Due to technical difficulties, yesterday’s TBR Thursday was postponed to Friday.
Good Morning! Welcome to TBR Thursday–where I introduce you to a new author and book to add to your “to be read” pile. This week I welcome fellow Common Elements Romance Project author Regina Jeffers.
First, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I am an award-winning author of historical cozy mysteries, Austenesque sequels and retellings, as well as Regency era romances, but I have worn many hats over my lifetime: daughter, student, military brat, wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, tax preparer, journalist, choreographer, Broadway dancer, theatre director, history buff, grant writer, media literacy consultant, and author. Living outside of Charlotte, NC, I write novels that take the ordinary and add a bit of mayhem, while mastering tension in my own life with a bit of gardening and the exuberance of my “grand joys.”
Do you own any pets?
I do not own any pets (severe allergies and all that), but I am an avid gardener. I have roses, giant dahlias, lavender, calla lilies, Southern garlic, cannas, Dragon’s breath, etc., outside. Inside, I nurse orchids back to health, as well as several potted trees, including a coffee bean tree.
Are you usually late, early, or right on time?
As a retired school teacher and a military brat/wife, my motto is: If I am not, at least, 15 minutes early, I am late.
Is there a book you wish you had written? Why?
I wish I had written Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice because it has enchanted readers for more than 200 years. It’s the ultimate Happily Ever After tale. Who would not wish to leave such a legacy?
What is the last book you read for fun?
I Never Knew That About the English by Christopher Winn
Tell us about your Common Elements book.
The Heartless Earl by Regina Jeffers 
STERLING BAXTER, the Earl of Merritt, has married the woman his father has chosen for him, but the marriage has been everything but comfortable. Sterling’s wife, Lady Claire, came to the marriage bed with a wanton’s experience. She dutifully provides Merritt his heir, but within a fortnight, she deserts father and son for a baron, Lord Lyall Sutherland. In the eyes of the ton, Lady Claire has cuckolded Merritt.
EBBA MAYER, longs for love and adventure. Unfortunately, she’s likely to find neither. As a squire’s daughter, Ebba holds no sway in Society; but she’s a true diamond of the first water. Yet, when she meets Merritt’s grandmother, the Dowager Countess of Merritt creates a “story” for the girl, claiming if Ebba is presented to the ton as a war widow with a small dowry, the girl will find a suitable match.
LORD LYALL SUTHERLAND remains a thorn in Merritt’s side, but when the baron makes Mrs. Mayer a pawn in his crazy game of control, Merritt offers the woman his protection. However, the earl has never faced a man who holds little strength of title, but who wields great power; and he finds himself always a step behind the enigmatic baron. When someone frames Merritt for Lady Claire’s sudden disappearance, Merritt must quickly learn the baron’s secrets or face a death sentence.
Where did the idea come from for your Common Elements book?
I have played with this story on and off for several years, for I hope eventually to create a trilogy from this saga. In addition to Sterling Baxter, I have outlined tales for Lord Sawyer Brayton and Mr. Matthew Reed. However, it took several rewrites for me to settle on Sterling’s tale. It needed to be one to introduce the next two books, while being a strong story on its own.
How does it fit in with your other books? Is it part of a series?
Although I am known to have characters from other books play roles in new titles, at the moment, the characters in The Heartless Earl have no connection to my other Regency books. Eventually, we will visit with them again in the other two books of the trilogy.
Ok…time for the Hot Seat!
1. Favorite sundae topping?
I prefer caramel to other toppings, and I am likely to add pieces of a Heath bar.
2. What famous person, dead or alive, would you want to meet?
Most people assume I would choose Jane Austen because of my Austenesque stories; however, for years, when asked this question, I have answered the same. I would like to meet both Ernest Hemingway and General George Armstrong Custer. Perhaps, I will ask Miss Austen to join me, and we can take on the “know-it-all” attitudes I expect from the gentlemen. As Johannes Kepler said, “I much prefer the sharp criticism of a single, intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.”
3. You have to wear a t-shirt with one word on it for the rest of your life. Which word do you choose?
Perfection
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I am 72 years old, but I only started writing 10 years ago, so I am not certain writing advice to my younger self would make a difference. Writing is only my latest creative outlet I have nourished over the years. I am, however, quite fond of Benjamin Franklin’s quote that says, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
What is the next project you’re working on?
Currently, I am writing another book for a romance project. It is “Tragic Characters in Classic Literature” Project. In it, each author takes a tragic figure from literature and provides the character a “happily ever after.” Moreover, no matter when the character’s original story was set, all of our will be from about 1790 to 1840. Some of those the reader will find in the project are Lancelot and Guinevere, Frankenstein, Scrooge, Catherine and Heathcliff, Othello and Desdemona, Madame Bovary, Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxane, Milady De Winter and Athos, Dido and Aeneas, and several of Austen’s characters, including George Wickham, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Fanny Price and Henry Crawford. Meanwhile I am writing my tale of the Sheriff of Nottingham from the “Robin Hood” stories. The book is more than half finished, and it is entitled “I Shot the Sheriff.” [I dare you not to start humming “But I did not shoot the deputy.” LOL!]
I also have a novella in a Christmas Regency anthology. “Last Woman Standing” is part of A Regency Christmas Proposal (Released November 7, 2019). It’s a fabulous anthology, which also includes stories from best-selling authors: Alanna Lucas, Arietta Richmond, Janis Susan May, Emma Kaye, and Summer Hanford.
“Last Woman Standing”
JACKSON SHAW, the Marquess of Rivens, never considered the “gypsy blessing” presented to his family during the time of Henry VIII truly a blessing. He viewed it more as a curse. According to the “blessing,” in his thirtieth year, at the Christmas ball hosted by his family, he was to choose a wife among the women attending. The catch was he possessed no choice in the matter. His wife was to be the one who proved herself to be his perfect match, according to the gypsy’s provisions: a woman who would bring prosperity to his land by her love of nature and her generous heart. In his opinion, none of the women vying for his hand appeared to care for anything but themselves.
EVELYN HAWTHORNE comes to River’s End to serve as the companion to the Marchioness of Rivens, his lordship’s grandmother. However, Lady Rivens has more than companionship in mind when she employs the girl, whose late father was a renown horticulturalist. The marchioness means to gather Gerald Hawthorne’s rare specimens to prevent those with less scrupulous ideas from purchasing Hawthorne’s conservatory, and, thereby, stealing away what little choice her grandson has in naming a wife, for all the potential brides must present the Rivenses with a rare flower to demonstrate the lady’s love of nature. Little does the marchioness know Hawthorne’s daughter might not only know something of nature, but be the person to fulfill the gypsy’s blessing.
Where can we find out more about you and what you write? Feel free to include any social media links you are active on.
Every Woman Dreams Blog: https://reginajeffers.wordpress.com
Regina Jeffers’s Website: http://www.rjeffers.com
Austen Authors Blog: http://austenauthors.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Regina-Jeffers-Author-Page-141407102548455/?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reginajeffers
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Regina-Jeffers/e/B008G0UI0I/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1479079637&sr=8-1
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/jeffers0306/
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/regina-jeffers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darcy4ever/
You Tube Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzgjdUigkkU
Wonderful! I can’t wait to see you around online. Thanks again for stopping by!
3 comments