Author Archives: Elena Greene

About Elena Greene

Elena Greene grew up reading anything she could lay her hands on, including her mother's Georgette Heyer novels. She also enjoyed writing but decided to pursue a more practical career in software engineering. Fate intervened when she was sent on a three year international assignment to England, where she was inspired to start writing romances set in the Regency. Her books have won the National Readers' Choice Award, the Desert Rose Golden Quill and the Colorado Romance Writers' Award of Excellence. Her Super Regency, LADY DEARING'S MASQUERADE, won RT Book Club's award for Best Regency Romance of 2005 and made the Kindle Top 100 list in 2011. When not writing, Elena enjoys swimming, cooking, meditation, playing the piano, volunteer work and craft projects. She lives in upstate New York with her two daughters and more yarn, wire and beads than she would like to admit.

First Impressions…of Jane Austen

Updated on December 16, 2008 by Elena Greene

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen!!!!

This week, we’re supposed to be talking about our first Austen…but I’ve done that before here at Risky Regencies, so I thought I’d thrown in a little twist…and tell you what my first (and later) reactions were to my first several Austen novels and movie adaptations…

The first time I read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, I was thirteen, and I utterly loved it. (That part has never changed, though I do understand certain parts better now.)

I believe the first Jane Austen movie I ever saw was the Greer Garson/Laurence Olivier PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, when I was a teenager. I liked it well enough, and for a while it even messed with my own memories of the book, leaving me with a vague belief that the book involved a lot of archery, and that Lady Catherine wasn’t all that bad in the end… 🙂 (When rewatching this at various times years later, I think I most admired Olivier’s interpretation of a shy Darcy.)

The second Austen adaptation I saw was the Rintoul/Garvie PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, also when I was a teenager. I liked it all right, but it didn’t excite me, and I definitely thought it inferior to the book. (The second time I saw it, I loved it. The third time, I was less enchanted, but really loved Garvie.)

Then, freshman year in college, I read NORTHANGER ABBEY. I was initially disappointed that it wasn’t more like PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, and wished there were more romance, and less satire. I really didn’t care for the implication that Tilney liked Catherine better for being ignorant! (I have loved this book more and more on each rereading…perhaps because I now read it for humor, while picturing Bath, and I ignore what I don’t like.)

Then I saw the 1986 BBC NORTHANGER ABBEY, and hated it! I thought Peter Firth was creepy, and the overemphasis on the Gothic bits just silly. I’ve always thought those were the weakest parts of the novel, so the idea to make them even more prominent just seemed wrong to me! (The second and third time I saw it, years later, I think I admired the costumes and Bath scenery more…but Firth and the Gothic bits have always seemed wrong to me.)

Next, I read SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, and was annoyed at how Marianne just ran on and on, and how Brandon didn’t have the sense to fall in love with Elinor. (This has remained my least favorite Austen…and I confess I’m always surprised when I run into anyone who puts this in their top two! I just see major weaknesses in it…)

So…those were my first impressions (and later reactions) to my first three Austen novels, and first three Austen adaptations. How about yours? Have your opinions on some of your early Austens (novels or adaptations) changed? Or have re-readings or re-viewings just confirmed you in your tastes?

All answers welcome!

Cara
Cara King, who hopes you all show up the first Tuesday in January to discuss the first Gruffudd Hornblower adaptation!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE!!!

Updated on December 16, 2008 by Elena Greene

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE AUSTEN!!!!

And many happy returns!

(Cara’s post will follow shortly…)

Cara

The books are better, but…

Updated on December 10, 2008 by Elena Greene

Lest you think this is just an excuse for posting another gratuitous Sean Bean pic, let me tell you I have been thinking about what Susan Wilbanks said last week, about the Sharpe books being better than the films. I’m about half-way through the series now and for the most part, I agree. But I’m also finding there’s a synergy between the books and films, at least in my mind, that helps them both.

For this series, I broke my usual rule of reading the book first, so Sean Bean easily became my image of Sharpe. In the books he is dark-haired and there’s the confusion about where in England he hailed from, but I’ve managed to get over those issues. Now when I read the books, I hear Bean’s voice and see his face. Yeah, it doesn’t hurt the reading experience at all. : )

In cases where I have read a book before seeing the film, sometimes the actors still manage to take the place of my first mental images of the characters. When I’ve read subsequent installments of Harry Potter, I now see and hear the voices of the cast from previous films. Also not a bad thing.

Lots of authors (many of us here, I think) use this sort of effect in a similar way, using actors as inspiration for their characters’ appearance and sometimes for aspects of their personality as well.

Right now I’m “using” John Corbett and Laura Linney, picking up a few traits from their roles in Northern Exposure and Love, Actually. For my hero, I found this image. He’s got that bold, embracing-life sort of feel I want for my balloonist. Laura Linney’s character, on the other hand, is sensitive, caring and bound by a sense of responsibility. Clever contrast, huh?

Anyway… as a reader or a writer, do you find this sort of synergy happening between books and films?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged characterization, Richard Sharpe | 18 Replies

COMMUNAL REGENCY STORY: The Cat in the Cravat

Updated on December 9, 2008 by Elena Greene

First: the schedule for the next five months of Jane Austen Movie Club — watch the film ahead of time (or go from memory), and come prepared to discuss! (Remember, our discussions are always the first Tuesday of the month!)

January 6: The first Ioan Gruffudd Horatio Hornblower (entitled HORNBLOWER: THE EVEN CHANCE in the UK, and HORATIO HORNBLOWER: THE DUEL in the US…)

February 3: THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1934 — Leslie Howard)

March 3: THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1982 — Anthony Andrews)

April 7: THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE

May 5: SHARPE’S RIFLES

Now, today’s topic: a communal story!

I’ll write the beginning of the story, and anyone who wishes can continue the story in a comment…a sentence, a paragraph, whatever you like! Then the second comment can continue from the first…and eventually, we’ll have a (certainly bizarre) little story! (And if you like, you can keep coming back and adding to it — you’re not limited to one comment!)

THE CAT IN THE CRAVAT

On the first of May, in 1813, Almack’s was a frightful bore…until six minutes past ten, when a giant white cat in an exquisite coat by Weston strolled through the doors.

All the ladies swooned — the mothers, in fear of a wild beast; the grandmothers, in fear of white cat-hairs on their blue or maroon silk gowns; and the daughters, in fear that this ferociously handsome stranger might fall in love with anyone but them.

Let the madness begin!

Cara
Cara King, who far prefers cats to ratafia

Posted in Risky Regencies | Tagged Uncategorized | 18 Replies

Cynical Characters

Updated on December 3, 2008 by Elena Greene

Bah humbug!

I love cynical characters. Here are some reasons why.

They’re a reminder that we live in an imperfect world where politicians can’t all be trusted, families aren’t always like a greeting card commercial and dreams don’t come true just because we wish them.

They work wonderfully in stories. As the adage says, scratch a cynic and you find a disappointed romantic (or idealist, depending on the version). There’s so much room there for character growth (or renewal, perhaps).

Pairing cynical characters with idealistic ones creates instant tension (think Luke Skywalker and Han Solo). In romances we often see the cynical hero with the idealistic heroine though I love it when that gets reversed, as in Laura Kinsale’s FOR MY LADY’S HEART or Judith Ivory’s SLEEPING BEAUTY.

When don’t I care for cynical characters?

When they remind me of real life cynics I don’t admire. An older relative of mine, who if you tell him you enjoyed a book or a movie or a bottle of wine, will always tell you why it was really crap. People who don’t vote because it’s a waste of time (hopefully there are fewer of those now). People who complain but never take action. Kids who are too cool to sing in the school chorus and make fun of those who do (yeah, this one’s personal).

In romance, it could be the hero or heroine who has checked out of life due to past wounds. Unless those wounds are inflicted on a Kinsalean order, the character comes across as weak and self-pitying. It’s a fine line.

Or how about the hero who says all women are gold-diggers? Until he falls in love with the heroine, of course, at which point he decides she is the one woman in England (or the world) not after his fortune. I can sort of buy this if he’s rather young and still reeling from his first love’s betrayal, but generally I prefer characters with a less simplistic view of life.

I like cynical characters who aren’t totally blind in their cynicism, but recognize that there are many shades of gray in the world and are willing to deal with them. They may act as the voice of caution to their more idealistic friends, but they don’t needlessly rain on their parades.