Thursday, January 05, 2017

A New Year with Sandra Masters

 

Hello Everyone:

 This year 2016  has been quite a year for authors. I’m fortunate in that The Wild Rose Press is my publisher and that I have four books in The Duke Series Available. Thought you might be interested in how I chose Barbados Island as a location for segments of my novel, THE DUKE’S MAGNIFICENT BASTARD.

 

Decades ago, my then husband and I vacationed in the Caribbean and visited Barbados and Aruba. The water was blue; the winds were breezy, and the sun was HOT on the beaches. Wary of being on the other end of sun poison, I lathered my body was sunscreen, wore a caftan with a mandarin collar and long sleeves, and a turban to prevent my exposure. Sitting in a chair under a large tropical umbrella, I felt safe from nature.

 

Fast forward two hours and I felt my cheeks flush and the lobes of my ears stung. I gathered my sun-tanned husband, and we went back to the hotel to summon a physician. Yes, I had sun poison and could not subject myself to the outdoors.  Not wanting to spoil things for my companion, I suggested he broil in the sun and leave me and my lobster-like skin to stay in the room. Not very much fun, so I started reading a tourist version of  Barbados history from the hotel guest books. The maid would come in daily, and we’d chat. She was an Arawak Indian, and she would regale me with stories of her family and its culture.

 

Stuck in the room, I’d wait for her to knock on the door. Of course, she had her duties, so our time was brief. She told me about Taino descendants of an extinct elite tribe, and I was able to get to a library and read about their history.

 

Back to the hotel, I started writing notes on a yellow pad to use one day for a novel. Writing was my obsession, and though not published, compiling notes filled my binders.  Obviously, I did not bring a computer or any version thereof.

 

My editor informed me that I could write a prequel of 7,500 words or more, and so I wrote the 15,000-word prequel, THORN, SON OF A DUKE. It depicted Thorn Wick’s life on the islands as a half-breed with his mother, a descendent of a Taino King, in a dynasty that no longer existed. At age seventeen, his dying mother has him promise to visit his father in England, the renowned Duke of Althorn, who was unaware of his existence.

 

This prequel led to the full-length novel, THE DUKE’S MAGNIFICENT BASTARD. Yanked from the West Indies, Thorn sails to London, England where he is considered illegitimate. Can anyone imagine the emotions that consumed him? He belonged to two opposite worlds, and in each, he had to fight for existence. Except for the noble duke’s recognition and that of the family who supports him, acceptance though difficult was made easier. Every time he thought he conquered the obstacles, another one showed its ugly head. Thorn fights against all the odds. His goal is for acceptance by aristocratic society with honor like his father.

Thus, the novel unfolds. WARNING: Contains a multi-cultural Anglo-West Indian hero, an aristocratic English heroine, a noble duke, an evil witch doctor, a Barbados chieftain intent on redemption, and an amazing Argamak Turkmen horse all within the bounds of romance, and intrigue, with an element of suspense. It released on November 4, 2016.

 Prepare to be transported from island life in Barbados to aristocratic England and then back to Barbados where stunning revelations wrack our hero’s world. Did I mention that this is a spicy Regency?

 

I’ve never created a duke I didn’t fall in love with, and though Thorn Wick is not one, in his heart, he is a man to honor…and worthy of love.

 





The Duke’s Magnificent Bastard - Release Date November 4, 2016




Once in a while
In the middle of ordinary life
LOVE gives us a FAIRY TALE.

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