I thought I’d try something a bit different today — an offbeat introduction to a new Regency author, shorter and sillier than our formal interviews (er, I mean the introduction, not the author!) and hopefully fun.

Many of you have probably seen Georgie Lee’s comments on our blog — well, her first Regency, Lady’s Wager, has just been published by Cerridwen Cotillion, and you all know how I love any sort of Regency gambling! (In this particular wager, if the heroine loses, she has to get married — and that’s always great fun.) So let’s get to know Georgie Lee a little better!

So, Georgie, how did you feel when you sold your first book?

Excited, and somewhat terrified. I’ve heard many authors describe their first sale experience but until I went through it, the contract, the edits, the nail biting countdown to release day, I had no idea the trials awaiting me. However, the feelings of accomplishment and pride that came with selling Lady’s Wager made all the other stresses and headaches worth it and I can’t wait to do it again.

What’s one big difference between writing for Hollywood, and writing novels?

Well, so far neither has made me rich but there is still time (haa-haa). It was an adjustment moving from screenwriting to novels and it took a while to make the switch. In screenwriting, a writer provides the director with a dialogue blueprint and the end result is someone else’s vision. Writing a novel made me responsible for everything and it took a while to get the hang of scene descriptions and sensory details. My first draft of Lady’s Wager was difficult to read because I hadn’t learned how to move characters through a scene without constantly using the word “and”. However, after a couple of drafts I got the hang of it and my writing greatly improved.

Why do you like writing in the Regency period?

I’ve always loved the manners and the elegance of the Regency. I know those manners covered up what could be a very harsh society but the delight of romances is the ability to enjoy a time period without the ugly reality. Also, writing in the Regency is like being a screenwriter during the golden age of Hollywood. Back then, characters couldn’t always say everything they wanted to say, especially if it was racy. As a result, writers came up with very clever dialogue and scenes to suggest what the characters were forbidden to express.

What’s your favorite Jane Austen novel?

Persuasion. Unlike many of Austen’s other characters, such as Emma and Elizabeth, who are self-confident, Anne lacks self-confidence at the beginning and must learn to believe in herself and her opinion. I think we all feel a lack of self-confidence at times and so we can easily identify with Anne. Also, it’s touching to watch her change and grow and to see her growth rewarded with a second chance at love.

Non-Jane Austen Regency Romance?

His Lordship’s Swan by Martha Kirkland. It was one of the first Regencies I read and I love the heroine’s spunk and the way her defiance of convention catches the hero’s attention. I enjoy strong female characters who don’t conform to social expectations and this non-conformist attitude is one of the defining features of Charlotte, the heroine of Lady’s Wager.

What’s your favorite period movie?

Where do I begin? I love so many period movies, from Dangerous Beauty to An Ideal Husband, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility to Elizabeth. However, my all time favorite is Gone with the Wind. I first saw it in junior high, and Scarlett O’Hara’s determination to succeed combined with her devil may care attitude and her belief in the promise of tomorrow really spoke to me. About ten years ago I was finally able to see it in a theatre and it was like seeing it for the first time.

If you had to marry one Jane Austen hero, which would it be?

Mr. Darcy. In a lot of ways he reminds me of my husband. Both of them are reserved and somewhat shy, which can sometime be mistaken for pride, and both are devoted to those they love.

Thanks for joining us, Georgie! (Okay, you’re married to Mr. Darcy…does that mean I have to hate you?) 🙂

And if anyone wants to know more about Lady’s Wager or about Cotillion Regencies, just go to Cotillion’s Georgie Lee page.

And remember to stop by Risky Regencies next Tuesday to discuss the new adaptation of Persuasion! (When any of the new Austens air on PBS, we’ll discuss them here the following Tuesday.)

Cara
Cara King, author of her own little gambling book

This week, I started work on a new book (up to page 22 now!). It’s the third of what I call my “Renaissance Trilogy,” which started with A Notorious Woman and continues with A Sinful Alliance in April (the story of Nicolai Ostrovsky). This 3rd, unnamed book, is Balthazar Grattiano’s story, and takes place mostly in the Caribbean in the 1530s. I’m hoping that imagining warm islands and sandy beaches will help me through the cold, gray winter days!

This first part of a book, the first step, Chapter One, is very exciting. All those blank pages–anything can happen! It’s also very, very scary. All those blank pages–disaster can happen. Like the first day of a long-planned, much-anticipated vacation. For this book, hopefully I’m fortified by lots of research (including the trip to visit Diane in Virginia last summer!), and by the feeling that I know the characters very well. They’ll usually show me where they want to go.

Every writer starts a story in a different way, I’m sure, but mine always seem to start with a character. Sometimes the hero, sometimes the heroine. Then I have to find them a story, a frame, and their right match. These 3 stories happened to start with heroes (2 of them heroes I never intended to write a story for, until they insisted!). But their heroines came to me vividly soon after. In Notorious Woman, there’s Marc the ship’s captain and Julietta the perfumer, both with secrets to hide; in A Sinful Alliance, Nicolai the actor and spy, and Marguerite–well, she’s a spy, too. She tries to kill him in a Venetian brothel, and then they meet again a year later at the court of Henry VIII! Balthazar, the pseudo-villain of ANW, is now seeking to redeem himself in the New World, until he meets tavern owner Bianca, a woman he may have wronged in his misspent youth…

As you can tell, I really like characters with Secrets, with a dark side they must overcome through the power of love and self-realization. I often like characters who are “outsiders” in some way, who march to their own beat despite what society might expect. Characters who are–risky, I guess. Sometimes they’re harder to get to know, but they always take me to such interesting places. Both as a writer and a reader. (BTW, Elizabeth Mahon, a frequent RR visitor, has a great blog about such real-life historical “characters” at Scandalous Women)

This particular journey, with these characters, is just starting. Wish me luck.

Who are some of your favorite characters???

Don’t forget to join us tomorrow, as Diane launches Vanishing Viscountess (and gives away a copy)! Keep up with all our characters, risky or otherwise, by signing up for our newsletter at riskies@yahoo.com…

Warning: Totally frivolous and useless post ahead! Some of you probably need a little break from the holiday craziness (like me!), so here are a few fun Internet finds to wile away some quiet moments as you plan your New Year’s Eve.

Cat Head Theater: Animated cats performing a scene from Hamlet ‘Nuff said.

A music video using scenes from Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and North and South. Kinda sappy (okay, really sappy), but fun!

An article on how to make your own green evening gown from Atonement, if you’re so inclined. And if you are, I’ll buy it from you! But will someone please give Keira Knightley a cheeseburger, immediately!!! (Bertie, can I count on you?)

Tartx jewelry–I think I’ve talked about this site before, but I just love it so am doing so again! The necklaces are beautiful, and the quality terrific, too (I own a couple of pendants, Marie Antoinette and Jane Austen, plus keep a wishlist there!)

Richard Armitage Online Because I got my own DVD of North and South for Christmas, and I’ve been watching it way more than is good for me this last week. It almost makes me want to write a Victorian-set story! Maybe I’ll rewatch P&P, too.

A short trailer for the movie The Duchess. I’m still trying to figure out if that bit with the pillared balcony is set at the assembly rooms in Bath (Diane and Deb, what do you think??)

Happy New Year, everyone! What are your resolutions? I have the usual. Go to yoga class more. Eat more vegetables (french fries don’t count). Write 10 pages a day. Okay, 8. And, for now, cut back on watching North and South. I also have a new dress for the New Year’s party, but sadly things on that holiday never seem to go like in that cheesy-but-great movie The Cutting Edge. You know–sparklers, music, a handsome hockey player-turned ice skater to kiss at midnight. But I have hopes for this year…

See you in 2008!