La Belle France

As I mentioned previously, I have the delight of working with Joanna Bourne on her new book. It’s been a most enjoyable experience, partly because it gave me a chance to brush up on my French history. I’ve found some very useful books that I’ve listed in the “Sources” section. Some of them, especially Dancing to the Precipice, are certainly worth reading for the sheer enjoyment and fascination they bring, rather than just their obvious value as reference material.

Trifling Concerns

I bake pies.  I’m slightly, locally, famous for them, especially among the men who live in my house. And the friends and neighbors who have had a piece of my pies. And the co-worker who heard about my Thanksgiving frangipani pear pie from her friend who was present at the right Thanksgiving feast. And the guy dating a friend who pronounced my apple pie “the best pie” he’d ever eaten. You get the picture. I make fruit pies, mostly, with seasonal fresh fruit, or the occasional cranberry tart from frozen cranberries, if there are enough people to gnaw on it, as even my son can’t wolf down more than a couple pieces of that intensely-flavored tart in a day.  I do occasionally make a glamorous pecan pie to share, or the low-brow treat of peanut butter pie, for domestic consumption only. My staple, apple pie with a streusel topping, has evolved over time to include pears, nuts, raisins, and lemon zest. And with fresh Granny Smith apples always available, it’s the pie of choice for most of the year. My pie crusts have improved, over the years, from having the consistency and flavor of turtle shells to a creation both sturdy and delicate, delicious and functional.

None of which explains all the photos showing construction of a trifle, though it does explain why I took the photos. We used to have a block party in the neighborhood every Labor Day, and my contribution, always anticipated, was a labor-intensive trifle. Then the parties faded away, and I had no reason to do so much work when I could make a perfect pie for a fraction of the labor and dirty dishes. So when our next-door neighbor sent out invitations for a semi block-party/wine-tasting bash, it was the perfect opportunity to build another trifle; also, she begged me to make one. I had to borrow the cake pan from one friend, and a double boiler from the neighbor, who had to loan me the trifle cheat sheet I’d given her all those years ago. So this time, I wanted to record what I had done, for bragging rights as well as some visual instruction in case another neighbor decides to have a block party. Though, after seeing all the fiddly, fussy details, I might opt to make a couple pies instead. But give it a try yourself. The Joy of Cooking has some good recipes for sponge cake and creme anglaise, and you can use the photos for a little guidance.

Nina Rowan

Nina Rowan has asked me to help her as an editor, sounding board, and research assistant. Nina plans to write a five-book series set in Victorian England using the five gorgeous, intriguing, sexy members of the Hall family as the central characters. I’m having a lot of fun finding amusements in Victorian London for them and learning about corsets,  crinolines and the Crimean War.

Nina is in the “middle drafts” stage of Touch, and I watch, transfixed, as she discards old characters and introduces new ones, executes major plot changes, shuffles scenes, changes settings, dresses, redresses, and undresses characters. “Wow!” I say, and “Oh yeah, that works,” and “YES!”

Joanna Bourne

I am so thrilled to announce that RITA award-winner Joanna Bourne has asked me to help her with some fact-checking for her new book . Joanna is a fellow francophile, and shares my enthusiasm for discussing word usage ad infinitum, or, to some, ad nauseum.

But you see what this means, don’t you? I get to read it first. First.  As in, before everybody else.
How utterly cool is that?

Contemporary voice in a historical novel – from the Eloisa James & Julia Quinn BB

I’m currently writing a romance set in 1821 and I’ve been getting conflicting advice from people who are also writers, but who don’t necessarily read/write in this genre. I’ve gotten reviews that the dialogue and internal thinking is spot-on, but others feel that my characters are too “modern” in their thinking. My question for you is, how do you achieve a balance between setting it back in time enough to make it historical, but bring in enough contemporary thinking to make the characters resonate with a modern audience?

-author

I wrote: One thing that’s important to remember is that all Freud’s theories, and the vocabulary of psychology to describe those theories, didn’t exist then. Words like ego, fixate, fantasize, Oedipal, which we all use so casually now, were not available in those definitions in the early 19th Century.

It’s always possible to use period terms to describe what we would now describe in psychological terms, as one could suppose an astute student of human behavior in the early 19th Century would come to many of the same conclusions as a modern psychologist, though without using the specialized terminology. For instance, where we might describe someone as having a “massive ego,” a 19th century sage could note that someone has an “overweening sense of self-esteem.”

One way is to check words in the Oxford English Dictionary, which offers dates and citations showing when a word entered the English language.

Good luck!

Does that dictionary handle idioms, too?

Yes, it does. If you have the on-line version, either purchased on-line or available through some libraries (often university,) it will take you directly to the phrase in question. There’s also the Oxford Dictionary of Slang.

Check my website under “Language” for more books about word usage.

Loving Il Divo

June 3rd  was an absolutely fabulous day for me. I had tickets to attend the Il Divo concert in Portland with my dear friend Ann, who admits to being (almost) as big an Il Divo fan as I am. My husband and I drove up from Eugene in his cute little sports car after a good workout at the gym. We got settled in our (surprisingly–the dh is a big fan of Priceline.com)  comfortable and elegant hotel room and took the free trolley to downtown Portland. Ann and her husband Bob used to live in Eugene, but were on vacation in California, and agreed to meet up with us in Portland. We rendezvoused over coffee at Powell’s, the biggest, most fabulous, most famous,  UBS of them all. I did get to look around a bit there, but not to buy. We had other plans!  So we wandered around a while, visiting, then went to Mother’s Bistro & Bar for dinner. We ALWAYS go to Mother’s when in Portland, perhaps more than once, for their breakfasts are as wonderful as their dinners.  Some wine with dinner, desserts to share–this was a very special evening.

The guys then escorted us by trolley to the Rose Quarter Arena for the concert. (They then headed back to our hotel to go swimming in the non-chlorine pool before picking us up after the concert. I think both guys were deeply relieved that they didn’t have to go to the concert, and would have happily agreed to anything else.)

Il Divo. ahhh. I first heard of them when Simon Cowell appeared on Oprah in early 2005. I was surprised he was so good-natured about all the grief she was giving him, but then realized he had an ulterior motive–his new popera band, Il Divo, was going to perform. They sang “Regresa A Mi,” which doesn’t quite translate to its title in English, “Unbreak My Heart,” and I was completely smitten. As were millions of others, as their first cd flew up to #1 on Amazon. Of course I bought a copy. And I bought all their other cd’s, too.  And, I attended their 2006 concert in Portland. Some of their songs I really, really, really loved, Some were less wonderful, but I found that their cd’s were my favorites to listen to, while working in the house or the kitchen, during a long bath, on the elliptical machine at the gym, and sometimes, very, very, softly, while I’m editing. I made several compilations of all my absolute favorite songs, mixed with a few Josh Groban pieces, and I’m never tired of listening to them. Never.

But, back in Portland again. I thought the seats, bought in the first moments they were on sale, would be terrible. They were off to the side, yes, but  close to the stage. And the stage was a very long catwalk that extended into, and for a few lucky ticket holders, around, the audience. They were close enough that I could see when Urs, totally caught up in the music, closed his eyes while he sang. Ann was very pleased with the seats, and took a couple cell phone photos. (I would have taken my camera if I had realized that checking my purse would be such a perfunctory, useless, procedure. )

It was wonderful to be surrounded by fellow Divas, as we Il Divo fans call ourselves. Others could chat just as knowledgeably about particular songs, and identify their individual voices just as easily as I could. The woman next to me pointed out that Urs’s voice had gotten much stronger, and I mentioned that Sebastien had more of a classical style now, from working with classical singers.

And the music! Back in 2006, it was like they were trying too hard to be romantic, suave, sexy. I mean, they are, anyway, but that was a conscious effort. The feeling I got now was that they just wanted to have a really good time, sharing their music with those who loved it, and them, best. It was a wonderful performance. I’m sorry that I can’t really remember any of it, a good reason to buy the dvd of the show, but I completely remember how happy and thrilled I was throughout the entire performance. Their art director must have been on some really excellent drugs when he designed the backdrops, stills and films, that were behind the singers, but the visuals could mostly be ignored.  After all, we were there for the music.

I’ve been an amateur singer for many years, and over that time, have developed some extraordinarily bad habits. I’m working with a marvelous teacher, slowly unraveling all the bad things I’m doing to and with my voice, and developing proper vocal technique. And I can learn so much by listening to Il Divo, especially David and Urs. Both have been rigorously trained, and as I listen to how each uses his head voice, or controls his breathing, or even caresses each note, I learn better ways to do the same.

Do I have a favorite  Divo? I’d say, all of them but Carlos. Nothing personal about Carlos, but this is a wonderfully irrational choice with no consequences. I do love Carlos’s voice when he sings high and soft, but often he’s just a little too overwhelming for my comfort, both his huge baritone voice, and his blatant sexiness.

Portland was extraordinarily warm that evening (all that Il Divo-generated love and hormones?) and we took the trolley back to our respective hotels. The next morning, after a complimentary breakfast at our hotels, we met Ann and Bob again at the very famous Portland Rose Garden. We looked at all the beautiful roses, and mostly, enjoyed a little more time with dear friends that we don’t see nearly often enough.

As a meteorological footnote, it rained buckets the day before in Eugene, while we were in Portland, and the rain moved north, passing  us on the road, and proceeded to drench Portland as soon as we left.

There’s a couple photos of my dh’s sports car and some roses from the Rose Garden, as well as Ann’s photos of the show, in the Flick*r account.

A nice way to start the holiday weekend.

[Also posted on the Editor & Researcher page]

Courtney Milan wrote this about me:

Franzeca is thorough, intelligent, and well-informed.  She is like a one-woman army of research assistants, and she comes equipped with an exhaustive knowledge of historical times, an unerring sense for period language, and a copy-editor’s feel for smooth prose.  She is a perfectionist, and her painstaking work has saved me from myself a thousand times.  The world would be a dark and scary place without Franzeca to help me light my way.”

Spare my blushes!  She was equally a joy to work with.

I’m working on Courtney’s new novel. It features some of the characters in Proof by Seduction, and it is an amazing book, pushing boundaries and bending rules in astoundingly effective and original ways . I even had to sneak a peek at the end because I couldn’t stand the suspense. I never do that; I never have to read the ending first. But I did this time. It is that good.

Do look for her upcoming novella, “This Wicked Gift”, October 1st, 2009 .  More on her website at http://www.courtneymilan.com/

A Regency Harvest Celebration

October 6:  Last  Saturday night  I attended a Regency Harvest Celebration in Eugene. I was accompanied by fellow editor Jo-Jo and my neighbor Rene, and we all wore our closest approximations of Regency finery. The fete was organized by the Oregon Regency Society, and was just fantastic. There was a wonderful dinner with autumn fruits, turkey, quiches, delicious cheeses and rich desserts, enough to delight the most jaded palate. I understand that one gentleman was responsible for all the cooking, and he did an amazing job. The chairs and tables were all swathed in white linen and studded with silver candelabra. Some genius had assembled a huge collection of china dishes in a glorious multitude of patterns. It was simply magic.

There was dancing after dinner, ably directed by members of the Rose and Thistle,  a local  English and Scottish Dance organization. They had offered a dance boot camp on Saturday morning, which JoJo and I and other neophyte dancers attended. We tried to learn, and remember, enough steps to help us survive without embarrassing ourselves. So we were eager to take to the floor and work off our dinner, and perhaps see if Mr. Darcy would make an appearance. A gracious gentleman in a kilt and a head set walked us through the dances, and called out the steps until we all, literally, found our feet in the dance. This particular dance group meets regularly through the year, offering classes and dances, and we are looking into some more chances to dance like it’s 1811.

Perhaps the best part of all the celebration were the costumes. Many partygoers had gloriously authentic costumes, and looked simply wonderful. Two young men, probably in their late teens, were dressed as well as any extra in a Jane Austen film. They even had what we called “Mr. Collins” hats.

Jo-Jo took photos of the event, and you can access them through this site.

Here’s the link for the Oregon Regency Society:

http://www.oregonregencysociety.com/

They will be posting photos, too, as soon as possible

Courtney Milan

I am so excited that Courtney Milan has asked me to help prepare her book, Proof by Seduction, for publication by HQN in the fall of 2009. I’ve just started dipping into it, and, wow! It’s fabulous. It’s funny and sensual and vastly entertaining. There’s an intriguing premise, plenty of humor, some bittersweet pathos, and a beguiling cast of characters.

Courtney’s debut novel is a complete tour-de-force.

Check Courtney’s site for more information about Proof by Seduction.

http://www.courtneymilan.com/

Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles

On Friday, August 1st, a group of attendees at the RWA went on a very special roadtrip. We were escorted by the charming and knowledgeable writer and Beau Monde program coordinator Kalen Hughes to visit a tiny lace and textile museum/retail shop in Berkeley, the Lacis Museum. Kalen directed us through the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system, including dealing with one particularly balky ticket machine. We arrived in Berkeley, and it was strange to see open space, and parking lots, and low-rise buildings after our days in downtown San Francisco. Upon entering the museum, we immediately scattered to study the fabulous exhibits. I was fascinated by the marvelous displays–antique thimbles, bobbin lace, shown mid-weave, perfectly preserved Georgian clothing. We were then given a tour by Erin, the manager of Lacis. It was wonderful being in such erudite company with similar interests, and we had spirited debates about the development of fichus, the origins of the spencer jacket, and differences between Regency and modern muslin fabrics. Kalen, alas, had to leave for another appointment, but we managed a few purchases, and a geographically-savvy tour member got us safely back to the hotel. On the way, we had a spirited, okay, heated, discussion of the merits of various Pride and Prejudice films. The universal decision was that Wickham had to be gorgeous, perhaps even more gorgeous than Darcy, in order for him to cause as much trouble as he did.

I did get some photos of some of the clothing Erin showed us, and they’re posted on my Flickr site. Feel free to check them out. I especially loved the 18th Century waistcoats. The design and handwork was truly incredible.

Here’s the web-site for Lacis: http://lacismuseum.org/

Admittance to the museum is free, but rest assured you’ll find something to purchase.

And here’s Kalen’s web-site. Her information and links for Georgian and Regency costumes are fabulous. You could dress all the characters in your book from this information. It’s amazing!

http://www.kalenhughes.com/