It seems a little odd to promote a new book, when my current release has only been on the shelves a few months….but the Fall 2012 catalog from my publisher has recently gone out, and blurbs for Against the Tide will start popping up like mushrooms elsewhere on the web, so I figured I may as well hop on it!  So, without further ado, here is the advance notice for Against the Tide.

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Boston of 1891 is a city of hope and ambition, where mariners, merchants, and dreamers thrive in the cobblestone streets of America’s most historic city.  Within the harbor of Boston’s naval shipyard, Lydia Pallas has become a trusted assistant to an Admiral in the U.S. Navy.  Fluent in seven languages, she spends her days translating documents from all over the world.

Lydia’s remarkable language skills bring her to the attention of Alexander Banebridge, a mysterious man on a quest to rid the world of the scourge of opium.  Only Lydia has the rare combination of language skills and courage he needs to advance his cause.   A man as coolly analytical as he is relentless, Bane never bargained on falling in love with Lydia.   As he battles the bittersweet love that grows between them, Bane’s mission will take Lydia away from everything—and everyone—she ever held dear.

With fast-paced intrigue and unforgettable characters, Against the Tide is Elizabeth Camden’s most romantic novel yet.

If you are like me, the only reason you know it is President’s Day today is that there will be no mail delivered.  Nevertheless, it gives me an excuse to ramble on about one of my favorite men in history, President Theodore Roosevelt.  

I grew up thinking of TR as the tubby guy with weird glasses…..but as I got a little older and more appreciative of the male species, I found a new admiration for Roosevelt.  He was a visionary and a leader, a conservative progressive in an era before it was fashionable.  He recognized the rugged beauty of America and preserved it through our National Park System.  Beneath the weird glasses and unfortunate mustache, he’s kind of hot.  There it is….. I think Theodore Roosevelt is hot.  I’ve confessed my sin to my husband, who has resigned himself to it.

Theodore Roosevelt was a raw, aggressive man who deeply loved his family and had a passionate relationship with his wife (Both of them.  After his first wife died tragically young, he spiraled into a depression, abandoned his burgeoning political career, and lived as a cowboy on a North Dakota ranch for two years.) 

He wrote one of my favorite quotes about manhood of all time.  Man or woman, anyone who embraces this philosophy and tries to abide by it will do well in life:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

Today, I’m raising a toast to, President Roosevelt!