Hello, friends! There are a few days left to enter to win a full set of the Agency mysteries. Here are the links:
The giveaway at Read Now, Sleep Later
The contest at the Hiding Spot
Good luck!
Today, I’m sharing with you four quotations from Rivals in the City. I like the way they emphasize the story’s various strands and concerns.
“This is my first taste of true independence, the closest I’ll ever come to perfect freedom.”
“We’ve waded through sewers, dangled from a bell tower, and stumbled out of a burning building together. Can you top that?”
“Possibly.”
“Mary swung around to face him, taking both his hands and halting him midstep. ‘James Easton, I am fervently, passionately, utterly, scandalously in love with you.’”
And, my personal favourite:
“They looked precisely like what they were: a courting couple taking the air of a late morning. They also looked nothing like what they were: a pair of radicals, quietly at war with their society.”
I loved writing about Mary Quinn and feel very sorry that time is past. But I’m glad her adventures continue with this reissue from Candlewick Press! If you don’t already know her, I hope you will.
Harriet says
Hi, I’ve just read this, and I was wondering that if you were to return to the Mary Quinn world, at some point in the future, would you return to it under a different heroine, would you possibly return to it from cass’s (Cassandra day – a spy in the house) perspective – she had a similar background to Mary and she joined miss scrimshaws academy! That was just an idea – sorry I had to ask anyway! Oh! My sister said she enjoys the parts with Anne, Felicity and Octavius Jones!!
Ying says
Harriet, I’m so sorry for this slow reply. You must be psychic! I have indeed considered revisiting the Agency with a different heroine (Cass was set up with precisely that intention, and there was another character called Sybil Alleyn who was also a candidate but she got cut from both Traitor and Rivals because she was far too annoying). I would also love to write more scenes with Octavius Jones; he’s my favourite jerk. For now, though, I’m working on Monsoon Season (the Malayan WWII novel) and there are a couple of things I’d like to write next. So yes, in theory, but I don’t know if/when that might actually happen.