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Monthly Archives: January 2008

So, in the news this week–the Oscar nominations! The nods for Best Costume Design are:

Atonement

La Vie en Rose

Across the Universe

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Sweeney Todd
The only one that really surprised me was Across the Universe. I might have guessed Becoming Jane or maybe Pirates of the Caribbean 3. My personal pick might be Elizabeth, but my crystal ball says Sweeney Todd. As for the other noms–too close to call. 🙂

In entertainment news in 1790, there was the premier of Mozart’s Cos fan tutte.

According to Henry W. Simon’s book Festival of Opera, CFT “has been sung under more names than any other opera in history.” For example, the Metropolitan has called it Women Are Like That (the translation I’ve heard the most often). In England, it was once called Tit for Tat. In Denmark, Flight From the Convent, in France The Chinese Laborer (funny–I don’t recall convents or Chinese laborers in the story at all!). And in Germany, lots of different things, such as The Girls’ Revenge and The Guerillas.

Under whatever name, it had its premier at Vienna’s Burgtheater January 26, 1790, with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte and music by Mozart (the two had also collaborated on Le nozze di Figaro, my personal favorite Mozart opera, and on Don Giovanni.) The source of the story is not known, though there is a (probably apocryphal) tale that it was suggested by Emperor Joseph II based on a high society scandal of the day. Whatever the inspiration, the Emperor did commission the work, requesting a comedy. Mozart was paid 450 guldens for it, and it was nearly his last opera (only La clemenza di Tito and Magic Flute, both 1791, are later).

During the 19th century, the plot was considered rather risque and the opera was rarely performed. It’s an ostensibly lighthearted look at the twists and turns of romantic love. It begins in a Naples cafe, where two young men, Ferrando and Guglielmo, argue with Don Alfonso that their fiancees, the sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi, would never betray them. Aided by Despina, the sisters’ saucy maid, the men hatch an elaborate plot to test the womens’ loyalty. They disguise themselves as Turkish soldiers and woo each other’s girlfriends, eventually winning over the at-first reluctant sisters. In the end, the disguises are revealed, and all is forgiven–though just how happy such marriages can be is anyone’s guess.

At the premier, Adriana Ferrarese and Luisa Villeneuve played the sisters; Francesco Bennuci and Vincenzo Calvesi their lovers; Dorotea Bussani was Despina; and Francesco Bussani Don Alfonso.

So, we have News in Entertainment 2008 and 1790! Which movie do you call for Best Costumes (or any other nominee)? Do you have a favorite opera? And Happy Saturday! (I always do love Saturday…)

I came up with the Driving Plot Force of my next book, Road To Desire, and spilled the details to my friend and fellow Regency author, Myretta Robens. Myretta (who is also a celebrity blogger for PBS when they show Pride And Prejudice!) frequently has to listen as I discuss my plot, or what passes for my plot, when I am figuring out a book.

“Your heroes certainly have a death wish, don’t they?” she commented. And it’s true: My last hero, Alasdair, wanted to take drugs until he expired; this hero knows he will die as a result of An Action he is Determined to Take. In fact, all the heroes I am considering have a dark edge that may or may not result in their death.

Why? I do wear black most of the time, but I’m not a nihilist. I write romance, for goodness’ sake! I think it’s because I believe in the inexorable saving grace of love–a force so strong it can bring people back from any brink. And what brink is brinkier than death?!?

In pondering the heroes that made me swoon the most, a lot of them had death wishes, or faux death wishes: Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre, most (all?) of Anne Stuart‘s heroes, and I am sure there are others. What makes that kind of single-minded, determined hero so darn attractive to me? Not sure, but I am set on a course for Death Wish heroes for a long time to come (except for the erotic novella I have in my head; the only death is the “little death” he is planning for the heroine. Heh, heh).

Do you find Death Wish heroes attractive? Who are your favorites?

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As the lovely and talented Keira pointed out yesterday, it was Byron’s birthday on Tuesday. (I always remember Byron’s birthday because it’s my father’s birthday too–he just turned 97! Younger than Byron, but not by much.)

So happy birthday, Byron, the ultimate bad boy– mad bad and dangerous to know as the equally mad bad and dangerous Lady Caroline Lamb, defined him. But heck, the man was HAWWWT.

I blogged a little while ago about this excellent book by Jude Morgan about Byron, Shelley, et al, and I urge you to read it–it’s fabulous. (And I’ve just read Symphony by Jude Morgan, about Berlioz and Harriet Smithson, an amazing book. But I’m saving that for another time .) So I thought we’d celebrate Byron’s birthday with some of his quotations–many of which I found at this excellent site, not that there’s a shortage of sites about Byron. And throw in a few more pics of him.

I awoke one morning and found myself famous.

I have great hopes that we shall love each other all our lives as much as if we had never married at all.

Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.

What men call gallantry, and gods adultery,
Is much more common where the climate’s sultry.

The reading or non-reading a book will never keep down a single petticoat.

A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be lobster salad and Champagne, the only true feminine & becoming viands.

I am about to be married, and am of course in all the misery of a man in pursuit of happiness.

For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,

And the heart must pause for breath,
And love itself have rest.

So share your favorite Byron quote, poem, or anecdote. Or tell us how long it would have taken you to enter into a scandalous and public liaison with him (me: ten minutes).

Learn the latest shocking scandal involving Lord B—- every month via the Riskies newsletter; send an email with NEWSLETTER in the header to riskies@yahoo.com. All contests all the time–enter to win a signed copy of Jane Lockwood’s Forbidden Shores in a contest sponsored by Pam Rosenthal ; and you only have a week left to read an alternate ending to The Rules of Gentility and enter to win a prize at janetmullany.com.

Last week, in a new installment to the Cassie Edwards saga, Paul Tolme spoke out at Newsweek about the experience of having words from his Defenders of Wildlife article on black-footed ferrets used as dialogue in a romance novel. He’s clearly delighted that the resulting publicity has caused a spike in donations and ferret adoptions. However, he’s also upset some romance readers and writers by his use of terms like “trashy romance novel” and “standard romance-novel schlock”, for which he has since apologized.

It brings up the question of how much should we care when people mock the romance genre.

I certainly understand those who feel upset about it. Yet I can’t personally blame Paul Tolme. How could he resist such material? And he hasn’t exactly had a good introduction to the genre, has he? There are just too many people who share this view of romance (some of them even my relatives and friends). I just don’t have the energy to be angry with all of them.

What I do think is that too much righteous indignation can make us look foolish. Maybe we should just enjoy what we read and write and not worry about what people think.

But on the other hand, I’ve met too many women who might enjoy romance and won’t even try one, perhaps for fear of being thought foolish or frivolous. Especially if one of them admits to loving Jane Austen and/or the Brontes, I suspect there are romance novels that might appeal to her. If we managed to somehow tap into that market, it could lead to more sales of the sort of books I want to read and write.

So anyway, I do care and have always paid attention to advice coming through RWA and elsewhere on how to improve the image of the romance genre.

Sometimes we are advised to quote statistics (the ones like romance accounts for 50% of mass market fiction sales). Some people will be impressed by the size of the business even if they don’t think they’d care for the product. On the other hand, that can be like telling people they should be impressed with McDonald’s food because of the X brazillion burgers sold.

The problem is I don’t really feel comfortable trying to defend the entire romance genre. Some books are pretty indefensible. The covers are sometimes cheesy. Sometimes the contents are, too. (There are also some pretty cheesy covers on some wonderful books and vice versa, but that’s a whole different blog post.) There is usually some truth to any stereotype.

Anyway, I don’t think indignation or a blanket endorsement of the genre are the right responses. If someone is rude (like the teen who walked up to me at a bookstore signing and said “Eeeewwww, romance!”) I smile and tell her she is entitled to her opinion. If someone is more polite and seems open-minded, I talk about the variety that exists within the romance genre.

I have occasionally tried to “convert” friends to romance. Not that that is the right word, actually. I wouldn’t want someone to try to convert me to reading horror, for instance. (Nothing against horror, I enjoyed the one Stephen King novel I read. But it’s just not my favorite flavor.) What I’d really like to do is to get more people to try romance.

Last year, I got Julia Ross’s THE WICKED LOVER onto my book group’s reading list. I thought her use of language and her characterizations would appeal to them. However, most members didn’t read it. It could be in part because it was the December book and everyone was busy (no one read the previous December book either and we’ve since decided to skip the month). But I don’t know if it would have flown in any other month.

I’m at peace with that. I can’t change the world and I did get one member into romance. She started out with Julia Ross but has moved on to many new authors. I’m happy about that small gain and I’ll continue recommending good romance novels–especially those by the Riskies. 🙂

So how do you feel when people diss romance? Do you think it matters? What do you do about it?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

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Welcome to another special “meeting” of the Risky Regencies Jane Austen Movie Club!

Today we’re discussing the newest version of Northanger Abbey, which aired this Sunday in the US, and last spring in the UK.

We discussed the new Persuasion last Tuesday — and if you missed the discussion, it’s not too late to stop by and add a comment! Opinions on it were mixed, but with few raves, and a fair amount of disappointment (particularly about the run and the kiss at the end).

I suspect, however, that opinions on Northanger Abbey may be a bit different! Can’t wait to hear what you all thought of it…

Here are a few pieces of information I found interesting:

This Northanger Abbey was filmed entirely in Ireland.

And, not surprisingly, a lot of the cast are Irish actors doing English accents.

The screenplay is by Andrew Davies, who also scripted the upcoming BBC version of Sense and Sensibility, which will air in the US on March 30 and April 6.

Davies is, of course, the screenwriter for the 1995 Pride and Prejudice (the one with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth) and the 1996 Emma (which starred Kate Beckinsale), both of which will be shown on PBS as part of their “Complete Jane Austen.” He also did the screenplays for Bridget Jones’s Diary, the 1994 Middlemarch, the 1998 miniseries of Vanity Fair, the 2002 Daniel Deronda, and the 2005 Bleak House.

According to imdb.com, Northanger Abbey was played by Lismore Castle, in County Waterford, Ireland.


To aid discussion, here are some of the major credits:

CAST:

Catherine Morland: Felicity Jones

The Voice of Jane Austen: Geraldine James

Mrs. Morland: Julia Dearden

Mr. Morland: Gerry O’Brien

James Morland: Hugh O’Connor

Mr. Allen: Desmond Barrit

Mrs. Allen: Sylvestra Le Touzel

Sylvestra Le Touzel is a Jane Austen veteran, having played Fanny Price in the 1983 BBC miniseries of Mansfield Park. She was also seen as Marianne Thornton in 2006’s Amazing Grace.

Henry Tilney: JJ Feild

John Thorpe: William Beck

Mrs. Thorpe: Bernadette McKenna

Eleanor Tilney: Catherine Walker

General Tilney: Liam Cunningham

Capt. Frederick Tilney: Mark Dymond

Isabella Thorpe: Carey Mulligan

Carey Mulligan is no stranger to Austen either, having played Kitty Bennet in the 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice. She was also young Ada in the 2005 miniseries of Bleak House.

SCREENPLAY: Andrew Davies

DIRECTOR: Jon Jones

So….what did you think???

All opinions welcome!

Cara
Cara King, who danced Catherine & Tilney’s dance last Saturday at the annual Jane Austen Ball!

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