In Search of a Husband

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In Search of a Husband (Post 82)


In Search of a Husband (1997) is part of a series of three romances I wrote under the name of Tegan James. This was the first one. I originally called it Golden Lode which was the name of a property in outback Australia, but the editor felt most readers wouldn't get the thematic reference and decided on the other title. This always did seem odd to me as the main character wasn't in search of a husband at all. Her fiance had disappeared and she was none too pleased.

Rue Trevallyn is a fantasy photographer based on the Gold Coast. She's engaged to charming John Parrish, who is quite a few years older than she is. Shortly before their wedding, he goes off on business, promising to be back in plenty of time. He doesn't return. Rue, unable to contact him, goes in search and discovers his stepson, Marcus Graham who opines that if "old John" failed to return to marry Rue he must be in some kind of trouble. The two head off cross country following John's travels and get marooned when their four-wheel-drive gets bogged during an outback flood and falls into a ravine. After considerable hardship, they manage to track down John who has what he deems a perfectly reasonable explanation... They wind up on the property known as Golden Lode.

I wrote In Search of a Husband after a trip to Queensland where I spent a couple of days at Broad Beach, and saw a fantasy photography studio. That was a tale in itself, as I was invited to be one of a dozen or so authors at a Book Week function. I was invited so late I'm pretty sure someone else had pulled out. I never did find out. 

This was the period when mobile phones were not especially common, but business people did tend to have them. They had a battery life of about eight hours. Mobiles have ruined many a classic plot, but I disposed of Rue's by chucking it down a ravine. I didn't notice until rather late in the day that I'd given Marcus the same name as an Australian actor. Oops. I own the rights to this book, the sequel, Mix and Match and the third one, Triple Treat. TT was never published, because the line was discontinued. I've considered self-publishing the whole three but I'd have to do them as period pieces (they're twenty years old) or bring them up to date, which would mean killing off a GPS and a few other electronic odds and ends... If I ever do, I'll probably restore my own title.


About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, post a comment and I'll get back to you.