Aloha to Diane Gaston and VALIANT SOLDIER, BEAUTIFUL ENEMY

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Harlequin Historical author Diane Gaston to SOS Aloha.  You'll soon learn why I admire her!  From Diane's bio.

When Diane Gaston was a little girl, she learned all the words to popular love songs. When she played, her dolls acted out tragic love affairs with the current TV or movie heartthrob. She thought everyone in the world made up romantic stories in their heads to get to sleep at night.


Kim:  What was your favorite love song from that era? Favorite movie heartthrob?

Diane:  Omigosh. These questions will surely date me!  I can remember two songs that made an impression on me when I was very very young, so young you'd expect me to like a children's song or something from Disney instead. The first is The Unchained Melody (pre-Righteous Brothers version): Oh, my love, my darling, I've hungered for your touch a long lonely time….The second is Ebb Tide: …At last we're face to face and as we kiss through an embrace, I can tell, I can feel, you are love, you are real, really mine….

I think I began to love romance very very early in life. I can remember at age 3 having a crush on Tex Ritter, John Ritter's father. My more mature "romances" were with William Shatner during his Star Trek days and, of course, Paul McCartney of the Beatles.

The third daughter of a U.S. army colonel, Diane moved often as a child, as far away as Japan one year. But mostly she lived in the Washington, D.C. area, where she now resides. The life of an “army brat” bred strong values of duty and honor and discipline, but it also meant many moves, many new houses, but also new friends. Until new friends could be made, reading books passed the time.


Kim:  Do you have a favorite memory of Japan? Did you learn anything as an "Army brat" that you could apply to writing?

Diane:  I remember the big old Japanese house we lived in for half a year until the Army housing was available. It was a mansion and I'm certain even well-to-do Japanese families could not afford anything as big. We walked down a gravel road to the village of Kichij?ji, which then had a main street of open air shops with all kinds of wondrous things – pottery, toys, geta (a wooden flip flop on stilts), tea. I can still remember the rhythmic sound of people walking in geta. I can remember men whizzing by on bicycles, delivering hot bowls of noodles, and, of course, the "honey buckets," the sewage system used at the time. My sister and I used to run out to our front gate to watch the honey buckets go by, because they were on a wagon drawn by a horse.

I treasure my Army life and I think it is why I love to write heroes who are or have been soldiers. From my father I learned about duty and honor, of doing what you must do, whether you want to or not. Moving around gave me a better perspective on the world. I learned early to tolerate differences. People don't have to be exactly alike in what they believe or how they live. Deep down we are all more alike than we are different.

Before ever selling a book, though, Diane reaped a world of friendships through her romance writing, a wonderful bonus to living her dream. When not writing, Diane enjoys emailing with her friends and traveling to England for research. But no more moving. She’s lived in the same house for over 20 years now, shared with her husband and three very ordinary house cats. Diane loves to hear from readers and friends. Email her at diane@dianegaston.com.


Kim:  I know you have traveled to Southwest England for a research trip - can you share a favorite memory (or an interesting tidbit) from that trip?

Diane:  I took two trips, both tours arranged through Novel Explorations Inc. (although Patty is no longer doing such tours), and I am dying to travel to the UK again.  

In the first trip in 2003, we visited Stratfield Saye, the country estate of the Duke of Wellington. I was impressed by its truly being a family home for Wellington and for his descendants. We could hear sounds of the family, the current duke's son, I believe, who were living there at the time. After touring the house I went into what had once been the stables where the funeral carriage of the Duke was on display. Made of bronze cast from melted down French Waterloo cannons, it was a somewhat grotesque Victorian affair, but what moved me to tears was a recording of the list of honors and accolades read during the parade of the carriage through London. I knew this had been a truly great man.

The second trip ended in Edinburgh, Scotland, after almost two weeks of constant touring. We were pretty exhausted. My friend Carol and I looked at the city and thought, "Oh, this looks like Bath, only dirty." Neither one of us fully appreciated the beauty of Edinburgh until we got home and saw the fantastic photos.

So, you see, I HAVE to go back. I have to see Edinburgh again when I'm not tired and I have to pay homage to Wellington again.

Stratfield Saye 

hha.org.uk

Kim:  Tell us about your new book, VALIANT SOLDIER, BEAUTIFUL ENEMY.


Diane:  VALIANT SOLDIER, BEAUTIFUL ENEMY is the last book in my Three Soldiers Series. Each book begins with the same event during the pillaging of Badajoz, experienced in different ways by the three soldiers who come upon it. What the heroes of the first two books do not know is that meeting the French woman in Badajoz, was a pivotal moment for fellow soldier, Gabriel Deane. From his first glimpse of Emmaline Mableau during the carnage, Gabe knows he will do anything to keep her safe. When he finds her again in Brussels on the eve of the battle of Waterloo, their torrid affair makes Gabe dream for the first time of a home and a family. But Emmaline rejects his marriage proposal. Emmaline has made a difficult choice – marry Gabriel, the man she loves, or refuse him to help her traumatized and wounded son, who, since enduring Badajoz, hates all Englishmen. She chooses her son and Gabe turns back to the life of a soldier, where he believes he belongs. After the war, though, even soldiering is taken from him. When his regiment is disbanded and he is desperately trying to find another, Emmaline appears again, begging for his help. Will Gabe say yes and risk his heart one more time?

Kim:  What's next for Diane Gaston?


Diane:  That son I mentioned above, the one who hates all Englishmen, including Gabriel Deane? He gets his own love story, an Undone ebook short story, THE LIBERATION OF MISS FINCH. After living abroad for a decade, estranged from his mother, Leo Mableau returns to make amends and encounters the young woman for whom he'd had a doomed youthful infatuation. On the eve of her marriage to a man she does not love, she asks Leo to give her one last adventure — an erotic one. THE LIBERATION OF MISS FINCH will be available from ebook vendors October 1, 2011.

Mahalo, Diane, for joining us today!   I posted my review of VALIANT SOLDIER, BEAUTIFUL ENEMY on Goodreads at  this link.  

The Scot Greys by Lady Elizabeth Butler

In honor of Diane's visit, I am giving away a print copy of VALIANT SOLDIER, BEAUTIFUL ENEMY.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about what attracts you to Regency Romances (I discuss this topic in my review).

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, September 10, 10 pm in Hawaii.   I'll post the winners on Monday, September 12.

Mahalo,

Kim in Hawaii 

I first met Diane at the 2006 RT Booklovers' Convention in Daytona.  She gave away small garden "rakes" to promote A REPUTABLE RAKE.  I also loved THE VANISHING VISCOUNTESS.