History in the Making/Andrea Pickens

Hi all,

I’m back, and dancing on air over Lynn’s good news. We all wish her well in her coming journey through the treatments. It’s a daunting road, I know, but Lynn, you have lots of people behind you, pushing you along with love!

If you all don’t mind, I’m now going to digress from the present to the past . . . that is, after I add a quick word to say that my new book, The Scarlet Spy, hit the bookstore shelves this past week. Okay, I’m plugging the release, which is the third in my “Spy” trilogy set in Regency England. But mostly it gives me a chance to talk about historical romance, and why I find the regency era so compelling.

Some readers have complained that my books—and the books of many authors I admire, like Lynn Kerstan, Mary Jo Putney and Loretta Chase—“aren’t traditional Regency stories.” Well, those who think the Regency was simply a rather boring Polite World of formal tea parties and elegant balls, governed by rigid rules of decorum are missing the real depth and texture of the era.

One of the things I love about the era is that there are so many parallels to our own times. The beginning of the nineteenth century was considered the birth of the “Modern” world. It was a time of radical new ideas clashing with the conventional thinking of the past. People were questioning the fundamentals of society, and as a result they were fomenting changes in every aspect of life. Science, music, literature, art, politics—all were undergoing great changes. For example, you had Beethoven composing emotional symphonies, Byron and Goethe writing about individual angst and J.M.W. Turner dabbling in impressionistic watercolors. Mary Wollstonecraft was writing the first feminist manifestos and others were championing the concepts of nationalism and democracy. It was exhilarating to some and frightening to others.

Gossip and scandal were also a large part of everyday life. Just look at the satirical prints by Rowlandson and Gilray! They were as cutting as any press coverage today, and society just ate it up. As for sex, trust me, they . . . actively engaged in experimenting there too! Why do you think their children rebelled and became the Victorians?

And then, of course, there was the Napoleonic Wars, which had much of the world engaged in regional conflicts. Countries jockeyed for powers and prestige, switching alliances and loyalties nearly as often as their rulers changed their coats.

Sound familiar?

To me, the Regency is so much fun to write about because you can combine the fairy tale aspect of the balls and fancy soirées, and yet also create characters with emotional conflicts that resonate with modern readers.

In The Scarlet Spy, my heroine is a swashbuckling spy, an orphan taken from the London slums and trained in the art of swordplay and seduction at a secret Academy. Her mission is to expose a ring of corruption operating within the highest circles of government. She is dispatched to London, where her superiors arrange for the sinfully sexy Deverill Osborne to introduce her into the ton. He thinks she is a widowed Italian contessa. She thinks he is . . . an ass. However, they that . . .

But that would be spoiling all the fun. I hope you will take a look at the book. You’ll find the first chapter posted at my website: www.andreapickensonline.com.

So, do you have any favorite eras in history? And what makes them attractive to you?