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Monthly Archives: December 2012

Just realized I am way behind on my winner announcements!!!  So…winners, I has them…

For my Two Sinful Secrets the winner is…Melody May!  Since I have your email, watch your inbox for more info

The winner of Sarah Mallory’s The Illegitimate Montague is…Barbara E!  Please send us your info at riskies AT yahoo…

Posted in Giveaways | 2 Replies

Welcome to our new home! We expect our new home to be ever more comfortable. I watch a lot of HGTV – House Hunters, Property Virgins, Property Brothers, Love It or List It – so I see lots of new homes. Let me assure you, the Riskies have moved in to space that is more “open concept” and all of our appliances are stainless steel and our counters, granite….Or the Regency equivalent.

And who better to invite to our new home but Jane Austen, who will stay with us until her birthday December 16. In honor of Jane, we thought we would each take turns discussing What Jane Austen Has Meant to Me.

There will be prizes – including a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card! My prize today is the British Library Writers Lives edition of Jane Austen by Deirdre Le Faye. Eventually we will be using Rafflecopter for giveaways, but I don’t quite know how yet, so I’ll randomly choose a winner from the comments on this blog.

I’ve mentioned before that I came late to loving the Regency, not until I started writing in 1995. I’d read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility in some English class along the way, but it wasn’t until my writing pals Helen and Julie introduced me to Georgette Heyer and Regency Romance (the Signets and Zebras) that I began to really fall in love with the Regency.

One event clinched it.

Helen, Julie, and I went to see the 1995 Amanda Root/Ciaran Hinds movie Persuasion, which had been a BBC TV production in the UK but released in theaters in the US. It was this movie adaptation of a Jane Austen book I’d never read that made the Regency come alive for me.

From the country house of the Elliots to the chic rooms in Bath to the simple seaside abode of the Harviles, the Regency world the move depicted seemed so real to me. Maybe it was because the whole movie was filmed on location, but, even so, the details were not prettied up for film. The livery of the Elliot footmen looked a bit shabby, as it would have for a baronet whose fortunes were dwindling. Skirts and boots got muddy during country walks, as they would have in a time without paved walkways. The dancing was boisterous but not polished and practices, as professional dancers would have performed. The hero and heroine were attractive but not “beautiful people.”

The Regency people in the story also acted in ways I believed were true to the period. The emphasis on status, on honor and obligation seemed genuine to me. There were bored privileged young women, proud impoverished ones, scheming social climbers. There were also “normal” people, like the Musgroves and the Crofts. And Ann and Wentworth, of course.

Jane Austen may have been exploring the role of persuasion throughout the story, but she also crafted a lovely, satisfying romance, with familiar Romance themes. Persuasion is both a reunion story (Ann and Captain Wentworth were once betrothed) and a Cinderella story (Ann, the put-upon sister finds great love in the end). The conflict was poignant – Ann regretted breaking her betrothal to Wentworth; Wentworth remained bitter that she threw him off in order to seek better prospects.

There’s a lovely villain in Ann’s cousin, William Elliot, who becomes intent on courting her, and more complications ensue when Wentworth considers himself obligated to marry the injured Louisa Musgrove. The steps Ann and Wentworth each make to find their way back to each other are subtle, but very satisfying and very typical of romance novels of today.

After seeing the movie, I had a picture in my mind that was my Regency. I read Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice and all of Jane Austen’s books, even Lady Susan. The social attitudes from Jane Austen’s books seeped into my brain, as did the language, the rhythm of the conversation.

So you might say Jane Austen helped create my Regency world!

Have you seen this version of Persuasion? What do you think of it? Comment for a chance to win today’s contest.

Holiday Giveaway! And also remember to enter the Harlequin Historical Authors Holiday Giveaway. Today’s day is Sarah Mallory’s. For more details, go here.

I always love Jane Austen week here!  (And not just because it reminds me that my mom’s birthday is also December 16 and I need to remember to get her a gift…)  It gives me a chance to revisit these books that mean so much to me, and maybe do a little re-reading and reminiscing.

My “first” was Emma.  I found an old, yellowed paperback copy at my grandmother’s house, it had a girl in a pretty dress on the cover so I decided to give it a try.  I had already read some Heyer and a few Barbara Cartlands, so I knew a little about the Regency period (enough to know I loved it and wanted to live in that world, though not at that point much “real” history).  I love, love, loved the story, and immediately ran to the library to find the rest of the Austen novels, plus a bio!  I was amazed to find out the author had been dead over 200 years and wasn’t a writer working right then, her characters seemed so real and vivid to me.  Some of their concerns were different from mine (marrying asap and to the right man, since there is no other choice!), some I could relate to (parents can be sooo annoying!), but the characters at their core seemed like people I knew and wanted to spend time with, and that has never changed.

Jane Austen puzzleLast night I went to a jazz concert, and listened to a 15-minute version of a song I love (“Take the A Train”), and heard things in it I never had before, and realized Austen has much in common with this other love of mine, jazz music.  There are always variations on a theme in Austen, things that keep popping up on re-reading that I never saw before, things that resonate with me at different ages, and that means her books always repay revisiting.  That’s her rare genius.  And since I’m getting ready to get married on Saturday (a core concern of all Austen characters!) I am thinking I need to re-read some Pride & Prejudice or Persuasion to make sure I’m ready…

All commenters on today’s blog get put in the drawing for our grand prize (a $50 Amazon giftcard!), but I am also giving away an adorable Jane Austen puzzle!  It would make a great holiday gift if you have an Austen fan in your life (or a great gift to yourself!).  How did you get hooked on Austen?  What was your “first”?  (You never forget your first!!)

One of my Regency hobby-horses is the use of titles.  I’m afraid it makes me crazy if an author spends the time to write a novel set in our era and neglects the proper titles for her aristocratic characters.  Indeed, an author who’s writing I love has been known to make me wild by getting titles wrong book after book.  Come on, honey.  You should have figured this out by now.
I have had this rant before on other sites, so I will not take too much space with the ranting and, rather, devote this post with some advice about how to get it right.  It’s not that difficult.

Let’s start out with what not to do:  A duke is never my lord or your lordship.  He’s not Lord anything.  Most frequently a title is not the same as a last name and they are never interchangeable.  Earls, marquesses, and viscounts are never Lord Surname and certainly never Lord Given Name.  Dukes, as we have established, are never Lord anything.  Last names and titles, if different, are not interchangeable when addressing an aristocrat.  There’s only one right way to do it.

Now, on to that right way.
A duke is “your grace” or “his grace.”  The same goes for his duchess.  His title is “Duke of Title.” For example, Peregrine Cavendish is the Duke of Devonshire.  He is never Lord Devonshire or Lord Cavendish.  His peers may call him Duke rather than Your Grace.
An earl is Lord Title, never Lord Surname or Lord Given Name.  For example, John Montague is the Earl of Sandwich and is addressed at Lord Sandwich..  Friends might refer to him as Sandwich.  His wife is the Countess of Sandwich and is called Lady Sandwich.  In a few cases, such as Earl Spencer, the title and surname are identical.
A Viscount is also Lord Title.  Edward Pellew is Viscount Exmouth and would be addressed as Lord Exmouth.  His wife is Lady Exmouth.

Barons are also referred to as Lord Title.  Barons, more frequently than other titles, may have titles that are the same as their surname.  For example, William Hawke is Baron Hawke and is called Lord Hawke. His wife is Lady Hawke (and may or may not be played by Michelle Pfeiffer). This is not always the case, however, and you should be sure that, whichever you choose, your title remains consistent.

So these are the basics.  It goes on from there.  Oldest sons of dukes, marquesses and earls usually take one of their father’s lesser titles as a courtesy title (if one is available) and would, thus, be Marquess, Earl, or Viscount of Whatever.
Younger sons of dukes and marquesses have the courtesy title of Lord, but they use their first names.  Lord Peter Wimsey is Lord Peter, never Lord Wimsey or Lord Denver (his older brother is the Duke of Denver).  And, moreover, his wife would be Lady Peter.  Cool, huh?
Younger sons of earls, viscounts, and barons are just “honorable” and are usually addressed as “Mr.”
Daughters of peers are Lady Given Name regardless of their birth order.  In Pride and Prejudice, Lady Anne Darcy and Lady Catherine deBourgh are the daughters of an Earl (which one, we’ll never know).  This applies to daughters of dukes, marquesses, and earls.  It does not, however, apply to the daughters of viscounts and barons.  Like the sons, they are just honorables and addressed as “Miss.”
Have written these down, I realize they don’t look as easy as I may have lead you to believe.  However, I have a couple of web sites for you that will make it much easier.
Laura Wallace created and maintains the fantastically useful British Titles of Nobilitywhich takes on all this stuff and more in an easy-to-understand layout.  If you bookmark this site, you need never wonder if you’re using the right title.  For something not as detailed or exhaustive (just the basics, ma’am), I give you the table of honorifics from the Jane Austen Information Page at The Republic of Pemberley.
So, there it is.  Yes, it’s a little convoluted but if you love your subject and your era, and you’re going to write about it, it’s not too much to ask that you get the details that are easily available to you. Right?  If you don’t know it, look it up.  Or ask a friend who does.
Here’s the final question.  Am I alone in being driven wild by misuse of titles?  Does this make you tear your hair out or are you able to overlook it and get on with the story?
Posted in Research | Tagged | 12 Replies
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