Happy Thanksgiving!

And in other news, Erotic Exploits is now available for the Nook. If you have a Nook, and are willing to download the free sample, please let me know if the formatting looks all right or is terrible. The preview function does not seem to be working for me.

Be vewy quiet; I'm adding geeky detail!

There are various schools of thought about adding historical detail to fiction. Sometimes you want more detail, sometimes less; partly, that depends on the book's genre. For example, in a Tom Clancy novel such as The Hunt for Red October, there is a lot--a lot--of detail about nuclear submarines. But if you're reading that book, it's likely that one of the reasons is because of all that lovely, crunchy technical detail.

Historical novels need historical detail. But how about historical erotica? How much historical detail does there need to be?

drumroll

There should be as much historical detail as I want. And the geekier, the better.

If the details I choose to include are not what the reader expects, that's all to the good. Those details will stick better for being unusual. (cf. the picture of a horse wearing a gas mask.) And because they stick in the reader's mind, they're more useful for building up a picture of the time period, and also a picture that feels deeper and richer than whatever generalized ideas the reader might have had. (What does World War One mean to you? Trenches? There was fighting in the mountains of Italy, as well. And in Africa.) I feel anything that brings the reader more completely into the story is a good thing.

The more geeky the detail, the more that detail feels specific. Specificity is important; the more specific, the more vivid and immediate the image becomes in the reader's mind. You can say, there were birds. Or you can say, she remembered the poignant cries of bitterns and the song of reed-warblers, and the occasional slow dignified silent soaring of a heron towards the far horizon.

The more specific the detail, the less often you have to use detail, and the more subtly you can use it.

Related Posts:

Historical Detail in Fiction.

Research: When to Stop.

Selling the Unusual Setting

This post was originally written for The Naughty Girls Next Door. Since then, I learned from author Michelle Styles in a comment to that post that Harlequin Mills & Boon has been seeking out unusual historicals, publishing one a month - so there's a market right there! You can check out her comment in more detail here.

Here's the original post:

And now for something completely different.

A different time period, I mean. Since I've been following author blogs and forums related to the romance genre, again and again I've encountered the notion that unusual historical settings are a hard sell. There's less talk about erotica; it's a smaller part of the market and doesn't always overlap; it's its own niche, and I think sometimes there's more freedom of setting in erotica than in romance.

My post today is not to be taken as the be-all and end-all on this issue. Mostly, I'm just thinking through strategies that might work. Keep in mind that my World War One novel, The Moonlight Mistress, is erotica, which as I mentioned might be an easier market for unusual settings. I have not yet sold a romance novel, so anything I say about the romance market is gleaned from observation and conversation.

Here are my thoughts on unusual settings in Romance. In romance, historical usually means Regency (often extended beyond the actual Regency period), Victorian, pre-Regency Georgian, a few French Revolution novels, and...not a lot else. There's a sprinkling of European medievals, usually set in England, and a few Westerns (America, usually post-Civil War), and a few others. I'm sure I'm missing some, and of course the periods and locations of the few books not set in eighteenth through nineteenth century England will vary according to market pressures and other things which I am not going to go into, since that isn't really the topic of this post.

My topic (finally she gets to it!) is how to make the most of the "unusual" period you've chosen. Bear in mind that none of my suggestions are guaranteed to work. If they were, I'd be selling them on television. My suggestions are just intended to help you to think about ways of selling your novel in a more holistic way than simply throwing it against the wall of Regencies over and over again.

If you're starting from scratch, I think the first step is to write the book. No, really. You're much better off trying to pitch something that's a little different if you already have it in hand. The editor can then see what the whole novel is like, and you can impress them with how cool it is and how relevant to today's world.

A simultaneous step is to know the market. Even if there's nothing else exactly like your novel out there, still be prepared to give examples of already-published similar works, not just books but movies or television series or comics, to give an idea of your novel's potential market viability. "Similar" might mean similar themes, a similar basic plot, or a similar sub-genre. For instance, you could compare your romantic suspense novel set during the Russian Revolution to one set during the French Revolution that features similar situations. Or compare your novel to a series of historical mysteries set during the Russian Revolution or some other revolution. Or even to a novel with similar themes set during the breakup of the Soviet Union. Knowing that there are similiarities will not only help you pitch the novel, if needed, but also will give you ideas as to how you might shape it to make it more marketable. (Yes, I said write to market! Those aren't naughty words!)

Third, you can set up a niche market for yourself. Perhaps you could write some short stories set in the time period and location of your choice. After you've sold a few of those, you can use them to demonstrate the possible viability of a longer project. At the least, you've made a little money from the short stories!

I'd welcome further ideas on this topic, so feel free to comment or tell me that my ideas would never work.

WWI Wheels

French soldiers with a bicycle.


A bicycle ambulance.


Belgian soldiers on motorcycles.

Picspam of Rupert Brooke

I haven't done a lot of research on Rupert Brooke (1887-1915); he's not my favorite World War One poet by a longshot, and though he died in Greece while in the army (on the way to Gallipoli), he never saw combat. William Butler Yeats once described him as "the handsomest young man in England," though, and I do agree he was very, very pretty.




The Rupert Brooke Society.

Women in WWI Picspam

Women served in many capacities during World War One.

Nurses.


VADs.


Drivers.



Radio Corps.


Fundraisers.


Factory Workers.

The 5th Seaforth Highlanders in the trenches

From The Great War Diaries of John Bruce Cairnie of the 5th Seaforth Highlanders, 1915, transcribed by James Bruce.

#

06-Jul-15

A fine morning. Had to wait on after stand-to (3 a.m.) in case the Briggie comes along. Shaved, breakfasted and to bed. The redoubts were shelled while I slept and one high explosive landed just behind the parados beside the bomb supply. Fortunately they didn't explode. The can get a perfect enfilade on the redoubts so we are going to strengthen the traverses. I went up in the forenoon and underwent the next part of the bombardment which was not so trying as I expected. However the shells weren't coming within 50 yards but the splints sang and hummed overhead. I got one wee bit on the leg but only a scratch. It is shrapnel that plays the mischief as regards splinters.

At night again the fun started but Y got it worst. I don't know how they hadn't some casualties. Fortunately a lot of the shells didn't explode - duds. Later the Bosches started rapid fire, having spotted a work party of Argyles so we had a hot time, the bullets going cracking overhead. I wasn't excited, but it took some nerve to put my head above the parapet. The Argyles who were with us were a great asset. Donnie Morrison is a very useful and willing man. I'm glad to have him.

07-Jul-15

Stayed in Z Redoubt until after seven a.m. when I came down to HQ and got shaved. It was a pretty quiet day as far as the redoubts were concerned although they have been searching again for the sap head. In the afternoon there was fairly heavy bombardment of the rest of the line but no damage was done. Finlayson took over the redoubts at 8:30 p.m. and I moved my platoon down to the parapet opposite HQ. Am now fine and near the dug-out and more in the centre of things. Turned in at 11:30 p.m. so as to be able to relieve Finlayson at 3 a.m. I hear there was pretty heavy firing after I went to bed but never a thing did I hear.

08-Jul-15

Finlayson called me at 3 a.m. but as things were quiet I didn't get up till after 4. Went round the redoubts, shaved and had breakfast. Pte W Reid of my platoon was shot through the side while working behind the parapet. He died shortly afterwards. We thought at first it might have been an accident by a couple of Argyle snipers behind, but as another two bullets have come into same spot, I am pretty sure it is a German sniper. We hunted round behind for him unsuccessfully, but they are devilishly cunning.

Slept in the afternoon, censored some letters and went along the line to see Addie. I never feel as sad as when I see poor old Addie's face. I believe 'C' would put up a desperate fight but their spirit is clean gone at present.

Went out on reconnoitring patrol about 11 a.m. with Sgt J. Fraser and a man. Were out for at least an hour and a half but didn't see or hear anything. I was quite nervous and 'chattery' before going out but soon settled down once I was there. We got out a good bit. Went to bed at 1:20 a.m. The Germans have been sending over some big shells today and trench mortars. They are getting onto our new communication trench.

09-Jul-15

Wakened by Finlayson at 3 a.m. All quiet. Some trench mortars came over about breakfast time but did no damage. Lay in a ruined cottage for a couple of hours with my corporal to see if that sniper would come out, but no luck. Shells began to come over so we had to shift. Went out with Finnie and C. Serg. Major Miller and got some shell fuses belonging behind the lines.

Were relieved at 9:30 by incoming Brigade. Nasty jamb getting men in as they had far more than us. If the Germans had sent over some well aimed trench mortars they would have done tremendous execution but they were unaccountably quiet and probably being relieved themselves. Got down to the far end of Laventie without mishap although one bullet made the skin of my back creep. The men got tea and were led to their billets. Then we got to ours and had a grand supper with fried eggs, etc. in the Café Aux Voyageurs. Turned in at 1 p.m.

10-Jul-15

Breakfast about 8 a.m. - ham and eggs, sausages, tea, etc quite a good affair, with Steven D in attendance. Company parade at 11 a.m. for inspection by C.O. - rifles, bayonets, shaving, etc. The Colonel was unconsciously particular, as if men carried burnishers in their kit. Slept in the afternoon and wandered down town in the evening with little Willie. Rather colder today. A few shells falling not far away, watched apathetically by the remaining inhabitants from their door-steps.

#

Non-White WWI Soldier Picspam

Today's post is picspam - these are all photos of soldiers from World War One. They weren't all white. Not by a longshot.

Picspam: Albert I, King of the Belgians

I have learned one very important thing during my recent World War One research. It is that Albert, King of the Belgians, was a total hottie. Particularly when he wore spectacles.

Also, he looked great in uniform, whether with helmet in this late photo

or kepi in this earlier one. Check out the differing details of the two uniforms.

His wife, Elisabeth, was pretty hot, too.

I love this picture.

Sometimes, research is more fun than you expect it to be.

Perfect Research Books Fall From the Sky

It is so satisfying with the perfect research material for a work-in-progress drops from the sky.

This blog is syndicated on Facebook, and after seeing one of my posts about World War One research, a Facebook friend recommended a couple of additional research books to me. One of them was already on my list, but the other wasn't, which gave me great joy.

French Women and the First World War: War Stories of the Home Front by Margaret H. Darrow will be a lovely complement to my other source on occupied Northern France; it looks at the war from a different angle which I can hopefully also incorporate into my novel. It's important to me to know something of how people of the time felt about the events they were experiencing, and since I don't have a time machine (alas!), research is the best method to help me feel my way inside the minds of the characters.

In Flanders Flooded Fields: Before Ypres There was Yser by Paul Van Pul didn't exactly fall from the sky - I searched it out myself. But after I'd made a note of it, I forgot I had it on my list! When I found the title again, weeks later, it certainly felt like the book had dropped out of the sky! It's from British specialty publisher Pen and Sword, which mostly focuses on military history; this book was translated from Dutch. Most scholarship on World War One skims over the Belgian Army's activities, so this in-depth book is a treasure for me. As a bonus, it reads very smoothly and has excellent explanatory maps.

You might wonder why I don't research from primary materials. Sometimes I do - memoirs, newspapers, etc.. But for the most part I would prefer to have a book, especially when I'm in the midst of writing the novel I'm researching. I am such a geek that even the slightest whiff of primary research can send me into ecstasies for weeks; I will emerge with beautiful urns full of the coolest information ever, but I will not have progressed on the actual writing of my novel.

I do, however, go to primary materials when I need details - how much did this cost in that year? What kind of hat was in style? The trick is escaping from the delicious black hole of research, and staying focused like a laser on what I need to know right now.

Wherefore the Poppy?

Decoration Day, renamed Memorial Day beginning in 1882, was first celebrated in the United States following the Civil War; it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military. One of the most famous parts of Memorial Day, however, arose during World War One.

The practice of red poppies on Memorial Day originated in 1918 with Moina Michael, who was inspired by Canadian John McCrae's famous poem, "In Flanders Fields" (1915). The tradition spread from the United States to France via Anne Guerin, who poineered the selling of poppies, real or facsimile, as a way to raise money for various causes to benefit veterans and the victims of war. Through her advocacy, the sale of poppies for charitable causes spread to The United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

White poppies are sometimes worn in this context, and symbolize looking forward to peace, rather than back at sacrifice.

Occupied Lands in World War One

The novel I'm working on now, a sequel to The Moonlight Mistress, focuses on the main werewolf characters from that novel and their marriage of convenience. Tanneken, the female werewolf, was working as a spy in the previous novel, so I decided to make her activities central to the plot.

These are the books I've used so far. I recommend them all highly.

I mentioned Tammy Proctor's Female Intelligence: Women and Espionage in the First World War in an earlier post. I extensively used this book's bibliography to locate other sources, among them those listed below. The most useful thing I learned from it was how the underground spy networks in Belgium were organized, and some specific stories about women who worked in intelligence-gathering, and their fates.

Scraps of Paper: German Proclamations in Belgium and France reproduces actual posters and provides translations. Another of my books referenced this one, so I didn't need the material for the most part, but the coolness factor was important here. Primary source documents, or close equivalents, are great for giving me a feel for a period.

The Long Silence: Civilian Life under the German Occupation of Northern France, 1914-1918 is the most useful book I found. The author, Helen McPhail, points out that it's not a thorough academic study, but there was more than enough information for my purposes. I got a really good feel for what life was like in occupied Northern France, as well as the various problems and subterfuges of the people living there. I'm hoping the information in this book will help me to vividly describe the place and time without directly copying actual events.

Related Posts:
Synergy in Writing and Research

Research Books Whee!

"Nation, Race, and Empire," George Robb

British Culture and the First World War by George Robb.

Chapter One, "Nation, Race, and Empire"
During WWI, "Nationalism attempted to focus conflict outward--against a German foe inevitably constructed as a degenerate, barbaric 'throwback'...As successful as such ideas were in garnering support for the war effort, they created problems of their own since 'the nation,' as defined, clearly could not accommodate the diverse citizenry of Britain itself, let alone its vast, diverse Empire," p. 5.

"For contemporaries, the Great War represented not merely a national, but a 'racial' struggle. After all, since the nineteenth century, the concepts of 'nation' and 'race' had bled into each other. Victorian anthropologists and ethnographers had formulated racial hierarchies which placed Europeans on a higher plane of evolutionary development than Asians or Africans, but within Europe itself there was further jockeying for position...The English, Germans, Irish...were all understood to be separate races unto themselves, who possessed innate mental qualities...that were carried in the blood and revealed in the lineaments of the face," p. 7.

"Britain's military and imperial competition with Germany was bound up with post-Darwinian anxieties of racial degeneration and 'the survival of the fittest'," p. 7.

"Eugenics, the psuedo-science of heredity and selective breeding, had gained tremendous influence among British intellectuals in the generation before the war. As such it lent a spurious scientific authority to racial and class hierarchies and reinforced social Darwinist notions of an inevitable struggle between the races...it is not surprising that British society became saturated with Germanophobia," p. 8.

"...the line between anti-German sentiment and hatred of all foreigners was easily erased," p. 9.

Against attacks on foreigners: see Westminster Gazette and Manchester Guardian. Inciting attacks: John Bull, East London Observer. Sympathetic to rioters against foreigners: Evening News, Daily Mail.

British colonies
"Unequal, even racist, treatment of imperial soldiers who fought and died for a British victory increased colonized people's resentment of the Empire. Likewise, Britain's authoritarian rule over its colonies proved difficult to reconcile with the claim that it was defending democracy and the rights of small nations like Belgium. The Empire called upon subject peoples to defend the institutions of their subjugation. That so many of them were willing to do so highlights the complexities of imperial relationships," p. 11.

p. 12
Germany pre-war population 68 million, fielded 13 million troops
Britain pre-war population 45 million, fielded 6 million troops; plus 1 million Indians; 500,000 Canadians; 300,000 Australians; 100,000 New Zealanders; 80,000 [white] South Africans. "In addition, hundreds of thousands of Indians, Africans, Chinese, and West Indians served in military labor units outside their nations."

"Germany, however, delighted in pointing out that the defender of Belgium was the oppressor of Ireland and India," p. 13.

p. 15 Extensive propaganda to promote idea of loyal colonists.

Dominions: Canada, Australia, etc.. Dependencies: India, African colonies, West Indies.

"The white colonial elite also opposed blacks joining the Army, fearing it would give them aspirations above their station and lead to the erosion of racial boundaries," p. 21. There was a segregated West Indian regiment.

By 1915 some 138,000 Indian soldiers on Western front--by end of 1915, withdrawn from France and relocated to Middle East, pp 22-23.

Irish rebellion, the Easter Rising, occurred during WWI.

"...imperial subjects who worked and fought for British victory were unlikely to simply resume their old 'subject' status once the war was over," p. 29. Postwar riots involving immigrants in Britain.

"Of course, colonized peoples hardly needed to take part in the war to experience racism, but their wartime service proved crucial in convincing many of them that no amount of devotion to their British governors would grant them the racial status apparently necessary for full citizenship in the Empire. Perhaps the war's greatest tragedy was its tendency to promote an exclusive concept of 'Britishness', narrowly defined along ethnic and racial lines, rahter than an inclusive 'Britishness' based on a common citizenship of shared rights and responsibilities," p. 31.

Researching WWI Uniforms - Linkgasm #5

Even if you don't have a library of World War One books, there are a number of useful websites that provide information about uniforms in that era. Here are some of the ones I've found useful.

The Sutlers Stores produces replica uniforms for museum display and docent use. Note the "grayback" shirt which I mentioned in The Moonlight Mistress.

Reenactor.net has a WWI section. It's not only useful for the information it provides, but as a gateway to making research contacts, if you should want to know what it's like to wear the uniforms. I love their Morsels of Authenticity, short articles about small details, like German underwear.

Military Headgear at Wilson History and Research Center.

I continue to recommend Osprey Publishing, particularly the "Men at Arms" series books, which feature detailed drawings of uniforms and equipment for a wide range of armies and time periods.

Digger History provides a long list of uniform photos and drawings from World War One and other periods, from all over the world. For example, infantry puttees.

For more idea-sparking material, you can search on WWI at Old Magazine Articles, if you're willing to spend a little time reading. For example, this Vanity Fair article on American uniforms for the well-dressed, October 1918. Their home page.

WWI slang

Speaking Freely: A Guided Tour Of American English From Plymouth Rock To Silicon Valley. Stuart Berg Flexner and Anne H. Soukhanov, Oxford University Press, 1997.

p. 82 "The use of obscenity and scatology...increased greatly during World War I and became prolific during World War II. The use of the cursing modifier fucking, for damned, first reached epidemic proportions with British soldiers during World War I, by which time they were also using fuck arse (for a contemptible person, which American troops translated into fuck ass), fuck me gently (literally "don't take advantage of me too much, don't cheat me too blatantly"), fuck 'em all, and make a fuck up of ("bungle, ruin")."

p. 84 "Shithead is known from 1915...By 1918 S.O.L. was a common abbreviation for the older shit out of luck...In World War I the old rural term shithouse became a popular soldier's word for latrine, while shit alley was a particularly dangerous battlefield or position while shit pan alley was a military hospital (a pun on the 1914 Tin Pan Alley)."

p. 86 "Son of a bitch was used so often by World War I American soldiers as an expletive or intensive that Frenchmen called them "les sommobiches." The abbreviation S.O.B. also appeared during World War I."

p. 146
"Basket case, 1919, a quadruple amputee, originally British Army slang, later coming to mean mental, not physical, incapacity."

"Chow, which had been a slang word for food since 1856, became common in World War I, along with chowhound."

"Dud...By 1919 it had broadened to mean anything that did not meet expectations."

"By the end of the war...to goldbrick meant to shirk."

"Shell shock, 1915, originally a British coinage, found wide use by Americans even though the official military term was battle fatigue."

Contraception in World War One

A History of Contraception: From Antiquity to the Present Day. Angus McLaren. Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1990.

p. 183-184 "Bentham declared in 1797 that population could be controlled not by a 'prohibitory act' or a 'dead letter' but by 'a sponge', indicating that a range of contraceptives was already known to the late eighteenth-century, middle-class readers of the Annals Of Agriculture. Carlile, in the first book published in England on birth control--Every Woman's Book: Or What Is Love (1826)--described the woman's use of a sponge, the man's employment of a baudruche or 'glove' and partial or complete withdrawal."

Marie Stopes published Married Love in 1918, which eventually sold over a million copies. She published Wise Parenthood later in 1918. She opened her clinic in 1921.

"In Europe [condoms] were still being made of animal skins and silk into the twentieth century; French propagandists provided information on how housewives could make condoms or baudruches from intenstines purchased at butcher shops...by the 1850s relatively cheap rubber condoms were available in the United States, A.M. Mauriceau offering to sell them at $5.00 a dozen."

19th century: condoms were too expensive for many people, and were prone to bursting. Also associated with disease and prostitution.

p. 184-185 "The invention of the diaphragm did represent a significant innovation in fertility control." 1882: "a soft rubber shield." Expensive, and had to be fitted by a physician. Douching after intercourse was recommended, though it was less effective than coitus interruptus.

Spermicides in the form of powders or jellies began to be developed at the turn of the century. Soluble quinine pessary in use in the 1880s. Women also made their own pessaries from cocoa butter or glycerine.

Latter decades of 19th century both useful and dubious contraceptives and abortifacients could be bought by mail or in barber shops, rubber goods stores, and pharmacies. Salesmen went door-to-door in some neighborhoods.

p. 217 Margaret Sanger founded the American Birth Control League in 1916. Opened her clinic in 1923.

p. 186 "nineteenth century Europeans' first means of limiting births was..simply abstaining from intercourse." Upper classes could have separate beds and/or bedrooms for husband and wife. People married later at end of 19th century. Rhythm method also followed by some, once idea of fertile periods discovered; unfortunately, the truth of a woman's cycle was not discovered for a long time. Extended nursing another method of limiting births.

p. 195 "Holy Mother we believe / Without sin thou didst conceive: / Holy Mother, so believing, / Let us sin without conceiving." (Alexandre Boutique)

Underclothes in World War One

Cunningham, C. Willett and Phillis. The History of Underclothes. London: Faber & Faber Ltd., revised ed. 1981.

p. 141 by the end of WWI, women's lingerie was called "undies."

p. 142 for men: united garments cover to the wrists and the ankles. Pants reach to ankle, drawers to knees. Vests are undershirts, with either long or short sleeves. Nightshirts were long. Pajamas were made of flannel or silk.

P 143 women's underwear was mostly made by hand. Often decorated with embroidery, threaded ribbon.

p. 144 corsets: "by the end of the [war] it started only a couple of inches above the waist and stretched well down over the thighs." "At the same time the waist became less constricted and boning much lighter."

p. 146 petticoats: by 1918 long with straight-hanging flounce (just above ankle), made of white cambric. The word brassiere first appeared in U.S. Vogue in 1907. (bra came into use much later.) Camisoles were still in use.

p. 147 knickers or drawers: "French" knickers were wide with frilly legs. "Directoire" knickers, or culottes, fastened with elastic or bands at knee and waist, fit more closely, and had removable cotton linings.

"Combinations were of longcloth, cambric, nainsook, etc., with wide frilled legs, embroidered or decorated with lace, ribbons, or insertions. They were close fitting in wool, silk, and mixture, plain or ribbed knit."

p. 148 women's sleepwear: nightgowns had square necks more often than round; they became less bulky due to wartime shortages "with low necks and short sleeves, or to be quite sleeveless" and more plain. Pajamas in the style of men's began to pick up during WWI.