Author: Cora Lee

Cora Lee is a National Bestselling author of Regency romance. She went on a twelve year expedition through the blackboard jungle as a high school math teacher before publishing Save the Last Dance for Me, the first book in the Maitland Maidens series. She then followed it up with six other novels and novellas ranging from sweet and traditional to spicy and suspenseful. When she’s not walking Rotten Row at the fashionable hour or attending the entertainments of the Season, you might find her participating in Regency Fiction Writers events, wading through her towering TBR pile, or eagerly awaiting the next Marvel movie release. If you’d like to find out more about Cora or her books you can sign up for her newsletter, or connect with her on Facebook, BlueSky, Bookbub, or Goodreads.
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Austen-tatious: My Austen in August Experience

Cora Lee

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer who is also a teacher will never get everything done she has planned for the month of August. And so my Austen in August participation has not gone exactly as I’d envisioned it.

I own a beautiful Kindle version of all six of Jane Austen’s novels, together in one austeninaugustrbr-buttonillustrated file. I also have, waiting on my TBR list, Vera Nazarian’s Austen mash-up Northanger Abbey and Angels and Dragons. It was my intention to read all of these, and I had even triaged a list in case I began to run out of time.

Instead, I got caught in the back-to-school web, and have been focusing on summer reading books—at my school the departments take turns grading the essays the students turn in, and this year my department is up—and getting my classroom ready. Reading for pleasure has been tough to squeeze in.

So instead of reading for our Austen in August celebration, I’ve taken to watching. It’s a different kind of experience to be sure. I’m such a visual learner that seeing actual images leaves a different kind of impression on my brain than creating images as I read. But it’s been exceedingly enjoyable.

Here are a few of the productions I’ve watched this month:

Pride and Prejudice: Having a Ball
Produced by the BBC, this is a 90 minute recreation of the Netherfield Ball from Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Host Alastair Sooke takes the viewer through myriad Pride and Prejudice BBCpreparations: dance students learning the steps to a cotillion, a seamstress making an older style dress into a Regency one, a master chef creating historically accurate ices from Georgian molds. I consider myself pretty well-versed in Regency culture, but even I learned a thing or two (did you know that gentlemen sometimes wore cosmetics?). And the visual display of the finished product was absolutely stunning, not just as an Austen adaptation but as a Regency recreation.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
If P&P’s Elizabeth Bennet had been a 21st Century grad student, this is what her life would have been like. This online modernization is presented as Lizzie’s video Lizzy Bennet Diariesblog, with each episode running around three minutes. For those of you looking for a classic adaptation, cover your eyes now. This version is coarser than Jane Austen’s (with references to nights spent drinking, and language I wouldn’t use in front of my grandmother, for example). But it’s funny, light, and oddly on the nose so far (one of the developers is Hank Green, brother of Mental Floss’s John Green, so I expected no less). I haven’t finished all the episodes yet (there are 100, plus extras), but I can’t wait to see how the rest play out. Catch the complete series here.

Pride and Prejudice
Colin Firth. Jennifer Ehle. What more do I need to say? 😀

Pride-and-Prejudice-1995

I’m still hoping to get to all the books I mentioned, but I’m officially back to school today, so we’ll see if my free time and energy level will play nice with each other. If not, there are plenty more adaptations to watch!

Society

Would Darcy Have Ridden a Bicycle?

Cora Lee

Louise Allen's avatarJane Austen's London

Image

The combination of this fantastic print and the discussion in the UK press recently about encouraging cycling and making it safer prompted this post. Unfortunately the “Pedestrian Hobby Horse” arrived in England soon after Jane Austen’s death – I’ve love to know if she’d have ever given one of her characters a ride. I can imagine Lydia Bennett, skirts flying, shrieking with laughter!

The print, from Ackermann’s Repository (1819) is entitled Pedestrian Hobbyhorse and the text says it was invented by Baron von Drais, “a gentleman at the court of the Grand Duke of Baden.” The baron apparently invented a horseless carriage powered by two servants but it proved heavy and expensive so was abandoned, much to the relief of the unfortunate servants, I imagine!

 The baron went on to invent the hobbyhorse which he used for getting around large parks and gardens and it was introduced to London by…

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Friday Favorites

Friday Favorite: Jonny Lee Miller

Cora Lee

He currently stars as a modern-day, just-out-of-rehab Sherlock Holmes in the TV series Elementary. He’s had a variety of roles in shows like Dexter and East Enders. He even appeared in a Brother Cadfael mystery.

So what does actor Jonny Lee Miller have to do with Regency romance? He seems to have a knack for playing an Austen gentleman–which is why he’s our Friday Favorite this week 😀

He’s been in two different adaptations of Mansfield Park, in 1983 as Charles Price and in 1999 as Edmund Bertram.

In 2003, he played the title role in the movie Byron.

And in 2006, he played Mr. Knightly in the BBC miniseries Emma. The clip below is one of my favorite parts of the series, with Romola Garai as Emma Woodhouse.

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Liebster Award for And Then He Kissed Her!

Cora Lee

Way back in May, my little blog here was nominated by Badass Romance for a Liebster award. How cool, right? Some recognition for the work I’ve put in making lieber-awardthis little slice of the internet historically accurate and infinitely interesting!

Well, sort of.

The Liebster is a cross between an electronic thumbs-up and a chain letter. It’s a way for bloggers to recognize blogs they think are awesome, yet have 200 or fewer followers. It also requires its recipients to post facts and answer questions about themselves and their blogs, and to continue the chain by nominating other blogs.

What an honor! 😉

In all seriousness, I’m thrilled that Pamela thought of me when she drew up her list of nominees/winners. Not only did I get that nice warm-fuzzy feeling because she likes me (yay!), but I got to poke around on her blog, too. I found a well-spoken woman with similar tastes in books–a kindred spirit!

And now, to fulfill my duties as a Liebster award recipient:

11 Random Facts about Cora Lee

  1. I have lived in 3 different states, but never outside the Eastern Time Zone.
  2. I bought my first graphic novel at the age of 30.
  3. My favorite sport is ice hockey.
  4. I only became a tea drinker when I returned to the Midwest, and that was under duress—winters are cold here, and one can only drink so much hot chocolate.
  5. Miami-20111220-00069I have owned 3 dogs as an adult, each one larger than his predecessor.
  6. Even though I write historicals, my characters and scenes are often inspired by modern music (Linkin Park, Queen, Maroon 5, The Platters, etc).
  7. I’ve found at least one song that I like in every musical genre I’ve ever heard (check my iPod—you’ll see!).
  8. I’m terrible with plants. Dogs and cats will remind you to feed them, but flowers don’t talk.
  9. My favorite color is blue.
  10. I have a fondness for both Richard III and Henry VII.
  11. When we investigated careers in the 9th grade, one of the three I chose was “writer”. (The other two were, I believe, “teacher” and “pilot”.)

11 Questions Posed by Badass Romance…and Their Answers

  1. What is your favorite actual trophy or other award you can put on a shelf or hang on a wall?  My First Place certificate from the Ignite the Flame contest last year, run by the Central Ohio Fiction Writers.
  2. Jane Eyre or WutheringHeights?  I haven’t read Jane Eyre yet, but I remember Wuthering Heights being a bit too Gothic for me.
  3. John ThorntonWhat book is the most recent addition to your DIK [desert island keeper] shelf?  The audio version of Georgette Heyer’s Sylvester (and not just because it was read by Richard Armitage 🙂 ). Yes it was abridged, and I normally hate that, but Phoebe was magnificent, and Tom was a wonderful side-kick. The story itself was a lot of fun, too—I found myself laughing quite a lot as I listened.
  4. What book is at the top of your TBR stack? There are so many, it has ceased to be a stack and has developed into several bins and a huge Kindle collection. The last book I ordered was Bosworth by Chris Skidmore, and I’m looking forward reading it…hopefully soon.
  5. What book keeps getting remaindered at the bottom of your TBR pile, and do you think you’ll ever get around to reading it? I’ve had Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy for a couple of years now, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to it. I love the Jack Ryan novels, but there was such a long time between them I’ve forgotten a lot of what happened in the previous books.
  6. What language do you wish you were fluent in?  It varies. Usually it’s French, because that would be immensely helpful in reading and researching British history (which is linked with French history at least since the Norman Conquest).  Sometimes it’s Middle English (which is quite different from our modern variety). Lately, though, it’s been Russian—I’ve been on a spy movie/TV show/novel kick lately, and the bad guys are often (still) Russians. I only remember a few words from my college classes, and I’d like to know more 😀
  7. English_russian_dictionaryMedieval castle or Mediterranean villa?  The villa would certainly be better for my health than a drafty old castle, but I’d have so much more fun exploring the castle!
  8. What did you eat for breakfast?  Blueberry waffles.
  9. How do you feel about time travel plots?  I like them if they’re set up well. Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series and Sarah Woodbury’s After Cilmeri series are two of my favorites.
  10. What is your favorite carnival ride?  Ferris Wheel
  11. What blog did you find this week that you love? (time to start thinking about your Liebster nominees!) http://romanceaddict91.wordpress.com/

11 Liebster Nominees

http://rakesandrascals.wordpress.com/  Reviews of a romantic nature and much more.

http://susanaellisauthor.wordpress.com/  For readers and authors of historical romance.

http://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/  Historical snippets of Regency England.

http://cavalrytales.wordpress.com/  British cavalry in the 19th century and other jottings.

http://katherinebone.wordpress.com/  Rogues, Rebels & Rakes

liebsterblogaward

http://lauriebenson.net/  Laurie Benson’s Cozy Drawing Room

http://romancereadergirl.com/  Reading and chatting about romance.

http://janeaustenslondon.com/  Walks through Regency London.

http://philippajanekeyworth.wordpress.com/  Writing, Wit & Wonderings

http://rakesroguesandromance.com/  Historical Romance–because passion lives forever.

http://amypfaffauthor.wordpress.com/  Regency romances with a touch of magic.

11 Questions for the New Liebster Recipients

  1. If you could visit anywhere in the world, during any time period, where would you go? What would you do there?
  2. Who is your favorite fictional character?
  3. Emma_2009msAre you a dog person or a cat person?
  4. What is the best book you’ve read in the last year?
  5. Have you ever seen a film adaptation of a novel you’ve read? If so, which was your favorite?
  6. Have you ever seen a film adaptation of a novel you haven’t read that made you want to read it?
  7. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
  8. How did you come up with the name of your blog?
  9. Do you have a writing cave or a reading nook? What does it look like?
  10. If someone was new to your favorite genre, what book would you recommend they start with?
  11. Mr. Darcy (from Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice) or Mr. Thornton (from Elizabeth Gaskell’s North & South)?

There you go new Liebsters! Have fun!

And thank you readers for sticking with me through this unusually long post! I hope you learned some things today, and that you found some new blogs to check out 🙂