Deciding what my next book or series will be about is sometimes easy... other times a premise can allude me until I am tearing my hair out! However, with the Ladies of Carson Street, the inspiration came quickly and pretty much fully formed.
My ideas often begin with an issue, a place or occupation that has caught my imagination - other writers' muses might start with a character but this is extremely rare for me. My books tend to take form outside of the characters and it's my job to find the right personalities with the right backgrounds to tell the story I want to write.
The Ladies of Carson Street takes place from the beginning of 1851 to the end of 1852 and centres around three women living and working in a brothel. I was inspired to research prostitution and the women who worked in the Victorian sex trade after reading The Five by Hallie Rubenhold and Courtesans by Katie Hickman. Two absolutely brilliant books!Women who found themselves working as prostitutes, whether on the street or in an establishment, were often from entirely different backgrounds with entirely different stories. This premise and my fascination with what I had learned led to the planning of a series where I could give at least three of these strong, determined and resilient women a deserved happily ever after.
I decided book 1 (A Widow's Vow) would be about the beginnings of the brothel and the heroine who would be its madam and owner. Louisa Hill finds herself unexpectantly widowed and without the Bristol home she had thought she would always share with her husband. She is forced to begin a new life in Bath and it is from there that her story unfolds...
Book 2, Trouble For The Leading Lady is all about Louisa's best friend and fellow whore, Nancy Bloom. Nancy is vivacious, headstrong and loves a good time. Writing about a prostitute with endless hope was so enjoyable and Nancy's story gives a different edge to the women of the house which only serves to show how they are changing as time progresses...
Finally book 3 is Octavia's story and this takes place in Bath and Manchester which was so exciting to write and I hope finishes the trilogy in a way the reader did not expect - this instalment will be release in early 2020.
Why not download books 1 & 2 today?? You will love the unstoppable Ladies of Carson Street!
A Widow's Vow - mybook.to/widowsvow
Trouble For The Leading Lady - mybook.to/leadinglady
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