Ask the Author: Angela Quarles
Answered Questions (3)
Angela Quarles
Thank you! Must Love Chainmail I'm hoping by early Fall. Unfortunately, Steam Me Up, Rawley probably won't make it to audio as it wouldn't be profitable unless it somehow finds its audience :) Maybe it will when I write some more in that series. Must Love Kilts should be out as an ebook this summer, and as soon as I can save up the money again and book the narrator, it will follow Chainmail...
Angela Quarles
The original germ for Must Love Breeches was wondering who would be cool to meet if I went back in time. I’d originally conceived to go back to Jane Austen’s era, but that idea has been well-trodden. When I came across Ada Lovelace, I had my answer. Born Augusta Ada Byron, she is the only legitimate daughter of the famous poet and bad boy Lord Byron and his wife, Annabella Milbanke. What a tumultuous and intriguing marriage that was! I had a hard time reining in Lady Byron in this story, as my interpretation of her personality is not favorable, and she was just oh-so annoying to me. I had many more scenes with her, as she lent herself easily to being an antagonist, but this story isn’t supposed to be a rant about her and they were cut. Ada had such a sad childhood, and while her adulthood contained many amazing accomplishments, she died unpardonably young at thirty-six from uterine cancer. I think a lot her troubles stemmed from the tyranny of her mother, and in this novel, I took the liberty of giving her an alternate life through meeting Isabelle where she didn’t die of cancer and had a happier life. In the end, this is a work of fiction, and my imagination, and I wanted to give this alternate life to her. I picked 1834 because it was the first year that Ada Byron was ‘out’ (having her Season in public). It was after her second Season that she married her husband William King, becoming Baroness King. In 1838, her husband became the Earl of Lovelace, and so that’s why she’s commonly called Ada Lovelace.
Angela Quarles
Right now it's finishing up this last round of Beta feedback on my steampunk romance Steam Me Up, Rawley, a steampunk romance set in Mobile, Alabama in 1890. It's a spin-off of the Must Love series, because the events in Book 1 of that series creates the world the steampunk one is set in. That will go to the developmental editor this week. I hope to have it out in January/February 2015. It's working logline is: "Set in an alternate Deep South in 1890, a commitment-averse reporter wants to prove her worth and seizes on the recent Jack the Ripper-style murders as her big break, but her father's handsome new business partner threatens her with something more terrifying--marriage."
And then in mid- to late-2015, I'll release Book 2 in the Must Love series, which is Must Love Chainmail, set in 1294 Wales. It's working logline is: "A micro-managing bride-to-be is accidentally thrust through time to medieval Wales during a rebellion she can't control and into the arms of a knight of questionable allegiance she can't resist." It's in revision as well, and should be ready for Beta readers in late fall.
And then in mid- to late-2015, I'll release Book 2 in the Must Love series, which is Must Love Chainmail, set in 1294 Wales. It's working logline is: "A micro-managing bride-to-be is accidentally thrust through time to medieval Wales during a rebellion she can't control and into the arms of a knight of questionable allegiance she can't resist." It's in revision as well, and should be ready for Beta readers in late fall.
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