Tag: Regency Historical Romance

Overcoming Obstacles

This week for our How I Write series, my accountability group was asked, “What’s your current biggest obstacle to success? Name at least 3 things you can do improve your chances of overcoming obstacles.”

Ok, lemme ‘fess up here. I posed this question this week to my accountability group. And you know what sucks? This question sounded good in my head. It even looked good on the forum where my accountability group meets. However, when I realized I had to answer it too… it suddenly looked a lot more daunting. So forgive me, while I try to do this justice. I know it’s something I need to force myself to look at closely, answer honestly and use to build a game plan.

I’ve been skating by on minimal effort and making far too many excuses lately. And honestly, I’m not sure I can answer this with just one thing. I could point my finger in a number of directions: drive, follow-through, time management — hell, even blaming disruptions of my writing schedule on the people around me, but that one would mostly be a lie I tell myself to feel better. I still have the house to myself most days from around 9 am until noon or so, and I’ve failed to make the most of those hours.

I could also point to the many things I know are NOT obstacles. I can string a sentence together. I can even put together some workable paragraphs that read smoothly. I’ve been told I have a good historical voice. However, some spark is missing between me and the page. The ideas in my head aren’t translating properly. I get feedback that asks if I was going for a certain effect until I want to bash my head against the wall, because… Yes. Yes, that’s EXACTLY what I was trying to do. Only apparently, I didn’t quite.

So what’s my obstacle? Me. Sounds too easy right?

Lemme break it down by tackling three things I need to do in order to up my game and get past this hurdle.

First, and I’ve done this to some degree, but publicly own up to the idea that I am a professional writer. I just haven’t gotten paid for it. But in order to do so… I need to put in my hours and do the work. Nothing is going to write itself. To this end I’m renewing my commitment to use a time tracker on my iPad to make sure I log a minimum of 500 hours this calendar year toward justifying this as a business and not a hobby.

Second, I can’t let my head get in this place where nothing I do is any good. I’ve gotten fabulous feedback in some areas. I just need to work harder and improve the others. How exactly I’m going to accomplish this one? Yeah, I’m not sure either. I know what I can do toward this end is to take the valuable feedback I’ve gotten so far this year, and see if I can tease it apart from the exact manuscript, figure out how to make that work in general and then apply it back to the manuscripts in progress.

Third, I’m going to the RWA National Convention next week. This is part of the first step in treating what I’m doing more seriously, but also a great way to talk shop with experienced writers, take some workshops in some areas to get ideas on how to address the craft issues I’m having and also forcing myself out of my comfort zone and embracing that this is something I want to seriously pursue.

I think that last bit there is probably the most important piece of this post. “This is something I want to seriously pursue.” Pursue, not just allow to happen, not react to it happening around me, but to actively go out there after it, which I believe to be a very important piece of the puzzle when you’re looking at overcoming obstacles of any sort.

And if you’d like to read about the rest of my accountability group’s plans for overcoming obstacles, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

Indulging in Guilty Pleasures

This week for our How I Write series, my accountability group is talking about guilty pleasures, both in our regular lives and in our writing.

Guilty pleasures shouldn’t be ignored. Indulge in them, because there’s a good reason that you like them. It doesn’t matter that no one else gets why you like it. They don’t have to. What matters is that this activity feeds your soul, your muse or your happiness. Ignoring them means cutting off a part of what makes you, well, you.

Guilty Pleasures: Photo of several different dark chocolate bars. Notably from Chuao and Ghirardelli.
It may be cliché, but chocolate is ALWAYS a winner! The Maya bar has been there a while. Obviously not a favorite compared to the others, but it’s almost time to restock!

Everyday Life: Good Quality Dark Chocolate

I’ve always liked dark chocolate. But since my DH and I started following the Paleo Diet and gave up grains, potatoes, legumes and most sugar, we needed to find a treat that was indulgent, yet also had some benefits associated with it. One of the suggestions made was an ounce or so of dark chocolate for dessert. Preferably above 70% cacao to get the antioxidant benefits.

Most times we stretch this a bit and will go as low as 60% cacao for our favorite chocolate bars from Chuao (pronouced Chew-wow!). It’s a fairly local chocolatier with several shops in the local malls, but they are also stocked in our local grocery stores for slightly less. The first time we went in one of the stores they were trying out new flavors. One of those was a chocolate bar with potato chips in it. Oh, did I forget to mention that they’re a very artisan type chocolatier? They’ve got some really cool flavors: Honeycomb, Caracas (a pistachio/almond/hazelnut mix), and Firecracker (one with cinnamon and cayenne in it). Our favorite is the Caracas even though it’s Guilty because it has closer to 60% cacao, but Pleasure because it’s the flavor we like best and it’s not the worst thing we could be eating.

Our other standbys are Ghirardelli bars. They have an Intense Dark chocolate line that’s wonderful. This line ranges from Midnight (86% which is a tad TOO intense for us. It’s more of a gritty than a smooth feeling.), Twilight (72% – not too gritty and above 70%!), Evening (60% – below the threshhold for us except for special treats and we prefer the Caracas from Chuao if we’re going to go below 70%. However, our favorite Ghirardelli bar from the Intense Dark line has to be the Sea Salt Soiree. It has sea salt and almond bits in it, but I had to check the label a couple of times because it tastes just like pretzel bits. Perfect blend of sweet & savory.

There are a few other brands we like… one of them has a wolf on the wrapper and is very environmentally conscious that has cranberries and almonds—Yep, I’m being too lazy to go look it up, sorry!—but the Chuao and the Ghirardelli are our favorites. Our kids can’t stand dark chocolate, but that’s ok… just means we don’t have to share!

Writing Life: Dialogue, Introspection and Character Vignettes

If I can just get my characters talking to each other, I’m usually in good shape. I can always go back around and fill in what things look like, what they’re doing or what’s going on around them later. But once I get them talking, everything else drops to the background and I’m lucky if I get to put in minimal stage directions and blocking as I go. It’s similar to people watching, but more like taking transcription as you eavesdrop on the characters. Guilty because I tend to ignore everything else to run with this, but Pleasure because it’s fun, allows my sense of humor to play, and it feels like the word count racks up quickly.

The flip side of this is when the characters start thinking and want to hash everything out in their heads with long, rambling bouts of internal monologues. Any action stops dead in its tracks and all forward momentum comes to a screeching halt. However, this is where I learn the most about my characters and it seems to be a process I have to go through in order to work things out in my own head. The problem is when I can’t jolt them out of their heads and into their world and into conversations with the other characters. Guilty because it helps me in the long run, but Pleasure because once I get going, it’s hard to stop and redirect, especially if I don’t know where the story should be going next.

I love little set pieces. I’m currently doing a 100 words/day challenge to just get back into the joy of writing for writing’s sake. Of course, what did I naturally slip into? Yup, little character vignettes that may or may not see the light of day. I like playing with character and seeing what I can draw out in that limited space to give you a sense of the person from so little. Guilty because I should be focusing on my WIPs (works in progress) and the characters in them, Pleasure because it’s been fun! It’s different and there are no restrictions other than getting at least 100 words down on a page.

Guilty Pleasures: Black and White photo of a dandelion gone to seed.
Yes, this was taken blind. The exposure was way off and the original image is mostly black. It’s amazing the hidden gems you can find. Did I mention I LOVE digital photography?

Photography: Flowers & Intuitive Shots

With the 2012 365 Photo Challenge, I figured this would be a good section to include since I’ve definitely been indulging in a couple of guilty pleasures. I have such a wide variety of flowers in my yard here that it’s very easy to get good looking pictures without much planning or effort. One of the things I love to do is to shoot blind. By this I mean, I don’t always look through the view finder or at the screen when I set up a shot. The Guilty part here is that I know I should be stretching my eye and sense of composition beyond the easy stuff and the Pleasure comes in finding hidden little gems like a stray insect or bird I hadn’t noticed in the shot when I clicked the shutter and being surprised by what appears and works.

YOUR TURN: What are your guilty pleasures? In general or in your creative endeavors. What do you do just for the joy of it?

And if you’d like to read what the rest of my accountability group considers their guilty pleasures, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

Where Do I Write?

This week for our How I Write series, my accountability group is talking about where we write. And I’m sure that the others are going to talk more about physical spaces and where they take their laptops and notebooks for field trips.

I’m going to tackle this topic from a slightly different angle. I haven’t found that going out in the world to a coffee shop, bookstore, library or other place really helps to shake things loose in my head, they provide distracting people to watch which are often much more interesting than what I’m writing! Yes, even with headphones. And I didn’t really want to show off messy pictures of my desk or some of the other spots around the house that I’ll settle into to write. Because for me, it’s not so much about the location, as if I have the right tools with me.

For brainstorming and very early exploration work on a project, I take pen and paper and usually end up spread out on the bed, scribbling madly. Once that’s done, I used to take it and try to make sense of it by organizing it into a spreadsheet in Excel or an outline in Word.

After that, I used to use Dropbox to keep the files on my desktop and my laptop synched up. But my process has changed slightly since I inherited my iPad 1 from DH who got the newest one this spring. It’s much lighter and more compact even than my Macbook Air and with Dropbox available on it, that took care of the synching issue.

Screenshot of Scrivener and my desktop writing space.
Scrivener allows me to SEE the structure and rearrange easily if needed. Love the Project target window as well.

That left me with the question of what app I was going to use to do the actual writing. I’d played a bit with Notes on my phone. Ick. But, I’d recently converted to using Scrivener on my desktop and LOVE IT! The only problem is that there isn’t a version for iOS, yet.

Screenshot of IndexCard app for iPad.
Virtual Index Cards: Don’t Leave Home Without Them!
In the meantime, I found a workaround using IndexCard which is an iPad app mostly used for screenwriting and has some of the same fundamental features. It’s holding me until Scrivener completes their app.

But what this really means is that I’m no longer tied to my desktop or laptop. I am much less reluctant to drag my iPad along with me where ever we go — out to eat (IHOP, Red Robin, Applebees, TGIFriday’s), on appointments (various doctor’s offices, the eye doctor’s), etc have all become my writing spaces as well as many more locations around the house. Somehow, the iPad isn’t as isolating to use as my laptop when we sit around the TV in the evenings and I’m not captured by the show. I can also quickly drop in and out of the current “card” and not have to worry about screwing up the pristine copy.

I just have to make sure the synching is correct. You do have to do a bit more manual synching with IndexCard, but the freedom is worth it right now.

So… for me it’s not just WHERE DO I WRITE, but more HOW I WRITE when I’m there that’s important to keeping the words flowing and the creativity bubbling.

YOUR TURN: Does a change of scenery help your creative pursuits? Where are your favorite places to work? What helps you focus and keeps you motivated to finish a project?

And if you’d like to read what the rest of my accountability group thinks about mixing up their writing venues, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

A Regency Primer on Vauxhall Gardens

With fireworks in the night skies this week as both Canada and the US celebrate their birthdays, I got to thinking about Vauxhall Gardens where fireworks were a common entertainment in the Georgian and Regency periods.

During the Regency, the relatively cheap price of admission (about 3 shilling and sixpence during the early 19th century) and a growing middle class drove the popularity of the Pleasure Gardens at Vauxhall. You could go and listen to an orchestra play, see the fireworks, and find light refreshment or cold suppers served in one of the boxes or alcoves.

Fireworks display at Vauxhall Gardens, 1800.
Fireworks display at Vauxhall Gardens, 1800.

Like going to the fair today, the cost of such fare was not cheap. In 1817, a small dish of ham, two small chickens cost 11 shillings and dessert of assorted tarts, custards and cheesecakes were another four. Notably, the ham served was pronounced to be “as thin as muslin” or “able to read a newspaper through it”. The Gardens was also known for its arrack punch, made by mixing arrack (an Indian liquor derived from areca nut, a palm seed originating in India from the areca tree), rum and sugar.

One feature of note, especially to writers and readers of fiction in this era, was the practice of chartering boats from Whitehall and Westminster to reach the gardens located in Kennington, on the south bank of the Thames. Before Vauxhall Bridge was built in the 1810s, this was an option for those who could afford it instead of crossing Westminster Bridge, which made the gardens accessible by road after 1750, and provided a way to show off their status.

Vauxhall GardensThe grounds of The Gardens were lush and expansive, decorated with waterfalls, stone and thatched pavilions, and a canal running through with two elegant cast-iron bridges, in the Chinese manner. A sham castle was also prominent and planted with several pieces of cannon, bowling greens, swings, and thatched umbrellas as a shelter from sudden rains and storms.

Another feature often mentioned in Regency Romances are the many paths illuminated by as many as 15,000 colorful glass lanterns hung among the trees. Most famous of these were the Grand Walk, a wide avenue lined with stately elms that was over 900 feet long, and the “Dark Paths”, a collection of less illuminated serpentine walks, which were far more suited to seduction and discreet rendezvous for the romantic leads.

By the Georgian era, Vauxhall Gardens could accommodate crowds numbering above 60,000 for the jubliee celebration in 1786 with nightly entertainments that began in the month of May. In 1813, a fête was held on June 20th, to celebrate the victory at Vittoria. All sorts of people visited The Gardens ranging from families, to businessmen, to vendors looking to make a profit from visitors, to the cream of society wishing to be seen.

The wide variety of entertainments included acrobatics and tightrope acts, equestrian feats, and balloon ascents, and in 1827, the Battle of Waterloo was re-enacted with 1,000 soldiers participating. But as the 19th century progressed, the gardens fell into disrepair and the crowds and entertainments became less reputable as well and the popularity of the gardens faded and closed in July of 1859.

To learn a bit more about the history from 1660 to the present of these pleasure gardens, Jane Austen’s World has a wonderful blog post, A Visit to Vauxhall Gardens by Tony Grant, that includes a detailed Vauxhall pleasure garden map dating from 1800.

More information regarding a variety of other Regency-themed topics including other Regency London Landmarks can be found on my Regency Resource page. If you’d like more information on a specific place or topic, please let me know in the comments section below.

Some Fabulous Regency Research Resources

This week for our How I Write series, my accountability group is sharing shout outs for the people and sites who make our lives so much easier in the research department. If you’re looking for fabulous resources for Regency research, check out the sites and people listed below.

Regency Research: 173/366 Hydrangea
THANK YOU! For bringing a bright spot to my day and making research fun, interesting and easier!

I’m not sure if everyone mentioned will see this post, but THANK YOU for your interest, your time and love of the Regency Era. You have definitely inspired me on many levels and I can only hope my own blog and pages here are as useful to others as yours have been to me. Again, thank you for all you do.

Useful Sites for Regency Research

The Regency Collection and especially for the section on Neckclothitania and how to tie Regency style cravats.

Jane Austen’s World is a wonderful blog devoted to, yup, the world of Jane Austen! Lots of great Regency resources and articles to be found here.
You can also follow Vic on Pinterest and twitter at @janeaustenworld.

The Regency World of Author Lesley-Anne McLeod
You can also follow her on twitter at @lesleyannemc.

Shannon Donnelly’s research articles on horses and everything related You can also follow her on twitter at @sdwriter.

Susanna Ive’s Regency research links You can also follow her on twitter at @SusannaIves.

Nancy Mayer Regency Researcher Nancy is the go to gal for answers on the Beau Monde chapter’s Facebook group and their member’s only forum.

Suzi Love’s Blog articles and her various Research Links. You can also follow her on twitter at @suzilove.

Angelyn Schmid collects The Assembly Room posts for the Beau Monde blog, but she also has a great Regency blog. You can also follow her on twitter at @AngelynSchmid.

David W Wilkin has a great blog over at The Things That Catch My Eye where he’s been doing a lot of Regency timelines, notable personalities and lexicon entries. You can also follow him on twitter at @DWWilkin.

I also have more links saved in my Regency Resources page (which looks like I need to update it again with some these!) so feel free to browse over there and see if you find anything interesting.

YOUR TURN: What are some of YOUR favorite places to do do research? Hint: it doesn’t have to be Regency or Writing related at all! I’m curious about all sorts of things.

And if you’d like to read about who the rest of my accountability group are highlighting, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

Character Development & Archetypes

This week for our How I Write series, my accountability group asked, “How do you develop your characters? Do you have a favourite kind/archetype?”

We covered part of the idea of character development before and my general method is in the post, Building Characters where I likened it to my daughter’s cosplay outfits. I skimmed the highlights, but that post has more info.

The BASICS
Deb Dixon‘s GMC — WANTS, NEEDS, CONFLICTS, OBSTACLES
Michael Hauge‘s Establishing Connections – likeability, skill.expertise, sympathetic, funny, jeopardy
Strengths/Weaknesses —
At Least 5 Whys —
Biggest Fear & how you will make them face it
Jodi Henley‘s idea of a Core Event

BELLS & WHISTLES
Tics, expressions, rituals, habits
Friends, possessions & pets

That all still holds true. Now, moving on to the section where I listed What I didn’t use.

Character Sheets — You’ve seen the ones: star sign, height, weight, occupation, model of car driven, all full of useless trivia that probably won’t make a difference in how your character will react to the things you need them to. Oh, and I always read them with much amusement considering I write historical fiction. I don’t think I’d find them very useful even if I wrote contemporaries.

Stereotypes/Archetypes — Ok, I TRY not to use stereotypes and I was re-introduced to the notion of using archetypes again this summer, but I’m not sure that I’ll ever dig too deeply in that direction as something to build a foundation on. Some people may find them useful, but I also think the temptation to slide back into stereotype is too strong for me.

Character sheets filled with useless trivia are still a no go for me. Most of it just isn’t relevant for the historical setting and I don’t feel like making one. I have been using Scrivener, which has character templates that are more flexible and include general information.

Role in Story: Hero
Occupation: Card Sharp
Physical Description:
Personality: Jack is a bad boy, appearing unreliable and capricious at first impression.
Habits/Mannerisms:
Background: Jack is a card sharp with the longest running winning streak at the game of Whist at the Stratford Club in London. He wants to make a name for himself.
Internal Conflicts: Jack is motivated by resentment and rebellion which keeps him from finding love and keeping it. He’s a bachelor who refuses to marry and keeps being left by his mistresses.
External Conflicts: Jack is driven by the thrill of winning and beating the odds. He wants to win back his brother’s losing for the week and keep his reputation because Amanda’s protector has accused him of cheating and offers a stacked deck.
Notes: Jack is used to playing Whist with his brother as his partner. He’s also distracted by the heroine’s beauty. He may lose his reputation and the girl. Jack realizes he’s always help part of himself back. He puts that on the table with Amanda as well, hoping to win her love.

Photo of a kid catching a frisbee. He's putting everything he's got into it.And in looking back at my stories after taking Tami Cowden’s workshop on archetypes for writers, I realized I do use them as a very rough base for personality and building conflicts, but it hadn’t been a conscious part of my character development process.

I think if I had to name a favorite hero archetype, it’d be the bad boy — or maybe the nice guy who’s been pushed to live up to his bad boy reputation. My heroine’s have also been stronger than they appear or are assumed to be by others, but other than that, they seem to be all over the map in terms of which archetype you’d label them as.

Another thing I’ve realized through photography and pushing my comfort zone there, is character matters so much when photographing people. Capturing it and using it to tell a story was a big part of what I was missing when I took pictures of people. For some reason, this seems easier with people I don’t know. Maybe because I’m freer to make things up? Anyway… this kid with the frisbee has a ton of character, doesn’t he?

YOUR TURN:How do you go about building the foundation of your creative projects?

And if you’d like to read about how the rest of my accountability group answered, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris *
* Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

Are You BFFs With Your Heroines? Could You Be?

A photo of three Regency ladies.
Tabitha Gifford (Center)
This week for our How I Write series, my accountability group asked, “Could you be best friends with any of the heroines you’ve written. Is she/Are they someone you would hang out with? Why or why not?”

I don’t know about BFFs, but my heroines are definitely the kind of people I’d hang out with. In my head they’re all strong women who know what they want and don’t suffer fools lightly. On my current pages, they’re not quite there and a couple times I’ve needed smacked upside and asked “What were you thinking?”, but hey, we’ve all got friends like that, right? We love them despite their occasional bone-headed decisions or statements.

They definitely share some of my interests: gardening, music, solving puzzles, playing games, reading, horses. One thing we all seem to have in common is a liking for handsome blokes wearing cravats. Completely understandable, I think.

I’ve also spent about 5 years with Marcia (Revealed) and Tabitha (BHT) in my head. They’re probably my favorite heroines so far, although I like Althea from The Flower Queen’s Daughter (FQD) and Amanda from Jack of Hearts (JoH), but they’re definitely not as fully formed personalities, but I definitely want to get to know them better. I think Henrietta will also be one of my favorites as she really appeals to the tomboy I was growing up. One thing I know, I’d definitely like you all to meet them one day!

A photo of a Regency Lady.
Marcia Drummond
I’d need a time machine to go hang out with them, but isn’t that exactly what books are? Time Machines, rocket ships, portals to other dimensions, flies on the wall where we can’t normally go? I think it’d infinitely cooler to go hang out with them in their time period than this one. I suspect I’d have a better chance of fitting into Regency times, despite missing many of the modern conveniences like computers, internet, air conditioning and indoor plumbing. I think the social whirl would get to me and I’d gladly sit with Marcia on the sidelines and just watch.

This question was very difficult for me to answer because I have tended to have very few close female friends in real life at any one time. I was always one that hung out with the guys in school and even afterwards, working in the computer games industry, I was definitely in the minority. Barrington and I would have been best buds and Bolster too, just because with one, you get the other in the bargain. Isn’t it odd, that I say that, yet STILL feel Barrington is the one character I know the least about his backstory and motivations?

Cub Scouts and writing changed that balance for me. Cub Scouts gained me several close mom friends who were going through the same things, even though I was just as happy hanging out with some of the dads at events too. Getting more involved with writing and the community around it expanded my virtual and local circles to include some amazing women who are super supportive and even though I haven’t met all of them in person yet, I’m proud to call them all ‘friend’.

YOUR TURN: How do you push through things you don’t like to do and can you turn your weaknesses into strengths?

And if you’d like to read about how the rest of my accountability group answered, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris *
* Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

3 Things About My Characters & Story

Photo of an old foundation at Harper's Ferry, WVa.
I like lots of layers for a strong foundation.

This week for our How I Write series, my accountability group asked, “Share at least 3 things you like or admire about each of your main characters. Share at least 3 things you like about your story.”

I’m going to focus on my reluctant duke’s story, Beneath His Touch.

Main Characters

  1. James never expected to be the Duke, but he’s trying, for the sake of his family to do things correctly. He can admit he’s not prepared for the role and needs help. Just how much help, I don’t think he’s quite realized. He also has a quiet sense of humor about him that I just love.
  2. Tabitha is trying to save her brother from himself. She’s always been there to clean up his messes and she worries she will always be there, because at this rate, he’s never going to marry and will need someone to take care of him. In many ways, she’s fearless. She’s not afraid to ask for what she wants or needs, even though she may think she’s nervous about doing so at the time. She’s already decided what steps need to be taken and does them.
  3. Ambrose was a fun character to write. He’s over the top in so many ways, but I think we’ve all known someone similar. Rude, crude and totally wrapped up in themselves.

About the Story

  1. Lots of layers.This is one of the things I both love and hate about this story. There’s so much going on, I have trouble juggling it all. However, this is exactly the kind of story I love to read.
  2. Focus on partnerships. Neither the hero nor the heroine can function at their best on their own. They need the skills, perspective, and experience of the other in order to achieve the best possible outcomes. They balance one another in so many ways. Again, the kind of story I like to read. The hero might come across at first as an arrogant jerk, but as we get to know him better along with the heroine, we know that’s not the real man.
  3. First impressions aren’t everything. Both the hero and the heroine misread each other when they first meet, providing a large source of the tension between them. Getting past these first impressions isn’t the only conflict, but it’s one of the things I like about the story.

YOUR TURN: What are the three things you like best about your current creative endeavor?

And if you’d like to read about how the rest of my accountability group answered, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris *
* Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

Spring It Forward

photo of spring flowersSpring forward. Spring Cleaning. Renewal. Rebirth. Awakening.

These are all clichés associated with spring. Now, we all know that clichés become trite and commonplace for good reason. There’s a universally acknowledge grain of truth in them or tradition builds up and it’s just the done thing.

So… What have I done to spring myself forward this year?

2012 Seems to be the year of challenging myself. This is the first spring in about three years that I’ve felt able to do this. I’m not swamped with my son’s health issues. My focus isn’t bent to making sure he’s finishing every piece of assigned work so it counts toward his attendance or even being split by calls from the health office to come pick him up from school, because his head hurts so bad he can’t make it any longer.

First there was my RWASD chapter’s PALS Challenge where the published authors challenge the PROs to finish a book between February and September. Yup. Jumped on that bandwagon. Signed up to finish a 75k word story, I need to put about 500 words a day toward it. This used to mean about 20 minutes of writing on a good day. Completely doable though.

Next came the chapter’s Spring Into Romance contest (Deadline was extended to March 31, 2012! The contest has a positive reputation for constructive and valuable feedback and is only about $1 per page before postage.) I only judged last year and I’m judging again this year. But, I decided I needed to enter as well this year. It was on my goals list to enter an RWA Chapter contest, and what better place to start than my home chapter. I pushed this one further. I submitted two entries to see the difference between the feedback on the older piece and the newer piece to objectively see how my writing has changed.

Never one to shy away from encouraging others to join her in mad deadline dashes, Bria Quinlan decided to host a #wordfool challenge this year (yup, that’s lots of words by April Fool’s Day). I thought it would be cheating to use the same words I was already doing for the PALS challenge, so I signed up to add an additional 250 words a day to one of my older manuscripts that could use some fleshing out. Again, not a lot, but manageable right now. So far, so good! Even after coming down with a horrible sinus infection this week. I slacked off on the PALs challenge, but even with a 102˚F fever, I managed to find those 250 words. Hopefully, they won’t be too obvious. =)

Use that renewed energy and challenge yourself to take new steps, up your game, reach new heights. Pick a goal, and spring it forward!

YOUR TURN: So… What are you doing to spring yourself forward this year? (This can be in your career, your life, or any creative endeavor!)

And if you’d like to read about what the rest of my accountability group is up to this spring, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris *
* Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

A Regency Primer on How to Play Hazard

If you’ve ever come across the phrase “She was at sixes and sevens” in a historical novel and wondered what it meant, you may be surprised to learn it originated from the game of Hazard and generally is used to mean in a state of chaos or agitation. This popular dicing game has been around since the 14th century and the phrase “Set upon six and seven” first appeared in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and referred to betting one’s entire fortune on a single throw of the dice. We also get the modern meanings of “risk” and “danger” associated with the word “hazard” from this notion as well.

History of The Game of Hazard

A painting entitled, "Kick-up at the Hazard Table" by Thomas Rowlandson.
“Kick-up at the Hazard Table” by Thomas Rowlandson
Hazard is an old English game played with two dice. One of the more popular places to play Hazard in the late 18th and early 19th century was Crockford’s Club in London. The name is commonly thought to be Old French, but likely derived from the Spanish “azar”, which is “an unfortunate card or dice roll”. There’s some speculation the game was allegedly first played by the crusaders laying siege to a castle, called Hazart or Asart, in the 12th century or that the name came from the Arabic word “az-zahr”, meaning “dice” but little evidence can be found in classic Arabic dictionaries. The modern game of Craps evolved from Hazard, which is basically a variation, where throws of 7 or 11 always win.

Despite its complicated rules, Hazard was very popular during the 17th and 18th centuries and well into the 19th where gambling of the nobility was a favorite past time to chase away the boredom and make some extra money.

The Basic Rules of Hazard

In each of the many rounds the caster picks out a number between 5 and 9, inclusive. This is called the “main”, then the caster throws two dice.

If the caster rolls the main numbers, you win, which is called “throws in” or “nicks”. If you roll a 2 or 3 you will lose, or “throws out”.

If the caster rolls a 11 or 12, the result of that throw depends on the “main”:

  • a main of 5 or 9, the caster “throws out” with both an 11 and 12.
  • a main of 6 or 8, the caster “throws out” with an 11 but “nicks” with a 12.
  • a main of 7, the caster “nicks” an 11 but “throws out” with a 12.
  • if the caster doesn’t “nick” or “throw out”, that number is called the “chance”, then you throw the dice again.
  • if the caster rolls “the main” on a “chance” you will lose, unlike when you first threw.
  • if the caster rolls neither of them, they keep throwing the dice until one or other is rolled, either winning with “chance” or losing with the “main”.
19th Century ivory or bone dice and wooden cup.
Ivory or bone dice and wooden cup, 19th c.

As long as the caster keeps winning, he keeps on playing. If the caster loses three times in a row, the dice pass to the player on his left.

Bets on this game are usually between the caster and the bank, or “setter”. The remaining players may act in this role as well.

A nick on the first throw wins the caster an amount equal to his stake or wager. The setter or bank gives odds if the setter throws a “chance”.

You can even hone your skills for free by playing Hazard in a flash game at DeviantArt by Drakonlady.

More information regarding a variety of other Regency-themed topics including how to play Whist can be found on my Regency Resource page. If you’d like more information on a specific place or topic, please let me know in the comments section below.