Here’s what you get when I can’t think of a coherent blog topic….

1. In revenge for Megan’s Free Rice link, I offer you the Shakespeare Insult generator, courtesy of my friend Julie. This wonderful website offers you a cornucopia of the perfect insult, like, “Thou pribbling idle-headed wagtail” or apropos of this blog,”(you) speak an infinite deal of nothing.”

I was, by the way, briefly up to level 46 of 48 on Free Rice and I have donated over 2,000 grains of rice. So Far.

2. The BBC website has a lot of interesting stuff on it, not the least of which are listings of tantalizing shows like, The Age of Excess: When Britain Went Too Far, which is about the excesses of the 18th century. If you click on Empire and Sea Power on the side menu, you get all sorts of wonderful stuff, like an animation of the Battle of Trafalgar or The Waterloo Game. Seriously, there are a bunch of intriguing articles on this site. My only complaint is that they do not call The Regency, The Regency, but lump it into the Georgian period as “Empire and Sea Power.”

3. Contrast this website with the BBC America one, which prominently features what’s new on Hex. If you dig a little deeper, however, you can find a British American Dictionary equally as cumbersome, but with the redeeming feature of showing British insulting words.

And that, I believe, brings me full circle!

Is today giving you any reason to use a Shakespearean insult or a British insulting word?
None for me so far.

I’m off to get my hair colored-with-highlights at Vidal Sasson, so I’ll see you later.

Diane-who-hopes-she-doesn’t-use-a-Shakespearean-insult-after-her-hair-is-done

We’re thrilled to welcome national bestselling, RITA-Award winning Tracy Anne Warren, author of six Regency historical novels published by Ballantine Books. Her debut novel, The Husband Trap, is the winner of numerous awards including the RITA, the National Readers’ Choice Award, the New Jersey Golden Leaf, and the Golden Quill. All three of her Trap Trilogy novels appeared on the USA Today Bestsellers’ List. The Wedding Trap also appeared on The New York Times Bestsellers Extended List and the Borders’ Group List of Bestselling Single Title Romance Paperbacks. She’s here to talk about her October release, My Fair Mistress, the first in The Mistress Trilogy, and your relevant question or comment will enter you into a drawing for a signed copy of the book. The usual rules apply–no masquerading under different handles–we shall give you the cut direct.

Tracy, welcome to the Riskies. Tell us about My Fair Mistress.
It would be my pleasure. My Fair Mistress is set in 1812 London and tells the story of young, aristocratic widow, Julianna Hawthorne, and darkly handsome Rafe Pendragon, the financier to whom her brother is deeply in debt. Julianna seeks out Rafe, intending the ask the dangerous, sexy businessman, known as ‘The Dragon,’ to accept an alternate form of payment, hoping he will be satisfied with jewelry and paintings. Instead, he tells her the only thing of value he wants is her as his mistress for six months. He never expects her to accept, but to both their surprise, she says “yes.”

Tell us about the next two books in the series.
The second two books feature Ethan and Tony, best friends of Rafe Pendragon’s, the hero in My Fair Mistress.

In The Accidental Mistress (November 2007), the heroine, Lily Bainbridge stages her own death in order to flee an arranged marriage, then takes the guise of an independent London widow. But when dangerously attractive rake, Ethan Andarton, Marquis of Vessey, decides to make her his mistress, her passion for him just may prove impossible to resist.

And in His Favorite Mistress (December 2007), debonair bachelor Tony Black, Duke of Wyvern, finds himself entangled in a sensual battle of wills with vivacious Gabriella St. George, the daughter of Rafe’s most hated enemy. Soon Gabriella wants Tony’s love, but will passion be enough to melt his icy heart or will he make the biggest mistake of his life and let her go?

What sort of research did you do?
For My Fair Mistress I researched the various neighborhoods in London during the Regency, referencing both The A to Z of Regency London and The London Encyclopedia. I wanted to give my hero a respectable, though not tony address somewhere away from my heroine’s Mayfair townhouse. I decided Bloomsbury fit the requirements rather nicely. I also needed another location where Rafe and Julianna could meet for their clandestine rendezvouses without anyone else being the wiser. And then I am always researching various other details from whether men had buttons on their shirt sleeves––they did––and what the most popular dress colors were in 1812 and 1813–jonquil, Princess Elizabeth lilac, Devonshire brown, Pomona green and willow green were a few.

The Risky question–is there anything in the book you consider risky or that surprised you (or your editor)?
I think the premise itself is rather risky––deliciously so since Julianna decides to barter her virtue to Rafe and become his temporary mistress, rather than see her family in ruin. She would rather give herself to a man for a few months than sell herself into a loveless marriage, as most ladies would have done.

What are your influences / what do you like to read?
I read a variety of books, mostly fiction, and my favorite remains romance. Right now, I have been enjoying a lot of paranormal romance. I also recently caught up with the rest of the world and finished all seven books in the Harry Potter series. Wow, what great books.

What’s next for you?
I just completed the proposal for the first book in my next Regency romance trilogy––a lush, vivid tale that takes place in 1810. Once all the details of my new contract are complete, I will let my readers know. Please visit my website at www.tracyannewarren.com for the latest news and updates!

Tracy will pop in during the day to answer questions and chat and you’ll have the chance to win a signed copy of her book–come on in and join the fun! We’ll announce the winner on Monday night.

Last week I went down to Dallas to see an exhibit called “Star Struck: Hollywood Costumes and Designers, 1934-2006.” It was a smallish exhibit (18 gowns plus a collection of sketches), but it was very comprehensive and had some great stuff. If you visit here very often, you know how excited I get about movie costumes! You can see an article about the exhibit here.

A few of the highlights were:

Replicas of the green and white organdy barbecue gown from Gone With the Wind and the Royal Ascot gown and hat from My Fair Lady (because the originals either no longer exist or can’t be found). I’ve long had a lust for that hat (I LOVE hats!)

All the other costumes were originals, and included the red satin gown Nicole Kidman wore in Moulin Rouge

A couple of kimonos from Memoirs of a Geisha (not the ones in this pic, but similar)

The blue velvet suit from Titanic

And my very favorite, the wedding gown from Marie Antoinette! Photos weren’t allowed in the exhibit, but this gown was in a case that could be walked all around, so I could examine the elaborate silver trim, the cut of the satin, the lacings up the back. It was gorgeous. Someday, if I ever get up the courage to get married, I’ve decided on an eighteenth century theme, with a gown like this one. 🙂

We’re also coming up on my Very Favorite holiday–Halloween! I’m going to a party tonight, and this is my costume, based around a great hat I found at Target and some fabulous chiffon fabric for the sleeves.

Last time I was a witch it looked like this:

And Abigail is going as Snow White. Isn’t she just the cutest Disney Princess ever??? (Victoria has a very cute Jack Sparrow costume, but alas won’t wear it. I will try to get pics of her later).

Happy Halloween everyone! What is your costume, either real or fantasy?

Be sure and sign up for the Risky Regencies newsletters at riskies@yahoo.com, with “Newsletter” in the subject line. It’s all treats and no tricks!

Let’s talk a bit about an aspect of movies that is often not even really noticed, but which can make or break a story–the soundtrack.

Something of a tangent, but not entirely: last weekend I went to see Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I was really looking forward to it, since I liked the first Elizabeth film. The Elizabethan era is one of my very favorites. In grad school, I specialized in Elizabethan poetry, so I know that the history in that movie was, well, a big crock of almost total nonsense. I expected that would be true of The Golden Age, as well, and also that the costumes would be stupendous (if sometimes a bit silly–what was up with that gigantic flower??). I wasn’t disappointed by either. What I didn’t expect was that it would be something of a snooze-fest. It even made Mary Queen Scots and the Armada dull going, and even Clive Owen (looking quite yummy in his scruffy-explorer Walter Ralegh get-up) seemed to be sleep-walking through it all.

The first movie was highly suspenseful, dark, almost claustrophobic. It captured the danger of the times so well, and also the lavishness and the delicious bawdiness. Christopher Eccleston was an intensely menacing Duke of Norfolk; Cate Blanchett an astoundingly perfect queen (as she also was in TGA, though far too young-looking). That tension was lacking in this new film. It gave me way too much time to eat my Sour Patch Kids and ponder such stream-of-consciousness matters as–“Why does Phillip II persist in giggling constantly? Why does he only have such lame lines as “What of the Jesuit?” And which one is the Jesuit anyway? Rhys Ifans? Or that crazy kid who looks like a Calvin Klein underwear model? No, I think he’s supposed to be Babington. Maybe. Why get an actress of Samantha Morton’s caliber to play Mary Queen of Scots if they’re not really going to use her? She should star in her own movie. Mary: Age of Extreme Foolishness. I would definitely go see that. She’d have to lose that weird Scottish accent, though, and sound French like she’s supposed to. Wow, I do like that gown Abbie Cornish is wearing. Wonder where I could get one?”

Anyway, the point of all this is that there were a few scenes I liked. The one where the crazy underwear model tries to shoot Elizabeth; Mary’s execution; the one where the storm that will destroy the Armada (not, as the movie would have us believe, Clive Owen) is brewing, and Elizabeth walks out on a cliff in a flowing white chemise. Oh, and the Volte dance bit. I do love bits with dances. Those scenes had a power lacking in much else, and one of the important reasons was the very effective use of music.

Another movie that did this very well was Marie Antoinette. I liked it despite the very bad screenplay and the less-than-stellar acting because, aside from looking gorgeous, it sounded weirdly great. The montage of life at Versailles set to Vivaldi; the masked ball where dancers twirl around to Hong Kong Garden. Terrific, if also very, very odd.

I like to set my books to soundtracks, too. This is a great way to waste time not writing while also feeling like I am doing something productive for my creative process. My current WIP is the second in my “Muses of Mayfair” series, Clio’s story, set in Sicily in 1818. Here are a few songs I’ve found for it:

1) Albinoni’s Adagio

2) Dave Matthews Band, Crash

3) Mozart, Der Holle Rache (the Queen of the Night’s second aria), The Magic Flute

4) Nickelback, Rock Star (I’m usually contemptuous of Nickelback, I admit, but this one has a Big Dumb Fun infectiousness, much like that “tell me what you want what you really really want” Spice Girls song. Maybe I should include that one, too)

5) The Cure, Pictures of You

6) BowWowWow, Aphrodisiac (stolen from the Marie Antoinette soundtrack, which I like to listen to when on the treadmill)

7) Mascagni, Intermezzo sinfonico from Cavalleria Rusticana

I need something for a skinny-dipping scene, too, if anyone has any ideas…

If you did a soundtrack for your own WIP, or your favorite book, what would it include? Anyone seen any good movies lately???

On Saturday, I saw the final concert in what is possibly the final tour ever for the rock band Genesis. Fantastic concert, fabulous band, great experience.

So how, you ask, does a Genesis concert relate to the Regency? In, oh, so many ways! Here are just a handful:

1. The founding members of Genesis all met while students at Charterhouse School, which Wikipedia explains is “one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868.” (The other eight are Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Westminster, Winchester, St Paul’s, Merchant Taylors’, and Shrewsbury.)

Other famous alumni of Charterhouse (which was founded in 1611) include Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, William Blackstone (of “Blackstone’s Commentaries”), Henry Luttrell, Henry Siddons (son of Sarah Siddons), William Godwin (Mary Shelley’s half-brother), and Thackeray.

2. If Gerard Butler exemplifies how an insanely muscular Regency man might look under his clothes, then surely Genesis are a great example of what a Regency progressive rock band would sound like???

3. Casual radio listeners probably associate Genesis with their hits from the late 1970’s through early 1990’s, songs like “Invisible Touch” and “I Can’t Dance,” which were often accompanied by lighthearted videos.

But many of their fans are more interested in their earlier albums, both those with their first lead singer, Peter Gabriel, and also the first few with their second lead singer, Phil Collins. (Phil, by the way, did not go to Charterhouse; he was a child actor who once played the Artful Dodger in a London production of the musical “Oliver!”)

Songs on these earlier albums were rife with the sort of allusions that might occur to a well-educated public school boy: references to classical mythology (Narcissus, Tiresias, Salmacis, Lamia), Lilith, Arthurian legend, the Book of Revelation, Marlowe, Shakespeare, John Bunyan, Keats, Wordsworth, and Wuthering Heights, to name a few.

Of these, it was the classical allusions that have always struck me most. I think it’s far too easy, as writers, to have our Regency gentleman running around talking about Shakespeare and Johnson and Fielding and Sheridan and Austen and Burney and Byron — folks who come to our minds when we think of either England or, more specifically, the English Regency. But I try to remind myself that our Regency gentlemen had educations that focused on the classical world, not on England. They probably went around talking about Hector and Neptune and Cicero much more than we give them credit for.

So, you see, Genesis have helped me write better Regencies. 🙂

And don’t forget our next meeting of the Jane Austen Movie Club, on November 6. (Always the first Tuesday of the month.) We’ll be discussing the 1996 BBC/A&E adaptation of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, a.k.a. the Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle version!

Cara
Cara King, who never saw a lamb lie down on Broadway