Word Wenches

The Romance of an Open Fire

Anne here, in a sudden cold snap with misty rain. I'm smelling the fragrance of wood smoke on the air and I'm brooding on the romance of an open fire. It's not cold enough to need a fire, you see, so one of my neighbors has lit it purely for the atmosphere. An open fire is such a cosy thing. And I don't have one, which is why I'm so absurdly dreamy about them. 

I'm very appreciative of the convenience of heat at the flick of a switch and I know it's not exactly romantic having an open fire as your sole source of warmth — collecting the wood, chopping kindling, and logs of various thicknesses, setting the fire, cleaning away the old ashes and so on.

I grew up with that as a child and it's not much fun starting a fire from scratch when you arrive home, freezing and wet to a cold, dark house. Or first thing in the morning when you're cold and sleepy and only the bed is warm. 
 

But once the kindling catches and the flames stop flirting with the wood and the fire becomes a roaring blaze, there's something so elementally satisfying about standing in front of the hearth, warming yourself at a fire you've created. Dangerous, too — I once stood so close to a fire I set my skirt on fire. Only a bit, and I have to admit it was very funny at the time, but still... I do love a fire, and not just because of the heat.

When people gather around a fire something magical happens — storytelling. I suspect it's some age-old instinct, staring into the fire, watching the coals shift and the flames dance, and spinning stories. Whether it's indoors around a fire, or outdoors around a campfire, there's an irresistible urge to talk and to listen. And sometimes to sing, of course. Some friends of mine are famed for their parties and one of the secrets of their success is, I'm sure, the fact that they always have a couple of large fires blazing, and as the night progresses people invariably drift toward the fire, and the stories start. They're wonderful parties and they always end very late.

When I was a little girl, I read a lot of books in front of an open fire, sprawled out on a rug on the floor, lost in the world of the book, with the fire crackling and hissing gently in the background. The fire added to the atmosphere of the stories.

I remember a story set in prehistoric times — I'm not sure if it was cave dwellers or wandering tribespeople, but distinctly recall thinking if I lived in that time I'd like to be the child whose job it was to keep the fire alight, guarding the precious flame, keeping it alive with twigs and dried moss as we wandered from place to place — because these people didn't know how to make fire for themselves. Notice how I ignored the likely danger/starvation/ discomfort/danger involved in that life? It didn't matter. I was the guardian of the flame. No problem. 

The availability of fire and fuel is never something to be taken for granted and wood has to be gathered and chopped. I like to remind my characters (and readers) of that sometimes, because it's something a rich man would take for granted. Here's a snippet from The Accidental Wedding:

By the time Nash came inside he was shivering. He added a small log to the fire. A week ago he would have built a really good blaze. He loved a roaring fire, loved watching the flames dance and the sparks fly. There was a primitive satisfaction in making a fire roar.

But Maddy and the children had to gather the fuel themselves, wandering the forest in search of fallen timber, then dragging it home, chopping it as needed.

On that thought, he went back outside, found the ax she kept just inside the back door, chopped up the rest of her wood, and stacked it neatly by the back door. The combination of exercise and cold, fresh air got his blood moving again. He felt better than he had in days.

On cold winter nights when I was a child, we often used to make toast in front of the fire, toasting the thick slices of bread, and sometimes crumpets, on long toasting forks. Toast tasted so much better that way, even if it was slightly blackened in parts or you had to brush off a bit of ash because you accidentally dropped it. I've used that in a story too, particularly because sharing a fire fosters intimacy. This is from An Honorable Thief:

"Dev, old fellow. Come here and show this girl how to hold a toasting fork," he said. "Wouldn't credit it—-girl's been to India and all sorts of outlandish places but she's never toasted bread in front of a nursery fire before! Shockin' gap in her education! Rectify the matter myself, only I've discovered an appalling absence of marmalade. Can't have toast without marmalade, y'know. Off to see to the matter immediately."

"Oh no, it's quite all right—" Kit began.

"I'd be delighted," interrupted Mr Devenish smoothly, as Sir William breezed out of the room, his youngest child riding horsie on his back. 

He sat down on the hearth rug, right next to Kit. In seconds little Sally, aged five, clambered over his long legs and plopped herself down in his lap. To Kit's astonishment, stern, unapproachable Mr Devenish didn't turn a hair. He simply seized a fork and bending his head to the little mop of golden curls, showed Kit and the child how to attach the bread securely to the fork. 

The oldest girl, Nell settled herself down with Kit, declaring she would show Miss Kitty-cat the way of it because there wasn't all that much bread left, and suddenly peace reigned in the nursery, as the important business of making toast took precedence over all.

Kit tried very hard to concentrate on following the commands of her toast instructress, but her eyes kept flickering sideways to the big dark man sitting on the hearth rug with the tow-headed moppet in his lap. His big hands were guiding the little ones, and he murmured encouragement in a low undertone. Little Sally scowled in grim concentration as she held the fork towards the fire, its weight unobtrusively supported by the man. After a moment or two, the little girl looked up at him. 

"Now?" 

"If you like." He nodded, and she carefully drew the fork back. They both inspected the toast and after a short consultation, solemnly pronounced it ready to be buttered. That was Lady Marsden's job, apparently. She buttered the toast lavishly, honey was applied and the toast was devoured by child and man alike, with gusto.

Kit watched the whole procedure, a lump in her throat. He sprawled, relaxed on the hearth rug, in his fine London clothes and his shiny Hessian boots, a small, decidedly sticky girl-child resting against his chest, sleepily licking honey from her fingers. He seemed not to mind at all, in fact he looked like a man who had been given a taste of Heaven for the evening. 

Kit bit her lip. He looked so stern and severe and he'd been so gentle with the little one, it almost broke her heart to watch them. 

He glanced over at her and smiled. He wasn't a man who smiled often. It made her want to weep again.

After that night at the opera, she'd resolved to keep him at a distance with the strictest, most rigid formality. 

Formality was simply not possible; not when they were both sprawled on a hooked woolen rug in front of a crackling fire, the detritus of an impromptu picnic scattered around them and each with a sleepy child nestled against them. Or in his case, with a tow-headed little angel curled up in the crook of his arm, sound asleep against his heart.

 Fire is primitive and elemental and utterly fundamental to human existence. I've used fire to evoke scenes of cosy domesticity or to play as a counterpoint to a love scene. I've had characters work together to light a fire and I've had fire destroy a character's home and livelihood. I've had characters dry themselves by the fire, toss documents in the fire, gaze at each other in the shadows thrown by fire. And of course, fire is a metaphor for passion... This is from my January book, BRIDE BY MISTAKE:

The candlelight danced lightly across her face, caressing her full, dark lips, turning her eyes into pools of mystery. She ate in silence, but he could look at her face all night and not be bored.

Luke drank a local wine with his dinner, finding it dry and very much to his taste, but after one sip, Isabella had grimaced and set it aside. He gave the landlord a silent signal, and the man nodded, and returned in a few moments, telling Isabella his wife had sent up some of her very own sweet apple cider for the young lady. 

Isabella tasted it with caution that would have amused Luke if he wasn't focused entirely on the way her mouth seemed to caress the glass. She liked it, gave the man a dazzling smile and sent thanks and warm compliments to his wife. 

Would she ever smile like that at Luke?

Her hair, twisted high on her head, curled around her face in a riot of feathery tendrils, clustering around her temple and nape. Loose in the firelight, it had been a gleaming, silken waterfall of darkness against the pale delicacy of her skin, a dozen shades of ebony twisting between her slender fingers like a live thing. 

He'd longed to plunge his fingers into that thick, silken mass, place his mouth against that tender nape. Instead he'd sipped the liqueur, the taste of which would forever remind him of her. Unexpected combinations, dark, yet sweet and sharp. Cool on the outside, a slow burn within. Firing his appetite.

So do you have an open fire in your home? Did you grow up with a fire and have to chop wood and sweep out ashes and build the fire? What memories do you have of that? And what's your favorite thing about an open fire?

Desired

Nicola here. My latest book, Desired, is officially out tomorrow although it has been sighted on the shelves a whole two weeks early. Desired is book 5 in my Scandalous Women of the Ton series and the heroine, Tess Darent, continues the tradition of doing something rather unusual for a woman in Regency England. Tess is an artist and cartoonist who secretly uses her skill to caricature the government and make the case for political reform. Tess's work brings her into serious conflict with the British government, which at the time sought to repress the radical reformers and philanthropists who called for changes in society. I based Tess's drawings on the work of real artists of the period so today I thought I would talk a little about satirical cartoons in the Regency.

A window onto society

The satirical and humorous prints of the Georgian and Regency era give a fascinating insight into the attitudes and opinions of the time. Many of them addressed political issues including the wars with America and France and later the profligacy of the Regency period itself. Others show contemporary attitudes to sex and scandal, fashion and even the pleasures of London life. Over the 60 years from 1770 to 1830, more and more of the literate middle classes as well as the upper classes would be influenced by the debates raised in the satirical prints. At first their influence was felt mainly in London but as the 19th century moved on there was an insatiable appetite to follow what was happening in the capital and in government so the popularity of the satirical prints also spread to the provinces.

An interesting fact about the London prints was that until the 1820s they were largely focussed on life in the capital and did not reflect the wider issues of the Industrial Revolution such as conditions in the northern factories. They commented on the Napoleonic Wars at great length (the cartoon above shows William Pitt and Napoleon Bonaparte dividing up Europe between them) but seldom on the cost in terms of the numbers of men injured or killed. They were not particularly concerned with culture; few comments were made on the literature of the day or developments in science. The Prince of Wales’s patronage of the arts was generally seen as a something to be mocked as were most things about him. During the time that parliament sat, political prints were the most popular. Outside the parliamentary season the cartoonists tended to concentrate on social satire. The feud between George IV and Queen Caroline generated 601 prints in 1820 alone. 

Selling like hot cakes

There were various methods by which the cartoons were reproduced though most were engraved onto copper plates. Print runs also varied. The most successful prints sold up to a couple of thousand sheets. The first caricature of the Prince of Wales’s marriage to Mrs Fitzherbert sold so well that Fore’s print shop was “crowded with servants of the beau monde for several days, demanding impressions faster than they could be printed.” (The Prince and his excesses were a prime target for the satirists, as seen in the picture on the right) If a shop was first with the latest news or gossip it could charge more, so Fore’s charged the high price of two shillings and sixpence for that particular exclusive. James Gillray’s Political-dreamings, published in 1801 was considered so sensational that it sold out in days. Sometimes demand was so high that the copperplate wore out and a new engraving had to be made. William Hogarth's pictures were constantly re-engraved and reissued and in the 1810s the print seller Thomas Tegg reprinted cartoons by Rowlandson and others.

It was the practice for print shops to display their wares in their windows and these often drew the crowds. It was also popular for purchasers to paste cartoons onto screens; Byron had a screen printed with famous boxers on one side and famous actresses on the other! There was an entire room devoted to framed caricatures at Calke Abbey in Derbyshire and a room wallpapered with prints at Rokeby Park in Durham.

Politics and scandal

The upper classes perused the cartoons as avidly as other men and women but seldom went to purchase them themselves. Instead they would send a servant or have a standing order with a certain printmaker. Politicians frequently collected the cartoons in which they featured. Charles James Fox, one of the most caricatured politicians of the 1780s and 1790s had a special bound collection made of all the prints in which he had featured and invited his visitors to browse through them. (The cartoon above is by James Gillray and shows a political gathering at the house of Charles James Fox.) The Prince of Wales had the biggest collection; he was obsessed with keeping an eye on society’s opinion of him despite the fact that few of the cartoons were kind.

The idea of Tess Darent being a female cartoonist is based on fact. Women both consumed and drew some of the popular cartoons, and many were print collectors. Surviving collections show a preference for gossip; like contemporary magazines the prints featured fashion and scandal, including cartoons about the Prince of Wales’s romantic entanglements and several high society marital scandals, but politics also featured as well. Drawing was a skill that many young ladies learned and some of them designed their own satires. This was a pleasing way for them to make fun of men; their pride, arrogance and absurdity. Tess is unusual as a female caricaturist in focussing entirely on domestic political issues but this was not unknown; after the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 there was a great deal of criticism of government policy, including the cartoon above.

As well as a caricaturist for a herione, Desired also features an American sea captain hero and a tour through some of the less well known parts of London from the Dulwich Picture Gallery to the Greenwich docks! I absolutely loved writing Tess's story and I hope anyone who picks it up will enjoy both her unusual talent for satire and her love story.

Are you artistic? What sort of creative talents do you have for drawing or music or designing things? Or what talent would you like to have? I have a print copy of Desired to give away to one commenter between now and midnight tomorrow.

Anne McCaffrey

Hi, here's Jo, writing about the phenomenal  Anne McCaffrey who died this week. I'm using an image that must belong to someone, but though I've seen in on the web in a few places, it hasn't had an attribution, or not a link to an attribution that worked. It's a lovely picture that shows Anne McCaffrey in her magical context that seems so perfect for the moment.

For those few who don't know, Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011) was a groundbreaking author of science fiction and fantasy, and above all a groundbreaking woman author. SF&F was a male dominated world when she started writing, and most fiction was male protagonist driven, but Anne set out to do it her way, and won both the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award, the first woman to do so. What's more, she did it with relationship books, proving that romance and SF&F can be combined successfully.

Her first hit was The Ship Who Sang, a novella about the relationship between a female space ship and a male pilot (to put it very awkwardly.) A series of stories were put together as a novel in 1969. This is still many readers' favorite.

Her first novel was Restoree (1967), more purely an SF romance, complete with the Ugly Duckling transformation. The heroine is abducted by aliens who use humans as a food source, then rescued by others who don't, and who repair her into a beauty. And there's a tough, warrior hero, of course, and excellent worldbuilding. Great book.

This quote comes from the Wikipedia article about her. '""I was so tired of all the weak women screaming in the corner while their boyfriends were beating off the aliens. I wouldn't have been—I'd've been in there swinging with something or kicking them as hard as I could."'

Don't we all know that feeling! Anne McCaffrey established the strong, female protagonist in SF&F, and also affected popular fiction as a whole. Romance back then had too many heroines wating to be rescued, but she influenced us as well. As Wench Joanna Bourne says, "AMcC was one of the science fiction writers I went to as a child.  SF was not particularly friendly to women in the 50s and early 60s.  She said,"Girls can too ride dragons," which we all needed to hear."

Yes, Anne McCaffrey is most famous for her Dragonriders of Pern novels. These again started with short fiction as two stories published in 1967 in Analog, an SF magazine, and winning her the Hugo and Nebula. I remember reading Weyr Search in the Magazine back then and being instantly entranced by the "forced marriage story" -- always one of my favourites -- woven into a complex fantasy world with sentient dragons overhung by the terrible threat of "thread." 

These stories became a novel, Dragonflight, and if you haven't read it, rush off immediately to do so. It's fabulous, and that's in part because Lessa, the heroine, is the main protagonist in an action/adventure story.

That was only the beginning, and you can read about the triumphs of the next 40+ years in many places, including here. But now, it's over to you. I bet many Wench readers are McCaffrey fans.

Tell us about your favourites, about how you discovered her, and if you first read her in the sixties, how she affected your view of women's roles, women in fiction, women in SF&F.

Or anything else you want to say to celebrate the life of the greatest dragon rider of them all.

Jo

 

 

Thankfulness

by Mary Jo

All Americans are taught about the first Thanksgiving—English puritan settlers thankful for surviving are joined by the friendly Indians who’d help them to share a celebratory feast. 

While the story has been mythologized and there are different claimants for the first American Thanksgiving—and the Canadians have origin stories of their own—the idea of the shared feast of thankfulness is a lovely metaphor for community and diversity.

But Thanksgiving is also part of the ancient and near universal custom of the harvest festival.  As Wikipedia says:

“Harvest festivals typically feature feasting, both family and public, with foods that are drawn from crops that come to maturity around the time of the festival. Ample food and freedom from the necessity to work in the fields are two central features of harvest festivals.”

Yep, that’s an American Thanksgiving.  The aim is to eat ourselves into a stupor and then nap, watch football, or wonder how many pieces of pumpkin pie are left. <G>  (That's a corn dolly above.  I have a much longer one hanging on the door of my office as a souvenir of years in England.)

In olden days, thankfulness for a good harvest was much more visceral, since if the food supply wasn’t good, it would be hard getting through the winter.  The old, the young, the weak might die. 

No wonder celebrating the food supply had a strongly religious character!  In the Church of England, there are Harvest Sunday services that fall near the Harvest Moon, with produce brought into the churches and often distributed to the needy later.

In the US, Thanksgiving is more secular, though there’s a gently spiritual quality to the holiday.  By coincidence, as I was writing this blog, I found that my friend Hannah Lee had just posted a relevant piece on her blog, A Cultural Mix  talking about the ways she and her family have celebrated and given back for Thanksgiving. 

I like Thanksgiving because it’s not about presents.  It’s about food and friends and family, all things I enjoy.  And the ancient roots of a community joining in celebration are still present as we reach out to invite friends and perhaps even relative strangers to join us in sharing the feast.

Here are a few of the things I’m thankful for:

1) The abundant food of the feast, and that I live in a time and place where a bad harvest won't mean a winter of death.  I’m also grateful for the warm, relaxed celebration in my home.  Holidays can be stressful, even agonizing, so our relaxed get togethers, where we all contribute food and there are no obsessively high standards or football games, is a delight. 

2) Autumn—I like the changing seasons, and Maryland does four distinct seasons beautifully, from the bleak midwinter through glorious spring, voluptuous summer, and the poignant, colorful beauty of autumn.  (I grew up in Upstate New York, where the seasons tend to be winter and July, so I don’t take four seasons for granted. <G>)

3) The love of reading—booklovers are lucky people because we can enter into other worlds, and escape into them when necessary.  We also have minds well-furnished with trivia.  As an author, of course I think that’s a good thing!

4) Companion animals—pets enrich our lives.  Cats are my first choice, but dogs, birds, gerbils, and other critters can bring great joy.  I’m even willing to accept that those who love reptiles find them very rewarding.  <g>  (That's my Elusive Lacey on the right.)

 

4) Brief moments of connection with strangers—the smiles and laughter that occur when two people almost run into each other at the grocery store, or you drop something and a stranger picks it up and returns it, or you and the cashier share a joke and a smile that are fleeting but true for that moment. 

5) Flowers—because they’re pretty, of course!  I love the cascading colors on my deck in the summer, or any time. (That's a corner of my deck in high summer.)

6) Travel--these days it's possible to go almost anywhere in the world, and to see interesting things and people.  And I'm trying to get to as many of those placesl as possible!

6) The amazing fact that I can make a living as a storyteller.  Is that lucky or WHAT?!!

I could go on, but that’s enough about me.  What things are you thankful for?  Large or small, obvious or unexpected.  For at least one day a year, it’s good to remember our blessings, and be grateful for them.

Have a warm and wonderful holiday--

Mary Jo

A Small Sniff of History

Cara/Andrea here,

In historical romances, we often read at length about a lady’s toilette—soaps, cremes, face paints, powders and fragrance. Well, in starting my new trilogy, which is called ‘The Lords of Midnight,’ I began thinking about the gentlemen of the Regency. Now, we all know they were quite the dandies, so I decided to do a little research . . .

One doesn’t have to stroll very far in London to learn a lot about how the Tulips of the ton looked so perfectly polished. Simply walk down St. James’s Street and turn left onto Jermyn Street. There on the south side of the pavement you will come to Number 89, which houses Floris, the oldest family-run fragrance shop in the world.


It was in 1730 that Juan Famenias Floris came to London from the isle of Menorca, seeking to make his fortune. He and his wife Elizabeth opened a small shop on the fashionable street offering barbering and shaving to the fancy gentlemen who frequented the area. A skilled comb-maker, Floris had also learned to blend aromatic oils while living in Montpelier, France. He soon decided to add custom-blended fragrances to his shop. And the rest, as they say, is history . . .

Beau Brummell spent many hours discussing his preferences with Floris (a number of the original recipes for scents are in the Floris archives) And he was just one of the many notable people who were patrons of the shop. Lady Jersey was also a devoted client, as the ledgers show. In 1818, Mary Shelley, Mary Shelley, wife of the famed Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and author of Frankenstein wrote to a friend while she was living abroad and asked that her send her “two hairbrushes and a small toothbrush from Floris.”

In 1820, Floris was awarded a Royal Warrant as “Smooth Pointed Comb Maker to HM The King George IV.” (The shop still displays this original, and has 16 others to go with it—the shop is currently “Perfumers to HM The Queen Elizabeth II and Manufacturers of Toilet Preparations to HRH The Prince of Wales.”

Its products continued to attract a loyal following through the years. Florence Nightingale wrote a flowery missive thanking the shop for its “sweet-smelling nosegay.” And Ian Fleming favorite scent was #89—in his books, it’s the fragrance of choice for James Bond.

Today, a visit to the Floris shop is a delightful experience, not only for the fabulous scents but also for the wonderful wealth of vintage products and memorabilia on display. You can view elaborate tortoise shell hair combs for women, old letters and photographs . . .and choose a special fragrance to take home as a lasting reminder of its living history.

So, do you like a man to wear fragrance? Have you a special scent of your own, or you do like to try out different ones. (I’m a big fan of 4711, a light citrus-y scent that has an interesting history too.)

Interview: Nina Paules, ePublisher!

The Wenches are delighted to welcome Nina Paules today, a familiar presence on the Wench blog as one of our original blog readers (Nina has been with us since we first debuted the blog!) -- and she is now an epublisher in her own right with ePublishing Works! along with its related sites eBook Prep and now a new feature of ePublishing Works ... eBook Discovery!

Nina's ebook publishing business hit the ground running last year, and among its e-publications are some of my own early novels, The Black Thorne's Rose and The Raven's Wish, with more to come. As a client and author, I can personally attest to Nina's creativity, expertise, initiative and energy -- and I'm pleased to introduce her here as an epublisher!

Susan: Hi Nina, welcome to the blog!

Nina: Hi Susan! Thank you for inviting me. As an avid Word Wench follower, I’m thrilled (and admittedly nervous) to be here “up here” with you.

Susan: Your epublishing venture, ePublising Works! got off to a great start, and is growing by leaps and bounds with an expanding list of favorably priced eBooks that can be found around the world. Tell us how you got started.

Nina: Well, I guess you could say I fell into it. ePublising Works! (ePW ) started by accident the day I tripped over a dog toy (the family and I are volunteer puppy raisers for The Seeing Eye), fell down the steps and landed in the emergency room with a badly broken ankle.  Two surgeries, 128 days in a wheel chair and five months of physical therapy later, Mary Jo Putney asked if I’d consider eBooking her contemporary series. Of course I said yes! A month later I had the pleasure of a long conversation with Laura Resnick (thanks to Mary Jo) about how limited the epublishing market was (and still is) for individual authors who want to publish professionally formatted eBooks.

The next day, ePW was born – in my head. When I finally mustered the nerve to unveil my idea to an NYT bestselling author (whom you all know and love) and she put up the investment money without blinking an eye – ePW became a reality. And I was stone-cold terrified. I have never found myself in deeper, darker, uncharted waters. But I had a handful of authors counting on me, so I began to plot the course.

Then, without warning, ePW took off. Our catalog went from zero to 210 in 8 months and we now hold publishing contracts with every major eRetailer out there including Ingram who places and authors’ professionally formatted eBooks (that look good on every eReader and app out there) all over the world, at reasonable prices for readers. Wherever you live, if you can’t find our eBooks at one of the eBook providers for your country, we want to know about it. Soon, we’ll in libraries, too. 

Susan: Recently you’ve introduced some new features for ePublishing Works!, mainly eBook Discovery. What inspired you to take this new direction?

Nina: eBook Discovery was born out of my frustrated desire for affordable quality eBooks that were pleasant to read on my eReader. There are an estimated three million eBooks out there. Three million! That’s a lot of material to wade through to find something you like. I thought there had to be a better way that also allowed our favorite authors to spend more time writing and less time yelling into the social marketing bullhorn.

So, after talking with and listening to a number of authors and readers, we (and I say we, now, because there’s more than me at ePW) launched eBook Discovery.

eBook Discovery is not a store. There are plenty of eBook stores out there already. eBook Discovery is a place where readers can feel safe discovering new authors and eBooks similar to what they like to read while getting reacquainted with tried-and-true favorites. The best part about eBook Discovery is that you can Buy YOUR Way—Amazon, B&N, Sony, iBooks, Kobo—however you like it, you'll find your Buy Link at eBook Discovery. The other best part is that all eBook Discovery eBooks have been vetted and are professionally formatted—just like the "big publishers," minus the higher price, that is. In this fast-paced world of info overload, eBook Discovery believes you deserve to have it all, all in one place.

Of course, the eBook Discovery site isn’t finished. We add, on average, 3-5 new titles every week. And in late Spring 2012, we plan to beta-test a points-base program for readers titled Write a Review Receive a Reward.

Susan: That's fascinating -- what an innovative idea! From your perspective as an epublisher now, what do you see for the future of eBooks?

Nina: Wow. That’s a great (and loaded) question. Here are three predictions that have been rattling around in my head.

I think the next wave on the publishing technology side will be multi-media eBooks. As more affordable android-like tablets (Kindle Fire, Kobo Vox, iPad/iPad2, and the Nook tablet just to name a few) gain market share, we’ll start seeing embedded video teasers in our eBooks instead of (or in addition to) the excerpt from the author’s next book. ePW already has four multi-media eBooks scheduled to launch before Christmas (get as sneak peek at eBook Discovery's Teaser page); and eBook Prep (ePW’s sister company) is contracted to create nine more multi-media eBooks.

In the eStores, we’ll soon see eBook teasers next to the eBook’s cover, sales blurb and buy button. Sony and B&N have already asked ePW for the teasers independent of our multi-media eBooks so they can place the teasers on the sales page. Will teasers replace the sales blurb? Perhaps, as readers fall more in love with what the tablet can add to the reading experience.

And speaking of tablets… what do you have to do to enter eBook Discovery’s Kindle Fire giveaway? Simple. Go to eBook Discovery, look around, explore; and while you’re there, enter our giveaway! The winner (chosen at random and notified via email) will be announced on Nov 20.

Thank you, Nina, for telling us about ePublishing Works! and eBook Discovery for readers. 

As part of the launch of eBook Discovery, Nina and her ePW crew produced a video trailer for The Black Thorne's Rose, which you can view here on eBook Discovery! 

eBOOK DRAWING! Nina wants to know what you think is a fair and reasonable price for an ebook. She will be giving away THREE ebook copies of Susan King's THE BLACK THORNE'S ROSE (or THE RAVEN'S WISH, winner's choice) in a drawing from the names of those who answer the question! 

thank you!

Susan and Nina

 

 

Ask-A-Wench — the writing cycle

Anne here again, this time with our regular feature, Ask a Wench, and today we're considering a question asked by Donna Ann Kenney who wins a book for it: "Which part of the writing cycle (from idea blooming/proposal to putting the book on "paper" to edits/proof to release day) is your least & most favorite part & why?"

Pat says: Personally, I think each part of the process has its painful moments. And its wondrous joy. Having a new idea pop up is reason for caution, but freewheeling brainstorming the idea to see if it goes anywhere is one of the true delights of writing. The ideas that pour forth when I'm just flinging foolishness around reminds me of why I got into this business.

Putting those wild ideas into a formal proposal, unfortunately, points out all the flaws of the creative process. That part stinks. I detest proposals. They poop all over my incandescent creativity. (What, the hero can't become an earl just because I WANT him to be? Bah humbug.)  

Once the proposal is approved (O frabjous day!), I can again release the flood of creativity and let the characters loose upon the page. Watching them gallop about, never knowing what they'll be doing from one day to the next, that's pure fun, almost as good as reading a good book. But then comes the day--you may notice a pattern here--when I have to contain the romp and force the confines of logic upon it. Revisions, bah humbug again.  And so it goes...

Mary Jo says: My Least Favorite Time on a book is just after the beginning.  Usually I know the opening scene and get through it fairly quickly.  Then I contemplate the vasty, echoing tracts of emptiness that I must cross before I reach the end.  I know from experience that eventually I will cross the Dale of Despair of Pain, but that doesn't make it look any easier! 

I have two Most Favorite Times on a book.  The first is when I'm thinking it up, and it's a shiny, glittering image in my mind that I know will write itself and be wonderful.  This occurs when I'm slogging my way through the current book and wondering if I'll ever reach the end, but I just know the next book will go better.  (We call this the "Hope Springs Eternal Fallacy." <G>) The second Favorite Time is when the book is done (YAY!!!), I'm reading the page proofs and thinking, "You know, this isn't half bad.  Maybe my career isn't over yet."

Jo Beverley says:
I love beginnings, because the concept is exciting and sparkling and new. I'm discovering or learning more about interesting people. I also like the very end and the editing. The worst part is in the middle, when every single time I'm sure this book isn't going to work. My husband calls it "the time of the book."

Cara/Andrea says:
I'm a “magpie” writer-I see all these bright, shiny ideas lying around in all sorts of places, and get very excited about gathering them all up and carrying them back to my nest. So that's my favorite part of the creative process, that moment when the first glimmer of a story catches my fancy. 

The hardest part? It's probably a toss-up. Typing “Chapter One,” and then staring at a blank page is always a little daunting for me. Yes, the idea is there, and yes, I pretty much know the opening scene, but the end seems sooooo far away. And then there's the dreaded middle, when niggly questions seem to lurk among the letters of the keyboard. Are characters are fighting me? Is the plot making sense? Is the writing smooth? 

Somehow it all seems to get sorted out. I usually lay a manuscript aside for a week once I'm finished, and then re-read it. Most of the time, I'm relieved to discover it's actually coherent enough to turn in (and the things that are wrong can be fixed without too much angst.)

From Nicola: My least favourite part of writing a book is right where I am now, in the soggy middle, wading my way through what feels like treacle and thinking it will never shape up let alone transform into something readable. By some strange magic the words usually do come together but it can be a painful process, especially under deadline. 

I have several favourite parts of writing the book. The first is when I begin and I am filled with excitement at all the possibilities. The next favourite bit is when I revise. I love revisions, taking that soggy middle and tightening it up, polishing it until I have something a little bit shiny. I also enjoy the feeling six or twelve months after the book is published when I finally feel able to look at it again and find I quite like it! 

Anne here again, and once more I am amazed at how similar we wenches are in our processes.  As for me, my favorite part of writing is at the extreme beginning, where I haven't even put pen to paper or finger to keyboard, and the story idea is shining and luminescent in my head, characters are springing to life and it all looks wonderful.

Scenes will start to come to me — often last thing at night just before I'm dropping off to sleep, or first thing in the morning, when I wake with a scene rolling in my head like a movie, or a conversation between two characters, and I'll dash them down in a notebook, full of excitement at the possibilities. Sometimes those scenes will make it into the book — in several cases, almost unchanged from that initial scribbling down, sometimes they won't.

Then I start writing and the difficulty is in trying to nail the shining, fluid thing with mere words and I struggle to recreate the vision I had for it. In every book, about half to three-quarters of the way through, I come to a point where I think I can't make it work, where I'm sure the book is the worst book in the world. My friends say, "Anne, you always think this" and it's true, but that doesn't make it any less real. I suspect having that meltdown forces me to think more deeply about the story and push it to another level. 

I used to think that writing would get easier the more books I wrote. It doesn't. But all of the angst is forgotten when the finished book, with its lovely shiny cover, arrives on my doorstep. 
Besides, by then I'm grappling with the next story.

So what about you? Do you find any of this surprising? And if you're a creative person, what's your favorite part of the process?

Meet Kerry Greenwood

Anne here, introducing Kerry Greenwood, best-selling and award-winning Australian author of the Phryne Fisher crime novel series, set in the 1920's, and the Corinna Chapman cosy mysteries (contemporary), both set in Melbourne (my home town), as well as the Delphic Women historical novels, set in ancient Greece. (Photo by Harjono Djoyobisono)

Kerry's written more than forty novels and several plays, and still finds time to offer her services one day a week as a legal aid barrister. Kerry, thank you for visiting the Word Wenches. Did you always want to be a writer?

Kerry: Ever since I wrote my first sentence. Which was 'the world is round and spins in space.' An important truth.

Anne: Indeed, and not a bad opening line for a seven-year-old, as well. So, onto the novels. Let's start with the Phryne (pronounced fry-nee) Fisher series. The first book, which was your first novel, COCAINE BLUES, came out in 1989. You're now up to book #19 in the series and Phryne is still going stronger than ever. Tell us about Phryne.

Kerry: She walked into my life in 1988 when I was trying to find a character for the two book contract I was holding in my hand (it practically required surgery to get me to let go of it). She is the perfect 1928 hero. Clever, ruthless, ambitious, with a strong sense of justice and none of entitlement. Phryne does exactly as she wishes and her philosophy could be summed up by "do as the nice lady says and no one will get hurt''. She is, by the way, NOT me. 

Anne: Phryne's a lot of fun, and she's no pushover. Here's a short excerpt from FLYING TOO HIGH.

 "How do you do. My name is Phryne Fisher. I undertake investigations and I have been retained by the McNaughton family to act for them in this matter."    
    The policeman took up a commanding position at the mantlepiece and glanced quizzically at Phryne.
    "There is no room for amateurs in murder, Miss Fisher," said the policeman condescendingly. "But I am sure that you will be a comfort to the ladies."
    "I hope that I shall," replied Phryne with all the sweetness of a chocolate-coated razor-blade. 

 Anne: This best-selling series grew from your very first novel. If you could do it all again, would you do anything different?

Kerry: If I could do it all over again, I'd have her come to Australia earlier in the year. Of course if I wrote the earlier books now, they'd be different, because I am different, but I still love them as they are.

Anne: Phryne's adventures are set in 1920's Melbourne, a time of great social change. Your historical research is meticulous and, as with any research for a novel, only the tip of the iceberg shows. Do you start with the story idea, and then research it, or has some of your research sparked stories? 

Kerry: Oddly enough, I just wait to get curious about something and then research it and the story arises out of that. I am, at the moment, writing the 20th Phryne novel, and I am researching soldier-settlers, convents, brothels, and eugenics. I will be fascinated to find out how THAT lot fit together. 

Anne: Sounds fabulous. Phryne Fisher is soon to appear on our TV screens, which is very exciting. How did that come about?

Kerry: The books were often optioned, but I held out for my conditions: I get to pick the actress for Phryne and I get to vet all the scripts for historical accuracy. No one would agree to that until the ABC and Film Australia decided to fund Everycloud Productions and they agreed to my conditions. And Essie Davis is PERFECT as Phryne and the set designs and the dialect is wonderful. 

Anne: Yes, that's Essie Davis on the left and with a 1920's bob, I can easily imagine her as Phryne. It certainly sounds like a quality production, an ABC (Australia's version of the BBC) production with some top quality people leading the team. I believe you've been quite closely involved in the production.  How does it feel to have your characters come to life? 

Kerry: I just went to see Farrell's Circus, and I walked into my own imagination, which was a very strange experience.

I had a cameo part as a fortune teller. I had my picture taken with most of the crew, who are all Phryne fans. I met the designer, Robbie Perkins, who went through the books with a pencil and found, for instance, Phryne had Lalique glass birds, and even the American Refrigerating machine for her kitchen or - this impressed me most - an eighteenth century French flower painting. I could not remember mentioning this, then recalled that at the end of one book Phryne is given a bunch of white roses, which she arranges in the manner of Beverley Nichols and Fantin-Latour, and there was a Fantin-Latour of white roses. You have to admire that attention to detail.

He had also done the fairies for Away With The Fairies and the big canvas banners for the circus, including the Sherlock Holmes joke, The Giant Rat of Sumatra. It was a very believable Giant Rat. And a very good bearded lady, who asked David my wizard partner for advice on not getting crumbs in beards.The only thing wrong with the circus was that it did not smell of frying and fairy floss (cotton candy).

I had a wonderful time. I was convinced to do the cameo by the director telling me I was better looking that Hitchock. True, but so is everyone...

Anne: I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Phryne is something of a fashion icon — her clothes are described quite lusciously in the books — and I'm looking forward to seeing them on the screen. They've also become a feature of the covers — a great improvement on the early editions of your books, which had covers with guns and bullets and champagne — though I do like the one with the blindfold Teddy. I believe you "design" Phryne's dresses.

Kerry: With my mother, who has excellent design skills. We have a lot of fun with it. 

Anne: I love the way Phryne always chooses the perfect clothes for the effect she wants. Usually she dresses for seduction and to please herself, but here's another short excerpt from FLYING TOO HIGH where she has donned Serious Lady Private Detective clothes:

Physically, Phryne had been described by the redoubtable Lady Rose as ' small, thin, with black hair cut in what I am told is a bob, disconcerting green eyes and porcelain skin. Looks like a Dutch Doll'. Phryne admitted this was a fair description.
    For the interview with Mrs McNaughton, she had selecred a beige dress of mannish cut, which she felt made her look like the directress of a women's prison, and matching taupe shoes and stockings. Her cloche hat was of a quiet dusty pink felt.

Anne: I've been reading Phryne since the books first came out, and I also have your excellent Delphic Women series, but somehow I missed your Corinna Chapman series, set in contemporary Melbourne in the central laneways/arcades area. I read the first one after the conference and have devoured all six in the series since. I've also sent the first, EARTHLY DELIGHTS (coming soon to the USA), to several friends overseas, who I know will love the delightful mix of intriguing characters, quirky mystery, yummy food and cats with personality. What brought this series about?

Kerry: Corinna came about because I was tired of the contemp. female detectives obsessing about their weight, and I thought, why not just have a fat lady (ie, me) who isn't ashamed etc of being fat (note that this predates Precious Ramotswe). I wanted to write a modern day cosy crime series which didn't insult the reader's intelligence, and I always liked apartment house soaps, and books based on a trade. I was a baker when I was a student (the hours are a killer). So Corinna is a baker and she lives in a real building in Melbourne with a selection of my favourite friends and cats.  They all get a huge kick out the next Corinna, identifying each other. Each books begins with a variation on '4 a.m. Who invented four a.m.?' which is what I always thought at that hour. 

Anne: They're wonderful books and I look forward to reading many more. (I've blogged about them here, too.) What's next on the agenda for Kerry Greenwood?

Kerry: A new Phryne and a true crime book on a very strange murder in Adelaide in 1949, which will also be a memoir of my father.  I like keeping busy...
cordially
Kerry

Anne: Thanks so much for visiting the word wenches, Kerry. Kerry will be giving away a book to some lucky person who leaves a comment. And here's a question for discussion: What qualities do you admire in a female investigator/detective?

GUESTS THIS WEEK

Kerry Greenwood

Tomorrow, Anne Gracie will be interviewing Australian author Kerry Greenwood, author of the fabulous 1920s Phryne Fisher crime novels, currently being filmed as a very classy TV series, and the contemporary Corinna Chapman mysteries, set in Anne's home town of Melbourne. Kerry will be giving away a book to some lucky commenter.

Nina Paules

Then on Friday Susan Fraser King will interview returning Honorary Word Wench, Nina Paules, proprietor of eBook Prep and eBook Discovery.  Nina will talk about the world of e-publishing, and she'll be giving away an Amazon Kindle Fire to a commenter (commenters wishing to be in the drawing for the Kindle Fire will be asked to complete an entry form at Nina's Web site).  See interview on Friday for details. 

An Interview with Mia Marlowe!

Nicola here and today I have the pleasure of chatting to Honorary Word Wench Mia Marlowe about her lovely new novella and her future writing plans. Mia's award-winning historical romances have been praised by readers and reviewers alike and her novella My Lady Below Stairs has been acclaimed as "worthy of Shakespeare!" It's a wonderful story and I was utterly charmed by it. Before we move on to the interview, here is a blurb:

Nobody misses Lord & Lady Hartwell's Christmas Ball, but they all go for different reasons. When Lady Sybil runs off with an Italian portrait painter, her bastard half-sister Jane Tate goes in her place. Lord Eddleton plans on proposing to "Sybil" under the mistletoe. Lady Darvish is on the hunt for her fifth husband.

And Ian Michael MacGarrett, the head groom with more than horseflesh on his mind, is determined to show Jane that love doesn't have to pretend.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005WCL942/httpwwwmiamar-20 

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-lady-below-stairs-mia-marlowe/1106721423

Mia, welcome back to the Word Wenches!

Mia: First, thanks for inviting me to Word Wenches again, Nicola. At the risk of having a gushing fangirl moment, let me share that some of the brightest stars in my romance heavens make their home on this wonderful site. I’m feeling as if I’m in very fast company indeed!

Nicola: I love the idea of the Wenches being fast company! It's lovely to have you back and please tell us a little about your new novella.

Mia: It’s actually a reissue of my novella from A Christmas Ball, an anthology which was released in 2009 with USA Today bestseller Jennifer Ashley. When I moved from Dorchester to Kensington, my agent was able to secure rights to this story again. I’ve become addicted to reading on my phone, so we decided to offer it as an eNovella.

When I wrote My Lady Below Stairs, I wanted to try some out-of-the-box characters. Most Regency stories are peopled with lords and ladies, but I always wondered about the lives of those who toiled for their daily bread instead of being born to the Upper Crust. So I decided to give a Christmas miracle of love to my scullery maid heroine and her head groom hero.

Nicola: I do enjoy a historical romance with a different slant to the characters. Now, I know that we are only in November but Christmas is fast approaching and My Lady Below Stairs is set against a background of Regency Christmas festivities. What sort of research did you do into Christmas traditions and did you discover anything that surprised you?

Mia: Many Christmas traditions harken back to the Victorian era instead of the Regency. There were no Christmas trees during “Prinny’s” time. They didn’t become popular till Prince Albert brought them to England. However, Regency holidays featured a “kissing bough” fashioned of ivy (symbolizing women), holly (to represent men—guess they’ve always been prickly!) and mistletoe (which provided the all important little white berries). When a gentleman caught a lady beneath the kissing bough, he plucked a berry from the branch and when all the berries were gone, there could be no more stolen kisses.

Something that surprised me was the holiday game called Snap Dragon. Revelers actually snatched raisins from burning brandy while the rest of the party chanted a many-versed poem. Needless to say, there were plenty of burned fingers and tongues. These people seriously needed cable TV! 

Nicola: Hmm, I don't think I'll be re-introducing Snap Dragon at my Christmas party this year but I am always fascinated to hear about these old traditions. I must admit that I was already hooked on your story from reading the excerpt on your website. What key elements would you say one gets from a Mia Marlowe story?

Mia: Thanks so much for those kind words, Nicola.  Here’s the link to that excerpt in case your readers would like to take a peek as well: http://miamarlowe.com/books/stairs.php . My novels always include a bit of humor, some dramatic action/adventure, and a deeply-felt, sensual love story. Some of my works also include a sparkle of magic, but not all. Unless, of course, you count love. That’s magic enough for most of us.

Nicola: Lovely and very true! What character did you have the most fun creating and why?

Mia: I actually enjoy playing with unusual secondary characters. Lady Darvish in My Lady Below Stairs has been widowed 4 times and is on the hunt for husband #5. Rumor has it that they all died of exhaustion. This Regency cougar was a hoot to write!

Nicola: I love the concept of the Regency cougar! You write brilliant first lines that grab the reader and pull them into the story. How important do you consider that first line to be and how do you come up with the right one for the story?

Mia: Ever since Barbara Vey crowned me “the queen of first lines,” I do fret over my openers. My goal is to surprise, delight, or befuddle readers with my beginning. It’s very important to me to begin as I mean to continue. My opener is a promise to readers about what sort of story they’re going to receive from me. I don’t want to disappoint them, so I probably revise the first 500 words or so more than the whole rest of the manuscript.

Nicola: That's very interesting and I work in much the same way. So I have to ask... To plot or not to plot? How much of a planner are you?

Mia: To my sorrow, I am a pantser. I so envy those well-organized plotters who plan out every scene and plot point. I follow my characters around and trust them to lead me even if I can’t see how it will all turn out. On the plus side, if I don’t know how to untangle the black moment until it arrives, chances are my readers will be surprised too.

Nicola: It's always reassuring to meet another pantser! If you could describe your writing with a word or phrase, what would it be?

Mia: Oh, that’s a terribly hard question, Nicola. Maybe the best answer is the tag line from my website. Timeless Historical Romance. Because I write in a number of different time periods (Regency, Georgian, Victorian, Medieval Scandinavia and 16^th century Scotland!) it seemed to fit. I also like the tag because it suggests classic themes in my love stories—betrayal, jealousy, temptation, redemption, reconciliation—timeless elements in the dance between two souls.

Nicola: I couldn't resist slipping a Scottish picture in there. Any excuse! What do you believe are the most important ingredients in a historical romance novel?

Mia: More than getting the costumes or furnishings of the houses correct, I think it’s important to make sure the characters think about themselves and their world in a manner in keeping with their time. If a character does otherwise, there needs to be a reason. For example in My Lady Below Stairs, my hero Ian Michael MacGarrett believes he doesn’t have to be trapped in his current situation. Through his own efforts, he can better himself. He believes this because he regularly reads John Locke and has embraced some rather heretical democratic ideas.

Nicola: I confess I fell for Ian in a big way and he's welcome to discuss his heretical democratic ideas with me any time! Which aspect of your research do you enjoy the most?

Mia: All of it. But travel is the most fun! I’ve visited England a number of times and in my imagination, the cobbled streets are alive with the people who walked them hundreds of years ago. I remember passing a house where Sir Isaac Newton lived and wondering if his world made more sense to him than mine does to me sometimes.

Nicola: What resources do you find most helpful for this period? Do you have any tips for aspiring authors?

Mia: For the Regency period, there are reams of information available, but lately I’ve been enjoying Georgette Heyer’s Regency World by Kloester. As far as tips for aspiring authors go, I’d like to invite them to submit a 500 word excerpt at http://www.miamarlowe.com for my Red Pencil Thursday. Each week I do an online critique for a volunteer and my blog readers weigh in as well. The goal is always to be constructive. I’ve had volunteers at every level of writing expertise, from total neophytes to Golden Heart winners and even one New York Times bestseller! At least one Red Pencil Thursday alumnus has gone on to sell.

Nicola: I've checked out your Red Pencil Thursdays on more than one occasion and they are a wonderful opportunity and I encourage people to take advantage of it. So what’s next for you, writing-wise?

Mia: I’m so glad you asked. In January, my first collaborative novel with New York Times bestseller Connie Mason will be released. It’s called Sins of the Highlander and I frankly LOVE this story. Our hero “Mad Rob” MacLaren is tortured by dreams of his dead wife. She’s alive and vibrant in his dreams. When he wakes, even if it’s hours till dawn, he doesn’t seek sleep. He can’t bear to lose her again so soon. Here’s a link to that excerpt: http://miamarlowe.com/books/sins.php

Thanks again for having me, Nicola. I’d love to give away an advance reading copy of Sins of the Highlander to one randomly drawn commenter.  Since the action in My Lady Below Stairs revolves around a Christmas Ball, let’s talk about holiday festivities. Do you have a favorite tradition in your family that makes the season sparkle for you?  

The fashion for grey

Hi, here's Jo, talking about grey hair. No, not the stuff on my head which I do or don't colour according to my mood, but the odd fashion for powdering hair grey and other colours in the 18th century. The picture is the best I can do from the Cabbage Patch Kids, and that's supposed to be flaxen Legolas.

The Question Arises.

Sometimes my characters just chat to each other. Talking is an important part of courtship after all, and not everything they say needs to be meaningful to the plot. So, in A Scandalous Countess, which will be out in February, we have this exchange.

"I wonder why white hair is so valued. After all, it’s a sign of age.”

Georgia was happy to switch to a triviality. “A question I’ve never asked! Now I think on it, I don’t know when the fashion started. I don’t believe they powdered back in the Restoration.”

“They wore those long, curly wigs. Too much hair to powder, perhaps?”

“Where fashion commands, nothing is impossible." 

They moved on, but I was left wondering. When did the fashion for hair powder begin, and why? In the 17th century, the fashionable elite didn't powder their hair though some armies did. By the mid-eighteenth century it was in style, and essential for court. When did the court fashion begin and end?

When Mary Jo and I were sharing a hotel room in Florida during the Ninc conference I tossed the question at her and we began a search on our laptops. We found a few things, but rather more questions than answers. So I'll lay out what we discovered and more, and hope someone here has bits to add.

I looked in Googlebooks for a first mention of hair powder. This is from 1685, but ambiguous.

An excellent perfuming Powder for the Hair.
Take Iris roots in fine powder one ounce and a half, Benjamin, Steraxt Cloves, Musk of each two drachms: being all in fine powder, mix them for a Perfume for hair Powder.Take of this Perfume one drachm, Riceflower impalpable one pound,mix them for a powder for the hair. Note, some use white starch, flower of French Beans and the like.

This could have been like a dry shampoo that also perfumed the hair, but it sounds like hair powder to me. The "flower" above would be flour, I assume.

As an aside, I came upon this.

 To make Powder of Ox dung.

Take red Ox dung in the month of May and dry ir well, make it into an impalpable Powder by grinding: it is an excellent Perfume without any other addition yet if you add to one pound of the former, Musk,and Ambergrise of each one drachm, it will be beyond comparison.

Anyone care to try that???

A Firmer Date.

By 1708. " the brewer, the distiller, the maker of starch and hair-powder, "

1708 Died at Putney, Jean Baptista Muller a native of Prussia. The singularity of his character may in some measure be collected from the following directions respecting his interment.—" I desire to be buried within the walls of the church, and.interred in my buff embroidered waistcoat, my blue coat with a black collar, a pair of clean nankeen breeches, white silk stockings, my Prussian books, my hair neatly dressed and powdered, and I particularly request, that my coffin may be made long enough to admit of my hussar cap being placed on my head.—So dressed and accoutred, let me rest in peace." 

1709 "They must be in the Fashion of the World, 'else they are not in esteem else they shall not be respected, if they have not Gold or Silver upon their Backs, or if his Hair be not powdered."

On the other hand, I could find no evidence that Queen Anne, monarch at the time, powdered her hair, nor her husband. When did it become de rigeur at court, then? I did see a fashion for blond wigs, but not powdered.

In 1727 I find a portrait of George II with what looks like a powdered wig. Note, it's quite reduced from the full periwig.

The 4th Duke of Devonshire (Left) is clearly powdered, and the picture is probably from the mid century.

 I found an intelligent overview on line. The whole article is worth reading.

"Powder appears to have been used sparingly by ladies at first, but with increasing frequency after 1750. No suprise if you consider that hairdos mostly consisted of natural hair, the length, fineness and shininess of which they wanted to show off. When hair-pieces entered the picture, powder was a good way of covering up the differences in colour. Those that preserved a hairdo for some time (there may have been people who did) would have profited from the oil-absorbing qualities of powder."

http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/howto/frisuren/frisuren.shtml

Let's all be grey together, young and old!

Here's a picture of some glorious periwigs. I must say that I've always liked to see men in long hair, the more and longer the better! We see blond and brown, but no powder.

It could be that powder came in to cover up the flaws from blending false hair in with real, or even using cheap hair, even animal hair, for men's wigs, but then wouldn't it be seen as a sign of poverty or low status rather than fashion and high?

In the army, and with servants such as footmen, natural hair was often powdered. When powdering hair or wig, grease was applied to make the powder stick. Otherwise the powder would dust down onto the clothes.

It is such an odd fashion especially as the fashion was mostly for grey powder. What's so glamorous about grey? Here's a powdered girl at her lessons.

Does anyone know more? Can anyone dig up any other references? I'll give a prize of a book to one provider of truly new information on the subject.

By the way, to celebrate Halloween I put up a Halloween Regency romance novella as an e-book -- perhaps more Gothic than Regency. It was published in 1992 in a hardcover collection and only 1,000 copies were printed, so it's always been hard to get. It's quite short, being only 10,000 words, but also only 99c

For Kindle, it's here.

US http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0061SF6E0

British https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0061SF6E0

German https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0061SF6E0

French https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0061SF6E0

For other formats, it's at Smashwords, here. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/100731

Cheers,

Jo

 

The Diabolical Baron & Thunder and Roses: Remembrance of Stories Past

by Mary Jo

I’ve been spending a lot of time rereading my backlist lately in order to produce e-editions, and it’s an interesting experience.  And in the case of my very earliest books, rather painful. 

I just finished proofing the scan of my very first book, the Signet Regency The Diabolical Baron.  Objectively, I can say it’s still a pretty good story, and it got my career off to a good start with a Rita nomination and Romantic Times Best New Regency Writer award. 

But the WRITING!  Or rather, over-writing.  Too many words, endless paragraphs, etc, etc.  (Someone once told me I wasn’t afraid of a long sentence.  I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a compliment. <G>)

I finally had to make the executive decision to read a set of faux galleys and mark only the typos.  Nothing else got fixed unless it was an actual error, or so egregiously awful that I really couldn’t let it stand.  On that basis, The Diabolical Baron has been proofed and it's off to www.RegencyReads.com, and it will become available as an e-book in the next few weeks.

ADDENDUM: As I was reading comments, I realized that I never really explained the origin of The Diabolical Baron.  It was pure contrarianism. I'd read all those Regencies were the sweet innocent melts the heart of the older, jaded hero.  So I turned it inside out.  Sweet innocent is coerced into betrothal to older, jaded hero--and manages to slide away and find a man she likes better. <g>

Writing that first book:

But it was interesting to revisit and remember what I thought as I wrote the book.  (“Oooh, how does one write dialogue?!  Oooh, let’s put an organ in the church for Caroline to play!  Ooops, brother-in-law who is a pianist points out it would be a pump organ.  Get hero to work on that.  Hmmm, researching music in 1815 England isn’t easy.  (The book was written pre-Internet.)  Oh, first kiss!”  Etc, etc, etc.) 

The Diabolical Baron was reissued a couple of times before rights reverted to me, but all of the shortcomings of writing a first book on sheer instinct are still there for the world to see.  <G>

It gets better:

Luckily, the reading pain diminishes as the books get more recent.  By the time I got to my Fallen Angels series, I’d written a dozen books and my craft had improved noticeably.  The tendency to overwriting is probably in my DNA, but reading through the first Fallen Angels book, Thunder and Roses, was actually quite enjoyable.

That book was started when I’d just come off writing my three Silk books, which required a staggering amount of research and very complex story lines, and I was TIRED!  I wanted to go home to the Regency to recuperate.  (For me, the Regency is always “home.”)

But what precipitated the actual story was when my editor called when I was still recovering and said, “We want your next book in the launch of our new Topaz historical romance imprint, we’ll have to crash publish it and I need a story outline by tomorrow."

SHRIEK!  But the Muse, who can be a desultory lass, came through.  It’s really hard to describe creative process, but from somewhere in the lizard brain, the idea popped up: a rakish earl who is neglecting his property and a reforming schoolteacher with a temper who wants to bully him into helping the community he’s neglected. 

Wanting to get rid of her, he says he’ll help at the cost of her reputation: she must live with him for three months.  She doesn’t have to sleep with him unless she wants to—but she has to allow him one kiss a day in a time and place of his choosing. 

Much to his horror, she loses her temper and accepts—and life changes forever for both of them.  (That's the new e-book cover by Kim Killion on the left.)

But a basic concept is only the beginning.  A book requires a never ending stream of ideas and facts--some of which won't work and fall by the wayside.

Writing the first Fallen Angel:

Why did I choose Wales as a location?  Maybe because I have friends in Wales and loved visiting the wild hills.  Coal mines?  Lots of them in Wales.  Why is Nicholas half Gypsy?  To make him something of a social outsider, and to give his grandfather a reason to hate him. 

Why is Claire a Methodist minister’s daughter?  Because the Methodists were very active in Wales, and they were reformers who educated and improved their communities. 

Why did Nicholas have close friends from Eton?  Friends are convenient to bounce things off during the story, plus I wanted to do a trilogy so he needed friends.  (How the trilogy ended up as seven books is a story for another day. <g>)  So in building a book, one idea suggests another and one ends up in totally unexpected places. 

As for the penguins—why not????

Rereading the scan, I made only minor tweaks and had to admit—I still love the characters and it seemed like a darned good romance.  Here's an excerpt of Thunder and Roses: 

    Nicholas awoke with a pounding headache, which he richly deserved. He lay still, eyes unopened, and took stock of his situation. Apparently his valet, Barnes, had put him to bed in a nightshirt. Nicholas much preferred sleeping in his skin, but he supposed that he was in no position to complain.
    He moved his head a fraction, then stopped, since it seemed in danger of falling off. He had been a damned fool and was paying the price for it. Unfortunately, he hadn't drunk enough brandy to obliterate his memory of what had happened the previous afternoon. As he thought of the pugnacious little wench who had stamped in and taken up his ridiculous challenge, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Knowing the consequences to his head, he did neither.
    He had trouble believing some of the things he had said, but his memories were too clear to permit denial. Lucky that Clare Morgan hadn't come armed; she might have decided that it was her Methodist duty to rid the world of a parasitical nobleman. He almost smiled at the thought. He had rather enjoyed their encounter, though he devoutly hoped that after mature consideration she would decide to stay home and let their bargain lapse. A female like her could seriously unbalance a man.
    The door swung open and soft footsteps approached. Probably Barnes, coming to see if he was awake. Preferring to be left alone, Nicholas kept his eyes shut and the footsteps retreated.
    But not for long. Five seconds later, icy water sluiced over Nicholas's head. "Bloody hell!" he roared, coming up swinging. He'd kill Barnes, he'd bloody kill him.
    It wasn't his valet. Nicholas opened his bleary eyes to find Clare Morgan, who stood a safe distance away with an empty china pitcher in her hand.
    At first he wondered if he was having an unusually vivid nightmare, but he could never have imagined the expression of sweet superciliousness on Clare's small face, nor the cold water that saturated his nightshirt. He snarled, "What the devil did you do that for?"
    "Tomorrow morning has turned into tomorrow afternoon, and I've been waiting for three hours for you to wake up," she said calmly. "Long enough to have a cup of tea, organize my list of requests for Penreith, and make a brief survey of the house to see what needs to be done to open the place properly. Rather a lot, as I'm sure you've noticed. Or perhaps you didn't—men can be amazingly unobservant. From sheer boredom, I decided to wake you. It seemed like the sort of thing that a mistress might do, and I'm trying my best to fill the role you have assigned me."
    She spoke with a hint of lilting Welsh accent and a rich, husky voice that made him think of aged whiskey. Coming from a prim spinster, the effect was startlingly erotic. Wanting to discomfit her, he said, "My mistresses always wake me up in more interesting ways. Care for me to explain how?"
    "Not particularly." She took a towel from the washstand and handed it to him.
    He roughly dried his hair and face, then blotted the worst of the water from his nightshirt. Feeling more human, he tossed the towel back to Clare.
    "Do you get drunk often?" she inquired.
    "Very seldom," Nicholas said dourly. "Obviously it was a mistake to do so this time. If I had been sober, I wouldn't have to endure you for the next three months."
    With a look of demure malice, she said, "If you decide not to go through with this, I won't think less of you."
    Nicholas blinked at hearing his own words thrown back at him. "You've a tongue like a wasp." He glowered at her until she began to look distinctly uneasy, then finished, "I like that in a woman."

 
I warn you, I will be writing more posts like this.  Partly because until I finish writing my third YA, I’m not going to have a lot of time for deep research or deep thought for new blogs.  But also because I enjoy revisiting my older stories which are gaining new life in e-editions, and remembering how they came together.  (

The book cover is for Dangerous to Know, which was a trade paperback that included The Diabolical Baron packaged with my one Western novella, "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know."   Isn't he a handsome devil?)

So—do you find it interesting to see how stories developed?  Are you interested in traditional Regencies and the older, longer, lusher historicals? 

Let’s talk about it!  One commenter between now and midnight Tuesday will get a print copy of either The Diabolical Baron or Thunder and Roses.

Mary Jo

Black Hawk

Joanna here, talking about my new book, Black Hawk.

This is Adrian's story.  I don't know about anyone else, but I'm relieved the boy finally has his happy ending. 

We've met Hawker as a secondary character in the other books.  He's Hawker, or Adrian Hawker, or sometimes Sir Adrian Hawkhurst, depending who he's pretending to be and who he wants to impress.  He is deadly and sarcastic and maybe a bit too fond of sticking knives into people.  Naturally he has the making of a Romance hero.   
 
Two of the most dangerous spies of the Napoleonic War — on opposite sides, natch — fall in love.  Think Montague and Capulet.  Think Yankees and Red Sox.  Think Hannibal and Scipio Africanus.  Think about the owl and the hawk, two birds that  might share the sky for a while, but can't live together. 

Hawker rose up snarling out of the slums of London.  His mother was a country servant, forced into prostitution when she turned up pregnant.  She dies under the fist of a brutal customer, leaving Hawker to survive alone on the streets. By the time he's ten, he's becomes the most cunning thief and the most skilled, ruthless assassin in the service of the King of Thieves.  He's rescued from that life, by the British Service who have uses for his particular skill set.

Justine DeCabrillac, daughter of the nobility, is a woman just as formidable as Hawker.  Her parents die in the chaos of the Revolution and she is betrayed into a decadent child brothel.  She's rescued by a woman of the French Secret Police.  In time, Justine, too, becomes a great spy for France.

It was inevitable Justine and Adrian would meet.  The shifting intrigues of war and peace between England and France bring them together again and again, sometimes working toward a common goal.  Sometimes wholly at odds.  But a friendship forms between these two young spies, the best of their generation, based on common knowledge and common respect.  Spies of different nations have more in common with each other than with the armies clashing across battlefield or the civilians at home in bed. 

They become lovers. 
This is a great error.

For Montague and Capulet, owl and hawk, tragedy is inevitable.  The demands of
loyalty will drag them apart. 
But they can't seem to stop.

Then, in two decisive confrontations — one on the steps of the Louvre, one outside Paris as armies advance to take the city — they hurt each other.  They do the unforgivable. They speak words that can't be taken back. 

Their love story is over.

Ironically, years later, when England and France are at peace and Justine has given up her old spy games, she learns of a plot to discredit and destroy Adrian.  She's attacked on her way to warn him and staggers into British Service Headquarters, bleeding.

As Adrian carries her upstairs, unconscious, he knows it's a second chance at love.  If they can work together, they might just find out who wants to kill Justine and frame Adrian.  If not, they'll both fall.

And, an excerpt:

 

His chin was shadowed with a need to shave. She had known a boy three years ago. She did not really know this young man.

I do not know how to ask. Everything I can say is ugly. I do not want this to be ugly.

She gave her attention to pouring hot water onto the tea leaves. Rain drummed on the roof. Since they were not talking, since they were not looking at each other, it seemed very loud. He said, “As soon as you drink that, you should leave. It’s getting worse out there.”

I must do this now, before I lose my courage. “I am hoping to spend the night.”  She chose words carefully, to clarify matters beyond any possibility of misunderstanding. “It is my wish to spend the night with you, in your bed.”

Hawker was silent. He would be this self-possessed if tribesmen of the Afghan plains burst through the door and attacked him with scimitars. The refusal to be ruffled was one of his least endearing traits.

Time stretched, very empty of comment, while she swirled the teapot gently and he was inscrutable.  Finally, he took the oil lamp from the end of the mantel and busied himself adjusting the wick, lighting it with a paper spill from the fire. “The hell you say.”

 

In the books you love, what love stories were never told? 

For me, it's the story of Cat in Sharon and Tom Curtis' Windflower.  I would love to read his story.

I'll be giving away a copy of Black Hawk to one lucky commentator.

 

 

Raising A Glass To Research!

Cara/Andrea here,

Researching the little details that add color and texture to a story is one of my favorite parts of writing a book. I’m one of those peculiar people who can hours in a museum examining the gold-threaded stitching on a military uniform or the get down on hands and knees to study the shape of a tea cabinet leg. Most of the things I learn never actually end up in the story. But reading about various subjects—or better yet, seeing objects and places in real life—help me, er, drink in the ambiance of the era.

Sometimes literally. Yes, research can be intoxicating!

Too Wicked To WED, my new book, which came out last week, has a number of scenes set in a gaming hell. Now, last week I talked about cards. (The history of them, not how to gamble away your family fortune in a single night. I do draw the line just how far I’ll go to experience authenticity.) So it seemed only natural to take a look at the other staple of a gaming hell—wines and spirits!

"Let us have wine and women, mirth and laughter . . .” —Lord Byron

We all know our Regency bucks of the ton liked to tipple. Brandy, port, claret were among the favorites, And when talking about Regency drinking, one name comes to mind—Berry Brothers, the quintessential purveyor of spirits to anyone who was anyone. So during a recent trip to London, I decided to take a stroll down St, James’s Street and pay a call at Number Three.

You have only to look at the outside of the shop to know you are seeing something special. It’s been in the very same spot since its founding in 1698. Notice the low sloping shape of the building? That’s because it was originally a part of Henry VIII’s tennis court. Another thing that may catch your eye is the sign of the coffee mill hanging above the front door. It, too, has an interesting history, for you see, the business was originally opened by the Widow Bourne (hmm, any relation, Joanna?) as a grocer’s shop named the Coffee Mill.

The business was passed down through the family and by 1768 was a major supplier of coffee to the fashionable coffee houses and clubs—White’s and Boodles among them. Being on that date, they already began a unique tradition that lasted until the early twentieth century. The charming fellow who showed me around the present-day Berry Brothers explained that scales large enough to weigh a person were not household items in the aristocratic townhouses of London. And so, many of the gentlemen of the time began stopping by to weigh themselves on the huge coffee scale in the main room. (It is still there today.) The weights were duly recorded in a ledger, and it apparently became a fashionable tradition. Many gentlemen came regularly for their entire lives. (Public weighings, with the exact number inscribed in a book that anyone could peruse? Honestly—only a man could have come up with THAT idea.) The thick ledgers are still on shelf, and Byron and Beau Brummell are among the illustrious names that can be found within their dusty morocco-bound covers.
 The shop began selling wine to King George III, and its trade soon began to outpace coffee sales. It was in 1803 that the first Berry—sixteen-year-old George—set foot on the hallowed floors. A distant relative of the Widow, he worked diligently to learn the business and the rest, as they say is history.

Many wonderful pieces of art and memorabilia decorated the walls of Berry Brothers (Mr. Rudd was added right after WWI.) One of my favorites is a “certificate of loss” from White Star Lines, apologizing for the sinking of 69 cases of the company’s wine when the titanic went down. And of course, there are some marvelous old vintages on display as well. (As a sidenote, the shop still sells coffee, though few people are aware of it.)  After this delightful stroll through history, I left the premises extremely happy (and entirely sober—I promise!)

So do you have a favorite shop that is steeped in history? Or getting into the “spirit” of  wines, have you ever had a memorable wine or port? I once tasted a 1938 port and an 1898 Madeira that were sublime. Lastly—how about a drink or punch recipe for the upcoming holidays. I’ll be giving away a signed copy of TOO WICKED TO WED to one randomly selected person who leaves a comment between now and Saturday evening!