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After a week away, I’m just starting to catch up on laundry and emails, but I can’t help adding my tuppence to all the discussions you’ve all had while I was away.

I agree with Cara on Pace vs Depth; I like stories that occasionally slow (though not stop) for world-building and character development. I find that uniformly frenetic pacing can become boring in its own right. In a romance I also want to see some glimpses of the HEA.

Diane’s post A Character in Possession of a Good Motto provoked thoughts and smiles. The closest I’ve come to character mottos was in thinking about how the characters in LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE would react to being imprisoned. Livvy would carve poetry into the walls to keep herself sane; Jeremy would risk death to try to escape.

Janet’s Let’s Talk About Summer had me looking forward to RWA. It’s been far too long since I’ve met with my fellow Riskies and there are so many of our regular visitors I am looking forward to meeting in person! Oh, and that cover is very Barbie but the girliness is not necessarily a bad thing. 🙂

And Megan’s That Fresh Feeling and Amanda’s What I’m Doing on my New York vacation had me wishing I could be there with them, soaking up all the artsy inspiration and good writing vibes. And one can never view too many gratuitous Sean Bean images.

As for what I have been doing, I was in Florida visiting my in-laws. Take three parts Mr. Woodhouse, two parts Mrs. Bennet, add a dash of Sir Walter Elliot, shake well and reincarnate as an elderly Jewish couple and you get the idea. I love them dearly but I was also glad we planned some good outings.

One day (and many $$$) were spent at Epcot with the kids. Expensive, only lightly educational but fun, especially pigging out at the country exhibits: shawarma and hummus at Morocco (yum!) and chocolate eclairs in France (yum again).

I also took my budding violinist to see Pinchas Zukerman perform with the Florida Orchestra. He conducted the entire concert and played a Mozart violin concerto, looking very relaxed and happy wearing what appeared to be black silk pajamas. We had 2nd row seats (not ideal for sound balance but great for viewing nuances of technique) and my daughter gazed up at him as if he were a god–and he pretty much played like one.

The helpful string expert at the music store where we rented a violin alerted us to a performance of Mahler’s 2nd Symphony by the Bach Festival Orchestra. I hadn’t heard much Mahler before, perhaps because symphonies that extend far beyond the typical 4 movements are less likely to be played on classical stations. My local orchestra, the Binghamton Philharmonic, hasn’t ever performed a Mahler symphony, at least not while I’ve lived in the area. But wow! There’s a whole world in that music. Must hear more.

Anyway, what has everyone else been doing this past week? What’s your favorite ethnic food? What do you think of Mozart? Mahler? Do you have any relations who remind you of Jane Austen characters?

And don’t forget, it’s the last day of our Great Tagline Contest. If you haven’t done so already, enter your vote for the chance to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate! Click here for full contest details.

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like, if Jane Austen had written a novel about American Idol?

No? Why ever not?

Sorry, “I’m not crazy” is not sufficent explanation. Because I know you’ve all been wondering!

Lucky for you, that’s just what today’s post is. In the spirit of Austen Trek, here’s…

AUSTEN IDOL. Or, if Jane Austen Wrote American Idol.

After Jason Castro ended his performance, the applause was notable.

Ryan Seacrest turned to the judges. “And what did you think of the young gentleman’s performance, Mr. Jackson?”

Randy Jackson nodded. “He has as good a kind of hair as ever lived, I assure you. Ah. Jason Castro. A slightly pitchy voice, but there is not a bolder hairstyle in America!”

“And is that all you can say for him?” cried Mr. Seacrest, indignantly. “But what is his vocal technique on more intimate acquaintance? What his tastes, his talents, and genius?”

Mr. Jackson was rather puzzled.

“Upon my soul,” said he, “I do not know much about him as to all THAT. But he is a pleasant, good humoured fellow, and whenever I see him, I shout ‘Dog’ with great exuberance.”

Now it was Mr. Seacrest’s turn to be puzzled. “Sir?”

“Dog! After all, he has got the nicest little black bitch of a pointer I ever saw. Will she be performing later today?”

With more precision than elegance, Ryan Seacrest then turned to the lady seated next to Mr. Jackson. “Would you be so kind as to share your opinion on Mr. Castro’s performance, Miss Abdul?”

Paula Abdul beamed. “Oh! my dear Mr. Seacrest, how are you this evening? And my dear Mr. Castro–I come quite over-powered. Such a beautiful head of hair! You are too bountiful!”

“But what,” persisted Mr. Seacrest, “did you think of his singing?”

“Well!” cried Miss Abdul. “That was brilliant indeed!–Mr. Castro was admirable!–Excellently contrived, upon my word. Nothing wanting. Could not have imagined it.–Such pretty hair!– Randy, Randy, look!–did you ever see any such thing? Oh! Mr. Castro, your dear mother will not know her own child again. I saw her as I came in; she was standing in the entrance. `Oh! Mrs. Castro,’ said I–but I had not time for more.”

“I…see,” said Mr. Seacrest, after a confused pause. “And…Mr. Cowell? What were your thoughts upon hearing Mr. Castro sing without either backup singers or band?”

Simon Cowell scowled. “To sing three notes, or four notes, or five notes, or whatever it is, while playing the ukelele, and alone, quite alone! what could he mean by it? It seems to me to shew an abominable sort of conceited independence, a most country-town indifference to decorum. I could hardly keep my countenance. Very nonsensical to perform without a band! Why must he be scampering about the stage, pretending that he knows how to play that undernourished second-rate guitar? And with his hair so untidy, so blowsy!”

“Oh, come now,” cried Mr. Seacrest. “You cannot have seen such lack in his performance!”

“How could I not? And the cruise ship on which he is doomed to perform; I hope you saw his cruise ship, six inches deep in mud, I am absolutely certain; and the hair which had been let down to hide it not doing its office. He has nothing, in short, to recommend him, but having an inexplicably popular coiffure. I shall never forget his performance this evening. He really sounded almost wild.”

Ryan Seacrest looked exceedingly at sea, and without the safety of the oft-mentioned cruise ship to keep him from drowning. “Very well, Mr. Cowell. If you think that Mr. Castro’s singing is lacking, then pray tell: what does it lack? What do you require in a singer if you are to bestow your praise?”

“Certainly,” cried Simon Cowell, “no singer can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A vocalist must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, he must possess a certain something in his hair and manner of phrasing, the tone of his voice, his it-factor and song choice, or the word will be but half deserved.”

So….what do you think? How did you like my “casting”?

All comments welcome!

By the way, I forgot to announce the next topic of discussion for the Jane Austen Movie Club! Because we all need to catch our breaths (or, at least, I do), on May 6 (first Tuesday of the month!) we will all share lists of our favorite Austen adaptations, favorite performances, and that sort of thing. Please join us!

Cara
Cara King, whom Miss Bingley would think sadly unaccomplished

Greetings! We’ve decided to extend the deadline for our contest for anyone returning from RT or other parts.

You now have until Wednesday, April 23rd, to vote for your favorite tagline for the blog–or suggest another. You will be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate!

The candidates:

1. A great deal of conversation and a liberality of ideas (Austen, Persuasion)

2. A Regency salon for readers and writers

3. The first Regency Romance Blog…and still the best

4. The original, riskiest, and forever the friskiest Regency Romance Blog

Send an e-mail to riskies@yahoo.com with TAGLINE in the subject line and in the body of the e-mail, please put your name, your favorite tagline, and, if you’re feeling inspired, your own suggestion. One entry per person, please.

At close of voting, April 24, the Riskies will put their heads together and come up with a winner, to be announced in May. Or possibly two winners … because we’ll have a random drawing from all entries; and if we choose your tagline, you’ll get a prize too.

Good luck and have fun!

The Riskies

I first started reading Lord of the Rings when I was ten. I loved what I read, but partly through the first book, when Frodo and his friends were at Bree, I put it down and didn’t pick it up again for a year.

My older brother, who influenced much of my reading, was not happy. “But you kept telling me you loved it!” he argued. “Why did you stop? You were just telling me how funny it was, how you loved the part at Bree when they were celebrating!”

And it was true. I’d put the book down at what was perhaps the lightest point in the book. Of course, now, I can look back and realize there was a reason I hadn’t put the book down when Frodo was about to be captured by Ringwraiths, or eaten by an evil tree, but at a point where the tension was relatively low…where he and his friends were (to my ten year old mind) safe and happy.

So this offers support to the oft-repeated advice: keep your characters in trouble, the tension high, the suspense building.

However…

I’ve been questioning that recently.

Or, at least, questioning some of the advice that often goes along with that, such as: give your characters one hell of a hard time. Make their greatest fears come true. Keep them always off-balance. Don’t let them win till the end. Start with a bang, with a serious problem, and just keep building the suspense, the drama, the trauma, until at the black moment all is lost…

And, sure, I can see that that can lead to a heck of a page-turner, at least with a protagonist the reader cares about. But is that all there is to life, to novels, and everything?

What about the part of the novel that sticks with you? I can remember gorgeous banquets in Oz, poetry in Middle Earth (and getting drunk at Bree), happy family scenes in Frederica, more banquets at Hogwarts (I guess I love food!), delightfully silly plotless dialogue in Northanger Abbey…

When a reader remembers the world in a book and thinks “I wish I lived there,” I think there’s more going on than breathless page-turning heart-pumping pace. There’s color, and life, and texture. Music. Magic. Depth.

Which is not to say that I’m against pace. Or plot. Or excitement. But nowadays, I think I want to read both.

And I want to write both.

As with everything else, it’s the balance that’s hard. But I’m resolved not to write a book that’s just plot point A, plot point B, turning point, turning point, etc etc. I want to write a world that’s real, a world that’s interesting…a world with banquets.

What do you think? Does a consistently tight pace make a novel’s world shallower, or do you think that’s a false duality? If you think there’s something in it, which do you prefer?

All answers welcome!

(N.B. — I’m actually out of town right now on sudden family business, so I may or may not be able to answer comments in a timely fashion…but I’ll stop in as soon as I can!)

Cara
Cara King, author of MY LADY GAMESTER, in which the pace pauses for an elephant