The Difficulties of 18th Century Dress: Saturday Links

Why is it that the clothing of bygone eras attracts so much interest? Perhaps it is a testament to the importance we place on our own wardrobes. Perhaps it is because we envy the more elaborate beauty of the past.

This week Two Nerdy History Girls shared some photos from a reenactor in Williamsburg, showing a young lady of the colonial era getting dressed for the day. It's remarkable how many layers of clothing a woman from this period had to put on, but as the post points out, someone used to doing it every day can don those layers pretty quickly. The most interesting part to me was that the front of the dress is pinned together using straight pins!

If getting dressed back then wasn't difficult enough, just think about what it would have been like to do the laundry for a household in this era! Maria Grace guest posted over on Kim Rendfeld's blog this week talking about all the steps needed to launder clothing in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Firewood might be gathered the day before, but if not, the laundress would need to move 150-200 pounds of wood to the laundry site to feed fires sufficient for a moderate estate’s laundry. That alone sounds like a day’s worth of effort, but for her it was only the beginning. Once wood was gathered and fires started, water had to be hauled to fill the copper boiler and additional wash and rinse basins.... (read more)

Coffee or Tea? 10 Questions for Me

Yesterday, I had the privilege of answering ten questions put to me by Kayla Posney at the Pittsburgh Historical Fiction Examiner. What five historical figures would I invite to dinner? Which one of Henry VIII's wives is my favorite? And the all important preference question: coffee or tea while writing?

Click on over if you'd like to find out the answers to those questions and to seven others.

Skipping Ahead to the Important Stuff: The Problem with Excerpted Sources

When researching for my novels, one temptation I face is to sample sources instead of reading them fully and to skim through them at warp speed till I find the parts that are relevant to my work. After all, who has time to read William of Malmesbury's whole Chronicle of the Kings of England when all you need is his bit about the Norman Conquest?

One important thing to remember, however, is that research isn't just about finding the facts put forward in a given source; research is about getting to know the historian. When we take the time to evaluate a primary source as a whole instead of picking through it like a flea market connoisseur, we better understand the thoughts of a person living during that time period. And surely that person (even if he only represents a segment of his society), has a better grasp on what facts, what anecdotes, what lists of information were valuable to the men of his era. Sometimes, the boring and bizarre bits that we would want to skip are actually the key to unlocking an understanding of the period.

One example of this is the convoluted Easter controversy in Bede's Ecclesiastical History. To the modern reader, this disagreement between the Celtic churches and Roman churches may seem like a molehill on the horizon of historical mountains. One might be attempted to gloss over the liturgical controversy and excerpt out the "important" bits about the politics and polity of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. But to Bede, this subject was of primary importance, and if we look at Bede as not just a scribbler of facts but also a window into his age, we learn what was important to the eighth century Britons.

Excerpts of primary sources can be excellent timesavers, but they can also be misleading. Excerpts give us the bits that the excerpter (is that a word?) thinks are important, not necessarily the bits that the author considered most essential. I'm all in favor of skipping ahead to the important stuff, but sometimes it takes a thorough reading of a work in its entirety to know what the important stuff is.

The Next Big Thing: Saturday Links

Normally, I use my Saturday posts to highlight interesting articles that I have read during the week. This week all of the items of interest have been authors talking about their WIP's. There's a meme going around called "The Next Big Thing" where you answer ten questions about your latest book and then tag several more people to answer questions about it. It's kind of like those e-mail chain letters that went around a lot when I was a teenager--only there's no threat that if you don't pass it along within three days then something terrible will happen to someone you love.

I was interested to find out that Sophie Perinot's next project is about Catherine de Medici's daughter Marguerite.

Both Marguerite and her mother Catherine de Medici are the stuff of legend—and legend hasn’t been very kind to either woman. I believe that this is largely the result of the political and dynastic struggles which consumed France during the Wars of Religion, generating slanderous publications about the Valois—including the notorious Divorce Satryique that painted Marguerite as a corrupt wanton and which eventually came to be accepted as historical truth—and assuring that they had many enemies. When the Valois dynasty ended (with Marguerite’s brothers/Catherine’s sons), there was no one to protect their legacy as history was being written. I was interested in giving readers a more fair and accurate view of Marguerite who was, in fact, not only one of the most beautiful women of the French Court but also one of the most intelligent.... (read more)

I was happy to hear more about Nancy Bilyeau's book The Chalice, the much-anticipated sequel to The Crown:

I very much wanted to write a sequel to "The Crown," but I was determined to raise the stakes. I wanted to try something darker and more epic, but also I wanted to make the second book more romantic.... Some of the real people who lived in the late 1530s pop up in The Chalice, including not one but two women who would marry Henry VIII. Joanna Stafford also comes face to face, at last, with...Thomas Cromwell. (read more)

I also enjoyed hearing about Debra Brown's inspiration for her WIP For the Skylark. I've been privileged to read part of an early draft of it, and interestingly enough, I enjoyed it even though the inspiration comes from Charles Dickens. (David Copperfield and Great Expectations were my nemeses during high school).

I was always so intrigued and in awe of Charles Dickens' character, Miss Havisham. I wanted to write a story about a reclusive woman like her. I had no idea what would happen in the story when I started, but within a page or so, her adult twins, Dante and Evangeline came into being. It turned out to be them I loved. They had been raised on an estate in isolation and have psychological consequences of that situation. The story took off.... (read more)

And then, as it turns out, I was tagged myself by the delightful Sandra Byrd, who shared more about her third novel dealing with Henry VIII's wives and their ladies-in-waiting.

When I set out to write the Ladies in Waiting Series, I already knew the three queens I liked best, and wanted to write about: Anne Boleyn, Kateryn Parr, and Elizabeth.  I just didn’t know from which Lady’s point of view I would tell Elizabeth’s story.  So when I stumbled upon Elin von Snakenborg, later Helena, Marchioness of Northampton, I knew I’d found my girl.... (read more)

So, now, after sharing all these lovely links, I get to answer the ten interview questions myself and let you decide whether my book is good enough to be "The Next Big Thing." Here I go....

1.) What is the title of your book?
Flower of the Desert

2.) Where did the idea come from for the book?
This is the second book in my First Crusade trilogy, The Chronicles of Tancred. The idea for the whole trilogy came from reading primary sources written by those who traveled on the First Crusade. I was originally planning to follow the Frankish members of the Crusade, but the character of Tancred--a young, impetuous marquis from southern Italy--jumped out at me and refused to be anything other than the hero of my tale.

3.) What genre does your book fall under?
Historical fiction.

4.) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
It's hard to think of someone tall enough to play my blond-haired, blue-eyed protagonist Tancred, but Ryan Gosling might fit the part in other ways. Ralph Fiennes could take the role of Count Raymond, the hero's nemesis in this book. And my two leading ladies? I think I'd have to stretch farther afield than the American actors that I know since one of them is Turkish and the other is Greek....

5.) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Tancred continues his crusading journey from Antioch to Jerusalem, overcoming Turkish strongholds and finding his own heart strongly overcome in this tale of love, loyalty, and lust for power.

6.) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It will be published by Madison Street Publishing.

7.) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? And read the intro.
I am a little over halfway done with the first draft...and it's been about a year so far. I'm hoping to finish it up in the next four months. Here's the first line: "The hole in the floor of the church grew deeper with each thrust of the soldiers’ spades." I hope that makes you wonder what they're digging up....

8.) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I've had a few readers compare my books to Sharon Kay Penman's, and the crusader history in this book is similar (though earlier) to the setting of her book Lionheart.

9.) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Tancred's passionate quest to retake Jerusalem for Christendom, coupled with the strange twist to his character following that conquest (I can't say anymore for fear of spoilers), inspired me to write a fictional account of his life to solve the enigma of his character. I wanted to know why Tancred did what he did. And since the historians don't tell us, I decided to write the reason.

10.) What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
The love triangle in the book is based on a 16th century epic poem called Jerusalem Delivered. In the poem, there are two Turkish princesses, one interested in Tancred and the other the object of his affections. In Flower of the Desert, I've changed one of them into a Byzantine girl tagging along with the Crusaders, but I've incorporated several other plot points from the poem. Alexandra or Erminia? By the end of this book, Tancred will have found the answer to that question.
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Well, the rules of this thing state that I'm supposed to tag five more people and pass it along. But, there's a slight problem--being tagged so late in the game, I've discovered that almost all the writers in the circles I frequent have already done their posts for The Next Big Thing. So, I'm going to break the rules and break the chain--which isn't too out of character since I never sent those chain letter e-mails through, even when I was a teenager.

Thanks for reading about my Next Big Thing, and do click on over to visit the links of some of my fellow HF authors. They're who I would have tagged if I hadn't been the last kid in gym class to get picked. :-)

The Regency Plot that I Forgot

If you've read either of my novels, you know that medieval historical fiction is the genre where I hang my hat. But while both my published works take place between the 11th and 14th centuries, that's not the only time period I have an affinity for. Believe it or not, I have a couple partially written Regency romances in the drawer just waiting for me to finish what I started.

There's one piece in particular that I'd like to turn into a novella or a full length novel. Right now it's only at 6,000 words and it doesn't have a title yet, but here's the set-up:

Mrs. Ellsworth sighed wearily. She propped herself up against the striped satin cushions to make her final appeal. “You, sir, are his uncle! How can you be so unfeeling toward his plight?”

Lord Pearlton gave an affected yawn and adjusted his sleeve cuffs with minute precision. “My dear sister, the blessed state of bachelorhood is hardly a plight which one need be feeling towards. Your Harry is unmarried—let him count himself fortunate. The beast matrimony will savage him soon enough.”

“Your personal distaste of matrimony is wholly irrelevant to the issue,” replied Mrs. Ellsworth coldly. It was a sore point between them that Lord Pearlton had never married. She, a dozen years his senior, had never failed in offering her admonitions on the subject. He, a wealthy bachelor of the first stare, had never failed in disregarding them. When he had turned thirty last spring, she had pronounced him incorrigible and had disappointedly given up all projects for his future. Now, however, there was another project to be managed. Young Henry Ellsworth had reached the hallowed age of twenty-one, and his mother was determined that he would marry an heiress. But first, his uncle must introduce him into the proper society.

“Camilla,” said Pearlton languidly, “you do understand that fortune hunters are not looked upon favorably in society, do you not?”

Mrs. Ellsworth took offence. “Harry is not a fortune hunter!”

“Oh, I beg your pardon. Perhaps there is a better phrase to designate impecunious gentlemen desiring to entrap wealthy females.”

“Upon my word, Lindsey! You are completely odious.”

“Regrettably, yes.”

“I knew how it would be when I resolved to ask you, but no amount of effrontery will deter me from seeking the good of my child. Will you, or will you not, do your duty by your nephew?”

“I was not aware that my duty consisted of throwing him in the way of wealthy young women.” 

Naturally, Lord Pearlton is prevailed upon to acquiesce to his sister's request. He bring's Harry to London and sets about finding him a bride. A dinner party and some social visits narrow down the field to Anna Marchmount, an heiress with an invalid mother who does not spend much time in Town. Pearlton connives to get an invitation out to the Marchmounts' country estate and brings Harry there to woo the fair damsel. In the process, Pearlton realizes that he's fallen for Anna himself.

The trouble is, it's been so long since I first started this piece that I can't remember what is keeping Pearlton and Anna apart. What's the obstacle that must be overcome (other than the fact that she was supposed to be Harry's in the first place)? There's a scene a few thousand words in that sets up a mystery in Pearlton's past:

 Without mincing words, Pearlton outlined the commission entrusted to him by his anxious sister, namely, to promote his nephew’s interest with a lady of quality and money. “And the long and short of the matter is that I agreed to it, and now I have the wretched lad in tow.”

Wilmington whistled thoughtfully. “That does beat all. Don’t envy you. Wouldn’t like it if it was me. Is he up to snuff?”

“Regrettably, no. He’s the veriest gudgeon I’ve ever laid eyes upon. He has no sense of address, no charm, no virtues at all that I can discover, unless they be his staunch sobriety and adherence to familial duty. But be this as it may, I am determined to carry it off. I view this undertaking in the light of a challenge, and I cannot fail.”

“Can’t fail, eh?” said Wilmington with a mischievous shine in his eye. “Let’s hope this challenge ain’t like that one with Featherby because if it is, you ain’t--”

“Good God, George!” interrupted Pearlton. “Will you never let me live that down?” He ran a hand through his brown curls and begged his friend to give up his constant allusions to that unfortunate incident now ten years past.

The Earl of Wilmington chuckled. “If it was me, you’d never let me forget it. They all said that you were the sure thing, and that Featherby couldn’t hold a candle to you--”

“Enough!” pleaded Pearlton.

“And I laid out a hundred pounds on you. I had such faith--”

“My good man,"--Pearlton's voice was jovial but an experienced listener might have noticed a hard edge to it--"if you continue on in this vein, I really must take my leave of you. My amour propre cannot survive this constant assault.”

“Oh, very well then,” said Wilmington, but the smile did not leave his face.
“Very well then,” repeated Pearlton severely, as if the subject had been definitively closed.

I'm certain that this bet involving "Featherby" that happened ten years ago is a crucial piece to the plot and will come into play later as Pearlton tries to win the girl. But I can't, for the life of me, remember what that bet was. Perhaps I never knew in the first place, even when I wrote that scene.

Yesterday, while I was musing on Regency romances (yes, they've been on my brain a lot lately--I'll tell you why in a minute), I came up with a brilliant solution to the "Featherby problem". I now know what happened ten years ago in the challenge that Pearlton lost. I now know why he doesn't want to talk about it. And I now know how it is going to create conflict in the story when he finally woos the girl. But I never said I'd tell you what I came up with--you'll just have to wait till I finish the story. (And since it's number 3 or 4 on my list of WIP, you may be waiting a while. Sorry.)

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The thing I did want to tell you is why Regency romances have been a topic of such keen interest to me of late. This summer I've been busy editing a Regency romance for our publishing company, Madison Street Publishing. It's the debut novel of Philippa Jane Keyworth and we've just set the release date and revealed the cover. The story is delightful and the cover's a beauty too. So while you'll probably have to exercise the patience of Job before I get a Regency of my own ready for publication, you won't have to wait long at all to get your hands on this gem. Available online in e-book and paperback December 1--

THE WIDOW’S REDEEMER

By Philippa Jane Keyworth

A penniless young widow with an indomitable spirit. A wealthy viscount with an unsavory reputation.

London, 1815: After her husband’s untimely death, Letty Burton comes up from the country with her domineering mother-in-law. Hiding a past she wishes to forget and facing an uncertain future, all she wants is to navigate London Society as a silent companion.

A chance meeting with London’s most eligible bachelor sets in motion a series of events that will bring her quiet life under the unfriendly scrutiny of the ton. With the net of scandal, debts, and rivals closing in, will she let her dark past dictate her life forever? Will she learn to trust again? And most importantly, will she allow herself to love?