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Monthly Archives: July 2008

I think I’ve finished my book A Most Lamentable Comedy. At least, I hope I’ve finished my book as I have to send it off before I leave for SF.

But I wanted to tell you about some odd things that happened with it, particularly in the last couple of weeks. Elena’s post last month about bears apparently lodged in my brain because the hero’s manservant suddenly reappeared, after quarreling with his master, with a dancing bear in tow. In fact the bear, a male called Daisy which is a very un-Regency type of name, did turn out to be a factor in the resolution of the plot.

There was also a scene, a sudden, wonderful surprise, where the heroine flies a kite.

But the main change was in what happened to the heroine. She’s about to be arrested for her debts when a duke steps in and saves her, on condition she becomes his mistress. Only he doesn’t intend for her to actually become his mistress–it’s a ploy to keep her out of the way of the hero (for various reasons). Now, originally, she didn’t realize what was going on and would wonder why the duke prefers to sit around talking to her about sheep and antiquities (his hobbies) rather than do anything else.

But as I got to know Caroline I realized that of course she’d know something was going on. She’s smart enough to smell a conspiracy (which it is, involving her friends) a mile off. And also, although my idea originally was to keep it a secret from the reader (which is why I’m not giving away huge amounts of plot here), I realized they’d want to know where the hero is. So I let everyone except the heroine, who works it out for herself, know and the hero is involved in the narrative by a series of letters that were lots of fun to write. (This is all about my entertainment, remember. Yep, it’s almost an epistolary novel here and at one point, if the editor allows, there’s a short play within the book.)

Lots of other things changed too, which is why I think it’s always wise to write a very short, vague synopsis.

Writers, tell us about something unexpected that happened in a book.

Readers, tell us about your favorite surprise in a book.

And come on over to the Wet Noodle Posse today where I’m blogging about how to remember names and faces, in preparation for Nationals and the Risky Breakfast on Friday morning (next week)!

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I don’t know about the rest of you that are going to RWA National in SF, but I passed anxiety a few days ago and I’m now in full-blown panic. I am excited but so not ready!!!

I’ve just barely gotten the house back in order after the “toga party” last weekend and I’m also in the throes of planning a religious education committee retreat at my UU church for the week after I get back. (Yes, I’ve become a “church lady” but sans hair net, I promise!) This doesn’t count the usual craziness of keeping up with camps, music lessons and playdates.

So here’s my getting-ready-for-RWA status report.

I have: lost about 10 pounds (though I’d like it to be more); gone out and bought new makeup, tossing stuff I’ve been using for years (yes, I know Carmindy would shudder); figured out the all-important question of What to Wear every day of the conference and especially the awards night; straightened out a snafu with the scheduling of my children’s summer camp, thereby ensuring childcare for next week.

I have not yet: checked over my Regency gown to see if it fits and/or needs any repairs; made up new business cards; even looked at the workshop schedule.

But it will all get done. Some things I’m really looking forward to:

We hope many of you will mingle with us at the Evening Soiree on Wednesday. Many of us will be in costume so there should be some great photo opportunities! Besides, who could resist the chance of being fleeced by Cara at the gaming table or partnered by a Risky in an English country dance? I may have two left feet but I’ve not actually trodden on anyone-yet! 🙂

Our next scheduled get together will be Friday morning at the continental breakfast (7:30-8:30). We would love to have as many of you as possible drop by to chat. We’ll mark the table with some sort of signage so you can find us. And we’ll have some fabulous Risky buttons to give out, too!

So anyway, here’s a timetable of Risky rendezvous at RWA:

Wednesday, July 30 (2:30-3:25)
“Keeping It Real: Making Your Historical Characters Come Alive” workshop by Megan Frampton, Amanda McCabe & Andrea Pickens

Wednesday, July 30 (5:30-7:30PM)
“Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing
Wednesday, July 30 (8:45-11PM)
Evening soiree with dancemaster

Friday, Aug 1 (7:30-8:30AM)
Breakfast with the Riskies

Saturday, Aug 2 (8:30-9:30AM)
“Writing the Hot Historical” with Janet Mullany, Helen Breitweiser and Pam Rosenthal

Saturday, Aug 2 (12:45-1:45PM)
“Doddering Butlers, Pert Housemaids, and Faithful Retainers: Busting the Servant Myths” with Janet Mullany

If I missed any Risky events here, please let me know.

For those who are going to RWA, are you ready? What are you most looking forward to? For anyone who is not coming, you will be missed!

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

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Congratulations to Santa and Cheri2628!

If you haven’t done so already, please email riskies@yahoo.com your snail mail addresses to receive your magnets and copies of LADY IONA’S REBELLION by Dorothy McFalls.

Sara Lindsey, please email riskies@yahoo.com to receive your copy of THE LAST RAKE IN LONDON by Nicola Cornick. If we do not hear from you by Friday we will pick another winner.

Thanks to everyone for checking out these great interviews!

The Riskies

Because I’ll be teaching Regency card games at the Beau Monde soiree next week (ack! NEXT WEEK?), I’ve been refreshing my memory of the rules of cassino, speculation, and the like.

Which leads me to the question of the day, which is:

Were Regency gamesters sophisticated?

It is your job to examine the evidence!

FACT ONE: Piquet players kept score (and piquet scores go quite high, and are constantly changing) without writing anything down, or pegging anything, until the end of the hand. This is HARD. Even Trusty Todd, who can do Tensor Calculus in his head, can’t do this.

Okay, yes, in the “old” days, people were a lot more accustomed to doing arithmetic in their heads. But still. This is HARD.

FACT TWO: Read the game rules in a Regency Hoyle’s, and you’ll constantly trip over passages like the following:

Any person playing with less than four cards must abide by the loss, and should a card be found under the table, the player whose number is deficient, is to take the same.

I guess rules like “don’t drop your cards under the table” are a little too hard for these folks.

So, here we have two warring pictures:

That of the very clever, James-Bond-like gamester…

And that of the Three Stooges, constantly dropping cards on the floor.

So: which is it? Let the voting begin!

Cara
Cara King, author of MY LADY GAMESTER, who neither counts piquet in her head nor drops cards on the floor…

Reading about Dorothy’s upcoming Five Star Regency, The Nude, made me suck in a fast intake of air. Her premise, if I’m reading correctly, involves an artist and a nude painting. The book-I-just-turned-in ALSO involves and artist and a nearly nude painting. Yipes!

How many times does this happen? We come up with an innovative plot and BOOM! discover someone else has thought of something similar? I think someone else has a Regency that deals with gossip and the newspapers, like my next one, Scandalizing the Ton…can’t remember who at the moment.

I am very confident that Dorothy’s book and my book will each be unique, but it makes me wonder. Why do we authors come up with similar ideas at the same time?

I mean, think about Cara’s My Lady Gamester and my The Wagering Widow. Both were released in 2005.

Here is the blurb for My Lady Gamester:
MY LADY GAMESTER is the story of an aristocratic card-sharp in Regency London—who just happens to be a woman.
Atalanta James is the daughter of the late Viscount James, who bankrupted his family in a single night of cards. Now Atalanta has arrived for a London Season, and seems to be as determined a gamester as her father.
The Earl of Stoke wants above all things to protect his family from the kind of gambling madness that infected both his father and older brother. Why, then, is he so fascinated by Atalanta James? And why does he feel such a strong urge to protect her from the sharks that swarm around her—and even from herself?

Here is the blurb from The Wagering Widow:
Guy, Lord Keating, laden with his father’s debts, elopes with “heiress” Emily Duprey…only to discover she is as poor as he! Now his only hope of saving his family and dependants is a reluctant return to the gaming tables. Emily needs to escape this marriage to a gamester like her father. But she needs more money than she can win as Lady Keating – so she becomes Lady Widow, a card-playing masked seductress! Then Guy recognizes the beautiful Widow as his quiet, mousy wife – and their inconvenient marriage takes an unexpected turn…

There are lots of similarities!

Cara and I are on opposite sides of the country and we have never been critique partners and yet our stories had similar elements. What wisp of creativity was in the air and traveled a whole continent and hit us both?


All of a sudden there seem to have been several Courtesan books out in close proximity. Because books are written one or two years before their release, it isn’t possible that writers were copying each other’s ideas.
The earliest copyright date I found was Julia Justiss’s The Courtesan (2005)but there are more, like Anna Campbell’s Claiming the Courtesan (2007). Again, the stories are not the same, but something was in the air telling writers to write Courtesan books.

What do you think? Do you see these waves of similar topics? Or am I nuts…..

(Next Monday I’ll be in San Francisco, a pre-conference visit with my niece. I’ll give you all a report!)

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