Category: Uncategorized
Clothing Makes the Man (or Woman) – A Plea for a Return to A More Civilized Dress Code
I’ve been thinking about the power of clothing.
I do this a lot because I am both a) rather strangely obsessed with historical clothing and b) profoundly dissatisfied with how we dress in modern times. Look around you – almost nobody looks spiffy. Rather, nearly everyone looks like they thought they would be spending the day lolling about on the floor of a college dorm room ( even the 50 year old executives on the metro on “casual Friday”) or like they’ve been under the weather so they never quite got out of their sweats.
It used to be that clothes reflected a person’s status. Sumptuary laws made certain that only those at the top of the pecking order were allowed to wear certain materials. You knew a king when you saw one. I am not advocating a return to class-distinction by wardrobe. By no means. But who would have predicted when dress was democratized that a race to the bottom would begin? Yet today, after hundreds of years during which tradesmen and later the middle class tried to dress up a socio-economic level (or two), people willingly leave their homes in such a slovenly state that, but for their hygiene and the fact they have their teeth, they could pass for peasants.
All this “casual” dress is done in the name of comfort, but there is no reason in the world why nice, properly pressed clothing can’t be comfortable. And if it is not as comfortable as just throwing on any old rumpled thing, isn’t personal pride worth a modicum of sacrifice?
Yesterday over at Steampunk.com there was a discussion of the 2013 Prada Fall/Winter line. They were, of course, interested in the steampunkiness of the collection but I saw lots of historical references in the garments. I was struck by just how good the models all looked—even Willem Dafoe who has looked slightly seedy and decrepit for years. They look powerful, confident, sharp and generally more attractive then when you see them in modern clothing (go ahead, Google Gary Oldman and compare an image of him in street clothing to those of him in the Prada). This confirmed something I’ve suspected for a long time—almost everyone looks better “dressed-up” (as in properly, neatly and relatively formally attired).
If you want further proof compare pictures from people in your own life when they look “thrown together” with those where they are “sharply dressed.” I mean there is a reason we tend to put on more formal clothing for auspicious occasions—we want to look our best. You didn’t wear flip flops, sweats and a tee-shirt for your wedding right? (please, PLEASE tell me you didn’t). To illustrate my point, here are two pictures of the same young man (a daughter’s boyfriend). In the first he is dressed in typical college wear, in the other in a vintage bespoke 1939 tailcoat. Not close is it?
I concede (though it gives me no pleasure) that the days of dressing for dinner are past, and that going back to styles which require the assistance of a valet or ladies maid is out of the question. But surely it is not too late to bring back pride in personal appearance and the idea that different clothing is appropriate for different settings (work vs. cutting your lawn)?
Maybe what we really need is this fellow. Is he rude in this sketch—yes. Is it meant to be funny—of course. But have we all seen people dressed like this and thought they were “a turd”—I sure have.
A Little Author Frivolity – Tag & Book Teasers
I’ve been tagged by author, Erika Robuck, whose novel Hemingway’s Girl will be out this September with NAL (same imprint as The Sister Queens). To play the game, she instructed me to do the following:
1. Go to the 77th page of my latest book (or wip – author’s choice).
2. Count down 7 lines.
3. Copy the 7 sentences that follow, and post them as a teaser.
4. Tag 7 other authors.
In this scene from The Sister Queens, Eleanor of Provence’s brother-in-law, the Earl Richard, returns to the English royal court furious over the secret marriage of his sister to Simon de Montfort. The Earl confronts King Henry III during court festivities, interrupting Eleanor and Henry while they are dancing. Without further ado, here are seven sentences (or thereabouts) from the 77th page of The Sister Queens:
Her welfare? If that is all that worries you, be done. Lady Montfort is quite abundantly happy with her situation.” For the first time Henry looks in my direction. “Is that not so Eleanor? Our sister writes to the Queen glowingly of her new husband.”
“This is not a fanciful troubadour’s romance! It is a royal marriage! It ought not to be managed by women.”
My Uncle, silent himself, gives me a meaningful look, warning me to hold my tongue.
Now, I’ll tag 7 brilliant authors to give us teasers of their own:
1. Kate Quinn
4. Erin Cashman
5. Mindy McGinnis
7. Lydia Netzer
Visit their websites in the next few days to get a peek into their latest work and discover who they’ll tag in turn. Nothing like a little game to start the weekend.
Happy 4-Week Birthday to my beloved book-baby. Since you are an inanimate object, Mommy gets the cupcake (chocolate please) 😉
Tell a Friend (or a Non-Friend)
When I became active on social media and started blogging I promised myself I was never going to use those tools to say “buy my book.” I made this vow primarily because such direct shilling makes me profoundly uncomfortable when I am on the receiving end of it.
Now, with the launch of my debut novel. The Sister Queens, only 2-weeks away (March 6th), and knowing as I do how important it is to sell well in the two weeks after the book debuts there is a considerable amount of temptation to break my word. As an individual who embraces “historical” values, however, I still believe “a man’s word is his bond” (ditto a woman’s word). So what to do? Make all the new friends I’ve made on twitter, facebook and through this website feel uncomfortable by hitting them up? Or remain silent and possibly miss sales?
As I tend to do whenever faced with unpalatable choices, I’ve imagined a third option (darn creative types, always imagining things). So today, and without breaking any promises, I am asking you to tell someone else to buy my book. You don’t have to spend a dime of your own money on The Sister Queens if you don’t want to, but please consider suggesting or recommending it to someone else.
How, you may ask, can I do that when I’ve never read The Sister Queens? Ah, but here’s the beauty of my suggestion—I didn’t specify WHO you should tell. If you suspect, based on your virtual acquaintance with me, that I am only good for 140 character quips and I probably should have stuck to Twitter, then recommend The Sister Queens to your mother-in-law, that lady in the next cubicle at work who talks too loudly on her phone about matters of personal hygiene, or any other person you are not particularly crazy about. Sale for me; revenge for you.
If, on the other hand, anything I’ve said in this forum or elsewhere has resonated with you or made you think, “that woman can write,” then please mention The Sister Queens to a friend. It won’t cost you anything and you will be doing me a big favor. Heck you might be doing your book-mad friend a favor too.
An Open Invitation to Join the Historical Novel Society Chesapeake Bay Chapter for a Launch Day Lunch
You know you LOVE historical fiction. And I know it too, or chances are you wouldn’t be hanging out at my website.
If you live in the metro Washington DC area here’s a chance to be surrounded by fellow historical-fiction devotees. The Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Historical Novel Society is holding its first official meeting on March 6th. The 6th is also launch day for The Sister Queens and that’s not a coincidence 🙂 There was some concern that if I wasn’t kept busy on release day I would sit at home obsessively checking my Amazon ranking. Many thanks to fellow authors Kate Quinn and Stephanie Dray for saving me from that horrible fate.
So, if you are in the mood for good food and better company, become part of HNS Chesapeake Bay Chapter TODAY. Then join us on March 6th at Food & Wine in Bethesda, MD. Check here for details.
Valentine Wishes
Happy Valentines Day to all my amazing followers!
Books ARE Magic. Believe!
I have a marvelous video to share to start the week. In my eyes it is more magical than many big-budget Hollywood special effects films.
The words of the final book say it all, “there is nothing like a real book.” This video is enchanting. If it doesn’t give you shivers you are not a real book lover. Enjoy!
My Year In Blogging — A Personal Top 5
In honor of the arrival of 2012 I am taking a look back at my very first year of blogging—2011. Here are the five blog posts—some written for “From the Write Angle” others for my personal blog—that I consider my best work.
The top of my list HAS to be “Voice, It’s Not Just for Manuscripts Anymore” discussing how essential it is for writers to infuse their query letters (the letters they use to try to attract a literary agent) with their unique voice.
I would posit that snagging an agent with a good query is NOT merely about what you say but is equally about HOW you say it. For those of you who have seen “The King’s Speech” (and if you haven’t, forget reading my post and get yourself that DVD) think of the moment at Westminster Abbey when Geoffrey Rush (playing speech therapist Lionel Logue) asks Colin Firth’s George VI of England, “Why should I waste my time listening to you?’ The King’s answer. . . “Because I have a voice.” If you want agents to listen to you, to pay attention to the punchy mini-synopsis of your oh-so-clever plot that you spent a gazillion drafts perfecting, then you’d better let the voice that imbues your manuscript sing out from your query letter as well.
Number two is “Give me A Little Kiss — Sex and the Historical Novelist,” in which I discuss and defend the place of sex in straight historical novels (not just historical romances).
The inclusion of sex in historical novels is neither good nor bad in a vacuum. It’s not the sexual content that determines whether a particular scene works—it’s whether that scene (sex or otherwise) has a REASON for being in the novel. Tossing in an orgy (or even a kiss) into your work of historical fiction without a solid reason is a bad idea. The scene will feel “added on,” and gratuitous sex is no more acceptable in a novel than gratuitous dialogue.
At number three I have selected my reflection on the very act of blogging itself and how it can become a digital distraction from the author’s most important task—writing books:
Blogging takes an enormous amount of time compared to most on-line community participation. A tweet is a quip; a facebook post can be a couple of sentences or a useful link. A blog requires topic selection, thoughtful analysis and a couple of hundred solid words in support of your argument.
So if blogging is such a huge time-suck, why do we do it?
Blog number four tackles the question of why our sisters (or more broadly our siblings) are NOT very much like us.
I’ve certainly had moments when I’ve thought how can my sister and I have had such a different experience of the same childhood or how could we have played the same games (together), walked to the same school (together) and heard the same family stories and yet turned out so very differently? If you have a sibling chances are you’ve had such thoughts as well. At the heart of my questions lay the idea that nurture shapes people, and since my sister and I were raised in the same environment that should have made us similar.
Turns out that’s just dead wrong when it comes to siblings. Being raised in the same environment helps to make us different.
And finally, sitting at number five, is the first blog I ever wrote—“Not THAT Sophie.” This one is all about the marketing lessons I learned from a teething toy. Half-a-year after I wrote it, as I struggle to build my author brand, I still marvel at the power of Sophie the Giraffe. And yes, she STILL comes up before I do in an Amazon search and she continues to top the ranks of baby items.
Coming behind a rubber toy in a “suggested search” list is a humbling experience. But when I looked more closely at Sophie G, I realized I could learn a thing or two. Sophie is NUMBER ONE in the Amazon “Baby” bestseller rankings (we will not discuss how far from number one I am on any list presently). She gets an average of 4.5 stars from reviewers. And she is able to command some serious cash for a figure only 7” tall. In fact, a single giraffe teether costs $7.00 more than a copy of my novel. Wow (hint to readers, buy the book – I don’t care if you chew on it).
Sophie G is obviously doing something right. Here’s what I think. . .
Happy New Year all!!!
Still a Few Hours Left to Enter to Win THE SISTER QUEENS
For all the “last minute” types out there, it’s down to the wire for the goodreads giveaway of The Sister Queens. So what are you waiting for?
This is your chance to get your hands on an ARC of the novel pre-release. And remember if you are reader of my blog and a winner, I’ll be delighted to send along a signed bookplate for your copy. Just contact me through my author website. Best of luck!
Thanksgiving Wishes
First a bit of holiday humor
Then—for those interested in some of “bumps turned to blessings” this writer is thankful for—a link to my post on that subject over at From the Write Angle. Just want to add that I am tremendously thankful for those of you who visit this space, and particularly those who occasionally leave me a thought provoking comment.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!