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Sunday, June 24, 2012

REGENCY RULES AND ETIQUETTE by Maggi Andersen




There were a myriad of rules in Regency society. Many governed the behavior between the ranks of men and women and between the ranks in the social hierarchy. 
These are but a few:

Morning calls.

Social connections began with morning calls to homes of those in fashionable society. Strangely, morning calls were paid in the afternoon and did not usually exceed half an hour.
A woman could not pay a morning call to her social superiors until they had called on her or left a card.
A person new to the city or country area waited for calls of ceremony to be made to them by those already established before they made a call of their own.
In the country it was acceptable for a man to make a call or leave a card with someone of higher social standing if they were new to the neighbourhood.
A gentleman calling on a family for a social visit, asked for the mistress of the house. The master if it was a business call.
If the lady of the house was away or unable to receive callers, a card was left. If the daughter was a friend of long standing and well beyond marriageable age, it was acceptable for a male to call on her, in the absence of family.
A lady was never permitted to attend a man’s lodgings whether married or single.

Driving a carriage and Riding

A lady was permitted to drive around town if accompanied by a groom and alone on her country estate.  
It was acceptable to go riding or driving with a man, if a groom or chaperone was in attendance. And alone, if he was a friend of long standing or a relative.

As long as a lady was properly attired and rode side-saddle, she could ride a horse. But galloping in Hyde Park was not permitted.

And never riding dressed like a man!
Horatia Cavendish in A Baron in her Bed iStock copyrighted Image

During the Season, it was essential to be seen in Hyde Park during the promenade hour between 5.00pm and 6.00pm.

Not everyone complied with the rules, however:

From Regency Etiquette, The Mirror of Graces (1811) by A Lady of Distinction: Advice to young women: [The] ‘indiscriminate facility which some young women have in permitting what they call a good-natured kiss. These good-natured kisses have often very bad effects, and can never be permitted without injuring the fine gloss of that exquisite modesty which is the fairest garb of virgin beauty.’



 
A BARON IN HER BED
The Spies of Mayfair Series
Book One
London, 1816. A handsome baron. A faux betrothal. And Horatia’s plan to join the London literary set takes a dangerous turn.
Now that the war with France has ended, Baron Guy Fortescue arrives in England to claim his inheritance, abandoned over thirty years ago when his father fled to France after killing a man in a duel. When Guy is set upon by footpads in London, a stranger, Lord Strathairn, rescues and befriends him. But while travelling to his country estate, Guy is again attacked. He escapes only to knock himself out on a tree branch.
 Aspiring poet Horatia Cavendish has taken to riding her father’s stallion, “The General”, around the countryside of Digswell dressed as a groom. She has become bored of her country life and longs to escape to London to pursue her desire to become part of the London literary set. When she discovers Guy lying unconscious on the road, the two are forced to take shelter for the night in a hunting lodge. After Guy discovers her ruse, a friendship develops between them.
Guy suspects his relative, Eustace Fennimore is behind the attacks on his life. He has been ensconced in Rosecroft Hall during the family’s exile and will become the heir should Guy die. Horatia refuses to believe her godfather, Eustace, is responsible. But when Guy proposes a faux betrothal to give him more time to discover the truth, she agrees. Secure in the knowledge that his daughter will finally wed, Horatia’s father allows her to visit her blue-stocking aunt in London.
But Horatia’s time spent in London proves to be anything but a literary feast, for a dangerous foe plots Guy’s demise. She is determined to keep alive her handsome fiancé, who has proven more  than willing to play the part of her lover even as he resists her attempts to save him.


  

Research: Georgette Heyer’s Regency World by Jennifer Kloester. Sourcebooks.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Tamara Gill - Release Party Blog Hop - June 18 - July 16




To celebrate the release of my Regency novella
A Marriage Made in Mayfair
Available June 15
I'm having a month long blog hop.



Join me for fun, laughs and prizes.
Every stop I make I'll be gifting a copy of my novella from Amazon.com
(or preferred e-reader store)

Also everyone who comments throughout the blog hop
will go into the major prize draw.

But what is the prize??? Well, without further ado you'll receive...

Postcard Sets
Romance Trading Cards
$30.00 Amazon Gift Card
Copy of A Marriage Made in Mayfair
And a copy of my two previous works
gifted through Amazon.com
(or preferred e-reader store)


Interested? Well here are the links and dates of where I'll be:


June 18 - Christina Phillips
June 20 - Jess Anastasi
June 22 - Suzi Love
June 24 - Wine, Women and Wordplay - Imelda Evans
June 25 Nicole Hurley-Moore
June 26 - Kylie Griffin
June 27 US June 28 AUS - The Season For Romance
June 28 - Juanita Kees - Mission Romance
July 1 US - July 2 AUS - Ladyscribes
July 4 - Eleni's Taverna
July 9 - Riverina Romantics
July 16 - Tamara Gill - MAJOR PRIZE WINNER ANNOUNCED

So come and join in the fun and don't forget to leave your email address for any prizes you may win. I look forward to seeing you soon and good luck!

Monday, June 11, 2012

A Day in Pompeii


Glorious, Seductive Pompeii...
I say seductive because of the fascination and lure I have for anything old and timeless. I love the history woven around this Ancient Roman city. Once famous for it's exotic lifestyle, I found there is so much more behind this mysterious Lost City.
The city of Pompeii as it greets
 you when you first enter.
It was the year AD79 - 1,933 years ago, and the city of Pompeii was buried beneath 13 - 20 ft of ash and pumice that came from the nearby Volcano of Mt Vesuvius when she erupted.
The buried city was 1st rediscovered in 1749 and there are excavations still going on.
Excavations still today!
In 2010 DH and I visited the amazing ruins. It is a sight that I shall long remember and would love to have the opportunity to revisit it again. My biggest surprise was the size of the city. It is far larger than I ever thought or could have imagined.
Mt Vesuvius in the background.

This Amphitheater is
supposed to be the oldest one we know.

Like most of Rome itself and all of Italy, I was terribly humbled to have walked streets and visited places that Caesars, Emperors and Kings had -2000years before. 
As our tour bus had to leave Rome at 6am it was a long day trip south. There really is too much to see and take in, in one long day visit. We only had about 4 hours to explore the ruins and it really wasn't near enough-(for me anyway.)
The work it has taken to uncover the vast streets, amphitheater, amazing homes of the wealthy and the common people, is truly a magnificent feat.
This is a corner shop.
It is the equivalent to a milk-bar
in our time. AMAZING.
Apparently there were 100's of snack shops, where the Pompeian's would meet their friends or buy take a way food - just like we do.  Imagine that.
Tiles still on the floor
There are many frescoes still on the walls of the homes of the wealthy, and most are alive with rich colours after all this time.
Vivid Frescoes

A Bath House











To the left is A foyer, with the beautiful mosaic floor tiles featuring sea-creatures. To the right you look into the rest of the house and see the inner court-yard or central meeting room, I guess like our modern family room with other rooms and hallways branching off it. We were told this home belonged to a very rich family.
A Picture of a bed in a room
in one of the most famous brothels
in Pompeii.

There are many places off limits to the public, which is understandable, but we were taken into the *Red-Light* district, a popular tourist stop, as the city was known for it's many brothels. The detail of the erotic paintings and drawings can still be seen on the walls. Apparently the inside was not lavishly furnished, the beds were mostly made of brick or stone with a mattress laid on top.

The name of the Family of the home,
was inscribed on an outside wall.
Walking the small empty streets of Pompeii is incredibly moving. It wasn't all bustling and full of excited gossip as you'd expect, but a more somber gathering. I felt like everyone was taking in this magical surrounding in quiet personal contemplation. In awe! As we all know today, the early Romans were so far ahead of their time.
 SO much was fascinating for me.
You see these large stones in a row, going across the middle of the road. When it rained the roads became one huge drain or gutter for the water to flow, they were like small rivers throughout the city.  To get  across the street people walked on top of these *stepping stones* Ingenious you say, well that's not all. The Roman/Pompeian's were so clever in their town planning, that the carts being pulled around the city were built specifically so the axle was the perfect width for the cart wheels to go either side of the middle stone. SO they were able to continue to work in the rain.
How amazing is that?  Wish my road was like that at times ...

Everywhere, wandering around the ruins of the city, were stray dogs. They were quite friendly, although quiet flea bitten and mangy. When we asked about why they were let to wander, it is because the dogs will be the first indication to the people there of another tremor from the volcano. Apparently they will start to bark, howl go crazy or whatever.
Good reason to keep them around I guess :)


Of course we all were blown away when we arrived at the place where the plaster casts of human bodies, found among the ash, were on display.
This place was really quite Errie. The famous cast of a dog that the archaeologists believe was chained outside it's owners house.





A narrow, now lonely, street








We did have a guide for this trip, she was an older Dutch Lady. And I have to say, that of all the wonderful, friendly guides on the trips we've done to various countries, I have to say she was the worst one we've ever had. We were obviously of the lower class of city inhabitants. She was rude, no sense of humour, stuffy, pompous and had apparently left her people skills (if she had any)  at home. Having said that, she was fairly knowledgeable on the topic of Pompeii and that was all that really mattered.  Maybe she should be in a university instead.
So I have mostly used what I learnt on this visit to enhance a little of your knowledge here. I do apologize if some of the information I have entered here may not be 100% correct, but it was how it has been told to me at the time. Feel free to enlighten me, but there is much more to discover about Pompeii on the Web or by other sources, if you wish.

As the Temple stands today
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii              
   
The original Temple of Jupiter
as it was...   

Friday, June 8, 2012

Historical Hearts Good News, New Releases & Cover Love!!



Danielle Lisle
has signed a contract with Total E Bound  for
PORTRAIT OF A SCANDAL
book one in my new SCANDALS OF NOBILITY series.
Available 29 October 2012.
Congratulations Danielle!!


Tamara Gill
has signed a second contract with Crimson Romance
for her Medieval time travel romance
DEFIANT SURRENDER
Available later this year
Congratulations Tam!!


Bronwyn Stuart
Scandal's Mistress
Available August 13 from Carina Press
It's a beautiful cover, Bron. Congratulations!!


blurb:

London, 1805

Justin Trentham, third son of the Earl of Billington, is determined to get himself disowned from his cold and unloving family. Despite his numerous affairs with questionable women of the ton, his parents continue to be dismissive of his ploys, but Justin spots the perfect scandal in the form of a beautiful, exotic Italian opera singer...

Carmalina Belluccini refuses to become his mistress, despite being tempted by his charms. But after losing her singing voice, she finds herself destitute. She agrees to be Justin's mistress for one month, until she has enough money to return to her beloved Italy.

She intends to keep their arrangement strictly business, but after witnessing Justin's vulnerable side, she finds herself falling more in love than in lust with him. Carmalina is having second thoughts about leaving England...but is their love strong enough to survive the scandal of the season?


Annie Seaton
Blind Lust
Available June 15 from Musa Publishing


blurb:

A wager between the gods can change your life. Even if you are a witch…
When Venus has a wager with Cupid, that prudish librarian, Lizzy Sweet cannot be enticed to love, she neglects to tell her son that Lizzy is a three hundred year old witch. The first man Lizzy sees after Cupid shoots his arrow is Josh Deegan, a famous country and western singer who has come to town to rediscover his muse, in an old farmhouse haunted by a culinary ghost.

Local warlock, Wesley Gordon, who has been hitting on Lizzy to no avail for over one hundred years, is not impressed. The quirky old folk of Silver Valley watch fondly as the battle between love and lust plays out. Leaden and golden arrows zing around, spells are magicked, potions stirred, and ghosts hunted. Who will fall in love and who will let the other go forever?

Anne Brear
The Gentle Wind's Caress
Available Now in print and ebook format



blurb:

Halifax, 1876. On the death of her mother and sister, Isabelle Gibson is left to fend for herself and her brother in a privately-run workhouse. After the matron's son attempts to rape her, Isabelle decides to escape him and a life of drudgery by agreeing to marry a moorland farmer she has never met. But this man, Farrell, is a drunkard and a bully in constant feud with his landlord, Ethan Harrington. When Farrell bungles a robbery and deserts her, Isabelle and Ethan are thrown together as she struggles to save the farm. Both are married and must hide their growing love. But despite the secrecy, Isabelle draws strength from Ethan as faces from the past return to haunt her and a tragedy is set to strike that will change all of their lives forever.



Tamara Gill
A Marriage Made in Mayfair
Available June 15 from Decadent Publishing


blurb:

Miss Suzanna March wished for one thing, the elusive, rakish charmer, Lord Danning. But after a frightful first season sees her flee to Paris, such dreams seem impossible. That is until she returns to London, a new woman, and one who will not let the ton's dislike of her stand in her way of gaining what she wants. Revenge on the Lord who gave her the cut direct and perhaps a little flirtation to show the mighty Viscount what he'll never have.

Lord Danning unbeknown to his peers is in financial strife and desperate to marry an heiress. Such luck would have it Miss Suzanna March fits all his credentials and seduction is his plan of action. Yes, the woman who returned from Paris is stronger, defiant, and a little argumentative, but it does not stop Lord Danning finding himself in awe and protective of her.

But will Suzanna fall for such pretty words from a charmer only after one thing. Or will Lord Danning prove to Suzanna and himself that she is more than his ticket out of debtor's prison...

Alison Stuart
Has two new fantastic covers for her novels
By the Sword
and
The King's Man
They look great, Alison. Congratulations!!




Both these titles are available as an ebook from Kindle, Apple, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, Barnes and Noble or in any format from Smashwords. Or in print from Book Depository, Amazon or Wordclay or directly from the author.




The Gentle Wind's Caress released!


My historical novel, The Gentle Wind's Caress, has been released in paperback and in digital formats. Yay!

The Blurb:Halifax, 1876. On the death of her mother and sister, Isabelle Gibson is left to fend for herself and her brother in a privately-run workhouse. After the matron's son attempts to rape her, Isabelle decides to escape him and a life of drudgery by agreeing to marry a moorland farmer she has never met. But this man, Farrell, is a drunkard and a bully in constant feud with his landlord, Ethan Harrington. When Farrell bungles a robbery and deserts her, Isabelle and Ethan are thrown together as she struggles to save the farm. Both are married and must hide their growing love. But despite the secrecy, Isabelle draws strength from Ethan as faces from the past return to haunt her and a tragedy is set to strike that will change all of their lives forever.


The except:‘He’ll be here soon.’ Hughie sat by the fire darning a sock. ‘The snow has likely held him up.’

‘What keeps him out night after night?’ She stamped her foot in frustration. ‘He drinks more than a sailor does on his first day back at port!’
 Hughie grinned.The sound of scratching made Isabelle frown. The snowstorm grew in intensity. She could no longer see the outbuildings. The scratching sounded again. ‘What is that?’
Hughie shrugged. ‘The trees on the window upstairs?’
Isabelle stepped away from the window, nibbling her fingertips. There would be no market day today. She went to walk into the scullery when a thump hit the back door. She opened it and cried out as Farrell landed at her feet.
Hughie dashed to her side and together they stared at her husband’s bloody form.‘Heaven’s above!’ Isabelle bent to touch him. He stirred and moaned. ‘Help me bring him inside, Hughie.’
They grabbed him under the arms and dragged him down the step and onto the kitchen floor. His coat was missing and his wet woollen vest cloaked him like another skin.
Farrell opened and closed his eyes. ‘Isabelle…’
‘What happened to you?’ She took a dishcloth from the table and knelt to wipe the blood oozing from a cut in his forehead. She gestured to Hughie. ‘Get me some blankets off the bed and a pillow too. He’s too heavy to lift, so I’ll have to make a bed in here for him.
As Hughie ran to do as she bid, Isabelle quickly made him a cup of sweet tea and held his head up to pour a little into his mouth. Next, she rubbed Farrell’s cold hands between her own. Hughie ran into the room with the items she asked for, and Isabelle placed the pillow under Farrell’s head. ‘Heat a warming pan, Hughie.’
Farrell’s eyes fluttered, he moaned between blue lips.
Isabelle ran into the scullery and found an old pair of gloves. She returned and tugged them onto his icy hands. ‘Lord, what have you done to yourself?’
He murmured and opened his eyes. She tucked the blanket around him more securely. ‘Lie still.’
‘No…’She put the cup to his lips again. ‘Drink this now. You need to get warm.’
He slowly eased himself up onto one elbow. ‘Got to hide.’ He wheezed and then coughed. His split lip began to bleed freely again.
‘Hide?’ She frowned. ‘Why?’
‘They’ll find me here!’ He tried to get up, but she pushed him back down. 
‘Who?
‘Had to run…’
Hughie knelt down beside them. ‘Has he lost his mind?’
‘Heaven knows, silly man. It’d be hardly surprising if he has, being out in this weather all night.’ She made Farrell drink again. ‘Take his boots off, Hughie.’
‘No!’ Farrell reared up. ‘I must hide.’ He gripped Isabelle’s arms until they hurt. His eyes were wide and frightened. ‘I can’t hide here. They’ll find me.’
In a panic, Isabelle glanced up at the door as though the riders from Hell would burst through it any moment. She flung away his hands, alarmed. ‘What have you done?’ Her voice sounded high to her ears.
‘They nearly caught me. Had to run.’ Farrell panted, throwing off the blanket, struggling to sit up. ‘They saw my face. I must go!’
Isabelle stood and hugged herself, fighting rising terror. ‘Tell me,’ she whispered.



To Purchase:

Amazon USA
http://www.amazon.com/Gentle-Winds-Caress-Anne-Brear/dp/1908483326/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338918193&sr=1-5
Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00705A120