Love in the time of peril, a guest post by Anne Cleeland, author of The Barbary Mark

Today novelist Anne Cleeland is contributing an essay about the type of historical novel she enjoys writing.  Read more below...

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Love in the Time of Peril 

Anne Cleeland

I love writing historical fiction, because history is a great plot-generator. Pick any era where the world is in turmoil, and you’ll find larger-than-life people, having larger-than-life adventures.

For example, I write a series of historicals that are set in 1814—a year that’s so rich with potential story plots that it’s hard to decide which way to go. After eight miserable years of war, Napoleon’s in exile on Elba—but he’s about to escape, get the old gang back together, and march on Paris to stage the Hundred Days’ War. Meanwhile, Europe’s in disarray, the old orders are crumbling, and everyone’s broke from Napoleon’s last attempt at world conquest.

So, my heroines are swept up in these unlikely events—some willingly, and some not-so-willingly—but always because there’s a treasure at stake, and the forces of good are battling the forces of evil in order to get to it first.

Meanwhile, some man is driving her to distraction, and her budding romance fuels the plot as much as the historical events. I always write couples, because it makes the heroine’s adventure both epic and personal at the same time, which—when you think about it—is true for real-life historical figures, too. You can’t write about Henry VIII without a heavy dose of Anne Boleyn. Or Napoleon without his Josephine. Or Cleopatra without her Marc Antony. Why? Because although these people were larger-than-life in terms of history, they were also human beings who fell in love—often with someone completely unsuitable. (I’m looking at you, Admiral Lord Nelson.)

And there’s nothing like the conflict that arises when our doughty heroine has to choose between the fate of the world and her fondness for this fine man, who may or may not be what he seems. Can she trust him? Would it matter, even if she couldn’t?

In my mind, if you mix a tumultuous time in history with classic themes of love and betrayal, then I think you have the makings of a riveting story—which is why we can never seem to get enough of the Tudors, the gift that keeps on giving.

So please join my heroines as they try to navigate a dangerous world whilst fighting their attraction to dangerous men—I promise you won’t be disappointed.

About The Barbary Mark: After a shipwreck, Nonie Rafferty washes up on the shore of Algiers, where the slave traders look to sell the pretty Irishwoman—or worse. She must come up with a tale to save herself—and fast—before anyone discovers the true reason she sailed to this misbegotten corner of the world, or the true reason she was wearing a priceless strand of pearls, when she was rescued. Fortunately, the Dey’s mysterious necromancer appears willing to come to her aid, and what follows is a cat-and-mouse game of deception, attraction, and above all, redemption.  Visit the author's website at www.annecleeland.com.