Holiday Chronicles #1

 

As we draw near the final holidays of the year, many of us are stressing for a variety of reasons.  Some are personal; others may be related to the pandemic, jobs, children and more.  So, what do we do?  If I think about the Danish attitude of "hygge" and their beliefs in how to deal with winter, I'm finding some comfort in that set of beliefs.  That we should embrace winter and, to the best of our abilities, find solace and comfort in the quiet winter months.  

Easy for some; more difficult for others.  

Let's start with the simple things we can control.  The small details of daily life.  One thing.  One day at a time.  

Here's my first effort.  Comfort.  I'm all about comfort -- to stay snug, to enjoy a good book and a glass of wine by the fire.  No fireplace?  Lots of candles, then!  My daughter has been recycling old, used candles, melting down the wax, adding store-bought wax melts and a wick.  We've all been saving empty jam jars, salsa jars and such so she can do her magic.  And some of her mixes have been quite amazing!  But light is important.  Whether it's a fireplace or a bank of candles on your coffee table, it helps.  The glow of a single candle flame makes a difference, symbolizing hope and home, I believe. But now that the sun sets at about 4:30pm, light makes a difference.  Experiment.  Add a mirror or two throughout your rooms as they reflect more light.

And what's the recipe for today's posting?  The dreaded mince pie!   So many people still think that mince pies include meat.  Ugh.  That was the case years and years ago, but today mince pie is somewhat like fruitcake (without the weight).  Here's a quick history of mince pie:

For us here in the states, the mince pie probably came over with our ancestors, predominately from northern European countries.  But where did it originate?  Best theory is that the European crusaders brought back many of the cooking traditions from the Middle East where meat, spices and fruit were often cooked together.  Today in the UK, over 3 million mince pies are consumed yearly.  But here on this side of the Great Pond, they're harder to find.  This year I could not find a mince pie to save my life, which made me sad.  My dad and I always looked forward to that spicy concoction at Thanksgiving, eschewing the more popular pumpkin pie.  My dad was of Scottish and Irish descent, so I suppose that's where his love of minc pie came from.  

Possible Recipes to try:

SpruceEats:

 BBC Good Food:

*Pillsbury:  This one cuts the time with prepared pie crusts! 

Happy Hygge Eating!

The Hounds and Sheep of a Regency Romance -- Uh?

 Sometimes a writer just has to do some silly stuff.  Why?  Because as we create our stories the imp within demands some quality time, and because you want to pepper your story with believable facts that help embellish an historical romance with a degree of veracity.  

Several of my historical romances have these little streaks of humor and/or facts, so in Wicked Wagers I included a few odd but fun touches:  first, the Irish Water Spaniel.  In reading through one of the many issues of Country Living (the UK edition) I tend to hoard, I came across an article about this somewhat rare breed.  But, I must confess, it was the image of these wild and wooly hounds that made me want to incorporate them into the romance.

Pretty cute, uh?  These dogs are excellent retrievers for waterfowl, which was perfect for the area that WW is set -- on the west coast in the Whitehaven area, not far from the Lake District. 

How can you resist a dog that looks like this, I ask you?  And when I did some research on this breed, they indeed were being cultivated in Ireland in the first half of the nineteenth century, so it's feasible that Julia Montford, the heroine, could have been involved in breeding these hunting dogs.  According to the American Kennel Club, they are friendly, even a bit clownish.

And now to the sheep . . . .  Say hello to the Lincoln Longwool breed, first introduced in The Viscount and the Virgin, when the viscount struggles to rebuild his estates after his older brothers had almost destroyed them. 

According to Wikipedia, the Lincoln is the largest British sheep, developed specifically to produce the heaviest, longest and most lustrous fleece of any breed in the world.  The versatile fleece is in great demand for spinning, weaving and many other crafts, even to this day.  

Talk about having a bad hair day . . . ;-)  

 

And finally, the Herdwick sheep, brought to England during the Viking invasions over 600 years earlier.  This is a hardy breed perfect for the long, harsh winters in the mountainous area of the Lake District.  They've even been known to eat their own fleece to stay alive during long winters, if necessary. 

I decided to add them to WW because Ben's older brother, Charles, is now the squire and has a herd of 500 head of Herdwicks, common to the area.  Between Gabriel Montford and Charles Burton, these two characters are always "wagering" on their herds as they lay bets on Ben and Julia's courtship throughout the romance.  Must be a guy thing?

Well, so there you have it.  Hounds and sheep in a Regency romance.  Pretty exciting stuff, right?  Hey, writing is a very solitary life, so I guess I need to get out more . . .

"I suppose we are all getting to look mildly fictional -- "
E.B. White

HAPPY READING!

Who is Ben Burton?

This blog entry was suggested by one of my colleagues, Jo-Ann Roberts, who urged me to post something about the hero in Wicked Wagers, the second romance in The School for Sophistication series, which is due to go live on October 15.  After all, she wrote, "Readers want to know what the hero looks like!"  Okay, Jo-Ann -- this one's for you!

Here is how I imagine Benjamin Malory Burton to look -- he's tall, rugged, has honey-gold hair, deep blue eyes and a set of lips that makes my heroine, Julia Montford, swoon time and time again.  Some of you may recognize the actor, James Norton, best known for his starring role in the British TV mystery series, Grantchester.  As I scoured the images on Google and Pinterest, I kept returning to Norton.  I've never watched the series (my bad!), but there was something about Norton that rang true for a former British Cavalry officer from the Napoleonic Wars.  And when I stumbled on this image, I was convinced I'd found Ben Burton.

Can't you picture Norton in the formal black-and-white evening wear of the Regency period -- substitute the bow tie for a silk cravat, right?  Breeches and Hessian boots?  You bet! 

The character of Ben is somewhat gentle for all his height and muscular build.  He's a tease, loves his little nephews and is willing to work with his hands to repair a dilapidated hunting lodge.  In other words, a man who is willing to work to build a future for himself and the woman he loves. 

But he's also a man with a plan and his determination to woo and wed Julia pushes him beyond his normal rough-and-ready demeanor.  Nothing, however, goes smoothly in the course of seduction, and yet Ben is willing to turn to Lady Caro and the Dowager for their help in learning a little sophistication.

 

And that's what makes him a hero, in my mind. 

 

 

You can order Wicked Wagers here (more vendor links are still loading, such as Barnes and Noble, and is also available for pre-order on Amazon here.   

 

And if you haven't read the first book in The School for Sophistication series, The Viscount and the Virgin, you can find the ebook vendors here.  

 

 

"The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp.

The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story."

Ursula K. Le Guin

 

HAPPY READING!

 

Claire H.

 

 

Cover Reveal for Wicked Wagers!

 Drum roll, please . . . and now for what you've all been waiting for breathlessly (or not) -- 

 

Silly, I know, but I always get a thrill when I see the cover of my newest to be released!  And this one has been in the pipeline for soooo long, it's embarrassing to admit.  But 2020 has been a difficult year for so many of us.  The urge to write had almost disappeared last spring, leaving poor Julia and Ben hanging fire.

Well, they're in the hands of the beta and ARC readers; release date will be coming soon, as promised.  As an indie author, I hesitate to put a firm date on the release until I hit the "submit" link to the publishing platform I use.  After all, one never knows what life is going to toss at you these days.

Hope you've been enjoying my blog posts -- and there's still more to come in the weeks ahead -- including a Tuesday's Tips for Writers, which is something I've been playing with for awhile.  

Until next week --  as always --  

Happy Reading!

Claire

British Heavy Cavalry

 One of the great things about writing historical fiction is that we like to thread and embellish our stories with historical facts to bring a strain of realism -- yes, even in romance!   The hero in Wicked Wagers is Benjamin Malory Burton, an ex-cavalry officer from the Heavy Cavalry -- quite different from the better known Light Cavalry.

This is a painting depicting the Royal Scots Greys at Waterloo --  not sure I'd want to see this come charging at me if I was on foot . . . 😓

 

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Heavy Cavalry were nicknamed the "shock troops," using their height and weight and speed to attack and harass the enemy's infantry.  Charges occurred on clear ground with a rise, so they literally appeared to be hurtling down at the infantry soldiers, who were often formed in line, thus being vulnerable to a cavalry charge.

Denis Dighton's painting in the Royal Collection of Sergeant Charles Ewart capturing the Eagle of the 45th Line regiment. It is contemporary to the Waterloo period and is correct in the details of the uniforms and weapons.

Ben entered the cavalry in 1812 and, because of his height, his broad, muscular build and his knowledge and ability with horses, he was an ideal candidate for the Heavy Cavalry. What he experienced and witnessed over the years that he served can only be imagined.  Here's a link to a clip on YouTube from the 1970 movie, Waterloo, featuring Rod Steiger as Napoleon and Christopher Plummer as Wellington .  This scene captures the fierceness of the charge, the speed and the utter destruction that followed.  It leaves you breathless and bewildered . . . 

 

Of Ladies and Lacy Fichus

 Apologies all around for not writing more frequently on my blog -- something I'm determined to correct in the coming weeks.  Today I'm going to talk about my main character, Miss Julia Charlotte Montford, the heroine of Wicked Wagers, due to release in October of this year.

Julia is a feisty one -- spoiled, often impudent, headstrong and all too often making wagers.  If she lived in today's world, she'd probably be buying lottery tickets by the yard!  But one day she makes a wager with the ex-cavalry officer, Benjamin Malory Burton, and her life will never be the same.  

Oftentimes we writers scour the internet and sites like Pinterest to find an image that sparks the imagination of both the writer and the reader.  Many times it's an actress or actor, but this time I stumbled on a series of paintings by John Hoppner, who lived and painted in the late 18th century into the early years of the 19th century.  

And I found Julia -- here she is --

Such a winsome beauty with her dark hair and eyes.  One can almost feel her dreaming about something, suggested by the letter she holds in her hands.  A possible lover?  A husband away in the wars?  Well, she's on my storyboard and when I'm stuck in my writing about her -- what does she want in life?  how does she feel about Ben Burton? --  I look over and see her, eyes fixed on some distant point. You can almost hear her sighing. 

But just for fun, I kept scrolling through Hoppner's works and noticed that he truly did love the ladies.  There are so many portraits of women, it's amazing.  And yes, his works were romanticized, but it was the Age of Romanticism after all, wasn't it?   It struck me that he caught several wonderful examples of that elusive bit of cloth we Regency writers often mention, but that some readers may not quite know what we're referring to -- the infamous fichu -- that lacy bit that hid a woman's bosom from view (or almost).   Here are a few examples by Hoppner and by Eduard Niczky:

This is a portrait of Lucy Byng by Hoppner -- and just look at that amazing detail on the lace.  Quite elaborate, although it doesn't necessarily hide much, does it?  

This next portrait is by Eduard Niczky, who painted later in the mid-19th century, but gives another lovely depiction of a fichu:

 A simpler variation but certainly enticing to the eye of the suitor, wouldn't you say?  I can almost picture Ben slipping this wisp of fabric off Julia as he campaigns to win his wicked wager with her. 

So stay tuned to Wicked Wagers coming next month -- another Regency romp in the English countryside, featuring the intrepid tutors for the School for Sophistication, Lady Caro and the Dowager Lady Rutherford.  If you missed the first book in the series -- The Viscount and the Virgin -- you can buy your copy at any of these ebook vendors.

Read a quick excerpt of The Viscount and the Virgin on Amazon.  Until next week -- Happy Reading!

Claire H.

More Secondary Characters

As promised, I'm back with some tidbits of info on another favorite secondary character who has appeared in several of my Regency romances -- the Dowager Lady Rutherford.

I needed a character who would balance out Lady Caro (see last week's blog entry), someone who was smart as a whip, tough and yet hiding a soft side.  The dowager seemed to fit the bill for when she first appears in Snowbound Seductions, she's ornery, feared by all (even the duke) and willing to use her ebony cane like a Scottish claymore.

So, the first British actress who visually inspired me, mostly for the dowager's physical attributes is Phyllida Law.  If you're an Acorn TV or Brit Box fan, many of you will recognize Ms. Law.

Phyllida Law

She's appeared in so many series and movies, and is also known as Emma Thompson's mother.  She is a wonderful actress and, to me, captures how I visualize the dowager.

And in my work-in-progress, Wicked Wagers, we'll see a bit more of her softer side (although not too much).   

But as for her mental and emotional attributes, there can be no other actress than Dame Judi Dench.  Dench is acerbic, sarcastic and witty.  And yet, depending upon her role, Dench can be as mean-spirited and harsh as any other actor.  

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

I'd love to hear who your favorite secondary characters are and what novels they appear in -- drop a comment or two, please.

Next week:  my inspirations for some of my previous heroines and heroes.  So stay tuned! 

Inspiration for your characters

How do writers come up with the physical and emotional attributes of their characters?  Do we base our visions on movie stars or just random images that we find/collate from social media sites such as Pinterest?  Or is it a combination of both?

These past months I've been working on Book #2 in my School for Sophistication, featuring Lady Caro Ashford and the Dowager Lady Rutherford as the school's tutors.  Although they're not the main characters, they're the ones that carry the thread through the series.  And they both also featured in the Merry Widow series, a previous series.  I enjoyed these two intrepid ladies so much that I knew I had to incorporate them in the second series somehow, and the idea of the school seemed ideal.  Literally, they had taken on a life of their own, as often characters are want to do -- guiding the writer is so many little ways -- "No, not like that, dear.  I want to be more like this;" etc.  The writer starts out with an idea or two, sometimes vague, sometimes quite solid.  But over time, the character grows and detours begin.

So, let's look at the visuals that helped me create the first of the two ladies.  A little background first, though.  Lady Caroline Ashford has been married and widowed three times by the time The Viscount and the Virgin was written, which was not unusual for a well-endowed woman in the early 19th century.  Caro is quite attractive even in her fortieth decade -- witty and still somewhat lusty, a bit like the Wife of Bath, although much more elegant.

Ms. Hampshire as Molly in Monarch of the Glen

First British actress that helped shape Lady Caro is Susan Hampshire.  Ms. Hampshire has been in British movies and television series for quite some time, but still an attractive woman.  My favorite role is her Molly from Monarch of the Glen.  Molly is an intelligent, handsome woman in middle age, with a light, witty attitude toward life; she also can be a schemer.

from the First Churchills (1969)

I think these images convey a bit of how I envisioned Lady Caro.  But there's also a side to Caro that is frivolous, especially when it comes to the menfolk.  She's always falling in love or at least smitten by a handsome, experienced man.  And that's how her vulnerable side developed.  She fears growing old alone.  So, like a bee in a garden, she tends to flit from man to man, although she's also coming to realize that her husbands tend to die on her, so in the first romance of this new series, she's determined not to marry again. 

Brenda Blethyn in Pride & Prejudice (2005)

And so another British actress who inspired a bit of this side of Lady Caro is Brenda Blethyn.  I love Blethyn's talents as an actress -- from Vera, a toughened detective, to the silly but loving Mrs. Bennett of Pride & Prejudice (2005), Blethyn helped shape this aspect of Lady Caro.

Next week I'll post about the Dowager Lady Rutherford, Lady Caro's friend and business partner in The School for Sophistication series.  The dowager is a tough nut and often is a foil to the flirty Lady Caro, but she grows on you.  And in the second novel, Wicked Wagers, she'll play a vital role.  Stay tuned!