Darlene's Digest

Thunder rumbled to the west and a breeze sprang up, whipping the tree branches. Sophia paused to let the cooler air flow across her. “We have to stop, it’s going to rain.” “We cannot stop yet, Jack, there is still daylight!” “Sophia, I am not going to stand here and get soaked—” His sentence was punctuated with the plop! of a large drop of water at his feet. A moment later one hit Sophia on the nose, and then in the next instant while she looked at Jack, the sky opened and the squall came down in torrents, soaking them where they stood. Sophia turned to run for the less than adequate shelter of their lean-to. Jack grabbed her hand and raised his voice over the pounding of the water falling on them. “Wait!” “Why?” she yelled back, blinking rain out of her eyes. “’Cause it feels good,” he said with a soggy grin. -- The Bride and the Buccaneer I love sitting on the back porch when a storm's coming up. The wind begins to whip around, the temperature drops to tole...

"Miss Farnham, you are the heroine of the day." "I am?" "Do not sound so surprised. The items you packed are wonderfully useful. For example, that lip salve. You can put it on your lips, your nose, your cheekbones and your chin. It will help keep those areas that are most vulnerable to sunlight from being badly burned. And your hat may not be fashionable enough for Mayfair, but it will keep you from sunstroke. Put it on now, please." She did, asking him to hold her mirror while she concentrated on tying her ribbons. Then she followed his instructions, putting rose-tinted salve on her face, though the end result left her in giggles. "I look like a red Indian from America, Doctor!" -- Castaway Dreams It's National Lipstick Day! (Who knew?) Women have been darkening their lips since ancient times to achieve a look of freshness and youth, and stimulate thoughts of mating in males (yeah, as if they needed it). Do you have a "daily...

New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction by Sarah S. G. Frantz My rating: 5 of 5 stars Excellent study of current and past trends in romance writing. This book should be read by every author who's making a career of romance writing. I didn't agree with 100% of the contributors' conclusions--I think just as sometimes a cigar was just a cigar to Freud, sometimes a romance novel is simply an entertaining read where the author wasn't purposefully (or even unconsciously) inserting words like "glittery" to make a point. Nonetheless, the essays are well-researched and thoughtful, and a valuable contribution to popular studies. The price may put off some readers wishing to access the book. As is so often the case, small academic presses have to charge more than large publishers. However, New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction is now in the public library system in the US, which means it's accessible through ILL (Inter-Library Loan). View all my reviews ...

I love seeing reviews of my books, even the less than stellar reviews, because it means people are reading my novels. Here's a new review of Castaway Dreams that I really have to share, from All About Romance . You can read the full review at the link: If it sounds like I'm talking about living, breathing people, then I've done my job. That I can envision Daphne and Alexander years into the future, with conversations and arguments, hurts and laughter, is the highest praise I can give. Ms. Marshall's previous book was very good;  Castaway Dreams  is remarkable. -- Jean Wan

I'm reading three books this weekend. The only way I can handle different reads simultaneously is to make sure they're in very different genres: one is essays on the biblical Book of Ruth , one is essays on the romance genre ( New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction ), one's the latest Nora Roberts . It's going to give my brain a workout. Do you read books simultaneously? Does it make your brain explode, or can you compartmentalize?

I'm the guest blogger today at Heroes and Heartbreakers , and they're giving away signed copies of Castaway Dreams.  Follow the link to check it out!

I need to move the action in [working title] The Hot Pirate's Secret Baby to England, so I've spent the morning reviewing my research notes. One of the books was recipes and now I'm starving for some biscuits, clotted cream, a lovely trifle... *Sigh* My hardboiled egg and healthy veggies for lunch aren't looking very appealing right now. In other news, I began wondering what happens to that secret baby (actually, a 7 or 8 year old child in the book) when she grows up.  Will she remember the piratical ways of her youth and rebel against the constrictions of mid-19th C. England? I shook the Magic 8 Ball and got "Signs point to yes".  More on this as it develops.

The Oatmeal is awesome, and here's another reason why:  Created by Oatmeal

Ravishing the Heiress by Sherry Thomas My rating: 4 of 5 stars Most romance novels are about courtship ending in marriage, but I'm a huge fan of romance novels about marriages and what makes them work...or not work. This one's a winner. Millie and Fitz have an arranged marriage, not untypical of Edwardian England--her money for his title. Both go into it with eyes wide open. Fitz loves another, and Millie knows it but is willing to take Fitz anyway. This book reminded me of Heyer's A Civil Contract , about a marriage that deepens into love, though Heyer's book never achieved the heights of passion that Thomas brings to her story. In addition, the author does a great job of unfolding the story over time, letting us see how the love develops between two protagonists who marry under stress, but learn to appreciate each other...and then some. View all my reviews

Our Independence Day celebrations start early in Gainesville, Florida with Fanfare & Fireworks on July 3. It's patriotic and goodtimes music at the University of Florida bandshell at Flavet Field (Question for all the new Gators: What famous Floridian is Flavet Field named for? Answer--No one. It's a trick question. After WWII the GI Bill brought a huge influx of married veterans and their families.  Wooden shacks [seriously] were brought in from army bases to house them.  These sweltering roach motels were called "Flavets", for "Florida Vets". There's a certain amount of pride in being able to say "I was a Flavet baby" when you come to UF.) Why the 3rd? The sponsors insist it's because so many folks go to the beach on the 4th. I believe it's because fireworks displays are substantially less expensive on July 3rd. So after a spectacular evening of music, fireworks, excellent weather and a stop at Sweet Dreams Home Made Ice Cre...

“I am not sure I should have to always do what you tell me to do, or not to do, Dr. Murray. I know you are a natural philosopher and learned, but in America they let men vote equally, the stupid ones as well as the clever. Not that I am stupid, I am just not as learned as you are. While we are here on this island, just the two of us, we should be voting as equals, don't you think?” He looked at her in astonishment, setting down the gourd. “I am amazed, Miss Farnham, that a properly brought-up Englishwoman would take the riff-raff in America as her model for appropriate behavior. No, this is not a situation calling for some anarchic form of democracy. Your vote is not equal to mine." -- Castaway Dreams Fie on thee, Dr. Murray!  In America we support the right to vote to elect all sorts of people, even if we sometimes scratch our heads afterward and say, "What were they thinking in the voting booth?" July 4 is Independence Day, a day for all of us in...

It's been a while since I posted my "How to read Darlene Marshall novels" cheat sheet, so I thought I'd run it past y'all again.  All of my books are written so they can be read as stand-alone novels, however you may find it more enjoyable if you combine them so crossover characters are introduced first: Sea Change , then Castaway Dreams . One of the secondary characters in Sea Change is Royal Navy surgeon Alexander Murray, who's the hero of Castaway Dreams . The Bride and the Buccaneer , then Captain Sinister's Lady. The marriage minded Captain Sinister (Morgan Roberts) and his crew are introduced in The Bride and the Buccaneer. Pirate's Price , then Smuggler's Bride . Pirate's Price is set a generation before Smuggler's Bride  and the heroine of Smuggler's Bride   (Julia) is the daughter of the hero and heroine of Pirate's Price . All the books are available in paper and ebook editions at Amber Quill Press  and Amazon , ...

He poled up the creek, away from the juncture with the river. The small tributary narrowed and soon they were both ducking under lowhanging cypress and oak branches. She saw a bull gator sunning itself on the bank, lazily watching them go by and ignoring this midday incursion into its domain. When Rand could pole no further, he tied up the boat and jumped into the shallow water, lifting Julia and following the creek down along a sandy strip. “What is out here? It seems like the middle of nowhere.” “It is,” Rand said, “but that’s what makes it special.” Despite the poling he showed no strain carrying her and since her feet were bare and the ground was rough, she didn’t encourage him to put her down. Besides, she rather enjoyed it, though she’d never tell him so. He walked past the sand into a hammock of live oak sprawled out like a dowager who’d loosened her stays, and emerged on the other side to a pool fringed by sand and boulders on one side, bushes bright with yellow berries and mo...

I was cleaning my fountain pens today (I know, I should have been writing more instead) when it occurred to me that I had no idea why I was writing "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party" a gazillion times. Yes, I knew I was writing it to test the ink flow on the Sensa and the Cross, but why that sentence?  Then I remembered it was a famous line I'd first learned, as so many people did, in typing class.  That sentence was used to test one's speed while typing, and it lingers in the back of my mind to this day. Then I wondered if they still teach typing in schools?  I know penmanship seems to have gone the way of the rotary dial telephone, but I would think touch typing is still a useful skill in this keyboard age.  I know it makes my writing faster than if I were looking at my fingers or "hunting and pecking" my way through a manuscript. Incidentally, the pens all appear to be unclogged and ready for action now.  I think I...

            “Again, Papa, throw the knife again!  Hit him in the eye this time!”             Robert paused.             “As entertaining as it is to stab someone from a distance, always remember, Mattie:  If you throw your knife you no longer have a knife you can use, and it could even be used against you. You must have a back-up weapon.  What did I tell you is the first rule of knife-fights?”             “To bring a pistol, Papa.”             “That’s correct. If your opponent brings a knife, you bring pistols, with your own knife as back-up.”             “Yes, Papa.”             “Also,” he added in a pedantic f...

They went up on deck together, David carrying his prayer book. The men were assembled wearing their finest clothing. At the starboard rail a canvas length awaited them, sewn by Sails, weighted to carry its burden to the bottom of the ocean. It was on a trestle, covered with the flag of the United States that fluttered at the edges in the light breeze. The crew was silent as their captain stepped forward, and a hurricane bird soared overhead, far from land but reminding them all that someday, they would return to their homes. Some of them. -- Sea Change   Today is Flag Day in the United States , the day we mark the adoption of our nation's symbol of freedom.  It was immortalized during the War of 1812 200 years ago with Francis Scott Key's poem, now our national anthem.  My flag is flying, as it does on all national holidays.  Long may it wave.

We lost one of the great American writers today, Ray Bradbury .  His work has been read by every American schoolchild, and his writing spread across generations and genres, from Fahrenheit 451 to The Martian Chronicles to "The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit". I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Bradbury at Confederation, the 1986 World Science Fiction Convention in Atlanta.  When people asked me after my years in broadcast and print news which famous person I'd enjoyed interviewing the most, I never hesitated: "Ray Bradbury. Funny, smart, gracious and charming.  Interviewing him was one of the high points of my career." Somewhere in Heaven there's a small town that looks like it was lifted straight out of the cornfields of Illinois, and that's where you'll find Ray Bradbury today.

His glance flicked over her, and he grunted dismissively. “Not much to you.” Sophia drew herself up to her full height. “I have it on good authority I am worth three opossums!” A twitch dented the corner of [the Indian's] mouth and he looked at Jack. “You pay three possums for this?” “At the time it seemed like a good idea,” Jack said, putting down his rifle and brushing off his own clothes. --The Bride and The Buccaneer (winner, FCRW Beacon Award and the subject of a three minute lecture at Harvard University on "How the barter system approximates commodity currency in a market economy.") My elderly dachshund treed a possum last night.  I knew this because around 11 p.m. there was a frantic barking from the backyard, something along the lines of, "OMG! OMG! I caught supper! Quick, mom, bring the rifle!" When I went out to investigate, the dog was at the base of a huge oak, her front paws planted firmly on it, tail wagging furiously as she barked at somet...

Marriage of Mercy by Carla Kelly My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

I just got the idea for my ninth novel.  It will have pirates in the Caribbean.  Can't tell you more yet, because much of it hinges on secondary characters in my WIP (Book Seven, aka "The Hot Pirate's Secret Baby").  More on this as it develops...