Back to Top

Category: Former Riskies

Moving Giveaway!!!

Updated on by

I am in the middle of piles of boxes here, and trying to figure out how to get all my shoes packed–AND I have a WIP due at the end of next month!  So, since i am brain-frozen, and have lots of stuff I need to get rid of after the big clean-out, let’s have a giveaway.  Here’s what I have:

LoveLettersCoverLove Letters by Antonia Fraser (lots of lovely paintings, as well as beautiful excerpts from famous love letters)

The Secret Wife of King George IV by Diane Hager (a novel about Mrs. Fitzherbert)

The Art of Romance (a great book of vintage Harlequin covers)

 

 

 

LadyhighwaymanAnd last, but certainly not least, a DVD of The Lady and the Highwayman–Hugh Grant (in a mullet hairdo!) plays a Barbara Cartland hero.  Seriously, people, you must see this…

I’ll also throw in a copy of Running from Scandal, since I just got my author copies yesterda!

Just leave your name and email, plus which book you want, in the comments, and I will pick winners at random later this week!

Posted in Former Riskies, Risky Regencies | 13 Replies

Adventurous Women

Updated on by

So what is going on around here??  Still revising, still WIPing, still packing for next weekend’s move.  Seriously, I hate moving!!!  Where did all this stuff come from?  How will I ever get it all packed?  I need one of those Regency yard sales Gail talked about a few days ago….

In the meantime, I’m reading a very interesting book, Sara Wheeler’s O My America! Six Women and Their Second Acts in the New World, all about women in history who found new lives and new beginnings in America.  I always love histories of women who lived their lives outside the lines.  It includes Fanny Trollope (mother of Anthony, she wrote a bestseller that has a scathing review of American manners and craziness…I’d love to see what she had to say about the government right now), actress Fanny Kemble, who married a Southern plantation owner and wrote moving about the tragedy and complexity of slavery, famous traveler Isabella Bird–and Jane Austen’s niece, Catherine Hubback, a woman I knew very little about.

This is what Wikipedia has to say about her:

“Catherine Anne Hubback (1818 – 25 February 1877) was an English novelist, and the eighth child and fourth daughter of Sir Francis Austen (1774-1865), and niece of Jane Austen.

She began writing fiction to support herself and her three sons after her husband John Hubback was institutionalized with a breakdown. She had copies of some of her aunt’s unfinished works and, in 1850, remembering Austen’s proposed plot, she wrote The Younger Sister, a completion of Jane Austen’s The Watsons. In the next thirteen years, she completed nine more novels.

She emigrated to California, USA in 1870. In the autumn of 1876 she removed to Gainesville, Prince William Co, VA, where she died in 1877. Her novels, which enjoyed some popularity in their time, are no longer well-known. Her most important contribution is to literary history where she, and later family, perpetuated Austen family history.”

HubbackBut it sounds like there was so much more to her life.  The 8th of 11 children of Frank, one of the Navy brothers, she was born the year after Aunt Jane died.  She married a respectable, prosperous attorney, had 3 sons, gained a reputation as a good hostess–then her comfortable, expected life shattered when her husband went insane and had to be committed to an asylum.  Catherine, left with her sons to raise, took to writing (it seems someone said “Hey, you remember Aunt Jane?  She had this unfinished manuscript.  Why don’t you finish it?” and she did her own version of The Watsons to start).  She wrote vast Victorian tomes of about 800 pages, which I have never read or even seen, and she herself knew they weren’t all that great.  But they put food on the table and sent her sons to school, which is all she wanted.  When her eldest son moved to San Francisco, then a half rough-and-tumble frontier town and half up-and-coming cosmopolitan city, with a strong Spanish flavor, she went too.  And she made a whole new life for herself in a whole new place.  (There’s a good post about her on the Austen Authors blog, too)

 

It looks like there is a volume of her letters, An Englishwoman in California, which I’m going to look for.  And now back to revising…

Who are some adventurous women you admire??

Posted in Former Riskies, Risky Regencies | 2 Replies

Accession Day 1558–And Winners!

Updated on by

First of all, the winner from last week’s Andrea Pickens post is…Linda!!!  Congrats, and please email Andrea at Italicscript AT aol.com to claim your wonderful prize.

I can (almost) see the light of day at the very end of this tunnel of a WIP, but I had to mark a very important day in English history.  November 17, 1558 marked the accession to the throne of Elizabeth I, and the start of one of the most remarkable periods in history!  (At the end of my Amanda Carmack book, Murder at Hatfield House, I loved writing the scene showing the legendary moment when she received the news!).  Here’s a repeat of a blog I did way back in 2007….

This is also how I know that November 17th was a Very Important holiday in the England of the late 16th century. It was Elizabeth I’s Ascension Day.

Queen Mary died at St. James’s Palace early on the morning of November 17, 1558, and members of the Privy Council immediately set out for Elizabeth’s residence at Hatfield House (where she was practically under house arrest) to tell her the news. They carried Mary’s betrothal ring from Phillip of Spain, to prove to Elizabeth that the queen was dead, so long live the queen. The legend is that they found her sitting under a tree, reading a Bible in Greek. On hearing the news, she proclaimed, “It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Now, I am not at all sure someone would just “happen” to be sitting under a tree reading in November! Maybe she was just out for a stroll, maybe the story is apocryphal, or maybe she heard they were coming and stage-managed the whole thing. She was one of the great stage managers in history). On a side note, the original tree is no longer there, but one was planted in its place by Elizabeth II in 1985. On another side note, when Elizabeth I died in 1603, after a reign of 45 years, she was buried with Mary in Westminster Abbey. The inscription reads, “Partners both in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection.” Kind of ironic, but I admit I got a little emotional when I saw the tomb (or maybe it was jet lag?)

Anyway, thereafter November 17 was a Big Party at court, and around the country. The big event was always a tournament, with a joust and sports where all the men vying for the queen’s attention could show off. Pomp and chivalry were paramount–all the men carried banners and shields adorned with symbolic images of the queen and their devotion to her. (Jousts, of course, were not all Renaissance faire-ish fun–Henri II of France died in one, and there were always injuries at Ascension Day tournies. No fatalities that I could find, though).

The jousts would be followed by a banquet and ball, maybe a play or tableau celebrating the glorious reign of Elizabeth. At one banquet, the court polished off an ox, 40 sheep, 12 pigs, 132 capons, 5 swans, several pheasants, partridges, herons, pigeons, peacocks, and calves, not to mention fish, chicken, barrels of wine, vegetables and eggs, and sweets. Subtleties made of sugar and almond paste, shaped into castles and other fanciful things, were great favorites on such occasions.

Some of the best-known Elizabethan dances were: pavanes (a stately processional), usually followed by a lively galliard. There were gavottes (a circle dance to a medium tempo), sophisticated courantes and sarabands from France, and almains. The Volte was one of the of only dances that allowed couples to closely embrace (the man showed off his strength by lifting the woman high in the air–this is probably why it’s used so often in movies! See Shakespeare in Love, both Elizabeth movies, and probably various Masterpiece Theaters).

Celebrations were not just held at court. There were bonfires, dances (maybe not pavanes, but bransles and Morris dancers), games, lots of wine and ale, and illuminations all across the country.

So, happy Ascension Day, everyone! We might not celebrate with a Volte and a barrel of wine, but we can toast Good Queen Bess. And look forward to our own bacchanalia–Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a great one. Any big plans? I’m very, very thankful for the Riskies and our friends this year.

Posted in Former Riskies, Giveaways, History, Winners announced | Leave a reply

Guest Author Andrea Pickens!

Updated on by

(My friend Andrea Pickens, aka Cara Elliott, is joining us today to talk about some special new releases!  She and I both wrote for the Signet Regency line, and now we are seeing some of those older titles come back into the world with brand new covers….comment for a chance to win a copy!)

Hi Everyone,

Andrea1It’s always wonderful to be back at the Riskies, but today I’ve switched my Cara Elliott chapeau for my more traditional Andrea Pickens bonnet . . . but hey, we all know Regency bonnets could get quite creative and daring while still staying within the rules. And that’s the great fun of the traditional Regency genre. Yes, there are greater constraints that for a Regency historical. But for those of us who started out writing them—like many of my Risky pals here!—the absence of the “S” word and writing all the rumple-pumple let us add color and texture to our stories and characters by exploring things like offbeat setting and unusual occupations for our heroes and heroines.

DiamondCoverAndreaTake for example, Diamond In The Rough (The above preamble is, as you may have guessed, a rather longwinded introduction to the fact that I have just released two trad Regencies as self-pubbed e-books, which are the first two in a trilogy) It first appeared in the Signet line, and features a story revolving around golf in Scotland. The heroine is a caddie in disguise and she’s a better player than most of the men. When a friend asks her to help an English lord learn the sport in order to win an match and save his ancestral home, the games begin, both on and off the links . . . I loved researching the esoteric elements about the clubs and courses of the times, and weaving them into the decidedly offbeat romance that ensues. It was a classic sporting wager trope, but with a twist. (The Riskies could all offer lots of examples of their books that featured really original plots and people—but for reasons of space I shall let them bang their own drum!)

SweeterCoverThe second book is a brand new original book, entitled Sweeter Than Sin. The hero likes to dabble in . . . chocolate. Now in doing research for a historical mystery series I wrote, I learned a lot about the history of chocolate, and how edible chocolate was known in the Regency era. (Marie Antoinette’s physician mixed her medicine in solid chocolate wafers flavored with fruits or nuts to disguise its bitter taste. He later opened a chocolate shop on the Left Bank of Paris in 1802.) So it was fun to create a plot where that element could “sweeten” the romance. Rafael is a half Spanish-half English war hero who has come to England to recover from a serious wound. To help draw himself out of his black moods, he decides to work on translating his Spanish grandmother’s diaries on the lore of chocolate and her recipes. His neighbor is the disgraced daughter of a duke, who is suffering from guilt. A chance meeting brings them together, and they slowly begin to discover the healing power of chocolate—and of course love. (There is also a dog they rescue from the stews named Hero who helps save the day!)

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love drawing room stories, “comedy of manners” plots and sexy romps too, but trads with offbeat elements have always had great appeal for me. How about you? Do you like regencies that stray off the beaten path. Have any favorites to name? I’ll be giving away a copy of one of my e-books (your choice!) to a winner chosen at random from those who leave a comment here.

Posted in Former Riskies, Giveaways, Guest, History, Regency | 7 Replies

Winners! And Stuff

Updated on by

The winner of the DVD of The Lady and the Highwayman is—Bibliophile!  Please email me at amccabe7551 AT yahoo and I will get it mailed out to you.  Be sure and let us know what you think of it!

Hazard1In looking for “comfort watch” movies lately (as I still crawl on toward The End of the WIP), I found I had one more Barbara Cartland movie in my library (I know there were more–I especially remember one about a tall blonde heiress who pretended to be a ladies’ companion in order to warn the hero that his eeeevil cousin was going to kill him, though I can’t recall the title…).  The one I have is the fabulously ridiculous Hazard of Hearts, with a very young Helena Bonham Carter as the wonderfully named Serena Staverly, whose father gambles her off to an eeeevil rake, who in turn loses her to the hero, Lord Vulcan.  There is a castle in Cornwall, complete with cliffs and crashing waves, smugglers, and a wonderful villainess played by Diana Rigg.  I must watch it again.  (there are also some gorgeous Regency-fantasy costumes, as you can see from this bonnet…)

Speaking of costumes, Friday is my very favorite holiday–Halloween!  I don’t have a Regency gown this year (I’m going as Queen Elsa from Frozen), but I am hoping to see some lovely creations at the various parties.  What are you planning for Halloween???

Posted in Former Riskies, Giveaways, Winners announced | 4 Replies