DEANNA RAYBOURN, Day 23, Month of Romantic Suspense

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Please welcome Rita-award winning author DEANNA RAYBOURN to our Month of Romantic Suspense!

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From Deanna's website: http://www.deannaraybourn.com/

Welcome! I am so thrilled to welcome readers to my little corner of the Internet. Here you will find everything you want to know about my Julia Grey series and other upcoming projects. You can sign up for newsletters, peruse the photos, visit my blog, and now—thanks to the creative folks at Two Rock Media Productions—watch a book trailer for my latest title, Silent on the Moor. (It’s a stunning and atmospheric piece that perfectly captures the moody moors of Yorkshire and the mysteries they hide.) Meanwhile, for answers to your most pressing questions, be sure to check my FAQs page! 

And if you are new to the Julia Grey series, here’s a peek at what you’ve been missing: 

“Sex, lies and awesome clothing descriptions” is how one reader described Deanna’s debut novel, Silent in the Grave, published in January 2007. The first in the Silent series, the book follows Lady Julia Grey as she investigates the mysterious death of her husband with the help of the enigmatic private inquiry agent Nicholas Brisbane. From the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to a Gypsy camp on Hampstead Heath, Silent in the Gravedeftly captures the lush ambience of Victorian London.Silent in the Grave won the 2008 RITA for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements. 

The series continues with the second book, Silent in the Sanctuary (January 2008), a classic English country house murder mystery with a few twists and turns for Brisbane and Lady Julia along the way. Silent in the Sanctuary was nominated for the Dilys Wynn Award and the Daphne du Maurier Award. 

In the third installment, Silent on the Moor (March 2009), Lady Julia journeys to Yorkshire in the company of her sister Portia. Determined to settle matters once and for all between herself and the enigmatic Nicholas Brisbane, Lady Julia instead unearths a legacy of malevolence and evil that threatens to destroy them both. Silent on the Moorlanded on the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association bestseller list even before its official release and remained on the bestseller list for eight weeks. 

March 2010 will see the release of The Dead Travel Fast, the story of Theodora Lestrange, a young Scottish novelist, and her adventures in 1858 Transylvania. (Are there such things as vampires?) The next installment in the exploits of Lady Julia Grey will be published in October 2010, and this time the intrepid Lady Julia is bound for India. 

See you there!

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DEANNA'S BIO:

A sixth-generation native Texan, Deanna Raybourn grew up in San Antonio, where she met her college sweetheart. She married him on her graduation day and went on to teach high school English and history. During summer vacation at the age of twenty-three, she wrote her first novel. After three years as a teacher, Deanna left education to have a baby and pursue writing full-time.

Fourteen years and many, many rejections after her first novel, she signed two three-book deals with MIRA Books.

“Sex, lies and awesome clothing descriptions” is how one reader described Deanna’s debut novel, Silent in the Grave, published in January 2007. The first in the Silent series, the book follows Lady Julia Grey as she investigates the mysterious death of her husband with the help of the enigmatic private inquiry agent Nicholas Brisbane. From the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to a Gypsy camp on Hampstead Heath, Silent in the Gravedeftly captures the lush ambience of Victorian London.

The series continues with the second book, Silent in the Sanctuary (January 2008), a classic English country house murder mystery with a few twists and turns for Brisbane and Lady Julia along the way, and continues with Silent on the Moor (March 2009), set in a grim manor house on the Yorkshire moors.

March 2010 sees a departure from the series with the release of The Dead Travel Fast, a mid-Victorian Gothic thriller that chronicles the adventures of novelist Theodora Lestrange as she leaves the safety and security of her Edinburgh home for the dark woods and haunted castles of Transylvania. Deanna returns to Lady Julia and her companions with Dark Road to Darjeeling (October 2010). With an exotic setting in the foothills of the Himalayas and the introduction of an arch-villain, Dark Road to Darjeeling promises to be the most exciting Lady Julia novel yet.

Deanna plots her books from her home in Virginia. After one too many hot Texas summers, Deanna and her husband packed up their daughter and moved to the mid-Atlantic state, where they enjoy the fall leaves but deeply miss good Tex-Mex cooking.

Still Virginia has been good to this author. Deanna’s novelSilent in the Grave won the 2008 RITA® Award for Novel with Strong Romantic Elements. The Lady Julia Grey series has been nominated for several other awards, including an Agatha, a Daphne du Maurier, a Last Laugh, and two Dilys Winns.

You can find her blogging six days a week atwww.deannaraybourn.com/blog, and be sure to sign up for her newsletter, check out her contests and book trailer videos, and catch her latest appearances atwww.deannaraybourn.com.

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Q. When is your next book coming out? March 2010 will see the release of The Dead Travel Fast, a mysterious novel set in 1858 Transylvania. The fourth Julia Grey book—Dark Road to Darjeeling—will be out in October 2010.

Q. Will there be more books in the series?Absolutely! I love writing the Julia Grey books, and would be perfectly happy to work on the series for a long time to come. I also love the challenge of writing something different, and I’m also fortunate that my publisher wants to bring out some stand-alone titles for me. Either way, I get to write, which makes me happy.

Q. Will you be coming to my town? Maybe! You can follow my appearance schedule on my website—just go to the Tours page. It should always have the most current and accurate information. You can also get up-do-date information via my newsletter, Facebook, or Twitter.

Q. Can I get e-mail updates? Of course! You can sign up for e-mail updates by entering my monthly contestor directly by sending a blank e-mail to deannaraybourn-join@authorlists.com. (Of course, either method will add you to my mailing list, but you can only enter my contest by filling out the form on the contest page.)

Q. Have the film rights been sold? Not yet. A few production companies have expressed interest, and we will see what develops (extremely bad pun not intended). At present, I still hold the rights.

Q. Who would you like to see cast if there is a film of the Julia Grey books? I know this sounds improbable, but I actually don’t care. My feeling—no doubt honed from years of watching my husband mount theatre productions—is that once I sell the rights it is someone else’s story to tell. I’ve had my chance, and it would be silly and ungracious for me to interfere with someone else’s creative work. All I ask is unlimited access to Gerard Butler if he’s cast.

Q. Why does the book look like . . .? Any questions regarding the physical production of the books—format, cover, etc.—are best referred to the publisher. If I ran them off in my basement, I would know more about the actual production side of the business, but alas, once I turn a book over to my editor, I don’t see it for months. Decisions made regarding the physical appearance of the book are the responsibility of the publisher.

Q. Will you speak to my book club? I am happy to phone into book clubs for discussion, calendar permitting. Just e-mail me at deanna@deannaraybourn.com, and we’ll work out the details.

Q. Do you answer your own mail? I do, and with great pleasure. I love hearing from readers! Very, very rarely I will have to refer correspondence to my team, but I try very hard to respond to everyone, even if it’s just a line.

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Selected tour dates:

Saturday, March 13, 2010
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
New Town Shops
5101 Main Street
Williamsburg, VA 23188
(757) 564-0687

Saturday, April 10, 2010
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
12170 Jefferson Ave.
Newport News, VA 23602
(757) 249-2488

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Deanna's blog is here: http://www.deannaraybourn.com/blog/

In which we're still talking creativity

Creativity, part deux, mon amis. 

*Meditation each day. There are numerous studies to support the fact that meditation alters brain activity, leading to relaxation and more productive creativity. We will assume this is true, but even if it isn’t, meditation is a nice rest for your shoulders, arms, and brain.

*Self-help or creativity reading each day. I include Sarah Ban Breathnach, Julia Cameron, and all poetry in this category. Anything that supports your creativity and lets a breath of fresh air into your reading is to be encouraged. And a single page or poem each day is all it takes.

*One day a week for nothing but play. No, really. No bill-paying or laundry, no grocery shopping or cleaning the toilet. Organize your week so that one day is entirely free—or half day if that’s all you can manage, but make it a solid block of time rather than several hours scattered over the week. Use that time to do playful, silly, or self-indulgent things. These can vary widely depending upon your whims. It might just as easily be a snowy hike with the dog as a bubble bath with a glass of cold champagne. Go out for tapas, plant an orchid, break open a fresh pack of crayons and color. Whatever feels like play IS play to you. Just don’t do things that you could check off of a to-do list.

*Make a procrastination list and dismantle it, piece by piece. We all have things we dread doing. They loom over us, bugbears that steal away our peace of mind and tug impatiently at our creativity. Do away with them by writing them down, all of them. Then take one item at a time and finish it. If you can’t face an item, break it down into what SARK calls “micromovements”, the tiniest steps toward completion. (The beauty of this idea is that starting a micromovement or two generally gives you enough momentum to finish entirely. If not, at least you’ve made a start.) Reward yourself as you work through the list. It might take a day, it might take months. Regardless, finishing those tasks is an accomplishment and it will free up part of your brain for your more creative endeavors.

So, there you have the creativity manifesto, nine easy steps toward protecting and enhancing your creative mind.

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The Dead Travel Fast 

Silent on the Moor 

Silent in the Sanctuary 

Silent in the Grave

 

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THE LADY JULIA GREY
MYSTERY SERIES

2009
Silent on the Moor

2008
Silent in the Sanctuary

2007
Silent in the Grave^*

Deana is on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1291673294&ref=ts

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Deanna's former blog can still be viewed here:http://deannaraybourn.typepad.com/

Blog A Go-Go

Everything Deanna Raybourn

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From the BookReporter:http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-raybourn-deanna.asp

Deanna Raybourn

BIO

A sixth-generation native Texan, Deanna Raybourn graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a double major in English and history and an emphasis on Shakespearean studies. She taught high school English for three years in San Antonio before leaving education to pursue a career as a novelist. SILENT ON THE MOOR is the third novel in the award-winning Lady Julia Grey series. Deanna makes her home in Virginia, where she lives with her husband and daughter.

INTERVIEW

January 19, 2007

Deanna Raybourn's debut novel SILENT IN THE GRAVE is a historical mystery thriller set in Victorian England, and is the first installment of an intended trilogy. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Norah Piehl, Raybourn recalls what initially inspired the book's plot and explains why she chose to infuse an otherwise dark story with humor and quirky characters. She also describes the best and worst part of 14 years' worth of rejection letters, shares some of the classic novels that have influenced her, and discusses what she hopes readers will learn from her protagonist, Lady Julia Grey.

Bookreporter.com: SILENT IN THE GRAVE is set in Victorian England. Why did you pick that particular place and time period during which to set your first mystery?

Deanna Raybourn: This book started to germinate one cold winter's night as I sat propped up in bed, reading a book on poisons. A single sentence, relating the events of a case in 17th century France caught my attention, and I began to ask the "what if" questions that come at the start of every story. What if I changed the victim from a woman to a man? What if the death was mistaken for natural? And what if the sleuth was the victim's wife? Each question led to a dozen more, and within days I had built the bones of the story into a recognizable shape. It took two years and a research trip to London to add the flesh, but at last I had a novel, and characters I adored.

BRC: Your novel is filled with fascinating details about Victorian life --- mourning customs, etiquette, the relationship between servants and employers, and even Gypsy culture. What kind of research did you conduct to flesh out these details?

DR: Before I begin a book, I make a big collage board of images relating to visual images within the book, settings, clothes, etc. The pictures I found to represent parts of Grey House all had a very coldly perfect, uninhabited feel to them, exactly like a beautiful stage set after the curtain has fallen and the audience has gone home.

BRC: Lady Julia is a fascinating character, both convincingly Victorian and yet modern enough to connect with readers today. How did you create her distinctive personality?

DR: Like many Victorian ladies, Julia Grey is trying to find her place within the rigid order of aristocratic society, or rather, she's trying not to find it. Julia is the daughter of the eccentric Earl March, and with her family's blessing, she embarks upon an expedition to unearth the real woman she has buried for so long. Trying on independence with her widow's weeds, Julia is at last becoming the reckless, headstrong March she was always afraid to be.

BRC: Lady Julia's story is not just about the search for her husband's killer; it also explores how Julia grows to trust and value herself as an individual. What messages does her self-discovery offer for modern readers, especially women?

DR: The process of self-discovery can be long and arduous. Sometimes, you don't even know you are looking for meaning in your life until you find it. I think this was the case with Julia. She had come to accept her situation in life, but when a set of circumstances presented itself, she knew enough to be brave and bold and fearless even though she didn't actually know how things would turn out. I think this may be a lesson for all of us. Take that opportunity you weren't even looking for and follow it. You never know what might happen.

BRC: Nicholas Brisbane is also a fascinating, mysterious (and really sexy) character. Did his character evolve as you were writing him, or did you see him as we see him now right from the start?

DR: Nicholas Brisbane was a delicious character to write. Where Julia simply appeared, fully-formed and bristling with self-determination, Nicholas stood in the shadows, waiting to be understood. Secretive and dangerous, he is completely unlike anyone Julia has ever met, and their attraction to each other adds a spice of intrigue to their investigation.

BRC: One of the pleasant surprises about your novel is the humor that pervades it. Why did you decide to include humor in what could have been a very serious mystery?

DR: I think a sense of humor is a very telling human characteristic that allows me to fully realize a character. It can also relieve tension in a scene and provide transition between scenes. So, for me, using humor is a natural thing as well as a useful structural tool.

BRC: The quirky, eccentric March family is definitely one of the aspects that contributes to the novel's humor. What did you most enjoy about creating this large cast of unusual supporting characters?

DR: The whole process of coming up with this large family gave me free rein to be outrageous and extravagant. The more I write these kinds of characters, the more fun I have. It is total creative freedom.

BRC: We felt there were parallels between your work and that of Jacqueline Winspear, especially in your handling of detailed historic references. Do you read a lot of mystery novels? Who are some of your favorite authors, whether or not they influenced your own work?

DR: Life is too short to read books you don't like, so any book I finish is one I wanted to read in the first place. Each of them has shaped me and, by extension, my work in some way. If I read gorgeous fiction, I try to figure out what makes it so appealing and how I can extend that technique into my own writing. If it is a nonfiction book, and I read lots of those, I try to incorporate what I've learned into my life, whether it's a new meditation or a philosophy that broadens what I believe. Every new book is an invitation down a new path. My favorite authors or books:

*Anything by Jane Austen. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and PERSUASION are my favorites, but really, they're all genius. I am continually astonished by Jane Austen. There is a precision about her writing that most authors can only aspire to.

*Anything by Elizabeth Peters, written under any of her pseudonyms. You cannot beat Peters for witty, fun mysteries that never stray into silliness.

*Sarah Caudwell's Hilary Tamar mysteries. They are deliciously cerebral and very cleverly done. As a fan, I miss her terribly.

*TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, MARIANA, FOREVER AMBER, LONESOME DOVE, THE KING MUST DIE and I CAPTURE THE CASTLE --- wildly different books, but all have such perfectly rendered voices. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and LONESOME DOVE speak to my Southern roots. There are truths there that resonate with anyone raised in the South. MARIANA and I CAPTURE THE CASTLE manage to be both funny and heart-wrenching. There is a certain timelessness about them both. And they would say different things to a 20-year-old reader than a 40-year-old reader. I love that. FOREVER AMBER is larger than life. I read it 20 years ago, and I can still see so many of the scenes perfectly in my mind's eye. And THE KING MUST DIE is just glorious. Mary Renault did a superb job of grounding mythology in such a way that it becomes entirely believable. Her powers of description were unrivaled. That's really what ties all of these books together: a sense of place and a unique voice. There is an immediacy about great writing that puts you in the heart of the scene, and all of these books do that.

*WUTHERING HEIGHTS, because Emily Brontë was ruthless. Great writers are not afraid to break a reader's heart.

BRC: In the acknowledgments section of your novel, you mention that finding a publisher was a long process. Can you tell us, especially any aspiring writers, a little bit about how you came to find a publisher?

DR: I am about as far from an overnight success as you can get. I wrote my first novel when I was 23. It took several more manuscripts and 14 years' worth of rejection letters before I got published. The worst --- and best --- part of those rejection letters was that almost all of them contained some seed of hope. Almost every editor found something to compliment, and many of them read whole manuscripts before they decided to reject them. I was tantalizingly close to getting published for years before it actually happened.

Do not ever give up. Keep writing, write every day, and refuse rejection. If there is anything useful in the rejection letters, and there often is, use it and move on. Rejection is not always "no." Sometimes it is just "not right now."

© Copyright 1996-2010, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.

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From: http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2008/03/deanna-raybourns-lady-julia-grey-series.html

Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey series

Deanna Raybourn is the author of the Lady Julia Grey series, including Silent in the Grave and Silent in the Sanctuary.

Here she shares a few thoughts about the cast and director of a potential film adaptation of the books:

The funny thing about imagining the late Victorian Julia Grey series as a movie is that nobody ever picks anybody to play Lady Julia Grey, the aristocratic amateur sleuth. I blame Nicholas Brisbane. He’s Julia’s partner in detection and more, a mysterious private inquiry agent, tall, dark, handsome, and enigmatic — a devastating combination. Women like to cast his role endlessly, and they have very strong opinions on the matter. Just this week I got an e-mail from an Australian reader who included a picture of “local boy Hugh Jackman” as her pick. (Not that I would have any say whatsoever in casting, but it was nice to have a little eye candy at my desk.) The top choices to play Nicholas are — in no particular order because otherwise there would be a serious catfight — Hugh Jackman, Gerard Butler, Clive Owen, James Purefoy, and most recently, Javier Bardem.

When I really, really press women for an answer on who should play Julia, I get a half-hearted, “Oh, I suppose Scarlett Johansson would do,” and then they go back to debating how many times Nicholas should take his shirt off in the movie. (I always pictured her looking a little more like Eva Green myself, although the voice is totally wrong.)

I’m not sure that any author, having seen what Joe Wright did forAtonement, wouldn’t happily make some small human sacrifices to get him on board as director. (And if I’m going to ask for the moon, I’d pretty much take anybody who ever touched Atonement, but that’s just greedy isn’t it?)

But if I’m completely honest, I don’t actually care all that much about the particulars of casting because once I turn loose the film rights, the story is no longer mine to tell. I would love to see what a different kind of storyteller, working in a different medium, would do with these characters. If you’re a producer and you’re reading this, it means I am the LAST girl to take an ad out in Variety telling you you’re doing it wrong. All I ask is a visit to the set, and maybe a little one-on-one time with Gerard Butler.

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From: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=2301

Deanna Raybourn | HOW A BOOK GETS TITLED

February 11, 2010

One of the questions I am most often asked by readers is how I come up with titles for my books. The short answer is that I don’t! Sometimes the book seems to title itself. A single phrase, usually a snippet of a quote from a poem or play, will settle down on the title page and I cannot bring myself to think of it as anything else.

My March 2010 release, The Dead Travel Fast, was one such book. I had the idea for the novel some five years ago, and started researching it and compiling notes. It is the story of a Victorian novelist who leaves the security of her Edinburgh home for the grim castles of Transylvania and meets up with an aristocrat who may or may not be a vampire, and as part of my research, I read Dracula. I knew as soon as I came across this passage what the title of my book had to be: As he spoke, he smiled, and the lamplight fell on a hard-looking mouth, with very red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory. One of my companions whispered to the other...‘Denn die Todten relten schnell.’ (‘For the dead travel fast.’) Bram Stoker himself borrowed the quote from the German poet Gottfried August Bürger-creator of the Baron Munchausen stories. No doubt Stoker too used it for its shadowy Gothic connotations, reviving interest in this eerie 18th-century murder ballad that was once translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

The books in the Lady Julia Grey series were also dictated by quotations-the first,Silent in the Grave, from a Psalm that proved an indispensable clue in sleuthing out a murderer. The next two books in the series followed the same pattern, the location of a body lending inspiration to the title. The fourth, Dark Road to Darjeeling(Oct.2010), was an entirely different story. This one was chosen by my publisher, both as a nod to the exotic Himalayan setting and as break from the "Silent" titles so as not to confuse readers. And while I loved the "Silent" titles, I am very happy to be leading readers down a few "Dark Roads"!

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Barnes & Noble's Meet the Writers:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?cid=1621257#interview

Deanna Raybourn

After many years of struggling to break into the romance novel market, native Texan Deanna Raybourn has finally struck gold by switching gears and writing a finely detailed, impressively authentic, and utterly mesmerizing historical mystery titled Silent in the Grave. Now that Raybourn has published her debut critically acclaimed novel, she ensures her new readership that there she has plenty more mystery in store for them.

More details and fact file here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writer.asp?cid=1621257

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SILENT IN THE GRAVE

Read an Excerpt

To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.

I stared at him, not quite taking in the fact that he had just collapsed at my feet. He lay, curled like a question mark, his evening suit ink-black against the white marble of the floor. He was writhing, his fingers knotted.

I leaned as close to him as my corset would permit.

"Edward, we have guests. Do get up. If this is some sort of silly prank--"

"He is not jesting, my lady. He is convulsing."

An impatient figure in black pushed past me to kneel at Edward’s side. He busied himself for a few brisk moments, palpating and pulse-taking, while I bobbed a bit, trying to see over his shoulder. Behind me the guests were murmuring, buzzing, pushing closer to get a look of their own. There was a little thrill of excitement in the air. After all, it was not every evening that a baronet collapsed senseless in his own music room. And Edward was proving rather better entertainment than the soprano we had engaged.

Through the press, Aquinas, our butler, managed to squeeze in next to my elbow.

"My lady?"

I looked at him, grateful to have an excuse to turn away from the spectacle on the floor.

"Aquinas, Sir Edward has had an attack."

"And would be better served in his own bed," said the gentleman from the floor. He rose, lifting Edward into his arms with a good deal of care and very little effort, it seemed. But Edward had grown thin in the past months. I doubted he weighed much more than I.

"Follow me," I instructed, although Aquinas actually led the way out of the music room. People moved slowly out of our path, as though they regretted the little drama ending so quickly. There were some polite murmurs, some mournful clucking. I heard snatches as I passed through them.

"The curse of the Greys, it is--"

"So young. But of course his father never saw thirty-five."

"Never make old bones--"

"Feeble heart. Pity, he was always such a pleasant fellow."

I moved faster, staring straight ahead so that I did not have to meet their eyes. I kept my gaze fixed on Aquinas’ broad, black-wool back, but all the time I was conscious of those voices and the sound of footsteps behind me, the footsteps of the gentleman who was carrying my husband. Edward groaned softly as we reached the stairs and I turned. The gentleman’s face was grim.

"Aquinas, help the gentleman--"

"I have him," he interrupted, brushing past me. Aquinas obediently led him to Edward’s bedchamber. Together they settled Edward onto the bed, and the gentleman began to loosen his clothes. He flicked a glance toward Aquinas.

"Has he a doctor?"

"Yes, sir. Doctor Griggs, Golden Square."

"Send for him. Although I dare say it will be too late."

Aquinas turned to me where I stood, hovering on the threshold. I never went into Edward’s room. I did not like to do so now. It felt like an intrusion, a trespass on his privacy.

"Shall I send for Lord March as well, my lady?"

I blinked at Aquinas. "Why should Father come? He is no doctor."

But Aquinas was quicker than I. I had thought the gentleman meant that Edward would have recovered from his attack by the time Doctor Griggs arrived. Aquinas, who had seen more of the world than I, knew better. He looked at me, his eyes carefully correct, and then I understood why he wanted to send for Father. As head of the family he would have certain responsibilities.

I nodded slowly. "Yes, send for him." I moved into the room on reluctant legs. I knew I should be there, doing whatever little bit that I could for Edward. But I stopped at the side of the bed. I did not touch him.

"And Lord Belmont?" Aquinas queried.

I thought for a moment. "No, it is Friday. Parliament is sitting late."

That much was a mercy. Father I could cope with. But not my eldest brother as well. "And I suppose you ought to call for the carriages. Send everyone home. Make my apologies."

He left us alone then, the stranger and I. We stood on opposite sides of the bed, Edward convulsing between us. He stopped after a moment and the gentleman placed a finger at his throat.

"His pulse is very weak," he said finally. "You should prepare yourself."

I did not look at him. I kept my eyes fixed on Edward’s pale face. It shone with sweat, its surface etched with lines of pain. This was not how I wanted to remember him.

"I have known him for more than twenty years," I said finally, my voice tight and strange. "We were children together. We used to play pirates and knights of the Round Table. Even then, I knew his heart was not sound. He used to go quite blue sometimes when he was overtired. This is not unexpected."

I looked up then to find the stranger’s eyes on me. They were the darkest eyes I had ever seen, witch-black and watchful. His gaze was not friendly. He was regarding me coldly, as a merchant will appraise a piece of goods to determine its worth. I dropped my eyes at once.

"Thank you for your concern for my husband’s health, sir. You have been most helpful. Are you a friend of Edward’s?"

He did not reply at once. Edward made a noise in the back of his throat and the stranger moved swiftly, rolling him onto his side and thrusting a basin beneath his mouth. Edward retched, horribly, groaning. When he finished, the gentleman put the basin to the side and wiped his mouth with his handkerchief. Edward gave a little whimper and began to shiver. The gentleman watched him closely.

"Not a friend, no. A business associate," he said finally. "My name is Nicholas Brisbane."

"I am--"

"I know who you are, my lady."

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Continued:

Startled at his rudeness, I looked up, only to find those eyes again, fixed on me with naked hostility. I opened my mouth to reproach him, but Aquinas appeared then. I turned to him, relieved.

"Aquinas?"

"The carriages are being brought round now, my lady. I have sent Henry for Doctor Griggs and Desmond for his lordship. Lady Otterbourne and Mr. Phillips both asked me to convey their concern and their willingness to help should you have need of them."

"Lady Otterbourne is a meddlesome old gossip and Mr. Phillips would be no use whatsoever. Send them home."

I was conscious of Mr. Brisbane behind me, listening to every word. I did not care. For some unaccountable reason, the man thought ill of me already. I did not mind if he thought worse.

Aquinas left again, but I did not resume my post by the bed. I took a chair next to the door and remained there, saying nothing and wondering what was going to happen to all of the food. We had ordered far too much in any event. Edward never liked to run short. I could always tell Cook to serve it in the servants’ hall, but after a few days even the staff would tire of it. Before I could decide what to do with the lobster patties and salad molds, Aquinas entered again, leading Doctor Griggs. The elderly man was perspiring freely, patting his ruddy face with a handkerchief and gasping. He had taken the stairs too quickly. I rose and he took my hand.

"I was afraid of this," he murmured. "The curse of the Greys, it is. All snatched before their time. My poor girl." I smiled feebly at him. Doctor Griggs had attended my mother at my birth, as well as her nine other confinements. We had known each other too long to stand on ceremony. He patted my hand and moved to the bed. He felt for Edward’s pulse, shaking his head as he did so. Edward vomited again, and Doctor Griggs watched him carefully, examining the contents of the basin. I turned away.

I tried not to hear the sounds coming from the bed, the groans and the rattling breaths. I would have stopped my ears with my hands, but I knew it would look childish and cowardly. Griggs continued his examination, but before he finished Aquinas stepped into the room.

"Lord March, my lady." He moved aside and Father entered.

"Julia," he said, opening his arms. I went into them, burying my face against his waistcoat. He smelled of tobacco and book leather. He kept one arm tucked firmly around me as he looked over my head.

"Griggs, you damned fool. Julia should have been sent away."

The doctor made some reply, but I did not hear it. My father was pushing me gently out the door. I tried to look past him, to see what they were doing to Edward, but Father moved his body and prevented me. He gave me a sad, gentle smile. Anyone else might have mistaken that smile, but I did not. I knew he expected obedience. I nodded.

"I shall wait in my room."

"That would be best. I will come when there is something to tell."

My maid, Morag, was waiting for me. She helped me out of my silk gown and into something more suitable. She offered me warm milk or brandy, but I knew I would never be able to hold anything down. I only wanted to sit, watching the clock on the mantel as it ticked away the minutes left.

Morag continued to fuss, poking at the fire and muttering complaints about the work to come. She was right about that. There would be much work for her when I put on widow’s weeds. It was unlucky to keep crepe in the house, I reminded myself. It would have to be sent for after Edward passed. I thought about such things--crepe for the mirrors, black plumes for the horses--because then I did not have to think about what was happening in Edward’s room. It was rather like waiting for a birth, these long, tense minutes of sitting, straining one’s ears on tiptoe for the slightest sound. I expected to hear something, but the walls were thick and I heard nothing. Even when the clock struck midnight, the little voice on my mantel chiming twelve times, I could not hear the tall case clock in the hall. I started to mention the peculiarity of it to Morag, because one could always hear the case clock from any room in the house, when I realized what it meant.

"Morag, the clocks have stopped."

She looked at me, her lips parted to speak, but she said nothing. Instead she bowed her head and began to pray. A moment later, the door opened. It was Father. He said nothing. I went to him and his hand cradled my head like a benediction. He held me for a very long time, as he had not done since I was a child.

"It is all right, my dear," he said finally, sounding older and more tired than I had ever heard him. "It is over."

But of course, he was entirely wrong. It was only the beginning.

[becke_davis]

When I picked up a copy of SILENT IN THE GRAVE and read the opening lines (see below), I knew I had found an author I was going to like and a series I was going to follow. It's one of the most memorable opening paragraphs I've ever read, and I love the way Deanna Raybourn draws her characters and her settings as she weaves the plot. This is not the type of romantic suspense that has a happy ending in each book, but rather over the story arc. I wanted to include Deanna's work both because her books are favorites, but also because I wanted to feature all types of romantic suspense.

It gives me great pleasure to introduce: Deanna Raybourn!