I'm very excited to have my dear friend Katharine Ashe visiting the Chatelaines. Katharine is celebrating the release of her first historical romance, Swept Away By A Kiss. And here's an interesting fact about Katharine. She's a history professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the nation. Katharine's first signing with her book will be in Orlando at the RWA national conference so I hope everyone will seek her out, buy her book, and congratulate her on this most special occasion in a writers life. Katharine's post is titled the gift. To celebrate her release I will gift one lucky poster with a copy of my latest release, Breath Of Heaven.

The Gift
Here’s a question: How much should a writer give to her readers? I raise it in complete sincerity. You see, I have given this matter A Great Deal Of Thought.
Allow me to explain how I came to this question.
Are you familiar with those sparkly wrapped Lindt chocolate balls you can only get at cafes (and now apparently at Michaels craft stores—who knew)? Well, years ago before Starbucks speckled the landscape, I was grinding espresso and inventing Cappuccinos Of The Day at the corner coffee shop not far from my apartment. I was in graduate school and struggling to make ends meet. To pay for tuition, books, and the heating bill, I spent loads of time at that cafe.
So did my friends, although not behind the bar. One of my buddies—an Anthropology student working on the next great American novel when he was supposed to be reading cultural theory—would bring in his laptop around mid-morning, tuck himself into his favorite window table, and write. And write, and write, and write.
This friend—David, we’ll call him, because, well, that was actually his name—was constitutionally pockets-to-let. (A little Regency parlance there for atmosphere.) He never had a dime. His roommate told me how once David and a few friends set off from New Jersey on a weekend car trip to Washington DC. About two hours into the drive David revealed that he had $10 in his jeans pocket. And no credit card.
In some matters, David depended upon his friends quite a bit.
At the cafĂ©, he depended upon me. I had the keys to the storage room and David had an insatiable desire for—you guessed it—chocolate Lindt balls. You can see where this is going. He bought a coffee, I gave him a chocolate—for free. The thing is, they weren’t really free. I paid for them. I loved those chocolates, and each shift I purchased a handful for myself. From this private store, I supplied David.
He never knew this. Why didn’t I tell him? Because I liked having that secret. David didn’t care where the chocolates came from as long as he got them. More to the point, I absolutely delighted in giving. (I would make a lousy shop owner, always giving stuff away. “Here, take this dress for free. It looks soo good on you!” And for that we have another useful Regency term: debtor’s prison.)
Some writers are like Santa Claus. They give because they love it and they don’t make a big deal out of it. But it’s a big deal to the people they give to. I appreciate it more than words can say when a fellow author passes on my name to an avid reader, or helps me work out a tough scene in one of my books, or invites me to guest on her blog (Thank you, Cindy!). Givers in the professional realm deserve a special spot in heaven.
So do writers who give to their readers. What I mean by this is writers who give everything inside themselves to write a beautiful story, a story that moves, a story that enthralls, touches the heart, and carries a reader away to a spectacular place. A writer who wants to give much more than she wants to get.
People who give like that—from the depths of the soul—amaze me.
In my debut Regency historical romance, SWEPT AWAY BY A KISS, Lord Steven Ashford is one of those people. Dedicated to a noble mission, he has given his entire life to helping others in danger upon the high seas and in foreign lands. When beautiful, headstrong Lady Valerie Monroe tumbles into that life, she turns it upside down. How can he continue his work when he longs to give everything he is and has to her now?
Love gives him the answer.
Love is, after all, the ultimate giver, the best Santa Claus, the chocolate-dispenser of eternal proportions. True love gives, and it gives everything.
When you are a romance author, you’re just giving back.
(By the way, David is now a successful author of award-winning novels and a professor at a distinguished university. But in my memory he’s still got $10 in his pocket and a pile of sparkly wrappers by his laptop.)
Let’s celebrate Christmas in July today. If you could give someone you love the perfect gift—any gift at all!—what would it be?
Katharine Ashe lives in the wonderfully warm Southeast with her husband, son, two dogs, and a garden she likes to call romantic rather than unkempt. A professor of European history, she has made her home in California, Italy, France, and the northern U.S. RT Book Reviews awarded her debut historical romance, SWEPT AWAY BY A KISS, a “Top Pick!” review. Please visit her at www.katharineashe.com.