Hello everyone! And thank you so much to Love Bytes for having me. When I was trying to decide what to write for this blog post I was also preparing for family game night. Every Friday, my husband, two sons, and I have a standing date. We’ve dubbed it Steak and 9 Ball night and it is all about family. It’s a way for us to hang out and enjoy one another’s company. While preparing for the blog, I thought why not talk about family? If you’ve read any of my stories you probably realize that family is one of the things that always seems to show up in my writing. It’s not a conscious thing, but undoubtedly I end up with familial relationships. And My Fair Captain is no different. In fact, the Sci-Regency series centers around the Townsend family, so I thought why not?
I guess you could say family one of my themes. Every author has one or two and honestly, I did not realize this was one of mine until recently during a talk with my critique partners. They pointed it out to me that family is one of my themes and I got to wondering why is that?
I think there are a couple of reasons. The one that seems obvious to me, is that I have a very close family. Not just my husband and kids, but with my parents and sister and with my in-laws. I was actually very blessed when it came to in-laws. As a teen and a young woman, I ended up with a second set of parents—yes, my husband and I have been together that long. Sheesh, I’m getting old! Now as an adult I ended up with another set of friends. I talk to my mom, dad, and mother-in-law on a weekly basis, sometimes daily.
Another reason for the reoccurring theme is that most everyone can relate to that whether they have positive family experiences or unpleasant ones. Most of us have both good and bad experiences. Let’s face it with kinfolk you get plenty of ups and downs. The old saying you can’t live with them and you can’t kill them, comes to mind.
With writing, relatives are always a lovely source of conflict for the characters. How can you not with so many different personalities forced to be around one another? I never understood that until I got sisters-in-law, nieces, and nephews. It just so happens that I like all my sisters-in-law, and I love my nieces and nephews, but we do not always agree. And unlike my husband, myself, his brothers, and my sister, we were not all raised similarly. So there are a few of cultural differences. One sister-in-law is a northerner. I know some of you are saying that is not a cultural difference, but trust me it is. It’s a big one.
Family plays a very big role, in My Fair Captain. On one hand, we get a happy healthy family in the Townsends and on the other we have a broken family, the Hawkins. I had a lot of fun exploring the different relationships and how the characters interact together. I even got to play with an adopted family with Nate and Trouble and explore a bond born of love rather than one born of blood. In the case of Nate, he’s estranged from his father and brother, and longs to be reunited with them. Aiden on the other hand, has the opposite problem. He adores his siblings and his parents, but they do tend to smother him a bit.
I think out of all my fictional families, I most enjoy writing the Townsends. I think they are the most like my husband, sons, and I. They joke around a lot and they genuinely like one another. They are friends. I imagine their family game night would look a lot like ours, only with more people. I’d like to leave you with a very short excerpt of one of my very favorite parts in My Fair Captain.
“We need better commerce laws.” His voice was laced with disgust.
Nate chuckled. “Are you going to lobby for them?”
“Good galaxy, no. I’m actually thankful you aren’t a Regelence lord, so I don’t have to sit in Parliament. I’ve much better things to do. I’ll mention it to my father, but that is the extent to how involved I want to be in politics, thank you very much.”
Aiden looked so horrified at the idea, Nate laughed harder. “What if the government starts encroaching on your rights?”
“Then I’ll make a political statement with my work and get the public riled. Don’t underestimate the power of art.”
Obviously he’d thought this out. “You do realize your own family is head of the government?”
Aiden grinned, and his eyes practically twinkled. “Oh yes, that makes it even better. I know their weaknesses. My father is easily swayed by gore.”
Nate raised a brow. “Oh? How exactly did you find this out?”
“I painted a lovely piece for the dining room in celebration of liver.” Aiden shook his head and sighed. “Father didn’t like it. What a shame too, it was such a lovely representation of the inside of a slaughterhouse.
And I thought the dead bloodied cows looked peaceful.” He shrugged. “Everyone’s an art critic.”
My Fair Captain Blurb
When Intergalactic Navy Captain Nathaniel Hawkins goes undercover to investigate the theft of an IN weapons stash, the mission raises painful memories from his past. Using a title he fled nearly two decades earlier, Nate once again becomes the Earl of Deverell, heir to the Duke of Hawthorne, in order to navigate the ins and outs of a Regency world. But planet Regelence—where young lords are supposed to remain pure until marriage—has a few surprises for Nate, not least of which is his attraction to Prince Aiden.
A talented artist, Prince Aiden Townsend isn’t interested in politics and the machinations of society gentlemen, and he adamantly rejects the idea of marriage and a consort. Aiden wants the freedom to pursue his art and determine his own future. But the arrival of the dashing and mysterious Deverell awakens feelings of passion and longing the young prince can’t deny.
As Nate uncovers a conspiracy reaching far beyond the stolen weapons, his future is irrevocably altered by the temptations of a life he never thought he could have. Drawn into the web of intrigue, Aiden is in danger of losing his life… and his heart.
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J.L. Langley said her first words at six months of age. By the time she was a year old, she was talking in complete sentences and, as most of her family and friends will tell you, she hasn’t shut up since. After becoming an accomplished motormouth, J.L. set out to master other avenues of self-expression, including art, and dance.
She attended the University of Texas, where she majored in art, and worked as a dance instructor on the side. Her love of artistic expression in dance landed her a career in which she taught and performed for over twenty-five years. After marriage to her junior high school sweetheart and the birth of their children, J.L. decided to try her hand at writing. To date, she has several successful novels and a handful of novellas to her credit.
She lives in Texas, where she was born and raised, with her real life hero, their rowdy two boys, two even rowdier German Shepherds and ten goldfish, one of which is named Jaws. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found with her nose in a book, appreciating the communication skills of other writers.
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