BLACK TULIP Anniversary Month: the Final Contest

It’s the final contest… of Black Tulip Anniversary Month.

As we bid Miles and Henrietta temporarily farewell (they’re heading off on a tenth honeymoon, since Miles is still trying to make up for botching the first one), it seemed only right to look to the future of the Dorrington family.

As some of you know, one of Henrietta and Miles’s descendants, Nicholas Dorrington, decided to take over a large chunk of my second stand alone novel, That Summer.

That Summer (3) That Summer Paperback

Not only did Nicholas have his great-great-great-great-grandparent’s love of ginger biscuits and perpetually floppy hair, he was a fount of information about the quirky characters who had inhabited his family, including the great-grandfather who had lived in sin with an actress (a Shakespearean actress, mind you, not a Gaiety Girl) and eventually married her.

So, for our final contest, here’s your question:

If you could see Dorringtons in either a prequel or sequel, what era would you choose? A medieval Dorrington? A Jazz Age Dorrington? A Dorrington in outer space? (“Luke, I am your ginger biscuit!”)

Two people will be chosen at random to receive a hardcover copy of That Summer. Ginger biscuits not included.

53 Comments

  1. Jessica S. on February 24, 2016 at 6:00 pm

    I think a sequel. A WWII Dorrington, living in France and participating in the Resistance.

    • Esther Dale on February 24, 2016 at 6:15 pm

      I would love that, especially if Jane’s descendent could get worked in there too.

    • Liz D. on February 24, 2016 at 7:50 pm

      I second the idea of a WWII Dorrington! My favorite time period 🙂

  2. Pat D on February 24, 2016 at 6:06 pm

    Oooh, that’s tough. I’m thinking either a roaring 20’s Dorrington or a Georgian Dorrington.

  3. Susan Shaw on February 24, 2016 at 6:10 pm

    Oh, Jazz Age would be fun! Thanks Lauren! Love the thought…

  4. Amy on February 24, 2016 at 6:11 pm

    A medieval prequel sounds fun!

    • Courtney on February 24, 2016 at 6:36 pm

      Which side are the Dorringtons on in the Wars of the Roses?!

  5. Miss Eliza on February 24, 2016 at 6:12 pm

    Well… ideally we’d see them in every era where a season of Blackadder was set 😉 But I’d say 1920s or 1980s…

  6. Esther Dale on February 24, 2016 at 6:13 pm

    I would love to see one set during the lead up to the American Revolutionary War and the War itself. Or maybe a Dorrington on the Titanic, heroically saving lives and struggling to survive. Or maybe in WW2, helping a Hogan’s Heroes style operation combat the Nazis.

  7. Diane stiles on February 24, 2016 at 6:15 pm

    How about a 1960’s Dorrington?

  8. Debbie on February 24, 2016 at 6:16 pm

    I think a jazz age would be interesting…..but the outter space could be super funny

  9. Alise on February 24, 2016 at 6:20 pm

    For sure Jazz Age Dorrington…maybe making a trip to the US during Prohibition and getting caught operating a speakeasy!

  10. Ann Fontaine on February 24, 2016 at 6:22 pm

    Jazz Age!

  11. Dianne Casey on February 24, 2016 at 6:27 pm

    A 1920s Dorrington!

  12. Felicia P on February 24, 2016 at 6:31 pm

    Hmmmmm . . . 1920’s, WWI, or maybe present-day.

  13. Courtney on February 24, 2016 at 6:34 pm

    The Dorringtons in outer space idea is hilarious! Or maybe in a post apocalyptic world fighting zombies? I haven’t read or seen Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but the idea tickled my fancy.

  14. Courtney F. on February 24, 2016 at 6:49 pm

    I’m having an awful lot of fun imagining what a 20’s Dorrington could get up to in the environs of Blandings Castle and the Drones’. 🙂

  15. Cassidy on February 24, 2016 at 6:55 pm

    I’m thinking Elizabethan age or roaring 20s like so many others. Something about those two ages sounds like it could be fun.

  16. Jillian on February 24, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    I would adore a prequel!

  17. Jessica Clement on February 24, 2016 at 7:11 pm

    I’d love to see a Black Tulip/Star Trek mash-up. The idea of Henrietta and Miles running around new alien civilisations, with Henrietta mad-keen to learn about and then ‘improve’ their courtship rituals and Miles trying to minimise the chaos tickles my funnybone.

  18. Harriette on February 24, 2016 at 7:23 pm

    Jazz Age! Fun researching it, too.

  19. Freya Shipley on February 24, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    I’d love to read about a 17th century Dorrington who joins Prince Rupert’s Horse and has mad adventures as a cavalier during the English Civil Wars, and then during Cromwell’s tyranny he becomes a privateer on one of Prince Rupert’s ships, where he helps fight for the king’s cause all over the Caribbean. A young woman disguised as a cabin boy/an ensign/her own shipwrecked brother might also be involved.

  20. bn100 on February 24, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    Jazz Age

  21. LynnS on February 24, 2016 at 7:43 pm

    I love the Tudor era (although not the Tudors particularly), so I would love to see the Dorringtons during the Renaissance.

  22. Michelle Springer on February 24, 2016 at 7:44 pm

    I love, love, love the idea of a Jazz Age Dorrington sequel! 🙂

  23. Mary Smith on February 24, 2016 at 7:49 pm

    Since Colin is a Selwick descendant, it might be fun to have a Dorrington contemporary…. but I’d love a WWII story…..

  24. Aleen Davis on February 24, 2016 at 7:51 pm

    I love the idea of a Jazz Age Dorrington or Victorian.

  25. Angela B on February 24, 2016 at 7:53 pm

    Belle Epoch Dorringtons, please.

  26. Rachel on February 24, 2016 at 8:01 pm

    Belle Epoque Paris.

  27. Molly Smith on February 24, 2016 at 8:09 pm

    20s sounds interesting, but so does 60s

  28. Maria on February 24, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    I loved meeting Nicholas in That Summer- The Great War could be a great time period

  29. Jeanne Miro on February 24, 2016 at 9:04 pm

    What fun it would be to read if it was a A Jazz Age Dorrington!

  30. Erin on February 24, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    The time period between WWI and WWII could be interesting or maybe Dorrington as a Greaser in the 1950s.

  31. Jacqueline on February 24, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    Jazz Age! The costumes alone would be stunning. And it’s still a time period with manners and gentility

  32. L.C. Lassman on February 24, 2016 at 10:42 pm

    Hmmm. I always love the Renaissance–limitless opportunity for intrigue, explorations, gorgeous clothes, fabulous artwork. But my second choice would be the Jazz Age.

  33. L.C. Lassman on February 24, 2016 at 10:44 pm

    The renaissance–limitless opportunity for intrigue, exploration & discovery, all with gorgeous clothes and fabulous artwork. And my second choice would be space opera!

  34. Laura Parker on February 24, 2016 at 11:27 pm

    Definitely a roaring 20’s into WWII!

  35. Jona on February 25, 2016 at 7:04 am

    A medieval Dorrington would actually fit good I think!

  36. Brittany on February 25, 2016 at 9:29 am

    Roaring 20s Dorringtons. I can see them now…hair greased down but still flopping around (nothing can hold the Dorrington hair follicles back!), bootlegged whiskey in hand, thoughts of ginger biscuits and flappers dancing in their heads:)

  37. Momma Sue on February 25, 2016 at 11:44 am

    A Victorian Dorrington. It does not seem to be their natural time, so a fish-out-of-water story would be just grand.

  38. Sheila on February 25, 2016 at 11:49 am

    I am going to be a rebel here. Since you do such a marvelous job of writing two stories per book, like a bonus almost, I would love to see The medieval/space Dorringtons coping with their floppy hair through time….but no zombies please..

    • Sheila on February 25, 2016 at 11:50 am

      The space guy could bring along his ancestor’s memoirs as reading material on a long mission….

  39. Lauren H on February 25, 2016 at 11:55 am

    What are the Dorringtons up to today?

  40. Laura Willyard on February 25, 2016 at 12:20 pm

    I think early teen – Jazz Age at a awesomely cool location like West Baden Springs Hotel in French Lick West Baden, IN. A place where the very wealthy and famous gathered to enjoy waters and see and be seen. An awesome story in itself wsitng to be told…. Awesomely cool place for the Dorringtons story to play out.keep up the great work! Love you books!!
    Laura Willyard

  41. Kelly on February 25, 2016 at 6:18 pm

    Roaring 20’s would be amazing! Lavish parties, music and illegal alcohol smuggling to America with maybe some mob connections!!! With a touch of a Great Gatsby’esque flair.

  42. Jenny Belk on February 25, 2016 at 6:33 pm

    WWII would be great. My fave.

  43. Debbie Mitchell on February 25, 2016 at 6:50 pm

    A jazz age Dorrington would be very interesting!

  44. Alessandra on February 25, 2016 at 6:56 pm

    A Jazz Age Dorrington will be very interesting. or a WWII will be nice too!

  45. Meredith A on February 25, 2016 at 8:42 pm

    1920’s Dorrington!!!!!!!!

  46. Mary Lou on February 26, 2016 at 9:43 am

    So how about a late 1950’s-early 60’s Dorrington in “the Circus” complicating poor Smiley’s Cold War espionage efforts?

  47. Karen H on February 27, 2016 at 9:16 am

    I was just having this conversation with Winter, actually. I need to know which ancestor of the Selwicks gutted the house and censored the diaries. I don’t know if that’s one of miles & hen’s offspring. We were trying to research the family trees but I wasn’t able to find the modern equivalent.

  48. Judy Jordan on February 27, 2016 at 2:08 pm

    Jazz Age, please.

  49. Maria on February 27, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    I’d like to see a post WWII era Dorrington. The Cambridge spy ring and the growing paronia of the cold war.

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