Camy here! And yes, you read that right! I have a Christian Regency romantic mystery novel releasing … tomorrow? I think? Called Prelude for a Lord, and I’m writing it under a pen name, Camille Elliot. Neat, huh? Here’s the back cover blurb:
An awkward young woman. A haunted young man. A forbidden instrument. Can the love of music bring them together . . . or will it tear them apart?
Bath, England—1810
At twenty-eight, Alethea Sutherton is past her prime for courtship; but social mores have never been her forté. She might be a lady, but she is first and foremost a musician.
In Regency England, however, the violin is considered an inappropriate instrument for a lady. Ostracized by society for her passion, Alethea practices in secret and waits for her chance to flee to the Continent, where she can play without scandal.
But when a thief’s interest in her violin endangers her and her family, Alethea is determined to discover the enigmatic origins of her instrument . . . with the help of the dark, brooding Lord Dommick.
Scarred by war, Dommick finds solace only in playing his violin. He is persuaded to help Alethea, and discovers an entirely new yearning in his soul.
Alethea finds her reluctant heart drawn to Dommick in the sweetest of duets . . . just as the thief’s desperation builds to a tragic crescendo . . .
"This very enjoyable book will appeal to fans of Jane Austen and Linore Rose Burkard." —CBA Retailers + Resources
Camy here: I’m so excited for this book! I wrote it originally on a dare. My editor at Zondervan, Sue Brower, loves Regency romances as much as I do and we’re always talking about Regencies we’re recently read and enjoyed. So on a trip to visit my publishing house in Michigan, she tells me, “I want you to write a Regency romance for your next book.”
I was apprehensive because even though I’ve been reading Regencies since I was thirteen years old and I even read Regency research books just for fun, I never seriously attempted to write one. So I listened to a bunch of Jane Austen novels on audiobook and then dove in to the writing.
My marketing team at Zondervan chose my pen name: Camille since it’s close to Camy and Elliot because my favorite Austen character is Anne Elliot from Persuasion. They wanted to use a pen name because Regency romance is SO different from my normal genres of contemporary romance and contemporary romantic suspense. We didn’t want any readers feeling confused or betrayed if they picked up a “Camy Tang” book but was surprised that it was historical romance, so we decided to print it under a different name entirely. It’s almost like reinventing myself!
Around mid-August, I’m planning a fantastic giveaway on my blog! I’ll be giving away not only copies of Prelude for a Lord, but also hand-knitted lace scarves made by Moi. :) The knitting patterns are late-Regency, early-Victorian patterns, so they’re almost authentic to my book’s time period. I’m also include Jane Austen tea ordered from the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, and little violin Christmas ornaments, all in keeping with my book’s storyline and setting.
If you belong to my Camy Tang email newsletter, you’ll be sure to hear when the contest goes live! To sign up, go to http://www.camytang.com/ and look for the purple chair. My new CamilleElliot.com website should be up this week, too!
7 comments:
How exciting to have a totally different kind of story coming out. Congratulations, Camy!
Good for you, Camy! I remember we talked about this when we were in Spokane! I'm excited for you and were able to do it. I remember we talked about researching things for a regency. Good luck with the book!
Books on a dare are so much fun. Congrats.
This sound very good thanks
Penney
Thanks guys! Sorry I couldn't respond yesterday, our internet was down.
Also, I removed a few comments because a spammer attacked yesterday by lifting your email addresses from your public blog comments and then sending spammy emails with a virus to people. We're sorry about that! We'll be changing the way we have you enter our contests.
Don't worry, even though I deleted the comments here, I still have your comments in my email Inbox so you've still got extra entries into our giveaway basket contest!
Camy
Congratulations on your new book. It sounds like an interesting and enjoyable story. Curious, but understandable that you would "have" to get a new pen name. I hope the release goes well.
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