Perfumed Court

So, last week I turned in a book to Grand Central Publishing, came up with a new contract at Harlequin Historicals, am now thinking about Christmas for a new novella, and have eaten far too many Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs while sniffling as I watched the last scene of North and South over and over. I need to get motivated again, and what better way than with yummy-smelling perfumes.

One of my favorite books in the "life at Versailles" pile in my writing space (as opposed to the "life in the Elizabethan theater" pile, or "life in the Regency" pile) is Elisabeth de Feydeau's A Scented Palace. It's a biography of Marie-Antoinette's favorite perfumier, Jean-Louis Fargeon, but it's also a description of how perfumes were made in the period, how essential oils were extracted, what scents were "fashionable" at what time. It's a fascinating story, and when I visited Versailles last autumn I loved trying to imagine how these perfumes smelled.

And now I don't have to imagine any more! DSH perfumes (Dawn Spencer Hurwitz--see her fabulous website here) has a new collection called The Perfumed Court. These scents are based on Fargeon's own recipes, and made with all-natural ingredients that were available in the 18th century (except for the animalic notes like ambergris and musk, which are illegal now). When I read about these scents, I had to run out and order some samples immediately.

I didn't order all of them, just the ones that appealed to me the most. Here are the results of much rapturous sniffing and sampling! (Warning: these results are entirely amateur and individual!)

Eau de la Favourite: Based on a scent created for Madame du Barry it opens with orange and lemon flowers, very fresh, and quickly becomes a powedery iris with a hint of violet leaf (which adds smoothness), and even a hint of cognac (or at least that what it smells like to me!). This is a light, fun smell, like a summertime party.

Eau de Coquette: This was also Madame du Barry's, but unlike Favourite it's made for a winter's evening of seduction! It's very rich, opening with notes of angelica and nutmeg, then going into rose, jasmine, orange flowers, and ambergris (the faux kind).




Cyprian: This one is kind of unusual, as it's derived from a recipe for wig pomade! That sounds weird, I know, but it's suprisingly fresh and powdery, not too sweet or cloying. It opens with Bergamot and green herbs, moving into that violet (which I love), and ending with a sort of citrus-powder.








Reinette: Madame de Pompadour's perfume! The heart is a hyacinth (said to be her favorit flower), with notes of carnation and tuberose. Very floral and romantic.

Mille-fleurs bouquet: is also Pompadour's! The title says it all--lots of flowers, a huge bouquet. The opening lavender/lemon cleanness, moves into roses, vanilla, geranium leaf, violet, vetiver, and probably lots of things I can't quite make out...











Eau de Trianon: My favorite of all! I loved exploring the Trianon and its beautiful gardens, and this perfume seems to encapsulate it so well. It's a soft green/floral herbal, with notes of rose, jasmine, orris root (iris), and violet. Very summery and elegant. I think I'll buy a full bottle of this one!

I had tremendous fun imagining what the ladies who originally wore these scents would have been wearing, and where they would have been going, as they sat at their dressing tables and dabbed on their perfume from gorgeous bottles.



Who are some of your favorite historical women? What perfumes do you imagine for them? Or what's your own favorite scent? (I always like to give the heroines I'm writing their own perfumes, too!)

Lobster Salad and Champagne

I'm obsessed by food...
The reason? I'm back on my diet after months of uncontrolled eating that included jelly beans, skittles, pretzels, triskets, and whatever else I wanted to eat. The result? Gaining back all I'd lost last year and then some.

I've been reading about different kinds of diets, even though I know I'll go back to using Sparkpeople.com to count calories. I was reminded of Lord Byron making a vinegar diet all the rage. I never believed the vinegar story. I thought that was something he just made up. The following reminiscence of Samuel Rogers supported that idea:

When we sat down to dinner, I asked Byron if he would take soup ? " No ; he never took soup."—Would he take some fish ? " No ; he never took fish."— Presently I asked if he would eat some mutton ? " No ; he never ate mutton."—I then asked if he would take a glass of wine ? " No ; he never tasted wine."—It was now necessary to inquire what he did eat and drink ; and the answer was, " Nothing but hard biscuits and soda-water." Unfortunately, neither hard biscuits nor soda-water were at hand ; and he dined upon potatoes bruised down on his plate and drenched with vinegar.—My guests stayed till very late, discussing the merits of Walter Scott and Joanna Baillie.—Some days after, meeting Hobhouse, I said to him, " How long will Lord Byron persevere in his present diet ? " He replied, "Just as long as you continue to notice it."—I did not then know, what I now know to be a fact,— that Byron, after leaving my house, had gone to a Club in St. James's Street and eaten a hearty meat- supper. Reminiscences and Table-talk of Samuel Rogers

This fits perfectly with my impression of Lord Byron as being narcissistic and needing to call attention to himself.

But it turns out Byron suffered the same struggles as I'm facing. He was taller than I imagined at 5'10" and his weight fluctuated between 133 pounds, which sounds very thin (this is not like me), to 200 pounds (I'm not there yet). His battle with weight began when he entered Cambridge. In 1811 he began using cider vinegar to lose weight. Turns out Hippocrates used vinegar as a health tonic, so Byron's use of it was not original.

Throughout his life Byron alternated between severely restricted eating to gorging himself. He most certainly had an eating disorder. In 1816, when in Switzerland with the Shelleys, his diet was:

A thin slice of bread, with tea, at breakfast — a light, vegetable dinner, with a bottle or two of Seltzer water, tinged with vin de Grave, and in the evening, a cup of green tea, without milk or sugar, formed the whole of his sustenance. The pangs of hunger he appeased by privately chewing tobacco and smoking cigars.

His diet may have been a factor in his death. He experienced a "fit" which he believed could be prevented by a strict diet of toast, vegetables, and cheese. Instead it may have weakened him.

I certainly will not be following such a rigid diet. I record my eating at Sparkpeople.com and stay within their caloric guidelines.
Again.

Byron did have advice for women dieting. He said:

A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be lobster salad and Champagne, the only true feminine and becoming viands.

Lobster salad and champagne??
I am sooo there.

This Wednesday The Unlacing of Miss Leigh, my Undone eShort Story, will be available at eHarlequin.com. Get it now!

Keira reminded me I should say that The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor will be available on eHarlequin.com on Weds, April 1. They always release a month early for mail order.

Scheduling Changes

Just a quick notice to say Amanda will now be posting on Tuesdays! Watch for even more interviews, giveaways, and special events on weekends...

And this weekend she is being slothful, eating Easter candy and watching North and South over and over.

They're Fine, But I Just Don't Care

Last weekend, my Spouse and I got sucked into watching Band of Brothers, a WWII mini-series starring Damian Lewis and a bunch of other actors who'll have you pointing at the screen going, "I know that guy! What was he in?"

When I first heard about it, I thought it would be a big hunk of cheese: Produced by Steven Spielberg, augmented by Tom Hanks, fresh on the heels of Saving Private Ryan.

Boy, was I wrong.

The characterization is amazing, the individual soldiers' stories make the history totally come alive. And you care about these people in a heart-wrenching way. You care about the characters as though you know them personally.

This week, I also saw Charlotte Gray, a movie starring Cate Blanchett and Billy Crudup about a British woman in WWII who goes to France (apparently it was WWII week at Chez Frampton). The acting was good, the story was interesting, but I just didn't care--because I didn't care that much about the characters. There wasn't that moment of connection, as there was in Band of Brothers. And this was true, even though the story was romantic, and Crudup is hawt, and the film has nearly as much war drama as BoB.


So what made the difference? I don't know, but if I could figure out just an iota of it, I would be selling books by the thousands. When you fell in love with Jane Eyre, or Scarlett O'Hara, or Elizabeth Bennet, was it because of their individual stories? I would guess not; I think it's because something the author did caused you to connect with the characters in a powerful way.

Many times lately, I've put down a book and decided not to finish it because even though the writing was good, and the story had some unresolved questions I might have been interested in finding out the answer to, I just didn't care about the characters. I didn't care if they fell in love, or resolved their conflict, or whatever. And this is true even if the writing is fine (I have a few books by fave authors I've never finished because of this).

As I am in the process of editing, I am asking myself--many times--'will someone care about these people? Have I done a good enough job of selling their distinct individuality, their passion, their specialness so readers are compelled to finish?'

Caring about the characters--or not--is my deal-breaker in terms of reading a book. Do you share that? Do you have other deal-breakers? Which characters have you cared about the most?

Thanks,

Megan

Happy birthday Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, was born on this day in 1904.

Although he published the book in 1949, his interest in mythology, particularly Native American mythology, was sparked by a visit as a kid to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show at Madison Square Garden.

It's from his work that the concept of the Hero's Journey derives, something Campbell describes as

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

Yes, it sounds like Tolkien, but I love it as a reality check for writing fiction, and one of the few writing books I like is Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey.

Here are a few more quotes from Campbell I thought you'd enjoy. To my very great amusement, when I followed the link to Campbell quotes, the first thing I read was:

Sensuality Redefined
The New
Push Up
Demi Bra

with an appropriate illustration, before it rearranged itself as an ad at the side of the page. Here are the real Campbell quotes:

Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.

Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.

Love is a friendship set to music.

I'm off fairly soon to the New England Romance Writers Let Your Imagination Take Flight conference, where I'm doing a workshop on servants, signing, hanging out with other writers, and shutting myself away to write.

Pam Rosenthal, who was nominated for a Rita (go Pam!) for The Edge of Impropriety, is having a contest--the prize, a copy of my August 2009 release A Most Lamentable Comedy. Go read an excerpt and enter now!

What are you up to? Reading, writing, nominated for a Golden Heart or Rita? Tell us!

It Was Much Easier When I Just Had To Shoot People, By Eileen Dreyer

Don't get me wrong. I'm still shooting people. I'm just doing it with dueling pistols and muskets instead of MP5s and Sig-Sauers.

My life used to be so simple. I wrote modern-day romance, romantic suspense, and straight suspense. It was fun. It was satisfying. As a trauma nurse with a forensic background, it was relatively easy to research. Call a friend who's a cop. Call a friend who's a medical examiner. (Yes, I have good friends...) And if that wasn't enough, I figured out a way to play with it. I took Police Citizen's Academy, Death Investigation Training, and FBI Citizen's Academy (site of my proudest achievement! Amid all the cop and military types, I won a blue ribbon in the MP5. I keep the medal hanging in my kitchen so my children never forget).

But for a long time, I've had this itch that SWAT training didn't satisfy. I blame it on Melinda Helfer, legendary reviewer at RT. She saw I had developed a fondness for Regency romance, and said "Eileen, you need to write a Regency!" I laughed. You see, I long ago resigned myself to the fact that I suck at research. The kind you have to wade into books to get, since anybody who knew anything about it was already dead. I was a trauma nurse--I had no idea how to work in a library!

Not only that, I was finally diagnosed with ADD (I seem to be the last to know), which means organizing all that information and picking out the pertinent bits was way beyond me. So, there I was, happily decimating the population of St. Louis in a series of suspense stories under the name Eileen Dreyer, and this idea for a trilogy of Regency-era romances came to me full-blown (thanks, Melinda!). It wouldn't leave me alone. It talked to me. The characters took shape. They demanded that attention be paid. But I kept saying, "No, no, later. I have things to do."

Funny how that can be resolved. For me, the suspense market temporarily dried up. And my new heroines, who I had dubbed The Three Graces, said, "Really what you want to learn about is Waterloo. And early 19th century undergarments!" I protested fruitlessly. "But I can't call anyone who was there! I'd have to read a book!"

And God said, "Let there be the Internet. And Wellbutrin." (Which gave me the focus to actually read non-fiction books. My new favorite is Dancing Toward Waterloo by Nick Ffolkes). Clever, isn't She? I can't tell you how much fun I'm having. History really does fascinate me. Not only that, I've become a card-carrying member of the Anachronism Club, which means I pride myself on my acquaintance with Regency mores and habits.

And, since the first book begins the night before Waterloo, I still get to decimate populations. I still get to have suspense and sex, and the absolutely accurate research that is my hallmark over in Suspenseland.

And early 19th century undergarments.

How cool is that?
You can visit Eileen's website (and learn more about her books!) here...

Jane Austen's BUFFY

And now, from the mad mind that brought you Austen Trek and Jane Austen's Batman, we have


Jane Austen's BUFFY; or, if Jane Austen had written Buffy the Vampire Slayer....


Mr. Giles turned his eyes on Miss Buffy Summers. "I can guess the subject of your reverie."

"I should imagine not."

"You are considering how insupportable it would be to pass many evenings in the presence of a vampire without being able to place a stake within his chest--and indeed I am quite of your opinion. I was never more annoyed! Their love of blood, and their eccentric dentistry--the villainy, and yet the arch dialogue of all those people! What would I give to hear your strictures on them!"

"You conjecture is totally wrong, I assure you. My mind was more agreeably engaged. I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a handsome vampire can bestow."

Mr. Giles immediately fixed his eyes on her face, and desired she would tell him what vampire had the credit of inspiring such reflections. Miss Summers replied with great intrepidity:

"Mr. Angel."

"Mr. Angel!" repeated the watcher. "I am all astonishment. How long has he been such a favourite?--and pray, when am I to wish you joy?"

"That is exactly the question which I expected you to ask. A watcher's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from reluctance in killing a person to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment. I knew you would be wishing me joy."

"Nay, if you are serious about it, I shall consider the matter is absolutely settled. You will be having charming relatives in Spike and Drusilla, indeed; and, of course, they will always be in Sunnydale with you."

She listened to him with perfect indifference while he chose to entertain himself in this manner; and as her composure convinced him that all was safe, his wit flowed long.

"You are aware of his much-lamented past, I am sure," said Mr. Giles. "And you must of necessity regard it with the greatest horror. To murder humans for one century, or two centuries, or three centuries, or whatever it was, above his head in blood, and alone, quite alone! What could he mean by it? It seems to me to show an abominable sort of conceited independence to chuse to remain soulless for so long--and then, at the last, to repent? And why?"

"The latter shows an affection for humans that is very pleasing," said Buffy.

"I have a excessive regard for Angel, he is really very sweet (for a vampire), and I wish with all my heart he were well settled. But with such friends as Spike and Drusilla, and with his inexplicable love for hair gel, I am afraid there is no chance of it."





Cara
Cara King, author of MY LADY GAMESTER and eternal geek

Nicola Cornick Winners!

Catie and Anna Kathryn Lanier, you've won signed copies of Nicola's Kidnapped: His Innocent Mistress! Email your info to riskies@yahoo.com

Hougoumont or Anatomy of Researching a Scene

I'm starting in on a new book, the second in my Three Soldiers Trilogy. The last book ended at Waterloo and this one begins there, in the battle itself.

The battle of Waterloo really had three parts: the fighting on the ridge; the fighting at La Haye Sainte, and the fighting at Hougoumont. La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont were farms positioned at strategic places.

So my first decision was what part of the battle to use.

Some limits were imposed by just where in the battle my hero's regiment would be, but I solved that problem. I first selected La Haye Sainte and read up on that part of the battle. The problem was, La Haye Sainte fell to the French right at the end of the battle and that didn't work for me, so I started reading about Hougoumont.

I found some very interesting sites about Hougoumont.
Project Hougoumont, which aims to restore the site
A very detailed model of Hougoumont
Summary of the whole battle
Detailed timeline of the defense of Hougoumont, including how Victor Hugo got it wrong in Les Miserables.

Still not enough....
I started pining to watch Waterloo, the epic 2 hour movie starring Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer. I had a VCR copy but no working VCR. So I ordered the DVD.
I discovered another DVD about Waterloo, a documentary I'd seen on the History Channel. I ordered that, too (only to discover that I'd ordered it before...)

Then I hit on the idea to look on YouTube (Note to Everybody: you can find anything on YouTube). Sure enough they had clips of the movie Waterloo, enough to fill me with the sounds and sites of the battle.


I also ordered a book on Hougoumont. Hougoumont: The Key to Victory at Waterloo by Julian Paget and Derek Saunders (I always order some reference book when I start a new book)

I also poured through some of my relevant reference books on my bookshelves and braved falling over the clutter to get to them. Because they are shelved two (or three) deep, this was much like an archeological dig.

After all that I finally was able to write the opening scene of Chapter One.

Book One of my Three Soldiers Trilogy is scheduled for release in 2010, so who knows when this Book Two will come. Chances are I'll be blogging about researching this book again!

How do you go about researching a scene or a topic? Have you found any other helpful things on YouTube?



Visit Diane’s website for a sneak peek of her eShort Story, The Unlacing of Miss Leigh, and her novella, Justine and the Noble Viscount, in THE DIAMONDS OF WELBOURNE MANOR. Diane’s contest is still on, too!

Welcome Back Nicola Cornick!

Nicola Cornick rejoins the Riskies today, with tales of traveling from the Scotland of her newest release from Harlequin Historicals, Kidnapped: His Innocent Mistress, to the American West! Nicola, welcome back, and tell us about Kidnapped and your latest US holiday...

It's so lovely to be back here at Risky Regencies and to be talking about books, travel, and inspiration! What better combination could there be?

So to Scotland first and I think I must be one of the luckiest people in the world because I go there every year to visit family. Under the circumstances it's surprising that I've never set a book there before because it is one of my favorite places and I love reading historical romances set in Scotland. Kidnapped: His Innocent Mistress is inspired by all the places I love to visit in Wester Ross in the Highlands. The village of Applecross, which is Catriona Balfour's home at the start of the book, is a very special place, accessed by only two roads, one of which is a high mountain pass with views across the sea to the Outer Hebrides. The Gaelic name for the Applecross Peninsula is "a Chomraich," which means "The Sanctuary." The site of the old abbey at Applecross, built in AD 673 by Irish saint Maelrubha still has one of the most peaceful and inspiring atmospheres that I have ever experienced.

Further along the coast is Sheildaig, a village that was originally to raise and train sailors to fight in the Napoleonic Wars. Grants were given for boats, and 2700 pounds was spent building the three main streets, which these days are neat and whitewashed and very pretty. From there the road turns inland between the high mountains of Torridon and this is the route that Catriona takes in my story as she travels to her new home in Glen Clair. The old house at Glen Clair is another place inspired by a real location--the Coulin Estate. In a spectacularly beautiful setting in the mountains, Coulin is somewhere we return to year after year. It was in the ownership of the MacKenzie family of Gairloch from the 16th century and in the Regency period the tenants suffered eviction in order to make way for sheep farming. This was of course the fate of many Highland families during the 18th and 19th centuries. These "Highland Clearances" forced many families to the coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and abroad to countries including Australia and Canada.

At Glen Clair my heroine Catriona becomes embroiled in the illegal whisky distilling business! There were many illegal stills hidden in the mountains, in caves that were away from the prying eyes of the excise men and in remote glens. The euphemistically-named "teahouse" at Coulin really did provide illegal refreshment for drovers crossing the mountains and it is still there though these days it is used as a mountain bothy rather than a place offering alcoholic beverages! Just as smuggling was condoned or even encouraged by many of the gentry in England, so many of the Scots would turn a blind eye to what was going on. Ministers of the church were even known to hide the whisky in coffins to deceive the excise men!

From Scotland to the US, and when Kidnapped arrived in the US bookstores at the beginning of March, I was thrilled to be there to see it! It's no secret I love visiting the US and this time our holiday started in San Diego with a trip to the historic waterfront, taking in the 1863 ship the Star of India and the HMS Surprise, a replica of an 18th century Royal Navy frigate that was used in the filming of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. That was my treat, and afterwards we visited the USS Midway as a treat for my dh!

Our ten-day whale-watching holiday down the coast of the Baja Peninsula and into the Sea of Cortes might not seem to have the most obvious of historical connections (though it was spectacular in itself) but I had read up on Baja history and legends and devoured the stories of pirates and buccaneers, coming back with what I hope will be a wonderful plot for my next HQN book! From Mexico we flew back to Phoenix and travelled to Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon, finally driving back to Los Angeles via the historic Route 66. On the way we stopped off in Oatman. What a place!

Oatman began over 100 years ago as mining tent camp and quickly became a flourishing gold-mining center when in 1915, two miners struck a $10 million gold find. The mining boom was short-lived. In 1921, a fire burned down many of the smaller shacks in town, and 3 years later the main mining company, United Eastern Mines, shut down operations for good. Oatman survived by catering to travellers on Route 66. But in the 1960s, when the route became I-40, Oatman almost died.

Oatman was such a fun place to visit. I'd never been to an old Western town, and I loved the tame burros roaming the streets begging for carrots and the gunfight staged by the ghostrider gunfighters! My dh loved all the photo opportunities presented by the old buildings including the Oatman Hotel, where Clark Gable and Carol Lombard honeymooned and Gable allegedly played poker with the local miners!

We came home with some amazing memories and some equally spectacular photographs, and for me some inspiring story ideas. It doesn't seem to matter where I travel--seeing new sights, talking to people and reading up on the history always seems to inspire me with ideas for my writing.

What is you favorite setting for historical romances?? And which places particularly inspire you?

Info on Nicola's latest release can be found at her website! And there are still a few days left to enter Nicola and Amanda's contest while you're there...

Nicola will give away two copies of Kidnapped to lucky commenters on today's post!

Saturday Writing Stuff

Happy weekend, everyone! The sun is shining, flowers are blooming, it's spring--and I wrote The End on my WIP. It is Fug Madness on Go Fug Yourself. I have Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. Happy, happy, happy Saturday! I also have a few updates on my Amanda McCabe site here, including an excerpt from The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor. And Laurel McKee's site is having its Big Debut, right here! A few tweaks still need, well, tweaking, but there's release info, historical background on Ireland in 1798, and an excerpt. Let me know what you think!

A few days ago, I took a quiz on Facebook called "What kind of writer are you?" I got the result--Jane Austen. Woo-hoo! What romance writer wouldn't love that? But then I started wondering if, in real writing life, I might owe more stylistically to the Brontes. I do love the Dramatic Moment, the Big Reveal, the whole wandering on the moors shouting things like "How can I live without my love?" type stuff.

Maybe it's because Jane Eyre was the first "classic" I ever read (except for things like Anne of Green Gables and Little Women), and wow did I love it. I've been a sucker for 19th century England (and moor-wandering) ever since. I adore the Brontes, both their books and their oddball family story.

Which seems appropriate, since in one month from today, on April 21, it will be Charlotte Bronte's birthday! Nothing like an early happy birthday. She was born April 21, 1816 in Thornton, Yorkshire, the third of 6 children of Patrick Bronte, clergyman, and Maria Branwell. In April 1821, the family moved to the famous parsonage at Haworth (you can see its website here), where Patrick was appointed Perpetual Curate. Maria died in September that year, leaving her five daughters and son to the indifferent care of her sister, Elizabeth Branwell (who seems to have stayed mostly in her own room!). In 1824, Charlotte and 3 of her sisters (Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, Anne being too young) went to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire (which gained infamy as the wretched Lowood School in Jane Eyre). Maria and Elizabeth died there, and Charlotte and Emily were never really healthy afterwards.

Back home at the parsonage, Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell set about chronicling their imaginary worlds of Gondal and Angria, convoluted sagas that still exist in partial manuscripts. Charlotte went on to continue her education in 1831 at Roe Head, where she wrote her first novella, The Green Dwarf (1833). She taught at the school from 1835 to 1838, taking up her first governess position in 1839. In 1842, she and Emily went to study in Brussels, at a pensionnat run by Constantin Heger and his wife Claire. After Emily departed, Charlotte's stay in Brussels took a turn into loneliness, homesickness, and a crush on the married Constantin (this time was used as inspiration for her later novels The Professor and Villette).

Back home again in Yorkshire, the three sisters published a volume of poetry in 1846, under the names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (the volume only sold 2 copies, but the names stuck for a while). Jane Eyre was published to much acclaim in 1847, but much sorrow was just around the corner. Branwell, rumored to be a drunk and a laudanum addict, died in September 1848. (When I dropped into the National Portrait Gallery last fall, I made a point of going to look at his portrait of the sisters which hangs there). Emily and Anne died soon after, in December 1848 and May 1849, leaving Charlotte alone with their father.

But things were not entirely bleak. After the great success of JE, Charlotte visited London occasionally, where she revealed her true identity and met other authors, including Harriet Martineau, Elizabeth Gaskell (who wrote the first Charlotte Bronte biography), Thackeray, and GH Lewes. In June 1854, she married her father's curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls, and soon after became pregnant. She died, along with the unborn child, on March 31, 1855, at the age of 38. She was buried in the Bronte family vault in the Church of St. Michael and All Angels at Haworth.

I have a big pile of Bronte biographies on my shelves, but some favorites are: Juliet Barker's The Brontes; Rebecca Fraser's Charlotte Bronte; Margot Peters' Charlotte Bronte, Unquiet Soul; and The Oxford Reader's Companion to the Brontes.

Do you love the Brontes, too? What are your favorites among their books? Anyone visited Haworth (I haven't had the chance yet, but it's high on my Travel Wish List!) Have a good Saturday, everyone...

Aagh!

How sad is it that I went to title this post, only to discover that I had already titled a post "Aagh!"

But here it is.




I am way behind on my freelance work, sprinting to catch up, which reminds me of the running classes I've just started taking. And, to get faster, we do sprints--we run all out for 100 meters, do 12 of them with short intervals inbetween, and try to keep the time consistent.

I am consistent, but today I am sprinting. Hence the disjointed and short post.

But I am doing short bursts of writing--and reading, thanks to various subway rides--and know that I will get to the end, eventually. And maybe be a little faster because of the work I've put in on the way.

So--forgive my sprinting past today, and know it is all for the greater good. Plus, I'm putting in some fun pix to distract you.

Megan, off to run again

PS: Anyone seeing Duplicity this weekend? Report back, please!

Golden? I don't think so

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;

But they weren't golden. We've been fooled!

The daffodils Wordsworth saw were not the golden daffodils that were developed half a century later but the native species narcissus pseudonarcissus aka the Lent Lily which is a paler color. They're not particularly popular today because they're, well, lackluster if you lack poetic vision and don't last well in a vase.

Daffodils became big business--and golden--in the latter half of the nineteenth century when commercial market gardening took off. The National Trust started a project in 2001 to identify historic varieties of daffodils--you can read about it here.

I find it rather appealing that the director of the project is a former International Daffodil Registrar ("... and what do you do?"). The project is conducted at Cotehele House in Cornwall where it's estimated there may be as many as 400 unidentified species of daffodils lurking in hedgerows.

Here's a US source for historic daffodils and an article on their history at Old House Gardens.com --they were introduced into England in the thirteenth century!

And have you noticed that the more you say the word daffodil the sillier it sounds?

Talking of silly names, the village of Tolpuddle in Dorset is where a courageous group of farm laborers living on starvation wages formed a trade union and were transported to serve as an example to their peers. The Tolpuddle Martyrs are still revered as champions of liberty and the trades union movement and today is the anniversary of their sentencing to seven years transportation in 1834. More at my other home away from home online at History Hoydens.

Do you have any favorite silly words or are daffodils blooming yet in your yard?

Michelle Styles Talks About Venice!

When Amanda and I first discussed me writing today's blog, I had suggested writing about some obscure 18th century music that had been recently discovered in the North East of England, but I also mentioned that I was going to Venice. Amanda kindly gave me a choice, and because Venice is Venice, you are getting Venice.

Because Carnival finished a few days before I arrived and the paving stones still were littered with confetti, I include a picture of the mannequin from the lobby of my hotel. The dress was absolutely stunning. Carnival of course died out in the early decades of the 20th century and was revived in 1979. Even the mask making had be re-learnt. It is possible to buy high-quality masks based on traditional designs, based on the Commedia dell'Arte. These are held in place either by ribbons or in the case of some traditional women's masks, by clamping a little piece with your lips. When wearing a mask, women were expected to be silent. The Venetian tradition of mass gives rise to the masquerade balls.

More than any other city, Venice still evokes the spirit of the past. To travel to Venice is to step back into another world, primarily because there are no cars. Motorboats are strictly regulated and once you are in the back streets the main noise is silence or the sound of voices. Gondolas do ply their trade, but most people walk.

One of the main differences between today's gondolas and the gondolas that Byron, Shelley, or a whole host of other Regency aristocrats would have taken is that the wooden shelter, or felze, is no longer used. It's possible to see an early 19th century gondola in the courtyard of Ca'Rezzonico, one of the few palazzos on the Grand Canal open to the public, and dedicated to the 18th century. Its double story ballroom with its painted frescoes and magnificent chandeliers is highly evocative. But I was surprised to see how much trompe l'oeil was used rather than actual plaster!

Both of the famous cafes on St. Marks's Plaza--Florian's (1720) and Quadri's (1775) has painted interiors but they only date from the 1850s. It is still possible at both cafes to get proper bittersweet hot chocolate. Personally, I preferred Quadri's, but it was a close run thing. You are served a pot of hot chocolate, a jug of warm milk, and sugar. It is up to you to make the chocolate how you want it. My husband reported that the coffee was also very good. Quadri's was known as the Austrian cafe during the occupation, and its upstairs restaurant has been serving meals since 1844.

So much of the 18th century is preserved because after Napoleon conquered the Venetian Republic in 1797, many Venetians lost their money. It was only through Canova's efforts at the peace conference that many of Venice's treasures, including the 4 horses, were returned. Some paintings were only returned in the 1970s, and the Louvre still holds a few. Unfortunately Austria did retain control of the city until 1866, when the citizens joined the new Kingdom of Italy.

Venice, because of its art, has always been an important stop on the Grand Tour. For example, most of Caneletto's paintings were bought by Englishmen. This might have something to do with the British consul at the time, Joseph Smith, also being Caneletto's agent. (As an aside for Diane, in 1717 Smith married one Catherine Tofts, who sang at Drury Lane and Haymarket before going to Venice in 1711). With its Carnival, its gaming houses (the Ridotto closed in 1774, but gaming continued in private houses, and today Venice has one of the few official casinos) and general atmosphere of frivolity because life is short, Venice exerted powerful influence on the men and women who visited it, and still does.

Michelle Styles's latest UK release is Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife, and is set in 1813 Northumberland. Vist her website here for more details!

I'll Be Leaving Soon

Things change, people change, and time moves on.

(Unless one has a time machine. And Todd hasn't built one for me yet, though he did give a talk this week to a group of eminent physicists on the cool things one could do with a time machine! That's my trusty Todd. Who else would have the nerve to do something like that?)

But, as I said, time moves on. And I've decided that now is the time for me to move on.

I think I really need to focus on my young adult writing now, for one thing. (I'm not great with focus, and I find that cutting out distractions helps there.)

Plus, I really need to focus on my writing. That is, my work-in-progress. I love the Riskies, I love being here with all of you wonderful folks, and talking about Drury Lane and the rules of duels and the writing process and great covers and Gerard Butler and Clive Owen and Orlando Bloom and great Jane Austen (and Scarlet Pimpernel) movies...but sometimes I love it too much.

Sometimes it takes up too much of my time, and energy.

So I'll be leaving the Riskies. (Wow, it's hard to type that!)

Next week will be my final week here...and so I decided I wanted to do a humorous post next week, and give you all the heads-up and farewell today....so that next week I can sign off with a lighthearted post, if not with a light heart.

I will miss you all so much! Though I will stop by from time to time, and I may even do a guest blog every now and then...who knows? (I still owe Diane that Jane Austen's Phantom that I promised!)

As to the Jane Austen Movie Club, it will be up to the other Riskies whether or not it will continue. We were getting fewer and fewer comments on it anyway, so I think if it goes, it goes at a sensible time. We did have some great discussions!

So to my five fellow bloggers and all of you wonderful readers and commenters: thanks for all the fun, all the education and information. Thanks for your friendship and warmth and concern. Thanks for years of good times!

I'll miss you all....


Cara
Cara King, who will still try to stay Risky

Miranda Neville Winner!

Milka!
You are the Winner of Miranda Neville's debut novel, Never Resist Temptation.
Email us at riskies@yahoo.com with your snail mail address.

Congratulations!!!!

Ancestors

Because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I'm going to copy my friend Mary Blayney's idea and talk about interesting ancestors. Mary's family has a very interesting fellow in the the family tree, Major General Lord Blayney, whom she wrote about on History Hoydens (part 1 and part 2) and who lived during the Regency, fought against Napoleon's army, and became a prisoner of war. He even wrote a book about it, available on Google Books.

My ancestors are not so impressive, but there is one who has a good story. In 1836, My great great grandfather, Joseph Batt, brought his wife and eight of his nine children from Alscace Loraine to America. On the voyage over, there was a terrible storm and it looked as if the ship was certain to perish. My grandfather, a devout Catholic, prayed to the Virgin Mary, promising her he would build a shrine in her honor if she spared his family from the storm. The storm subsided and the family arrived safely in their new country.

Batt made good on his promise. He settled near Buffalo, New York, where his oldest son had already settled. Soon he prospered. He built a chapel on his land, just as he'd promised. The chapel still stands today: Our Lady Help of Christians in Cheektowaga, NY.

The Chapel has been rebuilt a few times, but a painting of Our Lady looking down on the ship still hangs above the altar.

I wish I could say I visited this chapel, but I haven't. I did not even know about it until I was well into adulthood. Although when I was growing up my family often visited our Buffalo relatives, I've been there rarely as an adult and my unsentimental family just never talked about or visited this wonderful place.

How about you? Do you have any interesting stories of ancestors?

Only a little more than two weeks before the release of The Unlacing of Miss Leigh. Also on April 1, you can get The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor from eharlequin. Check my website that day for the links.

Miranda Neville Debut!

Today our guest is Miranda Neville who offers us a tasty new Regency treat in Never Resist Temptation. Miranda originally hails from the UK but now lives and writes in Vermont. Her Avon debut promises to whet our appetites for more! Please give Miranda a delicious Risky welcome and one lucky commenter, chosen at random, will win an autographed copy of Never Resist Temptation.

1. This is your debut novel! Tell us about your book.

First, thank you so much for inviting me to visit the Riskies. A copy of Never Resist Temptation will go to one commenter.

Never Resist Temptation starts with that old romance staple—one I never get tired of—the heroine who is lost at cards by her wicked uncle. Jacobin, being a feisty lady, runs away and goes to work as a pastry cook at the Brighton Pavilion. Then her uncle is poisoned by a dessert she made and she’s on the run again. The good news is she’s been offered another job; the bad that her new employer is the winner of that card game. Anthony, the Earl of Storrington, has his own reasons for employing a pastry chef. He’s unaware of her true identity but things soon heat up between them.

"...genuine, lusty and fun." Publisher's Weekly

"...a delicious and delightful read." Romantic Times 4 Stars

"I adored Never Resist Temptation." Michelle Buonfiglio's Romance B(u)y The Book

"Don’t resist the temptation – pick up the book!" Romance Novel TV
...

2. We love to hear about a new author’s journey to publication. Tell us about yours and include your “The Call” story!

I went into this as clueless as anyone. I’d always had the yen to write an historical romance so I did. Once I joined the RWA and tried to sell the book I discovered all the things that were wrong, like 10,000 words of backstory in the first three chapters. I did get some encouraging words on my writing from agents, editors and contest judges, but I gradually realized even the slimmed down version was unlikely to sell: it was too “traditional Regency.” I abandoned it, along with its half finished sequel, and spent a weekend thinking about a plot and characters that worked in what I’d learned about the current romance market.

I can’t really describe how the story evolved but it really came together. The first draft took six months and I enjoyed (almost) every moment. Then I went the usual route: appointments at conferences, contests, agent queries, and garnered my fair share of rejections. Once I won a contest and had an editor request the full, I began to get some interest from agents. Meredith Bernstein (what a great woman!) took me on and sold the book in three weeks. She called me one morning to say a couple of publishers had turned me down, then the same afternoon to relay an offer from Avon (thank you, most wonderful Lucia Macro). I went from wild despair to swilling champagne in a matter of hours.

2. Who can’t love a book that includes pastries? Tell us something about your research for the book, especially the cooking part.

Reading Ian Kelley’s biography of the great French chef Antonin Carême was the catalyst for the story. I wanted to incorporate his tenure as the Prince Regent’s chef. I was intrigued that female cooks were much more prevalent in England than on the continent. Carême didn’t like employing women as cooks and didn’t appreciate the female cooks who worked for Prinny. This gave me the idea of having Jacobin disguised as a young man. Cross-dressing roles are such fun, and Anthony is very confused by his initial attraction when he thinks she’s a boy. Most of the recipes described (and in some cases quoted) in the book come from Carême’s cookbooks. I tracked down details about period kitchens, stoves, utensils and so forth, though much of it never made it into the story.

4. We're all about being risky here. What was risky about your book?

Hmm. I like to use a lot of humor, even in the sex scenes. Is that risky? And talking of risk, I am always aware of the chance of conception and I think the intelligent hero and heroine should be too. I like to see sex followed by pregnancy or fear of pregnancy, or use of some preventive measure. The rather crude forms of contraception available back then are perhaps given too much credence in romances, but that’s OK. I was nervous having my 88-year-old father read the book but he took it very well (of course, he thinks his daughter deserves a Pulitzer). We had an interesting discussion about coitus interruptus!

5. What is it about the Regency era that drew you to it?

My favorite historical eras have two things in common: great power and great clothes. The Regency saw Britain established as Top Country and its aristocrats wielded enormous influence. Masters of the Universe in fabulous costumes (yes, I loved Colin Firth in the wet shirt).

6. What’s next for you?

I’m contracted for two more books at Avon. The series (hopefully eventually a trilogy) is set in the world of Regency book collectors. Bibliophilia is a strange obsession, inspiring rivalries, murderous skullduggery and (a fact sadly absent from the historical record) sexual passion! I worked in Sotheby’s rare books department for several years so I’m returning to my roots here.

Miranda will be stopping by so feel free to ask her questions about Never Resist Temptation, French cooking, or working in Sotheby's rare books department. And remember. One lucky commenter will win an autographed copy of Never Resist Temptation.

Lovely Day For A Guinness

So, this Tuesday is St. Patrick's Day! The day when everyone gets to be just a little bit Irish. As you all know, I've been deeply immersed in late 18th century Irish history for my WIP (which is finally closing in on The End, slowly but surely!), and I thought about pulling out some of my mountains of research for a post today.

But, let's be honest--St. Patty's Day isn't really about oppression and uprisings (though there are plenty of great, sad ballads about such to be heard in every bar on the day!). It's about dyeing your dog green (disclaimer--I would not do this myself, because my dogs probably wouldn't stand still for it, but a guy I knew in college did...), putting on a silly hat, and going to parades to wave at other green dogs, bands, and step dancers. It's about going to a pub to listen to jigs, eat some fish and chips, and have a pint.

So, in honor of the day, here's a brief history of everyone's favorite St. Patty's day drink, that wondrous Irish institution--Guinness!

Arthur Guinness was born in Celbridge, County Kildare, in 1725, where he first learned the art of brewing from his father Richard, whose job as land steward to the Archbishop of Cashel included overseeing the brewing of beer for the workers. In 1759, Arthur signed a 9000-year lease on a disused brewery in St. James's Gate in Dublin for the price of 45 pounds per year.

He started by brewing ale, and in the 1770s started brewing porter, a newish type of English dark beer that was growing in popularity (the distinctive feature in the flavor is the roasted barley, which remains unfermented. It gives Guinness its dark color and taste). This porter proved so successful that by 1799 Arthur had ceased brewing ale, and by the time of his death in 1803 he left a highly prosperous business behind (he also left a widow, the former Olivia Whitmore, and 21 children, 10 of which lived to adulthood). His son, Arthur Jr., then took over the brewery.

Arthur Jr. grew the business even further, expanding the export trade (the first Guinness exports was in May 1769, with six and a half barrels of ale sent to England), and brewing a new beer "Extra Superior Porter." By the 1830s, the St. James's Brewery was the largest brewery in Ireland.

A couple of good sources are: Guinness's Brewery in the Irish Economy: 1759-1876 by Patrick Lynch and John Vaizey, and Iowerth Griffith's Beer and Cider in Ireland: The Complete Guide. You can check out the Guinness website here, and Little Shamrocks for some fun Irish trivia. And this is a great recipe for chocolate Guinness cake (chocolate and Guinness! How can you go wrong? And it's from Nigella, too)

I'm off to a parade this afternoon, and then to listen to some Irish bands at a local "pub" (not a totally genuine pub, natch, but the bar did come from a pub in Ireland that was being torn down! So at least it looks authentic...) What are your plans for the day? Do they involve Guinness???

It's A Small World

This morning, I gotta warn you, I am MEGA-CRABBY. There are many legitimate reasons for this, not just pantomime ones, including not sleeping enough because the husband was away last night, and while I like it when he goes away (MI-5! Jammies by 9! Brussels sprouts for dinner!), I find it hard to get to sleep. So last night I had a whiskey at 12:30, which helped, but then I felt lame I had to use a crutch. And woke up headachey and sleep-deprived.

And I am aggrieved by a few online situations, which led me to think about how the internet--that is, the corner of it inhabited by romance authors and readers--is similar to the world of the ton, as described in our books:

*Claustrophobic. You can't get away from it, unless you check out of Society/the Internet entirely.

*Gossipy. Everybody knows everybody else's business.

*Reputations are made, and destroyed, with a few quick strokes.

*You can get, and give, the cut direct: Not responding to email, declining to follow someone on Twitter or friend them on Facebook.

*You can also make friends quickly, based on a few common interests: Finding a husband, not finding a husband, what you like to read, whether you're interested in knitting, or reading, or vampires.

*Certain sites or group of sites seem to have their own Almack's style patronesses: Either you're in or you're out.

Do you think these general guidelines are true for any social group? What do you like best about the Internet ton? What do you like the least? And thanks for joining the Riskies group today!

Megan

Dukes and Mistresses and a winner

Louisa Cornell, congratulations, you're the winner of Tessa McDermid's book. Please contact the Riskies at riskies@yahoo.com

They may be the best thing since sliced bread but I can't do them.

Really, I've tried. Let's take the problem of Dukes first. They seem to outnumber the regular population about 5:1 so you'd think I could come up with one pretty easily. Somehow they just don't exist in my particular corner of Romancelandia. Or if they do, they don't behave in an appropriate ducal fashion.

In the Rules of Gentility, my heroine meets a member of the royal family, a Duke, misbehaving in a house of ill repute in the company of a bishop and several lightly clad females. He is neither hot, young, nor anything other than atmospheric wallpaper.

In my August, 2009 release A Most Lamentable Comedy (warning: shameless self-promotion, and new release date), I have a Duke who spends most of his time indulging his passions for sheep (no, not in that way) and antiquities. He is happily married. Without undue spoilers, he takes on the heroine as a mistress (sort of). He sets her up in a house and thoughtfully provides entertainment for her, a pianoforte (which she plays very badly) and

...there is an easel and a set of paints and brushes, tablets of paper and so on. A small bookcase holds some rather serious-looking literature bound in opulent gilded leather. Good God, it is like an expensive academy for young ladies, and I thought I was descending into the very pit of impropriety. It is bad enough to have become a whore, but to be expected to practice the accomplishments of polite society as well seems to be remarkably unfair.

The Duke reports: she stared at the books in the house as though they were vermin.

And this is the crux of my problem with mistresses and the aristocracy: other than the obvious, what do they do the rest of the time? Call me a lefty if you will (oh, please!) but I like my characters to have some sort of social conscience, to do something other than frivol away their time.

I don't want to see his grace become a spy unless I'm absolutely sure his land steward can be trusted to look after the tenants properly while he's out performing deeds of derring-do and sleeping with unsuitable women.

And if a woman does become a courtesan, I want her to be at the top of the Harriet Wilson scale of cheekiness and good humor.

How about you? What do you think of the current overload of dukes and courtesans? Can you suspend disbelief?

A Love Letter to Libraries

... from Riskies guest blogger Tessa McDermid

Thank you, Riskies, for having me as a guest! I love visiting the Risky Regencies and keeping up with the history, fashion, intrigues, and books of the Regency period. This time period is still my first love and one of these days, I plan to revise/complete a couple ideas I have for a Regency book. For now, I'm going to read as many as I can for pleasure.

I first started reading Regencies in high school when I found Georgette Heyer books in the Plantation, Florida Public Library. Her books had such lovely covers and even lovelier stories. I could hardly wait to check out my next batch of books each week and see what adventures awaited her heroines, sometimes while they were visiting a lending library.

I love libraries and can't imagine my life without them. Two years ago, I was asked to speak at a small area library during their February “Love a Library Month” celebration. The librarian thought it would be fun to have a romance author share about her writing and books. As I was putting my ideas together, I realized how much libraries have meant to me over the years. That day, I led the listeners on a tour of the libraries in my life and how those magical buildings, filled with books and possibilities, led to me writing my own books.

Since then, I've been researching the libraries I remembered, putting facts to my memories. I've had so much fun and talked with so many helpful, friendly librarians. My first memory is a big white house in Des Moines, Iowa. My mom would take my siblings and I to the library, pulling the youngest ones in our red wagon. We would climb to the top of the stairs and listen to Story Time before checking out our own books.

We moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, while I was in elementary school. Our local library was a stone Carnegie Library. Every time we went to the library, we walked up the tall steps, which I discovered was to symbolize a person's elevation by learning. I know I learned so much going into that building. That's where I first found out that writers were simply people who put stories together and sent them out to magazines. (And I don't mean the process is simple - only that writers weren't magical people who lived in magical writing places. I could someday be a writer!).

Independence, Missouri. Plantation, Florida. Chicago, Illinois. All of these cities provided me with hours of reading pleasure through their public libraries. There's just something about the smell of the books, the shelves and shelves of adventure and romance and excitement. I never knew what might be found in the pages of a book and once I started to write my own stories, I found ideas and details in the nonfiction sections.

I discovered writing magazines in the stacks at Kansas University while I waited for my husband to finish his classes. I also found books on fashion through the ages, foods, home decorations. All giving me details for the lives of my heroines and heroes. The Lawrence Kansas Public Library had an author, Sara Paretsky, share about her writing process one evening and I found a writer's group. I'm so excited that this April, I get to be the speaker at the same library for the beginning of National Library Week!

Our next stop in our married life was the library in Atchison, Kansas. This is where I really started to write toward publication. My first manuscript - and one I hope to revise sometime in the future - began during the Civil War time period in Kansas. My love of England came into play here, with the second generation daughter being married off to a lord in England. She was wealthy, he needed the money to save his ancestral home. Sadly, sagas weren't doing well then and I tucked it away after several positive rejections (and, yes, that may seem like an oxymoron but the comments about my writing kept me going).

Right now, I'm writing what would be considered contemporaries, at least by Risky Regencies standards. My last book, FAMILY STORIES, started during the 1920s in the United States, the love story of a couple who were together for 75 years. Again I brought in my love of England, this time by having one of the daughters travel there. And I bring in libraries, too - her first romantic interest is the young man who works in the library near their summer cottage. The descriptions of the place were based on the small library in Lamoni, Iowa, where I worked for a few memorable nights - I imagined too many things happening while I was alone in the building and I had to clean the pet gerbil cage!

My new Harlequin, WEDDINGS IN THE FAMILY, is about a couple struggling with their relationship after their daughter gets married. I just realized I don't think I have any England connection in this one! I do have a writer as one of the main characters, so she would have to visit a library. And no matter what I write or where I live, libraries will always be a major part of my life!

What stories do you have about libraries? I'll choose one lucky person from those who share to receive a copy of my new book.

Tessa McDermid will speak about her love of libraries at the Lawrence KS Public Library on Monday, April 13, at 7 p.m. Check their website for more details. Future visits at other libraries will be listed on her website - www.tessamcdermid.com

Too Hot For A Spy winner

Margie, you have won a signed copy of the book. Please send us your snailmail to riskies@yahoo.com.

My Early Historical Fiction Reading

The first time I ever read Jane Austen, I was in eighth grade. The book was Pride and Prejudice, and I utterly loved it.

It's recently occurred to me that this was by no means my first encounter reading a book set a ways in the past...and this might have had something to do with my ability to understand (for the most part) and enjoy Austen.

I began reading the Oz books when I was in first grade.

When I was eight, I (and the rest of my friends) all started reading the Little House books.

Then, when I was nine or ten, I started on Louisa May Alcott.

Elementary school also introduced me to Caddie Woodlawn, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Anne of Green Gables, The Happy Orpheline (and Luvvy and the Girls), Half Magic, and Ballet Shoes.

By junior high, I had encountered The Story of Treasure Seekers and Cheaper By the Dozen.

And I wonder if that made all the difference?

Would I lack my current interest in history (and historical fiction) if I hadn't read so many of these books when I was young?

What do you think?

What books set in earlier times (whether written then or now) did you read when you were a kid? Do you think they inspired a love of historical fiction in you?

All answers welcome!

Cara
Cara King, who wouldn't mind hanging out in Oz for a while

Spring at last!

What a difference a week makes:








For want of anything else to talk about besides the beautiful weather we're having this week, I thought I'd simply pass on something from the Annual Register for 1816. The Annual Register was sort of like an Almanac, printing all the important events from the previous year. You can view this 1816 Annual Register on Google Books.

This is from the Chronicles section of the Annual Register, which gives important or interesting news events from each month. This is dated March 30 (because most of the other March articles were about shipwrecks, murders, and fires)

The following particulars of the Woolwich smuggling have been published in a morning paper —On the voyage home, a carpenter employed in securing the packages discovered the secret. Immediately on arrival he gave information at the Customhouse, but it was ten days more before the ship was inspected ; in the mean time much of the smuggled goods for certain persons were got away, and only those were left for men of less note. There were to the value of 7,OOOl. for one man, packed up as—"Return Congreve rockets." There were many rare things which were got out of the way. In the mortars were laces, gloves, cambrics, etc. and in the tumbrils were claret, champagne, etc. Many people have long supplied themselves and friends with wine in this way, and their wives with finery. This is the only vessel which has been detected, but the trade has long and successfully been carried on to a great extent. The man who informed got about 1,000l.

Woolwich is in the borough of Greenwich on the Thames; it is about 3 miles east of Greenwich and 10 miles east of London, which goes to show that smuggling didn't only take place in Cornwall!

Are you familiar with the Annual Registers? I have copies from 1810 to 1820 but if you can find them online you can search them so easily.

Be sure to visit my website for sneak peeks of my Undone, The Unlacing of Miss Leigh, and my novella, Justine and the Noble Viscount in The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor. There's a new contest, too!

Interview with Pearl Wolf

Today we welcome to the Riskies debut author Pearl Wolf whose book Too Hot For A Spy debuts this month. She'll give away an autographed copy of the book to one person who comments or asks a question, so drop in, say hi, and chat.

Readers who enjoy action-adventure series by Celeste Bradley have a treat in store with Wolf's daring debut. The nonstop pace, feisty heroine and alpha hero will take you on a wild ride as two strong-willed people encounter their match in a sizzling tension-filled love story. — Romantic Times Bookreviews - 4 Stars

Pearl, welcome to the Riskies and congratulations on the release. Tell us the story behind the story—how did your book come about?

For one, history is my passion. For another, large families fascinate me, since I grew up in one. Put the two together and you have Too Hot For A Spy, out in March. This is the first in the series about the Fairchilds, the children of the Duke and the Duchess of Heatham.

Tell us about your journey to publication.

My generous friend, noted author Shelley Freydont (AKA Gemma Bruce) who is my critique partner as well, introduced me to her agent Evan Marshall. I sent him a partial—three chapters and a synopsis, expecting him to decide whether or not he would represent me. Two weeks later he called and said he’d sold a two-book contract to Kensington Publishers.

Why the Regency?

It’s one of the most colorful periods (1810-1820) in English History. My fictional characters live within a world informed by that history, just as we live in our world today.

What do you love about the period?

Royalty dictated a strict code of behavior then, but breaking the rules ran riot anyway. No author wants to write about characters who play by the rules when it’s so much more fun to write about the rebels.

What do you dislike about the period?

Given my rebellious nature, I wouldn’t have fared very well living in this period. I might have been beheaded given the fact that, like my heroine Olivia, I have enormous difficulty following other people’s rules.

Who are your writing influences?

Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen, Daphne DuMaurier, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare. Want more? Suffice it to say I read, read, read read!

The risky question: What risks did you take with this book?

Women take risks even though we struggle against impossible odds. Today women break records in spite of those odds: The glass ceiling; outer space; presidents and prime ministers of our country. The list is endless. My heroine Olivia, the daughter of a powerful duke, had a tougher time in the Regency period. She risks everything and manages to succeed in an all male spy school against all odds.

What makes it stand out?

Olivia’s determination is key. In spite of the obstacles she faces because she’s a woman, she succeeds. She submits to the humiliation of scrubbing the kitchen galley on her hands and knees with the same determination she shows in mastering push-ups, something she’s never done before either.

What’s next for you?

I’ve just completed Too Hot For A Rake, due out in 2010. Olivia’s younger sister Helena, a timid young woman who is jilted by her betrothed, must decide what to do with her shattered life. I’m already thinking about the third book in this series, Too Hot For A Scoundrel, about Georgiana, another of the duke’s daughters. Bitter Steppes, a stand-alone Russian historical saga that takes place in the time of Catherine The Great is high up on my list of projects as well.

How old are you? (Riskies disclaimer--Pearl made us do it!)

I turned seventy-nine a short time ago. Imagine! I’ll be eighty years old next year. That’s middle age, isn’t it?

March Horticultural Madness

March is a strange month. It's not quite the "armpit of the year" (that would be February, the Darkest Month), but it's not quite spring, either. Sometimes it's cold (last week), sometimes summer-warm (this week), and it's always allergenic. But I can see spring just over the horizon as the tips of my lilac bushes turn green, and Daylight Savings Time (not to mention St. Patrick's Day) is only a couple weeks away!

One thing I've been doing this week is planning my garden. I have a tiny house with a wee back yard, but I do like to put in flowers along the front walkway and in pots on the porch, and I have a vegetable patch in the back yard. I've been looking over seed catalogs, and think I'm going to try some new heirloom tomatoes this year, as well as cucumbers, green beans, and peppers. Any other suggestions?

So, it seemed appropriate to find that today marks the anniversary of the founding of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1804! (It was just called Horticultural Society then, and gained the "Royal" in 1861, by charter from Prince Albert). According to the Society's website, "The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK's leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening. Our goal is to help share a passion for plants, to encourage excellence in horticulture and inspire all those with an interest in gardening."

The Society was first suggested by John Wedgwood (son of Josiah) in 1800. "He wanted to hold regular meetings, allowing the society's members the opportunity to present papers on their horticultural activities and discoveries, to encourage discussion of them, and to publish the results. The society would also award prizes for gardening achievements." It was 4 years before the first meeting, with 7 members, on March 7, 1804 at Hatchards bookshop in Piccadilly, London. The other members included William Townsend Aiton, Superintendent of Kew Gardens; Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society; and William Forsyth, Superintendent of the gardens of St. James's Palace and Kensington Palace.

The RHS now has 4 flagship gardens in England, all of which look gorgeous. Wisley Garden, near the village of Wisley in Surrey (pictured at left); Rosemoor in Devon; Hyde Hall in Essex; and Harlow Carr in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Their first garden was in Kensington from 1818 to 1822, and in 1821 they leased part of the estate of Chiswick to set up an experimental garden. They held fetes there, and shows with competitive classes for flowers and vegetables.

They're also famous for their annual flower shows, the most well-known being the Chelsea Flower Show. There are also 8 London Flower Shows at the Royal Horticultural Halls, the yearly Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, and Tatton Park Flower Show in Cheshire, and they also administer the Britain in Bloom competition. (I've never attended one of these shows, but I love looking at the photos every year and trying to find out if the plants featured would also flourish here).

A good source to learn more about the RHS is Brent Elliott's The Royal Horticultural Society, A History: 1802-2004.

Reading about all of this just makes me want spring to get here sooner, so I can go out and dig in the dirt! Do you garden? What are some of your favorite "crops"? And if you've ever attended one of these flower shows, or seen the RHS gardens, tell us about it! Happy almost-spring, everyone...

Medley

1. I'm Diane, not Megan; I'm just the person taking Megan's place today. Megan came to my rescue on Monday when the unthinkable happened. Shudder. My internet was down. FOR TWO DAYS, so I'm taking her day.

2. Here is the view from my deck on Monday when it snowed in the Washington DC area and up and down most of the east coast, Monday being the day I was without internet, I'm just saying.

This weekend they are forecasting temperatures in the 70s.

Looks like I have lots of property, doesn't it? The ten or twenty feet of woods behind my house is "common ground," owned by my suburban community. And there's a development of townhouses on the other side of it.

3. I was dying to blog on Monday to tell you all about my birthday present (we will not speak of what birthday this was). It arrived last Friday.....My Kindle2!!!

Totally extravagant gift. Not a necessity. A definite frill.

My daughter gave me an Amazon.com gift card so I promptly purchased all the Kindle versions of my books (they only had 3). Isn't that cool how it displays the cover of The Vanishing Viscountess.
My husband gave it to me. His idea was that if HE loved it, I could get him one for his birthday, but he's not as thrilled with it as I am. His great love is his iphone and a Kindle was not enough to lead him astray.

I also downloaded Regency England by John Plowright, which is really about the political events during the time Lord Liverpool was Prime Minister. 1812 to 1827, longer than anybody.

I also downloaded several free ebooks, including Elizabeth Rolls' His Lady Mistress, one of the 16 free ebooks Harlequin is offering to celebrate their Diamond Anniversary. You can see the titles HERE.
Books out of copyright are free, too: I downloaded Cecelia by Fanny Burney, The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, Travels in England in 1782 by Karl Philipp Moritz, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, Persuasion by Jane Austen.

There has been spirited discussion of the new text-to-speech feature of the Kindle2. As an author, I totally support the Author's Guild's drive to protect authors' rights in this matter, but as a reader, I have to say this feature is totally cool. The speaking voice doesn't get the proper inflection of speech all the time, but it does a pretty good job. You can listen to a sample HERE.

I can also download my manuscripts, if I want to, and have them read to me!

I'm sure I'm going to love my Kindle2!


4. My new bookcovers are up on my website, as are two sneak peeks, one of my Undone estory, The Unlacing of Miss Leigh, and the other one is of my novella "Justine and the Noble Viscount" in The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor (also starring Amanda McCabe and Deb Marlowe!)

Okay, I couldn't resist showing them to you.




So how about you? Any more weather stories to tell? Are your jonquils up? (mine are, but not blooming yet). Does anyone else have a Kindle? Do you love it? Does Diane have every gizmo in creation? Ask me!

Diane Gaston http://dianegaston.com
The Unlacing of Miss Leigh, Harlequin Historical Undone, April 09
"Justine & the Noble Viscount" in The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor May 09

My husband

Friends, I'd like to give you an update on what is happening in my life and why I haven't been around.

On the morning of January 14th, my husband set off for work as usual, but came home quickly, complaining of visual distortion in his left eye. After the kids were off to school, I took Rich to a clinic where he was told it was probably an ocular migraine. He rested comfortably throughout the day, getting up now and then, looking and talking normally. Then at around 9 o’clock, as he was lying in bed waiting to say goodnight to our kids, he suddenly groaned and started rocking as if he’d lost control of half his body. He couldn’t tell me what was wrong but I knew it was a stroke. I allowed myself about 30 seconds of denial and called 911.

Though he was quickly rushed to the hospital, the period for early intervention (many strokes are reversible within the first four hours) had already passed. The damage to the left hemisphere of his brain was serious, resulting in paralysis of his right side, speech aphasia and general disorientation. When asked the year, he answered “1942”. He couldn’t say my name, though he correctly identified through yes-or-no questions that I was his wife and not his sister. When I said “I love you”, he did manage to say “love too.”

After a barrage of tests, the cause of his stroke was identified as a tear in the left carotid artery. Carotid dissection can occur with a neck injury but sometimes, as in my husband's case, the cause is unknown. It is responsible for less than 5% of all strokes but causes about 25% of strokes in younger patients. It explains how a 48 year old man who doesn’t smoke, exercises regularly and whose cholesterol and blood pressure are all within healthy limits could suffer a stroke. The good news is that the risk of further complications is low and that Rich’s age and general good health add up to a better than average prognosis for recovery.

Once he was stable, Rich was moved to an acute rehab unit and a few weeks later to a sub-acute rehab center, where he is continuing to receive physical, occupational and speech therapy. He doesn’t feel much below the knee yet, but he can walk with a cane, with slight assistance from a physical therapist. He has been gradually regaining feeling in his arm, though he has little control yet. His mind gets clearer all the time. He understands most of what is said to him and can express his needs with a combination of words and gestures. He’s starting to try to converse, though sometimes his attempts leave us both frustrated and caught between laughter and tears. But we persevere.

It’s been a harrowing time, but several books have helped me and I'd recommend them to anyone, whether or not your own life has been affected by stroke.

The first is a romance I’ve mentioned before: FLOWERS FROM THE STORM by Laura Kinsale. The hero, Christian, suffers a stroke resulting in aphasia, is locked up in a lunatic asylum but eventually escapes and recovers with the aid of the heroine. It’s always been one of my favorites and standing in the emergency room, I realized that most of what I know about stroke (besides the warning signs) came from that novel. I felt certain that Kinsale had based her story on research, which was a comfort in those early dark hours, before I had time to study up. As it turns out, Christian's recovery from speech aphasia is not unlike several cases I have since read about since. My husband is regaining his speech a bit more quickly, perhaps because he is not at the tender mercies of early 19th century medicine!

The other book was given to me by my cousin soon after she learned about Rich’s stroke. It’s MY STROKE OF INSIGHT, by Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard-trained brain scientist who suffered a massive stroke at 37 and recovered to write about the experience. It is a quick read, engrossing and very hopeful. Taylor was able to do some work within the year after her stroke but also continued to improve for eight years, by which time she was also playing guitar, making stained glass art and water skiing. She believes that challenging herself both mentally and physically aided her complete recovery. I think that’s key. Rich and I will keep aiming for 100%.

I’d just like to add that MY STROKE OF INSIGHT is fascinating to anyone interested in learning more about the differences between right and left brain thinking and developing what Taylor calls a “balanced brain” approach to life.

Thanks to all of you who expressed sympathy when Diane first posted about my absence from the blog. I’m spending a lot of time at the rehab center and even when Rich comes home, it will probably be a while before I can get back to regular writing or blogging. Please know I miss you all, am very grateful for all your kind wishes, and I'll stop by whenever I can.

Elena

http://www.elenagreene.com/

Hands Across the Water, Part Two

It's the British invasion! Here's the second appearance of the ladies of the Historical Romance UK Blog, so sit down on the comfy chair, pour yourselves a nice cuppa, and butter that bun...

Hi! It's great to be here on the Risky Regencies blog again. We're a group of British Regency writers and we got together a few years ago. We run the Historical Romance UK blog so please drop by and visit us! And if you sign up for our monthly email newsletter, you can enter more competitions to win books and goodies. Just send a blank e-mail here and we'll do the rest!
Competitions have a closing date of 28th March unless otherwise stated!


Nicola Cornick: Like some of the other authors who belong to the UK Regency Authors’ Group I have dual publication in both the US and UK and so have a great interest in the market on both sides of the Atlantic.
My most recent Regency historical, Unmasked, was published in the US last summer by Harlequin’s HQN Books imprint and is coming out here in the UK this month.

When I started reading Regencies many, many years ago (!) I think that the markets were quite different. Many of the UK books were drawing room Regencies, charming, traditional, but without the robustness and vitality that characterised some of the US writing. I’m generalising here, of course! In recent years I think that the two markets have moved much closer together in style with books by more US based romance authors appearing in British bookstores and vice versa. There are still some ideas that UK print publishers have not yet embraced: Regencies with paranormal or time travel elements in them, for example, although I was thrilled to see the TV programme Lost in Austen leading the way in this last year.

My Regencies take contemporary themes such as winning the national lottery, or being a celebrity, and look at them in a Regency context. My website gives details of books, contests, extra snippets on historical research, free stories and out-takes.


Wendy Soliman: Hi, I´ve written five novels for Robert Hale in the last three years. All of them are set in the Regency period - post Napoleonic wars. These romances all feature a mystery that keeps the reader guessing until the last chapter and, inevitably, a nare-do-well out to exploit the heroine. This, of course, offers the hero the opportunity to to act as her protector, if she´ll let him!
My sixth Regency based mystery-romance, A Reason to Rebel, is being published on 21st April by Samhain, firstly as an e-book and then ten months later as a paperback. This is an exciting departure for me and I´m greatly enjoying the challenge of dipping a toe in the US market. I found the American market requires a fast moving story, which they helped me to create by requesting shorter, sharper sentences. It was difficult always to get my point across in this way at first but when I got used to the concept I found I was cutting out unnecessary repetitions and not making points which ought to have been obvious. In my Hale books I might say, for instance, Julia looked up from her work and glanced out of the window, wondering what was causing all the commotion..´´ Samhain would split that in two. ´Julia looked up from her work and glanced out of the window. She wondered what was causing all the commotion.´ The former is more leisurely but perhaps encourages my tendancy to ramble. The latter is sharper and to the point. As far as I´m concerned, both styles work!

Samhain allowed me total freedom with the development of my characters and I was at liberty to make the book as sexy as I wanted to. In that respect it differs very little from my Hale books, published in the UK, since I prefer to leave quite a lot to the imagination and concentrate on driving the plot forward instead.


Melinda Hammond / Sarah Mallory

Hi everyone – it's great to be here! Romance in the Motherland. Hmm, is it so different from across the pond? When I was working with my editor at Samhain on my e-book, Moonshadows, I wondered how much she would want to change – after all, I think of myself as a very English writer and I am aware of the subtle differences in our common language! I needn't have worried: very few alterations were required and I have come to the conclusion that, to paraphrase Shakespeare (who had a couple of good plots himself) the story's the thing.

Moonshadows is the tale of two women – one in the modern day, one in Georgian England, both pursued by rich, powerful men (one of my own particular fantasies!). They are both strong-willed women, but their actions are influenced by the society they inhabit. Can the modern day heroine learn from the mistakes of her ancestor?

I loved writing Moonshadows, which is what I would call a romance with a spooky twist, and I have an e-copy to give away if you can tell me the name of the two women featured in the book (a quick visit to my website should provide the answer.) e-mail me with the answer and the first correct answer out of the hat on 28th February 2009 will receive a free e-copy of Moonshadows.

Fenella-Jane Miller: I live in East Anglia and all my Regency books are set here. It makes it so much easier to get the scene right when you know the area well. I actually live in Essex near Colchester which is the oldest recorded town in United Kingdom; I've set a book in Great Bentley which has the largest village green in England and another in St Osyth's Priory, which is the finest example of mediaeval architecture still in existence. The House Party, published by Robert Hale, is set in Suffolk, a pretty county adjacent to Essex. Here you can still drive through villages and countryside that has hardly changed since the 19th century. All my books are more historical romantic suspense than a comedy of manners with a strong plot and plenty of action, however you can be sure he and heroine always finds a happy ending. The villain is often not so lucky!

Gothic romances, along the lines of books like Jane Eyre and Victoria Holt's novels, are also still popular in the UK. The Ghosts at Neddingfield Hall has a 'Gothic' feel to it. The book is set in mid-winter, in a snow storm, and the house the hero and heroine are tapped in has been inexplicably deserted by the staff and Aunt Agatha has gone missing too!! The locals stay away believing the floating lights, ghostly howls and clanking chains to be ghosts - but our intrepid hero and heroine, Hester and Ralph, battle on realising the attacks are very real. I don't know of any US equivalents to this genre, but I'd love to know if there are any.


Joanna Maitland: Hello. I'm Joanna Maitland, a Scot living in England, just a few miles from the Welsh border. I love having access to the history of three countries as background for the Regency historical romances I write for Harlequin Mills & Boon. There are eleven so far, and they are getting more adventurous, both in their settings and in their plots, which is great fun for the author! I hope that the readers are also enjoying my spirit of adventure.

I agree with Nicola that British Regencies have become more robust and vibrant, like the US ones, but I have the impression that US publishers tend to be looking for Regencies set in England (mostly London or Bath) or perhaps in Scotland. I’m not sure that a US publisher would be totally comfortable with the kind of unusual locations I’ve chosen lately. For example, The Aikenhead Honours trilogy (to be published March-May 2009) wanders all over Europe. It features the intrigues of the Russian Emperor's visit to London in 1814 and his return to St Petersburg (His Cavalry Lady), spies at the Congress of Vienna (His Reluctant Mistress), and the hazards of the Hundred Days in France, prior to the battle of Waterloo in 1815 (His Forbidden Liaison). There will also be a follow-up Harlequin Undone! e-book in July — His Silken Seduction — which is set in France (in Lyons) during the Hundred Days. Not a Bath drawing room in sight!

On this side of the pond, British readers can be very picky about Regency detail that US readers probably would not notice. Scots are particularly finicky (fykie in Scots) about misuse of Scots dialect, which can jar horribly. It may not be helped by factors introduced by the editorial process, such as whiskey (Irish) instead of whisky (Scotch) — not that whisky was drunk by Regency notables anyway — and the ubiquitous tartan on the covers of Regencies set in Scotland.

I admit I’ve learned to accept the tartan. I’ve been told that books set in Scotland have to have tartan on the cover if they’re to sell, even though clan tartan was illegal from 1746 to 1782 and not generally readopted afterwards, partly because of poverty, and partly because many of the weaving and dyeing skills had been lost. People is the border country, where my story The Bride of the Solway is set, never were Gaelic-speaking wearers of tartan anyway, but I think there will be some tartan on the cover when it comes out early next year.

However, like my US counterparts, I’m writing escapist romance set in the Regency period, so maybe it doesn’t matter if some of my detail is wrong, as long as I get the romantic content right. I’ll be happy as long as my readers, wherever they’re from, identify with my heroine and fall in love with my hero. I certainly do!


Anne Herries: As a writer I probably wouldn't see much difference at all between UK / US Regencies because there are good books on either side of the Atlantic. However, as a reviewer I read quite a few and I have found distinct trends in both English and American novels. As far as the American authors go I find that the good writers often go to extreme lengths to uncover obscure facts about the period and work them into their books. Indeed, in general I find that there is often more historical content in American books than in English.

I also think that sometimes both the hero and the plots of American books are more dangerous and therefore more exciting than some English, though there are exceptions here. However, the American use of the English spoken word is not always good and can be irritating.The English authors rely on accurate period flavour and the spoken word is in most cases perfect, also the manner in which both heroine and hero behave is more accurate to the period, which in my opinion makes the book more believable.
So good and bad on both sides but everything is relative. As Anne Herries I have good and bad reviews on the same book. Some people think my books are wonderful, some think I can't write at all. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. I have written over one hundred books of various types, fifty for Harlequin Mills and Boon.

If you'd like to buy any of the UK published books and can't find them in the US, The Book Depository delivers them free worldwide.

JANE AUSTEN MOVIE CLUB: Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

Welcome to the Jane Austen Movie Club!

Here at Risky Regencies, we get together the first Tuesday of every month to discuss a Regency-interest movie or TV show.

This month: the 1982 SCARLET PIMPERNEL, starring Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour, and Ian McKellen!

To aid the discussion, here are the major credits, including a few "you've seen him here (you've seen him there)" tidbits in italics.


DIRECTOR: Clive Donner

SCREENPLAY: William Bast, based on the novels by Baroness Orczy

CAST:

Anthony Andrews: Sir Percy Blakeney

Jane Seymour: Marguerite Blakeney

Ian McKellen: Chauvelin

James Villiers: Baron de Batz

Eleanor David: Louise

Malcolm Jamieson: Armand St. Just

Jamieson played Colonel de L'Eclin in SHARPE'S RIFLES.

Denis Lill: Count de Tournay

Ann Firbank: Countess de Tournay

Firbank played Anne Elliot in the 1971 BBC PERSUASION.

Richard Morant: Robespierre

Julian Fellowes: The Prince Regent

Fellowes also played the Prince Regent in SHARPE'S REGIMENT, and played Major Dunnett in SHARPE'S RIFLES.

Gordon Gostelow: Duval

Carol MacReady: Mme. Duval

Tracey Childs: Suzanne

Childs played Marianne in the 1981 adaptation of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY.

Dominic Jephcott: Sir Andrew Ffoulkes

Christopher Villiers: Lord Anthony Dewhurst

Villiers played Colonel Horace Bampfylde in SHARPE'S SIEGE, and Tom Bertram in the 1983 MANSFIELD PARK.

Geoffrey Toone: Marquis de St. Cyr

Mark Drewry: Lord Timothy Hastings

Richard Charles: The Dauphin


So: what did you think?

Do you love this version, hate it, admire the costumes, want to recast it?

All answers welcome!

And be sure to stop back the first Tuesday of April, when we'll be discussing THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE, and the first Tuesday of May, when we'll be discussing SHARPE'S RIFLES.


Cara
Cara King, who seeks those french fries everywhere

Snowed In!

Whoa! The weather has knocked regular Monday Risky Diane Gaston out of the internet, so we are hosting a weather free-for-all.

First, some Cruikshank humor:



And pix of the 1814 Frost Fair:





And a picture of a lovely couple skating:




How is the weather where you are? What are you doing today? What winter activities are your favorite (I'm guessing all of us will choose 'A book and a pot of tea')? How glad are you for heated houses and running hot water? What would you do today if you were a Regency gal?