Pamela Clare talks Scots, her new release, UNTAMED and Never Before Seen Excerpts! Oh My!
*Sin climbs the rigging to the crow’s nest with a mega phone* Wenches! Pirates!
*Hellion rolls her eyes and pushes Capt’n Jack into a dark corner*
*Terri grabs another glittery hooha and makes eyes at a deck hand*
*Marnee’s flirting with the new hottie of the week, fluttering her eyelashes*
*Readers are merrymaking with our previous hotties and pirates we’ve kidnapped*
*Sin yells into the mega phone* The ship is on fire!
*chaos ensues and everyone swings around to give Sin the death eye*
*Sin grins* Now that I have your attention…
Hellion- You can’t be serious!
Sin- As a deadly eyelash to the back of your neck.
*Ter moves closer to Hellion and looks over her shoulder* I told you not to provoke her.
*Marn grimaces but tries to smile* She’s only teasing.
*Hellie and Ter both roll their eyes* You sleep with one eye open.
*Marn grins* Someone has to watch the rations of men.
*Sin clears her throat* Yeesh! Pay attention! We have a guest on board!!
*Pamela Clare rises from the sea like a siren and steps off her magical wave and onto the deck*
*Everyone on deck instantly fan squeals* Pamela!!
Pamela- “My thanks to you for havin’ me back aboard your fine ship. I return wi’ a new tale I’ve penned for you. But I’ll speak nary a word till my cup is brimmin’ wi’ rum…”
*Sin flips down from the crow’s nest and sneaks up behind the wenches* Boo!
*Ter and Marn squeal*
*Hellie tugs at her shirt sleeves- appearing unruffled*
Sin- Since I couldn’t wait to have Pamela Clare back on the ship and tell us another wonderful tale and corrupt her some more, I’ve kidnapped her!
*All wenches and pirates nodding by this wonderful feat!*
*Pamela saunters by Chance and Chance gives her a glittery hooha*
*Pam blinks and looks back at the pirates* A glittery hooha?
*Pirates and Wenches holding up their drinks* Rum soaked goodness.
*Pam looks unsure and takes a drink. The smiling grows as she keeps drinking*
*Sin claps her hand and pirates and wenches part like the red sea and she steers Pamela to the bow of the ship* Now, let’s get her drunk and wind her up so she’ll spill all her secrets!
*Pam gives Sin the look*
*Sin whistles and looks innocent. She tips PC’s glass up further* I mean, let’s be nice and ask her questions about her greatness.
*Pam drinking her drink and looking suspicious*
Let’s get this show on the road! Without further ado- I give you the most wonderful, and bestestest (shut up, Hellion, it’s a word) Pamela Clare (THE author of I-Team series and five historical romances including her newest release UNTAMED!) She’s going to share with us a never before seen excerpt of UNTAMED that was cut in the final edits and a tale from the MacKinnon brothers.
****PC****
This tale I’ve put to words, ’tis about Morgan MacKinnon, a son of Scotland, exiled wi’ his da’ and mother and two brothers across the ocean sea to America. He was but a striplin’ lad when the Sassenach avenged themselves on the Highlanders for Culloden. They put his grandda’, laird of Clan MacKinnon, on a prison barge and forced his father, Lachlan MacKinnon, to take his wife, Elasaid, and his wee sons Iain, Morgan and Connor and leave Skye wi’ naught but the clothes upon their backs.
They sailed westward beneath a troubled sky to the Colony of New Yorke and then journeyed over land upon roads long and weary until they came to Albany. So you’ve heard of Albany? Aye, ’tis that port on the river won from the Dutch, but you’re puttin’ a kinch in my tale, so sit back and hauld your whist, aye?
The brothers watched the wilderness claim first their gentle mother and then their da’. But it could not claim them, for they were young and hale and grew quickly seasoned to this harsh and wild land. In this none aided them more than the Mahican. Some call them Mohican or Stockbridge Indians, but it matters no’ what you call them. ’Tis one and the same.
The Mahican taught the three brothers how to survive. They showed them the secrets of the hunt so that they might fill their bellies and no’ starve. They showed them how to move through the long reaches of the forest wi’out losin’ their way or fallin’ into enemy hands. And they taught them to fight.
’Twas Iain as the oldest who first earnt his warrior marks, provin’ to the village that he could survive as a man. Morgan was next, eager to show that he, too, was a warrior of worth. And Connor? Och, that lad! A stubborn lad and full of piss and vinegar, he was! (And still is if half the tales about him be true!) He earnt his marks a year after Morgan, and proud of them he was!
The three lads might have settled to a life of farmin’ on the land that had been their fathers had Lord William Wentworth no’ spied them comin’ to the aid of whore on the streets of Albany, savin’ her from the knife of a man who’d tupped her but didna wish to pay her fee. Wentworth saw how well the brothers fought, and he kent that ’twas men like them the British needed should they hope to win this war against the French and hold fast to their colonies. He had them placed in shackles and brought before him, and he told them he would see them hanged for murder if they didna take up their rifles and swords and fight for Britain. He tasked them with drummin’ up men who fought as they fought — in the Indian way — and trainin’ them as Rangers. And so the brothers fell under Wentworth’s yoke, chained to a war no’ of their makin’, leaders of a Ranger company.
Iain’s story is known to many of you — how he came to find Annie in the wild and save her from a war party of French and Abenaki, who would have slain first her spirit and then her body if he hadnae stopped them. He chanced his life and those of his brothers and his men to spare her that cruel fate — and paid in pain and blood. But though his back was bloodied by the lash at Wentworth’s command, he gained for his sufferin’ a true wife in bonnie, sweet Annie.
But Morgan’s tale you have no’ heard. It begins in the spring wi’ the trees well budded out and the birds singin’ in the sky.
Morgan bad Iain farewell and led the Rangers northward to Ticonderoga — what the French call Carillon. There they spied upon the French as Wentworth had ordered and made preparations to raid the pier, where a wealth of gunpowder sat in hogsheads, waitin’ to be loaded into French rifles…
Morgan and his Rangers waited. Until the sun had set and sky was darkened by night, they waited. And then they crept by stealth to pier and fired their muskets at those hogsheads, ready to set the pier aflame! But when they fired those fateful shots, they saw that they had been deceived. For ’twas no’ powder in those casks, but sand! ’Twas a trap!
Morgan ordered his men to fall back, and fall back they did, but no’ as cowards who drop their swords and flee! Nay, those Rangers returned shot for shot as they drew back amongst the trees, laughin’ at the French canon balls and cryin’ out wi’ the Mahican war cry. (’Tis enough to raise the hair on the back of a dead man’s neck, I’d warrant!)
But then Dougie, one of Morgan’s men, fell, pierced through the leg by cruel lead, and Morgan would no’ leave him to be taken captive or killed. He braved a hail of musket fire, drew Dougie onto his back and ran wi’ him to the safety of the riverbank, sendin’ him on wi’ his men and stayin’ behind to cover the retreat.
He didna see the French soldier in the riggin’. The first shot caught him in the chest near his right shoulder so that he couldna hold his musket. Still, he raised his pistol and shot that soldier dead. But then others came and saw him wounded, a second shot piercin’ his thigh and drivin’ him to the ground.
His strength spent, he consigned himself to death, savin’ his last words for Connor.
“Beannachd leat!” he cried. Blessings go with you, brother!
The last thing he heard afore darkness claimed him was Connor’s anguished cry.
My tale doesna end here, for ’tis near death’s door that Morgan meets his angel, Amalie, whose love will save him from the cruelest of fates, even as it tests his loyalty to his brothers and his men.
Now, keep the rum flowin’ and I’ll be happy to bide shipboard a wee and chat wi’ you.
(The following scene was cut to comply with the publisher’s maximum page count.)
April 19, 1759
Ticonderoga
New York frontier
Major Morgan MacKinnon lay on his belly, looking down from the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain to the French fort at Ticonderoga below. He held up his brother Iain’s spying glass—nay, it was now his spying glass—and watched as French soldiers unloaded kegs of gunpowder from the hold of a small ship. Clearly, Bourlamaque was preparing to defend the fort again. But if Morgan and his men succeeded in their mission tonight, that powder would never see the inside of a French musket.
Connor stretched out beside him and spoke in a whisper. “I cannae look down upon this place without thinkin’ of that bastard Abercrombie and the good men we lost.”
Morgan lowered the spying glass and met his younger brother’s gaze. “Nor can I, but we didna come here to grieve.”
“Nay.” Connor’s gaze hardened. “We’ve come for vengeance.”
Last summer, they’d had no choice but to follow Abercrombie—or Nanny Crombie as the men had called him—to a terrible defeat. An arrogant bastard who paid no heed to the counsel of mere provincials, Abercrombie had ignored their warnings that Ticonderoga could not be taken without artillery. He hadn’t believed that the hastily built abatis—the barrier of felled trees and branches that had been piled afore the walls—could hinder trained British Regulars and had ordered his men against the French breastworks with naught but muskets. Soldiers had become ensnared like rabbits, cut down by French marksmen afore they could reach the walls, victims of their own loyalty and Abercrombie’s overweening pride.
On that terrible day, the Rangers, then under the command of Morgan’s older brother Iain, had taken position to the northwest together with Captain Joseph’s Muhheconneok warriors and had fired endlessly at the French marksmen, trying to dislodge them. But the French had turned cannon upon them and pounded them into the ground. So many had been lost—good men and true, men with families, men who’d fought beside them from the beginning.
’Twas here they’d lost Cam—and dozens more.
Dead for naught.
When Abercrombie had finally sounded the retreat and the smoke had cleared, the fort had stood just as it had afore.
Never had Morgan seen such senseless death—and at the age of seven-and-twenty he’d seen death enough to sicken a man’s soul. For nigh on four years, he and his brothers had lived and breathed war. Forced by that whoreson Wentworth to choose between fighting for Britain or being hanged for a crime they had not committed, they’d taken up arms against the French and their Indian allies, harrying them with ambuscades, seizing their supplies, fighting them in forest and fen. They’d slain fellow Catholic and heathen alike, burying their own dead along the way.
Morgan had never imagined that he, as a MacKinnon, would fight the French, traditional allies of all Scotsmen still faithful to Church and Crown. During the Forty-Five, the French had aided the Highland clans, including Morgan’s grandfather—Iain Og MacKinnon, laird of Clan MacKinnon—in their vain struggle to drive the German Protestant from the throne. Then, after the disastrous defeat at Culloden, the French had given refuge to many an exiled Scot, saving countless lives from the wrath of Cumberland. Even now France sheltered the rightful heir to the throne, bonnie Charles Stuart. Every true Scotsman owed the French a debt.
Aye, it was a devil’s bargain that had spared Morgan and his brothers the gallows. Father Delavay, the French priest Iain had kidnapped last year when he’d had need of a priest to marry Annie, said the sin was not theirs but Wentworth’s. And yet absolution stuck in Morgan’s throat, for it was not bloody Wentworth who pulled the trigger on his rifle, but he himself.
If anything gave him peace, it was knowing that Iain was now out of the fray, settled on the MacKinnon farm with Annie and little Iain, the firstborn of a new generation of MacKinnons. Wentworth had released Iain from service, not because he’d wished to spare Iain, but because he was besotted with Annie. Whatever the cause for Wentworth’s mercy, Morgan was grateful. He’d never have found the courage to face Annie had Iain been slain in battle—or worse—taken captive.
Morgan saw something move in the dark forest below, heard the slow click of rifles being cocked around him, and felt a warm swell of pride. He rarely needed to give orders. Having fought side by side for so long, the Rangers thought and moved as one. There were no better fighters in the Colonies, no men better suited to the hardship of this war. ’Twas an honor to lead them, as Iain had done afore him.
Morgan closed the spying glass, raised his rifle, cocked it. But it was not French scouts who emerged from the green wall of forest, but Captain Joseph’s warriors, eighty men in black and white war paint moving swiftly and silently through the shadows. They’d been watching the Rangers’ west flank on the long march northward and had gone on to scout out the French sentries while Morgan and his men surveyed the fort from above.
Morgan lowered his rifle and whispered to Joseph in the Muhheconneok tongue. “You thrash about like a randy bull moose. We heard you coming from a league away. You might have been shot.”
Joseph grinned. “There is more to fear in a bee’s sting than in your muskets. My blind granny has better aim.”
Bonded by blood to Morgan and his brothers, Joseph Aupauteunk was the son of a Muhheconneok chief and a fearsome warrior. He and his father had come to the MacKinnon farm, bringing gifts of dried corn and venison that had helped Morgan and his family survive their first bitter winter of exile in the colonies. Though Morgan’s mother—God rest her soul—had at first been terrified of Indians, a lasting friendship had grown between Morgan’s family and the Mahicans of Stockbridge. ’Twas Joseph and his uncles who’d taught Morgan and his brothers to track, to fight, to survive in the wild. As for what Joseph’s sisters had taught them, Morgan was too much of a gentleman to say—without a gill or two of whisky in his belly.
Morgan switched to English so that those among his men who did not speak Muhheconneok could understand. “What does Bourlamaque have waitin’ for us?”
It was time to plan their strategy.
****PC****
Okay, readers and writers of the Romance Writer’s Revenge it’s your turn! Since we’ve kidnapped Pamela Clare and we’re not giving her back no matter what they offer for her, let’s talk to her about craft! Ask, ask, ask! Ask her lots of questions and you have a chance to win the signed book of your choice from among her eight titles!!!
Books by the Crew
101 comments:
Hi Pamela! I've heard lots of great things about UNTAMED. I've been born and raised in Albany, NY, so I remember lots of field trips to battle-sites and hoping to find an arrowhead in Saratoga. (Sadly, that never did happen). LOL.
What was some of your favorite part of researching for these novels? And can you tell us anything about your "call" story---how you first heard you landed an agent?
Morning all! Welcome back to the ship Pamela!!
What wonderful storytelling on a Friday morning! :)
Because you write both contemporary and historical, do you have any difficulty adjusting your voice? How does that work for you?
Pamela!! *bumping my rum cup against yours* Nice to see you here! You already know how I feel about Untamed, seeing as how I gushed myself silly over on the yahoo board the second I set it down *g*
So my question for you actually has to do with the scene that was cut, in a way. And backstory. I don't think this is actually an answerable question, as there's no rule to follow, but how do you decide how much to put in, or how much to cut, in any given story? Any secrets to share? *g*
I'm very upset the publisher cut anything at all.
*hopping* Pam, Pam, Pam!!
Good morning sunshine!
I want to know how you manage to balance it all. I know you don't think of yourself as Wonder Woman, but honestly, you published two books this year and have a very demanding career. How do you keep a balance of work and writing without work interferring with your fiction writing?
I HAVE to pick up this book. But I haven't read the first one. Is that a problem? Should I definitely read these in order? I'm spending the last half of my December reading my little heart out. I can't wait!
I have to ask how difficult it was to get a publisher to take a chance on an Historical set at this time and in America? I'm so happy to see it, but all I hear is how difficult it is to take a story out of England and out of Georgian or Regency times. Did you run into resistance to these books?
SO getting this book, immediately after work.
Okay, so why this time period and Fort Ticonderoga? Were you inspired by this guy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Campbell_(soldier)
(Only you didn't let him die, because that'd be an awfully short story...)
By the way, I love this time period. I'm so glad more historicals are being written in this time period--esp in America. (I love LOTM, and I love stuff leading up and including the Revolutionary War...that's a great period. I wish more books were about that period.)
How do you keep your historical voice and your contemporary voice separate? (More importantly, where do you get all that research on Scottish phrases and history...have you always been a Scotland fan? I think it's amazing how you insert these bits...it really develops the setting and character, it feels like a REAL historical and not a wallpaper historical...like I'm reading about real people.)
PC will be here today. She's probably swamped but she was looking forward to this. :D
Good morning, Pirates! Thanks so much for having me back on the ship. Someone (not sure who) couldn't wake up! It's almost 9 AM here, and I'm still in jammies... But I am finally awake.
Thanks, Sin, for setting this up! I'm enjoying the rum quite a bit. And I love your questions! I shall give each the attention it deserves.
Hi, Elyssa — You were born in Albany? OMG! I just visited upstate NY last month on a kind of pilgrimage to visit the places in the stories, which I had never seen before. It was so overwhelming and intense for me. I can't even begin to tell you. (There's a slideshow of the trip and lots of photos and a video my son made archived on my blog at pamelaclare.blogspot.com if you want to check it out.) I think if you'd gone a bit further north to the Fort Edward area, you'd probably have found an arrowhead.
My favorite part of doing research: Everything! I am a history nut. I could sit and read about it and watch documentaries every day and not grow tired of it. My college degree is in classical archaeology, so research is my love. It's the tiny details of a person's daily life that take me back in time. I love feeling like I'm there with people, experiencing what they experienced. Seeing the hand-painted flower on a potshard connects me to the humanity of the person who painted the flower. I truly feel like I'm time traveling. I have a very vivid imagination, so that helps. :-)
Well, it took me seven long years to write my first novel, SWEET RELEASE. Then I spent a few months searching for an agent. I wrote six query letters and sent them to six well-known romance-friendly agents. I got picked up by one of the six and she gave me some revisions to do. So I took a year (three weeks, actually, I just ignored it for nine months like an idiot) to do those revisions. Nine months later she sold it. I was at work when she called. She left a message on my voice mail at the paper saying, "I just got an offer for your book. Call me if you'd like to hear more about it." Of course I wanted to hear more! I screamed and jumped up and down and NOT A SINGLE PERSON in the newsroom asked me why. (That was before I was running the show.) I couldn't figure out how to use my phone to call my agent back because I was so excited!
I thought that's how it goes for all authors. You write a book, get an agent, and publish said book. Um... RARELY is that how it goes. Most authors write five or six or twelve books before that happens. I was very lucky. I also worked very hard to make that first book as perfect as I could. I wasn't in writers groups or RWA at the time, so I wrote it in a vacuum almost, and that was good for me.
Hi, Marnee Jo — Thanks for the welcome and for having me back! As Sin says, I was really looking forward to this! Switching genres... It IS difficult to get the voice right at first. I'm getting better at that. It was really tricky the first time. I finished EXTREME EXPOSURE and sat down to write SURRENDER and had to find my Scottish burr... It's much easier these days. Music helps. I am a music nut and it's all about the playlist. Like Pavlov's dogs, my mind is now trained to switch based on what I'm listening to, whether it's traditional Scottish music from the 17th century or whether its gangsta rap, 3 Doors Down and Lifehouse. I use the music to evoke my character's emotions. And what's funny is that my characters have their own musical tastes. I end up listening to things I wouldn't normally enjoy because Marc or Julian or Morgan enjoy them. True!
I'm going to post this because I'm sitting here writing a novel and you dinnae ken I'm here yet!
I will truly clothesline someone if they try to get near Julian.
Seriously.
Good morning Pam! I bet it's nice to still be lounging around in PJ's after a long week! I'm so glad you could hop on board today!
Cheers, Haleigh!
I'm so glad you enjoyed UNTAMED. I was so happy to see your post on the Yahoo group. I hope to get a discussion going there once everyone (or most people) have read it...
I will try to answer your question: If a scene influences a characters' actions but isn't essential to the story in a "you are there" sense, it can be backstory. Backstory helps you understand the characters' experience, while condensing the story a bit (necessary when publishers start cutting pages so they can fit more books in a box). But backstory should never include a "choice point" — a moment where a character has to make an important decision that tells us WHO that character is. We need to see them make that decision — whether it's pulling a trigger or finally, FINALLY making love with the hero or whatever it is. Does that make sense?
Hi, Sin, darling!
Balance? :: laughs maniacally:: My life is a to-do list. I don't watch TV. Ever. Don't even have cable. I have very few friends in this area, which means I almost never go out in the evening. I see perhaps one or two movies a year. So basically, I'm home working when I'm not at work working. It's not easy, and it's not always fun, but my novel writing career can't pay the living expenses yet, so I have to keep the day job for now. And it DOES interfere with my writing. Journalism is not a stress-free profession by any means, and there are plenty of days — most of them, in fact — where I come home completely sapped. I'm trying to get better about not "giving away" all of my energy at work. And I'm hoping to quit soon! I try to make time for whatever my kids need. As you know, this has been a tough year for them (and their mom)! I try to keep a list of things I need to get done each day -- blog update, trip to post office, etc. -- and just stay on target.
If writing fiction didn't mean everything to me, I never would have been able to produce seven books since 2002 while working full time and having kids living at home. (They're off at college now.)
Sadly, next year I'll probably have only one book. :-(
Hi Pam! That does make sense, and is very helpful! Thanks! *handing Pamela another cup of rum*
I saw Naked Truth was listed to release in April 09- I say I'm freakin' ecstatic about that news- but I'm bummed about only one book too. It's a big bummer Pam. :(
If you were able to write one more story- that you think you might not be able to write- which one would it be and why? Are there some characters that just stick with you longer than others?
Hi, Terrio! I would say, YES, you should read them in order. I think UNTAMED can stand alone, but you'll miss out on a lot of things that would have deeper meaning for you if you've read SURRENDER first. Fortunately, SURRENDER was re-issued last month, so it's out there still. And lucky you to get to READ so much! I hope to take some time for that.
When I'm writing contemps, I only read contemps because reading a historical would make me want to write a historical. Historicals are my first and truest love. :-)
Hi, Hellion! Good to see you! I was inspired to write about Colonial Army Rangers after doing research for RIDE THE FIRE, which is set in 1763, when the French and Indian War ends and Pontiac's Rebellion flares up. I'd seen "Last of the Mohicans" of course and had an interest in that time period already. So it just felt really natural to do more research about it and set a series there. I turned Fort Edward into Fort Elizabeth and Rogers Island into Ranger Island and just plunked my characters right down on what was real ground.
I'm glad you enjoy the time period. Please SPREAD THE WORD. It's very hard to get published writing anything outside of Europe because publishers don't believe anyone has any real interest in it. There are very few of us who write Colonial America for that reason. To keep writing it, we need to prove to publishers that readers enjoy it. Personally, I LOVE this period and I don't understand the fixation on the Regency period and ballrooms... I just don't get it. I like the epic feel of Colonial America — all the conflict, the wilderness, the clashing cultures. It feels so big and so full of possibility to me. And what I write is NOT an American history lesson — it's romance. It's just set in the midst of all that intense drama. That's how I see it, anyway. :-)
As for the research and the Scottish phrases... I'm a research junkie and part of the research is language. It helps a LOT that I've always listened to traditional Celtic music because I know a lot of phrases from that. I could write in a much more intense Scottish but no one would understand it. (I do that for Annie's "owners" in SURRENDER.) Plus, I've studied nine languages and played around with maybe 20. I enjoy hunting for the right word and honing in on authentic period language. I just held a workshop on that in September for my local RWA chapter. The more you know about the history of the English language, the more you know how to find the words you need. I can try to find my notes on that and email them to you... :-)
I haven't finished UNTAMED yet. I'm dying to. In fact, my to-do- list is longer than I am tall. I didn't get nearly the amount of reading or writing I wanted to get done last weekend. And since I'm a slacker in the writing department, I need to write during all my free time or I'll have Hal following around behind me like a drunken pirate at a fist fight.
Who me? No way! I'd never pester you to write faster....on wait, that was me :)
You know it's all in good fun. Besides, we all need a kick in the ass now and then!
So, I forgot the part of your question about voice, Hellion. Part of it is what I've mentioned already about music and such. But part of it is my characters. Morgan is who he is and Marc is who he is. They're very different, so what comes from their mouths is very different.
Here is the most important thing I can say about storytelling craft: Everything derives from your characters. Be slavish in your devotion to understanding and developing them!!!!
If I'm into my character the voice is there regardless of what else may be going on. You ought to see the amount of time I go around my house talking to my kids in Scots. No joke. "If you wish to sup, you'd best be washin' your hands, aye?" "Mom, you are SO weird!" Yes, I am! :-D
Thanks for the rum, Haleigh! Mmmm. :: drinks deeply:: And I'm glad it made sense!
Sin, you know I hate that they cut anything, too. To have a story cut because it's flabby and NEEDS to be cut is one thing. To cut it because paper is expensive and fuel is expensive and they need to fit more books to a box... That's painful. It makes me feel like I'm providing a "product" and not a story that needs to be told. Does that make sense? I don't want to write "industrial fiction." I want to write books worth reading!
Some people got to read the uncut version because I, in a fit of rebellion, emailed it to them...
Have you seen the NEW pub date for NAKED EDGE? It's November 2009. YIKES! I know. Sorry. It's my fault. I'm way behind on the book. Actually, I'm going to start a substantial rewrite today.
OK, is there any coffee on this ship?
Yes! Please email me your notes on that! I had a class in college (English major), which I put off because I thought it'd be boring (boy, was I dumb)--about the origins of the English language--and it was the MOST interesting English class I took!
*ROTFLMAO* I love that you talk to them in the Scots dialect! That's hilarious! I need to do that more...not that I can do it well. At all, even.
I've been assured of most excellent rum if I stop by.... :-)
*kisses* to those I know
Big hugs with a "HI!" to those I don't.
Hellion, if you want to learn to speak it, you have to hear it. Start listening to traditional Scottish music. You'll pick it up. I wrote — or should I say my character Dougie wrote — a Scottish ballad to commemorate Morgan's sacrifice and death, called "The Ballad of Morgan MacKinnon." Here's the link:http://www.pamelaclare.com/extras_ballad.php
It's one of the most fun extras I have for UNTAMED, and it's in Scots. It was supposed to be published in the book, together with an author's note and some other stuff, but all of that got cut, together with 28 pages of story, three of them from the epilogue. ::Grumble, grumble:: :-(
Welcome aboard, Ronlyn! Yes, the rum here is most excellent! ::drinks:: The company is fine, too! These pirates know how to make a captive feel at home. :-)
Ronlyn!!! *hugs* Chance is taking a nap but I might be able to make you a glittery hooha with extra rum!
Speaking of glittery hooha.. Is that where you get a Brazilian and they glue sequins on your... business... as a friend of mine had done? A glittery hooha?
woo hoo!!!
I've always wanted a glittery hooha!
And that's a sentence I never thought I'd say. LOL
I'm paranoid to read the actual published version of Untamed, PC. I LOVED the original version and I simply couldn't see where they could cut.
*sigh*
ooop, work calls...
They glue sequins on..... Really? Tell me you're making that up!
Hi Ronlyn!
Pamela - while that, by definition, would be a glittery hoohaa (yikes!) the pirates use it as a literary term (and as a drink, like only Pirates can do!). Here's the post that started it all, explained only as Jennifer Cruise can do: http://www.arghink.com/2007/04/09/the-glittery-hooha-an-analysis/
I was more thinking of the email that went rounds a couple years ago where a mom was going in for her pap and grabbed a washcloth to "clean up" a bit before going to her appointment, only to discover after her gyno asked if she was "dressing up" for him that day, that her daughter had doused the cloth with glitter. LOL. I can't even imagine.
yes indeedy! Sin, I followed your link in the hopes of avoiding a bit of housecleaning before work... (nothing else needs saying, right??)
I'm all for Pamela Clare, based SOLEY on the cover you posted!! LOL And she's gotta be a good egg, her initials are the same as mine (PC, till I married....) now, off to read!
Next they'll be glueing the fringe stuff that comes on flapper dresses down there.
Wait, sounds like a guy thing.
Ronlyn LMFAO. I can't believe it. I can't imagine how mortified she was.
fringe......oh my
Then again, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the sequins *g*
Trish!! It's always better to come have some fun with us than clean the house. That's what the deck hands are for.
I read the explanation for "glittery hooha." Too funny! And now at last I understand why the somewhat worthwhile hero follows that TSTL heroine no matter how dumb or worthless she is. It's that glittery hooha. And I definitely want one — with extra rum! :-)
Ronlyn, I hope you'll like the cut version. There is ONE BIG change. One REALLY BIG change. But I think you'll see that it's more or less the book I wrote. I just read it, and apart from almost tearing my hair out over a couple of stupid typos, I was satisfied.
But they really MUST stop doing this! Book sizes are shrinking. Readers will not enjoy paying more for less. Fortunately in the case of UNTAMED, we fit every word we could. There's no fluff in the back of the book.
Terrio, I am NOT making that up. I had a friend who had it done. Got waxed bare, then had a pink sequin heart put where her triangle would be. Makes me itchy just thinking about it!
Hi, Trish! If you love the cover, you'll love the downloadable wallpaper on my Web site. I should have told all the Pirates that the Fun Stuff & Extras page has downloadable wallpaper made from the raw art of the cover. Slurp! It's been on my desktop for months. And good luck avoiding that housework! Enjoy your reading!
How do we get so off topic everyday?
I can't imagine gluing sequins on. One by one? No thank you!
The problem is not about glueing them. It's more about unglueing them. Ouch?
*Waving* woohoo! Pamela!!! Nice to have you aboard!
I must say that I was like you about the glittery hoohaa...but eveyone knows my mind's in the gutter 99% of the time.
I looked for that scene in the book last night. Remembered it and couldn't find it. Now I know why. Grumble grumble.
You already know how much I enjoyed Untamed. I'm just popping in to say Hi and to share my supply of XO cognac with you.
I can honestly say, I've never had the thought, "You know what would make this area more pretty? Sequins. I need sequins down there."
LOL
Pammy: tell us about how you researched the Rangers lifestyles? I know you just went last month on your first trip to the actual Fort, but before writing Surrender and subsequently Untamed, how/where did you research the lifestyle of the Rangers. And, my...wasn't that a redundant way of asking that question. *need some cafiene with my glittery hooha*
Hi, Stef! Good to see you! And thanks for the XO Cognac! Got any chocolate? :-)
Yes, I missed that scene too.
So that the rest of you know what Stef and I are talking about, the scene above ends in the book when Connor says, "We've come for vengeance!" There's no intro to Joseph and his men (or old women, as the case may be). Haha.
As for ungluing sequins... Probably a good soak in the tub would do that. but then you have glitter and sequins in your tub for the next 10 years. And think about it from the man's POV. Sure, it's fun to look at, maybe even erotic. But if he gets close to give you the kind of friction that you (or maybe just I) need... OUCH! He's going to get sequin burn on the root of his business, you know?
Ronlyn, I'm with you. I never once gave that any thought. Sequins. Hmmm....
Researching the Rangers lifestyles! Oh, that was fun. Believe it or not, I used DIARIES. Ranger diaries. The diaries of real rangers, including Major Robert Rogers himself, the man who basically systemized the Rangers and who came up with the Rules of Ranging. He was an amazing man, though he fought for the British during the Revolutionary War and was a very English, not Scottish. Reading about their daily lives -- how death was as everyday as breakfast, maybe more so, come to think of it -- gave me an intense respect for these very tough men. They accomplished feats that modern-day Army Rangers would find hard to duplicate, only they were wearing wool, not Gortex and they had compasses, not satellite phones and GPS. I brought a brass replica of a Ranger compass back with me from Rogers Island, along with a vial of precious DIRT from the island and one from the bottom of Lake George.
"He’s going to get sequin burn on the root of his business, you know?"
Is it just me or was anyone else laughing their ass off over this?
Hi Pam!
Glad to see you aboard the ship:)
Do you enjoy writing historicals more than contemporary novels, and who is your favorite hero out of all of your work?
I haven't had the pleasure of reading one of your historicals, but I definately look forward to reading Untamed. Thanks for sharing the excerpts.
Marnee, I'm still laughing hysterically at: I can honestly say, I’ve never had the thought, “You know what would make this area more pretty? Sequins. I need sequins down there.”
Now the “He’s going to get sequin burn on the root of his business, you know?”
I can't read these comments and drink my Mountain Dew. Not if I wnat to keep my keyboard in working order.
I need sequins down there. LOL!!
I want to know how Pam knows that sequins would burn...hhhmmmm? ;-)
Hi, Lisa — I'm so glad to be here! You know, it's hard to say what I enjoy more. I am usually all excited about writing the book I'm not yet writing, truthfully. When I start writing it, it turns into work. BUT, I will say that historicals are harder to write because there are so so many details to get right. I can't use half the words that come to my head so I have to switch to a different vocabulary, whereas with contemp RS, I can use any word I know that fits the character. Contemps are less romantic in many respects — I'm just a lover of historical romance — so they can seem more ho-hum as I'm writing them, especially the journalism parts. How many of us want to write about our day job? As for my favorite hero... Oooh, that's so hard! To write the book, I have to fall in love with the hero. I will say that the heroes who've stuck with me most are Nicholas, Iain, Morgan, Julian and Marc. That's narrowing it down from eight to five. :-)
I hope you enjoy UNTAMED. I have a hard time hearing my "voice," but I'm told my historical voice is very different than the contemp. Christie? Ronlyn? Haleigh? Stef?
Hellion, Marnee Jo, Ronlyn — As for sequins down there... I can honestly say I've never had glitter or sequins. I DID once try to suntan the shape of a heart on my mound (for lack of a better way of putting this). It didn't work. Who can get that much time in the sun for their muff? I mean really... My knowledge of the "burn" comes from guessing what it would feel like based on experiences of being bare and knowing what a moustache and beard feels like down there. OUCH! As I like to tell people, I don't care for men with beards. They give me a rash between my thighs. :-)
I hate work. Why do I have to work anyway?
PC, I think your historical and contemp voices are completely different. If you gave me one of each of your books, you'd never be able to tell the author was actually a split genre writer. You become the book, the voices, the characters. You might recognize the writing style and the way you tell the story, but you write seemlessly for each genre.
LMAO! Only on a pirate ship would a conversation about writing turn into talk of suntans, sequins and stubble burn.
Pamela, on the one hand, yes, your voice is very different between contemps and historicals. And I think a big part of that is, like you were saying, the difference in vocabulary, dialect, etc. But I think the historicals have a bit more of an "epic", sweeping feel. There's more bigger feelings, bigger conflict, bigger stakes. Where as the contemps are bit more raw, sparse, and almost gritty (which I mean in a really really good way - its why I LOVE your contemp voice).
But on the other hand, there's some similarities. Same emotional depth, same pov depth, etc.
Hmmm, I have to analyze a whole bunch of novels in school next semester - I might have to analyze you :) This is a very interesting concept. You game?
Yes! What Christie said much more succinctly than I managed. The *style* is similar, but the *voice* is quite different
I meant to say if you had given me two books without covers, one historical and one contemp, I'd never know it was the same author.
I swear, this job is sucking my brain away as if it were a cherry slurpy.
I know. That's why I love it here. I've even minded my manners a bit and haven't dropped the *f* bomb.
All this talk about glitter makes me want to try it.
Hm.
Interesting, Stef. I hear from my agent something similar. She tells me I have a very unique and powerful voice. The trouble is, I can't see it! To me, the words I write are just the words I write, and I can't see anything unique or strong about them. I just want to edit them. LOL! I think probably most authors would say the same thing. Yet, I can read another author and "hear" hear voice. So it's weird. But I am very glad that you feel I am able to carry both sub-genres off.
Thanks for the perspective, Haleigh. I DO try to keep the emotion there, but one reason I NEVER used to read contemps was that they didn't reflect the world I knew. Sweet little virginal heroines who don't cuss? Yeah, that describes the women I know — when they were in third grade. So I try to write the world I know with some added drama tossed in. :-)
And, heck, yeah, I'm game. That sounds fun!
Mattycakes wants to write about our time in retail together. I told him I thought it would be asking for trouble. LOL
But I can see how you feel PC. I know it would bore the pants off someone if they had to read about my day job (Ronlyn, back me up babe!) but journalism is just so damn interesting. I find myself reading the contemp books you write, Pam, and I often wonder while reading it, "I wonder if this happens. I wonder if-"
Why did I write "Stef," when I meant to write Sin? I knew exactly who I was talking to. I swear sometimes my fingers type what they want not what I tell them to. So that first comment is for SIN! D'oh!
I will echo the others and agree that your voice is different between the comtemps & the historicals. You do both wonderfully and I believe that a huge part of that is all the work you put into your characterization, which shines through in everything I've read.
Thanks, Ronlyn.
I guess I bring it up because I don't want people who've only read one being completely shocked by the other. It's probably easier to go from reading the I-Team series to reading MacKinnon's Rangers than it is to go the other way around. Sometimes I worry that my liberal use of the "f-word" is going to put people off. But, you know, that's how people in journalism, law enforcement and the military talk.
I'm here to back you up! Work is B-O-R-I-N-G. Although...it has it's moments. Or maybe it's more that I have my moments and I bring them to work. LOL.
Well, let's see. My first PC book was "Surrender" which did it for me. I promptly ordered all your books...which were the historicals. I'm sure EE was out then, but at the time I was anti-contemp because I didn't want to read about the "real world" that I lived it. EE was the first contemp book I ever read...and man did that start a whole new shopping spree for me. LOL
Ew, I think I might chuck a book with sweet virginal heroines who never cuss. Where's the fun in that? If you're looking for a good contemp where the heroine isn't afraid to drop the f-bomb and kick ass, try Linda Howard's "Mr. Perfect." Her's are often hit or miss for me, but I loved the heroine in this one.
Sin, pretty much everything happens. We are lied to and duped. We're threatened. And people call us for stupid reasons, like, "My toilet is clogged and I don't know what to do! What do you mean you can't help me? Aren't you people supposed to have your fingers on all kinds of information?" NOT kidding. We get chances to do things other people don't, from going to jail to being flown to Mexico for free to test out a new five-star resort to meeting our fave rock stars. We get free stuff all the time. One day a box arrived that was full of VIBRATORS. Yes, vibrators. Another day it was beer. Another day it was cookies. We even got free turkeys from Whole Foods once. Whatevs. Ask me the last time I paid to go to a rock concert, and I won't be able to tell you. But a lot of it is really tedious too.
So, Ronlyn, why did EE make you feel okay about reading about the "real" world? Was it the senator? The sex? Do tell! I'd love to know.
The thing is Babe, you bring the stories alive by your in depth characterization and the way you weave the story seamlessly around the "fact" that are there. You don't have those boring pages of descriptions of whatever-the-hell that as a reader I skim through to get to the "good stuff." Your entire book is full of "good stuff" regardless of if you're writing historical or contemp. It's what makes you so fabulous. And, from getting to know you, it's how you live your life. You don't focus on the BS, you're too busy dealing with the "good stuff" to worry about the rest.
Haleigh, if you liked "Mr. Perfect" you'd like "To Die For" and ....crap I forgot the name of the other one. The herione is "Blair Mallory" in both and it's a riot! very similar to Mr. Perfect.
Oh really Ronlyn? That's funny - I read part of the first one, and I HATED it. I couldn't make it past the first chapter before I just wanted to wrap my hands around Blair's neck and squeeze. LOL. But everyone else I've talked to has loved those two. I'm just in the minority on this one *g*
It's okay Pam. There's so much commenting going on I can't keep up. LOL
And they both start with an "S". Stef is classier than me so it's really just a fantastical compliment. LOL
You know, I'm not 100% certain what it was. I picked it up because you wrote it. I think it sat on my shelf for awhile and finally I'd run out of things to read, so I picked it up and was SUCKED IN! Reece, as I've told you before, reminded me a LOT of Scott (my DH) so...that was it. I never looked back.
OK, Ronlyn, I think you snuck in behind me and answered my question. Yeah, I don't want to bore people with unnecessary details. I just want them to feel the place and the situation and people are real.
That's what I love when I read, after all. I love getting so sucked into the story that I forget the "real" world. I want to feel like I'm right beside the h/h or inside them (not in a kinky way). I want to feel their emotions and when I'm done I want to feel that I, too, have been on an adventure.
Haleigh, I've been meaning to read "Mr. Perfect." I've heard a lot of good things about it.
seriously? Those were the first LH books I read and I literally LOL'd. I'd kill her in real life, no doubt, but she cracked me up reading about her. I read the second one first...maybe that had something to do with it? I don'tknow. I just read Mr. Perfect a few months ago and loved it. It had the same "flavor" that I'd missed in some of the other LH books I'd read.
Pamela - it's funny you say that about reading, because that's my favorite part about your books. I told you I had to set down Untamed, right? LOL. I could feel the emotion to the point that I couldn't bear to keep reading because I was so terrified about what would happen next. Now that's emotion! Talk about an adventure!
That's funny Ronlyn - yeah, I'd kill her in real life too :) I'm not usually a fan of light and funny - I usually like deeper, darker emotions (ala the I-team *g*), but I loved the mix of humor and emotion, in Mr. Perfect. I guess in my mind, if you're going to have funny, you gotta balance it out with deep emotions and angst (probably why I'd rather shoot myself than read chick lit!).
PC - sorry to get the conversation off you - it wasn't intentional, I promise!
Hal, I was the same way. I bought both of those books To Die For and Drop Dead Gorgeous because I'd heard excellent reviews and didn't make it past the first chapter before I handed them off to my granma. I'm very picky about my contemp reading.
Whatever the case, Ronlyn, I'm so glad you read it! Sue Z used to never read contemps, either. And more than a few of the contemp readers have tried the historicals. Just think of it -- historical romance and romantic suspense living together in peace. :-)
Sin, you are très classy, as far as I'm concerned! Then again, I'm still in my jammies. LOL!
Haleigh, I remember you telling us that on the loop. I saw that as a great triumph for the written word. To make you believe THAT strongly that Morgan was in deep trouble — that feels like an accomplishment. I really, really hope we do get a chat or a discussion going either in Chatzy or on the loop about the book. I'd love to talk about specific parts of it with you but I don't want to put spoilers on the board. I'd love to know your favorite scenes and compare them to mine. :-)
PC what kind of books do you enjoy reading. I know you said historical. Any new authors you're enjoying lately?
Sin, I've really gotten into Kathleen Givens. Not a lot of sex in her books, which is okay with me, but the books are just so well written and poignant and beautiful. They're very true to the times. She's a RITA winner from a few years back and publishes in trade paper/mass market both nowadays. But I am always open to suggestions for historicals that are rich and deep and meaty and emotional and epic (and preferably not Regency). To get a feel for Kathleen Givens, check out ON A HIGHLAND SHORE. I think it's in mass market now.
You've done that before too Pammy, if you recall. *I* seem to recall tossing HE across the room at one point...and then literally pacing around saying, "Oh no she did NOT!" while reading a part of UC. LOL.
Yes, Ronlyn, I remember that. (I am sitting here laughing.) What made me laugh the most was Scott's response: "Do you want me to pick that up for you?" LOL! What a great guy! He saw you hurl the book across the room — and he knows without you telling him that you want it back. I can't remember what scene it was that made you toss it... OH! "Bam!" Yeah, Marc catching a slug.
yep. Marc catching the slug and the subsequent events in UC.
And, in HE...the red headed b$%#$% and her goons. That's what made me toss the book across the room there. LOL, Poor Scott puts up with a lot from me. "Nice throw, Baby. Do you want me to pick that up for you?" *blush* Yes please, would you please bring me back my book that I just threw in a fit of annoyance seconds after I got mad at the kiddo for throwing something in the house. Bad Mommy moment there. LOL.
Bad mommy! LOL!
The worst reaction of that sort that I ever had to a book a enjoyed was when I finished The Thomas Covenant Chronicles. I was so shredded by the ending that I went into the bedroom where my future ex was sleeping — it was he who'd introduced me to the series — put my foot flat against his butt and SHOVED him out of bed. The flailing arms and the look on his face make me laugh still. I was just so upset and it was HIS fault because HE had suggested I read the stories which had left me DEVASTATED. (Good series if you love fantasy; don't blame me for mentioning it to you.) I literally shoved him off his side of the bed. God, I'm sweet!
LMAO!!! I'm trying so hard not to LOL because there are people sitting right outside my office, but I'm nearly in tears at the image. LMAO! I love it.
The only book I've EVER thrown against a wall was Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton and I promptly burned it afterwards.
I got close in HE when Tessa goes down into the ghetto and she knows she's not supposed to be there and Julian takes rounds into the back saving her ass. I came UNGLUED. And I was on the airplane. Not a good place to be unglued about a scene in a book. LOL
Pam, you're my hero. LOL
I couldn't shove Mattycakes out of bed if I threw all my weight behind me and shoved. Although I've gotten weird looks when I'm bawling while reading or rolling with laughter. Non-readers just don't get it.
I was thinking the same thing Sin. I don't think I could shove Scott out of bed, although he says I try every night. ;-)
And I agree, non-readers don't get it. I've been known to exclaim random things...now even my 5 year old says, "What's wrong Mommy? Oh, you're just reading." LOL.
I think that I would live a non HE as a betrayal on the part of the author. The heroes can go through about anything in a book (as long as it's not gratuitous) if I know that they will get their HEA. That scene when Marc caught a bullet and what happened afterwards had me in tears. I kept repeating "she couldn't oh no she wouldn't!" I plainly refused to believe that you wouldnt get them their HE, Pam.
So I guess that the TCC won't be for me.
LOL I do the exact same thing. I cry, laugh or curse while reading. Very embarrassing. Especially the crying part when you're in public....
You just say you've got something in your eye and stick your finger in it to make it seem realistic that they are just watering. LOL
I have to confess to having caught myself once or twice or (three times) ::moaning:: in sync with the heroine. Now I will deny it if you bring it up anywhere else, but YES! Moaning! And then I feel like a complete idiot! LOL!
I'm glad that made you laugh, Ronlyn. I don't think my future ex was laughing. And I was all but screaming at him, tears running down my face.
Stef, I need an HEA too, and in TCC you don't get an HEA so much as resolution at the ultimate price. Hence my rage. AND the reason I don't read anything but romance. Why would I want anything but a happy ending???
LMAO!!!
Scott has pointed out that I do a little chair :wiggle: when I'm reading something really hot and steamy. He's discovered that that's the best time to interrupt my reading if he is looking for some action.
And, yes, well...your future ex also didn't know enough not to stubble burn your thighs, so.....
So he DESERVED to get kicked out of bed. LOL! :-)
Mattycakes says I get really red in the face and since I'm remarkably pale, even the slightest hint of a blush shows up and I'm caught. LOL
I wanna thank everyone for stopping by today and giving PC a real pirate showing. Now if only I could find Hellion and steal Capt'n Jack away from her, surely PC would't call the MacKinnon Rangers on me then.
Thank you, Sin, and thanks to all of the pirates for making today so fun. Thanks, too, to those of you who are just visiting the ship, i.e., Ronlyn. I'm sure the crew would welcome you back. And I would dearly have loved to have had a chance with Cap'n Jack in one of yon hammocks. Oh, well.
And Sin, I think that's adorable! You blush when you read sex scenes. I turn red when I get really angry — proof I'm Irish, I guess.
Thanks everyone! And let's work on some workshops.
Happy holidays and blessings to you all,
Pamela
Chance finally crawls out of her hammock and looks around the empty ship... Shakes head and yawns...
"Blame it on Christie's new book...I knew I shoulda put it down afore 2am...and gone ta bed. I missed the day!"
Mixes self a glittery hooha, extra hoo, and then crawls back to hammock...
"There's always tomorra..."
*following Chance around* I know you have the extra hoo in your hammock!
Bummer, I'm too late! See what not having internet does... I'm also bummed because I just went to buy Untamed and it's not on Kindle yet! Well Pamela, if you make it back here tonight, I just wanted to say Sin turned my on to your books and I love all of them! Can't wait to read this one too!
Hi, Lorie,
Sorry you missed the chaos, but I did pop back just to see if there were any stragglers. For some reason, none of my historicals are on Kindle. I've asked about it, and they haven't given me an answer. I'm so glad you've enjoyed the stories, and I hope you enjoy UNTAMED, as well. :-)
My hoo-mack?
*giggle
Sorry I missed the day... Sunday is hottie day...hope he's a sweetie as it is me birthday!
It happens when you drink too much rum at the parties and end up sleeping in your hammock all day. I forgive you since your birthday is tomorrow. Happy birthday Chance!
Twin! Lorie! I knew you'd eventually make it on board!
Gosh, I really missed the party. Well, technically, I was at my own real party off ship, so I have a good excuse.
Thanks to Pamela for a fantastic day and thanks to everyone who stopped by. We hope you'll make it a habit!!!
BTW, I'm LMAO at the extra hoo!
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