Archive for January, 2012

It is my privilege and pleasure to introduce you to our very own duchess, Anna Randol. Her debut novel hits the stores January 31, 2012, and it looks like a fabulous read!

Anna Randol

Duchess Ashlyn:  Your debut novel, A Secret in Her Kiss, is getting a lot of love from reviewers. For instance, Publisher’s Weekly named it one of their Top Ten in Romance and called it a “masterful debut… [that] spins a tale replete with mystery, espionage, and memorable romance.” Romantic Times said, “Randol has taken the Regency romance to a new level in an exciting, different setting that will have readers cheering.” How are you feeling about your release tomorrow?

Anna Randol:  It’s so surreal. This book had an incredibly long wait from when I sold until its release date (Two years!), so it’s amazing to think it is finally here. I’m excited to get this story into the hands of readers! I’ve also eaten about my own weight in chocolate to calm my nerves…

Duchess Ashlyn: Two years? Remind me to be patient as I await my own release. Do tell, what kind of chocolate?

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Manda Collins

Today, darlings, I am thrilled to introduce my friend and sister St. Martin’s Press Regency historical romance author, Manda Collins.

Manda’s highly anticipated debut, How to Dance with a Duke, hits stores and the web on January 31st and you can bet, I have this one pre-ordered.

Not only does it have one of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen (swoon/see below), but it’s already racking up a ton of accolades including a 4-star review from Romantic Times!

Manda and I share a publishing house, an editor, and a love of Regency romance novels.

Manda, we really must discuss what else we have in common some time, my dear. I’m sure there is much more.

But I digress. Let’s get to the real fun, your book!

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Five and twenty ponies,
Trotting through the dark -
Brandy for the Parson, ‘Baccy for the Clerk.
Laces for a lady; letters for a spy,
Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by!

  – A Smuggler’s Song by Rudyard Kipling

 I was perhaps 13 when I was first introduced to English smuggling in Watch The Wall, My Darling by Jane Aiken Hodge, which takes its name from Rudyard Kipling’s poem A Smuggler’s Song. I was fascinated by the smuggling aspect of the book–or perhaps I should say the smuggling hero! Of course, the book was dramatic and romantic and just the thing to pique a fledgling romance
writer’s imagination.

Captain Jack Sparrow

Now, I’m well aware smuggling is illegal, and smugglers aren’t glamorous or romantic in the least. But technically, neither are pirates. And look at Captain Jack Sparrow! (OK, I just had to throw that picture in because, well, yum.)

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The first thing people ask me when I tell them I write historical romance novels is, “What time period?”

“The English Regency!” I exclaim.

This is often followed by a furrowed brow (on their part) and a quick reply (on my part).

“Think Jane Austen,” I clarify.

“Ah, yes. Jane Austen.” A smile and a nod.

They get it.

Well, mostly.

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The Vulgar Tongue

In 2012, the Duchesses are starting the year off right. We’re setting a tone. We’re going to talk about bad words.

In the 1970s, George Carlin did a well-known comedy sketch entitled “Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television.” Some forty years later, you can say them on TV—at least as long as it’s cable.

One of the words that does not appear on George Carlin’s list, however, is “bloody” and yet this word was once considered so vulgar in certain contexts that it was not allowed to appear in print before sometime in the 1920s. It does appear in Francis Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue but with no indication as to its acceptability.

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