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.

Doing a retreat the right way

Updated on May 8, 2015 by Elena Greene

I recently went on my annual writers’ retreat, and it was wonderful as usual. Here I am with one of my friend writers, the lovely and talented Laura J Bear, who’s working on her next book. Laura’s debut women’s fiction novel, Where the Heart Lands, came out in March and deals with the relationship between two intriguing and troubled female characters.

The basic formula for retreat success is the same every year: an idyllic lake house, a group of caring, supportive writer friends, lots of good food, wine and chocolate, romantic films to watch in the evening, and lots of time and space to write.

What could go wrong?

For many people, not much. If you’re a well-adjusted, happy person who can be spontaneous and creative without guilt, the above is more than enough to ensure a happy, productive weekend.

If you are a ~~neurotic, self-flagellating nut~~ sensitive soul who has at times been made to feel guilty about her creative life, it’s also important to bring the right mindset.

The challenge of having a perfect setup is that it creates a lot of pressure to be productive. It would be very easy for me to set crazy-high productivity goals. Such goals work well for people who are sane enough to be happy when they achieve say, 75-80% of their target. For me, setting the bar too high can make me choke, or at least to feel disappointed if I don’t manage to clear it.

There can also just be pressure to make every moment count. Being as starved for free time as I am, sometimes when I get some I worry about how best to use it. (OK, maybe “neurotic nut” is the right term.) I could also easily fall into the extreme of self-indulgence: too much chocolate, too much wine, too much watching videos into the night. Followed by guilt over not having achieved anything regarding the writing.

The key, I’ve found, is to aim for a happy medium between rigorous discipline and wild self-indulgence, and to focus on the process rather than the output.

This year in particular, I’m grappling with personal issues. Since I couldn’t write before the retreat and knew I wouldn’t be able to write for some time afterwards, I decided to use the retreat as a traveler through the desert uses an oasis: a place to refresh, renew hope, and gather energy for the next part of the trip.

I made sure to spend some time every morning doing the complete wellness routine I wish I could do every day. This includes journaling, yoga, and meditation. I also made sure to exercise, either hiking and/or taking a kayak out for a paddle. I allowed myself to enjoy all that good food and the wine, neither bingeing nor denying myself.

Instead of striving for wordcount, I used my writing time to brainstorm new stories. I now have a lot of detailed notes that will be very helpful when I’m ready to start writing again. Just as importantly, the retreat reminded me of how good–and very right–it can feel to be creative.

Do any of you do retreats of any sort–writing, spiritual, crafting, etc…? Any particular tips and tricks that help you get the most out of them?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Writing | Tagged Laura J Bear, Where the Heart Lands, writing retreats | 4 Replies

The Cleveland Museum of Art: Weapons, Historical Selfies and Victorian Prudery

Updated on April 9, 2015 by Elena Greene

Over the Easter weekend, I visited the Cleveland Museum of Art with my youngest daughter and a dear high school friend. Although I grew up in Cleveland, I haven’t been to the museum in years, so it was fun to tour the galleries and have lunch at the Café. Their Tandoor Grill has nice curries, Naan bread and chutneys. Mmmm….

Here are a few items of Regency interest.

The first item is in the Armor Court, an impressive collection of armor and weapons. Most of the collection is earlier than our period of course, but this “double-barrelled flintlock sporting gun” was made in 1809 for Napoleon Bonaparte. It was made by Jean Le Page, member of a family firm who supplied firearms to the French nobility. The description says such “deluxe” weapons were often made for display and as gifts and in this case, Napoleon did give this gun to a Polish count. Read more about Napoleon’s gun and check out the Cleveland in HDR blog for a closeup that shows more detail of the gorgeous workmanship.

I picked up postcards of the next two items. Although photography without flash was permitted, I didn’t want to risk the flash going off accidentally (I am clumsy) and often the pictures in the postcards are better anyway.

Here’s one of my favorite Regency portraits, what my daughter likes to call “historical selfies”. It’s a portrait of Charlotte and Sarah Carteret-Hardy, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1801. Sarah was married the same year, Charlotte a few years later. The contrasting personalities of the two remind me of my own daughters—one more dreamy and introspective, the other more lively and outgoing. And of course the clothes are lovely. Here’s the link for more information on the Hardy sisters portrait.

And lastly, I was charmed by a series, “Apollo and the Muses” by the French painter Charles Meynier in 1800. They include Polyhymnia, Muse of Eloquence; Erato, Muse of Lyrical Poetry; Apollo, God of Light, Eloquence, Poetry and the Fine Arts with Urania, Muse of Astronomy; Calliope, Muse of Epic Poetry; and Clio, Muse of History. The one I’m showing here is Erato.

Here’s a fascinating article on the restoration process. Restoring the Erato painting was particularly challenging, since another artist had over-painted Cupid’s body with a “prudish white veil” an estimated 75 years after Meynier completed the painting. Those Victorians! Fortunately, it was possible to remove the veil and restore the painting to its original beauty.

On the CMA website, you can also see the individual paintings in the Apollo and the Muses series.

Have any of you visited the Cleveland Museum of Art? (I highly recommend it.) Do you enjoy stories of restored treasures?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Research | Tagged Apolllo and the Muses, art, Charles Meynier, Cleveland Museum of Art, Napoleon Bonaparte, Portraits, sir thomas lawrence | 3 Replies

Dreaming of flowers

Updated on March 12, 2015 by Elena Greene

The snow piles around my driveway have melted a bit. I can see over them now!

I have to work at it, but I do imagine there is grass under there somewhere. And flower bulbs…

I’m not seeing them yet, of course, but crocuses are the first thing to bloom in my yard. There are just a few, as chipmunks ate most of the 200+ bulbs I planted soon after moving into the house. After the first few years, I stopped bothering with tulips. The deer eat them as soon as they bloom, leaving sad, green, headless stalks behind. Since then I rely on my daffodils and grape hyacinths for spring cheer.

While I wait, I’ve been browsing pictures of flowers in England, where the season is more advanced. My Regencies often start in the spring, although it’s not because of the London Season. I’ve never written a “London Season” story—maybe because there have been so many of them and I have not thought of a fresh take on the subject. Instead, my characters are usually in the countryside for one reason or another. These are a few early flowers they might enjoy.

Snowdrops in England

Snowdrops (galanthus nivalis) are some of the earliest bloomers. The National Trust and volunteers planted 100,000 of them last fall in Manchester to honor the centenary of the First World War. Check out these pictures of the Manchester snowdrops.

English Heritage lists these sites for snowdrop spotting, with some lovely pictures forvirtual tourists like me.

Another common flower I enjoyed seeing while I lived in the UK is the common or English primrose (primula vulgaris). I did not know it at the time, but it is an edible plant; the leaves can be used to make tea and flowers for wine.

For more lovely garden images, check out the current flowering conditions at Exbury Gardens, which I visited many years ago. Here’s a picture of Exbury a bit later in the season, when the azaleas and rhododendrons are in bloom.

Do you have favorite gardens to visit? What’s in your garden? Feel free to share pictures if you have something in bloom already—I promise not to be too jealous!

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Research | Tagged Exbury gardens, galanthus nivalis, primroses, primula vulgaris, snowdrops, spring flowers | 6 Replies

On Going Home

Updated on February 13, 2015 by Elena Greene

I’ve been trying to keep showing a cheerful front to the world here in this blog, Facebook and elsewhere, but it’s time for a confession. I haven’t done any creative writing in many months.

I’m not ready to go into the reasons at this point. I can only say that I’m facing a challenge bigger than any I’ve encountered thus far, including my husband’s stroke. The good news is that I have learned a lot from that crisis and am using it all now. I am no longer looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve also discovered that I can light my own way.

My instincts (which have been serving me very well lately and I should have listened to before) are telling me to focus my energy on solving the current crisis and that it is OK to take a break from writing. Sometimes writing is a solace, but pushing myself to write now—even if I had time—would be like a runner trying to train on a broken leg.

I am doing is letting go of the guilt imposed by internal and external critics and trusting myself. I know how to be mindful, how to tell I am being too hard or too easy on myself, how to ask the right questions and find out what I need more of, what I need less of, not only to get through the crisis but to thrive afterwards.

I think we all can do this. As Jane Austen wrote, “We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.”

In order to learn to attend to that guide, I’ve been rereading Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. She writes about women’s need to “go home”, where “Home is a sustained mood or sense that allows us to experience feelings not necessarily sustained in the mundane world: wonder, vision, peace, freedom from worry, freedom from demands, freedom from constant clacking. All these treasures from home are meant to be cached in the psyche for later use in the topside world.” One can “go home” many ways, including going into nature, praying, meditating, making art.

She also writes “if a woman doesn’t go when it’s her time to go, the hairline crack in her soul/psyche becomes a ravine, and the ravine becomes a roaring abyss.” I know from experience that this is true. So while I’m dealing with some crazy-making issues, I’m also doing my Morning Pages (a type of journaling taught in The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron), meditating at every day and finding pockets of time to do smaller projects that sustain my creativity while demanding less time than the writing.

I am not leaving the Riskies, as our new schedule of posting just once a month allows me enough time to do the rest of the work I must do before I can write again. And I will get back to writing. The river hasn’t dried up; it’s only gone underground for a while.

Do you “go home”? How?

Elena

Posted in Writing | Tagged Clarissa Pinkola Estes, creativity, Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way, Women Who Run With the Wolves | 15 Replies

Tired Tropes I Could Do Without

Updated on January 23, 2015 by Elena Greene

This year I received NINE books to judge in RWA’s RITA contest. It appears, from online discussions, that people who are open to judging a broad range of categories can get swamped, as I have. Unless there are changes in how they do things, I may have to opt out of more categories next year, because this is going to be a challenge!

Anyway, judging the RITAs is always a mixed pleasure. Usually I find some new authors to follow, but almost always, I also run into books that use some tired old tropes I don’t see in my favorite authors’ books. Here are a few I’m braced to expect:

Tired Trope #1 – The Feisty Redhead

Red hair is gorgeous, and I understand why authors might use it in a symbolic sense, to connote passion (although I’d also argue that blondes and brunettes can be just as passionate). I do wonder about the idea that redheads are naturally short-tempered.

When I googled around, I found some historical background for this idea of the “fiery redhead” and also some articles suggesting that the gene that produces red hair may also cause an increased sensitivity to pain. So perhaps a redhead might react more strongly if one accidentally stepped on her toes? It still seems like a stretch to assume that redheads have a short fuse about everything. It’s not borne out by the ones I know. They aren’t wimps but also aren’t at all the sort to jump to erroneous conclusions or blow up at trifles.

The stories that really rub me the wrong way are the ones featuring a redheaded heroine who blows her top easily and a hero who somehow thinks this is cute. Taken to this extreme, it’s infantilizing women’s anger. I prefer to read about a heroine who can be angry with real reason and a hero who, even if he disagrees with her, will take her seriously.

Tired Trope #2 – The Rich, Handsome, Alpha Chauvinist

Sadly, in most of the batches of RITA books I’ve judged, there’s at least one book with a hero who crosses the line from alpha to abusive. He shows a consistent lack of respect for the heroine, disregards her ideas, needs and desires, and may judge her sexuality using a double standard.

In a historical romance, I can imagine a hero whose upbringing and experiences may not have prepared him for a heroine with untraditional abilities or strong passions. I still want him to be intelligent enough to recognize, accept and eventually be delighted by what he learns about her true nature.

However, I actually see as many or more chauvinistic heroes in contemporary romance. Seriously, have we not gotten past the modern hero who’s surprised when a heroine proves to be intelligent and competent? Or one who slut-shames her for having as strong a libido as his?

Even if there’s some good grovel at the end, I can’t believe in a happy ending for these couples. I see the heroine ending up in what amounts to a luxurious cage and the “hero” eventually replacing her with either a younger wife or a mistress, depending on the setting.

I want to read about a hero who loves the heroine in all her complexity. One who does not see her as a static, desirable object but a living woman, who will change and acquire new wisdom and power as she goes through various phases of her life. Because he loves her, he’ll be excited to be her companion for that journey.

What do you think? Are there other tropes you’d like to see retired?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com