Anna Campbell over at Romance Bandits tagged me for the 8 meme (list 8 random facts about yourself). I was VERY glad she did, since I had no idea what to blog about this week! (It was a hectic week, my Pug got an ear infection, I didn’t finish the WIP like I wanted, and Dancing With the Stars had its finale…)

So, here ’tis! Way more than you ever wanted to know about me, Amanda.

1) This is no surprise to anyone here at RR, though it might surprise people at the day job, who think I’m a serious, fairly normal, grown-up person. In reality, I am a crazed fan-girl. I have Steady Boyfriend Orlando (Pirates of the Caribbean opens today!!), New-ish Boyfriend Matthew Macfadyen, and Totally New Boyfriend Apolo Anton Ohno. If only I could put up their pics in my cubicle…

2) Another factoid not unknown to the Riskies (and related to #1)–I do love cheesy things (as well as actual cheese, come to think of it. Especially Gouda). I love Hello Kitty, garden gnomes, travel souvenirs like teapots shaped like the Tower of London, DWTS, and Disney movies. Also 1930s musicals with huge production numbers, where Fred and Ginger (in dresses made of feathers!) dance in a fake Venice or rain-swept gazebo.

3) I love music like Turandot, Mozart, Ravel, and Miles Davis. But I also like Abba. Especially Dancing Queen. And that Waterloo song.

4) I’ve worked in bookstores and libraries, in the office of a company that sets up estate sales, a classical music radio station, the marketing office of the symphony, and now back to a library. Where will I end up next??

5) In grad school, I specialized in Elizabethan poetry, just to be sure I’m totally unfit for any “real world” job. Therefore, I’m hopeless at sales calls and Excel spreadsheets, but if you ever need the symbolism analyzed in Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella, I’m your girl.

6) I’m the oldest child in my family, I have one brother who is several years younger. He’s a snowboarder and mountain biker, and doesn’t much like to read. Sometimes I wonder how we ended up in the same family, but I love him dearly.

7) I love raspberries and chocolate, cherry gelato (also saying the word “gelato”), samosas, and pad thai with shrimp. I hate brussels sprouts, lima beans, liver, and bananas (okay, I don’t ‘hate’ bananas, but I don’t much like them).

8) If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be Maui. Or the English countryside. I can’t quite decide. A bungalow near the beach or a cozy Tudor cottage?

I’m supposed to now tag 8 people, but instead I’m going to tag all of you! List your 8 in our comments–let us get to know you. Enjoy the holiday weekend, and be sure and sign up for our Riskies newsletter at riskies@yahoo.com. Please don’t make us list 8 reasons why you should…

I love, love, love trip planning! So after my post a few weeks ago about my writers’ retreat I couldn’t help fantasizing about a Risky Retreat. It probably won’t be practical to do this for some time but just thinking about it was fun.

As far as location, a country house inn somewhere in England would be ideal. Someplace we could all find plenty of peace to write (or read–our non-writing Risky visitors would be welcome too!) Maybe some side excursions to stately homes or museums. And of course, great food and wine.

I thought about some of my husband’s and my favorite getaways in England, country inns like Trengilly Wartha Inn in Cornwall or the Waltzing Weasel in the Peak District but these are perhaps a bit small and not quite the Regency feel. So I googled around a bit and here’s what I found.

How about Middlethorpe Hall in Yorkshire (above). According to the website, it’s “a William III country house, close to the city, set in 20 acres of its own gardens and parkland. Built in 1699, it was once the home of the famous diarist, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.” How cool would is that? It also has a Health & Fitness Spa so we could exercise, have beauty treatments, massages, etc…, or just plot our next award-winning novels in the whirlpool.

Or how about Hunstrete House? It’s situated on 71 acres of woodland, gardens and deerpark and situated between Bath and Wells, convenient for side excursions to either.

Or Hintlesham Hall in Suffolk? It looks like another lovely spot, also with a health club. And maybe we could get them to do a Sabrage evening for us?

So what do you think? Other suggestions of places to stay? Do you like the idea of just reading, writing and excursions or are there other special activities you’d want to add? Any fantasy guests you’d like to invite?

Elena 🙂
www.elenagreene.com

On Sunday, May 27th, the Riskies will be interviewing award-winning author Andrea Pickens!
Andrea will be talking about her upcoming release, The Spy Wore Silk.

Comment for the chance to win an autographed copy!

Amy, you have won a copy of Sabrina’s new book, BEWARE A SCOT’S REVENGE! Please email riskies@yahoo.com to claim your prize.

And thanks to all who commented! We’ll have more great interviews (and giveaways) soon — and don’t forget the Regency fun we have here every day! Thanks for joining us — and do come back often!

The Riskies

Since Amanda already disclosed our obsession with Dancing with the Stars (final competition tonight!) and Project Runway, Top Chef, Top Design, Shear Genius, etc etc, I thought I might update you on Bullrun.
Remember our interview with romance cover model Richard Cerqueira? He announced that he and his brother were competing in the reality TV show, Bullrun, a cross country road competition on Spike TV.

I watched every episode of the competition and it had much of the drama and excitement of those other reality TV shows mentioned above. There were petty rivalries, close calls, major obstacles to overcome. The personalities of the competitors were, of course, a major component of the show’s drama.

I’m pleased to announce that Richard and his brother came in second in the competition! They didn’t win the prize money, but they put forth a great effort, coming from behind, barely making the cut in the first weeks of the show. I was disappointed that they did not get more air time and mystified why the show’s producers thought that the mostly bleeped out dialogue of the other teams were more screen worthy. Team Cerqueira did not swear nearly as much as the others and they pretty much reached their position by using their own resources. Other teams made alliances in the early weeks, seeking to better their chances of winnng over other teams, but the Cerqueiras made it on their own. They came in second even with a major setback of having to use 2 hours to get their brakes repaired. I was really glad they made it to the top two teams.

Spike TV is not my cable channel of choice. I do watch a lot of the shows on the Style Network, like How Do I Look?, Fashion Police, The Look for Less. These shows all involve style makeovers of one sort or another. My very favorite makeover show is What Not to Wear, both the British version and the American one.

I’m also fond of reality shows such as Clean House and Clean Sweep (which I can’t find anymore!). These two shows basically go into a cluttered person’s home, clear out their cluttered room, sell the junk at a yard sale and redecorate the space into a neat, organized, pretty room. It is the stuff dreams are made of…come clean MY house and make it beautiful!! It is the turmoil the characters go through to give up their beloved but junky items in order to have a functional room that intrigues me.

I also love the drama of selling houses and so watch the HGTV channel and its House Hunters, Sell this House, and Designed to Sell.

Lately I’ve also been watching reruns of The Biggest Loser.

How this all fits in to writing risky regencies, I’m not so sure. I am certain some of my other Riskies are slack jawed with shock at my level of entertainment…..

But I know Amanda shares this folly. Keira, our Risky frequent poster is also with us….although maybe even they have not slid this deep into the mire….

(What reality tv shows are YOUR secret pleasure…mmmmm? And did anyone else watch Bullrun?)