I feel like it’s finally happening. I guess because it is. Here if your first look at the cover for A Notorious Ruin, The Sinclair Sisters Series, Book 2. Lucy and Lord Thrale.
A Notorious Ruin
For now, I go back to final revisions on this in readiness for a September release.
Do you know the scene in Mary Poppins where Mary, Bert, and the children jump into one of Bert’s chalk paintings on the sidewalk? Something similar happened to me last weekend, though there were no dancing penguins involved nor any chalk drawings. Nevertheless, I suddenly found myself walking through the setting of a long-time favorite novel of mine.
Now, I have visited Britain often enough to know that strange feeling of familiarity that overcomes you when you walk through Burlington Arcade or take a peek into that seventh heaven of bachelorhood of the Regency period, Albany, or visit one of Britain’s numerous country houses: as a reader of historical romance, you’re bound to recognize these places from the novels you’ve read.
But what happened to me last weekend was a bit different, more visceral, probably because it was so unexpected: as a lover of Rosemary Sutcliff’s books set in Roman Britain, you don’t really expect to be easily transported back to that time by any place given that most of the remains of the Roman empire are mere ruins. Even Hadrian’s great northern frontier wall in Britain has been reduced to a mere stubble of its former existence.
I live near the lines of another of these great Roman frontier walls, the Germanic Limes, and a mere 40-minute drive from my town lies a reconstructed Roman fort, the first of its kind, re-built in the late 19th century.
Saalburg: Porta Praetoria (the main gate)
And as I was walking amongst the reconstructed houses, past the reconstruced barracks, I suddenly remembered a passage from one of Sutcliff’s novels, about how each Roman fort looks the same no matter where you are in the empire. They might not have looked exactly like the Saalburg (all the walls would have been white – something that historians back in 1900 didn’t yet know), but still I felt this sudden, keen connection to Sutcliff’s characters.
Indeed that feeling was so strong, that the sight of the eagle standard nearly made me burst into tears because I was so touched. (Alas, the Saalburg eagle not only is a fake, but it is also anachronistic, for these forts were manned with auxiliary troops rather than legions, and the auxiliaries didn’t have eagle standards. However, Kaiser Wilhelm II, who commissioned the building of the Saalburg museum, insisted on the eagle.)
The military standards at the Saalburg
What I always find so fascinating about visiting museums and all those British country houses is that, for me, it is always the small things, the everyday items, that makes me feel a connection to the people of the past who used them. Amidst the exhibits in the Saalburg, you can also find pretty Roman shoes (which would make perfect summer shoes!), pretty dishes and vessels (have I already mentioned that I have this thing about tea sets?)….
A small Roman vessel from the Saalburg
…as well as pretty fibulae, Roman brooches. These come in all shapes, including cute, colorful animals:
Roman brooches from the Saalburg
You can just imagine a gruff Roman soldier buying such a pretty brooch for his sweetheart. (And then you start to imagine all kinds of things, and all at once your Muse is yelling into your ear how wonderful it would be to write a novel set here at the old Roman frontier, and then she forces you to buy all kinds of research books and… Oh gosh, I don’t just have a tiny problem in regard to tea sets, but also in regard to research books! *blushes*)
My Muse made me do it
Now let’s hear it: Which setting of which novel or film would you like to visit? Pemberley, perhaps?
Earlier this year when I was in Berlin for the LoveLetter Convention, I visited the Pergamon Museum, which houses several truly fantastic artefacts from classical antiquity (like the huge, huge, HUUUUUUGE Pergamon Altar), among other things. I wasn’t really all that clear about those other things, so I was completely bowled over when I went through the entrance hall and up to the first floor & found myself facing the magnificent Ishtar Gate from Babylon. It is one of the most mind-bogglingly beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
But I was almost as thrilled when I found several sculptures and bas-reliefs from other ancient cities of the Near East in another suite of rooms – like Mr. Human-Headed Winged Bull here. (I might have even squeed a little.) (Quietly.) (Totally on the inside.) (I think…)
All that inside squeeing was due to the fact that the hero of my novella DEVIL’S RETURN has taken part in Austen Henry Layard’s excavations of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrod, where he would have seen the same kind of statues and bas-reliefs I was admiring in the Pergamon Museum:
So Alex told them about Layard’s latest excavations, and their plan to prepare for his visit later this year. He described the alabaster sphinx that had been found in one of the buildings of Nimroud, and the strange creatures in the bas-reliefs: ferocious lions and winged bulls with human heads, dragons and fearsome monsters with heads of lions, bodies of men, and feet of birds.
Many of the 18th and 19th-century archaeological excavations seem to have been done in a rather haphazard way (“Oh, look! There’s a mound! Let’s dig it up and see what’s inside!”) and very often by people who were mostly interested in the pretty things they could drag back home and show off to their friends & acquaintances. (Lord Elgin and the sculptures from the Parthenon come to mind here.) (Though, to be fair, he seems to have primarily wanted to get them for the British Museum, not for his own sitting room.)
In other cases, archaeological excavations were motivated by a desire to give the finger to Britain’s neighbors across the Channel, in particular to the arch-rival France. Indeed, securing Assyrian antiquities for the British Museum to rival those in the Louvre was one of the main reason for the British ambassador in Istanbul, Sir Stratford Canning, to finance Layard’s first excavations. In 1846 Layard received additional funding from the British Museum itself for the excavations that are briefly described in DEVIL’S RETURN. The first of the artefacts Layard found (i.e., the bas-reliefs and sculptures he had removed from the walls of the ancient city) arrived in London in 1850 and were soon exhibited at the British Museum, where, judging from the long article in The Illustrated London News, they received considerable interest.
DEVIL’S RETURN is out now (Amazon | Kobo). Follow my adventurer-hero Alexander Crenshaw from the ancient cities of Assyria to the fashionable soirées of London high society, where he will face the biggest challenge of them all: his long-lost love…
I’ve finished my manuscript and am knee-deep in second draft territory, so I’m going to take an easy route today and share some of my favorite links on the Georgian and Regency eras.
Sarah Siddons by Joshua Reynolds
What Jane Saw – On 24 May 1813, Jane Austen visited an art exhibit at the British Institution in Pall Mall, London. The popular show was the first-ever retrospective of the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), England’s celebrated portrait painter. Two centuries later, this e-gallery offers the modern visitor a historical reconstruction of that long-lost Regency blockbuster.
The Kyoto Costume Institute – Justifiably famous for its staggering collection of European costumes, the page representing the 18th early 19th century are totally awe-inspiring.
Nelson Exhibit at National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum – Wonderful searchable site for British naval history.
Dictionary of the English Language – 1822 edition of Samuel Johnson’s dictionary at Google Books.
British Titles of Nobility – Laura Wallace’s excellent introduction and primer to the peerage.
Georgian Ices
Historic Food – Ivan Day is “the” historical food expert”. This site is fascinating,replete with recipes,fabulous illustrations and tempting details of his courses.
I’m sure some of these are familiar to you. I hope some of them are nice surprises. And I’d love to hear about your favorite web sites on our period.
My talented and dear friend Ani Bolton, author of a new steampunk romance series that recently debuted with Steel and Song, tagged me to participate in a blog tour on the writing process. Here’s my entry and I’ll be tagging two fantastic authors at the end.
1. What are you working on?
I have several projects going on right now. Although this is not fresh writing, I’m collaborating with five other Regency authors to bring out a boxed set of Regencies (six traditional Regencies in one ebook), coming in October. This is a deal no Regency romance fan should miss!
I’m also planning a new series based on the foundlings in Lady Dearing’s Masquerade (Romantic Times Best Regency Romance of 2005), who will have some interesting issues to deal with as adults. This will involve moving a bit post-Regency, so I’m in the research phase, to make sure the setting rings true.
Lastly, I’ve been plotting out two short, sexy novellas: a prequel and a sequel to Lady Em’s Indiscretion.
2. How does your work differ from others’ work in the same genre?
Lately, Regency romance seems dominated with stories featuring dukes. Although I have loved some duke stories (and won’t promise I’ll never write one), I like variety in my fantasy men.
My stories also often include themes of social justice. Lady Dearing’s Masquerade deals with individuals and groups who are unfairly marginalized. Fly with a Rogue deals with personal recovery after war and the plight of veterans. I find it deeply satisfying to write about characters who can find joy despite real-life challenges. Of course, romance and passion are still the focus. A friends says I write “social justice smut”—and I take it as the compliment she meant it to be!
This is one of the joys of going indie: being able to write what I want without feeling I need to chase trends.
3. Why do you write what you do?
I love the Regency setting and I love writing romance. Writing acts as a tonic to me, but it seems to go both ways. Readers have told me my books are a fun break in their busy lives and some have even told me that reading romance novels has helped get them through tough times.
4. How does your writing process work?
I used to follow a fairly structured writing process before my husband suffered a stroke, over five years ago. Once I had time to write again, I resolved that my writing time had to be fun. Rather than following a set plan, I just work on whichever task (research, plotting, writing) draws me that day. I’ve learned to trust my intuition more and found, to my surprise, that I’ve become more productive.
If you have questions about my upcoming work or my writing, please feel free to comment.
I’m tagging two more talented writers to participate:
Laura J. Bear took a circuitous route to writing through two other careers. Her first novel, Where the Heart Lands, will be published in March 2015. Laura blogs at www.laurajbear.blogspot.com.
Alicia Rasley is a RITA-award winning Regency novelist whose women’s fiction novel The Year She Fell has twice been a Kindle bestseller in the fiction category. Her articles on writing and the Regency period have been widely distributed, and she blogs about writing and editing at www.edittorrent.blogspot.com.