Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel!
Today we are welcoming Sharon Lathan to the blog! She here to talk about her latest novel, Miss Darcy Falls in Love – AND – to offer a copy of her book as a giveaway!! If you are interested in winning a copy of this book, just leave a comment at the bottom of the post with your email address. Since this is a paperback, US & Canadian addresses only please. So…sit back and enjoy what Sharon is sharing with us today.
Writing a Man’s POV
by Sharon Lathan
I am here to talk about my latest novel – Miss Darcy Falls in Love – and as the title suggests, the main character is a female. Georgiana Darcy is the younger sister of Mr. Darcy of Jane 
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and in my novel she is the star with a story all her own. I adore Georgiana and had to write of her journey, but naturally her love story could not happen without a man. Or in this case, two men!
A long time ago I realized that writing a male character’s POV was enjoyable. It came as a surprise to discover that I related to Mr. Darcy more than I did to Elizabeth. Other men appeared in my novels and I inevitably enjoyed writing from within their heads more than the women. In fact, the novel I am currently writing is entirely about a male character, Dr. George Darcy.
In Miss Darcy Falls in Love the two male leads vying for Georgiana’s heart are polar opposites and very fun to write. Sebastian Butler, the Viscount of Nell, invaded my heart ages ago, leaping onto the pages of a prior novel and taking over the small scene he was in. When I began writing this novel his character expanded and with each paragraph I grew to love him more. He was forever revealing himself to me: his family upbringing, his relationships with his sisters and parent, his passions, his attitudes on life, his education and travels, his hopes for the future, and so on. Although I like his rival, Baron Caxton, it was Sebastian I fell in love with. Just like Georgiana does!
In the end Sebastian is as much the star of Miss Darcy Falls in Love as Georgiana. I love her, don’t get me wrong, and I enjoyed exploring her psyche and creating friends for her. Nevertheless, I have to confess that creating Sebastian’s world was my favorite part.
Here is a fun exchange between Sebastian and his close friend the Marquis de Marcov, who is days away from marrying Sebastian’s sister Vivienne and becoming his brother-in-law—
The butler of the Chateâu la Rochebelin was still brushing the raindrops off Mr. Butler’s overcoat and Sebastian wiping the water off his boots when Lord Adrien de Marcov’s voice boomed from the upper landing of the curved staircase.
“There you are, Butler!” The tall Frenchman bounded down the stairs, taking two at a time, greeting his friend in the middle of the vaulted foyer. “You clearly need a drink,” he indicated the water dripping off Butler’s limp curls onto his drooping cravat. “What possessed you to leave the house in this weather, and on horseback no less?”
“I had an engagement I could not break. I was playing with Miss Darcy.”
The marquis lifted a brow. “Oh really,” he smirked, drawing out the vowels.
“Poor choice of phrase”—Sebastian cringed—“but you can remove that libidinous grin from your face as you knew what I meant.”
“Butler, I am a week from marrying a woman I love passionately. She may be focused on the wedding day, but I am focused on the wedding night. Libidinous grins are an unconscious, uncontrollable gesture, all things considered.”
“Please do not remind me.” Sebastian stepped past his friend, walking toward the parlor with de Marcov trailing.
“Of course, after the wedding night I am confident the new Lady de Marcov will also be wearing a satisfied smile.”
“Must you?”
De Marcov spread his hands, the innocent expression unconvincing. “Merely wanting to reassure you that your dear sister will not be discontented in any way as my wife. What kind of a husband would I be if my bride was not properly ravished?”
“Thankfully, I shall not be around to witness any indications of my sister having been ‘properly ravished.’” He poured a glass of cognac and drank it in one swallow, ignoring de Marcov’s laughter. “Is torturing me why you were hunting me down?”
“Not entirely, although you must admit you walked right into it this time. Playing with Miss Darcy indeed! How could I resist?” He refreshed Sebastian’s drink and then poured his own glass of cognac. Sebastian shook his head and laughed as they sat onto chairs across from each other.
“Very well. I will concede that I opened myself up for a fair dose of mockery. I should have said, ‘I was at the Chateâu Plessis-Rhône calling upon Miss Darcy who then impressed me with her pianoforte playing.’”
“Oui, I may have had difficulty twisting that about to benefit my need to needle you,” de Marcov said as he nodded, posing as a man deep in thought. “Of course, I might then point out that this is the third day in a row you have called upon Miss Darcy. Alone. Dare I jump to an intriguing conclusion, Mr. Butler?”
Sebastian grunted. “I have spent far more time than that in the company of your sister, Lord de Marcov.”
“Gabriella is fifteen, so I am not worried. Yet. You do, however, have a tendency to monopolize women. Why is that, do you think?”
“You asking me about monopolizing women? Now that is rich!” Lord de Marcov laughed aloud and made no attempt to deny the charge.
Thank you, Barb, for allowing me to share a bit of my story. I hope the above excerpt and the synopsis for Miss Darcy Falls in Love will pique the interest of your readers. I have more excerpts and information on my website. For now, talk to me about some of your favorite male characters and/or about female authors who you think capture the voice of the opposite sex particularly well.
Synopsis of Miss Darcy Falls in Love–
Noble young ladies were expected to play an instrument, but Georgiana Darcy is an accomplished musician who hungers to pursue her talents. She embarks upon a tour of Europe, ending in Paris where two very different men will ignite her heart in entirely different ways and begin a bitter rivalry to win her. But only one holds the key to her happiness.
Set in post-Napoleonic Empire France, Miss Darcy Falls in Love is a riveting love story that enters a world of passion where gentlemen know exactly how to please and a young woman learns to direct her destiny and understand her heart.
Sharon’s Bio–
Sharon Lathan is the best-selling author of The Darcy Saga sequel series to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Her previously published novels are: Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One, Loving Mr. Darcy, My Dearest Mr. Darcy, In the Arms of Mr. Darcy, A Darcy Christmas, and The Trouble With Mr. Darcy. Miss Darcy Falls in Love is Georgiana’s tale of love and adventure while in France. Complete with a happy ending. In addition to her writing, Sharon works as a Registered Nurse in a Neonatal ICU. She resides with her family in Hanford, California in the sunny San Joaquin Valley. Visit Sharon on her website: www.sharonlathan.net and on Austen Authors, her group blog with 25 novelist of Austen literature: www.austenauthors.com
I’d like to thank Sharon for dropping by for a visit. Feel free to leave questions for Sharon in the comments and remember to leave a comment with your email address if you are interested in winning a copy of this book!
Leslie – My newest release, PARADISE BY THE RIFLE SIGHTS, is a novella. It’s the story of Paris Bombay – Gin’s cousin. Every book in the series is of a different Bombay (I don’t have the attention span to make every book about the same character). My favorite character in that book is actually Terri – one of the love interests. I really got a kick out of writing her – she’s snarky and smart and doesn’t pull her punches. I wish I was her, actually.
TOGETHER. GUNS is Gin’s brother, Dakota’s story. I wrote a scene where they have to kill an evil zookeeper. The bad guy takes care of bears and they use one of Missi’s inventions – a tube that sprays a mixture of barbeque sauce and bear pheromones so the victim is eaten by the bears, or “worse.” My editor tried to get me to get rid of that sentence. She actually wrote, “bear sodomy, ick.” Of course, it only alludes to bear sodomy, so we kept it in.