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Monthly Archives: August 2014

I have been madly revising and revising and revising and revising and wow.

The New and Improved

I have a new cover for Scandal. It should be go live across vendors as I fit in the uploads with revisions…

New cover for Scandal

Scandal

I tried, I really, really tried, to post the first two chapters of A Notorious Ruin, but WordPress does not indent and I don’t have time to hack the css to make it do that. So, maybe next time? Or you could click on this link to a pdf (at the Riskies). Came out kind of nice.

A Notorious Ruin, Chapters 1-2

I’ve finished my manuscript and am knee-deep in second draft territory, so I’m going to take an easy route today and share some of my favorite links on the Georgian and Regency eras.

Sarah Siddons by Joshua Reynolds

Sarah Siddons by Joshua Reynolds

What Jane Saw – On 24 May 1813, Jane Austen visited an art exhibit at the British Institution in Pall Mall, London. The popular show was the first-ever retrospective of the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), England’s celebrated portrait painter. Two centuries later, this e-gallery offers the modern visitor a historical reconstruction of that long-lost Regency blockbuster.

The Kyoto Costume Institute – Justifiably famous for its staggering collection of European costumes, the page representing the 18th early 19th century are totally awe-inspiring.

nelson-exhibit

Nelson Exhibit at National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum – Wonderful searchable site for British naval history.

Dictionary of the English Language – 1822 edition of Samuel Johnson’s dictionary at Google Books.

British Titles of Nobility – Laura Wallace’s excellent introduction and primer to the peerage.

ICES

Georgian Ices

Historic Food – Ivan Day is “the” historical food expert”. This site is fascinating,replete with recipes,fabulous illustrations and tempting details of his courses.

I’m sure some of these are familiar to you. I hope some of them are nice surprises.  And I’d love to hear about your favorite web sites on our period.

My talented and dear friend Ani Bolton, author of a new steampunk romance series that recently debuted with Steel and Song, tagged me to participate in a blog tour on the writing process. Here’s my entry and I’ll be tagging two fantastic authors at the end.

1. What are you working on?

I have several projects going on right now. Although this is not fresh writing, I’m collaborating with five other Regency authors to bring out a boxed set of Regencies (six traditional Regencies in one ebook), coming in October. This is a deal no Regency romance fan should miss!

RM3DWeb

I’m also planning a new series based on the foundlings in Lady Dearing’s Masquerade (Romantic Times Best Regency Romance of 2005), who will have some interesting issues to deal with as adults. This will involve moving a bit post-Regency, so I’m in the research phase, to make sure the setting rings true.

Lastly, I’ve been plotting out two short, sexy novellas: a prequel and a sequel to Lady Em’s Indiscretion.

2. How does your work differ from others’ work in the same genre?

Lately, Regency romance seems dominated with stories featuring dukes. Although I have loved some duke stories (and won’t promise I’ll never write one), I like variety in my fantasy men.

My stories also often include themes of social justice. Lady Dearing’s Masquerade deals with individuals and groups who are unfairly marginalized. Fly with a Rogue deals with personal recovery after war and the plight of veterans. I find it deeply satisfying to write about characters who can find joy despite real-life challenges. Of course, romance and passion are still the focus. A friends says I write “social justice smut”—and I take it as the compliment she meant it to be!

This is one of the joys of going indie: being able to write what I want without feeling I need to chase trends.

3. Why do you write what you do?

I love the Regency setting and I love writing romance. Writing acts as a tonic to me, but it seems to go both ways. Readers have told me my books are a fun break in their busy lives and some have even told me that reading romance novels has helped get them through tough times.

4. How does your writing process work?

I used to follow a fairly structured writing process before my husband suffered a stroke, over five years ago. Once I had time to write again, I resolved that my writing time had to be fun. Rather than following a set plan, I just work on whichever task (research, plotting, writing) draws me that day. I’ve learned to trust my intuition more and found, to my surprise, that I’ve become more productive.

If you have questions about my upcoming work or my writing, please feel free to comment.

I’m tagging two more talented writers to participate:

Laura J. Bear took a circuitous route to writing through two other careers. Her first novel, Where the Heart Lands, will be published in March 2015. Laura blogs at www.laurajbear.blogspot.com.

Alicia Rasley is a RITA-award winning Regency novelist whose women’s fiction novel The Year She Fell has twice been a Kindle bestseller in the fiction category. Her articles on writing and the Regency period have been widely distributed, and she blogs about writing and editing at www.edittorrent.blogspot.com.

 

 

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I found an intriguing article on the Historic Royal Palaces blog, The Making of the Modern Bra.

We know that women made little home-made linen or cotton bodices to lift and define their breasts for the new-style dresses. There was no elastic and no underwiring as yet, so these women cut and shaped the fabrics they had to hand, and used lacing to pull the fabric in for extra hold … for a brief time, at the turn of the 19th century, there was a little golden age of home-made undergarments that can claim to being the first British bras as we know them today.

The article claims that staymakers were caught by surprise  at the fashion revolution of the 1790s when the line, fit, and even the fabrics of gowns took a radical turn. Thus women took it upon themselves to cobble together undergarments that would work–essentially what New York socialite Mary Phelphs Jacobson did in 1913 when she needed something to wear under a (somewhat?) transparent evening gown. She used handkerchiefs, lace and cord, and patented the item a year later. I have to admit that bra research gets a bit murky as someone named Marie Tucek patented her “breast supporter” in 1893.

So the questions of the day:

  1. Did late Georgian staymakers have to scramble to catch up with fashions, and
  2. where are the extant early handmade “bras”?
Fr Stay maker

A dedicated French staymaker hard at work.

To the first question, I say no. I don’t think they did. Any smart staymaker would have been keeping his/her eye on what was going on with les francais. I did a search on the Bath Chronicle archives (1770-1800), which are part of the astonishing Bath Archives, a fantastic timesuck research source. I searched on staymakers and found that business seemed to be booming, if not downright cutthroat in July of 1792:

13 Aug 1789 Fashion: Mr F Albrecht, French staymaker, 12 Miles Court, just returned from London with newest fashions of stays, corsets & riding stays.

26 Jul 1792 Employment: 8 journeyman staymakers required by a Master of Bath, London wages offered. Wm Driver, French staymaker, Trim Gate, Borough Walls

5 Jul 1792 Fashion: 8 journeyman staymakers wanted immediately, London wages, apply to several Masters in Bath. Will be protected from molestation & obstruction by previous employees. Fra. Allwright, French staymaker, Green St, Bath

19 Jul 1792 Employment: journeyman staymakers wanted – by several Masters in Bath, London wages. They will prosecute those inclined to obstruct those inclined to serve. H Tanton, French staymaker, 1 Quiet St on behalf of the Masters. Also apprentice wanted.

26 Jul 1798 Fashion: Francis Troei, staymaker (successor to Mr Loons) 18 Union Psge [Bath] has newest fashions in stays, corsets and new invented corset “la garlisle”. Orders Mr Philpot, perfumer, Bristol or Mrs Philpot, Hotwells

21 Nov 1799 Fashion: Geo Sykes, staymaker of 10 Abingdon Bldgs, Northampton St, Bath has the newest fashions executed to satisfaction. Good home-made stays for servants & working women 1 guin/pr. Sykes also carries on an umbrella manufactory

I included that last one because I thought it was interesting that the enterprising Mr. Sykes branched out into umbrellas, a natural expansion with whalebone and canvas to hand, and that he was making ready-made stays for working women. In another ad in the previous year he warned patrons that his 1-guinea stays were available for “ready money only.”

So calling costume historians. Should our heroines sit at home embroidering their own brassieres? Maybe they did; there’s a reference in a short story by Mrs. Gaskell that claims it was fashionable to make your own shoes at the turn of the century too, but I’ve never found it referenced elsewhere (but then I’ve never really looked). And unless staymakers included some sort of identifying label or mark, and the genteel amateurs embroidered their initials into their garments, how would we tell?

And what is a corset “la garlisle?”

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