Author Archives: Diane Gaston

About Diane Gaston

Diane Gaston is the RITA award-winning author of Historical Romance for Harlequin Historical and Mills and Boon, with books that feature the darker side of the Regency. Formerly a mental health social worker, she is happiest now when deep in the psyches of soldiers, rakes and women who don’t always act like ladies.

Diane’s Trip to Waterloo

Updated on January 24, 2023 by Diane Gaston

As you might realize, most of my books’ heroes are British Army officers. Perhaps because I grew up as an army brat, the daughter of an army colonel. I’ve placed many of my heroes (and heroines) at the Battle of Waterloo. Imagine my excitement, then, when my friend Kristine Hughes of Number One London Tours (and author of the fabulous Waterloo Witnesses) offered a Waterloo tour this year. I’ve traveled often with Kristine and every one of her tours is fabulous. The Waterloo Tour was no exception. Kristine brought in Gareth Glover, author of several books about the battle and the Napoleonic War, to be our expert guide at Waterloo.

The tour covered all the sites relevant to the battle. Here are some highlights:

The Lion’s Mound

The Lion’s Mound was built in 1820 by King William I on the battlefield at the spot where his son, the Prince of Orange was shot in the shoulder. Lest you think the Prince was a hero, know his inexperience and incompetence got several of his soldiers killed.

Next to the Lion’s Mound was a wonderful Waterloo museum, featuring a 3-D depiction of the battle that put you right in the action.

Hougoumont

Hougoumont was one of the farms on the battlefield that saw the first action of the battle. The Allies, commanded by the Duke of Wellington, managed to hold the fort until the very end, although Napoleon made it a priority to be captured.

Hougoumont is now a museum and featured another film of the battle.

La Haye Sainte

La Haye Sainte was the farm on the other side of the battle, another strategic place of the battle held by the King’s German Legion, one of Wellington’s divisions, until the Legion’s ammunition ran out and the French finally took possession.

The farm is now privately owned and not open to the public so we could only gaze at the outside of it.

We walked the battlefield while Gareth explained the battle. I’ve done a lot of reading about the battle and I was pleased that I got most things right in my books.

This view of the battlefield is from the top of the Lion’s Mound (a 226 step climb). The land was farmland then and is farmland now.

Apsley House

We had one day in London to walk the sights that related to the battle. When Wellington returned victorious, all sorts of awards were heaped on him, including the funds for a London house and a country estate. So we visited Number One London, Apsley House’s address.

The house is one of my favorite sites in London and I’ve visited it several times. It is now a museum filled with the treasures heaped upon Wellington after the battle.

The Tour was everything I’d hoped it would be and left me with many memories I’ll always cherish.

Posted in Diane Gaston, History, Places, Research, Risky Regencies | Tagged Diane Gaston, Hougoumont, La Haye Sainte, Lions Mound, Waterloo, Wellington | Leave a reply

Secretly Bound to the Marquess – Diane’s latest!

Updated on January 24, 2023 by Diane Gaston

An emotional Regency reunion story

One passionate night
A seven-year-old secret…
Widowed Lady Eliza Varden must endure one more ball before she can politely return to the country. Only her last dance brings her face-to-face with Nathaniel, the new Marquess of Hale. It’s been years since their steamy encounter, but the spark between them is as alive as ever. Yet Eliza knows it’s not just their mutual attraction that binds them now… But is she ready to risk her independence with the truth?

From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.

My latest, Secretly Bound to the Marquess, was released October 25 and had received some very nice reviews. Here’s a sample:

Gaston (Lord Grantwell’s Christmas Wish, 2021) puts her own deftly crafted spin on the popular secret-baby trope in her latest cleverly conceived Regency historical, and her insightful way with characterization will win over readers who like their romances served up with a generous measure of historical realism.— John Charles, Booklist

Five Stars! In her latest historical romance, Diane Gaston lets doubts and schemes repeatedly cause heartache for a woman and man who only want to be loved….. SECRETLY BOUND TO THE MARQUESS is packed with believable situations, very interesting characters, and a noteworthy storyline filled with colorful descriptions.— Amelia Richards, Goodreads

Four Stars! Diane Gaston, much to the delight of her readers, knows scandal. Once again, this wicked author has written a tale that kept me glued to the pages, wondering how the main characters would save face. (Reputation means everything in the Ton.) The story was worth losing sleep for. A lovely tale, villains to enjoy hating, a child to lighten moods and give you an occasional smile, and an unending love. What more could you ask for in a romance? And all of it unfolds in such a way that only Diane Gaston can tell. Excellent! — Detra Fitch, Huntress Reviews

What the reviews and back cover blurb do not tell is that this completely heterosexual reunion and secret baby romance also gives the reader a glimpse into what it must have been like to be gay during the Regency (even though the crucial gay characters never actually appear in the book). Homosexuality in the Regency was considered a sin and a crime punishable by hanging. Just a rumor of being gay could ruin a man and his family.

I must give credit to Louisa Cornell. It was her 2020 workshop given to the Regency Fiction Writers that inspired and informed the history in this book. I’ve told her her workshop was worthy of a college course!

What do you think? Is touching on the topic of the Gay Regency in a Regency Romance welcome or too much of a risk?

Posted in book announcement, Diane Gaston, Risky Book Talk | Tagged Diane Gaston, gay regency, reunion romance, secret baby romance | 4 Replies

I Wished for White Christmas

Updated on January 24, 2023 by Diane Gaston

Recently Buffalo, NY (where my mother grew up) had a historic snow storm of 80 inches falling over four days, so much so the Buffalo Bills game had to be played in Detroit. No wonder my mother never wanted to move back to Buffalo! Here in the Washington, D.C. area we’re mostly lingering in the 50s F still. But as I looked for inspiration for my blog today, I came across an old Risky Regencies blog of mine from 2009 when we had our own record-breaking December snowstorm. We managed two feet of snow, but that was more than enough to shut down the whole DC/VA/MD area.

In the past three or four years (ever since I bought a snow blower) we’ve had very little snow. But we’re now in the Christmas season and, though I’m not ready for it to be cold now, it really would be nice to have a white christmas.

In that spirit, I’m adapting that 2009 blog for today.

One nice thing about snow is it covers all the dirt and darkness in a blanket of pure white, everything becomes quiet and life, of necessity, slows down. Here’s a photo of that 2009 snow, taken from my upstairs window.

One can almost imagine what it would be to live in the country in Regency England when it snowed, to take walks through the wood, perhaps even to go skating on the pond or zipping over to your neighbor’s house in a horse-drawn sleigh.

Of course, a Regency winter walk might be like this:

And zipping along in a vehicle, might be more like this:

In the newspaper you might read about stories like this one from the 1814 Annual Register:

Extraordinary Instance of the Sagacity of a Dog.—Mr. T. Rutherford, of Long Framlington, was, about a fortnight ago, overcome in a snow storm, near Alnwick, and fell. In this state he was exposed to all the horrors of the night, till seven o’clock in the morning. His faithful dog at this time observing a shepherd at a small distance, used every exertion to attract his attention, such as howling, going from and returning to the spot where his master lay. This induced the shepherd to follow the dog’s motions. Mr. Rutherford was found, (then covered by the snow,) carried to a neighbouring publichouse, and, after five hours’ exertion, life was restored, and he is now quite well.

On the other hand, one might have a lovely Regency Christmas, eating Christmas pudding, drinking wassail, playing Christmas music on the pianoforte, dancing or playing cards.

Tell me, do you also pine for a white Christmas?

I wish all my fellow Riskies and everyone else a very happy holiday season!

Marmion
by Sir Walter Scott

Heap on more wood! – the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.

Posted in Diane Gaston, Frivolity, Holidays, Regency | Tagged Diane Gaston, snowstorm | 1 Reply

Reading Abbey

Updated on November 17, 2014 by Diane Gaston

One of the unexpected treasures from the Duke of Wellington Tour was seeing the gatehouse of Reading Abbey.

Reading Abbey is a set of ruins in the center of Reading in Berkshire founded by Henry I in 1121. It was destroyed in the 1500s when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, but a few buildings remained, including the gatehouse.

The gatehouse is noteworthy in “our” era, because Jane Austen, around ten years old at the time, and her sister Cassandra briefly attended boarding school within its walls. The girls were instructed for only an hour a day in dancing, drawing, French and needlework. In contrast, boys would spend hours studying the classics. Jane’s father took them out of the school after 18 months and Jane never returned to formal schooling again.

Here is a print of the gatehouse around Jane Austen’s time:

This is a photo I took on the trip:

On the facade of the gatehouse were stone faces. Certainly these must have dated back to the early days of the Abbey. Here are a few of them:

Other walls of the ruins of the Abbey were visible, but we could not walk to them. Across the street from the gatehouse was the lovely Forbury Gardens, but that is a topic for another day.

(I certainly hope you are not sick of my Duke of Wellington tour blogs!)

Posted in History, Jane Austen | Tagged Berkshire, Jane Austen, Reading Abbey, Reading and Writing | 6 Replies

Remembrance Day

Updated on November 10, 2014 by Diane Gaston

Tomorrow is November 11, Veteran’s Day, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. In the UK and the Commonwealth, November 11 is known as Remembrance Day.

Remembrance Day takes on more significance in the UK than here. Perhaps because 888,246 Commonwealth lives were lost in World War I. 888,246. that’s a staggering number. Can you imagine? Everyone in the UK must have been personally affected by that war.

This year the UK is marking Remembrance Day in a truly remarkable way. At the Tower of London 888,246 ceramic poppies are being planted, one for each life lost. The poppies could be purchased for 25 pounds each and will be sent to the donors in January.

I first heard of this project when I visited the Tower of London and saw the poppies that had been planted in the moat so far.
You can see the individual poppies in this photo.

That was the beginning of September. Now the whole moat is filled. The poppies now bleed from a bastion window, arc above the Tower’s medieval causeway, flow over the top of the walls and fill the moat with a sea of crimson.

The idea for this art project came from this poem:

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

The blood swept lands and seas of red,
Where angels dare to tread.
As God cried a tear of pain as the angels fell,
Again and again.
As the tears of mine fell to the ground
To sleep with the flowers of red
As any be dead
My children see and work through fields of my
Own with corn and wheat,
Blessed by love so far from pain of my resting
Fields so far from my love.
It be time to put my hand up and end this pain
Of living hell. to see the people around me
Fall someone angel as the mist falls around
And the rain so thick with black thunder I hear
Over the clouds, to sleep forever and kiss
The flower of my people gone before time
To sleep and cry no more
I put my hand up and see the land of red,
This is my time to go over,
I may not come back
So sleep, kiss the boys for me

So, tomorrow, think of the 888,246 lives represented in the Tower’s moat. Think, as well, of the 116,516 American dead. Think of all the soldiers who have died in wars in these last 100 years.

And honor them.

Do you have a particular person to remember on Veteran’s Day? Mine is my father, Col. Daniel J. Gaston, who spent a whole career in the army.

Posted in History | Tagged Remembrance Day, Tower of London Poppy Project, Veterans Day | 6 Replies