Tag: Loretta Chase

Review~~Loretta Chase’s Vixen in Velvet

REVIEW!  reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing(5 out of 5 quills)  Vixen in Velvet  (The Dressmakers)

One thing about Loretta Chase; she NEVER disappoints. Her historic romances are more than the words imply. She is witty and her humor is so subtle….you must pay attention or you’ll miss the nuances.

“Have you any idea what my wife and her sisters have been through these last months, while you and Swanton idled abroad?” Clevedon said.  “While your cousin was in Venice murdering the English language–“
“I shouldn’t call it murder, ” Lisburne said.  “Flesh wounds, no more.  You give him too much credit.  And it was in Florence that he composed his latest batch of verse.”

Her characters are rich and full.  And they appear in other books which makes a reader want to come back for more.  She takes you to London, in the 1800’s; the sounds, the smells, the sights.  With every book, she teaches the reader about what it was like then to be a woman, sometimes a woman without a livelihood or means to support herself.  I always learn something from her fiction…this time, dressmaking and fabrics of that time. Continue reading “Review~~Loretta Chase’s Vixen in Velvet”

Interview with Loretta Chase, best selling author (part 2)

Q.  When did you begin to write seriously? LC & Puccini May 2011

A.  As soon as I learned to write.  As a small child, I used to tell stories.  Some people called these lies.  Truth—lies—all the same to me.  But I remember I couldn’t wait to learn to read & write.  As soon as I had the alphabet and some vocabulary under my belt—Look!  See!  Go!—I was writing.  It did not stop.  Journals, letters, poetry, and interminable Great American Novel.  But the GAN never got finished, probably because I did not know how to write a story.  I didn’t get my head wrapped around story structure until I started writing scripts for corporate video.  One of my producers(the man I eventually married) got me to admit I wanted to become a novelist (like Charles Dickens!).  As part of his cunning Get Rich Slow Scheme, he persuaded or tricked or taunted me—I’m still not quite sure what happened—to work up the nerve to write a book for publication.

Q. How long after that were you published?

A. Contrary to all the laws of publishing, the first novel I wrote from beginning to end was accepted by the first publisher I sent it to.  Un-agented.  Over the transom.  Those were the days. Continue reading “Interview with Loretta Chase, best selling author (part 2)”

Interview with best selling author, Loretta Chase (part 1)

LOretta.IMG_0823 Seems like I’ve been chasing Loretta around forever for an interview, but it turns out that she’s just been busy writing and traveling.  I am delighted that we re-connected and she has shared this wonderful look into her writing process and experiences.

 Q.  Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? 

A. I have a room set aside.  It’s about ¼ the size I need.  I dream of a barn, to be converted into a studio, with miles of bookshelves and a vast wall space for my historical maps.

Q.  Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? 

A.  A cup of tea or coffee.  Then I panic.  Then I run out of the room & find something else to do.  Then I return, maybe write something, panic, and so on.  My work area is always in chaos, and putting things away provides a superior method of procrastinating.

Q.  What is your mode of writing? 

A.  Years ago it was longhand.  Now I work mainly at the computer, occasionally reverting to longhand when writing in bed, imagining I’m Marcel Proust or Edith Sitwell .  This tends to happen when my brain needs to get unstuck. Continue reading “Interview with best selling author, Loretta Chase (part 1)”

Don’t Miss My Interview with author, Loretta Chase

IMG_1910Thursday, May 29th begins my exciting and refreshing interview with best selling author, Loretta Chase.

LC.      “My career at Clark University was not short. After earning a B.A. in only twice the usual time, I stayed on to work in clerical, administrative, and part-time teaching posts. There were other real jobs along the way: stints with jewelry and clothing retailers, and a Dickensian six-month experience as a meter maid.

 But my main business in life was writing. This is why I majored in English instead of something useful that would lead to a real job with an actual salary. English majors must read mountains of books and write reams of papers. If only they would have paid me for being an English major, my life would have been perfect…….”   (courtesy of her web site)
  Coming Soon!  Loretta’s newest book  Released June 24th