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Bright Star

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Imagine my excitement to hear about the release of a new Jane Campion (The Piano) movie about John Keats‘s doomed love. Bright Star was scheduled for release Friday Sept 18. A new movie set in the Regency era, by an intelligent filmaker. Hooray!
Then I was immediately cast down because Bright Star’s “limited release” did not include the Washington, DC area. Pooh.

But this looks like a wonderful film. It tells the story of Keats’s love affair with his neighbor in Hampstead, Fanny Brawne, doomed from the start by her need to marry well, his poverty and, of course, the illness that would tragically take his life at 25. The actors playing Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny look gorgeous and the performance by the actress playing Fanny (Abbie Cornish) is said to be Emmy-worthy.

Here’s the Movie Trailer:

I confess that I knew little of Keats, except that he wrote wonderful poetry and he died young. I remember coming across a plaque near the Spanish Steps in Rome marking the residence where he died. This was years ago when I’d visited Rome and had not even started writing Regency or become obsessed by the era and all its characters.

Keats suffered scathing reviews in the London press, but probably because he was associated with Leigh Hunt, who in 1813 was imprisoned for criticizing the Prince Regent. It is such a shame Keats’s work was not more appreciated in his lifetime. It is so beautiful.

Here is the poem inspired by Fanny Brawne that gave the movie its title:

Bright Star, would I were steadfast as thou art–
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature’s patient sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priest-like task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors–
No–yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever–or else swoon to death

Keats contracted tuberculosis, known then as consumption, the illness that took the lives of his mother and brother. From his medical studies he knew from the sight of the first drop of blood what he would face. He died in Rome, his friend Severn at his side.

It seems fitting to end my blog with the beginning of Keats’s Ode to Autumn:

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

Are you in a city showing Bright Star? Have you seen it? Tell us, please!
What is your favorite poem by Keats?
Do you think you could write a Regency-set Romance with a poet as a hero?

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Kathryn Caskie

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I’m delighted to welcome my friend, Kathryn Caskie, to Risky Regencies! Kathy’s and my writing journeys have been on near parallel path, with Kathy leading the way. One of the biggest thrills of my writing career was having previous winner Kathy present me with my Golden Heart at the 2003 RWA conference. I was already wearing a Golden Heart necklace, though. Kathy lent me hers for luck. (It worked, too!) I could go on and on with other ways Kathy has been generous to me, but better you hear from her! I’m thrilled with her success at Avon and with her newest series, The Seven Deadly Sins.
Diane

Caskie’s irresistible and irrepressible Sinclair siblings, better known as the Seven Deadly Sins, liven up any season with their audacious actions, witty repartee and wild escapades. Caskie sprinkles their stories with a winning combination of poignancy and humor that’s sure to charm her fans–Kathe Robin, RT Book Reviews.

1. Welcome to Risky Regencies, Kathy! Tell us about The Most Wicked of Sins.

Thanks for inviting me to the rout. Wouldn’t you know it? My blue silk evening gown is being dry cleaned.

The Most Wicked of Sins (in stores September 29th) is my ninth book, and the second in my Seven Deadly Sins series. It’s Lady Ivy Sinclair’s story and the sin she must overcome is envy.
The seven Sinclair brothers and sisters—known throughout the Society as the Seven Deadly Sins—live for scandal and delight in disgrace . . . until their father decrees that they must reform. Propriety has never come easily, but now they have no choice. They must redeem themselves or regret in poverty.
It doesn’t take long before Lady Ivy Sinclair grows weary of pretending to be rich while living like a pauper behind closed doors. And so she vows to land a sensible, serious husband her father will accept.
Snaring a husband shouldn’t be difficult. After all, Ivy is the envy of Society—at least she was, until Miss Fiona Feeney arrived in Town. Suddenly, the Irish beauty is the undisputed toast of the ton. Worse yet, just when the gentleman Ivy’s set her cap for is about to pop the question, Miss Feeney snatches away his attentions. Furious, Ivy hatches a plan. Using the last of her money, she hires an actor to impersonate the new Marquess of Counterton, hoping his passionate courtship of her will send her intended into a jealous rage. There is only one small problem with Ivy’s plan: Dominic Sheridan, the blue-eyed “actor” she hires, really is the Marquess of Counterton, who has just arrived in Town. And he isn’t acting at all, but intent on seducing her into committing the most wicked of sins.

2. The Most Wicked of Sins is the second book in your series, The Seven Deadly Sins. Tell us about the first book and whether we need to read it first before book number two.

The first book in my Seven Deadly Sins series is To Sin With a Stranger (Avon, December 2008). While the story introduces the series, every book is written as a stand-alone story, meaning while your reading experience may be enhanced by reading the stories in order, you do not need to understand everything.
To Sin With a Stranger is Sterling Sinclair’s story (his sin is greed). I had so much fun writing this story. Here it is in a nutshell: When an anonymous gamester places the largest wager in White’s history on whether rakish Sterling Sinclair will marry misfit Isobel Carrington, everyone wants a stake in the long-shot match of the Season. But when the ton decides to manipulate the bet’s outcome, suddenly the word extreme loses all meaning as London becomes the hottest city on earth.

3. What is risky about The Most Wicked of Sins?

The Sinclairs as characters—Ivy in particular. Social etiquette was all important in Regency Society. Even so, the Sinclair siblings regularly challenge the rules and get away with even the most outrageous behavior.

Why wouldn’t they be blocked from every drawing room? Denied invitations? Well, for the same reason stars today are sought after guests and given a pass for even the worst behavior.

The Sinclair’s are the day’s social celebrities. It doesn’t hurt that they are the sons and daughters of a Scottish duke or that they are witty, entertaining and striking in appearance. Invite them to your ball and if they attend, everyone will be talking the next day. Your event will be a success.

But they are desirable guests on another level too—because everyone, from the grandest nobleman to the lowliest maid can see that these outwardly perfect creatures are broken. Their heartbreaking past that so deeply wounded them, separated them from Society, is exactly the thing that draws people near, wanting to embrace and heal them.

4. You seem partial to Scottish heroes. Why?

I do love Scottish heroes. There is something a little less predictable, a little less restrained, a little more outwardly passionate than their English counterparts. Oh, and there are kilts.

5. I happen to know you married your very own hero this summer. Tell us about your wedding!!
As a romance author, you have to believe in happily ever afters…I mean reallllly believe. And I do. Believing in happily ever afters got me through the tough times, and I know it opened me to experiences that reinforced my belief.

Last month, my hero and I began our own happily ever after when we were joined in marriage at Dalhousie Castle just outside Edinburgh, Scotland.

A bagpiper led the bridal party through the castle chapel where my fiancé waited. The rings were delivered to my daughter by a little owl (named Ted), the great surprise of the guests. After pronouncing us husband and wife, the adorable minister presented us with a tiny box he’d made from the wood of centuries-old yew (the oldest trees in the world), wishing us a long, happy marriage and everlasting love.

We cut the wedding cake with the piper’s dirk (which works really well!). Next came the traditional Scottish wedding toast. The piper gifted us with a Quaich and a bottle of Glenfiddich. As the bride I was tasked with filling the Quaich and passing it to everyone to toast our union. Beginning with my new husband, everyone (of age) in the room made a toast then drank the whisky. The reception dinner was held in the white flower-filled dungeon. Lady Catherine, lovelorn ghost of Dalhousie, who is said to hate weddings, thankfully did not make an appearance.

It was a fairytale wedding for this romance author.

(for more wonderful wedding photos, see Kathy’s Facebook page)

7. What is next for you?

I am just finishing up The Duke’s Night of Sin (Avon, August 2010), book four, and beginning work on a mini-trilogy within the Seven Deadly Deadly Sins series, which is planned to be released in 2011 (very close together).

So, I am staying busy!

So now I have a question for all of you.

Each of my characters battles one of the Seven Deadly Sins: Greed, Envy, Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath and Pride.

Usually when you hear of a series dealing with the Seven Deadly Sins, it’s a suspense or horror series—not a love and laughter romance. Right?

Given this, which sin is your greatest challenge? Be creative. Join the fun.

I’ll give away one signed copy of To Sin With a Stranger to one lucky commenter!

Cheers!

Kathryn

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Spare Us The Cutter!*

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Just like Megan Fox, I am a cutter. Great initials, by the way, Megan.

[sidebar: I didn’t think anyone could possibly be as beautiful as Angelina Jolie, but Megan Fox is so stunning that it is almost hard to look at her. Yes, she is outrageous and dumb and outrageously dumb in interviews, but she must have had a seriously different life than any of us have had, since she’s been that gorgeous her whole life, and people treat you differently. Plus, she’s an actor; who cares what she says in interviews?]

But unlike Megan, I am proud of cutting. (My friend Kwana calls me The Queen of Cut). Earlier this week, my agent emailed to suggest revising my manuscript currently making the editorial rounds. I’d already returned from National with all kinds of ways to improve it, and much of the feedback from editors has been similar, so it makes sense to act on it, and improve the manuscript. Even if it ends up not selling, it will be useful to have undergone the editing exercise. Now that school is back in session, and life is almost back to normal, I have time to actually act.

So I’m yanking out at least two plot threads in the manuscript, which means I’ve got pages and pages with slashing red lines drawn through them. It feels good, to weed out what I knew, in my writer heart of hearts, was wrong.

What’s left? A love story. A love story between two people, one of whom is seriously damaged, and one of whom thinks she is unworthy. It will remain to be seen if I can cobble together a compelling book, but meanwhile, I have my little red pen in my hand and I’m going to town.

I don’t know if I have anything else to add today, since my head is all kinds of engrossed with this, plus the normal detritus that clogs my brain. Next week I’ll be pulling out most, if not all, of the stops with an Anniversary Post. How about commenting on anything you want, if you are so inclined?

Megan

*An Echo And The Bunnymen song. You’re welcome.

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Wait a minute, Mr. Postman

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A wet gloomy afternoon here and to my disappointment the mail hasn’t come yet. Even now when the mail delivery means junk or bills (unless it’s your birthday) I still find its arrival exciting. There is the possibility there might be a real letter, a surprise.

I’ve just virtuously cleaned out my email folders and it struck me that maybe we’re a bit too sentimental about the lost art of letter writing. For a long time letters were not particularly private communications–because they were expensive to send, you wanted to get as much bang out of your buck as possible, and quite often they were written for public consumption, to be passed around among family and friends.

Take this example of a very public letter from Jane Fairfax to her aunt Miss Bates in Emma, kept on hand for sharing with visitors:

Oh! here it is. I was sure it could not be far off; but I had put my huswife upon it, you see, without being aware, and so it was quite hid, but I had it in my hand so very lately that I was almost sure it must be on the table. I was reading it to Mrs. Cole, and since she went away, I was reading it again to my mother, for it is such a pleasure to her-a letter from Jane – that she can never hear it often enough; so I knew it could not be far off, and here it is, only just under my huswife – and since you are so kind as to wish to hear what she says; – but, first of all, I really must, in justice to Jane, apologise for her writing so short a letter – only two pages you see-hardly two – and in general she fills the whole paper and crosses half.

Yet at the same time in this society another form of letters existed in the form of short notes, delivered by hand and although it’s tempting to think of these as clandestine love letters, it’s more likely that they were the equivalent of email. You’d send your footman out with the letter, and he’d wait for the reply to be written. Quite efficient, other than the natural inclination of a servant–or some servants to goof off as described by Jonathan Swift:

It often happens that Servants sent on Messages, are apt to stay out somewhat longer than the Message requires, perhaps, two, four, six, or eight Hours, or some such Trifle, for the Temptation to be sure was great, and Flesh and Blood cannot always resist: When you return, the Master storms, the Lady scolds; stripping, cudgelling, and turning off, is the Word: But here you ought to be provided with a Set of Excuses, enough to serve on all Occasions: For Instance, your Uncle came fourscore Miles to Town this Morning, on purpose to see you, and goes back by Break of Day To-morrow: A Brother-Servant that borrowed Money of you when he was out of Place, was running away to Ireland: You were taking Leave of an old Fellow-Servant, who was shipping for Barbados: Your Father sent a Cow to you to sell, and you could not find a Chapman till Nine at Night: You were taking Leave of a dear Cousin who is to be hanged next Saturday: You wrenched your Foot against a Stone, and were forced to stay three Hours in a Shop, before you could stir a Step: Some Nastiness was thrown on you out of a Garret Window, and you were ashamed to come Home before you were cleaned, and the Smell went off: You were pressed for the Sea-service, and carried before a Justice of Peace, who kept you three Hours before he examined you, and you got off with much a-do: A Bailiff by mistake seized you for a Debtor, and kept you the whole Evening in a Spunging-house: You were told your Master had gone to a Tavern, and came to some Mischance, and your grief was so great that you inquired for his Honour in a hundred Taverns between Pall-mall and Temple-bar.

Do you still eagerly anticipate the mailman or coming home to a mailbox stuffed full of envelopes? Have you received any interesting mail recently? And do you find it difficult to delete emails?

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