Welcome to the Risky Regencies Second Anniversary Celebration!
Leave a comment on this post anytime before the end of this week, saying which of my posts from the past twelve months is your favorite, and explaining why you like it, and you’ll be entered to win today’s prize!
The winner of today’s prize will actually have a choice between Prize A and Prize B:
PRIZE A: A new, never-read, still-in-its-shrinkwrap softbound copy of A PASSION FOR PERFORMANCE: SARAH SIDDONS AND HER PORTRAITISTS published by the J. Paul Getty Museum. This 8″ x 11″ book has 136 pages of portraits of the great Regency actress Sarah Siddons (some color, some B&W, some small, some large), plus essays on the Siddons legend, on her public persona, and more.
PRIZE B: 
This prize is a Regency novel grab-bag. It includes two copies of my award-winning MY LADY GAMESTER, signed and dedicated to whomever you choose; plus used paperback copies of Carla Kelly’s SUMMER CAMPAIGN, Carla Kelly’s MISS CHARTLEY’S GUIDED TOUR, Jasmine Cresswell’s LORD CARRISFORD’S MISTRESS (a Fawcett Coventry Regency from 1980), and Patricia C. Wrede’s MAIRELON THE MAGICIAN (a fantasy novel set in Regency England.) The latter four books have varying amounts of wear.
Now: on with the contest!
To help jog your memory (and make things easy for anyone who may be joining us for the first time), I’ve listed some my favorite Cara posts. See which you like, and tell us why!
First, one of my favorite installments of AUSTEN TREK (also known
as “If Jane Austen Wrote Star Trek.”) Some folks thought I crossed the “okay, now you’re just too weird” line with this series. What do you think? Austen Trek: The Origin of Kirk
Next, my report on the Jane Austen Ball
And who could forget dear Bertie?
Bertie the Superhero
The first Tuesday of every month, I host an online Jane Austen Movie Club here at Risky Regencies. This post was our first “meeting”: Jane Austen Movie Club: PERSUASION
And just in case you weren’t sure that Cara had already crossed the
“Okay, now you’re just freaking me out with how weird you are” line, there’s always Northactionfigure Abbey
Of course, I can be Very Serious. I Very Seriously wish I lived at Syon Park
And because a Regency lady needs someone special to live with her at Syon Park, I have twice conducted a poll to determine everyone’s Favorite Austen Heartthrob. (Mr. Knightley looks rather like Bertie in that picture, doesn’t he?)
There you have it. Something of a cross-section of my posts, with only the vast majority of them showing a shocking excess of immaturity and/or insanity. (I couldn’t possibly show you more than seven posts — that would be rampant vanity! — nor would I dare show you any more of my bizarre-Cara-humor posts, such as Traditional Christmas Pie, or any more “handsome Regency guy” posts, particularly If Jamie Bamber’s Hot, It’s Not Like I Noticed Or Anything. Definitely not!)
And don’t forget to sign up for our Risky newsletter, if you haven’t yet done so! All subscribers at the end of this week will have a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate! (To subscribe, send an e-mail to riskies@yahoo.com with NEWSLETTER in the subject line.)
Cara
Cara King, author of My Lady Gamester and petter of fluffy cats
Jane Austin Ball post. I likes that one b/c I love history and think it’s great if you can actually get involved in it. A ball is fantastik.
Jane Austen Ball is also my favorite!
I had seen a little bit about this before I read this post and it looked like so much fun!
Great post.
My next favorite would be Favorite Austen Heartthrob. I don’t think anything dealing with hearttrobs needs explaining hehe.
Do you think Bertie would catch me if I posted as someone else, like catlady2 or something. Those books are SERIOUSLY tempting.
Siddons book still shrink-wrapped? Did we perchance order a book we already owned? I only do that about once a year, thereby guaranteeing I have a donation to the Beau Monde Conference silent auction.
As to a favorite? Cara, I am blown away by so much creativity. Maybe the Traditional Christmas Pie..or the one with the naked men. I forget the name, but who wouldn’t?
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 ~ TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS PIE ~ that’s just not something that you see everyday (nor do I want to) LOL I thought this was a terrific post
Austen Trek is a classic! But then, so is Austen Heartthrobs. And Christmas pie… 🙂
I have shared Austen Trek with everyone I know. Cracks me up every time. However, I have to say that the Syon Park post is probably my all time favorite. The photos are gorgeous and the information is fascinating. And Todd is right. You do look adorable in your ball gown. I loved that post too!
I really like prize B.
I enjoyed most the eighteenth century recipe for a Christmas pie… it was like reading an operation protocole or attending anatomy classes – I am a med student – with the turckey in a supine position!! and your comments were really funny 🙂
Ok… my favorite was the Jane Austen ball. It was nice seeing you all dressed up – nice pink hem too !!- and all the hair. It was a partie de plaisir just to watch the photos.
It’s Favorite Austen Heartthrob for me, Cara. And Mr. Knightley will do just fine, thank you! 🙂
~Andrea
Doglady — thanks for loving Austen Trek! And Syon Park too, of course, but I’m delighted you loved Austen Trek! (She says, sounding not at all insecure.)
Lily — so glad that a med student also finds Frankenstein’s turkey bizarre!
Nathalie — thanks for the compliment on my hem! You’re my new favorite person!
Andrea wrote: And Mr. Knightley will do just fine, thank you!
But he’s mine! Mine!
Oh, okay, Andrea. We can take turns.
Cara
My favorite is Austen Trek. It was delightful and entertaining and since I love the original William Shatner, Captain Kirk, I was enthralled with the post.
Being a long time fan of both Star Trek and Jane Austen I was stunned (but in a good way) when you made my worlds collide. Sorry, couldn’t resist!
But I’ve enjoyed all your posts and can never get enough images of male beauty. Speaking of which, Bertie is one of my favorite online personalities. 🙂
Kimberly L — thanks for your vote! And I agree — getting involved in history like that is a great experience.
Haven Rich, the Jane Austen Ball is definitely a lot of fun! If you’re interested in seeing more, there are actually clips on youtube you can watch, including this one:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=X7pFd33RXaQ
(If anyone wants more, just go to youtube and search on “Jane Austen Evening”…)
Did we perchance order a book we already owned?
My lips are sealed, Diane. But, um, I do also have a copy for myself. 🙂
that’s just not something that you see everyday (nor do I want to)
Well put, ChristyJan! And thanks for the compliment!
Thanks, Amanda. You and I can double date with Captain Kirk and Matthew Macfadyen while eating Christmas pie… 🙂
Cara
The Traditional Christmas Pie was great and showed me that no running water was not the only thing I wouldn’t have appreciated.
I loved the Syon Park post. Even told my daughter to go there when she studies abroad this summer based on the photos and description you gave, Cara. Sadly, my daughter couldn’t find it because she got lost and ran out of time. Heartbreaking, really. I know she would have loved it!
My second choice would be the Austen Heartthrobs. Matthew McFayden, oh yes. Colin Firth. I LOVE Alan Rickman in Sense and Sensibility!!! The passion and anguish in his eyes as he watches Marianne waste her time on Greg Wise, another hottie.
Happy Anniversary!!!
Kathy
I loved your post on the Jane Austen Ball. You looked lovely.
Oh geez. . . I love Bertie!!!! But I loved the Austen Trek ones. . . but I love the movie Tuesdays.
The hotties. . . well, it depends if I can sit next to Colin/Mr Darcy on one side, Alan/Col Brandon on the other and facing Mr. Knightly, then I’ll go with that one too. 😉
Sigh. Must I pick one????
Lois
It was tough to choose just one, but I definitely would choose the Jane Austen ball. I loved the pictures of all the costumes. So cool!
Elena, I’m glad I “stunned you in a good way”. I think. 🙂 Hope you recovered, anyway!
Anne, I’m glad you liked Austen Trek. And I’m sure Kirk will be glad too. 🙂
The Traditional Christmas Pie was great and showed me that no running water was not the only thing I wouldn’t have appreciated.
Maureen — good point! For all I know, it would end up tasty as anything, but I sure wouldn’t want to make it. (And I certainly wouldn’t want to eat it if I’d been the one to make it!) 🙂
Kathy, I’m flattered that you liked my Syon post that much! Too bad about your daughter getting lost. I got quite lost, too, trying to find the place — even after we got the mysterious train schedules sorted out, construction by Syon meant we walked right by the entrance the first time, and had a heck of a time finding it on the way back!
Sigh. Must I pick one????
No, Lois, my vanity is perfectly happy with your indecision. 🙂
Cara
My favorite was Austen Trek, enjoyed how you combined the two!
The Jane Austen Ball looked like a dream come true! Everybody looked so authentic and the dresses were gorgeous. Count this one as my favorite.
It’s gotta be Austen Trek!
Your voice would lend itself really well to a weekly column. You know, the kind you get paid for? Have you ever considered it?
My fave was Jane Austen ball.
Your voice would lend itself really well to a weekly column. You know, the kind you get paid for? Have you ever considered it?
Wow, thanks, Jane! Though I really know nothing about how one gets into that sort of gig. The closest I ever came was writing film & theatre reviews for a small newspaper for a while… 🙂
Cara
Thank you for the information but that’s actually how I first found out about it. I was looking over some videos over on youtube and saw one. I was in awe. Then I googled *love that feature* and found more.
Yup, you can consider me one of those that is like a young chit longing to attend a fine ball in London during her first season.
However, I think I’d need to practice on my dancing skills…I was lacking in that area in Dallas…badly!
If Jane Austen Wrote Star Trek – This was my favorite – I’m a long time Star Trek fan and I enjoyed your sense of humor!
Thank you for the information but that’s actually how I first found out about it.
Oh, that’s sort of neat, Haven! I don’t know why I think it is…but I do.
And it is a lot of fun. Though it can be crowded and hot — no, I mean it can be a sad crush. 🙂
Cara
I most like the post with that handsome gentleman…what is his name…oh, yes. Bertram St. James.
Witty chap, too.
And he has the best hair.
Signed,
Anonymous
Oh, deuce take this computer thing. I thought I was being anonymous, and it went and put my name on it.
Picture me now, my face a (flattering) shade of crimson.
Bertie
(who still thinks that was the best post)
Bertie, dearest, you know we all ADORE you!! You must lay our reticence in saying so at the door of civility. A series of posts extolling your many virtues might well result in a terrible mill over which lady loves you the most!!
I did like this post “If Jamie Bamber’s Hot, It’s Not Like I Noticed Or Anything” and the shirtless photo. lol I also like the trip reports and the photos from your trip. They’re places I probably will never get to see close up.
You mean there is something other than the captivating Bertie the Beau?
I have to vote for the Jane Austen Ball. I’m think I’m partial to that one since I was there and saw the illustrious hem in person. Todd’s comments below your post had me laughing out loud.
I also loved your Jane Austen Hearthrob post. (I would vote for Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley).
I must admit that you have issued a tough challenge, as your posts are so enjoyable. I could read them all night.
Ava Wrightsman
A series of posts extolling your many virtues might well result in a terrible mill over which lady loves you the most!!
Ah, you are now the most perspicacious and gracious lady of my acquaintance, O Doglady! (And you have good taste in animals. Some dogs hardly shed at all.)
You mean there is something other than the captivating Bertie the Beau?
Oh, now I feel so much better. All the crimson has fled from my cheeks. Thank you, Mlle. Judy T., for reminding me of my powerful (one might almost say overpowering) charisma, and my universal popularity.
(If one does not count my relatives.)
Exquisitely yours,
Bertie the Beau
Ava, thanks for your kind words! And yes, I thought the Jane Austen Ball post might have a special place in your heart. 🙂 (Ava was very supportive and said kind things about my hem, which makes her an ideal person to know at a Jane Austen Ball. And elsewhere, of course!)
Cara
I am coming late to this party, as usual…and it’s tough for me to pick a favorite, since I like all those posts very much (and a lot of posts that you didn’t list, too).
Both the Jane Austen Ball post and the Syon House post were very cool, because I got to relive the experience again. And I got to complain about THE @#%$ HEM.
But I think my favorites were: Austen Trek, because it is very, very funny, and very, very bizarre; and Northactionfigure Abbey, which is (if possible) even funnier and more bizarre. (And I thought of funny things to comment for both of them. Not that that affects my judgment. 🙂
Actually, having read both Diane and Cara’s posts I suddenly realized a Great Truth: a whole bunch of the characters in 300 must have been equipped with ejector heads! Not to mention ejector arms, legs, and other parts…
Todd-who-hopes-that-Cara-will-leave-the-rest-of-her-hems-alone
Ava Wrightsman wrote:
I have to vote for the Jane Austen Ball. I’m think I’m partial to that one since I was there and saw the illustrious hem in person. Todd’s comments below your post had me laughing out loud.
Hi, Ava! So kind of you to find my comments amusing! 🙂
Todd-who-greatly-appreciates-it
Actually, having read both Diane and Cara’s posts I suddenly realized a Great Truth: a whole bunch of the characters in 300 must have been equipped with ejector heads! Not to mention ejector arms, legs, and other parts…
That made me laugh out loud, Todd! (and, yes, you did discover a Great Truth!)
the Jane Austen ball for me; loved that you gave us photos and it looked like everyone was having a grand time. The info was very rewarding.
My favorite Cara post is: Bertie the…Superhero?
I love character interviews. And since I also watch Heroes the interview with Bertie really caught my attention. There was also A LOT of humor in it. Yes, this post really put a smile on my face!
It’s a tie between the Syon Park post and the favorite Austen Heartthrob post. Those pictures of Syon Park are exquisite and what’s not to love about Mr. Darcy and Colonel Brandon ? }:)
I liked favorite Austen heartthrob, Cara.
Austen Trek is pretty awesome, too.
I love the Jane Austin Movie discussions because I ADORE every one that I’ve ever seen and though I didn’t comment on the Persuasion one, it is hands down one of my favorite movies!
I’m a Star Trek fan, too, and loved the humor in that one.
Happy Anniverary!
Diane wrote:
That made me laugh out loud, Todd! (and, yes, you did discover a Great Truth!)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a semi-clad Spartan warrior in battle against a Persian horde must be equipped with an ejector head.
Todd-who-hopes-Jane-Austen-isn’t-rolling-over-too-hard
The whole dress was nice… so I am your favorite person now… thanx
My favorite is the Jane Austen ball. My mother had shown me an article in Westways about it but I never got around to buying the tickets. Reading your experience makes me want to attend even if I have to drag my Mr. Darcy kicking and screaming all the way to Padasena.
My mother had shown me an article in Westways about it but I never got around to buying the tickets.
Oh, yeah, I saw that article too! It was a good article, but as soon as I saw it, I emailed my friends who go to the ball regularly and said “get your tickets ASAP this year, it’s going to be PACKED.” And it was — lots of folks couldn’t get tickets that year! But it just goes to show — there’s lots of people out there who’d love to do this sort of thing, if they knew it existed!
Anyway, you should definitely go in January, Georgie! Write it off as a business expense — it’s great for research. (And fun!)
Cara
I have three favs, Cara: Bertie, Syon, JA action figure.
However, the interview with Bertie dear has to top that short list. I do wish he would visit the Riskies more frequently with his witticisms and observations.
The JA post inspired a deep desire to own that action figure. Let me tell you till I got one this summer, I sighed over the post again and again.
I have ENORMOUS envy for the library at Alnwick castle, one of the zillion homes of the Duke of Northumberland. Todd promises that the library at Syon is just as delicious. And given the outsides of both those homes, it sure must be nice to be a home with a history that goes back into the mists of time. Now, if only there was a way to figure out how to marry into the Percy family… (There’s always that pesky problem of bigamy among a host of others. Sigh!)
You know, Keira, I think you’re the first to cite Northactionfigure Abbey! (Besides Todd, who doesn’t really count, because I think he was just worried that it felt left out.) 🙂
Yes, I SO want the Syon library…
Cara
Cara wrote:
You know, Keira, I think you’re the first to cite Northactionfigure Abbey! (Besides Todd, who doesn’t really count, because I think he was just worried that it felt left out.) 🙂
I was not! It’s just that the words “ejector head” kept echoing over and over again in my mind. (Maybe I should have that checked.)
Todd-who-keeps-hearing-the-echo-echo-echo
Todd wrote, “…ejector head…”
Wrong action figure, Todd. Marie Antoinette is the one with the ejector head. Our Jane is sedate and comes with moving arms, body, and feet, and also a quill, book, and a writing desk.
Keira wrote:
Wrong action figure, Todd. Marie Antoinette is the one with the ejector head. Our Jane is sedate and comes with moving arms, body, and feet, and also a quill, book, and a writing desk.
That’s funny. I distinctly remember from my childhood that all my action figures came with ejector heads. Hmm. Do you mean the heads weren’t meant to come off?
Todd-who-wonders-if-next-you’ll-tell-him-that-Barbie-doesn’t-come-with-detachable-limbs
Actually, Keira, at the end of the Northactionfigure Abbey post, Jane does duke it out with Marie Antoinette and her ejector head…hence Todd’s obsession!
Not that Todd *needs* a reason…
Cara