August 29, 2007
Under the Covers
Written by RobynDeHart in Our Books
Tempted at Every Turn has been out about a month now and I’ve already received such great reader feedback about Willow and James. I normally do my Under the Covers feature on my website and I will put this there too, but my Jaunty friends are getting a sneak peek at the behind the scenes.
Heroine: Willow Mabson
Inspiration – actually Anna Paquin, not someone I would ordinarily look to for a heroine, but this picture seemed to capture the essence of Willow for me. 
Hero: James Sterling
Inspiration – Josh Holloway, I actually had a difficult time “finding” James. And as silly as it may sound, I get stuck if I can’t find THE right picture. But then, I found it…
Yowza! It totally embodied his arrogance and sexiness.
It took me a while to narrow down the subject matter I wanted to deal with in the mystery subplot of the book. I jumped around to several different ideas, even one about a kidnapped show dog – as it turns out, that would have been a WAY different book. The idea I ended up with worked so much better.
Anytime you have a really starched, repressed, uptight society, you’ll have an underground movement that swings the other way. As most you know the Victorian era is known not only for the industrial revolution, but also for their strict morality. But while so many were busy being prim and proper, prostitution was at an all-time high, and there was an emergence of both erotic literature and photography. It was the latter that I chose to use and it worked perfectly with Willow’s rather rigid nature. Needless to say it was rather interesting research.
The other aspect I tackled was Bi-polar disorder, a tricky feat for a historical novel when none of the modern terminology would have applied. I have a friend who has family experience with this and was able to assist me with making sure I portrayed the illness appropriately, especially in a day and age when we didn’t have the benefit of the medications.
On top of all of this, I had all the Scotland Yard (technically Metropolitan Police) procedural stuff to work out. Needless to say it was a really interesting book to research. And the characters are probably my favorite thus far. Well, I hope you enjoyed this peek from the inside of Tempted at Every Turn.
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Rainy Says:
Robyn,
The book sounds fascinating and I’m sure it’s the only time bipolar disease has found its way into a Victorian romance. There are so many of us who at least know somebody affected with that disorder so I think this addition is sure to enhance the story.
As I listen to the Jaunties tell about the making of their books, I wonder how long the process is (I’m sure you’ve touched on this on your sites). But from conception, research, plot revising to revision, how long would you say this book took to finish?
Wishing you high sales and good luck!
brownone Says:
Wow Robyn…the book sounds interesting. I do transcription for two psychologists and some of the things I’ve transcribed would curl your toes!
It was neat to see how you get your inspiration and admire all of you authors that are capable of turning it into a great book.
AndreaW Says:
Robyn, as you know, I absolutely loved this book and think that it is your best work yet. And you did what very few have been able to do (Shana being one of them) . . . make me fall in love with a blond hero! Kudos to you!
Love this book!
Robyn DeHart Says:
Rainy, it’s been a while so I can’t be certain about the entire timeline. But I did go back to my writing tracker for that book and I wrote it in 49 days - now that was actually spread out over about 4 months, so it wasn’t consecutive days as I don’t write on weekends (usually) and I had some travel in there somewhere. I’m a draft writer, meaning I don’t stop once I start writing a draft, to revise, that is, I just plow through and make notes as I go. So then after the rough draft is done, the revision work begins. I believe it took me about a month, perhaps a month and a week to do the several layers of revisions I do before I send books to my agents. Usually I pass through the book at least 3 times, adding, fleshing-out, tweaking, polishing, etc. So I guess when all is said and done it took me less than 6 months to write. I tend to be a fairly fast writer - not as fast as some of the Jaunties, but I can hold my own.
Robyn DeHart Says:
Brownone, I have no doubt you are probably full of interesting stories from your job.
Andrea, you’re so sweet. I’m really glad you loved James and Willow.
Rainy Says:
Thanks for answering my questions, Robyn. It appears that not only are you creative, you are also a very organized writer. And it obviously works quite well. Creativity I can do. Organization, that’s another matter. My style has been to write by the seat of my pants (no visualization here, please), but I don’t see how that would work when you’ve at least one subplot going. I can see that I’ve got to combine the fun (letting the characters run wild) with actual WORRRKKK! (anyone old enough to remember Maynard G Crebbs from Dobie Gillis?)
Thanks again for sharing.
Margo Maguire Says:
Robyn - TEMPTED looks very tempting! Can’t wait to get my hands on it during my next trip to the bookstore. Maybe tonight …
Helen Says:
Robyn I loved Tempted At Every Turn I couldn’t put it down Willow and James wonderful together. I really like the way you portrayed Willow’s mother obviously you had put a lot of research into Bi-polar. I thought the book was awesome love your work.
Have Fun
Helen
Robyn DeHart Says:
Rainy, I suppose I am pretty organized. I’m a fairly left-brained person though so I approach my writing in a structured manner.
Margo, hope you enjoy it.
Helen, you’re so sweet. Thanks for the glowing compliments.
Shana Says:
This book sounds so good–I didn’t know you ahd all of these elements in it, Robyn. I really need to carve out some time to read your book and Anne’s!
Haven Rich Says:
I’m actually reading this book right now! Yay!! So far it’s been a wonderful read.
Mary M Says:
Wow, I will never get tired of this cover! Beautiful! The juxtaposition of Queen Victoria and Albert’s love affair against their era always seemed interesting to me. It makes you wonder if the forbidden element heightened the erotic tales of the age. Thank you for a wonderful book.
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