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Monthly Archives: November 2005

Regency Haikus

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Each year, the romance review website All About Romance runs a Purple Prose Parody where readers are invited to submit entries mocking, I mean, paying tribute to their favorite romance authors. I entered this past year, a time travel Regency where Tony Soprano traveled back and ended up in the body of a Regency debutante, all told in the style of Carla Kelly (My favorite part was the title, Mr. Soprano Takes A Trip). High-concept, not always as funny execution.

But it got me to thinking about our books, and how they could be distilled into, say, 17 words or so.

Haikus.

Therefore, without further ado, I present some of my modest Regency haikus, and invite you to add more.

Can We Talk?*
Debutante meets Lord
A big misunderstanding
It will all work out
*contributed by my husband

A Truth Universally Acknowledged
A poor young beauty
Meets a wealthy, handsome duke
Inevitable.

Mea Culpa
I am a writer!
Historically accurate?
Um, no, not so much.

Regency Oxymoron*
A virgin widow
How the hell does that happen?
Incongruity.
*Also my husband’s.

It’s Party Time!
Pelisse, reticule
Invitation to the ball
Say he will be there.

This one is R-rated–put your cursor over the white space to reveal the words.
Accessibility
My regency cock
Yearns to enter her–soft, wet
Yay! No underwear.

Time Of The Season
Spring is here at last!
It’s time to make my debut
Married in the fall.

Regency Buck
Pluck to the backbone
A devil with the ladies
Must be married soon.

This exercise, I must say, is loads of fun to do on the subway. Time for you to post your haikus–And thanks for playing!

Megan

Posted in Frivolity, Regency | Tagged | 9 Replies

Nunquam ubi sub ubi

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With the deepest of apologies to Mr. St. James, today I want to talk about…unmentionables. However, as Mr. St. James probably knows, in his time there were none. Right. Another rude shock of 21st centurly life. Because–and I’m sure Mr. St. James has no idea of this, he is such a very polite gentleman–for a long time it was thought nice girls did not wear underwear; putting something on that divided the legs was a big no-no (like riding astride). But not so nice girls might for the frisson it would give their paying customers.
It always makes me hoot with laughter in a regency or regency-set when the hero removes the heroine’s non-existent undies. Particularly if he has to untie them. Good lord. The only thing he might encounter, and this would be fairly late, in the late teens I believe, would be pantelettes, when hemlines hovered at high ankle level (control yourself, sir), and gentlemen might not be terribly gentlemanly about the fact that a woman’s legs were available. And the funny thing is that pantelettes look, well, sort of rude to our eyes. Here’s a fairly polite sketch thereof from a pattern at Jessamyn’s Regency Costume Companion,
http://www.songsmyth.com/patternsunderthings.html.

Now, I remember Elena’s readers have told her that women in regencies didn’t have sex, and doubtless that particular critic believes her heroines should be wearing (metaphorically at the very least) scary pants a la Bridget Jones. Far from it. Women had very little between themselves, the fresh air, and the fresh hero.

No wonder we love this period.

And here is the ultimate costume site with fabulous links:
http://www.costumes.org.
Enjoy,
Janet

Posted in Regency, Research | Tagged , | 5 Replies

Adventures in Book Signings

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Over the course of six books, I’ve had all sorts of book signing experiences.

I’ve had a number of fantastic signings at the Waldenbooks at my local mall. The best two were during holiday weekends (Memorial Day and Labor Day) and the weather was miserable, driving crowds into the mall. I set out a dish of chocolate, smiled at everyone who passed (trying to be friendly but not too pushy) and sold a load of books.

Then there was the time the store asked me and another local author to do a “local authors” event. And scheduled it for the same June weekend as all the local high school graduations. The mall was deserted except for weirdos. Exactly two people approached us. The first a dotty elderly lady who, watching my husband play with my children nearby, expatiated at length that she always suspected men of being child molesters (ugh!). The second, a grungy character who told us he’d never met a woman who could write a book. (We weren’t sure he knew a woman who could read a book.)

Anyway, I didn’t think anything could top that one until I tried to set up a signing for my current book. The local Waldenbooks staff had turned over, but the new contact for book signings seemed friendly and cooperative. Then, about three weeks before the signing, I brought in the draft of the press release I was going to give to the local papers. Only then was I told that the district manager had forgotten to order the books and couldn’t possibly get them in on time. With over three weeks to go.

But wait. It gets better. After Waldenbooks turned down several suggestions I had for getting the books (my publisher would have supplied them), I gave up on the signing. Then, several weeks after the scheduled date, I found out from a friend of a friend that Waldenbooks had set up a table, put out my books and the staff were wondering why I didn’t show. So I missed my own signing!

But all ends well. I talked to the Waldenbooks manager and discovered that someone was supposed to call me to tell me the signing was back on. As it turns out, the manager was very nice, very apologetic about the mix-up and eager to set up a rescheduled date.

In the meantime, egged on by my ski buddy Mary, I started looking into other alternatives. I’m now set to do a signing and Regency Tea at Riverow Bookshop, an independent bookseller dealing in new, used and rare books (including some reference books that make me drool) during the Holiday Showcase in the historic town of Owego, NY.

So now I have two signings set up. If anyone can make it, here are the details:

  • Nov 12, 1-3PM at Riverow Bookshop, 187 Front Street, Owego, NY.
  • Nov 12, 4-6PM at Waldenbooks in the Oakdale Mall, Johnson City, NY.

Wish me luck!

Elena 🙂
LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE, an RT Top Pick!
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Writing | Tagged | 6 Replies

What is it about military men?

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The hero in MY LADY GAMESTER was a cavalry officer before he became an earl. Military heroes are quite common in Regencies, aren’t they? And I love to read about them.

So — what is the appeal of the military man in historical romances?

Is it the physical courage?

Is it the gorgeous uniform? Is it the honor, the selfless dedication that such service implies?

Jane Austen had military men in her novels too, of course — she particularly liked the navy, as she had two naval brothers. In her novels, PERSUASION’s Captain Wentworth is a naval officer…as is the heroine’s brother in MANSFIELD PARK.

In PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, Wickham is in the Militia, seducing the hearts of women everywhere with his red coat. In SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, Colonel Brandon is a retired army officer.

And of course, there are the 20th century military novels set during the Napoleonic era — Bernard Cornwell’s SHARPE series, C.S. Forester’s HORATIO HORNBLOWER series, and Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin novels (such as MASTER AND COMMANDER.)


Do you like military heroes? If you like to read them, what’s the attraction? If you like to write them, what are the advantages to a scarlet coat? Which are your favorite romances featuring military or ex-military heroes? On the other hand, do you think these heroes are overdone, and approaching cliche?

All opinions welcome!

Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER — out now!!!!

Posted in Reading, Regency, Writing | Tagged , | 9 Replies

Undercover agents

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No, not THAT kind of undercover! 🙂 I’m talking about the well-known Regency spy plot. One might even call it a Regency sub-genre, it’s become so popular.

One of my favorite books when I was a teenager (and one I still love) is THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL. It was so exciting, so suspenseful, and I love the whole “dashing espionage genius disguised as a moron” set-up (I also really like this about the Peter Wimsey stories). I even enjoyed the various movie versions. So, I often enjoy a good romance featuring spies and intrigue. Though I often wondered–where do all these duke/spies possibly find time to do all that? Running estates, going to balls/Whites/Almack’s, spying for England, AND romancing the heroine. This led me to a great book, SECRET SERVICE: BRITISH AGENTS IN FRANCE, 1792-1815. I wanted to discover more of the “true story” of Regency espionage, and this is a fabulous source.

A few spy romances I’ve enjoyed:
Elizabeth Boyle’s BRAZEN ANGEL
Loretta Chase’s SANDALWOOD PRINCESS
Mary Jo Putney’s THUNDER AND ROSES and PETALS IN THE STORM
Amanda Quick’s AFFAIR
Gaelen Foley’s LORD OF FIRE
Adele Ashworth’s WINTER GARDEN (a terrific heroine spy in this one!)

I know there are many others, but these were just the ones I remember at the moment. 🙂 What are some of YOUR favorite spy stories? What do you like/dislike about them? And have you ever written an undercover character of your own? (I’ve never written a spy hero, but I did have a heroine who was a spy. But she was Spanish. Does that count?)

Posted in Reading, Regency | Tagged , | 7 Replies