When I was a kid, my parents had a beautiful coffee table book about Great Archaeological Sites of the World. I was totally fascinated by it, spent hours poring over photos of the Valley of the Kings, the Parthenon, Newgrange, Scandinavian bog bodies, etc. Somehow I became convinced there was Viking treasure in our backyard (because the Vikings could have sailed a longship into the desert of Albuquerque, right?), and set up my own dig in our backyard. My parents weren’t too happy I tore up our precious patch of grass, but our dogs were able assistants in the digging process. They even unearthed some bones, though they sadly proved to be old Nylabones they themselves buried and not the remains of Viking warriors.

I’ve never quite lost that fascination with archaeology and the ancient world. So, I was very happy to meet the heroines of my new Regency series, “The Muses of Mayfair.” The Chase sisters are the daughters of a renowned scholar and antiquarian, who named his children after the Greek Muses. Calliope, Clio, and Thalia aren’t content with just inspiring people, though–they’re passionate scholars in their own right. And their romances take place against the backdrop of antiquities and archeological skullduggery.

In Book One, To Catch a Rogue, we met the eldest Muse Calliope, who suspected Cameron de Vere, Earl of Westwood, of being London’s infamous Lily Thief and determined to catch him out. A bit of a nuisance when she fell in love with him, then…

Book Two, To Deceive a Duke, is Clio’s story, and is out in the UK this month! Clio is the most fiery and independent of the Chase Muses, and her love for the mysterious Duke of Averton is just as unpredictable. They parted on, shall we say, less than amiable terms in To Catch a Rogue. Now they meet again on an archaeological dig in sun-blasted Sicily, where Clio is set on saving a fabulous collection of Hellenistic silver (based on the famous Morgantina Hoard). Is the duke on her side, allied with her against a host of dangerous villains? Or is he, too, out to steal the silver–and destroy her in the process?

Book Three, Thalia’s story To Kiss a Count (set in Bath) will be out later this year. And all 3 will be released in the US, in consecutive months, in 2010! I am so excited about that.

To win a copy of To Decieve a Duke, go to Nicola Cornick’s website and check out our joint contest! TDAD can also be ordered from Amazon.uk and Harlequin Mills and Boon.

What were some of your favorite childhood passions? Have any favorite archeological sites? And what color satin dress do you think Thalia will show up in on her cover? (I also call this series “The Bridesmaid Muses,” since they appear to have escaped from a pastel-hued wedding party! I vote for pale blue…)

Here at Risky Regencies we’re thrilled to “meet” for the first time Dorchester author Emily Bryan, who is making a stop here on her blog tour! For more information on her books, be sure and visit her website–and comment here for a chance to win a signed copy of Vexing the Viscount…

Riskies: Welcome, Emily! We’re so excited to see you here. Tell us about Vexing the Viscount (great title, BTW)! Where did you get the idea for this book, and how does it fit into your series (along with Pleasuring the Pirate and Distracting the Duchess)?

Emily: Honestly, the title came first! As you can see, I had a little pattern going with my XXXing the XX style titles, and my editor liked the alliteration. It was a little like solving a puzzle, trying to think of something that fit the criteria without being ridiculous. Diddling the Duke was too silly! Murdering the Marquess too grim. The idea of someone “vexing” someone else appealed to me because I believe part of the charm of romance is the concept of “gentle torture.” My heroine Daisy is bound and determined to have Lucian, Viscount Rutland, and if she has to vex the living daylights out of him to accomplish her goal, so be it!

My books aren’t really a series, though. Distracting the Duchess stands alone. It’s set in 1851, more than 100 years after the events in Pleasuring the Pirate (1720) or (1731). However, I would say my Pirate and my Viscount are related titles. Daisy Drake is the niece of Gabriel Drake (the pirate) and we first meet her in Pleasuring the Pirate as a precocious 10-year-old. Knowing her as a child made her much easier to write as an adult. And a few other characters from Pleasuring the Pirate besides Daisy return in Vexing the Viscount, most notably Isabella Wren, a former courtesan who is also Daisy’s great-aunt. It’s not necessary to read Pirate to enjoy Viscount–I think the stories stand on their own, but of course I hope readers want to dive into both!

Riskies: What are some interesting research tidbits you found for these books? (I’m especially intrigued by the mention of Roman treasure!

Emily: The Romans were everywhere in the ancient world! I’ve been blessed to travel through the UK and Europe and have visited a number of ruins of their distant outposts (haven’t made it to Rome itself yet, but I’m working on it!). It amazed me that these ancients recreated their culture wherever they went, building amphitheaters, bath houses, and elegant villas with indoor plumbing and heated floors. And they also brought along their unique taste in household ornamentation. In the opening of Vexing the Viscount, Daisy is inspecting an ancient clay lamp shaped like an erect phallus. Romans believed representations of male genitalia brought good luck. (Hmmm–I wonder if that is where the phrase “getting lucky” comes from?). The Romans used little decorative phalli as Victorians might use tassels.

I probably wouldn’t have believed this if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. When I was visiting the Romisch-Germanisches Museum in Koln, Germany, there was an entire room filled with phallus-shaped lamps and windchimes, some with wings (I kid you not!) or little legs affixed to the side like a developing tadpole. (A “kissing a lot of frogs” joke springs to mind, but…no! We will not got there). It was so surreal. I had to file it away as something to use in a book someday. It made sense for Daisy to be as fascinated as I was by that naughty Roman art, and why not let my hero be hot on the trail of a lost Roman treasure? If you’re interested in learning more about the Romans who founded Londinium. please visit my Roman forum. There’s also an excerpt from the Roman part of Vexing the Viscount!

Riskies: You also write as Diana Groe. Tell us a bit about those books!

Emily: Maidensong, my debut title, is a Viking romance set in 9th cebtury Scandinavia. Erinsong is my Irish love story, also 9th century. And Silk Dreams is a harem tale set in 11th century Byzantium. Obscure enough for you?? They didn’t take off as well as I hoped in the US market, but they’ve been translated into German, Dutch, Italian, and Russian. Diana Groe has received fan mail from all over the world! All 3 books are still in print and available at Amazon and BarnesAndNoble.com. I maintain a separate website for these tales here.

Riskies: And how do they differ from the Emily Bryan books (aside from setting!)?

Emily: My Emily Bryan books are fun, sexy romps. My Missouri writers group labels my Emily Bryan stories “ribald yet classy”–which I always thought was a pretty fine line to walk!

The Diana Groe titles are darker, grittier, as true to the times as I could make them and still be palatable to a modern audience. I’ve killed off characters I cared about. These stories are not quite “safe,” if you know what I mean.

Riskies: Your website features some great writing tips!

Emily: Yes, I have several pages dedicated to aspiring writers under Write Stuff. When I started writing, I received so much help from other writers. Now that I’ve been published multiple times, I want to give back!

Riskies: What are some of your favorite tips?

Emily: The page on Self-Editing. I need to remind myself to be ruthless with my work. I can’t afford to fall in love with my own words so much that I won’t cut in order to serve the story. Someone is going to slash my baby up–that someone should be me.

Riskies: What’s next for you?

Emily: After Vexing the Viscount hits the bookstores on February 24, I have a number of speaking engagements all across the country in 2009. Check my Events page here–I may be coming to a town near you! And my next release is a holiday novella due out at the end of October. It’s part of an anthology with USA Today best-seller Jennifer Ashley and Alissa Johnson. All our characters will be attending the same Christmas ball, and you’re invited, too! If you’d like to notified as to new releases, you can sign up at my website for the newsletter.

Thanks for letting me visit with your readers, Riskies! I’m delighted to give away a copy of Vexing the Viscount…

Okay, I know it’s been a week since the Golden Globes, but you knew I would just have to talk about it, right? With no Tilda Swinton this year, I was hoping someone would bring the wackiness and save us from an endless sea of styled-up good taste. And luckily there were plenty of questionable choices, with Renee Zellweger nobly leading the pack in a dress that never should have seen the light of day. With the addition of the crazy hair, she could be heading to an audition to play Bertha Rochester in the attic.

Other than that, there were a few, more minor missteps (IMO, anyway!). Maggie Gylenhaal is too young to look she’s shopping at a boutique for Florida retirees; Drew Barrymore, great dress–bad hair; and Eva Mendes and Blake Lively looked like they had no time to have their gowns properly fitted before running out the door (ditto for Cameron Diaz, but somehow she always manages to look like she mistakenly put her couture gowns in the clothes dryer!)

But it was mostly good! Black, cream, and metallics were big, as was strapless (which I keep hoping is a trend that will fade away, but it never does!). Still, of my top 4 favorites, 3 were strapless, so go figure. Those favorites:

Kate Winslet (always so elegant)

Anne Hathaway (I love the midnight-blue color! But she is getting a bit scary-skinny…)

January Jones (another color I love!)

And Freida Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire (my favorite of the night!)
The next big fashion event will be the Inauguration on Tuesday! I can’t wait to see what Michelle Obama wears, and wish so much I could be there in person (though I will be glued to my TV!)

And just to keep this blog somewhat on-topic–on this date in 1775, Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s play The Rivals had its premier! Though it’s possibly his most-performed play these days, it had a somewhat rocky beginning.

The Rivals was Sheridan’s second commercially produced play, written while he was a cash-strapped, 23-year-old newlywed living in Bath with his new wife, the famous singer Elizabeth Linley. It was first performed at Covent Garden, and was roundly booed by the public and the critics for its overly-long length, its bawdiness, and the character of the Irishman Sir Lucius O’Trigger (“a meanly written role played very badly” by the actor Mr. Lee, who was hit in the head by an apple during the performance and stopped to berate the audience. BTW, if it was too long and too bawdy in 1775, it must have been very long and very bawdy indeed!)

Sheridan apologized for any impression that O’Trigger was meant as an insult to Ireland, and set about doing extensive revisions in 11 days. On January 28, it re-opened with a new actor and a shorter length, and went on to great popularity. It became a favorite of the royal family, with 5 command performances in 10 years, and was also ironically a favorite of George Washington.

The story is set in Bath, and centers around the young lovers Lydia Languish and Captain Jack Absolute. Lydia, a very Catherine Morland sort of girl who reads lots of novels, wants a Romantic Affair. So, Jack pretends to be a poor ensign, not a wealthy officer from a good family (who, ironically, has been betrothed to Lydia by his father, all unknowing!). Lydia loves the idea of eloping with a poor soldier behind the back of her guardian, the famous Mrs. Malaprop (“He was the very pineapple of fashion!”)

Lydia also has 2 other suitors, Bob Acres (a buffoonish country squire) and the argumentative Irishman O’Trigger. The plot is full of misunderstandings, duels, acceptances, quarrels, etc, until all ends well.

I recently read a very interesting novel called Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphrys, which re-tells the story in a much more dramatic fashion. A good source for this post was Linda Kelly’s Richard Brinsley Sheridan, A Life (1997). And a good source for Golden Globes pics is the Entertainment Weekly website!

Who were your favorites at the Golden Globes? Seen any good productions of The Rivals?

And you can see an excerpt of High Seas Stowaway this week at Unusual Historicals...

The winner of Vexing the Viscount is…Eva S! Congratulations! Please send your info to us at riskies@yahoo.com

Virginia and JC, you have won signed copies of Tempt the Devil! Contact Anna at anna@annacampbell.info