What else floats?*

I believe in less enlightened times we writers probably would all have been in trouble. You know what happened to women who heard voices in their heads and went around muttering to themselves.

So, how I write. First, I have a day job, and I find it concentrates the mind wonderfully. By the time I get home, refreshed from napping and/or reading on the metro, I am of course ready to sink into a slothful heap in front of the tv. But no. I must cook dinner and write. Dinner is optional. On a good night I'll write ten pages. On a normal night I'll do five. Or thereabouts. On the weekends I'll do a lot more unless I actually have to do anything.

My secret? Many nice cups of tea. Solitude. I write at one end of the living room and I made a folding screen specifically to block out my nearest and dearest. I play music. It doesn't stop anyone from reading aloud from the newspaper, asking me if I've bought groceries yet, or complaining about the state of the house, but it helps.

So how do I actually do it. Hmm. I don't know. I'm afraid that if I analyze too much I'll lose it. I don't always enjoy writing, except for those euphoric moments when everything just flows and you realize hours have passed. Those moments of creativity are rather rare, I find, if you're thinking of page counts and deadlines.

I usually start with an opening scene and go from there. Quite often it's a journey or an arrival (oops. I didn't realize I'd get extra points for originality). This opening scene is something I can see quite clearly in my mind. I'm usually fairly clear on where my characters will go initially and where they will end up and I work out the details as I go. I keep in my mind, or jot down somewhere, pivotal moments, and I'm usually aware of those well in advance. Those moments can be scenes, sentences, or an odd snippet of conversation, but they're the bones of the plot.

I know we're always talking about tortured heroes etc and they bore me to death, but I do think it's important to write characters who have some pain in their past and show how they're coping with it now. I'm not always sure of what that pain will be until I'm well into the book and start getting distracted by their backstory (and I love backstory and flashbacks. Bring them on). I also occasionally use a character questionnaire--one Diane Chamberlain hands out at her character-creation workshop is excellent--it's short and it works for historical characters. I base my plots very loosely on the steps of the Hero's Journey--that is, at some point I attempt to analyze what I've done as a reality check. I find Deb Dixon's Goal, Motivation and Conflict very hard to handle although I know some people swear by it.

And that's about it.

*Ducks
Visit my recently-tarted-up website www.janetmullany.com and sign up for my mailing list!

The morphing of my writing process

There are writers out there who claim that if everyone followed their processes (often involving detailed pre-plotting and single drafts), we would all write better books more quickly. Personally, I think it’s arrogant to assume that a process that works for one writer is obviously going to work for another.

Conventional wisdom holds that a new writer should try different things and then once she discovers what works for her, to stick with that process. I agree with that in spirit, but I’d like to go a step further. One should also be open to changing one’s process as one grows as a writer and especially if one hits blockages.

Some very fine authors (Jo Beverley and Julia Ross come to mind) do not do detailed pre-plotting. I think their results justify their methods! I don’t do detailed pre-plotting either. I’ve tried in the past, but I don’t get a good sense of my characters and where they’re going until I’ve put them through situations that force them to reveal themselves.

I also know of some writers who produce beautiful first drafts, polishing as they go. (Julia Ross is one). But for me, to come up with characters, plot, setting and the right words to describe it all in one go would be like riding a bicycle and juggling simultaneously. My own stories develop in layers, improving with each successive draft.

The writing process I have followed for most of my books:

• I start with a kernel of the story: the reason I want to write it. Usually it’s a character and/or a situation that intrigues me. I spend some time brainstorming other elements of the story to fit that kernel. I make a stab at filling out Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation & Conflict worksheet. I do some preliminary research into anything that relates to the kernel of the story. I try not to worry about holes, trusting that if I love the kernel the rest will eventually come together.
• I plunge into the first draft, a painful, ugly process of stumbling around in the dark until my characters hand me a light. The result is primordial sludge from which I hope a real story will emerge.
• The story starts to come together in the 2nd and 3rd drafts. This is the point where I ask a few trusted critique partners for feedback. This is also when I usually start to actually enjoy the process!
• I do one or more additional drafts to add more depth and fix problems. I may have my critique partners look at revised scenes, especially if I’ve made big changes or I’m worried about whether something is working.
• A couple more rounds of line editing and hopefully the manuscript is good to go!

This process has morphed a bit. As I started to make the transition from writing traditional Regencies to longer historicals, I found that I was having more and more trouble with the early drafts. I’d convinced myself this was a huge leap rather than a natural extension of what I’d already been doing. My muse fled and writing became a painful chore.

Several changes that have helped:

• I have started to alternate between stories a bit (still with an eye toward closure, of course). What I’m finding that having several stories at different stages of development takes some pressure off the work-in-progress. Also it’s easier to reenter a story that has done some simmering on the back burner.
• The NaNoWriMo challenge is helping me outrun the internal editor. The focus on wordcount has helped me enjoying the process of writing again and worry less about the ultimate product. Of course, the ultimate product does matter, but I already know I’m a good rewriter. As Nora Roberts says, “You can fix a poorly written page, but you can't fix a blank one.”

As to writing schedule, I strive for discipline. With two young children, I don’t have much evening or weekend time to write, which means I can’t afford to leave things to a big deadline push. I need to chip away steadily. So I write at least a couple of hours every morning (my mind works best then) and then try for a couple more in the afternoon, barring errands, sick children or household disasters.

I realize now that people asked about books on the art and craft of writing, but that could fill a whole new post, so if it's OK, I'll save that for next week.

I hope this was interesting and/or useful!

Elena
LADY DEARING'S MASQUERADE, RT Reviewers' Choice, Best Regency Romance of 2005
www.elenagreene.com

P.S. The cartoon is by Debbie Ridpath Ohi at www.inkygirl.com.

Cara's Writing Process (With Interpolations)

First, the idea: if I'm going to write a novel (or even a short story), something about the idea has to really grab me. It can grab me in an odd way -- or an obvious way -- it can be a character or setting or twist or something I can't even name, but something about the idea has to make me excited.

Then I work it over for a while. I pound at it, and try to work out a basic plot. What if this? What if that? But wouldn't that then...? I may end up with most of the plot, or I may not -- some of my novels are more intuitive than others. Sometimes I don't have much plot beyond the opening, and I go from there. (Though sometimes I think that, for me, that's always an error. But I've done it. Who knows... Jury's still out.)

Then I write. To write, I need Earl Grey Tea, hot, with milk. And it helps to have gingerlily perfume. Then I sit at my computer and write. (And it helps just a bit to have the book written by someone else.)

Excuse me? Oh, is that you, Bertie? Where'd you come from? (And why don't you go back there?)

Of course it is I. No one else could blog with such exquisite grace. As to where I am from, you know that perfectly well -- London, two centuries ago. As to why I repeatedly fail to return -- it is merely because whatever time-travel mechanism brought me here seems to have vanished.

As to why I am here now -- I had the overwhelming feeling that the Risky Regency Readers were sadly missing my presence. That, coupled with the blatant falsehoods you were telling, drew me here.

Falsehoods? What falsehoods?

You forgot to mention all that moaning and groaning and complaining about how little you write, and how much you should write.

They don't need to know that!

Too late!

Ahem. One thing I have found that is useful, is my Alphasmart. I sit on the balcony in nice weather and write. No email to distract me, no YouTube, no solitaire. No temptation to revise when I should be drafting.

On a good day (no comments needed, Bertie!) I can write about ten pages. I try to draft fast, and then do all the editing and revision later.

No comments needed? I am always needful. Or if I'm not needful, I'm at least decorative, which is much more important.

If I need to do research, I generally do that before I even begin drafting -- at least, the major things. If I come across things I need in the progress of drafting, I know I really should make a note and do the research later, but I usually just do it then. (I'm always afraid it will seriously change the plot!)

Oh, come now! How much was the colour of the upholstery in the Theatre Royal Covent Garden going to change the plot of My Lady Gamester? Not one whit, and you know it. And yet you stopped everything to find out.

Have you been spying on me, Bertie?

Now that you've limited my TeleVision time, there's nothing better for me to do.

I do beg your pardon, readers of the blog! My post today seems to have been hijacked by an exquisitely elegant egomaniac, and I can tell I'm not going to get any more serious work done today.

Oh, yes, and that will be such a change for you.

Hey! That's it -- no pie for you. And no James Bond!

Pardon me, ladies and gentlemen. I need to go reason with my landlady. She's gone off in a huff, and I really do want to find out just how elegant this new Bond is. And I need my pie.

Good day!

Exquisitely yours,

Bertram St. James, Exquisite

Signing my post? The cheek!

Cara
Cara King -- www.caraking.com
My Lady Gamester -- the name is James, Atalanta James

Eloisa and Diane's Writing Habits (Not that those are the same)

I remember meeting Eloisa for the first time. It was in Chicago, I think, and I was just planning to start writing a Regency set historical. I was at the RWA National Conference and I was introduced to Eloisa whose first book, Potent Pleasures, was coming out in hardback. Needless to say, I was very impressed!

Eloisa, in addition to being a wonderful author of great books, is also very generous to other authors, sharing her expertise in all parts of the publishing process. I never met anyone who was so smart at the business side of writing. She is also a terrific speaker and very generous to New Jersey Romance Writers, of which I am a long distance member.

I'm thrilled that we Riskies have had the opportunity to sing the praises of Eloisa's Pleasure for Pleasure and to have her visit with us!

And I am sure Eloisa's work habits are a lot better than mine!

I generally allot myself four to five months to write a book. I come up with an idea, usually based on a character. My characters generally appear in a previous book, but when I write that book, I never know what their story will be. The next step in the process is to write a synopsis, because my editors want to approve the story before I write it. This means I have to at least figure out the main plot of the story and I have to dip into the research books enough to make sure I can fit the history in correctly. I also write them the first chapter, which is usually an easy chapter for me. I like to start out my books with something very exciting and that sort of scene is fun to write.

When I sit down to write the book, I never really know how I'm going to bring the book to the end. I usually know the hero and heroine fairly well, though - I could probably sit for hours and tell you incidents from their lives before the book starts, but I really have not figured out "what's next." I also have to think up secondary characters and subplots, otherwise it is going to be a short story, not a book!

I always write on a laptop, usually in my den on my couch, although I also might sit on the top of my bed, spreading research books around me. I try to start writing by 9 am and I pretty much continue until about 4. If I am very good, I will go to Curves at noon for a break. If I'm not worried about my deadline, I try to take weekends off.

I'm making myself sound very virtuous. I also check my email, play scrabbleblast, see what's for sale on ebay.....there are a bunch of ways I can waste time when I should be writing. Blogging, the reading of it or the writing of it, is not a waste of time, however!

I research as I go along. I mostly research online (one favorite site www.answers.com), but I have a brazillion research books up in my "book room" a bedroom turned into a ...book room, lined with bookshelves. My bookshelves have only cursory organization. Someday I'll figure out how to arrange them so I can find things in an instant. Name a research book you like and I either own it or my fingers are tapping out abebooks.com and I'm going to buy it (right, Kalen???)

I have two lovely critique groups who read my stuff as I write and my favorite way of doing things is to take their suggestions and fix the chapters we've discussed before moving on to write a new chapter. This last book (I'm almost finished!!) I had to write in only 2 1/2 months so I tried something new. Just write and fix later. That works pretty well, actually. I may do things this way from now on. So I wrote the whole thing and then went back and revised that draft.

I am definitely not someone who plots out everything ahead of time, but I stopped worrying about that when Nora Roberts said she also does not plot ahead of time.

So with this book, I am finishing the revision of my first draft and should turn it in by Thursday. Make that will turn it in...

Ask me questions about what else you might want to know! And, those of you who are writers, tell us how you do it, too, this week.

Cheers!
Diane

Interview With Eloisa James!

New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. Her latest book, Pleasure For Pleasure, completes the Four Sisters series. It comes out next Tuesday, November 28! You can order it here. And get a chance to win a copy of Pleasure For Pleasure by leaving a pertinent comment or question on today's post! The winner will be announced Tuesday.

After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Currently she is an associate professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the English Department at Fordham University in New York City. Her "double life" is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report. She, along with five other bestselling authors, posts to the hugely successful SquawkRadio blog


Welcome to the Riskies, Eloisa. Thanks for joining us.

1. You started out writing as a diversion from your academic interests and writing; can you talk a little bit about your background, and what made you decide to write in the Regency period rather than your area of expertise?

It was a tough decision – I teach Renaissance drama, so that's the field I know best. But I was reading (and loving) Regency romance, and I decided to place a story there. Plus, there was the fact that Regency romances are readers' favorites, and while there are a few Renaissance romances, they're far and few between. I wanted to write – but I also wanted to get published and read.

2.Which of your books is your favorite?

At any given time, my latest book is always my favorite because it's still clear to me. I wake up wondering whether I did the right thing here or there. Plus, I love them most before they're published because at that point they are all potential. I have a clear memory of thinking before Potent Pleasures (my very first book) was published that no one could possibly dislike it (ha). I loved my characters so much that I thought they were insulated from criticism (and yes, there's a lot of parallels to motherhood here). In the years since, I've come to know that every book will be loved by some people and hated by others. Before a book is published, though, it's like a baby whom everyone calls beautiful and whose mother can't see a fault in it.

3. You’re completing the Four Sisters series with your book, Pleasure For Pleasure, that comes out November 28. What was the spark that inspired the Four Sisters series? Did it start with a character, a setting, or some other element?

It was a combination of things. I like writing about women's friendship, but I wanted to write about a relationship between women that wasn't quite as easy as friendship: sisterhood, in other words. My sister and I are very close – and in fact, live about a mile apart – but our relationship is complex and far more nuanced than that I share with my girlfriends. Another aspect was my abiding love for the work of Louisa May Alcott. I wanted to walk in her steps, at least a little bit.

4. Was Pleasure For Pleasure an easy or difficult book to write?

They're all difficult. It's one of the cruel facts of life – the first book is difficult, and you think: "the next will be easier!" and then the next is more difficult. And the book after that, more difficult still. They just get harder as I learn more about writing.

5. How do you do your research?

Well, a great deal of it comes to me through my scholarship in the early modern period. For example, Desperate Duchesses features a series of chess games – the idea for that came through scholarship that's being done on the chess game in Shakespeare's Tempest. Once I have a vague idea of the areas I'd like to know more about (say, chess in the Georgian period), I ask my research assistant to start scaring up some material for me. One of the consequences of being a full-time professor and director of the graduate program in English is that I don't have time for much research myself; instead I hire brilliant people to find out interesting facts for me.


6. What are you working on now? Tell us a little bit about the Desperate Duchesses series.

Desperate Duchesses is set in the Georgian period, so that's a change for me. I wanted a wilder, more sensual period than the Regency for the story I had in mind. It's a series of four books, focusing around a group of duchesses whose marriages are in trouble, for various reasons. Jemma, the Duchess of Beaumont, is the best female chess player in England or Paris – and now she's embarked on two matches. One is with the Duke of Villiers, a chess master. And the second is with her own husband, a master of strategy in Pitt's government. The games are conducted one move a day….and if either survives to the third game, that game will be conducted blind-folded, and in bed.

This is a really sexy, fun series…I'm hugely enjoying writing it!

7. In your writing, do you feel as if you are taking risks? How?

I do it all the time – in fact, I don't think there's any point in writing unless you take risks. To write a story without risks would be to write a story about a perfect hero and perfect heroine, sweetly matched and perfect in bed. Where's the story? The story only comes in the risks you take in deviating from that "perfect" formula – in creating a hero who is crap in bed, or a heroine who lies, or a marriage that's a disaster. Pleasure for Pleasure is the story of a very curvy woman – and she doesn't lose weight either. I take risks, but for me, that's where all the pleasure of the story lies.

8. You are very good at writing female characters, and women’s relationships with each other. What or who inspires your fabulous heroines?

OK, don't laugh – usually myself. What I mean is that while I'm not wildly witty and incredibly beautiful, like some of my heroines, I have to give each of them a bit of myself or they are lifeless. So when I think about my heroines, that's what I see in them. Gabby fibs because I fibbed relentlessly when I was a child. Sophie gives birth to a child at 24 weeks and so did I. Josie (the heroine of Pleasure for Pleasure) goes through some harrowing experiences due to being plump on the marriage market – I was plump in high school and I channeled my experience straight onto the page.

9. Did you run across anything new and unusual while researching this book?

I found out some fascinating information about the early publishing world…I read a bunch of 19th century memoirs (each chapter opens with a parody of a memoir)…I learned a great deal about corsets. More than I needed to know!

10. Is there anything you wanted to include in the book that you (or your CPs or editor) felt was too controversial and left out?

Nope! My editor has pretty much given up trying to cut bits of my books: I'm horribly pig-headed.

11. SquawkRadio is a hugely successful authors’ blog; what is your favorite part of participating there?

Blogging asks for a different kind of creativity than writing books, and I find I like it immensely! To sit down and just make something up and then slap it up on the web, and then get cheerful responses from all over the world – what a high! And what a tonic to the usual writer's day, sitting in your pajamas at home.

Is there anything else you’d like the Risky Regencies readers to know about you?

I love Regencies and I'm so happy that you're holding up the torch for all of us!

Thank you!

Thank you, Eloisa!

Turkey Day!

Turkey.
No, not that sort of turkey.
Turkey in the Regency period and the late eighteenth-century was a place quite recently "discovered" by travelers and tourists. It came to represent all things exotic and naughty such as

Harems!

Even Ingres got in on the act.



Mozart liked the idea so much he wrote The Abduction from the Seraglio and introduced Turkish characters in Cosi fan tutte. And he, Haydn, and Beethoven changed the sound of the orchestra by introducing such exotic imports as the kettledrum.

Click here and listen to the famous Ronda alla turca from Mozart's piano sonata no. 11, K. 331.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Janet

10 things I'm thankful for...

Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I don’t actually subscribe to the notion that one should think about the positive only once a year. Experts would probably recommend we do it more often than that, but as my Risky friends and our more frequent visitors know, I’m one to stress and obsess and worry about everything. So once year seems a lot!

However, I have a blog post to do, so I will force myself to think on the bright side. It is probably good for me. :)

Here they are, in no particular order, just 10 of the many things I have to be thankful for.

1. That I’m in a good marriage which has only gotten better over 18 years.

2. That I have healthy and happy children who actually enjoy scrambled egg dinners when I’m too busy writing to prepare anything fancier.

3. That there’s a DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) within two hours of where I live. (Sometime after I turned forty a latent shoe gene kicked in.)

4. That Jane Austen lived and wrote her stories. Ditto for Georgette Heyer and every modern romance writer whose stories I treasure.

5. That I have seen 6 of my own stories reach publication.

6. That I have already written over 30,000 words during this year’s National Novel Writing Month. See the nifty bar graph on the Nano website!

7. That the processes for creating wine and real ale were invented. (How could one celebrate or deal with relatives over the holidays without them?)

8. That I have a couple of critique partners whom I can trust to give me their honest, intelligent opinions of my stories and who believe in me even when I don’t.

9. That chocolate was invented. (This picture is of The Chocolate Girl, by Jean-Etienne Liotard, c.1743-45.)

10. That I have found such good and talented friends in this Risky Regency community of ours. (Sorry, can’t help getting just a little gushy here.)

So what are you thankful for?

Elena
LADY DEARING'S MASQUERADE, RT Reviewers' Choice, Best Regency Romance of 2005
www.elenagreene.com

Austen Trek II: the Wrath of McCoy

If Jane Austen wrote Star Trek, Part II:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Vulcan in possession of green blood must be in want of a medical check-up.

"My dear Mr. Spock," said Leonard "Bones" McCoy one day, "didn't you hear me tell you a hundred times that you are overdue for your physical?"

Mr. Spock replied that he had not -- that the doctor had merely told him 27.3 times.

"Mr. Spock, how can take my words so literally? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves."

"You mistake me, Doctor McCoy. I have all the compassion your nerves merit. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration throughout our five-year mission."

"Oh! You have no idea how you drive me crazy."

"But I hope you will get over it, and continue to administer your folk-wisdom to the flawed humans on this ship who, for some unaccountable reason, actually seem to enjoy it."

"Come, Spock," said McCoy, "I must have your physical. I hate to see you standing about on the bridge when you're off-duty in this stupid manner. You had much better come to sick bay."

"I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my nurse. On such a starship as this, it would be insupportable. Nurse Chapel is engaged, and there is not another nurse on the ship, whom it would not be a punishment to me to give blood to."

"I would not be so fastidious as you are," cried McCoy, "for all the gold-pressed latinum in the universe! Upon my honour, I never saw so many competent nurses in all my life, as I have in sick-bay; and there are several of them who are uncommonly capable."

"Nurse Chapel is the only passable nurse on the ship," said Mr. Spock.

"Oh! she is the most brilliant nurse I ever beheld! But I have another nurse sitting down in sick bay right now, doing nothing, who is very well-educated, and I dare say, very discreet. Do let me have her draw your blood."

"Which do you mean?" and, arriving at sick bay, he looked for a moment at the nurse McCoy indicated, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, "She may be tolerable, but not experienced enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to nurses who are slighted by other patients. You had better let me return to the bridge, where I will enjoy staring into my viewfinder, for you are wasting your time with me."

Cara
Cara King -- award-winning author of
My Lady Gamester -- these are the voyages of the card-player Atalanta

Why I'm Thankful for This Job by Diane Perkins

In honor of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd let you all in on part of the reason I'm thankful for the job of writing Regency Romance. In my current Work In Progress, which you may recall is a road story, I have spent my days wandering around the north of England and the south of Scotland. Through the magic of the Internet I have visited many places and discovered wonderful things.

I can't really share the visual images I've used to create my story, because most of the images are copyrighted, so I went into my own photographs from my 2005 trip to England and Scotland for some similar visual images.

My characters wound up in Liverpool which might have looked a little like this:














They rode over the countryside. Imagine these hills in the Autumn with all different colors:














They might have passed through villages like this one:














Or stayed in a castle ruin like this one:














My heroine may have gazed upon the home of her childhood:











And, finally, my hero and heroine may have shared a bed similar to this one:














Do I have the greatest job in the world or what?

For a wonderful virtual adventure, immerse yourself in this website!
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/index.html

Is part of what you like to read about the Regency imagining what it looked like?
How much setting do you like in our books?

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!

Diane

A Twelfth Night Tale in Mistletoe Kisses "...splendidly satisfying..." BOOKLIST

Thanks for a Great Contest Week

Congratulations to the winners of our Mistletoe Kisses Contest:
Susan Flanders
Keira Soleore
JaneFan

Email Diane (dgastonmail@aol.com) your mailing address, and your autographed copy of Mistletoe Kisses will be on its way to you.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our early Holiday week and our little celebration of Diane, Pam, and Deborah's Regency Christmas anthology, Mistletoe Kisses . We've had a wonderful time and have enjoyed this chance to get to know you all better.

We hope this past week has helped put you in a holiday mood, because--brace yourselves!--it is descending on us fast.

Happy Holidays to all,
The Riskies

Twelfth Night

So, this week we've chatted about holiday food, music, gifts, and traditions. Hopefully we've put you in the holiday spirit, and set the mood for reading Mistletoe Kisses. :) I love hearing about everyone's holiday memories and plans, and I hope to incorporate some of what I've learned into my own celebrations this year. (While hopefully managing to avoid the mall!)

Historical holidays may have seemed a bit more low-key and drab compared to modern ones. No lights (twinkling or otherwise!), little tinsel, no big-ticket items left by Santa. But they certainly had their own fun ways of celebrating, and one of those great traditions was Twelfth Night (or What You Will, to quote Mr. Shakespeare. Love that play...)

I don't know about you, but I sometimes feel a bit let-down when January 2 comes around and life is supposed to go back to workday normal. (My birthday is also in January, which kept the excitement--and cake-eating--going when I was a kid, but now that I'm getting older it just makes me depressed!). Our ancestors may have had the right idea when they celebrated twelve day of Christmas, culminating in the fun of Twelfth Night.

It all evolved from the Roman Saturnalia festival marking the onset of the winter solstice, the time when the sun, having reached its lowest, darkest point, begins to rise again toward longer, warmer days (yay!!). It was a time of feasting, parties, and public festivals that the Church co-opted in the fourth century, using the winter solstice as the "official" day of Christ's birth (Dec. 25). By the time of the Renaissance, Christmas Day opened an annual twelve day festival of celebration. (The word "Yuletide" actually means the period between December 25 and January 6). Large bonfires were set in village centers, and on Christmas Eve each family set a ceremonial Yule log in their own hearths. January 6, Twelfth Night itself, was a final frenzy of eating, drinking, and dancing before facing the rest of the long winter.

One of the traditions of Twelfth Night was a cake--an ornate confection into which a trinket, like a bean, a coin, or a little metal Baby Jesus, would be hidden. The guest who found the item would become king or queen of Twelfth Night. (One funny facotid I read said that by the 18th century slips of paper were often substituted for the trinket, so that inebriated guests wouldn't choke on Baby Jesus). Martha Washington had a recipe for this cake that used 40 eggs, 4 pounds of sugar, and 5 pounds of dried fruit. I think it's on the Mt. Vernon website if you'd like to give it a go. It would be great with Cara's Christmas pie. :) This was often washed down with wassail (an ale-based drink with spices and honey) or a drink called "Lambs Wool" (cider or ale, sugar, spices, and roasted apples). No wonder they choked on the hidden bean.

Twelfth Night also involved masked dancers ('Mummers') who cavorted through the streets and visited houses uninvited to wreal havoc and beg for drinks and treats. Other common Yuletide activities were horse racing, fox hunting, cock fighting, card playing, games like blindman's bluff and nine-pins, and entertainments like mock sword fights (or maybe real, after dipping into all that Lambs Wool), jesters, acrobats, plays and singing. Twelfth Night was also the time to extinguish the Yule log, saving some of the charred remains to use for kindling next year's log.

This sounded like fun to me! I'd like to use the cake, the Yule log, and the plays in my own holiday, while skipping the cock fights and fox hunting. And the choking.

We've talked about so many aspects of the holidays this week, it seems there isn't much left to say! But since today is the last chance to win a opy of Mistletoe Kisses, tell us what your very favorute--and very least favorite--aspects of the holiday are. (My faves--music and food. Least--holday traffic. Why do people get so crazy on the road at this time of year? I coudl do without Tickle Me Elmos, too). Are there any historical traditions you'd like to use in your celebrations?

Have a great Thanksgiving next week! We will have a treat for you here starting Friday, an interview with bset-selling author Eloisa James. And thanks for stopping by our RR "salon" to help us get the holidays started.

Traditions!

All this week, the Riskies have been talking about the upcoming holiday season: How to deal with it, what they like about it, what they don't like about it (Janet is our resident Scrooge, it seems, but she does enjoy a good concert).

On Monday, Diane brought up traditions, and I'd like to do the same. I grew up in an unconventional household (albeit with the requisite mother and father, no siblings), and our Christmases were . . . odd. Instead of traditional Christmas ornaments, my mother decorated our tree with seashells and porcupine fish she'd spraypainted gold and silver and decorated with rhinestones. We wrapped our gifts in newspaper and magazines, not wrapping paper, and our notes always had a stealthily-embedded clue as to what the gift was inside (my mother, however, was frequently Master of the Obvious, addressing presents of socks to me as "To Megan, From her feet.")

I didn't know any different, so when my boyfriend (now husband) started dating, I did what I'd always done at Christmas: Decorate my tree with random fun items, wrap in paper, write silly notes. I thought everybody did that.

Apparently not. My husband's family is EXTRA-traditional when it comes to Christmas, which means the ornaments are perfect, the wrapping paper is Hallmark and there are no funny edges where the paper didn't quite meet, and the notes are addressed "To Megan, Love Scott."

In case you couldn't tell, I do miss the funkier Christmas of my youth, but I've grown to love my in-laws' traditional celebration (especially the HANDMADE DONUTS ON CHRISTMAS EVE!). When my son gets a little older, though, I'm going to get some seashells and start writing some sly notes on his gifts.

Do you have any idiosyncratic holiday celebrations? How do you feel about trying to introduce new traditions to your family? And can you believe THANKSGIVING IS NEXT WEEK?!?

Megan
www.meganframpton.com

Christmas music

Aaargh! It's almost upon us, roughly slouching...

But while I am trying to ignore the Christmas Beast, at this time of year there's one very important thing to do in preparation for the holidays and that's to book tickets to a Christmas performance. I know we'll all be playing our favorite Christmas CDs (or listening to the BBC's live satellite broadcast of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols) but I urge you to get out to a real, live performance. (And by the way, the performing arts enhance the economic and social wellbeing of the community, do all sorts of good things for kids and adults, and live performance does something for you that DVDs or CDs can't. Check out this list of reports from the Cultural Alliance of Washington, D.C. You'll need to scroll down to Reports and Studies. Some are local, some national. And it costs about the same as a ballgame, sometimes less, to go to the opera or ballet.)

Check out what's going on in your area. If you're interested in traditional music and folklore, you might want to catch a performance by the Christmas Revels.

Or how about the Nutcracker? Gorgeous music and costumes, wonderful dancing, and an erectile Christmas tree!


My favorite Christmas music is Handel's Messiah and I have fond memories of performances in England with a thumping big local choir and imported soloists (preferably with a Welsh bass). One of my most memorable Messiahs was performed in York Minster. It was freezing cold--literally. I don't know how the orchestra kept their instruments tuned. The entire audience wore coats, hats, gloves, and scarves. The conductor announced extra cuts that would be made so we didn't freeze to death, and at intermission we all shot out to the pub for something to keep us warm (ginger wine for me, thanks). But it was a fabulous performance in a breathtakingly beautiful setting, a memory I'll treasure all my life.

The Messiah has been performed continuously ever since its Dublin premiere in 1742, although it was associated earlier on with Easter more than Christmas. George II started the tradition of standing for the Hallelujah Chorus. Here's some more to read about the Messiah.

Do you have a holiday tradition that involves attending, or taking part in a live performance? Have you sung in a chorus, or danced in the Nutcracker, or been a ballet mom? What music do you like to listen to over the holidays?

Janet

All I want...

Like Diane, I feel a bit torn about doing a holiday theme this week. But it isn’t really too early to think about holiday gift-giving. Or about snagging a Christmas anthology for oneself for that matter. :)

My goal every year is to lower stress, increase joy.

One way my family has de-stressed Christmas is by making a mutual agreement NOT to exchange presents with extended family members. When we get together Christmas morning at my parents’ house, these are the rules. Every adult gets something from his or her spouse; every child from his/her parents; the grandparents can do what they want for grandchildren (they would anyway).

It’s easy on time and budget and best of all, a radical strike against the nauseating commercialism imposed on our culture during the holidays under a false guise of increasing family closeness.

Still… there are some things I want for Christmas, of which I’ve duly informed my personal Santa (he happens to be Jewish but does a great job in the role anyway).

This year, I’d love a copy of the 10th anniversary limited edition DVD of Pride & Prejudice, with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. As an alternate (I always have to give Santa choices) I would happily take a DVD of Persuasion, with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds.

The Research Nerd in me would like Life in Wellington’s Army, by Antony Brett-James and/or Wellington’s Rifles, by Mark Urban, among others. Sharpe videos are always a good idea, though Santa always wonders why I find them so intriguing. Santa does not share my passion for . . . um, history.

I’ve also informed Santa of the gaps in my collections of Laura Kinsale, Loretta Chase and Judith Ivory. I’m giving a copy of Julia Ross’s latest release, Clandestine, to my best friend and asking for one myself (will pick it up after Christmas if need be). I’d also like to try something by Anne Stuart. I have met her at conferences and enjoyed her warmth and humor and it’s positively a sin that I haven’t read one of her books yet.

Gourmet coffee, chocolate, candles, and artsy earrings always work for me, too.

Now for my dream wish list item: a Pause Button to make everything stop for a while so I can catch up. On manuscripts, house projects, my TBR list. Maybe I’d even take some time to paint my toenails…

So, for another chance at one of those 3 autographed copies of MISTLETOE KISSES, let us know any or all of the following:

What is your holiday shopping strategy? Any tips for stress reduction? What’s on your wish list? What’s your dream gift?

Elena
LADY DEARING'S MASQUERADE, RT Reviewers' Choice, Best Regency Romance of 2005
www.elenagreene.com

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS PIE

Because Janie asked for Regency-era recipes, I have translated one for everyone's entertainment! (Remember, at Risky Regencies, we aim to please.)

So here's an eighteenth century recipe for a Christmas pie which you might make if you're peckish one afternoon:

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS PIE (with modern editorial comments)

1. Bone a large turkey, a goose, a large fowl, a partridge, and a pigeon. (When you're done, you can give the bones to your children to play with.)
2. Open all of these birds down the back.
3. Season the inside of the turkey with mace, nutmeg, cloves, white pepper, and salt.
4. Put the goose inside the turkey, and season the inside of the goose in similar fashion.
5. In the same way, place the fowl in the goose, the partridge in the pear tree (sorry, got confused there a second! I mean the partridge in the fowl, of course), and the pigeon in the partridge, seasoning all the way.
6. Close them all up, and try your best to make it look just like one simple innocent turkey going about his business without lots of other folks inside him.
7. Case and bone a hare, and cut it into pieces along with six woodcocks, and five golden rings (sorry, lost myself again there -- I mean a boned moor game bird, of course!)
8. Take ten pounds of butter and a bushel of flour, and mush it into a paste. (This should take about two minutes. If it takes longer, you need to work out at the gym more often.)
9. Shape this into a gigantic pie crust.
10. Put some seasoning inside the crust. (No, it doesn't say what kind. I suggest cinnamon, because I know how to spell it. But maybe instant coffee would be nice too.)
11. Place Frankenstein's turkey inside the crust, in a supine position.
12. Put the hare by the turkey's left wing, and the game birds by its right. Or vice versa. It doesn't really matter. Come to think of it, isn't it about time the left wing and the right wing started unifying? So why don't you just take the hare pieces (no, not hairpieces!) and