MARY E THOMPSON

it's a curvy road to happily ever after

Nicole Evelina

Madame Presidentess by Nicole Evelina

by

Please say hi to Nicole Evelina! She has a very timely novel to share with us about the first female presidential candidate.

Before Hillary, There Was Victoria, an Unlikely Presidential Candidate

Since Hillary Clinton became the Democratic nominee for President in July, many people have noted that she’s not the first woman to run for President. Our nation’s first female Presidential candidate was Victoria Woodhull, who ran as part of the Equal Rights Party, a party she founded, in 1872.

This relatively unknown woman who doesn’t appear in most history books obviously wasn’t elected and may have faded into oblivion if the 2016 election had taken a different turn. This is why I wrote my book, Madame Presidentess, a biographical historical fiction take on the life of this outrageous woman. I couldn’t stand the thought of another generation losing a female role model just because someone decided she wasn’t important enough to include in the history books, despite her many “firsts” for women:

  • First woman to run for President in the US
  • First woman to own a stock brokerage on Wall Street (with her sister, Tennie)
  • First woman to speak before the House Judiciary Committee
  • One of the first women to run a weekly newspaper (also with Tennie)

While we may not know how many votes she garnered in 1872 (they either weren’t counted or were destroyed), we do know a fair amount about Victoria. But unlike her modern counterparts, Victoria wasn’t bred for a life in politics. In fact, she’s just about the least likely candidate.

The Female Sex

Victoria Woodhull was female in an age when women had little authority. Women couldn’t vote or serve on juries. Personal ambition in a woman was considered evil and there were social taboos against women speaking in public. To call attention to oneself in public was thought unladylike and considered a form of treachery to one’s husband or father because when a woman strayed from her proper place in the home, she caused him shame. The one exception to this were Spiritualist mediums, who could speak freely because it was the spirits speaking through them, not their own opinions being expressed.

Of course, many women’s suffrage leaders ignored these rules. Victoria happened to be a Spiritualist medium, and she did couch many of her words in the context of conversations with the spirits, but she also wasn’t afraid to speak her own mind, even going so far as to call for women to overthrow the government and start a new one that will not only listen to them, but give them equal rights. But it was still unthinkable for a woman to run for office, let alone the highest office in the land. Fun fact: Victoria’s sister, Tennie, ran for a Congressional seat in 1872; she didn’t win. (The first woman wouldn’t be elected to the House until 1916 and the Senate in 1922.)

Age

Victoria Woodhull was only 32 when she declared her candidacy and 34 when the election took place. According to the Constitution, one has to be at least 35 to serve as President. Whether or not Victoria or anyone else realized she was in violation of this requirement is up for debate. Chances are good a woman running to for President was controversy enough; it’s possible no one bothered to check her age.

Humble Beginnings

Nowadays we tend to equate politicians with money and many of them have had it since birth. But Victoria was not born to a rich family; she grew up in a small shack in Homer, Ohio, with a father who was at best down on his luck and unemployed, and at worst, a con man who broke laws in several states. Her mother was a religious zealot some called insane. The fifth of seven children (or 10 depending on who you ask) with two out-of-work parents, Victoria learned early to earn her keep.  She started working when she was a young girl as a clairvoyant and healer alongside her sister, Tennie, a job which she continued until she was married at 14. Her husband’s drinking kept them poor, and Victoria took a job as a seamstress and actress before returning to life as a magnetic healer and medium. A second marriage brought her a more stable living, but not what you would expect from a presidential candidate.

Experience

Victoria Woodhull certainly didn’t have the experience to become President, never having held any kind of governmental or elected position. According to her own recollection, Victoria had at most three years of formal education. How she went from that to being a self-made millionaire by the age of 33 is anyone’s guess. After moving to New York in 1868 she was employed by Cornelius Vanderbilt as his medium; it may have been from him that she and Tennie learned the ins and outs of Wall Street, but that has not been proven.

Whatever the source of their financial skill, Victoria and Tennie opened the first female-run (and owned) stock brokerage on Wall Street in 1870. Hailed as the “Bewitching Brokers” and the “Queens of Finance,” their firm was a hit despite being extremely controversial. Victoria made a fortune from the Black Friday crash of 1869 and continued amassing funds as her firm prospered, allowing her to afford to run for President on the merits of her financial success.

In late 1871, Victoria added to her resume when she became the first woman to testify before a sitting House committee. She unsuccessfully argued that the wording of the Fourteenth Amendment already gave women the right to vote. This launched a successful speaking career that carried her to the 1872 election and beyond even though she had little directly applicable experience.

Why Didn’t We Learn About Her in School?

No one knows for certain, but I believe it to be a combination of two factors. First, when Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton released their History of Woman Suffrage, a multi-volume account of the suffrage movement, Victoria was barely mentioned. (This may have been in revenge for personal slights from Victoria against the two suffragists who had formerly been her friends.) Second, the 1928 publication of The Terrible Siren, a scathing biography of Woodhull by Emanie Sachs, did severe damage to Victoria’s reputation. Sachs’ biography (which has since been proven to be mostly false) painted Victoria as a seductress, blackmailer and even a prostitute, a reputation that practically banned her from the history books.

It is my hope that Madame Presidentess, while fictional, can undo some of this harm and help get Victoria Woodhull into the history books where she belongs.

Madame Presidentess eBook Cover No Quote LargeMadame Presidentess
Nicole Evelina

Forty-eight years before women were granted the right to vote, one woman dared to run for President of the United States, yet her name has been virtually written out of the history books.

Rising from the shame of an abusive childhood, Victoria Woodhull, the daughter of a con-man and a religious zealot, vows to follow her destiny, one the spirits say will lead her out of poverty to “become ruler of her people.”

But the road to glory is far from easy. A nightmarish marriage teaches Victoria that women are stronger and deserve far more credit than society gives. Eschewing the conventions of her day, she strikes out on her own to improve herself and the lot of American women.

Over the next several years, she sets into motion plans that shatter the old boys club of Wall Street and defile even the sanctity of the halls of Congress. But it’s not just her ambition that threatens men of wealth and privilege; when she announces her candidacy for President in the 1872 election, they realize she may well usurp the power they’ve so long fought to protect.

Those who support her laud “Notorious Victoria” as a gifted spiritualist medium and healer, a talented financial mind, a fresh voice in the suffrage movement, and the radical idealist needed to move the nation forward. But those who dislike her see a dangerous force who is too willing to speak out when women are expected to be quiet. Ultimately, “Mrs. Satan’s” radical views on women’s rights, equality of the sexes, free love and the role of politics in private affairs collide with her tumultuous personal life to endanger all she has built and change how she is viewed by future generations.

This is the story of one woman who was ahead of her time – a woman who would make waves even in the 21st century – but who dared to speak out and challenge the conventions of post-Civil War America, setting a precedent that is still followed by female politicians today.

Excerpt from Madame Presidentess

With James’s support and my newfound conviction, I approached the second day of the conference not as the wide-eyed innocent of yesterday but as a potential future leader. The urge to speak out, to give voice to all of those whom society silenced hummed in my veins. The only remaining question was how.

Among the morning’s speakers was my old friend from St. Louis, Virginia Minor. After she was introduced, Mrs. Minor wasted no time in getting to the point of her speech. “You may know that my husband and I are vocal proponents of the idea that the Constitution already gives us the right to vote. But we are willing to put before you an additional piece of supporting evidence, found in the Fourteenth Amendment, that I believe gives all women the right to vote.

“As persons born in the United States, women are citizens. Nowhere in the text does it specify ‘males’ or ‘men,’ only ‘persons,’ which is a term without gender and therefore should include both men and women. The Constitution gives all citizens the right to vote. Therefore, as citizens, we already have the right to vote. The next line of the amendment elaborates, noting that no state is allowed to legally deprive citizens of their rights or deny them equal protection.”

I followed Mrs. Minor’s words closely, taking in each argument and dissecting it carefully. I was not trained to debate the finer points of law, but I could find no flaw in the woman’s logic. In fact, the longer I listened, the more I found myself agreeing. Around us, women whispered to each other, nudging husbands and companions in agreement with Mrs. Minor’s peaceful call to arms.

“Therefore, if the right is already ours, all we need do is take it back. Yes,” her voice rang out like the peal of an Easter church bell, “I mean we must take action. Perhaps you have heard of the Spiritualist town of Vineland, New Jersey? There, late last year, nearly two hundred women cast their votes. They pledge to do so annually until they are acknowledged. This is what I call on you to do.

“What I am asking of you is revolutionary, this I know. It goes against all we are raised to believe and how society demands we behave, but I urge you to open your minds to the idea. As a group, we have the power to change state laws, something which Miss Anthony, Mrs. Stanton, and other leaders of this group will be working to put into action. But each of us bears personal responsibility as well. So on your next election day, I ask that you hand over your ballot, not meekly but with pride, and demand to be counted among the citizens of this fine country. Only in that way can we hope to affect change in time to cast our votes for the next president in 1872.”

The crowd roared with applause, and I leapt to my feet, clapping as loud as my hands would let me. This woman was onto something.

“We should do this,” I mouthed to Tennie, who nodded enthusiastically. I would have to discuss the possibilities taking shape in my mind with James.

“They’ve got motivation now,” said a man in the row behind me. “Too bad they don’t have the money to see it through.”

His offhand comment snagged my attention. The party needed money, and I needed a way into its upper echelons. If Josie’s stock tips had taught me anything, it was that there was money to be made in the stock market—lots of it. Perhaps that could be my entry into suffrage society. I mulled over the thought as other people spoke. By the time Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered the closing address, I was determined to work with Tennie to see how our budding business relationship with Mr. Vanderbilt might help advance our work for women.

When Mrs. Stanton said, “The need of this hour is a new evangel of womanhood to exalt purity, virtue, morality, true religion, to lift man up into the high realms of thought and action,” a chill raced down my spine. Those words were meant for me.

My sight blurred, and I blinked as a vision took over my consciousness. I stood in the center of a spotlighted stage, speaking to throngs larger even than the crowd gathered for this convention, as Demosthenes had promised.

A flash, then I sat on a platform next to the three Fates who ran the organization. I was the golden child sent to breathe new life into a movement desperately in need of new energy.

The next thing I knew, Miss Anthony was announcing me as president of the National Women’s Rights Convention.

Another shift and the vision began to fade, but not before a newspaper headline blared the fulfillment of the highest of Demosthenes’ prophecies: “Victoria Woodhull Makes History as First Woman President.”

Yes! I will bring this movement to the masses. I will show them that a woman like them, raised in the dirt, who works for a living, can be an agent of change. Then they shall see one Victoria sitting on the throne of England while her namesake guards the interests of women in the United States. Less than four years from now, I shall be president.

About Nicole

Nicole Evelina headshot horizontalNicole Evelina is a multi-award-winning historical fiction and romantic comedy writer. Her most recent novel, Madame Presidentess, a historical novel about Victoria Woodhull, America’s first female Presidential candidate, was the first place winner in the Women’s US History category of the 2015 Chaucer Awards for Historical Fiction.

Her debut novel, Daughter of Destiny, the first book of an Arthurian legend trilogy that tells Guinevere’s life story from her point of view, was named Book of the Year by Chanticleer Reviews, took the Grand Prize in the 2015 Chatelaine Awards for Women’s Fiction/Romance, won a Gold Medal in the fantasy category in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, a Gold Medal in the fantasy category in the Reader’s Favorite Awards, and was short-listed for the Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction. Its sequel, Camelot’s Queen, was awarded the prestigious B.R.A.G Medallion.  Been Searching for You, her contemporary romantic comedy, won the 2016 Colorado Independent Publishers Association Award for Romance, the 2015 Romance Writers of America (RWA) Great Expectations and Golden Rose contests and was a finalist in the chick-lit category of the Readers Favorite Awards.

Nicole’s writing has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Independent Journal, Curve Magazine and numerous historical publications. She is one of only six authors who completed a week-long writing intensive taught by #1 New York Times bestselling author Deborah Harkness. As an armchair historian, Nicole researches her books extensively, consulting with biographers, historical societies and traveling to locations when possible. For example, she traveled to England twice to research the Guinevere’s Tale trilogy, where she consulted with internationally acclaimed author and historian Geoffrey Ashe, as well as Arthurian/Glastonbury expert Jaime George, the man who helped Marion Zimmer Bradley research The Mists of Avalon.

Nicole is a member of and book reviewer for The Historical Novel Society, as well as a member of the Historical Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, the St. Louis Writer’s Guild, Women Writing the West, Alliance of Independent Authors, the Independent Book Publishers Association and the Midwest Publisher’s Association.

Her website is http://nicoleevelina.com/. She can be reached online at:

Madame Presidentess by Nicole Evelina

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Please welcome Nicole Evelina back with an intriguing novel about the first woman to ever run for president!

The Free Lover Who Ran for President

If you’ve never heard of Victoria Woodhull, don’t worry. Most people haven’t. That’s because she’s not in 99% of history textbooks. But she was the first woman to run for President in the United States (1872), the first woman to speak before a committee of Congress, the first woman to own a stock brokerage on Wall Street (along with her sister, Tennie) and one of the first women in the country to run a weekly newspaper. But we don’t need to remember any of that, do we?

Ahem. Sorry, I get on my soapbox easily because I became a fan while researching my novel Madame Presidentess (on sale July 25), which is based on her life. Since this is a romance blog, I thought I’d focus on Victoria’s love life. I know, exactly what every woman wants to be remembered for. (Sorry Victoria!) But her views on love and marriage played a huge part in her political career and her adventurous personal life got her into a lot of trouble.

You see, Victoria was an advocate of Free Love. In her day, it didn’t mean unchecked promiscuity as it later would to some in the 1960s; it meant that she believed marriages should come into existence when two people fell in love and be dissolved when they no longer loved each other, without interference from the government or organized religion. It was her second husband, Col. James Blood, who introduced Victoria to this idea. (He was married when they met and likely justified leaving his wife and daughters for her under the tenants of Free Love.)

It was while she was married to James that Victoria supposedly had at least one affair, or up to five, depending on which source you believe. (There are also those who deny that she ever had any, but the majority believes in at least one.) Here’s a quick rundown:

  1. Representative Benjamin Butler – This story comes from a rumor that while he and Victoria were in Washington D.C. when she testified before a committee of Congress, she went to visit him at night. As if all two people can do after dark is have sex. Also during that time he was said to have gotten the committee to agree to let her speak “in exchange for feasting his eyes upon her naked person.” When asked about that rumor, he replied “half truths kill,” which many took as an admission it was true.
    I personally don’t think they had an affair. Benjamin Butler is described as toad-like, short and plump with an overly large head and sunken eyes engulfed in flesh. One of his eyelids drooped and he waddled when he walked. Yet, his vitality and power are said to have attracted many women to him. So it’s possible, but I don’t buy it. I did, however, use this situation as the basis for Victoria’s affair with the fictional Judah DeWitt Reymart in my novel.
  2. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher – Rev. Beecher was one of the most famous and highly regarded preachers of the late 19th century in America. Despite this, he was widely rumored to “preach to as many as 20 of his mistresses on any given Sunday.” His promiscuity was an open secret.  Victoria tried to bring him into the Free Love movement because she knew he had had an affair with Lib Tilton, the wife of Victoria’s own lover, Theodore Tilton. Victoria and Rev. Beecher spent a fair amount of time together when she was trying to sway him to her way of thinking (some of it at night and you know what that means), but nothing I’ve read seems to indicate they had an affair.
    Biographer Lois Beachey Underhill is convinced the exact opposite, but I don’t see it, especially since she cites Sachs and Tucker as her sources (see entry on Tucker below), who are suspect at best.
  3. Theodore Tilton – Here is the most likely and most widely accepted of Victoria’s possible lovers. He was known to be handsome and charming and had a reputation for extramarital affairs that may or may not have been justified by Free Love. Theodore and Victoria may have met when both were a part of the suffrage movement. But they certainly met after she published a thinly veiled threat to expose the affair Rev. Henry Ward Beecher had with Theodore’s wife. Somehow, Mr. Tilton ended up writing for Victoria’s paper and she commissioned him to write her biography. This is likely when their relationship began. Though her biography was considered overdramatic and widely panned (except in spiritualist circles), Victoria remained close to Mr. Tilton for quite some time until their relationship ended over him backing Horace Greeley for President instead of her (he wanted the job Mr. Greeley would have to vacate upon becoming President).
  4. Joseph Treat – Biographers of Victoria believe that Mr. Treat was in love with her, and when she turned him down, he wrote a malicious pamphlet telling his story and denouncing her as a fraud. She sued him for libel, but the truth or falsehood was never proven, because he died before the case could go to court.
  5. Benjamin Tucker – He claimed to have been seduced by Victoria, who was much older, when he was only a young man. This claim is highly unlikely to be true.  He was paid $5,000 by Emanie Sachs to tell his story for her brutal (and mostly false) 1928 biography of Victoria.

Some books and websites say there were at least a dozen men who claimed to have an affair with Victoria, but these are the main contenders. Between these rumors and Victoria’s open embracing of Free Love in a time when women were meant to be paragons of virtue, it’s little wonder why Victoria wasn’t included in the history books. (Well, there’s more to it than that, but this was also a factor.) Today, she would still be controversial not only for her political opinions, but for her personal behavior. Some would laud her as sex-positive (of which she was likely a pioneer, even though the phrase didn’t exist in her time) while others would call her a slut. Either way, I count her as a strong woman who is worth getting to know.

Madame Presidentess eBook Cover No Quote LargeMadame Presidentess
by Nicole Evelina

Forty-eight years before women were granted the right to vote, one woman dared to run for President of the United States, yet her name has been virtually written out of the history books.

Rising from the shame of an abusive childhood, Victoria Woodhull, the daughter of a con-man and a religious zealot, vows to follow her destiny, one the spirits say will lead her out of poverty to “become ruler of her people.”

But the road to glory is far from easy. A nightmarish marriage teaches Victoria that women are stronger and deserve far more credit than society gives. Eschewing the conventions of her day, she strikes out on her own to improve herself and the lot of American women.

Over the next several years, she sets into motion plans that shatter the old boys club of Wall Street and defile even the sanctity of the halls of Congress. But it’s not just her ambition that threatens men of wealth and privilege; when she announces her candidacy for President in the 1872 election, they realize she may well usurp the power they’ve so long fought to protect.

Those who support her laud “Notorious Victoria” as a gifted spiritualist medium and healer, a talented financial mind, a fresh voice in the suffrage movement, and the radical idealist needed to move the nation forward. But those who dislike her see a dangerous force who is too willing to speak out when women are expected to be quiet. Ultimately, “Mrs. Satan’s” radical views on women’s rights, equality of the sexes, free love and the role of politics in private affairs collide with her tumultuous personal life to endanger all she has built and change how she is viewed by future generations.

This is the story of one woman who was ahead of her time – a woman who would make waves even in the 21st century – but who dared to speak out and challenge the conventions of post-Civil War America, setting a precedent that is still followed by female politicians today.

Don’t miss out and preorder it now!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Smashwords | Kobo

Nicole Evelina headshot horizontalAbout Nicole

Nicole Evelina is an award-winning historical fiction and romantic comedy writer. Her most recent novel, Madame Presidentess, a historical novel about Victoria Woodhull, America’s first female Presidential candidate, was the first place winner in the Women’s US History category of the 2015 Chaucer Awards for Historical Fiction.

Her debut novel, Daughter of Destiny, the first book of an Arthurian legend trilogy that tells Guinevere’s life story from her point of view, was named Book of the Year by Chanticleer Reviews, took the Grand Prize in the 2015 Chatelaine Awards for Women’s Fiction/Romance, won a Gold Medal in the fantasy category in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards and was short-listed for the Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction.  Been Searching for You, her contemporary romantic comedy, won the 2015 Romance Writers of America (RWA) Great Expectations and Golden Rose contests.

Nicole is one of only six authors who completed a week-long writing intensive taught by #1 New York Times bestselling author Deborah Harkness. As an armchair historian, Nicole researches her books extensively, consulting with biographers, historical societies and traveling to locations when possible. For example, she traveled to England twice to research the Guinevere’s Tale trilogy, where she consulted with internationally acclaimed author and historian Geoffrey Ashe, as well as Arthurian/Glastonbury expert Jaime George, the man who helped Marion Zimmer Bradley research The Mists of Avalon.

Nicole is a member of and book reviewer for The Historical Novel Society, and Sirens (a group supporting female fantasy authors), as well as a member of the Historical Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Romance Writers of America, the St. Louis Writer’s Guild, Women Writing the West, Broad Universe (promoting women in fantasy, science fiction and horror), Alliance of Independent Authors and the Independent Book Publishers Association.

Her website is http://nicoleevelina.com.

She can be reached online at:

Been Searching For You by Nicole Evelina

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Nicole Evelina is back today to tell us about a new book, Been Searching For You. Please say hi!

Been Searching for You eBook Cover LargeBeen Searching For You
Nicole Evelina

Annabeth is a hopeless romantic who believes in soul mates. In fact, she’s been writing to hers each year on her birthday since she was 16. 

Now, at 34, she’s still holding out hope of finding Mr. Right even though he’d be fighting an uphill battle to gain her trust, thanks to a traumatic experience years before that’s left her unable to commit.

When Annabeth meets a handsome literature professor named Alex on her 34th birthday, she thinks her quest may finally be at an end. Things don’t quite go as planned, so Annabeth resolves to do everything she can over the next year to find the unknown recipient of her letters.  But blind dates, Meetup events and online singles sites have nothing on what fate has in store for her when a co-worker unexpectedly quits and Annabeth finds herself working in close quarters with both Alex and her long ago ex, Nick. Fighting her attraction to one and loathing for the other, Annabeth is forced to face all of her old insecurities while keeping an eye on a scheming frienemy who may derail her hopes and dreams.

Written in the tradition of Bridget Jones’ Diary, Kim Gruenfelder’s A Total Waste of Makeup, and Melissa Pimental’s Love By The Book, this romantic comedy shows that love on the sweet side can exist for the modern girl, if only she’s willing to trust herself and search hard enough.

Been Searching for You was the winner of the 2015 Romance Writers of America Great Expectations and Golden Rose contests.

Excerpt from Been Searching For You

When the doorbell rang the following afternoon, I was still in my pajamas. It was Miles and Mia. Again.

“What do you two want?” I said with more than a little annoyance. I loved them, but at some point, one would think they’d learn weekends were sacred alone time for an introvert like me. “I’m all out of chocolate chip pancakes.”

Mia was huddled behind Miles as if she was using his body as a shield. It was very strange. “No, silly, we’re not here for food.”

“That’s a first.”

“We’re here,” Miles picked up the thread of conversation, “on strict orders from MI6.”

I squinted at them. “Did you two do drugs last night?”

“I’m totally serious,” Miles said. “If you will kindly let us in, we’ll explain.”

With a roll of my eyes, I stepped aside. They plunked down on the couch, a large box between them.

I pointed at it. “It’s not ticking, is it?”

Mia smiled. “Nope.”

“As I said”—Miles adopted a serious tone as if he were on one of those TV shows about the CIA—“we were given a clear mission, and it was to deliver this to you.”

I perched on the arm of the couch. “And did this message self-destruct after you received it?”

“Nope. Mia destroyed the evidence by eating it. Girl will eat anything.” Miles snickered, and Mia punched him in the arm.

“So what’s in the box, and who sent it?”

“That’s classified—need to know only, and we didn’t need to know.”

“You guys are really starting to weird me out,” I said in partial honesty.

“Just open it.” Mia pulled me onto her lap and forced my hands around the edges of the paper-wrapped box.

After inspecting it for any signs of who gave them this mysterious “mission,” I tore open the paper. Inside was an expensive white-and-red striped decorative box, the kind in which an uptown woman might store correspondence or invitations to snooty parties. Lifting the lid carefully, I found a single sheet of cream stationery on top covered in Alex’s elegant, Catholic schoolboy handwriting.

Annabeth, since there is much I cannot be with you for in body over the coming months, I wanted to make sure I was there in spirit when you needed me. I made this while I was waiting to hear the final outcome, knowing we’d have use for it eventually even if I didn’t get in at Oxford. Please consider each one of these envelopes a work of love.

The letter ended with his signature and a quote from a Florence and the Machine song about finding a way around an ocean for the sake of love.

Speechless, I handed the letter to Miles. Mia craned her neck around me to see it.

Underneath, standing in neat rows, were at least two dozen multicolored envelopes. Selecting one at random, I pulled out a bright green envelope that reminded me of those glow sticks they used to sell at skating rinks in the eighties. I even had the urge to shake it to see if it would light up. In the upper left corner, where a return address would normally have been, were the words, “Open me when…” In lieu of an address, he had written, “you need a laugh.” Below the words was a giant smiley face sticker. Thumbing through the others, I noticed they all bore the same return address but were meant for different occasions—everything from my moods to situations that might arise at work or in other areas of my life.

Typical Mia, she made a beeline for the only red envelope, which said, “Open me when… you’re Fifty Shades of Horny.” She waved it in my face. “I want to know what’s in this one.”

I made to grab it away, but she squirmed out from under me, scampering around the couch and holding it out of my reach like a schoolyard bully. She shook it. “Too small for even a silver bullet.” Her face lit up with inspiration. “Someone’s getting lucky online,” she sang.

“Damn it, Mia. Give it back.”

Miles calmly got up—unnoticed by Mia because she was too busy capering around—plucked it out of her hand, and tossed it to me. “My darling, we’ve completed our mission. We should probably leave Annabeth alone.”

She gave Miles an incredulous look. “Why, so she can fondle her envelopes? Nope. This calls for a day on the town.”

A Romantic Comedy in an “Interesting” Setting

When the plot of my new romantic comedy, Been Searching for You, plopped itself in my head a few years ago, I didn’t have to think twice where I was going to set it. It had to be Chicago. It’s my favorite city in the country, I’ve been there many times, and it’s not too far from where I live now, so plot-specific research wouldn’t be a problem.

When my agent at the time started to send the book out to publishers, an interesting thing happened. We started getting responses that Chicago was an “interesting” choice for a setting, and they weren’t saying it in a positive way. What the heck? Why should it matter? The only thing we could come up with is that it isn’t the traditional settings of New York City/Manhattan or small town America, both of which are very popular in romance novels.

But here’s the thing – besides my own predilection, I chose Chicago specifically because it isn’t either of these places. As someone in the prime demographic for romantic comedies who can’t afford to live in New York, I find it frustrating that so many are set there. All that says to me is I somehow missed out on something in life since that’s obviously where all the young women are, or at least I feel like I’m being told that’s where I should be. New York is used as a setting so often it’s becoming cliché, plus it’s not realistic or relatable to most of the target audience.  As for small towns, again, not all readers live in one of those and there are so many out there (fictional and real) that you can’t twirl your earbuds in a bookstore without hitting one. (Plus, small towns give me panic attacks – true story – so I don’t know that I could set one there.)

To me, Chicago was the perfect compromise. It’s cosmopolitan enough to have the glamour of New York, yet small enough to be relatable no matter where you live. Demographically, it’s a young city, so it’s a logical place for two never-marrieds to fall in love. There are a multitude of cultural options so my characters would never lack for things to do, plus there are the lake, beaches and parks to add variety. I knew my hero was going to be a literature professor, and with the Chicago area being home to more than 119 colleges and universities, I had plenty of places to employ him. In the end, the city of Chicago became almost a character and the novel became my love letter to my future home town, much like Lost in Translation was Sofia Coppola’s ode to Tokyo.

Now when people ask “Why Chicago?” I think, “Why not? After all, it worked for While You Were Sleeping!”

Nicole Evelina headshot horizontalMeet Nicole (again!)

Nicole Evelina is an award-winning historical fiction and romantic comedy writer. Her new novel, Been Searching for You, a romantic comedy, won the 2015 Romance Writers of America (RWA) Great Expectations and Golden Rose contests.

She also writes historical fiction. Her debut novel, Daughter of Destiny, the first book of an Arthurian legend trilogy that tells Guinevere’s life story from her point of view, was named Book of the Year by Chanticleer Reviews, took the Grand Prize in the 2015 Chatelaine Awards for Women’s Fiction/Romance, won a Gold Medal in the fantasy category in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards and was short-listed for the Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction. Later this year, she will release Madame Presidentess (July 25), a historical novel about Victoria Woodhull, America’s first female Presidential candidate, which was the first place winner in the Women’s US History category of the 2015 Chaucer Awards for Historical Fiction.

Nicole is one of only six authors who completed a week-long writing intensive taught by #1 New York Times bestselling author Deborah Harkness. Nicole has traveled to England twice to research the Guinevere’s Tale trilogy, where she consulted with internationally acclaimed author and historian Geoffrey Ashe, as well as Arthurian/Glastonbury expert Jaime George, the man who helped Marion Zimmer Bradley research The Mists of Avalon.

Nicole is a member of and book reviewer for The Historical Novel Society, and Sirens (a group supporting female fantasy authors), as well as a member of the Historical Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Romance Writers of America, the St. Louis Writer’s Guild, Women Writing the West, Broad Universe (promoting women in fantasy, science fiction and horror), Alliance of Independent Authors and the Independent Book Publishers Association.

Her website is http://nicoleevelina.com. She can be reached online at:

Camelot’s Queen by Nicole Evelina

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Please welcome Nicole Evelina here today to share about her book, Camelot’s Queen!

Camelot's Queen eBook Cover LargeCamelot’s Queen
by Nicole Evelina

History remembers Guinevere’s sin, but it was Arthur who transgressed first.

Forced into a marriage she neither anticipated nor desired, Guinevere finds herself High Queen, ruling and fighting alongside Arthur as they try to subdue the Saxons, Irish and Picts who threaten Britain from every direction. Though her heart still longs for her lost love, Guinevere slowly grows to care for her husband as they join together to defeat their enemies.

Meanwhile, within the walls of Camelot their closest allies plot against them. One schemes to make Guinevere his own, another seeks revenge for past transgressions, while a third fixes her eyes on the throne. When the unthinkable happens and Guinevere is feared dead, Arthur installs a new woman in her place, one who will poison his affections toward her, threatening Guinevere’s fragile sanity and eventually driving her into the arms of her champion.

Amid this tension a new challenge arises for the king and queen of Camelot: finding the Holy Grail, a sacred relic that promises lasting unity. But peace, as they will soon learn, can be just as dangerous as war. As the court begins to turn on itself, it becomes clear that the quest that was to be Arthur’s lasting legacy may end in the burning fires of condemnation.

This highly anticipated sequel to Daughter of Destiny proves there is much more to Guinevere’s story than her marriage and an affair. See the legend you think you know through her eyes and live the adventure of Camelot’s golden days yourself – but be prepared to suffer its downfall as well.

Guinevere’s Lovers

The theme of this promo, More Than Friends, may as well be tailor-made for a discussion of Arthurian legend. In my Guinevere’s Tale series, Guinevere has three main loves: Aggrivane, whom she loved before meeting Arthur; Arthur, whom she married; and Lancelot, her infamous lover. But none of these is exactly as you traditionally think of them in my books.

Camelot’s Queen is the second in the series. It contains all three of Guinevere’s loves. In the beginning of the book, she’s fighting to overcome her star-crossed love for Aggrivane (get their back story in the first book, Daughter of Destiny, which I highly recommend reading before this one). There are two great scenes that show their ongoing love, how they will never get over one another, but this is my favorite:

Aggrivane had made no effort to cover his tracks. Following his footprints, deep and unmistakably stamped with rage into the muddy depths of the forest, I picked through clumps of mutilated leaves and swept past decapitated branches, the innocent victims of his anger, until I came to a small clearing at the edge of a stream.

His back was toward me as he faced the water. “You should not have come.”

“But you knew I would.” I couldn’t see his face, but I imagined how he would close his eyes and smile ruefully by way of answer. He was determined to ignore me, so I crossed the clearing in a few purposeful strides then tugged on his shoulder in a vain attempt to force him to face me. “What would you have me do, Aggrivane? Choose my former lover as my champion? How would that look to Arthur? To the court?” I was almost yelling, my voice raw.

He had to see reason. He had to know I’d had no other choice. Because I hadn’t, had I? I wrapped my arms protectively around myself. Suddenly I wasn’t so sure. 

For a long while, Aggrivane said nothing, and sounds of the forest returned as the birds decided my outburst was not aimed at them. Then slowly he turned, his face a stony mask, but I saw pain reflected in his eyes.

“Yes,” he whispered. “That is exactly what you should have done—selected the one you wish to have always by your side, not a substitute to distract you from your true feelings.”

The candor of his words struck me to the core as surely as if he had buried an arrow deep inside my heart. Tears dampened my cheeks before I could find my voice, and I turned away. My mind was working feverishly to deny the truth of his words.

“I am no longer the girl you met in Avalon. My actions…” I took a deep breath. “Are watched by everyone.” I winced inwardly as I realized how close I had come to repeating Merlin’s words about my actions having consequences. “To have named you my champion would only have given my detractors something to use against me.”

“Did Lyonesse teach you that, how to make excuses for any subject?” Aggrivane spat, referring to the malicious woman I had lived with during the latter part of our courtship.

I whirled around, ready to retort, but he stopped me by holding up his hand.

“Everything you have said to me since I returned has been one gigantic justification.” His eyes narrowed, inspecting my face. Then he firmly gripped my shoulders, forcing me to look directly into his eyes. “Why do you refuse to acknowledge that you are still in love with me even to yourself?” His eyes searched mine so thoroughly I felt naked before him. “Do you know what I was about to say to you the day Camille interrupted us?”

I was about to reply, but he rushed on. “I was about to tell you that I was still in love with you. Married or no, neither of us can deny what flickers deep within no matter how hard we try to hide it or snuff it out.”

Aggrivane cradled my cheeks, and my heart cracked all over again, just as it had when my father separated us, just as it had when I futilely searched for his face in the moments after Arthur proposed. I closed my eyes, trying to deny what my heart so readily understood. My head spun with a million thoughts, the loudest being a voice shouting, No, this cannot be happening. He did not just say those words. 

You are dreaming; this is not real, I kept repeating, but I knew it wasn’t true. I tried to force the feelings down, and I let out a strangled gasp as they nearly choked me. I did still love him, but to admit it, to say it out loud, would have been treason. And once I gave voice to those feelings, there would be no going back—no controlling the torrent that came with them.

The words were hanging on my tongue, each beat of my heart bringing them closer to my lips. I pulled away, head bowed and eyes on the grass slowly dying beneath my soles. I knew what I had to do, what had to be said, but every fiber of my being railed against it. I swallowed hard and forced myself to speak, my voice sounding foreign to my ears. “This has to end, Aggrivane. We can’t continue to live like this. I do not want to lose you, but there can be no illusions about what is or ever will be between us.”

Aggrivane cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. I didn’t dare look up. I knew by his silence that his expression would rend me beyond repair.

“If that is what you wish,” he said, clearly struggling to keep his voice steady. “But promise me one thing.”

I answered without hesitation, “Anything.”

I suddenly remembered how he had looked the night we first kissed, the way the wind rippled his black locks into shining waves and how his dark eyes twinkled like the stars in the midnight sky. I would have given anything to be able to go back to that moment, to start things over and live the life destiny had stolen from our grasp.

“Promise me no matter how much you love your husband or esteem your champion, no matter how many others you burn with passion for, you will reserve a small place in your heart only for us. It can be in the darkest depths of your soul, but I need to know there is some part of you no one else can touch, a place that is purely mine.”

I stared at him, wishing I could tell him such a place already existed, sealed from all others by wounds that would never fully heal, scars that marked me as his as clearly as if he had carved his name into my heart. But all I could do was nod and wipe away the tears as they fell. “I promise.”

His smile was as tender as his touch as he ran his fingertips down my cheek from my temple to jaw. “So do I.”

As he embraced me one last time and kissed my forehead, I knew my love for him would haunt me forever.

Then there is Arthur, who is of course, Guinevere’s husband. We all know that. But neither of them planned on marrying one another, and both had dreams that involved other people (you’ll find out who Arthur wished to marry in this book). But still, they grew to love each other. This is from their wedding night, when they are still very much strangers:

“If you had it to do over again, would you choose me?”

How could he even ask me such a question? He was the king. What was I going to say—no? “Would I have a choice?”

Arthur stepped toward me, hand outstretched. “Of course. You’ve always had a choice.”
I stepped away from him. “Have I? You asked for my hand in front of the entire court of Dyfed, already having secured my father’s agreement.”

Arthur dropped his hand, balling it into a fist at his side. “Guinevere, I understand your pain. You are not the only one who has lost something. I had a completely different life before I became king—plans, dreams which will never be fulfilled. This is a duty I never asked for.”

“Neither did I.”

“But you’re here now.” His smile was tender.

Before I could respond, he leaned in and kissed me gently. Then he pulled back and searched my eyes as if looking for permission to continue.

My tension eased, shoulders sagging as I realized he was right. I was here now, with my husband. No matter what had come before, I’d made my promise to him. I had a duty now, to him and to my people. In answer to his questioning eyes, I kissed him back, with equal tenderness and no small amount of awkwardness.

He ran his hands over my hair, down my neck and shoulders, to my waist as our lips danced, gradually learning one another’s pace and preferences. When his hands reached my hips, he removed my shift and lifted me effortlessly. We made love with the uncertainty of strangers, the act slowly forming a bond between us even as we struggled to find pleasure in our forced coupling.

When it was over, Arthur lay his head on my chest and his breathing slowed to the even pace of a dreamer. I kissed the top of his head.

“I suppose being married to you will not be so bad,” I whispered before closing my eyes.

And then there is Lancelot. I’m not going to tell you why this happens (you’ll have to read the book to find out), but this is the moment where Guinevere and Lancelot become lovers. 

As he had promised that night in the inn, Lancelot was there for me no matter when I needed him. At first, he’d merely listened as I confided my fears, holding me when the panic was overwhelming and letting me cry when the guilt surfaced. Sometimes I fell asleep in his arms. When I woke in terror in the dark of night, it was not Arthur I sought but my champion.

One night, months after we had returned to Camelot, I slipped into Lancelot’s doorway, breathless and sweating, heart still pounding from the vivid nightmare in which Elga had succeeded in killing both of us at Badon. I was so happy we were both alive I didn’t even greet him. I ran over to where he lay drenched in moonlight and kissed him, waking him from a sound sleep. He never tried to push me away, merely smiled into my kiss and drew me to him. Peeling away my sticky shift, I bit his neck, letting him know I no longer wished our relationship to be chaste. He responded by tangling a hand in the hair at the nape of my neck and pulling me on top of him. His face was buried in my breasts as I moved against him, welcoming his touch as though I was starving without him. And maybe I was. It had been ages since Arthur had touched me.

When we had finally sated our hunger, he laced his fingers in mine and smiled. “I knew you cared for me. Finally, so do you.”

Have I got your attention? I do hope so. As I said earlier, I recommend reading the first book, Daughter of Destiny, first. You might be able to read Camelot’s Queen on its own, but you will miss many of the relationships and motivations built up in the first book, which may lead to misunderstanding or frustration, and I want you to have a pleasant reading experience. But whether you read both or jump straight into this one, please know this is not your mother’s Arthurian legend; I have very much put my own spin on a classic story – but I hope you enjoy it all the same.

Buy Camelot’s Queen now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, iBooks, or Kobo!

Nicole EvelinaMeet Nicole

Nicole Evelina is an award-winning historical fiction and romantic comedy writer. Her most recent novel is Camelot’s Queen, the second book in an Arthurian legend trilogy that tells Guinevere’s life story from her point of view.

Her debut novel, Daughter of Destiny, the first book of the Guinevere’s Tale trilogy, took first place in the legend/legacy category of the 2015 Chatelaine Awards for Women’s Fiction/Romance, and was short-listed for the Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction. Her upcoming novel, Been Searching for You (May 10), a romantic comedy, won the 2015 Romance Writers of America (RWA) Great Expectations and Golden Rose contests. Later this year, she will release Madame Presidentess (July 25), a historical novel about Victoria Woodhull, America’s first female Presidential candidate, which was the first place winner in the Women’s US History category of the 2015 Chaucer Awards for Historical Fiction.

Nicole is one of only six authors who completed a week-long writing intensive taught by #1 New York Times bestselling author Deborah Harkness. Nicole has traveled to England twice to research the Guinevere’s Tale trilogy, where she consulted with internationally acclaimed author and historian Geoffrey Ashe, as well as Arthurian/Glastonbury expert Jaime George, the man who helped Marion Zimmer Bradley research The Mists of Avalon.

Nicole is a member of and book reviewer for the The Historical Novel Society, and Sirens (a group supporting female fantasy authors), as well as a member of the Historical Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Romance Writers of America, the St. Louis Writer’s Guild, Women Writing the West, Broad Universe (promoting women in fantasy, science fiction and horror), Alliance of Independent Authors and the Independent Book Publishers Association.

Her website is http://nicoleevelina.com. She can be reached online at: