Q. How does Vienna Waltz fit in with your Charles and Mélanie Fraser books?
A. Vienna Waltz is essentially the story of Charles and Mel’s adventures at the Congress of Vienna. Their time at the Congress is referred to Secrets of a Lady and in Beneath a Silent Moon there’s mention of a murder Charles investigated in Vienna. But my new publisher wanted new names, so they are called Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch. However, I wrote the book using their “real” names to I could keep the characters and chronology consistent, and I think readers will recognize that they are very much the same characters. I like to think that Charles and Mel lead such adventurous lives it’s no wonder some of their adventures are chronicled under aliases J.
Q. What order should your books be read in?
A. I’ve always liked books that play with time, both as a reader and a writer. I wrote Secrets of a Lady (Daughter of the Game) first, then took the series back two and a half years so I could explore Charles’s family history in Beneath a Silent Moon. I deliberately wrote Secrets and Beneath so they could be read in either order. Neither contains major spoilers for the other. Vienna Waltz, as I discuss above, goes even further back to the story of Charles and Mel’s adventures at the Congress of Vienna. The Mask of Night picks up the story a couple of months after Secrets.
Chronologically here’s the order they take place in:
Vienna Waltz – November 1814
“Waterloo book” (forthcoming and as yet untitled) – June 1815
Beneath a Silent Moon – June/July 1817
Secrets of a Lady – November 1819
The Mask of Night – January 1820
All of the books are written to stand on their own. But if you haven’t started the series yet, Vienna Waltz is probably a good introduction to the characters. And if you’ve already read about Charles and Mel, I think you’ll find that Vienna Waltz sheds some interesting new light on the characters—even with other names.
Q. What is the Fraser Correspondence?
A. The Fraser Correspondence is letters between Charles/Malcolm, Mélanie/Suzanne and their friends and family. I’m keeping their names as Charles and Mélanie in the Correspondence, but if you’ve come to the series through Vienna Waltz, you can be assured they are the same characters. In fact, a number of the letters involve their time in Vienna. The letters move around in time, but usually a cluster of them are from the same time period. I post a new letter each week.
Q. Will The Mask of Night ever be published as a print book and/or on other e-book platforms?
A. We’re starting with Kindle, but eventually we plan to to expand to other e-reader platforms. And if the e-book does well, that makes it more likely there a print publisher will pick the book up. Print publication is still my goal. Meanwhile, you can download a free Kindle app that will allow you to read it on your phone, computer, or iPad.
Q. Why are you Teresa Grant for Vienna Waltz?
A. Kensington wanted me to have a more historical sounding name. I chose Teresa, because Tracy can be a nickname for it. I’m still the same person, and I still write the same books.
Q. What are you working on now?
A. I just sent my wonderful editor the follow up to Vienna Waltz, set around the Battle of Waterloo. And I’m starting the next book in the series, which follows Malcolm (Charles) and Suzanne (Mélanie) to Paris after Waterloo, where they are caught up the White Terror as Ultra Royalists seek vengeance on former Bonapartists.
Q. Will you ever take the series forward after The Mask of Night?
A. Yes. Much as I’ve loving exploring Charles/Malcolm and Mélanie/Suzanne’s early years, I have lots of ideas for stories to tell beyond The Mask of Night. As you’ll have seen if you’ve read Mask, Charles and Mel and the other characters still have a lot of issues to work out, problems to confront, and adventures to engage in.
March 27, 2011 at 9:09 pm
[...] FAQ [...]
April 28, 2011 at 5:50 pm
i hope your other books go into print, i and certain customers are not interested in e books etc i and they want to have a book in they’re hands, please let me know so i can inform them, thank you , pat
April 28, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Thanks, Patricia! Right now my only book that is solely an ebook is “The Mask of Night.” I hope it’s published in print eventually as well, and I will certainly update everyone if/when that happens. “Vienna Waltz,” “Secrets of a Lady,” and “Beneath a Silent Moon” are all available in print now.
June 9, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Tracy,
I have enjoyed all your books, and was so glad you were able to find a publisher for Vienna Waltz. However, I find the name changes very confusing. Are readers supposed to see these as the same characters, or are you going to treat them as separate stories? Having read “Daughter of the Game”, &”Beneath a Silent Moon” and knowing some of the secrets between Charles and Mel, I don’t know if I’m supposed to connect these same issues with Malcolm and Suzanne. If they are the same, I think it was a mistakes on the part of your publisher to change the names. Maybe this seems trivial, but I’m the kind of reader who loves series, and I like to have everything straight. I love your writing, but am finding this character exchange difficult. Should I think of Charles and Mel in the earlier books as Malcolm and Suzanne? And I notice The Mask of Night still uses the old names. I hope I ‘m not being too critical because I think you are one of the best writers in this historical romance genre – and I read a lot of them! I just would appreciate some clarification.
June 9, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Thanks so much for posting, Barb! I’m so sorry you find the name change confusing. Yes, Malcolm and Suzanne have the same history as Charles and Mel and the same secrets (which becomes quite apparent in the next book, Imperial Scandal). Please let me know if there’s anything else I can to clarify things for you and help you enjoy the books!
June 12, 2011 at 11:10 pm
Hi,Terresa,
Teresa,
I’ve Just read through the Vienna Waltz. It was really gougeous and fantastic !
I want more and more of my fellow Japanese book lovers to be introduced this wonderful novel. You are really a telented story teller and well qualified to become one of the top class novelists in near future!
Now, let me know if the Minoritenplatz is the name of a plaza where the lodging for the English delegation locates or it’s the name of the accommodation itself.
It was a surprise that you’d already published more of Malcolm& Suzanna’s chronology series through e-books . Unfortunately, it’s not common for us Japanese to read books by e-book reader because the Japanese contents aren’t sufficient yet. If I buy kindle, it’s because I want to read more of your books.
Saeko
June 12, 2011 at 11:54 pm
Hi Saeko,
Thank you so much for your lovely message! It’s wonderful to think of my books being read in Japan!
The Minoritzenplatz is a plaza/square on which the building stood in which the British delegation was lodged at the Congress of Vienna.
It’s very flattering that you would consider buying a Kindle to read my books! You can get print copies of “Beneath a Silent Moon” and “Secrets of a Lady” which are also about Suzanne and Malcolm, though in those books they are called Mélanie and Charles. “The Mask of Night’ is only available a present as a Kindle book, but you can download a free app that let’s you read Kindle books on your computer (or on a smart phone or iPad) so perhaps that’s a way you could read it.
Thanks again for commenting! Do stay in touch!
Warmly,
Tracy
August 16, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Hello Tracy
I started reading Vienna Waltz based on recommendations by other readers. I really liked it which made me follow up and read the previous novels. I enjoyed Beneath the Silent Moon more than Daughter of the Game. I didn’t quite like the strange twists at the end of Daughter of the Game. It seemed to change Melanie’s character too much. I will have to reread Vienna Waltz and look at it again from the perspective of what was revealed in DOTG. I am looking forward to reading the newest book.
August 16, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Thanks for posting, Seema! I love it when people find the series through Vienna Waltz. Just out of curiosity was it Mélanie/Suzanne being a spy that bothered you or the revelations about Colin’s parentage? Do let me know how it is rereading Vienna Waltz knowing Mel/Suzanne’s secrets. And I’m really glad you’re looking forward to Imperial Scandal!
August 20, 2011 at 5:07 am
[...] other Charles and Melanie books – I would definitely recommend visiting Teresa Grant’s website FAQ before reading Vienna Waltz in order to get the reading order and background [...]