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Monthly Archives: November 2005

Cara King is a native Californian who has a bad habit of moving every year or two. She has lived in London and Norwich in England, Pittsburgh and Princeton on the East Coast of the United States, and a number of places in Southern California, where she currently lives with her quantum physicist husband and far too many books.

For several years Cara was a film and theater critic for the Goleta VALLEY VOICE in Goleta, California, near Santa Barbara. Cara also writes young adult fiction, science fiction short stories, and children’s fantasy novels. Her hobbies include Regency dancing, Regency card games, reading books, buying way too many books (so she can read them), and acting in community theater productions (particularly Shakespeare, or anything else written before 1910).

Cara’s goals in life include reading all of Shakespeare’s plays, finding somewhere to put all her books, and never reading “Clarissa.” (She is most of the way to the first goal, knows the sun will implode long before she reaches the second goal, and has serious hope of achieving the last goal.)

Learn more at www.caraking.com

Praise for MY LADY GAMESTER!

“A well-polished jewel of a book, with a gem of a hero.” — Barbara Metzger

“This is a touching story. King does a fine job of intertwining Stoke and Atalanta’s lives, as past, present and future become linked forever.”
Romantic Times Bookclub 4 Stars

“(Cara King) has done her homework on the Regency era and the gambling scene that amused a large part of the ton and ruined not a few. She gives depth to her characters, especially Stoke and Atalanta, who are in for an up and down emotional ride that could end with them as enemies, friends, or more than friends. Neither the serious consequences of gambling addiction nor the tragedies of war are treated lightly, yet MY LADY GAMESTER is a highly entertaining novel. And a remarkable first book.”
— Jane Bower, for Romance Reviews Today

The Interview

Q. How did you think of writing this particular book? Did it start with a character, a setting, or some other element?

It all started with piquet. My husband and I were living in London, and as we knew few people there, we didn’t socialize a lot. And of course, there were only four channels of television! So we read, and we played cards. Piquet is a great two-person card game, and we’d play it at the tiny table in our tiny kitchen, keeping score on a cribbage board. When, a few years later, I was looking for an idea for a new Regency, I thought, “Why don’t I write what I know?”

The entire plot just flowed from there. If there was card playing, then either my hero or heroine needed to be great at cards, right? After thinking, I concluded it would be more unusual — and more interesting — for my heroine to be the expert. Dramatically, of course, she had to play against the hero — who also had to be good. But something more had to be at stake…someone had to want something…and bit by bit, my plot came to me, with that wonderful feeling that of course it had to be like that.


Q. How long did it take? Was this an easy or difficult book to write?

I didn’t write it all in one go — I took breaks, and life intervened (I move a lot, and moving from state to state and country to country takes a ridiculous amount of time, especially if you also have the crazy habit of buying as many books as my husband and I do). It might have taken a year, or thereabouts, in the end.

In a way, it was a difficult book. It was the most intense, most emotional thing I’d ever written, and in ways it demanded more from me than did the more comic novels I’ve written previously.


Q. Tell me more about your characters. What or who inspired them?

I don’t know that they were inspired, exactly…but my heroine did end up with my stubborness. (If you don’t believe me about my stubbornness, just ask my family. They’ll roll their eyes and tell you stories of my pigheadedness!)


Q. Did you run across anything new and unusual while researching this book?

One detail I discovered was that English playing cards during the Regency had plain white backs. I think it’s really interesting that they insisted on that because they thought it made cheating harder, and we use cards with intricately patterned backs for the same reason! Their playing cards also had an up and a down — you could not flip them upside down and have them look the same, as you can with modern cards. In other words, a King of Hearts card only had one head on it!


Q. What do you think is the greatest creative risk you’ve taken in this book? How do you feel about it?

I think my greatest risk was making my heroine so driven and determined. Some might even call her ruthless. I just think she’s interesting!


Q. Is there anything you wanted to include in the book that you (or your CPs or editor) felt was too controversial and left out?

Luckily, no! And I’m quite thankful that that’s the case. If you read a lot of Regencies and historicals that involve gambling, you’ll begin to notice a trend — the actual gambling is usually treated the way sex used to be treated in romances — it’s talked about in the book, it’s important, but anything that actually happens is off-stage. Then afterwards people say things like “that was so amazing” or “I was so shocked” but as readers we’re never allowed to partake in the excitement!

I didn’t want my book to be like that. I wanted the actual gambling drama to come across on the page, the same way it does in Georgette Heyer’s wonderful “Faro’s Daughter.” I spent a lot of time findings ways of getting the action and excitement of the gaming across on the page, without ever confusing readers who might never even have heard of piquet and whist. I had several non-card-players critique the novel at early stages, and they always told me which parts worked for them, and which confused them. My subsequent revisions must have worked, because my wonderful editor never suggested I trim the card playing…and none of the reviewers have complained!

Q.In the course of your research, did you find any real lady gamesters from the period?

Ladies gambled frequently during the period, but they also ran into interesting difficulties. It was thought that if a woman wagered a lot of money on a game, lost, and couldn’t pay what she owed, she would end up sleeping with the man to whom she owed the money in lieu of payment. (And I came across accounts of women who actually did this, too, so it wasn’t just a vicious rumor.) The result of this was that if a woman was known to gamble for high stakes, society tended to question whether she was a “virtuous” woman. I deal with this problem in my book, though it’s not a major issue for my heroine, who cares a lot less about gossip than she does about whatever truth lies behind it.


Q. In many ways, MY LADY GAMESTER is structured more like a suspense novel than like a traditional romance. Why did you make that choice?

Hmm… Let’s just say there are secrets in the book — things Stoke doesn’t know, things Atalanta doesn’t know, and things the reader doesn’t know — so the suspense structure seemed an obvious choice. It helped me keep the tension high throughout the book, and it (surprisingly, perhaps) was a great way to reveal character. (If someone is operating on incomplete information, the assumptions he or she makes reveal a lot!)

Q. What are you working on now?

I’m working on a young adult novel with a paranormal twist, and also a Regency historical. To keep my muse happy, I can’t share too many details of either, except to say that I’ve noticed my heroines in both are quite stubborn — no surprise, I guess!


…I am now published in German. I learned this when a package of several of my book DECEIVING MISS DEARBORN” arrived with a new cover and title. The title in German is Ist Ihr Herz Noch Frei, Mylord?

I believe the title translates to “Is Your Heart Free, My Lord,” but I’m not staking my life on it. I don’t know German except for a few random words. If my first foreign-published book had been in French, I’d have a good shot at reading it, but German–unfortunately, not.

I have to say that the cover art is gorgeous! The binding, however, has a magazine-weight cover, rather like the Reader’s Digest.

I noticed many Regencies on the publisher’s site, www.cora.de. If you want to see the lovely covers (although they are small), select the button “My Lady.” There are four “my lady” imprints–Mine is under “My Lady.” There is also “My Lady Royal,” which I can only suppose might be “super regencies,” and then there is “My Lady Duett” and “My Lady Weihnachtsband,” which appears to be holiday Regencies. You will see some authors very familiar to English-language readers.

So…I happen to have two books out at once since WHEN HORSES FLY is out in the US as of October. Now, that’s a unique concept to me!

A final thought…the Regency is alive and well, although perhaps translated to a different language. I went to Amazon.fr and saw Zebra Regencies printed in French (although Signets appeared only to be available in English). I would like to know more foreign publishers of Regencies, so please contribute if you have information!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Laurie

No, I am not reviewing one of my fellow Risky Regency bloggers’ books–that wouldn’t be risky, would it?
Instead, I thought I’d write about a book I received from my dad, the Enthusiastic Bibliophile, as a birthday gift (note: my birthday was in August, but my dad just sent this. A Timely Enthusiastic Bibliophile he is not).
Anyway. For anyone who’s gotten interested in the Regency period because of the clothing (Amanda? Cara? And I bet the rest of us, too), this is a find. The book is titled Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20 Century, and it is drool-worthy.

Before even opening the book, let’s talk about the presentation. Taschen, a company that’s produced many coolly chic coffee table books, produced this version of the book which costs a lot less than it did in previous editions–follow the link here to get the details. The book is compiled and collected by the Kyoto Costume Institute, which takes its show on the road to museums near you.

The volumes are soft-cover, but are contained within their own little holder, and the cover is just gorgeous. You can see it above, but to see it live is much more impressive.

Then open the book. Volume 1, which is the volume relevant to us: 18th and 19th Century Fashion. Ohmyword. The pictures are huge, clear, and have succinct descriptions, with dates, to give you a clue about what you’re seeing. And you really SEE the clothes here, not just a little tiny picture pulled from some period magazine that doesn’t give you the FEEL of the clothes.

There are men’s and women’s fashions here, and you can track the gradual changes in fashion through the ages. The pictures I’ve posted here are primarily from 1810, although the reticule is 1815. The black outfit is a riding habit–imagine a heroine wearing that as she’s trying to beat the hero in a neck-or-nothing race. The red coat is a redingote, an outer garment that would doubtless keep the heroine (and her muslin gown) free of drafts when she was outside.And in case you thought the current trend for short shrugs was just this century, take a look at the white jacket above–that is as short as anything I’ve seen in Mandee’s lately.
I haven’t spent a lot of time with this fabulous two-volume set yet, but I will be (thanks, Dad!), as much because I am a fan of fashion as I am of the Regency period. Just like our own books (you knew I’d get back there eventually, right?), the Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century books make the period come alive.

Something to look at when I’m wondering just which pair of jeans to don. What was your favorite period for women’s clothing? And is it because your figure is more suited to that style, or for more altruistic aesthetics?

Megan

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot,
We see no reason,
Why gunpowder treason,
Should ever be forgot!
In just a few days the English, that tolerant and staid race, will let off fireworks and burn Catholics in effigy to celebrate the miraculous delivery of the House of Parliament and King James I in 1605. In that year, a group of conspirators, including one Guy Fawkes, planned to blow up the above in protest of the continued persecution of Catholics. Or did they? One revisionist theory is that the group were set up by the government to turn the public against Catholics and in favor of the new and unpopular Scottish king (who apparently was also a bit of an old queen).
One of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes, was discovered on November 4 in the vaults of the Houses of Parliament with a large amount of gunpowder, and depending upon whom you read, either the stuff was too old to do any damage or there were many times as much as was needed. Below is a computer simulation of what would have happened if the plan had been successful. See more at telegraph.co.uk.
Although he wasn’t the ringleader, it’s Fawkes’ name that is associated with this band of fanatics. James I decreed that the day after the discovery of the plot, November 5, was to be celebrated as a day of deliverance. Traditionally a “guy,” an effigy, is displayed in the weeks before the holiday, and children beg money to buy fireworks. Then the guy is burned on a bonfire, fireworks are set off, and various disgusting foods (like potatoes roasted in the embers, black on the outside, crunchy on the inside) are consumed. The trend nowadays is to encourage inside parties and official fireworks celebrations to keep the hospital emergency rooms clear.
For background and real information on the gunpowder plot, visit http://www.gunpowder-plot.org/
Janet

I’ve always wanted to try out a Regency recipe. I rather rashly promised to do a book signing (at an old-fashioned bookshop in a historic town) with the theme of a Regency Tea, so this seemed like a good opportunity to experiment. In LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE, I had a housewifely 9-year-old make something called Banbury cakes, so I decided to try making them myself.

Here’s the original recipe, from THE COMPLETE SERVANT, by Samuel and Sarah Adams, first published in 1825. (A neat reference, with guidance on the duties of every servant imaginable, and some interesting recipes. I found a nice 1989 reprint from Southover Press.)

Take a pound of dough made for white bread, roll it out, and put bits of butter upon the same as for puff paste, till a pound of the same has been worked in; roll it out very thin, then cut it into bits of an oval size, according as the cakes are wanted. Mix some good moist sugar with a little brandy, sufficient to wet it, then mix some clean washed currants with the former, put a little upon each bit of paste, close them up, and put the side that is closed next the tin they are to be baked upon. Lay them separate, and bake them moderately, and afterwards, when taken out, sift sugar over them. Some candied peel may be added, or a few drops of the essence of lemon.

Here’s my very loose interpretation. Puff pastry dough would be more accurate but I opted to make something more like a filled cookie, as I thought it would transport better.

3 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
12 oz jar blackcurrant preserves
1 tsp brandy

1. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy.
3. Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat well.
4. Add dry ingredients, mix thoroughly.
5. Cover and chill for about half an hour or until dough is easily rolled.
6. Mix blackcurrant preserves and brandy for filling.
7. Flour surface and rolling pin well (dough is very sticky) and roll out fairly thin (a little thicker than 1/8 inch). Cut out 3 or 4 inch rounds, as desired. Put a little filling (not too much so you can close it) in the center and gently crimp the edges together. (Don’t worry if a few break or some filling oozes out. Just be careful to, um, destroy the evidence!)
8. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes, until golden in center and lightly browned on the edges.
9. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

This makes about 24 large (using 4 inch rounds) or 36 small (3 inch rounds).

As I said, not quite accurate, but rich and buttery, the currants adding a nice tartness. My kids even liked them, so I hope visitors to my booksigning will, too.
And I do solemnly promise Mr. St. James that there will be no iced or fruit-flavored beverages served!

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