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Monthly Archives: March 2008

Word Of Mouth

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As hinted at (if by hinted you mean COMPLAIN VOCIFEROUSLY) a few weeks ago, I am in the throes of moving. Which means writing, reading, etc., has been tossed out the window.

BUT that doesn’t mean you have to suffer (but if you want to, could you just pick that box up over there? Thanks.)


So let’s talk about books, shall we? Specifically, very good books. The All About Romance poll (I used to review for them a long time ago, I am a big fan of the site) just released its results for 2007, and the Best Romance for 2007 was . . . a tie! Between If His Kiss Is Wicked by Jo Goodman and The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt.

Did you notice that both were historical novels? Goodman’s is Regency-set, whereas Hoyt writes Georgian. I’ve read the Hoyt–which I liked, although not as much as I liked her Raven Prince–and I have the Goodman in my bag right now.

It’s pretty obvious now, but worriers who wanted to ring the death knell for historicals have been denied. The vamps did a good job at rattling historical’s cage, but historicals refuse to go away. Something about those feisty heroines . . . anyway.

I had the Goodman because various reader bloggers had raved about it, and I stuck it in a past Amazon order. I put it in my bag because of the poll, which leads me to some questions–besides reading every single word all of us Riskies have penned, how else do you find your books? Would you be inclined to read a Best Romance, even if it were in a genre you don’t normally read? Do you rely on the author quotes on the front? How the cover looks?

And the eternal question, what other time period besides Georgian/Regency piques your interest?

Thanks, and I’d say to wish me luck on the move, but I’ll be griping about it next week. Make sure to tune in.

Megan
PS: That last pic has nothing to do with nothing. Thanks to Abby for it.

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Unspeakable and inedible

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What is it about titles that sets us all a-flutter? What is it with all those dukes and earls and pedigreed persons and why have they become such a staple of historical romance?

Maybe it’s because they’re powerful alpha males in tight pants. Or it’s a fundamental yearning manifested by a fascination with the young, rich, and pretty behaving badly (Paris, Britney et al) and attempts to establish a dynasty in the White House. We never had a chance at royalty after the unfortunate episode with the tea in Boston harbor, and now we’re trying to compensate.

I think it’s quite a reality check for Americans to realize how indifferent the English are about their great families, including the Windsors, unless they provide an excuse for a party or a really good national cry. All that anachronistic pomp and circumstance; all that inbred dullness. Yet the aristocracy still have that promise, even if it’s not fulfilled, of glamor and beauty and being bigger than life; and two hundred years ago they did have more interesting lives and more opportunities than the riff-raff. The rich and beautiful cavorting around Carlton House makes for better escapist reading than, say, trying to find firewood and cooking up the cabbage in the last smear of bacon fat.

And look at the stuff they were good at! Sports, like fencing, all dash and expertise.

Getting drunk, a favorite pastime of just about everyone in England, then and now, which I suppose takes a dash and expertise all of its own.

Hunting small furry things which apparently also enjoy the sport.


And all that good stuff with dogs and horses and art–even if the art technically didn’t belong to them but was lying around neglected somewhere classical.

So my question is, do you ever feel that we’ve gone overboard with aristos in romance? Does the appearance of yet another young, handsome, single duke make your heart sing or sink? Or do you accept it as part of the fantasy?

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Heroes: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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Last week I blogged about the actresses I used as inspiration for my heroines. I said then that I was less happy with the cover art for some of my heroes and this week I’ll prove it!

For the hero of LORD LANGDON’S KISS I suggested Rutger Hauer. I was on a Ladyhawke kick (anyone else love that movie?) and though of course the garb is not period, the whole “stalwart knight” thing suited his personality. I don’t think that quality translated through the obligatory Regency smile but at least he is tall and blond as I described him.



Part of my inspiration for Philip, the hero of THE INCORRIGIBLE LADY CATHERINE, was a recording I had of Bryn Terfel singing folk songs. I imagined Philip as a man with a wonderful, rich baritone voice, not conventionally handsome but with striking eyes. I sent in an image of Terfel that I thought might work but what a mistake that was! Can you feel my pain?



With THE REDWYCK CHARM my luck improved. I sent in Michael Vartan and though I’m not sure this cover hero resembles him (and the hair is a bit weird) at least he is good-looking!



My best cover hero came in SAVING LORD VERWOOD. I learned later that the cover model was the popular John DeSalvo but he does capture the look I was going for with Jeremy Northam. Overall, it was a nice cover and came in 3rd in the historical series category of the All About Romance cover contest that year. I’m not complaining, this hero is very fine. 🙂



Now to my last cover hero. I sent in Colin Firth and got…this dude. Ack! I was glad the background color was striking and the actual image was so small. If anyone could really tell how Very Wrong this hero looks, I would have cried.

So what do you think?

And though I already know the likely suspects, who would you most like to see on a romance cover?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

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JANE AUSTEN MOVIE CLUB: Pride and Prejudice (1940)

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Welcome to the Risky Regencies JANE AUSTEN MOVIE CLUB!

Here we meet on the first Tuesday of every month (“and sometimes oftener,” as Wilde would say), to discuss TV and film adaptations of Jane Austen’s works.

Today: the 1940 film of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE!

First, let me say — Wow. What a poster.

“Five love hungry beauties in search of HUSBANDS!!” (And we think our back-cover blurbs occasionally lack in subtlety!)

While we’re on the subject of the poster…note how Olivier’s hair and clothing differ from what he’s wearing in the film (shown below) — the poster shows him in a 1940’s tuxedo! (And the sidewhiskers are gone!)

I know some folks love this film, and some hate it…and many have mixed feelings. So hopefully we’ll have some interesting discussion!

As usual, to aid everyone’s memory, here are the major credits from the film (courtesy IMDB):

DIRECTOR: Robert Z. Leonard

SCREENPLAY: Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin
(based on the “dramatisation” by Helen Jerome)

(By the way, this wasn’t Huxley’s only screenwriting credit — He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 1944 JANE EYRE.)

CAST:

Greer Garson: Elizabeth Bennet

Mary Boland: Mrs. Bennet

Maureen O’Sullivan: Jane Bennet

Edna May Oliver: Lady Catherine de Bourgh

Laurence Olivier: Mr. Darcy

(Fans of films set during the Regency and 18th century may also have seen Olivier as Lord Nelson in 1941’s THAT HAMILTON WOMAN, MacHeath in the 1953 BEGGAR’S OPERA, and as the Duke of Wellington in the 1972 LADY CAROLINE LAMB.)

Ann Rutherford: Lydia Bennet

Frieda Inescort: Caroline Bingley

Edmund Gwenn: Mr. Bennet

Karen Morley: Charlotte

Heather Angel: Kitty Bennet

Marsha Hunt: Mary Bennet

Bruce Lester: Charles Bingley

Edward Ashley: George Wickham

Melville Cooper: Mr. Collins

Marten Lamont: Mr. Denny

E.E. Clive: Sir William Lucas

May Beatty: Mrs. Philips

Marjorie Wood: Lady Lucas

Gia Kent: Anne de Bourgh

So: what did you think? What are your feelings on the casting, the costumes, the script, the music — anything?

All responses welcome!

And join us again on March 25, when we discuss the Kate Beckinsale version of EMMA, and on the first Tuesday in April, when we discuss the first half of the new SENSE & SENSIBILITY!

Cara
Cara King, author of MY LADY GAMESTER, who would be constantly dragging her sleeves in her dinner if she wore what those women were wearing!

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