“Have you considered the absurdity of it all, Rafe? That you, a son of Ireland, are traveling to America to impersonate a British minister in order to catch a fellow Irishman?”
Rafferty chuckled softly to himself. Phineas’s summation was all the more preposterous given this particular would-be British minister was filthy with coal dust and stinking with the sweat of hard labor.
I think maybe those two lines sum up the basis of REDEEMING THE ROGUE more than any other. My hero, Michael Rafferty, is more accustomed to the back alleys of London’s underbelly than the fancy posh receptions of diplomats, yet that’s exactly what he’s been assigned to do – impersonate a diplomat to catch a killer. The man’s going to need a little help here – and he gets it in the form of Lady Arianne Chambers, the sister to a duke who is well acquainted with the falderal of the aristocracy.
Shame that the two met earlier and on the basis of mistaken first impressions hoped never to see the other again. Have you ever noticed how destiny has a way of playing tricks on us, though? The reluctant reunion of Rafferty and Arianne has them journeying across the Atlantic exploring etiquette lessons, American political structure, and … hmm…each other. Which is good as they’ll need to rely on each other to survive a nefarious plot that includes guns, coffins and the assassination of President James Garfield.
I have to tell you – I had a great time writing this book! I modeled the friendship of Rafferty and Phineas on the basis of James West and Artemus Gordon of the Wild Wild West TV series. I hated to see this book come to an end because I fell in love with the characters – but Berkley has this concept called deadlines and I had to let them go. I had thought this would be the final book of the Chambers series but Phineas has camped out in my head demanding a love of his own We’ll have to see about that. I’ve already turned in the first book of a new series about Victorian personal ads. I can’t really deal with Phineas till after that’s complete.
So what should I do? Any suggestions or coping techniques? What happens to you when the book ends and you’re just not ready to let the characters go? Has that ever happened to you?
You can see the ill-fated first meet of Rafferty and Lady Arianne and get a taste of Phineas’s character at www.DonnaMacmeans.com. I’m hoping to put some deleted scenes from the original REDEEMING THE ROGUE up on that site shortly, so if they’re not there yet, be sure to check back. Someone leaving a comment today here on FreshFiction.com will be receiving a copy of REDEEMING THE ROGUE. I’ll let Phineas pick out the winner! (And be patient as I’m currently out of the country. I hope to connect through the wonders of free wi-fi but you know how the best laid plans just sometimes fail to materialize. I’ll be back to reply to comments – one way or another.)
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