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Covers I really like!

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Here are some Regency covers I really like! They’re shown here in approximate order of publication.

This Georgette Heyer cover is done by the famous cover artist Barbosa, for the 1957 SYLVESTER: OR, THE WICKED UNCLE released by Heinemann. I love the coach in the background, and the way Sylvester dominates the picture. He’s standing in shadow, too, to make him seem just a little bit mysterious…or wicked. Our Sylvester has no false modesty; he says “there are not five but a dozen young women of rank and fashion who are perfectly ready to receive an offer from me.” Hmmm…definitely needs to be taught a lesson!

Joan Smith’s SWEET AND TWENTY (Fawcett, 1979) has a charming cover. I love the shops in the background, and the pretty young thing center stage. What I find really intriguing is that this pretty young thing is not the heroine, but her empty-headed cousin! In chapter one, this creature exclaims, “Cousin, have you read a book too?” in wonderment. Ah, silly young ladies. Gotta love them.

In 1981, Warner brought us PRETTY KITTY by Zabrina Faire. (Yes, it was a pen name!) I love the heroine’s big eyes and curly hair, and the action-packed background (a city in flame, with cannon firing at it? You don’t see that on every Regency cover!) The hero a bloody bandage, too–and a lovely sword. Ah, those military heroes… He inadvertantly compromises the heroine, and then becomes engaged to her, without ever knowing her name!

I was never the biggest fan of Signet’s older covers, the ones that tended to shades of brown and olive–they always looked rather dreary to me. But some of them were lovely, such as this 1997 cover for Gail Eastwood’s THE LADY FROM SPAIN. I think the colors go wonderfully together, and the entire composition is just pleasing to the eye. The carriage and horses in the background is a plus! The hero is dapper, and the heroine’s costume hints at interesting things. Indeed, on the first page we learn of her: For now it suited her purposes to be taken for a foreigner… Definitely intriguing!

Here’s a lovely cover for Amanda McCabe’s 2002 THE GOLDEN FEATHER. What makes this cover stand out for me is the lighting — the whole feeling here, the mood, the mystery is created by the way the artist handles the light. The gaming table in the background promises interesting historical detail, and heroine’s mask hints at an intriguing character! And at least part of the picture is accurate; when the hero sees the heroine, he notices: Mrs. Archer was very striking. And she did indeed have a magnificent bosom, its whiteness set off by the low bodice of her green satin gown.

Here’s one for Amanda, who loves headless characters! Well, these are half headless, anyway. A lovely and unusual Signet cover, from April of this year, for Sophia Nash’s LORD WILL & HER GRACE. So…is the heroine kissing him? Turning away as he tries to kiss her? Ah, the questions this covers creates! The pose looks simple at first glance, but another look shows the tense way she holds her fan, and the way her body is turned quite away from him…definitely makes one want to find out more!

Here’s one of Zebra’s gorgeous covers from earlier this year — May, to be precise — for Judith Laik’s THE LADY IS MINE. I love the silhouette (and her later book had a similar silhouette, but with purple in the background). It’s elegant and lovely, and very very Regency. Even better, if you look closely, you can see all sorts of things in the yellow background! Definitely one of my favorite covers. It doesn’t reveal much about the story, but a cover like this doesn’t need to…even for a hero who talks about potential brides thus: “After all, one can’t spend all one’s time in bed. Over the years one will occasionally have to chat with the woman.” Hmm…perhaps another man who needs to be taught a lesson! 🙂

I positively adore this cartoon cover for Myretta Robens’ ONCE UPON A SOFA, which was another May 2005 release from Zebra. It’s funny, it’s catchy, it’s bright and colorful, and it’s very very new. The colors, the composition — everything is perfect!

So — which of these covers do you like best? Why? What sort of covers do you like in general? (Amanda doesn’t have to answer — we know she likes headless people best! BTW, Amanda, are you a fan of Washington Irving, by any chance???) 🙂

Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER, Signet Regency November 2005

Reader Mail!

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No, this isn’t about the upcoming new movie adaptation of THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, even though I’m eagerly looking forward to it.

It’s about reader mail and its effect on the writer.

First I have to say I’ve enjoyed all the reader mail I’ve received so far. Most of the letters I’ve gotten were from people who enjoyed my books, along with a few from people who just wanted to share something they loved about the Regency. Even when readers don’t care for my books, it’s fascinating to find out what they are thinking. This one, from a reader I won’t name, is no exception!

—

Elena Greene:

My Lion roars his disgust, as to (sic) I after wading thru page after page of explicit sex in Saving Lord Verwood which I just finished. Yuk!

You are an excellent writer and the plot was good keeping one’s interest. I know explicit sex (leaving nothing to the imagination) seems to be the in thing. Surely with your writing ability you do not need to pander to or wallow in the antics that go on in the bedroom. Hopefully the trend will turn again toward decency.

With kindest thoughts I remain a Regency reader.

(name excluded)

P.S. Would you really want your young daughters to read such trash?

—

Initially, I felt a bit stunned by this letter. I’d never received anything like it before, and it wasn’t as if I were the first author to put a sex scene into a traditional Regency. But mostly, I wondered whether I’d slept through writing all those pages and pages of “explicit sex”! Had the copy editor gone wild with it? I reopened the book and looked through and yes, the love scenes were there, just as I’d written them, not particularly graphic at all.

The adult part of me (that sometimes thinks it’s in charge) shook off the label of “trash”. I don’t write with the intent of offending anyone, but I know I can’t please everyone either. I am not writing children’s fiction, so the postscript didn’t shame me the way it was clearly intended to. So I exchanged some emails with my critique partners and we all laughed it off.

However, there’s another part of me–the subconscious mind, the muse, the inner artist child–call it what you want, it’s the place ideas come from. That part of me wants desperately to please everyone. Soon after receiving this letter, I reached the wedding night scene in LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE and found myself battling a fierce writer’s block. Finally until I realized that I was trying to write a scene that would 1) show, in a tender and realistic way, how the hero/heroine had overcome the problems of their earlier unhappy marriages and 2) not offend readers like this one. Rather impossible!

So the adult side of me counseled the kid. I told myself that one person’s spice is another’s poison and I had to be true to my voice and my characters. I also reminded myself that this particular reader had forced herself to read it, “page after page”! Perhaps writing the letter was just a way of easing her conscience over enjoying it?

Anyway, so far readers and reviewers are praising LDM. If at some point there are those who disagree, I can deal with it. Sometimes feedback may lead me to change my future work, but sometimes it just clarifies who I am as a writer.

So, my fellow authors, how do you deal with less-than-positive reader mail?

And readers, do please keep those emails and letters coming!

Elena 🙂
www.elenagreene.com/

Regency Gambling and Card Games

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Ah . . . Regency gambling. Dice, horse races, and most of all — card playing. What’s not to love?

For both writers and readers, gambling scenes hold the promise that anything can happen. Fortunes (and brides) won or lost on the turn of a card . . . men arrested for playing illegal games like hazard or faro . . . duels that originate with allegations of cheating . . . ladies who lose their reputations for gambling too deeply, or for visiting a gaming hell . . .

Even the games have fabulous names: bizarre names like piquet, loo, basset, E-O, Pope Joan, vingt-un, cassino, quadrille, lansquenet, faro; names that hint at what goes on in the game, like commerce and speculation; and a few games that are still played today under the same names, like whist and cribbage.

Authors: have you used card games (or other forms of gambling) in your novels? What challenges did you face in doing so? Did you find yourself writing less or more detail about the actual gambling than you originally intended?

Everybody: which are your favorite gambling or card-playing scenes in Regency-set fiction? Which works do you think succeed best in this area? Or are there scenes in Regency-set films or television which you think have great gambling scenes?

Have you ever played Regency card or dice games? Which ones? Did you love them . . . hate them . . . become desperately addicted, and lose the family estate . . . or find yourself eating your chocolate coins instead? 🙂

Cara
Cara King — www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER — Signet Regency, November 2005

Interview with Laurie Bishop, Author of WHEN HORSES FLY!

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As a child growing up on a dairy farm, Laurie Bishop spent countless hours reading anything she could find—from Greek, Roman, and Norse myths to Robert Frost’s poetry. Then she picked up her grandmother’s copy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which began her love affair with the Regency period. Laurie won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart competition for The Best Laid Plans. Today Laurie lives in her native upstate New York. She has a master’s degree in human services and counseling and is employed in social work, but her favorite job is collaborating at night with her four cats and writing partners–Kato, Pooka, Slipper and Kramer. Learn more at www.lauriebishop.com/.

Praise for WHEN HORSES FLY!

“Bishop builds the story nicely as Alex’s heart of ice begins to melt and Cora learns what the pangs of love mean. With an unruly cast, tension throughout and some surprising twists, this novel is a perfect fit for Regency lovers.” — Romantic Times Bookclub 4 Stars

The Interview

Q. How did you think of writing this particular book? Did it start with a character, a setting, or some other element?

This book originated with a scene that popped into my head pretty much of whole cloth–the heroine disembarking from a public coach in a strange place, clearly alone and poor, and encountering the hero very abruptly–by falling on him!Her attention is quickly drawn from this embarrassment to the realization that the coach is leaving with all that she possesses in the world on board. The heroine is on her way to her new position, caring for an aged cousin. The gentleman is the cousin’s son, who is not in favor of her intrusion.

The short answer is that I began with both a character and a scene.

Q. How long did it take? Was this an easy or difficult book to write?

I believe it took me approximately six months to finish. I wish I’d had more time, actually–I do need to create a good deal of the story as I write, even though I start from an outline, and I did have a struggle in the middle of the book to break through a block. That’s a lesson–you never know exactly how much time you need. I’m happy with the end result, however!

Q. Tell me more about your characters. What or who inspired them?

Cora was inspired, in retrospect, by Jane Eyre–a post-Regency character, but I could apply her situation to Cora easily enough. Cora is not as outwardly meek as Jane and is more proactive, but Jane Eyre was the seed.

As for Alexander–I didn’t create him after anyone that I can think of, but he has some of the moodiness of Heathcliff in WUTHERING HEIGHTS, although he is much better behaved! He suffers from paternal rejection and from living in the shadow of a favored (and deceased) brother, so that would produce some of Heathcliff’s angst. Anyway, I do have to keep some secrets about Alex for now…

Q. Did you run across anything new and unusual while researching this book?

I enjoyed researching the history of the area, the southeast coast of England–specifically, the vicinity of Beachy Head, Birling Gap, and East Dean. All of these places are real, and there is a very interesting history of smuggling associated with East Dean and Birling Gap. I took an author’s license to create Lord Wintercroft’s “castle” and the specific caves mentioned in the story, but the setting is authentic. I’d love to see East Dean someday–I understand that it is relatively unchanged, and still has its pub, the Tiger.

Q. What do you think is the greatest creative risk you’ve taken in this book? How do you feel about it?

My reverend is a flawed character. I can’t elaborate without revealing too much of the plot, I’m afraid. I’m very satisfied with how this worked–both in terms of realistic character development and in the turn of the story.

Q. How do you feel this book compares with your previous Regencies?

WHEN HORSES FLY is more like DECEIVING MISS DEARBORN than THE BEST LAID PLANS. It is more of a drama and isn’t meant as a comedy–although there are a few laughs in it (I hope!).

I’d love to write a comedy again, but that is something that starts with the characters and the premise. Some stories aren’t meant to be comedies. But I retain whatever makes up my voice–dialog, style, and etcetera–in my opinion, anyway! As much as possible I always strive for a period style–a rhythm and a structure that reflects the 19th century style–within certain limits. And…I have a lot of fun doing it.

Q. What are you working on now?

I am in a resting and well-filling phase at the moment, doing research, considering ideas. My next book will either be a historical or possibly a contemporary romantic suspense–so you can see I have a lot to mull over. As for writing, I am journaling and doing short sketches to solidify my ideas.

Whatever I decide upon, it will be a book of my heart. And I’ll be sure to let you know when I do!

Thanks so much for the interview! It’s been fun.

Laurie

It’s Not About The Romance, Stupid!

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Here’s a thing I discovered when writing my first book, A Singular Lady: writing about the gentle progression towards love is really, really boring.
The only way to make a romance novel come alive is to write about everything but the romance. In other words, take two people whose circumstances, situation, personalities, etc., would normally compel them to stay as far away from each other as possible and take them on a journey, a slow, inexorable climb to the inevitable HEA. Make it as hard on them as possible. As my pal William Shakespeare likes to say,

For aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth.

Bill, you got that right. Make them suffer. Make your characters stare down into the pit of despair that is their future, and pull them back only when it seems their fall is inevitable. That is what makes a compelling romance. The stuff that writers sometimes focus on–the first kiss, the first fondle, in Janet’s case, the first bondage–that is circumstantial. It happens because it has to happen, because circumstances dictate that your characters fall in love even though every single thing in their lives seems to point to the other person as being the worst possible person to fall in love with. It shouldn’t be the focus of the book, it should be an unavoidable event, caused by the characters themselves, not the need for massive boinking. A great romance novel isn’t about the romance, or even lust. It’s about making your characters complete. And with completion comes love.

Megan