I discovered Diane Gaston’s books after meeting her at the NJ Romance conference. She was so lovely, and just happened to write the kind of books I like best (Regency Romances), so I had to read her delightful novel, Innocence and Impropriety. I’m now a fan and terribly excited for her latest, Scandalizing The Ton.She has graciously answered The Same Six Questions I Always Ask AND is giving away a signed copy of Scandalizing The Ton to one lucky commenter!
1. If you could have any super power, what would it be?I would love to have the power of teleportation, to dematerialize here and materialize in England whenever I wished, or in Switzerland to visit my friend Melissa James, or Australia to visit my email group All of Us, or anywhere my friends live.
2. Who is your favorite hero of fiction?I have agonized over this. I fell in love with Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe, so much more complex and interesting a character than could be depicted in the TV miniseries. Also Miles Vorkosigan of Lois McMaster’s Vorkosigan series, a hero who is also a dwarf. I quite loved Reginald of Mary Jo Putney’s The Rake and the Reformer, because, after being introducedto him I was off on an obsessive reading of Regency romance. And, of course, I must mention Damerel from Georgette Heyer’s Venetia, and The Duke of Mitford from Mary Balogh’s An Unlikely Duchess. I almost always fall in love with every hero in the romance novels I’ve read since. It is impossible to pick a current favorite!
3. What is one of your most romantic moments?I think the most memorable romantic moments come during courtship. Right after my husband and I became engaged we splurged on dinner at an historic restaurant in Alexandria Virginia, called the Seaport Inn. The setting was fancy for us, being on very limited budgets, and we had a romantic table-for-two. I can still remember the waiter, a dignified gray-haired black man who treated us as very special, even though at one point he dipped his sleeve into one of our drinks. We said nothing. It was a light-hearted time between my husband-to-be and myself and a memory that has lasted for all the years we’ve hung in together.
4. Of the places you’ve traveled to, which is your favorite?I must say London, England. I’ve only traveled to England twice and had a few days in London each time. It is very powerful to walk down the Mayfair streets that your fictional characters walk and to enter shops where Wellington or Brummell or Byron or Austen shopped. I am enthralled with the British museum, the George III Room and the Elgin Marbles. I feel like I’ve not had enough time in London. There is so much more I want to see and see again.
5. What is your most used curse word?Maya, I am surprised at you! Ladies, such as me do not curse. I assure you I have only done so when my most ill-favored politician appears on TV and then I cannot be faulted if That f….g as….l escapes my lips!
6. Please take a moment of shameless self-promotion:If you insist! Today, October 1, 2008, is the day Scandalizing the Ton should appear on bookstore shelves. Scandalizing the Ton is my Regency Paparazzi story, my idea of what it would be like for a Regency lady to be the victim of the historical equivalent of the media frenzy we see around celebrities like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Or Anna Nicole Smith.
Here is the backcover blurb: Lady Wexin, once the ton’s foremost beauty, has been abandoned by her family and friends, and creditors hound her. Her husband’s scandalous death has left her impoverished and the gossip-mongering press is whipped into a frenzy of speculation when it becomes clear the widow is with child. Who is the father?Only one man knows: Adrian Pomroy, Viscount Cavanley. He has cultivated the reputation of a rake, but in truth yearns for something useful to do. Delicate beauty Lydia Wexin could pose an intriguing and stimulating challenge.
Scandalizing the Ton is a Harlequin Historical and is typically shelved with the Harlequin Series books. If you haven’t read a Harlequin Historical in a while I urge you to give them a try. There’s a lot of innovation and diversity in the line. See more about Scandalizing the Ton on my website www.dianegaston.com and have a look at my video !
I’m giving away a signed copy of Scandalizing the Ton to one lucky commenter here, chosen at random. Ask me any questions you might have about Scandalizing the Ton or my view of the Regency or Harlequin Historical, I’ll pop back in to answer. And, thank you, Maya, for posing the Same Six Questions to me!
10 Comments
Hi Diane, Thanks for stopping by!
I’m curious to know what kind of research you do for your books. And did reading People magazine and watching Entertainment Tonight count as research for Scandalizing The Ton?
Ha, ha, ha, Maya. Reading People and watching ET was the inspiration for Scandalizing The Ton, that much I will admit to.
I always use a new book as an excuse to buy research books. For Scandalizing, I purchased, Scandal!: A Scurrilous History of Gossip by Roger Wilkes and did my usual perusing the internet for more information. Another book that helped was My Lady Scandalous by Jo Manning.
I also always look into my set of Annual Registers. I have them from 1810 to 1820, thanks to Kathy Caskie who found us each a set one day at a bookshop in Leesburg. These are sorta like almanacs; they give news stories of the year by date. I learned about the funeral of Queen Charlotte from my Annual Register.
I also use maps of the period to make certain I have the geography right. (Google Earth has a historic map of London that overlays the satellite image)In this case I did not get things exactly right at first. One of the Harlequin Historical editors took a walk in Mayfair to check if I’d been correct! I loved that! It really is a treat to have one’s editors in the UK. (I’ll be back later!)
Diane-I love that your most romantic moment contains humor and a real life situation– those really are the things that stick, right? The stuff you can laugh about for years to come.
Your book sounds great! I am so excited to read it. And yay Maya for asking about cursing because, though we all fancy ourselves ladies, it’s great that the English language has afforded us the vocab to describe moronic politicians and delinquent boyfriends!
hopeless romantic,
I’m glad you appreciate my romantic moment. My husband and I don’t do “romance” in the traditional way, so it is sometimes hard to see it. For example, this year for our wedding anniversary he kept asking me what I wanted. “Oh, some flowers,” I said. But, no. Flowers would not do, so he bought me the PINK Sony Vaio laptop I’d been coveting for a long time.
I most definitely feel that delinquent boyfriends ought to be as entitle to “colorful” language as moronic politicians! Add them to the list!!!
(I hope you enjoy my book)
I read the review of your book over at The Good The Bad and the Unread and it sounded fantastic.
I guess my question would be – how is “Ton” pronounced? I’ve heard it as “tun” or as a word that rhymes with “con” in equal measures.
Hi Diane-
You have me hooked! I can only hope my name gets pulled for a copy or I’m off to the bookstore in the morning.
Question:
In the Regency era were there any laws to protect our poor heroine from defamation of character? libel or slander laws?
Animejune,
“Ton” is pronounced “tone” making the “n” a nasally French way, because it is a French word.
I’ve had several people ask me what “ton” means. According to The Regency Lexicon (http://www.thenonesuch.com/lexicon.html):
“The ton was the high society of the Regency period. It is pronounced like “tone,” and it comes from the French word ton meaning “tone, style.” A person or action described as good ton was accepted by Society. A person or action described as bad ton violated the unwritten rules of Society and was deemed unacceptable.”
I was so relieved that I pronounced it correctly in my video!
The society people of the Regency sprinkled their language with French words, like “Beau monde” meaning the fashionable elite. I can’t think of any others now!!!
Ann, you asked:
In the Regency era were there any laws to protect our poor heroine from defamation of character? libel or slander laws?
There were no libel or slander laws like we know them and if there were, recourse could only have been afforded for the wealthiest, because they had to pay for everything to bring a lawsuit-even for a crime committed against them. I seem to remember that the Prince Regent (Prinny)brought a libel suit that he, of course, won, but people were really more at the mercy of whatever the press wanted to make up than celebrities are today.
You all have a great chance of winning the book!! I promise it will be a random selection. (and the book is on sale now!)
Hey everyone! I lost my internet connection yesterday afternoon (oh, the horrors!). Ann, what an interesting question! Animejune, I’ve always wondered that myself. Thanks Diane for answering all of our questions!
A lucky winner will be posted here later today!
And the winner is………
Ann Bleakely
(chosen by randomizer.org)
Ann, email me at diane@dianegaston.com and give me your address and how you want me to sign the book (eg to you or just signed or to somebody else).
Thanks everyone for an enjoyable blogging visit. Please let me know if you like Scandalizing the Ton.