Victorian High Society in New York

by Tamara Hughes

I’ve been reading historical romance for what seems like forever, which makes me feel old, so we’ll just say it’s been a long time, but not THAT long.

So it made sense when I first started writing to try my hand at historical romance. And I found that it’s really hard. There’s a lot of research involved, from what the characters wear and etiquette of the time to if they used coat hangers, oil lamps or candles, and a feather quill or an ink pen. I have to admit that sometimes it seems overwhelming, and yet, in a sense I love researching time periods. The tough part is deciding the when and where to set the story.

Fifth Avenue, center of Victorian Era New York high society.

For my first book, Once Upon a Masquerade, I gave a lot of thought to this question. I’m someone who likes to discover new things, so I decided pretty quickly that I didn’t want to write a Regency romance. I’d read too many. What I hadn’t read was an American set romance. That got me thinking, and researching.

Alva Vanderbilt costumed for
her 1883 masquerade ball.

During Victorian times, high society in New York was very similar to that of London. In fact, those with wealth and prestige attempted to emulate their English counterparts. They had lavish balls, their own season, and their dresses made by French and English designers.

But of course there were differences. New York City had a constant stream of immigrants who came to America for a better life, and soon the rich and poor lived right next to one another. By Victorian times, the poor were starting to rebel against their stature in society. Why were the rich considered so much better than everyone else? And it was here that I started to imagine what it was like for a servant working for an elite family. To see how the other half lived, and know that lifestyle was beyond their reach. Therefore, my first book became a Cinderella type story.

Building the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Victorian history of New York is rich with amazing feats, like the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the grand unveiling of the Statue of Liberty, and masquerade balls like nothing you’d see today. The Vanderbilt masquerade ball in the opening of Once Upon a Masquerade was based on the real thing. I was awed by the original and extravagant costumes. For instance, Alice Vanderbilt dressed as “electric light” in white satin embroidered with diamonds, inspired by Thomas Edison and his success in lighting lower Manhattan six months earlier.

There is so much to explore in this place and time, I’d like to set more books here if nothing more than to plop my characters into the history books and imagine what it must have been like.

Help Fight Violence Against Women

I live in beautiful South Carolina, famous for its ocean beaches, sparkling lakes, acres of forest, and spectacular mountain vistas. But my state has one very ugly statistic—we rank first/worst in the nation in violence against women by males. The offenders are predominately spouses, boyfriends, ex-lovers, or other family members.

In 2011, 61 South Carolina women were reportedly killed by men. According to the Violence Policy Center, females in our state were murdered by males at a rate of 2.54 per 100,000—more than double the national average.

Of course, South Carolina doesn’t have an exclusive franchise on such violence. This worldwide problem includes sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and dating violence. There are victims in every age group from sexually abused children to battered elders. International efforts often use the term “gender based violence.”

World-wide efforts have begun to include men and boys in the campaign to end violence against women. In my state, the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, a coalition of 22 domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy programs, is bringing educational programs into the state’s schools to teach children of all ages about personal boundaries and conflict resolution without violence. The intent is to change a male mindset that violence against women is acceptable.

Of course, this organization and others are also working to help victims. In Oconee County, SC, a new Safe Harbor home has adopted a five-year outreach plan that encompasses counseling, shelter care, post-shelter care, advocacy and education – all meant to promote the mission of serving victims of domestic violence and their children.

In addition to cash donations these organizations often welcome household goods and supplies, and also clothing, ranging from diapers to career wear appropriate for women to wear on job interviews.

What organizations are providing educational services and assistance to victims in your home state? If you don’t know, please take the time to find out.

SECRETS - MARGARET TANNER

SECRETS - WE ALL HAVE THEM

How many of us have secrets?

I doubt if there would be many people who don’t have at least one secret. I don’t mean of the dark, dangerous variety, but some of us may well have a secret that could place us in danger. Fortunately, I am not one of those.

My secret – I am a chocoholic. How many times have I told my hubby that I no longer eat chocolates, then I sneak off to my several hiding places (not to be divulged on pain of death), where my secret stash is hidden. You should always have more than one hideout for your illicit goodies just in case one of them is discovered. I don’t want to be like Old Mother Hubbard – who went to the cupboard to get her dog a bone, and when she got there the cupboard was bare and the poor doggie had none. Change that to and when Margaret got to her secret stash, the chokkies were gone and she had none. A disaster of that proportion could not be allowed to happen, hence a few hiding places. I call it my insurance policy.

In many families there are secrets that will never see the light of day, except if someone in the family is into Geneology. My sister has unearthed some shocking scandals as she undertook research into our family tree. I swear, I could write a book about it. One of the most shocking secrets was the fact that my grandmother had a baby when she was unmarried and only eighteen years old. The baby died when he was only 6 days old. A couple of years later she married my grandfather. No-one knew that, it remained hidden for 120 years, until my sister unearthed the information during her research.

Another relative spent time in jail in the 1880’s for aiding and abetting Ned Kelly, a famous Australian bushranger (outlaw). Then there were all the “premature” babies that were born to aunts and great aunts. Not to mention one great uncle who had two wives. Then there was a cousin who ran off with a man who was older than her father. That caused a stir. Especially as the man had a wife and 4 children. Still, can’t be all bad, thirty years later, and the couple are still together.

In my experience, and I do have to quantify this by saying I mainly read historical romance because that is what I write, there are often dark secrets lurking in the background. Some of these could be life threatening, in any case at the very least they threaten the hero and heroine’s chance of getting their happily ever after ending.

In my novel, Allison’s War, the heroine’s secret is that the baby she is expecting does not belong to her husband.

 

In A Rose In No-Man’s Land, the hero hides a secret from the heroine. She is broken hearted to find out that he won’t marry her, when in fact he wants to marry her, but can’t because he is being blackmailed by the sister of his dead wife. If he marries the heroine, he risks being hanged for a murder that he did not commit.

In Daring Masquerade, my heroine pretends she is a boy so she can gain employment with the hero. Then, of course, she falls in love with the hero. I mean, what can she do about it?

In my novel, Haunted Hearts, (the only contemporary I have published), the heroine discovers that her father-in-law has been going through her drawers and stealing her panties.

So, you can see that secrets abound in my novels, and I am sure I am not alone in this regard. A secret can drive our stories along, add passion and drama, and keep the reader wondering what is this secret? How can it be resolved? Will the hero and heroine get their HEA?

Margaret Tanner writes historical romance for The Wild Rose Press and Books We Love.

http://www.margarettanner.com

 

Realism, PCism, and Surrealism

by M. L. Buchman
My pal and all around amazing author Sarah A. Hoyt just wrote a piece entitled The Publishing Business is in Crisis. I won't argue with Sarah (for one thing I'd probably lose, for another, I'm not sure that I disagree). But there's a few items deep down in her article that really caught my attention on an entirely different subject.

She points out two small examples to make points that collided for me to open up insights into something I have long been contemplating in my own writing. (Holy wow is that a messy sentence, but you get the idea.) (pardon my paraphrasing):
1. (While discussing mysteries): The extreme realism that has moved into fiction is really irritating. For that "I read the news."
2. (While discussing romances): The extreme emphasis on PCness has taken historical romances and turned them into Politically Correct stories in which every woman of the ton is a closet suffragette or a corporate maven of the 1700s.

In both my Night Stalkers series about the women and men of the U.S. Army's 160th helicopter regiment and Firehawks series about the women and men of heli-aviation wilderness firefighting, I work very hard to be realistic. But I also work to strike a balance for the reason I'm telling these tales is still a love story that is the main point of my books. This balance is something I pay attention to all the time while I'm writing.

Curiously, my writing habits and my reading habits have both been making a slow shift lately. Some of which is already evident, some of which will not be evident until next year. (Fear not fans, the Night Stalkers and Firehawks will fly onward.) This is a subtle rather than a drastic change, but one I have been contemplating for some time. What I am looking at doing is: "Avoiding the Surreal."

To me, the "Surreal" is when the story lost the reason I picked it up in the first place. When tale-telling becomes so realistic and PCistic that we lose the joy that made us pick up a romance. For I too have started up books and found the same reactions that Sara discusses above.

What drew us to read in this genre in the beginning? Was it great story or great realism? Was it love, romance, passion, or was it politically aware characters who bear twenty-first century sensibilities and mores even if they were rakes and wantons? Was it great adventure or accurate recounting of events? I recently read a romance in which the road trip was more important to the author (i.e. way more detailed) than the characters. I should say I started it, I didn't finish it.

I try to step aside from my own writing and ponder it sometimes as if from the outside. One thing I know for a fact, there is no worse judge of my own writing than me. This is true of every writer. Beginners think, "Wow! This is great stuff I'm writing." (Uh, sorry, probably not.) Seasoned pros have learned that when they think, "This is such crap that it's embarrassing," that they're probably on the right track. (That's what a trusted first reader is for, a reality check on the storytelling.) So I have to look through the eyes of others. My latest Pure Heat was 4-1/2 stars and Top Pick in Romantic Times. It garnered a starred review and Top 10 Romance of Spring 2014 in Publisher's Weekly. Great reviews came in from Booklist, Fresh Fiction, and many cool notes from fans. (Thank you all, btw.)

So, uh, I guess I'm on track.

Still I find I must worry at the boundaries of the Surreal, like a puppy who won't let a squeaky toy lie until the squeaker has been excised (whoever thought up squeaky toys must really despise parents and dog owners). I write fictional heroes doing heroic tasks that pale beside what our soldiers and firefighters are doing out in real life. The Night Stalkers of the 160th and the wilderness firefighters who face the monster of wildfire share a daunting dedication and the more I learn of both groups, the more they astonish me. It is hard not to gush about the amazing people I have discovered in my research.

But I try to tread lightly for I have a story to tell.
A love story.

A Personal Shout-Out for Guide Dogs for the Blind by Sarah Raplee

http://welcome.guidedogs.com/ All Photo Credits

I can tell you exactly why the Heroine in my work-in-progress, BLINDSIGHT, is blind—and why her Guide Dog, Fred, shares Hero status with the story’s human Hero.

I lost sight in my right eye fourteen years ago without warning. When I went to bed, I was fully-sighted. I woke up to find a big, gray-brown splotch like thick fog in the middle of my vision in my right eye. Over the course of the day, the area grew to cover all but the extreme lower right edge of my vision.

The condition is known as NAION (Non-arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy.) There is no effective treatment. There is a 30% lifetime chance it will occur in the other eye.

I can close my good eye and still see light and dark, and bits of things through thin spots in the fog, but I can’t read the big ‘E’ on the screen in the eye doctor’s office, or anything else for that matter.

Even with both eyes open, I run into things/trip over things on my right side. I have lousy depth perception. After a year or so, my brain adjusted and mostly tunes out the ‘bad’ input from my damaged eye.

I attended a Low Vision Support Group during that adjustment period. I learned so much from others going through similar experiences, especially from a spunky, legally-blind wedding singer. She is the inspiration for Melisenda, my blind heroine.

Since I lost sight in one eye, the other eye has been hit with Murphy’s Law. Repeatedly. My doctor says it is “just bad luck.” I’ve had optic neuritis in that eye, two macular wrinkles, a cataract is beginning to form, and I have a large piece of scar tissue from the first macular wrinkle that dances around in the shape of an anteater. (I named him Harvey after the invisible rabbit in the famous play, since only I can see him. Luckily, his nose is attached so that most of the time he stays below the center of my vision.)

I’m a planner. Naturally I’ve rehearsed what I will do if I become legally blind. I’ll go to the state school’s course for adults adjusting to blindness. As soon as I qualify (can get around well enough with a cane, etc.) I’ll apply for a Guide Dog. These wonderfully-trained, big-hearted beasts enrich and expand blind peoples’ lives in so many ways!

Getting around with a Guide is much faster and safer for blind people. Guide Dogs are trained in "intelligent disobedience." If a Guide is given an unsafe command, the dog will not obey it. For example, when a light turns green, the dog will not step out into the street if there is oncoming traffic. Guide Dogs are trained to have impeccable manners and are capable of avoiding distractions, so they do not create problems for their human partners. Their eagerness to please and a willingness to work make them wonderful companions. The relationship between a Guide Dog and their human is extremely close. They are not pets; they are half of a team. Human + Guide = Partners.

Your gift of money or your time to Guide Dogs for the Blind makes a powerful difference in the lives of people with vision loss.

You can make a financial donation online at
https://secure2.convio.net/gd/site/Donation2;jsessionid=B0F19E59625A66B5AB0DF08F8B4AAB2F.app274a?idb=997521498&DONATION_LEVEL_ID_SELECTED=1281&df_id=1060&1060.donation=form1&idb=0

Your can designate a workplace gift to GDB as the beneficiary of a payroll deduction contribution at many places of employment. This option is offered to federal, state and municipal employees and through company-sponsored campaigns in the private sector as well.

Learn about volunteer opportunities at

http://www.guidedogs.com/site/PageServer?pagename=help_volunteer

Volunteers welcome dogs into their homes; they act as program ambassadors; they provide administrative support to many departments, and they support the mission in myriad ways. If you want to give your time, there's no shortage of ways to help: 

·         Breeding stock custodians

·         Puppy raisers

·         Campus volunteers

·         Speakers

 Thank you for reading my personal story and for considering supporting Guide Dogs for the Blind. 
~ Sarah

Overheard on . . . Romancing the Genres

"Eeeeeeeeee."

Okay, so in July Romancing the Genres will be spotlighting some great Romantic Suspense authors. This is a genre that makes me quiver simply thinking of it. The closest I've gotten to writing in this genre were the first few lines of my Free Read from the Genre-istas in May:

An animal-like scream pierced the air and Julia dove for cover. A bloody hand descended, edging over the desk where she trembled in fear. It was gnarled with age and lord knew what else. Feet kicking out in front of her, Julie scrabbled back into the corner, as far as she could get from the zombie looking appendage. It was no use. The fingers caught the hem of her apron and began to pull.

“Cut. That’s it for today.”

My main character, an actress, goes on to live a very normal, contemporary life (to read more check out the full, two part story, at http://freereadsfromthegenre-istas.blogspot.com/2014/05/Birthday-Promises.html)

So, suffice to say I am not a writer of suspense any more than I am a writer of code. Both scare the bejeezus out of me. Yesterday I was hanging out with another mom at a competition both of our daughters are in this weekend, and asked her what she was reading. I wish I'd gotten the author and name for all of you potential suspense readers. But suffice to say the title had the word 'Blood' in it.

I asked if she liked suspense and she said, she loved it... the darker the better. But even the idea of reading it gives me nightmares. I sincerely respect this genre, though. Just like reading sweet romance gives us a chance to express our hopes and dreams, reading romantic suspense puts these feelings into the very real context of extreme despair and redemption. 

So come back in July to read more about our guest authors. I'll be checking in with each of them to find out how dark their stories are and discovering the page numbers to skip in order to keep from being awake all night dreaming of bloody, gnarled hands on dark handsome strangers.