A bit of blogging history...

I thought it would be fun to re-post a blog I did about cross-dressing three years ago ( almost to the day!) I wrote this around about the time I began to get interested in the idea of writing a cross-dressing heroine. Some of this stuff was inspirational as regards The Lady's Secret...

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What a Dashing Fellow!

Hail romance blogging community. It has been two weeks since my last post.

And I'm dedicating this one to the controversial topic of sexual ambiguity. Seeing as how that's apparently caused such a furore in romance circles recently. [2011Tumperkin: can't precisely remember what that controversy was but have a suspicion it was about the gender of M/M writers so not much changes...]

What do you think of this dashing chap? 'He' is Hetty King, one of the most successful male impersonators on the music hall circuit in Britain at the turn of the century.

Hetty performed during both the First and Second World Wars, often in the uniform of a sailor or soldier. Whilst underneath the uniform.... Provocative, don't you think? I'd always thought the music hall male impersonators were probably pretty girls in trousers - not so it would appear.

Here's Katherine Hepburn looking really very convincing as a sort of Varsity chap of the 1920s. I love this picture.





It's difficult to find good modern impersonators. Imogen Stubbs doesn't do too badly as Viola in Twelfth Night. She could just about pass as a very very pretty boy. If she was quarter of a mile away and you screwed your eyes up. I do like her tash though. She's how I picture the heroine of The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer.















Cross-dressing romances charm and provoke. The Corinthian is something of a favourite of mine, the closest La Heyer ever got to M/M romance. Love the kiss at the end on the roadside as a coachload of shocked passengers barrels past.

Oh, there's no shortage of historical romance heroines striding around in breeches being 'original'. Think Lily from Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas or Alys from The Rake by Mary Jo Putney. Then there's the ones who only dress as chaps when they're out burgling or some such thing: Anne from All Through the Night by Connie Brockway or Jess from My Lord and Spymaster or Sidonie from The Devil to Pay by Liz Carlyle.

It's not so difficult to don a pair of breeches (assuming your average romance heroine's arse is somewhat smaller than mine) and cavort on rooftops at two in the morning. More challenging is passing yourself off as a Real Chap.

Viola in Twelfth Night is the original and best of the heroines who try to pass themselves successfully as a man. Orsino - her love interest - is in love with Olivia but Olivia will have nothing to do with him. When Orsino sends his handsome new friend (Viola) off to court Olivia on his behalf, Olivia falls for 'him'. Luckily the arrival of Viola's brother (previously thought by her to be dead) enables a double HEA to be achieved.

Here's one of my favourite scenes from the fabulous Trevor Nunn film.




It' s the fact that this is a peculiarly male intimacy that Olivia could never have been party to.

Heyer loved a bit of cross-dressing in her books. As well as my personal favourite, mentioned above, it's also a feature of These Old Shades (you'll either love or hate Leonie) and The Masqueraders (which I really must read). [2011Tumperkin - arggh! Still haven't!]

A more recent version of this trope can be found in Pam Rosenthal's Almost A Gentleman. Although I was ambivalent about AAG overall, I loved the detail Rosenthal went into about the heroine's motivation for living the life of a man and the specifics about what exactly went into her dressing and living as a man. And I loved that Rosenthal addressed the sexual issues. The hero is heterosexual but he is attracted to the rather effete Beau Brummel sort of man the heroine purports to be.


This next picture is from the disappointing and rushed BBC TV version of Sarah Waters' lovely Tipping the Velvet. It's a very great favourite of mine. Nan, an oyster girl, falls in love with Kitty who is a male impersonator in the music halls. Kitty was played by Keeley Hawes in the TV version - a most unconvincing man it must be said. Nan becomes part of the act and Kitty's lover. But Kitty betrays Nan with the man she eventually marries and Nan, distraught, leaves her to embark on life as a rent boy (lesbian dressed as guardsman giving BJs to men for a living) then as the sex toy of an older woman before finally finding love with the down to earth, kindly, radical Flo.

Unfortunately, the extremely pretty and feminine Rachael Stirling was cast as Nan (when I'd pictured her more as K D Lang). Judging by the pictures of Hetty King above, and other real male impersonators of the time, Keeley Hawes was probably not the best choice for Kitty either. I do love the book though. And often revisit it for the final, wrenching scene between Nan and Kitty, when Kitty asks Nan to (discreetly) come back to her and Nan says no. There's a wonderful line about how a part of Nan will be standing staring after Kitty forever. I'm a sucker for those unrequited (or not fully requited) love stories.

Finally on male impersonation, I think I have to give an honourable mention to Judith Ivory for Angel in a Red Dress. There's a fab scene in which the heroine dons male garb and rides out after the hero only to realise it was terrible idea and that everyone can see through her disguise. A rare example of a reality check in an historical romance there.

Nevertheless, Hetty could've convinced them.

Tumperkin allows Ruth Casie her say...

So I was over at Ruth Casie's blog the other day, arguing that Regency heroes are the very very best kind of heroes (and if I do say so myself, I put up quite an argument). Nothing daunted, Ruth wants to put her arguments forward for Mediaeval-Renaissance knights.

Well, never let it be said that I am one to stifle debate! But before Ruth has her say, a word or two about Ruth's recent release Knight of Runes (which you can buy here).

My book, Knight of runes, released last week by Carina Press, is set in England. Read how Rebeka, the bookish scholar, takes a misstep at the standing stones at Avebury and is tossed back in time to 1605 where she must use her wits and skills to decode the runes to help save the handsome druid knight, Lord Arik, and find her way back. But someone in the knight’s household is out to stop her. To defeat them, Arik and Rebeka must combine their skills. Soon Rebeka will have to decide whether to return to the future or trust the knight with the secret of her time travel and her heart.

There's an excerpt at the end of this post. But first Ruth's claim for Knights-as-the-very-best-heroes. Have at it Ruth!

Hi Joanna, thanks for having me here. Last week you guest posted on my blog about why Regency men were the best. I’m not certain I agree. Now, don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a great Regency hero but give me a good (k)night anytime.

In Joanna’s post last week she gave the top three reasons why she thinks the Regency male is The Uber Romance Hero. Let me give you my top three reasons why I think Medieval-Renaissance knights are the best.

1. Appearance

Some enjoy the breeches, shiny boots, tight coats and acres of snowy white linen. I love the shirtless look of a well-defined chest and ripped abs. It speaks protection, comfort and well, truly, their great to just look at. I enlarged my book cover to 8.5x11 and keep it posted next to my desk. Every so often, after his shower, my husband comes over in his towel and poses next it. He thanks me for not including his full face. We can both dream.

2. Ascendance



Knights were members of the noble class. Likely candidates at boyhood were chosen and trained for knighthood. A lesser or unlikely man could aspire to knighthood and reach his dreams, if he was worthy. Knights, their code of conduct and chivalry, "Protect the weak, defenseless, helpless, and fight for the general welfare of all," have inspired literature and courtship through the middle ages up until the turn of this century.

3. Adventure


Knighthood comes with its requirements: to save the damsel in distress, right the wrongs, and do away with the villain. Of course there were trials he had to go through to prove himself worthy. Usually he would somehow lose his shirt giving the damsel a glimpse of those perfect pecs and adorable abs.

For the knight, he not only has to prove himself worthy on the field of battle (for his king, the damsel or even for himself) but also learn how to balance the command and control needed to succeed with his own wants and desires. It's a lesson Lord Arik learns in Knight of Runes. After all, isn’t that romantic?

What do you think? Regency heroes or Medieval-Renaissance Knights? Or something entirely different?

Here's an excerpt from Knight of Runes:

“For Honor!” Logan’s war cry carried from the small camp to Arik’s ears.

Arik stiffened. Both camps were now under attack. He pulled his blade from an attacker’s chest. The body crumpled to the blood-soaked ground. Arik breathed deeply, the coppery taste of blood in the air. “For Honor!” he bellowed in answer. His men echoed his call, arms thrown wide, muscles quivering, the berserker’s rage overtaking them.

The remaining attackers paled and fled headlong into the forest.

Motioning to his men to follow, Arik raced toward the camp. He could hear the shouts, and cursed himself for not seeing the danger. He crested the hill and came to an abrupt halt.

Logan’s sword ripped through the air as he protected Doward. The tinker drew his short blade and did as much damage as he could. But it was the woman Arik noticed. Her skirt hiked up, she twirled her walking stick like a weapon with an expertise that left him slack-jawed. She dispatched the attackers, one by one, in a deadly well-practiced dance. A man rushed toward her, knife in hand. The sneer on his face didn’t match the fear in his eyes. She stepped out of his line of attack, extended her stick to her side, and holding it with both hands swept the weapon forward, striking the attacker across the bridge of his nose. Blood exploded from his face in an arc of fine spray as his head snapped back. Droplets dusted her face creating an illusion of bright red freckles. As he fell, she reversed her swing and caught him hard behind his knees. He went down on his back, spread-eagled. She swung her stick over her head and landed a precise and disabling blow to his forehead that knocked him unconscious.

As she spun to face the next threat her eyes captured Arik’s and held. In the space of an instant, time slowed to a crawl. Her hair slowly loosened from its pins and swirled out around her. His breath caught and his heartbeat quickened as a rapturous surge raced through his body. Something eternal and familiar, with a sense of longing, unsettled him. In the next heartbeat, she tore her eyes away, leaving him empty. Time resumed its normal pace. Another attacker lay at her feet.

Arik joined the fight.

So self-obsessed recently

Ok, I suppose I get a bit of leeway, what with releasing my first book two weeks ago and changing my RL job simultaneously, but really, I've been horribly self-obsessed recently.

My online output has all been about The Lady's Secret. Hardly a murmur about anything else.

Here's 7 things that aren't about me (much).

1. L B Gregg is releasing a new novella after a year's hiatus. There's a lovely excerpt and a chance to win a copy here.

2. Jessica at Read React Review has several very interesting posts about her own and other papers at the McDaniel conference.

3. I am aware of the most recent online kerfuffle vis-a-vis the gender identity of certain M/M authors. Some very interesting posts on being gender-queer, authors' right to privacy, and lots of anger (and some contrition) all round. And I'm still not entirely sure who the original author was. Which is not a plea to be enlightened incidentally.

4. I read and loved Alex Beecroft's By Honor Betrayed. (Ok, that's a wee bit about me). Interestingly, while Carina let British authors use UK-English in their books, they have used the American spelling of "honor" in the title and blurb. However, throughout the novel, the spelling used is "honour". (This made me think of a series of radio programmes Bob Dylan did for UK radio station, BBC6 some years ago. My husband and I listened to the first one and he announced himself as "Coming to you with an extra 'U'...").

I love the way Beecroft makes the hero choose between love and the World. In this book, the World is epitomised in the person of Captain Fortescue and Conrad, the hero, finally sees that the World may not be morally superior at all in this instant:

It was not the look of integrity at all, but the cold purity of a Pharisee, the gleam of a whited sepulchre.

Wow.

5. Now I'm reading Joanna Bourne's The Black Hawk and it's just so tremendously, wonderfully, amazingly good! I can't even begin to tell you. The back and forth is rather stunningly done and, as ever with Bourne, the H/H are astoundingly appealing. Justine with her cool French practicality that hides a raw, hurt soul and Adrian - compact, lethal, ruthless - like one of his own blades. And true, like one of them. I could quote that book forever so won't even start.

6. And do you know what I picked up today? Samantha Kane's The Courage to Love. I've read a few good reviews of this over the years and for a short period, you can pick it up free here for the next few weeks I think.

7. I've also been reading lots of Jordan Castillo Price recently. Zero Hour was a great bit of Dystopian fiction with tight, satisfying world-building. I've read and enjoyed the first three in the Psycop series too and also Wishink Well (one of the Petit Morts series) which can't be categorised as romance but was a bittersweet and emotional read that stayed with me for ages after. Price has a reasonably chunky backlist so I look forward to dipping into that some more over the next few months.

So there you go - seven things that aren't about me or promoting my book.

:-)

Let's Hear it for the Regency: a Thursday 13 by P G Forte

You may recall that, some years ago, me and some other, far better-known, people produced (somewhat by accident) a glorious romance called The Unfeasibly Tall Greek Billionaire's Blackmailed Martyr-Complex Secretary Mistress Bride. We followed this up with the even more glorious The Italian Gourmet Baby Food Baron's Ironically Pregnant Virgin Mistress (pithily known as TUTGBBMCSMB and TIGBFBIPVM respectively).

Happy days. Sadly, the series ended there.

But no need for glumness! In the same tradition of hilarity, the lovely P G Forte and her eight fellow authors (aka, the nine naughty novelists) have produced a REGENCY, namely, If You Give a Duke a Duchy or Love’s Savage Whiplash (Not Your Typical Regency Romance) You can buy it here.

In celebration of all things Regency, P G Forte has done a Thursday 13 on Regency Romance for Isn't it Romance?, but first, a word or two about the book:

From the authors who brought you The Zillionaire Vampire Cowboy's Secret Werewolf Babies, comes a new and even more scandalous story of sword-play, sailing ships and sorrowful separations ripped straight from the annals of Regency England: If You Give a Duke a Duchy (or Love’s Savage Whiplash).

Being a Tale of Panting Passion wherein a Disaffected Duke runs away to Sea to become a Pirate and ends up becoming Love Slave to a Ninja Queen, whilst at home he is replaced by a Nefarious Highwayman and ne’er-do-well who is, in turn, Ultimately Redeemed by his love for a Poor but Virtuous Governess.

And now on to the Thursday 13... Over to you PGF.

13 Reasons We Love Regency Romance

There’s a lot to love about Regency Romance. During the writing and researching of our recent (and very atypical) Regency parody, If You Give a Duke a Duchy, the Nine Naughty Novelists got to explore quite a few of them. Here, in no particular order, are thirteen of our favorites.

1. The language. We love Regency Cant like nobody’s business. Terms like “jug-bitten”, “bacon-brained”, “leg-shackled” or “touched in the upper works” always make us smile.

2. The rakes. Who doesn’t love a bad boy hero? And what could be better than a bad-boy hero with impeccable manners, good breeding, and (all too likely) a title and a sizeable inheritance in the offing…not to mention the wealth of sexual experience he’s improbably picked up during his dissolute years most of which he seems to have spent cavorting with his chère-amies.

'Zounds! I've lost my head over a dashingly lovely young ingenue!

3. Breeches. Whether they were termed “bucksins”, “small clothes” or “Inexpressibles” men’s pants should always be worn this tight. Just sayin’

4. The very favorable Duke-to-Commoner ratio. In our favorite Regency novels, Dukes are so common it's reasonable to conclude they must comprise at least 90% of the male population. Which means that, even if you aren’t a diamond-of-the-first-water with your own terrifyingly exalted pedigree, your chances of some day saying “I do” to His Grace are better than good. All you really need are a few new frocks, a season in Town and a handful of vouchers to Almack’s. Piece of cake. And speaking of which…

5. The food. Granted, some of the dishes mentioned in our favorite books seem odd (puddings and joints and possets—oh, my!) and everyone’s uncle always seems to be suffering from gout, but meals in Regency Romance are always entertaining. We love the variety of dishes, the abundance of courses and the leisurely pace at which our characters imbibed. Oh, and breakfast in bed. Yeah—we really like those.

6. The hours they keep. The only times most Regency heroines ever glimpse the dawn, is through the windows of a carriage on their way home from a night on the town…or do we mean, the ton? Hence the need for all those breakfasts in bed! In general, it seems, the early morning hours are reserved for hunting or duels. Further proof that being forced out of bed at too early an hour tends to end in violence.

Thoroughly Modern Millinery

7. Hats, Bonnets, and other Millinery. Nowadays the only elaborate, fashionable hats we see are on the heads of guests at royal weddings -- and we all know how that can go. Regency ladies, on the other hand, appreciated fine millinery and knew how to work the hat look to perfection.

8. Shoes. As anyone who’s read our blog lately knows, the Naughty Nine love shoes. Heels during Regency times might not have been as high as some of us are used to, but they were still things of beauty. And who doesn’t love a shiny pair of Hessian boots?

Hello, I am a Regency-type chap and I love my boots. Look how they make me smile.

9. Sex in Parlors. It’s shocking how many Regency couples tend to get it on in the parlor. Doors are rarely locked and we’re constantly amazed by the way all that delicate-looking furniture stands up to the vigorous use to which it's put.

10. Family Retainers. Every household has at least one: a faithful servant whose sole goal in life is to attend to his or her charge’s every need. Where would our noblemen and gentlewomen be without their invaluable valets, ladies’ maids or nurses? After all, it's they who can always be counted on to be helpful, discreet or sympathetic…and to ensure those unlocked doors are never opened at an importunate time.

11. Town. As anyone who’s ever read Dickens knows, historic London was cold, dank and dismal most of the time. If you ventured out into the streets after dark, you were as lief to freeze to death as you were to have your pockets picked by charming bands of orphans and waifs. In Regency Romance, on the other hand, Town contains nothing more deadly than a game of cribbage. Glittering assemblies, the occasional brothel, and endless carriage rides in the park are the norm. So much more pleasant!

12. Rustication. In the unlikely event they disgrace themselves in some fashion, or find themselves in dun territory, Regency Characters can always repair to a country estate until the furor dies down or their next annuity payment hits the bank. Like family retainers, picturesque, secluded and fully staffed mansions are ubiquitous in Regency district of Romancelandia. There’s always one there when you need it, never more than an uncomfortable coach ride away.

13. Marriage. Despite what they might say or think or do, and no matter what impediments stand in the way, marriage is always the proper and inevitable goal for all Regency characters—even the gentlemen. We have Jane’s word on it, after all!

Thanks PGF!

Oh, and see sidebar if you want to revisit TUTGBBMCSMB and TIGBFBIPVM.

The winner of the giveaway is....

..... June M!

I will email you June!

J

More blogging

I'm at the Carina Press blog today being gleeful about secrets and at Manic Readers talking about Regency romance and power.

One of my inspirations...

It's my official release day!!

Wow.

Ok, well I have to blog about the book, don't I? So I thought today I'd talk about what inspired me to write The Lady's Secret.

The heroine of the book is Georgy, the daughter of an actress and an aristocrat, who embarks on a quest to prove her twin brother is the true Earl of Dunsmore. To find evidence, she dresses as a man and obtains a post as the hero's valet.

There were quite a few things that fed into that set up in terms of inspiration but there was, admittedly, one big instantaneous, gut-clenching bit of inspiration, and it was a very particular scene in Trevor Nunn's superb film adaptation of Twelfth Night.

For those of you who need to brush up on your Shakespeare, Twelfth Night tells the tale of twins, Viola and Sebastian, who are shipwrecked on an enemy shore. Viola believes that her brother is dead and knowing herself to be vulnerable as a woman alone, dresses as a man, calls herself Cesario, and joins the household of the Duke of Orsino whom she falls in love with.

In this early scene in the film, just a minute long, Viola/Cesario goes to the Duke while he is in his bath. He speaks, yearningly, of the woman he believes he is in love with (Olivia) and Viola/Cesario suggests that she goes to this lady, to woo her on the Duke's behalf.

In fact, there is no bath scene in the play and the words that Orsino speaks are in a speech he makes to his entourage in the opening scene of the play, before he has even met Viola but I love what Nunn does here. He shows us, very economically, that Viola is in love—and in lust—with Orsino. Watch Viola's disconcertion when she walks in and realises that Orsino is in the bath, the way she averts her eyes as she walks past him, the awkwardness as she sits beside him, her reaction when he hands her the sponge and then the rapt way she stares at him as she washes his back - from 0:53-1:00 - those seven seconds are it for me.



This scene is very short, but really, it contains all the essentials of what I wanted to put into The Lady's Secret: the way that the heroine's male disguise enables her to enter a private male world, the way it opens up the hero to her gaze, the way disguises don't merely mask but sometimes liberate.

Being Scottish, you won't get a thin penny for a thick one off of me. But in celebration of my release I am giving a copy away to one random commenter.

Oh, and if you don't win a copy, you can buy my book here, should you wish.

Let's hear it for Reg-rom!

I'm over at Lime's today blogging about why I love Regency romance AND giving away a copy of The Lady's Secret!

Oh, and you can read about my reviews on Goodreads here!

One of my writing turning points

My first novel, The Lady's Secret, a Regency-set historical romance is just about to be published by Carina Press. It's a very exciting time for me. Like many authors, I've pretty much always wanted to write—since I started reading.

So I thought I'd talk today about one of the turning points on my writing journey. There have been a few of these. Some have come about externally—happy serendipitous moments that have made a big difference to me—like when I started working with my wonderful regular crit partner, Carolyn Crane. But the one I'm going to talk about today, was an internal revelation.

Despite wanting to write forever, I did virtually no writing until about five or six years ago. I thought about it a lot. I bought a lot of pads and pens and had whole evenings of staring at them. And then I read the well known statement of fact: a writer is someone who writes. Not someone who thinks about it, or wants to do it, or buys stationary in preparation for it. Someone who actually writes.

Reading that statement wasn't the turning point I want to talk about by the way...

One of my biggest problems had always been what to write about. In my vague imagination it was a weighty bit of literary fiction but it never really had a shape or structure or – well, anything really.

And a writer is someone who writes....

I went on holiday to the Lake District and the rental cottage had a bookshelf that contained, amongst the thrillers and cookbooks, one single, solitary Mills & Boon by Penny Jordan.

Now. I had had a period of romance reading in my youth. It began when I started reading my mother's pile of Mills & Boon romances. I swiftly moved on to the 'bodice rippers' in her collection (lots of medieval stuff, lots of pirates and slavers) and by the time I was a teenager I was braving the librarian's disapproval and getting romances out of the library myself.

This was a golden period of reading in my youth. I spent many happy hours reading romance (and other things). And then, age 17, I went to university. Just like that I packed up the romances, dyed my hair, bought a pair of Doctor Marten boots and—occasional illicit Mills & Boons aside—romance didn't get a look-in for another 15 years. Not till I picked up that Penny Jordan book.

Reading that book wasn't the turning point by the way....

I read the Penny Jordan. I enjoyed it and remembered all those happy hours of reading romance. And I thought: you know what? Since my problem is that I don't know what to write about, why don't I write a romance? Just for practice, of course.

You see that? Just for practice! The arrogance of me!

I began to write. An awful, awful contemporary romance. I can't bear to look at it now. When I finished it, I started another, equally bad.

But as well as writing, I did something much more important. I began reading. It started with more category romances. Then I found myself online, reading blogs and review sites, getting interested and involved in romance. I read more widely, single titles, paranormal, historical, sci-fi. Gradually I came to realise something very important: that romance is a valid reading choice. That wanting to read a book about falling in love isn't silly or childish.

And that I loved romance novels!

Yes!

That was the turning point, my friends. That was my Damascene moment. And I looked at my half-written second attempt at a book and put it away. I knew there was no point writing another word. There was nothing in there that was real or sincere. The person writing that book didn't even believe in that story. She was ashamed of it, in fact. And worse, she was protecting herself by being small and scared and not giving it her all.

I started again.

I thought about the books I loved and that I now wanted to write. And started again—sincerely this time, without holding back, knowing I might fail.

It led me here. And regardless of how many copies The Lady's Secret sells, what a sense of accomplishment! What a thrill!

A writer is someone who writes.