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Category: Risky Regencies

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


Which one will you choose?

Vote for your favorite tagline for the blog–or suggest another, April 14-21, and be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate!

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 21, 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

It is my distinct honor and pleasure to be a guest blogger here! The Risky Regencies are the blog of my heart, the blog that along with Squawk Radio introduced me to the romance community and fired up my desire to write.

I started reading RR in June of 2006. In those early days I couldn’t muster up the courage to comment on any of the posts. However, when Gerard Butler as Beowulf graced the pages of RR, I couldn’t stop myself!

That first comment emboldened me to visit daily, leave more comments, then comment on the comments by others. (Note from Risky Regencies: You see how commenting is a slippery slope!!) Here’s how the first week went:

On July 3, Diane wrote The Gerard Butler Post
On Tuesday, Cara blogged about Period Views of America, hilarious quotes by Americans of “our” period in honor of Independence Day.
Then Elena talked about Roughing It describing a flooding disaster that struck her home and actually made me weep.
Janet’s discussion about How Literate We Are according to the top 30 books of British librarians was a surefire “Uh=oh!” for me.
Megan’s recounting of the events of her son’s birthday had me wishing she would organize my daughter’s party.
Amanda finished up the week with A Brief History of Soccer in honor of the World Cup.

You can see why I was hooked. How could I not be?!

The Riskies vary widely in their hobbies and interests, but are united by their love of history, books, and writing. I have learned so much from them. Diane and Amanda introduced me to craft of writing, the ups and downs of the writing life, and the modern joys of Project Runway and Dancing With the Stars. Cara added to my 3-year long Netflix list with all the versions of Jane Austen movies, made me into a cardsharp 200 years removed, and delighted me with her brilliant Austen Trek.

Elena showed me how to write from the heart, how to balance writing with motherhood, and how to serve colored meals for holidays (red food for Valentine’s Day, orange for Halloween, etc). If blog posts were to have emotions, Janet’s posts would always be smiling, for instance this and this. If there’s anything about the servant life in the 1800s that Janet doesn’t know, then it’s not worth knowing. From Megan I discovered that Clive Owen has hundreds of publicity headshots, everyday life can be fashionable, and it’s alright to be sad or silly, but for heaven’s sake don’t be boring!

A year and a half later, I’m still here, chatting just as much as before! In the course of dedicated blogging by the Riskies and their guests (with a special shout-out to Todd and our dear beau Bertie), I have made fast friends who’ll see me into the next decade and beyond.

If I’ve made a small contribution to the Risky community, then I’m indeed blessed. Ladies, thank you from my soul and the soles of my feet for having me here!

Keira Soleore can be found in many (many!) spots in the online writing world! She’s the board moderator for Candice Hern’s message board, she’s at her own website, and at her blog Cogitations and Meditations (see the links on Risky Regencies!). If you wish to nosh about Top Chef, email her straightaway.

Happy Saturday, everyone! We have so many exciting things coming up on Risky Regencies–a contest (stay tuned this week for the announcement!); a Guest Blogger visit tomorrow from Keira Soleore; and next week I will be in New York, staying with Risky Megan (so I can report on her new house firsthand!). Also, if you’d like to win a signed copy of A Sinful Alliance, I will be at Unusual Historicals for one more day. Be sure and visit! Oh, and I finally wrote “The End” on my Caribbean/Balthazar book this week!!! Chocolate all around. 🙂

And, since I had absolutely no idea what to talk about today (trying to do laundry so I can pack my suitcase!), I decided to pull out some of the research I did for ASA. Can’t let it go to waste, after all! Here is a story of the 2 palaces that appear in the book, Greenwich and Fontainebleau.

Greenwich was originally built in 1433 by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, a brother of Henry V. It was a convenient spot for a castle, 5 miles from London and Thames-side, and was popular with subsequent rulers, especially Henry VIII. His father, Henry VII, remodeled the place extensively between 1498-1504 (after dispatching the previous occupant, Dowager Queen Elizabeth, to a convent). The new design was after the trendy “Burgundian” model, with the facade refaced in red Burgundian brick. Though the royal apartments were still in the “donjon” style (i.e. stacked rooms atop rooms), there were no moats or fortifications. It was built around 3 courtyards, with the royal apartments overlooking the river and many fabulous gardens and mazes, fountains and lawns.

At the east side of the palace lay the chapel; to the west the privy kitchen. Next door was the church of he Observant Friars of St. Francis, built in 1482 and connected to the palace by a gallery. This was the favorite church of Katherine of Aragon, who wanted one day to be buried there (of course, that didn’t turn out quite as she planned…)

Though there are paintings and drawings of the exterior, not much is known of the interior decorations. The Great Hall was said to have roof timbers painted with yellow ochre, and the floors were wood, usually oak (some painted to look like marble). The ceilings were flat, with moulded fretwork and lavish gilding, embellished with badges and heraldic devices (often Katherine’s pomegranates and Henry’s roses). The furniture was probably typical of the era, carved dark wood chairs (often an X-frame design) and tables, benches and trunks. Wool or velvet rugs were on the floors of the royal apartments only, but they could also be found on tables, cupboards, and walls. Elaborate tiered buffets showed off gold and silver plate, and treasures like an gold salt cellar engraved with the initials “K and H” and enameled with red roses.

For the events in my book, the visit of the French delegation, two new structures were built at either end of the tiltyard, a grand banquet house, and a theater where there were masques and concerts.

Many important events of the era took place at Greenwich. Henry VIII was born there on June 28, 1491, and he married Katherine of Aragon there in May 1511. On February 8, 1516 Princess Mary was born there, followed on May 13 by the marriage of the king’s sister Mary, Dowager Queen of France, to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk (a huge source of much gossip!). In 1527 came the French delegation which forms the center of my book. They were received with much pomp “and entertained after a more sumptuous manner than has ever been seen before” (according to one courtier). On September 7, 1533, Princess Elizabeth was also born there, followed nearly 3 years later by the arrest of her mother Anne Boleyn after a tournament. One of the last great events Greenwich saw in Henry’s reign was the wedding to Anne of Cleves in 1540.

It was a royal residence through the reign of Charles I (1625-49), but under the Commonwealth the state apartments were made into stables, and the palace decayed. In 1662, Charles II demolished most of the remains and built a new palace on the site (this later became the Royal Naval College), and landscaped Greenwich Park. The Tudor Great Hall survived until 1866, and the chapel (used for storage) until the late 19th century. Apart from the undercroft (built by James I in 1606) and one of Henry VIII’s reservoir buildings of 1515, nothing of the original survives.

Fontainebleau, on the other hand, can be seen in much the state Francois I left it in. On February 24, 1525 there was the battle of Pavia, the worst French defeat since Agincourt. Many nobles were dead, and king was the prisoner of the Holy Roman Emperor in Madrid. He was released in May, but only at the price of exchanging his sons (Dauphin Francois and Henri, duc d’Orleans) for his own freedom. In May 1526, Francois created the League of Cognac with Venice, Florence, the Papacy, the Sforzas of Milan, and Henry VIII to “ensure the security of Christendom and the establishment of a true and lasting peace.” (Ha!!) This led to the visit of the delegation in 1527, seeking a treaty of alliance with England and the betrothal of Princess Mary and the duc d’Orleans.

After his return from Madrid, Francois was not idle. Aside from plotting alliances, he started decorating. Having finished Chambord, he turned to Fontainebleau, which he loved for its 17,000 hectares of fine hunting land. All that remained of the original 12th century castle was a single tower. Francois built new ballrooms, galleries, and a chapel, and called in Italian artists like Fiorentino, Primaticcio, and Vignola to decorate them in lavish style (some of their work can still be seen in the frescoes of the Gallery of Francois I and the bedchamber of the king’s mistress the duchesse d’Etampes). The marble halls were filled with artworks, gold and silver ornaments, and fine tapestries. Unlike Greenwich, this palace was high and light, filled with sunlight that sparkled on the giltwork.

A few sources I used a lot with this book are:
Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry, and Pageants in the Middle Ages, Richard Barber
Excavations of Greenwich Palace, 1970-1971, PW Dixon
Tudor Food and Pastimes, FG Emmison
–The Six Wives of Henry VIII
, Antonia Fraser (there are LOTS of books on this subject, of course, but Fraser’s is great!)
Prince of the Renaissance: The Life of Francis I, Desmond Seward
Food and Feast in Tudor England, Alison Sim (yes, I do like researching food!)
The Royal Palaces of Tudor England: Architecture and Court Life, 1460-1547, Simon Thurley
Henry VIII: The King and His Court, Alison Weir (full of wonderful info!)
Henry VIII and His Court, Neville Williams

I know it’s hard to comment on a research-type post, but I’m curious–after reading about both palaces, which would you prefer to live in? (I’m torn, but I lean toward Greenwich). Where would you like to see a book set?

See you next week from New York!

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