TO RUIN THE DUKE - Where'd You Get That Idea?
| By Debra Mullins | 06.18.09 |
People often ask me where I get the ideas for my books. The truth is, ideas are all around us every day–on the internet, in the news, at the dinner table. Writers are human sponges; we observe and store all kinds of quirky things about the things we see and hear. And the funny thing is, we don’t even realize we’re doing it. Many’s the time I’ve been writing some secondary character and suddenly realize that he or she has some characteristic of someone I know!
My new release, TO RUIN THE DUKE, was inspired by a contemporary issue that is all over the news these days–identity theft. In our electronic world, it can be frighteningly easy for someone halfway across the world to steal your identity simply because they have somehow gotten your social security number, driver’s license number or some other bit of personal information. There are even stories about people posing as mail carriers going into people’s mailboxes and stealing their bills, then using the info they get from that to open up accounts in your name. Very scary stuff!
But I write historical romances. How can I base a historical romance on the 21st century issue of identity theft? It’s all in how you twist it.
Back in the Regency time period when TO RUIN THE DUKE takes place, credit was offered based on who a person appeared to be. If a guy who looks like the duke drives up to your shop in a carriage that bears his ducal crest, and if he is dressed well and acts appropriately, he could convince the proprietor to open an account in his name. He would then charge a bunch of stuff and take off, leaving the bills to go to the real duke.
In the book, the real Duke of Wyldehaven (Wylde to his friends) has been sequestered at his estate for the past couple of years, mourning the deaths of his wife and unborn son and working hard on the opera he is writing. It is only when Wylde is called back to London for the funeral of a friend that he finds out an imposter has been running around London causing trouble in his name. Not only has this guy been running up bills with the tailors and at Tattersalls, but he has been getting into scrapes and seducing ladies as well. It is only when Miranda Fontaine arrives on his doorstep with a baby she claims is his son that Wylde realizes how far the masquerade has gone.
Our heroine does not believe his protestations of innocence regarding the child’s parentage. She herself is the illegitimate child of a nobleman and an actress, and never in her life has her father darkened her door. So when her friend Lettie–who died in childbirth–begged her to see that her baby is raised as befitting a duke’s son, Miranda is determined that THIS baby will know his father. She goes to London, determined to make the duke do the right thing.
Being wrongly accused is something to which everyone can relate. How horrible would it be to have your word doubted, your reputation shredded by acts you did not commit? A woman trying to make a man own up to his responsibility to his child is another universal issue that resonates with both men and women. These are things that still exist in our society today, but they were also alive and well all throughout history.
As long as there are male and female, I believe there will always be certain conflicts that exist no matter how sophisticated our society. What do you think?
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