Deb Marlowe, you’ve won a copy of Rises The Night by Colleen Gleason!

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My horoscope this week says I’ve “gotten a little addicted to habits that are rooted in fear and worry.” It also gives me some interesting suggestions as to how to break out of this cycle. “1) On an empty milk carton, paste a collage of cut-out images and phrases that symbolize your anxieties. Then put it on the floor and stomp it to death as you growl. 2) Slap your own hand briskly 10 times as you bark ‘Stop being such a wuss!’. 3) Everywhere you go, visualize yourself accompanied by 3 great warriors who’re dedicated to your well-being.”

These are very good, especially #3. Where can I find 3 great warriors?? And I decided to add to this list (and celebrate sending the new book off and away!) by going to Barnes and Noble and buying some summer reading! Also to buy a large iced tea to celebrate National Iced Tea Month (see Bizarre Food Holidays–I’m very glad to find that my iced tea addiction is being recognized on such a level). My criteria for Summer Reading is easy–it has to be fun. Not research. Even though, in my mind, research book does=fun.

I came up with Michael Gruber’s Book of Air and Shadows. It appears to be a “literary thriller” (according to the jacket), involving a lost Shakespeare manuscript, secret codes, car chases, Russian gangsters, etc. What else does a story need?? Salon.com also says it boasts “nimble, witty prose,” which sounds like Summer Reading to me. I’m going to give it a try this weekend, as I sip Nationally Recognized Iced Tea and sit by the pool (okay, sit by my dogs’ little plastic wading pool from Petsmart).

I also bought some romances–Desperate Duchesses, Lord Sin, and The Spy Wore Silk, as well as Lindsay Pollock’s The Girl With the Gallery (biographies do qualify as SR, right? Right). So, let Summer begin!

What are you reading this summer? (Besides books by the Riskies, of course! Don’t forget Janet and I both have books out in August…). And how do you get rid of “fear and worry”??

Be sure and sign up for the all-new Riskies newsletter at riskies@yahoo.com, with “newsletter” in the subject line. If you do, I won’t put your picture on a milk carton and stomp on it…

A fast-paced, carnival ride of a book. Publishers Weekly

A few reasons: first, I wanted to feature a secret society of vampire protectors–called The Tutela–and since Italy was just thriving with secret societies at that time (the Carbonari, etc.,), I thought it would make sense. Plus, that was where Byron was at the time, and I wanted Victoria to meet him. And finally….since the headquarters for the Venators is in Rome, I wanted her to go there so she could see it and the reader could thus learn more about the history of the Venators.

What specific research did you do?

I researched about secret societies in Rome–including reading through a very old book about them that is housed in the restricted section of the University of Michigan library that I often use for research. I also pored over a whole book about subterranean Rome (unfortunately, I didn’t use as much of that as I’d envisioned, but it gave me a feel for the tunnels and catacombs.)

I also did quite a bit of reading and research about Lord Byron and what he was like, where he was at that time (in Venice, actually, living with his mistress in her husband’s house….), and about John Polidori, who died under mysterious circumstances. And one thing I tried to research but had little luck doing, was how long it would take a cargo ship to get from London to Venice. Sigh. So I had to sort of not exactly tell. It was…days. Weeks. Yeah, weeks. I think.

Without giving a spoiler, there’s an important secondary character who is killed in this book. I thought it added a profound mythic quality to the book–do you use The Writer’s Journey as a guide, or any other sort of structure?

I love the Writers Journey–as you may know, I did an article for the Romance Writers of America’s journal about that very same topic; and I do workshops about it as well. Anyway, yes, I love the Writers/Hero’s Journey, but I usually use it in retrospect. I don’t necessarily think about it before I write, but I find that if I’m stuck, or nearly done with the book, I can often use it to pinpoint certain events in the book and say, “Yes, that’s an element of the Journey.” Or, “Oh, I didn’t realize she was a Threshold Guardian.” I also have the article posted on my Web site under Extras.

Do tell. Vioget or Max, and will we know in Book Three?

Am I only limited to choosing between Vioget or Max? You’re no fun!! No, you probably won’t know for sure in The Bleeding Dusk (Book Three), but you’ll have an excellent idea by the end of Book Four, which I’m getting ready to work on in a month or so. Any preferences?????

This weekend, I watched the Trevor Nunn version of Twelfth Night. I loved it. It’s fun and accessible Shakespeare, with great acting and an atmospheric Cornish setting. It also made me think about something Shakespeare did that romance writers often dabble in as well: the heroine masquerading as a man plot (let’s call it HMAM).

Georgette Heyer wrote some fun HMAM stories: MASQUERADERS and THE CORINTHIAN come to mind. Julia Ross wrote another excellent one in THE WICKED LOVER. I enjoyed all the things the heroine of that story learns about herself as she embraces some of the increased freedoms of maleness.

Usually in HMAM stories the heroine assumes the disguise for an external plot reason–to protect herself and/or perform some mission. Pam Rosenthal’s ALMOST A GENTLEMAN deals with this concept in a different way. I’ll avoid spoilers and just say that this is an intriguing story because the heroine has deeper reasons for going into disguise than most.

As you can probably tell by now, I enjoy HMAM stories and even have one in my idea file. I’ve also heard some people don’t care for them. Some people have credibility problems. I also once heard someone say she dislikes HMAM stories if the hero starts wondering why he’s attracted to another man. That part doesn’t bother me depending on how it’s handled. If I’m remembering correctly (wish I could find my copy in these stacks of books!) the hero of ALMOST A GENTLEMAN briefly wonders if he’s leaning in a new direction. He’s puzzled but not horrified. He figures out the heroine’s disguise pretty soon after that, so it’s an edgy riff but not the sole conflict of the story.

The one time a HMAM story didn’t work for me was when the hero, horrified by his seemingly homosexual desires, actually roughs up the innocent heroine. He also never penetrates her disguise; she reveals herself to him long after I thought he should have figured it out.

Which is another important matter to me. Exactly when the hero figures out what’s going on can vary, depending on how practiced the heroine is in the role and other circumstances. But if he gets fooled for too long, well, I begin to wonder if he should ever procreate…

So what do you think of HMAM stories? What makes them work or not? Do you have any favorites to share?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

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The WIP is finished! No more Henry VIII story forever! (Okay, that’s not entirely true. The rough draft is done, I’m still polishing and tweaking. But the hardest part is over!). I saw two movies over the Memorial Day weekend (this is unusual, even though I love movies, because the huge multiplex that always has Exclusive Engagements on the interesting films is in the middle of the mall and is a pain to get to. I usually wait for the DVD). I saw Waitress, a wonderful little gem I highly recommend, just be sure you have somewhere to go for pie afterward. And I saw Pirates 3. I was disappointed. Very, very disappointed. Very, very, very–you get the picture. And I found this great website that sells beautiful handmade pendants. I’m going to order the Jane Austen and Marie Antoinette models ASAP, and don’t be surprised if you see the Muses necklaces as giveaways here someday when my Muse books come out.

And now the point of this post (yes, I do sometimes have one). I don’t know a lot about Australian history. What little I do know comes from books like Blue Latitudes and The Fatal Shore, and movies like Strictly Ballroom (though I don’t imagine SB is really represantative of the lives of most–or any–Australians!). A couple weeks ago I saw an episode of the PBS series Secrets of the Dead called The Voyage of the Courtesans (to be more accurate, they really should have called it “The Voyage of the Streetwalkers and Pickpockets,” but whatever). It was very fascinating!

Three modern Australian women wanted to trace the lives of their convict ancestors from the late 18th century. The research starts in London, where they go to the British Library to track down old court records. An historian took one of the women to what’s left of Newgate (I didn’t realize there were still cells left, underground beneath a block of posh flats–very creepy), and told her what life was like for the women before they were transported. Then they follow the 10-month voyage, their arrival in Australia, and what happened to them there.

It was also quite inspiring. One of the women (an 18 year old prostitute at the beginning) ends up running a chain of pubs and owning two houses. One runs a ferry service with several employees. One marries a rich shipowner and becomes a famous hostess, invited to balls at the governor’s house. And one (11 years old when she was caught thieving and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to transportation for life in an amnesty following George III’s “recovery from madness”)–she ends up dying at nearly 90, surrounded by children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. Respectable and loved. They all did far better for themselves there than they ever could have in London.

Any of these women would make terrific heroines in novels! They came from the most adverse conditions imaginable, and built terrific lives for themselves. Amazing.

A few links:

Voyage of the Courtesans

Australian Explorer

More Australia stuff

Roger Ebert’s Review of Strictly Ballroom

Have any of you ever tried to trace your ancestors? What did you find? And have you seen any good movies so far this summer???