Victoria Alexander

FYI

August 25, 2011

If you have been watching this page patiently, hoping for me to fulfill my New Year’s resolution (that was tentative at best if you recall) you’ll know I failed miserably. But honestly, I think we’re all served much better if I dispense with the whole blog idea altogether and just focus on writing books.

So, with that in mind, this blog page is now called Notes from Victoria. And Notes sounds much more friendly than Blog which to me has always seemed like something from an old horror movie. You know—like The Blog that ate Cleveland or The Blog from the Black Lagoon or Night of the Living Blogs. So we’ll go with Notes.

There’s nothing creepy about Attack of the Killer Notes.

Meet the Hadley-Attwaters

August 25, 2011

With HIS MISTRESS BY CHRISTMAS I’m introducing a new family—the Hadley-Attwaters. The Hadley-Attwaters will be the focus of a new open-ended family series called Sinful Family Secrets. The first Sinful Family Secrets book is MY WICKED LITTLE LIES coming in February 2012.
I was planning on telling you all about the family myself but I thought it might be more fun if I had this introduction come from someone who knows the Hadley-Attwaters far better than I do. So, continuing something I first did in my Ladies for Tea stories, I invited Helena, the dowager Countess of Waterston, to my house for tea and an interview. As she is the head of the family, I thought—
“Oh, no, no, my dear.” A voice said to my left. “That’s not at all accurate.”
I turned to see Lady Waterston already sitting in my yellow chair, the one my husband hates. I hadn’t expected her until I was done explaining who she was. She’d get her turn. Still, I should be gracious. She had appeared after all. I’ve had characters that have never shown up. And trust me. It’s really annoying to be stood up by someone you’ve created.
“Lady Waterston?” I said cautiously. “How is that inaccurate?”
“Because my son Adrian, the Earl of Waterston, is the head of the family.” She cast me a pitying look. Obviously as a 21st century American I was not clever enough to appreciate the nuances of family hierarchies in 19th century England. “And, as he is married to the delightful Evelyn, I am no more than the dowager countess.” She wrinkled her nose. “I do so hate the word dowager.”
“I can understand that,” I murmured.
“Dreadful word.” She sighed. “Still, it is much better to be the dowager countess than the late countess or the dearly departed countess I suppose.”
“There is that.”
“And while you were not correct in calling me the head of the family, you were absolutely right to request my presence to introduce my family.” She beamed at me. “Shall I begin?”
“I thought you already had,” I said under my breath.
“Now, now, dear.” She studied me curiously. “You don’t like it when you lose control do you?”
“I have not lost control,” I said, my tone a bit sharper than I had intended.
Lady Waterston raised a skeptical brow.
“I am supposed to ask the questions, you know.”
“And I’m sure you’ll do a fine job of it.” She smiled expectantly. “Well? Go on then. Ask whatever you wish.”
I stared for a moment then sighed in surrender. I hate it when my characters get the better of me. “Lady Waterston, please tell us about the Hadley-Attwaters.”
“I would be delighted.” Amusement twinkled in her eyes. “As I was saying, Adrian is the head of the family. He inherited the title upon the death of his brother, my oldest son, Richard.” She fell silent for a long moment then met my gaze directly. “It’s not easy, you know. Even in fiction, children should not die before their parents.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, triggered no doubt by empathy and more than a little guilt. It was my fault Richard was dead. He had never been anything more than a plot device and so he had to go. Still, now that I was face to face with his mother, I felt kind of bad about it. “I am sorry.”
“I know you are, dear,” she said briskly, “but you did what you had to do. For the good of the story and character development and all. I quite understand and while I do not agree, as I think Richard would have provided you with an excellent hero for a book, it’s all water under the bridge now. What’s done is done and we must move on from here. Besides, as you well know, Richard was never as sturdy as the rest of the family. Hadley-Attwaters are a remarkably sturdy lot.”
I nodded.
“Did you know I gave all my children names from Shakespeare?”
I nodded again. “I did. I thought it was brilliant.”
“It was,” she said smugly. “As I was saying, Adrian has proven to be an excellent earl. He and Evelyn are the very model of propriety and respectability. Never a worry about scandal with those two.”
Little did she know…
“Hugh is the next oldest, a barrister who will no doubt be a judge one day.”
Pride sounded in her voice. “Hugh is followed in age by Diana who is quite happily married with four lovely children. I thank you for that.”
“No problem.”
“Next is Sebastian. He’s quite famous as an explorer and writer and travels the world in search of adventures although I do wish he would remain in one place.”
I smiled in a non-committal manner.
“After Sebastian comes Bianca, Portia and Miranda. Portia is my niece but she has been with us since my sister and her husband died when she was a baby.” She pinned me with a firm look. “She is every bit as important to me as the daughters I gave birth to. Indeed, I think of her as nothing less than a daughter.”
“Of course,” I murmured.
“But Portia, Hugh and Miranda have all lost their respective spouses. And Bianca is estranged from her husband which, to my mind, is for the best. However…” She narrowed her eyes. “This is not what I wish for my children. I want them all to be happily settled with an appropriate match.”
“They will be,” I said quickly.
“See that they are.” There was a distinct threat in her voice and I resisted the urge to squirm in my chair. I didn’t have stories for all of Lady Waterston’s offspring yet but I was working on it. Kind of.
“I have a list of who should be the next to marry. You are aware of my list aren’t you?”
“I am.”
She studied me closely. “But you won’t promise to follow it, will you?”
“Well, they are my stories, after all,” I said with a shrug. I hated to admit to a fictional character that I wasn’t always sure which story I would write next.
“Yes, I suppose they are.” She thought for a moment then met my gaze firmly. “You will promise me a happy ending though, won’t you? For all of them that is.”
“Eventually.”
“Hmph. That shall have to do I suppose.” She paused. “They all have secrets, you know, of one sort or another.”
“Who doesn’t,” I said lightly.
“Who indeed.” She smiled a slow, knowing sort of smile. “Even I have secrets.”
I grinned. “You wouldn’t be any fun without them.”
“And I can be great fun.” She laughed. “Do you know what they are? My secrets, that is? My children’s secrets?”
“Not yet.” My smile matched hers. “But I will.”
“I am certain of it and I quite look forward to seeing them unfold. And, Victoria…” She reached over, put her hand on mine and smiled into my eyes. “Welcome to the family.”