Responding to a reader question
I was just digging through some old email posts, searching for a particular email, when I came across this, a fun exchange with a reader when THE PERFECT RAKE, my first book with Berkley, came out. I thought I’d share it, for a little smile.
The reader said: I don’t know. Why is it always rakes? Why not mattocks, shovels, hedgeclippers… The list is endless. But noooo. It’s the bloody rakes get the attention every time.
I responded thus:
Well, naturally I have a *series* in mind! I’m not implementist!
: The Perfect Scythe (he was just a young whippersnipper until he met his match in Miss Petunia de la Hedgerow),
: The Perfect Spade (A gambling den was all he knew (spades, get it!) until she coaxed him outside and showed him to her fallow bed)
: The Perfect Plough. (Our roman-nosed hero finds a sultry Egyptian lass under the axminster. He ploughed her and she cropped.)
: The Dashing Blade ( When our heroine is kidnapped by feral nuns, the hero disguises himself as his twin, the Gay Blade, and, dressed in women’s attire, follows in hot pursuit)
Hahahaha!! Very funny. :)
Those would all be great novellas. Not sure about The Perfect Plough though. A bit suggestive in the back page blurb.
Merry-Sue, it’s a nod to Shakespeare. In Antony and Cleopatra (I think) someone said of Cleo “He ploughed her and she cropped.”
Hilarious! Thank you so much for sharing this blast from your past.
I’m gasping with laughter! So funny!
Very funny. The feral nuns story sounds worth pursuing!