A Regency Timeline 1793 (And 1792 also in case you missed it a few days ago)

The Regency Timeline

My previous posts I’ve explained that I was working on the Regency timeline. I posted my entries for 1788 thru 1792. Now I have the entrees for 1793 and have uploaded all these years to the Regency Assembly Press website. You can see a little preview of this below in the picture. (It also seems that some of our regular followers may have missed my putting up 1792 when the post for the first part of the Impeachment of Warren Hastings, went up)

My sources which include the Internet and The Timetables of History by Grun and Stein as well as the Chronology of CULTURE by Paxton and Fairfield should cover a lot of events. There are now over 5000 listed for the period between 1788 and 1837 when Victoria comes to the Throne. I have also just found a third book I own with timelines in it, very USA centric though. What Happened When by Carruth.

I may post a year at time every so often in between scanning through all these to find something that will be a good article for this blog and the blog at English Historical Fiction Authors. I will also have the full listing up shortly at Regency Assembly Press.

Those who have feedback, it is appreciated or if someone would like a specific year in a future post. The very first entry is to show who was Prime Minister of Great Britain, later it was the United Kingdom, during the period of the chronology. In choosing our dates, 1788 is the first sign of madness in George the III, it is the beginning of the end of the French Monarchy with the riots in Paris, it is the time when the mama’s of the girls during the true Regency would be girls going to London for their own season, and when our heroes are young lads or babes as well.

We need to know of the events that occurred when they were children, as well as what happens when they are on stage in our stories.

Click on the link below or the picture to go to the entry. More years coming. The list is now over 5000 event entries long and growing.

Regency Assembly Press 1793 Tineline

The Writing LIfe

I am now 160+ pages (over 50,000 words) on A Magician Murder Mystery. A had a good idea for a mystery, with a twist. What if the sleuth is a magician. I am looking for readers for this. Thirty years ago I wrote a mystery. And this is now my second. The first I know needs help. This though is working well. But then, a mystery needs a little more care I think then my regencies, etc. I could use other eyes if anyone is interested to be sure that I am hiding the clues well enough. That, the plot flows, and that the reader can put the entire thing together by the end.

I enclose a few more paragraphs from the first draft and first chapter for perusal.

Chapter 1 continue

Eric spoke before Lance could say anymore about his new trick. “I have something important to discuss as well.” That was all he could say before Lance added to his own story.

“That’s great, but let me tell you about these new gimmicks. It is going to change everything, and there’s even work for you in all this. I need someone who can handle the tricky stuff backstage. Not just some klutz of a stage manager. I need actually six people and myself to pull this off. Jenny of course, and Sheila.”

“Ohhh.” Jenny said. “Sorry. But she just is so…” She quickly added but then did not finish her thought.

Lance did, “Dumb? But under the wig, and from twenty feet away, no one can tell the difference between the two of you, and she can do your voice pretty well. That is important also. Come on Jenny, You know I looked at over five hundred girls to find Sheila. Anyway we need her.”

Eric knew that Jenny had no reason to be jealous. Lance didn’t look at another woman in a way that would get a woman jealous. Lance didn’t care. Lance liked men. Jenny though may not have known that. Another trait that Lance looked for when hiring his assistants. If they had a little heat with him in the performance, that spark carried out into the audience.

“Look, Eric boy, this is great news. I’m going to get four, maybe five gigs in Vegas out of this. I figure your cut is going to be twenty each time. That’s eighty to a hundred, and sorry Jenny, but I got to pay Eric more, because he’s going to be helping on the illusion and will do all the tough bits.” Lance turned his attention to Eric, ignoring Jenny as if she was not even there in the booth with them, “The talent makes bug bucks, but you know, the girls are there to look pretty and support you.”

Eric didn’t roll his eyes, or kick Lance. He just didn’t know when Lance was so crude that he could still be friends with him. Then he remembered that the thousands of dollars Lance had lent him throughout the years made up for that. Eric patted Jenny on the arm.

“Lance, as good as a trick is, you can’t sell it without help, and a talented woman makes the sale. Especially in a place like Las Vegas. Jenny and your other girl, will be helping to make the trick work and they will be working hard to do so. They’ll earn every dime, I’m sure.”

Lance shrugged his shoulders and said, “Yeah sure. Course. You know me Jenny didn’t mean anything. And we need four girls. I need to find two more Jenny’s because I have this duplication thing going on. It is so slick. Here let me show you…” Lance went to pull a pen from his jacket pocket.

Jenny chose that moment to stand up. “I’m going to the little girls room. I’ll be right back.” She said. She didn’t sound broken up, by Lance treating her the way he did. But she also sounded just a little bit different than when she had arrived. She looked at Lance as if he should say something, but Lance was busy opening a notebook to share. It was labelled ‘Ideas May 2011 to’. When Jenny did not get any response she looked at Eric.

He raised his head, nodded quick and smiled. A classic go on, we’ll be hear when you get back, with a what are you going to do, that’s the way this guy is. Jenny actually smiled back, teeth and all. Very white. From stage it would be dazzling, under the lights. It caused Eric to respond showing his own teeth, the grin getting wider.

She walked away and a Eric turned to follow her with his eyes. “Hey, kiddo, over here. She’ll be back. And you just broke up with someone, remember.” Lance said.

“That was more than a year ago, Lance. And I wasn’t thinking like that. Why are you treating her so hard?”

Lance said, “Like the others, she’s got a thing for me. And she’s too good for me to lose if she finds out, you know.”

“That you’re gay? This is the twenty-first century. She’s in showbiz. Half of the men are gay, and the other half are dirty dogs cheating on their girlfriends. Any girl here for two years knows that. Besides, if I can tell you got lucky last night, and I bet it was with that bartender you’ve been dreaming over, don’t you think Jenny can tell you scored as well. Wouldn’t you rather she know it was with a man, then think you are cheating on her with another woman?” Eric said.

“I really can’t figure how you always know when I’ve been sleeping with someone. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to fool you. And Jenny, well I don’t know how she’ll react, so I try and treat her the way I’ve done since the day I met her. At least that way her responses should be the same.”

Eric snorted in his smile. “I can tell when you’ve been with a guy from my great powers of observation. I think you should let Jenny know about your being gay. From what I can tell she wants to be a friend, not just a pawn in the Lance Silverton climb to the top.”

Lance looked like Eric had struck him, his head flinging back a bit. “Hey. And speaking of the climb to the top, look at this will you. I think this is going to get us there, or almost there. And I’m taking you with me, like I’ve always said.” Lance pushed the notebook over to Eric, and starting pointing with his pen.

Eric had carried a notebook like the one Lance had at one time. He still had a few in his apartment, collecting dust somewhere in the bookcase that held the forty or so books on magic he had. The ideas that a magician thought up could make or break him. If they were good illusions, looking complex and able to be done quickly and simply, all the better. The more illusions you fit into your show, the better you were going to do.

Four complex illusions that took an hour to perform might make an audience ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ but then they would remember, they had spent an hour to see just 4 tricks. In that same hour, 20 illusions, all seemingly complex, a few audience participations, and they would talk about you for days. And a shorter illusion would fit in between commercials on Lettermen or Conan.

Lance had trusted Eric with his notebooks before. He even had Eric take them and study them until the next breakfast meeting, or their hooking up at the Palace of Magic when Eric got one of the rare gigs there in the lounge. Eric was the one who would tell Lance whether the trick had all the elements to make it great. Theatrics, drama, disbelief, and suspense. Those seemed to be what a great trick needed, and though A lot of what Lance had thought of was great, sometimes they just could not be done. Not by people. Maybe by Hollywood where you could fake the laws of physics. You could use the camera to cut away so that time was not linear. So that the impossible was made possible. A man really could not turn invisible, or transport from the front of the theater to the back in a second.

Jenny returned and he and Lance were still looking over the notes. Eric then closed the book and Lance gave him a crossed look. “We can talk about it after breakfast. It’s rude.”

Eric didn’t need to say more and now Jenny gave him a tentative smile as she sat down. It had been over a year since he had dated. Anna had been nice at first. She didn’t mind that as he neared the end of his twenties, there was a slight paunch forming, or that he worked at Wal-Mart and didn’t make all that much. She worked at Wal-Mart also. Thank god that after they broke up she only worked there for another two months.

Running into Anna during his shifts was never great. At the end she thought magic was all a joke and that he was a fool for still pursuing it. Now, if Lance pulled off getting them gigs in Vegas and other things, he might be able to make real money. And he would be working alongside Jenny. Much prettier than Anna. Not that pretty was the best thing about a girl. It was nice. But talking to someone and laughing at each other’s jokes was pretty important. Being able to watch the same things on television so you didn’t have to fight for the remote. That actually might be true happiness.

“Thanks,” Jenny said. Betsy was right behind Jenny with her tray and the breakfasts. Eric had thought earlier, because of the hangover that he was going to have to force the food down, but he seemed to be able to eat. They started talking about things other than their own business. Eric asked Jenny to tell him about the funniest commercial shoot she had ever made. It was a humorous story, and she actually could spin a tale. Something that not everyone could do.

Some people were like the guy on Dragnet, “Just the facts man.” Sergeant Friday. Others were like Garrison Keillor, who spun out a tale and mesmerized you right into it. Didn’t everyone feel like they lived in Lake Woebegone when they heard Keillor talk about the men being good-looking and the women all strong. Jenny threw her voice and changed her accent, like one did when reading a children’s book. Eric did not have to force his laughter at the funny parts.

Lance though looked annoyed since the attention was not on him. But he too laughed at the most humorous parts of the story. He obviously had never heard it. He may not ever of heard his assistant tell a story. Sometimes Eric had to think if Lance really was human under all the walls he had been building around himself.

After she was finished, Jenny actually asked, “What about you, Mr. Wise, what’s your most funny show business moment?”

“Hey, what is this? A date? Are you two just going to talk about each other all day? Eric, let me show you this trick.” Lance said.

“In a bit. I have something I want to talk to you about as well.” Eric remembered he had to talk to Lance about his performance of the day before. His hangover and drinking might have been playing tricks with him. The hangover though, that seemed to have faded a great deal. The aspirin must have been helping as well.

“Okay, okay. So talk already. Sheesh, all morning all you want to do is talk about something but you haven’t said one word. You see Jenny what I put up with every couple weeks. It’s why I needed you here to today.” Lance said. He didn’t have the malicious tone of voice that he sometimes got, so Eric knew it was all joking.

Jenny though, didn’t quite, “That’s not true. I’m sorry Mr. Wise. I sort of invited myself. Lance said he wanted to talk to you about the new routine and that I should learn about it too soon. I kind of said we could kill two birds…” she made a face. Eric supposed she was thinking of the visual of that cliche.

“I need to study your notes Lance, before I can tell you what you want to know.” Eric wasn’t going to embarrass Lance and say how he checked with Eric on all the routines he started that were not standard.

A new routine, a trick had to be worked at a great deal. First you had to structure the trick. An opening, draw the audience in to whatever baloney story you were going to spin. That of course was just words. The mechanics was going to be the middle of the trick, and the close was more folderol.

The mechanics started with an idea, that then had parts often designed for the trick to work. Cutting the girl in half with the two boxes separating. That needed a space built into it that the girl could lie fold herself up in. One girl in one half, another in the second half. The audience, with an optical illusion thought the bottom was an inch think. No one could fit in that. So you would drop the sides and show that there was no one in the box.

The illusion was that the box wasn’t an inch thick. It was a lot thicker and the girl in the lower half box was very thin. Even just out of high school, so not developed. Jennifer, Eric mused, had too large a chest for most of the boxes that a girl supplying the feet for the act would fit in.

When the mechanics were worked out, then props had to be built. Crude at first. Mockups that would work. Timing and refinement would come later. First the trick had to be proved and shown that they could do it without hurting someone. The old days, sawing someone in half wasn’t so bad. You would show the audience one real blade, that actually cut a piece of wood, but used only fake ones that the blade disappeared, or when a sharp blade was pushed through the top of the box, again, trick blade, or enough room for the girl to squirm aside. Either would convince the Marks that the blade actually proved no one was in the bottom of the box.

With time, you worked out the trick and safety. Then, you sped it up. Practiced the gab. That part Lance was good at. He wasn’t good at making props, or the mechanics. That was what Eric was good at. Every trick Lance was doing that was one of ‘his’, not some other famous trick, Eric had helped Lance polish the mechanics. Perhaps that was why all the loans. Why Lance was sure Eric had a bone or two each year.

The yin and yang of their existence. They needed each other.