New Posts

Books, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorite: Adopt-a-Book

Cora Lee

What happens to rare manuscripts when they become old and begin to fall apart? They get restored! And now you can get in on the action.

From the Goodreads Voice article, 3/3/14:

With the Smithsonian Libraries, home to more than 50,000 rare books, you can select a specific book to “adopt” from the active list of books in need of restoration. Among the items currently up for adoption, you’ll find historic manuscripts from the 1700s and 1800s, and the list is always changing.

Across the pond you can help the Adopt-a-book program at the British Library preserve more than 1,800 works every year.

And Australian book lovers can support rare works in the University of Adelaide’s collection.

Many regional branches also offer adopt-a-book programs, so ask your local librarian for a suggestion!

Tattered Book

Contests & Giveaways, Writing Life

Character Names Revealed and Giveaway Winners

Cora Lee

Thanks so much to everyone who suggested names! I had a lot to mull over this past week–and one very obstinate character–but I think we have a good result 🙂

Let’s start with the contest winners:

  • Janice, for her suggestion of George
  • Ella, for her suggestion of Maitland
  • Natasha, for her suggestion of Honoria

Congratulations! E-mail me ladies and let me know which of the four prizes you’d prefer, and what would be your second choice if your first isn’t available.

spy-wore-blue-300winningabride-300Royal RenegadeThe Hanover Square Affair

 

 

 

 

 

And an honorable mention goes to Carol (my wonderful friend in Wales), for her suggestion of Lady Felicia!

~~~

The stubborn character was my hero, Mr. Archaeologist. He informed me during the week that he was no ordinary archaeologist, but that he was the male-line heir to his cousin’s title and estates.

And his cousin has already introduced himself in my other WIP.

So Mr. Archaeologist became Mr. Grey, and clung to his own preference for a given name…which took me several hours to uncover 🙂

That makes our cast of characters:

  • Bad Guy: the Earl of Grimsby
  • Bad Buy’s sweet sister: Lady Felicia
  • Hero’s parents: Lord and Lady George Grey
  • Hero’s cousin: the Marquess of Whitby
  • Heroine’s parents: Duke and Duchess of Alston
  • Hero’s cute little brother: the Marquis of Stonehaven
  • Heroine: Lady Honoria Maitland
  • Hero: Mr. Benedict Grey

What a group, eh? And they’re all whispering in my ear, so I’m off to write. All I need now is a title!

hot-cockles

Fashion, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorite: DeviantArt Regency Dress Up Doll

Cora Lee

A few months ago, I shared Isobel Carr’s article on Regency-era paper dolls. This week’s Favorite is the 21st Century version.

Created by Sarah Vaughn (aka savivi) for DeviantArt, Regency Dress Up Doll is basically an electronic version of the old paper doll. The outfits and their accessories are all inspired by Jane Austen’s novels and the moves they spawned. You can change facial features and hair styles, too!

And if you prefer Ken to Barbie, the same artist has a Regency Hero Dress Up Doll…with period accurate underclothing 😀

Regency Dress Up Doll

Contests & Giveaways, Writing Life

Naming Characters: Like Naming Children? A Giveaway

Cora Lee

Okay readers, I need some help.

Publisher Elora’s Cave is looking for sweet Regency novellas for their Christmas anthology, and I’m going to give it a shot. It will be good for my brain and creative process to work on something else for a while–and it will be good for my work ethic Almacks_with_Brummellto have a deadline that I can’t move!

Without giving too much away, I can tell you that the idea I have is for a male wallflower story. He’s a science geek who has been out of society on archaeological digs (things like excavating the Elgin marbles in Greece), and has only recently returned home. She is a duke’s daughter and a social butterfly who is being forced into a betrothal to a Bad Guy.

But neither of them have names.

Naming my characters is always one of the hardest parts of a story for me. I don’t Hello_my_name_is_stickerhave children of my own, but I imagine this is what it would feel like to name them (except that I get to know my characters as adults first 🙂 ). I agonize over baby name books, comb through lists of important and historical people. I dissect my family and friends–would I name a character after any of them?

This time, I’m enlisting help. Your help. I need a first and last name for my hero, Mr. Archaeologist. I also need a first and last name for my heroine, Lady Butterfly. Leave a comment on this post with your suggestion(s), and if I use yours you win a Kindle book!

Official Rules:

  • You may suggest first names, last names, or first + last names for either or both characters.
  • Repeated names will not be counted–please scroll through the comments to make sure someone else hasn’t already suggested the name you had in mind
  • You must be able to download e-books from Amazon.com (as opposed to Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.uk, or another of Amazon’s regional sites) [NOTE: This is not because Amazon in any way sponsors or endorses this giveaway, but simply because that’s where I bought the books.] If you don’t have a Kindle, Amazon has free reading apps for various computers and tablets.
  • One book will be awarded for each first name and each last name I choose, for a total of 4 possible winners
  • One person may win more than one book
  • Comments must be left on this post by 11:59 pm EST on Friday, February 28, 2014 to be eligible for this giveaway

Prizes:

spy-wore-blue-300Royal Renegadewinningabride-300The Hanover Square Affair

Books, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites: Prue Batten’s Guy of Gisborne

Cora Lee

I write Regency romances, but I also adore medieval novels–and this week’s Favorite is a series I can’t seem to get enough of. Based on an alternate history where Guy of Gisborne looks like Richard Armitage and has nothing to do with Robin Hood, Prue Batten’s Gisborne series is one of my favorite medieval stories. She saw the good in a “bad guy” (if you’ll pardon the pun) and gave him a chance to be the hero, with wonderful results!

Read here about the evolution of Prue’s version of Guy of Gisborne. Click on the pictures to learn more about each book.

Book of PawnsBook of Knights