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.