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Monthly Archives: February 2015

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change
–Charles Darwin, English biologist (1809 – 1882)

1810 v3 Ackermann's Fashion Plate 38 - Evening or Full DressWe may not be the blog with the strongest following. We may not even be the most intelligent (given our lapses into the ridiculous from time to time), but The Risky Regencies know when it is time for a change.

Megan and Myretta leaving was the impetus for us to take a good look at ourselves. How should we proceed? we asked ourselves. We also asked you, our readers and the feedback you gave us was very helpful. One thing was very clear, we didn’t want to end the blog.

Another thing that was clear was, we needed change. For us “old” Riskies it was getting more and more difficult to post every week and each of us began to miss days, especially when life became too hectic. Keira, one of our readers, commented that sometimes it seemed like we were simply “phoning posts in.” She was right, at least pertaining to me. I did phone it in a few times. Sometimes I was at a loss as to what to post. Sometimes I was just swamped by other demands on my time.

0dcf45dd05ed14acc4016c8c77af293c-1One more thing was clear. Our “new” Riskies, Gail, Sandra, and Susanna, have rejuvenated the blog. Their posts have been intelligent, informative, and enjoyable. It stood to reason, then, that one change we should make should be to add new Riskies.

We have three new Riskies!

2665950Isobel Carr, who has been a Risky Regencies guest several times, is an expert in historical fashions as well as a terrific author of Georgian romance (close enough to Regency!) Her League of Second Sons series received wonderful reviews.

Rose_Lerner_200x300Rose Lerner was our guest very recently and has been a guest twice before and is the author of one of Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2014, which was also one of Susanna’s favorites. Amanda listed Rose’s In For A Penny as a favorite in 2010.

aboutphotoMary Blayney is our third new Risky. Mary has recently re-released her traditional Regency Braedon Family series, a series I loved. And there is always her Pennistan series, longer books written with the same heart. Mary also is one of the authors included in the annual J.D. Robb anthology, writing the sole historical novella in each (and always with a magic coin). Mary is a dear friend of mine and I’m so happy to have her join the Risky Regencies.

Isobel, Rose, and Mary will do us very proud.

There are more changes, too. We’re adopting a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule and we are each going to be blogging once a month.

We are confident these changes will infuse new energy into the blog! What do you think? Tell us what you’d like to see from us, too. The changes start today!

(P.S. I forgot to mention that we are going to have at least one guest per month, on the fourth Wednesday of each month and another guest on those months that have 5th days.)

 

At the moment, I am in between historical releases. That is to say, I am working on My Immortals Book 7–No title yet. My next project will be another historical novella for a second anthology with Grace Burrowes, Miranda Neville, and Shana Galen. I believe the anthology title will be Dancing in the Duke’s Arms, and we’re targeting a summer release. We’ve chosen a cover image already, but I have yet to write a word. Even though I have a story idea I’m really excited about.

My point, really, is that I have my head in the paranormal world not the Regency historical world. If I were to noodle around with my historical idea I’d end up with Dancing in the Demon Duke’s Arms. In the meantime, however, I have released my individual novella from Christmas in the Duke’s Arms. Here’s the cover:

In the Duke's Arms by Carolyn JewelAnd here is where you can buy it, if you don’t have the anthology:

Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Google Play | Kobo | All Romance

It’s early days in my story process — seeing as how I haven’t started writing yet, and it’s entirely possible my story will end up completely different. I’m planning a heroine who is considered peculiar and unmarriageable because she never forgets a fact, and she knows lots of them. The hero will figure out what’s up with her and fall madly in love. The end. I’m telling you that’s more than I usually start with. I have a period book that is, more or less, a Farmer’s Almanack, and she’ll have read and remembered it all, so I’ll be referring to that quite a lot. The challenge, naturally, will be making sure her knowledge is period accurate. I foresee Google Books Advanced Search in my future.

I’m not a plotter, so I have to be careful about doing too much planning, or, perhaps another way to think about it is I need not to be wedded to any plot points that might come up before I start writing. I never know what the plot is until I’m done. Truth. So, though I would like to tell you all that my story will be about thus and such, the truth is, I have no idea. I’ll find out about halfway through the story. Possibly later.

For you readers out there, does the idea of an author having no idea what the book is about before she starts writing make you anxious?

Today, The Riskies welcome a guest post from historical romance author Georgie Lee. In addition to her fascinating post, she’s offering a giveaway, so make sure you enter!

Before we get started, here’s a little bit about Georgie:

About Georgie Lee

Head Shot of Georgie Lee. She is smiling, has blonde hair and is wearing a spiffy black dress

Georgie Lee

A lifelong history buff, award winning author Georgie Lee hasn’t given up hope that she will one day inherit a title and a manor house. Until then, she fulfills her dreams of lords, ladies and a season in London through her stories. When not writing, she can be found reading non-fiction history or watching any movie with a costume and an accent. Please visit georgie-lee.com to learn more about Georgie and her books.

Where to Find Georgie

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Blog | Website

The British Sea Service Pistol

In my latest novel, A Debt Paid in Marriage, a pistol plays an important role in both the beginning of the story when the heroine sneaks into the hero’s house and threatens him, only to discover him naked in the bath, and in the turning point at the end, which I won’t describe since I don’t want to spoil it. The pistol in question is a Royal Navy issued flintlock pistol known as the British Sea Service pistol. The army had its own version of this pistol which contained only minor variations.

The Board of Ordinance oversaw the manufacture and distribution of these pistols which were issued from the early 1700s until 1815. The pistols were assembled in the Tower armory but the pieces came from various sources. Made of brass, steel and wood, the user loaded it by ramming the ball and black powder down the nine or twelve inch barrel. The length of the barrel depended on the year it was made, with earlier versions being longer and later versions being shorter. It was a solid weapon meant for use in close fighting during boarding. However, the user only got one shot. Afterwards, it was pretty good for whacking the enemy but not much else, unless a seaman could find a place to hunker down and reload, which, in the heat of battle, wasn’t likely.

The fact that the pistols were government issue did not mean that they were accurate or safe. They weren’t. Flintlocks had a bad habit of misfiring and the harsh sea air aboard ship could wreck havoc on their springs and hammers. The phrase “a flash in the pan” came about in reference to misfires. A flash in the pan is when the flint ignites the gunpowder, or charge as it was known, in the pan but does not fire the ball. With the enemy bearing down on you, this would not be a good thing.

Officers usually had their own weapons especially made for them, but many weren’t above using the standard issue Sea Service pistol. In the painting Nelson Boarding the ‘San Josef’ at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent by George Jones held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/11984.html) you can see Admiral Nelson holding a Sea Service pistol. Thousands of the pistols remained in circulation for decades after they were no longer issued and it wasn’t just the British who used them. The weapon ended up in several countries, including America, as various enemies captured British supply ships during the numerous wars. Even the East India Company preferred the pistols.

The heyday of the Sea Service pistol would come to an end in the mid 18th century when flintlocks were replaced by percussion cap pistols. However, the Sea Service still remained as many were changed into the less hazardous, but no more accurate percussion cap design. The pistol was a workhouse and a staple of life aboard ship. One of these pistols also plays an integral part in the plot of A Debt Paid in Marriage. After learning about the history of this firearm, I hope you will check out A Debt Paid in Marriage, my March 1, 2015 release from Harlequin Historical.

A Debt Paid in Marriage by Georgie Lee

Harlequin Historical March 1, 2015

Cover of A Debt Paid In Marriage by Georgie Lee

A Debt Paid In Honor

Laura Townsend’s plan to reclaim her family’s merchandise backfires when she creeps into moneylender Philip Rathbone’s house and threatens him with a pistol, only to find him reclining naked in his bath!

The last thing she expects is to see this guarded widower on her doorstep a couple of days later armed with a very surprising proposal. A marriage of convenience may be Laura’s chance to reclaim her future, but she won’t settle for anything less than true passion. Can she hope to find it in Philip’s arms?

Where to Get A Debt Paid in Marriage

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Harlequin

To thank Risky Regencies for allowing me to join them today, and to thank you for stopping by, I am giving away an ebook copy of Rescued from Ruin. This is the book where the hero from A Debt Paid in Marriage first makes his appearance. Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. It is open to international entries. Good luck!

Cover of Restored From Ruin by Georgie Lee

Cover of Restored From Ruin

Enter the Contest!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This week in 1797, the French invaded Britain.

No kidding. We tend to think of 1066 as the last invasion, but a far less auspicious attempt took place in February, 1797, at a town called Fishguard in Wales. And it’s a great, bizarre story that has trappings of Gilbert & Sullivan and a heroine of a certain age.

The idea was that members of the French Légion Noire would storm Bristol, release the citizens from the king’s tyranny, and, march inland conquering all. But it didn’t work out that way. They were blown off course, and the Légion Noire was not so much a crack regiment as a regiment of crackheads, “the worst soldiers ever,” according to one of the commenters on this video. Most of them had been culled from prisons.

The first thing the gallant invaders did was to get drunk; a Portugese ship had grounded recently on the coast with a cargo of wine. Then, after some looting, they began to mutiny. And the good people of Fishguard, not very keen on the invaders gobbling up their wine and trashing their church, did not flock to the tricouleur.

Then things really got pear-shaped for the French who didn’t realize that Lord Cawdor, commander of the local militia, was hopelessly outnumbered. Had they been better soldiers things might have gone very differently. There’s a legend that the French, who probably couldn’t focus too well, saw jemsome local women in the Welsh national costume of red cloaks and tall black hats, and thought they were English soldiers. A tapestry on display in Fishguard depicts the legendary Jemima Fawr, (Jemima the Great) who, armed with a pitchfork, captured twelve soldiers, locked them in the church, and went out for more. She was 47 years old.

Two days after landing the French surrendered. A peace treaty was signed in the Royal Oak Inn on February 25.

The-Royal-OakTo add to the farcical elements of the story, the French officers broke their parole and escaped in Lord Cawdor’s yacht. Definitely not cricket.

What I love about this story is that it has so many bizarre, incredible elements. What if the French had landed in Bristol, kept out of the pubs, and succeeded? (I used this in my book Jane and the Damned. If you’re going to have Jane Austen become a vampire you can do just about anything else you want). Or landed in Brighton–that was one of the hotspots for an invasion, which is why the regiment was sent there in P&P, not purely because it was a major party town.

Do you know any strange but true historical facts that are begging to have a story built around them?

 

Posted in History | Tagged | 2 Replies

Hi all! Huzzah, this is my first post as an official Risky! I am so happy to be here. 😀

The hero of my current WIP Listen to the Moon (readers of Sweet Disorder may remember him as Nick’s pun-hating valet Toogood) has recently taken a job as butler in a vicarage. Now, one of the tasks of a butler is to oversee the wine cellar. As The Complete Servant (published in 1825 by husband-and-wife butler/housekeeper duo Samuel and Sarah Adams) puts it:

The keys of the wine and ale cellars are specially kept by him, and the management of the wine, the keeping of the stock book, and also of ale in stock, or in brewing, are in his particular charge. This duty he generally performs in the morning before he is dressed to receive company, and he then brings out such wine as is wanted for the day’s use. It is his duty to fine* wine as it comes in the pipe**, and to superintend the bottling, sealing it himself, and disposing it in bins so as to know its age and character. While these duties and those of brewing are in hand, he leaves the parlour and waiting duties to the under butler and footman.

* Fining is the process of adding stuff to wine that attaches itself to unwanted particles in the wine; they can then be removed together or allowed to sink to the bottom of the keg or cask. It ensures your wine doesn’t look like this:

640px-Sediment_in_winePhoto Credit: Monica Yichoy via Wikimedia Commons.

** A pipe is a traditional English wine cask size, equal to about a hundred and twenty-five gallons, or half a tun.

I wanted to write a scene set in the wine cellar, but I know almost nothing about wine except that I like to drink it. So I checked out some of the helpful tips and recipes in The Complete Servant.

I loved the long list of equipment “To Fit up a Cellar of Wines and Spirits.” Then I tried reading some methods of fining wine.

To fine Port Wine

Take the whites and shells of eight fresh eggs, beat them in a wooden can or pail, with a whisk, till it becomes a thick froth; then add a little wine to it, and whisk it again[…]If the weather be warmish, add a pint of fresh-water sand to the finings. Stir it well about; after which put in the finings, stirring it for five minutes; put in the can of wine, leaving the bung out for a few hours, that the froth may fall: then bung it up, and in eight or ten days it will be fine and fit for bottling.

Ewwwww!

To improve White Wines

If the wine have an unpleasant taste, rack off one half; and to the remainder add a gallon of new milk, a handful of bay-salt, and as much rice; after which take a staff, beat them well together for half an hour, and fill up the cask, and when rolled well about, stillage it, and in a few days it will be much improved.

If the white wine is foul and has lost its colour, for a butt or pipe take a gallon of new milk, put it into the cask, and stir it well about with a staff; and when it has settled, put in three ounces of isinglass made into a jelly, with a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar scraped fine, and stir it well about. On the day following, bung it up, and in a few days it will be fine and have a good color.

Well. Now I was well and truly grossed out! Truly, the past is another country, I thought.

Shows what I know. While inorganic finings are also widely used these days, Wikipedia says: “The most common organic compounds used include egg whites, casein derived from milk, gelatin and isinglass obtained from the bladders of fish.”

Yes indeed. Even dried oxblood powder (a popular traditional fining for red wine) is not entirely a thing of the past. Yes, it had already mostly gone out of fashion when it was banned by the EEC in 1997 due to concerns about mad cow disease–but even after that some wineries were caught breaking the ban!

In theory, only trace amounts of finings remain in the final bottled wine. But although I could find no anecdotal evidence of folks allergic to milk having a reaction to drinking white wine, in 2007 the Scientific Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies of the European Food Safety Agency published their finding “that milk and milk products used in winemaking may trigger allergic responses”! (A helpful blog post on the subject is here.)

I think the tip that horrified me the most, though, was this one:

To convert White Wine into Red

Pour four ounces of turnesole rags* into an earthen vessel, and pour upon them a pint of boiling water; cover the vessel close, and leave it to cool; strain off the liquor, which will be of a fine deep red inclining to purple. A small portion of this colours a large quantity of wine. This tincture may either be made in brandy, or mixed with it, or else made into a syrup, with sugar, for keeping.

* “A violet-blue or purple colouring matter, obtained from the plant Crozophora tinctoria, formerly much used for colouring jellies, confectionery, wines, etc., and later as a pigment[…]Coarse linen rags are steeped in the juice, and then dried and exposed in vats over an ammoniacal mixture; hence the designation turnsole in rags.” –The Oxford English Dictionary

In those countries which do not produce the tingeing grape which affords a blood-red juice, wherewith the wines of France are often stained, in defect of this, the juice of elderberries is used, and sometimes log-wood is used at Oporto.

Now that’s just cheating.

Posted in Food, Research | 11 Replies
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