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Monthly Archives: June 2014

Silver-Fork-NovelLikely the more research-minded of the Riskies knew about this genre already (and Sandra Schwab added more to my knowledge), but just this week I was looking for a type of novel that would be written in the early Victorian era, and I found out about ‘Silver fork‘ novels (my heroine’s sister is writing a serial).

These are novels that were set in the Regency, but written thirty years later, taking a reminiscent look back at the period but also casting a censorious eye on some of its frivolities (this was the Victorian era, remember). I was trying to think about how that would work now; would novelists return to the mid-’80s and write about new wave, and about Ronald Reagan’s presidency, and the ending of the Cold War, and Prime Minister Thatcher? There are novels that do that, of course, but it’s not a genre, per se.

Inevitably there came the anti-silver fork novel movement, which deglamorized the period, didn’t concentrate on the aristocracy, and tried to be less treacly in writing about the period.

It’s looking back at these kinds of artistic movements that make me realize we’re not so different from our ancestors, 200+ years on. We continue to write, and react-write, and react-react-write, so that everything keeps rolling in a continuous circle.

And meanwhile, I am almost up to 10,000 words on the new book, a Marriage of Convenience story with a rakish duke and his perfectly impeccable duchess. Here’s a bit from the beginning:

So he was not so happy when he heard his brother Griffith calling his name.

Griff wasn’t bad, as brothers went, in fact Nicholas quite liked him. But Griff, unlike his older brother, did not habituate houses of ill repute, nor even houses of good repute, instead usually staying in the library to spend more time reading.

“Excuse me, ladies,” Nicholas said, removing the woman from his lap and placing her gently beside him. He did up the buttons of his shirt and ran a hand through his hair, which he knew was entirely disheveled, thanks to the sensual stroking and playing that had been done to it.

“In here, Griff,” he shouted, getting to his feet. He was just tucking his shirt back into his trousers when Griffith entered, his brother’s eyes widening as he saw what must have appeared to be absolute and total debauchery in the room.

Or, as Nicholas liked to call it, Tuesday.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Megan

Posted in Risky Regencies | Tagged | 2 Replies

…I will be in Belgium for the events surrounding the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo! I bought my tickets for the reenactment yesterday, as soon as I heard they were available.

Waterloo reenactor

I’ve been planning this trip for over ten years, saving money and vacation time so I can take at least four weeks off work. The current plan is to fly into London so we can give our daughter, who’ll be 11 and just finished with 5th grade then, a soft, English-speaking landing for her first trip abroad. She’s such a huge Doctor Who fan that London should seem familiar to her.

Then it’s on to Belgium for the reenactment. From there our tentative itinerary is several days in Paris, followed by almost a week in the Dordogne River valley (for delicious food, prehistoric cave paintings, and some nice relaxation in the middle of what will surely be a hectic trip). After that I’ll put my Wellington fangirl hat back on as we go into Spain and Portugal, where we’ll visit at least a few Peninsular War sites.

Is anyone else going to be at the reenactment? And do you have a “trip of a lifetime,” either in your past or planned for your future?

RioPalace1This week, as I wait for revision on the last WIP I turned in (Murder in the Queen’s Garden, book 3 in my Kate Haywood Elizabethan Mysteries), I am starting on the next.  I am very excited about this story!  It’s my next romance for Harlequin Historicals, set in the Regency, but with a twist–we are headed to Rio!  In 1808, the Portugese royal court fled to their Brazilian colony ahead of Napoleon’s invasion, and my hero (a British officer) and heroine (daughter of a British diplomat), who once had a youthful romance that went wrong, get to go along for the adventure.

It’s a fascinating, complicated period in history (plus there are beaches and palm trees!  And watching World Cup games is totally research, right???).  According to Wikipedia:

The transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil refers to the escape of the Braganza royal family and its court of nearly 15,000 people from Lisbon on November 29, 1807. The Braganza royal family departed for the Portuguese colony of Brazil just days before Napoleonic forces invaded Lisbon on December 1. The Portuguese crown remained in Brazil from 1808 until the Liberal Revolution of 1820 led to the return of John VI of Portugal on April 26, 1821.[1]:321 For thirteen years, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, functioned as the capital of the Kingdom of Portugal in what some historians call a “metropolitan reversal” (i.e., a colony exercising governance over the entirety of the Portuguese empire.)

In doing some research on the era, I found this fascinating article about an archaeological find of thousands of imperial artifacts found during a subway excavation in Rio

Here’s a site about one of the royal palaces, which can still be toured, in Brazil, Royal and Imperial Palace of São Cristovão

Stay tuned for much more about this story later!  In the meantime, have a great summer week.  Next Tuesday, historical mystery author Alyssa Maxwell will be standing in for me, talking about her Gilded Newport series!

Posted in Research | 1 Reply

Tomorrow, June 17, the paperback version of A Lady of Notoriety will be available in bookstores and from online vendors.

A Lady of Notoriety is the third book in my two-book Masquerade Club series. You read that right. The series was planned for only two books, but, then, in book 2, A Marriage of Notoriety, there was this character who simply begged for a book of her own.

Daphne, Lady Faville, was sorta the villain in A Marriage of Notoriety. She was the cause of most of the bad things happening in the book and deserved, like all villains, to receive her just deserts and she did. She fled to the Continent. But she was much too interesting a character to leave there.

Daphne was incredibly beautiful, immensely wealthy, and was that most independent of Regency women–a widow. Her whole life she’d gotten whatever she wanted because of her beauty. She was self-centered, lacked insight, and had little emotional depth.

Perfect for a heroine, eh?

I thought so.

Because I thought she could be redeemed.

I sent her to a nunnery where she had a year to reflect on her actions and her character. When she is ready to return to England, she wants to become a better person, but it is hard.

Her first challenge is the care of a man who saved her from a fire, injuring his eyes in the effort. The man just happens to be Hugh Westleigh, brother of Phillipa Westleigh, the woman she so wronged in the previous book. His eyes are bandaged so he cannot see her and she pretends to be someone else as she cares for him.

What they both do not count on is falling in love. For Daphne, it is the first time a man has liked her for herself, not how she looks, but when Hugh’s bandages come off, he will see who she is–the despised Lady Faville.

I loved writing this book! Not all books are easy to write, but this one seemed so clear to me from start to finish. Daphne also became one of my favorite heroines. Her journey to redemption seemed to flow from my pen….er flow from my fingers on a keyboard.

So today, in celebration of the mass market paperback release of A Lady of Notoriety, I’m giving away a signed copy of the book to one lucky commenter chosen at random. I’ll pick the winner by the end of the day tomorrow June 17, the release day.

The Goodreads Giveaway is ending tomorrow, another chance to win the book:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Lady of Notoriety by Diane Gaston

A Lady of Notoriety

by Diane Gaston

Giveaway ends June 17, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win


Do you like stories of redemption? Do you like incredibly beautiful heroines, or do you prefer your heroines to be normal, like the rest of us?

Did you notice we have a Risky Sampler? Read some excerpts from the Riskies. Mine is from A Marriage of Notoriety.

Admit it. We all procrastinate. But I’m not here to tell you how to avoid it, I’m here to give you some great procrastination tools. Now, granted, I have some go to procrastination tools: house cleaning, desk organizing, cooking, errand-running.

But today, I am providing some of my favorite online tools other than email, which goes without saying.

Bao Bao - National Zoo

Bao Bao – National Zoo

Today we have a plethora of panda cams available to us. My current favorite is The National Zoo Panda Cam. Bao Bao was born on August 23 of last year and just keeps getting to be more fun to watch.  I was similarly obsessed with her older brother, Tai Shan. Also fun, although the cameras are not as good, are the twins at Zoo Atlanta. No new cubs at The San Diego Zoo, but an excellent Panda Cam. If you’re not into pandas (although frankly I can’t understand that), they also have Tiger, Koala, Polar Bear, Ape, Elephant and Condor cams.

A less time-consuming and more domestic animal-centric page is Cute Overload. Always good for quick animal fix. I don’t get the lizards and bugs on this page, but I guess cuteness is in the eye of the beholder.

greenjane90If your online procrastination tends toward the interactive, there’s always Facebook (I know I don’t need to link to this) and Twitter (nor this). If you like your interaction more focused, I refer you to my own pemberley.com where you can discuss Jane Austen ad nauseum (really!) or A Forum of Ice and Fire for you Game of Thrones fans. (Caveat: I’ve never participated in this, so I cannot say how friendly it is).

Looking for something where you don’t have to interact with other people? How about Mahjong Solitaire. I sometimes click to this when I’m on hold. Jigsaw puzzles? I like The Jig Zone where you can choose the number of pieces for each puzzle.

lemon-ginger-pound-cake-ay-lI also spend quite a lot of time looking at recipes. The Food Network is always good for this, as is My Recipes.

Of course, you can’t go wrong with research-related procrastination but I think I’ll save that for my next blog.

What’s your favorite procrastination tool or site?

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