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Monthly Archives: July 2009

What (Not!) To Wear, Part 2:

This Tuesday, Amanda shared some of her thoughts on Dressing For the RWA National Conference. Today I’d like to talk about some of what I saw a few weeks ago in Washington, DC. It was not pretty.

1. Monochrome outfits–head-to-toe (including hat!)–in the same color make you look like a weirdo, not interesting or creative or anything but ‘stay the hell away from me’ bad.

2. Mom jeans are not a good idea unless you plan on doing some gardening. Which I don’t believe was an option during National.

3. White shoes?!?

4. No, I don’t want to see your rack. Or any part of you that isn’t normally on view. Unless your day job is being wrapped around a pole. Thanks.

5. JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN GET IT ON DOESN’T MEAN IT FITS.

5a. If your usual size seems snug, there is no shame in going up another size. No-one will know you’ve got on a size 12 instead of a 10. We will all, however, be grateful for your discretion.

6. Just because it DOES fit doesn’t mean it’s age-appropriate. Here’s a tip: If you’re over 21, don’t shop at Forever 21, Mandee’s or Hot Topic.

7. Wear comfy shoes. And if you don’t wear comfy shoes, don’t complain loudly about your pained feet. Honestly? We don’t care.

8. Random zippers were okay back in the ’80s. Not so much now.

9. All kidding aside, most of these observations were limited to a few people. I just like to snark (like you didn’t know that?)

10. What are your fashion pet peeves?

Megan

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This is what a finished book looks like.
Last night I finished Improper Relations, my next Little Black Dress book, and this is the entire manuscript dropped on the floor as I went through it page by page after a hard copy edit.

Whew! I’m still catching up from Nationals and then a Mullany expedition to the beach last week where I thought I’d have internet but didn’t. Here’s a pic of my mother in law Rosie Mullany to whom I dedicated A Most Lamentable Comedy.

But today is the birthday of Emily Bronte (1818-1848) so I thought we should talk about Wuthering Heights. I consider it an odd, difficult novel, full of shifts in time and narration. Where Jane Eyre (by sister Charlotte) has a clear legacy in popular fiction (plain, poor, virtuous heroine–check; brooding dark hero–check; brooding dark house–check; unspeakable secrets–check), what influence has Wuthering Heights had?

It’s almost as though Wuthering Heights stands alone, the odd cousin who smells of elderberries and talks to herself in a corner at the family gathering. We know she’s there, we know she’s part of the family, but she doesn’t quite fit in. Somehow she takes things to extremes–Heathcliffe is dark and brooding yet psychopathic; the heroine dies; the bleak landscape is the star of the show.

And what about the movie versions? Do you think any of them crack the Wuthering Heights code? There’s the 1939 classic with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon (left); the 1992 version with Juliette Binoche (whom I love, but why??) and Ralph Fiennes with bad hair.

The most recent is the 2009 PBS adaptation with Charlotte Riley and Tom Hardy (both of whom look far too clean in this pic and yet another bad Heathcliffe wig). And according to this article Keira Knightley and Lindsay Lohan are battling it out for the role of Cathy in yet another remake.

But to me, the most brilliant adaptation is this one by Monty Python (it starts about a minute in after some silly stuff with a policeman but this was the only one I could find without Spanish subtitles):

What do you think? Is there a movie version you like? A book you feel that is particularly influenced by Wuthering Heights?

My blog tour continues tomorrow with a visit to the Word Wenches and more next week–visit my website for the whole schedule (and enter the contest, which is ending soon, while you’re there).

A novel requires some measure of structure to hold it together, a plot tends to work nicely for this. To deconstruct a bit, traditionally, a novel is divided into chapters and at one time was even commonly divided into physically separate volumes. Over time, the result of the separate volumes has been the unhappy event of missing volumes. If I had only volumes 1 and 2 of the original Pride and Prejudice I think I would be very sad. (I don’t have any, by the way.) But I do have single volumes of other very old books.

I’ve heard only anecdotally that the reason for separate volumes stemmed from the convenience of being able to pass on volume 1 to the next reader while proceeding with volume 2. I’ve never come across this as any more than speculation. Personally, I suspect the volume decision was a financial one and/or a limitation of the materials at hand, and the fact that the separate volumes could be passed on so that readers didn’t have to wait for someone to finish the entire book was simply fortuitous for the customer. Perhaps in my copious spare time I’ll try to track that down.

The historical practice of physically separate volumes has gone by the wayside, thank goodness, because imagine the horror of your TBR pile if your favorite historical romance (let’s say it’s Scandal by yours truly) came in three volumes and now that you finally have time to read this lovely book, you discover you’re missing volume two. Or the book eating cat (we have one of those) has managed to drag volume three under the bed for a nice snack of the opening chapters. Or that you picked up all three volumes on your way to the airport but only when you’re at 40,000 feet do you discover you have the volume one of some other book.

If books today still came in separate volumes, would each volume have different cover art? This, of course, was not an issue back in the day. You either went cheap and kept your books in their original boards (what would the neighbors think of that?) or you bound them yourself, probably in Morocco leather. And since Carolyn Jewel of 1815 would surely have been Lady Readerham (married to the dashing and wholly reformed rake the earl of Readerham— I assure you, we had quite the tumultuous courtship and that the story about how he got that scar is completely false. There were never any crocodiles in the moat.) At any rate, I would have a nice little coronet to have embossed on the covers of the books in my library.

But that was then. (Would have been then?) What about today? Would bookstores today even allow you to buy single volumes of a multi-volume work? Or would there soon be a healthy after-market source for orphaned volumes? Maybe there’d be special deals, Buy Volumes 1 and 2, get Volume 3 for half off!

What do you think? And if you lived in 1815, who would you be and what would be in your library? Sorry, Lord Readerham is taken.

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Today’s post is the beginning of a two-parter. Watch for part two from Megan on Friday! The two of us sat together at the RITA awards at RWA (and probably drove our neighbors crazy with the whispering–sorry, neighbors!). We sat behind the giant screen in the middle of the room, and had a fabulous time watching the parade of fashions go by. Here are a few tips we came up with to remember when packing for conference:

A little leopard print can be great! Shoes are always good…

Scarves are good (just ask Emma Hamilton! But you can leave the leopard head at home)


But it can be easy to go a little overboard…
All-white can be fresh, summery, and youthful! A good choice in the steamy cities of RWA


But too much can say “Demented Bride”!
Nice walking shorts with cute shoes–Yes!
Sloppy cut-offs–maybe not. And be sure you can sit in your skirt!!!

Dress-over-jeans–Yes or No?

In a room of 3000 women, a nice pair of shoes will get you noticed faster than anything! (Just be sure you can walk in them…)





Abigail Adams knew the power of nice shoes
So did Martha Washington!
Make sure your clothes fit…
Bring shawls for air-conditioned workshop rooms
Most of all, be comfortable and have fun!!!

What are some of your favorite “do’s” for conference?

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