Posted by Heather on May 22, 2013 in
GUEST POSTS,
WRITING TIPS 
Welcome back to Ask #PubLaw – a summer series where authors can get publishing legal questions answered by publishing attorney, Susan Spann. Authors are invited to leave their burning legal questions in the comments and Susan will answer!
Today we look at part two of last week’s question:
How does an author (or artist) obtain a trademark?
Generally speaking, book titles cannot be trademarked, but series names, logos, publishing houses’ imprints, and other items which qualify for trademark protection can be registered (and protected) through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (or “PTO”).
PTO guidelines govern what can (and cannot) be trademarked. In the most basic sense a trademark is a word, name, symbol (logo) or device used or intended for use in commerce to identify and distinguish the mark owner’s goods from those sold by others.
As we mentioned last week, a trademark is “consumer shorthand” used to identify the source of goods.
The PTO has three basic requirements for registration:
1. “Proper subject matter” for trademark protection
A trademark must be a name, symbol, logo, or slogan-type phrase. Longer works, like novels, are protected by copyright, not trademark. Words or short phrases which don’t act as “consumer shorthand” to identify the source of the goods also do not qualify.
This is why book titles can’t be trademarked – they represent the book itself rather than the author, publisher, or source – and also why series names can be trademarked. Unlike a one-book title, a series name identifies a book as belonging to a specific group or class of goods created by a single source – in this case, an author and/or publisher.
2. Non-generic, non-descriptive status.
To qualify for trademark protection, a mark must be either “arbitrary” or “fanciful” – meaning the mark must either bear no relationship to the product it represents (think “Kodak” for film, or “Little Debbie” for snack cakes) or have only a slight, tangential relationship.
Marks which the PTO deems “descriptive” of the goods in question (for example, “Kentucky Fried Chicken”) cannot receive registration and protection as trademarks until and unless the owner can show at least five years’ continuous use and that the mark has acquired “secondary meaning” among consumers – essentially, proof that the mark functions more as an identifier of a specific source than a description.
“Generic” marks cannot be registered at all, and a registered mark will lose protection if it becomes generic – the process is called “genericide” and it’s what happened to “Aspirin” – a product many people don’t even realize was once a trademark of the Bayer corporation.
3. No pre-existing marks in the same or confusingly similar classes of goods.
The PTO won’t issue identical, or even “confusingly similar,” marks in the same “class” of goods or in related classes. For example, if you trademark “Awesomesauce” as a publishing house imprint, the PTO probably won’t issue “Awesome Sauce” or “awesomesauce” as book series trademarks (unless the same person owns them both). Someone could trademark “Awesomesauce” for pizza-flavored snack crackers, however, because consumers don’t usually mistake snack-cracker producers for publishers.
The PTO’s list of goods and services is long, and can be complicated, which is one reason why so many people choose to enlist the aid of a trademark attorney when filing trademark applications.
Big thanks to Heather Webb for hosting me on Wednesdays this summer – and if you have a question about this or any other publishing or intellectual property-related legal topic, please ask in the comments – I’ll try to answer them all before summer is through!
ABOUT SUSAN SPANN
Susan is a publishing attorney and historical mystery author. Her debut novel CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur) releases July 16, 2013. When not writing or representing clients, Susan enjoys traditional archery, martial arts, horseback riding, online gaming, and raising seahorses and rare corals in her highly distracting marine aquarium. She still consumes books – almost as avidly as spicy Thai dinners. Susan lives in Sacramento with her husband, son, three cats, one bird, and a multitude of assorted aquatic creatures. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society and the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Association and is represented by literary agent Sandra Bond of Bond Literary Agency.
For more information, contact her at her website HERE or on Twitter.
Posted by Heather on May 15, 2013 in
GUEST POSTS,
WRITING TIPS 
http://under30ceo.com/
Today we welcome publishing attorney and mystery author Susan Spann back for another session of Ask #PubLaw – a summer series where authors can get publishing legal questions answered!
Today’s question and answer addresses:
“How does an author or artist secure a trademark?”
This question referenced an original logo the author created, but authors can also trademark a series name (meaning the series title – individual book titles cannot be trademarked) or, in the case of independent authors who create small publishing houses and/or imprints, the publishing house’s name, imprint, and logo can also be trademarked.
By law, a trademark is a word, name, symbol (logo) or device used or intended for use in commerce to identify and distinguish the mark owner’s goods from those sold by others.
In English: a trademark is “consumer shorthand” to identify the source of goods.
In the United States*, trademarks are protected by both state and federal law. State laws differ with regard to protection and registration, and they don’t offer nationwide protection (or much protection over the Internet). When most people talk about U.S. trademarks, they mean a federal trademark registration with the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office – the only type of registration that lets you use the registered trademark symbol [®] after the mark.
You obtain registration for your trademark by filing an application online with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/) and paying the relevant application fees.
Anyone can apply for a trademark – U.S. citizens, foreign nationals, and entities like corporations and LLCs can all own registered trademarks.
The application itself is fairly straightforward. Section 1 asks for personal information about the applicant (that’s you). Section 2 asks about whether an attorney is filing the form, and if so, asks for the attorney’s information. Section 3 asks for information about the mark, to ensure that the mark is a proper subject for registration, and also requires the applicant to choose a “class of goods” the mark is used to represent and to attach a “specimen,” which means one or more images (in .jpg or .pdf format) showing the mark in use in commerce. Finally, Section 4 requires a signature and payment of the relevant fees (which are $275 per class of goods if the applicant has enough information to use the most complete filing form).
While an attorney is not required, many authors find benefits in hiring an intellectual property attorney to file the trademark application on their behalf. In addition to understanding the application itself and knowing about which classes of goods the application should include, a trademark attorney is often better equipped to respond to questions the PTO may ask during the application review and registration process. Many attorneys handle trademark registration on a flat-fee basis, which means you pay nothing extra if the PTO does have questions about the mark. That said, many people do apply for trademarks without legal representation – it’s mainly a question of your comfort level with the application and the process.
The two most common questions which arise from the filing process are:
1. How do I know whether my mark is a proper subject for protection? And
2. How do I choose the proper class of goods?
Since today’s Ask #PubLaw is already running long, we’ll finish the discussion by answering those last two questions next Wednesday, here at Between the Sheets!
Big thanks to Heather Webb for hosting me on Wednesdays this summer – and if you have a question about this or any other publishing or intellectual property-related legal topic, please ask in the comments – I’ll try to answer them all before summer is through!
*Apologies to the non-U.S. readers – most countries have trademark formalities similar to those in place in the U.S.A., but I’m not licensed to practice law in foreign nations so I’m forced to restrict my discussion to U.S. law.
About Susan Spann
Susan is a publishing attorney and historical mystery author. Her debut novel CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur) releases July 16, 2013. When not writing or representing clients, Susan enjoys traditional archery, martial arts, horseback riding, online gaming, and raising seahorses and rare corals in her highly distracting marine aquarium. She still consumes books – almost as avidly as spicy Thai dinners. Susan lives in Sacramento with her husband, son, three cats, one bird, and a multitude of assorted aquatic creatures. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society and the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Association and is represented by literary agent Sandra Bond of Bond Literary Agency. For more information, contact her at her website HERE or on Twitter.
Posted by Heather on May 6, 2013 in
GUEST POSTS 
I’m so excited to welcome Erika Robuck back to Between the Sheets. This week her latest novel, CALL ME ZELDA, releases to much anticipation. It has already been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Harper’s Bazaar, and Glamour Magazine. I’ve been waiting for this book to release since I turned the last page of HEMINGWAY’S GIRL!
Zelda Fitzgerald seems to be zeigeist! She’s in the air and all around us. What makes your view of her unique?
My view of Zelda is unique because it is told through the eyes of Zelda’s fictional psychiatric nurse. In the biographies, I noticed mention of a nurse spending time with Zelda on an outpatient basis in Baltimore, a nurse accompanying Zelda to an art showing, a nurse sedating her on a train… While that might have been several women or one, I chose to create a character out of that shadowed figure loosely based on a woman in one of F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s short stories. I’m quite sure no one else has shown the world of the Fitzgeralds through my nurse’s view.
There is some speculation that Zelda was a truly gifted writer, but was repressed by her famous husband, Scott Fitzgerald. What do you think of this theory?
Zelda was gifted in all of her artistic endeavors, but often didn’t have the resources to perfect and polish her forms. Scott did try to stop some of her efforts at writing, but he also encouraged her in other ways. His treatment of her expression through words, painting, or dance was erratic at best, and often seemed frustrated by his own alcoholism. Their story is a tragedy.
Can you share an anecdote about Zelda that you had to cut from the novel?
This is less an anecdote about something I cut, and more about a detail of Zelda’s personal life I did not include… As an author of historical fiction focused on writers, I grow to care deeply for my subjects over the course of the research and writing process. I think it is very important to represent them truly, but also to provide a redemption of sorts to illustrate their human worth. With Zelda, I wanted to protect her privacy on certain matters, so I didn’t expose every detail of her medical records or health past. If it didn’t serve the story and the greater message, I didn’t include it. It was the same when I wrote about Hemingway. There were certain family details that I felt deserved to be kept private because adding them would just be for the sake of gossip instead of theme, so I avoided them.
What’s the most unusual thing that’s happened to you since you’ve become a writer? The most exciting?
So many unusual things have happened to me that I wrote a blog post about them! Namely, I’ve been told I have a spirit of an old man walking with me, and I’ve been invited to do a reading at a nudist colony. The most exciting thing has been the mention of Call Me Zelda in print media like The Wall Street Journal and Harper’s Bazaar. The most moving and strange occurrence was when the opera song Zelda danced to for Scott on the night they met, a song mentioned in my novel many times, began playing on the radio as I pulled into the graveyard to pay my respects to the Fitzgeralds.
If you could travel back in time to counsel yourself on this journey, what would your advice be?
Trust the process and timing. Do not resist or force it, and the stream will carry you safely to shore…
Speed Round:
Best place on earth—-Sunset Key, Florida
Favorite family pasttime—Hiking
U.S. or Europe?—-Europe because it is so historic!!
Biggest Vice—-Dancing with the Stars
About the Author
Erika Robuck self-published her first novel, RECEIVE ME FALLING. Her novel, HEMINGWAY’S GIRL (NAL/Penguin), was a Target Emerging Author Pick, a Vero Beach Bestseller, and has been sold in two foreign markets to date. Her next novel, CALL ME ZELDA (NAL/Penguin), publishes on May 7, 2013, and begins in the years “after the party” for Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Erika writes about and reviews historical fiction at her blog, Muse, and is a contributor to popular fiction blog, Writer Unboxed. She is also a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Hemingway Society. Find her books HERE & HERE
Posted by Heather on May 3, 2013 in
GUEST POSTS
I’m excited to reveal S.M. Johnston’s crazy-cool cover of her new adult speculative novel SLEEPER! It releases from Entranced Publishing, December 2, 2013.
About the Book:
After a life-saving heart transplant, eighteen-year-old Mishca Richardson is plagued by nightmares and an urgent desire to find her birth parents, which she puts down to post-operation depression. But her new heart seems to bring more than a second chance at life in the form of speed, strength, and love at first sight.
About the Author:
Sharon is a writer from Mackay in Queensland, Australia who has short stories published in anthologies and was also runner-up in the Australian Literary Review’s Young Adult short story contest with KARMA. By day she is a public relations executive and by night she writes weird fiction and soulful contemporaries while her husband, two sons and cat are fast asleep.
Find Sharon:
Facebook
Twitter
Website
Goodreads
Posted by Heather on May 1, 2013 in
GUEST POSTS,
WRITING TIPS http://under30ceo.com/
I’m psyched to announce a new program called #PubLaw! Every Wednesday for the duration of the summer, Susan Spann, author of CLAWS OF THE CAT and publishing lawyer, will break down our burning questions about author contracts—both indie and traditional—and other highly HELPFUL information authors need to know to survive the ever-shifting waters of the publishing world.
We WANT to hear from you!! Please leave any legal publishing questions you have in the comments and Susan will tackle them for next week’s edition. Also, be sure to follow #PubLaw on Twitter every Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST.
TAKE IT AWAY, SUSAN!
Big thanks to friend and fellow author Heather Webb for letting me camp out at Between the Sheets to answer authors’ questions about publishing law.
Today, we’ll start with a question I’m asked quite frequently:
“What’s the difference between copyright and trademark? As an author, do I need to register both?”
The short answer is no, most authors don’t need trademarks, though trademarks may become relevant later on if you start to market merchandise featuring your series or characters’ names and likenesses.
What’s the difference? Read on:
COPYRIGHT LAW covers creative works – like novels – which are “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” Copyright protection is automatic and begins at the moment the work is created.
Authors don’t have to register their works with the U.S. Copyright office, but registration allows the author to recover additional damages (money) from infringers, so all authors should register their works with the copyright office at publication. Many publishers do this for you, but if yours does not, you can register your works online at http://www.copyright.gov.
TRADEMARK LAW covers words, names, symbols or slogans used in commerce to identify and distinguish the source of goods.
Novels, blog entries and short stories are all too long for trademark protection – they’re governed by copyright law instead. Titles aren’t subject to trademark either—though the name of a series (like “The Hardy Boys Mysteries”) can be trademarked under the right circumstances.
There are other differences between copyright and trademark too. A few of particular interest to authors:
1. Duration. Copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years (95 years from publication for anonymous or entity “authors.”). Trademark lasts as long as the mark is “actively used in commerce.”
2. Originality. Trademark requires far more originality than copyright.
3. Length. Copyright governs creative works of any length, from Tweets to full-length novels. Trademark governs only “words, slogans, logos, and phrases.”
Copyright and trademark also have some similarities: violation of either is called “infringement” and is legally actionable. Intent is not a required element of infringement in either case. If you use a legally protected work without permission (or a legally-recognized exception), you are liable to the trademark or copyright holder.
If you have additional questions about trademarks or copyrights, consult an experienced attorney who specializes in intellectual property. That, or hop into the comments and let me know – I’ll be back next week with another installment of Ask #PubLaw!
Thank you, Susan!
ABOUT SUSAN
Susan is a publishing attorney and historical mystery author. Her debut novel CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur) releases July 16, 2013. When not writing or representing clients, Susan enjoys traditional archery, martial arts, horseback riding, online gaming, and raising seahorses and rare corals in her highly distracting marine aquarium. She still consumes books – almost as avidly as spicy Thai dinners. Susan lives in Sacramento with her husband, son, three cats, one bird, and a multitude of assorted aquatic creatures. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society and the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Association and is represented by literary agent Sandra Bond of Bond Literary Agency. For more information, contact her at her website HERE or on Twitter.
b
Posted by Heather on Apr 26, 2013 in
FOODIE ADVICE,
FRENCHIE FRIDAYS,
GUEST POSTS 
For Frenchie Friday and Beth Fish’s #WeekendCooking, Dana Gynther, author of CROSSING ON THE PARIS (Titanic meets Downton Abbey), talks about all that food aboard the oceanliner in her novel.
Take it away, Dana!
ONE OF THE DELIGHTS of writing “Crossing on the Paris,” set on a French Line ocean liner in 1921, was imagining the passengers’ meals. I confess, I spent far more time than was necessary researching antique steamer menus for sale on Ebay, from handwritten ones from the 19th century to those from emblematic ships like the Lusitania or the Titanic. Some dishes were mysteries to me—like Croûte au Pot or Charlotte Russe—and I had to look them up in my vintage copies of the Escoffier Cookbook and Larousse Gastronomique. I decided against using many of the fashionable recipes from the time—like sheep trotters and ox tongue—because they sound so unappealing today.
On ocean liners meals are the key events on board. My book has three main characters—two women travelers in First and Second class and a young woman in the Service Crew—and they all had to have different dining experiences, from the elegant, multi-course meals in First to the homey ones served family-style below. They were all, however, examples of traditional French cuisine in keeping with the fashions of the 1920s.
For example, Vera Sinclair, in First Class, could enjoy velvety lobster bisque with just a hint of cognac, prime sirloin cooked rare, and Peach Melba (a trademark of Escoffier, the first “celebrity chef”) topped with fresh raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. In Second Class, Constance Stone, unused to foreign food, is disappointed with her cold soup, crème Vichyssoise, and disconcerted by the one-eyed stare of her fish. Julie Vernet, suffering from mal de mer (sea sickness) in Steerage, doesn’t eat but helps serve garlic soup and rabbit to hundreds of people. Solid French cooking from the most elaborated to the most humble.
ALONG WITH THE FOOD, part of the dining experience was the ambience, the clothes, the service and the conversation, which also needed to be different for each class. The First Class dining room on the Paris was a work of art, with an immense glass ceiling and a double staircase for making grand entrances. We can imagine the porcelain tableware, the fresh flowers, Chopin coming from the grand piano in the corner. In Second, for our bourgeois guests in velveteen and tweed, the ceilings were lower, the palms shorter, the service less fawning. Despite the lack of frills in Steerage, the conversation was lively at the long tables and the waitresses could occasionally join in on the joke.
Besides dinners and luncheons, for the upper classes, there were also high teas with the best French pastries, cocktails (especially those popularized in the “American” bars in Paris—martinis, sidecars, white ladies, etc), as well as the traditional on-deck snack of bouillon and saltines. After five days on board, the ship would dock in New York, and the passengers would alight, refreshed and energetic. Undoubtedly, they would also arrive with a few pounds of “extra baggage.”
AND FOR THOSE OF US WHO LIKE HISTORICAL COOKING, Dana has shared a popular dish Vera, her first-class character, ordered aboard.
CROÛTE AU POT
1 thin baguette
Olive oil
4 and a half cups fresh beef or chicken consommé
1 onion
1 small turnip or parsnip
1 carrot
1 leek
1 stick of celery
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 large tomato
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1. Slice the baguette into rounds. Brush each side with olive oil and bake until crisp and golden.
2. Pour consommé into a saucepan and heat gently.
3. Peel the onion, turnip, carrot and dice. Add to the consommé with the garlic.
4. Bring to boil, then immediately reduce heat. Cover and simmer until vegetables are al dente.
5. Peel, de-seed and finely dice the tomato and add with the parsley.
6. Place two are three “croûtes” (toasts) in each bowl, fill with soup.
A classic, the dish appeared on the Luncheon Menu of the Lusitania (see menu) but also on the sea trials of the Titanic in April, 1912.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In 1921, the Gilded Age is drawing to a close, but not aboard the great ocean liner the Paris, on its maiden voyage between Le Havre and New York. Amidst the luxurious wood paneling and plush carpets of first class is the aging Vera Sinclair, who has made the difficult decision that after thirty years in Paris she will leave her dearest friend behind and return at last to Manhattan. In the cozy family comfort of second class, Constance Stone revels in unaccustomed freedom as she returns from a brief, failed mission in Paris to her home in Worcester, Massachusetts, where her adored little daughters and dull professor husband await. And on the stifling, noisy lowest deck below the waterline, young Le Havre native Julie Vernet tests her wings in her first job—unenviably serving meals in the steering class dining room. Three very different women from very different worlds, yet aboard the Paris their lives will intersect.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dana Gynther was raised in St Louis and Auburn, Alabama. After college, she lived in France for eighteen months, then returned to the University of Alabama to get an MA in French Literature. In 1994, she and her French-speaking Spanish husband moved to his hometown, Valencia (Spain), where they work as teachers and translators. She enjoys traveling, reading and writing, making collages, riding her bike around town, but mostly, spending time with her husband and their two daughters. Visit her website, www.DanaGynther.com for more details and ancedotes about oceanliners in the 1920′s.
****(Both the recipe and menu were taken from “The Captain’s Table: Life and Dining on the Great Ocean Liners” by Sarah Edington).
Posted by Heather on Apr 16, 2013 in
GUEST POSTS 
Please welcome author Kerry Schafer! Kerry is the urban fantasy author of the series THE BETWEEN. Her novel released earlier this year, to much acclaim. Kerry is busy at work on the second novel in the series to be released in February 2014.
About the Book
Vivian Maylor can’t sleep. Maybe it’s because she just broke up with her boyfriend and moved to a new town, or it could be the stress of her new job at the hospital. But perhaps it’s because her dreams have started to bleed through into her waking hours.
All of her life Vivian has rejected her mother’s insane ramblings about Dreamworlds for concrete science and fact, until an emergency room patient ranting about dragons spontaneously combusts before her eyes—forcing Viv to consider the idea that her visions of mythical beasts might be real.
And when a chance encounter leads her to a man she knows only from her dreams, Vivian finds herself falling into a world that seems strange and familiar all at once—a world where the line between dream and reality is hard to determine, and hard to control…
I love the idea of your dreamshifter! (I’m assuming this is nothing like Freddy Krueger? *shudders*) What exactly does a dreamshifter do?
This is where I have to admit that I won’t watch horror movies and don’t know what Freddy Krueger does. I only know he’s a scary dude from movies and he has long fignernails, right? My dreamshifter doesn’t have long fingernails. She’s an ER doc and keeps them clipped nice and short for work. But that’s not what you wanted to know, right? Dreamshifters are responsible for making sure elements of the Dreamworld don’t spill over into waking. Unfortunately for Vivian, when she gets stuck with the job she has no idea how to go about doing what she’s supposed to do.
What do you love most about your protagonist?
The thing I love most about Vivian is that she’s not a kick ass super heroine, but a real woman thrust into a strange and dangerous situation. Some of her greatest battles are fought with herself.
Do you draw upon your experience in a myriad of interesting jobs (lumberjack, OB nurse, etc.) to deepen your creative experience? How so?
I do! In Between I probably drew most on my experience as a mental health crisis worker. I spent a ton of time in the ER with that job, so that helped to shape the ER scenes. And it gave me an appreciation for the truly bizarre, and the way realities can get away from people.
What advice would you share with aspiring writers?
Don’t give up, and keep working to improve your craft. Also – write new books. I think every project teaches us something new, and if we keep reworking one thing forever and ever, we miss out on the opportunity to grow and get better.
SPEED ROUND
Favorite “Canadian” dish: Timbits!! Okay, so it’s not a dish. Still.
Best Place on Earth: Home
Hidden Talent: Procrastination. I excel. Although it’s possible this is not so hidden.
Greatest Vice: Procrastination.
About the Author
Kerry Schafer was born and raised in Canada*, moved back and forth across the border several times, and finally settled on a compromise. She now lives in Washington state, but within an hour’s drive of her home and native land. Her childhood book collection traveled with her through all of those moves, and although she now owns a Kindle she continues to acquire books and bookshelves. During her lifetime, Kerry has worked as a lumber piler, an OB nurse, a secretary, and a substitute teacher, among other things. No matter where she lives or what she is doing, she finds a way to create writing time. Currently she balances writing and family with her work as a mental health counselor.
*And yes, she does sometimes say ‘eh?’ but never, ever ‘aboot.’
Visit her at her site HERE, Twitter, or follow her weekly posts at The Debutante Ball.
Posted by Heather on Apr 9, 2013 in
GUEST POSTS 
I’m happy to welcome multi-published historical thriller author Beverly Swerling, at Between the Sheets today. Her latest novel, BRISTOL HOUSE weaves the story of a 21st century woman with the ghost of a dead monk from the 16th century—sending her on an adventure to solve a five-hundred-year old unsolved mystery.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In modern-day London, architectural historian and recovering alcoholic Annie Kendall hopes to turn her life around and restart her career by locating several long-missing pieces of ancient Judaica. Geoff Harris, an investigative reporter, is soon drawn into her quest, both by romantic interest and suspicions about the head of the Shalom Foundation, the organization sponsoring her work. He’s also a dead ringer for the ghost of a monk Annie believes she has seen at the flat she is subletting in Bristol House.
In 1535, Tudor London is a very different city, one in which monks are being executed by Henry VIII and Jews are banished. In this treacherous environment of religious persecution, Dom Justin, a Carthusian monk, and a goldsmith known as the Jew of Holborn must navigate a shadowy world of intrigue involving Thomas Cromwell, Jewish treasure, and sexual secrets. Their struggles shed light on the mysteries Annie and Geoff aim to puzzle out—at their own peril.
This riveting dual-period narrative seamlessly blends a haunting supernatural thriller with vivid historical fiction. Beverly Swerling, widely acclaimed for her City of Dreams series, delivers a bewitching and epic story of a historian and a monk, half a millennium apart, whose destinies are on a collision course.
I adore novels that take place in two different eras, with a mystery to boot! Did you ever have trouble switching in and out of time?
The idea for BRISTOL HOUSE came to me “all of a piece” as it were. I had Annie, the contemporary heroine, and Dom Justin and The Jew of Holborn, the two Tudor ghosts, all speaking in my head at the same time. So there was never any question but that it would be a “back and forth in time” novel.
In fact I’ve done a couple of those in the past – WOMEN’S RITES and A MATTER OF TIME both Beverly Byrne books and both out of print now – so I knew I could do it. Working out the transitions is always a challenge, but that’s craft not inspiration. Remember the old joke about stopping a New Yorker to ask how to get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.
With BRISTOL HOUSE the mystery kept changing as I wrote. I would have something firmly on the page – the code of the A’s, for example – which I originally intended to be one thing, then find out that it wouldn’t work unless I made it something else. That happens to me because I never outline but work out my novels in the writing of them. Which is maybe why I rewrite so many times! Can’t help it. That’s my process and I’ve learned to trust it.
You mentioned that you lived in Europe. Where, and did you have a favorite place that you researched for BRISTOL HOUSE?
We spent twenty-five plus years based in Europe, and we still go back and forth a lot but consider our base these days our old Victorian row house in Philly. Much of our time abroad was centered on the UK (with strong connections to France and Spain) so for me setting a novel in London was a natural. In fact, Number 8 Bristol House, the flat that is central to the novel is real. It belongs to my son’s in-laws and I have spent a lot of time there. I always knew I would write about it someday. That’s why I’ve said that this novel has been lying in wait for me… It truly has. Even, says she mysteriously, the ghosts…
You started in nonfiction. What was it about fiction writing that pulled you in?
As you say, I was a free-lance journalist for a while before I mustered the guts to attempt a novel. Writing fiction represented a leap in the dark. As you know, it’s a much harder thing to do. The facts dictate what you can and cannot say in a piece based on someone else’s truth – which I think defines non-fiction. You simply need to be rigorous about research and adept at composing an English sentence. Given a certain predisposition to those skills, you can learn to do such things well. I had good teachers (i.e. editors) and I did learn.
A novel, on the other hand, is based not on someone else’s truth but on your own. You must be absolutely truthful in a much more fundamental way; speaking the truth inside yourself. It takes intestinal fortitude to bare your soul that way. I’m sure that’s why though I always knew I would earn my living as a writer (it was pretty much my only skill from about age six!), it took a while before I worked up the courage to take my clothes off in public.
Talk about your process. Do you write many drafts? And how do you work through the doldrum days?
I write so many drafts I cannot count them. I always know where I’m going but not how I’m going to get there, and I’m compulsively accurate about facts – again, as you know, that’s a big deal for us as writers of historical fiction – so I’m also researching as I go and may find that something I assumed to be true is not/was not, which will necessitate another change. But in the end I believe that this constant rewriting helps to build the texture and depth that readers compliment in my novels. I have to believe that! I couldn’t do it any other way so have convinced myself it’s worth something to rewrite as much as I do.
I start very early in the a.m. – around five – and don’t even pick up my e-mail until ten a.m. or later. And if I’m actually writing a novel I write seven days a week until I turn it in. So in one sense my answer to the bad I-can’t-write days is, “apply backside to chair.” But I readily admit there are days when I can’t produce one new page of text, let alone the eight or ten pages I aim for. Those will be days when all I manage is rewriting. There are times when it goes so well I can do a book in less than a year (CITY OF PROMISE was like that). BRISTOL HOUSE took four years.
Do you have advice for aspiring writers?
I do, and interestingly it has changed over the years. I used to tell new writers how important it is to have the right agent because given how editors change jobs, the agent is the only constant in a writer’s life. That’s still true, but less so. We used to need that powerful agent because we were clawing our way up the marketing stepladder in a publishing world where there was nothing between a budget of zero and say $200,000. That is entirely different today. Social media is the how and the why of selling books in today’s world and the most important thing a new writer can do is recognize the need to take responsibility for that. Try and get your publisher on board with what you are going to do (here’s where having that strong agent with clout and commitment still matters), but know from day one that you are going to do it and it will take a lot of time and probably a bit of money.
Of course, none of this is about the writing, but if you want to make a living doing this, it’s every bit as important as how you develop character and how you structure plot.
SPEED ROUND
Hidden Talent: Well, it’s not very hidden since it frequently feels as if I am feeding the five-thousand, but I am a really terrific cook.
Memorable Moment: Probably the precise moment when I became a believer. Walked into a church because I was cold and couldn’t get a taxi. (I was 21 and this was on Park Avenue in NYC and in those days churches didn’t lock their doors until late at night.) Found Jesus Christ was waiting for me there. He’s never gone away, though I sometimes have.
Beach or mountains: Mountains, perhaps because I grew up on a beach! (Revere, just outside Boston.)
Best Place on Earth: I know many, but years ago, an inn outside Strasbourg called Les Violettes might have qualified. Or on a barge moored in a village called St. John de Losne in Burgundy. Has to be a place with French food at any rate. And French markets in which to buy the food…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Beverly is the acclaimed author of seven novels, nonfiction essays and many other works. You may find her at her website: www.BeverlySwerling.com or Twitter: @BeverlySwerling.
Posted by Heather on Apr 3, 2013 in
GUEST POSTS 
Today we welcome Mary Hart Perry, author of the Victorian thriller series about Queen Victoria’s daughters, the Crown Princesses. Her second novel in the series releases this week. Congratulations, Mary! Leave a comment and your name will go into the drawing for a free Kindle copy!
About the Book
Mary Hart Perry’s acclaimed series of romantic Victorian thrillers continues with Seducing the Princess, inspired by the life of Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter Beatrice. Painfully shy and lonely, convinced she is unattractive and unloved, the dutiful Princess Beatrice finally accepts that she will never marry and vows to devote herself to the queen in Victoria’s waning years. In fact, her mother has secretly discouraged suitors for Beatrice’s hand. Just when Beatrice has all but given up on love and happiness, she meets Henry Battenberg, a dashing nobleman from the Continent who matches wits with the aging Victoria and risks his life and liberty to woo Bea.
But Henry isn’t the only man interested in being welcomed into Beatrice’s bed. The timid princess has become the target of a cruel plot hatched by her nephew, the madman destined to become the last Emperor of Germany. Wilhelm II sends a ruthless agent, a charming Scot, to seduce the naive princess and spy on the queen. How can the sheltered princess hope to fend off a man capable of murder, and perhaps worse, to get what he wants? But Beatrice is not without her own allies–her older sister Louise and Louise’s American soldier-of-fortune and lover, Stephen Byrne. Will Beatrice discover which of the two men pursuing her she can trust, before it’s too late? Drama, romance and peril chase the royal family from Buckingham Palace to a storm besieged castle on the Isle of Wight.
Your Victorian thriller series chronicles the adventures of Queen Victoria’s daughters. What is it about the family that seduced you to write about them?
I love writing about real people from the past and imagining ways to make them come to life for my readers. Even royalty have their problems and challenges to deal with. Making historical figures human fascinates me.
Have you visited England for research?
Yes, I was in England many years ago and more recently I attended the Historical Novel Society conference in London. I did some research as well while I was in the city. In fact, I spenT half a day in the infamous Tower of London. A few months later, I wrote a short story for an anthology that will be published later this year. The story is set in The Tower itself, during the 19th century, after the one-time castle, turned prison, has been opened as a sort of Dickensian tourist site.
SEDUCING THE PRINCESS is book two in the series. Is there a third in the works?
Book #3 is in the works. I’m hoping to finish it by the Fall of this year. It features Crown Princess Vicky who becomes involved in the search for Jack the Ripper, the 19th century serial killer who terrorized all of London.
What is your view of the ever-shifting publishing world?
There’s no doubt about it. These are exciting times for publishing, but also scary for authors, publishers and agents alike. Everyone is trying to figure out how they can best fit into whatever new game plan evolves. I believe in never putting all of your eggs in one basket, as my grandmother used to say. So I will work with traditional publishers as long as I’m welcome there, but I’ll also do some exciting projects with small presses and self-publish some exciting new novellas and novels. All I care about is reaching and entertaining my readers, no matter the vehicle–big or small press, paper or e-book. I think the authors who survive the shifting marketplace will be those who are flexible and try a variety of platforms for their stories.
Speed Round
Fun fact about Victorian England: The Victorians believed that as long as ravens lived at The Tower of London, there would always be an England. Even today, a small flock of ravens are kept on the Tower grounds, their flight feathers clipped so they will stay at the Tower.
Favorite Place on Earth: Bermuda. My husband and I were married on a ship sailing for Bermuda, where we spent our honeymoon. It’s also the setting of one of my novels, The Gentleman Poet.
Biggest Vice: Eating chocolate…in bed. (I know I shouldn’t, but with a book in hand and fluffy pillows…it’s pure heaven.)
Hidden Talent: I can take the helm of a sailboat and sail her through a channel and into dock. (I once had to do this when our 34′ sailboat’s engine died. Using just wind power and the current is a bit tricky!)
About the Author
Mary Hart Perry lives in the Washington, DC area, with her husband and two cats, in a perfectly ordinary house that is nowhere close to being a castle. She has neither a coach, nor footman or driver. You won’t find even one lady-in-waiting in her bedroom, and there’s no cook in her kitchen to whip up a luscious 6-course meal to fortify her when she’s too busy obsessing over her current novel to cook. However, she feels positively regal when she travels to speak at conferences. There they feed her very well, thank you! Her favorite things in life are writing, history, animals and the people who own them—including most of her family and all of her fans. When she isn’t writing she hangs out with her pals on her Facebook page (Mary Hart Perry) or on Twitter (@Mary_Hart_Perry). If you like, come join us! Or email Mary at Mary@MaryHartPerry.com to tell her what you enjoy most about historical fiction.
Posted by Heather on Mar 25, 2013 in
GUEST POSTS 
Today I welcome lady authoress Tracy Grant to Between the Sheets. Her eleventh novel THE PARIS AFFAIR is a historical mystery set during the Napoleonic wars with a hefty dash of romance, I’m dying to get my grubby hands on this book! Congratulations on your release, Tracy!
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the wake of the Battle of Waterloo, Paris is a house divided. The triumphant Bourbons flaunt their victory with lavish parties, while Bonapartists seek revenge only to be captured and executed. Amid the turmoil, British attaché and intelligence agent Malcolm Rannoch and his wife, Suzanne, discover that his murdered half sister, Princess Tatiana Kirsanova, may have borne a child—a secret she took to the grave. And Malcolm suspects there was more than mere impropriety behind her silence. . . .As Malcolm and Suzanne begin searching for answers, they learn that the child was just one of many secrets Tatiana had been keeping. The princess was the toast of Paris when she arrived in the glamorous city, flirting her way into the arms of more than a few men—perhaps even those of Napoleon himself—and the father must be among them. But in the mêlée of the Napoleonic Wars, she was caught up in a deadly game of court intrigue, and now Malcolm and Suzanne must race against time to save his sister’s child from a similar fate. . . .
Your historical mystery is set set during the Napoleonic era? Are there any other time periods you would consider writing about?
I was initially intrigued by the Regency/Napoleonic era through Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. I think it’s such a fascinating time period, on the cusp between the 18th century and the Industrial Revolution, between the classical and romantic eras, between the Les Liaisons Dangereuses generation and Victorian repression. The ferment of the French Revolution ripples through despite the efforts of some politicians to turn back the clock. In many ways those tensions came to the fore in the post-Napoleonic era when politicians and diplomats redrew the map of Europe. My protagonists, Malcolm and Suzanne, are both intelligence agents, and there are so many wonderful opportunities for spy stories in this era. So many different sides, so many different factions within sides. Lots of interesting moral dilemmas. The French under Napoleon had been bent on conquest, but they had also brought much-needed reforms to many countries. Some liberal Spaniards saw supporting the French in the Peninsular War as the quickest route to progressive reform. And after the Napoleonic Wars, a number of the victors wanted to turn the clock back to before the French Revolution and saw any hint of reform as one step away from blood in the streets.
Forensics weren’t really around in the 19th century, so how do Malcolm and Suzanne conduct research to uncover clues or find suspects?
Malcolm and Suzanne can gather some forensic evidence. They can look at footprints, find stands of hair or threads of fabric caught on cobblestones of table legs or left behind on sheets. Of course they can’t do DNA or chemical analysis, all they can do is compare the color of the hair or fabric, look at where the mud left behind by a shoe might have come from. If they’re really lucky someone drops a distinctive earring. They can use lividity and rigor to roughly arrive at time of death But mostly their investigations involve talking to people who knew the victim or may have witnessed something and examining the victims possessions and whatever may have been left at the crime scene. And then, more often that not, they find themselves followed or attacked and that has a way of leading them to uncover further evidence…
What is your favorite type of scene to write and why?
Hmm… Good question! I find action scenes challenging to choreograph, but once I have the action laid out they’re a lot of fun to write. The Paris Affair opens with a brawl in a tavern by the Seine that i had a lot of fun with. I like writing real historical set pieces, such as the Carrousel, a recreation of a medieval tournament in Vienna Waltz. But I think my favorite type of scene is one of intense emotional revelation, whether it’s between Malcolm and Suzanne (who still have a lot of secrets from each other) or one of the other characters, whether a real historical person or a fictional character, revealing something to Malcolm or Suzanne. Those sort of scenes seem to write themselves, and I often discover knew aspects of my characters as I write them.
I’m always intrigued by how a mystery or thriller writer plots their high tension scenes. Do you write an entire draft and then plant your clues later, or do you know where they’ll go before you begin?
I lay out my plot on index cards. Now that I’ve discovered Scrivener (amazing writing software) I use their corkboard feature, and I find I can write scenes as I’m plotting, often out of order, which makes me much more efficient, as I can go on writing even when I’m stuck on a particular plot element. I also find a spend less time on transitions this way, which is good for pacing. I usually know major plot points before I begin writing (I think of my books in three acts, like a screenplay)
What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Write what you love. It’s a crazy business. Make sure you at least enjoy the process, because that’s all you can control.
SPEED ROUND
*Best Place on Earth: The San Francisco Bay Area,. Closely followed by Ashland, Oregon, and London.
*English beer or French wine: French wine – champagne or a complex red. Not that i don’t enjoy English beer…
*Which historical figure would you like to be: Harriet Granville, younger daughter of the Duchess of Devonshire. She wrote wonderfully witty, acerbic letters and managed to have a remarkably happy life.
*Hidden Talent: Since my daughter was born fifteen months ago, I’ve mastered the art of typing with a baby nursing or asleep in my arms.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Teresa (Tracy) Grant studied British history at Stanford University and received the Firestone Award for Excellence in Research for her honors thesis on shifting conceptions of honor in late fifteenth century England. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, with her young daughter and three cats, and is on the board of the Merola Opera Program, a professional training program for opera singers, pianists, and stage directors. Her real life heroine is her daughter Mélanie, who is very cooperative about Mummy’s writing. Tracy is currently at work on her next book chronicling the adventures of Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch.
Find out more about Tracy Grant and her many books at her website HERE
