Monthly Archives: August 2014

Read a Regency Romance!

Updated on August 18, 2014 by diane

Today I’m one of the authors for Read A Romance Month, which is taking the whole month to celebrate romance and to encourage readers to read a romance!

Read A Romance Month is an idea conceived by romance fan, NPR feature writer and Kirkus reviewer, Bobbi Dumas, as a way for romance authors and fans to come together to celebrate the genre they love–Romance!

Bobbi lined up 93 authors to write essays about celebrating romance and who answer some fun interview questions. I’m delighted to be a part of it. You can read my essay here.

One of the interview questions for the authors was to tell about a book that changed our lives. I did not choose one book, but a whole genre–the genre of Regency Romance!

I didn’t discover Regency Romance until after I’d started writing. I’d read a few of the historical romance groundbreakers, like The Flame and The Flower, but when my friend Helen pointed me to the traditional regencies and to Georgette Heyer, I found the world where I belonged!

I can think of three books that stood out for me in that period, although I’d read dozens. I devoured the Signets and Zebras and I still miss those shorter “trads.”

1. The Rake and The Reformer by Mary Jo Putney

The Rake and the Reformer was the first traditional regency I read and I loved it. I loved the characters and the real issues they struggled with. I loved the world they lived in. I was hooked. Mary Jo went on to rerelease this book in a longer version titled The Rake, but I always preferred the story in its original form.

2. Venetia by Georgette Heyer

I loved Heyer’s Regency romps, but Venetia, for me, was pure romance and that was what I loved about it. It was so clear to me how these two characters needed and deserved each other and I loved how Heyer brought about the happy ending.

3. The Last Frost Fair by Joy Freeman

This book gets mixed review on sites where it is rated, but I loved it. It was so very emotional and its hero and heroine needed to go through so much before they found their happy ending. Before reading this, I had no idea that a Frost Fair on the Thames could have existed.

I could also have included the early traditional regencies by Mary Balogh to this list–An Unlikely Duchess and A Precious Jewel, are two that come to mind. An Unlikely Duchess was as madcap as Heyer could be, and A Precious Jewel showed me that an author could be daring in her choice of characters and story lines and still write a successful romance.

When Amanda, Megan, Janet, and Elena, who were all writing traditional-but-risky regencies at the time, asked me to join Risky Regencies blog, I was delighted that they thought my books fit in with theirs, because they were also writing the sort of books that changed my life!

What Regency romances were important for you?

Go to Read a Romance Month for a chance to win a signed copy of A Lady of Notoriety!

Posted in Reading, Regency, Risky Book Talk | 5 Replies

Summer’s going fast!

Updated on August 15, 2014 by Elena Greene

I’m insanely busy, so my apologies for a quick, catch-up kind of post.

I haven’t had a great deal of time for writing, but I’m still doing some story brainstorming. Last weekend, I spent a day at Salt Springs State Park in PA with friends from church. I hiked up a waterfall (no pics of the waterfall as I am too klutzy to dare carry a camera or phone while doing something like that) and also walked along the creek. Later I spent some time working on ideas for another novella, this time a sequel to Lady Em’s Indiscretion, rounding out the trilogy.

I’ve also been working on another Big Project which I’ll tell you all about when the time gets closer.

Now I’m concentrating on getting my oldest ready to head off to college next week. So many emotions! I had a mini-meltdown, breaking into tears as we were leaving Bed, Bath & Beyond yesterday. But I’m excited too, and of course happy that my daughters have opportunities not available to ladies in the Regency. (Read more about education during the Regency in this article by Cheryl Bolen.)

A fan has suggested I write a story inspired by these experience, kind of “Yentl in the Regency”. I don’t know. Has that already been done? How’s everyone else spending the end of this summer?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Risky Book Talk | 2 Replies

The Duke of Wellington and The Tower Of London

Updated on August 11, 2014 by diane

One of the stops on the Duke of Wellington tour (only 3 more weeks and I’ll be in London!) will be the Tower of London. I’m very excited about this because I’ve never visited the Tower of London.

What, you ask, does the Tower have to do with the Duke of Wellington? The duke was Constable of the Tower from 1826 to 1852.

The Constable of the Tower has always been a prestigious one. Although now the role is largely ceremonial, in Wellington’s time the Constable was the man in charge of the Tower, and, typical of Wellington, he set about to make improvements.

1. He closed the Royal Menagerie.
The Royal Menagerie had been at the Tower since the early 1200s and had housed all sorts of exotic animals, like ostriches, elephants, lions, tigers, kangaroos, etc. The waste from the animals drained into the moat, creating disease and noxious odors, plus there were some vicious animal attacks, including a fight between a Bengal tiger, tigress and a lion, ending in the lion’s death. The animals were moved to the London Zoo at Regent’s Park.

2. He drained the moat.
The Surgeon General at the time described the moat as ‘impregnated with putrid animal and excrementitious matter… and emitting a most obnoxious smell.’ The moat was blamed for several soldier’s deaths and for cholera outbreaks. The Duke drained the moat and created a dry ditch or fosse that visitors see to this day.

3. He build the Waterloo Barracks.
To adapt the Tower for modern warfare and a professional army, he closed the Tower pubs, instead creating an army canteen and an officer’s mess. He built the Waterloo Barracks to house 1,000 soldiers. The Waterloo Barracks is also where the Crown Jewels are kept.

4. He made the awarding of Yeoman Warder to be based on distinguished military service.
Before Wellington’s time as Constable, the post of Yeoman Warder could be purchased for 850 guineas or even inherited within families. The Duke brought these practices to an end.

5. He oversaw the rebuilding of the Tower after the fire of 1841.
After the fire, Wellington strengthened the Tower, making it secure from potential civil unrest.

6. He increased the number of visitors to the Tower.
Under the Duke, tourism at the Tower increased–much to his displeasure. Wellington did not approve of public visiting the Tower. He felt them a nuisance and a threat to security.

The Tower will have a special exhibit of the Duke of Wellington’s influence during his time as Constable of the Tower on the newly opened North Walk. I can’t wait to see it!

Posted in Risky Regencies | 3 Replies

Shrubbery

Updated on August 8, 2014 by Myretta

Kensington Gardens, 1798

In the late 18th Century, landscape architect, Lancelot “Capability” Brown, diverged from the rigidly formal gardens favored at the time and designed naturalistic landscapes, breaking up the gardens with “follies, cascades, lakes, bridges, ornaments, monuments, meadows and wood.” (The Omnipotent Magician: Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, 1716-1783 by Jane Brown).

One of his legacies appears to have been a nice collection of shrubbery into which my characters keep disappearing. Early in the manuscript on which I’m working, the hero takes the heroine off the beaten path in Kensington Gardens and into a rather lovely shrubbery during which stroll they are, alas, interrupted. But don’t worry. There will be other shrubberies.

Unfortunately, my hero finds himself in a shrubbery with the wrong woman during a morning party at a London estate. Fortunately, he is rescued by the hostess. Today, I thought I’d share the rescue with you.

Simon was dumbstruck. It wasn’t that he was unaware of his sister-in-law’s wishes and he would have to be blind and deaf to miss Lady Margaret’s blatant overtures. He had not, however, expected such a flagrant bid for a proposal. He knew he shouldn’t have gone near the shrubbery.

As Simon stared in amazement at the woman clinging to his arm, and searched his mind for an appropriate response that would not land him in front of a parson, he was saved by a party led by Lady Frampton. The hostess was ostensibly leading a group through a tour of her gardens. From the conversation, it seemed as though she had just run them through the parterre and hustled them into the shrubbery where she claimed to have the largest Hawthorne in Middlesex County. Simon smiled. Perhaps Lady Frampton had found her missing sheep. The group stopped abruptly in front of Simon and Lady Margaret.

“Join us?” Lady Frampton asked.

“We were just returning to the garden,” Simon said, on a sigh of relief.

“Very well, then. Off with you.” Lady Frampton nodded, and Simon could have sworn, winked again.

And so, having shared this with you, I return to the manuscript. I am very near to reaching the ultimate shrubbery.

Posted in Regency, Writing | 3 Replies

Vacation Miscellany

Updated on August 8, 2014 by Elena Greene

So here I am on Friday morning, and unusually for me, I did not have my post written in advance. From unpacking and catching up from my two week vacation, I’ve moved into Trying-Not-To-Panic Mode while getting ready to send off my oldest to college. So maybe I’ll talk some more about things I enjoyed during vacation—with a tiny bit of Regency interest thrown in.

One thing I love about vacation is having more time to read. One of the many books I enjoyed over break is Steel and Song, the first in a new steampunk series by Ani Bolton. I’ve been intrigued by the idea of steampunk but hadn’t actually read anything before this. I was caught up by the world-building and the compelling characters.

After the Club Med interlude, I spent a few days in Orlando with my husband’s family and visited two museums. Among the offerings at the Tampa Museum of Art was an exhibit on “Poseidon and the Sea: Myth, Cult and Daily Life” . I saw some lovely and intriguing ancient objects and realized how much my daughters knew about the mythology (their interest sparked by Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series). Some of the depictions of ladies in the exhibit reminded me again of the influence of the classics on the Regency. Not only did Regency ladies often wear classically-inspired clothing and hairstyles, the way they were depicted in fashion prints–that straight line from forehead to nose–resembles ancient depictions of women.

Later, I visited the Morse Museum in Orlando, which houses “the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933)”. It was a feast for the eyes and I highly recommend it for anyone who loves art and/or needs a break from theme parks.

So what have you enjoyed this summer? Any good summer reads?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Anything but writing | Tagged Ani Bolton, Morse Museum, Steel and Song, Tampa Museum of Art | Leave a reply