Blog Tour Q&A with Lucinda Elliot, author of Ravensdale

Please join me in welcoming Lucinda Elliot to Let Them Read Books! I'm always on the lookout for something different in historical romance, and Lucinda's series of tongue-in-cheek spoofs on classic romance staples certainly stands out from the crowd! I recently had a chance to ask Lucinda a few questions about how her books came into being and where she draws inspiration. So read on, check out the trailer, and enter to win a paperback copy of her newest novel, Ravensdale!





Hello, Lucinda! Welcome to Let Them Read Books!

Lovely to speak to you, Jenny!

How did you come to write comedic tales of love and adventure rather than typical historical romance?

Well, years ago I was snowed up in my family home in North Wales. I got through a lot of reading then, and this included a lot of historical romances, which had been part of job lots along with furniture my mother bought at auctions. These included novels by Barbara Cartland, Georgette Heyer, and others and I thought then, as now, that the genre did lend itself easily to a non-malicious spoof. Well, Heyer was after all an unromantic woman who was writing romances to support her family and she was very ironical about her work.

Where do you draw inspiration for your characters and storylines?

Probably form sources lost in my unconscious, from various characters in my reading all over the years all jumbled up, and from real life, too. I read a lot of the traditional robber novels recently, for instance, Vulpius Rinaldo Rinaldini written at the close of the eighteenth century, and Pushkin's unfinished robber novella Dubrovsky written a few decades later. Ravensdale's habit of having "dramatic outbursts" is taken from Rinaldini, while his stalking his love object about the grounds of her house, hiding behind bushes, comes from Durbovsky as does his taking on employment in her household in disguise.

What do you like to read for fun? 

Classic English Literature, nonsense in the gothic tradition, ghost stories, the nonsensical romantic novels of the late Victorian best-selling writer Charles Garvice and also a lot of self-published writers--there's so much unacknowledged talent out there. At the moment, I've just finished reading a novella by one of my favorites The Moon Casts a Spell by Rebecca Lochlann from the Child of the Erinyes series.

Are there any books or authors who have influenced your writing?

Jane Austen and Patrick Hamilton for sure, and classic Gothic like Dracula and Frankenstein. For Ravensdale I call on all the clichés of traditional historical romance, The Disgraced Earl turned Outlaw, the Spirited Heroine, the Gallant Highwayman, the Conniving Cousin (who stands to gain by the Wild Young Heir's Disgrace) etc., etc. It's a spoof, but I'm not jeering at readers who enjoy traditional romance, as we all love a bit of tackiness, of improbable happenings, and fun with nonsense, while recognizing it for what it is.

What are you working on now? 

A gothic spoof involving a Villainous Viscount, a sinister hooded figure, a magic mirror, mysterious deaths, a haunted castle, secret passages, and more.

Ohhhh, sounds great! Thanks, Lucinda!

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GIVEAWAY!

Leave a comment on this post with your email address and you're entered to win a paperback copy of Ravensdale!

This giveaway is open to US residents and ends at 11:59pm Sunday, October 12, 2014. Winner will be selected at random. Thanks, and good luck!

From the Back Cover:

When the group of highwaymen headed by the disgraced Earl of Little Dean, Reynaud Ravensdale hold up the hoydenish Isabella Murray’s coach, she knocks one of them down and lectures them all on following Robin Hood’s example.

The rascally Reynaud Ravensdale – otherwise known as the dashing highwayman Mr Fox – is fascinated by her spirit.

He escaped abroad three years back following his supposedly shooting a friend dead after a quarrel. Rumour has it that his far more respectable cousin was involved. Now, having come back during his father’s last illness, the young Earl is seeking to clear his name.

Isabella’s ambitious parents are eager to marry her off to Reynaud Ravensdale’s cousin, the next in line to his title. The totally unromantic Isabella is even ready to elope with her outlaw admirer to escape this fate – on condition that he teaches her how to be a highwaywoman herself.

This hilarious spoof uses vivid characters and lively comedy to bring new life to a theme traditionally favoured by historical novelists – that of the wild young Earl, who, falsely accused of murder by the machinations of a conniving cousin and prejudged by his reputation, lives as an outlaw whilst seeking to clear his name.


Ravensdale is a fast paced, funny and romantic read from the writer of That Scoundrel Émile Dubois, following the adventures of his equally roguish cousin and set in 1792, just prior to the French Revolution, two years before That Scoundrel Émile Dubois.

About the Author:

Lucinda Elliot loves writing Gothic style stories, which isn’t surprising because she was brought up in a series of big old isolated houses which her parents were refurbishing (it wasn’t so fashionable back then). After that, she lived, studied and worked in London for many years and now lives in Mid Wales with her family.

She loves writing about strong women to complement gung-ho males.

Her interests do include weight training and body shaping, and she was once a champion Sports fighter, but apart from that her interests are quite geeky. Reading classic novels, conservation, gardening, and even names and their meanings (bring on the carrot juice). She loves a laugh above anything.

For more information please visit Lucinda’s website. You can also connect with her on Goodreads.

Ravensdale is on a blog tour!

Click here to view the tour schedule