In The Fontainebleau Fan, Miss Meg Hayward paints trifles to sell, a way to avoid poverty. When her copy of an antique fan is sold as the real thing, she must find it and make amends. Nicholas Wadsworth, the Earl of Wakefield, believes he was swindled by the lovely young artist. How could he know that spending weeks with her at his estate would lead him from anger and humiliation to sympathy and affection?
"Ms. Hinshaw is to be highly complimented for a well-plotted, well-written book with well-drawn characters...a gentle, lively, humorous and very picturesque reading experience"--Rakehell review.
The Eligible Miss Elliott is Miss Rosalind Elliott, an heiress who despairs of finding a husband who is not primarily concerned with her fortune. She encounters her childhood friend Philip Caldwell and their friendship blossoms into romance. Rosalind is surprised and delighted to learn of Philip has become wealthy, although his wealth is unknown to the ton. When the vigorous Bath gossip-mill catches wind of the budding romance, they condemn Philip as just another fortune hunter who desires Rosalind’s property. Rosalind and Philip decide to outwit the busybodies and prevent scandal, dishonor, and humiliation. Will they be able to meet the challenge and be together without misgivings?
"Victoria Hinshaw has written an entertaining and gently insightful Regency romance"--Romance Reader review.
Vicky will give away a free download (Kindle or Nook) of each new ebook, one to two lucky commenters chosen at random.
Welcome, Vicky!
Lovers of Regency Romance will be pleased to know you are re-releasing The Fontainebleau Fan and The Eligible Miss Elliott as eBooks. When you prepared these books for ebook versions, did you make any changes to the stories?
Not a word. I reread them and had some ideas, but then I thought maybe I’d just write a whole new book! So, no revisions. The new ideas may appear someplace sometime.
Did you come across any interesting research when writing these books?
I researched various methods of wall painting in the Regency era for The Fontainebleau Fan. Rather than the ancient practice of fresco (painting in wet plaster, like Michelangelo), it seemed that stately homes were more likely to have the walls covered with canvas first, though some painted directly on the wall. Since the wall that Meg Hayward is going to paint at Wakefield Hall is in a new conservatory attached to the house, that wall would have once been an exterior wall. Even if plastered over, the wall should be covered with canvas for a longer lasting picture in a humid setting where flowers grew.
As you can tell, research is one of my favorite aspects of writing regency…need I say more?
Tell us how you first became interested in the Regency time period?
You mean beyond loving Jane Austen forever? And Georgette Heyer? The real impetus came from reading the regency-set novels by Laura London. I fell in love with the period, not to mention the writing. Laura London is the penname of a couple here in Milwaukee. Sharon and Tom Curtis wrote The Bad Baron’s Daughter, The Windflower, Moonlight Mist and several more. All are lovely stories, very nicely written.
Tell us about your involvement in the Jane Austen Society.
I have taught JA in several venues – on-line, in high school, for seniors, and for civic groups. My talks have been featured at a number of JASNA AGMs, the annual gathering of our tribe in various cities in the U.S. and Canada. I am a member of the local groups in Wisconsin and in Chicago, and enjoy as many of the meetings as I can. I learn lots of new information every time.
You blog at Number One London about an incredible diversity of topics. How do you and Kristine Hughes decide what to blog there?
Sometimes the subjects just pour out of us with no shortages. Our only sticking point is to find enough time to research and write. We cover our own activities – travel, talks, exhibits and so forth. And we present various excerpts from period works. Right now we are carrying selections from Dr. Syntax, originally published in 1812.
What is next for you?
I have three active projects – a big surprise at Number One London, which we hope to start after the first of the year. I am writing another story set in 1840 and I have lots of regency ideas floating around. And I need to finish some of the genealogy I’ve started on my paternal lines from England. I have a GGGGrandfather who was with Wellington in the Peninsula and at Waterloo – actually a civilian mapmaker. My cousin and I saw a dozen of his intricately beautiful maps at the British Archives at Kew a few years ago, still carefully preserved.And I will be promoting the rest of my regencies as e-Books and another novel published originally in 1983 by Pocket Books. It is a family saga titled BirthRights: A Dangerous Brew, the story of three generations of a fictitious Milwaukee Brewing Dynasty from 1870-1930, available now as an e-book at Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, etc.
Thanks, Vicky, for being our Risky guest.
Now, readers, you can ask Vicky a question....or tell us if you used to read the traditional Regencies and what you think of their resurgence as ebooks. Remember, two lucky commenters will win a download of either The Fontainebleau Fan or The Eligible Miss Elliott.
My preference has always been for traditional regencies because they are more likely to be ensemble pieces with subsidiary characters who are not just ciphers. The current fashion for concentrating on hero and heroine to the exclusion of context, ambience, era and all that seems to me to be a kind of tunnel vision. One reason I follow Downton Abbey so devotedly is that it has all kinds of people with all kinds of separate stories and many threads weaving in and out. People don't live their lives in a bottle; they affect and are affected by what goes on around them, and leaving all that out as unnecessary to the h/h love story is, I think, an error, and deprives those books of the richness that a good trad has.
ReplyDeleteI read all of Ms Hinshaw's books in their Zebra editions at the time, and I am glad to see them made available again.
I only discovered Number One London quite recently, and have been following it with interest ever since.
ReplyDeleteI love traditional Regencies, and the reissuing of out-of-print ones as ebooks which has been happening over the last couple of years is a real bonus - not only have I discovered authors previously unknown to me, but also it's particularly useful for us UK-based people who've had difficulties getting old of some books which were only ever published in the USA.
I especially like books which gently teach me about new things - like wall-painiting - so I look forward to reading these!
I missed the heyday of the traditional regencies. I am loving the reissues and the resurgence of their popularity with everyone talking about their favorites and letting me make lists. There is a nice used bookstore near me for tracking them down but it is so much easier to find them online when the author brings them back.
ReplyDeleteSo excited to see you here, Victoria! OneLondonOne is my home away from home. There is always something fascinating, intriguing or amusing posted there!
ReplyDeleteAnd HUGE Congrats on bringing your books back for everyone to read!
All of the little historic details woven into the traditional Regencies is why I read them not just for fun, but for research as well. And with the internet I can always find out more about something I read in a TR.
Your ancestral research sounds wonderful! Did you have the advantage of well-kept family records or was it more of a treasure hunt?
Hi, Vicky! It's wonderful to have you here as our guest and I'm delighted that new readers will be able to enjoy your backlist Regencies.
ReplyDeleteOoh, exciting. More trad regencies- I love the historical details! I am going to flag these title. And how exciting to have a forefather who served with one of the luminaries of the era you love. Did you know this already or was it something you discovered in doing research?
ReplyDeleteI mourned when traditional regencies seemed to take a downturn, and it's fantastic that there are more available now.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing from fans of traditional regencies, still my favorites. Regarding my GGGGrandfather, the mapmaker, our faily had a long tradition of telling about him, but we almost gave up because we could't find him in the army records. Turned out he was a civilian attached to Wellington's staff and later taught at the Royal Engineer's College. He so, our gggrandfather who came to Illinois in the 1820's, the story was that he had three different wives and 36 chidren -- only a bit EXAGGERATED! He had two wives (not at the same time) and 12 children.
ReplyDeleteIt is good that the e-book market is making it possible for some of the older books to be made available to readers. Books have changed over the years, and there are quite a few people who are not happy with the more open and explicit books coming out today. To each her own. There is nothing wrong with the older books, they are just out of print and hard to find. I think it is great that these books will be given a second life by the e-book market. A win for the authors and a win for the readers.
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