Welcome, Phyllis Campbell

Feisty heroines

From as long as I could remember, I loved reading about stubborn heroines – heroines who didn’t put up with crap and who had their own mind. When I first started writing, I had a critique partner (or two) tell me because I write historicals, that women did not act this way back then. Well, I have just one word for people who think that.

RUBBISH!

Although some men frowned upon women who spoke their mind, and some fathers punished their daughters for getting out line, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. After all, that’s how scandals were made, right? And, since we know it happened, I’m willing to bet there were some special men who actually admired a woman for using her wit.

When I first started reading romance books, I don’t remember reading about many feisty heroines. And in a Regency…I don’t think I read hardly any. But, those Regency romance fans know that Elizabeth Bennett (Pride & Prejudice) was stubborn.

So what does feisty mean to you? The MS Word Thesaurus gives us words like energetic, aggressive, lively. To me, feisty means stubborn…and that they don’t take any crap from anyone!

When I was first asked to be in the Regency Christmas Summons Anthology, I was excited. We were able to pick our own character and their parents. The Duke of Danby had summoned his children and grandchildren home for Christmas. Most of his family lived in England, but my character wanted to be different. She wanted to be the illegitimate granddaughter of the duke’s. Well, because of this, she was also brought up differently, lived in America, and stubborn to fault! The first chapter was originally written with her threatening to shoot off a man’s…manhood. In fact, she made him drop his drawers to the crowd to prove her point…and his tiny one. (heehee) Unfortunately, this made the story sound like a western instead of a Regency, so I had to change it. But Dorothy Paxton – my heroine – stayed stubborn throughout the story, thank goodness! Oh, and on top of that…my Dorothy is humorous!

Here is a tiny tidbit from my story, Becoming A Lady, from “A Summons from His Grace” http://amzn.com/B0061CFACY :

“I’m looking for a certain woman, and the trail has led me here to New York. In fact, this very establishment.”

                  “Does this woman have a name?”

                  “Dorothy Paxton.”

                  Her eyes widened once again. “Pray, why would you be looking for her?”

                  “I’ve been sent to find her. Now, if you will, I would like some answers.”

She shrugged. “Forgive me, but I cannot help. I’ve never heard of her.”

                  Calvin couldn’t believe she was lying to him. “I beg to differ. Not more than ten minutes ago, I heard your brother call you Dorothy, and the other woman called you Miss Paxton.”

                  Dorothy rolled her eyes. “Perhaps you heard wrong. After all, Paxton does rhyme with…um…a lot of words.” She folded her arms. “Besides, why are you looking for her?”

                  He couldn’t stop the smile pulling on his mouth, so he smoothed his mustache with his finger and thumb. “Why are you so interested in knowing?”

                  She shrugged. “I’m curious. You’re the first person who has wandered into town looking for someone I have never heard of.”

“I plan on staying here until I find some answers, too. So perhaps you should get used to me.”

                  “Perhaps.” She arched an eyebrow. “What’s your name, stranger?”

                  He shook his head. “Hmm…I think that question is going to cost you.”

                  Her cheeks reddened and her gaze narrowed. He tried his best not to grin. Two could play her game.

“What is your price?” she finally asked.

                  Surprising, but the more he studied the woman’s face, the lovelier she became. Long, thick lashes outlined her blue eyes. And she had the prettiest shaped mouth he’d ever seen. One way or another, he had to earn her trust. He didn’t want to have to take her back to England fighting him the whole way. “I was thinking about dinner sometime.”

                  She chuckled. “Mister, I believe you can have dinner anytime you wish. All you have to do is order it, and I shall serve it promptly.”

                  What a refreshing sense of humor she had. He shook his head. “No, you misunderstand. I’d like to have dinner with you.”

                  She flipped her hand through the air. “That you won’t get, I fear.”

                  He pulled away from the bar. “Then I suppose you don’t want to know my name badly enough, do you?”

Phyllis Campbell is an award-winning, multi-published and best-selling author of romance; from the dark and mysterious hero who sends shivers up your spine to the feisty heroines who somehow manage to keep them in line. She's been published with several small presses since 2006.  Most of her reviewers have given her the title of “Queen Of Sexual Tension”. Married with kids (and three grandchildren), Phyllis has lived in Utah all of her life and enjoys family activities when she’s not writing her next sensual story.

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