Why does hair on a man’s forehead somehow make him suddenly seem sensitive, or artistic, or deep?

It’s all due to those….those Romantics, isn’t it?

Shelley… Keats… Byron…. They have a lot to answer for, don’t they?

They left us with the unwavering feeling that a man with hair falling over his forehead, or even into his eyes a bit, has a profound and passionate soul.

Or was it the Romantics?

What is it about men with hair falling in their eyes?

Certainly, both Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy and Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy have their moments of romantic hair glory — the former’s curls, and the latter’s wisps, falling over the brow, showing emotion, and beauty, and….. love?

Is this what makes a woman’s heart turn over? Hair falling forward?

If so, is it really all due to the Romantics?

I suspect that it was indeed the great hippie-like passions and philosophy and art of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the hair the era loved, which have imprinted us forever.

And just in case you think I’m merely making fun of this idea, let me assure you that I’m not.

I am a total sucker for floppy hair.

Case in point: Peter Petrelli.

On the new TV show “Heroes”, Peter Petrelli (played by Milo Ventimiglia) is the sensitive younger brother of a conniving politician.

Peter, though, is a nurse, and a good son, and falls in love with women who prefer heroin-addicted artists, and feels oh-so-much pain, and love, and longing…

And when he gets a chance to lay down his life to save someone, he takes it.

Sigh.

And you knew it all the minute you saw the hair.

Cara
(who actually whined excessively about the long hair of the guy on the cover of MY LADY GAMESTER, because Stoke is no romantic, and that guy on the cover just looks like a smug, self-satisfied twit)

I hope everyone rang in the New Year exactly as they wished. I did, with a quiet night at home, which is my favorite way to celebrate this holiday. I watched The Producers on TV and The Sound of Music. Wild lady here!

I’ve done a little thinking about New Year’s Resolutions and decided that I should have some. I ought to just cut and paste from last year. And the year before. And the year before that. There are a few that tend to repeat.

Diane’s New Year’s Resolutions

1. Lose weight and keep it off this time. I vow this every year and perhaps this year I will stick to it. I really want to.

2. Exercise regularly; that is, go back to Curves. I was doing so well at Curves and then I became swamped with deadlines, but I know that should not be an excuse.

3. Get organized and set a schedule for myself. I think I would not have to engage in writing marathons if I were more disciplined.

4. Read more. I really envied my fellow Riskies who shared their favorite books of 2006. I read mostly research books in 2006 and I need to get back to reading fiction, especially my friends’ romance novels, like Colleen Gleason’s The Rest Falls Away, in bookstores today!

5. Spend more time feeding my muse by going places and doing things. I live less than a half hour from the museums in Washington, DC. I should visit them more. I’ve never been to Lee’s Mansion, right in Arlington County where I worked for a brazillion years. Or to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, a nice drive away, in Charlottesville, VA, where I negotiated my first book sale at a convenience store pay phone, with the trucks whizzing by…. But that is another story!

I do believe in New Year’s resolutions! This is a time to be optimistic. The New Year brings us all a new beginning, a time to start all over again.

How about you? Did you make resolutions?

And don’t forget to come by for Colleen Gleason’s visit on Thursday. In the meantime, take a look at her Trailer for The Rest Falls Away.

Cheers!
Diane

Meet Colleen Gleason, the author of The Rest Falls Away, the first book in the Gardella series, this Thursday, January 4, 2007. She’ll talk about the inspiration for her Regency-set vampire hunter series and you’ll have the chance to win a copy of her book!

A promising, enthusiastic beginning to a new paranormal historical series … Gleason quickly establishes an alluring world all her own. Publishers Weekly

With its vampire lore and Regency graces, this book grabs you and holds you tight to the very last page! R J Ward

Hope you all had a great holiday! I got my very own chocolate fountain (just what I need after all the holiday eating I’ve been doing!), plus several Barnes and Noble giftcards, which are already spent, and two new Little Thinker dolls from the Unemployed Philosophers Guild catalog to add to my collection (I now have Shakespeare and Elizabeth I to add to Jane Austen, Monet, Emily Dickinson, Frida Kahlo, and Van Gogh–who comes complete with removable ear). I also got DVDs and the Marie Antoinette soundtrack, and that doesn’t count sundry little Hello Kitty items. A great holiday all around!

When it comes to “end of the year reading” lists, I always wish I had kept a log of all the books read. I forget, and probably leave out some stories I really enjoyed. But here are a few that have stuck in my mind:

The Flamenco Academy by Sarah Bird: What I loved about this one was the vivid descriptions of Albuquerque and northern New Mexico (where I grew up), plus the evocation of flamenco culture and artistry. The story centers around Cyndi Rae, a shy girl from a, shall we say, unusual family, her intense high school friendship with fame-seeking Didi, and the man who comes between them–intense, sexy, but (of course) highly unreliable flamenco guitarist Tomas. The story is puntucated by the story of Tomas’s aunt Dona Carlotta during the Spanish Civil War (this part really could have been its own book). Obsession, romance, finding oneself–it’s all there. (One quibble I had–I’ve been taking flamenco lessons for a couple of years, and started ballet when I was 3. I don’t believe that a girl could take an intro to flamenco class her freshman year of college and become a professional before she graduates. No matter how obsessed).

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl: I tend to be a bit wary of highly hyped books. Sometimes they are great; oftren they are disappointing. But this was one of the great hyped ones. Our heroine Blue Van Meer has spent her young life traveling around the country with her professor father, and lands at the St. Gallway School for her senior year. There she gets involved with a mysterious, charismatic teacher and a group of odd students called The Bluebloods. Coming of age and suspense built around an imaginary syllabus of a Great Works of Literature class. Big, rambling, wonderfully geeky. The New York Times said it is “flashily erudite”, and that seems like a good description to me.

The Bronte Project: A Novel of Passion, Desire, and Good PR by Jennifer Vandever: Serious scholar Sarah Frost is looking for lost letters of Charlotte Bronte; glamorous, flamboyant Claire Vigee easily upstages her with her “Diana Studies” (as in Princess). This books hilariously skewers academic pretension and the silliness of pop culture, while introducing us to a plethora of eccentric secondary characters–two New Yorkers who pretend to live in the 19th century, a Hollywood producer who falls for Sarah and also wants to change Charlotte’s story into the latest “feel good” romantic comedy.

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber: I’ve been doing a lot of reading about 18th century France for research lately, and this was one of my favorites. History as fashion, yay! Each phase of Marie Antoinette’s life is detailed by what she chose to wear and how her use of stunning, extreme, unique costumes to project an image of power and influence backfired. Beautiful descriptions.

Invisible Lives by Anjali Banerjee: a sort of “Bollywood chick lit.” Lakshmi helps run her mother’s Seattle sari shop, and has the magical gift of seeing others’ secret dreams and fulfilling them through the right sari. But what are her own dreams–an arranged marriage to the “perfect” man, or American Nick? A fun read, and more fashion!

A few of my “honorable mentions”–Elisabeth de Feydeau’s Scented Palace: The Secret History of Marie Antoinette’s Perfumer; Ian Kelly’s Beau Brummell: The Ultimate Man of Style; Michelle Styles’ Gladiator’s Honor (a romance set in ancient Rome, which wonderfully evokes the era).

Happy New year! Here’s to many good reads in 2007. 🙂

In thinking about the best books I’ve read this year, I realized I had to expand to make it the best media I’ve experienced this year.

First off, my current obsession of Sean Bean, fueled by watching the Sharpe series on BBC America. I still haven’t made it to the last Sharpe, but I’ve watched maybe 10 of them, all featuring Bernard Cornwell‘s fantastic anti-hero Richard Sharpe. Sharpe is honorable, in his way, but he also fights dirty, doesn’t care whom he offends, and looks down–way down–on the nobility.

I’ve been reading the Sharpe series, too, and also diving into other Cornwell books, most notably the Holy Grail trilogy, which begins with Vagabond.

I’ve continued, and continued to love, J.R. Ward‘s vampire series. Lover Eternal and Lover Awakened were both excellent reads, and I already have Lover Revealed on pre-order. Ward writes the sexiest, most tortured vampires, and you can’t help but fall in love with them.

This year also brought two Eloisa James‘ books: The Taming of the Duke, and Pleasure For Pleasure, both of which I enjoyed. James is fantastic at creating situations and dialogue that seem real, regardless of setting, and her characters behave like people you might actually know: Flawed, selfish, selfless, insecure, smart, and wanting to fall in love.

In music, I’ve been rediscovering some way-old favorites, particularly The Jam, a British group that drew on the mod influences of the ’60s to create their brash, abrasive, politically-charged music. The hero of my next Regency-set historical would be a fan of The Jam, if Regency-set heroes listened to new wave. I’ve also been listening to some old James Brown, whose funk is unparalleled. RIP, James.

I’ve also been watching a few (a very few) television shows, especially The Wire, whose plot twists and turns are equal to the most well-plotted suspense novel (no surprise, since authors George Pelecanos and Dennis Lehane have worked on the show). The characters of The Wire are equally well-done, and I was very sad to see its season finale.

My seven year-old son has gotten into Top Chef, and dragged his parents along with him, so now I watch with bated breath as a chef gets eliminated–or not–each week.

It’s been a fun year, loving old favorites, finding a few new ones, working on my own writing, and learning cool tricks from music, television, and film as well as books.

Have a healthy, happy New Year, and we’ll be bringing more Risky behavior in 2007.

Megan
www.meganframpton.com