Thursday 13: Items from a Fashionable 1830's Trousseau

By Michelle Styles

Thirteen items from a fashionable woman's trousseau of the 1830s:

This comes from a list contained in Alison Adburham's Shops and Shopping 1800-1914: Where and In What Manner the Well Dressed Englishwoman bought her clothes (rev edn, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1981).

1. 9 chemises
2. 6 nightdresses
3. 6 Paris long cloth drawers; 3 trimmed with lace
4. 2 long cloth petticoats, tucked and one trimmed with work
5. 3 flannel petticoats
6. 3 camisoles, trimmed with work, plus 3 extra good camisoles
7. 3 merino wool vests
8. 1 printed cambric dressing gown, 1 in coloured flannel and 1 white hair-cord
9. 1 dressing jacket
10. 12 pairs white cotton hose, 6 hem stitched
11. 12 cambric pocket handkerchiefs, 6 hem stitched
12. 1 French wove corset
13. 6 fine towels (an assortment)

Standards of Beauty:Male Beauty

By Penny Ash

According to current research, the typical romance hero is about as far from desirable as it's possible to get. The big and brawny alpha hero with the manly physique and chiseled jaw is out and the softer and more feminine face is the one to look for.

According to Webster's dictionary beauty, is the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.

The guy who has the smoother symmetrical face with large eyes and no beard stands a better chance of getting the girl, and if he can cook and clean he'll have the ladies running after him in droves. But there's a fine line between beautiful and girly. Brad Pitt or Jude Law, well they make the grade. Leonardo DiCapprio? Nope, too girly. And someone like Hugh Jackman, whoa, no, much to aggressive looking.


Let me know what you think. What really is male beauty? And why are all those romances with the in your face alpha hero still selling so well?

Standards of Beauty:Schonheitspflege, the Beauty Care of the Empress of Austria

By Jennifer Linforth

Ah, the horror of growing old, to feel the hand of Time laid upon one's body, to watch the skin wrinkling, to awake and fear the morning light and to know that one is no longer desirable! Life without beauty would be worthless to me.
--Elisabeth of Wittelsbach, Kaiserin von Österreich

Portraits of the most beautiful women in the world watched her from the walls. Pictures of Oriental women, the harem of the Sultana of Persia--it mattered not who, so long as the women were stunning and she could immerse herself in their elegance. Kaiserin Elisabeth commanded every member of the Austrian foreign embassy to collect them for her on their journeys. On her travels Elisabeth insisted on meeting extraordinary beauties and all her attendants had to be fair of face. Was all this an outward reflection of an inward narcissistic personality? Quite possibly. The walls of her private chambers were full length mirrors...

What lengths did some women go to in the 19th century to maintain their beauty? Many, as seen in this blog this month. What was beauty's standard? In the Victorian era one woman stood out. She was admired by women, desired by men, the envy of many, but alone in her fame...

The Kaiserin of Austria, Elisabeth (Sissi, as she was known) was easily among the most beautiful royal to have ever lived. Her chestnut hair was her crowing glory, dark and to her ankles, requiring raw egg yoke and twenty bottles of the finest brandy to cleanse. Its care was a ritual of great importance. A white cloth would cover the carpet in the Kaiserin's dressing room, and Elisabeth would sit on a low chair in the center. Her hairdresser, clad in all white, would begin the process of cleaning and brushing it. Once arranged, every stray lock would be collected from the comb and cloth then counted. The Kaiserin would become upset if too many were torn loose...

Following her hair, Elisabeth prided herself on her figure and followed extreme diets. Often an entire day's nourishment would be six glasses of milk, nothing else. Not any milk, however! It had to come from special cows--which had their own traveling expense accounts. (They went everywhere with her.) Elisabeth had a sweet tooth though one could not tell from her slender waist. Who could not adore sweets, living in Vienna, home of the finest yeast cake in the world? The Kaiserin, however, would not touch anything sweeter than water seasoned with violets.

Even her walks were extreme, lasting sometimes to ten hours (to the exhaustion of her attendants). If her feet became swollen and doctors insisted she rest, Elisabeth would ignore the medical advice and move on until she received a treatment that suited her obsessions. This pattern continued throughout her life: pushing herself to extremes until physical pain or illness stopped her only to revive herself in the way suited to her and no other.

Occasionally at night, she would wear a mask stuffed with raw meat. When strawberries were in season a paste would be made and massaged into her neck and face (a beauty regime from the Balkans.) Baths were in warm olive oil. Often she wrapped her hips in wet rags before bed thinking that would preserve her slim figure. She slept with no pillows on a hard mattress, used no perfume and forbid those around her to wear it. All her rings were worn on a chain around her neck so not to mar her hands.

Perhaps it was her loneliness that forced this love of self upon her. She made a cult of her beauty and having no equal, who else could she turn to for companionship? Elisabeth even felt her children aged her. Beauty was a constant companion. And like portraits, horses, and madness (a member of the house of Wittelsbach madness was in her blood) beauty was a fixation.

Vanity? Insanity? Loneliness? Many things can drive a person to obsessions. Who is to judge the woman who also did wondrous things for her people and Hungary? The woman who gradually became a ghost in her own lifetime, but whose heart to this day is still the pride of Austria.

The ordinary mind will deem her a vain and shallow woman, and reflect that true happiness can be found in one's children's children, but such people have not the artistic temperament which the Empress possessed
--Marie Larisch

Weekly Announcements - 25 Nov 07

Sorry I'm late with the announcements, ladies. Here goes:

Carrie Lofty has posted the book trailer for her short story, "Sundial," available in December from The Wild Rose Press.

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The sequel to Michelle Styles' A CHRISTMAS WEDDING WAGER will be released in the UK in December 2008, titled AN IMPULSIVE DEBUTANTE. Also, TAKEN BY THE VIKING will be released in the US in May 2008.

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Jacquie Rogers has two contests going:

Jacquie's Great Holiday Contest Fest, Week 8
Drawing date: November 28, 2007. Enter for a chance to win A RESTLESS KNIGHT (The Dragons of Challon, Book 1) by Deborah MacGillivray. "Written with a finely tuned passionate and sensual voice this love story will simply take your breath away." ~Marilyn Rondeau, RIO Reviewer. To enter, go to Jacquie's website and click on contest.

Name That Christmas Carol!
A multi-author, multi-prize contest to put a little ho-ho-ho into your holidays. This scavenger hunt is certain to bring back fond memories that might bring you and your loved ones together in the grand game of carol identification--and just might land you one of our 21 prizes. That's right! Thirteen authors and 21 prizes! To enter, go to Jacquie's website and click on contest. Click on "Name That Christmas Carol," and you'll find the rules and other participating authors there.

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Jean Adams' A PLACE OF HEALING has been contracted with The Wild Rose Press. Set on a New Zealand beach, it tells the story of a policewoman with a tortured soul and a sexy psychologist determined to help her. Congratulations, Jean!

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Anne Whitfield's short story from The Wild Rose Press, "To Love Again," received a lovely review from Joyfully Reviewed. "'To Love Again' has caught exactly the longing for and the fear of beginning a new relationship. Anne Whitfield’s book is well written, and the heroine is well rounded enough to be able to laugh at herself."

Blurb: Ellen is running late to catch a train to catch a plane. But as she packs, she wonders if she's doing the right thing. Harry is there at the airport, waiting for her. She also knows he's waiting for much more. He's hoping this holiday together will cement their relationship. Does she want it to? Does she need it? Can she start another chapter of her life, which includes a man again?

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We have a winner for Michelle's A CHRISTMAS WEDDING WAGER release party: Annie Burrows! Contact Michelle by e-mail to get her your home addresses. Prize must be claimed by next Sunday or another winner will be drawn. Please stop back later to let us know what you thought of her newest release. Congratulations!

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Happy Friday, and have a good weekend! Remember, if you don't get your announcements to me, I can give you your dues! If you have an announcement to make for next week, email Carrie! See you next week...

Thursday 13: Thanksgiving

By Morag McKendrick Pippin

These are my favorite Thanksgiving dishes:

1) Stuffing!
2) Candied Yams
3) Garlic Mashed Potatoes
4) Ginger Glazed Carrots
5) Buttered Brussel Sprouts
6) Deviled Eggs
7) Celery stuffed with Peanut Butter
8) Cotswold Cheese and Crackers
9) Pecan Pie
10) Key Lime Pie
11) Sticky Pudding
12) Fresh Strawberries
13) Champagne!

What are your favorites?

Standards of Beauty:The Price of Beauty in the 1860s

By Eliza Tucker

In an essay entitled, "A Lady of Fashion", historian Herbert Asbury looked at the price of keeping couture in the decade following the American Civil War. He detailed the usually painful trends in garment construction and cosmetics, and the price thereof.

"The butterfly of the eighteen-sixties and the early eighteen-seventies staggered forth under the burden of an infinite variety of beautifying apparatus constructed of steel, iron, wire, cotton, wood horsehair, and wool, all attached to her person by straps, tape, and mucilage."

The exaggerated hourglass figure was a must-have for dames of postbellum New York: a small, rounded head, full chest, tiny waist, voluminous skirt, and diminutive feet. The dentist of the day went far above simple teeth-whitening when it came to cosmetic procedures, and would regularly "provide plump cheeks...by filling them out with hard composition pads running upward along each side of the mouth. These were called 'plumpers,' and some were so large as to give the appearance of mumps. They often shifted position, so that a woman wearing them was apt to speak in a sort of whispering mumble."

False calves, cotton or wool padding for the arms, foot wrapping, and pads for "sharp and angular knees" all contributed to the desired effect. Wigs, false curls, and "ratting" were popular, and once the hair was piled, knotted, or braided into place, it was topped with powder, flour, glitter, or gold dust. The "widow's peak" was so vogue that women clipped or shaved their head around the hairstyle.

While tattooing was still improper, it was all the rage to paint the palms of a woman's hands in a vivid color, either solidly or with shapes or patterns, and to delicately trace the veins on the back of the hand with blue ink. Women painted their eyes with India ink and dropped or rubbed Belladonna to dilate their pupils. Not surprisingly, most society women eventually went blind.

The crème de la crème in New York didn't just paint their faces, they had the makeup set with a plastic enamel. Shops advertised the ability to keep the face and bosom enameled for up to a year (this cost $1000, almost $15,000 now), but there are no records to indicate that any woman had this done. Arsenic and white lead were the bases to these skin enamels, and if properly applied it did not interfere with muscle movement. "It was eventually abandoned because the flashier branches of society carried it to ludicrous extremes."

In The Women of New York, George Ellington gives us a very long, very detailed price list of what it took per annum to keep a fashionable woman in New York: approximately $20,000 a year. That's $300,000 of our US dollars. Can you imagine? If you want to check out Mr. Ellington's views of New York's women (and the infamous price list), you can read The Women of New York online.

reference: Herbert Asbury, "A Lady of Fashion", All Around the Town, 1929

Standards of Beauty:Art Imitates Fashion, Fashion Imitates Art?

By Vicki Gaia

When researching fashion trends from my 1910 novel, Eliza's Hope, I discovered how much art influenced fashion. Art and fashion were closely linked in the past, more than today. The artist didn't think anything of designing textile patterns, theater sets, dinner ware, along side of original works of art.

Paris fashion designers relied on their artists. The famed French couturier, Paul Poiret, moved in artistic circles and employed artists. "I have always liked painters." Friends with the Fauvist painter, Francis Picabia, they'd shared a love of bright colors. Poiret collected Picasso, Dufy, Matisse and other modern artists of his time. He also loved the theater, and when the Ballet Russes (Russian ballet company) first appeared in Paris in 1909, their costumes set off the Oriental craze. Poiret designed flowing pantaloons, turbans, kimonos, all in bold vivid colors, never seen before.

The American dance idols, Vernon and Irene Castle, influenced early 20th century fashion. Hemlines went up, and ankles were exposed to accommodate the new Fox Trots and ragtime dances. Satin slippers with sexy ankle straps accessorized the outfit.

These energetic dances were best performed in fitting dresses with long side slits that allowed for dramatic movements. This type of dancing required a new closeness and a certain intimacy between partners, so it was inevitably frowned upon by less liberal people still locked in Victorian mores and customs. ~ Fashion Era

I can't leave out the Art Deco movement--which started in 1900 and peaked in the 1920's. During the early Art Deco period, skirts became tubular and straight, relaxed and with a semi-fitted silhouette, reminiscent of the Empire period. This silhouette no longer required the stiff corsets, hemlines went up, as well as the waist, which rose higher and eventually disappeared.

From the Beginner's Guide to Art Deco:

What is Art Deco design? French romance, fruit filled cornucopias, images of still fountains, Oriental rugs. Coco Chanel, Egyptian tapestries, Jazz inspired pottery, lightning bolts and Zig Zags! Modernized chrome and steel home appliances, running Gazelles, pink flamingos and straight, clean lined furniture. Enameled vases, wrought iron tables, copper kitchenware, Lalique glass, and chrome ashtrays. Colorful, sexy, sleek and modern! That is Art Deco in a nutshell.

Happy Reading!
Vicki

Standards of Beauty:Healthy and Beauty in Ancient Egypt

By Jean Adams

In ancient Egypt, beauty and personal hygiene, as well as adornment, were necessary to rich and poor alike. Not just for the sake of vanity, but as protection from the sun, sand, dust and wind. The Egyptians developed several unguents and oils for this purpose, mainly from plant extracts and mixed with either cat, hippo or crocodile fat, that softened the skin. In addition, when mixed with perfumes blended from flowers, fruits and herbs, it helped to mask body odour. Scented oils and ointments were considered so necessary that tomb workers went on strike when their payment of perfume didn't arrive on time.

In fact so fastidious were the Egyptians, that those who could afford bigger houses, and therefore bathrooms, would often take three baths a day. Their baths were rather like our showers. They would stand in an linen stall, their modesty enclosed on all sides and bathing attendants would pour water over them from above, probably perfumed.

Their heads more often than not were shaved with curved razors to counter head lice, a persistent problem.

At night, men and women alike wore plaited wigs that sported perfumed cones on top of their heads made of tallow. As the evening progressed the tallow would melt over their wigs allowing perfume to drip over the wigs, faces and clothing. The wigs were padded with vegetable fibre, thus allowing the wig to sit away from the head to help keep it cool.

Greying hair and natural baldness were considered highly unbecoming. Those who chose to keep their own hair tried many formulae for colouring faded hair including the blood of a black cat or a black bull mixed with oil.

Wearing kohl, or eye paint, was considered to be both attractive and pleasing to the gods. It was also protection against the sun and disease-bearing insects. It was worn by men and women alike. A favourite effect was dark grey eyebrows and upper eyelids, using an ore called galena, and green malachite in the lower eyelids. The minerals were ground into a fine powder, mixed with oil and applied using a wooden stick. The look was finished using powdered hermalite, a red ochre, to lend a blush to the cheeks and lips. An eye wash was prepared from ground celery and hemp.

All manner of beautiful containers have been found that were used to store their precious perfumes, from elegant bottles with stoppers to swimming maidens arms outstretched and carrying a small pot.

There is little evidence of tooth decay in Egypt because there was no sugar but teeth were still a problem, or rather sand was a problem for teeth. Many mummies have been found showing evidence of abscesses caused mainly by sand in the bread. It wasn't easy to remove sand from food, mainly because their kitchens were outside the house. This made for a continual battle with wind-blown sand. But the ever-inventive Egyptians did have a method for cleaning their teeth.

Toothbrushes were made of rushes. These were mashed at one end and sharpened to a fine point at the other. They even had toothpaste made mainly of a salt called natron--the same stuff they used to mummify their dead. Natron was ancient Egypt's supreme cleansing product. It was used for household cleaning as well as to cleanse the body. Formulae featuring natron were used to rid the home of vermin. It was also used to cleanse the body, as well as the teeth and prevent unattractive body odors.

Startling fact: An Egyptian toothpaste formula from the 4th century AD has been found in a collection of papyrus documents. Made of soot and gum arabic mixed with water, an ancient Egyptian scribe carefully wrote down the recipe 'for white and perfect teeth.' This makes it the world's oldest-known recipe for toothpaste. The formula, presented at a recent international dental congress, included mint, salt, grains of pepper and--perhaps the most active component--dried iris flower. News of the ancient formula is said to have 'caused a sensation' among the dentists at the congress. Dental researchers have only recently discovered the beneficial properties of iris--found to be an effective agent against gum disease--which has now been brought into commercial use.

So, just remember, you read it here first.

Happy writing,
Jean

Release Party: A Christmas Wedding Wager

Monday 19 November sees the official publication in the UK of Michelle Styles's new book A CHRISTMAS WEDDING WAGER, as part of the single title duo CHRISTMAS BY CANDLELIGHT. And although the official publication date for the US edition isn't until 1 December, it is already in stock at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Michelle stopped by to answer some of Unusual Historicals questions and to officially launch the book.

First Romans, then Vikings and now Victorians. Why Victorians?

When my editor first asked me to do a Christmas book, I said that it would have to be Victorian rather than Regency, as the Victorians re-invented Christmas. Christmas up to the Puritans was mainly an adoption of the Roman festival of Saturnalia and other pagan mid winter festivals such as the Scandinavian Jul. It then fell into disuse and during the Regency time, there were many who did not mark the day. It was not until Dickens published his Christmas stories, in particular A Christmas Carol that people really began to celebrate Christmas again.

Are there any real differences from the Victorian English celebration and our celebration today?

One of the biggest differences is the figure of Santa Claus. In the early Victorian period, he was called Old Christmas and more a Father Time figure--thin and rather stern. The more jovial Father Christmas did not develop until the 1870s. Old Christmas carried a punch bowl, had a yule log strapped to his back and wore green robes. I think it is one of the reason why the ghost of Christmas Present wears green robes in A Christmas Carol.

And what about Christmas carols?

Most of the songs we know as traditional Christmas carols were written in the period from 1200-1640, dying out again with the Puritans. The first modern collection of carols ancient and modern was compiled by Davies Gilbert (whose method for calculating the torque of a suspension bridge remained in use for over a 100 years) and appeared in 1822. He was attempting to preserve the remains of this dying tradition. Christmas broadsheets also started appearing, and the patterers (the men who sold the broadsheets) would sing the tunes, passing them on in this fashion.

Tell us a bit more about the book. Is it a Christmas story? Or has it been adapted for the Christmas season?

It takes place during the Christmas season of 1846 in Newcastle Upon Tyne. And the build up to the Christmas festivities in the industrial North does play a significant role in the book. The blurb reads:

Lovely Miss Emma Harrison has long turned her back on the frivolities of the Marriage Mart and dedicated herself to helping her father. But this Christmas everything changes--the unforgettable Jack Stanton is back! No longer the charity boy determined to make good, he has become one of the richest men in England. Driven to succeed and used to getting anything he wants, Jack makes it clear that he wants Emma.

And as the Yuletide festivities throw Emma into his company, she can’t help but wonder if she made the right choice seven years ago...

You can read an excerpt here.

Is there anything unusual about the story?

It is set in the northeast of England and it has a self-made man as a hero. I loved being able to have a civil engineer as a hero as at the time they were treated as the peace time equivalent of heroic soldier. So much went into building the early bridges and tunnels and the civil engineers put their lives on the line.

The reviewer on Publishers' Weekly Beyond Her Blog expressed a wish that you might write a sequel. Is this going to happen?

It has already happened. My daughter was so taken with a secondary character, Lottie Charlton, that she demanded her story. I wrote Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife and then gave into her demands. My editors adore Lottie's story and were supposed to title it this week and firm up scheduling, but illness struck and this has been put off. At the moment, all I know is words like Scandal, Secret and Debutante are being bandied about. It is tentatively scheduled for release in the UK in August 08 and it should be my next North American release as well.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am currently doing the revisions for the first part of my Regency duo. It is again set in the Northeast and deals in part with the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. The revisions are some of the hardest that I have ever tackled, but ultimately I hope the reader will get a really good read. I then have to write the second part and am facing a deadline in early January. After that, I think I am writing my third Viking.

Many thanks for dropping by! You can purchase A CHRISTMAS WEDDING WAGER via Amazon, Amazon.ca, Barnes & Noble, eHarlequin, or from your favorite independent book retailer. CHRISTMAS BY CANDLELIGHT can be purchased via Amazon UK and Amazon.ca.

Michelle is giving away a copy of A CHRISTMAS WEDDING WAGER. All you need to do is post a comment--maybe about your favourite Christmas tradition or Christmas carol. The winner will be chosen at random. Be sure to check back next week to find out who has won.

Weekly Announcements - 16 Nov 07

Erastes sold a short Victorian story to Cleis Press for an Erotic Alphabet Anthology J IS FOR JEALOUSY, and another short 1950s historical to Men Magazine. In addition Fleury, a character from STANDISH, did an interview on "In Their Own Words," a blog where authors can do interviews with their characters from their books. Congratulations!

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Karen Mercury has received a nice review for her newest African historical, STRANGELY WONDERFUL:

The setting gives this novel all the strangeness the reader could desire, and is written with a sly irony by the author, who received high acclaim for her previous books, The Hinterlands and the Four Quarters of the World.

C.L. Rossman of Armchair Interviews

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Join us Sunday when we'll have a release party for Michelle Styles' holiday tale, A CHRISTMAS WEDDING WAGER.

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Happy Friday, and have a good weekend! Remember, if you don't get your announcements to me, I can give you your dues! If you have an announcement to make for next week, email Carrie! See you next week...

Thursday Thirteen: Scandalous Trends

By Carrie Lofty

Since we're talking this month about Standards of Beauty, I thought I'd compile a quick list of fashion trends that were considered scandalous in their day--some of which I'm displaying right now.

1. Underwear: I believe another of our contributors is covering this topic later in the month, but underwear was originally for fast women. A woman went without if she was respectable, at least until society began to make the gradual switch in the 19th century.

2. Going braless: Burning bras in the 1960s was a sign of protest in favor of feminism. I continue the tradition...because I'm still in my pajama top.

3. Short hair: As Delia mentioned last week, any woman who cut her hair in the 1920s caused a scandal. Short hair had briefly and intermittently been popular before, particularly the Titan haircut among the merveilleuses of late 18th century/early 19th century France (much like this model is wearing).

4. Pants/Trousers: Argh! Women in men's clothing! How crazy is that?

5. Stockings: Stockings have always caused a stir. From pink ones worn by the merveilleuses (beneath a pale shift, the pink made their legs show through) to flesh-colored in the 1920s to those hot 'n' sexy seamed ones from the WWII era, stockings draw attention to the leg and always have the potential to cause a stir.

6. Make-up: Can I live without foundation? Heck no, not with my skin. But then there's rouge, lipstick, etc. An ordinary girl wouldn't be caught dead in makeup in the 19th century, or more like, she'd BE dead if her family found out. And in much of the 18th century, a noblewoman wouldn't be caught dead without it. The presence or absence of make-up has always wagged tongues.

7. Athletic shoes: When Chris Evert began her ascendancy in the world of women's tennis, she not only popularized the tennis bracelet but the casual use of athletic shoes among women. Until then, women who wanted a casual shoe went for loafer or flats. Then the 80s brought us high tops and the LA Gear craze, normalizing sports shoes as a part of daily life. Now, what would I do without my Skechers? Unthinkable.

8. Dyed hair: Hair dye used to be the exclusive domain of prostitutes. But much like make-up, I'm assuming certain women cheated a bit, especially those women with more money and influence.

9. Underarm hair: Like bra burning, the choice to go without shaving was a statement in favor of feminism and remains controversial. When Julia Roberts appeared in early 2006 with obvious underarm hair, the media went wild.

10. The Mini: What would 60s fashion have been without the mini skirt? As an echo of the 1920s flapper dress, the miniskirt defined all that was groovy about the mod lifestyle. This photo is of Yves St. Laurent and his models.

11. Fur: Although fur has been an integral part of fashion since prehistoric times, it stands among one of the modern era's most controversial fashion decisions. When a woman wears fur today, she is making a statement that many find offensive.

12. The bikini: Although two-piece garments have even been depicted in ancient Greek artifacts, the modern bikini debuted in 1946, the creation of engineer Louis Reard and fashion designer Jacques Heim. They hired French nude dancer Micheline Bernardini to model the suit.

13. The Afro: The 60s were a hotbed of fashionable political statements. African Americans showed their enthusiasm for the civil rights movement and "black is beautiful" pride by letting their hair grow naturally, without the use of chemical straighteners or pomades.

Which of these trends are now normal for you? Can you think of other controversial fashion trends? What trends from today cause the biggest stir?

Standards of Beauty:But... they're BALD!

By Bonnie Vanak

Ancient Egyptians were extremely intelligent, articulate and educated, but they were kind of a weird lot. Face it, for all their sophistication, (they had the first toilets, how’s that for advancing humankind?) they looked strange.

They wore white linen kilts. Were bald beneath those extravagant wigs. Shaved their heads. Makes sense, given the lice and fleas setting up housekeeping in human hair, but still...

Bald. As cue balls.

And the men's liberal use of kohl for eye liner would make Jack Sparrow blush. Sure, they did it to reduce glare from the brutal sunlight, but still...

Bald men. With eyeliner. In skirts. Somehow, that doesn't make me think whoa, hot Alpha male warning ahead. Steaming hot manly man.

And yet, these men were an ancient Egyptian woman's ideal of hunk. Put a bald, cosmetics-draped guy before her and she'd go weak at the knees as if her limbs turned to cooked noodles, like a teenage girl drooling over Justin Timberlake (the younger version).

Beauty is in the eye of the cultural beholder.

The theme is significant throughout my May 2008 Egyptian historical, The Scorpion & the Seducer. I wanted to touch upon a very real aspect of the Edwardian period; the prejudice of English aristocrats against Egyptians. Jasmine, the heroine, is Egyptian by birth, daughter of a despot sheikh and his former concubine.

Thomas, who falls in love with her, is an English earl who was raised to consider Egyptians as inferior. His fellow peers regard beautiful women as the wealthy, fair-skinned and slender English women of their class. Yet Thomas breaks a social moray to spend time with Jasmine, even at the risk of losing status among his social set. He sees beauty not with his eyes but with his heart, past the seemingly insurmountable barriers of race, class and culture.

In Egypt, Jasmine is deemed lovely. With inky black curls tumbling down her backside, full breasts and swaying hips, midnight eyes and nut brown skin, she's a classic example of Egyptian grace and beauty.

Put her among the peaches and cream women of Edwardian England and she's an ugly duckling. And like the ugly duckling, she's chased straight out of the pond by squawking ducks claiming she doesn't fit in.

Victorian and Edwardian English society considered Egyptians mentally deficient. Literature from the period describes Egyptians as stupid and ignorant peasants. In desperately trying to assimilate into a new land and culture, Jasmine runs headfirst into this prejudice. Try as she might, she can't batter down the heavy doors barring her entrance into high society.

Not when the cream of the beau monde calls her "the brown scorpion."

Standards of beauty are a funny thing. What one culture or class considers lovely can be regarded as plain, or even downright ugly, by another. Just like me pondering those ancient Egyptian men with their shiny domes, kilts and eye cosmetics.

Then again, come to think of it, Yul Brynner in The Ten Commandments as Ramses, hmmm, very masculine. Sexy. A hunk. Kohl and all. Ok, changed my mind.

Beauty is in the eye of the cultural beholder. And sometimes, if you look hard enough, you can shatter the barriers encompassing your own standards of beauty.

What about you? What do you consider a standard of both male and female beauty when you write, or read a book?

Standards of Beauty:Dangerous Beauty

By Lisa Yarde

While the modern age may seem to be taking beauty rituals to the extreme, women have always resorted to dangerous methods of making themselves lovelier and more attractive. The use of Botox, implants and other cosmetic treatments, designed to maintain a youthful appearance have their parallels throughout history.

During the Turkic Ottoman Empire, the female occupants of the Sultan's harem vied to hold their masters' heart with a variety of rituals that increased beauty. Rhusma is a depilatory, a mixture of caustic lime (a corrosive element) and orpiment, a by-product of arsenic. Turkish women applied rhusma all over their bodies to remove all hair and after a quick rinse, they used a bronze scraper to remove the mixture. It had the effect of whitening the skin, but if left on for longer than necessary, rhusma could cause painful burns as it corroded the skin.

Meanwhile in Renaissance Italy, the counterparts of Ottoman women used belladonna to appear more attractive (belladonna is Italian for beautiful lady). Native to Europe, belladonna is one of the most toxic plants in the world. Italian women refined an extract of belladonna as part of their beautification. With one drop in both eyes, belladonna dilated their pupils, simulating the natural state of arousal where a person's pupils became dilated. Prolonged use of belladonna caused permanent blindness, but before the onset of it, many women also experienced increased heart rates and prolonged blurred vision as constant complaints.

In the Victorian era, upper class women mixed white arsenic, vinegar and chalk to consume or rub on their skins to improve their complexions and reduce the natural wrinkling of aging skin. It had the effect of whitening their skin, but arsenic is a potent poison, known from ancient times as the weapon of choice among nobility and royalty for dispatching rivals permanently. Ingesting it consistently resulted in absorption into the blood stream. Deaths sometimes resulted from organ failure.

These historic rituals give new meaning to the phrase, "dying to be beautiful."

Strangely Wonderful Winner

We have a winner for Karen's Strangely Wonderful release party: Angela Willis! Contact Karen by e-mail to get her your home addresses. Prize must be claimed by next Sunday or another winner will be drawn. Please stop back later to let us know what you thought of her newest release. Congratulations!

Guest Author: Susan Flanders

Our guest author today is Susan Flanders, a royal historian who has specialized as a "writer of queens." A contributor to The Royalist and member of the Historical Novel Society, the Beau Monde chapter of RWA, and the American Christian Fiction Writers, Susan also maintains a blog and a MySpace page devoted to her love of royal history. As of yet unpublished, Susan has a manuscript under consideration with Highland Press. She's stopping by today to discuss her favorite subject!

Is all this royalty stuff really in your head?
The answer is yes, most of it is, and I compose the blog while I sit on my bed and occasionally refer to one or two books to check a date or quote--so I don't look like an idiot. But, after 23 years of research, I just had to do something with the knowledge I had in my head.


How do you find all these tidbits?
Once there is a subject I am interested in, I'll sit with every book I have and open them all up and spend days reading everything about the time frame I am interested in. That's how I put the puzzle together. One book will leave you with a question and then another book answers another piece of the puzzle. Sometimes I do this just to amuse myself, and at other times I do it because I'm seriously researching. Also, after you've read the same story over and over again twenty times---well, some it starts to sink in.

How many books do you have?
Probably 200 books on the royal families of the world, queens, princesses, memoirs of servants, letters, picture books. When I get interested in a queen or princess, I'm not content to read one or two books; I want to read them all. I'll read anywhere between four to eight biographies. Then I keep them for future reference. On some of the royals, there are no biographies or only one---that's where the tricky part comes in.


When did you feel you were on to something unusual and different?
When someone read a scene I wrote about the death of a queen's husband, and said I had written it as if I had been in the room with the queen and had observed it all personally. That hit me like a ton of bricks. In my own mind I feel like I had been there.

Why did you start a blog on queens?
Everybody kept saying "Why are you keeping all this to yourself? Why don't you start a blog or a site on queens? There aren't any!" And I thought...if I am interested in what really went on behind those palace walls, perhaps others would be too. The blog isn't too intellectual or historical. I just try to relate some the more interesting facts of their personal lives, their pain and their joy. Just because they lived in opulence and had servants at their beck and call, that did not make things easy or perfect for them. Many of the queens and princesses really lived dreadful, agonizing and tortured lives.


Ultimately, what would you like to do with all this royal knowledge?
First and foremost I want to enjoy it. I think that the love I have for it shows and maybe that's why it's so...well, original. At least that's what people tell me. And I seriously want to get to the royal archives in England for a couple of months, but it will take a few bucks to do that and a plane ticket! But that's what I'm aiming for. And I'm creating novels set inside real palaces where the reader becomes intimately involved with the royal subject, seeing how they lived and what they did and how hard it really was to survive in the royal court. Remember, they couldn't be intimate or too familiar with anyone. It was a hard and difficult place to survive in. Some queens managed to create their own unique courts and mastered them with an iron hand. Other royal courts were treacherous and filled with so much jealousy and evil that it swallowed up the queen entirely, sucking the life out of her. As is all things, only the strongest survive.

What are you working on now?
Right now I'm writing about the young Queen Victoria as she braces herself for her accession to the throne of England and tries to free herself from that tangled web. She was much stronger than most people think, and at a young age took control of her own life and pushed away her domineering mother. That in itself saved her and the Kingdom. It's really amazing that the young Queen---Alexandrina Victoria---did as well as she did and even survived! The novel is titled ROYAL ENTANGLEMENTS.


I'm also trying to find a nourishing home--whether it be with a group of writers, just to have fun--or the right publisher or agent who loves the royals as I do and believes in this. I really want to leave a legacy behind or create something of interest for others to enjoy. But I'm not pushing it. It will work out when it's meant to. In the meantime I get to be with my queens and enjoy them. Ha! Notice I called them my queens? Well, I guess they have to be mine a little longer, and then they can be yours to read about. I'll take out all the boring parts for you.

Do you have any questions for Susan? What favorite queen intrigues you?

Good luck with all your endeavors, Susan, and thanks for stopping by.

Weekly Announcements

Bonnie Vanak's new website is up. Also, Bonnie and her long-time buddy Jennifer Ashley are running a special blog contest to celebrate their fifth year of publishing and to help out debut Dorchester authors. One lucky winner will receive a book from the backlists of Bonnie, Jennifer and Colleen Thompson. Details can be found at either Bonnie's blog or Jennifer's.

Also, Bonnie's December Silhouette Nocturne release, THE EMPATH, received four stars from Romantic Times BookClub magazine and a 5/5 rating from Night Owl Romance. Little Sunshine of Night Owl Romance wrote:

Ms. Vanak's THE EMPATH is a force to be reckoned with as this author has concocted a smooth and sensual story guaranteed to please readers longing for strong characters intertwined with magical and mystical beings. This story is a recommended read and I will definitely be looking for other releases by Ms. Vanak!

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Anna C. Bowling's QUEEN OF THE OCEAN received a B review from Jayne at Dear Author.

Honestly I wasn't quite sure how you'd end it but I enjoyed the heroine's quick witted response and the joy between the two of them. And you even manage to include enough about the villains so that they're not totally two dimensional.

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Carrie Lofty's short story SUNDIAL, the winner of The Wild Rose Press's "Through the Garden Gate" contest, Vintage (1950s-60s) Category, will be published in December.

Amber Schulman stepped into a lush English garden in 2007, only to arrive in breathtaking Sorrento, Italy--in 1958. The only person who understands her confusion is fellow time traveler Mark Lacey, a New Yorker who comes from the land of cassette tapes and Reaganomics. His dark, world-weary eyes beckon her with secrets and sensuality. But why does he seem so familiar?

Trapped in the past since he was a teen, Mark wants nothing to do with another whining newcomer. But the blue-eyed Aussie might be able to answer the one question that haunts him: Do I ever get back to 1987? From soccer to samba to sex, Amber tempts him with a zeal for life and love, pulling him free of his lonely isolation.

But getting home proves easier than they imagined. How will their love endure when Amber returns to her time--and Mark to his?

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Jean Adams' Egyptian time travel, ETERNAL HEARTS, now has a web trailer. ETERNAL HEARTS is coming soon from Highland Press.

Also, Jean's manuscript PRINCE OF SECRETS finaled in the Wallflower Contest sponsored by the From the Heart Romance Writers. The category was "Best Opening Hook," and her MS will be one of three judged by editor Brenda Chin of Harlequin.

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Michelle Styles' latest release, A CHRISTMAS WEDDING WAGER, has received a great review from Loretta over at Barbara Vey's Publisher's Weekly blog:

An intriguing and unusual romantic tale and I enjoyed every page of it. The lovely heroine and the handsome, rich hero involved themselves in a "thrust and parry" fashion towards each other throughout the book. ... The villain fit his role exceedingly well and I wanted to hiss him aloud. My only wish was that the story was longer or that there may eventually be a sequel.

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Join us Sunday when our guest blogger will be Susan Flanders, royal historian.

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Happy Friday, and have a good weekend! Remember, if you don't get your announcements to me, I can give you your dues! If you have an announcement to make for next week, email Carrie! See you next week...

Thursday Thirteen: It was Hot Stuff for Them

By Anna C. Bowling

It's a good thing beauty is subjective. What makes one person look twice might make another giggle or even look the other way. When looking over the vast expanse of time from the first caveperson who etched a picture of their significant other on a wall to the present day, there have been fashion, hair and cosmetic choices that can serve as attractors or exactly the opposite, depending on where and when they are viewed. Some things are timeless, and others make us wonder how there came to be a next generation if this is what eligible mates wore. How would your hero or heroine react to any of the below on their beloved?

1. Muttonchop whiskers
2. Handlebar Mustache
3. Periwig
4. Tricorne hat
5. Hennin headdress
6. Cap with lappets
7. 1970s Leisure Suit
8. Zoot Suit
9. 1960s bouffant hair
10. Fichu
11. Bloomers (of the undergarment variety)
12. Mobcap
13. Really, really, really big hair

What's your favorite fashion horror flashback?

Standards of Beauty:The Beauty of Kenya

By Jennifer Mueller

Everyone always hears of the beautiful landscapes and the abundance of wildlife that fill the national parks of Kenya. Iconic names that fill your mind with images even if you've never seen them in person. Maasai Mara perhaps the most well known, the Kenyan side of the Serengeti. But the standards of beauty in a country where you're surrounded by the Rift Valley and Lions, and Elephants are just a different as the land. With 42 tribes making up the Kenyan fabric, though, saying one is all there is rather leaves out a lot of the story.

The Maasai and their cousins the Samburu are perhaps the most famous of the Kenyan tribes. Every movie it seems uses them to represent Africa. They are the ones who used to drink the blood of the cattle they raised instead of eating them. The men covered in red ochre, often with long plaited hair, were once known as the fiercest warriors. When killing a lion with nothing more than a spear was a test of manhood, the fact that the men often sat around preening, as many might call it, give a whole other impression. At the stage when they would be fighting, that is their only role protection. They spend several years as the guards before moving to the next age set, when they are of age to marry. If there is no protection needed they spend, their time on their looks to attract girlfriends.

They are one of the more traditional tribes in Kenya, and finding the men and women in traditional dress isn't hard, even today. The women are known for wearing many layers of beads around their necks, and while red is still a favored color, it now comes from dyes instead of ochre.

Here's an excerpt from my novel, Samburu Hills:

Celeste lay in bed as the contraction hit hard. She was going to die in the middle of Africa without anyone knowing she was gone. Damn good thing Nicholas was already dead. Breathing hard, she started laughing as the pain eased. If she died, she could go kill his ghost.

"Memsahib."

Celeste opened her eyes slowly, not recognizing the voice. Had Zahra actually spoken to her? She was the only one there. No, not the only one there, an older Samburu woman in her fifties with a closely shaved head stood there too. She had never seen one of the Samburu up close before. Two bottom teeth missing and long distended earlobes. She wore only a skirt and cape of skins dyed with ochre, iron band necklaces and bracelets that coiled on her fore and upper arms. Sayid had told her about them and the many inches of mpooro engiro, the elephant hair necklaces the older women wore, even though European beads were becoming popular. They were received at marriage, and hers were thick enough to support her chin.

"I brought someone to help with the toto kuja. The child to come. Her name is Nakadi Lelepokachau," her husband's mistress said.

Celeste closed her eyes as another contraction hit. Lying there when it was over, she was lifted up and a cup forced to her mouth. She was too exhausted to fight it.

In the Kikuyu, the largest tribe and the one that played the biggest part in Out of Africa, the brides wore a headdress made of large hoops round their whole head, while the older married women would have the hoops all in the bunch at the back of their heads. The men could usually be identified by the colobus monkey fur that they wore. The Kikuyu speak Bantu a groups of languages that make them cousins to several tribes in the area. The Embu, Ndia, Meru, Chuka, and Mbeere, the last of which I lived with for two years.

I can say without a doubt that the traditional dress is gone from the area. The woman would be scandalized to wear it. There are pictures of them in the 40s, and even then they had trouble finding the traditional clothing. They would often pluck their eyelashes to give them a modest look and a natural gap between their front teeth was one sign of beauty.

To the north of the country, there are a number of tribes that don't fit the typical mold when you think of Africa. The Gabbra and Borana, as Joy Adamson put it, could have stepped straight from the Old Testament. With straight plaited hair unlike any other tribes in the area, even now they wear necklaces made of squares of aluminum to simulate the older version where the small squares were cut of stone. Leading camels about, they dress in flowing clothes wrapped around them that blow in the wind. The women in the colorful robes are found everywhere. The men, however, are all in white with a turban. The iconic picture of the north of the country depicted on the back of the 50 shilling note is actually still to be found.

Arab, Somali, Ethiopian, and Kenya all merge at the coast. Where Islam flourishes, women wear buibui like in the Middle East. Arab traders established routes down the coast of Africa, and the Portuguese set up a fort in Mombasa in the 1500s. There are Chinese names in the island of Lamu off the Kenyan coast from shipwrecked sailors. The beauty of Kenya takes many forms.

Standards of Beauty:The 1920s, A Fashion Revolution

By Delia Deleest

In the 1920s everything seemed to be rising, from the stock markets, to hair and skirt lengths and eyebrows in response to the aforementioned hair and skirt lengths.

No more were pale, curvaceous beauties in their tightly tied corsets of the Victorian and Edwardian ages the accepted forms of beauty. The 'moderns' of the Jazz age needed loose-fitting clothing so they were better able to kick their heels up in the scandalous new dance, The Charleston. No longer did they calmly sit on the sidelines as their men showed off their athletic prowess. Now young women were right out there on the tennis courts or golf courses and not in the confining long skirts of the past.

Modern girls wore short comfortable dresses or even *gasp* pants. When wearing those short dresses, women further scandalized the establishment by wearing flesh-colored stockings instead of the accepted black. When they started rolling them down, not only exposing dainty knees to the open air, but taking it another step further and rouging those knees, the older generation's shock knew no ends.

Not everyone was pleased with the decade's free and easy fashions. A law in Washington DC in 1922 stated a bathing suit could not be shorter than six inches above the knees. And there were plenty of defenders of decency to make sure no one was trying to get away with anything. Adventurous young beach-goers found themselves in jail on decency charges, but that didn't stop them from asserting their new fashion independence.

In the early part of the decade, only wild women had their hair cut into a 'bob,' the blunt, chin-length haircut. Daughters found themselves grounded until their hair grew back, while some short-haired wives found their husbands no longer speaking to them. But by the second half of the twenties, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone under the age of forty sporting anything longer than shoulder-length tresses.

When the stock market dropped, so did skirt lengths. Gone were the free and easy twenties. The Depression brought with it a new seriousness that showed itself in fashion. That doesn't mean that the fashion gains of the Roaring Twenties were gone though. Women enjoyed their new-found freedom of dress and held tightly to it. The 1920s gave us the freedom in clothing that we enjoy today. So next time you pop on your bikini to head to the beach, send up a silent thanks to those brave ladies who fought the battle to bare their knees to the world so you didn't have to.

Standards of Beauty:Elizabethan Ideal Beauty

By Marianne LaCroix

The definition of the "ideal" beauty changes over time. These days, fashion magazines portray beautiful women with luscious tans and long flowing hair as the ideal beauty to many modern women. As such, women do their best to imitate this ideal with tanning beds, cosmetics and hair extensions. The imitation is not much different now than it was in Elizabethan times.

The Elizabethan ideal beauty was one with alabaster white skin, red lips and cheeks, bright eyes and fair hair. Pale skin was extremely important to the definition of the courtly beauty of the time. It was s sign of nobility, wealth and delicacy. Ceruse, an ointment of white lead and vinegar, was applied to the face and neck to help achieve this look. Only the very wealthy could afford ceruse, and the lead was very unhealthy and did cause numerous skin problems. Some advised against its use, opting for other products made from egg white, talc, alum and tin ash. In a time of small pox, the use of this type of concealing face paste hid many imperfections. For the lips and cheeks, mercuric sulfide was favored for its vermilion color.

High hairline, perfectly arched brows and bright eyes were also standards of Elizabethan beauty. Many plucked their eyebrows and their hairline back at least an inch to give that aristocratic look of the fashionable high forehead. Kohl was used to outline eyes, and sometimes, women used belladonna to brighten their eyes.

Women strove to achieve fair hair by dying their hair. One substance (by today's standards, completely disgusting) used was urine. Those who could not achieve the fair look typically wore wigs. Wigs were also used for those who went bald or to simplify their lives rather than dealing with their own hair. The hair styles varied, but the tightly curled front was the most popular.

Queen Elizabeth I was the guiding image of ideal beauty. She set the standard that many women of her time tried to imitate. No other queen in English history had such an impact on fashion as her.

Marianne LaCroix
The Gladiator - New Concepts Publishing
Sea Hawk's Mistress - Ellora's Cave
Stolen by the Sheikh - Red Rose Publishing
Crossed Swords - Ellora's Cave 11/23/2007

Release Party: Strangely Wonderful

It's 1828, and life is good for the pirates Of Madagascar...

On Tuesday, Karen Mercury's third Medallion release, STRANGELY WONDERFUL, hit the shelves. So of course we had to feature her today! Here's the cover copy:

Their Captain is the Hungarian Count Tomaj Balashazy, a refugee from the United States Navy. Count Balashazy rules the coast from his tropical plantation, a fortress built against enemies he's made cruising the Indian Ocean. Tomaj feels guilt at the loss of his family in New Orleans, and he wallows in clouds of opium, soothed by courtesans. When the American naturalist Dagny Ravenhurst, seeking the dreaded and mystical aye-aye lemur, falls into Tomaj's lagoon, it's the beginning of the end of arcadian bliss on the island.

In the central highlands, the French industrialist Paul Boneaux commands his empire of factories. As the special pet of psychotic Malagasy Queen Ranavalona, Boneaux enjoys a monopoly over all manufacturing, commerce, and his mistress. Beholden to Boneaux, Dagny and her two brothers need his patronage to survive. Dagny's joyless scientific heart melts for the Count's poetic nature, pitting the two adversaries against each other. Boneaux yearns for progress and industry, Tomaj for liberty and peace.

When the King dies--or is he murdered?--the Queen gives free reign to her merciless anti-European impulses.The island boils with blood, and only one world can emerge triumphant. In Madagascar's utopian paradise, all is...STRANGELY WONDERFUL

Here's our Q&A with author and world traveler extraordinaire Karen Mercury:

STRANGELY WONDERFUL is your third historical fiction set in Africa. What drew you to writing about Africa?

I honestly think it's a past life thing. When I was four, there was a little Norwegian boy across the street who constantly talked about "Acica." He averred there were "dinosaurs in the sky" there, and for about a year, we lived in this entire realm involving volcanoes in "Acica." As will happen with small kids, it was reality to us. Steiner moved away. Then out of the blue, when I was about eleven, I had this vivid dream. I was a black man on a pristine white beach, and this fellow ran out of the jungle yelling "The mountain exploded!" As my mind's eye pulled back, I saw this flat-topped snowy mountain, and a voice whispered in my ear one word: Kwale. Kwale. I instantly knew how to spell it, and when I awoke, I zoomed to my mother's atlas.

Kwale is a small town on the coast of Kenya. About 500 miles away from Mt. Kilimanjaro, an extinct flat-topped snowy volcano.

Could "science" explain this? My mother tried to tell me I'd seen a TV show on it, somehow. No, I didn't. There had to be some other answers, so talk about literally following your dreams, when I was 21 I got a one-way plane ticket to Africa. In other matters, I'm so dense--that just now writing this--I made the connection between Steiner's volcanoes and the one in my dream.

So yes, the Cliff's Notes version is, I've traveled overland across sub-Saharan Africa a few times. I started in Cairo once, took a leaky dhow up the Nile through the Aswan High Dam, and I don't particularly feel any affinity for Egypt. Your soap is burning hot at four in the morning! I have absolutely no interest in Egyptian history, although I do enjoy Bonnie Vanak's books for their adventure. I feel much more at home in the "miasmatic swamps" of Central Africa. I've never felt more at home. I finally sat on a beach in Kwale and realized that.

What was the most surprising thing you discovered while researching Madagascar?

You know, the strangest thing happened--usually I first delve into the political history of a country. With Madagascar, I realized off the bat the most interesting thing was the natural history of the island--the lemurs, the extinct dodo birds and the coelacanth--the bizarre "Cretaceous" fish that still occasionally washes up around the Comoros. I'm not sure which is the oddest. Scientists still theorize that Madagascar busted away from the mainland a trazillion billion years ago (sorry, once again, not a scientist, but would LOVE to pretend to be one on TV), and as a result you have "strange extinct animals, sprouting a wild assortment of endemic beings found nowhere else: fragile orchids that could only live under glass, coral masquerading as swords and lace, mythical underground caverns where translucent blind fish bumped into rocks, and animals without backbones fell over..."

So, of course, I made my heroine a naturalist, which is what they used to call a botanist and biologist--back then they didn't specialize. She meets the hero while she's climbing onto a branch to collect the rarest of rare orchids...and falls into his pirate lagoon.

John Cleese, of all people, made the best Madagascar video ever, and it's going for like $78 on eBay! I finally obtained a copy, and he saw first-hand how the lemurs adapted to the "spiny forest" environment of Southern Madagascar. These lemurs have this Darwinian ability to leap twenty feet from thorny tree to thorny tree and somehow avoid all of the spikes, and then do some amazing sashaying dances on the ground, and to this day, no one knows how they do it. Well, if John Cleese is amazed, then I'm amazed.

Your books contain a lot of humor. To what do you attribute that?

It's not something I intended. As a teenager, I realized that most of the scenes I'd written that I wished to read over and over were mostly humorous. Once I realized I wanted to become a "serious" writer, I eviscerated all of the "humorous" scenes from my manuscripts. "None of that allowed in here! This is some serious shit here!" THE HINTERLANDS, my first published book, was the first book where I just allowed the humor to stay in. Apparently everyone liked it.

Humor is inexplicable. I don't consider myself a humorous writer. Sometimes I'll be writing a funeral scene, and in the middle of nowhere, a character will bust out with the most hysterical stuff I've ever seen in my life. (Yes, I am one of those writers who thinks their characters act independently of them). Conversely, I'll be writing a scene where I'm certain comedy might come into the picture, and it turns out like a funeral scene, with Dostoevskian characters busting in making dramatic statements and everyone acting dour.

I have no idea where it comes from. I do believe that humor isn't something Abbott + Costello suddenly invented. There was a lot of humor in history. Just like we didn't suddenly invent sex. Just ask Sir Richard Burton.

I don't purposefully set out to be humorous--I'm afraid that might ruin it, if I purposefully tried. I just let the shit fall where it may. I'd hate to be a stand up comedian who had to be "on" all the time--how on earth do they do that? That must be more stressful than being a historical fiction author.

What books are you reading now?

Not having much time for fiction, I need an entire TBR room (don't we all?). I'm a member of the Historical Novel Society and just attended their conference in New York in June, so I picked up a bunch of great stuff there. I absolutely adored THE SWEET BY AND BY written by Jeanne Mackin. I talk that book up every chance that I get. She wrote about the Fox sisters, who inadvertently started the Victorian Spiritualism movement. Gorgeously written book--just a pleasure to read. I recently speed-ordered SWITCHING TIME, a nonfiction about a shrink who treated a gal with seventeen personalities. Could not put it down.

What's next for you?

I just finished writing a historical erotic paranormal set in Zanzibar in 1876, a time and place I know well. A lot of this alleged comedy came out while I wrote it. As is turns out, this wandering showman who is a marionettist and a puppeteer is the Assistant Consul at the American Embassy there, and when the real Consul shows up, and a bunch of dead bodies appear, the shit hits the fan. It involves the Sultan of Zanzibar, bath houses, levitation, and Spiritualism.

Any advice?

Never try to "write to the market." Stay true to yourself. Your own voice will come through, and allow that to happen. A lot of readers don't like explicit sex. Nothing wrong with that. There's always a market for what you have to say.

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Thanks for your thoughtful answers, Karen!

You can purchase STRANGELY WONDERFUL online through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, or Books-a-Million.

Ask your own question or leave a comment for the chance to win a copy of STRANGELY WONDERFUL. One random commenter will be chosen this time next week. Check back to see if you've won.