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Monthly Archives: November 2007

Last week I blogged about the fun of doing amateur art, music, theatre, etc… without the pressure of making a career of it. Risky friend Susan Wilbanks commented that she enjoys singing, but though she has not yet sold a novel, her writing is not a hobby. I know what she means and I definitely don’t think it’s publication that separates the amateur writer from the professional.

It’s harder to put my finger on the difference, though.

There are people in Romance Writers of America who believe that membership in the organization confers professionalism. But some have been members for a decade or more, write sporadically or not at all and have not completed or submitted a manuscript. So I don’t think declaring oneself a professional is enough.

Part of it is that the pro seeks payment for her art (and that’s where finishing and submitting come in). She will take her craft seriously and strive to create work worthy of publication.

But it’s not just money either. Here’s what Steven Pressfield (THE WAR OF ART) says about the difference between the amateur and the professional: “The word amateur comes from the Latin root meaning ‘to love’. The conventional interpretation is that the amateur pursues his calling out of love, while the pro does it for money. Not the way I see it. In my view, the amateur does not love the game enough. If he did, he would not pursue it as a sideline, distinct from his ‘real’ vocation. The professional loves it so much he dedicates his life to it. He commits full-time.”
To me this quote feels a bit derogatory to the amateur (though perhaps it wasn’t intended that way). Nor do I think one has to write full time to be a professional. But I do believe it is about commitment. Being an amateur is like dating while being a pro is like marriage. One can walk away from a hobby but a true professional hangs in there.

Some writers say one should write every day. I agree with that in principle but I also suspect the ones who say that have wives to deal with sick kids and household disasters. I agree with a married, working friend of mine who once said there were times she wished she had a “wife”. 🙂

Whether or not one writes every day–or even takes occasional breaks from the writing–I do think it’s important to come up with goals (which can be modest) and a schedule (which doesn’t have to be anything like 9-5) and stick to it. At one point I was working a “regular job” 3 days a week and had a young baby. I wrote during her naps (when they happened) on my two days off and on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons when my husband was able to babysit. The hours were erratic, but I showed up and did my best. LORD LANGDON’S KISS was the result.

So anyway, this is what I’ve come up with so far. A professional writer is one who strives to improve her mastery of the craft, one who sets goals and shows up for work even if she’s not in the mood.

What do you think makes a professional writer?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com


Ah, the American Thanksgiving Day is only a few days away, along with all its turkey goodness.

In honor, here are some bits I like from an 1829 cookery book. (All odd spellings or punctuation are the cookbook author’s.)

TOMATAS OR LOVE-APPLES:
These have gone down in France, but are just (like other fashions) coming into vogue among us. Tomatas are used both in sauces and soups, and are pickled.–See Tomato Catsup.

The French put grated nutmeg or minced parsley to stews of cucumber, and thicken the sauce with beat yolks of eggs. Nutmeg is indeed a very suitable condiment with this watery vegetable, so is cayenne.

So many fatal accidents happen every season from the use of poisonous mushrooms, and it is so difficult to distinguish between the edible kinds and those that are deleterious…

Those who are more solicitous about the appearance of their tables than the quality of the dishes, have their potatoes mashed, or boiled peeled, all the year round.

The French, among our other insular distinctions, speak of us as a nation “with twenty religions and only one sauce,”–parsley and butter, by the way, is this national relish,–and unquestionably English cookery, like English manners, has ever been much simpler than that of our neighbours.

For stuffing to fill the craw [of a turkey], take a breakfast cup full of stale bread finely grated, two ounces of minced beef-suet, or marrow, a little parsley parboiled and finely shred, a teaspoonful of lemon-peel grated, a few sprigs of lemon thyme, a little nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Mix the whole well in a mortar, with a couple of eggs.

So… What’s your favorite holiday food? And if someone offered you a dish of stewed cucumber with nutmeg, would you try it?

Cara
Cara King, author of My Lady Gamester, in which some jellies are eaten, but (luckily) no mushrooms

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Wandering the internet looking for a topic for today, I came upon the fact that in 2005, November 19 was designated “World Toilet Day” because of a big conference being held that day on sanitation standards. Last week my husband actually halted his channel surfing to watch a show on the history of toilets (I think on Modern Marvels, History Channel, but I’m not sure) so it seemed the Universe was telling me to talk about toilets.

We probably don’t stop and think about toilets much, about how the development of this ceramic seat and the plumbing system associated with it has contributed more to the eradication of disease than perhaps any other medical discovery. To learn everything you ever wanted to know about this topic go to theplumber.com, which has a dizzying array of articles about the toilet and its place in history.

There are ancient examples of toilets and efforts at sanitation, but one notable inventor, Sir John Harrington, godson to Queen Elizabeth I, invented a flush toilet in 1596. Even though the Queen used it, the invention did not catch on. An improved flush toilet was patented in 1775 and another version in 1778. Wikepedia says that water closets using this type of toilet were widely used in London by 1815, which surprised me because I thought “our” time period was one that used chamber pots. Almost all the toilet sites–websites–I visited today said that the contents of chamber pots were simply tossed out into the streets. London did not build a sewer system until 1853.

The lack of sanitation as we know it greatly contributed to disease and it took a long time for man to figure out the connection between the two. The Black Plague was caused by flea bites spread by lice that lived on rats and rats, of course, fed on garbage and waste. Napoleon lost thousands of his men to typhus in his Russian campaign. Typhoid fever was the cause of Prince Albert’s death and almost caused the death of his son Edward years later. A cholera epidemic killed thousands in India in 1817. By 1827 it had spread throughout the world. In a London cholera epidemic of 1854, Dr. John Snow charted the course of the disease and discovered that the contaminated water was to blame.

Thomas Crapper, whose name says it all, did not invent the flushing toilet, by the way. He owned a plumbing business that supplied toilets to royalty in the 1860s and he put his name on his product. The company is still in business today.

Some of the most beautiful toilets ever made had to be Victorian ones. Here is a lovely example.

Finally, does anyone find the following hilarious?

The Thesaurus of the Victorian Water Closet (1837-1901) was developed to index the Stooly Collection bequeathed, in 1998, to the Victorian Library of the British National Heritage Trust.

What toilet stories might you have today?

If you want the whole poop on Risky Regencies, sign up for our newsletter now at riskies@yahoo.com



What an absolutely delightful garden party you throw, my dears! So pleased to be invited.

Oh, er, yes, well. Perhaps we should introduce ourselves. Regina Scott and Marissa Doyle here. We write stories about charming young heroines finding true love and their place in the world with no on-screen sex but plenty of sizzle. Traditional Regencies, you say? Oh, no, darlings!

We write Young Adult romances, affectionately known as YA.

No, truly we do. Believe it or not, teens want to read historical fiction. Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy has been very popular, and Anna Godbersen’s The Luxe, set in 19th century Manhattan, has generated Prinny-sized buzz. The divine Meg Cabot even wrote 2 Regencies for Avon’s now-defunct YA line: Nicola and the Viscount and Victoria and the Rogue.

For teens, historical fiction can have the same allure as fantasy, also hugely popular right now. Both feature exotic settings, intriguing people, and legendary customs. And gorgeous clothes, of course.

Hm. Intrigue, legend, and clothes. Who wouldn’t want to read these books!

To reach out to teens and those of us who nourish our inner teen, we started a blog, Nineteenteen where we have fun talking about many aspects of teen life in the 19th century. Music, clothes, language, roller coasters, it’s all lots of fun.

Yes, roller coasters! You simply had to be there.

How did we embark on such a course? Regina took the plunge after realizing all her previous books had the theme of finding one’s place in the world, which translates well to YA. Her first YA, La Petite Four, which will make its debut in July 2008, features 4 friends making their debut in London Society in 1815 and suddenly running afoul of a handsome young lord who just may have more up his sleeve than a well-muscled arm. Marissa didn’t even realize she was writing a YA story until a contest judge told her that her book, A Bewitching Season, would make a great YA. After picking her jaw up off the ground she hasn’t looked back! Bewitching Season is coming from Henry Holt in April 2008. It’s set in 1837, but she hopes Regency purists will be willing to hold their noses and have fun with her twins Persephone and Penelope, who rescue Princess Victoria from an evil scheme to control the Crown.

That’s all part of the fun of writing YA! Adventure and romance mix with history, humor, and all that teenage angst. So, if you were a teen in Regency England, what would you do? Dance at Almack’s? Race a gentleman through Hyde Park? Or play it safe, dress in white, and speak only to the nice young men your charming mother picked out for you???

Be sure and visit Regina and Marissa at nineteenteen, and check here at Risky Regencies in a few months for more on these exciting new books!

I recently got the movie Starter for Ten from Netflix. I’m not sure how I missed it before, considering a) it stars the adorable James McAvoy, and b) it’s a British rom-com about, of all things, Academic Team! Well, the British version of AT called University Challenge. I, being a Geek And Proud Of It, was on Academic Team in high school, though I never met anyone like McAvoy at tournaments. Where else could I utilize my basically totally useless knowledge of 19th century British novels, Russian ballet, Olympic figure skating, and Elizabethan poetry??? (Though I was totally no good at almost any kind of science, as well as, oh, the rules of cricket, or the history of Germany. All those duchies, very confusing!). 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.

Oh, and be sure and join us tomorrow as we welcome our Very First Guest Bloggers! Regina Scott and Marissa Doyle from the blog Nineteenteen will join us, and talk about adventures in writing historical YA. We’re so excited to see them here, and hope to have more guest bloggers in the future.

Make us very thankful by signing up for our monthly newsletter at riskies@yahoo.com! Be forewarned of interviews, guest bloggers, and all the fun holiday surprises coming up…

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