Fetch the Comfy Chair!

You’ve probably all noticed that most of the fashion prints I post in Fashion Forecasts are from Ackermann’s Repository, that splendidly illustrated journal of early 19th century culture and fashion. But along with the lovely depictions of fashion in each month’s issue, Rudolph Ackermann published many other plates: scenery from abroad as well as solidly English country houses, the latest in carriages, depictions of royal residences, and frequently, over the course of the magazine’s twenty year history, images of fashionable furniture. Paid advertising as we know it didn’t exist in the journals of the day, but furniture-makers hoping for a little free exposure must have flocked to Mr. A, hoping he’d depict one of their products in the Repository along with a flattering write-up.

One of my favorite prints of this type is this one, from the September 1810 edition: Library Reading Chairs.

Here’s the accompanying text:

PLATE 15: FASHIONABLE FURNITURE Our engraving this month exhibits two of the most convenient and comfortable library chairs perhaps ever completed. Each of them has become a favourite piece of furniture for the library, boudoir, and other apartments of the nobility and gentry. The first (on the left-hand side of the plate) is made of mahogany, or any other wood; the back, seat, and sides caned, with French stuffed cushions and covers; the arms corresponding; a movable desk and candlestick, affording every possible accommodation for reading, writing, &c. The whole chair is of itself completely comfortable.

The second is a more novel article, but equally convenient and pleasant: gentlemen either sit across, with the face toward the desk, contrived for reading, writing, &c. and which, by a rising rack, can be elevated at pleasure; or, when its occupier is tired of the first position, it is with the greatest ease turned around in a brass groove, to either one side or the other; in which case, the gentleman sits sideways. The circling arms in either way form a pleasant easy back, and also, in every direction, supports for the arms. As a proof of their real comfort and convenience, they are now in great sale at the ware-rooms of the inventors, Messrs. Morgan and Saunders, Catherine-street, Strand.

I want both of them! How about you?

Speaking of comfy chairs for reading...I’m happy to report that the paperback version of Courtship and Curses makes its appearance today, from Square Fish, Macmillan Children’s paperback imprint. For an excerpt and notes about the book, please follow the links to my website. And for ordering info, check Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, Powell's, or the Book Depository.  Enjoy!

Live from Atlanta, Sort Of

Hello, my dears, from sunny, thunder storm-prone Atlanta!  Marissa and I have been running between workshops, meetings with agents and editors, and workshop panels, and we wanted to share some of the highlights with you.

First off, the hotel is amazing!  Dozens of floors and glass elevators that zip from top to bottom.  Marissa and I are agreed that it looks a bit like a spinal column. 

Some of the publishers found a new way to use those elevators--poster space!  I am told these are called elevator wraps.  And I was absolutely thrilled to see one you might find familiar.

And here is someone else who might look familiar.  Marissa's book Courtship and Curses was a finalist for the best young adult book of 2012 for the Booksellers Best Award.  She very kindly let me tag along to the awards ceremony.  Doesn't she clean up good?

There are more than a few of our sister romance authors who are looking good here the last few days.  We attended the evening soiree of the Beau Monde chapter, those awesome ladies who write Regency-set romances.  They also know how to have our kind of a good time--great food, great friends, and English country dancing.  One of the most lovely dancers was Vanessa Riley, who as you can tell looks as if she's a young lady debuting in London society.  In a way, she is.  Her first  book, Madeline's Protector, an inspirational Regency romance, was out in April.  Congratulations, Vanessa!

Not sure we'll have time for another post this week, my dears.  But come back Tuesday to talk about the movie Emma with the ever-fabulous and entertaining Cara King.  See you then!

Good News, of Various Sorts

Bit of Good News #1: A few weeks ago I dropped a cryptic hint or two about a mystery that I was keeping secret...and now, to my delight, I can stop being all cryptic and mysterious and let you all know that I’ve signed a contract with Entangled Publishing for three new books for their Entangled Select line. The first book will be an adult contemporary fantasy...yes, I know, that’s a bit of a change from my usual fare. But it’s fun as an author to stretch out in different directions, and while I know that my adult books might not be of interest to all NineteenTeen readers, rest assured that I haven’t given up on Young Adult or historical fiction...not by a long shot! No details yet on release dates, but once more is settled, I’ll let you know. I’m very excited, and thrilled to be working with Entangled and Liz Pelletier!

Bit of Good News #2: Courtship and Curses has been getting some love from the Romance Writers of America, finaling in two RWA chapter contests this spring. A happy lead-up to its trade paperback release, which will be happening this summer (on July 30 to be exact, from Square Fish/Macmillan)

Bit of Good News #3: After a lot of thought, brainstorming, and private hand-wringing, I'm happy to announce I've got a title for the novella I asked for your help with a few weeks ago.  Look for Charles Bewitched sometime this summer...and I can't wait to show you the wonderful cover designer and YA author Lisa Amowitz is creating for it!


Bit of Good News #4: We’re tickled to be welcoming a guest blogger next week in the form of author Patrice Kindl and her enormously fun YA historical romance, Keeping the Castle. Please stop by next week and say hello!

Bit of Good News #5: The Young Bluestockings Book Club will read again! In honor of the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Regina and I thought it only proper that the Young Bluestockings Book Club should do a group reading of the oft-imitated-but-never-equaled Jane Austen masterpiece. The discussion week will begin May 28, so you can spend some time in a hammock over Memorial Day weekend re-reading it.

And speaking of re-reading...there are numerous editions of Pride and Prejudice out there, of course, but there are a couple that I’d like to call special attention to; both are annotated, which will enhance the experience of readers not thoroughly steeped in the minutiae of early 19th century life. The first is The Annotated Pride and Prejudice, annotated and edited by David M. Shapard. This goes into great detail on a page by page basis, with notes covering everything from vocabulary and changes in word usage and grammar to bigger historical and cultural context...and includes lots of black and white illustrations. And then there’s Pride and Prejudice: An Annotated Edition, edited by Patricia Meyer Spacks. I haven’t seen this one in person, but it’s a large and lavishly color-illustrated edition, and looks to be worth a bit of a splurge if you’ve got a gift card burning a hole in your pocket. So get reading...and we’ll look forward to a lively discussion at the end of the month.

There, I think that’s enough good news for now, or I shall have to resort to my vinaigrette.

Courtship and Curses-related Stuff and Some Thoughts on Writing Historical Fantasy

First, link time! Tricia Tighe of Damsels in Regress, another history and writing related blog we follow, has an interview with me and a review of Courtship and Curses which you might enjoy.

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I’ve sometimes thought about why I write what I write. I guess it’s something all people who create wonder about—what draws us to write this particular book, or paint that particular painting, or put this specific sequence of notes into a song. For me and my love of historical fantasy—well, the history part is obvious: the past is one of my biggest passions, and always has been. But no matter what I try to write, an element of fantasy always creeps into it. I can’t help it, it just happens; I attribute it to the fact that the very first chapter book I read as child was called The Little Witch, and it imprinted on me somehow. I have a couple of ideas for straight historical books…but you know what? It wouldn’t surprise me if some fantasy elements still managed to worm its way into those stories while my head is turned. Sneaky stuff, that magic.

Of course, some historical settings just seem to beg for the addition of magic. I think it’s because when we study history, we’re looking at the “big”, dramatic aspects of the past. And things just doesn’t get much more dramatic than 1815. Think about it for a moment: England was breathing a sigh of relief at not being at war for the first time in nearly twenty years, only to wake up one morning to find that Napoleon had somehow slipped away from house arrest on Elba and had marched across France and retaken his throne without firing a single shot. Moreover, the anointed and crowned King of England had gone mad, and his drama queen of an eldest son was now in charge. Writing about larger-than-life events and historical figures (*coughDukeofWellingtoncough*) just calls for larger-than-life plotting…and what’s larger than life than magic?

So Courtship and Curses got written because I wanted to play with 1815 and with the character of Lady Parthenope (Persy and Pen's mom) as a teen herself. I chose not to make her the heroine of the story because I tend to write about characters trying to find their place in the world, and Parthenope is one of those fortunate individuals who seems to have been born knowing where she belongs. So she is there to support Sophie, my heroine, who is having a heck of a time finding herself after losing her mother and sister, her ability to walk without a cane, and her magic. Combine that with the events of 1815, and there's quite a bit to write about!

On a related note, this is why I tend to feel that historical fantasy dating any later than 1945 doesn’t work well—the events of modern times just don’t have that larger-than-life feeling to them, even though, realistically speaking, many of them are far “bigger” than the events of 1815. It’s all a matter of perception.

Okay, I’m getting boring and serious here. Are there any points or periods in history that you think would make a terrific historical fantasy story?

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Don’t forget—all commenters this week will be entered in a drawing to win a copy of Courtship and Curses. Just sayin’….

Courtship and Curses is here!!

Today my third young adult history fantasy hits the shelves!

Courtship and Curses is a stand-alone book that shares the same world as Bewitching Season and Betraying Season…and in fact is sort of a prequel, as we meet Lady Parthenope Hardcastle—whom my readers already know as the mother of Persy and Pen Leland—as a young woman making her own debut in society.

But the main story belongs to Lady Sophie Rosier, only daughter of the Marquis of Lansell…and a witch who has lost her mother (and teacher in all things magical), her ability to walk without a cane…and her magic. Or has she? When a series of murderous magical “accidents” begin to befall important members of the War Office—including Sophie’s father—just as Napoleon returns from Elba and is preparing to re-ignite war against England, Sophie needs all the help she can get to navigate her first London Season, stop the assassin, and figure out just what she feels for Parthenope’s cousin, Peregrine Woodbridge…and what he feels about her.

Kirkus Reviews called Courtship and Curses a major homage to Jane Austen…but really, it’s an homage to Georgette Heyer, who singlehandedly established the Regency romance genre and continues to delight readers ninety years after the appearance of her first novel. If the divine Miss Heyer had written a YA fantasy, I hope it might have resembled Courtship and Curses…and I hope that you’ll pick it up when you’re next looking for a fun read.

What reviewers are saying:

“[A] cheery Regency fantasy….Doyle’s gift, on display in earlier historical fantasies (Bewitching Season, 2008, etc.), lies in creating vivid female characters and the bonds between them.”—Kirkus Reviews

"Doyle has a talent for writing historical fiction…”—VOYA

Where you can learn more (and read the first chapter!)

Where you can buy it:

Barnes and Noble: hardcover and Nook

Your local independent bookseller

Amazon: hardcover and Kindle

Powell’s

Books-a-Million

Indigo

The Book Depository

And of course, since this is launch week, I’ll also be giving away a copy to a randomly drawn commenter on today’s or Friday’s post…so stop back in on Friday, too, when I’ll be talking about writing historical fantasy.

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Last week, during our 500th Post discussion, we offered either a copy of Courtship and Curses or The Captain’s Courtship to a randomly-drawn commenter…and that commenter is Faith E. Hough! Faith, please drop me a line here to let me know which book you’d like and to arrange mailing.

Another Miscellany, Actually

These Miscellanies are catching!

First, the important (and fun!) part of this week’s Miscellany: the winner of the drawing for the ARC of Courtship and Curses is mfantaliswrites! Mfantaliswrites, please contact me via my website so that we can arrange getting your book to you.

Second: as we step into summer, our posting schedule at Nineteenteen will shift around a bit (as it usually does). We’ll be taking a couple of vacation weeks (including next week over the Independence Day holiday) and weeks in August to ferry some of our respective offspring off to college…but on the fun side, Regina and I will each be having a book launch event and we’ll do our customary blogging from the Romance Writers of America National Conference where we have our annual get-to-spend-time-together holiday. So there’s some fun stuff to look ahead to over the summer months.

Third: I’m launching a new series! Since we completed the series of brief biographies of Queen Victoria’s nine children, I thought it might be fun to do an occasional series on some of her grandchildren as well.

As a result of having nine children, the Queen ended up with quite a respectable crop of grandchildren: forty-two, in fact, though it is thought she probably had a least a few illegitimate ones that she was not informed of. Here are a few interesting statistics about them, presented in the form of a quiz--do you know their identities? (answers will be posted in the comments column):

1. Her eldest grandchild was born in 1859 when she was not quite 40, less than two years after the birth of her last child in 1857.


2. Her last grandchild was born in 1891, just ten years before her death; he himself would die in 1914, fighting against his cousin.


3. And though the queen outlived several of her grandchildren—don’t forget that the high infant mortality of the 19th century was still an issue even among royalty—her final surviving grandchild lived until 1981, dying at age 98, just a few month before the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

I won’t be writing about all forty-two grandchildren—not all of them lived lives of particular historical significance. But I’ll try to introduce you to some of the more historically important and interesting ones. Stay tuned!

A Miscellany… and another chance to win!

June 19 is rather an interesting day in history—not for itself (though I see, through a brief internet search, that today is the 476th anniversary of Anne Boleyn’s beheading and the 164th anniversary of the opening of the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY) but because it falls between two very interesting days. One hundred ninety-seven years ago yesterday, on June 18, 1815, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte fell for the last time to the combined forces of England, Prussia, and the Netherlands at the Battle of Waterloo…

And one hundred seventy-five years ago tomorrow, on June 20, 1837, King William IV of England died (after hanging tenaciously to life in order to see another Waterloo Day celebrated in England--his words to his doctor were, " Doctor, I know I am going, but I should like to see another anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Try if you cannot to tinker me up to last out that day.") and his niece Victoria became queen at 18. An eventful few days, don’t you think?



And now for something completely different…introducing My Shiny New Website, courtesy of Barry Holt at Three Doors Up Multimedia. I adore the heading Barry created from my beloved collection of fashion prints…and as it’s on Wordpress, I’ll be able to do a much better job of keeping it updated. What do you think?

And finally…one last chance to win an ARC of Courtship and Curses. Alas, I have no mystery objects lined up, so we’ll take it easy this time around (it is, after all, the eve of the Solstice and official start of summer...another important date!) and I’ll draw a winner from among all comments left on this post through next Monday night. Shipping to North American addresses only, please.

Happy June 19th!

Mystery Object Contest #5: What is it?

It’s been a while since we’ve done a mystery object...so here you are!
Today’s mystery object is made of metal. It measures five and a half inches long and two and three-quarters inches at its widest. It is marked Sheffield (silver plate) on its underside, and has the manufacturer’s mark P&B on the underside of the handle.

So…what is it?

If you think you know, post your guess in the comments section. If you know you know, post your answer also…but please, don’t post links to pictures to prove that you know. That tends to bring the guessing to a screeching halt, which isn’t much fun for anyone. All correct guesses will be entered in a drawing to receive (ta da!) an autographed review copy of my upcoming YA historical (and prequel to Bewitching Season and Betraying Season) , Courtship and Curses, due out from Henry Holt Books for Young Readers in August!

I’ll accept guesses through next Monday evening and post the answer—and the name of the winner—on Tuesday. If no one guesses correctly, I’ll draw a winner from among all the commenters, so go for it!*

Have fun!

*Alas, due to prohibitive postage costs, I will ship only to US and Canadian addresses. I'm sorry!

A Delightful Surprise on a Monday

I received a most exciting—and unexpected—package in the mail yesterday. When I opened it, I found these:

Yes, it’s the Advance Reader Edition (also known as Advance Reader Copy, ARC, or uncorrected proof) of Courtship and Curses! They were ready much earlier than I expected, since the book doesn’t actually hit shelves until early August of next year, and so don't contain all the final corrections of typos and so on…but what fun to see them!

Here’s a better view of the cover:And here’s the cover copy:
Sophie’s entrance into London society isn't what she thought it would be: Mama isn't there to guide her, Papa is buried in his work fighting Napoleon, and Sophie's newly-acquired limp keeps her from dancing at any of those glittering balls. If it weren't for her shopping escapades with her new French friend Amélie and a flirtation with the dashing Lord Woodbridge, she would think this season a complete disaster.

But when someone uses magic to attack Papa the night of Sophie’s first ball, her problems escalate, especially when it becomes clear that all the members of the War Cabinet are being targeted. Can she catch the culprit and keep her own magic powers hidden long enough to win herself a match?

Can you tell I’m just a little excited?

Is it Okay? No, but it's OK

Over the course of doing research for our vocabulary posts, I ran across a fascinating fact about one of the most common casual expressions in use in modern times—“okay”. Or should I say “OK”?

If I want to be 19th century, it has to be OK. “Okay” is a later form of the word, not recorded till 1919...but OK dates back to—are you ready?—1839. (Note the 1839 fashions at right):

There are dozens of explanations of the origin of OK, some more far-fetched than others (no, it didn’t come from Aux Cayes, a port in Haiti known for its rum!) The generally accepted view is that it originated in the United States in the 1830s.

It seems that in the late 1830s and ‘40s, there was a bit of a fad for creating comical abbreviations, which began in Boston in 1838 and spread across the young country. Newspapers in Boston used expressions like “OFM” (Our Finest Men) for local bigwigs and abbreviations like “NG” and “SP” (that’s “no go” and “small potatoes”, respectively.)

And then there was OK, which first appeared in print in March 1839. It was the result of the abbreviation fad combined with a concurrent fad—that of comical mispellings. Abbreviated phrases like “KY” (“know yuse”—no use) and NS (“nuff said”—which still persists today) were common…as was OW “oll wright” (all right) and its cousin, OK (“oll korrect”).

Like most fads, this one slipped into oblivion…except for OK, which for some reason caught on. Its use became widespread when it was adopted by Democratic supporters of presidential candidate Martin Van Buren as a name for their club—OK gained the additional meaning “Old Kinderhook”, the town in New York where Van Buren was born. Tammany toughs used it as their battle cry in street fights in New York City.

But Van Buren’s opponents could play that game too, and soon found unflattering meanings for OK, like “Out of Kash, Out of Kredit, and Out of Klothes” and “Orfully Konfused”, among others. It became something of a game for anti-Van Buren newspapers around the country to find new versions…and thus “OK” spread across the country.

Kind of puts our "LOL" and "OMG" and other textspeak into perspective, doesn't it?

Now, to bring this back to 19th century England, I’ve got some pretty OK news: my next book has a name and release date! Look for Courtship and Curses to be hitting shelves some time in spring of 2012!