Back to Top

Author Archives: Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

About Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

Writer (as Amanda McCabe, Laurel McKee, Amanda Carmack), history geek, yoga enthusiast, pet owner!

Finished! (Almost)

Updated on by

Happy 2012, everyone! I have a feeling this is going to be a good, healthy, happy year. I am starting off today getting ready to turn in the WIP (just doing a final smoothing-out, taking care of little details look before it goes winging off through cyberspace to London). Wish me luck!

This has been a very different project for me, as it’s the last of 8 books in a new continuity series coming out from Harlequin Historicals later this year. (Carole Mortimer kicks off the series and I end it). It doesn’t have a name yet, but when they asked me to take part in the project they said they envisioned it as “Downton Abbey in the Regency” (a grand house, an old family mired in scandal and financial difficulties, lots of crazy things going on behind a beautiful facade, etc). How could I resist this??? I adore Downton Abbey, and can’t wait for season two to start on PBS this weekend (I’ve been trying to avoid any spoilers, but it hasn’t been easy). This project has been a very interesting one, and a good way to change things up a bit (as well as get to know some other authors), but it has also been a challenge for a pantser writer like me. Often I have no idea what is going to happen in a story until I am writing it, but I had to be far more organized with this story, following plots that were already set up and trying to be true to other writers’ characters.

I hope it has all turned out okay (fingers crossed!). Then it is on to the next project…

In the meantime, as I frantically get on with editing, let’s look at some pretty. I confess, one of the big reasons I love Downton Abbey (besides the fact that I would sit and watch Maggie Smith be a sarcastic Dowager Lady Whatever for days) is the costumes. The Edwardian period is one of the very prettiest for fashions (IMO) and they’ve done a fabulous job. So here are a few favorites, plus a Vogue pic of the 3 sisters (which shows that Edith is not really so plain after all…)

Have you been watching DA? What do you think of it? And do you like to read continuity series in romance???







Posted in Former Riskies | Tagged , , | 15 Replies

My Favorite Things

Updated on by

Happy (almost 2012) everyone! I’m afraid to admit this, but my house is in complete chaos at the moment. I have book due (eek) Monday, so the shreds of wrapping paper are still piled on the floor and the new books I got for presents (yay books for presents!!) are stacked on the table. But as I look back on 2011, I remember some really fabulous reads. I can only hope the new year is as good!

Here are a few I liked:

Amanda Foreman, A World on Fire: Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War

I admit I don’t know nearly as much about American history as I do European, but I found this epic tale, featuring more than 200 characters with distinctive and linked stories, fascinating and absorbing. I couldn’t put it down…

Kady Cross, The Girl in the Steel Corset

Two of my favorite new things in a good fiction read–YA and steampunk! Plus a fabulous heroine and some great dialogue

Jehanne Wake, Sisters of Fortune: America’s Caton Sisters at Home and Abroad

I am not sure how I missed the story of the 4 Caton sisters of Maryland (granddaughters of the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence), but the story of these Regency precursor’s of the Victorian “Dollar Duchesses” who went to England and married titles is amazing. Marianne married Wellington’s brother (and was said to have been the great love if Wellington himself); Louisa became the Duchess of Leeds and a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria; and Bess made her own fortune in the stock market.

Alan Bradley, A Red Hering Without Mustard

The first Flavia de Luce mystery, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, was one of my favorite novels of last year, and this one was just as enjoyable a read. Flavia (a wickedly precocious 11-year-old) and the English village setting of Bishop’s Lacey are tons of fun!

Deborah Lutz, Pleasure Bound: Victorian Sex Rebels and the New Eroticism

Who can resist a research book with “sex rebels” in the title?? The Pre-Raphaelites, Richard and Isabel Burton, the poet Swinburne and his favorite flagellation brothels….a great look at a scandalous counter-culture…


Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

I was reluctant to pick this up at first, it was so hyped, but I am so glad I did. Truly a magical and absorbing read.

Chris Adrian, The Great Night

Another magical read! It’s Midsummer Eve in 2008. and 3 humans with romantic troubles get trapped in San Francisco’s Buena Vista Park with Titania, Oberon, Puck, etc for some truly crazy doings (and a group of homeless people putting on a musical version of Soylent Green…)

Priya Parmar, Exit the Actress

Another one I was reluctant to pick up at first–I love Nell Gwyn and have read sooo many novels about her. How could I need another one?? But this was unlike any other I’ve read lately, I started it early one evening and didn’t stop I finished it!

Chris Skidmore, Death and the Virgin Queen

A new account of the mysterious death of Amy Robsart Dudley in 1560, utilizing some fascinating new forensic evidence found from the original inquiry. A story I never tire of speculating about!

Cherie Burns, Searching for Beauty: The Life of Millicent Rogers

I grew up visiting Taos, New Mexico every summer, and my parents would take me to the Millicent Rogers Museum many times. But I never knew much about the woman who once owned that house and the fabulous art and jewelry collections it houses (except for the fact that she wore fabulous clothes in the photos on the wall!). It turns out the Standard Oil heiress (who died in the 1950s at age 51) had an incredibly adventurous and glamorous life that reads like an novel…

I haven’t been to the movies much this year, but I did see some I enjoyed very much: Like Crazy, The Descendants, Melancholia, The Mill and the Cross, and the gorgeous Midnight in Paris were a few.

How was your reading year in 2011??? Did you get any fabulous new books for Christmas presents?

Posted in Former Riskies | Tagged | 6 Replies

Guest Blogger Kae Elle Wheeler

Updated on by
 Amanda is out of town for a few days, but she has bribed, er persuaded, her friend Kae Elle Wheeler (a brand new author!) to fill in for the day!  Comment for a chance to win a free download of The Wronged Princess…..

I am flattered beyond words to be invited as a guest blogger for the Risky Regency followers by my very VERY good friend, Amanda McCabe. While I do not write Regency, I am, an avid reader and fan of the period. I also have written my own small series of historical, dated just prior to Regency, late 18th century.

I am actually the resident historical romance reviewer for Book End Babes, and have been since 2007. I loveRegency romance. Some of the stories make me want to dive into a Delorean Time Machine to be whisked back in time as a heroine in one of Suzanne Enoch or Teresa Medieros outrageous plots. Take Charming the Prince for example. This little Cinderella story was so cute, I actually bought several copies to loan out, making sure I kept one available for myself to read when the notion struck. (I’ve read it six times).

The same goes for Ms. Enoch’s London’s Perfect Scoundrel. That hero was so messed up you could not help but fall in love with him when he turned the corner, determined to make the heroine his own. The same could be said for Lady Rogue.
I’m sure you are probably thinking that those are the only two authors I read. NOT! Other favorites include, but are not limited to, Amanda Quick, Julia Quinn, Victoria Alexander, Madeline…well, I’m sure you get the picture. (Including my good friend, Amanda).
My question is, what constitutes the allure to this particular time period that is so enthralling for a reader? I have a theory (it’s my own, of course). Europe—UK, France, Spain, etc. holds such a rich history. Not that, we in the US don’t as well, but theirs is just so jam packed with Royalty, diverse culture, tradition—long long looooong standing tradition. Hundreds of years worth tradition. I mean, think about it—200 years versus 1000 years!
I think Jayne Ann Krentz must touch on this very thing in her futuristic “Jayne Castle” line where the world as we know it has been closed off to the characters. So that in a sense she’s given the US that same allure to the characters in her books as we do with the Regency period, if that makes any sense. Regardless, there are other fun things about the Regency period that draw my interest. The clothes, of course. The dialogue has to be quite clever. But I think my favorite enticement is the way the characters have to gage the attention of their men, somehow avoiding risk to their reputations. Because, if their reputations are compromised, it is extremely dire. So how the author has hero step up becomes important. And if he’s the one who did the sullying—better yet, if someone else sullied, how does the hero move past that hurdle for his true love—andconvince the reader it’s ‘till death do us part’.
Not an easy task. (This is why I have my staples that I read over and over. The Wicked Widow­—Amanda Quick; To Love a Thief—Julie Anne Long).
In addition, I love the moving pictures in my head when I read and write period romance. I love the twist on a fun fairy tale. You know—like when Cinderella’s shoe fits one of her evil stepsisters. The Wronged Princess – Book I. Or when one of the stepsisters takes out a horde of villains and has to deal with Prince Charming’s irresistible cousin, Sir Arnald. The Unlikely Heroine – Book II.And what if the batting-eyed sister overhears the man she’s had a deep-seated crush on for years tell his father “I would ne’er marry a woman who could cause an avalanche in the Pyrenees Mountains.” (Well, she was devastated, I can tell you.) The Surprising Enchantress – Book III.
La! I have a feeling that I am “preaching to the choir,” so I shall wrap up by saying, thank you for having me. Au revoir!

Bio: Kathy L Wheeler, while an avid reader, as stated, also writes Contemporary Romance. Her debut novel Quotable is due out June 6th through Soul Mate Publishing. An active member of the OKRWA, she has a novella The Color of Betrayal, tbr June 13, through Wild Rose Press as part of the Tales of the Scrimshaw Doll series.
Currently, The Wronged Princess – Book I, and The Unlikely Heroine — Book II are now available
Posted in Former Riskies, Giveaways, Guest | Tagged , | 14 Replies

Sleeping Beauty

Updated on by

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I can’t believe May is already halfway gone.  I am buried in revisions and new projects here, but like Megan I seem to have only one major thing on my mind lately: sleep.  I can never seem to get enough of it!  So I started to wonder (as I lay awake last night thinking about all sorts of things), what would characters in historical novels take to help them sleep?

People have had trouble sleeping since time began.  I have no idea what cavemen took, but in the ancient world (Egypt, Greece, Rome) there were various herbs and things that don’t sound effective at all, such as lettuce juice, mandrake bark, something called “herbane,” and the one thing that was very effective indeed, opium derived from poppies.  (Hypnos, god of sleep, was often portrayed holding a poppy).

Nothing any better came along for a long time.  In 1805 a chemist named Frederick Setumer synthesized opium, which didn’t really change the effectiveness of the drug but led to the synthesis of various other sedatives.  By the 1850s chloryl hydrate was developed in Germany and became popular, but like opium it had a myriad of side effects and it was easy to overdose (especially when mixed with alcohol).  There also came about a variety of bromides (originally meant to cure epilepsy, but they didn’t really work for that).

By the beginning of the 20th century barbiturates such as Veronal became available, but they also had myriad unpleasant side effects.  It wasn’t really until the ’70s that benzodiazepines like Xanax and Valium were in widespread use.  Now the trend has swung back around to herbal solutions such as St. John’s Wort (which my liver doctor warns me not to try…)

What historical sleep solution sounds wackiest?  Lettuce juice?  What do you use to help you sleep?  Now I feel in need of a nap…

And now something that has absolutely nothing to do with this post but which i feel I must share:  I love this dress the Duchess of Cambridge wore last week!  I want to knock her down and steal it, if I didn’t know how ridiculous it would look on me since I am at least 2 feet shorter than her:

Posted in Former Riskies, Research | Tagged , | 5 Replies