I’ve been researching the customs regarding romance, courtship, and marriage in Regency England. Many authors in assorted genres, like SF/F author Rosemary Edghill and mystery novelist Carola Dunn, began their career by writing Regency romances. I am attempting to do likewise. After all, I’ve been reading Regencies since before the Bicentennial (yes, I’m dating myself) and I’ve started more than a dozen, although I’ve yet to get beyond chapter two in any of them.
Now that I’ve made a few sales in short fiction, I am attempting to write a novel. Since I’ve read more Regency romances than I can count, that genre seemed a good arena to hone my skills before turning my attention to science fiction and fantasy. Yes, it’s bubblegum literature, but sometimes you’re in the mood for bubblegum.
When one thinks of Regency romances, one thinks of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, Clare Darcy, Allison Lane, Barbara Cartland, etc. One thinks of beautiful gowns and the noble-born ladies wearing them at grand balls. One thinks of gentlemen who follow Beau Brummell’s lead in fashion, although probably more athletic — a good Regency hero should be a Corinthian. And sometimes, one thinks of badly written novels with little or no research done. Rosemary Edghill tells how she was inspired to write her first Regency romance, after reading a book where a Regency heroine took a train to Malta. Stop and think about that a moment.
I was reading a book ‑- which happened, as these things do, to be a Regency novel ‑- and not thinking at all about becoming a writer. At the time I was doing production and design at a New York graphic arts studio, a location which later found its way as background into some of my books, so I figured all my artistic impulses were pretty well taken care of, as well as a steady paycheck. But as I was reading along I encountered a passage in which the heroine took a train from London to Malta ‑- the island of Malta, you understand, an island surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea without a single bridge leading to it ‑- in 1805, several decades before the invention of the passenger train, ignoring all the rules of both history and geography ‑- and the Writing Fairy landed on my shoulder and whispered in my ear: you can do better than that.
Just as Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired to write Treasure Island because he was disappointed in the books his stepson read, so Rosemary Edghill was inspired to write Turkish Delight. There’s probably an essay’s worth of material from writers who read something subpar, said I can do better than this, and began literary careers.
In researching how to avoid being compromised (a major plot point in both Lady Tom and Damaris in Distress), I have found some fascinating websites.
Courtship and Marriage {Isabelle Goddard}
Regency Reader {multiple authors}
Marriage in the Regency Era {Sharon Lathan}
Courting and Marriage in the Regency {Cheryl Bolen}
A Survivor’s Guide to Georgian Marriage {Ellie Cawthorne}
Ten Tropes That Make Historical Romance Awesome {G. Callen, C. Linden, L. Guhrke}
My current WIP is a fantasy story set in 1923, which I hope to submit to the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Contest if I can finish it by their deadline. After that, I’d like to get back to Regencies. If/when I manage to get either Lady Tom or Damaris in Distress finished, I’ll let you know in a future blog post. Or Cherished Companion, or The Thistle and the Orchid, or Shilling Suitors, or Maid Marian’s Return, or Marguerite, or Cousin Lavinia or …. (Did I mention I’d started more than a dozen Regency romance novels?)