Congratulations to jennybrat, who has won a copy of Candice Hern’s IN THE THRILL OF THE NIGHT. Please send your snail mail address to egreene@stny.rr.com to receive your prize.
Thanks to all who visited during our interview with Candice, and to Candice for sharing her stories and fabulous collections with us!
The Riskies
In one week, on Tuesday September 26, is the Gamester Contest!!! Just leave a comment on that day’s Risky Regencies post talking about MY LADY GAMESTER, and be entered to win!
To learn about the great prizes (including an eighty-page, lavishly illustrated Pride & Prejudice “FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION” Book, a biography of the Prince Regent, and a souvenir guidebook from the Bath Assembly Rooms & Museum of Costume) or to read the complete rules, click here.
Remember — your comments don’t have to be flattering. They don’t have to be clever, or witty, or insightful. They just have to reflect what you really thought about the book.
Now for today’s question: what book was so wonderful that you couldn’t put it down? What book do you reread frequently, or tell your friends “you have to read this!” What book makes you ask “How does she do that?” or “Why can’t every book be like this?”
Or is there a whole series, or an author, that excites you that way? Or more than one author? Please share!
All opinions welcome!
Cara
Cara King — author of MY LADY GAMESTER
Booksellers’ Best Award for Best Regency of 2005
I’ve been hard at work revising Warner book #3, Desire in His Eyes by Diane Perkins, which will be released in 2007. One of my revision tasks is to take a look at the words I use. For me, this means a couple of things:
1. Watch out for word repetition
2. Watch out for anachronisms
You have to love Microsoft Word (unless you are still a Word Perfect devotee, that is) because it make it so easy to search for repeated words. I discovered I was using the word “shrugged” all throughout the manuscript. My characters were shrugging all over the place. So I used Word’s “find” function and changed a bunch of them.
Another way words are repeated is on the same page or even in the same paragraph. I have a fist fight in the book and I used the word “thud” about three times in the same scene. My mind went blank about another word to substitute.
To the rescue came http://thesaurus.reference.com/
I used to have to pull out my thesaurus, look for my word in the back, then look in the various sections for the synonyms. In thesaurus.com I instantly have my synonyms!
For “thud,” I found “crash” “smack” “thump” and a really nice word, “thwack.”
That brings me to item number 2: anachronisms. Would my characters even use the word “thwack”? I try to use words that were in use in the Regency, even in my narrative.
Rescue #2 comes with http://www.etymonline.com/index.php
I love this website! No more risking a hernia lifting my Abridged Oxford Dictionary. No more eyestrain trying to read the small print. This is an online etymology dictionary, telling the earliest usage of a word and also how the word was used. Here is the entry for “thwack”: to hit hard with a stick,” 1530, of echoic origin. The noun is recorded from 1587.
So I could have used “thwack” but in the end I thought it sounded too “Batman” (the old TV show that used to use balloons saying “thwack” “bop” “wham”)
I also checked etymonline.com for was the phrase, “he was upstaged.” “Upstage” came into use in 1921, so I didn’t use it.
Another indispensible tool is http://dictionary.reference.com and the cool thing is you can flip back and forth from dictionary.com to thesaurus.com. I don’t trust my usage of words. In my very first manuscript, I used the word “discrete”, but what I really meant was “discreet.” That manuscript was read by lots of critique partners and contest judges and only one of them discovered my mistake. So for this blog, I double-checked the definitions of “anachronism” and “devotee.” It only took a minute.
What are your favorite online sites to assist with the writing process? Readers of our blog, this means you, too. I’ll bet nearly all of you use Word or Word Perfect for something. Or perhaps you have a favorite reference book. I’d love to know!
This week, the Hollywood Reporter reported that
“Peter Jackson is eyeing his next fantasy series. The filmmaker has dipped into his discretionary fund to option “Temeraire,” a historical fantasy series by first-time novelist Naomi Novik, as he puts the pieces together for his career post-“King Kong.”
The “Temeraire” saga reimagines the world of the Napoleonic Wars with the addition of an air force of dragons and valiant aviators. It centers on British naval Capt. Will Laurence, who captures a French ship, where he discovers an unhatched dragon egg in the hold — a gift from the Emperor of China intended for Napoleon. When the egg hatches, he is forced to give up his naval career to become captain of the dragon he names Temeraire.“
I just started the second installment, Throne Of Jade, and was immediately swept into the wonderful, magical world Novik created. Amanda has read all of the books, I think (there are three of them–Novik is working on a fourth), and in the past, Cara has posted about the mingling of genres. This is a fantastic example of that.
So hie thee to a bookstore, and discover the magical world of Laurence and Temeraire yourself!
This weekend I’m off at a writing retreat. Well, I hope there will be writing, or at least a little anyway. I have a new idea I’m dying to tackle (maybe I need to do Janet’s BIAW? Sans fruit, of course!). But a friend who makes her own wine is coming, with several new bottles. Plus there are hiking trails, a swimming pool, horses, and lots of people to get caught up with–you see the problem. 🙂
The place where the retreat is being held is a beautiful, “rustic” lodge on a lake, totally different from the noisy town where I live. Internet and cell phone access is complicated, and there are no shops or restaurants to distract. I’m really looking forward to the getaway–and I really have to start packing! So, I’m going to turn to Miss Austen for help on this post. Here are some of her thoughts on town vs. country:
“One day in the country is exactly like another” —Northanger Abbey
“…the influence of London is very much at war with all respectable attachments” —Mansfield Park
“They come from Birmingham, which is not a place to promise much, you know, Mr. Weston. One has not great hopes from Birmingham” —Emma
“…I have heard that there is a great deal of wine in Oxford” —Northanger Abbey
“I am quite convinced that, with very few exceptions, the sea-air always does good” —Persuasion
“She sighed for the air, the liberty, the quiet of the country” —Sense and Sensibility
“…to sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment” —Mansfield Park
“What are men to rocks and mountains?” —Pride and Prejudice
And now I’m off! I’ll be back next week with a report on the proceedings. Where would YOUR ideal retreat be?