I have a Dream...And still do!

Hi everyone

I’m waving madly from New Zealand. I’m one of your new monthly bloggers – Bronwen Evans. The lovely RTG ladies have reached across the world and invited me to entertain you romance junkies—of which I am proudly one.

They suggested in this blog that I introduce myself, so here is a little bit about me.

I’ve had plenty of life experience (that’s my way of saying I have a few (okay more than a few) years behind me.) I’ve never married and I have no children. I’m a twin, my sister Leigh is twenty minutes younger than me, making me the eldest. I have three other younger sisters and no brothers.  I have two nephews and one niece. My twin and one other sister live not far from me, third lives in Sydney, Australia and the fourth lives with her German husband in Germany. My parents are divorced and remarried. My mother lives about an hour away, and my father lives in Edmonton, Canada. I have only one living grandparent and in January she will be celebrating her 101th birthday!

Okay, those are the basic’s and not that interesting. What I really want you to know about me is that I’m a passionate person. Passionate in the sense that I believe in LIFE. Living life to the full and following your DREAMS.

I’ve lost very special people in my life, I’m sure we all have. The first, when I was twenty-five years old. Someone very close to me and very dear to my heart was killed in a skiing accident. At twenty-five you think you have your whole life ahead of you, and you have plenty of time. We all know that is not necessarily the case. On top of that my special friend, Jock, was battling with a debilitating illness and was not expected to live past thirty (see my dedication in Invitation to Ruin, my first Regency release.)

Both of these events brought home to me that life was over pretty quickly, and if I didn’t use my time on this earth wisely, I might get to the end of it and find out I'd missed something really special. At twenty-five I made the decision I’d never get to the end of my life and hear the words ‘I wish I had...”

So, whatever I decided to do I threw myself into it in order to ensure I achieved it.  I’ve started my own business and listed it on the NZ stock exchange, sold it and travelled the world, literally, and I’ve loved and laughed along the way.

Some advice – nothing worthwhile having, comes easy. You have to work, and work hard to succeed.

What’s my overriding dream, the dream I’ve worked on for years – to make a living by becoming a romance writer. Note my dream wasn’t to become published. My dream still is to MAKE a LIVING from romance writing. Two very different dreams and both very valid.

I knew that if I wanted to have a career in romance writing I had to work hard. I read ferociously, over 200 historical romances before I even started writing. I took many online romance writing courses (and still do – you never finish learning). I sought out like minded writers and formed a support group. I run a yahoo group called Book in 50 Days where we run, three times a year, exactly that. We challenge ourselves to write a book in 50 days. I found fabulous critique partners, and now beta readers. And I joined as many romance writing organisations as possible. Finally, I found and signed with an agent, Melissa Jeglinski at The Knight Agency.

And guess what, my hard work paid off. In January 2010, I signed a two book deal with Kensington. But that is only the beginning. I have to keep writing, keep improving, and keep delivering better stories. The pressure never eases and a two book deal does not make a career,  and a career is my dream. To be able to live solely off my royalties. So I can live where I want and work the hours I want. Here's a picture of the section I've just bought in the Hawke's Bay with the amazing view. It's waiting for me to succeed so I can build my house on it. A huge incentive.

So am I living my dream – almost. I work part-time as head of a private surgeons association and write at least twenty hours per week. That’s almost my dream.

I’m now about 2/3 way through book three, a new regency, and I will be asking my agent to shop it for me early next year. That will be crux time. Can I sell another book outside of my original deal? Gosh, I hope so. But this is a fickle and challenging business, in a strained economy with a business model that’s in upheaval, who knows what will happen.

But I can’t control that. I can only control what I do. And that’s write. And hopefully sell. Until then, I’ll keep writing, keep falling in love with romance and focusing on my dream. I have a dream...

What’s your dream and how will you make it happen? Leave a comment and one lucky commenter will win a copy of INVITATION TO RUIN.

For more about me visit my website www.bronwenevans.com or my blog http://regencyseductions.blogspot.com/

My books – Invitation to Ruin 1 March 2011 and Invitation to Scandal April 2012 – available in book and e-book from all booksellers.

Website:   www.bronwenevans.com

Facebook:    www.facebook.com/bronwenevansauthor

Twitter: @authorbevans

Invitation to Ruin Feb 2011 RT Book Reviews 4.5 Star

Regency Ladies and Double-Barrel Flintlocks

In my Regency Romance, The Guise of a Gentleman, my Regency lady was faced with a group of bad guys. Since I'd done my research, I knew if she were to defend the man and boy they were trying to kill, she'd only be able to get off one shot because of the time and difficulty loading guns. So, I'd decided to either have her ride with two loaded guns or have a groom riding with her. Then I found just what I needed: a double-barrel flintlock which could fire two shots, without having to reload. Huzzah!!!

Most Flintlock pistols were from 10 to 16 inches long, from butt to barrel muzzle. They would weigh from one to four pounds, depending on the caliber and the number of barrels. There were a number of double-barreled pistols during the Regency, but they were generally big and heavy. There were two types, the over and under, with a revolving lower barrel, but only one hammer, so that the pan had to be primed before firing again. Ladies’ pistols were generally six to eight inches long. Here is a small example that was only eight inches long, making one of the smallest of it’s kind and close to a ladies’ pistol.A bullet would be no wider than this: / /.

The real problem was that the flint, amount of powder, and mechanisms has to be smaller, which made them firing them successfully more difficult.

Here's a picture of small or woman’s pistol. It's is six inches long. You can see that too small to hold a ramrod. The ladies’ pistols weighed bewteen 12 oz to one and a half pounds.

Here's a shotgun, circa 1798 to 1804. Overall length is 44 1/2", barrel length is 29", and the gun weighs 7.3 pounds.

It has a side-by-side barrel, like a double-barreled shotgun . And like the shotgun, it has two hammers, though you can't see the second one behind the first. It also has two triggers, one for each barrel. It's a .54 cal. and the damascus barrel is nine inches long and weights close to three pounds.

This Double-Barrel Flintlock Pistol of Napoleon is a replica of the original of this side-by-side double-barreled flintlock pistol from Napoleon's private armory and bears his insignia on both sides of the grip. Made by Gribeauval, Napoleon's personal gun maker, the pistol originated in the French unmaking center of St. Etienne in 1806. Unusual for its day, the double-barrel configuration provided a decided advantage over its single-barreled counterpart, given the notoriously slow reloading procedure for flintlocks. The barrel is just under eight inches long and it weighs about 2 pounds .

Even though ladies’ pistols and double-barreled pistols look different, they were loaded the same way as all flintlocks. Most all flintlocks were smoothbores. Some were rifles, with spiral rifling in the barrels. They were difficult to load because the bullet had to be seated against the rifling groves to actually spin the ball, so it was hard to ram home. Cloth or leather was wrapped around the ball, and the cloth against the rifling was easier to get down the barrel.

So, if you wondered what Elise used to save the hero and the boy from the cutthroats about to kill them, here you are, proof and everything.

The Guise of a Gentleman, winner of the Golden Quill Award

"Combining Jane Austen with swashbuckling adventure, The Guise of a Gentleman is a fine specimen of pirate romance!" NY Times bestselling author Jennifer Ashley

The widowed Elise is a perfect English lady living within the confines of society for the sake of her impressionable young son. Her quiet world is shattered when she meets the impulsive and scandalous Jared Amesbury. His roguish charm awakens her yearning for freedom and adventure. But his irrepressible grin and sea-green eyes hide a secret.

But his irrepressible grin and sea-green eyes hide a secret. A gentleman by day, a pirate by night, Jared accepts one last assignment before he can be truly free. Elise gives him hope that he, too, can find love and belonging. His hopes are crushed when his best laid plans go awry and Elise is dragged into his world of violence and deceit. She may not survive the revelation of Jared’s past…or still love him when the truth is revealed.