Mrs. Brooke sounds like Mrs. Bennet, that's why, although I've redeemed her a little at the end, and Mr. B. is not half as cynical as he is in P&P.

I have a deleted chapter I will make available to my readers, which is a love scene originally at the end of the book. I took it out when I submitted the book to my publisher, since I thought I had too many love scenes already! Look for the chapter on this page - I will alert you to where it is, since it is not PG-13!

I enjoy hearing from readers! Please leave a comment or feel free to email me at annasmallbooks@yahoo.com.

Why We Love Bad Boys

I'll never forget the first bad boy hero I fell in love with. He was behind the steering column of the Milennium Falcon, barking orders at his hairy counterpart and a snarky princess. Yes, it was Han Solo! Can anyone forget the scene in The Empire Strikes Back when she says, "I happen to like nice men" and he responds, "I'm nice men." She then says, "No, you're not, you're...." And he kisses her. Be still my beating 10 year old heart!

So what is it about the Han Solos of romance fiction that we all love? Is it the loner who just wants to be loved? The wise-cracking but fearless warrior who will put himself between you and a bullet (or Darth Vader, for that matter)?

Most of the heroes I write tend to be good guys without much bad boy to them. You know, guys you would meet on the street and take a second look at only because they're drop dead gorgeous! But not really bad. So why is my new hero in the book I just finished writing such a gambling, fighting, womanizing mess of a hunk?

Jack Waverley will make his debut (hopefully) early next year or later in this one, in a new Regency Historical romance called In the Arms of a Rogue. Why rogue? He's every man your mama warned you about. The guy your older brother had to bust in the nose to make him stop sneaking to your window on sultry summer nights. He plays hard and always gets what he wants. Always? Well, not if our spitfire heroine has her way!

I'll be posting excerpts and "character interviews" and all sorts of tidbits and fun facts about this book in the coming weeks! Thanks for stopping by, and may the bad boys be with you!

In the Arms of an Earl release on Kindle!

Great news! My publisher released my new book 3 months early on Amazon's Kindle! So you no longer have to wait until June for an e-book. The paperback will still come out in June, however, for those of you who like to hold a "real" book in your hands!

Here's the link for IN THE ARMS OF AN EARL Kindle release

For my faithful readers, I will offer my short novel, MISTLETOE AND MONTANA, which is an exclusive Kindle e-book, for free for the month of March. Set in Montana, it's a love story about Joely and Ben, who are thrown together in the middle of a blizzard when Joely brings their kids up to visit Ben for Christmas vacation. Will they learn to heal the rift between them and become a family again? Now you can find out for free!

Here's the link for your FREE book!  MISTLETOE AND MONTANA

I haven't posted for a while because I've been busily writing my next historical regency - IN THE ARMS OF A ROGUE. I'm hoping to have it done by end of March - it was one of my New Year's resolutions to have it completed by February, but that didn't happen. I keep finding little twists and turns and surprises - and my ending is not what I originally planned, so I have to wrap that up! But I hope you will like it as much as my other books. It's a bit more humorous than the recent book, but just as steamy and emotional!

Thanks for stopping by, and please get your free copy of MISTLETOE AND MONTANA!

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot...

It's hard to believe another year has nearly hung up its hat and said goodbye. I was hoping my newest historical romance, IN THE ARMS OF AN EARL, would be a 2012 release, but it's just as well it will be released sometime in 2013. I recently turned in the final revision, and hope to have the release date soon!

What are your resolutions for the New Year? Do you plan to keep them, or forget about most of them, like I did? This year will be different. I'm going to volunteer a few times a month at my son's elementary school, and have taken on a new blogging position at Historical Hussies - more on that to follow! Of course, I will keep this blog going and hope that some of my new readers will take the time to introduce themselves. Authors write for you, remember that! If we don't hear your praise or criticism, we are just throwing the books out there!

Wherever you are, I wish a happy and bright 2013 for all. Thank you for supporting me and reading my books for the past few years. I promise to continue to write more of them for you.

Hello Crews Lake Middle School!

I am happy to be here at the Great American Teach In, and I hope you all think about writing down all the great stories inside your heads. Never give up on your dreams. You can be whatever you want to be!