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Emery Lee is a new novelist who came to my attention through a friend who had reviewed her book for her blog, and on Amazon. Also Emery hosted an online 24 hour party on Facebook that I was invited to. It was a great deal of fun. Virtual period costumes, prizes, virtual drinks and polls. Book chat, lots and lots of book chat.
Her debut novel The Highest Stakes is first a love story, set around horse racing in Georgian England and Colonial America between 1741 and 1751. Ms. Lee is a lifelong equestrienne and history buff who loves a good romance. I knew very little about horse racing the sport of kings where wagering could often make or break fortunes. Within this story is the War for Austrian Succession, the continuing Jacobite threat to the Hanoverian King George of England, (The last English King to ride into battle.) Ms. Lee explains it with grace and ease. Her second novel is due to be released in November, but more about that later.
Jerelyn: Thank you Emery for joining us on the PBS blog today.
First will you tell us a bit about yourself?
Emery: Happily! Although I only began writing in 2008, I have been an avid reader, history buff, and horse lover my entire life. I am still a horse owner, am married for 28 years to a wonderful man who has blessed me with two loving sons. We currently live in NE Georgia.
Jerelyn: Who are your writing influences?
Emery: I have always loved the 18th and 19th century classics (Dickens, Thackeray, Austen, the Bronte sisters and … of course Henry Fielding) and fell in love with the historical romances of Georgette Heyer as I was growing up. I believe this combination of authors most influenced me.
Jerelyn: You’re really able to convey the Georgian mind set, what is the most difficult part of this for you?
Emery: It took an incredible amount of time and discipline to research my first novel, and to develop what I felt was an appropriate voice for this story and setting. Because there is nothing I dislike more than reading a “historical” novel that is written in a contemporary voice, or one which adopts modern cultural mores, I made it my mission to immerse myself in the time period I chose to write about. This meant the Georgian era itself, as well as the horse-racing world. I used numerous original 18th century sources such as letters and memoirs to adopt the appropriate speech patterns and vocabulary of my characters, as well as pouring over history books and 18th century journals, to learn as much as possible about the world in which my characters lived.
Jerelyn: You have a philosophy about what some call Historical Romance, Historical Fiction and newly described, the Romantic Historical. Will you explain the difference?
Emery: A Historical Romance according to ROMANCE WRITERS OF AMERICA is a central love story in which the plot revolves around two individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. Although the author may include other elements and subplots (such as suspense) the romance between two protagonists must always remain the focus of the novel. Additionally, a romance MUST have an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. (Happy ever after)
Historical Fiction can take many forms. It can be biographical, such as a fictionalized account of a real person, or it can be a fictionalized account of a real event in history in which real characters play a part. In either case, the author takes what is known about the people or event through the historical record, and uses his or her imagination to bring the story to life through the characters- whether real, or fictional, or a combination of both.
In Romantic Historical Fiction we see these genres converge. The novel can be biographical, or can include a real historical event (such as a war) but a romantic relationship between real or fictional characters must play an integral role in the overall story, although the plot is not limited to the romance itself. There can be many characters and the story does not require a happy ending. Two excellent examples would be Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, and An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer (a romantic story set during the Battle of Waterloo).
I like to think RHF encompasses novels that engage the emotions as well as the intellect.
Jerelyn: How did The Highest Stakes come about?
Emery: I can only call it a gift from above! Seriously.
Although I loved to read and had done a good bit of technical writing over my professional career, I had never attempted anything, and honestly hadn’t a clue that I had any aptitude for it. But one day an idea for a story struck me and just wouldn’t leave. It would converge three of my lifetime loves- history, horses and romance. I began dreaming scenes for this story and finally told a friend about it. She said “Well- write it!” I said “I don’t know how!” But she wouldn’t let me off the hook, so I began researching and writing, and finished fourteen months later.
At that time, I didn’t know any writers. I didn’t have an agent, and was really even afraid to show it anyone, but I also knew that I had put too much heart and soul into the manuscript to do nothing with it. So… I began to send out email queries. Within a month I heard back from Sourcebooks acquiring editor, Deb Werksman, who was very interested in the manuscript. The rest, as they say, is history.
Jerelyn: Can you tell us about Robert and Charlotte?
Emery: Robert and Charlotte are star crossed lovers whose mutual passion for equines is only eclipsed by their passion for one another! Although they are fictional characters, they were largely inspired by another pair of horse crazy young lovers – Jim Craig and Jessica Harrison in one of my all time favorite films, THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER.
Jerelyn: Your research about horse racing must have been monumental. Let alone what was a fractious time in European history. What is your favorite part about researching for your novels?
Emery: I am truly compulsive about research- sometimes to the point that I paralyze myself from actually writing! I always feel that I don’t know enough!
Having said this, I also feel that this is at sets me apart and makes me shine as a historical author – the obsession with the details that truly bring the world to life. In THE HIGHEST STAKES, this meant knowing the horses, the blood lines, the race courses, the training methods- every aspect of the 18th century turf world. Because the story is set in both England and Colonial Virginia, it was very important to contrast the two environments as well.
Jerelyn: I was struck by how well you explained life in the Calvary. You do an admirable job in explaining the martial and logistical aspects, without bogging down the story. Was it as difficult as it seems it would be?
Emery: This was indeed very challenging, but again, it all goes back to the research. I didn’t just read history books but read firsthand accounts of battles, cavalry life, and even actual training manuals for the cavalry. Google books were an invaluable resource, providing me with dozens of out of print books (from the 18th and 19th centuries!) that I relied heavily upon.
Jerelyn: I was fascinated by the record keeping, not only of the horse’s blood lines but the races themselves. Will you tell us about this?
Emery: Amazingly, I was able to find records of specific horses and the races they ran from as far back as the early 1700s! The aristocrats of the Georgian age were obsessive about their horses and kept amazing records- especially the results of the Royal Plate races.
I was thrilled to actually find this information. Other amazing resources were the web sites ThoroughbredHeritage.com and thoroughbredbloodlines.net.
Jerelyn: You have horses of your own do you spend a lot of time with them?
Emery: Regrettably not as much as I used to since my kids have grown and lost interest. At one time we owned six horses. I trained my own and taught all the members of my family to ride. I still own two, a lovely grey Arabian, and a handsome palomino quarter horse. I’m currently training the latter to pull a cart- something I’ve always wanted to do!
Jerelyn: Your second book is coming out in November I have heard it is a sequel, will you tell us about this?
Emery: Absolutely!!! I am incredibly excited about FORTUNE’S SON! It is actually more of a prequel than a sequel to THE HIGHEST STAKES, although does tie up some very loose ends! Here’s a brief description:
Passion, drama and excitement fill the pages of my follow-up to THE HIGHEST STAKES. Set deep in the world of 18th century gaming, FORTUNE’S SON immerses the reader in a time and place where nothing is sacred and virtually anything might be wagered on the turn of a card, or a roll of the dice.
Beginning with their first chance meeting over a Hazard table, and with motives known only to themselves, FORTUNE’S SON chronicles the tumultuous romantic journey between a young but seasoned gamester and a widowed courtier, who refuses to be the next Royal Mistress regardless of the cost.
Experiencing the agonies and ecstasies of the gaming tables, Philip Drake and Lady Susannah Messingham precariously navigate their way in the high-stakes world of card sharps, courtesans, and the intriguers of Georgian England. As their tale of passion and drama plays out, they are led through hardship, heartbreak and loss before final culmination in redemption and enduring love.
With romance, a bit of adventure, and the excitement of gaming coupled with a supporting cast of the wits, gamesters, sporting men, and roués of Georgian England, I promise great fun and a riveting read!
Jerelyn: Many authors now days have to keep their day jobs, with writing and marketing as second and third job. Why do you feel so compelled to write?
Emery: I was still working full time when I wrote my first two books and am amazed that I functioned on as little sleep as I did, but it truly is a fever in one’s blood! I used to get home at about 6Pm, throw dinner on the table and lock myself in my office by 7PM. I would stay up regularly until at least midnight and sometimes until 3 or 4Am if it was a weekend. It was all-consuming. Now that I am no longer working a full time job, the discipline comes a bit harder to me, but I do hope to be able to write much faster. (THS took 14 months, FS took about 10 months. I hope to be able to complete my current manuscript in 6-8 months.
Jerelyn: What do you like best and least about writing?
Emery: I HATE writer’s block but we all get it. I generally try to write at least 1,000 words per day but can sometimes go weeks without being able to produce a sentence! When this happens, I now try to go into “deep” research mode until I come across something amazing that kicks me back into gear.
What I like best about writing is that feeling of pure giddiness I get when I discover some obscure thing that I wasn’t even searching for that works beautifully into my story.
Jerelyn: Were you one of those horse mad girls, with ponies everywhere?
Emery: Very horse mad! It kept me away from boys for years!
Jerelyn: Do you have any auto-buy authors, what do you like to read?
Emery: I love to read history (fiction and non- fiction) and historical romance.
I have so very many authors I like that I would hate to leave any out!
I will say I’ve read almost all of Georgette Heyer’s romances (Venetia is my favorite).
Among many others, I love Loretta Chase, Lisa Kleypas, Madeline Hunter, Jane Feather, Diane Gaston, Laura Kinsale, and Judith James and Elizabeth Hoyt. These are all great romance authors who also do a fabulous job with historical detail. As to historical fiction and romantic historical fiction, some of my favorites are Diana Gabaldon, Elizabeth Chadwick, Karleen Koen, Ciji Ware, and my friend Christy English.
Jerelyn: Have you heard of PaperBackSwap, and what are your feelings about such sites?
Emery: I have and am actually a member. I think it’s fabulous for finding favorite out of print books. I only wish the hard-working authors received royalties on used book as well as new books.
Jerelyn: I am also interested in your views on e-readers? Do you think they will be the death of printed books?
Emery: I really sat the fence on e-reader until I got one for Christmas. Although I’ll never give up my print books, I LOVE the convenience of my Kindle. I recently discovered it can sit comfortably on the “lip” of the elliptical machine. I’ve now been able to increase my workout from 30 minutes to an hour!
Jerelyn: Congratulations and best of luck with Fortune’s Son!
Emery: Thank you! It’s been a true pleasure and I’ve very much enjoyed answering such interesting questions!
Jerelyn: I have so enjoyed this. Thank-you for taking the time and talking to us.
If you would like to read more about Emery Lee and her upcoming novel Fortune’s Son Due out in November here a link to her web site http://authoremerylee.com/ and you can also follow her on face book http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=1791903264 and Twitter (authoremerylee).
Ms. Lee has graciously offered a copy of her debut novel The Highest Stakes to be given away in a random drawing from the members who comment on this interview.
With triple digits upon us this wonderful alternative to soda and water is being celebrated!! *Fans self with magazine. June 10 is considered National Iced Tea Day, where and how this refreshing holiday began, I can’t seem to locate. I’m still fanning myself. I am just sharing my love of the bodacious brew. Remember the commercial with the handsome rugged guy in the white t-shirt glistening from work and drinking a sweaty tall glass of iced-tea? BIG SIGH!!!! Wait! Is it getting hotter here? OOO Wrong Forum…Blog not DOS!! * Pours more tea into glass and dabs forehead. Anyhoo…
I grew up drinking Iced Tea with meals. My family didn’t care if I drank milk or not. I chose Tea. My job in the evening was to make the tea! Get the pan, boil the water, fill the pan with tea bags (remember to fish them out when done steeping) fill the Tupperware pitcher with ice and if it was too strong add a bit of water. We didn’t add sugar (diabetics in the family). We had Pink Death (Sweet and Low or saccharin tablets or drops for special guests). My brother brought home something called Lipton Instant Lemon Iced Tea…Looked funky…smelled great…cold water , tea powder, ice, stir…done! That went by the wayside after a few years…Back to teabags…Drinking Iced Tea at the Aunt’s house was nice, she would serve it with lemon or mint…It was so cold…looking at that amber color through the ice cubes, not dark like Coke, but a friendlier brew, a darker form of sunshine. Twirling the ice cubes with the loonngg tea spoon. I loved to watch the condensation form on the glass… I would draw hearts on the glass then lick my finger of the cold wetness. ”Don’t forget to wrap the glass” Aunt Myrtle would holler out to us. She didn’t want her tall tea glasses to get broken if they slipped out of our hands. 
I still make Iced Tea almost daily, either a nice black or green. It is a nice break from water or that bottled stuff they call tea. I have only found a few I really like. I add lemon, ginger slices, peaches, mint or even berries. Some of the Fruit Teas make lovely Iced Brews in the summer. My Mr. Coffee Tea maker has been chugging along making tea for 24 years now. I consider it the easy way to make tea, 4 tea bags; water ice cubes…hit the button…Viola! Tea in about 10 minutes! That works for us! When we entertain I usually make three pitchers of tea. One with no sweetener, one weird concoction of berries or mint and one sweet. Nothing ever goes to waste.
I have had Sweet Tea made lovingly by real southern women. It goes great with some peach cobbler or some warm scones or my favorite, on the porch with company. Iced Tea is a stop and savor- waves to the neighbors this moment kinda drink. It brings smile to people. Friends can sit together and hash out problems and find solutions. A comfort drink for a good cry and a great shoulder to lean on. A celebratory concoction for that great news you want to share. It’s a non-judgmental drink. It doesn’t wear a designer label or care if it comes from a specific shop. It lets generations reconnect with each other. You can’t OD on it or get a DUI (unless it is a Long Island Iced Tea!!). It’s a non- threatening beverage. No country has ever declared war with another over tea. Well, okay, I take that back. There was this mishap back in Boston about 250 years ago. I’m talking recently. Raise a glass this day (Don’t let it slip!) to this inexpensive, refreshing beverage. It is amazing how so much flavor and other health benefits can come from leaves.
Now about the guy in the white T-shirt…
Sweet Tea at Sunrise by Sherryl Woods
Cold Tea On A Hot Day by Curtiss Ann Matlock
Drink the Tea: A Mystery by Thomas Kaufman
Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes by Sandra Chastain, Donna Ball, Virginia Ellis aka Lyn Ellis, Debra Dixon, Nancy Knight
My Turn to Make the Tea by Monica Dickens
Thank God for Iced Tea: Stories and Recipes from a Southern Family by Nicole L. Weyant
Zeus and the Giant Iced Tea: Poetry Leopold McGinnis
Back in 2008, I wrote a 3 line review of Butcher Bird. After reading Sandman Slim, I thought I’d revisit it – and got a pleasant surprise for my time and effort. It reads like an earlier draft of Sandman Slim. By the way, that’s a feature, not a bug. It has many mad, beautiful and weird ideas, with good descriptive prose. It also has more sympathetic characters than Sandman Slim.
As to what it’s about, the back cover blurb does a good job of setting it up and giving an overview. It should be, after all the folks that write it have more time to do so.
At its most basic level, Butcher Bird is about Spyder Lee (named for the car) an overgrown adolescent and tattoo artist finally growing up. He does this by getting infected with the truth and seeing the occult magic of the world (a beautiful and terrible experience at the best of times and Spyder’s exposure is far from ideal). He also goes on a quest… Along with Spyder, we get: Lulu, Spyder’s lesbian sister-in-spirit and business partner; Shrike (the butcher bird of the title) a former princess, now blind warrior who wanders the three spheres; Count Non, a mysterious and likable aristocratic warrior. These four then go on an epic quest.
Butcher Bird reminds me of Tim Powers, a darker version of Charles de Lint’s work or Bordertown with the characters growing up. It’s a great piece of urban fantasy. It is also a mash up of urban fantasy, the new weird and traditional quest fantasy. What makes it neat is that Kadrey doesn’t think small – he makes it universally important and personal for the characters. And the quest takes them well beyond Earth and the first sphere.
Now, I mentioned how Butcher Bird read like an earlier draft of Sandman Slim. The two books share elements and themes – Apollyon’s dagger, the Key, a living people in Hell, a human sorcerer raising Hell in Hell, terrors from the creation of the world and others. I doubt I’d have noticed the similarities if I hadn’t read the two in quick succession though. And I think the similarities are a feature, mainly because Butcher Bird is rawer and closer to the surface with its feelings.
In short I liked it. Four stars. Its evocative and has well drawn characters.
Likes: Decent (if not always sympathetic) characters; Nicely done dialogue; Sympathy for the Devil; The little myths from his work on Viper Wire; Character growth; Female characters that pass the Bechdel test; Oddly enough, Hell; Divine will vs. free will; Mad, beautiful ideas – like a city of lost things, fantastic air ships.
Dislikes: Spyder being an ass early in the book, but the character growth takes care of that; Not any sympathy for God.
Suggested for: Richard Kadrey and Sandman Slim fans; Fans of Tim Powers and Charles de Lint; Anyone who wanted a bit more out of the Bordertown series; Fans of John M. Ford’s The Last Hot Time.
I don’t know why I love a tortured hero but I do. In my opinion no one can write the tortured hero like Judith James can. For those who love history her hero in Libertine’s Kiss is based on John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, one of Charles II’s cronies. He was a poet and playwright, part of Charles inner circle. For those who don’t know about this time period, think of the roaring twenties or the 1960. Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll. There is solid historical research on the characters, and James paints this time period with sumptuous and heart rending detail.
William De Veres, the Earl Rivers lost his soul long before he comes to Charles court. He fits right in with the decadent court in exile. The story starts just before the restoration. On a mission for Charles he finds himself hunted and injured on the door step of a prosperous manor house. He finds a woman alone with only her servants, and is taken in out of the storm and tended by this “Puritan Wren“. The widow Elizabeth Walters recognizes this young man, as her childhood friend, her first love. Her reasons for saving him go back to the magical summer before the War. Back to that time before England was ripped apart and before William kills her father. One night of love and he goes, too focused on his mission to wonder for long what this niggling thing in the back of his mind is, she is just a woman after all and there have been so many women…
When Charles is restored to the throne his first actions are to punish and reward. William regains his family’s wealth and power, but Elizabeth doesn’t fare so well. She goes to try and restore her family’s name and fortune, lost not because of her father’s connection to Cromwell but for helping William that night. She goes to court to petition Charles II for justice. Once again she meets William, he sees his “Little Puritan Wren”, then realizes the truth of who she is, and all he owes her. He is determined to help her navigate the dangers of court and help her regain what she has lost. He sees himself as irredeemable, but Lizzy sees the man beneath his mask it is this conflict that drives the story. There is no simple solution to William’s problems. Lizzy loves him but knows that she can’t save him; he has to make the choice.
James, as I have said, really get into her characters heads. There are no pat answers. Lizzy doesn’t save him, but she is the reason that drives him. To re-examine his life. To face his demons. To crawl out of his bottle and maybe just maybe dare to believe in the dreams that he and Lizzy had shared as children. He begins to see the falseness of the court and the hangers on. The wasteland that has become his life and that will remain his life if he lets Lizzy go. I enjoyed that James included John Wilmot poetry. Any book that makes me want to research someone, I know is a good one.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
There’s something strangely therapeutic about the way I eat mangoes, almost cathartic, though I rarely, if ever, cry. There’s a reckless abandon to the way I throw myself at the vibrant, glistening orb set before me, an almost childlike disregard for manners or decorum. That youthful innocence plays out in the shameless grinning of sticky sweet lips dripping with citrus pine juices; I swear that, were the seat high enough to allow for it, I would kick my feet playfully as I hummed sweet mango songs to myself through over-sized mouthfuls of delectable orange flesh.
There are few joys as uninhibited, and yet so simple and convenient. It takes merely the selection of a properly ripened specimen and a quick peeling, and the stage is set perfectly for bliss. No darkness dare oppose the happiness that lies within that multicolored rind, no amount of sadness or anger could possibly outlast the 5 minutes it takes to regrettably reach that ovular disc of a pit.
If I could, I would eat nothing but mangoes, though no doubt this would somehow blunt their powers of unrivaled and miraculous goodness. I am more than content, as ever I shall be, to have just eaten one, at its well appointed time. With no room in my stomach for another, there would be no room in my heart for more happiness, my cup having runneth over in abundance. In that moment my life, as my fingers and face, is undeniably juicy and sweet.
Some Mango Books to enjoy:
