Welcome Guest Author Maggie Robinson/Margaret Rowe! Comment to Win!

Thanks so much to Sabrina for having me here on my never-ending promo journey. :) It seems like I just did all this, and I guess I did—the two of me (Maggie Robinson and Margaret Rowe) had books come out in May and June. Maggie’s fortunate enough to have a novella in Lords of Passion out now, and Mistress by Midnight releases December 28! Margaret has to wait until March 1, when Any Wicked Thing comes out. Whew! Craziness.

But completely lovely craziness for someone who is a typing class drop-out and suffers from carpal tunnel. I wonder how many words I’ve mis-typed in the seven years I’ve been writing, LOL. Turns out I should have listened to my father, even if he did think that women could only be teachers, nurses or secretaries. But I snuck out of the adult ed night typing class I enrolled in with my then-boyfriend to kiss in his Karmann Ghia convertible. I was a hopeless romantic even back then.

The role of women in society has changed a whole lot from my adult ed days, and even more so from the late Regency period I write about. As a woman of a certain age, I have trouble relating to the innocent ingĂ©nue making her debut, so most of my heroines have “a past,” or want to acquire one. Prudence Thorne from “Not Quite a Courtesan” in Brava’s Lords of Passion has been happily widowed and wants to see what all the fuss is about after witnessing the passion of her cousin’s new marriage. The dashing, disreputable hero Darius Shaw finds Pru to be a quick study who even teaches him a thing or two. Laurette Vincent in Mistress by Midnight knows what passion is and has tried to avoid it, but hero Desmond Ryland, Marquess of Conover, has other ideas and breaks every rule to get her back into his bed.

I’ve discovered a recurring theme for my books—mature heroines who’ve been hurt but discover “there’s still a little chicken left on that bone.” Craig Morgan’s country song may be 21st century, but it works pretty well for my 19th century characters.







Here’s my favorite verse:

“But it ain’t over until you say it is.
Don’t pour out your Coca-Cola if it’s still got a little bit of fizz,
Little bit of juke left in that jive,
Little bit of honey left in that hive,
There might not be a lot of roll left in that stone,
Still a little chicken left on that bone.”

Now in case you think I’m writing about absolutely ancient, decrepit people, most of my characters tend to be in their thirties—which was definitely middle-aged in 1820. Thirty sounds pretty young, but the likelihood of having all your teeth back then was not a given. But since I write romance, all my heroes have gorgeous teeth and fresh breath, LOL.

You’re never too old for love if you open yourself up to the possibilities. Hopelessly romantic still? You bet! Does it matter how young/old or virginal/experienced the heroines are in the books you read? I’m giving away a signed copy of both Lords of Passion (Pru, 29) and Mistress by Midnight (Laurette, 29) to one random commenter!

23 comments:

  1. Actually, I prefer heroines that are not too young. Maybe it's my own age showing...

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  2. I don;t mind either young or mature heroines, as long as the character has depth and is interesting :)

    bookwormreviewedATgmailDOTcom

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  3. I prefer my heroines to have a little bit of a past even if it is not a romantic past :)

    BTW - love the little snippet of "there is still some chicken left on the bone". I am definately going in search of that song!

    Chrizette
    baychriz at gmail dot com
    (if international)

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  4. Morning, everybody!Thanks again for having me here, Sabrina.

    Chrizette, when I heard that song, it brought a big smile to my face.:)

    Michelle, I got the best of both worlds with Mistress by Midnight, for some of the story took place when the characters were 17 & 19.

    Milena, I seem to empathize more with older characters who have a bit more mileage too. Sometimes I forget

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  5. to finish the sentence, LOL. Don't know where it went to, and can't remember what I meant to say!

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  6. I'm with you - I like my heroines to have some experiences behind them as well. Great blog post! :)

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  7. I like it when my heroines are a little more older. I think it gives them more of a past and they have experienced more.
    Thanks for the giveaway. I can't wait to read both of these books. They both look so good.

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  8. Mags/Marge -

    I got ya beat, honey. My debut book features a 53 year old widow heating the sheets with a 65 year old pirate.

    Huzzuh for seasoned lovers!

    I hope you'll give it a read when it comes out!

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  9. Although I enjoy ingenue stories, I prefer the heroine to have a bit of a past, or experience, or even just the feeling that she's been left on the shelf and that's her lot in life. It's nice to see her get her hero and happily ever after.

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  10. For me, age/experience doesn't matter to me as long as I am enjoying the story.

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  11. It does not matter what the heroine is. As long as the story is good! I used to only like young virginal heriones but as I get older I prefer them older with more experience not necessarily sexual but more wordly. I want her to know who she is and what she wants! Thanks for sharing today!

    evjochum@aol.com

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  12. Maggie -
    I love your books and I feel like a kindred spirit at times. I think their attitude means more than the actual age of the characters.

    When reading I always take into consideration the era and economic climate in which the book is set. In 1971 when I got maried I was 22 and onsidered "older" than when most of my friends had married (this was during Vietnam). Often the economic climent of an era as well as political upheaval can also effect the "average" age at marriage.

    I have enjoyed sevral books that have included romance of different couples incorporated in the same story. It has been interesting to see how different couples react and the way they deal with intimacy and conflict within the same story.

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  13. Jeanne, Thanks so much! I love secondary romances where older characters get their second chances. Spread the love, LOL.

    I'm so glad to see that mature heroines seem to winning out here.Thanks so much for your responses, Rebecca, Danielle, Barbara, Crystal and Johanna! An informal survey like this always helps me when I contemplate creating characters. It used to be if your heroine wasn't a virgin, the reader would throw the book at the wall, but times have changed. :)

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  14. Maureen, you go, you pirate, you! I bet a ton of people will love your daring premise.A couple of months ago, I asked readers in a contest who their favorite heartthrob was, and I couldn't believe how many people said Sean Connery!

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  15. Oh gosh... what a wonderful giveaway!!!!! Thanks for having such a great giveaway!!!!
    Please count me in!
    alliwantandmorebooks@ gmail.com

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  16. I'm kind of past the virginal heroines. Not that I don't enjoy reading them now and again, but I like the more mature characters as I've gotten older.

    seriousreader at live dot com

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  17. As I've gotten older, my preference for heroines' ages has gone up, too... I do like them to not be quite so fresh-faced and naive :) It's nice when they've lived a little and have been around the block a bit, so to speak :)

    Congrats on your latest, Maggie! These sound wonderful!

    f dot chen at comcast dot net

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  18. I like heroines not to be too young (as the others have already said I think it goes with my getting older too ;-p) my perfect heroine is between 23-32. However if I read a historical romance I like the heroines to be inexperienced. In that period it wouldn't have done for them to engage in sexcapades without being married first.

    Love the beautiful covers and would love to read your novels! Thank you for the giveaway! :-)

    stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com

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  19. I seldom think of their age unless it is pointed out throughout the book. experience doesn't matter since the author wil have written it the wayit needed to be. i usually trust my authors. :)

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  20. I agree with several of the other commenters, as I have gotten older I like my heroines to be more mature and her relationships more complicated. I also appreciate wittier characters.

    jessica(at)novelreaction(dot)com

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  21. Yay on validation for mature women, LOL! Thank you all so much for stopping by and commenting!

    (Kandace, I'm not sure I'm trustworthy, LOL)

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  22. I dont really mind whether the heroines are mature or not. I can look back and smile on some of the heroine's antics!

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  23. I don't really mind how old the heroine is. I enjoy youth adult literature very much, so of course they're younger there. But of course I can relate to older women a bit more & they're usually more confident (on the outside) & know where they are & want to be in their life. I can relate to that more.

    Virginal/Experienced I don't really care either. That depends on the character, because I tend to find it kinda weird when in a series the guys are always well experienced & the girls they met are usually all virgins. Boring. Especially when the story plays nowadays. That's sometimes very irritating. If it's playing 200 years ago I can cope much more better with that, because it fits into the time, especially if the heroine comes from a good & wealthy home, although we can be pretty sure that they, ehem, fooled around then just as much as people are doing now.

    Thanks for the giveaway. Books sound really good.

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