Hi, Eva!

We have not forgotten you and we still want to get you your copy of La Petite Four by Regina Scott. Unfortunately, your emails have still not made it through.

We did notice that there was an Eva from Finland who won from us once before. If you are the same Eva and haven’t moved, please let us know and we’ll just use the same address.

If not, we have several suggestions:

1) If you feel comfortable doing so, just put your address in a comment to this post.

2) If not, you could try sending it to any or all of these addresses:

riskies@yahoo.com
ammcabe7551@yahoo.com
caraking1@yahoo.com
egreene@stny.rr.com

Also, we are not techies here, but we suspect that maybe something along the way thinks your emails are spam. Try putting “La Petite Four” in the subject header and avoiding any words like “contest” or “winner” since those words are sometimes associated with spam. If these things don’t work, you may wish to check with your service provider.

We are sorry this is taking so long and sincerely hope this works!

Elena and the Riskies

I’ve been thinking about clothes this week. Okay, I know I always think about clothes! I subscribe to far too many fashion magazines, and shop more than I should. But this week even more than usual. There were wedding clothes (for my brother’s wedding, see pics here, plus one I’m attending this afternoon). There was the Horrifying Revelation that a gown Sarah Jessica Parker wore to one of the 450 Sex and the City premiers had (gasp!!!) been worn before. And I was sick for a few days, and laid on the couch watching recordings of Gossip Girl reruns.

Gossip Girl was my newest TV obsession last season. Twisted storylines, snappy writing, sex and drugs (in limos!), revenge through dinner reservations. Despite the disappointingly weak season finale, this is television gold! And what I like best is the fashion, and how it’s used to help define characters. With glamorous events like cotillion balls, masquerades, and, y’know, going to school, every week is a couture wonderland. Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel! Chuck Bass and his dumb “signature scarf”! Headbands galore! What could be better??

June 7 also marks a milestone for 2 historical figures who knew the power of fashion, and how to use it to get their point across.

Beau Brummell was born on June 7, 1778, and for a time during the Regency his opinion on style and wit held highest sway in Society–until gambling and extravagance, along with quarrels with former BFF the Prince Regent, led to his downfall. He ended up bankrupt and syphilitic, and what’s worse dirty and slovenly, wandering around France. But his style holds sway in menswear to this day. As Byron purportedly said, there was nothing much remarkable about his fashion except “a certain exquisite propriety.”

He established a mode of understated, dark-colored, perfectly fitted and cut clothes, along with an impeccable crisp white cravat. He also emphasized daily bathing, shaving, and tooth-cleaning. It was said he took 5 hours to dress. Would he approve of Chuck Bass’s style of modern dandyism, with seersucker suits, bow ties, and the aforementioned scarf?

For more information, I recommend Ian Kelly’s book Beau Brummell: Ultimate Man of Style. On an unrelated note, I also recommend the show Blackadder the Third, where Blackadder is a servant to Hugh Laurie’s hysterical Prinny. One day Blackadder is reading the paper, with such headlines as “Beau Brummell in purple pants probe” and “King talks to tree–Phew! What a loony.”

June 7 was also the day George Sand died in 1876at age 72. Her refusal to reform to gender conventions of the day led to her use of men’s clothes (she said they were sturdier and cheaper, but they also enabled her to move more freely about Paris and gave her access to mostly-male venues, like restricted libraries and museums and the stalls of the theater). She also (gasp again!!) smoked in public. And had many, many lovers. And wrote 20 pages a night.

Margaret Fuller wrote, “George Sand smokes, wears male attire, wishes to be addressed as Mon frere; perhaps, if she found those who were as brothers indeed, she would not care whether she were a brother or a sister.”

Of course, sometimes no clothes at all is even better…

What have you been wearing (or watching, or thinking about) this week?

Eva S, please email riskies@yahoo.com to claim your copy of La Petite Four!

And Santa, could you email me (Amanda) at amccabe7551@yahoo.com for your copy of To Taste Temptation? (It seems our email keeps bouncing yours back!)

Thanks to everyone who commented!

My kittens are here!

Naturally, I’d say more, but the orange kitty has already figured out that walking on the keyboard is the MOST FUN EVER.

And as you can see from the picture, he also likes to read my Regency research books.

I wonder if E. Beresford Chancellor ever pictured the uses his book would be put to?

(Although if he had cats, I bet he did.)

Have to run now…cat eating my shoelaces!

(Actually, that was my idea…it has temporarily distracted him from the function keys…)

Cara

Regina Scott’s debut Regency-set YA novel, La Petite Four, is available now from Penguin Razorbill!

Riskies: Welcome back to the blog, Regina! Tell us about La Petite Four.

Regina: It’s a romp of a young adult Regency about 4 friends making their debut in 1815 London, and running afoul of a handsome young lord who may have more up his sleeve than a nicely muscled arm. But why tell you when I can show you?? Here’s the La Petite Four video, courtesy of the Class of 2k8, a group of 27 authors with YA or middle grade novels out this year.

Riskies: What gave you the idea for this story?

Regina: One of my traditional Regencies, A Dangerous Dalliance, featured an art teacher who is coerced into chaperoning 4 students on an Easter holiday visit to a Great House. The four students–Lady Emily Southwell, Priscilla Tate, and sisters Ariadne and Daphne Courdebas–help the teacher blossom and catch the eye of the new earl. They also solve a mystery along the way. Readers had written me asking if I would ever tell the girls’ stories. When I decided to try a YA, I knew exactly which story I wanted to tell first!

Riskies: What was the research like? Did you find any unusual or unexpected facts?

Regina: Lady Emily wants to be an artist, a rather shocking pastime for the daughter of a duke. At first, I hoped she would join the Royal Academy of Arts school, but as I went deeper into research I was shocked to learn girls weren’t allowed! One of the required courses involved sketching nude models, and it wasn’t considered “proper” for young ladies to view nudes. Some women actually posed nude, but that’s another story. Even Angelica Kauffman and Mary Moser, founding members of the Royal Academy, were treated differently. In a famous painting, Johann Zoffany depicted the founding members of the Academy, all standing around models. Kauffman and Moser are seen only as paintings on the wall! Of course, one of the great things about writing today is that you can sometimes address these historical issues. I created a group of aristocratic artists, men and women, who paint only for charity–The Royal Society for the Beaux Arts, and gave Emily the dream of becoming a member there instead.

Riskies: What are some of the challenges and rewards of writing for the YA market?

Regina: Today’s teens are amazing! I’d barely put my toe in the water on MySpace, and I had friends everywhere, many teen reviewers with their own blogs and webpages. These are mostly girls who read voraciously, then talk eloquently about what they’ve read, sharing their thoughts with dozens of other teens with similar interests. I don’t think I was half that organized at their age! I only hope I can do them justice in my books by writing about similar teens with dreams and spunk.

Riskies: What is “risky” about this book?

Regina: Historical YA without a paranormal elements is a risk these days. The Luxe came out recently, but it was more glitz and garters. I’m more giggles and gowns. I also stretch the boundaries of what is considered appropriate for the Regency period. I tried hard not to break the rules, but I did push them! I made them go as far as they could go to meet what my publisher thought would excite teen readers.

Riskies: Tell us about your own blog, Nineteenteen!

Regina: It’s dedicated to sharing things teenagers did during the 19th century in England. Marissa Doyle and I are having so much fun! The more we share aspects of the 19th century the more we find to write about. The language of flowers, a decade-by-decade look at fashion, even the first rollercoaster! I focus on the Regency, and Marissa is more early Victorian. We both love to tell stories and share cool stuff we’ve found in the our research. It’s been exciting to see our readership grow.

Riskies: I saw that some of the your Regencies are available at Belgrave House through their Regency Reads line! How does it feel to have them out there again?

Regina: Very gratifying! The stories are finding a whole new group of readers, and I’m enjoying hearing from them. I’m also honored to be one of the Regency Reads authors, with my books alongside those of Emily Hendrickson, Allison Lane, and Barbara Metzger. It’s a great resource for Regency lovers!

Riskies: What’s next for you?

Regina: I’m happily playing in this new world of YA fiction! I’m also working on a contemporary fantasy based on Native American mythology. And, of course, I’m hoping readers will want more stories like La Petite Four! I’d love to tell Priscilla’s story next.