Protecting Yourself Online

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Regina Jeffers

 

I found this article very informative, and I thought you might also. It comes from Linda Bernstein and PBS’s Next Avenue. You may read the complete article at http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2013-01/7-steps-protect-your-online-security

Linda Bernstein writes:

Around 11 a.m. on New Year’s Eve day, a Facebook friend in India sent an urgent message: My website had been hacked. Sure enough, when I went to my site and right-clicked my mouse to view the “source code” (the gibberish that shows what’s going on behind the scenes), I discovered that in addition to being a journalist and social media teacher, I was now also a purveyor of erectile dysfunction products.

As his night ticked down toward midnight, a man I know through techie forums and whose expertise I respect spent half an hour guiding me through the many steps of a website cleanse.

The irony wasn’t lost on me. Though a putative Internet maven, I fell into the clutches of a cyber-criminal who was clever enough to use my website to earn himself some money. Yet not once did I think, “How could this have happened to me?” Precisely because I am technologically savvy, I know that no one’s data is completely safe on the Internet.

Posted in Industry News/Publishing | Comments Off on Protecting Yourself Online

New Interview with Regina Jeffers

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Regina Jeffers

(This interview was originally posted on Teatime Romance on March 16, 2013.)

How long have you been writing, and how did you decide this was a career you wanted to pursue?

I began my writing career in the later part of 2008. At the time, I was an English teacher at Porter Ridge High School in Indian Trail, North Carolina.

In my Advanced Placement English Language and Composition class, I was prepping my students for a study of the Romantic Period. Unlike the AP English Literature class, the Language class does not focus on literature of a particular period. Instead, students are expected to analyze and interpret writing samples and to explain the author’s use of rhetorical strategies and techniques. They also must analyze sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination and coordination; the use of repetition, transitions, and emphasis; the effective use of rhetoric, controlled tone, voice, and appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure. Whatever the students read was done so to become aware of stylistic effects and writers’ linguistic choices.

JeffersDPBeing an Austen girl, I had chosen a study of excerpts from Jane Austen’s works so we might study the lady’s style choices, syntax, and rhetoric. I was complaining about a particular piece of Jane Austen Fan Fiction (JAFF), which had turned Fitzwilliam Darcy into a sniveling blob, loaded with Angst, with a capital “A.” Most of the students in the class had had me as their 10th Grade Honors English teacher, and we were not beyond a bit of teasing. Therefore, Will D. challenged me to “put up” or “shut up,” so to speak. Whenever my students complained, I would always tell them to be a Nike commercial and “Just Do It.” Will turned the tables: He suggested I write my own version of Pride and Prejudice. So, in the evenings, I rewrote Austen’s classic from Mr. Darcy’s point of view. When I finished chapters, I brought them to class, and students examined the writing for syntax, tone, audience, etc. They became my editors.

I took on the challenge because I felt it was important to “show” my students what was required rather than to “lecture” on the techniques. At times, I purposely made errors to see if they could decipher the mistakes and write their own analysis of the chapters. To make the experience real, I self published Darcy’s Passions, even had one of my students design the cover for the book. Then I went about my business. At the time, I was two years away from retirement, and there were more young minds to mold. Darcy’s Passions went to #8 on the Amazon sales list, and Ulysses Press contacted me about publishing the book. I am one of those freaks of nature who has not gone through multiple drafts and hundreds of rejection letters. This month I released my ninth title with Ulysses.

Tell us about your new release.

The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy was officially released on March 12. It is a Jane Austen-inspired cozy mystery. My Austen titles include two retellings (Darcy’s Passions and Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion), three sequels (Darcy’s Temptation, Vampire Darcy’s Desire, and Christmas at Pemberley) and three cozy mysteries (The Phantom of Pemberley, The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy, and The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy).

Cozy mysteries are quite popular with intelligent women looking for a “fun read.” The defining characteristics of a “cozy” include the crime solver being a woman who is very intuitive. The setting is usually a small town or village. Many are not set in a time when CSI techniques were available, but in modern tales, the heroine is NOT a police officer or medical examiner. There is no graphic violence or profanity or explicit sex. The crime generally takes place “off stage” and death is quick. Sex happens behind closed doors. There are several twists and turns, which help to build the suspense. The emphasis of the book is placed on plot and character development.


The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy

Jeffers-TMDOMDA thrilling story of murder and betrayal filled with the scandal, wit and intrigue characteristic of Austen’s classic novels

Fitzwilliam Darcy is devastated. The joy of his recent wedding has been cut short by the news of the sudden death of his father’s beloved cousin, Samuel Darcy. Elizabeth and Darcy travel to Dorset, a popular Regency resort area, to pay their respects to the well-traveled and eccentric Samuel. But this is no summer holiday. Danger bubbles beneath Dorset’s peaceful surface as strange and foreboding events begin to occur. Several of Samuel’s ancient treasures go missing, and then his body itself disappears. As Darcy and Elizabeth investigate this mystery and unravel its tangled ties to the haunting legends of Dark Dorset, the legendary couple’s love is put to the test when sinister forces strike close to home. Some secrets should remain secrets, but Darcy will do all he can to find answers—even if it means meeting his own end in the damp depths of a newly dug grave.

With malicious villains, dramatic revelations and heroic gestures, The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy will keep Austen fans turning the pages right up until its dramatic conclusion.

You have written in paranormal, historical romance, and Austen-inspired fiction. Is your approach different for each genre, in the manner you write, plot the book, or brainstorm ideas?

My technique remains essentially the same for each. All my novels (but two) are set in the Regency. Therefore, I concentrate on what would be realistic for that period. The book begins with research, research, and more research. That is followed by additional research during the actual writing. I look at language choices (AP English, again), historical facts, and character development. So, when I penned my Regency based vampiric novel, I started with research into the origins of vampire tales. After all, Dracula did not appear until 1897. My book was set in 1812. I could not bring in the Victorian fear of “invasion.” I used traditional tales of the Baobhan Sith, female Scottish vampires, and a Scottish folk song to tie the story together. Sometimes I spend a dozen hours researching facts, which are less than a paragraph in the finished book, but the diligence is important.

Are you more of a plotter or a pantser, or does it change from book to book?

I am very much a Pantser. I begin with a list/outline of the major events, which will lead me to the conclusion, but how I move the story along from point A to point B is often a surprise to me. The characters take on distinctiveness I did not anticipate, and changes are necessary. I use what I call the umbrella effect, with each spoke of the umbrella as a separate point in the story.

That being said, in my Regency romance series (the Realm), I have been forced to design overlapping plots. After years away from England, members of the Realm return home to claim the titles and the lives they once abandoned. Each man holds on to the fleeting dream of finally knowing love. For now, all any of them can hope is the resolutions of their previous difficulties before Shaheed Mir, their old enemy, finds them and exacts his revenge. Mir seeks a mysterious emerald, and he believes one of the Realm has it. Each book in the series centers on one of the members of the group, but the reader meets the other members playing secondary roles. Readers become invested in the group. There is more overlap in books 1 and 2, The Scandal of Lady Eleanor and A Touch of Velvet, respectively, because one never knows when a reader will join the series, but the others are unique to the individual characters. Each book ends with a “teaser” for the next in the series. Book 5, A Touch of Mercy, will be released in early May 2013.

What do you see as the challenges and successes of being traditionally published? Being self-published?

One of the issues with traditional publishing is the preconceived idea of acquisition editors as to what will sell and will not sell. It does not matter if you have written War and Peace if the editor does not think an epic, which delineates in graphic detail events surrounding the French invasion of Russia,  and the impact of the Napoleonic era  on Tsarist society, as seen through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families, will sell. So, a writer should expect LOTS of rejection letters. There is also the issue of querying an agent and waiting a year or two for the book’s publication. Small presses generally release the book faster than a large press, but a self-published author has more control of the price.

Sometimes, the traditional press does not promote the book as well as the author would wish. Each press specializes in particular genres. If the book is outside of those specialties, the press’s staff does not always have the wherewithal to promote the title properly. Agents holding a title, as well as the endless rounds of editing, including the non-contractual revisions, easily frustrate authors. Often agents cannot categorize a title or decide if there is a market for it.

If one self publishes his book, the marketing falls into the author’s lap. As a self-published author, one has control over the cover art, etc. If a person is not concerned with the “validation,” which comes with the traditionally published moniker, self-publishing is great. It can play to those with an entrepreneurial streak or a marketing background. One who self publishes keeps a bigger share of the profits. Traditional publishers tend to pay a 6-15% royalty, where a self-published author can keep up to 70% of the profits.

Whether one self-publishes or traditionally publishes, the primary responsibility for promoting the book lies in the hands of the author. Even if one self publishes, it is important to seek out professional editors, book designers, etc. I freaked out when I reached the end of a poorly edited eBook to find the author’s BETA readers’ comments in the last 10 pages. Not every opportunity is open to self-published authors. Recently, fellow Austen Author Abigail Reynolds and I were added to the program at the Decatur Book Festival because we were traditionally published. The Jane Austen group from Georgia hosted 15 Austen authors that day. Many of the others could not participate in the panel discussion because they were self-published. Whatever the author chooses – self-publishing, small press, or big six publishers – one must remember the need is to write, write, and write some more. It is not the dream of the big contract.

Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming projects?

I am working on book 5 of the Realm series. It is entitled A Touch of Mercy. I hope for an early May release. That book will be followed by book 6, A Touch of Love in November/December. The series will end with a collection of two novellas in February 2014. This past February, I released His: Two Regency Novellas. That collection dealt with two of the minor characters from the Realm series. Lawrence Lowery and Adam Lawrence earned their own stories. The “Hers” collection scheduled for next February will give readers John Swenton’s story (the last of the Realm members) and a novella, which shares the truth of the missing emerald.

In addition, Ulysses Press and I have agreed to another Austen title for early 2014. We are still playing with ideas.

As we are about tea, what is your favorite tea(s) to drink?

First, I must say I am a big tea drinker. In fact, in my 65 years, I have had a total of two cups of coffee. I drink decaf tea all day. I brew my choices with the proper leaves and my trusty infuser. Generally, I drink green tea, licorice tea, or ginger tea.

Have you ever hated something you have written? A character who did not live up to your expectations?

For book 3 of the Realm series, I planned to deal with the Aldridge twins. The teaser at the end of A Touch of Velvet set up the story lines for Cashémere Aldridge and her twin Satiné. Cashé was to end up with Marcus Wellston in Book 3, which she did, and Satiné with Aidan Kimbolt in Book 4. However, by the time I had finished A Touch of Cashémere, I was no longer so keen on matching Satiné with Kimbolt, a viscount I dearly loved as a character. Satiné lacked the backbone found in her twin, and I began to feel she needed a dose of reality before she could be a heroine. (Yes, I know I created her without the gumption to face the hard facts of life. Yet, I am of the persuasion that sometimes a character needs to step forward and carve out a story line for himself/herself.) So, after considering killing Satiné off, I sent the girl to the European continent to recover from the scandal she faced. Miss Satiné will reappear in the series finale, but I am still not sold on her as a mate for any of the Realm members.

HisCropOn the other hand, Adam Lawrence, the future earl of Greenwall, has grown on me. Lawrence is that character who plays the role of a “walk through” character, the one who ties the stories together. He has appeared in such roles in A Touch of Velvet, A Touch of Grace, His American Heartsong, etc. He was a major character in my Austen-inspired cozy, The Phantom of Pemberley, assisting Fitzwilliam Darcy in solving the mystery plaguing his estate. At the end of that book, readers wanted to know what happened next between Adam and his mistress, Christine Donnell. Therefore, I gave Lawrence his own HEA in His Irish Eve, one of the two novellas in my February 2013 release of HIS.

How do you get past writer’s block or distractions like the Internet? Truthfully, I despise how much time I spend on the Internet because it takes me away from enjoying my time working in my yard or playing with my grandson, but Social Media is a necessary evil in promoting one’s books and keeping a public presence. In this Internet Age, readers want closer connections to their favorite authors. I answer a variety of questions from readers on a daily basis: When will the next Realm book be out? Are you really killing Mr. Darcy? Etc. If I did not take the time to respond, then I can “kiss” that reader goodbye.

As far as working my way through writer’s block, I simply allow the book to sit. Until I receive inspiration (usually in the middle of the night), I work on other projects: maintaining my personal blog or adding posts to two group blogs in which I participate; outlining upcoming projects; gathering receipts for tax purpose; or simply enjoying pleasure reading. The longest I have ever had to wait for a “glimmer” of an idea to make an appearance was 10 days.

What was your favorite book from childhood?

I cannot recall any specific titles from my childhood. My mother placed books before me when I was but a babe. I was in school at age three, graduated from high school at age 15. I have always been a reader. I first read Pride and Prejudice at age 12; however, when I think back on those days, I can recall how enthralled I was with Around the World in Eighty Days. I loved how Jules Verne provided Phileas Fogg with a believable means to win the race. I reread it several times. It was when I became aware of how science fiction could easily become science fact.

Regina-270x300Author Bio:

Regina Jeffers, a public classroom teacher for thirty-nine years, considers herself a Jane Austen enthusiast. She is the author of several Austen-inspired novels, including Darcy’s Passions, Darcy’s Temptation, Vampire Darcy’s Desire, Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion, The Phantom of Pemberley, Christmas at Pemberley, The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy, Honor and Hope, and The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy. She also writes Regency romances: The Scandal of Lady Eleanor, A Touch of Velvet, A Touch of Cashémere, A Touch of Grace, and The First Wives’ Club. A Smithsonian Presenter, Time Warner Star Teacher, and Martha Holden Jennings Scholar, Jeffers often serves as a consultant in language arts and media literacy. Currently living outside Charlotte, North Carolina, she spends her time with her writing, gardening, and her adorable grandson.

 

www.rjeffers.com

https://reginajeffers.wordpress.com

http://austenauthors.net

Twitter – @reginajeffers https://twitter.com/reginajeffers

Facebook – Regina Jeffers https://www.facebook.com/regina.jeffers.9

(Books available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Joseph Beth, and Ulysses Press.)

Awards:

The Phantom of Pemberley – SOLA’s Fifth Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Awards – 3rd Place – Romantic Suspense

Darcy’s Temptation – 2009 Booksellers’ Best Award Finalist – Long Historical

The Scandal of Lady Eleanor – Write Touch Readers’ Award – 2nd Place – Historical Romance

A Touch of Grace – SOLA’s Seventh Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Awards – 3rd Place – Historical Romance; 2012 Orpheus Award, 2nd Place in Historical Fiction

The First Wives’ Club – SOLA’s Seventh Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Awards – Honorable Mention – Historical Romance

Christmas at Pemberley – 2011 Booksellers’ Best Award Finalist – Inspirational Romance; Runner-Up in General Fiction for the New England Book Festival

 

Posted in Industry News/Publishing, interview, Regency era, Ulysses Press, White Soup Press, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Walking Cheshire’s Bickerton Hill

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Regina Jeffers

My latest Work In Progress is set in Cheshire, England. In doing part of my research of the geological aspects of the area, I came across several Iron Age earthworks, which I found fascinating. Permit me to introduce you to Bickerton Hill.

Northern Bickerton Hill, showing Raw Head and Musket's Hole crags

Northern Bickerton Hill, showing Raw Head and Musket’s Hole crags

Bickerton Hill refers to two low red sandstone hills that form the southern end of the Mid Cheshire Ridge in Cheshire, in northwest England. The high point, Raw Head, lies on the northerly hill and has an elevation of 227 metres. Parts of the southerly hill are also known as Larkton Hill.

There is evidence of settlement on the hills dating from the neolithic or Bronze Age. The earthworks of an Iron Age hill fort, Maiden Castle, are located on the summit of the southerly hill; they are a Scheduled Monument. The hills have been quarried and mined for copper since the 17th century, and a grade-II-listed engine house chimney remains as a remnant of the mining industry. Several caves occur in the sandstone, some of which have a history of habitation. The Sandstone Trail, a long-distance footpath, runs along the ridge, and the area is popular with walkers.

A large area of the southerly hill is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its biological importance; much of this hill is owned by the National Trust. Its summit plateau has an extensive area of lowland heath, a rare habitat in Cheshire, and one that is particularly important for reptiles. A substantial population of Lobed Maidenhair Spleenwort, a fern that is rare in Britain, is found here. Nationally scarce species observed in the area include the bleached pug and alder kitten moths, and the Malthius frontalis species of soldier beetle. The western escarpment of the northerly hill has also been designated an SSSI for its exposed Triassic sandstones.

Neolithic and Bronze Age
Cropmarks near Rawhead Farm suggest a possible neolithic or Bronze Age settlement on the northern hill, which is of the “banjo enclosure” type, consisting of a circular enclosure with a narrow enclosed entrance.  Two flint artefacts have been found on the southern hill: a leaf-shaped flint of unknown date and a Bronze Age arrowhead.  A Bronze Age burial mound of the bowl barrow type is located on top of an unnamed knoll immediately to the east of the southerly Bickerton Hill (SJ51055269).

 

Earth rampart of the iron age hill fort, Maiden Castle, on the summit of Bickerton Hill in Cheshire, in June 2006. The small plaque shown here has since been replaced by a much larger interpretive sign

Earth rampart of the iron age hill fort, Maiden Castle, on the summit of Bickerton Hill in Cheshire, in June 2006. The small plaque shown here has since been replaced by a much larger interpretive sign

Maiden Castle, Cheshire
The remains of an Iron Age promontory hill fort, Maiden Castle, are located on the southernmost summit of the southerly hill at an elevation of 212 metres.  Maiden Castle dates from around 600 BC and is the most southerly of the seven hill forts in Cheshire.  The double line of earth ramparts are still visible, forming a semicircle that encloses an area of 1.3 acres (5,300 m2) adjacent to the cliff edge.  The enclosure has a single entrance at the east side with inturned defensive banks. Archaeological investigations have shown that both ramparts are strengthened by dry stone walling; the inner rampart also has timber strapping.  The fort was destroyed by fire in around 400 BC,  although the area was probably used as a settlement until the Roman invasion of Britain in the 1st century AD.

The site is well preserved despite quarrying of the area during the 17th to early 20th centuries, as well as military training exercises during the 20th century.  The remaining earthworks have been designated a Scheduled Monument, and the site is owned by the National Trust.  Since 2009, the trust has been removing trees, scrub and bracken from the site, as the roots damage the earthworks.  Animal burrows are another threat, and footpath erosion from visitors is also a problem, as the Sandstone Trail cuts across the earthworks.  There is another Maiden Castle which is an Iron Age hill fort 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) south west of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset.

Anglo-Saxon and Norman
The name “Bickerton” is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and relates to bees.  A township was recorded in the Domesday survey, which was found “waste”, or devastated, at the time of the survey, in common with many nearby townships.  This is usually considered to be a consequence of William I’s suppression in 1069–70 of uprisings in north-west Mercia.  The township included half a league (about ¾ mile) of woodland, perhaps located on the hills.

Copper Mine Chimney

Copper Mine Chimney

17th–19th century
Copper mining at Bickerton was first recorded in 1696. The mine was owned by the Egerton family of Oulton, with eight miners being employed between 1696 and 1698. There were six shafts, one of which was deepened to 156 feet (48 m) in 1807.  The mines were worked intermittently until 1906.  A rare remnant of this local industry is a disused mine engine house chimney in red sandstone, which stands by the A534 at the foot of the northerly hill near Gallantry Bank. The flue of a pumping engine that was used to drain the mine, it dates from the early 19th century and is a grade-II-listed building.  The remains of adjacent mining buildings were still standing in around 1920.  The Copper Mine public house at nearby Broxton displays mining equipment and pictures.

Quarrying also took place at various sites on the hills, including Maiden Castle from the 17th century.  Sandstone was extracted for building, and sand for use as a scouring agent.  An iron rock-splitting wedge dating from the 17th century was found during excavations of Maiden Castle.

Mad Allen's Hole

Mad Allen’s Hole

Mad Allen’s Hole
Mad Allen’s Hole, a cave on the southerly Bickerton Hill, is believed by some to be the location of “Allenscomb’s Cave” in which John Harris, “the English Hermit,” lived for 46 years in the 18th century. According to a pamphlet of 1809, Harris was a man of property from Handley, who embraced a hermit’s life when his parents refused him permission to marry the woman of his choice. He first inhabited a cave in nearby Carden Park, moving to Allenscomb’s Cave in the 1760s.  Recent research has, however, cast doubt on the identification of Mad Allen’s Hole with Allenscomb’s Cave. Unlike the cave in Carden Park, no material dating to the 18th century has been discovered at Bickerton, and the name “Mad Allen’s Hole” originated in the late 19th century, when the cave was occupied by an eccentric known as Mad Allen.  In the early 19th century, the Bloody Bones caves on the northerly hill were occupied by brigands, who terrorised the surrounding countryside, stealing cheese from local farms and plundering graves, as well as selling sand for cleaning. Seven were captured and executed in around 1834.

Droppingstone Well
The Droppingstone Well, immediately north of the Raw Head summit, bears a plaque dated 1861. A photograph of 1910 shows the well in use by locals.

20th–21st century
The area around Maiden Castle was used for military training exercises during the 20th century, which included digging numerous two-man slit trenches. The heathland of the southerly hill went unmanaged from the 1940s until 1983, when 66 hectares (160 acres) of land were acquired by the National Trust; the trust’s holding was extended by 51 hectares (130 acres) in 1991.  Much of the southerly hill and the western escarpment of the northerly hill were notified as two separate Sites of Special Scientific Interest in 1979.
The Sandstone Trail long-distance footpath opened in 1974; it then started in Duckington, immediately south of the southerly hill.  The Sandstone Trail Race was launched three years later.  A 2008 proposal to construct a 60 metre wind-monitoring mast adjacent to Bickerton Hill met with local protest,  and was rejected by Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council.

Posted in British history, castles, Georgian Era, Living in the Regency, Regency era, Victorian era, writing | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Walking Cheshire’s Bickerton Hill

Life Beyond Bath (or) Regency Era Watering Holes

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Regina Jeffers

“Watering Holes” were part of the lifestyle of those of the haut ton during the Regency Era and beyond. At Bath and Brighton and Margate and Ramsgate, etc., people returned annually to drink the healing waters, attend the assemblies, and to  take dips in the sea water. At Cheltenham, Tunbridge Wells, and Harrogate, inland spas, healing springs brought in the crowd.

What entertainments drew the crowds to these English resorts? Dances and card parties and promenading along the boardwalks were headliners for the very social members of the ton. It was the old adage of seeing and being seen. Yet, surprisingly, there was the draw of the public libraries, which served their customers tea and coffee to drink while partaking of the latest newspapers and magazines, as well as many novels.

Books of bound caricatures and prints were available to review on site or even be loaned out to customers. At Sidmouth, educational toys and children’s books were housed in the collection. In the 1800s, the library system in England grew by leaps and bounds. For example, The Athenaeum in Liverpool, which opened in 1799, housed 6000 books. Subscribers of The Athenaeum paid 2 guineas per year for the services. Fancourts in London housed more than 40,000 choices.

In addition to the libraries, other “cultural” elements became popular in the resort areas. Circuses and magic shows, as well as “fair” performers made the watering holes their homes during part of the year. Concerts and puppet shows took place in public parks. The best of London’s productions made appearances on tour. For example, the Italian opera and Drury Lane repertory companies made regular stops in the many resorts as part of their summer tours.

220px-Dorothy_JordanIn Mrs Jordan’s Profession from Claire Tomalin, the author speaks of the tours of Mrs Dorothea Jordan. Dorothea Jordan (21 November 1761 – 5 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish actress, courtesan, and the mistress and companion of the future King William IV, for 20 years while he was Duke of Clarence. Together they had ten illegitimate children, all of whom took the surname FitzClarence. Mrs Jordan wowed audiences inExeter, Portsmouth, Gosport, Southampton, Salisbury, Margate, Ramsgate, Deal, Canterbury, and Brighton. The royal family attended her performance in The Merry Wives of Windsor at Cheltenham. She packed houses in Leicester, Chester, York, and Liverpool. Mrs Jordan starred at the Theatre Royal in Bath for several seasons. 

By the beginning of the 19th Century, new realizations had come to the citizenry of Bath: Communal baths were probably not the most sanitary. It was customary for anyone to have access to the water, meaning those with contagious diseases bathed in the same water as those with arthritic pain. In the King’s Bath, a tank of warm water, the patients sat side by side, with no distinguishing of either sex or disease. Men were dressed in special brown linen suits and women in off white linen suits of a similar style. Copper bowls of scented oils floated on the water to purify the air. In the Queen’s Bath, cold water was used. Even if one chose simply to drink the waters, he often drank from a glass used previously by another (without being washed in between users).

At the Pump Room in Bath, the orchestra played music throughout the day. Dancing began daily (except Sunday) at noon, with formal balls twice per week. “Starting at 6:00 in the evening…The programme was inviolable: minuets only for the first two hours. The country dances, which were much more fun and more energetic, started at 8:00. (The eighteenth-century rules specified that ‘No Lady dance country-dances in a hoop of any kind and those who choose to pull their hoops off will be assisted by proper servants in an apartment for that purpose.’ By the time of the Regency, of course, only the most old-fashioned dowagers would have appeared in public in a hoop, so the ban was irrelevant.) At 9:00 the company adjourned to the Tea Room for refreshments and the evening ended at 11:00 sharp. It is not surprising that the Prince Regent and his friends preferred the free and easy life of Brighton.” (From An Elegant Madness, pp 126-127)Roman_Baths_in_Bath_Spa,_England_-_July_2006_edit3

The Royal Crescent in Bath, UK

Posted in British history, Georgian Era, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Regency era, Uncategorized, Victorian era | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

No Longer a Bumpy Ride! The 1762 Westminster Paving Act…

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Regina Jeffers

MaltonCHIn doing research for my newest release, THE MYSTERIIOUS DEATH OF MR. DARCY, which is set in Dorset, I came across the Purbek marble, a fossiliferous limestone found on the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in southeast Dorset, England. That discovery led to one thing and then another, and finally, I came across the Westminster Paving Act of 1762, a dramatic step forward on behalf of London’s dwellers.

 

The Westminster Paving Act removed the responsibility of paving the streets from the individuals to a governmental type commission. Before the act, occupants were responsible for paving and cleaning a specified area before their residences.

From John Wood’s Description of Bath (1749), we discover:

But previous to the Duty of these Officers, every Housekeeper, inhabiting and residing within the City, Liberties, and Precincts thereof, is enjoined, Thrice in every Week at the least, that is to say, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, to sweep and cleanse, or cause to be swept and cleansed, all the Streets, Lanes, Alleys, and Public Places, before their respective Houses, Buildings, and Walls, and all other Public Places, to the End that the Filth, Ashes, Dirt, Dust, Rubble, and Rubbish may be ready to be carried away by the Scavengers, upon Pain to forfeit Three Shillings and Four-Pence for every Offence and Neglect. They are moreover Prohibited from throwing, casting, or laying; or from permitting any Person to throw, cast, or lay, any Ashes, Filth, Duff, Dirt, Rubbish, Dung, or other Annoyances, in any open Street, Lane, or Alley, within the said City, Liberties, Precincts, or Places aforesaid, before his or their own Dwelling-House, Buildings, or other Public Places within the said City; but, on the Contrary, are Required to keep, or cause the fame to be kept, in their respective Houses, Yards, or Backsides, until such Time as the Scavenger shall come by to receive and take the fame entirely away, under the Penalty of Five Shillings for every Offense.

Again, if any person or persons shall have any Straw or Hay, brought and thrown down for the Use or any Inn, or any other House, in any of the Streets, Lanes, Alleys, and other Public Places, within the said City, the Liberties, and Precincts thereof, and shall not carry the same into their Yards, Backsides, or Stables, sweep and clean the Place where such Straw or Hay was thrown down, and carry away the Rubbish occasioned thereby, within one Hour after such Straw or Hay shall be unloaded, he or they so neglecting is to forfeit Five Shillings for every Offense, to be levied by Distress and Sale of the Offender’s Goods, by Warrant, under the Hands of Two or more of the said Commissioners.

Now as to the Paving of the Streets, Lanes, Alleys, and Public Places of the City, every Occupier or Owner of any House, Houses, or Lands, next adjoining to such Street, Lane, Alley, or Public Place within the said City, Liberties or Precincts thereof, is Required, from Time to Time, within ten Days next after Notice given by the Surveyor, or Surveyors, to be appointed as above, well and sufficiently to pitch or pave, or cause to be pitched and paved, the Street, Alley, or Lane before his or their Houses, Habitations, Lands, and Public Places respectively, into the Middle of the Street, Lane, or Alley, except in the Market Place, and there only eight Feet in Width, under the Penalty of Ten Shillings for each Perch not so pitched; and so in Proportion for any greater or lesser Quantity or Space of Ground; and under the like Penalty for every Month, ‘till the same shall be pitched or paved; which Penalty is to be levied by Distress and Sale of the Offender’s Goods, and to be applied towards Maintaining one or more of the Scavengers to be appointed as aforesaid.

In London, the responsibility of paving and cleaning the streets was normally written into the building lease/sale. The problem with the London streets in the early 18th Century was the lack of consistency. The paving stones were round and fit to walk upon, but in a carriage the ride was quite rough. The wide flat stones, which were perfect underfoot, created a bumpy ride for they were raised above the flat of the road.

The 1762 Act specified that Purbeck stone should replace the previous stone. The act also called for the replacement of the drainage kennel, which was normally placed in the street’s middle, with kerbside gutters. This standard of the Purbeck stone remained in place throughout the late Georgian Period. Eventually, gravel was added between the stones to level out the road.

The act also required a system of street cleaning. As a side benefit of working as a Scavenger (those paid to clean the street by at a parish rate) grew, the streets became cleaner. For example, discarded ashes were collected to be sold to manufactures of inferior place bricks. Eventually, carts carrying water (barrels pierced with holes) kept the dust down on the road.

In the early 19th Century, the occupant was responsible for sweeping the pavement before his house. The parish scavenger removed the dirt from the street and that on the carriageway.

Unfortunately, all the laws of the land could not force those who occupied single rooms in lodge houses or those who frequented houses of ill repute or beer houses. There were some who simply did not care for the condition of the streets upon which they walked or rode.

Posted in British history, Georgian Era, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Regency era | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Major Changes in the Traditional Publishing Market

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Regina Jeffers

This teaser comes from a February 5, 2013 article on NPR, entitled “Why Traditional Publishing is Really in ‘A Golden Age.'” To read the complete article, please visit http://www.npr.org/2013/02/05/171164095/why-traditional-publishing-is-really-in-a-golden-age?ft=1&f=1008

How healthy is the traditional publishing industry? Not very, says Mark Coker, founder of the self-published book distributor Smashwords. On Monday, Coker told NPR’s Audie Cornish that “over the next few years, traditional publishers are going to become more and more irrelevant.”

But Michael Pietsch, soon-to-be CEO of the traditional publisher Hachette Book Group, disagrees. “I think we’re in a golden age for books — reading, writing and publishing,” he tells Cornish. “And the ways that publishers can work to connect readers with writers now are the kinds of things that publishers have dreamt of doing since Gutenberg first put down a line of type.”

Pietsch joins Cornish to discuss how marketing sets a publishing deal apart from the self-publishing model.

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My Good Opinion Once Lost is Lost For Ever

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Regina Jeffers

Fitzwilliam Darcy is a major, but minor, character in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” Although he plays a major role in the story’s outcome, after all, Darcy is the romantic hero of the piece, he is not in every scene. The story is told from Elizabeth Bennet’s perspective, and Darcy is absent throughout extended periods of the book. However, he is far from being “out of sight…out of mind.” Darcy’s presence overshadows all of Elizabeth’s interactions with other characters, even though Miss Elizabeth would never admit an interest in the man.

Elizabeth is a strong, sympathetic, and independent character, and the two men with whom she associates romantically must be equally intricate. Despite Mrs. Reynolds explanation of Darcy’s “bumbling social manners” being the result of his shyness, there remains plenty of proof of his excessive pride. Yet, we do learn much of the man’s “softer” side through his interactions with Charles Bingley. Darcy serves as Bingley’s mentor, and he accepts the role with good-natured diligence.

As a Cit and the “new rich,” Bingley lacks a proper ticket into Society. Darcy is willing to lead the man through the stages of setting up a proper estate, the nuances of proper behavior, etc. I have always wished to know how Bingley and Darcy became friends. Would it not be delightful if Austen had provided her readers a glimpse of how the friendship began?

Elizabeth’s disdain for Darcy’s earliest snubs captivates the man. He recognizes the “danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention,” but Darcy cannot resist her charms. After he reluctantly leaves Elizabeth after the Netherfield Ball, Darcy is not seen again until she meets him at Hunsford Cottage; yet, the man if rarely from her thoughts, especially as Mr. Wickham spends the intervening months in speaking poorly of his former friend.

When Elizabeth meets Darcy at Rosings Park, she is full of the tales Wickham has shared. In Elizabeth’s estimation, Wickham’s half-truths are proof of Darcy’s true character. She cannot comprehend his repeated calls upon Mr. Collins’s household nor his unexpected proposal. “Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression. She stared, coloured, doubted, and was silent. This he considered sufficient encouragement, and the avowal of all that he felt and had long felt for her immediately followed. He spoke well, but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.”

With Elizabeth’s refusal, Darcy is humbled. After his letter explaining his interference in Bingley’s and Jane Bennet’s life and his dealings with Mr. Wickham, Darcy again disappears from the story. Elizabeth does not encounter Darcy again for four months. By the time she meets him again at Pemberley, Elizabeth’s harsh opinion of Darcy has softened, and when he behaves heroically by rushing off to save Lydia’s reputation (as well as her own and her sisters), Elizabeth recognizes is Darcy is the man who would most completed her.

Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship is the perfect nucleus for Austen’s theme of “First Impressions,” which are often flawed impressions. Elizabeth’s early disdain comes from how Darcy’s “tolerable” remark had pricked her pride. And despite what we assume in hindsight was her early interest in Darcy, she overemphasizes his pride in order to protect her bruised heart. With George Wickham, she ignores her earlier doubts about his being “too perfect.” Wickham’s lies about Darcy only serve to prove her opinions of Pemberley’s master was correct. Elizabeth accepts Wickham’s story because she does not want to face her buried interest in Fitzwilliam Darcy. However, she is easily disillusioned by Mr. Wickham because, in reality, he is not a man worth knowing. Elizabeth’s myopic view of the world lies not in her lack of eyesight but in her protection of her own pride.

Posted in Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Regency era | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Regency Courtesan: Harriette Wilson

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Regina Jeffers

Harriette_Wilson00A celebrated British Regency courtesan, Harriette Wilson was one of fifteen children of a Swiss clockmaker, John James Dubouchet, a Mayfair shopkeeper. She became the mistress of William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven, when she was but fifteen years of age. Among her lovers, one finds the Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, and four future Prime Ministers.

Sexy and quite avaricious, Harriette was known to change lovers often. One must recall that mistresses negotiated hefty contracts with their protectors. If exclusive rights were in question, the man and his mistress followed a particular protocol in forming an alliance. Friends were employed to negotiate the terms rather than the principal participants. In J. Lees-Milne’s The Bachelor Duke: William Spencer Cavendish, Sixth Duke of Devonshire, Walter Scott supposedly said of Harriette, “She was far from beautiful, but a smart saucy girl with good eyes and dark hair, and the manners of a wild school-boy.”

The Duke of Devonshire set Harriette up in a London house in Dorset Square, presented her with a second home in Brighton, gave her an allowance of £1600 a year, carriages, jewelry, furs, etc., including an aviary. However, Harriette Wilson had few kind words for her benefactor.

Harriette kept several lovers competing for her favors. The most consistent of her followers were the Marquess of Lorne, son and heir of the Duke of Argyll; the Marquess of Worcester, son and heir of the Duke of Beaufort; Lord Frederick Bentinck, son of the Duke of Portland; and Frederick Lamb, son of Lord Melbourne.

As much as Harriette loved the attentions of young men, older ones had more money. Recall that Scott called her “a smart saucy girl.” She chose the older Duke of Leinster over his younger cousin, the Marquess of Worcester. Harriette was known to keep company with Henry Brougham, a Liberal MP, and Wilson Croker, the politican and diarist. She had an on again, off again, affair with the Duke of Wellington, while also plying her trade with the Duke of Argyll.

A mistress kept a box at the opera and at Drury Lane, where men – married or not – made an appearance in her box. Opera nights at Covent Garden provided the women with an opportunity to be seen by potential customers. Unlike a wife, a mistress had control of her own money. Harriet was educated; she read French and took an interest in the political tenor of the country. She regularly read Voltaire and Roman history.

The Duke of Beaufort “bought off” Harriette in order to save his heir, the Marquess of Worcester from the woman. In writing, Worcester had begged Harriette to marry him. On advice of her solicitor, Harriette was told the letters would be worth £20,000 in a breach of promise suit. The Duke refused her request, and Harriette turned to Henry Brougham, a celebrated lawyer of the time (and one of her ex-lovers). The Duke managed to convince Harriette to retire to Paris, with a promise of £500 per year for life. In Paris, many of her former lovers visited her on a regular basis.

When Worcester married, the Duke reneged on his promise and stopped paying Harriette’s allowance. Harriette retaliated by selling her memoirs for publication. If Beaufort thought to keep his son’s foolish infatuation secret, Harriet’s book, Publish and be Damn’d: The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson brought those hopes to an end. The book was an instantaneous bestseller.

An uproar ensued. Surprisingly, Harriette offered each of her former lovers the opportunity to be omitted from the book – that is for a hefty price. Each refused to be blackmailed. Her memories proved inaccurate in places and a bit vindictive against her former lovers for refusing to pay her blackmail. She gossiped about each of the men in her life. Her insights into the most popular men of the time made great fodder for the gossips.

Harriette complained of the violence with which Frederick Lamb made love, and in sharp contrast she describes the boredom she felt with Lord Craven. She described Devonshire as stingy. Harriette and her fellow courtesans knew the price of love was high.

BBC Radio 4 series Classic Serial by Ellen Dryden adapted Harriette’s memories for broadcast in June 2012.

Posted in British history, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, real life tales, Regency era, Victorian era | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Self Published Books to Be Highlighted by Apple

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Regina Jeffers

This article comes from the February 24, 2013 edition of the New York Times. To read the complete article, please visit http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/apple-to-highlight-self-published-books/

Yet another sign that self-publishing is making inroads into the traditional houses: On Tuesday Apple will include a feature that organizes a group of popular self-published e-books together and then gives them prominent display on iBookstore.

The feature will appear under a banner titled “Breakout Books” and remain on the iBookstore’s main page for at least two weeks. This kind of display, known as “front-of –the store” attention, is greatly coveted by publishers because it helps books get discovered, driving sales. After two weeks, “Breakout Books” will remain a permanent feature on the site, though not always with such high-profile display.

Apple, which has long carried self-published e-books and displayed the most popular among them, has incentive to give self-published authors a boost, partly because of price.

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The Legend of Castle Eilean Donan, a Scottish Icon

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Regina Jeffers

800px-Eilean_Donan_Castle,_Scotland_-_Jan_2011In the earlier thirteenth century, during the reign of Alexander II  (ruled 1214–1249), a large curtain-wall castle (wall of enciente) was constructed, enclosing much of the island. At this time the area was at the boundary of the Norse-Celtic Lordship of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross: Eilean Donan provided a strong defensive position against Norse expeditions.

Eilean Donan Castle is likely the most icon image of Scotland beloved castles. It is situated on the islet at the point where three sea lochs meet. The castle was built in the mid 13th Century, during the reign of Alexander II (1215-1250) to serve as a stronghold against Norway.

 

Eilean Donan (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Donnain) is a small island in Loch Duich in the western Highland of Scotland. It lies about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the village of Dornie. Eilean Donan is part of the Kintail National Scenic Area. In 2001, the island had a recorded population of just one person.

Eilean Donan (which means simply “island of Donnán”) is named after Donnán of Eigg, a Celtic saint martyred in 617. Donnán is said to have established a church on the island, though no trace of this remains. The castle was founded in the thirteenth century, and became a stronghold of the Clan Mackenzie and their allies the Clan Macrae.

 

The Macraes became Constables of the Castle in 1599, which they defended for over 200 years. In the early eighteenth century the Mackenzies were involved in the Jacobite rebellions, which led to the castle’s destruction by government ships in 1719. The Jacobites supported James VII, the Old Pretender, and Spanish supporters of the Jacobite cause were quartered in Eilean Donan. The English sent a small fleet to bring the rebellion under control. Outnumbered by the English troops, the Spaniards surrendered, and the building was left in ruins thanks to the English artillery rounds.

The present buildings are the result of twentieth-century reconstruction of the ruins by Lieutenant-Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap.

A founding legend relates that the son of a chief of the Mathesons acquired the power of communicating with the birds. As a result, and after many adventures overseas, he gained wealth, power, and the respect of Alexander II, who asked him to build the castle to defend his realm.

A chief of Kintail reportedly dismissed the lower classes as superstitious fools. To show himself as superior, he set out to prove the ancient legend that said if a child drank its first drink from a skull of a raven, the child would develop powers beyond those of normal humans. From the beginning, the chief’s young son came to understand the language of birds and conversed with them.

The boy’s relationship with his self-imposing father suffered when the child grew into adulthood. The father asked his son what the starlings chattered of outside the chief’s window. However, when the young man said the starlings spoke of a day when the chief would wait upon the son, the vain chief drove his son from the family lands.

The chief’s son eventually arrived in France. The King’s peace had been greatly disturbed by a flock of sparrows. The young man offered his services to the King. The man discovered there was a feud between several species. He negotiated a peace, which silenced the angry screeching the King had experience and replaced the screeches with melodic chirruping. The King gave the young man a ship and crew.

The young man continued his journeys and was rewarded time and time again for his ability to speak to the birds. He collected gifts most wondrous. Finally, the young man arrives in a kingdom plagued by rats. The birds could not solve the kingdom’s problems, but a gift of a cat set the palace aright. The king reward the young man with a casket of gold.

Finally, the young man sets a course for Scotland and his home. He sailed into Loch Alsh with a cargo of riches. The pompous older chief offered hospitality to what he thought was a rich lord from another land. And as the starlings had prophesied years prior, the chief served his own son at table. When the young man revealed his true identity, the chief was almost struck dumb with shock.

The chief’s son had learned much in his travelers. He could speak different languages and knew the intricacies of foreign cultures. He was recognized as a great man by one and all. As such, King Alexander gave the chief’s son the honor of being the one to oversee the building of Eilean Donan’s castle, a castle to defend Kintail lands beyond from Norse attack.

aerial view

aerial view

At a later date it became a stronghold of the Mackenzies  of Kintail, originally vassals of Uilleam, Earl of Ross.  At this early stage, the castle is said to have been garrisoned by Macraes and Maclennans, both clans which were later closely associated with the Mackenzies. Traditional Mackenzie clan histories relate that Earl William sought advantage from the Treaty of Perth of 1266, by which King Magnus VI of Norway ceded the Hebrides to Scotland, and demanded that his kinsman Kenneth Mackenzie return the castle to allow his expansion into the islands; Mackenzie refused, and Earl William led an assault against Eilean Donan which was repulsed by the Mackenzies and their allies.

Posted in British history, castles, legends and myths, real life tales, Scotland | Tagged , , | 1 Comment