I was going to begin a blog on weapons, but this seemed inherently wrong on Valentine's day. Instead, tribute is paid some of my favorite couples from history.
First, technically second, is John Adams and his wife, Abigail. The second, first couple of the United States. They courted, fell in love, had children, moved to the president's house and nurtured a new country.
Feminist studies usually include a series of tender letters the two wrote each through their lives. Abigail was anti slavery, and a believer in education for all sexes and races, her husband shared her progressive ideas. He admired her wit and intelligence, the tone of his letters were always loving.
Women, Abigail believed, should not be bound by laws in conflict with their best interest. In a letter to the continental congress, she addressed this issue:
"...I cannot say that I think you are very generous to the ladies; for, whilst you are proclaiming peace and good-will to men, emancipating all nations, you insist upon retaining an absolute power over wives."But you must remember that arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken; and, notwithstanding all your wise laws and maxims, we have it in our power, not only to free ourselves, but to subdue our masters, and without violence, throw both your natural and legal authority at our feet."
John replied, commenting on her sauciness:"We are obliged to go fair and softly, and, in practice, you know we are the subjects. We have only the name of masters, and rather than give up this, which would completely subject us to the despotism of the petticoat, I hope General Washington and all our brave heroes would fight."
Their love never faded through the challenges of raising children and countries. Upon her death, Abigail's last words were: "Do not grieve, my friend, my dearest friend. I am ready to go. And John, it will not be long."
Winston Churchill doesn't seem like the typical romantic hero. He was brash, drank a bit, his humor was quick and cutting at times. He knew his destiny and saw England through two world wars. His wife, Clementine and he were married in 1904. while Winston excelled in all things military, Clementine was chairman of the Red Cross aid to Russia fund, and president of the young Christian women's association. She stood by her husband even when he was criticized for his hawkish views by those who favored appeasement with the Nazi's.
One woman, so annoyed by Churchill's views told him: "If you were my husband, I would poison your coffee."Winston assured her "If I were your husband, I would drink it."
Despite his never say die philosophy, he held his wife in deepest regard. When a reporter asked "If you could be anyone in the world other than you, who would it be." Without hesitation Winston replied "Mrs. Churchill's second husband."
Across the channel, boxer Max Schmeling had his own issues with appeasement. He married Anny Ondra, an Austrio-Hungarian actress. Politely refused Hitler's request for him to join the Nazi party, rescued two Jewish children from Gestapo and smuggled them to America. He refused to fire his Jewish manager and enraged the Nazi's by refusing to be part of their propaganda.
Anny begged him to be more compliant, reminding him he is not untouchable.
Max was saddled with many titles he never wanted in his pursuit of the one he wanted, heavy weight champion of the world. Angry Max wouldn't comply with the party, Hitler sent him on suicide missions as a paratrooper.
Max survived the war and lived to be 99. His beloved Anny at his side through it all until her death.
Max said in an interview: " I had a happy marriage and a nice wife. I accomplished everything you can. What more can you want?"
Love gives you the strength to be something better than you would be without it.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Donna interviews Joyce Moore
Hello all you history lovers. Today Donna will be interviewing Joyce Moore, another Hussie, so our readers can get to know the authors behind the books.
Donna: Good morning, Joyce. I have a lot of questions so let's cut to the chase. Tell us a little about yourself. What is your typical day like?Joyce: I'm a history junkie who loves delving into the past. I find the lives of medieval women fascinating and never tire of reading or writing about them.
My day? I take my cappuccino to the computer, check to see if there's urgent email (read: agent, editor, publisher), then I write. If I have a WIP I write 1000 words a day, sometimes more, but 1000 is minimum. That happens no matter what. If I have to get an oil change, I write while I'm waiting, but those 1000 words will get done. The only thing that interferes with that is if I have an edit to do (again, for agent, editor, publisher).
Afternoons are for blogging and catching up on emails.
Donna: When did you start to write and how long did it take to get published?
Joyce: I always wrote—you know, the poems you hide in a dresser drawer. My degrees are in Music Theory and I taught a while, writing during lunch or whenever I got the chance. Later I changed careers and started writing in earnest. My first book was Haunt Hunter's Guide to Florida. I sent out three queries to publishers and was lucky. Pineapple Press asked to see more, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Donna: What genre or sub-genre do you write? Why did you choose this genre?
Joyce: I always write about history. I suppose I chose the genre because it's what I read and enjoy and what I'm best at. One of my historical novels won an award at the Florida Writers Conference and in June, my historical romance, Jeanne of Clairmonde, will be out. I have two other historical novels out to publishers and have high hopes for those. I don't follow the market—I have to write what I enjoy.
Donna: What difficulties does this genre present?
Joyce: As you know, with any historical, an author must not only write a good story but also be true to the period. So elements like clothing, transportation, politics, or furniture, have to be carefully researched. I like original sources the best, but I do use sites like Wikipedia to get started. Often their references below an article give me direction.
Donna: How do you write? Are you a pantser or a plotter? Is it your characters or your plot that influences you the most?
Joyce: Hmm. Pantser or plotter? Both, I guess. I do plot before I begin, but then my written plot changes as I write. It helps me to write the synopsis early on. That way I tend to see weaknesses before I spend time writing something that doesn't work. And that brings me to the second part of your question. Definitely, the plot is driven by the characters. Many of my historical novels are about real historical figures. If I try to maneuver them to do something, they balk. Scenes don't work. They're not motivated and the plot point fails. So my characters' motivations drive the plot.
Donna: If you could spend an hour talking to anyone from any time in history, who would it be? And why?
Joyce: As you know, with any historical, an author must not only write a good story but also be true to the period. So elements like clothing, transportation, politics, or furniture, have to be carefully researched. I like original sources the best, but I do use sites like Wikipedia to get started. Often their references below an article give me direction.
Donna: How do you write? Are you a pantser or a plotter? Is it your characters or your plot that influences you the most?
Joyce: Hmm. Pantser or plotter? Both, I guess. I do plot before I begin, but then my written plot changes as I write. It helps me to write the synopsis early on. That way I tend to see weaknesses before I spend time writing something that doesn't work. And that brings me to the second part of your question. Definitely, the plot is driven by the characters. Many of my historical novels are about real historical figures. If I try to maneuver them to do something, they balk. Scenes don't work. They're not motivated and the plot point fails. So my characters' motivations drive the plot.
Donna: If you could spend an hour talking to anyone from any time in history, who would it be? And why?
Joyce: Ooh, I would have loved to interview Theodora, that much-maligned empress of Justinian. I would ask to put on her jeweled collar, to see how heavy it was. I would tell her she spent the treasury wisely in building homes for aged prostitutes. I would hope she would invite me to a banquet and loan me one of her Byzantine gowns to wear.
Donna: What is your all-time favorite book?
Joyce: Oddly, it is a book I use for research: Wise and Foolish Kings, by Anne Denieul-Cormier. The writing is so beautiful. I searched the internet for anything else she wrote, but could find nothing. When people want to cry because you only wrote one book—now that's a writer!
Donna: What is your all-time favorite book?
Joyce: Oddly, it is a book I use for research: Wise and Foolish Kings, by Anne Denieul-Cormier. The writing is so beautiful. I searched the internet for anything else she wrote, but could find nothing. When people want to cry because you only wrote one book—now that's a writer!
Joyce at FWA Awards
Donna: What will be your next project?
Joyce: My next project is editing, a historical novel for Five Star. When that's finished, I'll start another novel, maybe set in 15th century Venice. The plot? That's a secret even I don't know.
Donna: Joyce, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, and a little about your novels. I'll be waiting for your next historical to be out.
Joyce: Thanks for asking about my work. I always enjoy talking to another historical author.
Donna: Joyce, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, and a little about your novels. I'll be waiting for your next historical to be out.
Joyce: Thanks for asking about my work. I always enjoy talking to another historical author.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
How to Visit a Castle Without Ever Leaving Your Living Room
I once attended a writing class where the instructor, a successful writer of medieval romances who was sharing her medieval research methods with us, ended the class by informing us all that she would soon be returning to England to research her next novel, because she “finds it difficult to write about things she hasn’t actually seen for herself”…such as castles.
There I sat, thinking to myself, “Hmm, does that mean I can’t write about the Middle Ages unless I go to England and ‘see for myself’?” A thought immediately followed by the dour recognition that a trip to England was in no way compatible with my current budget, or likely to become compatible anytime in the near future. (Much though I still dream of visiting England and its castles “someday”.)
I, too, am a very visually oriented person. It’s difficult for me to describe something I haven’t actually seen, hence my fondness for “picture books”, such as books on medieval clothing or even children's books on the Middle Ages. Once I have seen a picture or image, I can then store that in my imagination to use as a point of reference when studying more detailed, less visual texts.
For those of us who write about castle-dwelling characters, but who have never had the opportunity (and no immediate prospect) of seeing even so much as the ruins of a medieval castle in “real life”, how do we begin to imagine, much less transport our readers, back to this far-distant environment?
Modern technology is…well…marvelous. And thanks to a History Channel DVD called Modern Marvels: Castles & Dungeons, those of us with limited budgets can now enjoy a striking tour of medieval castles from the comfort of our own homes.
I remember reading for years about the “motte and bailey” model on which the earliest castles in England were built. And I remember straining for years and years to try to imagine exactly what these books were talking about. I didn’t want to “guess” at what a motte and bailey castle looked like. I wanted to know. Castles & Dungeons took away all my guesswork by showing me exactly how closely my imagination had and hadn’t matched “the facts”.
In addition to learning how castles were built, first of wood and later of stone, this DVD gives the viewer an up close and personal look at such castle features as: crennelation, glass windows, loop holes and arrow slits, the portcullis, murder holes, the oubliette, the great hall, and castle kitchens. The visuals and narration are so well done, that one comes away feeling reassured that an actual trip to England isn’t an absolute requirement for writing medieval fiction with some degree of authenticity and confidence.
Modern Marvels: Castles & Dungeons is currently only available from the History Channel, but you can get a copy by clicking on this link: http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=72080
There I sat, thinking to myself, “Hmm, does that mean I can’t write about the Middle Ages unless I go to England and ‘see for myself’?” A thought immediately followed by the dour recognition that a trip to England was in no way compatible with my current budget, or likely to become compatible anytime in the near future. (Much though I still dream of visiting England and its castles “someday”.)
I, too, am a very visually oriented person. It’s difficult for me to describe something I haven’t actually seen, hence my fondness for “picture books”, such as books on medieval clothing or even children's books on the Middle Ages. Once I have seen a picture or image, I can then store that in my imagination to use as a point of reference when studying more detailed, less visual texts.
For those of us who write about castle-dwelling characters, but who have never had the opportunity (and no immediate prospect) of seeing even so much as the ruins of a medieval castle in “real life”, how do we begin to imagine, much less transport our readers, back to this far-distant environment?
Modern technology is…well…marvelous. And thanks to a History Channel DVD called Modern Marvels: Castles & Dungeons, those of us with limited budgets can now enjoy a striking tour of medieval castles from the comfort of our own homes.
I remember reading for years about the “motte and bailey” model on which the earliest castles in England were built. And I remember straining for years and years to try to imagine exactly what these books were talking about. I didn’t want to “guess” at what a motte and bailey castle looked like. I wanted to know. Castles & Dungeons took away all my guesswork by showing me exactly how closely my imagination had and hadn’t matched “the facts”.
In addition to learning how castles were built, first of wood and later of stone, this DVD gives the viewer an up close and personal look at such castle features as: crennelation, glass windows, loop holes and arrow slits, the portcullis, murder holes, the oubliette, the great hall, and castle kitchens. The visuals and narration are so well done, that one comes away feeling reassured that an actual trip to England isn’t an absolute requirement for writing medieval fiction with some degree of authenticity and confidence.
Modern Marvels: Castles & Dungeons is currently only available from the History Channel, but you can get a copy by clicking on this link: http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=72080
Friday, February 6, 2009
Silly Superstitions About Petticoats & Yellow
Who would ever think that superstition would center around something as simple as a woman’s petticoat? Well, certainly not me. Goes to show how much I know, and why it’s important to do research when writing novels.
It appears that in the Victorian era long-standing tradition has it that a girl whose petticoats show beneath her dress is loved more by her father than by her mother. In other research, it stated that if an unmarried lady who slept with one of her petticoats under the pillow would ensure that she would enjoy dreams about her future husband. In still another place, I found the following poem that was often recited by young ladies:
This Friday night while going to bed,
I put my petticoat under my head,
To dream of the living and not of the dead,
To dream of the man I am to wed.
The colour of his eyes, the colour of his hair,
The colour of the clothes he is to wear,
And the night the wedding is to be.
According to the Portuguese, meanwhile, a woman who fears she is threatened by the ‘evil eye’ can escape harm by wearing seven petticoats at once.
An old wives tale stated that if a bride wore a yellow petticoat under her gown, it meant she was ashamed of her fellow: “to wear a petticoat of yellow, she is ashamed of her fellow.”
Speaking of the color – yellow- it was considered one of the unluckiest of all colors. It was and perhaps still is generally associated with cowardice, sickness and death (though some people connect it with the life-giving sun). Yellow leaves that appear on peas or bean plants are supposed to presage a death in the household and even evil spirits are said to avoid the color. Even in today’s modern society, actors and actresses are sometimes reluctant to wear yellow.
It appears that in the Victorian era long-standing tradition has it that a girl whose petticoats show beneath her dress is loved more by her father than by her mother. In other research, it stated that if an unmarried lady who slept with one of her petticoats under the pillow would ensure that she would enjoy dreams about her future husband. In still another place, I found the following poem that was often recited by young ladies:
This Friday night while going to bed,
I put my petticoat under my head,
To dream of the living and not of the dead,
To dream of the man I am to wed.
The colour of his eyes, the colour of his hair,
The colour of the clothes he is to wear,
And the night the wedding is to be.
According to the Portuguese, meanwhile, a woman who fears she is threatened by the ‘evil eye’ can escape harm by wearing seven petticoats at once.
An old wives tale stated that if a bride wore a yellow petticoat under her gown, it meant she was ashamed of her fellow: “to wear a petticoat of yellow, she is ashamed of her fellow.”
Speaking of the color – yellow- it was considered one of the unluckiest of all colors. It was and perhaps still is generally associated with cowardice, sickness and death (though some people connect it with the life-giving sun). Yellow leaves that appear on peas or bean plants are supposed to presage a death in the household and even evil spirits are said to avoid the color. Even in today’s modern society, actors and actresses are sometimes reluctant to wear yellow.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Interview with Fenella Miller
Today Joyce Moore will introduce a new contributor, a historical author who lives across the pond in the
Joyce – Hi Fenella. Glad to have you here. So that everyone can get to know you and a little about your writing, I'll be asking you a few questions. Let's get started.
Joyce; So, tell us a little about yourself? What is your typical day like?
Fenella: Hi Joyce. Firstly I'd like to thank you for inviting me to join this fascinating historical blog. I have had a multitude of jobs over the years, but spent 25 years teaching both in secondary and primary education. ( That's ages 10 to 16.) However my dream was to become a published writer before my 60th birthday. Over the years I scribbled away and never had time to get anything finished. I'm sure you will understand how family and paid employment have to be put first.
I was offered early retirement at the same time as my dear father died and left me some money. At last, I had my opportunity. I achieved my goal by selling my first two books, The Unconventional Miss Walters, to Robert Hale, and the return of Lord Rivenhall, to D. C. Thompson in April 2005 -- 2 weeks before my birthday.
I am married, have been with the same lovely man for 45 years and have two wonderful adult children and two grandchildren. Finally I am able to spend my days doing what I've always wanted - writing full-time.
I am an early riser, I'm usually at my computer by
Joyce: How did you break into publishing?
Fenella: I am a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, which is similar to the R. W. A. that you have over there. It is through the help of established writers and I discovered how to approach a publisher, and to set out a manuscript and all the other things that are so far hard to find out when working in isolation.
Joyce: What genre do you write? Why did you choose this?
Fenella: I began by writing historical romantic suspense set in the Regency. It was my love of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer when I was growing up, and latterly Bernard Cornwell's brilliant Richard Sharpe novels that influenced me. Everyone says you should write what you know, so it was a good place to start. As a history graduate it was natural I should write books set in the past.
Joyce: Tell us about your other works, books, and stories.
Fenella: I write Jane Austen related stories, one is with my agent, Kate Nash, at the moment. I also write historical family novels set in the Victorian era, Kate also has this. I have written two books set in World War II, these need revising before I can think of sending them to Kate.
Joyce: What one thing do you like most about writing? Least?
Fenella: I think I am blessed to be able to spend all my time doing something I want to do. I have to admit that I'm obsessed by writing, I'm either at my computer, dictating into my dictaphone or plotting in my head. This happens 24/7, 365 days a year. Thank goodness my husband is 100% behind me. What I like least are the rejection slips - even after having had eight books published by Robert Hale and six by D. C. Thompson, not counting all the large print editions, I still get despondent when something is turned down.
Joyce: What advice would you give aspiring writers today?
Fenella: Persevere. Write what you read - if you don't like contemporary fiction then don't attempt to write a novel in this genre. If you have a really good story to tell, eventually you will get an agent or publisher to pick it up. Remember - if you write most days then you are a writer, being a published writer is another thing.
Joyce; Tell us about your newest book.
Fenella: The Ghosts at Neddingfield Hall, was published by Robert Hale a month ago. It is a Gothic romantic suspense. I'm not sure you have this genre in the US.
When Miss Culley and her entire staff vanish without trace from Neddingfield Hall, Hester Frobisher is certain she can solve the mystery and find her great aunt. However, her cousin, the Earl of Waverley, thinks differently, so she is obliged to accept his help. However, sinister forces are working to lure the two, and those around them, towards their deaths. No one at Neddingfield is safe. Is it ghosts, or something far more dangerous that seeks to destroy them?
My books are available from Amazon, but also on www.regencyreads.com as downloads. Ghosts is not up yet, but will be in March - but my previous book, The House Party and six other books, are all available.
I'm looking forward to being a contributor on this blog and making new friends all over the world.
You can find out more about me and my books on my website www.fenellajanemiller.co.uk
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Interview with Historical Hussies Contributor, Joyce DiPastena
Historical Hussies would like to introduce to you, our readers, the authors who are and will be contributing to this blog. We kick off our introductions with a question/answer interview with Joyce DiPastena, author of the medieval romance, Loyalty’s Web.
Historical Hussies: When did you start to write and how long did it take you get published?
Joyce: I dabbled with writing as far back as high school, but I started my first novel in college. I didn’t think of it as a “novel” at first, just as another story that I was “dabbling” with. But the characters really captured my imagination, and unlike my earlier writing efforts, all of which had eventually fizzled out, these characters continued to propel me forward until six years later, I found myself with a full-fledged novel on my hands. (Yes, it took me four undergraduate years and two years of graduate school to finish my first book.) And yes, in case you’re wondering, my first book was a medieval novel. ☺
That novel was never published, and neither was its sequel (which took me another six yeas to write). Loyalty’s Web was the third book in my series. It was also the best written, since I’d learned tons more about good writing technique since those very early efforts. Still, it remained unpublished for probably a good fifteen years while I worked on other projects. It came close to being published by a national publisher once, but my potential publishing house merged with another house, my editor was let go and Loyalty’s Web was dropped. Throughout all those years, I continued to return to Loyalty’s Web and polished and repolished and polished it again. I always thought I had a good story, and I never completely gave up on it.
HH: How did you break into publishing?
Joyce: By the end of 2006, I’d pretty much given up on ever finding a publisher for my books. I’d never seriously considered self-publishing before, but technology was changing. With the new print-on-demand option, I no longer had to invest thousands of dollars to self-publish a garage-full of books that I knew I’d be too shy to ever try to sell. But now, for a relatively small investment, I learned that I could self-publish, get my book posted on Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com, and my books would be printed only as orders were placed for them. I found myself thinking, “I’ve allowed all my books to (figuratively) sit tucked away in a drawer for all these years. I can either leave them there till the day I die, or I can take a chance on them, try a print-on-demand self-publishing program, and see if there really is an audience out there for my stories.” I figured I would never know if I never tried. So in 2007, I began by self-publishing Loyalty’s Web.
To my surprise, people actually started buying copies and seemed to be enjoying them! Later that year, I learned about a contest for published books that allowed self-published entries. I decided I had nothing to lose by entering, so I did. Early in 2008, I learned that Loyalty’s Web had been selected as one of five finalists for a Whitney Award. Loyalty’s Web didn’t win, but it caught the attention of a small publishing house called Leatherwood Press. Their editor contacted me and expressed interest in republishing Loyalty’s Web for a wider audience. And the rest, as they say, is history.
HH: What genre or sub-genre do you write?
Joyce: I write a sort of medieval cross-genre. Romance, with strong mystery, suspense and political elements…a drawback in the national market, according to the many editors who turned me down because they didn’t know how to “peg”, and therefore, market my writing. But Leatherwood Press has shown wonderful faith in me, and readers’ response has been extremely positive. Leatherwood has marketed Loyalty’s Web as a romance, and a romance is always at the heart of each of my stories, but there is usually much, much more going on alongside the romance. I like to play with lots of different plot threads, but in the end, my stories are ultimately about two people falling in love and living happily ever after.
HH: What difficulties does writing this genre present?
Joyce: I suppose the obvious answer to this question would be “research”, but I love researching my novels. I guess the greatest difficulty is finding specific bits and pieces of research that I need for my story. You’d think the internet would have made that aspect of writing easier, but I haven’t always found that to be the case. So much on the internet is “general” rather than “specific” oriented, plus a lot of it is simply splashed on a website without any clear authentication of where the site came up with their “facts”. I prefer to know I have a reliable source before I insert a bit of research into my novels. Two reliable sources confirming the same fact is even better. I continue to have my best research luck with good old fashioned books. Book sites like Amazon.com have made it much easier to track down research books dealing with delightfully arcane bits of medieval knowledge, so in that respect, that internet has truly been a blessing.
I have a blog called Medieval Research with Joyce, if your readers would like to take a look at some of the books I found particularly helpful in writing Loyalty’s Web. Some of those posts may be making guest appearances in future Historical Hussies blog posts. ☺
HH: What are you working on now?
Joyce: I’m just at the very beginnings of what I’m calling my “troubadour book”. The hero, a very young man, is torn between whether to become a knight, as his birth entitles him to, or follow his love of music and become a troubadour instead. Don’t ask me about the heroine. She’s still very much in flux! If you’d like to read something of my current wrestles to get this story off the ground, you can read my post on “Alligators and Me” on my JDP NEWS blog.
HH: What has surprised you about being a published author?
Joyce: What surprises me the most is that people will actually plunk down money to buy something that I’ve written. What thrills me the most is when they actually enjoy my book!
HH: What do you like to do when you aren't writing?
Joyce: Sleep, eat, watch TV…all that good lazy kind of stuff.
HH: What advice would you give aspiring writers today?
Joyce: Write because you love to write and never give up. It took me over twenty years to get my first book published. There were times I gave up on publishing, but I never gave up on writing. Of course I wanted to be published much earlier, but I simply wanted to write even more. Learn all you can about “good writing”, then write what you love and write from your heart. If you love what you’re writing about and it comes from your heart, that will come through to your readers. And have faith that you will have readers one day, no matter how long it takes. To paraphrase Saint Paul, “The race is not to the swift, but to he who endures to the end.”
HH: Can you give us a summary of Loyalty’s Web?
Joyce: Sure. Here’s the backcover blurb:
In twelfth century France, King Henry II of England has just finished quashing a rebellion by his power-hungry sons and now seeks to tame the lawless barons who supported them in this corner of his "Angevin empire." To this end, the king has sent the Earl of Gunthar as his royal representative to ensure that Prince Richard and his former cohorts faithfully adhere to the terms of the peace treaty.
Far from being welcomed with open arms, Gunthar no sooner steps foot in the county of Poitou than he is greeted by a series of assassination attempts. All appear to be linked to the former rebellious prince through the agents of the family and friends of young Heléne de Laurant. A clever, intrepid young woman, she realizes that the only way to prove her loved ones’ innocence is by exposing the true assassin. Heléne races against time—and dark secrets of the past—to unmask the killer before the kingdom plunges back into war.
Fierce determination gives way to mutual attraction as Heléne and Gunthar spar over the identity of the traitor. But their blinding magnetism almost causes them to overlook an even deadlier threat from an entirely unexpected direction.
HH: It sounds fascinating. Where can interested readers purchase a copy of Loyalty’s Web?
Joyce: Loyalty’s Web is available on Amazon.com, DeseretBook.com, or in Deseret Bookstores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington state.
HH: Thank you for joining us today, Joyce. We look forward to your future posts on Historical Hussies.
Joyce: Thank you for the interview. It’s been a delight to share some of my thoughts and reflections with your readers. I’m excited to be part of this group, and look forward to sharing some of my research with your readers in the future!
Historical Hussies: When did you start to write and how long did it take you get published?
Joyce: I dabbled with writing as far back as high school, but I started my first novel in college. I didn’t think of it as a “novel” at first, just as another story that I was “dabbling” with. But the characters really captured my imagination, and unlike my earlier writing efforts, all of which had eventually fizzled out, these characters continued to propel me forward until six years later, I found myself with a full-fledged novel on my hands. (Yes, it took me four undergraduate years and two years of graduate school to finish my first book.) And yes, in case you’re wondering, my first book was a medieval novel. ☺
That novel was never published, and neither was its sequel (which took me another six yeas to write). Loyalty’s Web was the third book in my series. It was also the best written, since I’d learned tons more about good writing technique since those very early efforts. Still, it remained unpublished for probably a good fifteen years while I worked on other projects. It came close to being published by a national publisher once, but my potential publishing house merged with another house, my editor was let go and Loyalty’s Web was dropped. Throughout all those years, I continued to return to Loyalty’s Web and polished and repolished and polished it again. I always thought I had a good story, and I never completely gave up on it.
HH: How did you break into publishing?
Joyce: By the end of 2006, I’d pretty much given up on ever finding a publisher for my books. I’d never seriously considered self-publishing before, but technology was changing. With the new print-on-demand option, I no longer had to invest thousands of dollars to self-publish a garage-full of books that I knew I’d be too shy to ever try to sell. But now, for a relatively small investment, I learned that I could self-publish, get my book posted on Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com, and my books would be printed only as orders were placed for them. I found myself thinking, “I’ve allowed all my books to (figuratively) sit tucked away in a drawer for all these years. I can either leave them there till the day I die, or I can take a chance on them, try a print-on-demand self-publishing program, and see if there really is an audience out there for my stories.” I figured I would never know if I never tried. So in 2007, I began by self-publishing Loyalty’s Web.
To my surprise, people actually started buying copies and seemed to be enjoying them! Later that year, I learned about a contest for published books that allowed self-published entries. I decided I had nothing to lose by entering, so I did. Early in 2008, I learned that Loyalty’s Web had been selected as one of five finalists for a Whitney Award. Loyalty’s Web didn’t win, but it caught the attention of a small publishing house called Leatherwood Press. Their editor contacted me and expressed interest in republishing Loyalty’s Web for a wider audience. And the rest, as they say, is history.
HH: What genre or sub-genre do you write?
Joyce: I write a sort of medieval cross-genre. Romance, with strong mystery, suspense and political elements…a drawback in the national market, according to the many editors who turned me down because they didn’t know how to “peg”, and therefore, market my writing. But Leatherwood Press has shown wonderful faith in me, and readers’ response has been extremely positive. Leatherwood has marketed Loyalty’s Web as a romance, and a romance is always at the heart of each of my stories, but there is usually much, much more going on alongside the romance. I like to play with lots of different plot threads, but in the end, my stories are ultimately about two people falling in love and living happily ever after.
HH: What difficulties does writing this genre present?
Joyce: I suppose the obvious answer to this question would be “research”, but I love researching my novels. I guess the greatest difficulty is finding specific bits and pieces of research that I need for my story. You’d think the internet would have made that aspect of writing easier, but I haven’t always found that to be the case. So much on the internet is “general” rather than “specific” oriented, plus a lot of it is simply splashed on a website without any clear authentication of where the site came up with their “facts”. I prefer to know I have a reliable source before I insert a bit of research into my novels. Two reliable sources confirming the same fact is even better. I continue to have my best research luck with good old fashioned books. Book sites like Amazon.com have made it much easier to track down research books dealing with delightfully arcane bits of medieval knowledge, so in that respect, that internet has truly been a blessing.
I have a blog called Medieval Research with Joyce, if your readers would like to take a look at some of the books I found particularly helpful in writing Loyalty’s Web. Some of those posts may be making guest appearances in future Historical Hussies blog posts. ☺
HH: What are you working on now?
Joyce: I’m just at the very beginnings of what I’m calling my “troubadour book”. The hero, a very young man, is torn between whether to become a knight, as his birth entitles him to, or follow his love of music and become a troubadour instead. Don’t ask me about the heroine. She’s still very much in flux! If you’d like to read something of my current wrestles to get this story off the ground, you can read my post on “Alligators and Me” on my JDP NEWS blog.
HH: What has surprised you about being a published author?
Joyce: What surprises me the most is that people will actually plunk down money to buy something that I’ve written. What thrills me the most is when they actually enjoy my book!
HH: What do you like to do when you aren't writing?
Joyce: Sleep, eat, watch TV…all that good lazy kind of stuff.
HH: What advice would you give aspiring writers today?
Joyce: Write because you love to write and never give up. It took me over twenty years to get my first book published. There were times I gave up on publishing, but I never gave up on writing. Of course I wanted to be published much earlier, but I simply wanted to write even more. Learn all you can about “good writing”, then write what you love and write from your heart. If you love what you’re writing about and it comes from your heart, that will come through to your readers. And have faith that you will have readers one day, no matter how long it takes. To paraphrase Saint Paul, “The race is not to the swift, but to he who endures to the end.”
HH: Can you give us a summary of Loyalty’s Web?
Joyce: Sure. Here’s the backcover blurb:
In twelfth century France, King Henry II of England has just finished quashing a rebellion by his power-hungry sons and now seeks to tame the lawless barons who supported them in this corner of his "Angevin empire." To this end, the king has sent the Earl of Gunthar as his royal representative to ensure that Prince Richard and his former cohorts faithfully adhere to the terms of the peace treaty.
Far from being welcomed with open arms, Gunthar no sooner steps foot in the county of Poitou than he is greeted by a series of assassination attempts. All appear to be linked to the former rebellious prince through the agents of the family and friends of young Heléne de Laurant. A clever, intrepid young woman, she realizes that the only way to prove her loved ones’ innocence is by exposing the true assassin. Heléne races against time—and dark secrets of the past—to unmask the killer before the kingdom plunges back into war.
Fierce determination gives way to mutual attraction as Heléne and Gunthar spar over the identity of the traitor. But their blinding magnetism almost causes them to overlook an even deadlier threat from an entirely unexpected direction.
HH: It sounds fascinating. Where can interested readers purchase a copy of Loyalty’s Web?
Joyce: Loyalty’s Web is available on Amazon.com, DeseretBook.com, or in Deseret Bookstores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington state.
HH: Thank you for joining us today, Joyce. We look forward to your future posts on Historical Hussies.
Joyce: Thank you for the interview. It’s been a delight to share some of my thoughts and reflections with your readers. I’m excited to be part of this group, and look forward to sharing some of my research with your readers in the future!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Regency Duels
In England, dueling was part of a long-standing code of honor, far beyond a mere tradition. Gentlemen took their dueling very seriously; they would rather die than be dishonored.
Does your heart go pitter patter just at the sound of that? Mine sure does. How many man that honorable do you know? Okay, maybe we'd call it misplaced pride, but hey, that was a different world with a different set of rules.
The procedure for issuing a challenge was very specific. A gentleman never challenged a social inferior. For instance, a gentleman of significance with ties to the aristocracy or nobility would never challenge a commoner, such as a blacksmith or a farmer. Also, if there was a significant age difference, the duel would not be extended.
If they were socially equal, or at least similar, the gentleman who was offended would tell the man who’d wronged him that he should choose his “second,” a close friend or family member who would look out for his best interests. If he was really incensed, he might slap him with his glove, but that was considered extreme and beneath gentlemanly behavior, as it was the ultimate insult and probably resulted in a fight then and there.
After the verbal challenge – or perhaps warning would be a better word – was issued, depending on the severity of the offense, the other might have a choice; he could either apologize, or he could accept. Sometimes, the apology would not be accepted, often if there were a third person who’d been wronged.
The next day, supposedly after heads had cooled, the wronged man who wished to duel would send his “second” with a written letter challenging the duel. The other may chose to apologize or accept the challenge. If accepted, he would choose swords or pistols and name the time and the place.
When the allotted day arrived, they met, probably in a remote place where they wouldn’t be caught by the law, and the seconds inspected the weapons to be used. A final opportunity for an apology could be given. If not, the seconds decided if the duel should be fought to (a) first blood, or (b) until one can no longer stand, or (c) to the death. Once that was decided, the opponents dueled and the seconds watched to insure that nothing dishonorable happened.
If one of the duelers becomes too injured to continue, occasionally the second would step in and duel. Sometimes, the seconds were hot-headed and ended up dueling each other as well.
By the Regency Era, dueling was outlawed. However, duels still happened more frequently than many people knew. The problem was, because courts were made up of peers, they were reluctant to charge another peer with murder as a result of a duel. There is a case where one nobleman was charged with murder and tried, but used the defense that his behavior was gentlemanly and honorable, meaning that he acted within the proper code of conduct. He was acquitted by his peers.
As horrible as it sounds to our modern selves, these gentlemen took their honor very seriously, and considered death preferable to living with the label of a coward, a label that would follow them and their families for years.
And, maybe it’s me, but there a certain romance about a gentleman brave enough and protective enough to be willing to risk death defending my honor from another man who’d besmirched it.
A duel is what leads to all the trouble for my hero in my newest book "The Stranger She Married" and causes events he wishes desperately he could change, especially when the duel goes awry and causes pain to an entire family.
I'm sure glad my husband isn't likely to try it...
Does your heart go pitter patter just at the sound of that? Mine sure does. How many man that honorable do you know? Okay, maybe we'd call it misplaced pride, but hey, that was a different world with a different set of rules.
The procedure for issuing a challenge was very specific. A gentleman never challenged a social inferior. For instance, a gentleman of significance with ties to the aristocracy or nobility would never challenge a commoner, such as a blacksmith or a farmer. Also, if there was a significant age difference, the duel would not be extended.
If they were socially equal, or at least similar, the gentleman who was offended would tell the man who’d wronged him that he should choose his “second,” a close friend or family member who would look out for his best interests. If he was really incensed, he might slap him with his glove, but that was considered extreme and beneath gentlemanly behavior, as it was the ultimate insult and probably resulted in a fight then and there.
After the verbal challenge – or perhaps warning would be a better word – was issued, depending on the severity of the offense, the other might have a choice; he could either apologize, or he could accept. Sometimes, the apology would not be accepted, often if there were a third person who’d been wronged.
The next day, supposedly after heads had cooled, the wronged man who wished to duel would send his “second” with a written letter challenging the duel. The other may chose to apologize or accept the challenge. If accepted, he would choose swords or pistols and name the time and the place.
When the allotted day arrived, they met, probably in a remote place where they wouldn’t be caught by the law, and the seconds inspected the weapons to be used. A final opportunity for an apology could be given. If not, the seconds decided if the duel should be fought to (a) first blood, or (b) until one can no longer stand, or (c) to the death. Once that was decided, the opponents dueled and the seconds watched to insure that nothing dishonorable happened.
If one of the duelers becomes too injured to continue, occasionally the second would step in and duel. Sometimes, the seconds were hot-headed and ended up dueling each other as well.
By the Regency Era, dueling was outlawed. However, duels still happened more frequently than many people knew. The problem was, because courts were made up of peers, they were reluctant to charge another peer with murder as a result of a duel. There is a case where one nobleman was charged with murder and tried, but used the defense that his behavior was gentlemanly and honorable, meaning that he acted within the proper code of conduct. He was acquitted by his peers.
As horrible as it sounds to our modern selves, these gentlemen took their honor very seriously, and considered death preferable to living with the label of a coward, a label that would follow them and their families for years.
And, maybe it’s me, but there a certain romance about a gentleman brave enough and protective enough to be willing to risk death defending my honor from another man who’d besmirched it.
A duel is what leads to all the trouble for my hero in my newest book "The Stranger She Married" and causes events he wishes desperately he could change, especially when the duel goes awry and causes pain to an entire family.
I'm sure glad my husband isn't likely to try it...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
