strange and random happenstance

Name: John Simm

First Impression: As Sam Tyler on the only Life on Mars worth watching.

Lasting Impression: The Master. He has just the right amount of maniacal glee... of course they still could have edited him a bit.

What else you've seen them in: Simm has been busy acting... from the original State of Play miniseries to Cracker, to Canterbury Tales to The Devil's Whore, there's no knowing where or when Simm might show up on tv... but Christmas day I have a feeling he'll be bleached and on BBC 1!

Can't believe it's them: Remember the season 2 premiere of Spaced where Daisy returned from India. Remember the mystery man at the airport which landed Daisy in trouble? Yes, that was Simm in a totally memorable role, though he never said a word.

Wish they hadn't: Nothing so far that I detest... though if he doesn't make an apperance on the final season of Ashes to Ashes we might have words.

Bio: Manchester United supporter... I knew you had to have that fact.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ashes to Ashes, Canterbury Tales, Cracker, Doctor Who, John Simm, Life on Mars, Manchester United, Spaced, Spotlight, State of Play, The Devil's Whote, The Master

I found another book reading competition I just couldn't say no to... Book Chick City's Typically British Reading Challenge!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 7:47 PM 1 comments  

Labels: Bob's Your Uncle, Book Chick City, British, British Authors, Challenge, Cream Crackered, Gordon Bennett, Put The Kettle On, Reading Challenge, Typically British Read Challenge 2010

So recently I had an urge to rewatch Life on Mars... could be a need for a John Simm hit, he is The Master afterall. Or could be the need for a Gene Hunt fix, Ashes to Ashes season three does seem a long way off... at least they only have two more episodes to film! But once again, I forgot how funny the Camberwick Green spoof was.


For those who don't know, it was a kind of crappy early animation show from England in the 60s, reminiscent of the crappy 80s animation Hattytown which aired on Nickelodeon's pinwheel... which now that I google it, was also from about the same time period, wow, talk about time warp...

I digress... anyway, seeing as I'm trapped inside with the cold winter wind blowing I tend to get in a crafty mood. I was thinking, wouldn't it be cool to have my own little Gene Hunt and Sam Tyler dolls... lucky for me someone already did a how to video. Enjoy!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Animnation, Ashes to Ashes, Camberwick Green, Craft, Gene Hunt, Hattytown, John Simm, Life on Mars, Nickelodeon, Nonce, Pinwheel, Sam Tyler

Soulless: The Parasol Protectorate Book 1 by Gail Carriger
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: September 29th, 2009
Format: Paperback, 382 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

It is the reign of Queen Victoria and the British Empire is vast and ever expanding, thanks in part to the Werewolves and Vampires. The supernatural are acknowledged the world over, but only England has truly accepted them into their daylight world and even into Victoria's government. They even have their own watchdog agency, BUR, the Bureau of Unnatural Registry. This revelation has resulted in technology exploding in the industrial era to harness the power of steam and create a veritable Wellsian world. Now Alexia Tarabotti enters into our story. Alexia deftly straddles these two worlds, not supernatural and not fully human, she is preternatural, soulless, and can cancel out supernatural powers. Preternatural's being used for centuries, particularly by the Templars, to hunt and kill supernaturals. But these are not Alexia's concerns...she's more worried about finding a nice cup of tea and a little something to eat...if a party says that there is to be food, food there should be! What else is a spinster who tragically takes after her dead Italian father in looks and is extremely outspoken to do at parties specifically designed to marry off her two step sisters? But her peace, and the treacle tart, are destroyed by a surprisingly ignorant vampire. She prevailes with her trusty parasol and BUR, in particular, Alpha Lord Maccon and Beta Professor Lyall, arrive on the scene to tidy up the loose ends.

The next day dawns surprisingly normal, till out on a walk with her best friend, and fashion victim, Ivy Hisselpenny, Alexia is invited to the hive of the Vampire Queen, Countess Nadasdy. From there everything goes pear shaped and it's up to Alexia to sort it out, despite Lord Maccon's interference, in more ways then one, some of them surprisingly intimate. There are disappearing rogue vampires and werewolves, and not even her trusty go to gossip, the vampire dandy Lord Akeldama knows what to make of it. With the full moon fast approaching will Alexia be able to keep her overly large nose out of this supernatural business? Or will she storm into the fray, trusting parasol (made to her specifications) in hand And will she get the man even though she has been a resigned spinster since the age of 15?

Soulless is the author Gail Carriger's first published work. I have to say I'm surprised and impressed. Surprised in that it is such a well written polished piece with great Victorian vernacular and lots of wit. Plus as an aside, I only found maybe two typos, it's unheard of for a book to be that well copy edited! But what impressed me was the author's world creation. The England of dirigibles and dandys is wonderful. I found the science and the history she created to be easy to understand, despite it's complexities, and I can't wait till the next book to re-immerse myself in this world...too bad I have to wait till March! The interaction of science with the supernatural was also so well done and logical, you never once felt that she was trying to force one or the other on a preexisting history of the British Empire, but was explaining the oddities of the British Empire itself with the world she created. If only Prince Albert were still alive...I can picture him with Professor Lyall, both equipped with Glassicals and studying the latest scientific aspects of chloroform while waiting to give a presentation to The Royal Society.

Overall the book was able to work on many levels, one of which was to overcome typical romance genre stereotypes. I don't think I'll ever really like Ivy Hisselpenny, she is too, wide-eyed innocent best friend who Alexia will endeavor to find a good match for in subsequent books. Also the throwing together of the heroine with the gruff hero so early in the novel was surprising to me, usually they wait till the very last moment. But Carriger made this work in the end with not the least bit of diluted suspense and the conclusion made me wish I hand Changeless right away to dive into to read of Maccon and Alxia's further adventures. Alexia herself is so wonderfully abrasive and forthright and knowledgeable with such a love of food you can't help embracing her instantly. Who cares that she's the typical spinster stereotype, because when you get down to it, there is nothing stereotypical about her. She is a woman who takes after Victoria herself, not those insipid heroines always needing a man to save them.

But now I must get to my favorite character, Lord Akeldama. He's a dandy to be sure, and a rogue vampire due to a mysterious disagreement over waistcoats, but he's so much more. He's a complex little spy who loves Alexia because she makes him feel human. But his spy network is really where it's at. His trusty Drones, led by Biffy. These dandy's are everywhere and hear everything, but at the same time are so stereotypical and a product of their time that they are a part of the scenery. They are perfectly calculated by Akeldama to be his eyes and ears lending him the appearance of omniscience. Also lets not forget they are great little helpers, in every sense of the word. Do to their cackling dandy herd mentality and the name of Drones and knowing that the author is a fan of P.G. Wodehouse, I can't help myself envisioning a whole different take on the Drones Club. This one would be more stylish, with lots more purple silk and more overt Wildean overtones. I would pay to read about that...really I would. Perhaps in an upcoming sequel by Gail Carriger...

I'm reposting my review as part of Blog with Bite's Soulless propaganda. This book is so wonderful and original and funny and easily one of the best books I've read recently! So, I figured, if you're on the fence or newer to my blog, you might need a gentle prod... consider yourself prodded!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 9:24 PM 7 comments  

Labels: Alexia Tarabotti, BUR, Gail Carriger, Lord Akeldama, Lord Maccon, Professor Lyall, Queen Victoria, Soulless, The Drones Club, The Parasol Protectorate, Vampires, Werewolves

I was supposed to go to Chicago and see the amazingly creative Jasper Fforde, but alas... I am always optimistic that this winter will be different, but, never really is. Snow, snow, and more snow, and never when you want it! So I still have something I'm planning on announcing with regard to my Shades of Grey Giveaway... but it will have to remain under wraps for a little while longer in case things fall through, as they seem to be doing lately with alarming regularity. But I do have a treat, you might not have my words about Jasper's visit to the windy city... so how about Jasper's?

Excerpt from Jasper Fforde's Shade of Grey, Eggs Benedict Tour Blog:

"I think there is a flight school down in the Mid West somewhere that teaches airline pilots a confident 'Chuck Yeager Drawl', whose breezy tones can allay the fear from even the most nervous passengers. The flight from Detroit to Chicago might have been a nervy flight, especially when we had the 'longer than usual' de-icing to begin with, the machines looking like an adapted Disney ride. It didn't help that we vanished into a swirling snow-storm the second the wheels left the tarmac, nor the fact that a skeleton in a black cloak and holding a sythe was sitting next to me.

"How did you get the sythe past the TSA?" I asked. At first he made no answer, then told that I should switch to short stories if I were thinking of reading on the flight.

It was bumpy but not excessively so, and my black-cloaked friend moved around the cabin, reminding the passengers of past sins, and offering to play chess.

We circled Chicago three times to admire the view through the swirling snow, the pilot demonstrating to us how easily the undercarriage could be raised and lowered, and the flaps deployed, then raised, then deployed, then raised again.

It might, in fact, have been minimally frightening to a lesser human than me. But throughout all this the captain kept up a chatter from the cockpit, telling us what was going on, and how the snowploughs were out and everything was fine and dandy. In fact, he probably could have told us we had run out of fuel halfway to Honolulu with little chance of survival, but as long as he kept up the Chuck Yeager Drawl, we would all have been perfectly happy.

We landed without incident, but oddly enough the skeleton in the black cloak seemed to have vanished..

My talk was at the Barnes and Noble Skokie, and once more an amused and amusing crowd. Notable alumni were Steve, who is a stalwart of the Fforde Ffiestas with his puppets, Betsy who had driven six hours to be here, and John, who is the first person I have ever met who has had their arm broken by a swan.

Now this is remarkable, and certainly worth greater scrutiny, as the old 'don't go near a swan or it will break your arm' is one of those great lies that pepper your childhood, along with 'if the wind changes, your face will stay that way' or 'it's much much better to be cast as Shepherd #17 than Joseph' or 'Wyoming is actually the size of a double garage'. I had to quiz 'John the Swan' about his, and yes, he confirmed that he had indeed been attacked by a swan that broke his arm, although he didn't have any scars, a bent arm or even a note from the Swan's mother. Mind you, the broader issue over the whole 'you really can have your arm broken by a swan' question is that perhaps your parents were actually right about other things, too. That father Christmas wouldn't burn your existing toys if you were bad, or that Lindt chocolate perhaps wasn't 'poisonous to children' as your parents maintained. Indeed, it was even possible that there WAS a troll up the chimney that would come and wipe their bogies on your face while you slept, or that Aunt Beryl was actually a man, as you had long believed.

(I should point out for reasons of fairness that my parents never indulged in such outrageous lies. But I do. My favourite is that the tooth fairy is actually in the maraca business, and fills maracas with children's teeth. It explains why a constant supply is needed, and why you always get the same for a molar as for an incisor. They sound the same)

Chicago in the grip of snow and rain, much the same as it is back home - only here in Michigan and Illinois no-one gets into a panic over some snow. In the UK and most of Northern Europe, temperatures have dropped to record levels not seen for thirty years. Britain, which has six snowploughs, has ceased to function, and salt is running low. We could ask to borrow some from the World's salt-producing nations, but feel it might be impolite to ask, so we are barricading ourselves in our home muttering the collective mantra of the stoical British public: 'Well, mustn't grumble. Tea? Oooh, that would be lovely.'

But the rest of Europe has its problems too: France is wondering what to do with forty million tons of flavourless sorbet, the Belgiums are drafting a constitutional amendment to the EU charter in order to form a working committee to enable the question of 'snow' to appear on a meeting sometime in 2032, the Germans are currently adapting their fleet of Audis and BMWs to be snowploughs, the Dutch are converting their bicycles into 'ski-cycles' and the Swedes, Finns, Norwegians and Danish are doing nothing - its very much business as usual.

The search for the finest Eggs Benedict continues, and this morning I am at the Four Seasons in Chicago. I've stayed in a 4S before, and they clearly have a database of D-Class celebrities such as myself, as their attention to detail is extraordinary. When I arrived there was a chocolate book with my name on it, (see picture) and all of the staff mysteriously knew my name. Service was impeccable, the hot chocolate served with marshmallows AND cream, and the rooms so comfortable that I would have been quite happy moving in and staying, like a sort of modern day Howard Hughes.

And so we turn to the Eggs Benedict. It was excellent, and totally by the book. And that was the problem. It was marred by a certain level of mechanical perfection. Food should be brought to life with a certain degree of interpretation - one has to read the cook in any great dish. The EB was done perfectly. The eggs in particular were probably the finest poached eggs I have seen, but the hollandaise lacked a certain dash and tanginess. The cook would have to say: 'I know how to improve this - a dash of pepper, a pinch of seasoning - to hell with the conventional palate, I want my Eggs Benedict to sing great hymns!' The Soho Grand managed to do this, the 4S I feel did not. The service, however was excellent, the staff courteous to a point that an English person like me feels mildly embarrassed. Fforde EB index: 8.3

I should also point out at the juncture that I am colour-coding my signings. New York was Black pen, Michigan Blue, and Illinois Brown. Washington light Green, California will be red.

Taken around a slushy Chicago by the Veteran Media escort Bill Young. Signed stock is available from the following outlets:

Bookcellar Lincoln Square (773 293 2665), Borders at Evanston, Barnes and Noble at Evanston, Unabridged books at Lake View, Borders at Lakeview, Barnes and Noble State Street, Borders Michigan Avenue, Barnes and Noble Clybourne and Borders Wilmette."

Make sure to check out his full tour blog for the best Eggs Benedict, and of course other interesting tour stuff... it's not all yolk based.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 2:37 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Chicago, Chuck Yeager, Eggs Benedict, Giveaway, Jasper Fforde, Shades of Grey, Skokie, Snow, Swans, Winter

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

Well, today's the day you've been waiting for! That's right, my Lauren Willig Q & A! Ok, so it's really the release of The Betrayal of the Blood Lily you've all been waiting for... but a girl can hope right? But I'm sure while you're waiting for work to end so that you can run to the bookstore to get your copy, that's if you didn't cleverly phone in sick, you'll need a Lauren Willig fix to hold you over till quitting time. So here's your fix! Lots of lovely questions answered by Lauren that you can read while pretending to do real work, or even while mourning how fast you read the newest book and how there's now many bleak months ahead without another new book... but you can always re-read the series again!

Question: The character of Penelope is so vastly different then past characters... more worldly, less nubile virgin. How was it writing for such a different heroine?

Answer: It was surprisingly fun! Penelope has such a strong voice that she was very easy to write for, right from the start, even though she couldn’t be more different from the heroine of the previous book. Where Charlotte was sweet and idealistic, Penelope is cynical, worldly (at least, she likes to think she is) and unabashedly physical. Since she’s already been both ruined and married by the time the book starts, the usual rules no longer apply to her, which gave me a great deal more latitude than one usually has with one’s heroines.

The other thing I found fascinating about writing for Penelope was getting to delve into the distinction between what’s coming out of her mouth and what’s going on in her head. Unlike the previous characters, she’s a deeply wounded creature. At the same time, she’s absolutely committed to showing no weakness. That made for a great contrast and very interesting writing.

Question: How do you go about conducting your research and how do you decide where to take historical liberties?

Answer: I always start with an immersion period. A couple of months before I begin writing a book, I read everything I can get my hands on about a given time period, a process that includes everything from scholarly studies to contemporary documents. While I’m reading, the details in the documents invariably suggest new plot ideas. For example, the original plan was to set Blood Lily partly in Calcutta, partly in the north-east, where fighting was taking place in the fall of 1804, but reading Dalrymple’s White Mughuls convinced me that the book had to be moved to Hyderabad and the whole plot rejiggered accordingly. Likewise, the idea of using the lost treasure of Berar came from a footnote in Jac Weller’s Wellington in India, while the nautch dance came from the memoirs of Maria Graham, an Englishwoman who traveled through India, keeping meticulous accounts of her experiences, in 1809. Once I’ve started writing, I do what I call “spot research”, tracking down additional details as I find I need them.

Since all the books are—at least in theory—filtered through the imagination of the modern framing heroine, I’ve felt more free to take historical liberties in the Pink series than I would have if these were a different sort of book. Some of the liberties are for humor value, like my hero in the second book having a rather anachronistic “Follow that sedan chair!” moment. Others necessarily occur when you graft fictional characters onto real events. For example, George III really did go mad in the winter of 1804, as he does in The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, but, in real life, French spies had nothing to do with it. Well, at least as far as we know….

Question: Recently you went to Paris to research an upcoming book in the Pink Carnation series, did you get a chance to visit India to see more buildings that are no longer there in preparation for Blood Lily?

Answer: I very much wanted to! But, due to the vagaries of book deadlines and monsoon season, it didn’t happen. Blood Lily is the only book I’ve written so far where I haven’t personally visited the sites involved. I worked mostly from historical pictures and maps, although I did also grill various friends who had lived in India. They were subjected to such hard-hitting queries as “What does a monsoon actually feel like? No, really!” Thanks, guys. Your knowledge and your patience were both appreciated.

Question: Any plans to continue to take the series to far off shores where spies might be lurking? Perhaps Miss Gwen in Egypt setting the parasol trend pre-Amelia Peabody Emerson?

Answer:I love Amelia Peabody! What I wouldn’t give for a meeting between her and Miss Gwen….

Too bad the timeline doesn’t quite work out. Egypt came up a good deal while I was doing my research for Blood Lily, since Napoleon’s invasion in Egypt in 1797 was perceived as a direct threat to British influence in India. Most of the Egypt attention tends to be concentrated slightly earlier than my books, in that 1797-1798 period (and as we know from Pink Carnation, the Purple Gentian was over there at the time, doing his thing!), but I wouldn’t rule out an Egypt book. One of the incredible things about the Napoleonic Wars is how truly international they were. Looking way in the future, I’ve always intended Jane’s ultimate book to take place in Portugal. Other prospective locations for future Pink books include Latin America (yup, there was a Latin American angle to the war!), Constantinople, Venice, and—most exotic of all, right?—New York.


Question: Now that your books have an ever expanding cast of characters that your readers are attached to, what do you say to the people who ask when is Jane going to be back in the forefront, when is Tommy going to get the girl?

Answer: First I hug them. Then I consult my Magic 8 ball. I love that my readers have become as invested in my characters as I am, and that the series has become an ever-expanding world, encompassing whole groups of interwoven people and plots. As far as I’m concerned, all of these stories are continuously going on in tandem—it’s just a question of how and when I’ll have the time to turn the spotlight on any given character or plot-line. Sometimes, characters I meant to write about get dropped as the overall arc of the series continues on in other directions. Other times, they come back in unexpected ways. I wasn’t sure where or how I was going to fit in a Turnip Fitzhugh book, but, voila!, my publisher suggested doing an extra side book, I got to use my Turnip idea, and it’s coming out in October. So one never knows….


Question: The author M.C. Beaton has commented that, due to the popularity of Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin, she has no time, nor are her publishers willing to see her do other work. Seeing as how popular your Pink Carnation series has become do you ever feel that you can only write the next Pink book versus trying something radically different? Because, in the abstract, the books could go on ad infinitum, but there must be a point where you'll call it quits.

Answer: One of the nice things about the Pink series is that its form has allowed me a lot of room for experimentation and variety. I’ve gotten to play with India and Ireland and modern London, with Hellfire clubs and idealistic ingénues and adulterous wives. Not to mention Jane Austen and exploding Christmas puddings. That being said, I’ve always wanted to write in a variety of genres. Much as I adore the Pink books, and as much latitude as they allow me, there will come a time when either the series has to end or I have to start varying it with other writing, just to make sure things stay fresh. My greatest nightmare would be for the books to start sounding stale or repetitive.


Question: You were able to balance going to Harvard with writing and later with being a working lawyer with writing, now you have two books coming out this year and are also teaching at Yale. How are you able to juggle so much? Is this wonderful balancing act possible due to the mystical qualities of caffeine?

Answer: Mmm, coffee. The truth of the matter is that I’m one of those ridiculous people who is only productive if I’m absurdly over-committed. Give me just one thing to do and I’ll dither and whine and procrastinate; give me three things to do, and at least two out of the three will get done (I make no promises as to dithering and whining; there’s always time for dithering and whining).

Question: You'll be teaching at your Alma Mater this year, how did that come about and do you feel that it kind of legitimizes* what you're doing and the genre you write in?

Answer: It started, as so many good things do, with a few glasses of wine. I was at Lady Jane’s Salon with fellow Yalie romance writer Cara Elliott, chatting about the romance scholarship movement, in which I’d gotten very involved the previous year. (If anyone wants to know more about the romance scholarship movement, check out Teach Me Tonight, the romance scholarship mothership). We began discussing how we would frame our own romance novel class, and as the wine level went down in the glass, we moved from “Wouldn’t this be a great idea?” to “Hey, we should do this!”

The class looks specifically at the Regency romance novel, partly because that’s what we’re both most familiar with, but also because it provides a self-contained field through which we can track the development of a genre in a comprehensive way. Our class starts with Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and moves through Heyer, Woodiwiss, McNaught, Lindsey, and so on, looking at changing attitudes towards sexuality and heroism in a variety of authors over a thirty year time span, going right up through Regency paranormals and chick lit.

On the legitimacy question…. To be honest, I never felt illegitimate. I grew up reading romance novels and I’ve always been a little baffled by the idea that they were something to hide, or that their consumption and/or authorship was somehow a negative reflection on one’s abilities or intellect. That being said, old stereotypes of romance novels and romance novel readers do seem to linger on, largely among people who haven’t bothered to read them. If teaching a class at Yale does anything to help dispel those misconceptions, then I’m proud to be able to do my part in doing so.

*Note, not my view, just a misconception by the masses that I hope will one day be dispelled.

Make sure to stop by tomorrow, where we hear a bit about Eloise and Colin, other great books that Lauren recommends and what English Estate she'd choose to set up house in.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Amelia Peabody, Berar, Egypt, French Spies, India, Lauren Willig, Penelope, Pink Carnation, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, Turnip Fitzhugh, White Mughuls, Yale

The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: January 12, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 401Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Everyone warned Miss Penelope Deveraux that her unruly behavior would land her in disgrace someday. She never imagined she'd be whisked off to India to give the scandal of her hasty marriage time to die down. As Lady Frederick Staines, Penelope plunges into the treacherous waters of the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, where no one is quite what they seem—even her own husband. In a strange country where elaborate court dress masks even more elaborate intrigues and a spy called the Marigold leaves cobras as his calling card, there is only one person Penelope can trust....

Captain Alex Reid has better things to do than play nursemaid to a pair of aristocrats. He knows what their kind is like. Or so he thinks-- until Lady Frederick Staines out-shoots, out-rides, and out-swims every man in the camp. She also has an uncanny ability to draw out the deadly plans of the Marigold and put herself in harm's way. With danger looming from local warlords, treacherous court officials, and French spies, Alex realizes that an alliance with Lady Frederick just might be the only thing standing in the way of a plot designed to rock the very foundations of the British Empire."

Hmmm... I wonder if with an entire month devoted to Lauren Willig's books, including giveaways and dream miniseries castings, you've caught on that I love these books and think everyone should read them... Perhaps handing them out to my friends continually is a new habit I've formed? Well, it's a good habit! Go! Enjoy! Read! My review is up if you still need more prodding. I'm also contemplating another giveaway... I'll let you know more when I do! And no, that doesn't make me crazy, despite the fact it sounds like my mind is not communicating with itself, it's actually to do with hearing back from one of my favorite booksellers.

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
Published by: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: January 12, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 576 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlow finds that order destroyed. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love. THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope."

Ah... I had such high hopes for this book... so going from one of the best books I read last year, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily... to hands down, the WORST book I read... don't read it, it's crap! Or, I should say, by all means, read it, but I warned you! My review was posted Friday... I forewarn you though... total, abject crap.

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: January 12, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole–and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling.

But oh my dear, I am tired of being Alice in Wonderland. Does it sound ungrateful?

Alice Liddell Hargreaves’s life has been a richly woven tapestry: As a young woman, wife, mother, and widow, she’s experienced intense passion, great privilege, and greater tragedy. But as she nears her eighty-first birthday, she knows that, to the world around her, she is and will always be only “Alice.” Her life was permanently dog-eared at one fateful moment in her tenth year–the golden summer day she urged a grown-up friend to write down one of his fanciful stories.

That story, a wild tale of rabbits, queens, and a precocious young child, becomes a sensation the world over. Its author, a shy, stuttering Oxford professor, does more than immortalize Alice–he changes her life forever. But even he cannot stop time, as much as he might like to. And as Alice’s childhood slips away, a peacetime of glittering balls and royal romances gives way to the urgent tide of war.

For Alice, the stakes could not be higher, for she is the mother of three grown sons, soldiers all. Yet even as she stands to lose everything she treasures, one part of her will always be the determined, undaunted Alice of the story, who discovered that life beyond the rabbit hole was an astonishing journey.

A love story and a literary mystery, Alice I Have Been brilliantly blends fact and fiction to capture the passionate spirit of a woman who was truly worthy of her fictional alter ego, in a world as captivating as the Wonderland only she could inspire."

Some of my friends got to read this book early, and boy was a jealous. Alice in Wonderland is one of my all time favorite books, even once I knew about how creepy it's creator probably was. This book looks like an interesting take on what Alice herself thought and felt... to always be that Alice... fascinating! Must buy!

The Unverable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Anchor
Publication Date: January 12, 2010
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The witty and utterly delightful new novel in the national bestselling 44 Scotland Street series. Featuring all the quirky characters we have come to know and love, The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, finds Bertie, the precocious six-year-old, still troubled by his rather overbearing mother, Irene, but seeking his escape in the Cub Scouts. Matthew is rising to the challenge of married life with newfound strength and resolve, while Domenica epitomizes the loneliness of the long-distance intellectual. Cyril, the gold-toothed star of the whole show, succumbs to the kind of romantic temptation that no dog can resist and creates a small problem, or rather six of them, for his friend and owner Angus Lordie.

With his customary deftness, Alexander McCall Smith once again brings us an absorbing and entertaining tale of some of Scotland's most quirky and beloved characters--all set in the beautiful, stoic city of Edinburgh. "

This one's being listed just for my mom. She loves Alexander McCall Smith and believes his 44 Scotland Street books are his best series, so this 5th book is sure to please, especially seeing as it's my mom's birthday this week... easy shopping! Also recommended for fans of Ian Rankin, not for any similarity of subject matter, but for the author's portrayal as one of the character's in this series.

Death of a Valentine by M.C. Beaton
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: January 12, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 246 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Amazing news has spread across the Scottish countryside. The most famous of highland bachelors, police sergeant Hamish Macbeth, may actually marry at last. The entire village of Lochdubh adores Macbeth's bride-to-be. Josie McSween is Hamish's new constable, and she is a pretty little thing, with glossy brown hair and big brown eyes. The local folk think that Josie is quite a catch, but Hamish couldn't be more miserable.

The wedding wouldn't be happening if it weren't for the murder of a beautiful woman in a nearby village. After the gorgeous woman receives a deadly Valentine's Day gift, Hamish and Josie take on the case. However, they soon discover that the list of the victim's admirers is endless. The case confirms Hamish's belief that love is extremely dangerous, but he still can't avoid the events that lead up to his celebrated engagement."

Again, this one's for my mom. This is her favorite series ever, which she's read twice. This is the 26th book in the series (which shows my mom's commitment) and I'm sure will entertain all her Hamish followers. Also if you only know the books from the show with Robert Carlyle, take it from me, they are two entirely different things that just happen to share the same name!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:05 AM 3 comments  

Labels: 44 Scotland Street, Alexander McCall Smith, Alice I Have Been, Death of a Valentine, Elizabeth Kostova, Hamish Macbeth, Lauren Willig, M.C. Beaton, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, The Swan Theives