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Author Archives: Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

About Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

Writer (as Amanda McCabe, Laurel McKee, Amanda Carmack), history geek, yoga enthusiast, pet owner!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope everyone had a good weekend (I went to a friend’s annual Superbowl Party, but I ended up just eating too much junk food and then watching Puppy Bowl with their kids. I do love Puppy Bowl!). I dug out from under last week’s storm, but they say snow is coming back tonight and I’m headed to Target and the wine shop to lay in supplies.

But being stuck in the house is not so very bad. It makes me stop procrastinating and get productive on the WIP and the website (which has updates finally! Including some Behind The Book history on The Shy Duchess!) I hit the halfway point on the Mary Queen of Scots WIP, and this is about the time the characters start to get out of control, going off on plot pathways I did not plan. It’s also about the time (in this story anyway) that things start to really heat up for the hero/heroine, and I realized I actually have a few rituals I do before writing a love scene. A few possibilities that usually work well:

–Drink a glass of wine and watch a Vampire Diaries episode
–Do a little imaginary shopping on the Agent Provocateur website (and then taking my real budget to Victoria’s Secret)
–Listen to some Miles Davis or the Marie Antoinette soundtrack (depending on the mood of the scene)

These usually work wonders. They’re also good for getting in the mood for V Day. As probably every romance writer (and every poor husband/boyfriend who forgot to order flowers early and is now scrambling) knows, next Monday is Valentine’s Day! Flowers, candy, diamonds, and restaurants that are way too crowded and have overpriced prix fixe menus. If you’d rather stay home, order in and watch a movie, there are tons of sites out there with “top romantic” movies lists. Here are just a few sites I found if you’re looking for suggestions:

All Women’s Talk (50 Most Romantic)
Celebrate Love (100 Most Romantic)
Cinema Blend (15 Romantic Movies Men Should Like)
The Holiday Spot (16 Romantic Movies for Valentine’s Day)

And here are a few movies I find to be romantic (or at least have romantic scenes!) and that I would be happy to watch anytime. (I just stuck with feature films here, not BBC-type costume dramas or we would be here until the Fourth of July…)

Room With a View
Moulin Rouge
Persuasion/Pride and Prejudice (for the Austen crowd!)
Shakespeare in Love
Bringing Up Baby
Breakfast at Tiffany’s/Roman Holiday
It Happened One Night
Last of the Mohicans
Say Anything (one of my favorite movies as a teenager–I never did find a Lloyd Dobler though…)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
–The tango scene in Mask of Zorro
–The Pere Lachais scene in Paris Je t’aime
Bright Star
Phantom of the Opera

But usually I end up watching Romeo and Juliet (the Zeffirelli version) around this time of year! The costumes, the music, the balcony scene–sigh…

What are your favorite romantic movies? What are you planning for Valentine’s Day? And what are some of your favorite fantasy shopping places??? (Or any love scene-writing tips, if you’d like to share, LOL)

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The Riskies welcome back Cara Elliott to the blog, to tell us about the story behind her new release To Tempt a Rake! Comment for a chance to win a copy…

Hi everyone! I’m so delighted Amanda invited me to stop by and visit with the Riskies today. I’m celebrating the release of my latest Regency-set historical romance, To Tempt a Rake, since it’s always a Cause of Joy to finally see a story hit the shelves. However, with all the dreary winter weather up where I am, I confess it’s been hard to feel in a real party mood. Looking like the Michelin Tire Man in sheepskin boots and layers of thick fleece sweatpants and tops does not make a girl feel very glamorous.

But knowing the fashionistas here, I figured this was a perfect place to add a little sparkle to the grey days by talking Regency glitter and bling, Vienna style!

Part of my story is set at the Congress of Vienna, the grand Peace Conference that convened in the fall of 1814 to reorder Europe, now that Napoleon was safely (ha!) exiled to the isle of Elba. Royalty from all over the continent were invited to the city on the Danube, and together with the leading statesmen of the day, they set themselves the task of hammering out solutions for a vast range of political and social questions. All very laudable, of course. But with such a scintillating array of celebrities gathered in one place, the work quickly turned into play. As David King notes in his book Vienna 1814, the movers and shakers had come to make love as well as peace!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that rich, powerful men attract beautiful, scheming women–and Vienna in 1814 was no exception. Some of the notable females included the Duchess of Sagan, the “Cleopatra of Courland,” who was carrying on a passionate affair with Prince Metternich, the Austrian head of the conference…but then she needed a favor from the skirt-chasing Russian tsar…only to become enamored of a handsome cavalry officer–you get the picture. One needs a scorecard to keep track of who was sleeping with whom. Her rival in holding the most influence with men at the conference was Princess Bagration, the Russian “Naked Angel of the North,” who wore only white muslin (well dampened) to cling to her svelte form.

So trust me, Vienna turned into the party town of the time. Masked balls, medieval jousts, outdoor balls danced under a blaze of fireworks, sumptuous sleigh rides, complete with a traveling orchestra–the daily entertainments were dazzling in the extreme. And of course, a lady has to dress for the occasion, right?

Here are a few of my favorite fashion tidbits:

–At the Emperor of Austria’s Welcoming Ball, one of the “decorations” was having the Duchess of Sagan and 23 of her friends come dressed as the Four Elements: Six ladies dressed as Water, wearing blue and green dresses festooned with pearls, coral, and seashells. Six wore bright red dresses and carried torches to represent Fire. Six wore thin, nearly transparent gauzy dresses and wore wings to be Air. And lastly, representing Earth, the duchess and her group wore brown velvet dresses and headdresses made out of golden baskets filled with jeweled fruit!

–At the Carousel, the recreation of a medieval joust, there were 24 Queens of Love appointed to cheer for their champions. Each queen wore an elaborate velvet dress with lace trim, and vied to have the most elaborate display of jewels adorning it. Princess Esterhazy’s gown was reputedly worth 6 millions francs, and one of the other ladies proclaimed, “We shall wear every pearl and diamond to be found in Hungary, Bohemia, and Austria!” Indeed one Prussian officer was moved to exclaim that 3 military campaigns could have been fought with the riches on display that night. (In keeping with the “bling” spirit of the evening, Lady Castlereagh wore her husband’s Order of the Garter as a tiara)

As you can imagine, this real-life history made a colorful backdrop for my fiction. I had a ball weaving some of the details and people mentioned here into Kate and Marco’s adventure–for me, research of what helps make a story come alive.

So, have you any favorite parties from history? And speaking of gala parties and fashion, the Oscars are coming up–who will have the most fabulous dress? (Amanda and Megan will have the skinny on this!) Please chime in! I’ll be giving away a signed copy of To Tempt a Rake to someone who leave a comment here…

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How is everyone’s Tuesday going?? Around here it is cold and very, very white. A big snow/ice storm moved in last night, and this morning I had to put on my coat and snow boots to dig my poodle out of a snow bank (she loves to run and roll in the snow, and get so covered she looks like a little icicle!). Now that I’m back inside and cozy with a cup of tea, I remembered that it is Tuesday and my Risky day. Here is a bit about what’s going on this Tuesday:

1) A new cover! This is for my Harlequin Historical “Undone” story, out in April. Set in 1922, it’s a brand-new time period for me, full of beaded gowns, champagne, and fabulous cars, where the heroine uses a Gatsby-esque masked ball to convince the man she’s always loved they’re perfect for each other…

2) I tried to find something relevant to the Regency anniversary, and discovered that on this day in 1814 Byron’s poem “The Corsair” sold out its entire print run of 10,000 in one day in London! The third of 6 “Turkish Tales,” it has a typically Romantic exotic setting in Turkish harems and shipwrecks.

It also served as inspiration to a ballet still performed today, Le Corsaire, which had its premier in Paris on January 23, 1856 with music by Adolphe Adam…

3) February 1 is also the anniversary of a non-Regency event, Elizabeth I signing the death warrant of Mary Queen of Scots in 1587, after a captivity of over 20 years. I’m knee-deep in Mary history at the moment with my WIP (though my story takes place much earlier, soon after Mary’s return to Scotland from France. But I can see the beginning of the slippery slope for her…)

4) The opera La Boheme also had its premier on this day, in Turin in 1896, a performance conducted by a young Toscanini. This is one of my favorite operas, and I just popped in the CD of the new Anna Netrebko version to listen to while I write…

5) And, just for fun, some of the costumes of Downton Abbey! I would kill for some of those hats. What did you think of Sunday’s finale???



So, in summary, covers, 1920s, Byron, ballet, Mary Queen of Scots, La Boheme, Downton Abbey, snow (lots and lots of snow). What do you think of any/all of these??

The Riskies are happy to welcome back guest blogger, Harlequin Historical author Julia Justiss! She’ll be giving away a copy of her new release, Society’s Most Disreputable Gentleman, to one lucky commenter. For more info, visit her website, where she is also giving away Godiva chocolates…

The Romance of Lace

Many thanks to the Riskies for inviting me to talk about my February release and share a bit about that loveliest of fabrics, English lace!

First, a bit about that new release, Society’s Most Disreputable Gentleman. Fired from his job as estate manager and then abducted and pressed into the Royal Navy. hero Greville Anders (brother of heroine Joanna of From Waif to Gentleman’s Wife) returns after 8 month’s service at sea a radically different man. Eager to obtain his release and pursue an honest career, he has little interest in the idle Society he used to frequent. But despite his vow to reform his rake’s ways, how could he help but flirt with his host’s beautiful daughter Amanda? For her part, Amanda Neville has dreamed since childhood of becoming a brilliant Society hostess. She’s not about to risk that by dallying with a younger son of little fortune, no matter how scandalously attractive he might be!

When Greville finds himself marooned in the Devon countryside while he recovers from wounds suffered during a battle with privateers, he’s happy to further his flirtation with Amanda by having her give him a tour of her father’s vast estate.

Along with fields planted in corn, mining on the Dartmoor, and flocks of sheep and cattle, Amanda’s father acts as a factor for his tenants who produce handicrafts. One of the most famous Devonshire handicrafts was Honiton lace, which was produced by craftspeople in their home cottages and then sent to the town of Honiton, where merchants marketed it to London and other large towns in England.

It’s thought that lacemaking originated in Italy in the 16th century and then spread throughout Europe. Some credit the lace-making tradition in Honiton to Flemish weavers who came over to pursue the cloth trade, for the town had been a center for the weaving of wool and flax since medieval times. Whether Flemish weavers brought the techniques or not, by the time that Charles II was making lace collars and cuffs fashionable, the lace makers of the Honiton area were developing their unique style of embroidery, drawn-thread, and cutwork.

Honiton lace is best known for its floral and leaf motifs, which were the result of several craftsmen’s group efforts. The flower or leaf design would be made by one designer; then the pieces, called “sprigs,” would be stitched together in larger pieces. The lace patterns were made using pairs of slender pointed bobbins. The lacemaker would prick out a design on parchment, which was pinned atop a small, firm pillow stuffed with straw or sawdust. Pins would be inserted into the design, around which the threads would be woven and plaited to create the design. These flower pieces were then stitched to a net background.

During the mid-18th–19th centuries, it was estimated that nearly half the population in the area were engaged in the lace business. However, like many handcrafts lacemaking suffered after the introduction of power looms.

Queen Victoria did her part to revive the craft. When she married Prince Albert in 1840, her dress was to be trimmed with Flemish lace, but the Queen insisted the lace on her gown be English instead. An order was placed with Tuckers in the nearby town of Branscombe, who was then the largest employer of lace makers in the area. When the couple’s first child was born, the christening gown was also trimmed with Honiton lace; the gown was used for royal christenings for many years, until the cloth became too fragile. The royal family continues to order Honiton lace for special occasion; in 1981, Lady Diana Spencer’s gown was trimmed with Honiton lace.

Allhallow’s Museum, a 13th century former chapel that is the oldest building in Honiton, contains an extensive collection of historic lace. There are also many shops in town specializing in lace and the local pottery for which Honiton is also famed.

After Amanda gives Greville a tour of her father’s estate, he’s almost as impressed by his host’s vast and varied enterprises as he is by his beautiful hostess! I hope you will find Greville and Amanda’s story equally engaging.

So, how do you feel about lace? Is is a sweet luxury that whispers romance–or when trimming lingerie, something naughtier? Or an old-fashioned fabric that should give way to modern textiles? I wish I might offer one responder a piece of Honiton lace, but will have to limit myself to a copy of Disreputable!

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