Monthly Archives: January 2013

Miscellany Tuesday

Updated on January 17, 2013 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

How is everyone this cold January week?? Around here things are going better–the illness seems to be fading (finally!) and the new book is moving (slowly) along. Here is a little about what else is going on:

–Today is my birthday!!! I will spend it much as someone might have in the Regency, quietly with a nice family dinner and (hopefully!) some new books as presents. With Christmas/wedding/sicknesses just past, being nice and cozy with a bottle of wine and some cake sounds just right….

–Oklahoma finally has a JASNA chapter of our very own! For years, in order to go to a chapter meeting I had to drive to Dallas, but now I just have to drive across town. This month my mom and I did a program to celebrate Jane’s birthday by talking about Regency fashions (you can see pics at the website, http://jasnaokla.weebly.com/). In June there is going to be a Netherfield Ball in Dallas, so I am also joining a country dancing group to get ready! New dress time!

–Speaking of new dresses, did everyone watch the Golden Globes?? Thanks to Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, the show was actually funny and entertaining and I watched (almost) the whole thing. Can I say how much I loved all the coral colored gowns and the sparkle?? I want one now. Here are a couple of my favorites, Zooey Deschanel and Lucy Liu (a sort of modern day Marie Antoinette, with a side braid)

–And this is also the 454th anniversary of Elizabeth I’s coronation! I may do a whole post about it next week, because I’ve been researching it for my second Kate Haywood Elizabethan Mystery, Murder at Westminster Abbey. I was watching Anne of the Thousand Days again just last weekend, and I always cry at that scene at the end when Henry comes to see Anne and she defiantly cries “My Elizabeth shall be queen! And my blood will have been well spent”

What have you been doing this week?? Who were your favorites at the Golden Globes? Any favorite Tudor movies??

Posted in Frivolity | Tagged Clothes, Golden Globes, Jane Austen Society of North America, JASNA | 6 Replies

Mansfield Park – A New Ending?

Updated on January 14, 2013 by Diane Gaston

This weekend was Kathleen Gilles Seidel’s Mansfield Park talk at our Washington Romance Writers meeting. As it always is with Kathy, the talk was intelligent, stimulating, instructive, and enjoyable.

In the morning we discussed what didn’t work for us in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, some of the same things I talked about in the blog last week. In the afternoon we speculated about alternate endings.

Some Alternatives

Mary Crawford is reformed and marries Edmund

Henry Crawford is reformed and marries Fanny

Tom is reformed and marries Susan, Fanny’s sister

The basic idea was that the flawed characters were more interesting than the wholly good Fanny or the easily besotted Edmund and that we like to see flawed characters change and be redeemed.

What Would You Change?

This got me thinking about other books or movies that deserve an alternate ending. The main one that comes to mind for me is Little Women. I always wanted Jo to wind up with Laurie. It still bugs me.

What books or movie endings would you change? Gone With The Wind? Wuthering Heights? Almost anything by Nicholas Sparks?

Posted in Jane Austen, Reading | Tagged Endings, Jane Austen, Little Women, Mansfield Park | 13 Replies

Odd Girl Out and Giveaway

Updated on January 12, 2013 by Elena Greene

Sometimes as a parent, I need to read books like this one: Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons, which addresses the covert bullying many girls partake in lieu of more overt, physical bullying which is more common in boys. Simmons explains that in many segments of our society where girls are still expected to be “nice” (while boys are encouraged to be competitive), girls do not develop healthy ways to be competitive or healthy and straightforward strategies for resolving conflicts. Instead, they develop alternative forms of aggression: manipulative “friendships”, shunning, gossip, etc.., often carried out under a veneer of “niceness”.

Although many of the cases described are saddening, Simmons doesn’t demonize the aggressors, pointing out that roles often change and that the aggressors’ behavior is rooted in insecurity and the fear of being excluded themselves. There is a high price paid by those who are part of the “in” clique.

On a personal level, I found Simmons’s insights useful, along with some of her suggestions for parents and schools. It also shed some light on behaviors I’ve seen in adult groups that are predominantly female. Not everyone outgrows this stuff.

As a writer, I also found the book interesting in light of fiction and character development.

Diane’s recent post, Mansfield Park Revisited had me thinking about how Jane Austen depicted alternative female aggression in her books. Clearly, it’s not a new phenomenon. Ladies of the gentry and aristocracy were certainly expected to be “nice” so alternative aggression likely flourished. One can see it in the relationship between Caroline Bingley and Jane Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, in the friendship of Catherine and Isabella in Northanger Abbey and definitely between Fanny and Mary in Mansfield Park.

Here’s an image from the infamous scene with lesbian undertones in the 1999 version of Mansfield Park. Although I’ll agree with critics that I never saw anything like that in the book, it does fit in with the model of manipulation, the pressure for the victim to tolerate behavior that makes her uncomfortable, with the underlying threat of loss of friendship.

My second full length Regency romance, The Incorrigible Lady Catherine, was the beginning of my “Three Disgraces” trilogy with heroines who met at boarding school and who, for various reasons, didn’t fit in and formed their own defensive alliance. So I’ve played with this issue before in my writing, although at the time of writing, I certainly didn’t understand the aggressors as well as Jane Austen must have.

Have you read other books, romance or not, where the concept of alternative aggression was used effectively?

To celebrate the recent release of The Incorrigible Lady Catherine in paperback, I’ll give away one copy to a random commenter. Comment by next Thursday (1/17) and I will announce the winner on Friday (1/18).

Elena
www.elenagreene.com
www.facebook.com/ElenaGreene

Posted in Giveaways, Jane Austen, Reading, Writing | Tagged alternative aggression, girl bullying, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Odd Girl Out, Rachel Simmons, The Three Disgraces | 9 Replies

Favorite reads from 2012

Updated on January 9, 2013 by susanna

Hi, all! Susanna here, filling in for Elena who’s recuperating from the flu.

When Elena asked if I could post today, my first thought was to talk about my New Year’s resolutions. But when I checked out the blog and saw that would make three resolutions posts in a row, I decided to instead talk about my favorite reads from the past year. Granted, there have been several such posts recently, but I don’t think there’s much overlap in our lists, so here goes.

Note that few of them are 2012 releases. Except in a few cases, e.g. a new book by a favorite author in a series I love, I don’t always make it a priority to read books immediately after release.

Favorite Historical Romance (New)

My Fair Concubine, by Jeannie Lin (2012). My Fair Lady in Tang Dynasty China, and my favorite of Lin’s books to date.

Favorite Historical Romance (Old But Now Available as an Ebook)

The Wives of Bowie Stone, by Maggie Osborne (1994). The hero is the most heroic and admirable bigamist you’ll ever meet.

Favorite Contemporary Romance

Doukakis’s Apprentice, by Sarah Morgan (2011). I’m not usually a Harlequin Presents reader–I’m just not into wildly rich, wildly alpha heroes outside of SF or history, and even then I want them to be extra-awesome, brave, honorable, and brainy–we’re talking Aral Vorkosigan or the Duke of Wellington here. But I’ve enjoyed Morgan’s medical romances, and this book came so highly recommended that I tried it anyway. And I’m glad I did, hence its placement on this list.

Favorite YA Romance/Debut Book Catching Jordan

Catching Jordan, by Miranda Kenneally (2011). Just a well-written book all around, and I could tell Kenneally thoroughly knows and loves her some football.

Wildly Popular Book That Actually Didn’t Disappoint Me

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (2008). No need to say more, since I figure y’all have already heard of this one…

Favorite Mystery Discovered Randomly When I Heard Its Author Interviewed on NPR

Bruno, Chief of Police, by Martin Walker (2009). Lovely, leisurely-paced mystery that will make you wish yourself in France.

Favorite New Entries in Long-Running Series

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, by Lois McMaster Bujold (2012). A lovely science fiction romance, albeit one that I doubt would have the same impact for readers lacking a long history with the characters and their world. Those readers should go grab Shards of Honor or The Warrior’s Apprentice and start building that history!

The Scottish Prisoner, by Diana Gabaldon (2012). I really appreciate how Gabaldon writes soldiers. Jamie Fraser and John Grey remind me of the officers in my family and the ones I meet in my historical research, which unfortunately isn’t always the case in my reading, whether in romance or other genres.

Most Useful Psychology/Self-Help Book

The Willpower Instinct, by Kelly McGonigal (2011). Explains why it’s so hard to change and ways you can make it easier.

Best Food for My Inner History Geek

Moscow 1812, by Adam Zamoyski (2004). Gripping tale of Napoleon’s invasion and retreat. Mosco 1812

Guest of Honor, by Deborah Davis (2012). Race relations 100 years ago viewed through the lens of Teddy Roosevelt and Booker T Washington.

1493, by Charles C. Mann (2011). A history of the Columbian exchange and how it altered the course of the world in the past 500 years.

The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan (2006). If you watched Ken Burns’ The Dust Bowl and want to learn more, go here.

Have you read any of my favorites? What books are you looking forward to for 2013?

Posted in Reading | 4 Replies

Some new reading for a new year…

Updated on January 9, 2013 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

So from two days after my wedding on Dec. 15 to about, oh, two days ago, I have been down with a majorly fun case of strep/ear infection/general winter blahs. I am finally feeling better and tackling the WIP (which just happens to be due at the end of the month! Fun!). But my Kindle has been a lifesaver, and I spent a whole afternoon trawling around on it looking for some obscure historical sources. Here are a few I found:

–For people like me, who like to plan fantasy trips to England, Gravestones, Tombs, and Memorials by Trevor Yorke and London’s Blue Plaques in a Nutshell (last time I was in London, I drove my mom crazy because I stopped to read every blue plaque we saw–this one is a guide to many more obscure figures memorialised there, and I am def carrying it with me next time I’m in London!)

—The Smart by Sarah Bakewell, a fascinating tale of an 18th century adventuress named Mrs. Rudd who managed to get herself into (and out of) a tremendous amount of trouble (including being imprisoned for forgery–she was acquitted, but her supposed allies the “unfortunate” Perreau brothers, hanged)

—An English Lady in Paris by Michael Allen, another fascinating 18th century woman, Mrs. Crewe, friends with the Duchess of Devonshire, a society beauty and great traveler

—The King’s Smuggler: Jane Whorwood, Secret Agent to Charles I by John Fox: the title says it all

—Tunnels, Towers, and Temples: London’s 100 Strangest Places by David Long: another great travel source!

—Beauty and Cosmetics: 1550-950 and The Ephemeral Nature of Perfume and Sense in Early Modern England

—All the King’s Cooks: The Tudor Kitchens of Henry VIII at Hampton Court by Peter Brears

—Wicked Women of Tudor England by Retha Warnicke (both because she’s an historian I admire, plus I can never resist any book with the words Wicked Women in the title)

In my quest to read more romance, I also downloaded the new Cecilia Grant (since Megan said it’s great!) and Courtney Milan’s The Duchess War. Plus I got a pile of magazines featuring spring fashions because i cannot WAIT to get out my sundresses and sandals again…

What have you been doing lately? What are some obscure/fun/great titles you’ve come across??

Posted in Reading | 6 Replies