Back to Top

Monthly Archives: October 2013

Hopefully by my next post I’ll have Exciting Book News to share, but today I have a seasonal question for you:

Are you ready for Halloween?

A Jack o' Lantern made for the Holywell Manor Halloween celebrations in 2003. Photograph by Toby Ord on 31 Oct 2003.

For practically the first time since Miss Fraser was born in 2004, I can answer that question with a yes, and before October 30, too. After some discussion, Miss Fraser has elected to go as the goddess Athena this year, so we found a generic Greek goddess costume, which we’re accessorizing with a helmet, a toy spear, and a stuffed owl. And just in case she backs out of being Athena at the last minute because she has to wear a dress, I ordered a mockingjay pin, which, along with her bow and arrow set and carefully chosen clothes from her everyday wardrobe, would make a credible Katniss Everdeen costume.

Her first choice was actually Avatar Korra from The Legend of Korra, but I couldn’t figure out how to bring the costume together given my utter lack of crafting or sewing skills. I have to say, I’m proud of having raised a daughter who’s so fond of strong women in myth and literature that her heroines are Korra, Athena, and Katniss.

I even have a costume of my own planned for the first time in over a decade! I’m part of a fantasy football league at work, and we’ve decided to all dress up as our teams. My team is the War Tigers, a riff on my favorite college football team, the Auburn Tigers, whose battle cry is, “War Eagle.” If you watch an Auburn game, you’ll see both an adorable mascot in a tiger suit and an actual eagle who swoops around the stadium before the game and then perches on his handler’s arm on the sidelines looking menacing during the game.

War Eagle!

So I’m going to wear my Auburn shirt and baseball cap, and carry a stuffed tiger perched on my wrist like that eagle. Granted, maybe two of my Seattle coworkers watch enough college football to get the reference, but still.

One of these years I’m going to invest in a Regency dress–or maybe a redcoat officer’s uniform, so I can go in Napoleonic-era drag–and make that my costume.

What about you? Are you dressing up for Halloween this year, or do you have a kid to costume? If you dressed as a Regency and/or literary figure, who would you choose and why?

Elizabeth-and-Darcy-pride-and-prejudice-4699146-800-530I think it’s pretty much standard that when you write romance you fall in love with the hero, even if at certain stages of the book you want to give him a smack upside the head and tell him not to be such a stubborn, insensitive, clueless idiot. And we hope that our readers fall in love with him and the heroine, or even the relationship itself. Lizzie and Darcy, anyone?

So here’s my Top Ten, in no particular order, of fictional heroes I have fallen in love with:

Black Beauty. Yes, I know he’s a horse. I was six, okay?

180px-Mr_Tumnus-1-Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe.  Ditto faun, and I was eight. But I fell all over in love with him again in the movie and James McAvoy’s goaty goodness. Talking of which, check out this very sexy dance scene from the very indifferent movie Becoming Jane. Ooh.

Henry Tilney. He is the best Austen hero. He knows about laundry. He has social skills, does not practice pluralism, and is the success story of his dysfunctional family.

Lord Peter Wimsey. Or, to be specific, Lord Peter Wimsey in Gaudy Night, when Harriet falls in love with him, finally, and he is translated into instant hotness. Placetne, magistra?

Sam Vine in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. A cop with smarts, a tender heart, a strong sense of justice, and a love of bacon sandwiches.

Lord Vetinari, also from Discworld. What’s not to love! An autocrat who was trained as an assassin, given to sarcasm and steepling of fingers.

Dorothea Brooke from Middlemarch by George Eliot. So she’s a girl (so was George). You have a problem with that?

Will Ladislaw, also from Middlemarch. All that exotic foreign radical hotness.

Jasper Hedges from Pam Rosenthal’s The Edge of Impropriety. Smart, shabby, beautiful hands, glasses, and actually smacks away the heroine’s hand during their first encounter because he can undo his trouser buttons faster than she can.

Temeraire the dragon from Naomi Novik’s series. Even if he does have eggs with other women I love him still.

And #11, bonus material, Will Lawrence from the same series.

How about you?

876964005357_p0_v2_s600This weekend I watched A Royal Affair, a Danish movie about a real event in its history. The movie with English subtitles was released in 2012 and is now available on DVD.

In 1766, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, sister to George III, was married to King Christian VII and became Queen of Denmark and Norway. Her husband was mentally ill and the marriage was not happy, but under the influence of his German physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee, he passed many enlightened laws improving the lot of the Danish people, laws such as abolishing torture, freeing the serfs, eliminating censorship.

Struensee also became the Queen’s lover and fathered a daughter by her.

The film dramatizes the complicated relationship among these three people, the king, the queen and the doctor, which ends tragically with the arrest of Struensee, the banishment of the queen and the usurping of the king’s power by his step-mother and half-brother. The progressive reforms were eliminated and the country lapsed into a reactionary period until Caroline and Christian’s son began his rule.

Read about the true story. It is fascinating!

The movie is beautifully acted, especially by the actors playing the three main characters. This was the first movie by the actor playing the king. He was not yet out of drama school, but he does a fabulous job.

And it was a dramatic piece of history that was new to me. It was connected to “our” period, as well – Caroline Mathilda was the Prince Regent’s aunt.

Did you see the movie? What did you think of it? Did you know this piece of history?

I’m busy finishing book 3 in the Masquerade Club series. It is due tomorrow. Wish me luck that I turn it in on time!

Posted in History | Tagged | 5 Replies

DominicCooper.AllenIn honor of Verdi, whose 200th birthday is today, I’m giving you an excerpt (slightly cleaned up) from my soon-to-be released erotic historical A Certain Latitude. The very vague connection is that there is mention of an opera here. The picture is not of Verdi but of Dominic Cooper as Willoughby in the latest BBC adaptation of Sense & Sensibility, who looks something like my hero.

Note that both hero and heroine are in a, uh, horizontal position.

“Tell me about your mistress.”
“Which one?”
“How many have there been? To start with, the one whose husband chased you to the dock.”
“Ah. Lady Ann. A dreadful woman.”
“Then, why on earth—”
“This part of me—” he thrust upward—“did the thinking. And if her husband had sued for divorce, I would have been named and then obliged to marry her.”
“But it doesn’t seem fair. What will her husband do to her?”
Allen ran his hand over her neck, pushing hair aside. “Expect her to be more discreet next time. It’s the way of the world.”
His breathing became faster. Already she knew the signs; she had learned the lessons of his body.
“Who else?”
“Who else what?”
“Who else have you bedded?”
“Hmm. You wish for the whole list?”
“List?” She put her lips to his ear and sang, “Ma in Ispagna son già mille e tre … mille e tre.”
Beneath her, he rumbled with laugher. “Not in Spain, but in Bristol maybe.”
“A thousand and three in one city? You mean you outdid Don Giovanni himself?”
He shrugged and fell silent.
“Is my singing so dreadful?”
He muttered, “I shouldn’t—I had this bad habit of seducing merchants’ wives. Silly, bored, rich women, for whom I was a consolation, an entertainment. I didn’t like any of them particularly. I don’t think they liked me much, either. Each one at first presented a challenge, a mystery, but afterward I found I was lonelier—” He stopped and turned his head away.
“Allen—”
“Except,” he added, “this never happened with them.” He laughed, a dry, ironic chuckle. “You may tell me it doesn’t matter. I believe that’s the acceptable, sympathetic thing for a woman to say under the circumstances. God knows it’s never happened before, so I’m not quite sure of the etiquette the situation demands. But, by all means coo something sweet while pitying me—even though you suspect this happens all the time.”
“A moment.” Clarissa eased herself onto her elbows. “May I borrow your writing slope? I must make note of this for any future encounters.”
He laughed and gripped her arms, turning his face to hers. “Don’t move. Do you know, Clarissa, I think you may be the only woman I’ve had that I actually liked?”
“How appalling.” She rubbed her nose against his. “Have you ever been in love?”
He shrugged. “Quite frequently, but it faded. I proposed to a couple of women, but fortunately they turned me down. I suspect I’m a little in love with you, Miss Onslowe, but have no fear. The condition will pass.”
“I rejoice to hear it.” Was it disappointment or relief she felt? “Love might well be a complication for us both. You are quite right.”

Any opera fans out there? Any favorite operas? Favorite Verdi operas? I vote for La Traviata.

ladydaudioI didn’t know much about audiobooks until this summer, when I had the pleasure of working with Robin Rowan, who narrated the audiobook version of Lady Dearing’s Masquerade.

I learned a lot and was incredibly impressed by what the narrators can do to make a book come alive in audio. There were a number of good auditions, but I ended up picking Robin because she did the best job at handling the full range of voices, from the heroine, Lady Dearing, to the many male characters including the hero, Sir Jeremy, and very importantly, the four children Lady Dearing “adopts” from the Foundling Hospital.

Robin was kind enough to answer some questions about the process of narrating this book.

What is it like to narrate a romance novel? How do you prepare to handle all the different characters’ voices?

I find one character (usually the heroine) that I can completely relate to, and then put myself in her situation, in her life, for the duration of the book. It isn’t always a woman, though. I think I especially enjoy the historical aspect of some of the romances I voice. I get to live in another time for a while. I hope the listeners are also transported to another time and can really feel that. I can visualize the characters so well—how they’re dressed, the setting they are in, the particular social mores they have to deal with in the book.

Was there anything particularly challenging about narrating this book?

I have honestly never done a complete book where all the characters and the narrator were British! I’ve done characters before, but I had to “become British” for this book. Did I drive my husband crazy staying in character all the time? Oh, yeah. And how do I prepare to narrate such a book? Why, watch all the Harry Potter movies, of course!

What did you most enjoy about narrating this book?

I could really sink my teeth into this story because of all the different stories and lives that finally merged at the end. And how much fun was it to get to be pompous Sir Digby Pettleworth and the wretched nephew Adolphus? I LIVE for these moments! Keep writing those awful and completely fun characters, Elena!

Thanks, Robin!

I’ll be giving away 10 free download codes from Audible for Lady Dearing’s Masquerade. Comment on this post between now and next Saturday, Oct 19th. I’ll announce the winners on Sunday, Oct 20th.

And check out the Youtube video below which includes a sample from the audiobook!

Elena
www.elenagreene.com
www.facebook.com/ElenaGreene