The Writing Hour.: How to Write a Historical Romance Novel.

 

Here is a hilarious post about how to write a Historical Romance Novel by Aubree. She is very witty and fun. I wish she would write more.

1. Your heroine must be stuningly beautiful and have unusual colored eyes.

2. Your hero must the handsomest most extraordinary man that ever lived.

3. Plot doesn't not matter if you follow 1 and 2.

4. There must be a huge misunderstanding that could have easily been resolved with a simple conversation.

I think that pretty sums up most of the books I've ever read!

Read her original post here: The Writing Hour.: How to Write a Historical Romance Novel.: The first time I read a historical romance novel, I really liked it. Then I read another. And another. And I realized, I liked them a lot mo...

Organizing my Story

 

It just hit me, that in my mind my story all makes sense but the snippets here and there in my posts may seem very random. And to be honest, it is! I am a random person. LOL.

So in the spirit of organization I intend to create a page that will be a work in progress. It will contain the plot, a story line, character information and anything else relevant to the story.

This way others can make sense of the jumble that is in my brain. And at the same time it may actually help me to get more done. By having clear expectations.

I feel smart now. Thats enough work for today. Lol.

More of my story

So I've been a very nautghy girl! I haven't been writing. I have been busy and under the weather, bad combination. Anyways, Here is an excerpt of the little I did write last week.

I think I need to revise my goals. Writing everyday is a bit ambitious with all that i have going on. I'll shoot for once a week until I have more time!

Beside I don't have any visitors in cyberspace actually giving me any feedback. Don't be shy! Comment!

It was so stuffy at the ball Faith had to sneak outside just for a few moments. No one would really notice her leave anyway. She was dressed as a mermaid. Her costume was very innocent compared to others she had seen. No wonder masquerades weren’t considered appropriate for debutantes. This costume however was not a smart choice. It hurt to breathe. She had to remember to give Jen a few words for lacing her up so tight.

She leaned her head against the column just outside the patio door and tried to catch a calming breath. The cool fresh air settling on her skin sending little shivers down her spine, a welcome respite from the heat of the crush inside. What a big disappointment this night turned out to be. She couldn’t figure out who anybody was, well other than Lizzie and James of course, naturally they came together. And then there was the host and hostess, Lord and Lady Folcroft, dressed as Adam and Eve complete with a red apple. What a sight that was! She was just so disappointed. Lucius had not made an appearance and John her best gentleman friend was not there either. She tried to stay seated near Aunt Davinia but was expertly foisted into a dance with Lord Stanthorpe’s second son. What a waste all her preparation had been. She had decided that this was the most beautiful she had ever looked. I took hours to create the cascade of ebony curls that fell down her back and to apply all the little bits of shimmer to her face around her mask to conceal her true identity. Her costume was a dress that Madame Fountaine had made especially for her. It was a frothy sea green creation that hugged the full length of her body, appeared to expose a generous expanse of her bossom and flared at her feet to mimic flippers. All night she had to repel the advances of lasivicious old men.

 

“Surely a beautiful lady like yourself shouldn‘t be out here all alone,” rasped a deep voice. Faith gasped and spun around to find herself in a dark corner with an unidentified stranger. She tried to still her beating heart. She really shouldn’t be out here alone but the cool quiet lure of the dark patio had called her. She looked over her shoulder at the door no one seemed to notice them. For the moment she appeared safe from scandal at least. 

She tried to look into his eyes, what color were they? He seemed so familiar but she couldn’t be sure. He waited for her response looking at her expectantly. She had a feeling that he wasn’t dangerous and relaxed a bit.

“I’m sorry but do I know you?” she asked.

He had a knowing smile that was very wicked. “Of course I am your knight in shining armor. I’ve come to rescue you from boredom and offer you this dance.” With that he bowed in front of her and waited for her to take his hand.

Who was he? Had he been watching her all night?

“I’m sorry but I don’t dance very well.” She lied.

“Nonsense, your exquisite curves were meant to be held against mine. Come let me show you.” His eyes were so intense. Faith grabbed his extended arm and walked into him without even a thought. It was as if she was caught in a spell. He was a remarkable dancer. He lead and she followed. “My lovely Siren,” he breathed into her ear, “I want nothing more than to taste your lips.”

She went weak. What was happening to her body? It was not under her control. This was no dance it was more like an embrace. She kept her head down on his shoulder. He smelled so masculine. Like horses and cigars.

Clipper Ships

Interesting fact I found on my trip across the internet.

In the 1840’s shipbuilders started to build a new kind of vessel. It was distinguished by having three masts that had large expanses of sails. It was designed to carry small, highly profitable cargo over long distances at high speeds, but soon became lucrative with human cargo as well.

Sailing 150 miles a day was considered a good day's run only a few years earlier, Clippers traveled approximately 250 miles a day. The best clippers could travel more than 400 miles a day! How much more would you pay to travel so quickly?

I thought that the name of the ship originated the term “clip”, to run or fly swiftly, but it turns out the ships were probably named after the verb. (which in my non expert opinion was probably not a verb at that time. I think it was a colloquial term but then again who am I?)

This meant that people were able to travel between places in half the time. So, that’s why sometimes when you read a story one person sets sail to some far away destination and months later another person follows behind them on a different ship and they get there the same time or maybe even earlier. Now I know.

Georgian Women Plesantly Plump?

Isn’t it funny that every book cover depicts a slender or curvy bombshell. I mean I know it’s all about marketing and even in the book itself sometimes they refer to the heroine as being plain or average looking but having something that made them somehow irresistible anyway? But what about an overweight heroine?

 

Woman from the Georgian Period

 

Years ago I thought to write about a plump lead character. If you want to know how plump? I’d say Lane Bryant catalog plump, shapely still just bigger. Lol. But who would want to read about a fat heroine? Would you?

Georgian England refers to 1714 to 1830 when the George's ruled the land. But this was typical for a lot longer than that. (Regency, Elizabethan, Victorian, etc)

 

I feel that there were many pleasantly plump women around that time. Lets look at lifestyle. In society in that time no one exercised really, well at least not very many ladies. They were all about being dainty and not lifting a finger. They partied late into the night, ate late at night and slept in most mornings.

 

The food... I researched the typical diet. It is full of sweets, meats, and pastries! They would have to eat like a bird, literally to maintain a trim figure with that lifestyle!

 

Typical Meals of the Day:

Breakfast: toast, rolls, cheese, tea, coffee, chocolate, ale (I’ve read books that included eggs and other meats)

Lunch: ale or tea, bread, meat or cheese, pies and pastries

Dinner:  3 or 4 course meal made of any combination of fish, soup, vegetables, pastry, game, apples cakes, oranges, walnuts, creams, beef, bacon and other things

Then there was tea with friends in the afternoon where they also ate cookies and small sandwiches.

Ok, so their food was more organic and they didn't have the luxury of Burger King. What do you think?

Period Movies

So in my search for all things Historical Romance, I happen to find this gem. Period movies on youtube! How brilliant. Now the characters and all the things we love to read actually come to life!

                                            http://www.youtube.com/user/PeriodxDrama

Make sure and check it out, I know I will as soon as I get home. ;-)

One of the titles is Dangerous Beauty (1998). Ooohhh...doesn't that sound exciting!

You can visit the original post about it by Historical Romance Addicts here:
http://romanceaddict91.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/watching-historical-movies-online-is-now-super-easy/trackback/

Get Published!

I don't see what is so hard about it? I mean I get published almost everyday here on Alex Raine Writes!

All I do is write some clever and compelling script. My personal editor then checks the spelling and grammar. Although it does not do a good job of that; I still see errors. Anyways, so I write and then I have a magic button on my screen that reads "Publish" and I just press it. Voila! I am an author.

You should try it. Its not hard at all. ;-)

Edited:

Ok, seriously speaking. If you are a writer then blogging should be a natural progression for you in terms of getting your work seen by others and finding an audience. In this age of instant Youtube sensations, you could be the next viral hit. So I encourage you all to write and share.

Wattpad is a unique platform for this exact purpose. You can share your 'works' and get feedback, critiques, encouragement from people across the globe. You could even be lucky like fellow Wattpadder Abigail Gibbs who recently landed a 6 figure deal with publisher Harper Collins!

The world is your oyster!