MEET MY MUSE: Elizabeth Ellen Carter

 

MEET MY MUSE with Elizabeth Ellen Carter

My Muse is called ‘Why’. I read something in a newspaper or online, perhaps in a book, and there she is, a little voice in my ear saying, ‘why?’

Why did people make those choices? Why did those series of decisions result in that event? Why is it that human nature never seems to change – we live, love, laugh, fight as we always have done and for exactly the same reasons?

The more my Muse encourages me to look past the headlines to look at the real story underneath, that’s when the creative juices start flowing.

All of a sudden I can see a direct connection between political events of today and the French Revolution, the scandals of the English Parliament have parallels with the end of the Roman Empire, the people of Medieval Britain aren’t so different to the people of today.

That’s when I started to get excited about a story. The conflict which is at the heart of my stories is a historical one, and from there, the hero and heroine start telling me their stories.

The muse starts whispering ‘why’ once more

Why you here? Why are you interested in this larger historical event? Why do you feel so strongly about it? Why does the opinion/actions of the hero/heroine mean so much to you?

Moonstone Conspiracy had a lot of ‘whys’.

Featuring Lady Abigail Houghall, one of the villains in Moonstone Obsession, this story is set at the turning point of the French Revolution. The National Assembly has declared war on England, ‘correspondence societies’ are linking like-minded Radicals to agitate for revolution in England. Ironically, it is her dubious past which makes her an ideal candidate to be recruited as a spy.

One of the things which has stayed with me since writing Moonstone Conspiracy is complex characters are fascinating to write and when it comes down to it – everyone has their own ‘Why’

 

 

Moonstone Conspiracy
Elizabeth Ellen Carter

Revolution in France, rebels in England, and one woman caught in the crossfire…

For her unwitting participation in a plot to embezzle the Exchequer, Lady Abigail Houghall has spent the last two years exiled to the city of Bath. A card sharp, sometime mistress, and target of scandalous gossip by the London Beau Monde, Lady Abigail plots to escape her gilded cage as well as the prudish society that condemns her. But the times are not easy. France is in chaos. The king has been executed, and whispers of a similar revolution are stirring in England. And because of her participation in the robbery plot, the Spymaster of England is blackmailing her into passing him information about the members of London’s upper crust.

When the dashing English spy Daniel Ridgeway takes a seat at her card table and threatens to expose her for cheating, she has no choice but to do as he demands: seduce the leader of the revolutionaries and learn what she can about their plot. As she’s drawn deeper into Daniel’s dangerous world, from the seedy backstreets of London to the claustrophobic catacombs of a war-torn Paris, she realizes an even more dangerous fact. She’s falling in love with her seductive partner. And the stakes of this game might just be too high, even for her.

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