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Category: Writing

Posts in which we talk about the writing craft and process

Adventures in Book Signings

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Over the course of six books, I’ve had all sorts of book signing experiences.

I’ve had a number of fantastic signings at the Waldenbooks at my local mall. The best two were during holiday weekends (Memorial Day and Labor Day) and the weather was miserable, driving crowds into the mall. I set out a dish of chocolate, smiled at everyone who passed (trying to be friendly but not too pushy) and sold a load of books.

Then there was the time the store asked me and another local author to do a “local authors” event. And scheduled it for the same June weekend as all the local high school graduations. The mall was deserted except for weirdos. Exactly two people approached us. The first a dotty elderly lady who, watching my husband play with my children nearby, expatiated at length that she always suspected men of being child molesters (ugh!). The second, a grungy character who told us he’d never met a woman who could write a book. (We weren’t sure he knew a woman who could read a book.)

Anyway, I didn’t think anything could top that one until I tried to set up a signing for my current book. The local Waldenbooks staff had turned over, but the new contact for book signings seemed friendly and cooperative. Then, about three weeks before the signing, I brought in the draft of the press release I was going to give to the local papers. Only then was I told that the district manager had forgotten to order the books and couldn’t possibly get them in on time. With over three weeks to go.

But wait. It gets better. After Waldenbooks turned down several suggestions I had for getting the books (my publisher would have supplied them), I gave up on the signing. Then, several weeks after the scheduled date, I found out from a friend of a friend that Waldenbooks had set up a table, put out my books and the staff were wondering why I didn’t show. So I missed my own signing!

But all ends well. I talked to the Waldenbooks manager and discovered that someone was supposed to call me to tell me the signing was back on. As it turns out, the manager was very nice, very apologetic about the mix-up and eager to set up a rescheduled date.

In the meantime, egged on by my ski buddy Mary, I started looking into other alternatives. I’m now set to do a signing and Regency Tea at Riverow Bookshop, an independent bookseller dealing in new, used and rare books (including some reference books that make me drool) during the Holiday Showcase in the historic town of Owego, NY.

So now I have two signings set up. If anyone can make it, here are the details:

  • Nov 12, 1-3PM at Riverow Bookshop, 187 Front Street, Owego, NY.
  • Nov 12, 4-6PM at Waldenbooks in the Oakdale Mall, Johnson City, NY.

Wish me luck!

Elena 🙂
LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE, an RT Top Pick!
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Writing | Tagged | 6 Replies

What is it about military men?

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The hero in MY LADY GAMESTER was a cavalry officer before he became an earl. Military heroes are quite common in Regencies, aren’t they? And I love to read about them.

So — what is the appeal of the military man in historical romances?

Is it the physical courage?

Is it the gorgeous uniform? Is it the honor, the selfless dedication that such service implies?

Jane Austen had military men in her novels too, of course — she particularly liked the navy, as she had two naval brothers. In her novels, PERSUASION’s Captain Wentworth is a naval officer…as is the heroine’s brother in MANSFIELD PARK.

In PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, Wickham is in the Militia, seducing the hearts of women everywhere with his red coat. In SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, Colonel Brandon is a retired army officer.

And of course, there are the 20th century military novels set during the Napoleonic era — Bernard Cornwell’s SHARPE series, C.S. Forester’s HORATIO HORNBLOWER series, and Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin novels (such as MASTER AND COMMANDER.)


Do you like military heroes? If you like to read them, what’s the attraction? If you like to write them, what are the advantages to a scarlet coat? Which are your favorite romances featuring military or ex-military heroes? On the other hand, do you think these heroes are overdone, and approaching cliche?

All opinions welcome!

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

Posted in Reading, Regency, Writing | Tagged , | 9 Replies

As the World Turns

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Speaking of Trafalgar, I can’t believe it has been 200 years. I haven’t really been thinking of the Regency as being so long ago–no idea why. But time does slip away. I’ve noticed more and more that events I lived through are being seen as old history by my younger friends. I am old enough to critique costumes and attitudes of the sixties if anyone wants to reenact the time. I even have a clue about the 5o’s, although from a very short perspective. 😉

I still have this thing about artificially faded jeans. They bug me. Worn jeans should be truly worn. I had pairs that were worn tissue thin in the knees, and when they ripped, I patched them. And wear patterns were very distinctive. Wear occurred in the knees primarily, to a lesser extent in the derriere. Men wore the imprint of their wallets in their rear pockets. Pronounced wear did not occur on the thighs and some other odd areas where mechanically faded and worn jeans make them (keeping in mind that I grew up in northern New York, not ranching country). And…worn jeans did not take on that brownish tinge unless the owner didn’t wash them regularly! Whenever I see worn jeans in stores with that “tea stained” look, I automatically think they look as though the owner wasn’t clean.

You tie-dyed your own T-shirts. You wore the same pair of Hurache sandals until they were falling apart. The Peace Symbol meant something. No one was trying to be a fashion statement unless you were square, and then you dressed like Jackie Kennedy or Twiggy (women!) or if you were male, your hair was very short and you wore glasses with the black plastic rims.

The idea that rock groups would age was funny. Remember that bar scene in Star Wars with the gray-haired rock band? That was hilarious when the movie was new.

I don’t know why I am saying all this–I’m just trying, I think, to show how we look through a distorted lens when we look back. We can’t truly know how people of a time looked or acted or felt or spoke. We can only do as much research as we can and be careful of our sources, especially if the source is another historian’s work or a movie of the time. Diaries, on the other hand, are more helpful…and not enough people write on paper these days! I worry that all the electronic evidence will be lost, and generations from now people will be struggling to understand what this time was all about.

Comments?

And by the way, back to the subject of Trafalgar, I thought I’d provide this link to Nelson’s Navy–Life in the 18th Century Royal Navy. Great Britain’s Channel 4 has some great history pages.
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/n-s/nelson.html

Be sure to check out the Georgian Underworld too, by the way…
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/G/georgian_underworld/index.html

Laurie

Posted in Research, Writing | Tagged | 6 Replies

You’ve Got the Look

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I am certain I have mentioned it before, but it’s been weighing on my mind lately, so I thought I’d share my mind weight with you all.

You’re welcome.

I cannot write without having an image in my head of both the hero and the heroine–real people, always actors, and with some of what I perceive to be their characteristics.

Fine. Good. For Hero of My Heart (Loveswept, 4/13), the actors were Clive Owen and Maggie Gyllenhaal (in certain photos; at other times, not so much). For The Hero’s Return, I originally pictured Sean Bean (as Sharpe) and Rachel Weisz. I was even able to find a picture of them together, although of course Sean is a bit longer in the tooth than Rachel.

But through the course of writing the book, the way I’ve pictured him in my head is changing–now he looks more like Richard Armitage in MI-5. Yes. Another dark-haired Brit, like Clive. At least Richard has blue eyes, not green.

So I feel like a heel, tossing Sean like an old shoe because someone dishier (to me) comes along. But the hero just isn’t acting like Sean anymore (like I know what he’s like and everything!), and he is rather than Lucas North from MI-5 (at least the episodes I watched).

It’s a silly writer problem, but I won’t be able to continue forward on the book until I figure it out absolutely, and stick with my choice.

I’m at 50,000 words now, easing up to 85K, I think.

Do you picture people as you are reading or writing?

Megan

Posted in Writing | Tagged , | 6 Replies

Anachronism vs. Anomaly

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Balogh_Famous_Heroine

I am currently writing a fluffy historical, sometimes called a wallpaper historical–this is the kind of book where the period is there for mere decoration (hence the wallpaper comment), and period experts will rightly say, “That could never happen in the Regency!”

And usually, I cock an eyebrow when a heroine of any time decides to have sex without considering protection, or the consequences, no matter what time period it is.

But in this book, my hero and heroine will not be going all the way until I’ve figured out how to make it work, in any context (not so much the act itself; I do know how that works).

But my heroine will be doing some heavy petting, so to speak, prior to making a commitment to the hero. I don’t think this is anachronistic behavior; I do believe that human beings of any time did things they perhaps should not. I prefer to think of it that my heroine is extraordinary in any time, although in this period she is an anomaly, particularly as a young aristocrat. Young ladies generally did not do such things. But my heroine, in specific, is.

Perhaps it’s justifying what I’m writing, perhaps it’s just looking at the time through my 21st century eyes, but I am okay with it. The characters are having fun figuring themselves, and each other out, and that shouldn’t be anomalous, no matter when it happens.

Meanwhile, I am glad I have something warm to write when it is so cold outside! Hope everyone is bundled up, sitting at home with a good book and a great cup of tea.

Megan

Posted in Regency, Writing | Tagged | 12 Replies