Risky - Risky Regencies

Dr Who and an Announcement—Finally!!

May 5, 2017 January 24, 2023 Gail Eastwood 4 Comments

I am excited about two things to share with you! First, I can –FINALLY!! –tell you that the “new, improved” version of The Magnificent Marquess has a release date! May 15. (Cue the fireworks?)

I have worked on the revisions for months and months –it started to look like the improvement project that would never end. But I am happy with the final results, and delighted to share them. This book was originally published in 1998, so a lot of readers out there now never caught the first version. Just as well. This one is longer, so it is able to have greater character depth across the spectrum and even some new characters! The plot hasn’t changed, exactly, but I think it got more interesting.

I also love my new cover. How can anyone resist a hero with these amber eyes?

But if you think those look a trifle haunted, you would be right. The Marquess of Milbourne may be newly arrived in London from India, immensely wealthy and handsome as sin, but he’s a wounded soul with a broken heart. I am a sucker for wounded hero stories!

The blurb: When all of London is enthralled by the newly-arrived Marquess of Milbourne, Mariah Parbury’s curiosity about his life in India undermines her resistance to his charm. Could he possibly care for her? But he has enemies. When dangerous secrets emerge about him, is she willing to risk her life as well as her heart for the chance of love?

“…a fascinating web of piquant romance and spine-tingling danger guaranteed to take your breath away.”—Romantic Times Magazine

I don’t have buy links yet, but the book will be available on all the usual ebook sources such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords for the other connections to iBooks, etc.

That said, are there any Dr Who fans out there reading this? Episode #3 of the new season that aired in the U.S. last weekend was set at the London Frost Fair of 1814!!! Just heavenly having the good doctor and his new assistant/”boss” running around in Regency dress among all the hoi polloi at the fair. The episode, titled “Thin Ice” of course involved so much more, but if you haven’t seen it I won’t spoil it by saying anything more. Just always happy to see our period used (when done well) as a setting for popular TV!! This great episode tribute painting was done by Thomas Chapman, who is apparently a huge Dr Who fan. You can see more of his artwork on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/thomaschapmanartworkandgraphics/ Want to know more about the frost fairs? Nice general background article at Radio Times: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-04-29/what-were-the-thames-frost-fairs-and-why-dont-we-still-have-them-today

I would love to run around in a beautiful green pelisse like Billie’s in this episode, wouldn’t you? Are you a Who fan? ‘Fess up –I know you’re out there! I could totally envision Dr Who enjoying tea with my Magnificent Marquess in his “East Indian-style” refurbished home. But that would be in 1817, so instead I’m inviting you!

Save

It’s May!

May 1, 2017 January 24, 2023 Diane Gaston 3 Comments

It’s May. It’s May. The lusty month of May
That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray…
from Camelot, Lerner and Loewe

Happy May Day!

May Day festivities in the UK have their roots in the spring fertility festivals of the Celts and Anglo Saxons. And today villages and towns still celebrate with May Poles, May Queens, and Morris dancing.

May Day celebrations in the Regency were less popular, but festivals in some towns and villages continued to celebrate Spring and the beginning of Summer.

Here’s a blog on All Things Georgian about May Day in Georgian times.

May Day is also called Garland Day in some places, where children make garlands and use them to decorate various things and march in parades.

Bonfires are often a part of May Day celebrations. Edinburgh marks May Day with the Beltane Fire Festival including dancing and fire displays.

Other celebrations include jumping into water. At the University of St. Andrews, students run naked into the North Sea. In Oxford Magdalen College students leap from Magdalen Bridge into the River Cherwell.

If these May Day practices are a little too extreme for you, you ladies might consider rushing out into the garden and washing your face with the morning dew. Folklore says that May dew has magical properties and will give you a beautiful complexion all year round.

Happy May!

Hello, my Friends – A Contest!

April 26, 2017 November 17, 2022 carolyn

I have been absent at the Riskies for a bit, but I am here today. ::hand waving:: as to reasons, but the short version is Life. I have had my head entirely in my very overdue current project, Surrender To Ruin, which is currently out for the second round of editorial. Here’s the cover:

Surrender to Ruin

It’s Book 3 in the Sinclair Sisters series, and I expect the book to be out by summer, though right now it feels like the Never Ending Project. (Life. Yeah That.)

Anyway, my birthday is coming up very soon and I would like all the Risky Readers to celebrate. I will assemble a prize of some of my favorite books (across all genres) and a few other surprises, and we’ll work out the shipping etc and select a winner or two or several from among the commenters.

Rules:

Void where prohibited. Must be 18 to enter. No purchase necessary. Contest closes at 11:59PM EST April 30, 2017.

This blog is in EST!! Your comment timestamp serves as the guide for timely entrance.

Winner chosen at random from among the qualified comments. Alternate winners will be chosen if I don’t hear from the winners within 7 days of notification.

To enter:

Leave a comment to this post in which you tell me something interesting or tell a funny joke or anecdote. No judgment here. “I like pretty flowers” is kind of short, but hey. That’s sufficient.
Provide a valid email when you comment so you can be contacted. The email for the comment form is sufficient.

Sleeve Buttons, a Gentleman’s Accessory

April 21, 2017 January 24, 2023 Isobel Carr 2 Comments

Let’s have fun and look at a male accessory today. I give you sleeve buttons!

During the Georgian era shirts did not open all the way down the front (no matter what you see on covers). They had a partial neck-opening from the collar to about mid-chest. So the shirt had to be pulled off over the head. They buttoned closed at the throat, though this is hidden by the cravat. The cuffs of the shirts were generally wide (2”-3”) and buttoned closed in an overlapping fashion (like a modern dress shirt, not like a French cuff). I have found extant sleeve buttons (aka cuff links) dating back to the 18th century, but all the extant shirts I’ve seen have buttons; I have not seen shirt studs pre-Victorian). So while they may not have been a common accessory, they’re something a man could have worn and something you can use as a plot point.

Late Georgian sleeve cuff

Silver and paste sleeve buttons, late 18th century.

Silver and agate sleeve buttons, 1770s-1820s

Gold sleeve buttons, early 19th century.

Are there any clothing items or accessories you’re curious about? Let me know and I’ll cover them in future posts!

A Class, a Sale, and a Fundraiser!

April 17, 2017 April 16, 2017 Elena Greene Leave a comment

I want to thank all the lovely readers who’ve been patiently waiting for my next book. I also need to apologize for how long it is taking. I tried to work on a new romance project last fall, but realized that I needed to do a lot of therapeutic journaling to unblock. I’ve been doing that and making peace with a lot of inner demons in the process. At the same time, I’m feeling the urge to reconnect with my career as a Regency author, so I’m working on a couple of related projects.

Halley Hixson, one of those lovely readers and also a writer, asked me to teach an online class for Low Country RWA. Since I’m more of Regency jack-of-all-trades than a mistress of any specific topic, I decided to offer an introductory class. The goal is to help writers who enjoy reading Regencies but are just getting started writing their own and could use a jump-start with the research including some basics and suggestions for further exploration. My challenge has been to figure out what to include and what to leave out–each lesson could be whole class of its own! But I’m having fun with it and it’s helping me to get the Regency world back into my head again.

If anyone would like to register (or suggest this class to someone else), here’s the registration form.

Below is a cute cartoon of “A Receipt for Courtship” that I found while putting together the section related to courtship.

My other project is to connect my concern for social issues with my writing. (One of my friends calls my books “social justice smut”—from her, it’s a compliment!) I’m planning to start running sales of my backlist titles and donating my portion of the proceeds to a different cause each month.

This week, Lord Langdon’s Kiss is on sale for 99 cents. The heroine, Nell, is a vicar’s daughter and very involved with the families in her father’s parish. She would be moved by the plight of refugees from Syria and many other places, so I decided to share the proceeds of this sale with the International Rescue Committee, a 4 star charity. Here’s a short description from their website.

International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future.

One of the many things they are doing is helping the medical response for civilians in Syria suffering from recent attacks using chemical weapons. Learn more at www.rescue.org

Lord Langdon’s Kiss is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and Kobo.