Every Midnight is my first book. I knew this book was odd, strange, to say the least. It shows the Regency world as it really was, with a syphilis epidemic raging. Dare I say it is comedic in tone? Surely not! Who would dare write funny things about that? The humor is in the voice and the attitudes of the characters--or only in the mind of the author. Lizzie is afraid of catching syphilis because her mother died of the disease. She will do anything to make sure the man she is being forced to marry does not do wicked things with harlots and return to infect her. She insists on making a pact with him. Her offer of sex once a month is soundly rejected.
Lizzie held her head high and lied like a Felmont. “I shall never marry you if you insist on a mistress. As for your appetite for sin, I might consent to endure it occasionally. Once a month is all I offer. Surely you can live with that--it isn’t as if you find me the least bit attractive.”
Lizzie saw him try to quell his laughter as he signaled his refusal of her offer.She slid into her chair before she spoke again. “Then once a week, if you are going to insist on being depraved.”
Poor Lizzie has to settle for every midnight, and she must pretend to love him during the day. Every midnight came back to haunt me as I wrote the book. Like Lizzie, I would cry, it can’t be midnight again! I began to wish she had insisted on once a year. The only person happy was the hero, who appeared behind my chair as I typed to remind me it was almost midnight. It made me very conscious that every day had to be filled with action and seduction, and some strange funny bits, before the next midnight loomed.
To my surprise, Every Midnight became a fictionwise.com bestseller. My publisher, New Concepts Publishing brought it out in print in October. I am thrilled to find my odd story about syphilis has been bought by so many readers. I hope they enjoyed it and didn’t just buy it to find out how weird I am.
My next book is a medieval called, Perfect Obedience. It will be a December release from New Concepts Publishing. I can only hope that the artist took no notice of any of my suggestions for the cover. To reassure the nervous reader, there is absolutely no mention of syphilis in Perfect Obedience. I am sure a little mild bondage is perfectly acceptable, isn’t it?
I return to the Regency for a few more books, with some characters from Every Midnight having stories of their own. If you have read Every Midnight--yes, I am writing about Angel and how he falls in love, and if he manages to lose his virginity.
Happy Reading, Maggie
