Blurb for Duty
Brielle Solarius struggles to keep her village from starvation. The men rode off to war and never returned. The remaining women and children face a dire winter if they do not find a solution soon.
Tomas Dyrease, the newly made Earl of Irvaine and the village of Wisenvale, owes his good fortune to his king. When that same king demands Tomas marry the impoverished daughter of the late Lord Wisten, he obeys. However, no one warned him that she wasn’t a typical noblewoman.
Duty: a novel of Rhynanfollows their journey from strangers to friends as they face complications from their pasts and the shaky politics of a changing regime. Then Brielle is implicated in her cousin’s treasonous activities. Can a marriage of duty survive treason?
Author Bio
Author of novels, novellas, and short stories, Rachel
Rossano balances her time between the chaos of raising and homeschooling her
three children and the world of drama and high adventure in her head. With her
faithful husband and chief consulting editor by her side, she dreams of many
more adventures to come in both of her double lives. Check out her work at http://Rachel-rossano.blogspot.com.
Rachel, thank you so much for visiting my blog. Who would play you in a film of your life?
All of the actresses that come to
mind are way too pretty to play me, but I wouldn’t mind Kate Winslet or Emma
Stone. It is hard to find a short blond actress with in Hollywood. Of course,
they would have to manage an American accent.
Short and blonde describes me too. Which of your books is your favorite?
Oh, that is like asking which of my children is my favorite
child. Each of them is different and I love them each for different reasons. I
am most enthralled with Duty at the
moment, which is to be expected since that one is the newest, the shiniest, and
my best work so far. But Wren comes
in close second, with many others, including my current project (Diaspora), moving up the ranks.
I know what you mean. It's hard to pick a favorite, isn't it? If you gave one of your characters an opportunity to speak
for themselves, what would they say?
Write my story! Publish my story!
Get moving or else! My characters tend to be pushy and demanding in my head.
Pesky characters! Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?
I have two favorite writing spots.
The first is my couch in my living room with a pillow behind me (I am a bit on
the short side) and my laptop on my son’s table, which is the perfect height
for typing. The second is a local restaurant. The perks of that spot is food,
no children, and no internet connection to distract me.
What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing?
I love creating characters and
exploring their stories. Before I wrote, the characters and stories remained in
my head or my carefully horded notebooks, losing details from the natural
atrophy of memory. Now that I have written the books, captured and polished the
stories on the page, I can share them with others. Their stories will remain
even when I forget the details or I am no longer there to explain my notes.
Rachel, thank you so much for answering my questions. Readers, Rachel has another treat in store for us. She has written a short post titled Dressing for the Part which she has agreed to share with us. So without hearing anything else from me, here's Rachel.
Dressing for the Part
By Rachel Rossano
As much as I enjoy browsing fashion photos in magazines at
the doctor’s office, I haven’t been much of a fashion-centric writer. However,
a fellow writer recently pointed out that fashion definitely demands
consideration when developing characters. Looking over my recent release, Duty, I realized I had been using
fashion to allude to aspects of my characters.
“I glanced at him from beneath my
cloak’s hood. Arrogant in his size and superior mass, his eyes picked me out of
the writhing mass of captives. Early morning sunlight glinted off plain armor
and an unadorned helm, yet the unwashed barbarians treated him with the respect
due a commander.”
From the first appearance of Lord Irvaine, his attire tells
my heroine, and my reader, that he isn’t a man to fuss about showy clothing. He
spends the first few chapters with dirt on his face. Although he is commander
and a nobleman, he doesn’t use clothing to set himself apart from his men.
Instead he dresses as a common soldier, a reflection of how he views himself.
Even when he dresses up, he shows a bit of his character.
“The music stopped. Around us,
voices hushed. The crowd parted, making a path for someone. Lord Irvaine strode
toward me. A gold edged tunic of emerald emblazoned with the figure of a hart
covered his chest. His dark hair, now dry, curled to his head. He had finally
washed his face. He stopped at the edge of the open circle that hastily formed
around Loren and myself.”
Now dressed in his best finery, Lord Irvaine’s choice of a
tunic with the emblem of his title emblazoned across the chest indicates his
acceptance of the duties involved in carrying his new title. He isn’t marrying
the heroine because he loves her, but because the requirement to wed her came
with the title. The fact he took the time to clean up for the occasion of the
wedding shows that at least some respect for the ceremony to come.
On the second occasion for dressing up, his clothes indicate
his appreciation for simplicity.
“My tongue stumbled to a halt at
the sight of Irvaine. The hue of his dark blue tunic almost matched my gown.
The soft wool fit the width of his shoulders like it had been tailored for
them. The only decoration, a simple silver pattern accenting the neckline, drew
the eye to his face. He looked less exhausted clean shaven as long as I didn’t
look into his eyes. Weary and worn, they betrayed his anxiety about the evening
ahead. However, the worry melted as he focused on me.”
Even a man of action who doesn’t really care about what he
wears can reflect bits of his character in his choices of clothing.
What other characters can you think of who reflect bits of
their character in their clothing?
Rachel's links:
Website ~ http://anavrea.webs.com/
Twitter ~ http://twitter.com/#!/RachelRossano
Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/RachelRossanoRambles
YouTube ~ http://www.youtube.com/anavrea
Thank you for hosting me, Elaine.
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