Very early on in the process of trying to sell 'The Summer Prince,' I was told, 'Slavery seems to be very important to this society - is that on purpose?' Well, duh.
In the publishing sense, 'urban fantasy' does not mean 'black,' and that's pretty ironic, considering that it's a euphemism everywhere else. It would be great to get that back.
The big, defining feature of Palmares Tres government is its system of summer kings. The idea is that women 'Aunties' rule, led by a queen with a term limit of 10 years. Men aren't entirely shut out from this system - in fact, they have one of the most important roles in the government - but it's strictly delimited.
The hours I spent attempting to decipher some of Dunnett's more oblique passages opened me to the possibilities of romantic storytelling.
