Loretta Chase Chronicle
Volume 1.2 Summer 2000


WORK IN PROGRESS

Is it Done Yet?

Almost. The end is near. Although disaster could strike at any time, it seems likely the comic horror masterpiece will be done before summer’s end. Then it leaves the known world and goes out into the world of agents and editors. Precisely what that place is, where it is, and what goes on there constitutes one of the great cosmic mysteries. It may be some kind of cult. It may be a wormhole. Or the rabbit hole Alice fell into. Maybe it’s all these things. This mere mortal lacks sufficient Zen or karma or whatever you call it to understand, and fears that trying to understand will result in brain damage. Instead, my attention turns to the beach. There I will read piles of books (80% murder mysteries) while drinking iced tea with sand in it and fighting off vicious author-eating oceanic insects. Sooner or later--likely sooner, since I burn easily--the Muse or excessive itching will propel me inland. I will return home and sit at the computer, stare at the screen for a time (weeks, months, years--who knows?) and then, finally, tragically, another book will ensue.

IN OTHER NEWS



HARDWARE

Currently, CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT, LORD OF SCOUNDRELS, and THE LAST HELLION are available in more durable (and expensive) form as hardcover Five Star Romances.

SOFTWARE

Last we heard, Avon’s warehouse was out of TLH and down to a handful of LOS. TLH will go out of print. LOS’s Avon future is unknown. Meanwhile, however, we’re looking into reprint options for the first eight books.

LIVE ACTION

At the Romance Writers of America national conference in Washington DC in July, I will perform the following feats: Tues 7/25 Beau Monde Chapter Book Signing Wed 7/26 Literacy Autographing (Whether or not books will be available for signing is another question. See above, “wormhole,” and SOFTWARE.) Fri 7/28 Chat With Session The rest of the time I will be doing something else.

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) 8/89 ISBN 0-380-70660-1


VISCOUNT VAGABOND
Walker & Company (H) 12/88 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 (P) 11/92 ISBN 0-380-76833-X
also in A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Avon (P) 9/94 ISBN 0-380-97240-9


CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT
Avon Historical Romance (P) 2/94 ISBN 0-380-76648-5
Five Star Romance (H) 2000 ISBN 0-7862-2368-5


LORD OF SCOUNDRELS
Avon Historical Romance (P) 1/95 ISBN 0-380-77616-2
Five Star Romance (H) 11/99 ISBN 0-7862-2252-2


“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) 4/98 ISBN 0-380-77617-0
Five Star Romance (H) 8/99 ISBN 0-7862-1989-0


AND HOW TO FIND IT
On and off-line boosktores may still be able to obtain the two most recent novels via distributors. THREE WEDDINGS AND A KISS remains in print and in Avon stock.

The following out-of-print books may be purchased from the author’s dwindling supply.

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 or money order (payable to
Loretta Chase) to:

LORETTA CHASE
PO BOX 3063
FAYVILLE MA 01745-3063


Note: KW and TSP stock is very low.

MAKING CONTACT

Thanks to a loyal and talented reader, information is available electronically.

the Loretta Chase home page: www.theLChp.com
e-mail: lorettachase@yahoo.com
Or, there’s always mail with a stamp:
LORETTA CHASE
BOX 3063
FAYVILLE MA 01745-3063

We’re especially grateful to those who enclose a self-addressed
stamped envelope for the reply.

SINCE YOU ASKED
(Actual questions from real, live readers )

Q: I was wondering which books are Loretta's favorites, romance and non-romance.
A: Dickens is my absolute favorite; I have re-read his books many, many times. I’ve always been partial to 19th century English literature, mostly the Victorian writers. I also love murder mysteries. Among favorite mystery authors: Lawrence Block, Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie, Janet Evanovich, Dashiell Hammett, Ngaio Marsh, Elizabeth Peters, Dorothy L. Sayers. Then there’s Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe, P.G. Wodehouse...the list is very, very long.

Q: When Ms.Chase wrote THE LAST HELLION [1998], did she do so, intending this to be her last regency novel? Or was this decision made after finishing this story?
A: I haven’t made that decision. Although the current work is contemporary, my heart belongs to the past, and Regency England continues to call to me. It’s possible the next book will have a historical setting.

Q: What was your inspiration to write in the Regency era?
A: Regencies were my favorite form of romance reading. Jane Austen may well be my second-favorite author. She is at least on the Top Ten List. Though I was more familiar originally with the Victorians, I soon became intrigued by the Regency era. My longstanding affection for 19th century English history and literature made research a joy.

Q: (As a reader I enjoy characters from one book appearing in another.) Some of the "bad" boys from one book appear as the hero in a subsequent book, what was the reasoning behind this?
A: I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for bad boys. If they appear as secondary characters in one book, I tend to want to explore them more fully in another. Also, I enjoy the challenge of transforming impossible men into heroes, perhaps because it can’t be done in real life.

Q: Were character elements of Dain and Jessica drawn from or influenced by any historical or fictional characters? They are such full-blooded and full-bodied characters, what was it like having them "in your head" and "talking to you" while you were writing LOS? Do you ever "revisit" them? Re-read LOS? If you do, how do you read it? As a reader or as an author/editor?
A: I’m not sure where Dain and Jessica came from. All I know is that one day they were there, big as life. It was an unusual creative process. Their scenes, their story, arose day by day in my mind’s eye with crystal clarity. This is not my usual writing experience. My characters normally make me work much harder to understand them, what they want, and where they’re headed. Re-reading LOS isn’t really necessary. The scenes remain vivid in my mind, the dialogue clearly audible. It was a wonderful writing experience, which may explain why I can read the book without mentally editing...very much.

Q: What books have influenced Loretta? Which are her favorite authors of the past and in the present?
A: See my answer at the start of this section. The English Victorians are the most powerful influence, with Dickens strongest of all-- although I think George Eliot provides a more accurate--and sardonic--picture of relationships between men and women.

Q: Why doesn’t your publisher reprint your older books?
A: Publishers let books go out of print when the demand isn’t high enough to justify the expense of reprinting and warehousing them. I am, however, researching alternative reprint routes for the six Regencies and the first two historical romances.

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