Today we welcome bestselling author Jillian Hunter back to the site. Jillian’s latest novel, The Duchess Diaries, is available now from NAL.
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Happy Valentine’s Day to all! Thank you for inviting me to blog with you again.
Do you keep a journal? Have Facebook and Twitter taken the place of the old-fashioned recording our thoughts on paper? Are you less inclined to keep a family scrapbook or photo album now that social media has become so popular?
In my latest historical romance, The Duchess Diaries, Miss Charlotte Boscastle despairs of ever standing out in her family as an original. In Society’s eyes she is a paragon, the lead schoolmistress at The Scarfield Academy for Young Ladies in London. She is proud of the fact that her graduates manage to achieve remarkable success in the marriage mart. She adores her scandalous relatives. And she envies them all, her girls, her family members, for the ease with which they have found love.
But as time passes, Charlotte doubts Cupid will ever visit her except in the pages of the diary she keeps. She is the quiet one in the family, the dream-spinner, the least likely to cause scandal; this despite the fact that she has fallen desperately in love with the Duke of Wynfield.
It’s my opinion that whatever you write in a diary is your business. It doesn’t matter if it’s fact, fantasy, or as in Charlotte’s case, a blend of both. But if you’re unfortunate enough to let it fall into another’s hands, you have to be prepared to pay the price.
When I was growing up it was in vogue to keep a journal. Journaling was supposed to be a spiritual journey, which lead toward enlightenment. Perhaps it does. But having your secrets exposed is as embarrassing and ruinous to your reputation in current times as it was in Charlotte’s day.
Still, it was a fact in Regency and Victorian times, as it is today, that people are fascinated by the private thoughts of others. Politicians and great literary writers flocked to purchase lurid publications—as well they would in case their own names were mentioned. Even Sir Walter Scott was not immune.
I destroyed my last diary some years ago, the pages of youthful angst, heartbreak, and adventure.
It’s only recently that I wish I’d kept the incriminating evidence of my youth. I’d love to read it one more time, to cringe, to laugh, and I’m sure, to be grateful that most of the dreams I once held hear never did come true.
Jillian Hunter is the author of twenty-one published novels. Her books have been printed in twelve languages and have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.
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The series:
This book is available from NAL. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
After my last move I decided to chuck my old diaries, I have no remorse (yet). I am looking forward to reading the newest Boscastle book. Happy Valentine’s Day!!
Rowena, I meant to keep a journal of family events for my children. I never found the time, but I took a ton of pictures, and now I’m so glad I did.
Kat, thank you! Hope you have a nice Valentine’s Day, too. I’ve already eaten a week’s quota of chocolate.
I kept a journal (sixteen, seventeen notebooks all told) from 11 to 19. It all started after reading Anne Frank’s Diaries.
I have carted those notebooks around since, though I haven’t even looked at them in decades.
And I’m kicking myself silly–I didn’t realize The Duchess Diaries is the third in a trilogy *wail* now I need to hunt down the first two.
I think you should take a deep breath, be brave, and reread your diaries — especially if Anne Frank influenced you. You might be pleasantly surprised and forgive some memories. If nothing else your own history might be an insightful time travel.
I have a letter that I sent my dad from London in the 60s. The pop language is so embarrassing, as are the incessant pleas for pocket money, but I’d forgotten the references to the Beatles and Princess Margaret. What an era!
Thank you, azteclady, for the support. I’ve always felt I lost my emotional innocence when I read Anne Frank.
I used to keep a journal when I was younger but once I started blogging, I haven’t kept a paper journal since. I keep meaning to keep a journal but I never get around to it. I should fix that.