There’s nothing like living in a place to really know it intimately, and thus to write about it authentically. Since actually visiting Regency London is out of the question, the next best thing is living in London. I was lucky to get to do that.

Thanks to my graduate school program, I was able to spend 8 weeks in London on an independent research project. Topic: romance fiction, of course. As I was reading early 1800’s gothic romances and other novels, along with conduct guides and things like “letters from a duchess to a young lady.” I was, as a writer is wont to do, making up stories that incorporated everything I was learning and experiencing.

The books became my Writing Girl Series, featuring women that write for the Regency London’s most popular and gossipy newspaper, The London Weekly. The heroes are the dukes and earls we know and love. Being a writing girl living in London, I incorporated some of my experiences into the novels. For example…

1. Walking, everywhere! The tube is expensive, so are cabs, and I was a grad student/romance author, two notoriously impoverished categories. Walking was the way to go. It seemed like I nearly got hit by a vehicle every time I tried to cross the street (they drive on the wrong side over there). This also happens to my heroine Miss Sophie Harlow, but then she is saved by The Duke of Hamilton and Brandon.

2. Gold, everywhere. Everywhere! The gold chandeliers, the massive ornately carved, gold leaf picture frames hanging on damask wallpaper, which then has gold detailing on the moldings and then on the ceiling! And then all the silver just to liven things up, and more gold on the furniture and in the fabrics and for lord’s sake I never thought I would be sick of gold but it happened. I think I was too traumatized by this for it to make an appearance in the book.

3. Newspapers. I did live across the street from the offices of The Guardian, but it’s the gossipy, frivolous, decidedly not serious newspapers I’m interested in. Whether I needed to or not, I always went out at the end of the workday and walked down to the subway to pick up my free copy of the totally trashy newspapers handed out free.

I also spent a lot of time at the Colindale Newspaper Library reading actual newspapers from the 1820’s. Some lasted for decades, others for a month. They had titles like Town Talk, The Age, John Bull, Cobbit’s Weekly Register and they were all delightful. The sheets are long, totally flat, yellow with age, the print is tiny and they have that faint musty book smell.

4. British men. I’m marrying one, which I think is all I need to say on that. A Groom Of My Own—funny, that!

Thanks to Maya for sharing! Her new book, A Groom of My Own, comes out June 29th.

©2010 Elizabeth Boyle Blog. All Rights Reserved.

EB: Number One London is an exciting new blog! What do you intend to do and share with your newfound readers?

KH: We intend to share everything that’s decent – research articles, bits of British nonsense, film and book recommendations, travel stories, musings, etc.

VH: Wait a minute! I know of some VERY INDECENT Gillray material we might use. But seriously, I adore research and I love to spread it around, whether in a  novel, in a talk or a newsletter article, or on the blog. I like to write about what I love to do: read and write books, see films and  especially travel.  I love Country Houses and their families through the years. And did we mention travel?

EB: I love the Gillray material!  I am going to ask Avon to do one of my covers after a print of his that I think is great fun. Now on to more serious matters, Regency or Victorian? Who is more fun?

KH: What happened to Georgian? Jeez, don’t ask me, I don’t have a preference. I suppose the Regency personalities themselves seem more fun from this distance – Brummell, the Prince of Wales, all those outrageous Lady Patronesses . . . . . . .

VH: For fun, it’s Regency, hands down. But I suspect the Victorians get a bad rap for being serious and prudish.

EB: Why do you think the Regency setting is so popular? And just for the record, the answer: Colin Firth does not count.

VH: People love the lifestyles of the rich and famous of the era. Who doesn’t want to be whisked away in a landau? I love stories in which heroines who basically have nothing going for them – little or no money, perhaps inferior family, no legal status whatsoever – confront and conquer men in tight pants!! Or is that too much like talking about Colin Firth?

KH: I realize this is going to sound very shallow, but I truly believe that the costume of the period infuses the period with a romance that translates well to the screen. Sure, the actual stories have to have merit, but when coupled with the gauzy dresses and satin slippers, the very feminine hair styles, the tight breeches, frock coats and cravats, the story seems lusher and more fairytale-like and Inherently more romantic.

VH: And those red-coat uniforms.  Sigh.

EB: No, I don’t think that’s shallow in the least. I have to agree. I recently saw Young Victoria, which I loved, but the entire time I kept thinking to myself, “Wow, those dresses look so uncomfortable.”  And I have to admit to a weakness for a top coat, tall beaver hat and breeches. Sigh.

Okay, not that I’ve gotten over that little moment, please tell us a little about yourselves and why your lifelong interests in these time periods?

KH: I have no explanation. Any time I’m asked this question I reply that I might as well be asked why I prefer chocolate ice cream over vanilla. It’s just a part of me. I always feel somewhat shocked when I realize that “our” period actually existed 200-250 years ago. To my mind, it doesn’t seem that far removed.

VH: I am a Janeite for sure, and I love to teach Pride & Prejudice to high school girls. They think they won’t like it, but as soon as they start hearing about a guy who’d say “She isn’t pretty enough to interest me” they have to know what happens. I do not remember my first Austen experience but someone – probably a teacher – started me off, and once I got over being a horse-crazy pre-teen, I had my nose in a book all the time.

EB: Your upcoming trip to London and Waterloo sounds wonderful. Are you counting the days until June? I know I would be!

VH: I am in the midst of setting up appointments at the Hertfordshire Archives, the V&A Art Library and the British Library. Once those are arranged, I will jump out of my skin any minute.I am trying to read and re-read everything I can get my hands on about Waterloo and Wellington. Of course, Kristine is the expert on the Iron Duke. You should see her beautiful house full of groaning shelves and lots of pictures of the Duke in all his Sir Thomas Lawrence glory.

KH: It had better arrive soon or Victoria and I will drive each other crazy with shared anticipation and additions to the itinerary. Right now, I think we have about fifty-seven things on the schedule for the London portion of the trip alone. We’ve been reduced to seeing which places are open in the evenings, as our days are already full. I know it’s been said before, but we are definitely going to need a vacation from our vacation. As well as a few stiff drinks.

VH/KH: Thanks for  asking us to sound off.  We hope people let us know what their favorite topics are.

EB: My pleasure. You wouldn’t have room for me in your suitcases . . . What? No? Well, then we will all have to go along with you vicariously through your blog! Thanks for dropping by. And everyone, don’t miss, Number One London. I added it to my blog reader immediately.

©2010 Elizabeth Boyle Blog. All Rights Reserved.

EW: Well, first of all…the main characters are married. I know, I know, usually the romance comes first with the wedding as the end result, but Colton and Brianna have made a fashionable, aristocratic match. Our independent duchess, however, is head over heels in love and doesn’t want her handsome husband to fall into the dilettante habits of the beau monde. He could very well take a mistress, but she is determined to hold his interest. Unfortunately, she has been raised as a proper English lady and has no idea how to go about it all until she stumbles across a copy of the scandalous Lady Rothburg’s Advice in the back of a dusty little bookshop. Written by a courtesan and banned years ago, it isn’t a volume any true lady should own, but she is intrigued and impulsively buys it anyway.

From there, as they say, sparks do fly. As she implements the daring suggestions, her stuffy duke becomes more and more captivated, but also more and more suspicious of how his innocent bride could be suddenly such a vixen.in the bedroom. Their mutual lack of understanding made for a lot of fun when creating their journey from husband and wife to lovers in the true sense of the word.

EB: Funny story–I took your book on the plane with me, but since it was in manuscript pages it was big and bulky, so I only took half the book. Okay, I wasn’t sure I would like it or not–so I was being cautious. My mistake, because I was halfway between Seattle and Florida and I was through the pages I’d brought and spent the rest of the flight trying to figure out a way to get into the baggage compartment to read the rest. What I loved were the characters–not just the hero and heroine (who were great) but the secondary stories as well. What have you got coming up in the near future so I can plan accordingly?

EW: How nice you are! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Hmm, next in May is a Scottish trilogy in one volume, Seducing the Highlander. I admit to a weakness for bold, roguish Scots! In September 2010, the first book in the Lords of Notoriety Regency series comes out, My Lord Scandal, followed in October by Our Wicked Mistake, and in November, His Sinful Secret, all from Signet Eclipse.

3) Wow! You put me to shame! And I love that title, Our Wicked Mistake. Sounds like lots of fun. Just to make sure no one else misses all these great reads, where can folks find you on the web?

Keep an eye on me at www.emmawildes.com and I am also on Facebook.

©2010 Elizabeth Boyle Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Oh, and to top it all off, my beloved Alphasmart had a bit of a heart attack yesterday. Lost everything I’d written in the morning and nearly put me in the ER. Envision me, standing over it, User Book in hand, trying to give it life support to find those freaking pages, sobbing and calling out, “Stay with me, Alphie. Don’t go near the light. Not just yet.” I got everything back but a few paragraphs–yes there is an emergency salvage code for it–but my heart was still pounding when I went to bed hours later.

I know we all have piles to do this time of year, everyone bites off more than they can chew, and so I send my love and sympathies to my fellow frantic friends. Here is what I did last night: I began delegating. Laundry to the husband, as well as all the wrapping and shipping duties for his family. Promo work went to the eldest. 10 year olds are wiz’s at stuffing envelopes. I mean this is why we had them, right?  Also, it keeps them both out of my hair. Just a suggestion if you have spare hands around.

If I am a bit scarce in the next few weeks, my apologies, but mostly Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I know I can’t wait for 2010.

©2010 Elizabeth Boyle Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Yet this is all about blending family traditions. This is the fodder we writers live for. Plates of turkey going home, or not?!

I always hated going to my grandmother’s for Thanksgiving because she didn’t share. She would even scrape the bowl from whatever you brought into her own bowl and hand you back your empty bowl–albeit washed, which I suppose is better than dirty, but still emptied into her coffers. There was another family member who assigned everything out that was needed for the meal–including the salt and pepper (I kid you not)–and then sent you home with nothing but fond memories of eating a meal you cooked. The advice giver took the side of the hostess and said she had every right to her leftovers, which tells us exactly which camp she grew up in as well. And yes, you do have the right to your leftovers, for having celebrated the holiday in both camps I can see the reasoning of both sides.

I grew up in a household where leftovers went out of the door. Even if you didn’t want any. My mom had a way of wrapping it up in foil and tucking it in your coat pocket when you weren’t looking. And later that night or the next day, that leftover turkey went into the finest of Thanksgiving traditions: the day after Turkey Sandwich with cranberry sauce. Extra mayo, if you please. I can remember as a kid, we’d have 40 or so people over and then about 10 at night when everyone was gone, the four of us would sit down and eat sandwiches. I love the meal, but I love the sandwiches more. My husband grew up in the “my leftovers” camp and he just stands at our door and nearly weeps as he watches plate after plate of his stuffing, turkey, potatoes and gravy going out the door. As a concession to him, I don’t give out the pumpkin pie. That would be just too much for him to bear.

But as for the rest of it, better eaten up than languishing in our fridge. Because my mom taught me the other secret of Thanksgiving: that by Sunday, that bird wasn’t going to be worth the effort. She’s right. I pulled the last of ours out yesterday to make one last sandwich, and quite frankly, it just wasn’t that tasty. I should have tucked one more packet of turkey into an unsuspecting pocket.

What are your leftover traditions?

©2010 Elizabeth Boyle Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I probably inherited this love affair from my grandmother–she loved holidays and all the planning and cooking. She would set her table a week in advance, changing it around until it met her exacting standards. Of course it helps to have a formal dining room (which she did and I do not) but even if you don’t, that doesn’t mean you can’t get out the dishes, the platters, and the serving pieces ahead of time to have them all lined up and at the ready. Table linens can be pressed and hung in the closet.

As for the meal, I start sorting recipes about a month ahead of time. Oh, there are the givens that I have to serve to my he-man household: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry relish and pumpkin pie. But in between those, I have a little leverage to try out some new sides that will then star at Christmas dinner–having run the gauntlet through the Thanksgiving tasting panel. I’ve even been known to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner at the end of the October as a training run. You know, you can’t be too prepared for these things.

This year I am keeping things simple. That doesn’t mean I won’t do it all, but instead of cramming it all into Wednesday and Thursday, I’ve already gotten started. Tomorrow I’ll bake the rolls and tuck them in the freezer. I’ve made some cookies, at least the dough, which I will bake off closer to the day so the kiddos who don’t like pumpkin pie have something to nibble. Same with the pie crusts. Those can be mixed ahead and thrown in the freezer. The cranberry relish (one bag of fresh cranberries and two oranges run through a grinder, and 1 cup of sugar to taste) will be made this weekend. It does well in the fridge and if I hide it far enough in the back, the large mice disguised as the DH and older hero-in-training won’t find it. I’ll grocery shop from one list early Monday morning and avoid the crowds.

I make it all sound so simple, and after 20 years of doing it, you would think it would be, but honestly it will still be chaos. Another thing I inherited from my grandmother–I envision it happening so effortlessly and so beautifully. You know, like a Hallmark card or a Rockwell painting.

And while on Thanksgiving the house will fill with that wonderful turkey aroma, the halls will be echoing with the less than loving refrain of “get out of my kitchen now” and before dinner we will all give thanks for the blessings in our lives. And that I didn’t kill anyone in process.

©2010 Elizabeth Boyle Blog. All Rights Reserved.

And along with the excerpt, there is also a very special and very FREE downloadable on the site as well. Yes, this is it, a 2010 calendar (scroll down to the bottom, it really is there) featuring the all too lovely cover from How I Met My Countess and designed by the lovely team at Waxcreative. A big blog shout out over to the team! They did a fantastic job. And again, this has social sharing at the bottom, so please share! I mean it’s free. It’s right there. It’s downloadable. Your friends will so glad to have their new calendar, maybe you can talk them into ordering both my 2010 books for you.

What’s that? Two books in 2010? Yes, you heard that correctly. While they won’t be back to back. Come on now, no complaints. Back to backs are killer to write. But think of them as nice bookends. One for the New Year, and one for the end of September, when you need a little boost. The second book, Mad About the Duke, is turning out to be hilarious good fun to write. I just love having Mad Jack Tremont back in a book, and the hero is none other than his brother, the Duke of Parkerton. You know, that stiff-necked all too proper brother of his?  Let’s just say I am having a blast unraveling his cravat.

Oh, and if you haven’t had enough of me yet, after you’ve read the excerpt, linked it to your favorite social sites, downloaded your calendar, reminded all your friends to do the same, then what else could there be? Well, enter the new Contest that’s been posted. And when you’ve got that ticked off your list, don’t miss the one last goody I almost forgot. There’s a brand new family tree up, featuring all of Thatcher’s Sterling relations.

So whew, that’s a lot of serious surfing and reading and clicking and checking out to be done. What are you waiting for? Get to it.

©2010 Elizabeth Boyle Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Curses aside, I ended up having to cancel a lot of things, including speaking at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference and at Emerald City Writer’s Conference, both of which I hated having to say “I can’t”, but I just couldn’t. Between the lost time writing and now trying to catch up, speaking would have been impossible. When you see a speaker at a conference, know that they have probably put at least 20-40 hours into that one hour speech. I knew, even back in June, that I wouldn’t have those hours come fall.

But I couldn’t bring myself to cancel my trip to St. Louis for the NINC conference. NINC, short for Novelists Inc., is a writer’s organization that puts on an annual conference. I’ve been a member for years, but never gone to the conference. (Again, that time thing.) But this year, they were having a Forensics Day, and I was curious. So I booked my place, my hotel room and my airfare the week before I got sick.

All summer long, I kept thinking, I need to cancel that. I can’t take the time. But I am so glad I didn’t. It really was what I needed. I went for two reasons: 1) I wanted to refresh the well, and 2) I didn’t have to do anything other than show up. The second reason was huge. I didn’t have to speak or sign or smile. I could just go and hang and listen. And that is exactly what I did. To murder and mayhem, to screenwriting, to world building, to writing mysteries, to how male and female brains differ. Most of this stuff I may never, ever use, but the speakers–a unique mix– all gave me different aspects of writing and the business that I certainly didn’t know a lot about. While I may never write an Emmy award winning script for Castle, I learned tidbits that will go to work for me today.

Best of all? I had a great time. Made tons of new friends. Laughed my butt off. And came home brimming. Overflowing. Refreshed. I have to say, it is a long time since I returned home from a conference feeling excited and full of possibilities. And why wouldn’t I have come home like that.

I got to play detective at a mock crime scene.

Our poor victim, knife in chest and just waiting for us to solve the crime.

I went to a baseball game and sat so high up, I don’t think even pigeons know about those seats.

Bird's eye view of the Cardinals losing to the Brewers.

I made new friends (Claudia Dain, Kathy Steffen) and hung out with some of my favorite regulars (Nicole Burnham, Lisa Wanttaja). We writers are so funny. We are such solitary creatures by nature, and then turn us loose in public and we are like kids at recess. Bragging, teasing, racing from one thing to the next. Three days of recess.

Claudia Dain and Nikki Burnham at the game.

I woke up each morning to a view of the arch. In fact, it was rather funny, because as I showed all my pictures to my husband, he commented that I had the arch in nearly every picture. But I never got over there and saw it close up. Guilty as charged. I was having too much fun.

The arch at dawn. Okay, the Forensics Day gave me nightmares, so I was up every day before dawn. I don't think a career in hard boiled suspense is in my future.

Now I am back at my desk, I feel full of ideas, excited and proud to be a writer and thankful, ever so thankful for this career. What do you do to refresh your well?

©2010 Elizabeth Boyle Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Oh, I had a few moments during the week–Tuesday, the day I would have flown there, the Wednesday autographing, and a tea party  I was supposed to attend, but otherwise, I really didn’t give the entire affair much thought. I was just so pleased to be home. In my own bed. In comfortable clothes. Not wearing shoes. And no makeup. Sitting on my deck, drinking coffee, drinking in the view, and watching the hummingbirds–those little daredevils of the skies–dive and hum all over my yard. True bliss.

This weekend ended up being doubling rewarding for staying home–two of the boys went camping, leaving only me and the little guy at home. We cooked some, we planted “ketchup” (read: tomatoe plants), and gave each other space to just do what we wanted (him: draw pictures, me: knit).

Best of all, I got to go have coffee with my dear friend, Melissa McClone. I love her to death, she’s like the sister I always wanted. And she is so like a sister. I had barely sat down when she started in: “Are you feeling better? You’ve lost some weight. You look pale. You aren’t doing too much, are you?” This was all in one breath. It warmed my heart. We chatted about writing, kids, more writing, what we weren’t missing about nationals and laughed because neither of us had on anything fancy, no makeup and neither of us had remembered to put in earrings. Like I said, a true kindred spirit.

And while I wasn’t there, I do have to shout out to Joanna Bourne and Rachel Gibson, who both won RITAs. Great news and both are well deserved honors.

So what did you do this weekend? A little vacation? A festival perhaps? Some gardening? Share your idea of the perfect July weekend!

©2010 Elizabeth Boyle Blog. All Rights Reserved.

So, no, the next book is not about John and Molly. I actually did propose their story, but I also proposed this other series, which Avon went gaga over. But never fear for John and Molly (and if you don’t remember them, you need to finish reading Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress), I will write their story. I think they will be one of my next three books after these three books. (And yes, before you rush off to email me, I will include Nate and Ginger in that series as well.)

So what are “these three books.” Well, as I was writing Love Letters from a Duke and Confessions of a Little Black Gown, I made up a family tree for Captain Thatcher. As I was creating his character, I thought he should have good reasons for running away and changing his name and joining the army. So I gave him a family that would make one weep. A despotic grandfather. Yucky, creepy uncles. A snobby, pretentious aunt (Aunt Geneva). Two older brothers who were no shining examples. Thatcher would end up the duke not just because all the other heirs stuck their fork in wall, but because his leadership and heroics in battle had renewed in him a sense of what had made the Sterlings great in their illustrious past.

And as I was writing, I realized that the three previous heirs, Thatcher’s uncles, Philip and Edward Sterling, and Thatcher’s brother, Archibald Sterling, had all married (as anyone slated to inherit well does.) Of course, for Thatcher to inherit, they all die (heart attack after a life of excess, fell off his horse and broke his neck while drunk, stabbed in a gaming hell, respectively) and leave their not-so-grieving widows behind. Heck, Philip had buried two wives during his life and had just taken his third before his number came up.

Three widows, all with the same title, Lady Standon, with the same rights, and income, and petty jealousies that come with having married the heir who was supposed to be duke and then find themselves in that no man’s land of widowhood. It was a situation ripe for stories: Minerva, Elinor and Lucy, all sitting around, bickering and complaining, running through Thatcher’s money and driving everyone nuts. And to add insult to injury, they despise each other. Enter that matchmaking demon, Felicity Langley. There is nothing Felicity hates more than an unmarried woman who isn’t being matched, and here she has three of them. Light the fireworks.

And to spark it all off, Lucy Ellyson gets her story first. I like Lucy because she is the most unlikely of the three to be Lady Standon and her hero, well, he needs her. Desperately. He needs her heart, her spirit, and her vitality. They loved each other once, long ago, so it is also a reunion story–which I dearly love. I hope you enjoy, How I Met My Countess, when it comes out the last week in December.

I have the cover, which I will share later in the week and more hints about the books. And as always, I’ll share them with you all first. So are we good? No picketing in front of my house because it isn’t John and Molly?

©2010 Elizabeth Boyle Blog. All Rights Reserved.