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Monthly Archives: August 2010

In case you didn’t hear, the RWA National conference was last week. I know, I know! You’re so welcome. I’m happy to have told you.

In good news, my historical Indiscreet won the Bookseller’s Best award for Best Short Regency Historical. That’s right. I am now an

  award winning author

and that means that from now on whenever someone calls me an award winning author I no longer have to sheepishly tell them that I’m not because now I am! Not that I’m proud or tickled pink or anything like that. I know it’s probably old hat for the other Riskies, but it’s a first for me and I’m working it!

As expected, fellow Risky Amanda McCabe rocked the joint with cute dresses. So did Risky Megan, actually. One of these days I’m going to stage a break-in to our hotel room and steal all her stuff, except her shoes because they wouldn’t fit me.  I didn’t see as much of Risky Diane or Risky Janet, alas, but we got together for breakfast and I did run into them a couple of times for good times.

I have other news but it’s unofficial at this point so all I can do is tease you mercilessly. Heh.

Other than that, how about an ad hoc comment contest?

Answer the below question in the comments and I’ll choose some winner(s) to get a copy of Indiscreet and/or Scandal.

I will select the winner(s) next Wednesday (August 11) so watch this space. Void where prohibited.

Question: At a huge gala affair, you win an award called “The Jewel Prize”  What did you win it for, who presented it to you and what did you win?

Posted in Giveaways | Tagged | 17 Replies
Author Elizabeth Hoyt

Today author Elizabeth Hoyt visits the Riskies to share her wisdom and insights with this sedate and proper set of ladies and readers.

We sat down to a virtual tea at which I served delicious petit-fours and my best gunpowder black. Then I asked her a few polite questions and she was gracious enough to answer them.

One lucky commenter will win a copy of her latest release, Wicked Intentions. To get your name in the running, leave a comment in which you answer the question at the end of this post. Yours truly (that would be Risky Carolyn) will choose a winner next Wednesday. You have have until Midnight Pacific Tuesday August 24 to leave a comment!) Void where prohibited.

Before we get to the interview, here’s a bit about Elizabeth Hoyt, let it never be said you weren’t properly introduced! This is a respectable blog.

Miss Hoyt is a New York Times bestselling author of historical romance. She also writes deliciously fun contemporary romance under the name Julia Harper. Elizabeth lives in central Illinois with three untrained dogs, two angelic but bickering children, and one long-suffering husband.

And now, A polite Risky Welcome to Elizabeth!

The Interview

Q. Tell me about your book.

A: Back copy:

A MAN CONTROLLED BY HIS DESIRES

Infamous for his wild, sensual needs, Lazarus Huntington, Lord Caire, is searching for a savage killer in St. Giles, London’s most notorious slum. Widowed Temperance Dews knows the area like the back of her hand—she cares for its children at the foundling home her family established. Now that home is at risk. . .

A WOMAN HAUNTED BY HER PAST

Caire makes a simple offer–in return for Temperance’s help navigating the perilous alleys of St. Giles, he will introduce her to high society so that she can find a benefactor for the home. But Temperance may not be the innocent she seems, and what begins as a cold bargain soon falls prey to a passion neither can control—and may well destroy them both.

Find out more about Wicked Intentions

(Temperance. I may steal that name for a heroine of mine. Thanks, Elizabeth!)

Q. Your name is Elizabeth. Do you ever wake up thinking you’re QE1 or QE2? Why or why not? Would you want to be? Why or why not?

Dear God, at first I thought you were calling me a CRUISE SHIP. Yes, I think I ought to be QE2 because she’s always color-coordinated and wears such interesting hats. Also, she has a pack of Corgis and I would totally be into a pack of Corgis had I footmen to walk them.

(Oh yes. Without the footmen, what would be the point of anything? But now I’m wondering, do you ever wake up thinking you’re a cruise ship? Because that would be weird.)
Q. What’s a few of your favorite things about writing historicals? Is it the clothes? Exciting history? Gender roles? The cool shoes? Or something else?

Clothes. Definitely the clothes. Big wonking skirts, some of them worn by women. Also, wigs. Why aren’t wigs worn by men anymore? We’ve entered into a very boring time for men’s fashion in general.

And I happen to write during the Age of Enlightenment (which merits Capital Letters) when people were making all sorts of discoveries, both mechanical and mental. Very interesting times!

(Good point there about the wigs. And men’s fashion. I miss the periwig.)

Q. Do you have a favorite scene or line from your current book and would you be willing to share that that is?

A:

Caire took her arm and escorted her roughly out the door. Temperance blinked as he began hauling her back down the passage. As they neared the ballroom, the sound of the crowd inside grew.

She attempted to withdraw her arm from his grasp. “Caire.”

“What the hell were you doing going to a dark room with that ass? Have you no sense?”

She glanced at him. There was a reddened spot on his jaw, and he looked livid. “Your hair has come undone.”

He stopped suddenly, pushing her up against the wall of the passage. “Never go anywhere with a man not of your family.”

She arched her brows up at him. “What about you?”

“Me? I am far, far worse than Sir Henry.” He leaned close, his breath brushing against her cheek. “You ought never to be near me again. You should run right now.”

His bright blue eyes blazed and a muscle in his hard jaw ticked. He was truly a frightening sight.

She stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips against that tic. He jerked and then stood still. She felt the muscle jump once more beneath her mouth and then subside. She slid her lips toward his mouth.

“Temperance,” he growled.

It was strange. Another man had just kissed her on the mouth, but this pressing of lips with Caire was entirely different. His mouth was firm and warm, his lips stubbornly closed against hers. She placed her hands on his wide shoulders for leverage and leaned a little closer. She could smell some kind of exotic spice on his skin—perhaps he’d rubbed it on after shaving—and his mouth tasted of heady wine. She licked the seam of his lips, once, gently.

He groaned.

“Open,” she breathed across his lips, and he did.

She probed delicately, licking the inside of his lips, across his teeth, until she found his tongue. She stroked across it and retreated. He followed her tongue into her mouth, and she suckled him softly, raising her palms to frame his lean cheeks.

Something in her shifted, crumbling apart and re-forming into a new and wonderful shape. She didn’t know what that shape was, but she wanted to keep it. To stay here in this dim hallway and kiss Caire forever.

The murmur of voices came from the far end of the passage, drawing nearer.

Caire lifted his head, looking toward the ballroom.

A door opened and closed and the voices stopped.

He took her hand. “Come.”

“A moment.”

He turned to look at her, one eyebrow raised, but she darted around him. His black velvet tie was nearly out of his hair. Carefully, she unknotted it and combed through the silver strands with her fingers before retying the ribbon.

When she came back around him, he still had that eyebrow cocked. “Satisfied?”

“For now.” She took his arm and he led her back to the ballroom.

(Well, now I have to get my hands on this book. Oh, wait. I bought it last Saturday! Score!)

Carolyn has Wicked Intentions

Q. You have pets at your house. Do they like to help you with the writing? Are there any cute pet pictures or stories you’d like to share?

I have three dogs, in descending size: Max (a black lab mix), Fritz (an orange terrier) and Rue (a rat terrier.) All came from the shelter, so their parentage is in doubt. No, they do not like to help. They like to sit by my side and whine at me to go out, even when they’ve just been out five minutes ago–perhaps the yard has changed in that time.

(Rue is VERY cute!)

For more pics of Elizabeth’s cute doggies, go here.

Q: Best writing moment of your life?

The first time someone recognized me (or rather my name tag) in an elevator and was so excited that she missed her floor.

Q: What’s your favorite type of historical hero? Can be personality, physical attributes or anything.

A guy who thinks he knows everything, but is brought low by the heroine who DOES know everything. Also, guys who aren’t too pretty.

Q: I’ve noticed you tend to be very mean to the heroes of your novels. They often have tortured backgrounds. Why are you so mean?

I’m just a mean person. No! Um. . . well, I think it’s more interesting when the hero has an complicated (read: tortured) background. So many fun things to discover! And also a reason to brood in a dark, manly way.

(Brooding. ::sigh:: Dark and manly. . . . Where were we?)

Q: Anything else you want to share or tell us?

Yes! My next book, NOTORIOUS PLEASURES (out in February 2011–PREORDER!) has a hero who is NOT tortured. My first ever! I initially told my agent he was a bit of a wanker, but she said that perhaps that was not the most heroic description for him. Oh, well.

(Not tortured? A wanker? This I have to read!)

The Comment Question

For a chance to win a copy of Wicked Intentions, answer the following question in the comments:

What men’s fashion do you think should come back into fashion?

Oh. Good question! Go!

(Note from Amanda: One of the not-so-fun aspects of deadlines is not having enough time to read! I have a TBR mountain growing in my living room. But after RWA I felt the need to read a romance, so I ran to the bookstore and treated myself to a pile of even more new books. One of them was Judith James’s Libertine’s Kiss, which I had read such good things about and which has a Restoration setting–I love the Restoration! I brought it home and devoured it in one weekend. It’s one of those absolutely gorgeous books I want to run around yelling about to all my reader friends. Then I ran to the computer and emailed Judith begging her to visit the blog, and she kindly agreed to do an interview today, despite currently residing in Deadline Hell. Comment for a chance to win a signed copy, and for more information you can check out Judith’s website here…)

“Heartrendingly beautiful…there is really nothing out there quite like this.” –All About Romance, DIK Review

Amanda: Welcome to the blog, Judith! I am so excited you were able to be here today. Tell us about Libertine’s Kiss

Judith: Thanks so much for inviting me here today, Amanda! Libertine’s Kiss tells the story of two childhood sweethearts, William de Veres and Elizabeth Walters. William, the handsome son of a hard-drinking cavalier and a stern Puritan mother, was abandoned at an early age to a brutal school system and a predatory tutor. He soon discovers the escapes of poetry, literature, sex and alcohol, and the defenses of a sharp sword and a lacerating wit. By the time he graduates he is thoroughly debauched. As a titanic struggle erupts between Parliament and King, William takes up arms in the Royalist cause and pursued by Cromwell’s men, finds himself seeking shelter from a sober young Puritan woman in a cottage deep in the woods.

The Civil War has cost the once high-spirited Elizabeth Walters her best friend and her father, leaving her unprotected and alone. She flees and unwanted marriage, seeking safe haven, but what she finds there is something she never imagined. Despite William’s gratitude and promise to aid her, Elizabeth never expects to see him again, but the Restoration of Charless II to his throne will bring her to the attention of both William and the King. Can a debauched Court poet and notorious libertine convince the wary Elizabeth he is capable of love, and can a promise long forgotten and a friendship forged in the past help two lonely people find themselves and each other? These are the questions asked by Libertine’s Kiss.

Amanda: What was the inspiration for this story?

Judith: While researching my previous book, Highland Rebel, which takes place 2 years after the death of Charles Stuart, I came across the poetry of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, as well as a first edition (1680) of bishop and historian Gilbert Burnett’s account of Rochester’s conversations with him while on his deathbed, which Burnett attended. I started researching the Restoration for a possible story based on that character and I fell madly in love with the time period, which I’ve always been interested in since I read Antonia Stuart’s biography of Charles II several years ago. The neglect of the Restoration puzzles me as there was so much going on with politics, religion, philosophy, and thought. The Restoration Court was filled with a host of colorful characters and was one of the most bawdy, hedonistic and lively courts in history. In terms of literature and science it rivaled the Elizabethan period. Women had more freedom during this period than they would for many years to come and there is so much room to develop characters and so much interesting material. John Wilmot exemplifies the times. Tall, dark, and handsome, a renowned rake, Court poet and wit, he wrote fearless and ferocious satirical verse that was profane, sometimes pornographic, and often very funny. Unfortunately, his lifelong promiscuity and early death make him unsuitable for any kind of happy ending, but his character and the things that shone about him made me ask–what if? That question led to Libertine’s Kiss and the Earl of Rochester was the inspiration for William and speaks through him with his poetry.

Amanda: The setting is so vivid and beautifully drawn, I was totally drawn into the Restoration world! Did you come across any good research sources for this book?

Judith: Thank you! I have a bookshelf full of Restoration sources. The diaries of John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys, and the memoirs of the Compte de Grammont are colorful, entertaining, and full of interesting eye witness accounts. Grammont is very witty, Sam is often unintentionally funny, and Evelyn is fairly serious, but his account of being attacked by highwaymen, Sam’s breathless description of the fire of London and how they escaped, and Grammont’s delightful anecdotes about the courtiers (he knew everyone) give a fascinating firsthand look at the life and times. For a more general view, I found Restoration London by Liza Picard very helpful, as well as Social Life in England from the Restoration to the Revolution by William Sidney and Daily Life in Stuart England by Jeffrey Forgeng. Of course I also read most of Wilmot’s poetry and some biographies of him, Charles II, and Oliver Cromwell.

Amanda: We always have to ask here–what is “risky” about this book??

Judith: Ah! Of course you do. 🙂 I think I did take a few risks with this book, although I wasn’t thinking of that at the time! So far they seem to have been fairly well-received. An obvious one was making the hero a poet and actually using Rochester’s and other 17th century poetry as part of the story. At times it even serves as dialogue or commentary. The story is also bookended by Spenser’s 16th century Faerie Queen. I really felt I was off the beaten track a few times with that and it made me anxious when I thought about it. My poor editor! To say Rochester’s poetry is satirical is putting it mildly. It is profane, angry, bitingly funny, and achingly jaded, and at times pornographic, every bit as complicated as the man himself.

Another was making the character as true as possible to a 17th century libertine, while still writing a love story. I would like to make a note here! I do peek on the boards now and then when I should be writing, and I see some reviewers making comments about certain behaviors on William’s part that might be off-putting to some romance readers. They are being careful not to reveal plot points, but some who read them have inferred that means William was abusive to Elizabeth. I even saw mention of forced seduction, etc. These are things no hero of mine has ever done or ever will do. William is never deliberately cruel to Elizabeth, they are childhood friends who love and respect each other, but he is true to his nature and honest with her about that.

The last risk was mixing in a fairytale element that carried over from their childhood games. Mixing poetry, fairytale themes, a dedicated libertine who drinks and “swives” along with royal personages and other real historical figures as secondary characters was a little risky I think. Did it work? I guess that’s for readers to decide…

Amanda: And what’s next for you?

Judith: Well, you might guess from my library collection and enthusiasm for the period I’ll be spending much of my time in the 17th century over the next little while! I’m currently working on The King’s Courtesan for late April of 2011. It tells the story of Captain Robert Nichols, a soldier who came to Elizabeth’s aid, and Hope Mathews, a minor courtesan to the king. I have one more book for HQN after that, but I’ve yet to decide what it will be about. If you have any suggestions, I’d be glad to hear them! I’ll be popping in and out throughout the day and look forward to any questions or comments you might have. Thanks again for having me here today!

(Another note from Amanda: If you’re intrigued by the life of John Wilmot after reading this, I’d suggest a look at the Johnny Depp movie Libertine! And don’t forget to comment for the chance to win a copy of Libertine’s Kiss…)

I’ve mentioned before that I have rather unusual taste in TV Shows. My current favorites include Say Yes To The Dress (about prospective brides picking out their wedding dresses), I Can’t Believe I Am Pregnant (self-explanatory), Too Fat For Fifteen (about a boarding school for teenagers battling obesity), and Celebrity Ghost Stories. Celebrity Ghost Stories features a celebrity (several from old TV shows) who tell of there experiences with ghosts. It isn’t as good as Ghost Stories, a Canadian show where ordinary people told their ghost stories, but it is not as scary as My Ghost Story, which is similar, but a lot scarier.

So I got to thinking….Did they tell ghost stories in the Regency?

I went to my favorite source for quick information that is specific to the period. Google Books, where you can search on key words from works printed in specific years. I came upon lots of fictional accounts of ghosts, but I was looking for the real thing. I finally discovered a couple of Regency Ghost Stories, but they all were similar to this one:

A Ghost (From The Cheap Magazine, 1814)

Some years ago, early on new year’s day rooming,, (when there had been a great fall of snow) three young persons in a country village set out to be first-fit to some of their friends a few miles distant. They walked cheerfully along the road, which is lined on each side with fences, till they came up to the parish church yard, which they had to pass, when suddenly their mirth was converted into terror at the appearance of a GHOST ! wrapt up in a winding-sheet, shaded with black, standing on a grave,
shaking its head and bowing to them as they approached!…Though they turned their backs upon the Ghost their agitation continued…they met a halfdrunk, hearty old soldier, whom they knew, and who was also bearing a hot-pint to some of his friends. They told him the dreary tale, and requested him to turn : He laughed at their timidity—determined to go on. When he came within view of the awful spot, he likewise saw the Ghost, as they had described it; taking a hearty draught of the hot-pint to keep up his courage, he proceeded, and the nearer he approached, and looking over the dyke at it, he was positive it had assumed the appearance of an old woman smoking a pipe ! — Determined to examine it, he sprung over the wall ; however, in
defiance of his resolution, fear made an invasion upon him : but still despising the idea of being a coward, pressed on, and with a few unsteady steps reached it; but instead of a terrific Ghost, it was only — a thorn bush waving with the wind, and clogged with the drifting snow !

Another story was about a man who claimed a dead man’s ghost came to him to tell him who the man’s murderer was. Turned out the murderer was the guy telling the ghost story.

I know the Victorians became very interested in spirits and seances and the occult, but these Regency folks are a skeptical bunch!

My question of the day….If you could see a ghost of anyone from the Regency, who would it be? And, if you dare, you can tell us if you have a Ghost Story of your own.

I’m still running a contest on my blog and on the website. Today I’m also visiting The Rockville 8, talking about never giving up on achieving your dreams.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 9 Replies
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