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Monthly Archives: April 2009

Diane’s To Do List

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To Do List – Week of April 27

1. Write Risky Regencies Blog

2. Begin promotion of The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor with Amanda and Deb
Prepare blog for eHarlequin, Romance Readers at Heart, Romance Vagabonds, Word Wenches (and maybe more!)

3. Write Update information for website (write Behind The Book, Newsletter, new Contest, News, etc.)

4. Read for Critique Group Wednesday (est. 150 pages)

5. Complete second set of revisions for Soldiers Trilogy Book One

6. Begin judging Royal Ascot contest

7. Check eHarlequin eBooks to see if The Unlacing of Miss Leigh is still Number One.

8. Order a carton of The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor

9. Send out promotional material as promised.

10. Write 50 pages of Soldiers Trilogy Book Two.

What do you think? Will I get it all done?

What’s on your To Do List this week????

Keep The Unlacing of Miss Leigh on eHarlequin’s eBook bestseller list!! Order your copy through my website. Run to your bookstore on May 1 (or 2 or 3) and see if The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor is on the shelves. Tell us if it has a shelf talker! One has already been spotted at a Walmart!

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Much Ado About Nothing

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Life, such as it is, has been as non-stop busy as usual, except the weather is getting nicer (and I *know* I am getting older, since the weather figures more and more in my conversation).

BUT I have been reading a lot, which is cool, but not found time to write, which is not cool. I have this little problem called ‘getting distracted,’ usually by ‘the shiny,’ which could be a new book, a friend, or the time-suckage of the internet.

That said, however, I have dug deep to find a renewed fervor to finish revising this ridiculous story I’ve been working on forever. That STILL isn’t done. But I just registered to attend this year’s RWA National Conference in July, so I need to finish it by then, or I will personally cut off my own head.

One friend pointed out recently that perhaps I can only do things under pressure of deadlines, and I know I always notice time deadlines in books and movies–because, after all, what’s the point of staying up another hour to read if the hero and heroine have all the time in the world to sort out their problems and fall in love? I want them to feel as much urgency as I do when reading.

For example, I’m reading a book a Twitter friend recommended, The Guards by Ken Bruen. Very dark, very intriguing writing, with a super-dark protagonist (he is NOT a hero). She called it “Irish noir,” and that’s a good descrip. His time deadline is if he doesn’t figure out how to stop the person he knows is doing bad things, bad things will continue to happen to innocent people. But in order to stop the person, he has to do something bad himself, or convince corrupt purportedly good people to stop it. All while dealing with his personal demons, which make Satan seem like Mr. Rogers.

None of this is Regency-related, but it is life-related, which is a universal truth we all deal with. And time is something we all never have enough of.

This week it seems I am babbling more than usual, which is pretty darn remarkable.

So–have you been reading any new-to-you authors? Do you read noir? Who are your favorites (I could go on and on about mine, but will spare you)? Do you like ambiguously dark characters, or do you want them redeemed by the end of the book (I do not think that is going to happen in this book)? Anything else you want to talk about this fine warm Friday?

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The Regency Town House

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I’m ba-a-a-ck! And, wonder of wonders, I did take a camera, I did figure out how to use it, and I have downloaded some extremely bad pictures of London and Brighton. I have a very few pictures of Greenwich up at Twitter.

I went to Brighton on Tuesday to visit the Regency Town House in the company of Eileen Hathaway (isn’t that a great name?), who is an English writer, with her family entourage, a group of design students from the University of Brighton, and some historians–a nice mixed bag. The house, 13 Brunswick Square, is being meticulously restored to the time it was built, the mid 1820s, as part of a brilliant and supermodern development by architect Charles Augustin Busby (who interestingly enough spent some time in New York). His plans not only included housing for “support” industry workers involved in the upkeep of the luxurious lifestyle of the Square’s occupants, but also featured piped in water and gas.

Here’s a detail of the restoration work on the dining room, on the first (ground if you’re English) floor of the house. Isn’t it a great color scheme (and if you blow it up you can see the gorgeous plaster work)? I was pleasantly surprised at how nice and girly it was, very unlike the usual bright blues and greens and yellows favored by Regency interior designers. We have Goethe to thank, who developed a color theory that specified purple as being good for the digestion and therefore a popular dining room color.

The second floor of the house consists of a pair of linked drawing rooms that were used, of course, for entertaining–the “open house” style of entertainment meant that several hundred guests would be visiting the house in one evening. Analysis reveals that the wall decoration consisted of painted panels in a neoclassical style and it’s possible to see where pictures hung on the wall (research is being done to see what sort of pictures the inhabitants hung). So the task at the moment for the museum is to decide whether to restore the painted panels or choose wallpaper (I vote for the painted panels). The wood frame on the walls, by the way, is for an art exhibit at the house.

Here’s the view out of the window, looking out over Brunswick Square. The blinds are exterior storm blinds, because 1820s glass was fragile enough to be broken by hail. It’s the only house in Brighton to possess a complete set of storm blinds.

I was also very excited to see the servants’ quarters–actually an belonging to the house at No. 10, and in my excitement thought I was taking photos when in fact I wasn’t… or lacked impatience for the flash to recharge.

Here’s the restored kitchen skylight, which not only brought much needed light into the kitchen but also provided ventilation. The gent in the center is the museum’s highly erudite and learned curator, Nick Tyson, who claims that the kitchen was as brilliantly designed and equipped as its big brother kitchen up the road at the Royal Pavilion (which I also visited that day).

And one interesting factoid: the houses of Brighton were not designed to be a glaring pale yellow (this was a good idea adopted by the local government). The stone is actually the same used on the sidewalk, in soft shades of grays and beige, and the ironwork was painted a dark green, to give the idea of the beauties of nature brought into the sophistication of the town.

Altogether a wonderful and satisfying day, and what better way to end it than with a sea view, a toasted teacake and a nice cup of tea in the sun? And yes, the weather was glorious as you can see.

What have you been up to this week?

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Guest Post from Author Jenna Petersen/Jess Michaels

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Today we welcome author Jenna Petersen, whose book Her Notorious Viscount is out this month from Avon. She also writes as Jess Michaels, and her book, Taboo, came out yesterday!

Take it away, Jenna!

Apocalypse . . . Sometime

Hi everyone and thanks for having me here today. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I’m reading and it’s making me nervous. See, I have two books out currently (HER NOTORIOUS VISCOUNT and TABOO, both of which came out in the last month) and I’m just about to start writing a new book. What have I been reading and watching to pass the nervous hours?

Apocalyptic fiction and television.

Let me explain. It all started with ALAS, BABYLON. I read this book in high school and for some reason it popped into my head (okay, because we watched the horrific train wreck that was “Babylon A.D.” with Vin Diesel and the titles were similar and so I started thinking about the book). I wondered if I’d like it as much as I recalled liking it in high school so next thing you know I had a copy. If you’ve never read the story, here’s the run down…

ALAS, BABYLON was published in 1959 and written by Pat Frank. It’s a story about a man, Randy Bragg, who gets advanced knowledge of an imminent nuclear holocaust. How he prepares, how it comes down and how he and his small town of Fort Repose survive the aftermath is basically the book. Pat Frank apparently only wrote stories of nuclear war (although given his time, it’s sort of understandable why he was a bit obsessed) and this one is considered a classic.

Then I also was watching a show on Discovery Channel about what would happen if all the humans on earth just… disappeared (it’s not good, but then all the humans have disappeared, so I guess we wouldn’t have to deal with it). And finally, I’ve also been reading Stephen King’s SKELETON CREW, which features “The Mist”, a great story about what happens when the world falls apart. And he’s the author of one of the greatest pieces of “world catastrophe” fiction, THE STAND.

Death, destruction, utter devastation… these seem like the perfect things for a nervous author to read, yes? So soothing as I hit refresh at Amazon and obsessively wait for Bookscan.

The fact is, each of these books/shows has a different impact. THE STAND is great, just as awesome every time I read it. ALAS, BABYLON didn’t have the same impact on me that it did as a 15-year old, but it did freak me out in other ways. As an adult, I started wondering if I could survive in a world where all modern conveniences are gone, where you have to fend for yourself in every way. And I was also touched by the idea that with television and radio (the two main mediums of the time) gone, all the people crowd the town library.

In ALAS, BABYLON, as in THE STAND, people turn to books. For research, certainly. They all have to learn to filter water or make a lantern or turn a car battery into some other system. But also for pleasure. In a situation where no other entertainment existed, books and stories would return to prominence.

And maybe that gave me the comfort I need in times of “oh my God, I have a book out!!”.

So do you have any favorite post-apocalyptic fiction, either as a movie, television show or book? And if you lived in a Post-Apocalyptic world, which book would you label as a “must read”?

Thanks for joining us, Jenna!

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Back from Retreat

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I’m back from Washington Romance Writers Spring Retreat in Leesburg, VA, where I had, as always, a wonderful time. This was a new location for us, the second new location since we lost our lovely-but-shabby Hilltop House in Harper’s Ferry, WV, to a major renovation that will probably price it completely out of our range. This location was lovely, though, with some historic feel that is so nice when you are in an historic state like Virginia.

The Retreat always starts with a mega-signing in Boonsboro, MD, at Turn the Page Bookstore Cafe, but this year I didn’t sign. Heard it was a great success, though, as always. Weather cooperated for us, probably the most gorgeous weekend yet this Spring – Sunny and warm enough to sit out on the veranda.

After the booksigning, we have a cocktail reception, then dinner (Our guest speaker was Carla Neggers!) and then a panel discussion with our guest agents and editors. This year the agents attending the Retreat were Helen Breitwieser (whose flight came in too late for the panel), Meg Ruley, Elaine English (who is also WRWs attorney, because she is local to us) and Irene Goodman. Our editors included Jennifer Enderlin of St. Martins, and Tracy Farrell of Harlequin, who both almost always attend the Retreat. Kate Duffy of Kensington, another of our mainstay editors, had to cancel at the last minute, much to her regret and ours (we love Kate). Our other attending editors were Deb Werksman from Sourcebooks and Angela James from Samhain. This time the panel discussion did not really reveal any insights into the market or what editors are buying so I can’t give any useful information.

We ask our visiting agents and editors to contribute a little time for interviews with attendees and it was my job to manage the interviews on Saturday, which were held in the old mansion. Elaine English and Jennifer Enderlin took their group appointments outside on the lovely front porch you can see in the photograph.

Even though I miss most of the workshops because of the appointments, I do enjoy helping those waiting for the interviews to be calm, and to see members come out happy and excited because their pitch went well. Every year I have to talk someone out of canceling their appt because they chicken out. They are always happy afterward. (Don’t fear the appointments! They can’t really hurt you and are always useful, even if just for the experience)

This year I also missed the Saturday night dinner, with speaker PC Cast and the WRW special awards. I missed seeing my critique partner Lisa win the “Over and Above” award for her contribution to WRW. And my friend Catherine Kent won one of the Service awards. Mary Kay McComas won the Lifetime Achievement award.

But I was doing a FUN THING. Helen Breitwieser took her authors out to dinner and we had a lovely lovely time. The restaurant was Vintage 50, on the outskirts of Historic Leesburg, with a gourmet menu and fine wines and a waiter who looked like a young Harrison Ford and whose ambition in life was to play Hans Solo in a Star Wars remake.

On Sunday I also missed our big WRW Raffle giveaway. Every year members try to outdo each other and previous years making baskets for auction. We raise LOTS of money considering that the Retreat only has about 120 attendees. These were the baskets my critique group contributed. The “Diamonds of Welbourne Manor” basket was lots of fun; the other is “M’Lady’s Reticule” – all things for your purse and a handmade reticule (by my friend Helen who made my Regency dress) that is not shown.

I missed the raffle because I took Helen Breitwieser to the airport and we had lunch on the way to discuss me and my writing and my career (yay!)

So this morning I really slept late, making up for all this. Next week I’ll do better!

We had great goody bags this year. Here are some of the books that were in it:
Beyond the Heaving Bosom by the Smart Bitches
The Knight’s Return by Joanne Rock (a Harlequin Historical)
She Thinks her Ex is Sexy by Joanne Rock (A Blaze!)
Frederica by Georgette Heyer (a gift from Sourcebooks)
Mr and Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy by Sharon Lathan (Sourcebooks)
Love with a Perfect Scoundrel by Sophia Nash
To Sin with a Stranger by Kathryn Caskie
A Seduction At Christmas by Cathy Maxwell
The Angel by Carla Neggers (a hardback)
The Write Ingredients, compiled by Lori Foster (recipes from favorite authors- a Cookbook!)

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