Word Wenches

Regency Speak

I have spent the last couple of years writing contemporary mysteries and before that, Victorian romances. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve attempted Regency cant. I have an entire thesaurus of words, but my head simply isn't picking up the speech patterns that allow boxing cant or catty insults the way it used to do. Worse yet, the hero is American, and now I have to wonder how much of Regency-speak an American might use. Or a spinster who spends more time in books than society. Oh, and then there are the Frenchmen and the country folk. . .

History—and Heroes!

Andrea here. As I’ve mentioned here before, along with my Wrexford & Sloane historical mystery series, I’m working on a new book project in a new-to-me genre within historical fiction— a biography “reimagining” the life of Lady Hester Stanhope, an extraordinary real-life woman from the Regency era.

I n other words, it’s a book that meant to stay accurate to her real life and personality, but requires an author’s imagination to create the story and dialogue that will make her come alive for readers. It’s been a fascinating challenge. I’ve done a lot of research, which I love, and am lucky that Lady Hester was a member of a very prominent family, so many of her letters have been saved, which give special window into her thoughts and feelings.

But I’m digressing from the main topic of this blog, which is how these deep-dive research forays, where one reads as much as possible about a person’s life can become “personal” in very unexpected ways. I have a confession to make! In looking at the three men who were Lady Hester’s love interests, I have come to have a “crush” on one of them— Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore

Typepad is Having Technical Difficulties!

Dear Readers,

SO sorry, but our blog platform is experiencing technical difficulties! It's not allowing us to post any images. Please check back on Wednesday, our next scheduled day for a new blog. We hope they will have the problem solved by then. 

The Wenches

Violence and Romance

Christina here, and today I’m contemplating violence. No, not personally, but in books and films, as well as in real life. It’s kind of hard not to with everything that is happening around the world today!

Right now I’m in Sweden again, and there have been a lot of stories in the press here lately about how gun violence and the number of murders each year are escalating. When I was growing up, this used to be a very peaceful country and if there was even one murder a year, it was a sensational story picked over by the press for weeks, if not months. These days there’s maybe one a week. ONE A WEEK! How did this happen? It’s getting to the point where no one bats an eye at reading the headlines and that’s very sad.

I think we are all becoming desensitised to violence. Or perhaps going backwards to how things were in the past, when punishments were harsh and it was a dog-eat-dog kind of world. Having studied and written about the Vikings for a while now, I’m fully aware of the brutality some of them displayed (although as I keep saying, the marauders were a minority, not the majority of the population). They thought nothing of it, nor did their victims. Given half a chance, they would have been just as violent in return. It was the norm, but that was a 1,000 years ago!

Indoor Plants

Anne here, and today I'm talking about growing plants inside, in pots. Even though I've always had an outdoor garden, I've still loved growing pot plants indoors. And every winter, the cheerful splash of color from indoor flowering plants makes me smile. The color here is from a cyclamen, and each year I buy one or two that are about to start flowering, and their vivid blooms keep me feeling cheerful all through the gloom of winter. (This photo was taken last winter.)

For centuries people from all sorts of cultures have valued scented and flowering plants —Hanging Gardens of Babylon, anyone?— and bringing them indoors so that their fragrance and blooms could be enjoyed, perhaps also masking unpleasant smells.

From the 15th century, European explorers and colonizers brought home all kinds of "treasure" from the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania — including botanical specimens — though few of these survived except under special conditions.

But as technology advanced to the point where whole buildings could be made of glass and steel, plants unsuited to cold Northern European climates — plants such as oranges, lemons, pineapples, and other delicate fruits — could be grown under glass.

By the 17th century, citrus trees were a status symbol among the wealthiest in society, and greenhouses and orangeries were built to protect these highly coveted specimens during winter. They might be called conservatories, orangeries, succession houses, or ferneries, depending on what they were growing.  (The photo on the left is a gorgeous modern version of the Victorian style conservatory, from this site.)

Flowering spring bulbs, such as narcissi, hyacinths and tulips, grown in pots, could easily be brought indoors when in flower. By the end of the 17th century, these were being ‘forced’ to flower early in winter by starting off the bulbs in the warmth of indoors. Hyacinths, with their heady fragrance were particularly popular.

Titles & Audiobooks

Answering Questions: Aristocratic Titles and Audiobooks

Compiled by Mary Jo

The Wenches invite readers to submit questions to us, and due to general overwork, two interesting questions got lost, but now are found.  So both questions are being answered today, and the questioners will each get a book from me.

Here is the first question from Rosa Berini Franco:

I would like to ask you about a question that has us debating several friends who are fond of historical romance.  The question is the following:

 When a distant relative inherits a title (e.g., earl) from someone who dies without direct heirs, do the sisters of that relative receive the courtesy title of lady?  By distant relative, I am referring to a fourth or fifth degree cousin who has no title whatsoever.

An Artist's Eye for Detail

Andrea here, musing today about art. Yes, I do that a lot, as it’s something near and dear to my heart. In case, my thoughts have to do with research and how art can be an unexpected source of wonderful details for an author of historical novels.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a special exhibition JMW Turner watercolors in the Study Room of the Yale British Art Center. They have an amazing collection in their archives, and many are rarely shown in public. What made the experience truly amazing what that they up the painting on display tables and placed a magnifying glass by each one. We were all allowed to get “up close and personal” with the art!

Country Living and Natural Colours

Christina here. With life in the 21^st century increasingly hectic, there are quite a few people who decide they want to escape from the rat race and live a simpler way. Buying a smallholding or croft can be the start of a new way of life, and that is exactly what the heroine in my recent novel HIDDEN IN THE MISTS did. She wanted to live in tune with nature, be healthier and happier by spending more time outdoors, and growing/producing as much of her own food as possible. It’s something I think a lot of us dream about and after being cooped up in cities during the pandemic, many people went on to follow that dream.

Clearly it is not for the faint-hearted though – there is no doubt it is hard work. Keeping chickens for eggs, having a cow or two for milk (and/or goats), a flock of sheep for wool, and perhaps other animals for slaughter is probably a must. (Not to mention having to learn how to look after them and doing things like milking.) As is growing copious amounts of vegetables and having fruit trees and berry bushes, as well as foraging in any nearby forests. My heroine is lucky in that she lives on the west coast of Scotland so she is also able to go fishing, which is an added bonus.

A Distant Magic

by Mary Jo

October 6th is the release date for A Distant Magic, the final book in my Georgian paranormal historical trilogy. 

The Trilogy

In Book 1, A Kiss of Fate, Duncan Macrae is the most powerful weather mage in Britain.

In Book 2, Stolen Magic, Simon, Lord Falconer, is the Guardian enforcer.

In A Distant Magic, Nikolai Gregorio is a crusader, and his life and soul are dedicated to ending slavery. 

 

We Have a Winner!

The wenches have drawn a name from our subscriber list and sent an email to the lucky winner of Hidden in the Mists in this month's drawing. Sign up now so your name will be in the draw for next month's book!

The Daring Lady Di

Nicola here. A couple of weeks ago I gave a talk and a tour at Lydiard House on the subject of Lady Diana Beauclerk, an 18^th century aristocrat who was very unusual in her time for working as a professional artist. Born Lady Diana Spencer in 1734, the daughter of the 3^rd Duke of Marlborough, she was for a while Lady St John, mistress of Lydiard House and wife to Frederick, 2^nd Viscount Bolingbroke. Lady Diana’s life story is extraordinary both personally and professionally but the bit I wanted to focus on was her undoubted talents as a painter and the way in which these had been downplayed because she was a woman and a scandalous one at that. It was a particular pleasure to be giving the talk at Lydiard House, where we could follow in her footsteps in the house and garden and see the influence that her life there had on her art. In the “Diana Room” at Lydiard we also have the largest collection of her work in the UK.

Lady Diana Spencer was the eldest daughter of the 3^rd Duke of Marlborough. She was born in 1734 and spent some of her childhood at Blenheim Palace. There was a great deal of fine art there to inspire her; one of her earliest childhood drawings was a pastel of a baby based on a Rubens painting that hung there and chubby Rubenesque cherubs remained a motif of her drawing all of her life. This was how she initially learned to draw and paint, through seeing artistic images and creating her own versions of them.