Discover May's Best New Reads: Stories to Ignite Your Spring Days.

Mary Ellen Dennis

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6 comments posted.

Re: The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter (3:35am August 11, 2011):

The Princess Bride was written by William Goldman. When I was young I read a Goldman book called Boys and Girls Together. My mom was in the same room, reading something else. I finished my book, put it down, sighed and said, "Mom, I'm going to be a writer someday. Hopefully, I'll be half as good as William Goldman."

Re: The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter (7:09pm August 10, 2011):

Sigrun, my hero (Rand) is a Highwayman who robs from the rich and gives to the poor (a'la Robin Hood). Naturally, the rich want him caught and hanged. My heroine isn't clairvoyant. But she and Rand both believe they lived in the 13th century and, at that time, Rand was betrayed by Bess. The most difficult part of writing 'The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter' was staying true to the poem and still giving my readers a happy ending. I wrote three or four different endings, until I felt the one I use in the book DOES echo the poem (you'll have to see how I do that *grin*). My favorite chapter is Bess and Rand's "escape from Newgate Prison." I was lucky to find a map of the prison from that time period: the 1790s.

Re: The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter (5:52pm August 10, 2011):

I am honored and humbled by all your comments. YOU are the reason I write books!

Peggy, I like to cry my heart out, too. Many times I've sobbed while writing an emotional scene and then cried (for happy) at the Happy Ending. That's the best of both worlds, yes?

Marjorie, can you say "overachiever"? *grin*

Carla, I loved your comment. I must admit I have a "thing" when it comes to Disney's Cinderella. Because Cindy never took control of her own life, never said, "I'm going to start a chimney-cleaning service, call it 'Cinder Maids,' and make a fortune." Everything was given to her by her Fairy Godmother.

Deb, as a kid I stopped reading GWTW when Scarlett runs through the mist, toward Rhett. I also tried to hide my mom's hardcover GWTW inside a Dick and Jane reader...and got caught! (So I began hiding my mom's paperbacks, like Forever Amber, instead.)

Re: The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter (12:53pm August 10, 2011):

Anne, you're so right! In my circus historical,THE GREATEST LOVE ON EARTH, my heroine, Calliope, says, "The circus is forever and so is love." But before she finds her forever-love, a diddy (Gypsy) says she'll have to search a long, long time. So I'll give y'all the mantra I use as a writer and in my every-day life: "If you drop a dream, it breaks."

Re: The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter (11:13am August 10, 2011):

Thank you for your comments. I've wanted to write a book based on the poem ever since I was a little girl and read it aloud in grade school. I changed the ending then, too :)

The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter is dedicated to Loreena McKennitt. She was partly responsible for MY happy ending: meeting my husband on-line through a writers group and discovering that we had Ms. McKennitt (and a love for "The Highwayman") in common.

Re: The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter (2:25am August 10, 2011):

Thank you, Tammy. I think the cover is beautiful, too. Above my computer desk I have a huge, framed poster of Daniel Day Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans. He was the "model" for my highwayman, Rand.