Book Trivia
Is this a trilogy?
Not really. Although I originally intended it to be the second book in a trilogy, my publisher preferred it to be a standalone book. People who are curious about Bane can read about his early life in The Lady of Bolton Hill, where he was a seventeen-year old trouble maker. The story of how he breaks off his relationship with the professor is a secondary plot line in The Lady of Bolton Hill.
Why didn’t Clara and Daniel appear in this book?
Daniel and Clara (the lead characters from The Lady of Bolton Hill) were originally major characters in this book, but after careful deliberation, my publisher asked me to write them out. The feeling was that we did not want to bill this book as a sequel, and with the exception of Bane, they did not want any characters who appeared in The Lady of Bolton Hill to make an appearance.It broke my heart, but I had to delete those scenes. Bane was still carrying a little bit of a torch for Clara, so that had to go. So did the plot point of Daniel and Clara’s son being the child who was abducted by the Professor. When that was cut, I had to give the Admiral a son who could get kidnapped instead. It still worked, but I would have loved the chance to re-visit with Daniel and Clara. As you can imagine, having his son kidnapped because of Bane and the professor’s private feud did not go over well with Daniel…..which made for a great continuation of their rivalry. Alas…..all on the cutting room floor now.
If you’d like to see one of the deleted scenes, I’ve included them below (although they will make little sense to folks who have not read The Lady of Bolton Hill.)
Will the Admiral ever get his story?
Well, I wrote one, but I’m not sure it will ever be published! The Admiral’s story is a dark and turbulent whirlwind….it really pushes the edge of what is acceptable in inspirational romance, and for now I will be going with safer storylines. One of these days I’d love to see it published, but it will probably be several years before that happens.
Original Titles
When I first began writing Against the Tide, I envisioned it as the second book in a trilogy. I knew nothing about the publishing business (including how unwise it is to write a bunch of sequels to a book if you don’t know if it will ever be published!) Anyway, the titles I envisioned for the three books would have been:
- The Robber Baron (It later became The Lady of Bolton Hill)
- The King Maker (Against the Tide)
- The Senator (Admiral Fontaine’s book….probably destined to languish under my bed for a while!)
Deleted Scenes
>>Lydia learns a little more about Bane’s past.
The end of the book deals with Lydia’s withdrawal from opium. The withdrawal scenes were getting too long, so this scene had to be cut, but it sheds a glimpse into Bane’s mysterious past in San Francisco.
>>Daniel, Clara, and Clyde encounter the Professor.
As noted under the trivia section, I originally intended Daniel and Clara to be major supporting characters in the book, and it was their son who was kidnapped by the Professor. This scene features Daniel and Clara as they gather at a fancy award ceremony at Harvard to see Clara’s brother Clyde win an award. The scene reveals how Professor Van Bracken figures out a way to get leverage over Bane.