Monthly Archives: December 2012

It All Comes Back To Jane Austen

Updated on January 9, 2013 by diane

Welcome to our new home! We expect our new home to be ever more comfortable. I watch a lot of HGTV – House Hunters, Property Virgins, Property Brothers, Love It or List It – so I see lots of new homes. Let me assure you, the Riskies have moved in to space that is more “open concept” and all of our appliances are stainless steel and our counters, granite….Or the Regency equivalent.

And who better to invite to our new home but Jane Austen, who will stay with us until her birthday December 16. In honor of Jane, we thought we would each take turns discussing What Jane Austen Has Meant to Me.

There will be prizes – including a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card! My prize today is the British Library Writers Lives edition of Jane Austen by Deirdre Le Faye. Eventually we will be using Rafflecopter for giveaways, but I don’t quite know how yet, so I’ll randomly choose a winner from the comments on this blog.

I’ve mentioned before that I came late to loving the Regency, not until I started writing in 1995. I’d read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility in some English class along the way, but it wasn’t until my writing pals Helen and Julie introduced me to Georgette Heyer and Regency Romance (the Signets and Zebras) that I began to really fall in love with the Regency.

One event clinched it.

Helen, Julie, and I went to see the 1995 Amanda Root/Ciaran Hinds movie Persuasion, which had been a BBC TV production in the UK but released in theaters in the US. It was this movie adaptation of a Jane Austen book I’d never read that made the Regency come alive for me.

From the country house of the Elliots to the chic rooms in Bath to the simple seaside abode of the Harviles, the Regency world the move depicted seemed so real to me. Maybe it was because the whole movie was filmed on location, but, even so, the details were not prettied up for film. The livery of the Elliot footmen looked a bit shabby, as it would have for a baronet whose fortunes were dwindling. Skirts and boots got muddy during country walks, as they would have in a time without paved walkways. The dancing was boisterous but not polished and practices, as professional dancers would have performed. The hero and heroine were attractive but not “beautiful people.”

The Regency people in the story also acted in ways I believed were true to the period. The emphasis on status, on honor and obligation seemed genuine to me. There were bored privileged young women, proud impoverished ones, scheming social climbers. There were also “normal” people, like the Musgroves and the Crofts. And Ann and Wentworth, of course.

Jane Austen may have been exploring the role of persuasion throughout the story, but she also crafted a lovely, satisfying romance, with familiar Romance themes. Persuasion is both a reunion story (Ann and Captain Wentworth were once betrothed) and a Cinderella story (Ann, the put-upon sister finds great love in the end). The conflict was poignant – Ann regretted breaking her betrothal to Wentworth; Wentworth remained bitter that she threw him off in order to seek better prospects.

There’s a lovely villain in Ann’s cousin, William Elliot, who becomes intent on courting her, and more complications ensue when Wentworth considers himself obligated to marry the injured Louisa Musgrove. The steps Ann and Wentworth each make to find their way back to each other are subtle, but very satisfying and very typical of romance novels of today.

After seeing the movie, I had a picture in my mind that was my Regency. I read Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice and all of Jane Austen’s books, even Lady Susan. The social attitudes from Jane Austen’s books seeped into my brain, as did the language, the rhythm of the conversation.

So you might say Jane Austen helped create my Regency world!

Have you seen this version of Persuasion? What do you think of it? Comment for a chance to win today’s contest.

Holiday Giveaway! And also remember to enter the Harlequin Historical Authors Holiday Giveaway. Today’s day is Sarah Mallory’s. For more details, go here.

Posted in Giveaways, Jane Austen | Tagged Jane Austen, Persuasion | 26 Replies

Mad about Titles

Updated on January 9, 2013 by Myretta

One of my Regency hobby-horses is the use of titles. I’m afraid it makes me crazy if an author spends the time to write a novel set in our era and neglects the proper titles for her aristocratic characters. Indeed, an author who’s writing I love has been known to make me wild by getting titles wrong book after book. Come on, honey. You should have figured this out by now.

I have had this rant before on other sites, so I will not take too much space with the ranting and, rather, devote this post with some advice about how to get it right. It’s not that difficult.

Let’s start out with what not to do: A duke is never my lord or your lordship. He’s not Lord anything. Most frequently a title is not the same as a last name and they are never interchangeable. Earls, marquesses, and viscounts are never Lord Surname and certainly never Lord Given Name. Dukes, as we have established, are never Lord anything. Last names and titles, if different, are not interchangeable when addressing an aristocrat. There’s only one right way to do it.

Now, on to that right way.

A duke is “your grace” or “his grace.” The same goes for his duchess. His title is “Duke of Title.” For example, Peregrine Cavendish is the Duke of Devonshire. He is never Lord Devonshire or Lord Cavendish. His peers may call him Duke rather than Your Grace.

An earl is Lord Title, never Lord Surname or Lord Given Name. For example, John Montague is the Earl of Sandwich and is addressed at Lord Sandwich.. Friends might refer to him as Sandwich. His wife is the Countess of Sandwich and is called Lady Sandwich. In a few cases, such as Earl Spencer, the title and surname are identical.

A Viscount is also Lord Title. Edward Pellew is Viscount Exmouth and would be addressed as Lord Exmouth. His wife is Lady Exmouth.

Barons are also referred to as Lord Title. Barons, more frequently than other titles, may have titles that are the same as their surname. For example, William Hawke is Baron Hawke and is called Lord Hawke. His wife is Lady Hawke (and may or may not be played by Michelle Pfeiffer). This is not always the case, however, and you should be sure that, whichever you choose, your title remains consistent.

So these are the basics. It goes on from there. Oldest sons of dukes, marquesses and earls usually take one of their father’s lesser titles as a courtesy title (if one is available) and would, thus, be Marquess, Earl, or Viscount of Whatever.

Younger sons of dukes and marquesses have the courtesy title of Lord, but they use their first names. Lord Peter Wimsey is Lord Peter, never Lord Wimsey or Lord Denver (his older brother is the Duke of Denver). And, moreover, his wife would be Lady Peter. Cool, huh?

Younger sons of earls, viscounts, and barons are just “honorable” and are usually addressed as “Mr.”

Daughters of peers are Lady Given Name regardless of their birth order. In Pride and Prejudice, Lady Anne Darcy and Lady Catherine deBourgh are the daughters of an Earl (which one, we’ll never know). This applies to daughters of dukes, marquesses, and earls. It does not, however, apply to the daughters of viscounts and barons. Like the sons, they are just honorables and addressed as “Miss.”

Have written these down, I realize they don’t look as easy as I may have lead you to believe. However, I have a couple of web sites for you that will make it much easier.

Laura Wallace created and maintains the fantastically useful British Titles of Nobilitywhich takes on all this stuff and more in an easy-to-understand layout. If you bookmark this site, you need never wonder if you’re using the right title. For something not as detailed or exhaustive (just the basics, ma’am), I give you the table of honorifics from the Jane Austen Information Page at The Republic of Pemberley.

So, there it is. Yes, it’s a little convoluted but if you love your subject and your era, and you’re going to write about it, it’s not too much to ask that you get the details that are easily available to you. Right? If you don’t know it, look it up. Or ask a friend who does.

Here’s the final question. Am I alone in being driven wild by misuse of titles? Does this make you tear your hair out or are you able to overlook it and get on with the story?

Posted in Research | Tagged titles | 12 Replies

Victoria Hinshaw is back and so are her Regencies!

Updated on January 9, 2013 by diane

I’m so excited to welcome my friend Victoria Hinshaw to Risky Regencies. (Here we are at the Lawrence Exhibit at Yale in 2011) Some of you know her only from the fabulous blog Number One London, but you should know that Vicky was a fabulous Regency author long before the blog began. Well, now Vicky is BACK and two of her Regencies are back, too, re-released as ebooks and available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords.

In The Fontainebleau Fan, Miss Meg Hayward paints trifles to sell, a way to avoid poverty. When her copy of an antique fan is sold as the real thing, she must find it and make amends. Nicholas Wadsworth, the Earl of Wakefield, believes he was swindled by the lovely young artist. How could he know that spending weeks with her at his estate would lead him from anger and humiliation to sympathy and affection?

“Ms. Hinshaw is to be highly complimented for a well-plotted, well-written book with well-drawn characters…a gentle, lively, humorous and very picturesque reading experience”–Rakehell review.

The Eligible Miss Elliott is Miss Rosalind Elliott, an heiress who despairs of finding a husband who is not primarily concerned with her fortune. She encounters her childhood friend Philip Caldwell and their friendship blossoms into romance. Rosalind is surprised and delighted to learn of Philip has become wealthy, although his wealth is unknown to the ton. When the vigorous Bath gossip-mill catches wind of the budding romance, they condemn Philip as just another fortune hunter who desires Rosalind’s property. Rosalind and Philip decide to outwit the busybodies and prevent scandal, dishonor, and humiliation. Will they be able to meet the challenge and be together without misgivings?

“Victoria Hinshaw has written an entertaining and gently insightful Regency romance”–Romance Reader review.

Vicky will give away a free download (Kindle or Nook) of each new ebook, one to two lucky commenters chosen at random.

Welcome, Vicky!

Lovers of Regency Romance will be pleased to know you are re-releasing The Fontainebleau Fan and The Eligible Miss Elliott as eBooks. When you prepared these books for ebook versions, did you make any changes to the stories?

Not a word. I reread them and had some ideas, but then I thought maybe I’d just write a whole new book! So, no revisions. The new ideas may appear someplace sometime.

Did you come across any interesting research when writing these books?

I researched various methods of wall painting in the Regency era for The Fontainebleau Fan. Rather than the ancient practice of fresco (painting in wet plaster, like Michelangelo), it seemed that stately homes were more likely to have the walls covered with canvas first, though some painted directly on the wall. Since the wall that Meg Hayward is going to paint at Wakefield Hall is in a new conservatory attached to the house, that wall would have once been an exterior wall. Even if plastered over, the wall should be covered with canvas for a longer lasting picture in a humid setting where flowers grew.

As you can tell, research is one of my favorite aspects of writing regency…need I say more?

Tell us how you first became interested in the Regency time period?

You mean beyond loving Jane Austen forever? And Georgette Heyer? The real impetus came from reading the regency-set novels by Laura London. I fell in love with the period, not to mention the writing. Laura London is the penname of a couple here in Milwaukee. Sharon and Tom Curtis wrote The Bad Baron’s Daughter, The Windflower, Moonlight Mist and several more. All are lovely stories, very nicely written.

Tell us about your involvement in the Jane Austen Society.

I have taught JA in several venues – on-line, in high school, for seniors, and for civic groups. My talks have been featured at a number of JASNA AGMs, the annual gathering of our tribe in various cities in the U.S. and Canada. I am a member of the local groups in Wisconsin and in Chicago, and enjoy as many of the meetings as I can. I learn lots of new information every time.

You blog at Number One London about an incredible diversity of topics. How do you and Kristine Hughes decide what to blog there?

Sometimes the subjects just pour out of us with no shortages. Our only sticking point is to find enough time to research and write. We cover our own activities – travel, talks, exhibits and so forth. And we present various excerpts from period works. Right now we are carrying selections from Dr. Syntax, originally published in 1812.

What is next for you?

I have three active projects – a big surprise at Number One London, which we hope to start after the first of the year. I am writing another story set in 1840 and I have lots of regency ideas floating around. And I need to finish some of the genealogy I’ve started on my paternal lines from England. I have a GGGGrandfather who was with Wellington in the Peninsula and at Waterloo – actually a civilian mapmaker. My cousin and I saw a dozen of his intricately beautiful maps at the British Archives at Kew a few years ago, still carefully preserved.

And I will be promoting the rest of my regencies as e-Books and another novel published originally in 1983 by Pocket Books. It is a family saga titled BirthRights: A Dangerous Brew, the story of three generations of a fictitious Milwaukee Brewing Dynasty from 1870-1930, available now as an e-book at Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, etc.

Thanks, Vicky, for being our Risky guest.
Now, readers, you can ask Vicky a question….or tell us if you used to read the traditional Regencies and what you think of their resurgence as ebooks. Remember, two lucky commenters will win a download of either The Fontainebleau Fan or The Eligible Miss Elliott.

Posted in Giveaways, Interviews, Regency, Research | Tagged Victoria Hinshaw | 10 Replies

Preparing for Christmas

Updated on January 9, 2013 by diane

I am the lady of this house, not an exalted country house, but a respectable one and I must not dally any further. I must prepare for Christmas. It is a daunting task in this modern age – 1820. There is so much to do.

First I must check to see if Cook has prepared the Christmas pudding. She should have done so one week ago on Stir Up Sunday. I must discuss with her all the food we shall need for the holidays, because the rest of the family and some friends will gather here and they will stay through Twelfth Night.

I should send invitations to the families near here to come for a Christmas meal. I believe I shall have my daughter write them. She has a better hand than I. Soon it will be time to send the footmen out to gather greenery and we must hang a ball of mistletoe to generate some excitement during the party.

Then there are gifts to purchase. I shall make a list and have my husband’s people purchase them in London and send them to me here. And I must exert myself to embroider some handkerchiefs for everyone, because that is the sort of generous person I am.

Speaking of generous, we will also make up baskets of food for those less fortunate than we. I am certain the kitchen staff and maids might take an afternoon away from their duties to assist in filling the baskets. My dh, Lord P–, and I will, of course deliver them to the families. It will take the better part of the day.

It is such a busy time!
What are you doing to prepare for the holidays??

I know one thing you can do. Enter the Harlequin Historical Authors Holiday Giveaway. We started last Wednesday and are going strong until Dec 21. Enter each day for chances to win daily prizes and for the most chances to win the grand prize of a Kindle Fire HD. Today is Michelle Willingham’s day and tomorrow is mine!