Wow, Cara’s a tough act to follow! But even if I haven’t had people spluttering coffee or tea all over their keyboards I’ve had a blast blogging here.

One of my favorite topics is the writer’s life. I can’t think of a nicer community in which to discuss some of my writer quirks and neuroses. I hope some of these posts have inspired or informed, or at least amused. Or perhaps reassured fellow writers they’re not alone and that it’s OK to be different, as when we talked about Elena’s Writing Bookshelf or slow versus fast writers in Tempus Fugit.

Another thing I never tire of is chatting about both the popular and the less well known facets of “our” period. I couldn’t imagine a nicer group of Regencyphiles with whom to share my obsession! Some of my favorite Regency-related posts include Regency Naming Hell and Duking it out. (BTW the picture here is of a group of Bond Street Beaus including several real historical dukes. Not quite as hunky as the fictional ones, I’m afraid!)

But maybe my favorite thing to discuss is storytelling. I love to hear what other people think of certain types of characters, certain types of plots, etc…, such as in Happily Ever After, Mary Sues and Gender Bending.

So please let us know which of my posts you enjoyed most (either from the ones I mentioned or any from this past year) and why.

I’m offering a choice of prizes to a winner chosen at random from the comments. The winner may choose either my most recent release, LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE (Romantic Times Top Pick and Best Regency Romance for 2005) or HIS BLUSHING BRIDE, an early anthology I participated in, along with authors Alice Holden and Regina Scott (also a Romantic Times Top Pick).

And don’t forget to sign up for our Risky newsletter, if you haven’t yet done so! All subscribers at the end of this week will have a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate! (To subscribe, send an e-mail to riskies@yahoo.com with NEWSLETTER in the subject line.)

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Welcome to the Risky Regencies Second Anniversary Celebration!

Leave a comment on this post anytime before the end of this week, saying which of my posts from the past twelve months is your favorite, and explaining why you like it, and you’ll be entered to win today’s prize!

The winner of today’s prize will actually have a choice between Prize A and Prize B:

PRIZE A: A new, never-read, still-in-its-shrinkwrap softbound copy of A PASSION FOR PERFORMANCE: SARAH SIDDONS AND HER PORTRAITISTS published by the J. Paul Getty Museum. This 8″ x 11″ book has 136 pages of portraits of the great Regency actress Sarah Siddons (some color, some B&W, some small, some large), plus essays on the Siddons legend, on her public persona, and more.

PRIZE B: This prize is a Regency novel grab-bag. It includes two copies of my award-winning MY LADY GAMESTER, signed and dedicated to whomever you choose; plus used paperback copies of Carla Kelly’s SUMMER CAMPAIGN, Carla Kelly’s MISS CHARTLEY’S GUIDED TOUR, Jasmine Cresswell’s LORD CARRISFORD’S MISTRESS (a Fawcett Coventry Regency from 1980), and Patricia C. Wrede’s MAIRELON THE MAGICIAN (a fantasy novel set in Regency England.) The latter four books have varying amounts of wear.

Now: on with the contest!

To help jog your memory (and make things easy for anyone who may be joining us for the first time), I’ve listed some my favorite Cara posts. See which you like, and tell us why!

First, one of my favorite installments of AUSTEN TREK (also known
as “If Jane Austen Wrote Star Trek.”) Some folks thought I crossed the “okay, now you’re just too weird” line with this series. What do you think? Austen Trek: The Origin of Kirk

Next, my report on the Jane Austen Ball

And who could forget dear Bertie?
Bertie the Superhero

The first Tuesday of every month, I host an online Jane Austen Movie Club here at Risky Regencies. This post was our first “meeting”: Jane Austen Movie Club: PERSUASION

And just in case you weren’t sure that Cara had already crossed the
“Okay, now you’re just freaking me out with how weird you are” line, there’s always Northactionfigure Abbey

Of course, I can be Very Serious. I Very Seriously wish I lived at Syon Park

And because a Regency lady needs someone special to live with her at Syon Park, I have twice conducted a poll to determine everyone’s Favorite Austen Heartthrob. (Mr. Knightley looks rather like Bertie in that picture, doesn’t he?)

There you have it. Something of a cross-section of my posts, with only the vast majority of them showing a shocking excess of immaturity and/or insanity. (I couldn’t possibly show you more than seven posts — that would be rampant vanity! — nor would I dare show you any more of my bizarre-Cara-humor posts, such as Traditional Christmas Pie, or any more “handsome Regency guy” posts, particularly If Jamie Bamber’s Hot, It’s Not Like I Noticed Or Anything. Definitely not!)

And don’t forget to sign up for our Risky newsletter, if you haven’t yet done so! All subscribers at the end of this week will have a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate! (To subscribe, send an e-mail to riskies@yahoo.com with NEWSLETTER in the subject line.)

Cara
Cara King, author of My Lady Gamester and petter of fluffy cats

Greetings, O handsome and well-bred denizens of the year 2007!

It is I, the most beloved (and aesthetically pleasing) Regency gentleman of your or anyone’s acquaintance, Bertram St. James, Exquisite. (Frequently referred to as Bertie the Beau, due to no urging of his own, but rather to the good taste and keen observation of users of the aforementioned epithet.)

I am here today to inform you of the many prizes the Risky Regencies authors will be giving away in the coming week, and the accompanying revels.

There shall be two types of contests and prizes this week:

DAILY PRIZES

Every day from Monday (the 17th of September, 2007) through Saturday (the 22nd of September, 2007), a Risky Regencies author will ask blog visitors to name their favorite post by that author which appeared during the previous twelve months. To make the task easier, the blogger will list (and link to) several of her posts which she feels are among her best, or most popular.

Each Risky visitor who names a favorite post in the comments on the author’s current post, giving a good reason for liking of said post, shall be eligible for that day’s prize. (Each day’s prize will be different, and stated in that day’s post.)

Only one comment per visitor per post will be eligible to win (and Bertie’s sharp eyes and sharper wit will spot anyone who comments under multiple names), and the comment may be left any time through the end of the week.

GRAND PRIZE

Our grand prize, a gift certificate worth twenty-five American Dollars at the book-seller establishment run by Messrs. Amazon, will be awarded by a random drawing from the list of all persons signed up to receive the brilliantly informative and effervescently entertaining Risky Regencies newsletter by the end of this week. (Those who sign up this week, and those who signed up in the past, are all eligible, as long as they are on the newsletter mailing list at the end of this week.)

To sign up for this ever-so-elegant newsletter, which contains news of upcoming Risky Regencies book releases, signings, and contests, merely send an e-mail to riskies@yahoo.com with NEWSLETTER in the subject line. (We, of course, would never send you, nor share your address to allow anyone else to send you, the unpleasant sort of e-mail which modern people mysteriously term “spamm.”)

Rules of Exceeding Miscellaneity Yet of Great Import:

1. Hedgehogs may enter, provided they do not leave footprints in the blog.

2. My great-aunt Lavinia Sophia Eugenia Kumquat is not allowed to enter, unless she promises to stop sending notices to “In Touch” Weekly announcing my nonexistent engagement to Miss Keira Knightley.

3. Dust, lint, and cat-hair are strictly forbidden to enter, and exhorted to stay away from my waistcoat upon pain of raised eyebrow.

If you have any questions, do ask them here. If not — let the celebration begin!

Yr Obt Svt,

Bertie the Beau

Yes, it’s that time of year again! This Wednesday, September 19th, is the annual Talk Like A Pirate Day. What does that mean? Loads and loads of fun, of course! Since this special day only comes once a year, we need to take advantage of it. Wear your eye-patch to work, let your parrot out of the cage, and dazzle your co-workers with your extensive knowledge of pirate-speak.

Here’s a few useful words and phrases to help you get started:
“Arrrrggghh!” (the classic–all-purpose)
“Ahoy, me hearties!” (to use when you’re about to board the ship–or enter the copy room)
“Weigh anchor! Hoist the mizzen!” (set sail, chase the prize ship! Or go on your lunch break)
“Avast ye varmint” (drop the pieces of eight! Or bring back my stapler)

Some other useful grammar tips include:
Double up on adjectives–the more the better (it’s not a nice ship, it’s a “great, grand, glorious ship”)
Always drop your g’s (rowin’, fightin’)
Say “I be”, not “I am”
When in doubt, start your sentences with “Argh, me hearty”

Some websites to help you out:
Official Site (find events near you!)
Pirates and Privateers (some fun history and links)
More Useful Vocabulary

I’ve been doing research for my next project (to be started when the Sicily-set Regency book is done!), a tale of 16th century pirates in the Caribbean (starring Balthazar from A Notorious Woman), and I’m finding out that being a Real Pirate is not nearly as much fun as being a Movie Pirate. But I’m still going to call Talk Like a Pirate Day useful research and take full advantage of it!

If you could hold a Talk Like A Pirate Day party, what would it be like? Who would you invite (besides the Riskies, of course!)? What are some favorite pirate movies (besides Pirates of the Caribbean, I really love that old Errol Flynn cheese-fest Against All Flags).

And remember, when in doubt–Arrrrrggghhhh!

Last week one of my children’s teachers gave me a homework assignment: to write about my child in a million words or less. We laughed about it over the dinner table. My husband knew I really could write a book about either of our children. (I was proud of myself when I completed the assignment without adding extra papers, though I did fill both sides.) My children asked me if I really could write a million words. I told them I thought I already had and did some estimates.

LORD LANGDON’S KISS: 75,000
THE WEDDING WAGER: 20,000
THE INCORRIGIBLE LADY CATHERINE: 75,000
THE REDWYCK CHARM: 75,000
SAVING LORD VERWOOD: 75,000
LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE: 90,000

410,000 total published words. But I usually do at least 3 drafts that are pretty much total rewrites (the 4th is polishing). So I’ve probably written about 1,230,000 words in order to create these 6 published works.

And that doesn’t count works-in-progress.

I also have 3 chapters of a proposal I’ve put on the back burner: about 9,000 words. Two drafts of the balloonist story: 200,000 more. And about 65,000 words of first draft on the story I started during NaNoWriMo week.

The grand total (drumroll here): 1,504,000 words.

If I ever start doubting that I am a real writer I’m going to look back at this total!

So how about you, Riskies and friends? Do you think you’ve written a million words yet, or does it just feel like it? I wonder how many we’ve written in total? Probably a brazillion. 🙂

And for our friends who aren’t writers, do these numbers come as a surprise?

Elena

www.elenagreene.com