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Monthly Archives: July 2008

Is There Something in the Water?

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Reading about Dorothy’s upcoming Five Star Regency, The Nude, made me suck in a fast intake of air. Her premise, if I’m reading correctly, involves an artist and a nude painting. The book-I-just-turned-in ALSO involves and artist and a nearly nude painting. Yipes!

How many times does this happen? We come up with an innovative plot and BOOM! discover someone else has thought of something similar? I think someone else has a Regency that deals with gossip and the newspapers, like my next one, Scandalizing the Ton…can’t remember who at the moment.

I am very confident that Dorothy’s book and my book will each be unique, but it makes me wonder. Why do we authors come up with similar ideas at the same time?

I mean, think about Cara’s My Lady Gamester and my The Wagering Widow. Both were released in 2005.

Here is the blurb for My Lady Gamester:
MY LADY GAMESTER is the story of an aristocratic card-sharp in Regency London—who just happens to be a woman.
Atalanta James is the daughter of the late Viscount James, who bankrupted his family in a single night of cards. Now Atalanta has arrived for a London Season, and seems to be as determined a gamester as her father.
The Earl of Stoke wants above all things to protect his family from the kind of gambling madness that infected both his father and older brother. Why, then, is he so fascinated by Atalanta James? And why does he feel such a strong urge to protect her from the sharks that swarm around her—and even from herself?

Here is the blurb from The Wagering Widow:
Guy, Lord Keating, laden with his father’s debts, elopes with “heiress” Emily Duprey…only to discover she is as poor as he! Now his only hope of saving his family and dependants is a reluctant return to the gaming tables. Emily needs to escape this marriage to a gamester like her father. But she needs more money than she can win as Lady Keating – so she becomes Lady Widow, a card-playing masked seductress! Then Guy recognizes the beautiful Widow as his quiet, mousy wife – and their inconvenient marriage takes an unexpected turn…

There are lots of similarities!

Cara and I are on opposite sides of the country and we have never been critique partners and yet our stories had similar elements. What wisp of creativity was in the air and traveled a whole continent and hit us both?


All of a sudden there seem to have been several Courtesan books out in close proximity. Because books are written one or two years before their release, it isn’t possible that writers were copying each other’s ideas.
The earliest copyright date I found was Julia Justiss’s The Courtesan (2005)but there are more, like Anna Campbell’s Claiming the Courtesan (2007). Again, the stories are not the same, but something was in the air telling writers to write Courtesan books.

What do you think? Do you see these waves of similar topics? Or am I nuts…..

(Next Monday I’ll be in San Francisco, a pre-conference visit with my niece. I’ll give you all a report!)

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Heroes

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We could be heroes/Just for one day

—David Bowie

Today is opening day for The Dark Knight, a movie set to surpass all kinds of records. Critics everywhere are praising the “film noir morality tale.” And what makes this Batman so compelling?

His flaws.

He’s not Superman, felled only by an external element from a faraway planet; he’s got a darkness inside him, warring with his pure intentions. Batman has flaws, just like all of us (and if you don’t think you have flaws to admit, then there’s your flaw right there: Arrogance).

Amanda McCabe, Andrea Pickens and I are doing a presentation (very soon! Eek!) on how to make historical characters seem relevant, “real,” in current vernacular, to readers. As we’ve been discussing what makes characters real–or not–I was struck by how much heroes have changed in the past 30 or so years. In the ’80s, heroes were alpha males, dazzlingly handsome, overly confident, proud, arrogant, blah, blah, blah.

Now, they’re just as likely to be flawed. Sure, they can still have many of those attributes, but they also have something else, something that makes them REAL to the reader. Whether it’s insecurity about their looks (Elizabeth Hoyt‘s The Raven Prince, Loretta Chase‘s L0rd ofScoundrels) because they truly are not handsome, too fast about their business (Eloisa James‘ Your Wicked Ways), they’re illiterate (Connie Brockway‘s As You Desire), or drunk (Eloisa James, again, in The Taming of the Duke), drunk again (Mary Jo Putney‘s The Rake), missing a limb (Adele Ashworth‘s Winter Garden) or whatever, today’s heroes are a far cry from the perfect pirate/lords/princes of the past.

According to one psychologist, superheroes and their weaknesses “make helpful metaphors for the challenges we humdrum humans face.” Superheroes’–and heroes’–flaws make them seem more real, more human, just like us.
What heroic flaws would you like to see explored? Which heroes’ flaws were most interesting to you? Which flaws do you not wish to see in a romance novel? How hot is Christian Bale? And do you have a favorite superhero, and why?

Megan

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Let’s talk about shoes!

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As I’m blogging today over at the Wet Noodle Posse on shoe and footcare for the RWA National Conference, I thought I’d talk about Regency shoes and provide you with some sites for your viewing pleasure and time-wasting.

Here’s a nice timeline from the University of Texas showing the progression of shoe design from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, with the change in shape, from high-heels to flats, and in fabrics, embroidered silks to leather. The gorgeous high heels above are from the early 1700s, embroidered silk with a wood heel covered in red moroccan leather (yum). I rather fancy this nice pair of pink and black kidskin slippers from the 1790s that still have a cute little heel. You can get a closer look at these shoes and study the change from heels to flats at allaboutshoes.com.

Here are the Empress Josephine’s slippers from her 1804 Coronation. Totally flat, oh the pain, the lack of support. I hope she didn’t have to spend too much time on her feet. These are made of silk taffeta.

These shoes look old-fashioned but they are the ultimate f*** me shoes of 1800 that belonged to one Rose Marshall, wife of the upstanding Thomas Hay Marshall of Perth, who was responsible for much of the Georgian development of the city. Rose went off to have a wild affair with the Earl of Elgin (yes, he of the marbles) and was divorced in 1803. According to Captain Thomas Watson Greig, an, uh, amateur shoe enthusiast and author of both “Ladies Old-Fashioned Shoes” (1885) and “Ladies Dress Shoes of the Nineteenth Century”: Let us hope this actual pair of shoes did not carry their fair owner away to a chimerical happiness from the path of duty which appeared prosaic in the face of flattery and attention from one whose position far exceeded that of the burgher’s wife.

Some good sources for pix of shoes: The Kyoto Institute, which has this pair of shoes in the collection from the 1830s with braids of straw and horsehair, silk trimming and cockade, and lined with silk taffeta, the Bata Shoe Museum of Canada, and Shoe-Icons.

If you fancy a pair of shoes yourself, check out Burnley and Trowbridge, located near Williamsburg, VA. I rather like the look of these elegant, sturdy eighteenth-century shoes; maybe if Mrs. Marshall had worn this sort of red shoe she wouldn’t have dallied with the Earl. The site is a delight, with information on workshops, patterns, and materials–hand dyed silk ribbons, anyone?

Share your favorite shoes with us? (Amanda, remember other people may want a turn!)

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Which Greek goddess are you?

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I mentioned earlier that I’m planning a Greek mythology themed children’s party. My husband calls it a toga party for kids, though perhaps that might make some parents nervous!

Like people during the Regency, a lot of kids are into mythology. My own love the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, books featuring modern-day children born of gods and humans that go to a Camp Half-blood, kind of like Harry Potter with Greek mythology rather than witchcraft.

So this weekend we’re going to have the guests take a Greek Goddess quiz, participate in a goddess fashion show (with appropriate props, like that Athena helmet I have still to make!) followed by Greek food, cake, grape juice in wine glasses, etc… Here’s the quiz, in case anyone would like to try it!

Which statements best describe you?

A) I am smart. I give good advice to everyone I know.
B) I like to go my own way but I will also protect anyone I see being picked on.
C) I am beautiful and everyone loves me.
D) I like wealth and order. I protect what is mine.
E) I am caring and nurturing.
F) I am easy to be around. I want everyone to be comfortable.

Your favorite activity is:

A) Arts and crafts
B) Sports
C) Clothes shopping
D) Gossiping and plotting
E) Gardening
F) Relaxing by a fireplace

Your favorite thing to wear is:

A) Clothes that are neat and practical
B) Clothes I can play sports in
C) Anything pretty and girly
D) Anything with a designer label on it
E) Anything with a flowery pattern
F) Pajamas and bunny slippers

What is your favorite animal?
A) Owl
B) Deer
C) Dove
D) Peacock
E) Butterfly
F) Cat

If someone does something to annoy you, what do you do?

A) I try to get him to see wisdom. If he doesn’t, I declare war on him.
B) I turn him into an animal and hunt him down.
C) I charm him into doing what I want.
D) I send snakes after him.
E) I freeze up.
F) I forgive him.

How do you feel about boys?

A) I like them as friends, but only if they are smart and study with me.
B) I like them as friends, but only if they let me play sports with them.
C) I love them, especially if they are cute.
D) I like them as long as they do what I want. Otherwise I hate them!
E) I love them if they are kind to everyone around them.
F) I like them as friends and appreciate them just the way they are.

Count up how many responses you got for each letter. Match the letter you had the most responses with the goddess. A=Athena, B=Artemis, C=Aphrodite, D=Hera, E=Demeter, F=Hestia.

And here’s an adult Greek Goddess quiz at Paleothea. For our visitors of the masculine persuasion, there’s also a Greek God quiz, too. We all know Bertie must be Adonis reincarnated, but I would love to know which Greek God Todd most resembles!

Anyway, I tested out as Athena on the kids’ quiz and a mix of Aphrodite and Gaia (associated with Demeter) on the Paleothea quiz. I must be complex. 🙂

So any of us into Greek mythology? What do you think is the appeal? And if you have time, let us know which Greek god or goddess you most resemble!

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

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The Value of an Unread Book

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Something occurred to me today.

I can understand collecting pristine, unused stamps — keeping them safe, away from light, and only looking at them now and then.

And I can understand collecting postcards which have never been sent, never manhandled or crushed or stained in the mail.

I can even understand keeping collectible action figures in their original, unopened packages. (My Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde action figures are still in theirs, though I have very nearly decided to let them free so they can run about the house and nibble on erasers and whatever else unsupervised action figures do…)

But for some reason, I am quite disturbed by the thought of books remaining untouched and unread so that they keep their value.

To me, an antique book with pages that have never been cut, and must never be cut (to keep the value high), is like a bottle of fine wine which is kept so long it spoils. It just seems wrong.

I’m not certain if there’s a logic behind this feeling of mine, or only my emotional attachment to reading. After all, why not have an unblemished first-edition on the shelf, and read a cheaper, battered copy?

And am I being hypocritical? After all, I have on occasion read a library copy of a book I own, to keep mine in tip-top shape. (Or, as tip-top shape as my books are ever in. I do try, but I’ve moved too many times to keep the dust jackets perfect.)

So…what do you think? Do you approve of can’t-be-read collectible books? Do you ever read cheaper/newer/library copies to keep your treasured books in good shape?

All answers welcome!!!

Cara
Cara King, who thinks people should feel free to read a first-edition copy of MY LADY GAMESTER anytime they wish

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