Maya Rodale's Blog: Maya Rodale's Blog, page 41

I'll see you at dawn: Dueling, scandals and romance

We just don't duel like we used to. Sigh. In A Tale Of Two Lovers, after reading some outrageously salacious and completely damaging gossip about himself in The London Weekly, Lord Roxbury does what any gentleman would do to protect his name: he challenged the editor of the paper, Mr. Derek Knightly, to a duel. Naturally.

This was inspired by true-life events, related in a gem of a book called Gentlemen's Blood: A History of Dueling by Barbara Holland. The book is highly entertaining, informative and inspiring (for authors only, I hope).

It used to be common practice to challenge an editor to a duel if he said something unfavorable about you. And editors frequently did write horrible, rude, insulting things about others. Why? Holland writes,  "It was prime editorial duty to start a fight. Nothing boosted readership like violent libel." Or as Knightly is fond of saying, "Scandal equals sales." There were a lot of meetings at dawn.

Abe Lincoln (!) nearly fought a duel for calling James Shields a liar and "bad-smelling to boot" in an article condemning his tax policies. Two brothers, editors of the Richmond Examiner, both died in duels. Another fought for calling someone a COWARD in print. Edgar Allen Poe challenged one editor, John Daniel, but the editor showed up too drunk to shoot straight. Oops.

Roxbury and Knightly's feud is based on a rumor much, much more incendiary reasons–"coward" and "badsmelling" pale in comparison to what Julianna writes (and Knightly) publishes. Their duel, too, is not thwarted by intoxication levels, or sudden agreement. I will say this: shots are fired!

Because of this habit of shooting instead of suing, "Editors buckled on their pistols when they dressed in the morning and often kept a rifle propped up beside the desk. One editor in San Francisco, pressed for time, posted a notice on his door: "Subscriptions received from 9 to 4, challenges from 11 to 12 only."

Look for a note like that nailed to Knightly's door in subsequent Writing Girl books!

FAQ: How to deal with writer's block?

I don't have time to get writer's block (she said arrogantly). But seriously: I write a book a year and I have a day job and like to eat home cooked meals and the dog doesn't walk herself.  Here are my strategies for warding off and mitigating the dreaded writer's block.

My favorite author, Tom Robbins, once said this: make sure the muse knows where to find you. Show up at the same place, same time, every day. I think of it like exercise: the more regularly you do it, the easier it is to keep it up. So don't go a day without at least tweaking a comma in your manuscript.

Scheme and plot…in advance. I write synopses because my editor makes me (she said with love!). But I spreadsheet my novels because it rocks my world. Yup, spreadsheets. Scene by scene, breaking down motivation and how everyone's feeling with each chapter. Because when that hard thinking work is done up front, you can just fly with the writing.

If you're writing fiction—you have no excuse. Just make stuff up. If you're writing non-fiction—well, I could advise you but I'd just be making stuff up.

Check your premises. This one comes from another author I am fond of, Ayn Rand. If you're stuck at point E, go back and review A, B, C, D and see where the disconnect is happening. Don't be afraid to fix it.

If all else fails, book a trip to a hot place. Add alcohol (to you, not your computer). I've been employing this strategy on my latest book.

Suck it up, buttercup. Bully through. It's only writing, for goodness sake, and it's good fun!

White's: No Girls Allowed!

If you have read a Regency Romance, you have undoubtedly encountered White's, the gentleman's club on St. James's Street in London. It's where all our heroes and their friends went to discuss horses and women, make outrageous bets, and generally avoid the company of the fairer sex.[image error]

Perhaps it was naïve of me, but I was fascinated to learn that White's is real, and not only that, but it is still in existence to this day. Naturally, when my mum, our friend Ann, and I were in London we took a stroll by. We considered walking in, pretending to be stupid Americans, just to see how far we could get into this exclusive male haven. Alas, none of us possessed enough courage.

White's is unmarked (or course). We had suspected one particular building, and received confirmation from some bloke standing outside the neighboring building. Lud, did he have some juicy (unconfirmed) gossip, such as:

*Membership costs 85,000 a year (I forgot if that was in pounds or dollars, but either way, it is a ridiculous sum).

*A coke costs twenty dollars.

*When an heir was born years and years ago, a footman was sent to put his name on waitlist at White's before registering its birth.

*Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond novels there…any coincidence that White's is at the corner of St. James and Bond streets? Unlikely.

*Prince Charles is a member. In fact, it's where he had his bachelor party before he married Diana. I wonder if Prince William belongs?

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That last fact I learned from the excellent book White's: The First Three Hundred Years. I discovered it in the window of a used bookshop in Oxford. I was just strolling aimlessly through the town, when the title caught my eye. I went in the store, confirmed that it was about the club, and purchased it for ten pounds (twenty dollars). I lugged this hardcover all the way back to the states—and was so glad I did not just because it was a good book, but because I discovered for sale (used) at Amazon for 150 bucks!

The author, Anthony Lejeune, earned my eternal respect on page 2 when, lamenting the lack of domestic details in most sources, he wrote, "Let no-one despise the Regency Romance." He notes that fiction often makes use of such details, like how the chandeliers were lit, in order to achieve a sense of realism, whereas people generally don't write about such mundane details in their diaries or in letters to their friends.

Anyway…this book was full of fascinating little stories about the members. It was as much a history of Whites, as club cultural in general, and how history and a drink at the club intertwined for three hundred years. Lejeune writes in the introduction:

A club in a miniature kingdom (or, more accurately, a miniature republic, in which all members are theoretically equal, although, in practice, some tend to be slightly more equal than others.), and tracing its history is not unlike telling the story of a nation. The institution is a continuous rope woven from the transient lives of individuals.

White's was started by an, Italian Franceso Bianco (otherwise known as Frances White), due in part to the rising availability and popularity of beverages like hot chocolate, coffee and tea. Finally, one had a drink option other than beer. But it wasn't just about the drinks. Much like Starbucks today, it was about being a communal meeting place, where aristocrats, tradesmen and commoners could pay a fee to read all the papers, discuss all the news and gossip (and talk of horses and women) and have a hot drink. After the founder's death, his wife ran the place for fifteen years. The club would have many owners and managers over the years. In 1926, the owner was forced to sell the building (and the club), and the members raised the money for it: "White's finally owned itself."

[image error]I'm excited to say that I actually know someone who has been inside White's, thanks to his friend, who is a member. Unfortunately, neither gentleman is amenable to escorting me, disguised as a boy, into the club. Oh yes, I did ask.

In another attempt, I kindly requested a tour of White's for research purposes, and they kindly declined to give me one. My back up plan was to pretend to be a Stupid American, wander in, and ask if they had a ladies room I could use. Wouldn't have gotten far, but I might have gotten in. Oh well.

To live out my dreams, Julianna, the heroine of A Tale Of Two Lovers sneaks into White's. She's that kind of gal.

The naming of heroes and heroines and villains! Oh my!

Sad but true: if the name of a hero or heroine is weird to me, I might not read the book. By weird I mean not masculine enough (boys named Ashley!) or too ridiculously masculine (Buck, Thor, Wulfgar, etc). Names that seem too contemporary can be distracting in a historical novel (Mike, Justin, Britney). I read one Tyrone that constantly reminded me of the six-fingered man from The Princess Bride, who is also a Tyrone. Very distracting.

If the hero happens to have the name of a close male family member or someone I know really well, I may not be able to read it; the writing would have to be really, really good to get me to break my usual association with the name and stay focused on the story.

Crazy? I don't think so—names matter. Names have associations and we authors christen our characters accordingly. That's why you don't often find dukes named, say, Reggie Beaverbrook or heroines named Agnes Gort. It's hard to define when a name goes from a regular ol' one to one that's worthy of a starring character, but I guess we all know when we see it.

(And it's probably Raven-something: How many Lords of Raven-something have we all read!?).

Also sad but true: I have offered to name villains after boys that have done wrong to my girlfriends. I might have done it, too! (Guess who?!) It's a tremendously satisfying form of revenge: permanent, public, and no one gets hurt. I doubt most even know (certainly not the boys, who wouldn't be caught dead picking up a romance novel—Ha!). The flip side is that naming a hero or heroine after someone could be an extremely wonderful public and permanent display of affection.

I mention this because I am auctioning off the chance to name one of my characters—specifically the villain of my next Writing Girl book—for charity. This way, someone gets all the fun of naming without having to write the book and support a good cause at the same time! Check it out and place your bid here.

The non-profit in question is New York Restoration Project and they're all about a cleaner, greener New York. NYRP transforms old city lots into beautiful parks, especially in lower-income neighborhoods. Their Earth Day auction kicks off today and runs through April.

Any favorite hero or heroine names? Any particularly awful ones?

FAQ: How to get published

I should elaborate: this is how to get published the old-fashioned way, as in paper book form by a big deal publisher. The short answer: get lucky. The real answer requires a touch more work.

1. Write the damned book. You have to want to be published so badly that you'll write an entire book for free, with no guarantee that anyone will ever even read past the first page. Why? Because lots of people want to write a book, and almost all of those people won't do it. If you have a completed manuscript, an editor or agent will know you're at least worth the bother. Also, an editor and agent will want to know that you can construct a narrative, not just hack out 80-100 thousand words.

This is especially true for novels. If you're pitching non-fiction, you don't need to write the book, but you do need to provide an outline that is so exhaustively in-depth that the book is practically written already. For my foray into non-fiction, we spent nine months on the outline and 3 months writing the book. Never said it would be easy.

2. Write an awesome book proposal. This will include a short (10 page) synopsis of the masterpiece you just wrote. The proposal should also include a letter on how awesome your book is, how it's similar to bestsellers, yet different from other related titles. Who is this book going to appeal to? What's the unique marketing strategy? What's the hook? What makes you special? (but not so special that you're weird and unsalable.) The goal is to be saleable. An agent should read this and know exactly how to pitch your book to an editor. But wait—isn't it the agent's job to do the selling? Yes, but it's yours first. Just do it.

3. Get an agent. Sometimes saving 15% is not a bargain. Agents will have connections you don't have. They will have awkward money conversations with editors that you don't want to have. Many publishers won't even accept unagented or unsolicited manuscripts.

How oh how to find an agent? I like Writers Market. It's an easy, searchable way to find agents who represent the kind of work you do. Pitch only those who are interested in your genre/type of writing/etc. They're not kidding. Pitch to them. Follow up–but not too much.

4. Wait. Collect rejection letters. You will get them. Deal with it.

5. Congratulations! You got an agent! Now be prepared to revise your entire book and proposal per his or her specifications. Don't complain. No one will feel bad for you.

6. Pitch book to editors. More waiting. Collect more rejections. You will get them. Deal with it.

7. Congratulations! You have an offer! Accept it.

8.  Now be prepared to revise your entire book and proposal per your editor's specifications. Don't complain. No one will feel bad for you.

9. The story of what happens "after the call" is another blog post entirely but be assured it contains more revisions, more waiting, tough conversations, less money than you ever dreamed and the realization that you, dear author, will need to do a lot of work to bring your baby to market. Publishing is for those with thick skin, the work ethic of a workhorse, the ability to compromise, and endless stores of patience. But it's worth it.

9.5 Or…You can e-pub the book yourself. And save the agenting fee. But you'll still need to write it first.

Fashionable Intelligence: Lady Jane's Salon

Darlings, the salon. It's lovely. Romance reading, cocktails, cake, gossip galore…Join me and fellow salon hostesses Hope Tarr and Leanna Renee Heiber with our host, Ron Hogan for the April Salon.

All the details…

Who: Our readers! Lisa Dale, Leslie Carroll and Alisa Bowman, blogger and author of Project Happily Ever After.

When: Monday, April 4th. 7:00-9:00.

Where: The explosion of red velvet that is Madame X. Located at W Broadway and Houston in NYC.

Why: Why not?

See you there!

Good Marriage Advice

I've been married, oh, just over ten minutes now (Ok, about six months), so I really don't know what I'm talking about. But a gentleman I work with–who has been married twice, and the second marriage for 20+ years, told me this: Marriage is not 50-50. Sometimes you put in 90% and sometimes you get 10%. But sometimes you're the one putting in just a bit, and getting a lot in return.

Here's how I reckon it works:

The husband got sick, so on top of writing, working and walking the dog, I was now tending to His Lordship. The funny/annoying this is that when said husband is most vulnerable and reliant upon my care he likes to test the limits of my love and patience with extraordinarily rude comments. Me: 95%. Him: 5%.

But then the following week, I was hit with a migraine while driving from PA to NYC. With the dog and a Christmas tree in the car. It was rather unpleasant, particularly when I had to pull over and cast up my accounts. I was desperate to get home, and yet when I got back I would have to 1) remove Christmas tree from car while 2) managing dog after 3) finding a parking spot in Manhattan on Saturday night. Horrors. But this is the awesome part: I called the husband, alerted him to my condition and requested that he be waiting in the lobby to deal with everything. And he did. Me: 5%. Him: 95%

Free lesson: It evens out in the end, so don't worry about the effort ratio in the short term. Give a lot, freely, when you can because there will be times when you need a lot.

My friend Alisa Bowman knows a lot about marriage advice. She once "regularly fantasized about her husband dropping dead." Instead of counseling, she read every marital advice book she could and put it to the test. They fell back in love. She wrote a blog about it, and then a book: Project Happily Ever After.

Alisa will be reading from Project Happily Ever After at Lady Jane's Salon on Monday, April 4 th .

Where: Madame X . 94 West Houston Street, New York, NY 10012-2529

When: The drinking and gossiping commences promptly at 7:00. The reading begins shortly after that. I heard there will be cake!

Top ten reasons I love the Regency era, part the second

Like most romance authors, I started writing romance novels simply because I loved reading them. The Regency era in particular has a special place in my heart. Here are five more of my favorite ten reasons (in no particular order) why I love the era as both a writer and a reader.

The Escape Factor

As we all know, romance novels are often accused of being escapist fantasies. But really, what's wrong with that? I love contemporary set romances as much as the next reader, but set a novel a few hundreds years in the past (or in the future) and it's even more of an escape.

Candlelight

It's romantic for a reason—candlelight is flattering to every complexion. In fact, I daresay everything looks better in candlelight. The lighting is almost always flattering in Regency romances, which is not true today.

Butlers, footmen, and Ladies Maids

Someone to do your hair while telling you gossip—ok, so we have hairdressers for that…but not on a daily basis, in the comfort of our own homes. It must be nice to have someone take care of the housework, and ironing clothing, and packing for house parties, so a heroine could concentrate on the business of falling in love. And then to have a butler screen callers, and footmen to stand being handsome and useful must have been a luxury. Of course, not everyone was so lucky. But it's fun to read about the ones who were.

Rakes and Rogues

A friend of mine has a saying, "he's a good man, but a bad boy." That, I think, is a good way to describe rakes and rogues and romance heroes in general. The qualities we love in heroes are fairly consistent in all subgenres, but rakes and rogues (two of my favorite words) are particular to the Regency era.

The Heroines

In reality, the world was not very kind to women in history—even in the Regency era. They couldn't own property (that included their own children), they couldn't vote, they couldn't do much really, besides behave themselves and marry well or find work in undesirable jobs. And yet, historically set heroines manage to waltz their way around such barriers and find their happily-ever-after.

Top ten reasons I love the Regency era, part the first

Like most romance authors, I started writing romance novels simply because I loved reading them. The Regency era in particular has a special place in my heart. Here are the first 5 of 10 reasons (in no particular order) why I love the era as both a writer and a reader.

The Clothing

I think the fashion is one reason why the Regency era trumps others as far as a popular setting for romance novels. Women weren't wearing metal frames under their gowns (not sexy), and neither were the men wearing powdered grey wigs (also not sexy). Instead, women donned pretty empire waist gowns and corsets that, though dangerous, also did phenomenal things to ones figure. The men dressed well and wore pants that fit (and no zippers, thus avoiding a There's Something About Mary moment). Plus, you gotta love a job that involves researching the burning question: what comes off first, the corset or the chemise?

Chaperones

Their task was to get their girl married, while also keeping them safe (safe, in this case, meaning not alone in the company of a gentleman). What woman doesn't need a champion, and someone older and wiser on hand? On the other hand, what woman doesn't need and want a moment alone with a handsome gentleman? To that end, for my novel The Heir And The Spare, I invented Lady Palmerston, a scheming yet negligent chaperone. She has a gift for judging a man's intentions, knowing a girl's heart, and best of all—knowing exactly when to leave the room.

The Social Whirl

Between attending balls, dinner parties, nights at the theater, calling hours, and house parties, Regency characters (and their real historical counterparts), have social lives that put mine to shame. Best of all, in fabulous fictional parties, we get to skip the small talk, and skip straight to the scandal.

Carriages

By most accounts they could be quite uncomfortable. But the opportunities a carriage provides for romance are numerous. Perhaps it's being secluded with the object of ones affections in a small, private place (especially if someone else is driving). Perhaps it's merely the touch of hands as the gentleman helps the lady alight from the carriage. Or perhaps it's something else entirely (something naughty!), as I was just reminded by an English gentleman who had read The Heir And The Spare the other evening. A Tale of Two Lovers also has some moments in enclosed and secluded carriages…

Compromising Positions

The consequences of being caught in a compromising position were serious indeed—marriage. Any kiss occurring in a place where one might get caught makes it all the more thrilling.

The next five favorites are coming soon…do check back here on Wednesday for the rest.

My favorite quotes about gossip

A Tale Of Two Lovers (coming soon!) features a gossip columnist heroine extraordinaire.  Readers of A Groom Of One's Own know that Lady Julianna Somerset is the author of Fashionable Intelligence, written under the nom de plume of "A Lady Of Distinction."  In the spirit of research and snooping on what others are saying, here are some quotes about gossip that I find delightful:

"Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea."

Henry Fielding

"At every word a reputation dies."

Alexander Pope

"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about at all."

Oscar Wilde

"The only time people dislike gossip is when you gossip about them."

Will Rogers

"Gossip is what no one claims to like, but everybody enjoys."

Joseph Conrad

"If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me."

Alice Roosevelt Longworth

Any other quotable quotes on gossip?