Two Great Men

When I was watching Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral procession proceed across Memorial Bridge, I was reminded of another funeral procession, one I first learned of when visiting the coach house at Stratfield Saye where the funeral car of the Duke of Wellington is displayed and a recording is played of the titles and honors of this man, the same words recited during his funeral march. The recording goes on and on, complete with the sound of horses' hooves, a sound that echoes in my mind from President Kennedy's funeral procession and the ones I've attended at Arlington Cemetery.

Do you realize there were similarities between the Duke of Wellington and Ted Kennedy?

1. Both were Irish. Wellington was descended from an Anglo-Irish family going back to 1180s; Kennedy's ancesors were Irish American, his great grandparents came over during the Irish Famine.
2. Both were fourth sons.
3. Both came from wealthy families, although Wellington's family fortunes waned a bit after his father died.
4. Neither were stellar students.
5. Both loved music. Wellington once played the violin; Kennedy loved to sing.
5. Both served in the Army (although Wellington's career was a bit longer and much more distinguished!!)
6. Both had unhappy marriages (although Kennedy's second marriage was very happy).
7. And, of course, both had long political careers. Wellington was Prime Minister for 2 years but active in politics both before and after. Kennedy's bid for the presidency failed but he was a powerful member of the Senate for 46 years. And, a huge difference--Kennedy was perhaps our most famous liberal senator and the Duke of Wellington was always a conservative Tory.

Wellington died at Walmer Castle. His body was taken by train to London and he was given a state funeral, an honor he shared with Admiral Lord Nelson and Sir Winston Churchill. His funeral was packed and a grateful citizenry lined the streets of London as his funeral procession passed. To honor him Tennyson wrote "Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington"

And 250 years later, as I stood in the Duke's coach house, I felt that same need to honor him, a great man.

Are any of you Wellington Groupies, like me? What do you think of the Iron Duke?

There will be new stuff on my website tomorrow. Take a peek now at my new bookcover.

How Bizarre.

Are you obsessed by anything that is just totally bizarre?

Yeah, me too.

Last night, one of my best friends from forever was visiting, and after her girls and my boy went to bed, the Mixologist Spouse shook some margaritas together and we settled down in front of the TV to watch Scopitones. What are Scopitones, you might ask? They were film jukeboxes invented in France in the early 1960s and also refer to the films that were played on it.

Dear lord, they are hysterical. First of all, and here is a truth almost Universally Acknowledged, is that the French Cannot Rock. When they try? The results are snort-worthy (me and my friend were both snorting. The husband does not snort, thank you very much). Second, of course, is that the clothing and the dance styles are dated.


One of my favorite artists from the series is Vince Taylor Twenty Flight Rock, a British guy who translated Elvis Presley's panache for the French. And who can forget Johnny Hallyday, the French Elvis Presley (although I think Taylor does a better job with the EP)? One group with whom I am fascinated is Les Surfs, six very short siblings from Madagascar, who had several Scopitones.

What does this have to do with the Regency? And writing? Hm. Not much. Except, if I might extrapolate, my early-on obsession with romances set me on this path I am on now. My obsession with music sent me on my previous career path, while for the future? Who could say? Meanwhile, I howl with laughter and drink margaritas. Not bad for a Thursday night.

What bizarre thing obsesses you?

They became ... what?

Yes, they became Victorians.

That's always something that alarms me when I consider our interpretation of the Regency. If not our characters themselves, then certainly the half-dozen babies of the epilogue grew up to become ... like this.

Did it happen overnight or was it a gradual change in sensibilities--or, to put it another way, were the Georgians more Victorian than we like to think?

Pretty much, yes. For instance, William Bowdler (1754-1825) published his improved edition of Shakespeare in 1818, the Family Shakespeare, which omitted certain vulgarities which might offend or corrupt the innocence of women and children during family readings. Don't you think "Out, out crimson spot!" has a certain appeal?

As early as 1710, the modest pamphlet that grew to be the bestselling book of the eighteenth century, Onania: or, The Heinous Sin of Self-Pollution, and all its Frightful Consequences in Both Sexes, Considered, warned against solo sexual activity. Yes, sex for Georgians was fraught with moral peril and the best approach was to grit your teeth, think of England, and try not to enjoy it because this was all about procreation and duty.

A brief glimpse of fashions during the first couple of decades of the nineteenth century shows women's clothes evolving from diaphanous muslins with high waists to shaped bodices and puffy sleeves and lowering waistlines, with a shape dictated by corsets and a gradual restriction of movement.

Yes, indeed, dear Mama did appear half naked in public, just like the sensibly dressed young ladies in the cartoon.

Thackeray's Vanity Fair, published in 1847-48, was illustrated by the author who showed his characters dressed in "contemporary" clothes.

Tastes had changed, as Thackeray explained:

It was the author's intention, faithful to history, to depict all the characters of this tale in their proper costume, as they wore them at the commencement of this century...I have not the heart to disfigure my heroes and heroines by costumes so hideous; and have, on the contrary, engaged a model of rank dressed according to the present fashion.

Similarly, the painting Before Waterloo by Henry Nelson O'Neil (1868) has not an Empire waistline in sight.

But within a couple of decades tastes had changed once again and with the passing of time came a certain nostalgia for the past. A genre of painting emerged that showed the big bad Regency as being pretty, cute, and innocent.

Marcus Stone (1840-1921), Dickens' friend and later illustrator, painted a series of genre scenes such as this one. It's related to his painting In Love that HarperCollins, bless their heart, used for the cover of The Rules of Gentility (same characters, same silly hat, same ribbon and basket, and he still hasn't plucked up the courage to propose to her!).

Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) also idealized the period.

When you're reading or writing do you ever consider that the Regency is going to become the Victorian age? Do you want to? Can you imagine the family portraits becoming objects of embarrassment?

Angela James Contest Winner!

Girrlit, you are the winner of the Angela James prize pack! Please email your name and address to riskies@yahoo.com.

The Road Taken

I confess that I have a very pretty commute to work. It's not all that long (40-45 minutes door to door) but it's through the vineyards here in Sonoma County, California. Every so often I actually notice that I'm driving through some lovely countryside. Mostly, I use the time to listen to the radio and find out what the heck is going on in the world. Quite often, though, I turn off the radio and think about my WIP (Wreck in Progress)¹

Lately, there's been some construction work on my route home and in order to avoid sitting in traffic ::::shudder:::: I've been taking the long way home. It takes longer, just under an hour, but it's through the Sonoma Mountains then over and down into the valley to the back roads to my house.² Until this detour I've been taking, I'd never been in the Sonoma Mountains, even though from my house we have a rather stunning view of them. Too often I take that view for granted, too. I live 30 minutes from the tallest tree in the whole freaking world and I've been to see it once since I was an adult. sigh

I think that I might, from time to time from now on, take this road not traveled to get home even if it does add few extra minutes to the drive. Sometimes, beauty is an end in itself. I do count myself quite lucky that my normal commute can be made without ever driving into a city (except when I get to work.) I think I'm even luckier that there's a way home that takes my breath the way this does.

My apologies that my pictures don't do justice to how pretty this is. Also, in order not to die in a flaming wreck of metal, there were prettier pictures I didn't take.

Part of the drive goes through Glen Ellen (Population 992). You may be familiar with it as the city where Jack London lived out the final years of his life.

Please keep in mind that I took these photos with my iPhone. (I pulled over to take a couple of them.) The road is, in fact, even narrower than it looks in some of these photos. There's barely room for one car.

1. OK, so that's a wee joke. But whatever book I'm working on at the moment is always a wreck until the last minute. Most writers seem to explode that acronym to Work In Progress.

2 Rats. I forgot to get a picture of the giant chicken. Maybe tomorrow.

So, any roads taken you'd care to share in the comments?

The Riskies on the Radio!

Last month at RWA in Washington DC, the Riskies went to the Sirius studios to record a roundtable discussion of the blog and our books! It was tons of fun, and now you can listen in on Sirius 117 or XM 163.

Wednesday, August 26 at 9pmE/6pmW
Friday, August 28 at 8 amE/5amW
Saturday, August 29 at 7 pmE/4 pmW

Upcoming Releases and Niche-ification

I'm so excited this week to show off the cover for my November Harlequin release, The Winter Queen! It features the new (subtle) branding of Harlequin Historicals, and I love the beautiful colors, the Christmas-y look, and the way it suits the story inside the cover so well. It takes place at the Court of Elizabeth I at Christmastime 1564, the winter that was cold the Thames froze through and there was a frost fair to distract everyone from the bitter cold. There's nothing more glamorous--or dangerous--than a Renaissance Christmas! (My website has also been updated to include an excerpt and some historical research tidbits, as well as Elizabethan holiday recipes--if you decide to try them, let me know how that turns out. I'm not brave enough...)




I also have two releases in September! The first is actually a re-release, a "two books in one volume" of 2 of my old Regency titles from Signet. Spirited Brides is the perfect book for Halloween (hey, with Christmas and Halloween we have lots of holidays covered!). One Touch of Magic and A Loving Spirit are Regency romances with a touch of ghostly paranormal--I'll be talking more about this next week, though I've heard it's been glimpsed on bookstore shelves already. It's also on Amazon.

And the third book in my "Muses of Mayfair" trilogy is out in the UK! To Kiss a Count is Thalia Chase's story, and is set in Bath. These books will be out in the US in 2010 in April, May, and June, but if you can't wait they can be ordered from Amazon UK or from the Mills & Boon website! In other news, the opposite is happening with my "Renaissance Trilogy" (A Notorious Woman, A Sinful Alliance, High Seas Stowaway), which has already been out in the US. In 2010 (February, April, and June) they will be out in the UK via Mills & Boons' "Super Historical" line, which means there will be lots of extra content, historical notes, and, as a bonus, the "Undone" short story Shipwrecked and Seduced! I am sooooo excited to see these books out again!

And, on a totally (somewhat) unrelated note, I read an article last week about the niche-ification of TV. (Sorry no link--I can't actually recall where I read it! But the concept has stuck with me). What the author meant by this was that no longer is there really one Must See show or moment that absolutely everyone watches and talks about. (Like "Who Shot JR?" or Luke and Laura's wedding on General Hospital, or the finale of MASH). With the advent of cable and DVDs, there is something out there for everyone, and audiences for certain shows become much more specific. My own favorite shows, Mad Men, True Blood, and Gossip Girl, could be examples of this. They're all highly buzzed-about, yet in the cases of MM and GG their actual ratings are far out of proportion to the talk. (The Season 3 premier of MM had about 2.8 million viewers; twice as many watched a re-run of How I Met Your Mother). It's true these are not shows for everyone; they are very character-driven, and Mad Men expecially has very complex, slowly developing plots and themes. They require a certain dedication. But they inspire immense passion in the people who love them, far more than a bigger ratings hit like CSI seems to.

Anyway, the point of this is, I started wondering if this could also be said of books. Romance novels boast so many sub-genres now, far more than when I started reading them (not that I was aware of sub-genre at all back then--to me a romance was a romance, not necessarily a traditional Regency or Regency historical, contemporary comedy or romantic suspense). There are funny books; dark books; many, many kinds of paranormals (vamps, demons, dragons, urban fantasy, etc); "chick lit" in the big city, and cozy stories in small towns where people knit. Books for every reader, which is absolutely wonderful. But does it mean there are no Must Read books, no one big show everyone should know about?

What do you think? And what's your "niche"?

Peterloo

August 16 was the anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre. On that date in 1819, 60,000 people gathered at St. Peter's Field to listen to radical orator Henry Hunt and to protest against the Corn Laws and to seek Parliamentary reform. The local magistrates, frightened by the sheer numbers of protesters, ordered the yeomanry to disperse the crowds and arrest the demonstation's leaders. The yeomanry (who were well-to-do tradesmen opposed to reforms) did a poor job of it and the 15th Hussars were ordered to charge the crowd and rescue the yeomanry. Eleven people were killed and 500 injured and the resulting outrage of the government's support of the incident helped fuel the reform movement.

There are conflicting accounts as to what happened at "Peterloo," the name, taken from Waterloo. Certainly the most famous of the protests of the time, it was not the first. The book I just turned in (Yay, it is done!) in part takes place after the Spa Fields riots (believed to be incited by provacateurs in the government's employ) and the March of the Blanketeers, which was dispersed before reaching London. Before these events there were the Luddites, who did become violent, smashing the machinery of the mill owners.

The Tory government cracked down with harsh laws, the Gag Acts after the Blanketeers march and the Six Acts after Peterloo. These basically made it illegal to protest against the government.

It is easy to see these as extreme and unfair measures depriving citizenry of free speech, but one also must remember that the men passing the laws were doing so in the shadow of the French Revolution. The Reign of Terror, during which 17,000 were executed, must have made a deep impression upon the aristocracy. I think this made a deeper impression than the fact that a whole country was lost to the American Revolution, which, of course, was founded on the right to free speech!

I realize this blog leaves nothing for you to comment on! So my challenge is, post the question I should have asked at the end of this blog!

Angela James

Today the Riskies welcome Angela James, the very recently-appointed editor for Quartet Press. Quartet is brand new to the epublishing world, but its founders are well-versed in the digital age. Join us in welcoming Angela to the Risky Regencies!

A random commenter will be chosen to win a prize pack from Angela. Yay!

What is your position at Quartet Press?

I’m the editorial director for Quartet Press. Which is a fancy way of saying I’ll be helping Quartet build their editorial department from the ground up including staff, style guide, authors and schedule. No pressure, right?

What is Quartet Press’s editorial focus?

Right now, my two priorities for Quartet are acquiring quality submissions and quality staff (editors and copyeditors). Overall, editorial focus is going to be on joining the ranks of other digital publishers that readers and authors list as the publishers to shop at and submit to.

What is your background prior to joining Quartet?

For the past four years I helped start and build Samhain Publishing, first as an editor and then as executive editor. Prior to that, I started in publishing as a proofreader for Ellora’s Cave. I’ve been in publishing about six years. My first career was as an occupational therapist in mental health settings (both home health and a state psychiatric hospital). I’ve been lucky to do two careers that I really love, in a seemingly short period of time.

What is the one thing you wish people knew about digital publishing?

This is probably the toughest question you asked. I have filled a two-hour presentation with all the things I wish people knew about digital publishing. But if I had to pick just one, I’d say that despite the years digital publishing has been around, I think we all need to remember it’s still in its toddler stages, there’s going to continue to be changes, hopefully positive, and there’s definitely still room for a lot more growth. It’s an exciting time to be in publishing, and in digital publishing in particular because of that immense room for growth.

What is your own preferred e-reader? Why?

Right now I use the Sony 700, though I switch off with the Sony 505 sometimes. And I also read on my iPhone occasionally. I do have a Kindle 2, but I don’t use that. I used to be a dedicated fan of the Ebookwise! Currently, I prefer the Sonys over the Kindle because the Sony gives me more options for shopping at other online bookstores and also has superior file management over the Kindle. On the Sony, I can sort my books by whatever category I assign to them. As an example, by series name, genre, submissions, or maybe if I have an ARC. That was something I just couldn’t adapt to with the Kindle. I also like the ability to be able to put all of my books on a memory card and pop that card out when I want to show people my Sony, so I can keep my reading semi-private.

I do also read on the iPhone, though not regularly. But that’s where I read the free downloads that Kindle offers. I don’t buy books via Kindle normally, but I do like to take advantage of the free offerings!

I’m looking forward to seeing the new Sony Readers releasing soon, to see how they’ll compare to my current experience. And Sony is supposed to be announcing something on Tuesday. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a wireless reader, as I do think wireless is a nice feature, though I choose superior file management over wireless in my use of the Sony over the Kindle.

What’s the last book you bought?

Pitch Black by Leslie Kelly. Though I have to admit it was a small accident. I was trying out the new Books on Board mobile-friendly website on my iPhone and had no idea when I went through the process of adding the book to my cart that I’d somehow bought it. But since I was looking at it, I was definitely interested and I will read it! Now, if you’d asked me this question next week, I would have had a list of books to share. Tuesday looks to be an awesome release day.

The last book I read was One Scream Away by Kate Brady. Fabulous romantic suspense and I highly recommend it.

What’s funny is, the last book I read and the last book I bought make it look as though romantic suspense is my preferred genre, but it’s actually the genre I read least. But it does go to show that I like to read across genres, when I’m reading even a genre that’s not my favorite!

What are you looking to acquire?

Amazing books from authors who are interested in working with a professional publisher and building a career with them. Ha, the answer every author hates, no? Currently, I’m looking to acquire for the Quench imprint across the romance genres, from inspirational to erotic, contemporary to historical to paranormal, interracial to GLBT. And all of them in between.

We will consider both women’s fiction and YA, though I wouldn’t expect to see a plethora of them being released at Quartet.

We’re going to be doing two special sub-imprints of the Quench romance line: one for digital reprints of previously printed books and one for something I’ve long held a special spot for: fantasy/science fiction/urban fantasy with romantic elements. We’ll be targeting some extra marketing efforts at these sub-imprints as we get going because I think there’s a place for both in the digital world.

Who are your own personal favorite authors?

JD Robb, Julie Garwood, Patricia Briggs, David Eddings, CL Wilson, Jo Beverly, Ilona Andrews, and John Sanford are a good representative of my crazy reading habits and of authors I love.

Anything else you want to share with us?

I’m currently acquiring for both our launch day and our launch month releases, and response times are going to be fairly short turnaround as we look to get our frontlist built. I’m definitely interested in acquiring historicals for these slots. I’m excited about what we’re going to do with Quartet Press, and the sheer amount of knowledge and intelligence in the people who own the company is both awesome and intimidating. I’m looking forward to acquiring authors to help us build a strong digital publisher.

Also, I’m always open to questions about both digital publishing and Quartet Press, so anyone can email me now or in the future if there’s something you want to know. angelajameseditor@gmail.com I’m going to keep dragging people to the digital dark side one reader (and author) at a time.

Thanks for joining us, Angela!

Use Your Freedom Of Choice

Hi everyone!

As usual, I have very little on my mind besides coffee, Clive Owen/Richard Armitage and napping.

But this week, I have startled myself with my productivity, and have realized, yet again, that many of my books share one underlying theme: The Freedom Of Choice (not Devo, damn your earworm!).

My heroines always have to decide for themselves what they want, not be guided by anyone, even if it's the super-hawt hero. And they usually decide to take a risk, to stretch beyond their own comfort zones, to get what they secretly desire (hint: It's the super-hawt hero).

I wrote this earlier this week:

“What would you like me to do first, Christian?” she asked, leaning in to whisper in his ear. He held himself rigidly pressed against the back of the divan, hard and unyielding.

“This is your challenge, Violet,” he replied in a low voice. “You decide.”
She pondered for a minute. What did she wish him to do to her? That would work as a starting point, wouldn’t it?

It had to. Because sitting this way, without moving, was making her legs cramp, and leg cramping was not conducive to seduction, at least as far as she knew.

So--what issues push your buttons? If you're a writer, have you identified your themes? If you're a reader, what themes pique your interest the most?

Megan

PS: Yeah, random hawt-guy pix. What about it?

Finding the way

I don't write that often about how I write because for some time I've had a superstitious fear that if I attempt to analyze what I do I'll somehow destroy it. It's not broke, so I don't try to fix it.

But I've been thinking about this following conversations with other writers with whom I agreed that venturing into the unknown is part of the process. To write well, and above all, to write consistently and regularly (not to mention adverbly) requires a letting go, a surrender to something that just feels weird. So a bear enters the story (as it did in A Most Lamentable Comedy, on sale here with free shipping--was that good for you too?); a quirky character arrives and you don't know quite what they're doing but you feel they have to stay so you leave the scene in, just in case, and later they prove to be a major player in resolving the plot; and so on.

It's hard and frightening to let the process, the unknown, take over which I think is why so many of us dither around with deadlines looming. The procrastination factor means that eventually you have to dive in and let the angels or demons of the creative process take over. And there's always the fear that, yeah, I love this character, but what if they never do anything significant to forward the plot? Or what if my editor wants me to take him or her out?

The irony of course is that once you've got beyond the fear and doubt and procrastination, it's great. It feels wonderful once you're in the Zone and the story starts writing itself. And there are also the practical considerations like making the daily wordcount and meeting deadlines. So why all the avoidance?

I think fear is a necessary part of the process. We don't know exactly how the creative works (even if it can be explained in terms of hormones or electrical impulses) and we should treat it with respect. At the same time we have to learn to trust our instincts and accept that we can make the story work, fill in the (in my case, gaping) plot holes and find solutions.

I suspect it's pretty much the same for other creative endeavors and also for athletes. What do you think?


Over at agent Lucienne Diver's blog today talking about bad girl heroines, HEAs, and offering a copy of A Most Lamentable Comedy as a prize!

My Favorite Historical Novels-- Non-Romance Division (You can Play Too!)

I am the absolute worst at memes which strike me as

1. No different from chain mail
2. Fun

So, at the same time I think wow, that would be fun to list [Insert Meme here] I also think all six of my friends will HATE me for dumping this time suck on them. So I end up never doing them because of the requirement of forcing innocents to participate and also never having the required number of vict... er.... friends.

But I got to thinking that lists are kind of fun. So, herewith, my highly personalized list of Historical Novels I Liked A Lot. You'll probably notice that some of my choices were not historical when they were written. It's my list so I can do that. Also, because it's my list, I get to include books that maybe aren't considered literature.

• Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
• Villette, Charlotte Bronte
• Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton
• Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole
• Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
• The Makioka Sisters, Junichero Tanizaki
• Connigsby, Benjamin Disraeli
• The King Must Die, Mary Renault
• Fire From Heaven, Mary Renault
• The Last Days of Pompeii, Edward Bulwer-Lytton
• The Silver Chalice, Thomas Costain
• The Marble Faun, Nathaniel Hawthorne
• The Black Tulip, Alexandre Dumas
• Beowolf (but not until long after I was done reading it.)
• Captain Blood, Rafael Sabatini
• Robin Hood
  

I know there's more, but that's my beginning list.

And since I said you can play too, what are yours? Do your own blog post or opine in the comments or both.

Winner!

The fashionista winner of To Catch a Rogue is: Jane Austen! Please send us your snail mail address at riskies@yahoo.com...

In or Out?

Yesterday, I had another whole post planned out then--well, life intervened! It was a crazy day, full of bathroom repair mayhem. In addition, Blogger was very slow, and I decided to wait until the morning to post something. I'm on my way to work, so that planned post can wait until next week, and I am going to throw today's topic to you! On the addictive site Go Fug Yourself, they often have reader polls on certain outfits, which I have a ridiculous amount of fun taking part in. Now it's your turn to pass judgment on certain historical ladies and their style choices. Who do you think is In, and who is Out?

And I will give away a signed copy of the UK edition of To Catch a Rogue (not out in the US until next spring!) to one random commenter--no matter what your opinion is!



Empress Eugenie: In or Out?
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire: in or Out?
Princess Charlotte: In or Out?
Berthe Morisot: In or Out?
Queen Elizabeth I: in or Out?
Therese Tallien: In or Out?
Princesse de Lamballe: In or Out?
Maria di Cosimo: In or Out?

A winner for Mr. Darcy, Vampyre

Gill Stewart,

you're the winner of a signed copy of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre.

Please email us at riskies AT yahoo.com with your snailmail address.

Guest Blogger Allegra Gray!

I'm taking a little break today, thanks to our guest, Allegra Gray, whose debut Regency Historical, Nothing But Scandal, is now in bookstores. So, Welcome, Allegra!
Diane

Thank you to the ladies of Risky Regencies for inviting me as a guest blogger! As a new author, I’m having tremendous fun meeting people online--there is such a thriving community of readers and writers out there!

It might amaze some people to know that, even though I write books set in historical times (primarily Regency England) I never found history classes in school to be that interesting. Dry facts about what happened, dates of battles, who was president…none of it stuck in my head.

Except, that is, the vast quantities of history I discovered through reading fiction, watching historical movies, playing classical music, or traveling to historic sites in Europe. All of a sudden, history came alive. It was happening to real people (or people who seemed real) and involved real, tangible things like stone walls and castles and tapestries. Of course I knew that in fiction and movies, the story wasn’t exactly an accurate portrayal of a particular time. But I did wonder, for the first time, what life really was like back then.

Which brings me to writing romance. I’ve always loved stories, and it turns out that even if history class wasn’t that great, there was something magical about being swept back in time by a great story. The way a story does that is through carefully researched details, of course, but what really makes it captivating is keeping those details out of the way and letting the characters shine.

In some of my writers’ groups, we are constantly striving to have perfect historical detail…to the point where we research some things that, were we to include them, readers wouldn’t believe! (Truth is, after all, stranger than fiction). And sure, for those of us who become an expert in a topic, it can be frustrating to see that some authors portray that topic with a little less accuracy. I’m sure that for every one topic I am an expert in, there are ten or twenty that I’m not…but then, I’m not trying to recreate Regency England, only to get close enough to use its rich flavor as the base setting for my story.

As I research certain things (how long did it take to travel from London to Bath? When did the opium trade really take off? Why can’t my heroine be seen alone at a public inn?) the temptation is to work everything I find into the story…but then, my readers would be stuck back in history class. Knowing how fun that was for me (not so much), it makes for a challenge: include just enough history to answer that burning question or reveal that key detail, so that the reader is captivated but not overwhelmed, and so that they too ask the question “I wonder what life was really like back then?”

I’ll end with a question: what was one of the coolest things about history you first got interested in by reading fiction?

Best wishes,

Allegra

P.S. If you’d like to leave a comment (or answer the question above), I’ll enter your name into a drawing and then tomorrow, pick a name and that person will receive a signed copy of “Nothing But Scandal.”

Allegra Gray is a former military officer--turned English professor--turned homeland defense analyst. One thing she has always been, though, is a storyteller. She wrote her first book at the age of 5 (it has yet to be published).

Allegra began her publishing career while teaching in the English department of the U.S. Air Force Academy, but soon discovered that non-fiction, academic work was not enough to satisfy her creative drive.

She turned to fiction, and launched her career as a novelist with the release of a historical romance, “Nothing But Scandal,” from Kensington Publishing in July 2009.

Allegra lives in Colorado and writes novels full of steamy intrigue that interweave her love of history, legend, and romance.

Check out her website at www.allegragray.com

Mr, Darcy, Vampyre and Ms. Grange, Author

A Terrible Secret… When she departs for her wedding tour, Elizabeth Darcy is the happiest woman alive—until she sees the look of torment on Mr. Darcy’s face…

A Test Of Love That Will Take Them To Hell And Back… A vampyre, cursed for eternity, Darcy thought he could marry Elizabeth and never tell her the truth… but as he carries her across the Alps to visit the one person he hopes can advise him, Elizabeth’s terror grows, until the Darcy family curse threatens to tear both of them apart… Starting where Pride and Prejudice ends, international bestselling author Amanda Grange delivers a brilliant vision of Austen’s brooding hero in a delightfully thrilling, spinechilling, breathtaking read.

Welcome Amanda! Amanda's offering a signed copy of her book to one of our commenters today, so please join the discussion--and she'll mail to the US or UK. We'll announce the winner here tomorrow.

Hi! It's great to be here on the Riskies blog so thanks for inviting me!

This book is something of a departure for you from your previous books. What prompted this new direction?

I wanted to write a sequel to Pride and Prejudice because I adore the characters and I wanted to read more about them, but there are so many sequels that I wanted to write something different. I'd had an idea of Darcy as a vampyre a long time ago when watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer but I couldn't see what to do with it, so I just tucked the idea away at the back of my mind and got on with other things. Then, when I was reading a lot of Regency Gothics as research for Henry Tilney's Diary - because his book, Northanger Abbey, is a Gothic - the idea just came to me: what if I started the sequel on Lizzy and Darcy's very romantic wedding day, and what if I then sent them to Europe on their wedding tour, and what if Lizzy slowly discovered that Darcy was a vampyre? It immediately felt right and so I decided to go with it.

Did you find it intimidating channelling Jane Austen?

ALol, I'm not sure about chanelling Jane Austen! I just love her books and, as a reader, I want more. As no one else writes Austenesque books that satisfy me, I write my own. I try not to think about the fact that I'm reworking or extrapolating some of the best novels ever written, otherwise I would never dare put pen to paper - or finger to keyboard!

What sort of research did you do?

I've done a lot of research into the Regency period over the last ten years or so, reading letters and novels from the time, studying fashion plates, visiting stately homes and learning about the political and economic situation. Most of this doesn't go into my books, but I find it helps me to know about these things so that I get the background right. For Mr Darcy, Vampyre I researched the histories of Paris and Venice as well as researching the landscapes of Regency Europe, complete with travel arrangements. I'm lucky because I've been to most of the locations used in Mr Darcy, Vampyre and as the cities like Venice are so old, large parts of them are still the same today as they were two hundred years ago, so I had all that experience to draw on.

What's your favorite part of the book?

It's difficult to say. Like all authors, I suspect, I love every bit of my books, and if you ask me on another day I would probably choose a different bit! But I'm very fond of this bit, where Lizzy and Darcy are in Paris, attending a salon. It's a very romantic part of a novel which is full of romance but also full of fantasy and horror as well.

Darcy was at once welcomed by four women who walked up to him with lithe movements and lingering glances. Their dresses were rainbow hued, in the colours of gems, and flimsy, like all the Parisian dresses. Their hair was dark and their skin was pallid.
‘You will have to be careful,’ came a voice at Elizabeth’s shoulder.
She turned to see a man with fine features and tousled hair. He had an air of boredom about him, and although Elizabeth did not usually like those who were easily bored there was something strangely magnetic about him. His ennui gave his mouth a sulky turn which was undeniably attractive.
‘They will take him from you if they can,’ the man continued, watching them all the while.
Elizabeth turned to look at them and as she did so she was reminded of Caroline Bingley and her constant efforts to catch Darcy’s attention. He had been impervious to Caroline and he was impervious to the Parisian women as well, for all their efforts to enrapture him. As they talked and smiled and leant against him, flicking imaginary specks of dust from his coat and picking imaginary hairs from his sleeve, they looked at him surreptitiously. When they saw that he was oblivious of their attempts to captivate him they redoubled their efforts, one of them whispering in his ear, another leaning close to his face, and the other two walking, arm in arm, in front of him, in order to display their figures.
‘It is not right, what they do there, he being so newly married,’ said a woman, coming up and standing beside the two of them. ‘But forgive me, I was forgetting, we have not been introduced. I am Katrine du Bois, and that is my brother, Philippe.’
There was an air of warmth about the woman which was missing from many of the salon guests, and Elizabeth sensed in her a friend. And yet there was something melancholy about her, as though she had suffered a great disappointment from which she had never recovered.
‘It is not right, no,’ said Philippe. ‘But it is nature. What can one do?’
He turned to look at Elizabeth with sympathy but Elizabeth was only amused.
‘Poor things!’ she said.
Darcy wore the same expression he had worn when she had first seen him at the Meryton assembly; and despite the difference in the two events, the noisy vulgarity of the assembly and the refined elegance of the salon, he was still above his company. His dark hair was set off by his white linen and his well moulded face, even in such company, was handsome. His dark eyes wandered restlessly over his companions until they came to rest on Elizabeth. And then his face relaxed into softer lines, full of warmth and love.
‘I wish a man would look at me the way that Darcy looks at you,’ said Katrine.
‘I am very lucky,’ said Elizabeth, and she knew that she was.
She had not married for wealth or position, she had married for love. She wished that she was not in company, that she and Darcy had stayed at the inn where they could have been alone, but she knew they would not be in Paris for ever. The calls and engagements would come to an end and then they would have more time to spend, just the two of them, together.
‘You are,’ said Katrine. ‘I have many things, I have jewels and clothes, carriages and horses, a fine house and finer furnishings, but I would give them all for one such look.’
Darcy’s companions claimed his attention and he turned reluctantly away. As he did so his hand moved to his chest as though he were lifting something beneath his shirt, pulling it away from his chest and then letting it drop again.
‘What is it he does there?’ asked Katrine. ‘Does he wear something round his neck?’
‘Yes, I bought him a crucifix yesterday. The shops in Paris are very tempting,’ said Elizabeth. ‘He refused to take it at first, but he had given me so much and I had given him so little that I insisted and at last he allowed me to fasten it around his neck.’
Katrine’s voice was reverent. ‘He must love you very much,’ she said.

Great excerpt! What's next for you?

I'm writing a Darcy and Elizabeth story for a Christmas anthology and I'm also starting work on a prequel to Mr Darcy, Vampyre, which explores Darcy's early life as a vampyre and reveals a lot more about the other characters in the novel, as well as putting a new slant on his early relationship with Lizzy.

Thanks so much for crossing the Atlantic digitally to be with us today, Amanda. Chat away--and have your name entered into the pot to win a signed copy!