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Category: Giveaways

Posts in which we or our guests offer a giveaway.

What’s YOUR Regency Fantasy?

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BLOG PARTY DAILY CONTEST! The best comment on this post will win a copy of Cara King’s debut novel, MY LADY GAMESTER. Comments may be posted through January 14, and will be judged on thoughtfulness and enthusiasm.

Imagine this: you magically (or science fictionally, perhaps) find yourself transported back in time to Regency England. What’s more, you find yourself quite wealthy — perhaps a member of the aristocracy, or a fabulously successful writer, or anything else you can dream of.

Today’s question is: what would you most enjoy about your new life? What ultimate indulgence would be your personal favorite? What’s YOUR Regency fantasy?


Would it be your fantastically beautiful stately home? If so, why? What about your gorgeous new home would you particularly delight in? (Let your imagination run free here!)


Would your favorite thing be the grounds of your breathtaking new home? Gardens, fountains, statues, mazes, woods, rivers — what? Or would be be your library? (I love the one pictured here!)


Would your favorite part of your new life be the fact that so much of the land around you is NOT paved over, but instead is fields and farms and flowers and trees, with no Walmart or Tesco in sight? Would your walks in the English countryside be your favorite part of the day?


Or would it be the food? Everything fresh, cream right from the cow, fruit right from the tree, with a million recipes thick with butter and eggs? And of course, you have your own personal cook to make you anything you want.


How about having servants? Your servants, of course, will be delighted to come work for you (because you pay so well), and are all experts at their jobs. You will never have to scrub another oven, or wash another dish.


Or would you most enjoy hobnobbing with the amazing writers who populated the Regency? Imagine it: Shelley, Byron, Jane Austen, Keats, Scott, Wordsworth, Coleridge… Or you could hang out with actors like Mrs. Siddons, or perhaps meet Beethoven. Whatever you want, is yours.


Or would you most delight in the lovely clothes you would wear — elegant creations in silk and velvet… If you’re a woman, would your favorite thing be all the men, so handsome in their flattering, form-fitting clothes? If you’re a man, would your favorite thing be all the women in their flowing, clingy gowns, their corsets giving them the memorable décolletage that Jennifer Ehle impressed you with in “Pride and Prejudice”?

Or would your favorite thing be something quite different from all these? What would it be?

What’s YOUR Regency Fantasy?

Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER — out now from Signet Regency!!!

Posted in Giveaways, Regency | 22 Replies

Pulp and Prejudice

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And, kicking off the daily contests–today, win a signed copy of Dedication by Janet Mullany

Man Chase by Joseph Chadwick
Three women wanted him – His wife…for the wedding ring she didn’t deserve; the redhead…who “forgot” to tell him she was married; the blonde…for the affair she craved.
What…no brunettes? What’s wrong with the man?

Summer Widow by Florence Stonebraker
What did the beach boys have that her husband didn’t? Maggie meant to find out – and did!
Florence Stonebraker??! Do you think that was really her name?

Hell is a Woman by Garrett W. Deas
Helen loved other men behind his back…Mary Ann loved them in front of him… Lorna loved too, but in very special ways… They taught Ben Randall how to separate the women from the girls!
Hell? Sounds like old Ben isn’t having that bad a time. And “very special ways”? What on earth could those be?

Lust in Paradise by William Vaneer
Island paradise – or tourist trap? Blissful isle – or haven of lechery?
Well, let me see, now. I wonder which it would be…

I’m a great fan of eBay, where you can find things you didn’t even know you wanted, and certainly don’t need. It was there I found this batch of pulp novels circa 1960 and which inspired my contest contribution.

Your task, dear reader, is to rewrite these (original) cover blurbs as though they were Regencies or lost masterpieces by Jane Austen. All, or one–I won’t judge on quantity, but on quality (unlike the defunct Beacon press which churned these lovelies out). If you find that too daunting, give us the first sentence(s). Grammar and spelling are not as important as wild creativity and the ability to make tea come out of my nose.

Here’s an example: Summer Widow–visiting Brighton to recover her health, shy widow Maggie Stonebraker (oh, I just love that name) finds herself strangely attracted to the bronzed, handsome young man who drives her bathing machine…and his donkey.

I know you can do better than that. Go to it, and win a copy of my book Dedication (which will probably seem rather tame in comparison). You have until Saturday at midnight to post your entry.

And have you entered the Treasure Hunt? Go on, don’t be shy…and visit every day for more thrills, chills n spills with daily prizes.

Janet Mullany
www.janetmullany.com

 

Posted in Frivolity, Giveaways | Tagged , | 21 Replies

Treasure hunt!

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It is I, Bertram St. James, Regency Time-Traveler Extraordinaire, here to tell you about the deliciously exciting Risky Regencies Treasure Hunt!

Enter now! Answer the six questions that follow, “e-mail” them to the “e-mail address” provided, and you will be entered to win literary treasure!

How do you find the answers to these questions? It is excessively simple. Just search this “blog.” Have delirious fun while doing so. Indeed, become so distracted by all this fun that you almost forget to put on your cravat.

Oh, very well. Having all that fun is not actually a prerequisite for winning. (The prize-winner shall be the entrant with the greatest number of correct answers. If there is a tie, the winner shall be picked at random from those entries which contain the most correct answers.) Of course, anyone finding all six correct answers will have all the fun that I described above — and quite possibly so much more.

The best part of all this? The triumphant winner (who shan’t be paraded by chariot through the streets of Rome crowned with laurel, but really ought to be, if you ask me) will win many books written by the Risky Regencies authors — you are guaranteed at least six free autographed books (personally inscribed with your name) — and most likely more than six. You will also win a variety of delightful Regency-themed or English-themed items, which may include tea, or bookmarks, or who knows what else!

You have through Saturday, Jan 14, 2006 to enter. Email your answers to elailah@yahoo.com (you cannot post your answers on this “blog” for reasons that are so obvious that even I can figure them out).

And the questions (drum roll, please):

  1. If Megan could be any character from a Regency romance, which character would it be?
  2. What is Janet’s favorite museum in the city of Bath?
  3. What Regency era pastry recipe did Elena recreate for her Regency Tea and booksigning?
  4. What product was once marketed to worried consumers when the fear of Grave Robbers was prominent?
  5. Which Jane Austen movie heartthrobs won the top votes in the Risky Regencies poll in each of the three categories: (a) hottest, (b) most loveable, and (c) most marriageable? (You must name the character AND the actor for each!)
  6. What two Christmas novellas did Amanda write for Signet? And which one contains her personal favorite couple of her own creating? (Name the couple for bonus points!)

Best of British luck to you all!

Bertram St. James, Exquisite

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Blog Party Rules!!! (Besides HAVE FUN!)

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Welcome to the Risky Regencies Blog Party! Thanks for coming. Do come in, have a seat, have a glass of claret or a cup of tea.

In addition to mingling with other guests and your six hostesses (and of course me, Bertram St. James, Regency time-traveler extraordinaire), you have the chance to win prizes. Six daily prizes will be awarded, one for each day from Monday through Saturday, with a grand prize at the end of the week to the winner of the Treasure Hunt.

1. To be eligible for a daily prize, just submit a comment on any or all of the posts which appear each day from Monday through Saturday (January 9 through 14). The winning comment will be chosen based on its creativity, originality, or truthfulness — or perhaps on whether it made that day’s hostess snort with laughter.

2. You may continue to comment after the “day” of the post — all comments will be eligible for a prize, as long as they appear before the end of Saturday, January 14.

3. It is possible to win on multiple days.

4. Hedgehogs are eligible for prizes, but only if do not leave footprints in the blog.

5. Information about the Treasure Hunt rules and grand prize appear in the post entitled TREASURE HUNT.

6. Isn’t my waistcoat too beautiful for words?

7. The hostesses and their families are not eligible for prizes, although of course they are allowed to chatter as much as they want. They will anyway.

8. Tea is allowed to post comments as much as it likes, but only if it is real tea. It may have milk in it, or even sugar or honey, or a bit of lemon — but no mango, no vermicelli, no pantheon of primates.

9. All the prize winners will be announced next week — so do check back to see if you’ve won!

10. Gentlemen are encouraged to join in the fun. Bounders and cads, however, are not welcome. (You know who you are.)

11. Questions? Just ask by leaving a comment on this post! (To comment, you will need to be registered with the entity known as “Blogger” or “Blogspot” — but this process is free, and ever so delightful.)

Now, to the party!

Bertie the Beau, Regency Exquisite

Posted in Frivolity, Giveaways | Tagged , | 19 Replies

Perils of Ballooning and Winner!

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A few weeks ago I posted some fun stuff about ballooning but today I’ll talk about the risks taken by the early aeronauts.
Pilatre de Rozier, along with the Marquis d’Arlandes, was one of the first aeronauts to go up in a hot air balloon (Montgolfiere). He was also the first to die in a balloon accident. After a number of hot air balloon flights, De Rozier planned a Channel crossing. Since a Montgolfiere could not carry enough fuel for such a flight, he devised a hybrid hot air/hydrogen balloon. De Rozier himself may have been concerned about this combination of airborne furnace and a highly flammable gas, but nevertheless he and his companion, Pierre Roumain, set off in June of 1785. Accounts I’ve read vary as to whether the balloon actually caught fire or not. What is certain is that the balloon crashed, killing both aeronauts.
The earliest English balloonist, James Sadler, had many misadventures. During one flight, the balloon dragged him for several miles, illustrating the difficulty of landing in windy conditions. Another time he ended up in the Bristol Channel, where he was rescued by a boat. Sadler’s son Windham was the first to cross the Irish Channel in 1816. But sadly, he died in 1824 when his balloon struck a chimney stack during an attempted landing.
Another famous tragedy was that of Sophie Blanchard, the wife of balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard. After his death she continued ballooning, making over 60 ascents. However in 1819 her luck ran out. During an exhibition over the Tivoli Gardens in Paris, the fireworks she was letting off ignited the hydrogen. Her balloon crashed onto the roof of a house and she fell to her death.
Another English balloonist, Thomas Harris, died in 1824.  He was trying out a new safety mechanism: a gas discharge valve intended to quickly deflate the balloon and thus prevent the balloon from dragging the car (basket) and its passengers on landing. Theories differ on how it happened, but the valve must have discharged prematurely, setting the balloon plunging. Thomas Harris was killed but his companion, Sophia Stocks, survived. According to one account (possibly romanticized), Harris jumped out early to lighten the balloon and thus save Sophia’s life.
So now I leave it to you to guess which of these perils might threaten my balloonist hero.
And now congratulations to librarypat! You have won an ebook of your choice from my titles. Please email me at elena @ elenagreene.com (no spaces) and let me know which book and format you’d like.
Elena
Posted in Giveaways, Regency, Research | Tagged , , , , | 3 Replies