Tag Archives: romance

Five Answers, Improbable Press, Interviews, Quintette, Romance

Quintette of Questions: K. Caine

Today I ask five questions of Holmesian romance writer, K. Caine:

K. Caine

1. What’s the name of your latest book – and how did you choose the title?

The title is A Study in Velvet and Leather– and surprisingly, this is one of the titles that I agonised over the least! The perfect title, for me, is evocative and visual, preferably has more than one meaning, and fits the style of the piece.

Because I was writing canon-era Sherlock for this work, I wanted a title that would evoke that genre. I was re-reading A Study in Scarlet at the time, trying to sink back into the wonder that is moving in with Sherlock Holmes—so that solidified the first half of the title. From there, it was mostly about picking words that were symbolic of the story.

Velvet and leather are two fabrics that represent the two prominent female characters in the book, so A Study in Velvet and Leather it was!

2. If you could choose anyone from any time period, who would you cast as the leads in your latest book?

I didn’t need to think hard about the answers for this one—I already had my reference images downloaded! It’s definitely Tom Hardy for John Watson, with the same quiet feminism that he displayed in Mad Max: Fury Road. He’s got the right build for John, and it’s all too easy to imagine him with the moustache and the period clothing just quietly listening, watching Sherlock and trying to keep up.

And then Tilda Swinton would be my Sherlock Holmes—she’s got the sharp cheekbones, the piercing eyes, and the tendency to menswear that Sherlock shares, and there’s something about the intensity of her presence that’s both really unusual for women, and also very, very fitting for Sherlock as a character.

3. What five words best describe your story?

“Man in love, doesn’t realize.”

4. Who is your favourite fictional couple or team?

The gang from Leverage are everything that a team should be—the entire series is a showcase of exactly how good a found family can be, right from the very first episode. Throughout the series, we get to witness a group of different people with different interests—and sometimes, entirely different plans as to how to go about something—figure out how to work with each other instead of against each other, and how to support each other through tough jobs and the stresses and traumas from life having not been that particularly kind.

That’s the kind of thing I look for in my team or couple dynamics—mutual support, snark and wit, and the gradual developing belief that your team is always going to do their best to have your back, no matter what you’re going through, and even if you aren’t your best self at the time.

5. What song always makes you cry?

Hands down, it’s La Dispute’s Woman (reading). The song is evocative of the wistfulness that marks the majority of the book—that sense that you can be physically close to someone (even, dare I say it, roommates) and still feel as though you are continents apart, and the other person is forever out of your reach.

See the lyrics here.

About A Study in Velvet and Leather

Sharing a flat with Sherlock Holmes should not have posed a problem for John Watson–after all, Watson is gay, Holmes is a woman, and the arrangement is financially convenient. But when Holmes takes a complex case involving Irene Adler and a scandalous photograph, she turns to Watson for assistance.

The case leads them everywhere from the opera to a secret Victorian BDSM club, and Watson soon finds himself questioning his partnership with Holmes, his sexuality, and his understanding of himself.

About K. Caine

K. Caine is a queer writer from the Canadian prairies whose work encompasses multiple genres, including romance, erotica, horror, and speculative fiction. After having taken a decade-long break from writing entirely, K. Caine is back, and is completely engrossed in creating stories characterized by deep points of view, high emotional stakes, and layered foreshadowing.

Armed with a psychology degree, and more stories about glitter in strange places than are really necessary, K. Caine brings themes of feminism, sexuality, gender, non-traditional relationships, and mental illness into stories. A Study in Velvet and Leather is K. Caine’s first published book.

Caine has wild and varied ideas about what comes next, but is currently procrastinating on Twitter.

Buy A Study in Velvet and Leather

Add A Study in Velvet and Leather to your Goodreads list!

e-books, news, Romance, writing

Grounded: available for pre-order!

I am delighted to announce my next romance novel, Grounded, is coming out on 20 March 2019 through Escape Publishing.

“In a world where wings give everyone the freedom to fly, an artist born wingless uses her art to show the winged world the wonder of the ground. But when she meets a recently injured police officer who finds himself grounded, they will both learn that there is more than one way to soar.”

A cover (as well as the edits) are yet to come, but I really love how this story came together, and all the world-building that was necessary for a world in which most people have wings. How do chairs work in that instance? How do clothes work? How do winged bodies work? What metaphors do they use in language?

What challenges are faced by people who can’t fly?

Huge thanks to those who read the novella version of it, especially Julia Svagonovic for her insights, and Heather Edwards for her feedback.

As a taster, here’s an (as yet unedited) excerpt:

“Tell me a story,” Clementine said as she sat in a chair opposite him, “Something true.” She used the terracotta chalk first to dash down the shape of his chest, shoulders and legs. She smudged chalk behind and in front of the outlines, filling in his wings and kilt.

“When I was about eight years old, I tried to convince Peri that I knew the secret route to Arcadia. He was six and very gullible. I warn you, this story does not cover me in glory.”

Clementine worked chalk into the sketch she was making with her fingers, adding darker charcoal lines to the details. “Oooh, a wicked tale. Go on.”

“So I led the way down to the back yard, and he followed, trusting as a duckling, until we reached the fenceline. Our wings were still growing in of course, so we couldn’t fly far, but we could fly up and over a fence without too much difficulty.”

“Should I take comfort from the fact that I already know you both survive this escapade?”

“You should. Because I flew up first and held my hand out to help him to the top of the fence. And he made it up there just fine. He was a nimble little kid. Whereas I was more…”

“Onigiri-shaped?”

Benedick laughed, his mouth dimpling in that delightful way she was rapidly growing to love. “A little ball of mischief. The thing is, I was getting him back for getting into my room on the weekend and defacing all my Kambera Wall-ball Club posters with bright red marker pen.”

“Unforgivable!”

“Exactly so. I had a keenly developed sense of justice even then. So I took him to the top of the fence by telling him the way to Arcadia was through our neighbour’s garden.”

“When does the inglorious bit start?” Clementine took up the inkpot and brush and began to add glistening lines to the chalk study, more strongly defining Benedick’s dark hair, the shape of his exposed leg, the drape of the kilt. A few strategic dabs and lines gave expression to his face. Dark eyes and dimples.

“So down he went first into Mr Whitley’s yard and I started shouting directions for him to follow the path.”

“Wasn’t he suspicious?”

“Of course he was. He was six, not an idiot. But hope won over doubt, of course. Mum read the Lady Arcadia books to us every night and we loved them. Wouldn’t you risk fraternal humiliation on the off-chance of finding the passage through?”

“Absolutely.”

“So he followed my directions down the path towards Mr Whitley’s vegetable garden, which was hedged in laurel that grew taller than our Dad. The idea was that Peri would have to squeeze in between two laurel trees and of course instead of finding the passage, he’d be in grumpy Mr Whitely’s vege patch. With luck, Peri would get stuck between the trees, get caught by Mr W and shouted at, and possibly chased with a leaf rake.”

“What a mean big brother you were.”

“It was just desserts. But I made two key errors in coming up with my strategy.”

“Let me guess. Peri was skinnier than your chubby little boy self, and he didn’t get stuck in the laurels.”

“I applaud your intelligent analysis of this whole debacle. Yes. Bento Sasaki, Stealer of Baby Carrots and Summer’s First Strawberries, had been caught in the laurels and endured a lecture on respecting other people’s gardens only the week before. Secondly, and more relevant to this sorry story of bad intent and even worse planning, is that Mr Whitely had just that week bought himself a dog.”

“Oh dear.”

“That doesn’t begin to cover it. I’m at the top of the fence, watching Peri disappear into the laurel hedge and waiting for the show to begin, when all of a sudden I hear this blood curdling baying, and Peri pops out of the greenery running like a lizard from a cat. His wings are flapping away so he keeps rising a few feet then stumbling down again, because he can’t get coordinated, and he’s not looking behind him at what sounds like an Arcadia Hellfire Hound on his heels. But I can see this dog, and it’s taller than Peri and looks like he wants to bite little boys in half.”

“What did you do?”

“What any self-respecting, justice-seeking big brother would do. I screamed at him to run faster before the Arcadia Hellfire Hound ate him, my wings flapping so hard I was hovering above the fence. I was terrified, but no way in Hades was going to jump down there and get eaten myself.”

Clementine was aware that this picture of Benedick languidly reclining on her sofa was at serious odds with the spark in his eyes and the way his wings fluttered in memory of that energetic prank.

“Did the dog get him?”

“I thought it would. It was baying and running, and Peri was running and flapping and screaming, and at the last minute he reached up to me, and I reached down to pull him up, and he flapped so hard he flew right up over my head and into our yard. Which was great for Peri.”

“And for you?”

“I went arse over pinion and landed flat on my back on the dog side of the dividing line.”

“Oh no!”

“Oh yes! The dog looms into my face, panting and howling, and on the other side of the fence Peri is screaming blue murder, and all the adults come running expecting to find me with my head split open and brains all over the pavement. And what they found was their onigiri kid on his back in the dirt being straddled by a huge, friendly and overly eager dog licking me from collarbone to eartip and wagging his tail so hard it’s making thwap thwap thwap noises on the fence.”

“Oh, poor little Bento!”

“Poor little Bento is right. I cut my arm on a stone when I fell and all I knew was that my arm was bleeding and a giant dog was eating me alive. I still have the scar.”

Clementine put the picture and inkbrush aside and dutifully went to examine the elbow he was presenting her with a soulful moue on his lips to demonstrate the woe of this bygone injury. She took his arm in her hands and tutted over the tiny white scar in his golden skin.

“That’s terrible. You might have died from your colossal injuries.”

“Yeah.”

And suddenly he was sober and they weren’t talking about a tumble from a fence when he was eight years old any more.

Clementine pressed a kiss to the tiny scar anyway.

“I’m so glad you didn’t,” she said, kissing the insignificant scar again, ignoring the deeper, worse ones that were hidden beneath the regrowth of his right wing. “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”

Grounded will be released as an ebook, and is already listed as available for pre-order at the following sites:

Grounded


Escape has previously published my erotic short story, Sky High, Bone Deep (writing as N.M. Harris)

 

reviews, Romance

Review: Primrose and the Dreadful Duke by Emily Larkin

I love Emily Larkin’s Baleful Godmother series of historical romance with a magical twist so much that I leapt on the chance to read an advance copy of the latest in the series, Primrose and the Dreadful Duke.

This was an excellent life choice because this book (the first in a subseries about the Garland cousins) combines so many of my favourite things: a believable romance with strong, textured characters, elegant writing, a lot of humour – and a murder mystery!

The dreadful duke in question, Oliver Dasenby, is only dreadful because of how he so often plays the clown with his best friend’s sister, Primrose Garland. He’s smarter than he pretends. He’s also kind, loyal and spirited and, while flippant, he knows how and when to take things seriuosly, after eight years in the cavalry. He’s returned to England having inherited a dukedom and suddenly he has a new battlefield, where he’s a kind of prey for all the young ladies hoping to score a duke for a husband. Oliver is also slightly concerned about how he’s going to learn to be a duke after being a soldier.

Primrose is intelligent, well-read, tart-tongued and good hearted, and her childhood friend often makes her laugh with his cheek and tomfoolery. Her faerie gift (one of the hallmarks of a Baleful Godmother novel) is incidental at the start, though later is useful as part of all the intrigues taking place. She’s quick-thinking too, observant and has a strong regard for the philosophies of the world’s most unlikely cupid, Marcus Aurelius.

It’s a love story waiting to happen, but a few things might stand in the way. One is a duke-hunter who may be a bit of a harpy, and the other is that someone seems to be trying to murder Oliver.

Primrose and the Dreadful Duke is light on its feet – charming and funny, full of personality and well-paced excitement and dangers from several dangerous directions. It balances light and dark, in tone as well in the supporting characters – and you can’t help but love Prim and Ollie as individuals and as they slowly work out how they really feel about each other – and solve a case of murderous intent.

Buy Primrose and the Dreadful Duke

 

Improbable Press, reviews

Review: My Dearest Holmes by Rohase Piercy

In 1988,  author Rohase Piercy did something remarkable and controversial.

She published a book in which Dr John Watson was in love with Sherlock Holmes. (Whether Holmes reciprocates is the grand question of much of the rest of the book.)

Boy, did some people find that idea challenging. The Daily Mail seemed to think it would cause the fall of England, though the Guardian responded with bemused good humour.

Many readers who had thought about the queer possibilities of this literary partnership were delighted.

The book

A preface by Dr Watson is followed by part one, ‘A Discreet Investigation’, in which a case leads Holmes and Watson to the demi monde, a tangled case of blackmail and the question of whether Sherlock Holmes has noticed that his client and her intimate friend are in fact a lesbian couple.

Told canonically from Watson’s point of view, Watson’s unrequited love for Holmes and attempts to deal with his unrequited affections become central. Does Holmes know of Watson’s dangerous leanings, or to whom they are directed? Will Watson’s ‘indiscretions’, the way in which he tries to manage his hopeless desire, destroy their friendship?  Or will Watson find a way to live with his nature while protecting both himself and Sherlock Holmes’s reputation?

Watson’s resolution to this crisis with Mary Morstan (who has secrets of her own) isn’t the end of the matter, however. The second half of My Dearest Holmes, ‘The Final Problem’, deals with the aftermath of Watson’s solution, as well as the events at the Reichenbach Falls and ‘The Adventure of The Empty House’. It’s a far cry from the stories Watson wrote for The Strand, which are necessarily inaccurate to protect their original clients as well as Watson’s deeply troubled heart.

30th Anniversary Edition

2018 marks 30 years since My Dearest Holmes caused such consternation, and so Rohase Piercy has published an anniversary edition. The new edition is framed with a foreword by Charlie Raven, exploring the changes in attitude to LGBTQ relationships in the intervening 30 years, and a final essay by Piercy – “Sherlock Holmes: a Decadent Detective?” – on the gothic and decadent origins of the character.

This reprint of My Dearest Holmes comes into a world where queer readings of Holmes and Watson are not so rare – Improbable Press even specialises in Holmes♥Watson fiction!

How does it stand up, 30 years later?

The Review

Reader, it is wonderful. An angst-fest for sure, but splendidly paced, and full of teasing moments. Some canon-esque humour gets in there, and some entertaining reworkings of the stories we know, shifted to become the history of “what really happened” in this telling.

Holmes is as ineffable as ever, often fond of his friend, sometimes unkind, and a stickler for not getting sentimental about things. Along with John Watson, you can’t tell how Sherlock really feels about his friend.  What, if anything, does he feel, and what might he be repressing? How much does his use of the cocaine bottle relate to everything he never says?

Watson’s inner turmoil is compassionately explored, as is the world under the surface of respectable London, with loves and liaisons not accepted by the mainstream but definitely humming away in the shadows.

There are cases of course (where Holmes is, there too are puzzles) but the true, unexpressed feelings between these two great friends and colleagues is the largest puzzle of all, and it’s only resolved in the last few chapters.

Piercy’s writing, like the best new Holmesian adventures, mimics the tone of Conan Doyle without becoming clumsy or cliched. My Dearest Holmes has a style reminiscent of Doyle and is easy to read in that regard.

Which is great, because I gulped it all down. There’s a lot of hurt before we get any comfort at all, but it’s well told and not without lighter, warmer moments.  And while subtle in its execution, the payoff is worth the wait.

Buy My Dearest Holmes

More about Rohase Piercy