Word Wenches

A Triple Wench Whammy . . .

. . . That's what we're calling it here in Wenchlandia. In case you hadn't heard, two Wench books have finaled for Romance Writers of America's RITA, and another Wench has been awarded RWA's Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement honor. Wenches rock!

Bride By Mistake by Anne Gracie and Too Dangerous to Desire by Cara Elliott are RITA finalists in the Best Historical Romance category! Way to go, ladies! 

And the cherry on top is Mary Jo Putney, who will be honored with the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement award at RWA's annual conference in Atlanta, GA this coming July. (Couldn't happen to a more deserving person!)

 

What We’re Reading, March Edition

by Mary Jo

It’s time for our monthly round up of reading choices, but first—our Word Wenches RITA finalists!  Anne Gracie and Cara Elliott have both been nominated for the Romance Writers of America Best Historical Romance award.  Anne’s nominated book is Bride by Mistake, and Cara’s is Too Dangerous to Desire.  Wenches rock!

Now on to What We’re Reading:

Patricia Rice:

The Temptation of Your Touch by Teresa Medeiros is on my Nook right now. Lovely faux-gothic atmosphere with a hero who used to be perfect but was unlucky with the love of his life and has retreated to father's recent acquisition on the cliffs of Cornwall. As always with Terri's books, the fun is in the way the protagonists play off each other, and the lovely cast of extras: demented butler, comatose cook, and bewigged footboy.

Just finished Vicki Lewis Thompson's Blonde With A Wand. I adore Vicki's light-hearted nerd romances but her witches are wonderful, too. This one turns the perfect boyfriend into a cat. <G> I love the humor and the intelligence.

 

Mary Jo Putney: 

Having just read Blonde with a Wand myself, I think that Jasper was just a handsome jerk to begin with, which is why he was transformed into a cat.  The process improved him greatly, I might add.  <G>

On the non-fiction side, I’m now reading the delightful Sisters of Fortune by Jehanne Wake.  As soon as I saw that she and I were both on a panel at last weekend’s Virginia Festival of the Book, I looked up what she’d written, and ordered it immediately.  The subject of the book is the American Caton sisters who took London by storm during the Regency.  Not only are they American, but they are local history here in Maryland—when I first moved to the state, I lived in Catonsville, which is named for the family. 

The four Caton sisters were granddaughters of Charles Carroll of Carollton, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the one who outlived all of his fellow signers.  American aristocrats, the three who went to London were called the “Three Graces” and they were immediately swept up by Regency society.  The Duke of Wellington fell “violently” in love with Marianne and kept her portrait in his study.  Louisa became the Duchess of Leeds, and most interesting of all, Elizabeth was a brilliant financial speculator.  This is not only great Regency and Maryland history, but a fine read.

Anne Gracie:

I've spent a bit of time away this month, and haven't read as much as usual. The standout reads have been a crime novel, a fantasy novel and a contemporary rom-com, which begs the question, what fabulous historical romances am I missing out on?

The crime novel was Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths the latest in a series I'm really enjoying, about Ruth Galloway, an anthropologist who specializes in bones. The fantasy was Juliet Marillier's Flame of Sevenwaters, which picks up the story of Maeve, who as a small girl was badly scared by fire in an earlier book in the series. I love how love triumphs in all of Juliet Marillier's books, even though they're fantasies and not genre romance.

Finally I've been enjoying Kelly Hunter's The Trouble With Valentines, which is an extended version of her first book (Wife for a Week.) I loved it — it's just as tight and clever and fun as her shorter books, and she's added a whole new subplot.

Joanna Bourne:

Right now I'm reading Jean-Francois Parot's The Chatelet Apprentice, the first in the Nicolas Le Floch series.  The book is poorly translated from the French -- I have to get hold of it in the original -- but I love the concept and the main character, a police commissaire in Paris in the late Eighteenth Century.  I love the details of the city.  It helps me picture Paris of my own writing era, two decades later.

They made it into a TV series in France.  You can find some of the episodes online in various places. 

I finished Mercedes Lackey / Rosemary Edgehill's Spirits White as Lightning about a week ago.  Urban Elves and Bards.  MAGICAL Guardians.  Street busking.  Immortal bad guys.    What's not to like?

Next up is Judith Ivory's Black Silk which I read so long ago it will be like coming to it new.

 

Nicola Cornick:

On a similar note I'm deep in deadline territory at the moment so I have a big pile of books I've promised myself to read as a treat after I've sent in my manuscript. Meanwhile I've been relaxing when I can with comfort reads and old favourites, amongst them Silence and Shadows by James Long. The story is set around an archaeological dig and it's a history story and a love story with shades of the paranormal. I love James Long's writing - his reincarnation story Ferney is one of my all time favourite books. This one is just as special for the way he evokes the past and when I discovered the story was based on a real live dig just a couple of miles from where I live it was even more exciting.

On a similar note I'm re-reading Witchstruck by Victoria Lamb, a YA novel about a girl raised as a witch in Elizabethan England. It's a brilliant read and it's just won the RNA's YA Romance Novel of the Year award. 
 
Jo Beverley:

I have a confession to make -- I haven't done much reading in the past month. That's not quite true, as I'm sure you can guess. Like most of you I'll read cereal boxes if there's nothing else around. What I mean is, I haven't read many novels -- other people's novels.

Part of the problem is that I've been re-reading and tweaking backlist that I'm going to e-pub in the next few months. That takes longer than reading someone else's work because I want to read every word and pay close attention.

I've also been catching up on a long backlog of The Economist. That's mainly my husband's interest, but they have interesting obituaries, and occasional articles about books, art, and history that are fascinating. I've also dipped into a bunch of Googlebook finds as research for the MIP. One gave all the import duties of the time. It's hard to find anything that wasn't taxed on arrival.

Another problem is that I got caught up on a book I felt I should enjoy but didn't. It sat by my chair, an accusatory barrier to picking up anything else. Does that ever happen to you? I broke free by reading another MC Beaton, Death of a Witch, a pleasant comfort read.

The only other book I've read, or mostly read, is Terry Pratchett's A Blink of The Screen -- collected shorter fiction. This seems to be all his short fiction, going back to 1963 with a story first published in his school magazine. He's about 6 months younger than I am, so I reckon at the same time I was writing my medieval romance, Quodonna. He was doing better than I was. He sold it that year to Science Fiction Magazine.

As one would expect, the early stories are early works, but they form a fascinating insight into his development as a writer, and the later ones are all one could expect. Being a Granny Weatherwax fan, I particularly enjoyed The Sea and Little Fishes.

Cara Elliott:

I’m reading an ARC of The Paris Affair by Teresa Grant, which comes out next month. (I’ll be interviewing Teresa here at Word Wenches on April 5th, so be sure to stop by!) For those of you unfamiliar with her Regency-set mysteries featuring a husband/wife duo who are both spies and sleuths, it’s a wonderfully atmospheric series set amid the turmoil of the Napoleonic War and its aftermath. It features intricate plots and complex, nuanced characters who wrestle with the fundamental questions of loyalty, honor, betrayal and friendship. The writing is beautifully crafted and I highly recommend the books.

On a different note, a friend recently gave me a book of essays by Phillip Lopate, the head of the graduate nonfiction program at Columbia, entitled To Show and To Tell—The Craft of Literary Nonfiction, which I am glomming up. It’s one of the best works I’ve ever read on the art of writing—he conveys his thoughts, observations and advice with great clarity and a delightful sense of humor. It makes me wish I could be a student in his class! But just reading the book is teaching me a lot.

Susan King:

This month I've been on an art kick, and still in mystery mode too. So I'm reading Daniel Silva's The Rembrandt Affair, featuring Gabriel Allon, Israeli art restorer turned spy. I've read a couple in the series, though I'm jumping around reading more for the art mystery content, which interests me particularly, than the international spy angle. The Rembrandt Affair has just the art stuff I like -- a missing (and secretly rediscovered) Rembrandt portrait. Blended with the great characterization, pacing, plot twists, tension and the satisfying detail that hallmark Silva's books, it's an enjoyable, intelligent read.

I'm also reading Girl in a Green Gown by Carola Hicks, a fascinating exploration of van Eyck's famous Arnolfini Portrait. Hicks investigates the iconographic detail and hidden content, from the little dog to the oranges to Margaret and her dragon on the bedpost; she also explores the identity of the subjects, the artist as witness in the mirror, and the context of the Italian community in Bruges (my focus area in grad school was Northern Renaissance and I wrote an iconographic study of a van Eyck in the National Gallery, so I love this sort of thing).

Those are the downstairs books. Upstairs, I've just started Sheila Connolly's Buried in a Bog, a cozy mystery set in Ireland, and it's a good start so far, with solid writing and a lovely feel for things Irish. I'm also re-reading Captain Blood -- one of my favorite classics, a refresher course in character and the dazzle of historical fiction, and a reminder how much I enjoy a 17th century setting. I've got my eye on several other books, so I'll read these fast and move on! Also reading my own backlist for upcoming ebook production, and reading what I'm currently writing -- like the other Wenches, that's quite a bit of reading all at once!       

MJP: Having just assembled all the comments into a post, I'm struck by how many different types of witches we're reading. <G> Are there books here you've also read and enjoyed? Or would like to read?  Or do you have suggestions of your own for us to put on our book lists?!!

Mary Jo

Ways of keeping warm in the Regency Period

As the wind whistled in from the Arctic this week and I added another layer of thermals I started to wonder what it must have been like trying to keep warm in the days before there was efficient heating. I love gorgeous old stately homes but those high ceilings and large rooms must have been impossible to keep warm in the winter. Like my little country cottage, the old houses were also cursed with ill-fitting windows and doors, and wicked little draughts that spring up from nowhere to chill your ankles. In the days before central heating I imagine people needed to be very imaginative to find ways to keep warm.

Fire

The wood burning stove in our living room is the hub of the house at times like this and I imagine that the vast open fires in old houses served the same purpose in the past, with people huddled around them. In my last house, built in the 17^th century, the inglenook fireplace was so vast it took up half of one wall and contained a bread oven as well as a grate. An open fire is special. It provides heat, light and comfort with the warmth, extremely important when the rest of the house might be so cold that ice would form on the inside of the windows.

I do remember that with a big open fire it’s possible to have a very warm body but a cold head! Of course ladies in the Regency would actually use a fire screen – a decorated panel on a pole – to protect their complexions from the direct heat of the fire. Larger room screens partitioned off warmer parts of a hall or sitting room and kept out the draughts.

Similarly those gorgeous wing chairs weren’t just designed in that style for the fun of it. The high back and sides are great for keeping out the cold. In humbler cottages wooden high back chairs served a similar purpose. You piled them high with cushions for a very cosy seat.

Clothes

Like me with my four layers of thermals, the savvy Regency person would not wear a thin muslin dress in freezing cold weather but would layer on a lot of clothes. Linen, cotton, wool and fur were popular with huge muffs for ladies to wear. The heroine of my current book comments that in the Scottish winter she was seen carrying such a huge fur muff that it gave rise to reports that she was hiding a family of orphans inside it. Sailors on the Arctic expeditions of the early 19^th century wore coachmen’s great coats in a vain attempt to keep out the cold.

Then there were the petticoats. Four or five were in no way unreasonable, with socks, stockings, shawls, gloves, caps and hats. If one was travelling on the outside of the stagecoach every one of these layers would prove necessary in the winter and even then you were risking death from exposure.

Keeping the feet warm

There is a school of thought that says that if you keep the feet warm the rest of the body will follow. Regency footwear for women was pretty flimsy and even the leather half boot wouldn’t necessarily keep you warm and dry. For men the standard outdoor footwear was the riding boot, which was considerably more hard wearing.

Carriages were not heated, so a hot brick to keep your feet warm was essential. These would be heated up in a stove, wrapped in flannel and could then retain their warmth for quite a while, particularly if insulated under layers of travelling rugs.

And so to bed

These days the four poster bed is the height of luxury but in Regency times a tester bed or four poster with thick bed hangings was a must to keep the warmth in and the draughts out.

The earliest type of hot water bottle was the warming pan, which dates back to the 16^th century. A metal pan, it contained the embers of the fire, and had a long handle so that it could be moved across the bed to heat up those chilly corners! These were pretty dangerous if left in the bed for too long since they could set it on fire, providing rather more heat than one actually wanted.

Large stone wear hot water bottles were safer. These were also known as foot warmers. They followed the same principle as today’s hot water bottles; they were filled with near boiling water, sealed and placed in the bed.

If all else failed you could always go for shared bodily warmth! You could also sleep in the same space as your animals. In many cottages this is exactly what happened; the one room housed both people and their animals. At Ashdown House some of the servants’ quarters were above the stables. Apparently it was quite cosy with the heat rising from the horses. And a dog or cat on the bed is as warm as a hot water bottle. More than one of my heroines has let their pet sleep on their bed for warmth and one of my relatives came across this on a recent stay at a castle in Ireland where the hostess offered all the visitors a dog to keep them warm.

What about you? Do you think you could have survived a Regency winter? What is your favourite way of keeping warm in a cold climate? 

Clothes and the Man

Jo here, thinking about men's fashion, helped by Charlie in sartorial excellence as a pirate. The blog on the appeal of the Scottish historical often mentioned the kilt, and it got me wondering what style of men's fashion we find most appealing. I'm going to run through some general historical styles, and invite you to have your say.

For some reason Typepad still won't let me adjust image placement, so I apologize for the slightly messy layout. Click on any image to enlarge it.

Ancient We'll touch briefly on the loosely garbed ancients. For this blog I'm not considering armor. I get that the toga was probably supposed to suggest that the man didn't have any manual labor to do, but it's not exactly sexy, is it? But by all means praise it if you want!

On to the middle ages, which covers a whole lot of time. This handsome tunic is for sale here  Again, the style is for his leisure hours, showing he's not having to dig ditches or fight the enemy, but giving him time to compose songs in praise of his lady's eyes . I do find such long robes very attractive on the right man. Do you?

 It's a dress, though, isn't it? Does that matter? Kilts are skirts.

Speaking of which, let's take a moment to admire the men secure enough to join the Greek Guard.
(By Robin from England (athens077  Uploaded by Future Perfect at Sunrise) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

So, when are men in skirts sexy and when are they not?

Let's look at the 15th/16th centuries, time of the peascod belly. Did they all have beer-bellies, and if not, why did they prize the look? I have a soft spot for the gorgeously-garbed guy, and this guy's garb is gorgeous.

What of the wild Restoration rakes? The thing they had going for them was the periwig! What can I say? I love the look of a manly guy with really long, thick hair. John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester was one of the baddest of the bad, but I have a soft spot for him, perhaps because he was a poet. Or perhaps it's just the hair!

I know it doesn't show his regular clothes, but they weren't a lot different to the next few generations in the 18th century.

 Of course you know I love the fine plumage of the 18th century gentleman. The silk, the lace, the embroidery and braid. It's a shame the men in period portraits are never as fine as their clothes!

 Which brings us to the Regency. I confess I don't find men's Regency clothing particularly sexy, though those high cut waistcoats and jackets did their best to flaunt their wares! This Ingres drawing illustrates the look very well.

 

 

 

 

Which means I have to go back in time and mention the cod-piece. They did like to show off a good leg as well, didn't they?  

 

Beyond that, we come to the Victorian and the end of flamboyance in historical men's clothes. There is something about a man in a well-cut suit, but I still have that soft spot for flash.

So, what style of clothing do you think best makes a handsome hero even more handsome?

Have your say.

Jo

Coming in August. Read more about Seduction in Silk here.

Musings on Money and Hero Inflation

by Mary Jo

Pity the poor traditional Harlequin hero—it used to be enough to be a Millionaire Italian Stallion to win the hot Heroine Virgin Bride, but in these difficult economic times, he won’t get to first base unless he’s a billionaire.  A million dollars or euros just don’t go as far as they used to. 

Billionaires are all the rage in contemporary romance these days—I have a friend whose editor asked her to come up with a trilogy of them—but grade inflation has also been taking place in historical romance.  It used to be that any kind of lord would do.  Indeed, the sainted Georgette Heyer had some heroes that had no title at all.  Simple Misters!!!! Imagine, it was enough to be a wealthy gentleman.  Shocking, isn’t it? 

Cinderella

The heart of this is the Cinderella myth of marrying up, and which is part of the fantasy in most romances.  It makes perfect sense—most people have to deal with money problems at some point, and some live near the financial edge their whole lives.  So it’s great fun to imagine a billionaire whisking you off to his private island in Greece, or the lord making you the lady of his manor.

There are romances that don’t take place at such lofty financial levels, of course—the small town series that are so popular now focus on people with much more normal incomes.  But the common theme is that once Cinderella wins the prince, she’ll have more comfort and security for her future.  The reason it’s such a strong romance trope is because it’s true in reality: it’s a very fine thing to have food on the table, a roof over the head, and a future where those things will continue to be secure. 

Money matters!

Jane Austen wrote wickedly amusing social commentary, but it was based on harsh
reality.  In Pride and Predudice, modern readers can see the scary economic realities of her time.  Since Mr. Bennet has no son, his entailed property will go a male relative and his five daughters face uncertain futures.  Marriage is their best bet for security, but without much in the way of dowries, their prospects aren’t good.  If they marry at all, they might have to move down the social scale.  

Hence, Jane’s marriage to Mr. Bingley (5000 pounds a year!!) and Elizabeth’s to Mr. Darcy (10,000 pounds a year!!!!) represent not just a social but an economic triumph.  Because family was the social net of the day, the other Bennet sisters will be assured of “three hots and a cot” even if they remain unwed because their well married older sisters will look out for them.  Being a spinster aunt and companion isn’t ideal, but it beats being homeless.  (Lydia will be no help, though.  She and the appalling Wickham will regularly try to hit up their brothers in law for handouts.)

That’s the economic reality buried amongst the billionaires and dukes:  “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor and rich is better.”

How much is enough?

How much money one needs to feel rich is an interesting question.  I suspect that I’d find a billion dollars oppressive rather than comforting. Quite apart from having trouble imagining that amount of money, I know that fortunes on that order require a lot of tending, and tending money is boring.

So I don’t need a billionaire, but how many millions would it take to allow me to feel rich?  Two million?  Five million?  Hard to say.   I once read that most people consider “rich” to be somewhat more than they have.  In an African village, the rich guy might be the one who has a concrete floor in his hut rather than dirt.  In Beverly Hills, it’s safe to say that the amount is much higher. <G>

Do we need a duke??

To bring these musings back to historical romance, I freely admit that I enjoy throwing titles around, though I’ve written several books where the title belongs to the lady and her true love is a commoner.  But I try to avoid rank inflation.  There weren’t all of that many dukes around, so I only use that title when I want to make a particular point. 

Most of my heroines have at least a dash of Cinderella in them because they’re seldom wealthy.  Often they must make their own way in a society that doesn’t have a lot of options.  But by the end of the book, they have secure futures. 

I write the stories that way because that’s how I like books to end when I’m reading.  Some years ago, I read a Scottish Rising historical romance.  The sensible and well grounded heroine, who is loyal to the British crown, ends up falling for a handsome Jacobite.  At the end, they run away from everything without much more than the clothes on their backs.  I did NOT like that.  (And wouldn’t like it even if I had a better opinion of Bonnie Prince Charlie.) 

This is probably not unrelated to the fact that I know a number of women who have bag lady fantasies, particularly those who are unmarried and/or self-employed.  (A fantasy writer friend of mine just bought her first house, and a major motivation for the purchase was so she needn’t fear ending up single and impoverished and potentially homeless, which is a very real fear for writers in a difficult market and rising rents.) 

I should note that despite my wanting to see characters financially secure, in my own life I’ve chosen creative fun over common sense every time.  Perhaps that’s why I like at least my characters to be secure. <G>

All of this contributes to why marrying money fantasies are so inherent in romance, whether it’s mega-money or modest comfort.  The commitment at the heart of a romance often implies building a family, and a woman wants security for her children as well as herself.  She wants a man who she can trust on all levels: that he’ll be kind, loving, faithful—and that he’ll provide well enough to protect their offspring. 

Success vs. Happiness

I’ve read that success is getting what you want, and happiness is wanting what you get. People who enjoy the small things of life and are content with what they are better off than those that are never satisfied. 

So what degree of material comfort and security do you like to see in your romances?  Or in your own life?  What is wealth?  And how much is enough?

Mary Jo

 

Rites of Spring

Cara/Andrea here,
Today is the spring equinox, the day when light and dark hangs in the balance (twelve hours of each)—before the sun grows ascendant over the moon as it rises to its zenith on the summer solstice. Now, it’s been a long, gray winter here where I live, so I’m all for for celebrating! The longer days will start to bring the barren earth into bloom, so it’s no wonder that for centuries, people of all cultures have celebrated the moment.

Spring is, of course, the season symbolizing rebirth—the earth comes to life again after the “death” of winter, with plants blossoming anew and trees unfurling fresh leaves. So it’s no wonder that fertility is also an elemental theme in how mankind welcomes the season.
 
In ancient Rome, the goddess Cybele had a consort named Attis who died and came back to life each year around the vernal equinox, and the Germanic tribes paid homage to Ostara, an earth goddess who mated with a fertility god every year in the spring and gave birth nine months later—around the winter solstice.

The ancient Mayans were also attuned to the cycle of the seasons. At the El Castillo, a grand ceremonial temple in present-day Mexico, its pyramid shape was designed for the spring equinox to cast a certain pattern of shadows on its stepped face, creating the illusion of a descending diamond-backed snake. Their festival was called the Return of the Sun Serpent.

Ancient Britain had its own interesting myth regarding the spring equinox, which was first recoded by the Venerable Bede, a famous English monk at the monastery of St. Peter in Northumbria. The monastery possessed a famous library and Bede won acclaim as an author and scholar—his Ecclesiastical History of the English People  earned him the moniker of the father of English history.

His writings speak of Eostre, a Saxon goddess who, like Ostara, was celebrated in springtime fertility rites. Some say the term “Easter” derives from her name because of one of the legends surrounding her.  Tradition has it that she found a wounded bird in winter, and to save it she transformed it into a hare. However, it retained the ability to lay eggs and each spring would leave her decorated eggs as a gift of thanks for its life. (What—no chocolate truffle eggs!) Eggs, seeds—it’s no wonder that fertility was a elemental part of the spring equinox, for the lengthening days were a signal to start planting the new crops. 

These days, modern life has left most of us much less attuned to the earth’s seasonal cycles. As we rush around our brightly lit, bustling town and cities,  how many of us would notice that today is equally balanced between dark and light? I confess, I wouldn’t—yes, I’m aware the days are slowly getting longer, but I’m not sure I’d be able to see the subtle nuances of nature that the ancients did, for my existence isn’t so elementally tied to the earth.

But I am very appreciative when the calendar tells me Spring is officially here!

How about you? Do you harken in spring with any special little rites? And as this is also the month that celebrates rebirth and renewal in a variety of religions, do you have any special traditions in your family for the upcoming holidays?  At my house, my mother loved creating elaborate Easter egg hunts in the woods behind our house. Along with chocolate goodies, there were "name" eggs hidden in stone walls or trees, and a grand Golden Egg—whoever found that got a special prize. Over the years it became famous with our school friends—even after college, we them caging for invitations (it got to be quite funny to see a pack of twenty-something with easter baskets frothing at the mouth for the starting signal to go pelting into the woods.

A Professor Studies Scottish Romance

Susan here. The Word Wenches are so pleased to welcome Dr. Euan Hague, associate professor of Geography at DePaul University, to the blog today! Professor Hague has a special interest in historical romance—-he's currently researching the phenomenon of Scotland-set literature among the Scottish-American diaspora, focusing on novels written by authors exploring Scotland and Scottish culture in their work—which includes the wide array of Scottish romances.

Euan Hague is not only an academician—he is a Scotsman transplanted to the U.S. Throughout his career he has closely studied the aspects and expressions of the Scottish-American diasporic community. And, fancy words aside, it's apparent he’s becoming a proponent of Scottish historical romance.

A few months ago, Professor Hague contacted me to talk about fiction set in Scotland--and Scottish romance--as part of his research for his essay in an anthology for Edinburgh University Press regarding the Scottish cultural dispersion. Originally from Edinburgh, he left home to pursue an academic career and is now Associate Professor of Geography at DePaul University. In addition to lecturing, he has collaborated on two books and is a regular contributor to academic debates about American perceptions of Scotland. He has appeared on both NPR and the BBC to discuss Scottish nationalism, identity and the Scottish-American diaspora. He is on the Board of the St. Andrew's Society of Illinois and in his spare time he is a keen soccer player and father to two daughters.

Susan: Welcome to Word Wenches, Euan! We’re delighted that you are joining us to share your research and your thoughts about Scottish historical romance.

Euan Hague: It’s great to be here with the Wenches! And that's not a sentence I ever thought that I would write during my academic career. :)  The one piece missing from my puzzle is more reader input into the discussion. Some of the writers I interviewed shared a few reader comments with me, which were fascinating, and I look forward to gathering more reader opinion today at Word Wenches.

SK:  Tell us something about your project. How did you, as a professor of Geography, become interested in Scottish historical romance as an academic research topic?

EH: I moved to the United States to do my Ph.D. at Syracuse University in 1994. When I arrived, everything seemed very foreign, but pretty soon everyone was asking me about Scotland, after “Rob Roy” and “Braveheart” came out in 1995. I remember going to see “Rob Roy” in the Carousel Mall movie theater in Syracuse while wearing a kilt! As a Ph.D. student back in the days before Google and iPads, I spent a lot of time in used book stores. As I was researching my Ph.D. on Scottish-American views and representations of Scotland, I began noticing romance novels with kilted Highlanders on the covers. I didn’t do any writing on it at that time, but the topic stuck in my head and I thought that would be something interesting to look at in the future.

One of Susan's kilted heroes

When I moved to Chicago to DePaul University, I had published a great deal of my previous research in academic journals and had become known as the ‘Scots in the USA’ guy. That led Scottish journalist David Stenhouse to contact me when he was visiting Chicago around 2005 or 2006, and he’d recently published in the Scottish press about romance novels.

At the same time I was approached by University of Edinburgh’s Berthold Schoene to write a chapter about Scottish writing in the United States for The Edinburgh Companion to Contemporary Scottish Literature. I decided to go back and look at those plaid-wearing Highlanders. I went to a used book store and picked up Sue-Ellen Welfonder’s Devil in a Kilt, Julie Garwood’s The Wedding and The Secret, Julie Moffat’s The Thorn and the Thistle and Janet Bieber’s Highland Bride. The result was a chapter in Berthold’s book in 2007, but I always thought that there was enough material for a sequel. When Duncan Sim asked me to contribute to his new book on the Scottish diaspora, I took up the topic again--and now I’m thinking of this could be a trilogy! I’m finding out that romance novels are both big business and are really interesting in how they depict Scotland

Isle of Arran: Photo, Euan Hague

People in Scotland don’t really know about these romances, so it is a great topic to explore.

Why is all this Geography? Well, Geography has changed a lot since people took it in third grade and learned state capitals! Today, academic geographers examine how places and landscapes are constructed, represented and understood. Why do places look like they do, and how are places similar and different. This can mean conducting digital analysis of satellite data showing deforestation, exploring urban planning and development policies and their impacts on housing, learning about mountain and river formation or, in this case, asking how literature depicts countries. It is a really exciting field. Geography is a perspective, looking at things through the lens of place. We do a bit of history, economics, sociology, literary studies, ethnic studies, science, digital mapping, political science, international relations -  a bit of everything!  

SK:  How are you going about the research?  Have you talked to authors, and are you reading Scottish romances and other Scottish-set books? 

EH:  I’ve been reading some of the books. Most recently I finished Blythe Gifford’s Return of the Border Warrior and as she lives here in Chicago, I was able to meet and interview her. She recommended speaking with Terri Brisbin, who I phoned and then picked up a copy of The Highlander’s Silent Touch. I spoke with Margaret Mallory, who kindly sent me a copy of The Warrior. Also, my colleague here at DePaul, Prof. Alec Brownlow, recommended I talk to a friend of his family, Word Wench Susan Fraser King! So I called Susan too, but first made sure to read Queen Hereafter: A Novel of Margaret of Scotland.

SK: (Thank you!) What does your research reveal about Scottish literature and romance in particular?  

Euan in a kilt, 1995

EH:  Of course, I’m finding that Highlanders are very popular, as are feisty heroines, but I’m also learning that romance authors know more about Scottish history than I do! When I was in High School in Edinburgh in the 1980s, we were taught about Scotland after 1760, and my previous academic studies on Scottish identity really explored the Jacobite period and the era of Walter Scott, I’d say 1715-1822. Blythe knows more about Scotland in 1528-29 than anyone I’ve ever met; and Susan as much about the 11th century!

Another thing I’ve been thinking about are those covers showing muscle-bound shirtless men wearing a kilt and a strip of plaid over one shoulder – you’d die of pneumonia wearing that outfit in Scotland! I was there all last July and it rained every day. I never once saw the sun!

(Does this guy look cold to you?)

 

SK:  What did you expect to find when you first began the project -- and has any result surprised you? 

EH:  I think that I expected to find what I’d call “tartanry” stereotypes of Scotland – kilts, haggis, heather, lochs, castles – stirred into somewhat formulaic romance plots. I certainly never expected time travel like in Karen Marie Moning’s The Highlander’s Touch or detailed discussions of medieval Scotland’s political and religious institutions as in Susan's mainstream historicals. I think the biggest surprise has been the determination of the authors I’ve talked with to get Scottish history right.

SK: With all that you're learning about romance -- and having the advantage of being a kilted Scottish guy yourself -- are you tempted to write your own Scottish romance?

EH:  I have been. I wrote a chapter about a woman time travelling from Chicago to historic Scotland, but now I think I don’t know enough about Scottish history to be able to finish it!

SK:  I think you'd do a great job--and just think how interesting your geography and landscape settings would be! What are some of your favorite places in Scotland?

Edinburgh Castle: Photo, Euan Hague

EH:  Well, I still have family and friends in Edinburgh, so I go there every year and I love it. Seeing Edinburgh Castle, especially on a late fall afternoon with a sprinkling of snow glistening in the sunset is just a wonderful view. I like Greyfriar’s Churchyard in Edinburgh with all the medieval gravestones. And being from Edinburgh means I’m meant to hate Glasgow -- but the Necropolis, People’s Palace and Kelvingrove there are great to visit. I also went to the Island of Arran for the first time a few years ago and that was spectacular. Typically when going to the UK it means flying to London or

Isle of Arran: Photo, Euan Hague

Manchester in England, so I love the moment when the M6 highway crosses the border and becomes the M74, and then the drive through small towns in the Borders and on up into Edinburgh always makes me smile nostalgically.

SK:  Now that you've looked at the interest in Scottish-set romance from an academic standpoint -- why do you think it is such a consistently popular sub-genre?  

EH:  Ha! The million dollar question. The men in kilts? I know how that works – I’ve worn a kilt!  I think Scottish romances allow readers to experience a different time and place, but one that is not so foreign that it is difficult to understand. I think that using pre-modern Scottish clans also enables an emphasis on family relationships and genealogy which I think attracts readers both as romance fans and Americans. In my experience, genealogy is a more popular interest here in the U.S. than it is back in Scotland.

SK:  What's next for your research in Scottish romance?

EH: I’d love to hear directly from your readers what they think of Scottish romance! Why do you like it (or not) -- what are some of your favorites, and which books should I read next?

SK: Readers, authors, Wenches too -- do you love Scottish romance, or do you not love it particularly ... and why? Tell Prof. Hague what you think! He may want to use your comments in his chapter (if he does, we will contact you).

EH: Thanks, everyone --this is the most fun I've had writing an academic piece in a while. And thanks for inviting me to Word Wenches!

Tell us what you think about Scottish romance! And there's a prize in it for someone -- I'll be sending one of my books to a reader chosen at random from among the commenters today and tomorrow.

 

And a book signing

Wenches Joanna and Mary Jo will be signing books in Charlottesville, Virginia this Saturday morning, March 23,  as part of the five-day Virginia Festival of the Book.

The Romance portion of the Festival is an all-day event with more than a dozen Romance writers.  We'll be on the 10 am panel -- Harridans & Hoydens: Researching Independent Women in History and Historical Romance -- with Romance writers Grace Burrowes and Kristen Callihan and with historical biographer Jehanne Wake.

Click on the poster to see a list of authors who'll be at the event. 

It should be an interesting day.  Please come by and say hello.  More information here and here. 

Guest Professor Euan Hague

On Monday, March 18, Susan King will interview Professor Euan Hague of DePaul University. The subject:  what makes Scottish historical romances tick—as seen from an academic perspective! You won't want to miss this one! What's more, the good professor will be interested in reading your comments because this is a subject he is currently researching. Join us Monday. You won't be sorry!

Ask A Wench -- Tasty heroes!

Jo here, pulling together answers to a question sent in by Alison.

"I wondered in regard to their own books, which hero would the wenches want to live happily ever after with and which hero would they just want to have a fling with? I would love to know their reasons why as well. "

Now this proved a bit tricky for us, because we all love all our heroes and at the same time, we all respect their devotion to their heroines, but imagination comes with the job, so here we go.

Cara/Andrea
An interesting question! Hmmm—“keepers” or flings? Well, since I write happily ever after stories for my characters, I hope that all my heroes have the qualities that would make them perfect partners for the long haul.

If it’s that certain spark and sizzle—that aura of danger—which is part of the attraction for a fling, then I hope my men have that too! But when the initial fire dies down, what should shine through is that they are strong, grounded, trustworthy individuals with a sense of humor and spark of playfulness.

That said, if I had to choose one of my heroes with whom to ride off into the sunset with, I think it would be Gryff from Too Tempting To Resist. He’s funny, charming, sensitive, smart, loyal and makes his lady laugh. I’m thinking that’s a pretty nice companion for the journey . . . Oh, but then there’s his friend Connor, from Too Wicked To Wed. He’s a touch more serious, but despite his rakish reputation, he’s serious, steady, and utterly unshakeable when it comes to protecting those he cares for . . . which reminds me of Cameron, from Too Dangerous To Desire. Now, he’s a bit more volatile and brooding, but also has a heart of gold, and can be counted on to be a knight in shining armor.

Sigh. Since I’m not the sort of girl who plays around, I think I’ll have to let them live happily ever after—after all, they’re already perfectly matched with a lady love. I’ll just have a hero of my own . . .

Anne

  This is a more difficult question than I thought at first glance. My  initial response was that Gideon from THE PERFECT RAKE would be my HEA  hero, because he's funny and sexy and a devoted husband and father and would be good company for the long haul, but then I had second thoughts. Gideon before he met Prudence was a fun-loving pleasure-seeking rake, and thus would probably only be fling material at that  point. Gideon after he met Prudence would be a wonderful husband — but  only for Prudence, not me. And he wouldn't ever be unfaithful, and I  wouldn't want him to be.

So then I started thinking about some of my other heroes. I'm very fond of Harry, from HIS CAPTIVE LADY, but before Harry met and fell  for Nell, he was quite a withdrawn, intense fellow, indifferent to  whom he married and thinking one woman much the same as another, which  wouldn't do for me at all. Nell and her circumstances brought him out  of himself and made Harry into the man who would make a truly gorgeous  husband. And the more I thought about my heroes, the more I thought it  was true for them all — that none of them would make good husband  material unless I were their heroine. It's the combination of the two,  the unique chemistry that each couple produce that causes the hero to  become wonderful happy ever after material.

Mary Jo
What a terrible thing to ask an author! Because I love all my heroes.  But there are definitely some I’d rather live with myself. The Mayhem Consultant has read and reread The Rake, and I think he rather fancies himself as being like the hero, the dark and dashing Reggie Davenport, who has to 
overcome his alcoholism in order to find his happy ending.

However, in reality the MC is much more like Lord Robert Andreville, the hero of Angel Rogue. Robin is witty, easygoing, and never without a quip, even when things are going sidewise. And under his insouciant charm, he’s  brave and utterly reliable. A man who is reliable and can be trusted is the foundation of a romance hero, I think, no matter how different the personalities are.

That said, I do tend to like the witty ones. My last two Lost Lords’ heroes, Grey Sommers in No Longer a Gentleman and Damian McKenzie in Nowhere Near Respectable are that sort. Others, like Randall in Never Less Than A Lady and Rob Carmichael, hero of my September 2013 book, Sometimes a Rogue, are a little too intense for me. Ultimately, though, I agree with Anne: each hero is perfect for his heroine, and vice versa. I’m just a voyeur as they work out their relationship.

Pat

This is a difficult question to answer. I fall in love with all my  heroes. They all contain bits and pieces of my husband, whom I totally adore. That said, all my heroes might be a little too alpha for me to actually live with. I like the quiet, studious types, and even Blake Montague (in Devilish Montague) has tastes too bloodthirsty for my comfort. Wyckerly from Wicked Wyckerly is a great deal of fun, but a little more extroverted and willing to take risks than I am. Since I don't do flings... that's the best I can do!

 

Joanna 

I want to have a fling with my character Adrian, from Black Hawk.  He'd be just first-rate certified excellent good in the sack.  Passionate, fun, intent, single-minded, generous.  Adrian is a man who likes every shape and age and style of woman. I find that delightful and encouraging.

Also -- I've never exactly written this out -- but I think he's inventive.

I wouldn't want to live with Adrian though.  He's got too much energy for me.  He's a man who always has to be up and about, doing something.  I bet he's one of those folks who gets by cheerfully on five or six hours of sleep a night.  I'd find it exhausting as a long-range prospect.

So mebbe a couple intermittent flings over the years.  Just ships passing in the night, like.

I'd like to marry Doyle, from The Forbidden Rose.  Massively strong, massively reliable, massively intelligent, and with a sly sense of humor.  With Doyle, it would be long,interesting evenings talking about everything under the sun, lying in his
arms in front of the fire. And long interesting silences.

I think he's inventive too.

Susan

Fun question! I'll admit that a few of my heroes have a deeper hold on my heart. I wouldn't want to push aside the heroines--but if I could do a little shapeshifting and be a few of my heroines, that would be fine by me!  

Scottish rebel James Lindsay from Laird of the Wind--my favorite forest outlaw--has that combination of loyalty, honor and the rebellious freedom-fighting adventurous spirit that I find pretty sexy--and James has a tender, funny love-hate thing going on with a bratty little goshawk that he's training. To be with him, I'd love to be Lady Isobel Seton--a beautiful Scottish psychic being hunted by the English king. Isobel gets to run around the vast forest with the sort of warrior-poet who could have my heart forever.

I'd also love to be the heroine of Lady Miracle (soon to be re-released as an ebook!)--she's a 14th century Scottish physician and healer -- and she finds her perfect sparring match in Diarmid Campbell, the warrior who kidnaps her and hauls her off to the remote Highlands. Who wouldn't love that? But he's more than a brawny kilted man--he cares deeply about his ward, a very sick littlegirl. He will do anything for that child--and he also is pretty good at fighting off MacBaddies atevery turn. He's got a a sexy, interesting balance of masculine strength and great tenderness. I could go for that.

Which hero would I NOT want to spend a lifetime with? I'd think twice about throwing my lot in with Macbeth, though in my novel he's a young, intense warrior. But he's definitely an exciting challenge--and Lady Macbeth and I both like a good challenge in a great man.

Nicola

Great question. I'm not sure I would have a fling with any of my heroes. I'm not that sort of girl! I usually want more from my relationships than just a fling and I would want the HEA that was reserved for my heroine!

My heroes all contain the qualities that I admire in my husband - strength of character, courage, resourcefulness, loyalty and a whole lot more. For a HEA I think I would choose Owen in Desired because he is all of those things and is also patient, kind, easy-going and very, very attractive. Tess, the heroine of Desired, is a lucky girl!

Jo

LOL! Susan on Macbeth. Definitely a guy to give a lady pause. This is an interesting question because it's about what makes our heroes heroes, though of course in the end they are each perfect for a very different woman, as it should be.

For a fling, I think I'd choose Nicholas from the first book I wrote, An Arranged Marriage. I suspect all authors put parts of their dream man into their first hero. He's not for settling, however, because he's so settled with Eleanor, but he'd make a wonderful weekend lover because, well, he's skilled and he loves making love!

The hero to settle with is trickier because some of them can't help but be dramatically active and in the heart of things and I'm too indolent for that. I think perhaps Cate from An Unlikely Countess, because he has all the more dramatic heroic qualities along with stability and kindness. Above all, he can be content with a quiet life at home.

But then, he is totally content with his Prudence.

So what makes a perfect hero for you -- for a fling or for life?

Do any of the Wenches' heroes fit the bill?

Alison will get a book prize for posing this question. I'll give another book to one randomly picked comment that addresses either of those questions.

Have at it!

Jo

A Celestial Bed

Anne here, back from the Australian Romance Readers Convention, where this picture was taken: it's the historical romance panel. Yes, very serious we all were.

The convention was followed by a week-long writing retreat. And as it sometimes does, when you're away and sleeping in strange rooms, my mind turned to... beds.

I confess I love my bed. I bought it some years back, after a stay in a fabulous hotel (for a conference) where the beds, for once, were amazingly comfortable — so comfortable in fact that I slept well every night I was there, an unusual thing for me at a conference because my mind is usually spinning from the stimulation of the company. So I bought the exact same bed. But I digress.

Beds are on the one hand, amazingly simple things, but increasingly they are becoming technological marvels. But whether it's scientifically designed coils and springs, adjustable beds, beds that sense and provide the right position for all your spinal (and other) needs, there is nothing available in the modern bed that is anywhere near the marvel that was The Celestial Bed that was invented and available for use in the eighteenth century.

It was the invention of one James Graham, a Scotsman born in 1745, the son of a saddler. An ambitious lad, Graham entered the world renowned Edinburgh Medical School at the tender age of sixteen. He left it three years later, unqualified (though this was not uncommon at the time) and set up shop as an apothecary (pharmacist,) though still craving fame and fortune.

It was a visit to America that gave him the inspiration he needed. It was a time of scientific marvels; electricity was in its infancy and all kinds of experiments were being made with it — including Benjamin Franklin's famous kite-flying-in-thunderstorm venture— and the whole notion of electricity fired the imaginations of many — including that of James Graham.

Graham decided that there might be parallels between electrical energy and sexual energy (he called them both fluids) and he theorized that 'the pleasure of the venereal act might be exalted if performed under the glowing, accelerating, and most genial influences of that heaven born, all animating element, the electrical or concocted fire.'

At the first rumblings of the American Revolution, he returned to England and took up work as a doctor in Bath — though he was not your everyday doctor. Bath was a fashionable city, a draw card for rich people of delicate health — real or imaginary. And Graham was an ambitious man with a charismatic personality.

Graham’s persuasive advertisements promoting cures using "Effluvia, Vapours and Applications ætherial, magnetic or electric" attracted his first celebrity patient, the famous bluestocking historian Catharine Macaulay. She became the subject of scandal in 1778 when she married James Graham’s 21-year-old brother William, who was less than half her age. Dr Graham was instantly propelled to national fame.

In 1779 Dr Graham acquired a new patron in Lady Spencer, mother of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and made plans for his great dream — a Temple of Health. In May 1780, Graham found suitable premises in an exciting new development between The Strand and the Thames River — the Adelphi Buildings — and  opened the first Temple of Health.

Graham's original intention was to use electricity to treat all sort of ailments and he borrowed money to set up all kinds of electro-magnetic machines for 'throwing by force of electricity ethereal essences, vivifying air and magnetic effluvium through the whole body, and which could draw visible sparks from any designated part of the body.' He treated patients with musical therapy, and pneumatic chemistry, published marriage guidance tracts gave medical lectures and sold medicines, such as “Electrical Aether” and “Nervous Aetherial Balsam.” People could even take "electrical baths" which produced a mild shock and a prickling sensation over the skin.

His Temple of Health was staffed with a succession of so-called Goddesses of Health, displayed as models of physical perfection and scantily clad in flimsy white robes. (The young Emma Hamilton, later to become the mistress of Admiral Nelson, is thought to have been one of them.) The Temple of Health was a huge success and Graham became the talk of London and the acquaintance of many famous people.

Several years later Graham moved premises and set up a new kind of temple, which he called the Temple of Hymen, after the Greek and Roman god of marriage, where the properties of electricity were to be devoted entirely to the enhancement of marriage and fertility. It featured his most famous invention yet — the Celestial Bed. (Finally, you say, she gets to the point!)

The bed was enormous —12 feet long and 9 feet wide (about 3.6 by 2.7 metres) — supported by 40 pillars of richly colored glass of exquisite workmanship together with brass pillars wrapped in purple satin. The mattress was stuffed with oats, flowers and the tails of fine English stallions and beneath it were about 15 hundredweight (about 680 kilograms) of magnetic fluid to give the necessary degree of strength and exertion to the nerves (ie to relieve male erectile dysfunction.) The bed had a specially designed frame to align its occupiers in the best position to conceive, and any movement caused stimulating oriental fragrances and "aethereal" gases to be released and "celestial sounds" to waft from concealed organ pipes. The more vigorous the mattress’ movements, the more energetic the music. 

My own bed has, sadly, none of these features.

Unfortunately there seems to be no contemporaneous illustrations of the Celestial Bed, but here's a modern interpretation of it. Of course, the Celestial Bed was not for naughty or prurient activities, no no — it was all for the sake of marriage and procreation. In the bedhead, chiselled into the woodwork and sparkling with electrical fire, were the words 'Be Fruitful, Multiply and replenish the Earth.' A night in the Celestial Bed would set you back fifty pounds, a huge sum in those days.

Extravagance found Graham's Temple of Hymen closed after a few years, and the man himself deep in debt. But he was a true eccentric, and if you're a lover of eccentricity (as I am) it's worth looking him up. Some gems of his career: he founded the The New Jerusalem Church; its membership never exceeded one. He became a passionate advocate of "earth bathing" and gave public exhibitions of it in Panton Street in London, lecturing while naked and buried up to the neck in earth. Graham's final book, How to Live for Many Weeks or Months or Years Without Eating Anything Whatsoever, surprisingly did not sell well and is, strangely, now out of print.

So what about you? Do you love your bed? Do you hanker after a wonderful, exotic bed? If you could magic up a bed, what would be your specifications? And have you tried any interesting, "alternative" treatments? How did they go?

 

Georgian and Regency Wallpapers

Nicola here, and today I am talking about Georgian and Regency wallpapers. Wallpaper is a small detail when a writer is describing a setting but it can be a useful way of showing the grandeur - or otherwise - of a house and it's certainly a way of portraying character. When I saw this rather gorgeous 18th century wallpaper with parrots and apples on it I immediately started to imagine the sort of flamboyant heroine who might decorate her bedroom in this style, but of course it could equally belong to a hero who is an explorer!

A few weeks ago I visited Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire. Kirby is an intriguing
house because it is part roofed, part ruin. It was originally built in the 17^th century and looks rather like the more famous Hardwick Hall, but during the Georgian period it was refurbished and there is a fascinating restoration project ongoing to show the sort of wallpaper that decorated the library and the billiard rooms in the 18th and 19th centuries and to demonstrate how it was made and how it was hung. 

Paper Tapestries

Wallpaper was originally called “paper tapestries” and from the late sixteenth century onward was printed on small individual sheets and painted in ink using wood blocks. By the end of the 17^th century there were specialist wallpaper shops in London but wallpaper was at this stage still considered far inferior to wall hangings “fit only to make the houses of ordinary people look neat” as one social commentator said, rather snootily! Only in the 1740s did wallpaper become fashionable with the social elite, partly because it could be painted in vivid colours and with pattern repeats.

By 1750, full panelling on walls was out of favour and new houses were built with half-panelling on the lower wall and the upper walls plastered either to be painted or to take wallpaper or wall hangings. In older houses the top half of the panelling was removed and sometimes reused to provide a frame. A canvas was stretched across this to provide a flat wall face. The canvas was nailed to battens and then brushed with glue to make it shrink as it dried. This gave a taut, stiff surface. This was covered in lining paper made from linen rags, which was made in individual sheets and hung so that they overlapped. The photo, from Kirby, shows and example of how the canvases worked to provide a flat surface that could be papered over.

 

The Height of Fashion

Flock and damask wallpapers were considered the most modish. A fashionable red flock wallpaper was fitted in the Billiards Room at Kirby Hall in the mid-Georgian period. (You can see what this looked like in the photograph). The sale catalogue of 1772 lists “crimson paper hangings” in the Red Room. Flock wallpapers were made to imitate silk damask wall hangings. The grandest rooms needed large scale bold designs. This was of course before the introduction of mechanised processes and so making wallpaper was an entirely handmade process, which meant that every piece was unique. Early wallpaper was made from linen or cotton rags not from wood pulp. The cloth was pulped and pressed into moulds to make individual square sheets. These were then joined together to make a roll similar to the ones that are in use today. Flock wallpapers had a background colour printed onto the paper, then glue was applied in a pattern, sometimes using a stencil, and dyed wool sprinkled on top to simulate velvet. Flock was quite expensive, costing between 4 shillings and 13 shillings per yard in 1750.

The Library at Kirby now the most beautiful wallpaper that is a recreation of a late 18^th century style. Here it is in detail in this photograph. I loved the delicate duck egg blue background and the hand painted fleur de lys. The blue is so pale that you only get the colour effect from a distance. Close up it looks more like a cream colour.

In the later 18^th and early nineteenth centuries, designers developed new styles including chinoiserie, scenic images, papers that imitated swags of material and tassels. Some wallpaper was even political; both America and France celebrated their revolutions in wallpaper (which I think is very cool!) The imported Chinese and Indian prints were particularly expensive and highly-prized, costing from 14 shillings per yard. At this point people who could not afford the paper itself started to paint pretend wallpaper onto their walls! A house in Wales still has the remnants of a wall painting imitating an early 19^th century Chinese style wallpaper, which in itself was an imitation of the more costly hand painted version.

Mass production

The earliest machines for printing wallpaper were developed in the late 18^th and early 19^th century. The
advent of steam power meant that paper could be printed quickly and cheaply, and also in multiple colours so it became cheaper and more widely available within society. I’ve included a couple of additional examples of late 18^th and early 19^th century wallpapers from the National Trust here, just to show the sort of variety on offer. The picture on the right, featuring a very elegant peacock was one of the late Regency machine printed wallpapers. Below is a Georgian leather-embossed wallpaper, again with a bird theme and the most glorious colours.

What do you think of the Georgian and Regency patterns? Would you like a parrot print in your house or some other sort of “heritage wallpaper” as it’s called today? And do you think that the way someone decorates a room is a way for a character to express themselves? 

 

Taxes

You know the saying about death and taxes.... Taxes aren't mentioned much in historical romances, but they've been around for a long time, and I'm sure most Regency people felt as taxed to death as we do today. People of substance, that is.

Can you think of a historical romance that mentions taxes, or even better, uses them as a plot point? All those impoverished families might want to look closely at their taxable assets! The information below is from A Gentleman's Pocket Memorandum from 1819.

(Addition, I originally got my photocopy from Nancy, and she has put up a much fuller and clearer transcription here. It's a wonderful site full of information.)

I'm going to mostly write about the small taxes, but a word first about one we all know well.

Income Tax was introduced as a temporary measure (ha!) to help pay for the Napoleonic Wars. "It began at a levy of 2 old pence in the pound (1/120) on incomes over £60 (£5,077 as of 2013),[5] and increased up to a maximum of 2 shillings (10%) on incomes of over £200." (Wikipedia.)

(I think their estimate of modern values is off. It's very tricky because there are a lot of variables.)

You can read more about the progress of income tax here.  It was abolished in 1816 and didn't return until 1841, so the characters in the book I'm writing now, set in 1817, didn't have that burden to bear. But let's look at some others. One interesting thing is that they're all designed to tax wealth, so they were more socialist minded than we might think.

Window Tax.

This was introduced in the 17th century as a tax on wealth and had the advantage of not obliging people to disclose their income. It levied 2 shillings per house, and then the amount went up according to the number of windows, up to 8 shillings if the property had over twenty windows. I'm sure the owners of Chatsworth and Blenheim really felt the pinch!

Some people bricked up windows to reduce the tax.

On to the others.

Nibbled to death by taxes

(I'm going to give these in brief and I don't understand the full implications of some, so due warning. l=pound)

1. Armorial bearings -- if you have them and keep a coach, 2l 8s pa. If you have them and don't keep a coach but are liable to house duty 1l 4s. All others, 12s

2. Vehicles. If you keep a four-wheeled carriage for pleasure, 12l pa and it goes up, getting more expensive per carriage to 9 and upward at 163l 7s pa. And people complain about vehicle licencing today! Carriages drawn by one horse with less than 4 wheels, 6l 10s. There are taxes on carriages let for hire. Makers of carriages, 10s pa, plus 1l 5s for every 4 wheeled carriage made and 12s 6d for every two wheeled. There are taxes on selling them and doing nearly anything to them, I assume because vehicles were a sure sign of wealth.

3. Dogs. Greyhounds a pound per dog pa. More than one of any type of dog, 14s.

4. Hair powder.  If you wear it at all, you pay 1l 3s 6d. Exempt are the royal family and their servants; clergymen whose income is less than 100l; naval personnel below commander; subalterns or lower in the army etc etc. There's a very odd line at the end of this paragraph. "No person to pay for more than two unmarried daughters." Perhaps a typesetting error? Or if you're unfortunate enough to have many unmarried daughters they can powder at will?

5. Horses. Again, a sliding scale from 2l 17s 6d for one, reaching  6l 12 for twenty. That seems quite moderate, so perhaps having a horse was not seen as such a sign of wealth as having a carriage.

6. Houses -- 1l 6s up to 2l 10s

 7. Servants. Male servants, 2l 8s for one up to 7l 13s for eleven and up. Note, bachelors pay an additional 2l a year for every manservant. Disabled officers on half pay may keep one servant duty free. There's nothing about female servants, so I assume the penalty for male servants is because they were a status symbol, and also the legislators might feel men could be employed in more worthwhile jobs. Anyone giving a servant a false character could be fined 20l.

Are you surprised by these? It must have meant quite a bit of book keeping even in a moderate household. What would you tax today to particularly zap the wealthy over-consumers? Sports cars? Handbags that cost over 200 -- dollars, pounds or euroes? TVs bigger than....?

Cheers,

Jo

An Imperfect Process: Another story behind the story

by Mary Jo

The last of my newly renamed and relaunched Starting Over Series is An Imperfect Process, and this was one book I was happy to retitle.  An Imperfect Process had been my working title, but the publisher didn’t like it and preferred the very generic Twist of Fate.  Oh, well.  I think my title suits the book’s theme of an imperfect justice system, and also the heroine’s issues about falling in love.

This story was inspired when I read in the Baltimore Sun about a local man named Michael Austin who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.  Austin was convicted by the flip-flop testimony of a lying eyewitness, and a business card that turned out to be totally irrelevant. Not only had several other eyewitnesses described a killer of very different appearance, but Austin had been at work at the time of the murder and had a time card to prove it. 

It took twenty-seven years for the truth to set him free.  His story horrified me.  That a man could be convicted and imprisoned when there was absolutely no evidence?  While we know in general that the justice system makes mistakes sometimes, this error was jaw-droppingly outrageous.

Another story also caught my attention: the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, who killed several people and injured others with letter bombs.  He was caught when his brother David and David’s wife Linda realized that the Unabomber must be Ted and contacted federal authorities.  Clearly the Unabomber needed to be stopped, but turning in your own brother had to have been a haunting moral dilemma for David Kaczynski.

Those two real life stories helped provide the raw material for my plot.  I had my heroine—Val Covington, a lawyer with wild red curls and a whip smart brain.  The story begins when Val receives an unexpected windfall large that will allow her to leave her high paid job as a corporate litigator and do law that she can feel passionate about: representing little guys who need legal help. 

Val comes by her idealism honestly.  She was born in a commune to an artist mother and a middle class kid who eventually quit the hippie life and went off to Harvard Law and a solid position in the upper middle class.  Val’s father paid child support, but she was always at the periphery of his life, which may have had something to do with her choice of Harvard Law. 

But she has enough of her mother’s idealism to like the idea of helping out underdogs, so she decides to open her own office, which leads to a pair of life changers: Val’s invaluable assistant, Kendra Brooks, says she’ll run Val’s new practice if in return Val will look into the conviction of Daniel Monroe, who is on Death Row.  He was Kendra’s lover and father of her only son, and she knows he’s innocent because he was with her when the murder took place.  But no one believed her, and time is running out.  Val agrees to look into the case, not knowing what she’s getting herself into.

Her next life changer is visiting an old church that is being rehabbed and which might make a good office.  She meets the owner/rehabber, Rob Smith, who is tough, smart, sexy and enigmatic—and has a personal interest in death penalty cases.  As a former Marine Corp investigator, he also has some skills that will help Val in her quest for justice. 

Here’s a brief excerpt of their first meeting:

    Val glanced at Rob.  Hard to read expressions under that beard, but his eyes were intent.  “If you mean can I feel that this was a much loved house of worship, yes.  I’m glad you saved it.  No new building would ever have such richness.”   She advanced, feeling as if she were swimming in light.  “Not right for me, though.”
    “What sort of business are you in?”
    “I’m a lawyer.”
    “A lawyer?”  
    She smiled wryly at the surprise in his voice.  “People always have trouble believing that.  My first week in law school, one professor called on me by saying, ‘You, the barmaid in the third row.’”
    “Isn’t that considered harassment?”
    “Probably, but at Harvard Law, the philosophy is to torment students into toughness.  If you can’t take it, too bad.  I was warned that HLS is not a user-friendly school, but I didn’t really appreciate what that meant until it was too late.”
    “In the case of that professor, it meant that he noticed you.  Any man would.”
    To her surprise, she blushed.  “Is that a compliment?”
    “Definitely, in a non-harassing sort of way.”  He smiled and changed the subject.  “Why Harvard?  Because it looks so good on a résumé?” 
    “That, and to prove I could do it.”  She turned.  Rob was standing in a swath of light, the sun blonding his hair and emphasizing the breadth of his shoulders. Suppressing thoughts of how long she had been celibate, she continued, “My mother says that even when I was a toddler, the surest way to get me to do something was to say it was a bad idea.” 

Attraction grows as Val and Rob work together to find new evidence to free Daniel Monroe.  But Rob is haunted by his past and Val has commitment issues, so falling in love is indeed an imperfect process.  But really—isn’t it always???

An Imperfect Process is one of my most-researched books.  I talked to all kinds of lawyers: legal aid, family law, and a public defender, among others.  My agent of the time was married to a retired federal judge, and he read the judge’s chambers scene for me.

I did plenty of reading of my own.  Most useful was the book Actual Innocence,  by Barry Sheck, Peter Neufeuld, and Jim Dwyer.  Sheck and Neufeld founded the Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongful convicted, and Dwyer is an award winning journalist. 

Each chapter of the book is a case study of an actual wrongful conviction, and the specific systemic failures that resulted in an innocent person being convicted.  One of the most common problems is mistaken eyewitnesses, but there are all kinds of other reasons, like faulty lab work, false confessions, public outrage over a particularly heinous crime, and more.  The book was a compelling read as well a shocking wake up call, and it helped me construct a plausible scenario for my book.

An Imperfect Process has been called controversial, which I don’t quite get.  Granted, capital punishment is controversial (and as a novelist, I can see both sides.)  But really, is there anyone in FAVOR of executing innocent people?  I shouldn’t think so!

I also researched some other topics, such as the Big Sisters organization, as Val tried to decide how she felt about having children.  While driving a Harlequin editor to the airport, I interviewed her about the care and feeding of her wild red curls. I studied eradication of graffiti. And Quakers.  And the cost of a Rolls-Royce. <G>  I love this job!

I’ll be giving away a print copy of the book under its original title, Twist of Fate, to one person who comments between now and Thursday midnight. 

Mary Jo, adding the question: do you have any idea how many books are named Twist of Fate???

The Killer Instinct

Cara/Andrea here, March is a month that symbolizes birth and renewal, however today I’m going to talk a little about death. Now before you rush to press the delete button, let me hasten to add that I mean symbolic death. Or, to be more precisely, literary death.

At the risk of mixing metaphors, I’ll admit that what got me thinking about the theme was the recent season-ending television episode of Downton Abbey. (If some of you—the ones who are living on Mars, perhaps?—have not seen the show, be forewarned, there are spoilers here.) Matthew Crawley, one of the main characters was killed off in an unexpected (at least it was to me) plot twist. And once the initial shock had passed, I got to pondering how I felt about the development.

I confess, I was angry. How could the show’s author (the esteemed Julian Fellowes ) do this to his audience? Here I had invested three seasons watching Matthew’s relationship with the main heroine, Mary, develop. As in real life, the going hadn’t been easy for them. Misunderstandings, stubbornness, pride—a whole host of human emotions had made things hard for them to come together, faults and all. And then, just as things were getting really interesting between them—whack! Matthew’s gone.

But that said, my feelings were tempered a little by a previous experience with the same situation. I am a big fan of mysteries, and some of my favorites are the Inspector Thomas Lynley series by Elizabeth George. Now, television does tend to knock off characters occasionally, but in literature it’s one of those cardinal rules that an author mustn’t kill off one of the main protagonists. Well, George turned that rule on its head when she had Lynley’s pregnant wife (we had spent years watching them going through complex emotional gyrations to finally end up tying the knot) die at the hands of a random shooting.

Well, her readers were up in arms! So much so, that George decided to write an essay explaining why she did it. Now, I was one of those irate readers, so I was curious to know her rationale. And I found it so interesting that I thought it worth sharing some of her thoughts here.

She begins by saying, “ . . . the first thing you need to consider is the two alternatives available to a writer when she decides to create a series that features continuing characters. A series like this can be approached by freezing the characters in time, place, and circumstance. Or it can be approached by allowing the characters to grow, change, develop, and move through time. Characters who have been frozen in time, place, and circumstance are best exemplified by Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes (with the obvious exception of that trip over the waterfall), and Dr. Watson. On the other hand, characters who are not frozen in time, place, and circumstance but who move forward, growing, changing, and developing can be found in books like Martin Cruz Smith’s Arkady Renko novels, Winston Graham’s Poldark novels, as well as the children’s books by Laura Ingalls Wilder in her Little House books and L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables books.”

Okay, an interesting distinction.  George then explains,  “For perhaps the six years preceding the creation of With No One as Witness, I knew that Helen Clyde—as I’ve always referred to her—was going to die . . . . Why? The answer is simple. Helen’s death, unlike the death of any other character, had the potential to affect more greatly the characters left alive. Her death was like a hand grenade thrown into their midst: The aftermath allowed me myriad story lines to pick up on, based upon the devastating impact of this crime on the other characters. No other death would have done that for me. As I looked at it, no other death would have come close.”

Hmmm, but maybe readers didn’t want a hand grenade thrown into their midst. Well, George has an answer to this. She finishes her essay by saying, “The literary philosophy I have always adhered to is this: When a writer writes, as John Steinbeck put it so eloquently, he seeks to form a trinity, and this trinity exists only when the work, the writer, and the reader are joined together. It is a communion of sorts, in which the reader is invited into a world created by writer and is asked to feel something about that world and the people in it. That is the purpose of novels. On one level, of course, novels do entertain and divert. But on another, deeper level, they move. In creating the scenes leading up to Helen Clyde’s death in With No One as Witness, I sought to place the reader in a position not dissimilar to Lynley’s own. My purpose in this was to have the reader feel—if only marginally—something of what Lynley felt when he had to authorize the termination of life support for his wife and their son. Had the reader completed the novel, tossed it to one side, yawned, and walked into the kitchen for a beer and a bologna sandwich, the novel would have failed in its purpose. There would have been no trinity. But the reader didn’t do that. The reader cared. The reader wept. The reader raged. These reactions spoke to the fact that the novel succeeded in doing what novels have always been intended to do.”

I found this a very thought-provoking explanation. Now, emotionally I wasn’t really any happier, but I have continued reading the series, and find she’s done some very interesting explorations into how people pick up the pieces after a shattering life experience.

So, what about you? How do you as a reader feel about losing a beloved character from a series? Do you agree with George’s thinking? And lastly let’s end by having a little fun with a serious topic. A lot of people have said killing Matthew from Downton Abbey was too easy a way out. Fellowes could have come up with a more creative way to get rid of him. (Apparently the actor wanted out of the show.) What scenario would you have used to get him out of the picture? Here’s mine: He’s sent  to New York to help Mary’s American grandmother with some crisis. Now, Matthew was not born an aristocrat, so he finds America’s egalitarian attitudes refreshing after England. He meets a woman journalist and is intrigued by her independent spirit . . . Anyone else want to play?