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Monthly Archives: June 2008

Today we are on the road, on our way to visit relatives in Georgia. The book is done. Not polished but done and sent in. (Breathe heavy sigh of relief) Remind me never to do this again. I’ll take time management courses. Anything. Maybe even make myself write every day, no matter what.

I got to thinking…What would our trip be like if we were in Regency England?

My husband prefers driving himself to public transportation so we’ll be traveling in our own vehicle. We’ve had considerable discussion on whether to take my Prius with its great mileage or the more comfortable Acura. The Acura won.

In Regency terms, I figure this means we’ll be driving the curricle, drawn by two horses, instead of the curate cart. My husband, by the way, has always wanted a high-perch phaeton, but I’ve put my foot down. It’s impractical.

We’ll make the trip in two days (and coming home, it only takes us one day—because we are always eager to get home again). In Regency times the same distance would be like traveling from Brighton to Loch Ness, about 600 miles, and it would take about week at least. I suspect our butts would be rather sore in our little curricle all that way.

We’ll stop along the road only for gasoline, meals, bathroom breaks, and to spend the night, but our Regency selves must stop every twenty miles or so to change horses. Instead of McDonalds or a Perkins (no relation!) restaurant, we’ll be stopping in coaching inns, probably eating mutton stew and drinking ale. (which doesn’t sound so bad!)

At night we’ll stop in a motel—one with internet access, of course. Our Regency selves will stay in one of those coaching inns and we might travel with our own bed linens just to be certain we don’t pick up any bedbugs.

It used to be a bit of a culture shock to visit the Georgia relatives, but now the area has been built up with all the shopping centers of home. The Regency “we” are Londoners. Our normal pastimes are visiting the shops or walking in the park. Up by Loch Ness, however, there might be only one or two shops and plenty of places to walk.

I’ve heard there is even a monster in the Loch
But……no internet access.

Okay, if you were on vacation in REGENCY England, where would you go? What would you want to see?

(and thanks again for all your support and encouragement!!!)

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There are certain things expected of a third son. That one will not put oneself forward, that one will join the army, or the church, or the bar. That one will not, in an attempt to inherit and whatever the provocation, murder one’s elder brothers and that one will, if at all possible in the circumstances of being a third son, marry well. Hard and Fast from Speak Its Name.

Erastes is the author of the gay regency Standish and her novella Hard and Fast appears in the Linden Bay Romance anthology Speak Its Name with Lee Rowan’s Gentleman’s Gentleman (Victorian) and Charlie Cochrane’s Aftermath. Her second novel, Transgressions (English Civil War) has been sold to a mainstream publisher and will be out Spring 09.

To be entered into a drawing to win a copy of Speak Its Name, join in the discussion today.

Welcome to the Riskies! What does your name Erastes mean and why do you write under a pseudonym?

Erastes is a Greek word for a mature man who took on as a pupil/paramour a younger man (eromenos) in ancient Greek society. It was a relationship which was considered noble and moral. The older male was both the lover and the teacher of the younger male. He taught him the principles of physical and mental fitness, as well as soldiery and good citizenship. Sex was seen mainly as a way of cementing an emotional bond between teacher and student, as well as a way of expressing admiration for the youth’s physical beauty.

I picked the name because I felt that – as a writer of gay historical fiction – it would sum up exactly what I was writing about. I picked a penname because I was advised that gay men wouldn’t read gay romance written by a woman. Whilst there are a very few exceptions, I’m very happy to say that this isn’t true and that I get at least 50 percent of fanmail from gay men.

What do you love/hate about the Regency?
It was a time of sweeping change – Britain moved from constant war to peace, mechanisation was coming – it must have been a very exciting place to live (if you had the money to enjoy it and weren’t on the breadline!) I love the fashions, the way that men were still decorative, possibly the last time that they were so encouraged to wear frills and huge exaggerated collars and cuffs, fobs and seals and doing things to their hair that wouldn’t look out of place in today’s gel-mad society.

It was also an era where homosexual men continued to band together; something which had become common in the previous century in Molly Houses. The punishments for sodomy – whilst still lethal with sufficient proof – had become a little more lenient. (If you consider six months in Newgate lenient!) This isn’t something I love, but rather what makes the era fascinating from the perspective of a gay historical author.

There was so much going on, too. The Thames froze over and the last great frost fair was in 1814 (which is what I’m writing about now) – exploration was going on all over the world and England was carving out a mighty Empire for itself. There are so many opportunities for stories, not all confined to White’s and Almack’s.

Why is the Regency a good setting for male-male romance? What research did you do/what sources do you rely on?

It’s a wonderful era because the sexes were still pretty much segregated. Men weren’t expected to spend time at home with their families and were together in clubs, in their estates, lounging on the edge of the dance floor, strolling arm in arm in Bath, or at war together in the company of many other men.

When one writes a heterosexual Regency one has to consider the reputation of one’s heroine. She can’t exactly leap easily into a closeted carriage with him, can’t walk alone with him in the moonlight, and even riding around in his carriage alone might be enough to ruin her, but it’s different for men. It gives a writer much more scope for two men to realise their attraction to each other because they are able to spend time in each other’s company without anyone raising an eyebrow.

However, getting them “together” in a more intimate way takes a bit more effort on behalf of the writer!

Why do you think women are so fascinated by male-male erotic romance?

I think that in the main, it’s perfectly normal. Obviously there are some who will find it not to their taste, but if one appreciates the male form, then two males has to be better. After all, what is most men’s fantasy?

On a more serious note, though, I think many people are drawn to it because a male/male relationship is a fascinating thing and outside most females’ experience. There’s a definite powerplay which is (in is my opinion) so much fun to play with. No slight female form which can be easily overpowered, no forcing of the man on the woman. Two males who can be equal in rank and stature and neither of them are willing to back down to the other. It’s fun to play with this too. In Hard and Fast Geoffrey is tall and broad, has been in the military for most of his life but – other than his eloquence of the first person narration – he’s almost incapable of voicing his thoughts and opinions, not to his father, his intended wife – or the man who he gradually falls in love with, Adam. Adam on the other hand is physically handicapped with a clubfoot, but this doesn’t make him weak. He’s acerbic and runs verbal rings round poor Geoffrey who, for a large portion of the book, wants to do nothing more than thump him. I don’t think you can show this aggression with heterosexual romance, not without people complaining.

One man unable to express his feelings is fine, but to have two of them? It is a writer’s dream and the opportunity for misunderstandings, sleight of hand and a painful progress to a happy ending (which is a difficulty all of its own) is all grist to a gay Regency writer’s mill!

When you have two men in a rigid society who want to express their feelings for each other the UST (unresolved sexual tension) goes through the roof. It’s the equivalent of the heroine’s hand being pressed by her suitor and that’s enough to sustain her until the next time she sees him. With male/male romance you can crank up the UST to the nth level with straining breeches, interrupted and dangerous liaisons and then finally when you let it rip you have all that delicious male anatomy to describe. Because no self-respecting Regency hero will be unattractive!

Sex too can be a lot more aggressive with two men. It doesn’t have to be, but some of the most romantic scenes in gay historicals that I’ve read have actually been written by men.

Whose writing has influenced you?

Austen without a doubt, and that’s a very boring answer I know but I immerse myself in the contemporarily written novels to get a feeling for the language and the manners. As soon as I read Northanger Abbey I knew that I had to track down Otranto, Udolpho and the others. (Some of them are frankly awful) but they really help to immerse one in the time. I want to try and transport my reader if I can, not to be reading a book about a time, but rather to be reading a book written in the era. Not going to be possible I know, but I try.

Dickens, Tolstoy, Saki… I’m afraid I’m a bit of a fossil all around, and one young wag whilst looking at my bookshelves once said “have you anything from, you know – even last century?” A calumny, as I do have many modern books, but they do tend to be historical fiction! Modern influences without a doubt are Mary Renault whose The Charioteer remains a beacon and an unattainable perfection that I could never reach, and the amazingly brilliant At Swim Two Boys by Jamie O’Neill which is everything a gay romance should be. Funny, tragic, social commentary, wrapped together with some of the best characterisations I’ve ever read.

Usually we ask guests what makes their work risky (our standard question)–what do you see in your writing that pushes the envelope?

I’ve probably covered this a little but just writing gay historical fiction in itself is doing that; there are so very few of us writing it in this day and age that it’s scary. (Take a look at the finite resource of gay historical fiction here on my website.) I don’t just want to write gay erotica – there are many other people doing that from every sexual persuasion – or modern men in fancy dress – I want to try and imagine how it really might have been for gay men, from the Regency, from the English Civil War, from Shakespeare’s time and attempt to extrapolate how their lives were and what hoops they had to jump through to find love and sex in times when it was dangerous and often lethal to do so.

I don’t want to preach or teach history – but readers have said “Hey! I didn’t know X fact” or whatever else they’d learned from my books and if I can open people’s eyes to the past, it’s got to help in the present, I hope.


I admit it, I had no idea what to write about today. It is summer, after all. I’ve been spending time dangling my feet in the kiddie pool I bought for my dogs, drinking lots of iced tea and writing, writing, writing! Reading, reading, reading! But what Janet said on Thursday was right–we Riskies do seem to love anniversaries. So, I did a search to see what was going on in the world a hundred or so years ago.

This is what I found: On this day in 1859, the first official dog show in the UK was held in Newcastle. The only breeds shown that day were Pointers and Setters. A show later in the year, in Birmingham, added Spaniels to the mix, and in 1860 hounds were added (thus paving the way for this year’s Westiminster winner, Uno the beagle). The first London dog show was in 1860, in Chelsea, with the official Kennel Club founded in 1873. (The Victorians did love their show dogs!).

I have 2 dogs of my own, a very bossy miniature Poodle mix (who loves to swim in her kiddie pool and bark a lot) and a much more laid-back Pug (that’s her in the pic!). Pugs were quite popular in the Georgian/Regency period, but their history goes much further back, to the Chinese Han and Tang Dynasty around 150 BC. Their path to Europe isn’t certain, but the earliest reference to them there comes around 1572, when a heroic little Pug woke his master, William of Orange, just in time to save him from Spanish raiders. In 1713, there was a portrait titled “Louis XIV and His Heirs,” with the appearance of a little fawn Pug (not named, and presumably not one of the heirs!)

English artist William Hogarth owned a series of Pugs and often painted them, especially his favorite “Trump.” In 1740, the sculptor Roubiliac modeled terracotta statues of Hogarth and Trump, which were later produced in porcelain by the Chelsea pottery factory.

Many famous historical figures have been owned by Pugs. Madame de Pompadour, Marie Antoinette, George III and Queen Charlotte, Empress Josephine, Voltaire, George Eliot, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Princess Grace, and Queen Victoria. Some of her Pugs included Venus, Olga, Fatima, Pedro, and Bosco (who has his own monument at Frogmore). My own dog is named Victoria in her honor.

And speaking of Queen Victoria, this is also the anniversary of her coronation! This happened in 1838. It is also the anniversary of Catherine the Great of Russia’s seizure of power from her crazy husband, in 1762. She might have owned Pugs, but I’m not sure. If not, she should have.

Do you have dogs (or pets of any sort?) Are they enjoying their summer?


I am a dog.

Which is not to say I think I’m ugly; no, I am a specific kind of dog, namely Pavlov’s. Let me explain.

In addition to being a book freak, I’ve also always been a music geek. My dad stuck a radio playing jazz under my crib the first night home from the hospital, and I’ve been hooked on music ever since.

In high school, I was a new waver, sporting a bleached-blonde streak in my hair, buying pricey British imports, and wearing ripped tights. In college, I went downtown to see bands that played at 3 in the morning, then took the subway home. I dyed my hair purple, wore multiple earrings, and spent all my money on records.

After college, I got a job in the music industry. I spent 15 years writing about up-and-coming bands and being the first to know about any new musical trend. After I got laid off from my last job, however, I slacked on my music knowledge. I was burned out.

Now, however, my previous passion has reared its head with a vengeance, and I am compiling playlists to listen to while writing. Now just hearing any of the songs on my respective books’ lists is enough to make me think about the book, which explains the Pavlov’s dog thing.

Lately I’ve been loving Duffy, Adele, Estelle, Santagold, Amos Lee and Kid Sister. I did the playlist for On Bold Adventure/Road To Desire (title yet TBD, as you can see) in about five minutes, and each song echoes one or the other of the hero and heroine’s emotional or physical state. I’ve listed it here:

Little Boy Soldiers The Jam
Wasteland The Jam
Chasing Pavements Adele
Burning Sky The Jam
Back In Black AC/DC
The Real Me The Who
The Eton Rifles The Jam
Wax And Wane Cocteau Twins
Thunder Kiss ’65 White Zombie
I Can’t Quit You Baby Led Zeppelin
The Punk And The Godfather The Who
Ivo Cocteau Twins
Drive Blind Ride
You My Lunar Queen Cousteau
Ladykillers Lush
She Don’t Hear Your Prayer Cousteau
Wayfaring Stranger Jack White
Rag & Bone The White Stripes
You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told) The White Stripes

Do you make playlists for writing? What is your favorite artist or song right now? Does music inspire you? Who’s the most emotional musical artist you can think of?

Megan

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I was planning to blog about something entirely different today but I received an early morning inspiration from Garrison Keillor’s A Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media.

As you may have noticed here, we really like to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, and I was thrilled to find out that today is the birthday of poet Laurie Lee (1914-1997), who’s not so well known here as he is in England. His most famous work is Cider with Rosie, about his childhood in the village of Slad, near Stroud in the Cotswolds, a place where people lived pretty much as previous inhabitants had for centuries–another great source for English rural life (the, ahem, Regency tie-in). After leaving the village for London and then Spain, where he fought in the civil war, Lee returned to England–he had a job writing propaganda during World War II (I think he was fired) and then settled in Slad where he lived for the rest of his life.

Here’s the beginning of Cider with Rosie:

I was set down from the carrier’s cart at the age of three; and there with a sense of bewilderment and terror my life in the village began.

The June grass, amongst which I stood, was taller than I was, and I wept. I had never been so close to grass before. It towered above me and all around me, each blade tattooed with tiger-skins of sunlight. It was knife-edged, dark, and a wicked green, thick as a forest and alive with grasshoppers that chirped and chattered and leapt though the air like monkeys.
I was lost and didn’t know where to move.

A tropic heat oozed up from the ground, rank with sharp odours of roots and nettles. Snow-clouds of elder-blossom banked in the sky, showering upon me the fumes and flakes of their sweet and giddy suffocation. High overhead ran frenzied larks, screaming, as though the sky were tearing apart.

If your local NPR affiliate carries
A Writer’s Almanac, do listen to it. I hear it at about 6:35 each morning and it’s the signal for me that I really must get out of bed. The format is quite simple–a report on anniversaries/birthdays (with a strong emphasis on the literary), followed by a short poem. You can view today’s offering, Naming the Animals by Anthony Hecht, learn more about Laurie Lee, and browse the archives here.

Do you listen to this show? Have you read Laurie Lee? Are you a Garrison Keillor and/or A Prairie Home Companion fan?

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