Waiting.

For the past two weeks, I've been waiting, fairly patiently, for some good news to come my way. I believe it is on its way, it is good writing news, and I am anxious for it to occur.

Someone pointed out that in the age of instant gratification, where you can find the weather, an old friend, or the perfect pair of shoes in an instant, waiting for close to two weeks can seem like an eternity (it does!).

But in our period, waiting was a part of everyday life; you waited to come out as a debutante, you waited for the appropriate gentleman to make his addresses, you waited for dinner, and events, and a long-awaited treat, like a picnic to some old ruins with convenient hiding spots for smooching. So how did our heroines wait? Let's ponder:

Traditional Regency Heroine:
--Exchanged witty banter with her best friend or the hero. Perhaps visited with her horse, to whom she told her troubles, and explained how hard it was to wait.
--Took tea with her old nurse/governess. Ditto on the telling troubles to.
--Sat in the corner with the purple-plumed dowagers as she observed the more popular girls already dancing.

Regency-Historical Heroine:
--Took a turn on the veranda because the rooms inside were too warm. Stumbled across the hero or the villain, both of whom took advantage of her, with a heroic rescue in the latter case.
--Went to fix her gown, where she overheard some scandalous/scurrilous gossip that would then impact her future happiness with the hero.
--Disguised herself and went to a gentleman's club because she's tired of waiting to have fun.

Racy Historical Heroine:
--Decided not to wait for marriage.
--Disguised herself and went to a gentleman's club where she meets many gentlemen, both together and in succession.
--Waits for no man. Takes what she wants, oftentimes not waiting to get dressed.

What's your best waiting strategy?

Stay tuned....

Janet is still in the UK and will be back to Risky Regencies next week. So stay tuned for what witty, irreverent thing she'll say next!

The Other Riskies

Lord Derby's Dressing Room

I recently purchased two reference books that I adore.

The first is The Great Houses of London by David Pearce (The Vendome Press) in which there is a floor plan for 26 Grosvenor Square (Derby House) c 1773 by Adams.

The floor plan shows two stories on a rectangular lot that was 50 feet wide. The house is shaped a bit like a squared off lower case b with the bottom portion of the B being the street facing side. The gap between the upstroke of the b and the rectangle of the lot appears to be a garden or other outdoor area. There was also a square structure at the back, the width of the lot, also two stories. That housed the kitchen on the ground floor and was connected by a walkway to the main house. The first floor of this structure housed the laundry, the hayloft and the groom's room.

In the house proper, in the lower (square) of the b, the entry is on the left into the hall. To the right of the hall is an ante-room. "Above" the hall are two staircases, one to the left, the other to the right. To the right of the right-most staircase is a parlor.

In the upstroke of the b, from bottom to top are:

Great Eating Room
Library
Lord Derby's Dressing Room
Staircase || Cabinet
a staircase || a space into which the kitchen passage would exit.

Following that same pattern for the 1st floor:

Ante Room || First Drawing Room
Stairs || 2nd drawing room

In the upstroke of the b:
Third Drawing room
Lady Derby's Dressing Room
Bed Chamber
stairs || Closet


Do you notice there is only one bedchamber?

The library is an oval (on its side)

Lady Derby's Dressing Room is easily 1.5x the size of the bedchamber and, since it is over the library, it is also oval.

Lord Derby's Dressing Room is really pretty small, and on the ground floor, while Lady Derby's HUGE dressing room is on the 1st floor.

The 3rd drawing room as built opens into Lady Derby's Dressing room and the opening is wide wide wide with columns. There would be no privacy between the two spaces.


The other book I bought is The Lost Mansions of Mayfair by Oliver Bradbury (Historical Publications). It is, as you might guess, all about Mayfair mansions that no longer exist. There are a LOT of pictures and illustrations. This book is lovely, but it makes me sad.

Question

So. Why do YOU think Lord Derby's Dressing Room is so small and where did he sleep?

Much Ado About Loving

I seem to be talking a lot lately about books I've been reading, but I seem to be in the middle of a good reading run!! I just finished the tons of fun Much Ado About Loving: What Our Favorite Novels Can Teach You About Great Expectations, Not so Great Gatsbys, and Love in the Time of Internet Personals by Jack Murnighan and Maura Kelly, which mines works of literature for modern dating advice. (PW called it "...a clever, amusing hybrid of lit crit and relationship advice"). I've often thought novels are a great source of guidance when it comes to dating and love myself, so I snatched up this book and spent a wonderful afternoon laughing at its lessons!

Some of my favorite chapters: "The Blabbers Karamazov: The dangers of revealing too much too soon"; "Not-so-great-Gatsby: Is it flattering or creepy when a guy persists?"; "Bride and Prejudice: Does wanting to get married give you champagne goggles?"; "Madame Ho-Vary: Is cheating ever okay?"; and "Jane Erred: Why it's silly to put principles over passion" ("When and if you're lucky enough to find true love, don't muck it up with mindless adherence to convention. Throw away that list of requirements....")

And then there is "Lady's Chattering Lover: 10 things not to say after sex." Example #8--Tread with caution when talking about his penis ("And now it's tiny and soft like a little bud of life!"
What romance lessons have you learned from your favorite books??

Winner of Victoria Vane's A Breach of Promise

And the winner is........

Kat!

Kat, email me at diane@dianegaston.com and let me know what kind of download you require for your free copy of A Breach of Promise. I'll pass the information on to Victoria right away.

And many thanks to Victoria aka Emery for being our guest!

Diane

An Author's Walk On The Wild Side - A Guest Blog!

I'm on the downhill slide to finish my Marquess and the Governess book and my friend Emery Lee aka Victoria Vane kindly volunteered to guest blog for me. How cool is that? Do you know what is even better? She's giving away a free download of her new erotic Georgian novella, A BREACH OF PROMISE to one lucky commenter chosen at random. 

Give a warm welcome to Emery Lee/Victoria Vane!!! 

Since this blog is very much about risk taking, I am posting today about my own huge and exciting risky transition from romantic historical fiction to erotic historical romance, and to share a bit about my naughty new novellas.

How it all began… Late last spring I found myself in both a crisis of confidence and already floundering in a writing career that had only just begun. As many authors are aware, the oh-so-wonderful publication of that first novel is only the beginning of one's struggles. Often the second and third book deals don't come much easier than the first. While I had sold and finished my second novel, FORTUNE'S SON, and was continuing to write my little heart out, my publisher had taken a "wait and see" stance on my proposed third, fourth and fifth novels, leaving me sitting impotently on my thumbs. To make matters worse, my agent quit the publishing business altogether, leaving me high and dry.

It was during this frustrating dry spell that the wonderful Diane Gaston suggested I try writing something short to help bridge the gap until I could sell another of my full length novels. While I had read a number of the Historical Undone titles, it had never occurred to me to write anything short. To be honest, I didn't know if I even could. Novella length romantic fiction presents some serious challenges—to fully develop characters and a plot readers will embrace in 50-100 pages is no easy feat. Yet, it seemed a logical and productive use of my time, so I decided to give it a go.

Loosely inspired by The Belle's Stratagem, a Georgian era play I had read, the result of my efforts was a 15K word story about a broken engagement. Believing it “perfect” for Harlequin's Historical Undone line, I joyfully sent it off. Unfortunately, Harlequin didn’t share my sentiments! But by then, I had already submitted to several other publishers, certain that one of them would snatch up my short masterpiece. Wrong again. I got several more rejections.

Having by then decided to write it all off as a “failed experiment,” you can imagine my shock in receiving a conditional acceptance from an erotic romance publisher who loved the story but felt it needed more development and a higher heat level. Develop the romance and make it longer? (Big smile.) No problem! Amp up the heat level to erotic level? (Gulp.)  I was terrified.

You see, I had never written steamy love scenes. While having strong sexual tension, my other books are pretty much PG-13. Yet, armed with a burning desire to see something, anything, published to keep my career moving forward, I accepted the contract with the promise to deliver a scorching hot historical romance that readers would love. Easy, right? NOT!!!

After working tirelessly for weeks, I submitted my revised manuscript only to receive 8 pages of notes back from my editor! I was crushed. Where did I go wrong? What was lacking? While I had adopted the more graphic language used in erotic romance and had the “mechanics” in abundance, my editor described the weakness in the manuscript as lacking the “sixth sense,” or the emotional connection the reader must feel. In any great love scene, the reader must be engaged with the characters' emotion not just visualizing the act. Engaging the reader in this manner is one of the most difficult undertakings of any writer, but to integrate this into sex scenes is exponentially harder. It is a true gift when done well.

Wanting very much to learn how, I set out to find authors who meld strong emotion into explicit love scenes, authors I wished to emulate. While the idea was truly daunting, I also perceived a golden opportunity to stretch myself as a writer. It was time for a crash course in Sex Writing 101.

I began by reading- devouring actually- works by bestselling erotic romance authors to learn what they do and how they do it. I discovered authors like Robin Schone, Sylvia Day, and Charlotte Featherstone, who combine beautifully crafted prose in stories with deep sensuality, and Lila DiPasqua who I much admire for her creative vision in melding real history with eroticism.

Armed with what I had learned from these amazing authors, I went back to work on A BREACH OF PROMISE with the goal of writing an erotic level romance my own way— with a well-drawn and emotionally compelling plot, sympathetic characters, witty dialogue, a touch of humor, and scorching heat without the "kink factor."

Released a month ago, my "naughty little novella" has had an incredible early reception and has already scored me a three book deal with another erotic romance publisher. Me, a purveyor of high quality smut? Who knew? ;P 

ABOUT VICTORIA VANE:

A lover of history and deeply romantic stories, Victoria combines these elements to craft romantic historical novels and novellas for a mature reading audience. She also writes non-erotic historical fiction as Emery Lee.  Erotic Historical Romance Titles:

A BREACH OF PROMISE, Ellora's Cave

A WILD NIGHT’S BRIDE, a sexy rollicking Georgian romp - Coming soon from Breathless press.

A BREACH OF PROMISE by Victoria Vane

WHEN CHARM AND PERSUASION FAIL… ONLY SEDUCTION REMAINS….

On the night of her betrothal, Lydia Trent receives just a taste of what ecstasy will be at the hands of her fiancé…and then he leaves her wanting. After waiting six years, and tired of being neglected by her exceedingly reluctant husband-to-be, Lydia decides to break it off. When Marcus, Lord Russell, receives Lydia’s letter requesting a release from their contract, he is stunned by her audacity. Confident he’ll have her eating out of his hand with his usual wit and charm, he’s determined to repair the damage. However, the headstrong woman she’s blossomed into is equally determined to thwart his every effort to win her back. Marcus discovers, in spite of her conviction to end the union, Lydia is more responsive to his touch than he ever imagined. He just needs to get her alone to unleash the promised passion he sees within his wanton virgin. Marcus will use any tool in his arsenal to exploit her weakness—his kisses, his hands, his mouth…her own body. In short, he’ll just have to ruin her!

“Reckless hearts, battling wits, and plenty of steam in a wonderfully well drawn Georgian setting.”              -NYT Bestselling author Grace Burrowes

LINKS TO EXCERPTS:

http://authorvictoriavane.com/a-breach-of-promise-prologue/

http://www.jasminejade.com/productspecs/9781419937330.htm

Thanks Emery/Victoria for being my guest! Everyone, tell our guest what level of sensuality you like best in your Historical Romances! Or any comment for a chance to win a download of A BREACH OF PROMISE.