First of all, the winner of my Jane Austen notecards from last week is…Peg260!!! Email me at amccabe7551 AT yahoo and I will get your prize sent out to you…
And Happy Christmas Eve to everyone! I hope you have a lovely, warm, cozy holiday with lots and lots of good books to read. See you in (almost) 2014!
Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone!!! I hope you all have lots of fun plans for tonight, and a great plan for a fresh new start in 2014. I am actually feeling a bit under the weather, so instead of sequins and champagne I may stick with tea, flannel pajamas, and my new “Downton Abbey” DVDs, which sounds like a party to me!
I like to take a look back at the year and remember some of my favorite reads. Here are a few books that have stayed in my mind. (As usual, most of them end up not being romances! I can’t read a romance novel while I’m writing one, and since i always seem to be on a deadline it doesn’t leave much time for them. But, as you will see, I did find a few…)
I read a lot of good historical fiction! Such as:
Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle–a story of Queen Catherine Parr. Of course we all know how it’s going to end (spoiler: not well), but I love Catherine Parr, and this book was a great, suspenseful page-turner
Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan–a story of Marie Van Goethem, the model for Degas’s famous “Little Dancer” sculpture, a vivid, fascinating look at the real bohemian life of late 19th century Paris. One of my favorites of the year!
Queen’s Vow by CW Gortner (one of the best authors of Tudor-era fiction, IMO)–the story of Isabella of Castile, one that paints her as a real person, not the easily-vilified figure we often think of now
Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton Disclafani–a posh boarding school for young ladies in the early 1930s, with the Depression crowding in on their world, and a headstrong, independent, lonely 15 year old exiled from her family. I loved the “voice” of the narrator and the world she painted for us!
The Bookman’s Tale by Charlie Lovett–how could I not love this one?? It centers around bookstores and antiquarian manuscripts! There’s also lost love, new love, and a variety of eccentric characters, moving from 1995, to the Victorians, to Shakespeare. Just read it already!!!
I also read some great non-fiction!
Two books about queens I knew about, but didn’t actually know much about–and they turned out to be much more complex than I thought. Elizabeth of York by Alison Weir and Queen Anne by Anne Somerset…
The Pinecone: The Story of Sarah Losh, Forgotten Romantic Heroine by Jenny Uglow–I love finding stories of historical figures I’ve never “met” before! Sarah Losh was an early Victorian heiress from Cumbria, from a large, fascinating family, and also an amateur antiquarian and architect.
I did find a couple of romance novels to rave about, too!!! (I’ve been reading romance for soooo long, I think it just takes longer for me to lose myself in a story now. So when I do, i know it’s very, very good…)
For the Love of a Soldier by Victoria Morgan–gambling! A heroine disguised as a boy! A hero suffering from PTSD from the Charge of the Light Brigade! I ate it up…
Rumors That Ruined a Lady by Marguerite Kaye–a scandal-ridden heroine, saved by the hero from an opium den! Fab opening, and the story just races on from there.
I haven’t seen many new movies this year (have a lot to catch up on!), but I loved Joss Whedon’s charming Much Ado About Nothing, and I just saw American Hustle last weekend. I may have to see it again…
What was your favorite from 2013??? What are you looking forward to in 2014?
So, tomorrow is my birthday, and things are crazy around here! I thought I would do a repeat post from my own blog about one of my favorite artists, Berthe Morisot, who was born January 14, 1841! When i saw some of her painting in the Musee d’Orsay, I was amazed by their gorgeous luminosity, and had to read more about her life….
Morisot was born in Bourges, to a well-to-do and respectable family who nevertheless encouraged their daughters Berthe and Edma in their pursuit of art. (Edma married young and gave up painting, while Berthe was more ambitious). Berthe first studied with Barbizon School artist Camilly Corot, who encouraged her interest in plein-air landscape painting, and later with Edouard Manet, who became one of her greatest friends and colleagues and who used her as his model many times (there are rumors of romance, but no proof has come to light…)
Her first appearance in the prestigious Salon was in 1864, with 2 landscapes. She continued to show at the Salon, to mostly positive reactions, until she joined up with the rebellious Inpressionists in 1873. Her light, free style fit well with their aesthetic, though like the other female Impressionist Mary Cassat she mostly painted images of her own milieu of intimate domestic life, women in their homes, and landscapes.
Some sources on her life:
Anne Higonnet, Berthe Morisot (1995)
Julie Manet, Growing Up With the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet (1987)
Who are some of your favorite artists???
It’s April 1, which means (no fooling!) Murder at Westminster Abbey (book two of The Kate Haywood Elizabethan Mysteries) is launched at last! I get so nervous when it’s the release date for a book, sort of like watching a toddler take their first few steps on their own. They are their own person now, not just mine, and it’s scary and exciting and great. (I also love seeing them on shelves, real books with covers and everything!)
I’ve loved working on this series, not just because it’s a new genre challenge (historical mystery, with a dollop of romance, rather than vice versa…), but because I love getting to spend so much time with one character. I feel like I’ve gotten to know Kate, a court musician and friend to Elizabeth I, very well. In book one (Murder at Hatfield House), she was young and a bit naive, having lived all her life in the countryside, but also with an intelligence and shrewdness that comes from watching everyone around her (her father, who was once a court musician to Queen Katherine Parr; Princess Elizabeth and her household…) walk the tightrope of dangerous Tudor politics. In Westminster Abbey, she learns even more about the world of a royal court, who to trust, who to watch closely, and when to fight back. She’s good-hearted and loving, artistic, loyal, observant, and stubborn, and she’s started to feel like a friend of mine. 🙂
So I’m happy to say she’ll be back with even further adventures next year! Murder in the Queen’s Garden will be out in February 2015, and I am loving the research behind this story, too. Nonsuch Palace, alchemy and astrology, and the hoards of royal suitors knocking at the new queen’s door–not to mention a romantic choice for Kate. (will it be the dashing, daring–and unreliable–actor Rob? Or the handsome, intelligent, brooding attorney Anthony?? If you’ve read the stories, who would you choose for her?)
Also–a winner! The winner from last week’s post is Louisa Cornell!! Louisa, email me at amccabe7551 AT yahoo and let me know if you prefer hard copy or ebook…
And here’s a look at the book on Amazon!!!
And my own site, where you can read an excerpt and check out some behind-the-book history…
I hope you enjoy Kate’s adventures at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation as much as I did!
It’s Tuesday, and Amanda has a deadline coming up in–gasp!–two weeks! In desperation, she turned to her friend Andrea Pickens aka Cara Elliott (who has some very exciting re-issues out) to fill in….
Hi Everyone,
Andrea Pickens here, (that is, Cara Elliott slipping back into her OTHER Regency gown. It’s been hanging in the armoire for a while, but my lady’s maid has freshened up the lace and flounces, so I am ready to take a new twirl on the ballroom floor.) Amanda’s dueling with a looming deadline, so I volunteered to take a shot at today’s post . ..
I confess that my aim is not entirely altruistic. Pistols At Dawn, my new, never-before-published traditional Regency is making its debut as an e-book on all the major platforms on June 2, so of course, I’d love to trigger your interest. (Okay, okay, enough with the gun references, but a pistol does figure prominently in the opening scene.)
A metallic click caused Marcus Fitzherbert Greeley, the seventh Earl of Killingworth to look up from his ledgers.
“Who’s there?” he called sharply.
No answer sounded in reply, but after a moment the draperies stirred and a dark shape emerged from the midnight shadows. As the cloaked figure approached his desk, candlelight glinted off the steel of an ancient pistol.
“Stand up,” came the curt command.
The case clock ticked off a second or two before the earl put down his pen and rose.
“Take off your coat.”
He didn’t move, save for a slight twitch of his raven brows.
“You think a mere female incapable of pulling the trigger? I assure you, I should like nothing better, if you give me the slightest provocation.” The young lady—for her speech, if not her actions, indicated that she was indeed a lady—stepped closer. “And in case you are wondering, I am accorded to be a decent shot.”
I started my writing career Signet, which, as most of you know, published a special line of traditional Regency romances. I did ten books for them, during which time I learned an amazing amount of stuff, both about the craft of writing and the intricate nuances of the era. (And also met some of my best friends to this day, including Amanda!)
Like many Signet authors, I got the rights back to those early books and the process of getting them re-edited and formatted for self-publishing, made me think a lot about the “trad” Regency form and what I loved about it. For one, it’s a shorter length, usually 60-70,000 words rather than the 85-95,000 of mass market historical, and with fewer words to play with, an author has to really concentrate on developing the character arc—what’s the core conflict that is keeping the hero and heroine apart, and how do they grow and change in order to resolve it? Plot is of course important, but at heart, it’s the main characters who must stay in clear focus.
But what I also loved about the “rules” of the trad was that you really had to know your facts about the Regency. Want to write about pistols? Well, you had better research the details, and get them right, as core readers expected a high level of expertise. Since I love arcane facts about history, that part of writing was always great fun. So, when I found an old, unfinished manuscript for a trad Regency in my desk drawer, I decided to go back to my roots and finish it.
Things have gotten looser these days in Regency historical. Many authors don’t feel compelled to be quite as “authentic” as in the trads. The stories are still wonderful, they are just . . . different. In sitting down to finish Pistols At Dawn, I really enjoyed the fact that I had to rein in certain urges, and work within tighter constraints. I found myself dusting off old research books to do some background reading. Take, for examples, pistols. Now, most of us have heard of Joseph Manton but did you known the most famous gunmaker of the late Georgian/early Regency era was Robert Wogdon? (He made the weapons used in the infamous Aaron Burr-Alexander Hamilton duel, and one of the innovations that he helped pioneer was the hair—or “set”—trigger.) Indeed, in England his name became so synonymous with dueling that dawn encounter was sometimes referred to as a “Wogdon affair.”
Now pistols actually play a very small role in my new book, but no matter—the enjoyment of reading and researching about the subject was well worth the hours spent. (Another fun fact—smoothbore weapons were considered more sporting for dueling . . . but even Manton was said to have “cheated” a little by adding rifling deep within the barrel for greater accuracy, but leaving the last few inches smooth, so it looked like an unrifled pistol.)
I could, of course go on and on about all the other esoteric discoveries I’ve made concerning the world of the Regency, but I’d rather wrap up my visit here by firing a question at you—What’s one of the most fun or interesting facts you’ve learned while reading the Regency? It can be about fashion, music, art, people, everyday objects—anything! Please share. (I’ll be giving away an e-book edition of Pistols At Dawn to one person chosen at random from among those who leave a comment here between now and Thursday.)