Vanessa Riley's Regency Reflections -

23
May
2024

How Else to Entertain a Houseguest

categories: A Day in the Life, Education, entertainment, History, Uncategorized

Laurie Alice here: While working on my next Regency, (Zondervan Books, 2014), I ran into a problem—I needed to entertain a houseguest who is in mourning and who is also. . . We’ll be kind and call her distraught rather than whiny. Since I didn’t want them to play card games commonly associated with gambling, such as silver loo or whist, and this lady is not bright enough to play chess, I went to the well of information that is The Beau Monde ladies, the Regency special interest chapter of Romance Writers of America. As usual, they gave me enough information to keep my guest entertained for weeks; therefore, I thought I would share a few of them with you all.

Let’s start with Spillikins.

This is a game that is still played today. Sticks of varying shapes and sizes are held upright, then allowed to fall into a random pile. The object of the game is to collect as many sticks as you can without disturbing any of the other sticks. I remember playing something similar to this as a child called “Ker plunk”—or something like that.

Another game that reminds me a little of a favorite childhood game was, A Journey Through Europe, or The Play of Geography. The idea was a race through Europe, reaching the goal first. Players moved their game pieces along a map of Europe according to the toss of a dice. Sound a little like The Game of Life?

Other games included first having to put together what we would now call a jigsaw puzzle which resulted in a board game of some kind. These games—and others—were stored in slip cases for easy storage or taking on long road trips.

So now I need to figure out how I can get the heroine and hero playing one of these games. Or maybe that will wait for another book in this series. All I know is that knowing more about the games of the time makes for far more interesting evenings in the country houses in which I like to place my characters, than the standards of playing cards, chess, or music.

Originally posted 2013-01-21 05:00:00.

23
May
2024

This Winter, I Resolve to Promote Regency Fiction, by Susan Karsten

categories: Recommended Reading, Regency Romance, Seasons

Winter is a season for hunkering down with a good book … at least where I live, in Wisconsin. Having discovered the joys of a good Regency romance, I want to share the joy I have found. Promoting the genre can be done in some simple ways.

1. When having a book chat with friends who are also inveterate readers, be sure to give them a few titles of the very best Regencies you can think of. If they are on the lookout for a good read (and who isn’t?), perhaps they will take your suggestion and thereby find a new love.

2. Mention to your friends who are Christians, that many Regencies are relatively clean and educational. Guide them to some reliable non-smutty titles or authors.

3. Share this blog on your facebook page. You never know whose curiosity will be piqued. They may initially check it out to see what their fb friend is into, and then check out the genre themselves.

4. Post on Facebook about the latest Regency you are reading.

Do you have an idea or two to share? Favorite Regency romances to recommend? Also, would love to read comments about success introducing Regency fiction to others.

Love, Joy & Peace to you, Susan

Originally posted 2013-01-18 10:00:00.

22
May
2024

How Do You Handle the Winter Blues?

categories: Author Interview, Personal Stories, Seasons

Depending on what part of the country you live in (if you live in the United States) your winter is either much colder than normal or nearly non-existent – looking much more like spring than winter. We have a long way to go before the weather officially turns the corner and anything could happen in the coming months – including lots of snow and dropping temperatures.

So how do your Regency Reflections authors handle the winter blues?

Ruth Axtell:

Embrace them.

With temps dipping into the single digits these last couple of weeks in Maine, and getting lots of snow, I just tell myself it’s good writing weather, since there is little temptation to go outside. I feel like I’m hibernating, getting a manuscript done and now editing.

Naomi Rawlings:

ice fishing — Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

I agree with Ruth. Embrace winter rather than dread it. First, snowy days make for excellent writing and putz-around-the-house days. There’s something wonderfully nostalgic to curling up in front of the fire with a book and a mug of hot chocolate while snow falls outside. And then there’s all the outside things you can do. Rent a snowmobile for a day trip, go skating, sledding, downhill skiing, cross country skiing, show shoeing, or ice fishing. (Fish caught through ice is way better than fish caught when the weather is warm. I have no idea why, but I swear it’s true.)

I really think there are two ways to beat the Winter Blues. 1.) Take a break and be thankful for the slower pace that snowy days offer, or 2.) Get courageous. Bundle up, go outside, and try a new winter sport. I live on the southern shore of Lake Superior, where we get 150-200 inches of snow per year, our winters run six months long, and our trees don’t get leaves until June. People who live in this area well understand that winter doesn’t have to be boring. It can be just as fun as summer, sometimes even more so.

Laurie Alice Eakes

Um, I live in Texas–we don’t have winter blues. They consider this 40s-50s weather we’ve been having excessively cold for January, but I think it’s heavenly.

Snowman on frozen lake — Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Kristy Cambron

I live in an area of the country where we have pretty defined weather for each season, so I actually enjoy winter! It just means that before we know it, the sunnier days of spring will be on the way. Winter is also a fantastic season for writers. I haven’t met one yet that wouldn’t love the extra time to snuggle in a warm house as the snow falls and plot that next novel – with a cup of steaming hot chocolate, of course!

Kristi Ann Hunter

I tend to ignore them, I suppose. With children in school and a regular calendar full of church activities, there would have to be a fairly significant amount of fresh snow/ice to make me adjust my schedule.

When that does happen, we of course go play in it. Then we thaw out in front of a movie, huddled together under blankets. There’s something about the forced weather break that makes us want to be together as a family. It feels like a stolen moment.

Susan Karsten

During the winter, I drink more hot liquids, such as tea, coffee, and hot chocolate than I do in the summer. I still jog/run, but often veer out into the street when people haven’t shoveled their sidewalks. This is the time of year my family attends more concerts, plays, conferences and the like, as opposed to summer, when everything’s about “The Lake”.

What about you? How do you handle winter?

Originally posted 2013-01-16 10:00:00.

22
May
2024

Interesting Apparel? How the Women of the Regency Rose Above it All

categories: Fashion, History, Seasons

For the most part, Great Britain is a soggy place. Surrounded by water, rain is almost a way of life there. But what about snow; now that is an entirely different matter! Snow is much more unlikely even though many of my favorite Regencies are set in a country house at Christmas smothered in snow, giving the hero and heroine plenty of time to flirt, argue, ignore and fall in love with each other.

I am hoping that one of my next stories might be a Christmas Regency, so I decided to research winter apparel. I specifically remember that in these lovely stories, when they ventured out in the snow to get the Yule log, invariably we are told that the ladies rushed to get their pattens. I never really thought much about pattens, assuming it was a sort of a rubber overshoe that would fit over a sturdy walking boot to protect it from ruination, much like our mothers used to wear. Wow, was I wrong!

Picture #1

These my friends are pattens; and they weren’t for snow at all!

This pair is made of flat metal rings which made contact with the ground and the ring was attached to a metal plate nailed into the wooden sole. Can you imagine trying to keep your balance while wearing such things?

And when worn on stone floors they made such loud clatter that churches made ladies remove them when they entered. Many churches banned them altogether!

Jane Austen herself wrote of the “ceaseless clink of pattens” when referring to life in Bath; as we know being a perpetually rainy and damp part of England.

Picture #2 They were clumsy platforms that raised the shoe a few inches from the ground to protect the hem of a gown and they were used by men as well as women, in the country on muddy, rutted lanes and in London when walking on horse infested pavement.

Picture #3 Pattens date back to the 14^th century. Only the rich would have been able to afford these porcelain china pattens worn to protect their long and ornate robes.

Picture #4 These are huge pattens worn by Turkish women in 1738.

Picture #5

In the 17^th century when ladies shoes were commonly made with an upper of figured silk or brocade that almost any venture out necessitated the use of this patten to protect the shoe as well as the hem of the gown. This is how the shoes fit into them and the metal ring would have been attached to the wooden platform under the shoe.

Picture #6 By the 18^th and 19^th centuries, men’s shoes had thicker soles, hemlines rose, and as roadways and transportation improved pattens were abandoned by the ladies as well and were worn only by the working class men and women as they went about their duties.

In “A Memoir of Jane Austen,” James Edward Austen Leigh wrote about his aunts Cassandra and Jane:

The other peculiarity was that when the roads were dirty the sisters took long walks in pattens. This defense against wet and dirt is now seldom seen. The few that remain are banished from good society and employed only in menial work…

So, the next time you read about the ladies donning their pattens to venture out of doors, I dare you not to smile as you picture it!

The Woodlanders

Arrived at the entrance to a long flat lane, which had taken the spirit out of many a pedestrian in times when, with the majority, to travel meant to walk, he saw before him the trim figure of a young woman in pattens, journeying with that steadfast concentration which means purpose and not pleasure. He was soon near enough to see that she was Marty South. Click, click, click went the pattens; and she did not turn her head.

She had, however, become aware before this that the driver of the approaching gig was Giles. She had shrunk from being overtaken by him thus; but as it was inevitable, she had braced herself up for his inspection by closing her lips so as to make her mouth quite unemotional, and by throwing an additional firmness into her tread.

“Why do you wear pattens, Marty? The turnpike is clean enough, although the lanes are muddy.”

“They save my boots.”

“But twelve miles in pattens–’twill twist your feet off. Come, get up and ride with me.”

She hesitated, removed her pattens, knocked the gravel out of them against the wheel, and mounted in front of the nodding specimen apple-tree….

Thomas Hardy

She lost her pattens in the muck
& Roger in his mind
Considered her misfortune luck
To show her he was kind
He over hitops fetched it out
& cleaned it for her foot…

From the Middle Period Poems of John Clare (1820s)

Originally posted 2013-01-14 10:00:00.

21
May
2024

The Mysterious Ms. Darcy

categories: Education, Female authors Regency period, History, Regency Romance, Uncategorized

My first Regency was Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer and got me interested in the Regency time period. The book that really hooked me on the Regency romance, however, was Georgina by Clare Darcy.

Georgina has all the wonderful elements of a romance that absolutely delight me—delight me to the point that I think I have followed a little in her footsteps in my own romances—books that is, not life—a heroine being courted by just the right sort of gentleman when her heart demands she go after the exactly wrong gentleman. Ah, be still my beating heart for Shannon, a disreputable landowner with mystery and rumors swirling around him. Though I knew I would regret doing so in the morning, I stayed up late to finish this story and was delighted and saddened at the end—delighted with the outcome and saddened that the book was over.

Over the next several years, I read every Clare Darcy book I could find. These were what we now call traditional Regencies. Traditional Regencies are those in the true spirit of Georgette Heyer—comedies of manners with no sensuality other than a few subtle comments and maybe a kiss or two, no foul language, and generally appropriate for young women all the way up to old ladies.

All of Ms. Darcy’s books were named for the heroine, except for one named for two females, one I just learned of today, as I did some research on this post. They ranged from countryside frolics, to country house romps, to balls and adventures. The heroines usually had minds of their own without being anachronistic or too much alike, as far as I remember, and the heroes varied in temperament and social position, though all were at least gentry class.

When I started looking at writing Regencies myself, I asked a few people about Ms. Darcy. Who, exactly, was she and why didn’t she gain more acclaim in the genre? I discovered that Ms. Darcy was highly respected amongst true Regency devotees, but her person was pretty much unknown. Some even hinted she might be a he.

According to Wikipedia now, ten years later, Ms. Darcy was an author from Ohio named Mary Deasy (1914-1978). Her papers are in the Boston University research library. This is the most information I’ve been able to find out about this author who, like Ms. Heyer, died before ever I read one of her books. Also like Ms. Heyer, Ms. Darcy was a powerful influence on me becoming a Regency writer.

If you haven’t yet picked up Georgina, Eugenia, Lydia, Cressida, Lady Pamela, or any of the other delightful books by Ms. Darcy, you are in for a treat when you do.

Originally posted 2013-01-11 05:00:00.

21
May
2024

Interview with Author Mary Moore Interview — Part 2

categories: Author Interview, Contests, Faith, Free Book, Personal Stories, Writing

Mary Moore, Regency Reflections contributor and author of Beauty in Disguise is with us again today, and just like yesterday, she’s offering to give away two copies of her latest Regency novel to two lucky blog visitors. Be sure to leave a comment at the end of the post to be entered in the giveaway. The giveaway will end Wednesday, January 16, at midnight.

1. Hi Mary, and thanks for being with us two days in a row. Today I’d like to ask you a few questions about writing Regencies and making your stories stand out. With the Regency Era being such a relatively short time in number of years; is it hard to create new storylines and fresh ideas?

Normally, I would give you a pretty definitive no. There are a number of different voices and creative writers out there, who all have different perspectives and specific areas of interest on the period, and this results in some wonderful new stories every month. The growth in the research process and areas of expertise also adds a wonderful level of creativeness.

You will notice, however, that I started my answer with “normally!” After I signed the contract for Beauty in Disguise and scheduled it for release, my editor contacted my agent to tell us that there was another LIH already further along in the process with a similar premise to mine. As a relatively new author, I had no idea whether my editor would want to move back the date of release or ask me to propose a whole new story. But she thought the story would work out fine if I would just be willing to “tweak” it. I said yes, but little did I realize what “tweaking” it would mean!

2. How did they want you to change it, and how hard was that for you?

In our initial brainstorming session most of the changes seemed pretty much cosmetic. They really did like the premise and wanted to keep it if we could. So, we changed where the story was staged, the heroine’s dynamic with some of the other characters and some details about her past. But as I began the rewrite I realized that some of those changes affected the story much more than any of us anticipated.

3.Gulp. I was in a similar situation with a story once. I thought I was agreeing to some surface changes that got way deeper than I anticipated. Not fun! How did the changes for Beauty in Disguise differ from what you expected?

Originally, the build up to the “reveal” was pivotal to my story. But with some of the changes I made, my editor thought it watered down some of the conflict and, thereby, the impact too much. To increase that problem, they wanted the hero and heroine to meet earlier. So one by one, changes that started out as cosmetic ended up changing the storyline pretty drastically. There were quite a few more rewrites than my editor and I expected or wanted!

4. How do you think these changes have helped to make your book stronger?

I usually have an inspirational message (and the verses of Scripture that go with it) in my mind ahead of time, and I write the story around it. In the rewrites of Beauty in Disguise, I began to get frustrated because either the message wouldn’t fit with the changes or the changes wouldn’t go with the message. I finally got to the point where I just gave the story to God. I asked Him to make sure it was His message that went out there instead of mine. Duh, right? So, in the end, having the story revolve around what He wants to say made the book exactly what it is supposed to be.

The postscript to the story is that one day I was in a hospital waiting room and I pulled out my Kindle to kill the time. I pulled up the first Regency I came to and I knew, on that very first page, that it was the other story…the one that came out before mine and sent me on this writing journey. I wanted to find someone, anyone, to say, “This is it, this is it,” until I realized how crazy I would have sounded. It was by an author I “knew” pretty well online. She and I have had a good laugh over it and I pray that God will be able to use both our stories to His glory!

5. Well, I’m glad everything worked out well between you and the other author. Are you excited to finally see the release of Beauty in Disguise?

That would be a giant understatement! It was by far tougher to write than my first one was, but it has also been a little over a year since my first one came out. I was ready to be out among readers again, and now I can move on to my next project. I am very blessed!

Thanks, Naomi, for your time and the interview. I am so happy to be associated with this site and all of the work everyone does here to support and spread the news about inspirational Regencies.

Here’s a little more about Beauty in Disguise. If you want to enter our giveaway, leave a comment below, and be sure to visit yesterday’s blog post for another chance to win Beauty in Disguise.

Hidden in plain sight.

After her scandalous first Season, Lady Kathryn needs a new beginning. Concealing her stunning hair and sapphire eyes beneath a dowdy facade, she’s grateful to earn her keep as companion Kate Montgomery. Until she comes face-to-face with her past in Lord Dalton, the only man she has ever loved.

The debutante Dalton fell in love with years ago was beautiful beyond compare. The gentle, mysterious young woman he encounters at a country house has qualities he now values more highly—until he learns of her deception. Kate has broken his heart not once, but twice. Can faith help him see that love, like true beauty, always comes to light?

Originally posted 2013-01-09 10:00:00.

20
May
2024

Interview with Author Mary Moore–Part 1

categories: Author Interview, New Release, Regency Romance, Uncategorized

Hi Everyone! We’ve got a lovely surprise for you here on Regency Reflections this week, and it involves the latest book release from one of our very own bloggers! Mary Moore’s second novel released on January 1st, and is she ever excited to tell us more about both her book, Beauty in Disguise, and writing Regencies.

To commemorate the release of Beauty in Disguise, we’ll be interviewing Mary for two days in a row, and Mary has agreed to give away two copies of her book for each of those days. To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment at the bottom of the page, and you’ll be notified of the winner on Wednesday, January 16.

So without further ado, here’s a little more about Mary:

I have been writing historical fiction for more than 15 years. After battling and beating breast cancer, I’ve become more excited about my writing. I want to incorporate some of my struggles throughout my books, and I am dedicated to encouraging others in the Lord and using my writing for God’s glory.

My debut novel, The Aristocrat’s Lady, won several acclaimed awards, including the 2011 Reviewers Choice Award by RT Magazine for Best Love Inspired Historical, and the 2011 Holt Medallion Award from Virginia Romance Writers for Best Book by a Virginia Author. I also received an Award of Merit for Best First Book and Best Long Inspirational by the VRW.

I am a native of the Washington, DC area, but my husband and I now live in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in southwestern Virginia. When not writing, I love to read, minister in my church, and spend time with my husband and black lab, Darcy.

I love to hear from readers! I can be reached on my website at www.marymooreauthor.com or emailed at mmooreauthor@swva.net.

1. What drew you to write during the Regency Time Period?

I read Pride and Prejudice for high school and loved it. But the real love affair began when I read Georgette Heyer. I devoured her books and was devastated when I found out she was not alive, and there were no more to come! Then I discovered that Zebra (I think it was Zebra) Publishing had a book club where you got four new Regencies every month…I signed up and was deliriously happy until it dwindled down to none.

2. Tell us what year your book is set in and why you chose that particular time.

It was about 1817. My hero, Lord Dalton, refers to his military background several times in the story. The war is over, but not so far over that it can’t be alluded to comfortably when needed in the story.

3. What’s your favorite, unique Regency aspect of the novel, something you wouldn’t be able to include in a novel set in another place or time?

There are two really. First, there is the fact that the Lady Kathryn is completely ruined because she was alone in a carriage overnight with a man, even though nothing physical happened. For a Christian writer who wanted her heroine’s reputation tarnished, it was easily accomplished in the Regency Era. Second, the only two occupations for a lady of quality down on her luck were a companion or governess. It fit well in the story to get her far out of Society and able to don her disguise.

4. What are the biggest challenges to writing in the Regency Period?

I think it is telling stories that give the seasoned Regency reader satisfaction while still being able to make it understandable to new Regency readers. I found myself reminding the reader why Lady Kathryn was ruined for new readers and probably overdid it for Regency aficionados. I want to grab everyone with a story and make them fall in love with the Regency period at the same time.

5. Who is your favorite Regency Author?

I guess I gave that away in the first question! Georgette Heyer is my all time favorite. She wrote such great stories with wonderful characters (I love her rakes!) all with wit and charm from the period that I have yet to find in another. And though her stories certainly are not faith-based, they satisfy the romantic in me while remaining squeaky clean. And it’s so silly; I thought I was the only one who knew about her! Imagine my surprise when I entered the writing world and discovered that she is loved by almost all Regency connoisseurs!

6. What is your favorite Regency food, aspect of dress, and/or expression?

Oh, I like the language of the period best. That is one of those trials we talked about above, throwing in a great expression like “ planted him a facer” or “ diamond of the first water” because it fits so beautifully in the story, but not wanting to water it down with an explanation in the next sentence. I think for the most part, if you can hook a reader with a great story, they will want to read more in that setting, and it doesn’t take long for them to catch on to the language. It’s one of the things that make a Regency so wonderful.

7. What is your favorite Regency setting; e.g., London, country house, small village?

I really prefer a country house probably because I love dialogue. Once you’ve given the basic background and backdrop, there is a little more opportunity for intimacy; I mean that in the way of one-on-one conversations, impromptu meetings, etc. But overall my favorite setting is a waltz, and really that can be done in London or the country.

8. What makes your hero and heroine uniquely Regency?

She is the daughter of a earl, and he is an earl, therefore there are only certain settings that are available to them. But even though I like the gentility and upper echelon the best, I like finding ways that they meet with or come into contact with the darker side of the time period as well. It was only glittering for the ‘upper ten thousand’ – it was not a good time in history for the lower classes.

*****

Thank you so much for that lovely interview, Mary. I couldn’t agree with you more about the Regency Era being very bright for the upper echelons of society and very dark for the other classes. That’s something I enjoy exploring in my own writing as well.

Mary will be with us again on Wednesday, but before we bid farewell, she wants to know what your favorite sub-genre of Regency is? Suspense? Romance? Anything involving rakes or vicars or both? Answer that question, and you’ll be entered in the chance to win one of two copies of Beauty in Disguise.

Originally posted 2013-01-08 05:00:23.

20
May
2024

OMG! Seen On TV! Queen of Exiles on The View

categories: Uncategorized

Sunny Hostin holding up a copy of Queen of Exiles!!!

This is so exciting. Queen of Exiles is a Sunny Lit Pick!!! On August 2nd, she introduced Queen of Exiles to The View.

Meet Queen Louise. This is a historical fiction about a true queen, Hayti’s 1st and only queen. It’s a sweep tale which will take you through the politics and intrigues of the Haitian Court to the twists and turns of Regency and Victorian England and France and Italy. Queen Louise was a brave woman who dared to be Black, royal, and happy.

Learn More

Queen of Exiles is a good book to read.

It’s a good book to listen to.

The audiobook performed by Robin Miles won an Earphone Award from Audiofile Magazine. It’s an Editor’s Choice Selection for the Historical Novel Society.

Riley’s historical novel feels timely and relevant, commemorating a time when Black women were queens. – Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Originally posted 2023-08-09 04:02:11.

19
May
2024

A Look Ahead to 2013

categories: Announcements, New Year's

Kristi here, with an exciting look at the coming year.

As the weather blows cold and snow dumps over a lot of the United States, things are heating up at Regency Reflections. If you’re just now stumbling across our little corner of cyberspace, take a moment and bookmark us or subscribe via email because there are some amazing things planned for 2013.

Fireworks over the bridge — New Years in Australia, via WikiCommons

In February we’ll be celebrating our first birthday and we have some serious fun in the works. As a blog for readers of inspirational Regencies, we wanted to give you something to, well, read. We’re also putting together a unique and eclectic give-a-way that you won’t want to miss.

Stack of books More than half of our authors have book releases this year as well as many of our Regency writing friends of the blog. This year is going to provide a plethora of choices for the inspirational Regency reader. We’re especially excited for the debut releases of Vanessa and Sarah!

Other things to look forward to this year are a series of guest bloggers ready to share their experiences and knowledge, fun give-a-ways, and increased opportunities to interact with some of your favorite authors and other readers.

What are you looking forward to this year? What would you like to see more of on Regency Reflections?

Originally posted 2013-01-02 10:00:00.

Real Life Romance–And How to Keep it Alive		1
My Carriage Awaits… Maybe		2
A Review of “Jane Austen Knits”		3
A Flight of Fancy: a Regency Novel by Laurie Alice Eakes		4
Mr. Darcy, An Alpha Male in Love		5
Mourning in the Regency Period		6
What Happened to the Traditional Regency?		7
Interview and a Give-A-Way with Author Jamie Carie		8
Get to Know Our Own Laurie Alice Eakes (And win that gift basket!)		9
How to Have an American Duke		10
“Passion for Regency Fashion – The Pelisse” Susan Karsten		11
Wedding Hotspots in Regency England		12

Vanessa Riley’s Regency Reflections