Risky Regencies

Far-fetched Plots and Giveaway

Updated on February 7, 2013 by Elena Greene

In my mess-in-progress, the hero is a gentleman by birth and by virtue of having been an army officer, but he takes up ballooning as a business, not just a hobby. I haven’t found any historical examples of anyone like him, but I have come up with what I hope is a decent explanation for why he takes up flying.

A lot of stories might not see the light of day if the authors worried too much about plausibility. Chicks-in-pants is one of those plot themes. Although there are some historical examples of women who pulled off pretending to be men… And it worked for Shakespeare, so why not?

One of my other more unlikely plots was in The Redwyck Charm, which I recently re-released in paperback. The heroine tries to escape an arranged marriage by masquerading as an opera-dancer. Silly, yes, but it was fun to write and is a favorite with my readers who say they like lighter stories. The idea came to me when I read this passage in The Mirror of Graces (an etiquette book of sorts published in 1811):

Extraordinary as it may seem, at a period when dancing is so entirely neglected by men in general, women appear to be taking the most pains to acquire the art. Our female youth are now not satisfied with what used to be considered a good dancing-master; that is, one who made teaching his sole profession; but now our girls must be taught by the leading dancers at the Opera-house.

I found it interesting that young ladies might have learned some elements of ballet. The author goes on to say that no gentlewoman could take the time and effort to develop true proficiency. Though I tend to agree, I don’t pretend that my heroine is more than a half-way decent amateur, getting by more because she’s a big hit with the young bucks who go to the opera to ogle the dancers.

How do you feel about far-fetched plots? Any favorite examples that worked (or didn’t)?

I’ll give away one copy of The Redwyck Charm to a random commenter. Comment by next Thursday (2/14) and I will announce the winner on Friday.

Elena
www.elenagreene.com
www.facebook.com/ElenaGreene

Posted in Reading, Writing | Tagged Plots | 11 Replies

Getting Ready…

Updated on February 7, 2013 by Laurie Bishop

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone. By now you are nearly as ready as you are going to be, I imagine. I sit here and think of folks basking in the lights of their trees with the beautifully wrapped gifts beneath, or sitting before a warm fire with a cozy shawl, a book, and a cup of spiked eggnog.

Then I think of everything I still have to do, and swear (nicely) that I will not be late again. Next year I am getting ready early for Christmas, sending cards and boxes on time, and having that nice evening of peace and comfort. I may spend it alone with my cats, but that doesn’t matter. I just want to be ready, and then be able to relax and feel the spirit.

I will shortly be packing gifts into my car and driving 70 miles north to visit my sister (fortunately the weather is behaving–usually there’s a winter storm at about this time), and so I hope you forgive me for cutting this short. But I am thinking of you all, lovers of Regencies, readers and writers both, and wishing you the Merriest Christmas of all.

love,
Laurie

Posted in Frivolity | Tagged Christmas | 2 Replies

Regency jobs

Updated on February 7, 2013 by Janet Mullany

I’m recycling a blog post from a year or so ago about my ideal Regency job. I spent last weekend with the lovely ladies of Virginia Romance Writers at their conference, where I spoke on servants, so this is timely. And Amanda, have you opened the vampire bar yet?
The housekeeper came; a respectable-looking elderly woman, much less fine, and more civil, than she had any notion of finding her.
After Amanda’s exotic and glamorous plans to open a vampire bar, I thought I’d like to describe my ideal Regency job as a housekeeper.

Just imagine it. All that power! Solely in charge of the nutmeg and other spices and maybe even the tea, gliding silently around the corridors of the great house and coming upon servant hanky-panky, unless the slight jangling from your chatelaine betrayed your presence. This lovely example is from early eighteenth century Holland (I think. An ebay find which I couldn’t afford) with a St. Christopher motif.

Just the position if you were a gentlewoman widowed and down on her luck, like Mrs. Fairfax in Jane Eyre (and then I’d be Judi Dench too!).

Or even the unmarried and troublesome member of the family who needs to be shuffled off somewhere to learn the folly of her ways and spend some time brewing stuff in the stillroom.

Housekeepers got nice, fat salaries, too, augmented with tips from tourists if they worked in a great house. When Darcy’s housekeeper (the one described in my opening quote) finished showing Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle around, you may be absolutely sure she had her hand held out. It was quite a cottage industry.

What’s your ideal Regency job?

Posted in Regency, Research | Tagged housekeepers, servants | 5 Replies

With my body I thee worship…

Updated on February 7, 2013 by Elena Greene

Last Sunday at church the sermon topic was “Sex and Attraction: An Embodied Spirituality.” (I go to a really cool church.) The minister made the point that religion has sometimes, though not always, created this duality of “spirit=divine and therefore good/body=beastly and therefore evil”. A lot of our culture has embraced this duality, along with the implication that what is good must be boring and what is fun must be evil. It ignores the intimate connection between the spiritual and the physical. Love as an abstract concept doesn’t mean much; it needs to be expressed through the physical: smiles, words, loving acts, including sex.

I think most romance authors understand this body-and-soul thing. But I have heard some authors of so-called “sweet” romance imply that their books are about the relationship and that the so-called “hot” books are “only” about sex. I don’t think so. The hottest erotic romances I’ve read are the ones with strong emotions driving the characters. The most moving “sweet” romances I’ve read are those where the author used the power of simple things like a smoldering gaze, the touch of a hand.

An erotic romance I read a few years ago bombed for me. The characters were so generic and the situation so contrived that it felt as silly as Benny Hill. On the other extreme, I’ve read several inspirational romances which were so careful to avoid not only the act of sex, but any hint of sexuality, that it felt unnatural. I don’t need to always read about sex and stories shouldn’t go further than makes sense for the characters and their situation. But if it’s a romance, I want to feel the sexual attraction, even if it’s expressed in subtle ways. If they kiss, let them enjoy it!

The other thing I’ve been ambivalent about is the fade-out, where the h/h start making love and the next thing we know they are smiling at each other over breakfast. I don’t think authors have to make a scene of it every time the hero and heroine make love. But if it’s the first time or at a turning point in their relationship, it feels like I missed something.

Anyway, what do you think? Does the dichotomy of “sweet” vs “hot” ever bother you? How do you feel about fade-outs? Who does “body and soul” best?

Elena

www.elenagreene.com

www.facebook.com/ElenaGreene

Posted in Reading, Writing | Tagged sex, sex in Regencies | 7 Replies

Sleep On It

Updated on February 7, 2013 by megan

Inspiration comes from so many places.

Mother’s Day is tomorrow, and as usual, what I want for Mother’s Day can be summed up in one word:
Sleep.

Now, I know I can be a bit…obsessed about getting more sleep. I never get enough, and I always want more. But there’s more to it than that: I’ve found that I am able to work things out while I sleep, which means that when I am stuck in terms of writing, I take a bath and then a nap, and usually the answer comes to me while I am unconscious.

My friend described the brain process like a funnel–you’ve got all this stuff jammed up in the top part, then something shakes loose, and it comes pouring down. Being asleep lets stuff shake loose. So you’ve actually assembled the elements before you go to sleep, it’s just that it shakes loose while your mind is free to wander.

I’m working on the second book for my Loveswept releases, which means I am finding myself with the urge to nap–for work purposes, of course!–quite often. Just this morning I had some plot epiphanies, which were pretty cool, and this weekend my Mother’s Day gift will be writing time, so I’ll get a chance to implement them in the book.

When does your best creative time occur? How do you shake things loose?

Megan
PS: I’ll be relaunching my website next week, with a cool new design! Woot!

Posted in Writing | Tagged Inspiration, Megan | 5 Replies