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JANET MULLANY
Janet Mullany has worked as an
archaeologist, radio announcer, performing arts publicist, and
bookseller. Originally from England, she still drinks gallons of tea
daily, but now lives near Washington DC. Visit her website at
www.janetmullany.com.
How I came to write DEDICATION...
It all started with the
image of a man knocking on the door of a young relative's house, intent
on saving him from ruin. From there, the book took shape. I found I went
well beyond the confines of the traditional regency--not that I ever
considered I was writing one.
My hero and heroine are
older than the norm, and they've both had full lives and successful
relationships with other people--and a spectacularly bad relationship
with each other--in their past. They're both very conscious of their
responsibility toward the next generation, and now embarrassed by the
excesses of their youth (the regency equivalent of claiming they'd tried
it once but hadn't inhaled). I was also interested in the regency as a
period a generation away from the French revolution, and as a time when
upper-class women enjoyed some intellectual freedom and often a very
high level of education. I don't believe it's coincidence that women
were mainly uncorseted in this period. A lot of other pieces fell into
place--I'd read, once upon a time, Mrs. Radcliffe's novels (and, yes, I
probably should have been reading something else at the time) and so the
book centers on the identity of a gothic novelist, Mrs. Ravenwood.
There's also a character who is a female portrait painter, an idea I
came up with while researching French artist Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun for
another project.
Let me know what you
think! I'd love to hear from you. And visit my site for excerpts and
upcoming public appearances! |
