Beaneath a Silent Moon

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:23 am Post subject: Beaneath a Silent Moon

Post your questions and comments about Beneath a Silent Moon in this topic.
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Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:26 am Post subject:

I ADORE this cover. I mean, really, really adore the cover.

Did you feel that it was difficult to write about the romance since Charles and Mélanie are married, and yet, their job as spies causes them to be cagey and secretive with each other?
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Medieval & Regency Writer
keirasoleore.blogspot.com

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:20 am Post subject:

I really love this book, as I did the first Charles and Melanie book. I was wondering if you wrote this one first and then, in one of those publishing decisions I never understand, it was decided to publish Daughter of the Game first? Or did you decide, after writing Daughter of the Game, that it needed a prequel?

When I recommend the books to friends, I generally tell them to start with Beneath a Silent Moon. I hope that's okay.
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Poor Relation Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 82

I love the cover too, Keira! It so beautifully manages to capture all the elements in the book--history, romance, intrigue.

I've always loved stories about married couples--Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane, Albert & Amanda Campion, the Scarlet Pimpernel books, Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes. So one of the things I wanted to do in the Charles & Melanie books was explore the relationship between a married couple. I think any marriage is constantly evolving, and Charles & Mel have more issues to deal with and complexities to sort out than the averge couple Smile

. One of the ongoing themes in the series in the tension between their work as spies (and the loylaties that go with it) and their roles as a married couple and as parents (and the attendant loyalties that go with that).

One of the challenges in Beneath a Silent Moon was writing from Melanie's pov and not revealing the secrets she's still keeping from Charles (and to an extent also writing from Charle's pov and not revealing secrets he's keeping from Mel, though that wasn't quite as difficult because, I think, of the nature of the secrets). I think I managed to make it work by having her think about the fact that she has secrets but not what the secrets are. It was a challenge, but a fun challenge. It helped that the emotional arc of the book centers on Charles's ability to open himself up to Mel.

Cheers,
Tracy
http://www.tracygrant.org

Poor Relation Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 82

The answer is a bit of both, Margaret. I wrote Secrets of a Lady/Daughter of the Game first, and then decided I wanted to explore the early years of Charles & Mel's marriage, so I could set up somethings for future books and particularly deal with Charles's relationship with his father, Kenneth Fraser. I also realized, just recently when I was doing an interview about Beneath a Silent Moon, that because Beneath center a lot on Charles's past and family and secrets, it was effective to set it at an earlier point in their marriage, when Mel is learning about him as well. That way the reader can learn about Charles (and Charles's family) through Melanie's eyes.

I had started writing Beneath before I sold Secrets/Daughter and did my last revsion of it, so I was able to make some changes in Secrets/Daughter to keep the continuity between the two books.

I also liked the idea that the first two books in the series could be read in either order, without majorly spoiling each other. It's fine to tell people to read Beneath first. I'm actually fascinated by people's reaction depending on which order they read the books in. Have you noticed a difference depending on which order your friends read the books in? Which did you read first?

Cheers,
Tracy
http://www.tracygrant.org

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:46 pm Post subject:

Poor Relation Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 82