Thursday, July 15, 2010

So what's with all the lawyers?

I'm probably one of the few historical romance authors who has a lot of lawyers for heroes and secondary characters in her books. I had a Restoration solicitor in HIS FORBIDDEN KISS, a barrister (Sir Douglas Drury) in my previous Regency series, a solicitor's sister is the heroine of HIGHLAND ROGUE, LONDON MISS, (although Esme knows as much about the law as her brother and would gladly have been an attorney if she could) and the hero of the sequel, HIGHLAND HEIRESS (out next year) is also a solicitor.

Blame Perry Mason. I used to love that show when I was a kid. And I considered being a lawyer, to the extent that I took the LSAT and applied to one law school (the top one in Ontario). I didn't get in, and really, it was for the best, because I was not terribly disappointed. In fact, I remember watching the other people waiting to take the LSAT and realizing how stressed and tense they were, as if their very lives depended on it. I suppose for some of them, they felt it did - but not for me. I did quite well on the LSAT but alas, although I graduated with distinction, my average wasn't enough. And maybe if I'd participated in debating, as I did in high school, instead of musical theater, it would have a made a difference.

Still and all, when I hear about the loooong hours attorneys put in, and consider what it might have meant in terms of family life, I'm not a whit sorry I didn't get into law school. I suspect it's much more fun to write about lawyers than to be one.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I for one, am glad that you became a writer. Is the book on the shelves yet? I haven't had a chance to look for it. My father-in-law wanted to spend some time ti his grankids, so we went to Colorado for my daughter's 13th birthday, and have been out of touch with life as I generally know it.

Actually, we got home a little before 8:00 PM today (the 16th) and I still feel like I'm in the car. We left home on the 9th, got to Rye, CO on the 10th, and went to an arts and music festival on the 11th. The 12th, we drove up to Denver with my in-laws, and spent the day at the zoo. Tuesday was my daughter's birthday party. Wednesday, the 14th was the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (again with the in-laws) in Colorado Springs. We left for home on the 15th, and got in on this evening. I haven't been on a computer since last Friday morning. Tomorrow, I have to pick up the dogs and oldest kitty from the vet's.

As for Perry Mason, I missed out on the TV show, but have quite a few of the books, going back to the fifties, at least. Every so often I will pull one out and (carefully) read it. I really get a kick out of the titles.

And as for the reviewer getting the hero's name wrong, I once read a book where the heroine had one name on the back cover blurb (and in a review), and an entirely different name in the book itself.

Rosemary

Margaret Moore said...

I think the book should be on the shelves now, or this week. :-)

Actually, there was a typo in my hero's name on the back cover of my very first book. Still love that cover, though. :-)