Guest Blog: Carrie Lofty

This week we're welcoming our founder Carrie Lofty back to celebrate the release of her latest unusual historical romance, Flawless, set in colonial South Africa. This exciting new Victorian series is available from from Pocket Books. Carrie's here to answer questions, and give away copies. Here's the blurb:

A passion this seductive is more precious than diamonds. . . .

Sir William Christie, ruthless tycoon and notorious ladies' man, is dead. Now his four grown children have gathered for the reading of his will. What lies in store for half-siblings Vivienne, Alexander, and twins Gareth and Gwyneth? Stunning challenges that will test their fortitude across a royal empire...and lead them to the marvelously passionate adventures of their lives.

Lady Vivienne Bancroft fled England for New York, hoping to shed the confines of her arranged marriage to unrepentant rogue Miles Durham, Viscount Bancroft--though she never forgot the fiery desire he unleashed with his slightest touch. And when the gambling man arrives on her doorstep for a little sensual revenge for her desertion, he is met with Vivienne's dilemma: she must earn her father's inheritance by profitably running a diamond business worth millions in colonial South Africa.

Swept together in an exotic undertaking filled with heated passion and hungry temptation, will Vivienne and Miles discover that the marriage vows they once made are the greatest snare--or the most treasured reward?

Carrie's here to share more about the new release. Remember, leave your comment to a copy of Flawless. Carrie's giving away two copies!

Welcome back, Carrie! The obvious question everyone has probably asked at one point: Why South Africa?

Initially, my idea for the Christie family series had each of the four siblings heading to different gold/precious gem areas of the world. The 19th century was a time of massive colonial expansion. Gold mines were established in Australia and the Americas, while diamonds became the prime export of Cape Colony. Eventually, through more research, I learned how improbable it would be to have all those strikes happen at the same time. It just seemed...hoaky, when the actual topic of historic mining is anything but. I wanted to do the period and the topic justice.

Thus FLAWLESS became the only of the planned books to draw from that initial idea. The rest of the siblings will venture far and wide, but their industries will be very different. That saves the repetition of subject matter as well. So there you have it: a nearly good idea planted this series in South Africa to start!

What challenges did you face in setting a romance in South Africa?

The history of that nation is as bloody and nasty as any other, but the topic of blood diamonds and apartheid is still fresh in the memories of most people who'd be reading romance. I had to take into account an awareness of those realities and preconceived notions while acknowledging the optimism of the 1880s. Settlers literally packed up their families and sailed south in the hopes of becoming diamond millionaires. It was no different than '49ers heading west to pan for gold in California. For once in their otherwise staid lives, ordinary folks had the chance to change their destinies with just the right strike. How is that not an invigorating, romantic moment in history?

In addition, the wealthy pretty much transplanted their society to Cape Town and Kimberley. Mansions, cigar clubs, the most elegant dressmakers--they all flourished! So in writing FLAWLESS, I actually discovered the best of both: a wild frontier town with lots of grit and unexpected potential, as well as a haven for the extremely wealthy. I loved the challenge of striking just the right balance.

After what you’ve researched, would you like to visit South Africa?

Yes! I always want to visit the places I’ve researched for my books. Salzburg, Segovia, Sorrento, South Africa, Scotland—maybe I just have a fascination with places that start with S??? But in all seriousness, Kimberley would be incredible to see. The Big Hole, for example, is the man-made crater dug rock by rock out of the earth. It’s the largest crater ever dug by hand, at a depth of 790 feet and a surface area of 42 acres. More than 6,000lbs of diamonds were excavated between 1871-1914. How could I not want to stand at the edge of something so magnificent?

And as always, I would love to actually smell the smells, see the sights, feel the weather—all the little details that make a place unique. There’s no substitute for actually being there first hand, so I hope I at least got close!

Tell us about Viv, Miles, and their romance.

Viv has a childhood she keeps secret from almost everyone, and which makes her fixated on matters of propriety. Miles, by contrast, is a viscount whose rakish behavior is stimulated by boredom. She sees him as reckless, while he sees her as being entirely too stuck up. They married out of financial necessity and social advancement, but their love comes about because of the trials they face together in South Africa. Turns out Viv has quite the imagination hen given the right incentives, and to become a hero, Miles was only in need of a worthy challenge.

Will there be more to come from the Christie family? More exotic places to come?

Absolutely! Big brother Alex, a studious astronomer, is up next. He’ll meet his match in Glasgow when confronted by a stubborn, fun-loving union leader named Polly Gowan. Their story is STARLIGHT , due out in July from Pocket. A short story featuring the siblings’ robber baron father, Sir William, will also be released next year. Look for “A Little More Scandal” in June. As for the other stories, we’ll just have to wait and see!

Thanks so much for having me back! To I have two copies of FLAWLESS to give away. Just tell me if you enjoy stories of romance born out of marriages of convenience, and what your favorites have been. I’d love to hear recommendations, both of books and films.

Thank you, Carrie, and best of luck with Flawless! 

Excerpt Thursday: Flawless by Carrie Lofty

This week on Excerpt Thursday we're welcoming our founder CarrieLofty back to celebrate the release of her latest unusual historical romance, Flawless, set in colonial South Africa. Join us Sunday when Carrie will be here to talk about this exciting new Victorian series from Pocket Books, answer questions, and give away a copy. Here's the blurb:

A passion this seductive is more precious than diamonds. . . .

Sir William Christie, ruthless tycoon and notorious ladies' man, is dead. Now his four grown children have gathered for the reading of his will. What lies in store for half-siblings Vivienne, Alexander, and twins Gareth and Gwyneth? Stunning challenges that will test their fortitude across a royal empire...and lead them to the marvelously passionate adventures of their lives.

Lady Vivienne Bancroft fled England for New York, hoping to shed the confines of her arranged marriage to unrepentant rogue Miles Durham, Viscount Bancroft--though she never forgot the fiery desire he unleashed with his slightest touch. And when the gambling man arrives on her doorstep for a little sensual revenge for her desertion, he is met with Vivienne's dilemma: she must earn her father's inheritance by profitably running a diamond business worth millions in colonial South Africa.

Swept together in an exotic undertaking filled with heated passion and hungry temptation, will Vivienne and Miles discover that the marriage vows they once made are the greatest snare--or the most treasured reward?

**An Excerpt from Flawless**

In this scene, Miles and Viv have just arrived on the docks at Cape Town. Their showdown begins right away, as Miles has claimed possession of Viv's baggage. Let the negotiations begin!

She stood like a silk-encrusted statue. Never a crack, no matter how many whispered rumors. Only his touch had ever revealed the passion lurking beneath. Rare moments when she'd lost control, gasping his name, were more precious than all the diamonds in the Cape.

Miles planned to seduce her, just for the fun of proving that she loved it.

"Make your demand," she said. "I expect I know what you'll say."

"Not at all, my dear. I don't want your money, and I don't desire marital privileges--well, not yet. Not here on the docks."

Rosy lips parted on a quiet sound. Her expression sparked with something very close to hatred. More like a cousin to hatred, perhaps, because he'd seen her well and truly angry. This little farce of a reaction meant they were only getting started.

"Out with it," she said.

"I want you to ask."

After a flicker of surprise, her composure returned. Miles wanted to retrieve his pocket watch and measure the span of time between flustered and restored. He'd place heavy wagers on her abilities, if anyone dared take him up on such a bet.

"Ask?"

"That's all. Ask that I instruct Mr. Kato to take your bags to the train station."

"And then?"

"Then we'll take your bags to the train station," he said, as if to a child. "The concept is not a difficult one, Vivie."

"Don't call me that," she snapped.

"Why not?" He touched a lock of shimmering blond hair where it curved along her ear. "Remind you of something?"

"You know it does."

"Yes." So much time had passed, yet her warm floral scent still left him ready to beg. "Nights to remember."

"To forget, you mean."

His ardor chilled. Memories, both fervent and tender, flayed him with the mistakes of their shared past. The intensity of her passion had been the one great surprise of his utterly predictable life, and her constant need to deny it had been the undoing of their marriage. He'd always wanted what she refused to offer.

If any begging were to be done on that morning, it would be her task. 

Miles scraped his gaze down along her body, then climbed into the back of the wagon with Adam and the maid. Every bit of his wife, from her ire to the frown that drew a line between her brows, was busy shocking frozen pieces of him back to life. But he would bend her, bully her, bed her--on his terms, not shaking and frothing like a servile dog.

"Ask, Vivie, or I'll unload it all into the harbor."

"You wouldn't!"

"Indeed, I would." He spread his arms wide. "I don't back down from bets and you know it. Or was it some other Viscount Bancroft who swam naked across the Thames?"

"Then I'll inform the police!"

"They'll only remand you into your husband's custody," he said, feeling giddy and mean. "Oh, wait...that's me. And all the while, your knickers will be floating out to the Atlantic."

"You're disgusting."

"Perhaps, but I'm also a Peer of the Realm. Hard to believe, I know, but I do have influence." He tugged at his bloodied shirt, buttoned his waistcoat, and stared her down. "I can make the success of your daddy's company more likely...or bloody near impossible." 

Money Matters: Diamonds in Kimberley

By Carrie Lofty

In writing my upcoming release FLAWLESS, a Victorian-era romance set in colonial South Africa, I became fascinated by the speed of change in the Kimberley diamond mines. This massive change made a select few individuals unbelievably wealthy, while forever changing the politics, culture and future of South Africa. All for a few little rocks...

In 1866, while playing on his father's farm on the banks of the Orange River, young colonist Erasmus Jacobs found a 21.25 carat diamond that eventually went on to be called the Eureka Diamond. Three years later, another colonist found a 47.69 carat beauty, now called the Star of South Africa (right), which promptly sold and resold in Europe for upwards of £25,000 (roughly $2.8 million in today's money).

Thus began the great South African diamond rush. A mere twenty-two years later, Cecil Rhodes (pictured) bought out Barney Bernato and formed the De Beers diamond monopoly. During those years Great Britain went to war in the Cape, annexed territory, and did all they could to secure the land around Kimberley, where miners hoped to strike it rich. In 1882 Kimberley became the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to have electrical street lighting, and it was said that the small, otherwise innocuous frontier town boasted the highest population of billionaires in the world.

However, as with most rushes, the wealth was neither consistent nor equitably distributed amongst those who participated.

Kimberley's Big Hole, a kimberlite pipe stuffed full of diamonds, was still mostly dirt and worthless rock. For every ton of rock excavated, only .22 to .5 carats were discovered. This massive undertaking required roughly 9,000 miners in the Hole on any given day, with a worker replacement rate of 30% annually.

Paying their miners became owners' single most draining expense, and unions were a hotbed of controversy up until the moment of Rhodes' monopolistic triumph. Miners earned roughly £26/year (£13,900 in earnings today), but food and supply costs out on the isolated Karoo, where trains didn't arrive until the mid-1880s, were extortionary. Tradesmen experienced in geology and diamond assessment could earn upwards of a pound a day, which drew adventurous men by the thousands.

The difficulty with this rush also had to do with boom and bust cycles. Brilliants, or gemstone quality diamonds, suffered from massive pricing swings. The Kimberley mines in 1880 produced a total of 3,090,000 carats of diamonds that sold at an average of £1 7s each, for a total of £4,171,500 in gross revenue. In 1881, production increased but the average price per carat dropped to only a pound, for a year's decline of £796,000.

These busts drove out smaller miners. Men and eventually corporations consolidated bankrupt plots into larger and larger mines. By 1879 the number of registered claimants was down from several hundred to just 130. Ten years later only De Beers remained, which halted the boom and bust cycle. The De Beers monopoly meant suppliers could no longer charge such overinflated prices for their goods. Those remaining retailers had to bow to the wishes of the company, as did every employee. Prices stabilized dramatically, but the era of an ordinary miner striking it rich was over.

Carrie Lofty's latest historical romances, SCOUNDREL'S KISS and SONG OF SEDUCTION, are available now. In 2011 watch for Carrie's new Victorian series from Pocket, as well as her "Dark Age Dawning" romance trilogy from Berkley, co-written with Ann Aguirre under the name Ellen Connor. "Historical romance needs more risk-takers like Lofty." ~ Wendy the Super Librarian