Join us here at the Riskies for a 3-day Diamonds of Welbourne Manor launch extravaganza! Starting Sunday, May 3, Deb Marlowe will be here to kick off the festivities, with Diane and Amanda wrapping things up on Monday and Tuesday. Each day means a new chance to win an autographed copy….
Are newspapers–traditional, black and white, printed on paper–dying? Print magazines are shuttering faster than the doors of Almack’s at 11 o’clock, and newspapers are seeing huge drops in circulation and advertising as well.
Newspapers used to be how everyone got their news, even if it was weeks late. Now, of course, the internet’s ubiquity means that newspapers are past time once they’re printed. My dad’s former newspaper, the Boston Globe, is facing possible closure by its owner, the New York Times, because of union negotiations (thanks to friend HatRack for sending me info about this!).
Back in the Regency, newspapers were as partisan as the New York Post is now, which is to say, newspapers were unabashedly partisan; which paper you subscribed to was dictated by your politics. The British government charged a stamp tax on newspapers, which made them prohibitively costly for all but the wealthy. It’s safe to say, however, based on our fiction and common sense, that newspapers were handed around from person to person and devoured.
I’m torn about the death of newspapers myself; on the one hand, I like the purported objectivity they espouse. On the other, I can get an enormous amount of news on the internet for free, and spending money on a newspaper is another luxury I’ve cut out of my daily life. But on the third hand, I don’t want to rely on news sources like the Daily Show and the Huffington Post for my information. The fourth hand almost doesn’t bear mentioning, but newspapers write on subjects I wouldn’t normally search out, so they keep me more informed than I might otherwise choose to be.
The heroine of my book, A Singular Lady, wrote a newspaper column detailing her hunt for a husband. If Titania were around today, she’d be blogging on the same subject.
How about you? Do you still get a hard copy of a newspaper? Where do you get your news?
I’m still talking about my trip–I blogged last week about visiting the Regency Town House in Brighton, but while I was in England I made two trips to London. On one, I took a guided tour of Mayfair, and blog about it today at the History Hoydens.
I also took a trip to Greenwich, traveling there on the river and it was freezing, but well worth it. For one, you really get an idea of how huge London is, and how impressive the Thames is, with its wonderful meandering curves. You travel past a lot of reclaimed and tarted up wharves (now owned by people who are probably deeply regretting the investment), and past the London Eye, the Globe and the replica of the Golden Hind.
And Greenwich itself is amazing. I visited the National Maritime Museum where you can see the coat Nelson wore when he died and the barge King George I rode in when Handel’s Water Music was performed.
But it was outside the Park that I discovered what has to be one of my favorite museums, the Fan Museum. Check out their site because it has some really wonderful images and information. The museum is in a gorgeous, impeccably restored Georgian house on a pretty, quiet street–quiet for London, that is! This isn’t actually a photo of the museum but of the street itself, and everything was green and lovely because it was raining. The houses are quite small and would probably have been occupied by merchants or retired Naval officers (I like to house mistresses in Greenwich but I’m not sure why).
It also has an award-winning bathroom and a lovely garden. Yes, the English give out awards for Best Loos, and it was really splendid. As were the contents of the museum and the wonderful, knowledgeable staff. One of the things I found fascinating about the fan industry was that women were featured very strongly in fan manufacturing. Another is that the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers, the guild established in 1709 and which sounds straight out of Terry Pratchett, is still going strong and has made a flawless transition into modern times with the adoption of air-conditioning, aviation, and aerospace industries. No kidding.
You can also see some great pictures of fans at Candice Hern’s fabulous collection.
If you fancy owning a fan yourself, here’s a gorgeous Regency one, with its original box, for sale at The Cupid and the Swan.
And, oh yes, the so-called secret language of the fan … well, if everyone can decipher it, it’s not much of a secret, is it? The staff of the museum assured me it was purely a Victorian marketing ploy.
And now for my big news: I have sold a two-book deal, Immortal Jane, to HarperCollins. The first one, coming out next summer, is about Jane Austen joining forces with sexy vampires to save the city of Bath from the dastardly French. My working title, which I hope I can keep, is Blood Bath (groan). Oh yes, I’m gonna have fun with this. I’m excited! I am, in fact, fanning myself even as I write… it’s almost as good as a cream tea (my brother had the coffee. For some reason, cream coffee just doesn’t sound as good).
Have you had any writing successes or read or eaten anything good recently?
This weekend, I was doing laundry after my vacation and cleaning out piles of old magazines, flipping through them before I put them in the recycle bin. (I like to tear out pics of pretty dresses, lipsticks to try, useful location/character images, etc). Anyway, I came across last summer’s In Style “what’s sexy now?” issue. As usual, some of the photos were gorgeous; some did nothing for me. Just like some actors or books others love and go crazy for leave me cold, and vice versa. And yet “sexy” is a vital concern, for romance novels as well as fashion mags. And in real life, too. (I had a long talk with some girlfriends at dinner Sunday night as I was thinking about this post, and after a couple glasses of wine there was much contention. One of my friends loves Simon Baker, who I think is boring as can be, while she mocks my fascination with Rob Pattinson’s angular beauty. Yet we are still friends–I think).
So–what is Sexy now? As romance authors, I guess we have to think about this quite a bit (tough job, I know, but it’s for our Art, of course….) How do we make our characters irresistible to each other, and thus to readers, when sexy is such a subjective thing? (For instance, it’s not enough to simply make them beautiful. Good looks are no guarantee of sexiness, nor is the lack thereof a deterrent. Was Mr. Rochester any less sexy after the fire?)
But what then makes romance novel characters, movie characters, real-life couples,
drawn to each other, combustible? How do we convey that attraction to readers and make them invested in it, too? It’s tough, to say the least. In real-life, and in characters, I do know that I love two qualities that may seem incompatible with each other–intensity and humor. A man who is focused and passionate about what he does, and is funny? Solid gold, people. I like to see that in the heroes I read and write about, too. (And there is such a fine line between “sexy bad-ass intense hero” and “complete jerk you would avoid at all costs”!)
So, now it’s your turn. What do you think is sexy? Who are some of your favorite characters, the ones you think of when you think “sexy”? What makes them so for you? Any movies/books that you love and others don’t, or vice versa?
To Do List – Week of April 27
1. Write Risky Regencies Blog
2. Begin promotion of The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor with Amanda and Deb
Prepare blog for eHarlequin, Romance Readers at Heart, Romance Vagabonds, Word Wenches (and maybe more!)
3. Write Update information for website (write Behind The Book, Newsletter, new Contest, News, etc.)
4. Read for Critique Group Wednesday (est. 150 pages)
5. Complete second set of revisions for Soldiers Trilogy Book One
6. Begin judging Royal Ascot contest
7. Check eHarlequin eBooks to see if The Unlacing of Miss Leigh is still Number One.
8. Order a carton of The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor
9. Send out promotional material as promised.
10. Write 50 pages of Soldiers Trilogy Book Two.
What do you think? Will I get it all done?
What’s on your To Do List this week????
Keep The Unlacing of Miss Leigh on eHarlequin’s eBook bestseller list!! Order your copy through my website. Run to your bookstore on May 1 (or 2 or 3) and see if The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor is on the shelves. Tell us if it has a shelf talker! One has already been spotted at a Walmart!