Redeeming Love

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redeemingloveCan Redeeming Love be made into a movie?

It’s going to be tough, but apparently after decades of reluctance, Francine Rivers has given her approval for a movie.  She’s always been reluctant because she feared surrendering such a sensitive book into the hands of others, but apparently she has found the right partners with Cantinas Entertainment, who will soon begin developing a script and casting for a movie, which will likely be made for television.

I can understand Ms. Rivers’ reluctance. Redeeming Love is a powerful, gritty, and difficult experience even to read….it will be hard to translate this subject onto the screen. I have to admit a touch of reluctant skepticism. I am not sure there has ever been a novel that tackles the themes of self-loathing, despair, and ultimately a shining, glorious redemption so beautifully. My hunch is that this is easier to do via the pages of a novel than on film,  but I’m willing to be convinced.

The fact remains that television and the cinema reach more people than novels. If Redeeming Love finds a new audience through this movie, that is all to the good! I wish this project well, and will keep folks updated as more information is released.

Why Doctors Make Great Romantic Leads

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clive-owen-the-knick-300x176

Doctors make great heroes.  Hawkeye from M*A*S*H; Richard Chamberlain as Dr. Kildare, and who can forget George Clooney from ER.

I think doctors have a couple of credentials that make them automatic hero material.  It is a given that they are intelligent.  It is safe to assume they are also calm under pressure, have a certain measure of empathy, and oh yeah, they are probably financially secure.  All this adds up to the raw potential to be fabulous hero material.

Dare I say that such sterling qualities can sometimes be a little bland?  This is why if you scratch the surface of most fictional doctors you’ll find plenty of neuroses and obsessions.  Dr. House is a misanthropic narcissist, Hawkeye was a rampant womanizer, and Dr. Jekyll, well….he had lots of problems.  We tend to give physicians a pass because of the heroic, difficult jobs they do….. combine this with a couple of weird fixations, and you’ve got the makings for a great leading man.

So, Trevor McDonough, anyone?   The physician hero in With Every Breath is a man of stunning heroism, a brilliant mind, and smoking-hot good looks.  His problems?  They are legion!  He’s shy, prickly, and possibly the most competitive man ever born.  Given that the heroine is friendly, outgoing, and also massively competitive; the stage was set for the sparks to fly.

I like the storyline of the troubled physician.  Those who are in contact with life-and-death situations are under devastating stress, so is it any wonder that sometimes they succumb to human failings?  The duel of conflicting forces: compassion and intelligence vs. moody human failings was too much for me to resist.

Has anyone been watching The Knick on Starz?  Clive Owen plays an amazing Victorian-era doctor who battles various addictions and oddities, but nevertheless remains utterly fascinating. Even with the terrible mustache, I can’t take my eyes off of him.

 

Who Remembers Poldark?

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New PoldarkWho Remembers Poldark?

I was a huge fan of the BBC mini-series back in the 1970’s. It was a fantastic, stormy, moody romantic period drama that probably launched my interest in the genre. The production values weren’t terrific and it hasn’t aged terribly well, but a NEW Poldark is in the works.

And what happened to the original Ross Poldark? Robin Ellis has retired to France, where he lives in an old manor house and maintains a lively blog of his rustic cooking and his many cats. I’m glad to see he will have a couple of cameo appearances in the new BBC version, which will air sometime in late 2015.

For your viewing pleasure, I have attached a picture of Aidan Turner, the new actor portraying Ross Poldark.
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With Every Breath

Elizabeth Camden Musings on Life 3 Comments

Web newWith Every Breath

With Every Breath is a romance between former childhood rivals who meet again as adults, and join forces in a heroic campaign to find a cure for a deadly disease in the early 1890’s.  Dr. Trevor McDonough and Kate Livingston have a long history, and sparks immediately fly as their drastically different personalities bump against each other. Their story unfolds against a deeply emotional backdrop, but they each come to depend on the sparkling chemistry that flares to life whenever they see each other.

With Every Breath is a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews, and earned a stared review at Publisher’s Weekly.   It hits the stores today!

With Every Breath on Pinterest

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Casualty1900The release of With Every Breath is less than a month away!  I’ve put together a Pinterest page that provides a bit of a glimpse into the tone and topic of the book.

I’m thrilled to bits about the upcoming release. I think With Every Breath is my most heart-wrenching and romantic book to date.  Its about two childhood rivals who meet again as adults, and find to their mutual surprise that they are perfect for one another. Kate is a bright, brilliant, and funny statistician, while Trevor is a difficult, gloomy, but altogether heroic physician. Together they are unstoppable.

Look for it everywhere August 5 (although for some odd reason, the e-version releases on July 29.)

(The photo above is from a terrific BBC series called Casaualty 1900. I loved the Victorian hospital setting, and thought this guy really looks like how I envision the darkly tormented Dr. Trevor McDonough.)

 

 

 

Book Cover Wars

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Gilbert CopiesCover Wars: The U.S. vs. the UK

I’m always a little fascinated at how different countries chose entirely different cover art for the same book.  On rare occasions there can be copyright restrictions that prohibit selling a cover overseas so a new one must be made…. But usually it is simply a matter of the marketing departments thinking they know their national audience best, and want a custom-made cover.

Compare these two images for Elizabeth Gilbert’s latest book. Both covers are lovely, but the U.S. version (on the left) has a delicate, antique feel, while I’m not sure what the vivid, almost stress-inducing color scheme of the U.K. version is trying to convey.

For more fun looking at rival book covers, click here

With Every Breath

Elizabeth Camden My Novels 3 Comments

With Every Breath_NewMy next novel is on the way!

So….with about four months until my next novel hits the stores, I’m thrilled to debut the cover!

Here is the blurb:

Washington D.C., 1891.

In the shadow of the nation’s capital, Kate Livingston has a respectable job as a government statistician when she encounters a rival from her past, the insufferable Trevor McDonough. A Harvard-trained physician, Trevor never showed the tiniest flicker of interest in Kate, so why did he track her down after more than ten years apart to recruit her onto his medical team? In a daring move, Kate agrees to Trevor’s risky proposal to work side-by-side in a quest to rid the world of tuberculosis, a disease so deadly it could kill anyone coming too close.

As Kate begins to unlock the mysteries of Trevor’s past, she begins falling in love with this fascinating man…but she soon learns his terrible secret. Meanwhile, a while a shadowy enemy lurks in the background, threatening to destroy everything they hold dear.

A story of courage and betrayal, triumph and redemption, Kate and Trevor will risk everything to overcome the barriers between them.

Look for it August 1.

True Stories of the Chicago Fire, pt. 2

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Chicago needlepoint

Today I am sharing an image sent to me by Carol in Boynton Beach, Florida, whose great-grandmother survived the Chicago fire.

Carol reports that her great-grandmother completed this tapestry just a few months before the fire, and it was one of the things she chose to bring with her in the chaos of that night.  As my last blog post said, the fire came with no warning, and very few people were able to secure a wagon to transport their belongings.  For most people, the only things they were able to save had to be carried on their backs.
 

The people who survived the fire were able to salvage so little of their lives, that those few belongings carried immense emotional value for them.  When I wrote Into the Whirlwind, I included a scene where Mollie decides to keep her stained, cinder-marked scarf as a beautiful/terrible reminder of what she lived through.  Many accounts I read by the fire’s survivors mentioned how they treasured those few items they could salvage.

Carol reports that this tapestry has been passed down through the generations….a memento of that amazing, terrible night.  Many thanks to Carol for sending it along!