Love: Historical Style ~2~

Thanks for the breadcrumb trail Rae.

When will the snow stop falling?

Thought I'd lost my way for a minute there!  I think my computer is playing up again, it is being very SLOOW.   A bit like my writing at the moment.   It must be the cold.    One of those pirate stories set in warmer climes might be just the thing...

Best wishes

Carol

Yes, in the cold weather, sometimes only a hot pirate will do!

Michelle S who thinks we need to keep the conversation going.

Oh, but there's nothing like a good Viking to warm you up.  Speaking of which, Michelle S., I have one of yours to keep me company...

 So, here's a conversation topic, in light of the new Undone! line that was launched.  What sort of hero would you love to snuggle up with for an ultimate fantasy getaway?

Some of my favorites:

Rescued by a sexy knight

Trapped during a storm/natural disaster with a really hunky man...any time period will do...

Swept away by an outlaw, ala Robin Hood.

And you?

Michelle W--

I am pleased you like my Viking. Vikings have a certain something. HOpefully you will be doing more of your Irish Vikings.

Ultimate fantasy getaway -- I adore the Beauty and Beat scenario -- any time period.

I love the whole Robinson Crusoe thing -- stranded on an island with a sexy pirate. Okay stranded anywhere with a formerly impossible but sexy hunk.

I do like the whole bad boy v prim and proper bluestocking as well.

Basically, I just like escaping into a good book.

Michelle S

Ooooh, bad boys.  I looooove bad boys.  Especially gunslingers and men who live outside the law.  Dangerous and sexy, any day... love it!

I'm looking forward to reading Joanna Fulford's Viking book.  Isn't the cover fabulous?

Romance is good no matter when it's set!

Good to see you, too, Kim!

Terry, anyone is allowed to post in here. I'm just a reader but this is one of my favorite places to hangout.

Rae, I will contact you soon. I've been on extra doses of pain meds for the past couple of weeks so my mind isn't up to brainstorming. LOL  I do my work in the morning but by mid-day, I'm a bit loopy.

Terry --

Everyone is welcome here. We mainly talk about historical and our love of all things to do with history, so you are very welcome here.

I have been hanging out in here since I was an aspiring author and I know that this thread helped me keep focused on my cream, but then I do love my historicals.

Michelle S

Michelle W --

You mean within the UK/Ireland? Or do you mean being sent out to the colonies? I know mail order brides were sent out to the colonies. Deb Hale wrote The Bride Ship about English brides being sent to Canada. And women were regularly sent out to India, Australia, NZ etc to find husbands. But within the UK, because there was not a huge imbalance of eligible males to females (rather the reverse), it did not happen as often. The ton and various regional activities (Edinburgh,Newcastle,LIverpool and Mancester all had thriving Assemblies for example) ensured that there was a known marriage market...plus there was an informal network...You did have the custom of men taking their wives to market with a rope around their neck and selling them. Hardy got the idea from an actual case...but these tended to be working class/farm labourer types.

Hope this helps.

Michelle S

Just popping in briefly, to invite all the author's who are reading books for the RITA's to post them for the Book Challenge .....

"Egads!" you say ... "but we can't do that, our reviews are privileged ... highly confidential!"

well, we've come up with a fix   ... you may maintain your confidentiality in the most James Bondish way   .... check out Lynne's review   ....  

if all authors posted at least their RITA reads, that's eight books per author all adding to the tally for the Book Challenge  ... and did you know you can also post the books you read for research? ... yep, you can  

okay, announcement completed  .... thank you for your attention

Come and join us ~~  Sign Up for the 2009 Book Challenge

Michelle W --

You just need to find a compelling reason why she would accept an arranged marriage. She might not know the man very well. Or he might be a friend of a friend. It is just the motivation you need to get right, but certainly Marriage of Convienence did happen.

 An Impulsive Debutante is a King Thrushbeard premise for example.

MIchelle S who loves a good arranged marriage story...

Nicola Cornick as a response to the RNA's sexiest animal on two legs (winner Richard Armitage, mainly for his period roles) asked the question on her blog, but I think it is something that could be discussed here.

Who is the sexiest man in period costume?

Colin Firth in P&P?

James Purefoy in Brummell or Rome?

Sean Bean in Sharpe?

Gerald Butler?

Maybe Jamie Bamber in Hornblower...(this is a sop to my cp,Donna who think he simply is)

Enquiring minds want to know.

Michelle S

Yes, he is up there.

It reminds of the conversation I had with my editor when I first sold GH.

Me: Could we have someone like Russell Crowe?

Editor YOu can't have him,

Me Not him, someone like him as everyone will be thinking about him. And it doesn't matter who I had in mind.

Editor makes noncommital noise. But I am happy with the cover...

My problem is that  I tend to be able to name sexy actors playing period roles, more than I can name them playing contemporary roles.

Toby Stephens in Jane Eyre is also up there. He does a good curlled lip.

Michelle S

As a child I read everything I could get my hands on, and can remember being a pre-teen and devouring Jean Plaidy's historical fiction.   From there, it wasn't much of a jump for me to start reading historical romances as an adult.  They are currently my favorite type of book to read, and every month as soon as the new releases are out, I head right for the Harlequin Historicals to check them out, and usually buy most of them.   I seem to have a passion for those set in the UK though, and bypass most of the Westerns and the Europeans, though the ones I have read haven't disappointed.

Currently, my favorite Heroes are the Norse men from Kat Martin's 'heart' series.  But you also have to love all those Rakes and Corinthian's.  Got the latest Nicola Cornick on my ebook reader just calling to me, and just waiting for some of Michelle's books to get published by Harlequin (or will bite the bullet and buy from Mills & Boon in pounds (ouch!))

Oh yes - gotta love those wild Scotsmen too.  But how far removed are they from their Viking forebearers? 

Personally, there are times when after reading Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books, that I look at my red-headed husband, whose of Scottish descent, and wish he looked more like Jamie!  (I get a kick out of it too - Jamie is James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser - my husband is Alexander James - and his mother was a MacKenzie).  Maybe its a good thing that the DH doesn't read anything other than magazines, even though there's several novels in the bathroom, including a Gabaldon

Lynne --

Slightly confused. Both Michelle W and some of my books have been published by Harlequin. Both my Vikings for example remain available through the ebooks. Joanna Fulford's debut is also a Viking. Vikings appear to be popular.

The pound has sunk against the dollar. It is now about 1.45 dollars to the pound. Totally different to a few months ago when it was 2 dollars to the pound. And you do not want to hear about the pound to the euro.

I should probably try the Outlander series again. But the first one had me muttering under my breath as I live in Northumberland and know about some of the border lands. It was more likely me than anything else.

Hugh Jackman is a good choice. Has anyone seen Australia? I know Cheryl St John loved him in it.

Michelle S

Kevin Cosner was very sexy in his roles prior to Robin Hood (there was one about a road trip to Mexico and of course the Susan Saradon baseball one), but he did nothing for that particular role.

Daniel Craig had a small role in Elizabeth so I can't judge with him. APparently Colin Farrell was totally unsexy in Alexander, but I have not bothered watching...

Michelle

Yes, Eric Banna played Hector and he was far sexier than Orlando Bloom.

Didn't Brad Pitt have a double for his legs?

 Michelle S.

I know you ladies aren't western fans, but I loved the movie 3:10 to Yuma and the wonderful portrayals by Russel Crowe and Christain Bale in them. I think Russel Crowe was wonderful in it and was half in love with his character by the end.

 I really want to see Australia. My dd and I watched the episode of Oprah about it and it looked like such a terrific movie (especially the scene where Hugh Jackman dumped the bucket of water over his head-grroowl).

Lynne -- I don't know when AID will be out in NA. When I go down to London next month I will ask my editor. However, all  M&B books are available through Amazon Canada. So this includes An Impulsive Debutante. When the BBC did their Consuming Passions programme, the cover for AID appeared in the title sequence. I squealled. HOpefully it will be shown on BBC America as part of the 60th anniversary Harlequin.

Terry -- I do like Westerns. I grew up in California and we had a cabin up in the Sierra Nevadas near to Angels Camp. The reruns of Maverick were a must watch during my teenage years. I spent my honeymoon on a dude ranch in Calgary where Marilyn Monroe stayed when she filmed River of No Return. 

One of the great things about M&B over here is that they do one western per month. 

But I have not  seen 3:10 to Yuma yet. Christain Bale is yummy. Once upon a time Clint Eastwood was wonderful. Paint Your Wagon, Rawhide,..I can happily talk cowboy. I just don't write them as my home market is the UK.

Michelle S

Michelle S, you have to watch 3:10 to Yuma, it is simply one of the best westerns I have seen in a LONG time. If you saw the first version, forget about it. This one is nothing like it.

A honeymoon on a dude ranch sounds like my kind of thing, you lucky duck! 

MIchelle, the schoolmarm vs bad boy is the theme of my western I submitted HH! Yay, I'm glad to see someone else who likes these types of story lines. My wip is sheriff vs. an impulsive dreamer, a lady who jumps before she looks and usually ends up regretting it.

 I don't know, you may not like 3:10-it's very gritty and there were several parts where I flinched and covered my eyes (I don't like bloody scenes).