Some Have Wondered

What has become of Loretta Chase? Is she still writing? Or is it true that she's lying on a beach in Betel Nampur Sainte Victoire drinking pina coladas?

The answer, of course, is forty-two.

Following a rather long period of not writing fiction, I eventually settled at the edge of a very high cliff, stared into the bottomless abyss below for a few months, and late last fall, jumped.

In other words, I started writing something completely different from my previous novels. The current work-in-progress is set in the present day, in the U.S., and features supernatural elements. Yes, it is probably a horror story, but one written for those of delicate sensibilities, who prefer a low yuck factor, a good dose of love story (even if the love takes a rather strange route), and laughs along the way. The monsters, of course, are dreadful, as by law monsters must be, but they are also witty, because they are required to amuse the author who is, after all, slaving over them.

If all goes well--which it never does--this story will be completed in the summer. After that, the strange beings from the planet Publishing, who are often called agents and editors, will determine the tale's fate, so it is really no use asking me when my new book will be out.

My answers to other, not quite so difficult, questions appear in The March 2000 issue of Romance Writer's Report, in Sandy Huseby's "Writers on Writing" column. Readers living in or visiting the Orlando, Florida area will be able, some unspecificed date in the coming year or two or three, hear some of my work. Contrary to rumor, the recent sabbatical was not entirely a goofing-off period. I scripted pieces for, among others, audio-visual programs to be featured at the new Orange County Regional History Center.


She Gets Mail

With no small trepidation, and more than one swooning episode, Loretta Chase has, with considerable aid from friends and spouse, opened the door a crack into the Information Age.

Thanks to the singlehanded effort of a loyal and talented reader, there exists a website:

http:www.oocities.org/~lorettachase

and an e-mail address: lorettachase@yahoo.com

Those who prefer to do their communicating on paper, via the United States Postal Service, may now write to me directly, rather than through intermediaries: LORETTA CHASE, PO BOX 3063, FAYVILLE MA 01745-3063. I'm very happy to hear from and respond to readers, and particularly grateful to those who streamline the process by enclosing a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

The backlist

[H = hardcover P = paperback]
ISABELLA
Walker & Company (H) 10/87 ISBN 0-8027-0975-3
Avon Regency (P) 2/89 ISBN 0-380-70597-4

THE ENGLISH WITCH
Walker & Company (H) 7/88 ISBN 0-8027-1027-1
Avon Regency (P) 8189 ISBN 0-380-70660-1

VISCOUNT VAGABOND
Walker & Company (H) 12188 ISBN 0-8027-1046-8
Avon Regency (P) 2/90 ISBN 0-380-70836-1

THE DEVIL'S DELILAH
Walker & Company (H) 6/89 ISBN 0-8027-1058-1
Fawcett Regency (P) 7/90 ISBN 0-449-21894-5

KNAVES'WAGER
Walker & Company (H) 5/90 ISBN 0-8027-1114-6
Avon Regency (P) 8/91 ISBN 0-380-71363-2

THE SANDALWOOD PRINCESS
Walker & Company (H) 12/90 ISBN 0-8027-1128-6
Avon Regency (P) 11/91 ISBN 0-380-71455-8

THE LION'S DAUGHTER (Reissued Spring 1996)
Avon Historical Romance (P) 10/92 ISBN 0-380-76647-7

"FALLING STARS,'
short story in A CHRISTMAS COLLECTION
Avon Historical Romance 11/92 ISBN 0-380-76833-X
also in A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Avon Historical Romance (P) 9/94 ISBN 0-380-97240-9

CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT
Avon Historical Romance (P) 2194 ISBN 0-380-76648-5


LORD OF SCOUNDRELS
Avon Historical Romance (P) 1/95 ISBN 0-380-77616-2
Five Star Large Print edition (H) November 1999


'THE MAD EARL'S BRIDE,' novella in
THREE WEDDINGS AND A KISS
Avon Historical Romance 9/95 ISBN 0-380-78122-0

THE LAST HELLION
Avon Historical Romance (P) 4198 ISBN 0-380-77617-0
Five Star Large Print edition (H) August 1999

and how to find it

The following are still in print and available from Avon Books:

LORD OF SCOUNDRELS
THREE WEDDINGS AND A KISS
THE LAST HELLION (this will be out of print in the near future, however)

You can order direct from the publisher by calling 1-800- 822-4090.
The following out-of-print books may be purchased from the author's limited stock.

KNAVES' WAGER $4.
THE SANDALWOOD PRINCESS $4.
CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT $5.

For one book, please add $3 shipping and handling. For two to four books, please add $4.
No more than four books can be shipped at a time.
Each copy will be signed with the author's name only unless you request it be inscribed 'To _________' Please send your request and check (payable to Loretta Chase) to:
LORETTA CHASE
PO BOX 3063
FAYVILLE MA 01745-3063


Since you asked

(Actual questions from real, live readers )
Q: Was Loretta Chase a fan of Georgette Heyer before she started writing regencies?
A: If I had read Georgette Heyer first, I would have been too intimidated to attempt a Regency. Fortunately, I wrote the first two or three Regencies in blissful ignorance.

Q: What advice would you give to an aspiring author?
A: Read widely and obsessively. Write daily. One in a million is a literary genius. The rest of us need to practice. Diligently.

Q: Does Loretta Chase have a favorite book of historical costume which she consults to dress her characters properly? Also, does she have any favorite source books that she could recommend that she finds most helpful for historical background when she is plotting her stories?
A: My most frequently consulted costume books are ENGLISH WOMEN'S CLOTHING IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY and THE HISTORY OF UNDERCLOTHES, both by C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington. Some of the most useful historical sources are autobiographies, collections of letters and journals, and travel books of the period. For a basic understanding of the Regency era, try J.6. Priestley's THE PRINCE OF PLEASURE AND HIS REGENCY, R.J. White's LIFE IN REGENCY ENGLAND, and John Ashton's DAWN OF THE 19TH CENTURY.

Q: Those books of yours that I've read (Lion's Daughter and Captives of the Night) strike me as quite out of the ordinary. Where do you get your ideas? Albania was a fascinating setting for part of your stories, and you made it seem so very real. Did you go to Albania for your research? If not, how were you able to make it so real?
A: The ideas come from a dark and mysterious place in my brain. Explaining Albania is easier. My parents were born there, and I had an opportunity to visit while it was still a closed country, under Communist rule. In many areas, in many ways, this was the same Albania Lord Byron saw in 1809-10 when he visited with John Cam Hobhouse, Parts of Byron's DON JUAN are drawn from that experience. Hobhouse wrote a book about their trip. Their works were among many that I consulted, along with relatives' accounts and my own memories.

Q: When did she start writing and what was the catalyst that made her start? Did she take writing classes? What author(s) inspired her? Who else inspired and/or encouraged her? What does she read just for pleasure? How would she most like her work to be thought of/remembered? What has been the happiest event in her career so far?
A: I started writing in the third or fourth grade because ... oh, I don't know why. Just because. I took many English Literature courses, but no creative writing- My primary inspiration was and continues to be Charles Dickens. Two of my college professors were marvelous mentors. For pleasure, in addition to Charles Dickens and other 19th century English novelists, I read murder mysteries. I'd like my books to be valued as re-readable. I'm fortunate in having so many wonderful career events that it's impossible to narrow down to one.

Q: Are you going to write any more books with Lord Dain?
A: I truly don't know.

Q: Okay, I will ask the OBVIOUS one--which does she prefer writing--the early regencies or the more recent historicals and why?
A: I loved writing the early Regencies. I moved to historicals because the force that drives me to write wanted longer books with a bigger story.

Q: If that one has already appeared (and it probably has), ask her what her secret is for writing such wonderfully rakish heroes, esp. Julian Brandon from Knaves'Wager--though there are MANY others--Basil from Isabella and the English Witch, and Varian from Lion's daughter. Okay all of them.
A: I listen to the voices in my head.


All modesty aside


awards 1987-88
Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Awards:
Best New Regency Author & Regency Rake of the Year (THE ENGLISH WITCH)
1989-90
Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award: Best Regency Author
1990
Romance Writers of America, Best Regency Award (THE SANDALWOOD PRINCESS)
1991-92
Romantic Times Best Regency Historical Romance (THE LION'S DAUGHTER)
1992
Romance Writers of America, Golden Choice Award finalist (THE LION'S DAUGHTER)
1993-94
Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Certificate of Excellence (CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT)
1994
Romance Readers Anonymous, Best Historical Single Title Romance (LORD OF SCOUNDRELS)
1995
The Reader's Voice, Best Historical Romance (LORD OF SCOUNDRELS)
1996
Romance Writers of America, Runner-up, Favorite Book of the Year (1995) (LORD OF SCOUNDRELS)
1996
1996
Romance Writers of America, Best Short Historical Romance (LORD OF SCOUNDRELS)
1996
Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, Best Regency Historical (LORD OF SCOUNDRELS)
1998
Romance Writers of America, Top Ten Favorite Books of the Year (THE LAST HELLION)
1998
Library Journal, Best Genre Fiction of the Year, Romance (THE LAST HELLION)
1998
Romance Readers Anonymous, Best Historical Single Title Romance (THE LAST HELLION)
1998
Romance Readers Anonymous, Best All-Time Historical Romance (LORD OF SCOUNDRELS)
1998
Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, Best British Isles Historical Romance (THE LAST HELLION)

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ŠLoretta Chase. No portion maybe copied and/or displayed without written permission.