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Author Archives: Janet Mullany

Greetings from England

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Greetings from England, where I arrived abnormally early yesterday morning for a visit to the Old Man Who Is Not a Tree, and spent the rest of the day reminding him who I was and drinking tea.

So absolutely no nuggets of interesting English stuff–yet. I’m off to London today and plan to take the trip up the river to Greenwich from Westminster. I remembered to pack the camera and IF I remember to take it with me, remember that I have it, and take some photos… well, there may be pix. No promises and probably not as good as this.

Other activities–trying to get together with various people, at least one more trip to London to meet my lovely editor and my lovely new editor who’s inheriting me, meeting up with friends and who knows what… oh, and the British Museum and the V&A and possibly a couple of guided walking tours (I claim tourism status–I’m qualified).

And I really recommend a book I started reading on the plane and possibly left there–Author Author by David Lodge–a novel about Henry James.

What are you up to?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 16 Replies

Heaving Bosoms

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Your romance novels are welcome here. Celebrated. Loved. Cuddled, even, if they’re particularly good. Adorned with man titty and paraded up and down the street to acclaim, applause, and perhaps stray dollar bills. We’ll occasionally poke — with savage abandon, even — at the more ludicrous aspects of the genre, but we kvetch because we love.
–-Beyond Heaving Bosoms

A big, thrusting Risky welcome today to guest Sarah Wendell, co-author with Candy Tan of Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches Guide to Romance Novels. As always, your question or comment will enter you into a drawing for a signed copy of the book, so heave your bosom over to the comments section…

Romance is such a huge genre with so many tropes and themes and subgenres. How did you and Candy decide how you’d categorize material?

It was NOT easy. We had IM sessions and email conversations and outlines and other outlines that were outlines of the first outlines, and some random post-it notes that have since been lost and probably contained the secrets to the universe. I’m sure there’s something we missed and I so want to know what people think we ought to have mentioned more — it was probably in early drafts. Early drafts of this book were mammoth. Turgid, even.

Why do you think the Regency is such a popular setting?

I think part of it is what Kalen Hughes called that fantasy patina of the distant past. That far back in the days of yore and everything is soft focus and sepia toned, right? I mean, the 1940’s weren’t in COLOR were they?!

Plus, the Regency, and to the same extent the Victorian era, were both marked by extreme social rules and restrictions operating on top of a rather lustful and actively sexually curious society, and that dichotomy leaves a great deal of room for writers to explore all the classic themes of romance.

What do you find particularly ludicrous about regency-set historicals?

The frequency with which heroines go out wearing a pelisse that is always, always inadequate for the weather. It’s England, for God’s sake. Expect rain, you ninny!

What do you think works in Regencies?

The role of manners, both stated and unstated, and the importance of dialogue to convey the atraction that cannot be expressed through physical contact.

Which writers of historical do you enjoy reading?

Names?! You want me to name NAMES?! Gosh, it depends on the mood, but I’m always up for the subversive portrayals of women from Claudia Dain and Carolyn Jewel. I love the depth of history in Janet Mullany and Kalen Hughes‘ books, and I love, love, love the way Julia Quinn can make me laugh.

I’m going to kick myself for the next 3 days every time I remember someone I forgot to mention.

(Squirming with pleasure.) What’s next? Do you plan a sequel?

Nope. We shot our wad with this one, as I’ve said. It’s not really possible to do a sequel to a guide to the genre. We’ll be doing as much as we can to portray romance as the genre it really is: brilliant fiction written by brilliant women for an equally savvy, sharp audience of smart, smart women.

Thanks, Sarah–OK, everyone, get your sensible pelisse on and comment away. One lucky commenter will receive a copy of Beyond Heaving Bosoms!

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Brunel, bananas, and an apology

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First, in the interests of encouraging others to waste time online, you can now find me on Twitter, not that I have anything particularly interesting to say there.

Today is the birthday of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, born 1806, possibly England’s greatest engineer, whose masterpieces like the Great Western Railway, the Thames Tunnel and the Clifton Suspension Bridge are still in use today. He was the inventor of the first propellor-driven ocean going iron ship, the SS Great Britain.

It is also–and I hope Megan wasn’t planning to blog about this exceptionally important date–almost the anniversary of another important date, April 10, when, in 1633, bananas first went on sale in London.

You can imagine–or at least, I can–the bemused discussions that took place regarding the fruit. I think we should throw the squishy part away, it’s probably gone bad…Too bloody expensive–quick, they’re not looking, put one in your codpiece…

The banana was first introduced to North American in the 1870s and an early, helpful publication, A Domestic Cyclopaedia of Practical Information stated: Bananas are eaten raw, either alone or cut in slices with sugar and cream, or wine and orange juice. They are also roasted, fried or boiled, and are made into fritters, preserves, and marmalades.

Banana marmalade? Jam? And it still doesn’t explain if you’re meant to consume the whole thing, the inside, or the outside, which I’d think would be the most helpful hint of all.

And now, I have decided to do an about face. I was wrong, I admit it. Jane Austen is a romance writer. I’ve been thinking about this for some time, and here are the points which made me change my mind:

Secret babies. Willoughby (Sense & Sensibility) has a secret baby.

Cowboys. There are many rural settings. Harriet Smith, in Emma, has a beau who owns at least one cow, (we know because it’s Harriet’s favorite). Therefore, Robert Martin is a cowboy. Yeehah. And Knightley himself, a powerful alpha male landowner, has to be a ranch owner. Pam Rosenthal blogged persuasively over at the History Hoydens that most of Knightley’s land has to be enclosed and is therefore grazing land.

Navy Seals. Close and almost a cigar–Persuasion is rife with manly men in uniforms, the cream of the Royal Navy, muscles rippling beneath their skin tight uniforms.

Sex. Who can forget the torrid sex on page 47 of Mansfield Park?

Alpha males. Yes… the glowering simmer of Mr. Darcy (Pride & Prejudice), the sinuous grace of Edward Ferrars (S&S), the riveting description of Mr. Collins as he masterfully handles the English Book of Common Prayer (P&P), Captain Wentworth’s mainmast, and Knightley, see above.

TSTL Heroines. Catherine Morland (Northanger Abbey, with the added bonus of being a TSTL heroine in her nightgown).

Can you think of any other examples? Let us know!

Posted in Jane Austen | Tagged , , | 10 Replies
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