strange and random happenstance

In the fall of 2008 I was in the midst of my worst semester ever at school. I was overextended, overstressed, and hadn't really slept in a long long time. Forget about having time to actually read a book, despite trying to carve out time to read the ARC of The Temptation of the Night Jasmine. But there was one thing I wasn't going to miss, and that was the chance to meet Lauren Willig! Since 2008 I have been lucky enough to go to several of Lauren's signings in the Chicago area; in 2010 for The Mischief of the Mistletoe, in 2012 for The Garden Intrigue, later in 2012 for the Romantic Times Convention, and in 2013 for The Ashford Affair, but I will still remember the first time. I remember almost missing the turn off to the library and doing a slightly illegal sharp turn. I remember that the library was having a book sale and I picked up a biography on E.M. Forster. But most of all I remember that despite how awesome the other authors were, and are, my mom is a huge fan of Julie Hyzy because of this event where I was introduced to her, the audience was there for Lauren. While searching my email recently for Lauren related topics, I actually found the note I sent to my friend from the aforementioned "A Subway Interlude" regarding the Cozy Library Event in Gurnee and thought it might be fun to publish it here to get my account without the fog of seven years obscuring odd details. Though I couldn't help myself from adding an addendum or five... and fixing some egregious spelling errors.

"So, now that I'm home and don't have to peck little letters out with my thumbs on my phone I can tell you the whole awesome story. (I had an LG Vx9900 that flipped open to a full keyboard that I thought was the bomb, oh how Apple technology has changed me.)

So, author event in Gurnee for this society called the Cozy Librarians, and Lauren was a guest among 7 other authors (actually 8, because apparently I can't count). They did a little, here are all the authors brief bio, then they let each author talk for about 7 mins. Lauren talked about going to Harvard and how she was so sick of Historians and their little historian world and how she tried to think of a fun mad-cap romp she could write to divert herself that would make her laugh and she thought of spies and masked men like Zorro and the Scarlett Pimpernel, and how the Pink Carnation made it extra girly and therefore extra funny. Also she hated how "accurate" history novels were and by writing as Eloise she could get some things wrong. She said she thought that this would easily go in her writing trunk of abandoned work, which also contained a Nancy Drew spoof from when she was 9 and had wrote a story with 2 girl detectives, because 2 is better than 1, which she sent off and got a nice rejection letter. So then as luck would have it, she got published. And then she was thinking "How else could I make my life harder, I know I'll go to law school too!" So she wrote the next two books and in essence had 3 jobs at once. And then she went to New York (because it is her homeland, she is someone who can't even drive a car) where she was actually spending her billable hours at the law firm that hired her writing book 4 (The Seduction of the Crimson Rose). And when book 4 came out she was pretty sure they figured out what she was really doing, but then she quit, and now she's writing only and she's just loving it.

Then book signing, where we actually got to talk to her for awhile (Huyen went with me). So first off, she thought I was just amazingly organized cause I had post-it noted and wrote who the books were too, and I said that happens from being in a family of publishers. (PS, everyone should do this, it makes spelling mistakes not happen and just helps the authors so much.) Also she mentioned a British comic I should read but now I forgot the name, so I'll have to look it up (it's Annie Tempest's Tottering-by-Gently series, go check it out). So I said, cause she saw I had the new book (aka The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, Pink Carnation Book 5), I wondered if the house in the new book, Girdings was based on Castle Howard, she said totally, that and a mix of Blenheim, and I said I totally got that, what with the mural in the entrance way. We then talked a bit about the original Brideshead mini series. Leading to me saying that my dad always wanted to live in a little shack on the grounds of Castle Howard until recently when he changed his mind and would be happy with the chickens at Chatsworth. And then we talked about how amazing it is that the Duchess of Devonshire is one of the Mitfords, and I went on to ask if she knew about her being one of the greatest art collectors in the world, especially of Lucien Freud, and she had the painting of the Queen that the Queen rejected, and she didn't know that. Then I mentioned that she actually sells her books online signed and I got one for my dad, and she said she'd heard about her online store, and then she asked if I knew if it was still being operated as a farm after the death of her husband and I said that I believe it was (still is even after her death). 

Then we went on to talk about her website, and then she actually connected me with my posts, and later said I have to keep posting and must tell her what I think of the new book (I hadn't finished yet, read above, too much school), I mentioned I loved the 4th and she said she thinks that's her favorite and I said it's mine because the characters are less goody goody. So back to website, then I said I only keep up with her and Shannon Hale for authors websites, cause I think it's great how her site is so interactive, and she asked who Shannon Hale was, but then already connected her with Austenland, and I said she should so check out the Bayren books being re-tellings of Grimms, which lead to her mentioning this old Tor book she had, and I said funnily enough my Dad is an agent for a Tor author, Mike Norman, who writes these Haunted non-fiction books who is actually having a book signing today, but I came here, and she said that was great that I came here (which she even wrote in my book) and it turns out that she interned with Tor way back and asked if I had even been to their offices in the flat-iron building and I said sadly I hadn't but my dad had many times, and then she was talking about how slow the elevator is there, like 15 mins for a ride, and then she mentioned how Tom Doherty was pro-casual, and liked walking around in his undershirt, and I said he's a good friend of my Dad's (to this day) and that he just refurbished a gorgeous old Victorian in Brooklyn. Following which it was time to get Huyen's books signed, which I mentioned was my master plan, to get all my friends reading her books (and it still is), and we commented on how we couldn't find Huyen's 2nd book so she'd just have to get the three signed. (We eventually found Huyen's copy of The Masque of the Black Tulip and got it signed at the event we went to for the release of The Mischief of the Mistletoe two years later).

Also around this point a few people behind us started wandering away, cause I mean, she signed 7 books for me then 3 more for Huyen plus we were being really verbose (yes, I still feel bad about co-opting Lauren, but when you're having fun time seems to slip away, and I should note, the true fellow Lauren enthusiasts are always so nice and accommodating and it's wonderful to talk to them before events). Then Huyen asked the question she wanted to ask which was, was Richard Selwick based on Cary Elwes as Westley from The Princess Bride, and I said actually I called her before she read it to watch for it, and we both instantly agreed on it, and Lauren said she totally based it on him, with the blond hair and the little black mask, and that we were the first 2 to get that (though there's a bit of Sean Bean as Lovelace in there as well with Anthony Andrews on the side). And then I said, and how sad about what Cary's become, and she was all, yeah did you SEE him in Ella Enchanted! Which I then said too bad we can't like go back in time and get pretty Carey Elwes for the movie adaption, and I mentioned I'm just always casting in my head (as by now you all know), and she said she rarely does it, except for Sean Bean as Vaughn, even though he's the wrong "coloring" that was her intent. Then we said our good bye's, nice to meets, and write on the website.

Lots of fun, she was very lively, especially considering she had a 5 am flight and stayed up till 2 at a friend's party, and now I have lots of pretty signed books, and I'm glad to learn an author I like is nice. And as Huyen said, she seems like the type of person who we'd hang with and would be our friend. -Liz"

So there you have it! An interesting albeit rambling insight into the first time I got to meet Lauren. Side note, I wrote this as soon as I got home after a three hour drive in each direction and then a shopping extravaganza at the outlet malls on the state line, so hopefully the narrative flow can be forgiven somewhat for the complete and utter lack of polish.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: An August Adieu, ARCs, Book Signing, Cary Elwes, Castle Howard, Cozy Library, Deborah Mitford, Ella Enchanted, Illinois, Lauren Willig, Pink Carnation, Scarlet Pimpernel, Sean Bean, Shannon Hale, The Princess Bride

The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig
Published by: Dutton
ARC Provided by Dutton
Publication Date: January 20th, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
Challenge: Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
Laura Grey has had it being a governess. She has just graduated from the Selwick Spying Academy and is off to France to do her bit to fight the revolution. Of course she just happens to be going to France in the very role she was trying to escape, that of "governess."  Laura, or more precisely, Laure Griscogne, has been away from her homeland since her parents died and left her orphaned and having to take care of herself in the only way possible, by rearing others children, though when she started she was but a child herself. Now she has two new charges, the children of Andre Jaouen, a man The Pink Carnation is desperate to know more about, especially because he works in the Abbaye Prison with that most odious of men, Delaroche. But when you spend most of your time taking care of the children in a large and desolate house and rarely spying at keyholes and sneaking messages to The Pink Carnation through various booksellers, it's hard to see the value in your work. But there is more to Jaouen then meets the eye. He has connections within the artistic community that Laura's family was once in the center of. Laura was once the child of a somebody, a great poetess. Andre is having a hard time rectifying this stern, prim governess, with the loose and wanton Paris saloons of pre-revolutionary France. All the while Laura is having a hard time rectifying this rather attractive bespectacled man with that of a hardened revolutionary who wants to kill all the aristos he can find. But when both their missions unexpectedly collide around a man who could restore the French monarchy, they have to decide whether it is best to let animosities and allegiances fall by the wayside and trust their instincts and growing attraction to each other. Plus sneaking through the countryside as travelling performers can't be as hard as it sounds?

The newest in Lauren Willig's ever expanding cannon of Pink Carnation books takes us right back to the heart of what this series is about. Spying. Even if with a little Commedia it's, as the author puts it so well, "like The Sound of Music… meets Mata Hari." We are back within the courts of Napoleon and the streets of Paris, where blood might run in the streets at any moment, and the reality of the horrors that await in the Abbaye Prison are a real threat, not comfortably located on the other side of the channel. While the previous books have all had spies in various locals with various flower monikers, this one feels the closest to the legacy of The Scarlet Pimpernel; with our heroine in enemy territory, with barely an ally, and no ally that she can get to without a bookstore or an effusive poet. Speaking of said poet... we get nice little cameos from some of the Pink cast, but they are just the icing on the cake, what makes this book soar are the new characters of Andre and Laura, which even readers new to the series can enjoy without the previous installments. Every book since the first has been a pairing off of a previous hero or heroine with someone new or some old friend, but not in this case. Here we have a blank canvas ripe for the painting, Miss Grey has only had a few brief and enigmatic references which have given her no illumination. Laura has a rich and complicated past that was filled with sumptuousness and luxury and is now contained within harsh grey stays. Andre has also had a life that was once filled with love and an artistic wife, instead he now has to change ideals and live a sparse and paired down life. Both these two have spent a life hiding who they really are and masking what they want and feel. I felt such an instant connection with both of them, just waiting with baited breath for Laura to realize this man could not possibly be evil, even if he is French, they aren't all Delaroches. How Lauren is able to continually excel at each subsequent book astonishes me. While they do build on each other to form a perfect shelf in my library, they also are wonderfully contained little jewels of stories that you just want to go back to again and again, which Lauren does do. One day we wonder who is that lady at the Selwick Spy School, years later, she is flesh. She is whole and wonderful and I didn't want the book to end. I hope when you get your hands on a copy you'll feel as I do. And if you hate the new cover, you don't have to keep in on the book.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Abbaye Prison, Andre Jaouen, ARCs, Delaroche, Governesses, Laura Grey, Lauren Willig, Mata Hari, Pink Carnation, Reading Challenge, Scarlet Pimpernel, The Orchid Affair, The Sound of Music

Today I continue the discussion with Lauren about very important topics... such as Toby Stephens... you know once he's mentioned it's a serious thing indeed. As are panniers and knee breeches... now if we were to combine the two... I think we might be onto something!

Question: It's been hinted at that the Selwick's proclivity to spying didn't end with Richard. Will there ever be a book at successive spying generations like Baroness Orczy did with the Scarlet Pimpernel?

Answer: Selwicks would do rather nicely in the Great Game, don’t you? Or dashing about right around World War I. And while we’re at it, Mrs. Selwick-Alderly’s past could do with some looking into…. Right now, though, my plans lean more towards going backwards in time rather than moving forward. Time permitting, what I’d really love to do would be a series about the elder Uppingtons, set during their youth in the 1770’s. Think Amelia Peabody and Emerson, only in panniers and knee breeches. And nothing at all like them, character-wise. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best comparison, but you get the idea.


Question: What do you make of the split in the Colin/Eloise fanbase, where there are those who love them and those who hate them? (Personally I love them).

Answer: There was a while where I was very perturbed by it and considered cutting out the Colin and Eloise portions, or spinning them off into a series of their own. But, at this point, the Eloise and Colin action is, for me, so intertwined with the books that I decided I just had to go with my own instincts and keep them on board. I really enjoy having them to use as a foil for the historical story. Those who don’t like them can always just skip over their chapters. So everyone wins.


Question: Will Eloise finally write her dissertation by the end of series? Or do you think she might write a popular bestseller?

Answer: Poor Colin. His feelings would be so hurt if Eloise hit the New York Times list before him. I will say that I do have the feeling that Eloise is going to finish her dissertation (unlike her creator!), but other than that, my Eloise and Colin plans are very open-ended. Although I do have some ideas for them, I feel like I’m learning about them and their future as we go along. Rather like real life….


Question: The author Philippa Gregory has been known to say that she doesn't read any other historical fiction, feeling that it would taint or influence her writing if she were to decide to visit that time period in future novels, but you seem to read a lot of books, in and out of your genre. Do you view your approach works better for you then if you were to live in a bubble?

Answer: Eeek. I can’t imagine writing in a bubble. So much of what I do is in dialogue with both those authors who came before me and those who are writing contemporaneously with me. No matter what, my voice is my own, but I feel like my books are the better for being informed by what others have written and are writing.

Question: What reading recommendations would you give to those who love the India of your book?

Answer: For me, the seminal India novels have always been M.M. Kaye’s The Far Pavilions and Shadow of the Moon. They were the novels that first introduced me to colonial India, followed by Valerie Fitzgerald’s Zemindar and Katherine Gordon’s Peacock Quartet. The only caveat is that all of those books are set a good fifty years later than Blood Lily, and, as I discovered during my research, there’s a world of difference between India in 1804 and India in 1857. For those who love the India of my book, I’d recommend William Dalrymple’s White Mughuls. It may be non-fiction, but it presents a vivid and detailed vision of that earlier India.

Further reading:
– Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe’s Triumph (1803)
– Thalassa Ali, A Singular Hostage (1838)
– George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman (1839)
– George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman in the Great Game (1857)
– M.M. Kaye, Shadow of the Moon (1857)
– Valerie Fitzgerald, Zemindar (1857)
– Meredith Duran, Duke of Shadows (1857)
– Katherine Gordon, The Peacock Quartet (1857)
– M.M. Kaye, The Far Pavilions (late 19th C)
– E.M. Forster, A Passage to India (1920’s)
– Barbara Cleverly, The Last Kashmiri Rose, et al (mystery, 1920’s)
– M.M. Kaye, Death in Kashmir (mystery, 1940’s)
– Paul Scott, The Jewel in the Crown (1940’s)


Question: You have such a strong fan base and make yourself available to fans via you website. While there is the uncertainty of the future of publishing due to the rise of technology, which in itself is a topic for long discourse, how do you feel about the fact that technology is making contact between writers and fans easier than ever before?

Answer: I have very mixed feelings about the internet. On the one hand, it’s an amazing privilege getting to hear from fans, and to have real back and forth about the characters and plots. Trust me, it’s rare to find that many people in one’s daily life willing to indulge one in going on about the characters and the stories. These interactions have enriched the books and provided me with hours of happy warm and fuzzy feelings. Not to mention that I get great book recs from readers. After all, if they like my books, they clearly have good taste, and therefore I know that I’m going to like the other authors they read. It’s very convenient.

On the other hand, on a more meta level, all of the internet promotion that writers are now expected to do—the blogs, the interviews, the constant commenting— takes a good deal of time away from the actual writing. I also worry sometimes that too much exposure to an author might impact how one experiences her books. I wouldn’t want someone’s impressions of me to affect how she views my characters.

But am I willing to give up all this communication technology because of those scruples? Hell, no. I have too much fun with the News posts and the book recs and the Facebook feed. Like everything else, technology is a trade-off, some good, some bad. And I guess we’ll just have to see how it all plays out….


Question: What with teaching at Yale and your writing commitments, will you be going on any extended tour to promote The Betrayal of the Blood Lily?

Answer: Ah, the extended author tour: ten cities in ten days, veins running coffee, runs in my last pair of stockings. I have many fond memories. Sadly, with the rise of the internet and the decline of the economy, big author tours have pretty much fallen out of favor with publishers, since they’re expensive and so much can be done on-line these days. Between that, my teaching commitments, and my Pink VII deadline, I’m staying fairly close to home this year. I’m giving two readings in my hometown of New York, one in New Haven, and one in Scottsdale, Arizona. I might also make informal visits to D.C. and Boston, but that’s all that’s on the table right now. Which is a pity, since—all coffee aside—I genuinely do get a huge rush out of an author tour. It combines two of my favorite things: hamming it up at a podium and meeting readers.


Question: Now, I swear I didn't write this question, even though it's exactly what I was thinking: Will you ever come visit awesome library groups in Wisconsin? Or Wisconsin at all... there is the willingness to drive?

Answer:I would love to! Twist my arm?

Question: Finally, a few silly questions... If you could choose any English Estate to live in where would you set up house? Chatsworth? Blenheim?

Answer: Oh, goodness, how to choose? For some reason, even though I used Blenheim as a model for Girdings House, it’s never quite done it for me. Castle Howard rises quickly to the tongue, but I don’t know if I want to be all the way out in Yorkshire. All those moors…. So I think I’ll go with Longleat, in Wiltshire. Among other things, it’s so nicely convenient to Bath.

Question: Seeing as I've been doing my dream casting for your books the past few weeks, is there any adaptation that you thought the actor was exactly as you pictured them? Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy? Or perhaps Anthony Andrews as the Scarlet Pimpernel?

Answer: Thank you so much for the dream casting! As you may have noticed, I am dreadful at the whole actor game. I can never remember actors’ names, so it’s always, “Oh, wait, that guy—no, the other one”, by which point people usually get bored and wander away. So I very much appreciate your generously sharing your cinematic repertoire.

In my opinion, the hands-down best casting over the past couple of years has been Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson as Rochester and Jane in the BBC Jane Eyre. Both epitomized my image of those characters. It’s rare to get a dual bulls-eye like that.

Thank you so much, Miss Eliza, not only for all the casting, but for having me over to your site today! It’s been a pleasure.


And I have to honestly say it's been a pleasure for Lauren to be here as well! So generous of her to take the time to answer all my questions, even the slightly silly ones. But more importantly, and I hope you all agree, it's wonderful to admire a piece of literature and to find out that the author is just as interesting and funny and thoughtful as you'd imagined them to be. So I hope you have a little more insight into a favorite author of yours, or, if you've never heard of Lauren, or have, but not picked up one of her books, I hope this inspires you to strut over to the fiction section, work your way to the end of the alphabet, she's there right after Waugh and Wharton!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Blehneim, Castle Howard, Eloise, India, Jane Eyre, Lauren Willig, Longleat, M. M. Kaye, Philippa Gregory, Pink Carnation Spotlight, Ruth Wilson, Scarlet Pimpernel, Selwicks, Toby Stephens, Wisconsin

Now to Letty's better half... or is that the other way around? Geoff has to brood about it a bit and be conflicted as to what's good for him. Maybe he'll write a poem...

Name: Jamie Bamber

Dream Character Casting for the Lauren Willig Miniseries: Geoffrey Pinchingdale-Snipe

First Impression: Daniel Deronda, I think... or it could have been Hornblower, I was watching both around the same time, and he's cute and little in both, one looking more like a goat with the little beard. Plus in both he's eclipsed by either Hugh or Ioan, so you don't notice him so much at first.

Why they'd be the perfect actor for the Lauren Willig Miniseries: He's so good at doing hot and tormented, just look at his portrayal of Apollo on BSG!

Lasting Impression: Battlestar Galactica made me stop referring to him as Archie, such a funny name, yet with such a tragic end... Funnily enough I remember I was pissed I had to go to Chicago in the middle of watching his final episode so I had to wait two days to find out what happened!

What else you've seen them in: From starting out as minor or supporting characters in a slew of BBC miniseries from Lady Audley's Secret to Poirot to Daniel Deronda to Hornblower, when he was cast as Lee Adama in Battlestar Galactica he acquired a major fan following. Just try to find his early pictures in a google search! You mainly find his naked Peta shoot or the towel scene from BSG... you all know the one!

Can't believe it's them: Scarlet Pimpernel! Full posterior shot, who knew it would start a trend? Plus the episode after his untimely death has a young James Callis, aka Baltar from BSG.

Wish they hadn't: Gone fat for Battlestar... ok, ok, it was makeup, but hard to shake the image. In all seriousness... Cold Case, so tacky to go from big series regular to guest star on bad Sunday night procedural in the same week, tied with Lady Audeley's Secret, which was beyond boring, but wait, he was also on Ghost Whisperer... gosh, too many to choose from. Jamie, stop doing lame cameos, unless it's a Joss Whedon show and he wants you to fight Helo.

Bio: Lets hope he keeps doing great television, currently a regular on the British version of Law & Order, he really needs another ensemble show to shine... or perhaps it's time for him to step up to leading man... I know many who would follow Captain Apollo... it has such a nice ring to it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 1:28 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Apollo, Baltar, BSG, Daniel Deronda, Geoff, Hornblower, James Callis, Jamie Bamber, Joss Whedon, Lauren Willig, Pink Carnation Spotlight, Poirot, Scarlet Pimpernel