Dateline: Denver, Part 2

Oh, what a lovely time we had at the conference! I quite agree with Marissa that the best part of conference is spending time together. Sometimes we attended workshops as a pair; sometimes we divided and conquered, sharing notes with each other afterward.

Two special moments involved tea.

The first was the Beau Monde mini-conference. As we have mentioned, the Beau Monde Chapter of Romance Writers of America^TM  promotes excellence in romantic fiction set primarily in the Regency period (1811-1820). Marissa and I are both members. The workshops on travel, Bow Street, rebellious ladies, and inheritances were excellent, as was the keynote by fabulous author Cheryl Bolen. And after all that information and inspiration, we were treated to tea, followed by an elegant soiree in the evening crowned by the announcement of the winners of the Royal Ascot contest. This contest highlights up-and-coming authors. Remember the name of Lesli Lent. I predict you’ll be reading great books from her soon.

Friday, Marissa and I had the honor of being invited to tea by the incomparable John Charles, reviewer extraordinaire. We joined the likes of Kristan Higgins, Jane Porter, Evelyn Richardson, and Elizabeth Boyle for a splendid tea at the Brown Palace Hotel. This Italian Renaissance-style hotel in downtown Denver opened in 1892 and was one of the most expensive and luxurious hotels then and now. Tea was served with delicious treats, on the traditional three-tiered tray. Because I have food allergies, the hostess brought me my own plate. The conversation, my dears, was as delightful as the company and the fare.

And then we returned to the less rarefied but much beloved air of our homes, our families, and our books. Stay tuned next week for a very special announcement on the last from Marissa. Two words: awesome story!

Dateline: Denver

Hi everyone!  Regina and I are back from the Romance Writers of America’s national conference (and our annual get-to-hang-out-with-each-other event), held this year at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

I’ve never been to Denver, so I was looking forward to going. And I wasn’t disappointed: I really liked Denver as a city (at least, what I saw of it)—it felt like a very liveable, friendly city...though this New England girl had a hard time wrapping her head around the miles of flat land spreading out below it, unobscured by tree and hills and more trees. More than a little cognitive dissonance, I think...

Regina and I were terribly clever and managed to find flights that got in more or less at the same time, so we got to hug and squee at each other by the luggage carousel while we waited for my suitcase...and then we were off! The rest of Tuesday was spent checking in to the conference, then catching up on family news and our lives in general over a very tasty dinner (note to self: blackened shrimp vampire tacos are amazing) before heading back up to our room to keep on talking (of course!)

And speaking of rooms, we had a lovely one—it was enormous, with separate walk-in closets and a huge bank of windows looking down over the pool and out toward the Civic Center Park and the Denver Art Museum and Central Library.

Regina will give you the details of what we did, but I want to mention a few stand-out points for me:

•  The hotel staff were incredibly nice and helpful...which was a good thing, considering that the convention area of the hotel was more than a bit of a rabbit warren and required frequent stopping to ask for directions.
• The Beau Monde mini-conference—a terrific line-up of workshops on multiple aspects of Regency history as well as delicious food (yay, cucumber sandwiches at the tea!) and a lovely evening party, the Soiree, which included a delightful historic dance instructor, an appearance by that lovable scoundrel, Sir Reginald, who has recovered from the gout that side-lined him last year and danced up a storm, and a fun silent auction where I won the bidding on a lovely item that will be making an appearance here on NineteenTeen at some future date.
• The RWA workshops I attended were, with just one or two exceptions, excellent. I came home with a lot of information and a to-do list about three feet long.
• Seeing so many writers (it's so cool!), catching up with old friends and acquaintances, and meeting new people.

But the best part, as always, was seeing Regina. Every year when we arrive at conference, we look forward to a nice long visit...and it always goes by in a flash. But what a lovely flash we had!!

Off to Denver!

Not much to say from me and Regina this week. Like about 2000 other writers, we're off to Denver, Colorado for the Romance Writers of America's annual National Conference. We’ll be attending workshops on everything to do with the writing biz, from craft to business to maintaining health while parked in front of a computer for long periods of time (a definite occupational hazard.) We'll be seeing old friends and making new ones...but most important of all, we’ll be seeing each other! It’s not easy to see one of your dearest friends only once a year, but we manage to cram a lot of talking into the 4 ½ or so days we have together.

Stay tuned till next week, when we’ll have a full report. And now, I had better go finish packing because I’m outta here bright and early...

Don’t be Envious: Never Envy an Earl

Surprise! The third book in the Fortune’s Brides series, which was to be an August release, is out now. Because I could. There’s definitely something to be said for self-publishing. 😊

The saucy Yvette de Maupassant is used to danger. She’s spent the last 10 years spying for England in Napoleon’s court. Now that her work has been discovered, she must hide, and what better place than the remote wooded estate of the Earl of Carrolton? Her friend Miss Thorn and that delightful cat Fortune place her in a position where she can pretend to be companion to the earl’s sickly mother. Yet one look at the earl has Yvette rethinking why she wants to stay.

Gregory, Earl of Carrolton, is used to power. So why does one moment in the company of his mother and spinster sister leave him feeling powerless? And why does the look in a certain Frenchwoman’s eyes leave him weak at the knees? As danger draws closer, Gregory and Yvette must work together to protect her, his family, and the future of England, as they discover the greatest danger and delight is falling in love.

Here’s a little taste:

Gregory ventured into the chamber. He’d worked with his interior designer to make each of the one hundred rooms in Carrolton Park unique. This one had been inspired by spring, with sunny yellow walls, bed hangings patterned in jonquils and tulips, with matching fabric on the curved back chairs. The cornice of the bed and above each doorway was crowned with a gilded sun, its rays beaming out.

Against all that cheer, his mother, dressed in one of the black, lace-encrusted gowns she favored, looked a bit like a raven. Beside her tall, elegant frame, Yvette de Maupassant resembled a china doll.

And that hair! Cut as short as that of the infamous Caro Lamb, it curled about her piquant face in wild abandon. He could imagine running his fingers through the locks, silk springing beneath his touch.

He shook away the thought. Harry’s note, which had accompanied Lord Hastings’, indicated Gregory’s friend had rescued her from a prison house after her espionage had been discovered. For all Gregory knew, her captors had cut her hair to shame her. He should not find the look so appealing.

“Gregory!” His mother smiled at him, wrinkles crinkling around her pale eyes as she raised her ebony-headed cane. “You came to see me!”

She made it sound a rarity for all he tried to check on her at least once a day besides dinner when he was in residence.

“Mother,” he said, going to kiss her cheek. “You look busy.”

“Very,” she assured him, waving away the cream-colored linens a maid offered. “The blue, I said. I was very specific. Why do you all fail to listen?”

“They are doing splendidly,” Yvette corrected her. “See how nicely the blue complements the gold? And cream lace on the pillow cases—so inspired!”

The maid bobbed a curtsey, blushing at the praise.

He left his mother directing another servant in the making of the bed and drew Yvette aside.

“I must apologize,” he murmured, feeling like a hulking brute beside her. “I didn’t know Mother had subjected her previous companion to sleeping on a cot.”

She waved her hand. “It was easily remedied.”

The bustling about him did not look easy. And he could not like the way the room’s layout was being changed before his eyes. That black walnut trunk with the battered sides threw off the entire scheme. He looked to Marbury, who immediately came to him.

“My lord?” he asked.

“There’s a maple wardrobe in the north wing,” Gregory told him. “Have two of the footmen bring it here and remove that walnut monstrosity.”

He inclined his head. “At once, my lord.”

Yvette chuckled, the sound tickling him. “Monstrosity, he says. I am fortunate to even possess that.”

Gregory kept his chin up. “And while you are here I am determined that you will be surrounded by beauty, Miss…French.”

She laughed again. “You must practice, my lord. I am a poor companion, the lowly Miss French.” She fluttered her lashes in his direction.

“Perhaps you should practice,” he said with a smile. “You look and act nothing like a lowly companion.”

She made a moue. “But I am doing my best.”

“French!”

At his mother’s demand, Yvette hurried away from him. The sunny room seemed to dim. Once more he shook himself. What, had he been flirting? He was surprised he even knew how. She made every thought, every act, seem natural.

His mother may have taken the lead in redecorating, but he was fairly sure there was only one leader in the room, and that was clearly Yvette. Somehow, he thought Carrolton Park would never be the same.

The e-book is available at fine online retailers and the print book through Amazon:

Smashwords 

Amazon 

Barnes and Noble 

Kobo 

iTunes 

Because only a matchmaking cat can hunt true love.

Between Silk and Sand...the Movie?

Well, a girl can dream, can't she? ☺

It may not be a movie, but I do have a book teaser video for my upcoming YA fantasy, Between Silk and Sand, that I'd love to share.



What do you think? This was enormous fun to make--looking for just the right image of my hero was the best part (and isn't he adorable?) Looking for other images to communicate the story and mood was a challenge at time, but also a lot of fun...and listening to dozens and dozens of music clips was as well. I hope it will inspire you to pick the book up when it comes out on July 31 (and it's available for pre-order now on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and GooglePlay, if you don't want to forget.)

Enjoy! And feel free to share!

A Real Foul Ness

When I was researching locations for Never Borrow a Baronet, I wanted a remote place on the Essex coast, which could have been used by smugglers. My hero, Sir Harry Atwood, fights a family reputation for dark deeds, so any history that aligned with villainy would have been most welcome as well. But what I stumbled upon exceeded even my hopes.

Foulness Island.

Foulness Island is a low-lying area on the east coast of Essex, cut off from the mainland by creeks and marshes that were once used by smugglers. (I raised Sir Harry’s home, Foulness Manor, and the mythical village of Foulness considerably higher in the book.) The name relates to a nesting area for waterfowl, today, most notably, a long-legged, black and white seabird called the avocet. Unless you had a boat, the only access to the island was via a track called the Broomway.

The Broomway runs out from the mainland across the treacherous Maplin Sands, mud flats that are completely submerged on high tide. From the picture, it appears wagons once braved the path, which was marked by brooms driven in on either side. Legend, and even current warning signs along the path, would have it that the tide comes in faster than a person can run. Heavy fog and sea mist compound the problem and make it even easier to lose your way. The Broomway is credited with at least 100 deaths over the years.

During the Regency period, Foulness Island boasted a post office, a store, and a church. The Church of England built a school in 1846, when the island had a population of 674, 120 of them children. One of the most popular spots on the island was the George and Dragon Pub, which hosted bare-knuckle brawls. The island itself was renowned as a home for outlaws and villainy, including wrecking, purposely leading ships in to land to wreck upon rocks so you could seize the cargo.

Foulness Island has yet to give up all its secrets. The land was purchased during World War I by the UK Ministry of Defence, which has conducted a number of tests, from the usual explosives to things atomic. The island is still only accessible through permit. Signs in the area warn travelers not to pick up anything, because it might go off!

May you get real bang out of your Fourth of July! Marissa and I will be off next week celebrating. See you the week of July 9th.

Regency Fabrics, Part 20

Regency Fabrics, Part 20

Here’s another post in our ongoing series on Regency fabrics.

As I have in previous posts, I’ll be examining actual fabric samples glued into several earlier editions of Ackermann’s Repository, samples supplied by the manufacturers and published by Ackermann in order to boost the British cloth-making industry at a time when exporting British goods to Europe was almost impossible because of the Napoleonic war. I'll give you a close-up scan of each sample, the published description if available, and my own observations of the color, weight, condition, and similarity to present-day materials, to give you as close a picture as possible of what these fabrics are like.

Today’s four samples are from the August 1811 issue of Ackermann’s Repository. The overall condition of my copy is good: the page itself is most free of foxing and toning, though one of the samples is a little worse for the two hundred plus years since it was woven, and two have lost their color to a greater or lesser degree.

Here we go!

No. 1. A royal regency leno, for evening or full dress, calculated for the Turkish robes and Roman tunics now so fashionable in elegant circles. It should be worn over white satin, or sarsnet; and embellished with ornaments of pearl, diamonds, white cornelian, or the satin bead. This elegant article is furnished by Harris, Moody, and Co. Pall-Mall.

My comments: This is an attractively airy net style of fabric, elaborately woven of lovely silky thread in dark green, yellow, and dusty pink. While it’s mostly made of air, the style of weaving and heft to the threads gives it some weight. I do wish more Ackermann prints showed dresses made from the fabrics they advertised; it would be most instructive to see just what was done with a fabric like this, worn over white satin. I think I would have been terrified of catching it on jewelry or on something else and tearing the you-know-what out of it.

No. 2. A dove-coloured imperial gauze, adapted for the same order of costume, and to which the same jewellery ornaments are appropriate. Trimmings of fine lace, with decorations of wreaths and bouquets for the hair and bosom, are also becoming appendages to this neat and elegant article, which is furnished by Messrs. Coopers, Pall-Mall.

My comments: Another woven net, this time of all one color. This one feels a little less substantial than the first, despite its greater opacity. It would be charming as an overdress; I wonder if it was made up with the stripes oriented in the vertical or horizontal?

No. 3. A celestial blue penciled muslin, adapted for the intermediate order of dress. It is either made high, with a trimming of narrow lace round the throat, or formed in a low square bosom, finished with white embossed satin ribbon. With each the long sleeve is to be preferred, in this as in most other muslin articles.

My comments: Um...celestial blue? This sample has clearly suffered; the dye is gone, though the feathery little random pattern printed on has survived...and after a quick look around on the interwebz, mine is not the only one to have suffered. It’s not easy to say much about it as it seems to have been glued entirely down on the page, but it is a very loosely (if evenly) woven fabric.

No. 4. A pink muslin, with embossed green spot. This animated article is confined to the more youthful females, to whom it is most becomingly adapted. It should invariably be worn over white sarsnet, fine glazed cambric, or satin; and should be formed in the most plain and simple manner. No jewellery ornaments but white can be admitted to blend with this material, nor any but white flowers to be worn in the hair.

The last two articles are furnished by Messrs. T. and J. Smith, 43, Tavistock-street, Covent Garden.

My comments: Oh my goodness, more polka dots! Interesting that this fabric is only recommended for young women... The dots have faded to a not-very-attractive khaki brown, and look almost applied—as if someone plopped little blobs of paint onto the fabric at regular intervals. Like number three, this is a very open-weave muslin, but the threads are of fine, uniform gauge. I suspect the pink may have once been more intense, not the pale dusty pink of today.  This must have once been a very cheerful sort of “article.”

Any thoughts on this month’s fabrics?