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Monthly Archives: January 2011

Obsessions!

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Hey, don’t freak out and think it’s later than you thought (not that that makes sense); Janet is doing her best imitation of a poultry-type without a braincase, so I am posting today, not Friday, as is my usual wont.

And . . . we’re off!

I still haven’t found time to write. The day job is a lot of fun, but requires attention and time, and then there’s all the other stuff.

But the commute. The train commute! Ah, how I love thee.

Last week I read the first of Karen Marie Moning‘s Fever series. The final book in the series, Shadowfever, came out this week, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about (okay, ‘fess up: Who here just imagined some grouchy lady in an apron waving a rolling pin while she said that? JUST WHAT I LOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW, BY THE WAY).

It was a lot different than what I’d expected. I never actually expected, given the beginning of the book, to like the heroine, but by the end of the book, I admired her and wished I had more of her spunk. I am still doubtful if we’d be friends if we met in real life, but I bet if we had a few cocktails we’d be hanging out in no time.

In fact, I’m surprised by how much I am thinking about the book after finishing it. That speaks well to its ability to survive as a series, not to mention the multitude of people in my Twitter stream who stayed up all night/stalked the UPS guy/called in sick at work to read Shadowfever. I’m just psyched I have more books to look forward to.

I finished the first Tasha Alexander book I was reading last week, And Only To Deceive, which I enjoyed–it has a romantic element to it, but it’s mostly about a Victorian woman discovering her own interests and expressing her own opinion in a time when most women did not.

And now I am currently reading the Regency-set historical Provocative In Pearls by Madeline Hunter. It is delicious, and I am in awe of Hunter’s ability to weave a complex series of conflicts on a very simple premise. I am two-thirds of the way through, and don’t quite see what might happen yet, which is fun.

Thanks in no small part to listening to Amanda McCabe (aka Laurel McKee), I started watching the Vampire Diaries, which has been so much fun. She and I have emailed a few times with me speculating what might happen and her probably biting her tongue not to tell me.

We both agree, however, as to how beautiful the eyes of Ian Somerhalder, who plays Alpha Vamp Damon, are.

Yeah, so, no writing, but lots of reading, and lots of looking nice almost every single day, which is a change from usual, and lots of interacting with pleasant co-workers, which I haven’t had in a long time.

What is engrossing your leisure time lately?

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Are You Watching Downton Abbey?

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I love this new BBC series playing on our PBS stations’ Masterpiece Theatre! Downton Abbey is an original series, that is, not adapted from period fiction, but written for TV. The “inciting incident” is the sinking of the Titantic taking with it 2 heirs in line to inherit, one who the eldest daughter was obligated to marry. The premise of this show is wonderful, because it, like the Regency, takes place at a period of social change. The earl had to marry an American heiress to save the estate. They, alas, did not have a son. Now when the earl dies, the millions the heiress brought to the estate will go to a distant cousin.

We see some familiar faces on the series:

Maggie Smith, of course as the dowager Countess

Hugh Bonneville as the earl, whom we saw in Miss Austen Regrets

Dan Stevens (with the incredible blue eyes) as the new heir who was Edward in BBC’s Sense and Sensibility

My two favorite characters (so far) are:


Daisy, the scullery maid, played by Sophie McShera. Daisy so perfectly knows her place as the lowest of the servants, yet she is lively and happy and optimistic. I believe I must have been a scullery maid in a past life. I mean, why else would I not mind washing dishes? (Just don’t ask me to cook). I like to believe I would have been the same sort of scullery maid as Daisy.


Bates, the earl’s new butler and his former batman from the Boer War. Bates is played by Brenden Coyle, who did such a marvelous job as Nicholas Higgins in North and South (which I finally watched, by the way. Sigh!!!!!!) I fell in love with Bates immediately. He’s such a wonderful character, an obviously strong, proud man made vulnerable by an injury that makes him lame. When he almost has to leave–omigosh, what an emotional scene.

I am hooked!!!!

I’m delighted that BBC has renewed this series. Could it become the new Upstairs, Downstairs?

For an entirely different opinion of the series see Number One London. Kristine and several of her commenters did not like it too much. One comment was that it was like a soap opera, but, frankly, that’s one of the things I like about it!

Have you seen Downton Abbey? Do you like it? Who’s your favorite character?

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Happy Birthday to Amanda and Period Furniture Obsessions

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First, let’s all lift a glass of pink bubbly and have a slice of virtual cake in honor of Amanda’s birthday. Wishing you a year of health, happiness, and much reading and writing!

Now to my post…

Ever since I started looking at decorating magazines and histories of furniture, I’ve been drawn to certain styles of furniture. I used to think I ought to like Victorian furniture, but although some items are pretty, some get too fussy for me. Later, when I started studying Regency styles, I realized that was what I like best.

One item that appeals to me especially is shield back chairs. Here is an illustration of late 18th century shield back chairs designed by Sheraton or Hepplewhite. I love the shape, though I’m not sure why. At a conference, I met a psychic who said historical romance authors were trying to relive past lives. If so, perhaps I was once very happy in a house with shield back chairs. I know that once I’d seen one, I wanted a set.

Of course, I cannot afford the Real Thing, nor would I feel comfortable sitting on anything so valuable! But my husband and I saw these early 20th century reproduction chairs at an antique show. We discovered that they were both less expensive and better made than the new dining room furniture we had been looking at. So we snapped them up and have been happy with them ever since.

Another period furniture obsession is the chaise longue. I’ve just written my second scene with characters misbehaving on one. There is something I find sexy about all those elegant curves. Here is an example dating from 1810. Sadly, I do not own one even a reproduction. Maybe someday…

What are your favorite furniture periods? Do you have favorite items or styles?

Elena

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An Education

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First off: I have not yet found time to write, but I have found time to open my work-in-progress and look at it to remind myself of my characters and where I last left them. Hopefully that writing time will come soon.

Second, commuting into and out of a job means I have time to read (as though I didn’t find time on my own anyway!). Reading on the subway is its own special pleasure, since there is, literally, nothing else you can possibly do besides be on the subway. No dishes, no laundry, no clamoring spouse/child/etc.–nothing but being on the subway going to your destination.

So while I wouldn’t hope for a subway slow-down, it’s not the worst thing ever if it happens.

This week, I began reading the first book in Tasha Alexander‘s historical mystery series, And Only To Deceive (recommended to me by Cara Elliott), featuring Emily, Lady Ashton. Emily is an inquisitive woman, but has not been accorded an education in anything beyond needlework, languages and indifferent piano playing.

Within the first few pages, Emily is told the story of Paris and that damn golden apple and the three goddesses he has to choose to give it to. That startled me, since that story–and myths in general–were part of my upbringing, as integral to my knowledge base as the math tables and that there were fifty United States.

I pride myself on not taking anything for granted, but in terms of what I’ve been exposed to, I definitely have. What if I hadn’t been allowed access to books and knowledge? What if I were Lady Emily, bred to be a pretty ornament to a man’s home? No wonder our heroines are regarded as so unusual within their own society–they think and speak for themselves, chafe at their restrictions, and devour knowledge as greedily as Venus took that apple.

So while I have not found time to write (see how I brought that back around? I am all about the callback), I have found time to be grateful to be given the tools to enable me to write. And, eventually, I will utilize those tools.

Meanwhile, pity poor Paris, who had to make the hardest decision ever: Which vain, gorgeous goddess was the most gorgeous (and therefore would be the most vain)? Poor guy.

Megan

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Adventures in Contemporaryland

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First, a bit of blatant self-promotion that is actually relevant to what I’m talking about today: I’m making a debut as a Harlequin Spice author in the summer (Tell Me More), under my own name since at my advanced age I have no innocence/innocents to protect (and before that, kicking and screaming, drag it out of me, then, Mr. Bishop and the Actress is being released next month. More on that later. Of course).

So I’m writing contemporaries for Spice which means I have to write in American, which is tricky. But what I found even worse was not having the gorgeous array of props and costumes you have at hand when writing historicals. Take this lousy passage:

The Duke leaned against the marble mantelpiece and raised his quizzing glass while taking a sip from the glass of brandy. [Internal Ed: careful, you know where this is heading] The sunlight from the open shutters turned his hair, carefully arranged in the latest windswept to burnished gold. He brushed at a tiny speck of dust on his skintight pantaloons [Internal Ed: oh crap, he does have three hands]. “My dear,” he drawled, “I assure you marriage was the last thing on my mind.” [Internal Ed: what!? Who’s he talking to, anyway?]

Now, translate this into a contemporary:

The [Internal Ed: the what? Cop? I don’t do cops. OK. The mayor? Nah. Come back to it later] leaned against his car [Internal Ed: we’re outside, then? OK] and pushed his dark glasses further up his nose [Internal Ed: I can live with it but it doesn’t imply anything to do with his status, only that he can’t buy dark glasses that fit] while taking a sip [Internal Ed: sip? Are you sure? Gulp?] from his beer [Internal Ed: remember your responsibility to your readers! Is he going to drink and drive?]. The sunlight turned his mussed hair to burnished gold. [Internal Ed: zzzzz] He brushed at a tiny speck of dust on his skintight jeans [Internal Ed: see three hands, above, also sounds a bit gay and not in a good way, but then so does the Duke]. “Honey,” he drawled, “I ain’t talkin’ about a weddin’.” [What? Has this guy ever been inside a library in his life?]

And so it goes.

On the other hand, instead of this:

Heart pounding, she sat at her writing desk and sharpened a knife. On a clean sheet of paper she hastily wrote a note, scattered sand over it, and folded and sealed it. Reaching for the bell pull, she summoned the footman to deliver it to the Duke’s house, warning him that he must return with his grace’s answer immediately.

You have this:

She texted him.

And instead of this:

For three long days and nights the carriage lurched across rutted roads, stopping only for brief pauses to change the horses while the weary passengers took what refreshment they could, and several times alighting to help push the vehicle out of the filthy mud in the torrential rain [Internal ed: enough already]

You have this:

One hour and one packet of roasted nuts later, the plane landed. [Internal ed: long enough for her to join the mile-high club, surely? Call yourself a writer?]

What do you miss when you read contemporaries? What sort of details and how much do you like in historicals?

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