JR:  Welcome to Roundtable Reviews!  THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE is your first novel, correct?  How long have you been writing and how long did it take you to get published?

LMA: Yes, THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE is my first novel. I've always written - songs, poetry, papers for school, school, letters, etc - but didn't take the leap to romance novels until a few years ago. I started with a saga of epic proportions (that no one has ever read, nor will they ever), before really getting down to the business of writing a romance novel (THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE), but that was sort of like learning to swing a bat before playing in a baseball game - necessary, because writing a full length novel is a whole different sort of endeavor than anything I'd done before.

It took me a while to get the book published - mainly because after I'd finished it, I decided it read too much like a first book, and put it in a locked drawer, with no intention of allowing it to see the light of day ever again.

I learned a lot more about writing over the course of the time it took to write THE LOCKET, and gained my voice.

THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE was still special to me because it was my first book, and I really liked the story. So I decided to rewrite it, line by line. The book actually went through a full rewrite and two revisions (it's almost as difficult to do these kinds of revisions as it is to write a whole new book!).

JR:  I know the publication dates for THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE have been switched several times before finally being settled for this month (November 2003).  What was the reason for this?

LMA: THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE was first contracted by LTDBooks, with an October 2002 publication date. But my ex-husband passed away very unexpectedly just a few months before the publication, and I had to devote all my attention to my children and to trying to heal our family, so I asked if the publication date could be pushed back. So the next publication date was April 2003.

Right before Andy's passing, I had sent out review copies, and over the next several months the reviews started coming in, and they were very good (can you hear me knocking on wood?). Ultimately, this led to interest from Five Star (Gale Group/Thorndike). LTDBooks is run by wonderful people, and the publisher, Laura Adlam, released me from my contract because the offer for hardcover publication from Five Star was such a good opportunity.

Five Star basically rushed THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE into their schedule. We came to contract terms in May 2003 and the book will be on shelves this month.

JR:  You loosely based your book on the poem Barbara Allen and the Irish folktale, “The Briar and the Rose”.  What aspects of each did you try and incorporate into your book?

LMA: Actually, I based the part of THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE that was based on the ballad very strictly on Dolly Parton's version of "Barbara Allen", as she sang it on the "Heartsongs" CD. That was the first time I'd heard the ballad, and Dolly had brought the Irish group Altan in on the song, and they opened the ballad with the lyrics in Gaeilge (Irish). My research turned up numerous versions of this very old ballad, but it was Dolly's version - that is just a little different - that kept playing in my head as I was writing the story.

This, of course, presented a problem, in that the ballad itself is public domain, but Dolly's rendition is copyrighted. Technically, I could have deleted everything in the story that referred to aspects of her rendition, and replaced them with aspects of other versions, but her version was my favorite, and I liked my story as it was. So now I had to get Dolly's permission to use her lyrics in various places within the story.

It took me ten months to work up the nerve to send her a print out of the manuscript and my request, because songwriting is such a personal thing. In truth, had this not been Dolly's arrangement of a four hundred year old ballad, I never would have used it to write a book. For example, I can think of at least three songs Dolly has written that I'd love to base a book around - but I wouldn't do it, because those are *her* stories, just as my books are my stories, and I wouldn't presume to have a right to tell a story she created in my words.

I bit the bullet finally, and mailed the manuscript and request. In about two weeks, I had a response. Not only did I get Dolly's permission to use her lyrics within the story, but she said she enjoyed reading the book. At that point, there was one more revision left to do, so while I was doing it, I was able to add a couple of scenes back into the story, and make some of the dialogue more distinctly centered around her version of "Barbara Allen". So now, those parts of the book that were "loosely based on" the ballad, are simply "based on" the ballad.

As for the Irish folktale "The Briar and the Rose", I talk about that at the end of the book, and as the folktale existed, the story of Seamus and Mairead is exactly the story told in the folktale.

JR:  With the secondary story of Seamus and Mairead, this intriguing Irish love story must have hit a chord with you to include it so vividly.  What was it about it that drew you?

LMA: The chord was struck when I first listened to "Barbara Allen". I was so moved by the last two verses:

They buried her in the old church yard

And William's grave was neigh her

From William's grave there grew a red rose

From Barbara's grave a briar

They grew and grew up the old church wall

'Till they could grow no higher

They lapped and tied in a true love knot

The rose wrapped 'round the briar

The tragic beauty of these lyrics simply haunted me.

JR:  Is there anything that gives you inspiration to write a certain storyline?  How do you come up with your ideas?

LMA: THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE was inspired by a song, and so was THE LOCKET. The other stories I'm working on are not so musically inspired:) My ideas - for all the books I've written or am writing - have come from a single thought or situation. Then the wheels start turning, my thoughts take on a life of their own, and suddenly there's a story to be told. That's the easy part. The hard part is actually writing it!

JR:  What else do you enjoy other than writing?  Do you work or have any hobbies?

LMA: Yes, I work (though one day I hope writing will be my only job:)). Hobbies... I enjoy reading (romance novels, of course:)), love movies (comedies and romantic melodrama, especially historical movies), I like to play the piano or guitar, and on the rare occasion I have time to devote without interruptions (an average of three weeks per room, 16-18 hours a day), I like remodeling this house (very slow process). Beyond that, I have three children, so I don't have time for many hobbies, though I've started walking for an hour a couple times a week, and I'd love to learn to play the cello.

JR:  What do you have next for your readers?

LMA: THE LOCKET is finished and is in revisions right now. I'm writing LORD RAKE'S BRIDE, and when I need a break from my current manuscript, I've outlined a few more. All are set primarily in 1800s England, Ireland and Scotland.

JR:  I sincerely hope that you will give the handsome and charming duke, Victor, his own book!

LMA: You do know that, had it not been for his abiding friendship with the Marquess of Castlereagh, Victor might have allowed himself to fall in love with Raven?

Yes, I have plans for Victor - though I do not know when he'll get his story. He was great fun, and a strong personality that I had to keep at bay lest he take over the story.

I'll just say that the duke will finally fall, and when he does, he'll fall hard, and it will be with a woman that will surprise everyone - even Victor. In fact, Victor won't be the only one - his story will hold other surprises for the characters in THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE, and much of the cast will play a part in this book, too.

JR:  Thank you very much.  I’ve enjoyed reading THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE and talking with you.  Thank you for the opportunity and I look forward to the next book (Victor! Victor!).

LMA:  And thank you very much for taking the time to read THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE. It's wonderful to know when something you've written has touched the person reading it. (And I'll let you know when Victor has his day:))