Oh, well, at least he’s in good company. Sir Percy Blakeney, Baronet, was cut from The Secret History of the Pink Carnation for similar reasons.

In the meantime, here’s Tommy’s brief appearance from The Mischief of the Mistletoe:

Arabella left the shelter of her tree to fall in with the cavalcade headed back to the house. Behind them, like magic, the torches were being snuffed, the braziers, extinguished, the tools collected, the stray ends of greenery swept up. Ahead loomed the immense façade of Girdings House, the windows blazing with candles, the grounds illuminated with torches.

Inside, the festivities would continue, probably well into the night, with flirtation and merriment and gratuitous use of mistletoe. It was an inexpressibly wearying thought. Arabella wondered if it would be considered a dereliction of her duty as guest if she just snuck away and went to bed.

“Quite the pile, isn’t it?” said a friendly voice.

Arabella looked up to see the man who had been standing with Penelope Deveraux. She couldn’t see much of him, as his face was almost entirely buried in an enormous woolen muffler that appeared to have swallowed his chin.

He assumed a parade ground pose, somewhat marred by the chattering of his teeth. “Tommy Fluellen, late of his Majesty’s Seventy-Fourth Foot.”

He was the first person to have spoken to her all evening.

Arabella accepted the introduction with gratitude. “Arabella Dempsey. Did you misplace your regiment, or did they misplace you?”

He grinned at her, teeth very white in a tanned face. “I sold out. It was an act of mercy, really. Couldn’t let old Rob—the Duke of Dovedale, that is—come back here alone.” He shivered dramatically. “Of course, had I realized quite how cold it would be back in old Blighty, I might have reconsidered my charitable impulse.”

“You were in—”

“India. In Seringapatam, mostly.”

The name meant nothing to Arabella, but she nodded intelligently anyway. One could get away with a great deal with an intelligent nod. “A long way away from Norfolk.”

Lieutenant Fluellen wagged his head emphatically. “Farther than I could ever have imagined.”

Which side characters would you like to see more of?

In honor of The Secret History of the Pink Carnation’s imminent mass market debut– and to give us something with which to dance in the new month– voila the one, the only, the original Pink Carnation Playlist.

I Want You to Want Me, Letters to Cleo.

I love soundtracks. They’re like having a mix tape with none of the bother of having to mix one. While I was writing Pink I, I was a little obsessed with the Ten Things I Hate About You soundtrack. This song, to me, just screamed Amy—it had her verve, her impetuousness, and it was great for getting up and dancing around the computer.

Cruel To Be Kind, Letters to Cleo

Yep, more Letters to Cleo. The title sounds like something Miss Gwen would say (and does, at one point), but also fits quite well with Richard’s philosophy of life. Silly Richard.

Enjoy the Silence, Depeche Mode.

Richard and Amy in the study. ‘Nuff said. I’ve always loved this song. There’s something very dark, seductive, and powerful about it.

Please Forgive Me, David Gray.

Please forgive me if I act a little strange? Hmph. Just because a man has a dual identity….

One Girl Revolution, Superchic[k].

Hell hath no fury like an Amy scorned. Hurrying to finish Pink I in the late spring of 2003, I moved on from the Ten Things I Hate About You soundtrack to Legally Blonde (gearing up for law school in the fall). The defiant tone of the music perfectly suited Amy.

What are your suggestions for the Pink playlist?

This only affects Mistletoe. The Orchid Affair, also read by Kate Reading, will be available for purchase on CD just like all the earlier books.

My apologies for any inconvenience!

In the meantime, save the date for a New York reading of The Mischief of the Mistletoe on December 6th! I’ll be reading at Lady Jane’s Salon, along with Hope Tarr and Jacquie D’Alessandro.

Other tour locations for Mistletoe include Ann Arbor, Houston, Dallas, and Chicago (see the sidebar for details). Boston info coming soon!

Today? After a long stretch of “no image available”, Amazon just posted the new paperback cover of Pink I.

It’s up on B&N and Borders, too. I know it sounds silly, but having the image up there makes it so much more real to me.

Only one month and fourteen days until Pink goes mass market!

– All I Ever Wanted, Kristan Higgins

As always, fabulous first person prose, a spunky heroine, and a wacky cast of supporting characters.

– The Big House, George Howe Colt

Non-fiction about the author’s family summer house in Maine, tracing a century and several generations in a Boston-based family.

– The Night of the Living Deed, E.J. Copperman

I’m a sucker for books that involve the restoration of old Victorian mansions with resident spooks.

Now that I’ve read those, though, I could use something new. Any suggestions? What have you been reading?

Pretty, no?

There’s a bit of art/life confluence here. After a bout of berry picking, I tried my hand at jam making while I was writing The Mischief of the Mistletoe last summer. There were several “the jelly won’t jell!” incidents, one dramatic boil-over, three nasty blisters, and many botched batches, but, in the end, I managed to produce something vaguely resembling raspberry jam.

Here, for your culinary pleasure, is Turnip’s Wild Raspberry Jam:

8 cups wild raspberries
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced.
1 cup sugar (may add more depending on personal taste)

Remove bugs and twigs from berries. Finely dice apple (in case you’re curious, the apple provides the pectin). Combine raspberries, apple, and sugar in medium sized saucepan. (Optional: you can lightly crush the berries with a potato masher. Good for getting out aggressions, may or may not do anything for the jam.) Bring to a boil. Continue to boil, stirring frequently, for thirty minutes or until mixture appears sufficiently gooey. Pour into prepared mason jars. Yield: two 16 ounce jars.

Works well spread on toast, served over vanilla ice cream, or eaten straight out of the jar with a spoon while stressing out over book deadline.

I’ll save the Christmas pudding recipes for autumn….

Does anyone else have any good jam recipes to share?

… Shannon C. (of comment #94).

Congrats, Shannon!

Many thanks to my fabulous friend, the mysterious “chbs”, for ceding her share of the spoils….

For those curious, you can find the first chapter (and the relevant characters) of The Orchid Affair here and the current Storycasting line-up here.

I can’t wait until The Orchid Affair is officially out and we can all play the Cast That Book game! I have to say, I’m liking the casting so far, especially the choice for everyone’s favorite villain, Gaston Delaroche….