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| Stonehenge & a Meteor |
That this photo above should pop up on Facebook just as I was publishing The Stone Soldier and the Lady seemed so providential that I had to headline it on this week's blog. Photo believed to be by John Davis, taken during photo shoot to show the Milky Way looming behind Stonehenge.
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| No caption needed |
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| Sent to me by my son |
More than ten years ago, my oldest granddaughter, Hailey, turned camera-shy, making it almost impossible to get a decent picture of her. This week, her mother outfoxed her by stealing a photo from Instagram. (Evidently, Hailey only objects to being photographed by family!) All I can say is "Wow!" Naturally, I, in turn, stole it for my blog. And no, she's not a social butterfly. She's been interning at Lockheed Martin for over a year. Her upcoming college degree will be in Astro-engineering.
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And now, at long last . . .
I have been struggling with the promised list of Regency Sub-genres, even during the final edits and formatting for The Stone Soldier and the Lady. It felt like I had a hundred pages of notes (probably no more than 10) that had to be boiled down into some sort intelligible summary. (Not sure I managed it.) Thoughtful comments and suggestions will be much appreciated, as I hope to post the list to that arbiter of all Regency writings, Regency Fiction Writers.
Short Recap of Part 1
Regency Romance Fiction can be divided into two primary categories:
1. Regency Romance - Stories based on the actual history, manners, and customs of the times.
2. Regency Romance - Alternate History (or Regency Re-imagined). Stories that use Settings and Costumes similar to the Regency Era, but play with historical accuracy, customs, and/or the speech of the times; for example, adding dragons to the fight against Napoleon; using words that had not yet joined the English vocabulary.
Grace Note: Another example - Julia Quinn’s original Bridgerton novels are Regency Romance - Historical (# 1 above). The TV series based on Julia Quinn’s novels are Regency Romance - Alternate History or Regency Re-imagined (#2 above).
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A Different Regency Divide - Jane Austen is considered the founder of what we now call Regency Romance, writing stories of the world she knew—England’s gentry and upper middle class. Alas, except for English classes, her depictions of life in that era fell into semi-obscurity until the mid-20th century when Georgette Heyer took the concept to a whole new level, creating main characters who were from England’s upper class—the dashing ladies and gentlemen of society, from their glorious garments to their magnificent dwellings, their exquisite manners to their foibles, sorrows, and triumphs. All well sprinkled with the “cant” of the day. And, suddenly, the Regency Era (called the Georgian Era in England) was the newest craze in Romance, many authors, as well as readers, jumping on the bandwagon.
Some authors, however, including me, wanted a bit more “meat” with the froth, particularly acknowledgment of the existence of the very long war with Napoleon that involved so many young men of all classes. Which is how my first book was the 140,000-word, The Sometime Bride, a seven-year-saga of The Peninsular War. So, basically, the burgeoning craze in the mid-late 20th c. for everything Regency can be divided into two categories:
1. Regency Romance - Traditional
Settings: Primarily Upper Class London & English Country Houses. (Some Trads, however, still featured middle-class and “village” characters.)
Plots: In general, an emphasis on family, social life, clever dialogue. Almost all, squeaky clean.
Length: 70-85,000 words. Novellas: c. 40,000 words
2. Regency Romance - Historical
Settings: Anywhere the British went at that time, from England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland to the Continent, the Med, and India.
Plots: Adventure & mystery, as well as romance. Sex ranges from mild to hot*.
Length: used to be c. 100,000; less in more recent times.
*I am not including Regency Erotica here. There was a big surge of erotica in the early 21st century - back when most Trad authors lost their jobs. Fortunately, that craze seems to have passed. Yes, there may be some Regencies with just enough plot to string the close-to-porn scenes together, but I’m going to cap the current gauge at Hot.
Grace note: Erotica swept the market with such gusto that those of us writing Trads (squeaky clean) got a lovely farewell dinner, followed by an invitation to write “biographies”! And were then kicked aside. THANK YOU, E-PUBLISHING (both e-publishers & indie) for providing a new outlet for our work! (Believe me, when you’ve had eleven books in print, one after the other, it’s a shock to be shown the door.)
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I have struggled over the list below. I invite additions & corrections in Comments, as I would really like to develop an up-to-date list to post to Regency Fiction Writers.
Special Note: Many Regency novels feature two or more sub-genres. (Ex: Regency Historical Romance - Adventure/Paranormal) Most can be set in either a factual or a “re-imagined” Regency world.
LIST OF REGENCY SUB-GENRES - 2025
1. Regency Romance - Traditional
2. Regency Romance - Trad/Comedy (emphasis on humor)
3. Regency Historical Romance - Action/Adventure
4. Regency Historical Romance - Gothic (frequently written in 1st person)
5. RHR - Paranormal (primarily ghosts & witches)
6. RHR - Inspirational
7. RHR - Fantasy (fairies, elves, etc.)
8. RHR - Time-travel
9. RHR - Darkside* (featuring characters & situations from England’s underbelly)
10. RHR - Steampunk* (featuring the beginning of the Victorian Steampunk Era)
*Invented by me for my Aphrodite Academy series & my “early Steampunk,” Airborne—the Hanover Restoration
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