Conversation with Jane Lockwood

Today we have as our Risky guest Jane Lockwood, whose first erotic historical, Forbidden Shores (Signet Eclipse), is released October 2. Your comment or question through Monday will enter you into a drawing for a signed copy of the book; the winner will be announced here on Tuesday.

Janet: Jane, welcome to the Riskies. I feel as though I know you already! Tell us about the book.

Jane: Forbidden Shores is about three people who each fall in love with the one person of the three who cannot love them back. I think I tend to see love as a catalyst, a powerful force that can be destructive as well as healing. Generally everything I write starts off with people who are quite happy as they are until they fall in love. Then they kick and scream as everything changes. It's set against the background of the abolitionist movement and takes place mostly on a Caribbean island; Clarissa, the heroine, actually quotes from The Tempest at one point, and Hero #2 (March) is the enigmatic, powerful ruler of the island, a sort of Prospero figure. And if you were really going to explore the analogy, Allen, Hero #1, is Caliban. (Oh, and by the way, it's much more explicit than the cover or back cover blurb suggests.)

Janet: What was your inspiration?

Jane: A brilliant book called Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild about the British abolitionist movement. Abolition was a hot, polarizing issue in Georgian England and full of conflict and sacrifice and passion, and I knew I wanted to write about abolitionists after I read it. I originally intended to set the book in England but my editor thought Quakers collecting signatures for petitions in the rain not nearly as sexy as sex on the beach of a Caribbean island.

Janet: So you had to deal with the issue of slavery in the book.

Jane: It was very painful and difficult to write about. Slaves working on sugar plantations were treated inhumanly and shamefully. I certainly didn't want to go into lurid details, but I didn't want to tone it down, and neither did I want to idealize the slaves who appear as secondary characters.

Janet: OK, let's talk about something safer--sex. You have a menage a trois--was that difficult to write? And since there are so many erotic romances with menages, how did you make yours different, or dare I say, risky?

Jane: After diligent research--[unseemly snorts of laughter]--I didn't want to make it too slick and multi-earth-moving. It's part crazy lust but it also represents the desperation of all three not getting what they really want and knowing that this is as close as they can get. So there's a fair amount of clumsiness and reluctance, but the heroine, whose idea it is, has the best time (my editor's suggestion).

Janet: What's the hardest thing about writing erotic romance?

Jane: I think you could have phrased that a little better. Really, finding other things for your characters to do; making them believable as people.

Janet: Is there any sort of sexual practice you'd feel uncomfortable writing about?

Jane: In this book, with its context, any sort of master/slave sex play. I guess I'm expected to say "no non-consensual sex" but I think once your characters are experimenting and exploring they may well do things they don't want to do--or think they didn't want to do.

Janet: Did you do any special research?

Jane: Not as much as I would have liked. For the sea voyage, I re-read a wonderful book by Eric Newby, The Last Grain Race, that gives an incredible portrait of life below decks on a sailing ship. Newby, who died last year, was the travel writer for the Observer in England, and in 1939 he sailed on a grain ship from Dublin to Australia on a ship that's now a restaurant in Philadelphia, the Moshulu. I also re-read The Wide Sargasso Sea, a book I find unsatisfying because both voices are Jean Rhys's (even though she has a wonderful voice). As well as some books on the history of the Caribbean, I found a couple of great websites: the Antigua & Barbuda Museum and Brycchan Carey's Links and Web Resources for Slavery, Abolition and Emancipation. I visited Bristol, now my favorite English city, and its wonderful (free!) museums. And I borrowed the wording for a manumission from Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative.

Janet: What's your favorite part of the book?

Jane: The chapter where Allen does his own laundry (a big no-no for a Georgian gentleman) and then climbs the mast of a ship (talk about phallic symbolism!).

Ask Jane questions about Forbidden Shores or writing erotic romance. I'll make sure she's here to answer them!

Unusual Muses

BTW, I'm starting this post with something totally unrelated to my topic, but I wanted to share this pic! I found it on a film costuming blog I sometimes visit, and it's the first glimpse of the Keira Knightley film The Duchess! Even though I wish they had cast someone else as Georgiana, I'm always excited about a chance to look at 18th century costumes.

And now for my regularly scheduled post! A few weeks ago I read a fun book by Maureen B. Adams, Shaggy Muses: The Dogs Who Inspired Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Bronte, Emily Dickinson, Edith Wharton, and Virginia Woolfe. While not exactly deep. ground-breaking scholarship, I loved the way it illuminated this aspect of the writers' lives, their very different relationships to their pets, and how their dogs provided not just companionship and distraction, but grounding during times of intense creativity and psychological upheaval.



Elizabeth Barrett Browning's spaniel Flush seemed to be a sort of conduit for her own emotions when she was confined to home as an "invalid"; in letters she often ascribed her own feelings to Flush, and thus made them safe to express. But he also made her feel more empowered when he was kidnapped by a band of evil dognappers and she went out herself and got him back! (I HATED those dognappers). Luckily for Flush, he got to end his life in Italy, running around the piazza with all the wild Italian dogs.

Emily Bronte's mastiff, Keeper, was weird dog for a fascinatingly weird person. He was enormous and often bad-tempered, fighting with the village dogs and such. But he wandered the moors with Emily at all hours, and was sweet as a kitten when she subdued him by beating him up when he got on the parsonage furniture. (Her sister Anne had a small spaniel, Flossy, who it seems was allowed to get on the furniture with impunity...) Keeper stayed close to Emily as she was dying, followed her funeral cortege to the church, and then spent the rest of his life lying outside her empty bedroom door.

Emily Dickinson also possessed a very large dog ("as big as myself," she wrote in a letter), a Newfoundland named Carlo that her father bought her for protection. He was too gentle for that, but he proved an excellent, laid-back, affectionate companion for the Very Intense poet. In my Google searches, I found that the Emily Dickinson House in Amherst even has Carlo Look-Alike Contests once a year!

Edith Wharton, on the other hand, had a pack of very tiny dogs, Papillons and Chihuhuas and Pekinese. Link was the last one, and he often sent invitations and letters in his own name to Edith's friends and guests. They traveled everywhere with her, a little, dancing, yapping pack.


Virginia Woolfe's attitude toward dogs seems to have been more prosaic than Wharton's! They weren't like her "babies," they often ran off or got into trouble, but they were still an important part of her life. Most of them seem to have been large hounds or mutts, but there was one expensive spaniel, a gift of her lover Vita Sackville-West. Woolfe even wrote Flush: A Biography about Barrett Browning's dog!

So, if you love pets and poetry as I do, this is a fun book! I showed some of the illustrations to my own dogs (Victoria the Pug, and Abigail the poodle) and they enjoyed it immensely. Though they now want to travel all over Europe with me, as Wharton's dogs did. :) I suppose I can't say my dogs are my "muses"--I've never written a story about a bluestocking poodle falling in love with a French poodle comte, for instance. But they ARE a huge comfort when I'm blocked in a story and feel like I Will Never Write Again, or when I've gotten a bad review and am feeling down. They sit on my lap and give me kisses, assuring me that they love me and think I am a great writer and fabulous mommy no matter what that nasty reviewer says. I couldn't do without them.

Do you have your own pets? Or know any good Pets In History stories (I always love those!)?

Happy Saturday! Take your dogs for a nice long walk (maybe not your cats, though--my cats would never let me put a leash on them, but they are excellent companions and comforts, too)

Friday Nonsense

Megan is swamped and unable to blog today, so here is a little nonsense for a Risky Regencies Friday.

A Google Alert came in to my email. I google alert many things-- my book titles, my author names, Gerard Butler. Today an alert came in for Diane Perkins. It led to a blog by Elisa Rolle who led to a website that promoted Italian books. (I can't make that link work anymore, though. You can give it a try) This month the releases were by these authors: Jeanne Savery, Sophia Nash (my pal), Diane Perkins, Sara Blayne, Lois Greiman & Sandra Heath

Diane Perkins! My alter ego!

I had to go back through my records to see that, yes indeed, The Marriage Bargain by Diane Perkins had sold to an Italian publisher. So here, Risky Regencies Readers, is the Italian bookcover and what the website said about the book:

785. Diane Perkins - Contratto di nozze (The Marriage Bargain)
Un matrimonio per interesse può diventare un amore per sempre?
Emma Chambers accetta di sposare Spencer Keenan. All’apparenza sembra un ottimo affare per entrambi: Emma otterrà completa libertà, Spencer avrà chi si occuperà della sua tenuta. Ma quando il giovane viene gravemente ferito in un duello, Emma è al suo fianco per assisterlo: la timida fanciulla che ha preso in moglie per convenienza è diventata la donna che ha sempre sognato. Riuscirà ora a convincerla del proprio amore e a farsi concedere una seconda possibilità?
Nota di MarchRose: Un tenero e commovente romanzo regency sul tema degli amanti separati dalle vicende della vita che si ritrovano ad anni di distanza, più maturi, diffidenti ed amareggiati ma anche più forti ed appassionati. La Perkins, che scrive anche sotto il nome di Diane Gaston, è un’autrice molto abile e sensibile, capace di creare personaggi sfaccettati e davvero credibili dal punto di vista umano, le cui vicende riescono a coinvolgere emotivamente in profondità il lettore.
Livello di sensualità “caldo” (warm)

Nice, huh?

Do you Google Alert something? Care to 'fess up?

Here's how to set up your very own Google Alerts

Cheers!
And do not forget to join us for our Jane Lockwood interview on Sunday. Doesn't Jane look familiar????

A Visit to Montpelier

Last weekend I went to an amazing historic house in Virginia, Montpelier, the home of James Madison.

One reason I loved it so much was that the house is under major reconstruction. One notable owner of the house was the Dupont family, who bought it in 1900. The last Dupont to own the house left it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation with instructions that the house was to be restored to Madison's time. This was a bit of a problem. The Duponts had converted the original 22-room house to a 55-room house (with real plumbing). So the trick was to get from this:


to this (illustration courtesy of Montpelier Foundation and PartSense Inc.):
and this is how things look from the outside at the moment:
Inside, I found it absolutely thrilling. The rooms are down to lathe and some original plaster as the house is restored to its former 1820s glory. Tiny fragments of original materials have been found (one amazing find was in a rodent's nest, which had become a time capsule thanks to a scrap of paper with Madison's handwriting, plus some fabric and wallpaper). Everything is being re-created as it was in Madison's time, using historically-correct materials and tools. There's a huge amount of documentation too, as Jefferson, Monroe and Madison were all building at the same time and exchanging letters and ideas.

The house is in a beautiful location at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, only two hours from Washington DC but it feels like another world. It also has beautiful grounds, with some trees dating from Madison's time, including some cedars that were brought as a gift when Lafayette visited.

At one point we were standing in a room that frankly looked a mess--it was the original dining room, and our docent said something like "Imagine the greatest political conversations of all time when Lafayette, Jefferson, and Monroe visited Madison." I got shivers down my spine.

You can see a blog of the restoration of Montpelier here.

Try and visit the house before restoration if you're as fascinated by historic construction and restoration as I am. It's due to open officially in about a year's time. But the docent also told us that one room will be left in its current lathe-and-plaster condition for visitors to see how it looked before.

Do you have a favorite historic site? Tell us about it!

Enter to win copies of my books at longandshortreviews.com this week, and meet my dirty-minded alter ego Jane Lockwood this Sunday!

Sweet or Spicy or None of the Above?

First, this post is NOT about the relative merits of romances called "sweet" versus romances called "spicy". It's about how the terms themselves. I've disliked the designations of "sweet" versus "spicy" (or sometimes "hot") for a long time. Somewhere online I recently saw "sweet" equated to "clean" and decided I wanted to blog about it.

I realize the industry needs an easy way to describe the level of sexuality in a romance, especially since some readers (unlike me) have strong preferences one way or the other.

But I still don't like the terms.

"Sweet" can translate to "cute" or "safe". It doesn't do justice to the fiercely clever characterizations and witty dialogue in a Jane Austen or a Georgette Heyer. Or to romances that have dark themes but don't happen to take the characters to the bedroom.

"Spicy" or "hot" makes me think of Buffalo chicken wings but my bigger concern is this: that I've seen "sweet" romance defined as romance that focuses on the emotional development of the relationship--implying others focus on the sex alone. "Spicy" or "hot" just don't do justice to the body/mind/soul sort of lovemaking you find in a Laura Kinsale or Julia Ross.

It's hard to think of better terms though. I can come up with definitions but it's hard to come up with single words that don't either imply "sweet" romances are uptight or "hot" romances are trashy. "Clean" vs "dirty"? "Chaste" vs "sexy"? See what I mean? At least both "sweet" and "spicy" can be thought of as good things.

But two terms aren't enough anymore.

All About Romance has a Sensuality Ratings Guide that defines levels from "Kisses", "Subtle", "Warm", "Hot and "Burning". Their definitions look useful and pretty optimal to me, despite the lingering chicken wing connotations.

So what do you think? Are you content with the old definitions of "sweet" vs "spicy"? Do you have other ideas to suggest?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

AUSTEN TREK, THE NEXT GENERATION: Borg and Prejudice

AUSTEN TREK: or, If Jane Austen Wrote Star Trek...


"I must," said Captain Picard, "tender my apology, with great sincerity, for telling you (during that time in which I was a member of the Borg Collective) that you would be assimilated."

"On the contrary, it taught me to hope," said Commander Riker, "as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before. I knew enough of your disposition to be certain that, had you absolutely, irrevocably decided to assimilate me, you would not have spent nearly so much time boasting of the fact."

Captain Picard coloured and laughed as he replied, "I see you know me very well."

"And I, too," continued Riker, "wish to apologize, for my vigorous and whole-hearted attempt to end your life at that time."

"What did you say or do, that I did not deserve? For, though your arguments that my humanity was irrecoverable were ill-founded, formed on mistaken premises, my behaviour to you at the time, had merited the severest reproof. It was unpardonable. I cannot think of it without abhorrence."

"We will not quarrel for the greater share of blame annexed to that stardate," said Riker. "The conduct of neither, if strictly examined, will be irreproachable; but since then, we have both, I hope, improved in civility, if not humanity."

"I cannot be so easily reconciled to myself!" exclaimed Picard. "The recollection of what I then said,--'I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life, as it has been, is over. From this time forward, you will service us.'--of my conduct, my manners, my expressions during the whole of it, is now, and has been many months, inexpressibly painful to me. Your reproof, so well applied, I shall never forget: 'Mr. Worf, fire.' Those were your words. You know not, you can scarcely conceive, how they have tortured me;--though it was some time, I confess, before I was reasonable enough to allow their justice."

"I was certainly very far from expecting my order to fire to make so strong an impression."

"I can easily believe it," said Picard. "You thought me then devoid of every human feeling, I am sure you did. The turn of your countenance I shall never forget, as you said 'Then take your best shot, Locutus, because we are about to intervene.'"

"Oh! do not repeat what I then said. And think no more of any unfortunate utterances which you made whilst you were Borg. The feelings of you as Locutus, and you now, are so widely different from each other, that every unpleasant circumstance attending your erstwhile collectiveness, ought to be forgotten."


And remember: next Tuesday, October 2, our Jane Austen Movie Club will be discussing the Patricia Rozema version of MANSFIELD PARK! So bring your opinions, and get ready for a hot debate!


Cara
Cara King, author of MY LADY GAMESTER, and fan of Tea, Earl Grey, Hot

Winners, We've Got Winners

We've got lots and lots of winners....

I have the great pleasure of announcing the winners for our Risky Regencies Second Anniversary celebration. And there are a lot of 'em.

But first....
The winner of Claudia Dain's October book, The Courtesan's Daughter, is...Maggie Robinson!

Congratulations, Maggie!



Our Weekly Winners are:

Monday KimW!

Kim, you win Diane's hardback/bookclub version of The Marriage Bargain, A Reputable Rake (a rake, not a book) and a hand-embroidered handkerchief for your sniffles.

Tuesday Lois!

Lois, this is such poetic justice! It is too funny that you will have to make a DECISION on which prize you want from Cara:

PRIZE A: A new, never-read, still-in-its-shrinkwrap softbound copy of A PASSION FOR PERFORMANCE: SARAH SIDDONS AND HER PORTRAITISTS published by the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Or

PRIZE B: A Regency novel grab-bag, including two copies of Cara's award-winning MY LADY GAMESTER, signed and dedicated to whomever you choose; used paperback copies (varying amounts of wear) of Carla Kelly's SUMMER CAMPAIGN, Carla Kelly's MISS CHARTLEY'S GUIDED TOUR, Jasmine Cresswell's LORD CARRISFORD'S MISTRESS (a Fawcett Coventry Regency from 1980), and Patricia C. Wrede's MAIRELON THE MAGICIAN (a fantasy novel set in Regency England.)

Wednesday Haven!

Haven, you have another choice. Either Elena's most recent release, LADY DEARING'S MASQUERADE (Romantic Times Top Pick and Best Regency Romance for 2005) or HIS BLUSHING BRIDE, an early anthology Elena participated in, along with authors Alice Holden and Regina Scott (also a Romantic Times Top Pick).

Thursday diane!

(not me, Diane, but diane diane, who commented on Janet's blog)

diane, you don't have to decide. You get to win both a signed copy of Janet's Dedication and The Rules of Gentility.

Friday AndreaW!

Andrea, your prize is a copy of Megan's book, A Singular Lady, and a DVD of The Lady And The Highwayman, a Barbara Cartland adaptation starring Hugh Grant, and one of the worst movies Megan has ever seen. It is kind of her to dump...er...donate this DVD to you. And...Megan hints at something else she will include in your prize package.

Saturday doglady!

doglady, you win Amanda's prize, an autographed copy of her August book A Notorious Woman (look for its sequel in April '08, to find out what happens to Nicolai), plus a fancy beaded bookmark from Ganz (Trust her, it's pretty)


That's it for the weekday prizes. Congratulations, ladies!

Now for the Grand Prize winner...Drum roll, please...


Kim Giglio!

Congratulations, Kim! You have won our Grand Prize, a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Our heartfelt Risky thanks to all of you who participated in our week-long Anniversary party. We are the real winners to have readers like all of you. Thank you all for making this the best Risky Regencies week ever!

Winners, send an email to riskies@yahoo.com to tell us where to mail your prizes. Include your real name and any other details we may have requested, like which prize you picked or how you want the books signed.

All our winners were picked entirely at random, just like Bertie told us to do. To see more of Bertie, stop by Risky Regencies often. You never know when he'll show up.

The Riskies Welcome Claudia Dain!

"This cleverly orchestrated, unconventional romp through the glittering world of the Regency elite-both admirable and reprehensible-is filled with secrets, graced with intriguing characters, laced with humor, and plotted with Machiavellian flair. A joy to read..." The Library Journal, on The Courtesan's Daughter


Risky Regencies is pleased to talk to Claudia Dain, whose new book The Courtesan's Daughter is an October release from Berkley!


Hello, Claudia! First things first--tell us about this book!

I wish I was good at talking about my own books, but I seem to lack that ability! Uh, it's a Regency romance? How's that for descriptive! I can tell you that it took me two full years of research and pondering to create the character of the courtesan, but once I had her in my head, The Courtesan's Daughter demanded to be written and I've been a captive ever since. Believe me, I have no complaints! This world and the people who inhabit it have consumed me completely and I love them for it.

The Courtesan's Daughter is about a young woman who wants to make a good marriage, but is hampered by her mother's salacious reputation. Lady Caroline's prospects for a suitable match are severely limited by her mother's infamous past. Before Sophia Dalby became a countess and entered London society, she was a highly desired courtesan. What man of title, position, and wealth would marry a courtesan's daughter? Sophia's solution is to purchase a husband for Caroline---in the person of the Earl of Ashdon, agreeing to settle his gambling debts if he will take her daughter's hand. Insulted, Caroline refuses the match. She won't have a husband who was bought for her.

But after meeting the fiery Lord Ashdon, Caroline begins to wonder if it wouldn't be so very satisfying to have him pay for *her*, perhaps with a priceless pearl necklace? Who better to turn to for advice than a former courtesan? With Sophia pulling the strings, Lord Ashdon may get more than he bargained for and Caroline may get just what she wants.

And this is the first in a series?

This is most definitely a connected series, though each book can stand alone. I have a complete character arc in my head for Sophia which will span many, many books (fingers crossed) so it's a good thing I'm enjoying this world so much.

The next book in the series is out in May of 2008 and is titled The Courtesan's Secret. Once again, we have a young woman of title and privilege who needs just the right sort of help to bring the right man to heel and to the altar. Sophia Dalby is exactly the right sort of help. Of course, when Sophia's involved, you're never sure exactly what's going to happen next.

How did you think of writing this particular book?

I'm not really sure how ideas come together in the mind of a writer, but it is a fascinating process. A little bit of this, a snatch of that, and an idea is born. I do remember thinking that I wanted to go in a different direction, to cover some history of the period that isn't given a lot of attention in general, so instead of focusing on the battles taking place in Europe, I turned my attention to the American continent. It was a volatile age, especially for what was becoming the British Empire, and there was turbulence on almost every continent.

I (Amanda!) have always really loved the way your books "transport" the reader to another time and place. What kind of research did you do for this book?

I do love a satisfying setting! I spend a lot of time reading, immersing myself in the facts of the time period, but also in the cultural mindset of the period. This is key, I think. What's the point of creating a perfect description of a carriage if you can't get the worldview right? What people think, how they think, how they act, how they feel things changes through time. Getting that right, that sense of how that character you've created would behave and think in their precise moment in history, that's essential to me. I have to have that down before I can write a word.

And I love doing the research. It feeds every creative cell I have. I think I must have read 50 history books before I started The Courtesan's Daughter and sections of 100 more. I'm still researching, reading non-fiction all the time. It's absolutely essential to my process; it's a way of ushering me into that world and every history book I read gives me a new idea for either plot or character. I gave up having a book budget a long time ago!

A book budget? What is this unfamiliar phrase?? As you know, we do love "risky" books here! What is the greatest creative risk you've taken in this book?

Oh, this is a great question. I definitely felt that I was taking a huge risk with The Courtesan's Daughter, but I'm not sure I can explain how or why (because I'm terrible at describing my own writing, remember?). The tone of the book is very bawdy, humorously and overtly sexual, with lots of dialog loaded with innuendo. There aren't any poor vicar's daughters, no disinherited sons, no spies, no starving widows. The heroines aren't sweet and the heroes aren't rakes in need of redemption. You can see why I was nervous!

What is your writing process? Are you a plotter or a pantser?

My writing process seems to veer off the normal (sane) path in that once I have the main character formed I sit down and start writing. In The Courtesan's Daughter, the only character I knew inside and out was Sophia. Caroline and Ashdon developed as they appeared on my computer screen. In fact, the only thing I know when I start to write is who the heroine is. The hero just appears. Scary, but what can I do? That's how it works for me.

Because of this strange mental defect of mine, I can't write a synopsis. It kills the story before it's even been formed. I've had to admit to myself that I can't think my way through a story, I have to *write* my way through it.

And what's next for you?

I'm going to keep writing the next book in The Courtesan Series. I've finished The Courtesan's Secret as well as a novella for an anthology titled Private Places that covers one night in Sophia's life as a working courtesan in Georgian England. That was fun! I'm currently at work on the third book of the series, untitled as yet, and once again being surprised on every page by what's happening next. I thought I knew who the hero was. Turns out, the heroine picked someone else. I had no idea she was so headstrong!

Thank you so much for giving me the chance to ramble on about The Courtesan's Daughter. I've had such fun!

Be sure and comment for a chance to win a copy of The Courtesan's Daughter! And visit Claudia's website at http://www.claudiadain.com

Two Years Old (And Not Looking a Day Over Six Months)

Wow, I can't believe it's been two years since we started posting here at Risky Regencies! It seems like only a few weeks (and yet Saturday always seems to sneak up on me, and I have to scramble for something to post about). I've loved meeting so many new friends, having a place to share a love of history (and cute Austen movie heroes), celebrate new book releases and writing milestones, commiserate on things like Hair Color Disasters, and just be silly sometimes (or maybe the silly bit is just me?). Anyway, I've loved being a part of Risky Regencies, and hope we have many more anniversaries to celebrate in the future!




My prize is an autographed copy of my August book A Notorious Woman (look for its sequel in April '08, to find out what happens to Nicolai), plus a fancy beaded bookmark from Ganz (I don't have a pic, but trust me, it's pretty!).

It was hard to pick some "favorite" posts! Once I started looking back on them, I realized that what I said about scrambling to find topics every Saturday was all too true. But here are a few I enjoyed:

Megan and Amanda Chat About Amanda's New Book!
(Because I always get nervous when a new baby, er, book makes its appearance on the shelves, and chatting with another Risky about its debut made it far less painful!)

Hair Matters
(If you want to know just how shallow I really can be--plus, I took great comfort from hearing about other people's hair disasters)

Picturing Characters
(I always love hearing how people "see" characters! And I love searching the Web for pics of hunky actors and beautiful costumes and calling it research)

Carnival!
(Party! Need I say more? Also, I love sharing research tidbits with people I know will appreciate them--unlike, say, my family, who is very tired of hearing all about women in the French Revolution and how to make Venetian masks or violet perfume. Love of research also leads me to the next post, because a smackdown between Baroque composers is always something to see...) Gluckists vs. Piccinists

Be sure and vote for your favorite post! And, to win our Grand Prize of a $25 gift certificate to Amazon (wish I was eligible for this one) sign up for our Risky newsletter at riskies@yahoo.com.
Be sure and put "Newsletter" in the subject line, and we'll send (brief) updates of Riskies' releases and news, upcoming guests, and fun prizes.

Visit us tomorrow, when we conclude our anniversary week with a visit from Claudia Dain! Hear all about her new release The Courtesan's Daughter (and comment for the chance to win a copy!)

And thank you for making Risky Regencies so much fun! It's been the BEST two years...

Megan's Two Years Of Acting Self-Absorbedly

Hello! And . . .Welcome to the Risky Regencies Second Anniversary Celebration!

As usual (see below), I am pressed for time--laundry calls!--but I had too much fun wandering through the past two years' archive. Boy, at the risk of sounding even more solipsistic (see below, part two), we are a fun group of gals. On to the details . . .




Leave a comment on this post anytime before the end of this week saying which of my [meandering, solipsistic, unhistorical] posts you like the best, and you'll be entered to win today's prize!





My prize is a copy of my book, A Singular Lady, and a DVD of The Lady And The Highwayman, a Barbara Cartland adaptation starring Hugh Grant, and one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I should include a shot or two to help get you through it; I'll work on that part. There might be more prizes, depending on what I unearth (ooh! I thought of something else I can include!), but that's the gist of it.




In reviewing the past two years of my posts, I have realized two things:
1) I talk about being tired and not having any idea what to post a lot. I mean a lot

and

2) My fellow Riskies are way more interesting and less self-absorbed than I.

So since all that is true, and I need more coffee, let's get to it!




One of my most fun posts was actually last weeks, where I appended "...in the Regency!" to all sorts of pop culture. We dished about mantitty here, did Regency haikus over here, I wrote a heartfelt Mother's Day card to my Dad right here (sniff!), and talked about romance conversion kits here.

I think the next two years I will strive not to talk about myself, sleep deprivation, coffee, scatteredbrainness, and slogging through writing as much. I will not promise not to write about Clive Owen, Sean Bean, plot inspiration, books I love, authors I love, music that resonates, and fairy tales nearly as often.

Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it.


And don't forget to sign up for our Risky newsletter, if you haven't done so yet--All subscribers at the end of this week will have a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate! (To subscribe, send an e-mail to riskies@yahoo.com with NEWSLETTER in the subject line.)

Megan

Janet's faves, raves, and peculiarities

I found it quite hard to pick my favorite posts--as I browsed through the last year I'd find something, congratulate myself on how clever I was, and find another Risky had written it!

We had a promotion (and another contest, long since won and gone) a year ago, when we all blogged about Pride & Prejudice, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the release of the Firth/Ehle version. I remember wailing to the other Riskies that I was running out of ideas--one of the disadvantages of posting later in the week, of course (Megan and Amanda didn't complain nearly as much as I did, though). I eventually hit on the idea of Who gets the happiest HEA? in which I imagined what would happen to the various couples, not just Lizzie and Darcy, after the book ends--and you all had some very creative responses.

A lot of our posts here are research-related and here's one from December 2006--Heavenly Voices, about the fashion for castrato singers in the eighteenth- and nineteenth- centuries, and absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. There's a link to a video of mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux singing some of the extremely demanding and virtuosic music written for the great Farinelli and a youtube clip from the movie Farinelli. We also like to celebrate anniversaries, and I wrote about the abolitionists for the 200th anniversary (more or less) of the Slave Trade Act of March 25, 1807 in Men and Brothers--a post dear to my heart since Jane Lockwood's book Forbidden Shores, in stores October 2, is about abolitionists (and sex).

I also like to write about new book discoveries--I enjoyed Ian Kelly's biograpy of the first superstar chef Antonin Careme, Cooking for Kings, which led to a discussion of food, recipes, and cooking experiments. And I blogged about Dickens' Our Mutual Friend, a re-read for me, because I love to talk about Dickens and apparently so do a lot of other people.

And here are a couple of posts in which I let rip, sort of. If in doubt, make them laugh, so I concocted a quiz about what type of hero you are. And my final favorite in which I whine and complain and quote Orwell and D. H. Lawrence and get on my usual hobby-horses--if you've met me you'll have heard all of this before--Cliches and the English Language.


So come chat or vote, and you could win a signed copy of Dedication and The Rules of Gentility.

Don't forget our great big super contest, in which a lucky winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift certificate. All you have to do to enter is sign up for the Riskies' newsletter by sending an email to riskies@yahoo.com with NEWSLETTER in the subject line, and if you're signed up already, you don't have to do anything but wait. Good luck!

Elena's Favorites

Wow, Cara's a tough act to follow! But even if I haven't had people spluttering coffee or tea all over their keyboards I've had a blast blogging here.

One of my favorite topics is the writer's life. I can't think of a nicer community in which to discuss some of my writer quirks and neuroses. I hope some of these posts have inspired or informed, or at least amused. Or perhaps reassured fellow writers they're not alone and that it's OK to be different, as when we talked about Elena's Writing Bookshelf or slow versus fast writers in Tempus Fugit.

Another thing I never tire of is chatting about both the popular and the less well known facets of "our" period. I couldn't imagine a nicer group of Regencyphiles with whom to share my obsession! Some of my favorite Regency-related posts include Regency Naming Hell and Duking it out. (BTW the picture here is of a group of Bond Street Beaus including several real historical dukes. Not quite as hunky as the fictional ones, I'm afraid!)

But maybe my favorite thing to discuss is storytelling. I love to hear what other people think of certain types of characters, certain types of plots, etc..., such as in Happily Ever After, Mary Sues and Gender Bending.



So please let us know which of my posts you enjoyed most (either from the ones I mentioned or any from this past year) and why.

I'm offering a choice of prizes to a winner chosen at random from the comments. The winner may choose either my most recent release, LADY DEARING'S MASQUERADE (Roman