Are ye fashed when ye cannae read the brogue?

Lucy from RBL asked me a very interesting question this morning via email. She wanted to know if the Scottish dialect in my books had received criticism. I told her that, indeed, some people didn't like the way I represented a Scottish accent in Surrender. I only heard objections from a few people, but still.

All authors write dialect differently. Some pour it on very thick. Others add just a dash to flavor their prose. Often a reader gets used to the way a favorite writer portrays dialect, so that reading another author's work seems jarring when they do it differently.

I derived my way of portraying "brogue" — not really an accurate word — from the way Scotts portray it themselves. I've been a fan of Celtic music forever and I have the advantage of having studied several languages. I'm fluent in Danish, and there are many Scandianavian-derived words in Gallic (Scottish Gaelic).

So I took the way the accent was portrayed in Scottish documents, including transcriptions of lyrics from medieval folk songs, and then I toned it down a bit, because it's quite possible to lay it on so thickly that most people can't understand a word of it. When I play my favorite Scottish CDs, my kids and my brother can't understand the majority of it, while it's totally transparent to me.

sic = sikke in Danish = such in English
sten = sten in Danish = stone in English
ben = ben in Danish = bone in English

And so on and so freaking on...

So here's what Lucy, who is a very talented writer, wanted to know: What turns a reader off when it comes to reading dialect? On the RBL board some said they didn't like reading dialect from the heroine, and I'm guessing that's because we all want to identify with the heroine. Make her too exotic, and that becomes more difficult.

Jump in and share your opinions!

Coming this weekend: Get lubed for Unlawful Contact!

Let me put it this way: Before you crawl between the covers with badass Marc Hunter, you need to feel the heat of Julian Darcangelo. Therefore, I will be offering an authographed copy of Hard Evidence to a reader who hasn't read it yet. Once I announce the contest, just post, tell me that you haven't read it but would like too, and I shall draw a name out of a hat. It's as simple as that. Or email me at pamelaclare @ earthlink.net (remove spaces).

Those of you who have read both books — yes, I have a sneak-preview team — feel free to explain why Julian's story serves as great foreplay for Marc's.

I hope everyone is having a safe and Happy Hallowe'en!

The Scent of a Man

Scratch and sniff? I wish!

Take a moment to imagine Marc Hunter. Six-feet-four of alpha male, 200 solid, muscular pounds, green eyes. If you nuzzled against Marc's chest, how would he smell? What scent would his skin exude? How would his natural animal scent make you feel?

The answer to that question is coming soon.

I am beyond myself with excitement to announce that I am collaborating with Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of Parfume des Beaux Arts in the creation of perfumes that represent the characters of Sophie Alton — and my favorite convicted murderer — Marc Hunter.

Dawn and I met when I went in search of ambergris. I've always had a sensitive nose — a boon and a bane — and wanted to know what ambergris smells like. This was related to an erotic romance that I may or may not be writing. I found her via Google, and was thrilled to know that a real perfumer — as opposed to a stink scientist — lived in my town.

I discovered that, though I hadn't heard of Dawn, the editors at Oprah magazine had. So had an A-list of Hollywood celebrities who wear her hand-crafted scents, not to mention a host of people on both coasts and in Europe. I visited the studio and was deeply impressed by her creativity and the magic that goes into creating a true perfume.

Dawn uses mostly natural essenses and makes her perfumes drop by drop just as European parfumers did two hundred years ago. She was recently invited to speak at the Denver Art Museum in connection with their ongoing exhibit of treasures from the Louvre. There, she talked about the kinds of scents that 18th century Frenchmen and woman might have worn, unveiling perfumes she'd created for Marie Antoinette and Madame du Pompadour.

Needless to say, I sniffed myself silly at her studio, and we started talking about ways that we might work together. This afternoon, we sorted through some ideas and decided to collaborate on scents for Sophie and Marc. Depending on how this goes, we might develop scents for all my characters.

Yes, Aimee, Julian, too. And, no, Boadicea, I won't forget Iain.

How do you bottle raw, sexy Alpha Male? If anyone knows, it's Dawn.

I've been wearing some of her scents lately and loving them. Typically I don't wear perfume because it's so powerful that I gag. A woman will step out of an elevator or walk past me on the street, and I choke at the toxic fumes wafting off her skin. But because Dawn uses real oils and not chemicals created in a lab, her perfumes are much more subtle — and very sexy. I also bought some essenses from her — ambergris and Arabian musk — which I play with, too.

So far, my faves are "Seduction" and "Lili." When I first wore "Seduction," I kept waking up at night thinking, "What's that wonderful smell?" It was my wrist. LOL! I started wearing "Lili" recently. She described "Lili" as being a young woman in Paris in the springtime. All I know is that it's very sweet and innocently sexy. I also wear the Arabian musk. For some reason, Arabian musk, which I know now is one of four "animal" scents, drives me bonkers. I swear, I could huff it all day long. At any rate, I love her scents.

The cool thing is that Dawn makes perfumes that everyone can afford. Just because Cher is one of her customers (no kidding!) doesn't mean I can't be, too.

Go poke around on her website...

https://www.dshperfumes.com/

Or read my article about her online...

http://www.boulderweekly.com/?site_id=619&id_sub=10397&page_id=10397

In the meantime, Dawn is reading an ARC of Unlawful Contact, and I'm working on Untamed. (No, really, I am. Honest.)

I hope everyone is ready for a relaxing weekend!

UPDATE:

I just learned that Benjy, my younger son, is a FINALIST for an all-expenses-paid four-year scholarship to Yale! Now I want to drink instead of write. LOL! Woohoo! Of course, that doesn't mean he'll get it, but it's still a wonderful thing to make the final cut.

Your favorite scene

We got our first snow this morning — big, fat wet flakes that drifted slowly to the grass. I'm sure the high country is buried under several inches or more. When the clouds lift tomorrow, I'll be looking at snow-capped Rockies running from as far north as I can see all the way to the southern horizon.

Gotta love Colorado.

I'm sitting in front of my fire writing — or trying to write. I think Morgan and Amalie are aggravated with me, and I dinnae blame them. I'm irritated with me, too.

So I thought I'd turn to you for inspiration. Yes, you, my friends.

Please, if you would be so kind:

1. Share with me your favorite scene from one of my books. (If you have multiples, you can list more than one.)

2. Why it is your favorite scene?

3. If you got to spend the night making hot, sweet love with one of my heroes, who would it be?

OK, back to Upstate NY, ca. 1730, where Amalie has the key and is going to unlock Morgan's shackles — sort of....

I'm a star?

So you've seen what the front side looks like (above). Today, I got an e-mail from my editor with the text for the back of the book. It's always strange to see 400 pages that you've worked on so intimately and for such a long time be distilled down to a few paragraphs, but I think my editors do a great job of it.

So here's what the back cover will say:

He’s on the run.
She’s on the story.
And the heat is on the rise...


Pamela Clare’s novels have made her a star of romantic suspense. Her new novel is a scorchingly sensual tale that twists and turns on a dangerous—and potentially fatal—journey...

Journalist Sophie Alton is investigating the disappearance of a young mother named Megan, recently paroled and now running from the law with her baby daughter. The search leads Sophie to Megan’s brother Marc, a convicted killer—and the man she shared an unforgettable night with twelve years ago.

Condemned to life in prison, Marc uses Sophie to escape so he can find his sister and protect her from the monster who’s pursuing her. Sophie knows she should fear Marc. But the heat and hunger of his touch still linger in her mind—and body—after all this time.

Together they will follow a dangerous trail, as people on both sides of the law do everything they can to keep them from finding Megan—and a shocking truth about the past…

“Powerful, sexy and unforgettable, Unlawful Contact is the kind of story I love to read. Pamela Clare is a dazzling talent.”
—New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster

I have to admit that I got all excited when I read that I am a star. Hurray! And I'm still over the moon about the Lori Foster quote. I also like the "both sides of the law" bit — a reference to the activities of the bad guy, of course, but also of a certain Julian Darcangelo.

So... What do you think? Would this make you want to read the book?

I know that when I'm looking for a novel, I think of authors I want to read. Then I judge books according to their covers — don't we all??? I look at the art on the front, and I look at the text on the back. And usually that's what makes the decision for me as to whether I'll buy the book. Sometimes, I read the excerpt on the inside. If it's not hot and romantic, the book goes back on the shelf.

How do you pick a book? Do you judge books by their covers?

Tales of Rangers

A rainy day in the Rockies.


It's been cold and rainy this weekend. This makes me very happy because I get to use my fireplace for the first time this fall and enjoy the flames. I love to write in front of a fire. In fact, most of Hard Evidence and Unlawful Contact were written in front of a crackling fire.

With the rain and the fire, it's been a perfect writing weekend. I've set Untamed aside for a moment to work on the proposal for my next romantic suspense, which will tell Kat's story. I've known for a long time that this story would include my experience falling off a cliff and that Kat would end up falling in love with a mountain parks ranger. I also knew the main story would revolve around a struggle over sacred land — a constant struggle for American Indian people.

After writing the synopsis and prologue, I met with Ranger Rick Hatfield, a friend of mine. He and I were both volunteer naturalists with Boulder Mountain Parks — Boulder is one of few cities in America that has its own parks system in the mountains. He focused on monitoring raptor nests, while I led hikes of grade-schoolers and other visitors. Then I began writing seriously, and he became a Ranger.

Nowadays when I see him, he's all official — uniform, big pick-up truck, geared up. My biznatches SueZAY and KrisTAY met him when they were here. We ran into him up at NCAR. He was there because some stoopid drunk dude had driven his car up the Mesa Trail. The first quarter-mile of the trail is flat. Then you come to a very steep, very rocky dropoff. You can imagine what happened to the car. But I digress...

So I met with Rick today and he showed me all the gear on his belt. Glock 21 .45 caliber sidearm. Baton. Mace. Cuffs. Two spare magazines with hollow-point rounds. Pager. Radio. I got to handle his Kevlar and ask a bunch of questions. It was fascinating and a great excuse to hang with him for a while.

It struck me as funny that I'm writing a historical about the original Rangers — the men who served during the French and Indian War under that name — and that when I'm done with that, I'll be writing a story about a modern-day Ranger. Because I'm still searching for a last name for the hero — Gabe won the vote with you all, by the way — I was thinking of calling him Gabriel (Gabe) MacKinnon and having him be the many-times great-grandson of Iain MacKinnon. He could tell Kat how he learned that his ancestors were Rangers in the old-fashioned historical sense. Silly, perhaps, but a fun way of linking my current historical series with the I-Team series.

In the meantime, I'm recovering from the VOTE edition and taking tomorrow off.

I'm on Shelfari now for those of you with "shelves." Find me and let's link up there!

On Cloud 9

Sorry I've missed so many days of posting! I've been working on the newspaper's annual election issue — the only time of the year I wish we lived in a monarchy instead of a democratic republic. This is probably the last you'll see of me until after it goes to press on October 10.

But I had to dash in to share some exciting news. Unbeknownst to me, my editor at Berkley sent a copy of Unlawful Contact to romantic suspense superstar Lori Foster, who read it and sent back this quote for the cover: “Powerful, sexy and unforgettable, Unlawful Contact is the kind of story I love to read. Pamela Clare is a dazzling talent.”

Imagine how surprised I was to get the email from my agent with this quote inside. I gave a squeeeeal — but I was at work in the middle of putting a paper to bed. So I had to suck that squeal in and get to work.

I've never met Ms. Foster, but she writes superhot romantic suspense. Her new L.L. Foster paranormal series is just launching with Servant: The Awakening. I know a lot of you are gonzo about paranormals, so check it out. She's got wallpaper and banners for download on her site.



Naturally, I wrote to Ms. Foster to thank her, and she sent a very gracious reply, telling me she thought I had a "huge hit" on my hands. I'm very excited about the book, of course, and can't wait to see it on shelves.

Only 179 days to go...

Sheesh.