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Please Allow Me to (Re)Introduce Myself

Cora Lee

It’s been a while since I posted to this blog on a regular basis, and I’m afraid I never introduced myself properly in the first place. Oh, sure, there’s the “official” bio on the About page, and all my contact links appear if you click on my picture to the left. But that’s only a small part of who I am.

By day I am a high school teacher—not in English or in History, as most people would assume, but in Mathematics and Psychology. I majored in History because I Quantum_Calculations_by_throttledanloved it (still do, more than any other subject). But by the time I realized my place in the world was in a classroom, I had half of an engineering degree completed…including a whole bunch of math. And so I’ve been teaching high school math for the last 10 years. Psychology was kind of an accident–it was part of the position when I applied, and no one wants to take it over. I’m okay with that, though, because it’s actually a really fun class! And I can’t even count how many times I’ve had an insight into one of my characters while teaching a lesson.

By night—and on weekends, school vacations, and over the summer—I’m a writer. I love books of all kinds, and get ideas in a bunch of different genres, but my Leonid_Pasternak_001specialty is historical romance. Right now I’m working on the first book in a Regency series that focuses on three brothers and their attempts (consciously done or otherwise) to reunite with the women they loved, but lost. Some parts (mostly the big things) are progressing well. Some parts (mostly the little details) are taking forever. I have no representation or publisher, just two wonderful critique partners and a fabulous circle of friends who support me as I muddle through 🙂

At all times, I’m a patient with three chronic illnesses. I have doctors and medications to help me along and regulate many of my symptoms, but one thing I never seem to have enough of is energy. Most of it is spent at school with myDoctors_stethoscope_1 students, their parents, and my fellow educators. Tasks are prioritized not just by due date, but by size and the amount of effort required of me for each one. I’m very careful to watch my schedule, weighing each invitation and event against the big picture, and what it will cost me physically to go. I write more slowly, don’t devote as much time to social media, take longer to research things because of my health. But when I get published, the victory will be all the sweeter because I worked so hard to get there.

Most of my posts here will be history-related, focusing on the Regency period (because that’s what I’m writing) but including anything else I find interesting. Some posts will deal with writing, or the life of an as-yet-unpublished writer. Occasionally I’ll post about other things: school, my personal life, my illnesses, sports, Psychology, how the hero of my first novel is like Batman (yes, really!). Whatever the subject, I hope to inform and entertain. And I hope you’ll keep coming back for more 😀

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Cora Lee

I was going to do a post on titles, but M.M. Bennetts beat me to it, and is more entertaining!

M M Bennetts's avatarM.M. Bennetts

I thought today that, for a change, I would do something useful.  Indeed, I went so far as to decide that this blog must be both fun and accurate. 

(I even tried to contract those two words into one for this purpose:  Fun + accurate = fu…Yes, yes, stopping now.)  

Ehem.

Because, you see, there is this small matter which apparently requires clarification.  For those who find it tricky.

And it is, as the bold letters at the top of this bijou blogette would suggest, to do with the use of titles.  Which as I say appear to cause untold confusion in some quarters. 

So I thought I’d do my best to lay it out clearly.  For my friends… (Yes, that’s right, I do have friends.) …Who occasionally write about Englishy things, but get tripped up by this.

View original post 1,175 more words

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Whole Lotta Love: England as a Popular Setting in Historical Romance

Cora Lee

I was reading the reviews on Amazon a couple of months ago for some Regency-era novel, and one reviewer was upset because the book was set in England (not the UK—she specifically mentioned England, so Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and the rest of the old Empire were apparently exempted).  She went on to comment that so many historical romances were set in England these days that she was sick of them all, and wondered why authors never used more exotic locales.

My first reaction was indignation—how dare she disparage a place and period so near and dear to my heart?!  And it was a Regency novel she was reviewng, what did she expect?  But the question rolled around in my head for a while, and I began to wonder the same thing, minus the resentment.  Why is England so popular a setting for historical fiction authors?

My attraction to English history is partly personal.  I adore reading about many locations and periods of time, but many of my ancestors are English, including my grandfather.  It’s interesting to me to study the history of a country so closely tied to my family.  And since said grandfather died before I was born, it’s also a way for me to connect with him, to get to know him through the culture and events of his first home.

I think, too, that Samantha Brown (from The Travel Channel) hit the nail on the head when she said that visiting England was, at least for Americans, Europe-light.  It is exotic for us with the differences in food, accents, and dialects, but it’s not way outside our comfort zones.  Traveling to London from the US seems kind of like visiting, say, Atlanta when you’re from Minneapolis—go with me on this one.  Some accents are hard to manage, sure, but they still speak English and you can make yourself understood.  Some of the food is decidedly different from what you’d find on your table at home, but it’s recognizable and you can find something you like.  Your trip is full of new and exciting experiences, and you don’t have to worry about whether or not you can read the street signs.

So what do you think?  Are there other reasons readers might favor stories set in England?  Or are there locations you prefer when you’re choosing a book?