Jude Knight: “I Blame the Plot Elves” + a Giveaway of “A Baron for Becky”

Today, I would like to welcome a dear friend, Jude Knight to the blog. After a career in commercial writing, editing, and publishing, Jude returned to her first love: fiction. She claims to love capable, determined heroines, and heroes who appreciate them. Her first novel was Farewell to Kindness, number one in The Golden Redepennings series,  with a publication date of 1 April 2015. Several novels are in the works, and she has plot outlines for 40+, all set in the early 19th century. Welcome, Jude…

Dear Readers, anyone who knows me knows that I possess a jackdaw mind: one that collects odd facts, interesting stories, concepts, faces, and snippets of plot ideas. They drop into the depths of my memory, and surface in unexpected configurations. I know from where some of A Baron for Becky comes, but I’m blaming the rest on plot elves.
The Marquis of Aldridge first appeared in my mind because I required a hero who was a complete contrast to my crusading social zealot Lady Charlotte Winderfield. Lady Charlotte’s story will be the third book in a series I have yet to start, but once I’d begun to think about Aldridge, he would not be quiet, and he soon inserted himself in my work-in-progress, Encouraging Prudence, where he is the hero’s half-brother.

Aldridge is a rake; a redeemable rake, one with charm and humour, but nonetheless full of the self-centredness of the tribe.

When the Bluestocking Belles formed a group of eight Regency writers, we found ourselves using our launch event page for a three-week long marathon of interactive story telling. We invented a magical inn that allowed our fictional worlds to collide, and brought along our characters for an impromptu party.

I contributed Aldridge to the fun, and it was fun! Poor Aldridge. He had a frustrating time, with his advances to one lady after another being rejected, sometimes violently.

Then along came Mrs A. Mrs Angel is the invention of Catherine Curzon, and she is a wonderful character, mistress to princes, owner of brothels, and a rollicking good-time girl. Aldridge’s pursuit of Mrs A. jumped from thread to thread and took days, with one accident after another keeping him from his goal.

Becky is no Mrs A. Initially, Catherine and I thought about writing the Aldridge/Mrs A. story, though how we would solve the time issue, I do not know. Aldridge was newly born when Mrs Angel was in her prime. In any case, I realised that Aldridge required quite a different experience at this point in his life. Becky began to take shape in my mind – a broken bird, rescued by Aldridge but carrying scars from her past experiences.

Hugh is the baron of the title. Aldridge’s friend, he possesses scars of his own. And when Hugh entered the picture, an amalgam of all the best men I have known, A Baron for Becky stopped being a story about Aldridge and became a story about marriage.

So in the end, my inspiration for this book is my experience of the healing power of love. And the plot elves.

 

A Baron for Becky 

She was a fallen woman when she met them. How can they help her fall on her feet?

Becky is the envy of the courtesans of the demi-monde – the indulged mistress of the wealthy and charismatic Marquis of Aldridge. But she dreams of a normal life; one in which her daughter can have a future that does not depend on beauty, sex, and the whims of a man.

Finding herself with child, she hesitates to tell Aldridge. Will he cast her off, send her away, or keep her and condemn another child to this uncertain shadow world?

The devil-may-care face Hugh shows to the world hides a desperate sorrow; a sorrow he tries to drown with drink and riotous living. His years at war haunt him, but even more, he doesn’t want to think about the illness that robbed him of the ability to father a son. When he dies, his barony will die with him. His title will fall into abeyance, and his estate will be scooped up by the Crown.

When Aldridge surprises them both with a daring proposition, they do not expect love to be part of the bargain.

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Jude Knight at Amazon Author Central , Facebook, Twitter

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!!!! LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW TO BE ENTERED INTO THE GIVEAWAY OF AN eBOOK COPY OF “A BARON FOR BECKY.” THE GIVEAWAY WILL END AT MIDNIGHT EDST, JULY 26, 2015.