Vanessa Riley’s Regency Reflections

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• So you want to review books? (The 1816 edition)
  Are you a reader with a most impressive number of reviews on Goodreads? Do you run a book blog or write for a review site? Do you LOVE talking about books? But do you worry what would happen if you … Continue reading →
• On My Bookshelf: My first Jane Austen novels
  A local historical society will be hosting a book sale this weekend to raise funds. I am finally ready to part with a substantial number of some of my most beloved books (art, art history, English literature, nature books, etc). The first three Jane Austen novels I purchased sat forgotten on the top shelf – […]

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Originally posted 2016-06-09 06:20:10.

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• Regency material culture, part 2
  Hey y’all! Gambled Away, my anthology with Molly O’Keefe, Jeannie Lin, Isabel Cooper and Joanna Bourne, releases in just a few days. So I thought I’d do another installment on nifty items I came across during the research for it! … Continue reading →
• Terriers in the 18th & 19th Centuries
  Recollect that the Almighty, who gave the dog to be companion of our pleasures and our toils, hath invested him with a nature noble and incapable of deceit.”- Sir Walter Scott, 1825 My beloved Cody died in my arms this week.  He was put to sleep to relieve his pain from cancer and pancreatitis. He’s […]

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Originally posted 2016-06-02 06:21:11.

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• Drawers and Pantalettes, Oh My!
  One of the questions that seems to come up a lot when I ask what people want me to blog about is underpants. Did they? Didn’t they? Didn’t they feel naked without them? When I asked on FaceBook what topics … Continue reading →
• Simplify*
  For many readers I suspect that one of the most appealing aspects of Regency life is its simplicity. In fact the day-to-day life of the well born may have been annoyingly busy but, in the fantasy world that most of … Continue reading →

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Originally posted 2016-05-26 06:20:06.

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• Hells
  Recently, I got to the point in the WIP (Surrender to Ruin, Sinclair Sisters Series, Book 3) where I really did have to research gaming hells since the hero of that book owns several and made an independent fortune in … Continue reading →
• On Tea and Good Intentions
  I had planned a lovely post for you today. Really. But I’m hosting another Facebook party this weekend (well, actually Sunday and Monday, it lasts 32 hours!) –a “virtual Tea Party” –and I’m also running a “real” Tea Party on … Continue reading →

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Originally posted 2016-05-19 06:20:52.

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• The Lives of a Roman Fort
  As I have surely already mentioned in an earlier post, one of the settings of my upcoming Roman romance EAGLE’S HONOR: RAVISHED is based on a real fort at the Upper German-Raetian limes: the Saalburg, which today is a renowned … Continue reading →
• Oh to be in England Now that Spring is here Oh to be in England drinking English beer –English Drinking Song By the time you read this, I will be in England (or on a plane getting ready to land … Continue reading →

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Originally posted 2016-05-12 06:20:10.

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• Servitude: a Poem written by a Footman
  Robert Dodsley was popularly known as the footman poet! Wikipedia explains: In 1729 Dodsley published his first work, Servitude: a Poem written by a Footman…and a collection of short poems, A Muse in Livery, or the Footman’s Miscellany, was published … Continue reading →
• Diane Rehm Interviews “Eligible” Author, Curtis Sittenfeld
  In 2011, The Austen Project approached best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld to write a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, which she entitled Eligible (out in bookstores now). On Thursday, April 21, 2016, Diane Rehm, one of my favorite radio hosts, interviewed Sittenfeld regarding her new novel. As the interview wore on it became obvious to […]

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Originally posted 2016-05-05 06:21:36.

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• A Duchess in Her Own Right
  This is a topic that always gets people talking and scheming. HOW can we pull this off!!!?!!! Is there a way to make my heroine a duchess in her own right? The answer is yes, but you’d have to model … Continue reading →
• Research Ahead, Plus Book News
  I’ve been head down working on book three in my Sinclair Sisters series and am at the point where I think the basic plot is in place and a few interesting themes and developments have emerged. I’ve only just begun … Continue reading →

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Originally posted 2016-04-28 06:20:17.

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• Emma Woodhouse’s Surrey
    Inquiring readers: Here’s another delightful contribution from the ever creative Tony Grant. If you can’t get enough of his work and photographs, visit his blog, London Calling, where he shares his images from his many trips all over Great Britain. A little over 200 hundred years ago (December, 2015), Emma was first published. This […]

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Originally posted 2016-04-21 06:21:51.

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• Regency Woman’s Work: Painting
    When studying a woman’s role in the Regency era, one truly appreciates the great strides today’s Western women have made in making personal choices and leading interesting and independent lives. In Jane Austen’s day, women from all walks of life were constrained by their family, society’s mores, and unfair laws that prevented all but […]
• Pondering Primary Sources, and Spring Cleaning!
  How many of you researchers love primary sources? Is anyone’s hand NOT raised? One of the things I love best about researching is that moment when you stumble across some telling tiny detail that just resonates…. Diaries, letters, and other … Continue reading →

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Originally posted 2016-04-14 06:20:34.

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• And the winner is …
  Kira, congratulations! You have won a free download of Ingrid Hahn’s To Win A Lady’s Heart. Thank you, everyone for visiting and participating.  
• Interesting things that probably don’t have anything to do with writing
  Here are a few discoveries from around the web today. First, two of the few remaining seventeenth century houses in London have been given Grade II listings. They’re on Denmark Street in Soho, and would first have been middle class … Continue reading →

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Originally posted 2016-04-07 06:21:30.