Outlaw Muse by Lauren Linwood-Review and Guest Post with the Author
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 9, 2013
Separated from her twin during the Orphan Train selection, schoolmarm Serena Sullivan searched for her brother Bill over fifteen years. Just as she gets a lead on his whereabouts, she is railroaded by a crooked sheriff and set to hang for the murder of the sheriff’s best friend.
English playwright Daman Rutledge has come to the American West on business for his brother when he witnesses a woman about to be executed. On impulse he rescues the beautiful stranger and goes on the run with her. Along the way Daman finds the muse he’s been missing and loses his heart to the raven-haired beauty with haunting amber eyes.
As they try to outrun the long arm of the law, Daman seeks to prove Serena’s innocence before it’s too late
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Lauren Linwood’s talent for writing wonderful romantic stories has just surpassed itself! This is an incredibly vivid romance set in the American Old West. The characters are wonderfully written and intensely believable. From the authentic scenery to the setting of the times this tale is a masterpiece of both romance and the old west. If we did stars…this would be a five star from me!
While I’ve never been particularly fond of western stories, I have to say this one tweaked my interest and held me captive all night. It’s a page turner from the beginning to the very end. I’ve become a Linwood fan and will continue to read her wonderful stories for as long as she wishes to put them on “paper” or screen…whatever!
The story begins in America – 1859, with the sad reality of poor Irish-American children being put on an “orphan train” and sent to new families willing to “adopt” (a polite word for child slavery for the most part) children left homeless and some parentless from the cities. Linwood did an excellent job writing the experience of these children as well as the often too true nature of those that adopted them. The main character children Serena and Bill Sullivan are such orphaned twins. Promises made to their dying mother that they would remain together were of course, not the case.
Serena a lovely girl of ten did her best to keep her brother with her, but due to having a club foot which most felt limited his ability to “work” the farm kept him from being selected and they were immediately separated. Serena was taken by a morally dark German farmer and his wife and son. She was immediately made to work and at night was forced to “please” the man and later his son as well in the pleasures of the flesh (at the age of 10, unfortunately not abnormal for this period). This horrible nightmare of a childhood is treated admirably by Linwood and revealed slowly through Serena’s memories.
The story continues, now in 1874 – London, with the sad story of a playwright who just couldn’t commit to love losing the lover and friend of long standing to a titled man willing to give the lady love, marriage and a family. Daman Rutledge, third son of an English Earl and therefore having to make his own living, lost his ability to write when his ex-friend/lover died in childbirth sometime after leaving him. Do to the death of his father and his second half-brother, his only sibling left asked him to see to some family business in Texas for him.
While on his brother’s business, Daman learns to adjust to the place and the work as he helps on a cattle drive from Galveston, Texas to Abilene, Kansas. Linwood gives just enough flavor of the times and the trip to let you get to know the characters and the secondary characters are unique and add their own touch to this well told story.
The really interesting things begin to happen quickly now, as Daman looking for a “quieter” place to stay than the rowdy cow-town, goes to a place not far away, the small farming community of Crombar Creek. When he arrives he witnesses a hanging in progress of a beautiful young woman, he hears many women telling the crowd that the woman did nothing wrong and that the man had also forced himself on them over the years as well…during the growing unrest of the crowd and the confusion, Daman makes the most fortuitous decision of his life. He shoves the sheriff (the guy you’ll love to hate) about to hang the woman, off the platform and proceeds to cut her down and throw her over his shoulder and runs off with her in his wagon.
That’s the setup…the rest you really must read for yourselves! Do yourself a favor and don’t miss this wonderful rollercoaster ride of adventure, romance, love and so much more. Even if you are not normally drawn to western stories, this will thrill your romantic soul! We have found a talented treasure in Lauren Linwood and I wish you as much enjoyment as I’ve had reading this latest offering!
Copy supplied by the author for an honest review.
Reviewed by Georgianna
Researching Historical Romance
I’ll admit it. I’m a nerd. I was the girl who liked school. Really liked it. The priority for most kids on a school day is to see their friends—then think (or worry) about school stuff. I loved seeing my friends, but I really enjoyed learning. And nothing fascinated me more than history.
I soaked up all the fun stuff, especially about US presidents. Did you know that Grant got a speeding ticket for racing his horse and buggy too fast down the streets of Washington, D.C.? Or that Taft’s 300+ pounds didn’t fit inside the White House bathtub, so they installed a larger one!
And Garfield could write the same words in Latin with one hand and Greek with the other . . . at the same time. Naturally, I also learned about political history and economic policies and felt a thrill when I connected those things to the big picture.
I realized my first dream when I became a history teacher (bet you didn’t see that one coming!). I loved watching documentaries or scouring biographies to look for interesting tidbits to share with my students that would help bring history alive to hormonal, self-centered teens.
And when I came up for air from all of the grading and lesson planning and parent conferences, I learned by reading historical romances that I could have my cake and eat it, too. Historicals not only told great love stories in long-ago places, but I actually learned a few things as I read (and sighed and lusted after the hero).
Writing my own historical romances, I wanted to bring that air of verisimilitude to my novels – but I don’t want to preach to my readers and insert dry, boring facts simply because it’s historical romance. My goal is to integrate facts from the past and let them add depth and texture to an interesting plot and great romance.
Researching for my novels is a pleasure. Sometimes I have to limit my research time because I get so caught up in it—and my editor is waiting for a book—so I need to put in the writing time.
I’ve read biographies and history books, along with newspapers. Watched documentaries. Studied old photographs online. Read letters. Looked at maps. Found brochures. Gone to museums. Research opportunities are endless and all around if you’re willing to dig deeply and utilize a variety of sources.
For my October release, Outlaw Muse, I spent time reading about the orphan trains that took children from the ages of 5-18 out west to start a new life. I found emigration rosters with children’s names and ages and pamphlets about foster care for these orphans, along with photographs of them, their faces both hopeful and fearful at the same time. I incorporated bits and pieces of this as my heroine and her twin brother ride the Orphan Train to Missouri as children, hoping to be adopted by a wonderful set of parents and find a stable family life.
While researching aspects for A Game of Chance, my January 2014 release, I had to understand different poker hands since my hero is an ace gambler. About the only thing I knew about poker hands came from playing Yahtzee with my daughter when she was young. I learned the difference between a flush (any five cards of the same suit) and a royal flush (an ace-high straight of the same suit and the rarest hand in poker). I also studied maps of San Francisco in the 1870s to learn where the best-known gaming halls were located. I wrote about the death of one character, so I even researched cemeteries to see where she might be buried.
For A Change of Plans (coming sometime in 2014), my heroine Maggie is a dime novelist. I found all kinds of facts about dime novels and the publishing world at that time. Maggie writes under a man’s pen name, as many women of that era did. She wants to write a novel about cowboys on the cattle trail and interviews my hero Ben, fresh off a cattle drive from Texas to Kansas. Through their dialogue, I’m able to drop several interesting tidbits about what it’s like to be a cowboy riding along the ChisholmTrail.
History is full of untold stories, and I mine research and treasure it as a Forty-Niner might a precious gold nugget, for those nuggets help bring life to my characters and plot!
A huge thanks for The Reading Café having me back today after they were so kind to interview me for my May 2013 medieval historical debut, Music For My Soul. And yes, I did enough research in that era to write several more medievals! Authors learn to work smart as well as hard, and hopefully one day I’ll be sharing more stories from medieval times with you.
Lauren
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As a child, Lauren Linwood gathered her neighborhood friends together and made up stories for them to act out, her first venture into creating memorable characters. Following her passion for history and love of learning, she became a teacher who began writing on the side to maintain her sanity in a sea of teenage hormones.
Lauren’s novels focus on two of her favorite eras, medieval times and the American Old West. History is the backdrop that places her characters in extraordinary circumstances, where their intense desire and yearning for one another grows into the deep, tender, treasured gift of love.
Lauren, a native Texan, lives in a Dallas suburb with her family. An avid reader, moviegoer, and sports fan, she manages stress by alternating yoga with five mile walks. She is thinking about starting a support group for Pinterest and House Hunters addicts.
Great review Georgianna. This sounds like a fun exciting read. One that I would enjoy. Great guest post Lauren
Thanks, Marcie! I had a lot of fun writing Outlaw Muse because Daman & Serena were on the run. It was great throwing roadblocks at them and watching them try to escape…and fall in love!
Welcome back to TRC, Lauren. This was such a wonderful Guest Post. Love it.
Fabulous review, Georgianna.
I appreciate being back at TRC, Barb!. They’ve been so kind to me as I’m starting out in my writing career. And they even let me guest blog about history and researching…Nerd Girl Alert!
Wonderful review Georgianna.
Great guest post Lauren. I always wondered how much research went into writing a book. Thank you.
I love the research end, Alexiis. History just fascinates me to no end. Writing historical romance puts together 2 things I truly love – that love story with an HEA against a backdrop of history!
Wonderful review and guest post. Thanks Lauren for giving us some insight into your research.
And I just hit the tip of the iceberg talking about it, Sassy! It’s a blast to get to take facts and weave them into the lives of my characters. I used just tidbits of info about cattle drives in Outlaw Muse. Next year’s A Change in Plans allowed me to work a lot more in. I had to – because my dime novelist heroine wanted to interview a cowboy about what it was like being out on the cattle trails so she could write a book about it. She finds the perfect cowboy to interview – the hero! And like me, she even gets a book out of it.
Great review Georgianna. Lauren is a new author for me!
Thank you Lauren for letting us into your ‘research habits’. Sounds like way too much work for me 😉
LOL, Alicia! Then just let me do the heavy lifting while you sit back and read…and hopefully enjoy.
Fortuitous decision indeed! What a wonderful review, Georgianna!!! I am happy to add this story to my list. I do hope she’s able to reunite with her twin brother.
Thanks for stopping by, Carmen. It was a hard scene to write, separating Serena from Bill. Twins have such an unusual connection, and these two really were close because of the life they were living on the streets before boarding the Orphan Train.
Very nice review Georgianna.
And great guest post Lauren. Lots of ‘behind the scenes’ info !!
I love the story behind the story, EmberFlame. Thanks for stopping by!
Great review Georgianna. Sounds like you enjoyed the novel.
Thanks Lauren for the great post. Always fun to get a peak behind the scenes.
Thanks so much, Angrybird. I enjoyed having a chance to talk about one of the elements that contribute to my stories. Any excuse to talk history is a good one with me!
Wonderful review Georgi. Always a pleasure to read your reviews.
And thank you Lauren for the great guest post. So many times we wonder how an author ‘comes up’ with their ideas and concepts.
Thank you for stopping by TRC, Sandy. I was so pleased that Georgi enjoyed Outlaw Muse and hope others will, too. And I figure that there’s a lot of history that’s happened, so I have plenty of places to look and find ways to bring new characters to life!
Wonderful guest post Lauren And as well a wonderful review Georgi
Great that you stopped by, Lori! I was all smiles when I read Georgi’s wonderful review. I’m so happy she liked Daman & Serena’s story. I hope you will, too!