I don't do anything so mean, I don't even sell apples!

My blog tour starts today! You can read my post about classism in Regency England over at History Hoydens. Here's the opening:

When I started writing In for a Penny, about a rich brewer's daughter who marries an impoverished earl, I realized I was going to have to do some research to figure out how people in the Regency thought about class. I had general ideas, obviously, but if I was going to write about my heroine from the point of view of my antagonist, the snobby poacher-hating Tory Sir Jasper, or write about my heroine meeting the hero's newly-middle-class tenant farmers, I needed to understand more.

I quickly discovered that there were endless gradations, just as there are today:

1. A biography of Hannah More tells this story: the Duchess of Gloucester "desired one of her ladies to stop an orange-woman and ask her if she ever sold ballads. 'No indeed,' said the woman, 'I don't do anything so mean, I don't even sell apples!'"

And I'm giving away a signed copy of my book in the comments, too. Check it out!

Contest and other news!

Hi all! In honor of my first book (which will hit shelves in just over three weeks!) I'm running a contest at my site! I'll be giving away five signed copies of In for a Penny, and one lucky winner will get my Regency Starter Pack--10 of my favorite books! This is an awesome prize, if I do say so myself, so get over there and enter!

I've also got a preliminary schedule for my blog tour and signings up on my site index--more dates coming soon! But mark your calendars, my first signing will be at Third Place Books (in Lake Forest Park, WA) on April 2nd at 6:30PM! It's going to be awesome and you should all come.

And so this post doesn't consist entirely of shameless self-promotion, here's a really interesting post about female sexuality in romance from Dear Author (which is a couple weeks old now, so maybe you've all read it already, but if you haven't, do it now):

So going back to the question of whether these views mirror some biological or psychological or historical imperative, even if all that were true, I don’t think it’s the critical issue. For me, the critical issue is that as a society we continue to value a woman’s sexual status and we give value to women (or take it away) based on this status.

Also, my critique partner Susan Wilbanks is doing a really cool series on how to use British titles and courtesy titles, using examples from the Peter Wimsey books and the Duke of Wellington's family: "Of Wimseys and Wellesleys"! Since title errors pull me out of a story faster than a speeding bullet, I'm pretty excited about this. Especially since I use the Wimsey family to remember lots of the rules myself (Gaudy Night is one of my top romances EVER).

EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ROSES!

"Rose Lerner's LILY AMONG THORNS, in which a young woman innkeeper who has worked hard to bury her past finds herself facing the man who long ago helped her escape her life as a prostitute and is now turning to her for her help; she believes the biggest threat to her independence are the sparks that fly between them until disaster threatens and she finds they must work together to fight for their freedom and their lives, to Leah Hultenschmidt at Dorchester, for publication in January 2011, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency (World)."

This was in Publisher's Marketplace yesterday! Yes! I sold another book!

Pretty much all the details I have so far are in that announcement--I just got the call from Kevan on Tuesday and I think I might have burst her eardrum screaming into the phone--but I'll keep you posted!

::chair-dances::

Oh, say, can you see by the dawnzer lee light?

I recently learned a new word: mondegreens. A "mondegreen" is, as defined by Wikipedia, "the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase, typically a standardized phrase such as a line in a poem or a lyric in a song, due to near homophony, in a way that yields a new meaning to the phrase."

The term was coined by Sylvia Wright, who said, "When I was a child, my mother used to read aloud to me from Percy's Reliques, and one of my favorite poems began, as I remember:

Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,
Oh, where hae ye been?
They hae slain the Earl Amurray,
And Lady Mondegreen."

The actual fourth line is "And laid him on the green". As Wright explained the need for a new term, "The point about what I shall hereafter call mondegreens, since no one else has thought up a word for them, is that they are better than the original."

So the thing you have to understand about me is that I am absolutely terrible at understanding song lyrics. I have a LOT of trouble picking out words, even though words are often the most important part of a song to me because I'm a writer and not very musical. I frequently have to look up lyrics of a song I love, or it irks me EVERY TIME I hear the song. "STOP MUMBLING!" I shout at the radio. So I frequently have the experience of discovering that I was totally, 100% wrong about what a singer was saying.

I don't know why it is that what I make up for myself is so often more satisfying to me that the real lyric. Is it just because I'm used to it, having listened to the song that way so many times? Or is it because, making it up myself, I naturally made it up in a way I liked, a way that resonated with me?

The most recent example is from Bob Dylan's love song, "Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands." I love that song. I love it a lot. I love it so much that I love a whole OTHER Bob Dylan love song, "Sarah," just because it has the line, "Staying up for days in the Chelsea Hotel/Writing 'Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands' for you." (This despite having no romantic feelings about Bob Dylan AT ALL, as he seems like kind of a jerk.) But I have always, always, ever since I first heard the song when I was 16, thought that the second line was, "And your eyes like smoke and your breasts like rhymes."

Turns out it's actually prayers like rhymes. Which, there's nothing wrong with that as a line. It's a nice line, even. But I loved my own interpretation. I thought it was the most romantic, sexy simile ever. (For a writer, I guess words are the most erotic thing someone can compare you to.)

And now I've heard it the right way and I'll never be able to unhear it. And I'm kind of disproportionately saddened by that.

When's the last time you've been disappointed by finding out the actual lyrics to a song?

My new best friend

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, whichever one you celebrate!

I got a truly amazing gift this year: a netbook! I had been thinking about buying one, so I could write at work or when I'm out and about, but I just couldn't justify the money. Then my uncle and a couple of my friends chipped in and bought it for me! I am so grateful I don't even know what to say.

My netbook, an EeePC S101 named Harry, is my new favorite thing in the entire world. He goes everywhere with me. He's small enough that I can comfortably check my e-mail or catch up on blogs or watch a movie while wrapped in blankets on the couch! (An important consideration this time of year.) Plus, I adore my laptop, but it doesn't have wireless. Harry does.

Last week I had to take my car to the mechanic for a few hours. Normally this would mean a few hours of window-shopping or something else equally unproductive, since my mechanic is pretty far from my house and my work both. But I took Harry with me, and lo and behold, someone had opened up a Jewish deli with free wireless just a few blocks away. I was able to have fried salami and eggs with a bagel, AND get some writing done!

(This Jewish deli is my OTHER new favorite thing in the entire world. Seattle doesn't really have a lot of New York-style delis, and this one is the real thing. I went back yesterday with a friend and got an overstuffed pastrami, swiss cheese, and coleslaw sandwich on rye, aka a "Rachel." It was HEAVEN. With each bite I was amazed anew that the sandwich was really as delicious as I had thought it was. Mmmmmmm. We also split an amazing piece of cheesecake.)

Anyway. Back on topic. Look at Harry! He's so pretty and sleek:





(The sticker is a drawing of a T-Rex saying "Ladies, please, one at a time!" It's from one of my favorite webcomics, Dinosaur Comics.)

I chose Harry because he was light, small, and relatively inexpensive, but an awesome side benefit is that there are rhinestones in his hinges, somewhat inexplicably (my photography skills are not the best, but you can kind of see it's there):



And here he is showing off my lovely website!



Which segues nicely into the other thing I wanted to mention, which is that my amazing web designer Jo recently updated my website with a whole section for In for a Penny!

It's all here and includes the first chapter of the book, deleted scenes, character interviews, and more! It also tells you where you can pre-order the book in the US, Canada, and the UK (and the Book Depository has free shipping to lots and lots of places, if you're somewhere else!). She really did an amazing job, I can't believe how good it looks. Check it out! (And keep your eyes peeled for a contest! Coming soon.)

I hope the new year brings all of you your heart's desire.

Casting call! (Part 1/2)

I had approximately twenty million things to get done this weekend, so what did I spent two hours doing? Casting my book. Yep. (I'm posting my results in a couple of installments since I am still stuck on a few characters, plus otherwise this would be a really long post.)

First: my hero. Nathaniel Arthur Delaval Ambrey, Viscount Nevinstoke (son and heir of the Earl of Bedlow). His friends call him "Nev," and he's a ne'er-do-well crossed with a geek (because I love geeks). He loves going to the theater and the opera, and he actually studied Latin at Cambridge in between wenching and gambling and all that.

He's a nice guy, he's just very young (23 years old) and has never really had to look out for anyone but himself. When his father dies, he finds the sudden responsibility for his family and estate a little overwhelming, but he wants very badly to live up to it. Penelope, the heroine, describes him like this:

There was, to be sure, nothing out of the common way about him. A perfectly ordinary-looking young man, Penelope insisted to herself. He was of middling height, his shoulders neither slim nor broad. His hands were not aristocratically slender--there was nothing to set them apart from the hands of any other gentleman of her acquaintance.

His hair was a little too long, and she thought its tousled appearance more the result of inattention than any attempt at fashion; it was neither dark nor fair, but merely brown--utterly nondescript save for a hint of cinnamon. His face too would have been unmemorable if it were not for a slight crookedness in his nose, suggesting it had been broken. His eyes were an ordinary blue, of an ordinary shape and size.

So why could she picture him so clearly, and why did the memory of his smile still make her feel--hot, and strange inside?

I think he looks like Adam Brody (only, of course, not Jewish and with a broken nose):



Now my heroine, Penelope Brown. Her parents were poor people who worked their way up to owning their own brewery and are now extremely rich. They sent her to a fancy finishing school that gave her a complex about being ladylike and sensible at all times, and she keeps trying to force herself into that mold even though it doesn't always fit.

When Nev first meets her, he has this to say: "She was really very pretty, with fine dark eyes, a straight little nose, and a girlish mouth, thin and expressive. Her complexion, framed by straight dark hair, was almost translucent. He suspected she would freckle in the sun." I think she looks a little like Molly Parker in this picture:



All I ever really say about Nev's little sister Louisa's appearance is that she's seventeen, has the same color hair as him, and that she is extremely fond of elaborate bonnets. Bonnet humor, never not funny. Louisa can be a brat, but I like her a lot. She has reasons to be angry; her family life isn't the greatest despite having an awesome older brother. I think this passage will give you a pretty good idea what she's like:

"Remember Louisa’s sixth birthday?" Nev asked.

"I’m afraid you’ll have to be more precise," Percy [Nev's best friend since childhood] said.

"She’d been telling everyone in sight for months that she wanted a pirate sword, and--"

"Oh, Lord, and your father bought her that enormous doll in a pink satin dress. I never saw a child look more forlorn in her life."

"He had no idea what was wrong."

"I can picture that doll perfectly to this day." Percy smiled reminiscently. "As I recall, I was betrothed to it for a time. Louisa used to commandeer its ship as it sailed to England to be my bride, and I had to duel her for it."

I think she looks like April Matson (the hair color is exactly right too):



Nev's mistress, Amy, is a talented actress (did I mention he loves the theater?). She's small and slender and has a tendency to freckle, like Penelope--Nev has a type. This description of her is from the scene where Nev has gotten engaged to Penelope and has to break up with her:

"He looked at her, but he didn't see her brown eyes or the mischievous tilt of her mouth or even the small, creamy breasts that curved into the clean white muslin of her frock. He didn't remember the year of laughter and sex and casual affection they had shared. He looked at Amy and all he could see was the thousands of pounds she had cost."

She has blond, curly hair, and I think she looks a little like Lindy Booth:

     

And finally, at the beginning of the story, before she gets engaged to Nev, Penelope is informally engaged to her best friend, Edward Macaulay. Mr. and Mrs. Brown don't approve for various reasons, including but not limited to: 1) Edward used to work at Brown Jug Breweries, but he left to work for a northern industrialist, which is much lower status than brewing, 2) he once got drunk and embarrassed himself at a Brown Jug Christmas party, 3) he's Catholic, and 4) they think that Penelope is not really in love with him--which she isn't. Nev describes him like this:

"Edward Macaulay had a broad, sensible, Scottish face, and broad, sensible, Scottish shoulders. His sandy hair was kept unfashionably short and brushed carefully back from his forehead, even though it was clear that had he allowed it to grow, it would have curled riotously in the best modern style without any prompting. He looked like a steady, dependable man, and Nev hated him on sight."

I imagine him as looking a bit like a younger version of Nicholas Lea--that same round face, bland coloring, and tendency to frown, but with some kind of indefinable charisma going on behind it.



And that's it for installment one! Next week we have Nev's best friends, Nev and Penelope's parents, and of course, the villain.

Jane Eyre, by Johnny Guns

This Kate Beaton comic on Burke and Hare cracked me up. As she says, "Here we meet Burke and Hare towards the end of their killing spree, a period which may be described as 'unbelievably sloppy' and also 'lazy.'" She also did another short one about the Brontë sisters. My Brontë sisters t-shirt by her (based on the comic I linked to a while back) came in the mail yesterday and it's awesome (although I should warn you, the shirt is more of a light green and the ink on the sisters is almost black, rather than the light/dark blue shown on the website)! Maybe if I have a good hair-day I'll post a picture.

In other news, I have a new Goodreads account here. I'll be posting book recommendations there, mostly for romance and historical research books, but probably also for whatever I'm reading that I like.

I'm going to see the Mountain Goats in concert tonight! They write amazing love songs. The first one I ever heard, way back in college, was "Going to Georgia":

The most remarkable thing about coming home to you
Is the feeling of being in motion again
It's the most extraordinary thing in the world

I have two big hands and a heart pumping blood
And a 1967 Colt .45 with a busted safety catch
The world shines
As I cross the Macon County line
Going to Georgia

The most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway
Is that it's you
And that you're standing in the doorway
And you smile as you ease the gun from my hand
And I'm frozen with joy right where I stand
The world throws its light underneath your hair
Forty miles from Atlanta, this is nowhere
Going to Georgia

You can get the .mp3 from Amazon here.

Tell me an unusual love song that works for you.