Monday, July 27, 2009

Announcing a new coming novel

Hi Friends and Readers,
I am delighted to announce a contract for a new historical romance, entitled The View from Rampart Street, set in New Orleans in the 1840s. I have just signed with Strategic Book Publishers for a hard cover novel which will be released about Jan, 2010. It is a story of a beautiful young Quadroon who has been raised all her life to be a mistress to a wealthy white Creole, usually a planter from nearby Jefferson City (today the Lower Garden District). It was a system respected by rich and poor, black and white, and although the Church did not condone it, it turned its head, so long as the placee, the mistress, was loyal to her patron (her protector). It began with a contract signed by the mother of the placee and the patron. In return for her favors, the young woman was given a house, usually on Rampart Street, as well as furnishings, servants, a rig, and beautiful clothes. But Mariette rebels against the system as demeaning, preferring to try her luck as an actress on the stage. Against her will, she attends the Quadroon Ball, where she meets handsome young Philippe, who agrees that she should not be a placee but the wife of a Creole. His determination to make this happen is an uphill battle and Mariette's unwavering love for him brings the story, after many pitfalls, to a happy ending.