Camy Tang's Blog, page 96

He was careful in climbing the stairs, his good leg begin...

He was careful in climbing the stairs, his good leg beginning to shake with the strain from the two flights of the grand staircase. When he finally reached the drawing room, Miranda had disappeared.

He lowered himself into a gold and white striped chair, but his leg gave out and he fell heavily into the seat, making it wobble on its delicately carved legs. He winced. Yes, Gerard, the quickest way to cultivate Cecil’s good graces is to break his furniture.

--From The Spinster's Christmas in Mistletoe Kisses, 99 cents only until Nov 30th

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Dorsetshire, EnglandDecember 23rd, 1810“I am heartily sic...

Dorsetshire, England
December 23rd, 1810

“I am heartily sick of your complaining and moaning, you old woman,” Lady Wynwood told her companion lounging on the seat across from her in her travelling coach.

The “old woman” was in actuality a fit man in his fourth decade, a rugged face and easy smile hovering on the edges of his mouth. His jaw might not be as firm as twenty years ago, but he was still the handsome buck Laura had first met when she had her debut in London, and he knew it, too. “Reduced to name-calling, Laura?” Solomon Drydale drawled.

“Would you rather I simply open this coach door and boot you out of it?”

--From The Spinster's Christmas in Mistletoe Kisses, 99 cents only until Nov 30th

Gerard's scarf & Prelude giveaway!

I’ve been knitting the wool scarf my hero gives the heroine in my Regency novella, The Spinster’s Christmas, based off of a knitting pattern that I’m pretty sure is from the Regency era. I admit I haven’t actually finished the scarf, but I’m posting the giveaway now because I’m reasonably sure it’ll be done before the giveaway ends. :) Here’s the link to my Ravelry project page if you’re interested.


I’m also giving away 10 copies of my Regency romance, Prelude for a Lord ! US winners will receive a print or ebook copy (your choice) of Prelude for a Lord, but International winners will only receive an ebook copy, provided you are able to receive Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, or Nook books in your country.

Please spend a buck on Camy! This contest is in celebration of my latest novella in the Mistletoe Kisses anthology, eight authors writing contemporary romance, historical romance, and romantic suspense novellas. Right now, Mistletoe Kisses is only 99 cents! But the sale is ONLY UNTIL NOVEMBER 30TH so pre-order yours today!

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This is not a requirement of entry, but if you enjoy my Regency books and want to know when I have a new one out or a sale on a title, I encourage you to join my Camille Elliot email newsletter--go to http://www.CamilleElliot.com and look for the form to sign up for my newsletter.

To enter the contest:

Fill out the form below. Be sure to read the rules.

Extra Twitter entries: Get one extra entry per tweet if you tweet about our anthology, Mistletoe Kisses:

#Christmas #holiday #romance! #MistletoeKisses #99Cents bit.ly/mistletoe-kisses 8 stories - contemporary, suspense, historical @camytang

(Be sure to include @camytang so I can see your tweet and give you your extra entry. No limit to the number of extra entries.)

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Gerard's Red and Black Scarf, part 2

As I mentioned in a post on the Regency Reflections blog, I decided to try to knit the Regency scarf that Gerard, my hero, gives to my heroine in my Christmas novella in the Mistletoe Kisses anthology.

I chose A Gentleman’s Comforter from The Ladies’ Knitting and Netting Book, First Series by Miss Watts, originally published in 1837. You can download the .pdf of the Fifth Edition, with additions, which was published in 1840.

I’m pretty sure this pattern was in use the Regency, because most patterns had been passed down by word of mouth long before they were published. So Jane Austen could have gotten this pattern from a friend or family member and used it when making a scarf for her father. :)

Here’s the original pattern:


I’m not entirely certain what “coarse steel needles” and “5 skeins of fine wool yarn” mean, so I’m guessing. I’m using US 1 needles and fingering weight wool yarn, but you could use anything you want, including larger needles and yarn. Just cast on fewer stitches, making sure it’s an even number.

I got my yarn from KnitPicks.com, and was thrilled to find a “Hollyberry” color way. Very Christmasy!


If you’re interested, here’s my project on Ravelry.

I cast on 72 stitches. I used the same cast on I do when I make top down socks, which is the Norwegian cast on with two needles held together. However, you can use whatever cast on you want. I would suggest, however, that you cast on either with a larger needle or two needles held together.

First row:
Knit 1, move the yarn to the front, slip one stitch purl wise, move yarn to the back
(knit 1 but instead of throwing the yarn once around the needle, throw it twice around before pulling the loop through, move the yarn to the front, slip one stitch purl wise, move yarn to the back) repeat to the last 2 stitches in the row,
knit 1 with the yarn twice around the needle, knit 1 with the yarn only once around the needle.

Next row:
Knit 1 (with yarn only once around needle), slip stitch purl wise with yarn in front, dropping the extra loop, (knit with the yarn twice around the needle, slip stitch purl wise with yarn in front, dropping the extra loop) repeat to the last two stitches, knit 1 with the yarn twice around the needle, knit 1 with the yarn only once around the needle.

Repeat this last row until your scarf is long enough.

It’s basic double knitting, but with a drop stitch, and it looks like because of the two knit stitches on either end, the stitches are a bit poofy and airy, which would make for a warmer scarf, and it would make the scarf softer even if the wool was a bit tightly spun. A tightly spun yarn is typically more durable, and that would make the scarf durable, soft, and warm all at once.

I’m going to try to do red and black blocks, but since I have no idea what the gauge is with this pattern, I’ll have to wing it.

Here’s the start of my scarf!


I’ll be posting as I continue with this pattern, and at the end, I’ll hold a giveaway for Gerard’s scarf!

The Mistletoe Kisses anthology is eight authors writing contemporary romance, historical romance, and romantic suspense novellas for only $0.99 cents! But the sale is ONLY UNTIL NOVEMBER 30TH so pre-order yours today!

Kindle
iBooks
Kobobooks.com
Nook

Gerard's red and black scarf

I’m going to knit my hero’s scarf from “The Spinster’s Christmas,” my new Regency romance short novel that will be included in the upcoming Inspy Kisses anthology, Mistletoe Kisses . The pattern is very simple, but the challenge is that I’ll be using an antique knitting pattern published in 1837, updating it in modern language.

Want to join me? Head over to the Regency Reflections blog to hear all about it!

Prelude for a Lord - names part 4 Lady Arkright

This is
Lady Arkright

Lady Arkright was a childless Italian widow of a local gentleman with a farm neighboring Alethea’s father’s lands. She befriended Alethea and taught her to play the violin, which is a socially unacceptable instrument for women in England at the time. Lady Arkright learned to play the instrument, among many others, in her childhood in Italy. She loved Alethea like her own child and bequeathed her violin to her, unaware of its amazing history. Lady Arkright has died by the time Prelude for a Lord opens.

For a woman who didn’t have any page time in this book, I spent a lot of time building her backstory and trying to come up with her name. She was actually one of the most fun characters to write because she is the character who could have been.

The composer Vivaldi had been employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740 at the Ospedale della Pietà , a convent, orphanage, and music school in Venice. Some of the trained musicians left to advantageous marriages, which is how I got the idea for Calandra, Alethea’s friend, mentor, and mother-figure.

I had Calandra being born in 1725 and sent to the Ospedale della Pietà, where she was trained in many musical instruments, including the violin. She would have been about fifteen years old when Vivaldi spent his last year at the Ospedale. When she was eighteen years old, she met and married Sir William Arkright, who was visiting in Venice.

I chose
Calandra’s husband was good with his hands and liked building things out of wood. He hand-crafter the case for her violin, joking that it was more valuable to her than her jewels. (Those of you who’ve read the book and know what that case was will understand this.)

I named Sir William after the surname
Alethea still misses Lady Arkright and the music they would play together. Without Calandra and Lucy, Alethea feels very alone, avoided by the local women and misunderstood because of her scandalous instrument.

Next, Alethea’s best friend and half-sister, Lucy.

Prelude for a Lord - names part 3 Aunt Ebena

This is
Alethea’s aunt, Mrs. Ebena Garen

Ebena was originally going to be the nastiest miser I could come up with, but somehow when I started plotting the book, she just became different. So her first name doesn’t quite match how I had originally envisioned her—a miser like Ebenezer Scrooge. Get it? Ebenezer … Ebena …

Um, yeah.

I mentioned I was really bad at coming up with names, right?

And I did check in British censor records and there were a few women named Ebena in my time period. So it wasn’t completely out of left field.

Aunt Ebena’s father had essentially sold her in marriage to Mr. Garen, a man twenty years her senior. He was a contemporary of Lord Ravenhurst’s father—Mr. Garen and the previous Lord Ravenhurst were only about five years apart in age.

When coming up with Ebena’s husband’s name, I did a Google search for “character” “sold in marriage.” It brought up Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones—sold in marriage by her brother. It was by far the most popular result, listed several times.

So… I named Ebena’s husband Mr. Tar Garen, a gentleman modestly wealthy through his factory investments.

Mr. Tar Garen’s niece, Margaret, showed up in the book a bit unexpectedly. She was suddenly there in the first chapter and I had to replot the entire book before I could continue writing. I named her Margaret because she reminded me of the sword-wielding Margaret from Emma Thompson’s movie, Sense and Sensibility. (“Piracy is our only option.” !!! :)

Next, the closest thing to a mother that Alethea ever had, Lady Arkright.

Prelude for a Lord - names part 2 Alethea

This is
My heroine, Lady Alethea Sutherton

The name “Alethea” means
As with Bayard, I again looked up the name Alethea in British census records to make sure there were women named Alethea during my book’s time period in the early 1800s.

I admit, I stole Alethea’s surname, Sutherton, from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (I had to have something of Jane’s in there somewhere). Since I didn’t want to be rude and name Alethea after a real-life peer (especially since her father and brother were such nasty fellows) I checked with the
Alethea’s cousin, Wilfred, has inherited the title and is now the Earl of Trittonstone, and his wife, Mona, is as greedy a puss as you’ll ever see. Mona married Wilfred even though at the time he was third in line for the title because she hoped his exalted relations would help propel her to more elite social circles. I chose the title Trittonstone mostly because of Mona—
However, Wilfred’s uncle and cousin were both profligates and did not move in the social circles that Mona was hoping for. However, when Wilfred’s uncle and then his cousin died and Wilfred got the title, Mona was ecstatic at her good fortune. It made her rather beastly to Alethea.

Next, Alethea’s crotchety Aunt Ebena.

Prelude for a Lord - names part 1 Bayard

Recently a reader commented on my hero’s name, Bayard Dommick, and it occurred to me that people might be interested in how I picked the names of my characters in this book, especially since many of you know how absolutely abominable I am at choosing character names.

I am proud to say that while it was difficult to come up with character names in this book, each name has a sort of meaning behind them, a “story behind the name.”

Real-life nobility

One thing I absolutely did not want to do was name any characters after real-life nobility, especially if the peer was still alive. I think it would be a little rude to do that since these families are very proud of their family names and titles. So I had to check all my surnames and titles against a
My hero, Bayard Terralton, Lord Dommick:

I had already settled on the name of Bayard’s title, Lord Dommick. It was one of those things that just seemed to fit him, and the meaning of the name “Dominic” is “belonging to God,” which I thought was appropriate for his spiritual arc in the story.

I looked at my hero’s personality. Bayard was a recluse archetype, a bit like Lord Byron or the Greek god Hades. So I looked up
I looked up the origin of the name and found that “Bayard” can mean a blind person. It was also used to describe men of courage and integrity. I also looked at British census records for the 1800s and found that Bayard was used as a first name during my book’s time period.

For the family surname, in the meaning of the name, “Bayard,” there was mention of Pierre du Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473-1524), a French knight. So I took “Terrail” and came up with Terralton.

Next, I’ll talk about my heroine’s names.

Review: The Gentleman Rogue

The Gentleman Rogue by Margaret McPhee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This is my first book from this author, who has become a new favorite for me. The writing was immediately engaging and compelling from the first chapter.

The hero is eminently swoon worthy. In fact, I kind of pictured him as a bit like a younger Daniel Craig, including the tortured look behind his eyes. Great backstory and a strong, gritty, noble character.

The heroine is also incredibly likable, a gentlewoman whose family has lost everything, strong and practical enough to get a job as a barmaid in Whitechapel despite her exalted background.

The writing was incredibly emotional and elegant, making for complex characters and dynamic relationships. The setting was almost like another character.

Note: This isn't a "sweet" Regency, there is a bit of sex in it, although it didn't bother me. But this is just a note in case a reader wants to know. The sensuality level was about the same as perhaps a Harlequin Special Edition, or maybe a Harlequin American Romance.

Absolutely fantastic story and characters. This author is now an auto-buy for me.

Much thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for this e-ARC.



View all my reviews