Sep
2026

Write of Passage: Who Gets the Book Thrown at Them?

categories: Podcast - Write of Passage, Politics, Recommended Reading, Syndication, Technology, TV and Film

Three names: Crystal Mason. E.L.A. Chanel Miller.

Their stories are different, but each bore the brunt of injustice while others—the folks society deemed worthy of protecting—well, their futures were too promising to ruin. So they were given grace.

Until the outcry became too loud to ignore.

How loud can you scream?

Who Gets the Book Thrown at Them?

The last seven days have had my mind spinning.

On September 24, Crystal Mason was finally able to breathe.

You see, in 2018, Mason was convicted of illegal voting in Texas and sentenced to five years in prison after she cast a provisional ballot in the 2016 presidential election. At the time, she was still on federal supervised release for an earlier tax-fraud conviction, and she did not know being on supervised release made her ineligible to vote.

Her provisional ballot was never counted, but the law came for her anyway.

Think about that for a moment. A ballot that never counted. A woman who said she did not know she was ineligible. Well, that situation gave her a five-year prison sentence.

After years of appeals, in March 2024, the Texas Second Court of Appeals reversed Mason’s conviction and entered a judgment of acquittal. The court found the evidence insufficient to prove that she actually knew she was ineligible to vote.

But prosecutors didn’t want to take the L. They continued to try to revive the conviction.

But in the last seven days, on September 24, 2026, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals—the state’s highest criminal court—rejected these efforts and left Mason’s acquittal in place.

Eight years after her conviction for casting a ballot, she’s finally free of the charges. I guess justice delayed is better than denied, right?

Then on September 25, another court confronted the disturbing use of government power. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher found the federal government in contempt after immigration authorities deported a young asylum seeker identified as E.L.A. to El Salvador despite court orders to protect him here.

E.L.A., the young minor identified in the papers, had come to the United States as an unaccompanied minor at sixteen. The government wrongly deported him, acknowledged the error and facilitated his return to the United States. Then it deported him again.

Judge Gallagher has now ordered the government to facilitate his return. One wonders what will happen, to a teen imigrant who came here seeking a better life.

So, you’re asking yourself, Vanessa, what do these two events mean?

At first glance, perhaps nothing more than two court rulings happening within twenty-four hours of each other.

But I can’t unsee who gets swept into the mashing jaws of American justice—and gets grace.

Crystal Mason is a Black woman who casts a provisional ballot and was given a 5-year sentence.

E.L.A. is an immigrant: a young Salvadoran asylum seeker who came to this country for asylum, and despite court orders, was deported. Twice.

The woman—the Black woman, and the immigrant get the harshest penalties.

Which brings me to Cornell.

On September 28, a criminal investigation was reopened into allegations involving a former Cornell University student and members of Cornell’s student Greek fraternity, Chi Phi.

Jane Doe has been trying to get justice since October 2024, because no one wanted to purse her case beyond school discipline.

In a civil lawsuit filed this month, Doe alleges that she’d been drinking, went to the Chi Phi fraternity house, was pressured to take what she was told was ketamine, became increasingly impaired, and was sexually assaulted by multiple men over a period of hours.

These are allegations. The men have not been convicted of these alleged assaults, and the reopened criminal investigation will have to determine what the evidence establishes.

One particularly disturbing part of the complaint involves an alleged Snapchat group conversation among fraternity members. According to the lawsuit, messages alerted fraternity members that a woman was upstairs and available for sex. Doe alleges that additional men subsequently entered the room and that assaults continued for hours.

She reported the incident to Cornell University Police. Cornell conducted its own disciplinary investigation. The university says the resulting sanctions included suspensions and expulsions, and Cornell permanently removed the Chi Phi chapter from campus.

But criminal charges did not follow.

Then, on September 14, 2026, Doe filed a civil lawsuit against Cornell, Chi Phi, seven former fraternity members and others, alleging negligence, sexual assault, sexual battery, breach of contract and other violations of New York law.

So today, two weeks later, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced that he was reopening the criminal investigation and present evidence to a grand jury.

And I couldn’t help thinking: Haven’t we been here before?

White young man or men, sexual assault, no punishment. Yes, we have, with the case of Chanel Miller.

In 2015, nineteen-year-old Stanford freshman and competitive swimmer Brock Turner sexually assaulted Miller, then twenty-two, after a fraternity party.

Miller was unconscious. Turner was caught assaulting her behind a dumpster. Two heroes intervened. A jury heard the evidence, and in March 2016, Turner was convicted of three felony sexual-assault offenses.

Prosecutors sought six years in prison, but Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in county jail, three years of probation, and sex-offender registration. Turner ultimately served about three months.

At sentencing, Judge Persky explicitly considered the consequences imprisonment would have for the convicted felon Brock Turner:

“Obviously, a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him.”

His life mattered more. The judge worried about Turner’s education, his future, and reputation, something Turner forgot about when he committed sexual assault behind a dumpster.

And what about her life?

What about the woman who woke up in a hospital and had to piece together what had happened to her?

What about the future she thought she’d have? And how this cruel act will constantly remind her of the lack of care a perpetrator and a judge had for her?

In America, whose mistake becomes criminality?

I ask that question, but it’s kind of obvious. White males from good families, going to a good school, get great grace.

Their futures are considered, not the immigrant E.L.A. facing death in El Salvador.

I don’t know what a grand jury will ultimately conclude about the allegations at Cornell. An indictment has to be handed down, then a trial will sort through facts. And of course, all that can happen is that a judge like Persky could rule for a light or non-existent punishment.

Taken together, these stories force me to see the specter of American justice. The ghosts of the past still determine who gets the book thrown at them—and whose promising future makes the world hesitate before picking up the book or throwing stones.

Maybe privilege doesn’t guarantee protection, but it definitely softens the arc of justice.

And as I look at this week, I can see how race, immigration status, money, education, and institutional prestige still determine every outcome.

No one is guaranteed to come save us from ourselves.

And too many of us don’t recognize that something is fully wrong until we find ourselves in the crosshairs of those very circumstances.

I’ve talked before about being our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

But right now, I also need you to focus on you.

It’s Time for Your Story

We are surrounded by messages every day telling us that we’re not important. That our experiences don’t matter. That our voices don’t matter.

I’m here to tell you the opposite.

You matter.

Your voice matters.

And your story matters more than ever.

Now is the time to write your words down before someone else writes their limited vision of them.

Tell your story. They’re banning more books and someday someone will decide yours—woman, immigrant, minority, etc. isn’t worth hearing. Bret Stephens wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times published Sept 22, (same week) accusing the National Book Award as being DEI—checks notes—for not choosing enough straight white male authors on the list.

Write it before the airways become clogged with people trying to define who you are, what your experience means, and why you shouldn’t be remembered.

Starting in October and throughout this final quarter of the year, I’m dedicating myself to teaching.

I have several teaching events lined up, and I’m excited about them. But I’m going to use this platform to teach writing—to share techniques I’ve learned and mastered and methods that have allowed me to tell the stories I needed to tell.

Because we need all our stories out there.

We are living through a profound deficit of empathy while too many people are drowning in a deficit of hope.

I believe books open doorways.

I believe poems carry us through misery to soar in triumph.

I believe stories allow one human to inhabit another’s world long enough to recognize their humanity.

I believe in you.

So we will not surrender to the drumbeat of despair.

I don’t care whether the toll comes from a government bell, a judge, a politician, an institution, a rejection letter, or simply life’s circumstances.

You are somebody.

Your story belongs here.

And I’m committed to helping you tell it, just as so many of you have helped me continue telling mine.

So buckle up.

We’re going for a ride.

This is our learning quarter.

This is our writing quarter.

Get your journals together. Sharpen your pencils. Charge your laptops. And if you haven’t subscribed, subscribe and come along.

We’re going to write.

For my paid subscribers, I’ll have worksheets and exercises to help you do the work.

Heck, I’m probably going to give a few away.

That’s how committed I am to this.

Because I want us all writing.

I want us remembering.

And documenting.

And shouting our own stories.

These last seven days have reminded me of the importance of words and writing and fear.

We may not always have our say in a courtroom. We may not be afforded the benefit of innocence or the belief that our government will follow the laws.

But we cannot stop protesting. We cannot stop being a witness to history. We cannot let evil win by disappearing from the record.

This week’s book list is some of my favorite craft books.

Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress — A practical fiction-writing guide to constructing compelling openings, sustaining conflict and momentum through the difficult middle, and delivering endings that fulfill the story’s original promise to the reader.

* How Fiction Works by Oakley Hall — A craft guide that uses extensive examples from literature to teach the mechanics of fiction, including plot, characterization, point of view, dialogue, word choice, voice, and style.

* The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman — A business-focused guide to earning a living as a freelance commercial writer, covering how to find clients, market your services, set rates, build a business, and turn writing into a financially sustainable career.

* Your First Novel by Ann Rittenberg & Laura Whitcomb — A combined craft-and-publishing guide that takes first-time novelists from developing and structuring a manuscript through characters and revision to approaching agents and navigating publication.

* On Writing Romance: How to Craft a Novel That Sells by Leigh Michaels — A comprehensive guide to romance writing that covers the genre and its subgenres, creating convincing romantic leads, building relationship conflict and sexual tension, crafting the HEA, and preparing a manuscript for submission.

* The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing edited by Meg Leder & Jack Heffron — A wide-ranging collection of instruction and advice from novelists and publishing professionals covering story development, character, craft, writer’s block, revision, agents, publishing, and selling a novel.

This week’s bookseller is Black Pearl Bookstore.

And Black Pearl might have a few signed copies of Fire Sword and Sea and can order Murder in St. James’s Park.

You can also try one of my partners in the fight, bookstores large and small, who are in the trenches with me.

You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, VanessaRiley.com, under the podcast link in the About tab.

Hey. Let’s keep rising and creating and writing together. I need you. That is the truth. Like, share, subscribe, and stay connected to Write of Passage.

Thank you for being here.

I want you to come again. This is Vanessa Riley.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vanessariley.substack.com/subscribe


Sep
2026

God in the Regency ~ Part 1 ~ Guest Post by Regan Walker

categories: Church, History

Regency Reflections is excited to welcome Regan Walker. Over the next three days we will be sharing a paper Regan wrote entitled “God in the Regency”. This three part series will give you a terrific overview of the religious environment and shifts in the Regency period. 

My initial purpose in writing this article was to dive beneath the form and ritual we often read about in the religious activities of Regency England, and get to the hearts of the men and women living at that time to explore their beliefs and the meaning of their faith to their lives. I found it a daunting task in the short time I had and finally decided that the only evidence I could provide of what was in their hearts was to look at the actions that resulted from their faith (or lack of it). I approach this issue as a person of faith myself, hence I am not looking to discredit, but rather to shed light on what was happening to the church that influenced the people of England, both rich and poor, in matters of faith during the Regency. To do so, however, I felt it necessary to review the century before this period and the time following the slim slice of history that was the Regency in order to understand the sweeping changes that occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries that bracket the Regency.

It is not my intention in this effort to duplicate the wonderful contributions of others who have looked into this subject. I merely want to provide interesting background for authors of Regency historical novels who may want to know more. At the end of the article I’ve listed some of my sources and other books, articles and websites that might be of interest to you. My thanks to fellow Beau Monde member Nancy Mayer who gave me helpful suggestions that improved the article.

The 18th Century:

The early 18th century in England was an age of reason, and the churches, such as they were, lacked vitality, in part due to the action of the government. I speak in general terms, of course, as there have always been exceptions. However, from what I’ve read, there was little enthusiasm for spiritual matters, perhaps as a reaction to the excesses of the 17th century. People were content with things as they were and those few who attended church often did so out of habit or social custom. The aristocracy was expected to show a good example by attending church and some did, but perhaps only a few times a year on major church holidays. There were parishes where the poor had no church in which to worship and wanted for spiritual leadership.

John Wesley, 1703 - 1791

In the middle of the century, a change swept England. It began, as such revivals always do, with a few who desired to grow closer to God. In 1729, a small group of men at Oxford began gathering under the direction of John Wesley to observe the fasts and festivals of the church, take Communion, and visit the sick and prisoners. Wesley had made the love of God the central principle in his life. His efforts, and those of others, led to what is called The Great Awakening, a Christian movement that also swept Europe and the American colonies. It was to have great consequence.

The “Awakening” produced powerful preachers who gave listeners a sense of their need for a personal faith in God for salvation from sin. Pulling away from the ritual and ceremony that brought people to church out of habit or social custom, the Great Awakening made Christianity intensely personal to the average person by fostering a deep sense of spiritual conviction and redemption, and by encouraging introspection and a commitment to a new standard of personal morality.

John and his brother, Charles and George Whitefield, all ordained in the Anglican Church of England, had been missionaries in the new colony of Georgia, but returned home in 1738 after an unsuccessful mission, disillusioned and discouraged with their faith. They began attending prayer meetings on Aldersgate Street in London, searching for answers. During that time, all three had conversion experiences. (As John Wesley wrote, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins.” –Journal of John Wesley, May 24, 1738.) With this newfound excitement and energy in spiritual matters, the brothers began to develop guidelines, or methods, in seeking spiritual renewal.

John Wesley Preaching
John Wesley Preaching

In 1739, John Wesley and George Whitefield began preaching the gospel outdoors to large gatherings. Wesley took the whole of England as his parish, preaching to as many as 20,000 at one time in London. Thousands, who had previously thought little of religion, were converted. Although not his intention, Wesley’s message led to a new movement that would ultimately separate from the Church of England called the Methodists. From the very start, the Methodists were concerned with personal holiness and emphasized the need for an experience of salvation and forgiveness of sin. Those who criticized the Methodists, such as the Duchess of Buckingham, complained of being held accountable for sin “as the common wretches.” John Wesley’s mission was to England’s poor, unlearned and neglected people. He had little time for the aristocratic rich, finding them idle, trivial, extravagant and lacking in social responsibility.

Selina, Countess of Huntingdon
Selina, Countess of Huntingdon

Despite the focus of the Methodists on the poor and working classes, one of the converts at this time was the Countess of Huntingdon, who for 40 years was deeply involved with the leaders of the Methodist movement. The countess was born into aristocracy as Selina Shirley, both sides of her family being descended from royalty. Selina married Theophilus Hastings, the Earl of Huntingdon, in 1728. Notwithstanding her wealth and position, she found the typical social life of the aristocracy empty. Everything changed in 1739 when she was converted to the Christian faith and determined to use her energies, organizational skills and wealth for the cause of the gospel. Within a short time she was identifying herself with the Wesley brothers and other early Methodist preachers in the Church of England. This reflected great courage on her part, because these itinerant preachers were despised by most of the aristocracy.

To reach the aristocracy, the countess brought the leading preachers of the day into her home and invited her friends and acquaintances to hear them. A number of noble and influential people came to faith in this way. All of them were likely members of the Church of England even before their conversion. In 1746, the countess’s husband died, and at 39, she threw herself into her work with even greater zeal. When she was in London, she held services in her home inviting the evangelical preachers of her day to speak to her friends. She also leased properties in several strategic centres throughout the country and regularly held preaching services there. She built chapels, too, for “her preachers” including one in Bath. By her death in 1791, she had been largely responsible for the construction of 64 chapels all over Britain. In 1778, she once said that she was responsible for 116 “preaching places.”

It is interesting to note that in 1748, John Newton, slave trade ship captain and later the author of the hymn Amazing Grace, was converted during a storm at sea. After he left his career as a ship’s captain, he became an enthusiastic disciple of George Whitefield and then an evangelical lay preacher. In 1757, he applied to be an ordained priest in the Church of England, though it was seven years before that happened, owing to his lack of credentials. Meanwhile, in his frustration, he also applied to the Methodists, Presbyterians and Independents, which suggests he could have found a spiritual home with any of them. Newton’s newfound faith in God made a distinct difference in his life and the hymn for which he is famous testifies to his heart change (“I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see”).

Four years after John Wesley’s death in 1791, the Methodists broke with the Church of England, though it was never Wesley’s desire and he argued vehemently against it. Still, he is credited with the revival of personal religion in England and the Methodist movement.

William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce

At the end of the 18th century, a group of wealthy Anglican Evangelicals came together, most of them living in the village of Clapham southwest of London, to campaign for an end to slavery and cruel sports, prison reform and foreign missions. Dubbed “the saints,” a name which likely amused them (since the Bible calls all believers “saints”), they included: Henry Venn, rector and founder of the group; John Venn, rector and the founder’s son; William Wilberforce, friend of both John Newton and Prime Minister William Pitt, and the statesman who successfully fought against slavery; Henry Thornton, the financier; Charles Simeon, rector at Cambridge; Granville Sharp, a lawyer and founder of the St. George’s Bay Company, a forerunner of the Sierra Leone Company; Zachary Macaulay, estate manager and Governor of Sierra Leone (established as a homeland for emancipated slaves); John Shore, Lord Teignmouth, formerly Governor-General of India; James Stephen, lawyer, Wilberforce’s brother-in-law and author of the Slave Trade Act of 1807; Charles Grant, Chairman of the East India Company; and Hannah More, poet and playwright, who produced tracts for the group.

What motivated them? William Wilberforce’s views here are helpful. In his book, “A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Higher and Middle Classes in This Country Contrasted with Real Christianity,” which was published in 1798, and by 1826 had gone through 15 editions in England alone, he speaks of a “true Christian” as one discharging a debt of gratitude to God for the grace he has received. Likely his views mirrored those of his fellow Clapham group members when he said,

They are not their own: their bodily and mental faculties, their natural and acquired endowments, their substance, their authority, their time, their influence, all these they consider. . .to be consecrated to the honor of God and employed in His service.

The Clapham group certainly put their faith into action. One of their primary concerns was foreign missions, taking seriously Christ’s command to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Among their achievements, were the Religious Tract Society in 1799, the Society for Missions to Africa and the East (now the Church Missionary Society) in 1799, and the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804. The latter circulated the Bible in England and abroad. With funding from the Clapham group, Hannah More established twelve schools by 1800 where reading, the Bible and the catechism were taught to local children. She also wrote ethical books, some of them during the Regency.

The influence of the Clapham group continued during the Regency period. By the mid 19th century they were known as the Clapham Sect.

Sunday schools arose in the 1780s teaching Bible stories to children. It was the idea of Robert Raikes, the curate of Mary le Crypt Church in Gloucester. His purpose was to teach local children to read and write. The idea spread rapidly; by 1797, there were 1,086 schools in England teaching 69,000 children.

God in the Regency will continue with part 2 tomorrow.

After years of practicing law in both the private sector and government, and traveling to over 40 countries, Regan has returned to her love of telling stories. She writes mainlineRegency romances, her first is Racing With The Wind, set in London and Paris in1816, and features spies and intrigue as well as a smart, independent heroine and a handsome British lord–lots of adventure as well as love! It’s the first in her Agents of the Crown trilogy. For more, see her website:  http://www.reganwalkerauthor.com.

Originally posted 2012-10-24 10:00:00.


Sep
2026

Tea and Tulips

categories: Food, History, Tea, Tea Time
Photo: Glam Lamb

Entering my ninth month of pregnancy has had me thinking on the Regency pastimes spent largely indoors – especially those that do not require much by way of physical activity on the part of a typically exhausted, soon-to-be mother of three.

My current pastimes don’t venture far beyond the nearest comfortable chair and as such, stay in the realm of reading, writing novels, blogging and time spent on the occasional bout of Facebook posting. This is why a cozy living room or den (aka, a twenty-first century parlor) is such a grand place to kick-back with a cup of hot tea and a delightful Regency Era book. It’s during these relaxing times that a tea-tray and small vase of cheery flowers are particularly welcome companions!

Care for tea and tulips, perhaps?

Though the Regency Era would have seen a servant delivering a tray for tea time, it wouldn’t have been quite as easy as simply warming a mug of water in the microwave and dropping in a tea bag like we do today. For Regency Era tea times, there was much more to consider:

–   Cost – The practice of drinking tea had been popular in England for well over a century before the Regency Era, but that did not mean that tea was altogether inexpensive.   By the late 1700s, both Thomas and Richard Twining had a great impact on the practice of tea drinking, making it more popular with the opening of a tea shop in 1717 and in the effective lobbying of the government to reduce the high import tax on tea in 1784, which made it somewhat more affordable to the masses (namely, the middle class).  The cost remained steady however, due largely to the British East India Trading Company’s monopoly on tea imports up until 1834.

Photo: Kristy, smiling (and happy!) at Great Britain's Twinings Tea Shop at the Epcot World Showcase (Walt Disney World, Orlando)

–  Time of Day/Menu – The definition of “tea time” varied according to the time of day and type of menu items that accompanied the tea itself.  Usually served between the hours of 5 and 7pm, the High Tea (also known as the “meat tea”) was identified with the early evening meal. It would have been accompanied by a more substantial hot dish such as shepherd’s pie, baked fish or fish and chips, or other savory dish with baked or broiled root vegetables. While Afternoon Tea (or, “low tea”) did not become the fashion until the early 1840s, it’s still worth mentioning in comparison as the foundation for this tea time was laid during the preceding years.

As a lighter version of the traditional High Tea, the Afternoon Tea would have been served to carry one through to the High Tea or later (and more formal) dinner. It would have been accompanied by lighter fare – a snack of finger foods such as seasonal fruit, scones, crumpets, tea sandwiches (cucumber or smoked salmon, for example), biscuits and an assortment of honey, butters, jams, and lemon curds or custard spreads.

Photo: The Foodie Gift Hunter, UK

–  Etiquette – Distinctions between High and Low Tea are commonly referenced to the height of the table used for tea service (though this is not the only distinction noted from multiple sources).  Light Afternoon Tea would have been served outdoors in hospitable weather, either in a garden or at picnic. Indoor tea times would have been served in a less formal setting such as a parlor, study, or salon, and on the low coffee tables often found in these rooms.

– Tea Tidbits – It’s interesting to note that “taking tea” was actually a rather ill-mannered expression at the time. One would have opted for referring to High Tea time rather than the more uncultured phrase. Here’s another tidbit just to make you smile… Though our post is titled to Tea and Tulips, we’re of course referring to the lovely blooms that appear in our window boxes each spring. But in the Regency Era, the word Tulip actually referred to a “fine fellow who dressed quite well”.

There are numerous resources you can turn to for a complete history of tea, though here are a couple of fun links to get you started:

Photo: 18th Century teacup, Wiki Commons

Tea in the Regency

Tea at the Regency Tea Room, The Jane Austen Centre at Bath

Tea with Bea, Bea’s of Bloomsbury (Tea Room and Treats)

The Foodie Gift Hunter, UK (Making Time for Tea)

Twinings Tea, a Twinings History

Association of Tea Bloggers

DIY Tea Wreath (Kojo Designs Craft Project)

With all the tea talk we’ve had, I’m feeling more relaxed than ever. Between the writing and blogging, tea time that is High or Low, and the service in our parlors or salons, I’m ready for a honey-sweetened cup of Twinings best on my own tea-tray. So what’s my Tea and Tulips moment? It’s in the smiles of my children and the care bestowed by my husband that has this soon-to-be mom of three rejoicing. After all, no matter what flavor of tea or time of day, God’s blessings are always on the menu.

What tea flavors your day?

Share your favorite Tea and Tulips moment with us below…

 

In His Love ~

Kristy

 

Originally posted 2012-10-22 10:00:00.


Sep
2026

Poets of the Regency: George Gordon, Lord Byron

categories: Uncategorized

We return to the library of our typical Regency gentleman in order to take one of the most scandalous volumes off of its shelf: the poetry of Lord Byron.

Byron is the archetype of an eponymous sort of Regency hero – the sort that is, in the words of his contemporary and sometimes-lover Lady Caroline Lamb: “Mad – bad – and dangerous to know”.  You want brooding? You want scandalous? You want the dark and handsome hero who just might be too depraved to be redeemed? Meet George Gordon, Lord Byron.

 

 

 

As a  boy, Byron suffered what would now be called child abuse and grew up, sadly, to repeat the pattern. He’s such a legendary figure that it’s hard, even now, to be sure exactly which stories about him are true and which aren’t, but he treated his wife badly, conducted numerous affairs – possibly with both men and women – and fathered several illegitimate children, including (persistent rumor had it) one by his own half-sister.

Yet for all this, he wrote exquisite poetry, treasured both in his own time and still treasured today.

Byron’s poetry took Regency society by storm in 1812, when he published the beginning of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”, a poem inspired by his own recent European travels. He went on to write “Don Juan”, and many other verses, though the most famous today is the song that begins:

“She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes” .

Byron died young, at age 36, one of the most celebrated and controversial artists of the Regency – or any – period.

-Jessica Snell 

 

Previous Poets of the Regency posts:

–William Wordsworth

–Samuel Taylor Coleridge 

Originally posted 2012-10-19 10:00:00.


Sep
2026

The Art of the Silhouette

categories: A Day in the Life, entertainment, Uncategorized
This silhouette of Jane Austen is attributed to a silhouette-maker, Mrs. Collins, who worked in Bath around 1800.

It’s hard to imagine not having photography to capture the moments of our everyday lives. Weddings, important events, vacations – these are all moments that we capture digitally or on film to enjoy for years to come.

Even though photography had not yet been invented, it was common practice during the Regency to have a likeness or portrait made of a loved one.  But oil paintings were expensive and took many sittings to complete.  Even watercolor paintings and high quality sketches took skill, time, and money.  For those who did not have the extra funds to spend on such luxuries, a silhouette was a viable alternative to capture a person’s likeness.

 

In simplest terms, a silhouette is the art of casting a shadow of one’s profile onto a sheet of paper and either cutting out or blackening the image.  Originally, this art form was known as creating a profile miniature or shade. The term “silhouette” is credited to the Frenchman Eteinne de Silhouette (1709-1797).   Silhouette, a finance minister to Louis XV, did not invent the art form, but his skill for cutting profiles earned him notoriety.  Additionally, his frugal tendencies made the term “silhouette” synonymous with this inexpensive hobby.

Many people are most familiar with silhouettes that have been cut from black paper, but there were actually several different techniques one could use to create a silhouette.  The most popular technique was to place a candle near a person’s profile and cast a shadow on paper. Then the shadow was traced and then either cut out with sharp, tiny scissors or and darkened with charcoal or lampblack.  Yet another technique was the “hollow cut silhouette”, in which the profiled image was cut from the paper and black material (silk, paper, etc.) was placed behind the empty space to reveal the image. Another more detailed technique was the painted silhouette, in which the artist would either trace or create the profile with oil paint or watercolours.

This silhouette of Robert Burns was created by John Wiers in 1787.

Because it was an inexpensive, easy, and relatively quick process, creating silhouettes became a popular party activity.   In fact, George III was fond of making silhouettes and threw elaborate “shade” parties.  Most cities – especially larger resort towns – had silhouette artists for hire.  One of the most-well known silhouette artists during the Regency was John Miers (1756-1821).  The majority of his career took place in London where, in his early years, he charged a guinea per silhouette. He was noted for his incredible speed and his infamous “three-minute sittings.” He, along with other professional silhouette artists, expanded the art form and created silhouettes on plaster, ivory, wax and glass. The most desirable silhouettes were drawn by hand (not traced) and often found their way onto jewelry and other valuable items.

If you would like to read more on this topic, be sure to check out this article by Linore Burkhard, a Regency Reflections blog contributor:  Rise of the Silhouette

Originally posted 2012-10-17 05:00:00.


Sep
2026

A Flight of Fancy Quiz and Contest Results

categories: Announcements, Contests, Uncategorized

We enjoyed hosting our Regency quiz last week to celebrate the release of A Flight of Fancy by Laurie Alice Eakes. I’ve got a gift basket winner picked and ready to announce, but first, lets review the answers to those five pesky quiz questions!

1. A Flight of Fancy is set in 1812. During what years did the Regency take place?

A: 1790-1820

B: 1800-1830

C: 1811-1830

D: 1811-1820

D is the correct answer. Parliament approved the Regency that year and it lasted until the Prince of Wales, the Regent, became king in 1820. Briefly, in 1811, the king rallied, but not for long enough to revoke the Regency.

Often books are labeled as Regencies any time from the French Revolution until the end of George IV’s reign in 1830. This is partly because of Napoleon’s influence over much of this time period, and partly because no one knows what else to call it. It is Georgian. The Regency is a subcategory of Georgian England, which began in 1714 with George I becoming the first Hanover on the throne.

(The Hanovers are still on the throne, but they changed their name from the German to the English Windsor during World War I.)

2. How did aeronauts steer a balloon?

A: They used sails.

B: They used paddles.

C: They used wind currents.

D: They used the balloon itself.

I was please to see how many got this right, which means you all are knowledgeable about nineteenth century ballooning. C is, of course, the answer to both. Balloonists’ only way to steer a balloon is through wind currents, raising and lowering the elevation of the balloon through more or less hot air, until the wind is going the right way. This is inefficient and not always successful.

3. Which of the following was not used to make hydrogen for the balloon.

A: Fire

B: Acid

C: Wax

D: Iron

Wax was used to coat the canvas tubing from the beaker of acid to the balloon to keep the hydrogen from leaking out.

4. In A Flight of Fancy, Cassandra Bainbridge is the oldest unmarried daughter of a baron. How should she be addressed?

A: Lady Cassandra

B: Lady Bainbridge

C: Miss Cassandra

D: Miss Bainbridge

Forms of address in England were and are some of the most complex details in writing an English-set historical. The answer is D—Miss Bainbridge.

As the daughter of a baron, she is not entitled to the “Lady” form of address. She is a lady because of her birth, but not a Lady, as her birth is not quite high enough. She would have to be the daughter of an earl, marquess, or duke to be addressed as Lady Cassandra. No single lady was addressed Lady Surname unless she held a title in her own right, which was extremely rare.

As the eldest unmarried daughter, she is Miss Bainbridge. Kudos to the reference from Jane Austen. In the third book, Miss Honore will become Miss Bainbridge.

5. Geoffrey Giles, Earl of Whittaker, is the hero in A Flight of Fancy. How should he be addressed?

A: Lord Geoffrey

B: Lord Giles

C: Lord Earl

D: Lord Whittaker

This one was easy. Yes, Lord Whittaker. Men of the peerage were addressed by their title. Believe me, though, I have read these other choices in books, along with calling an earl Sir Title or Sir firstname, as though titles were interchangeable. They were not.

And the gift basket winner is . . .

Jan Bolton!

Congratulations to Jan, who answered correctly on last Wednesday’s post about how Cassandra would have been addressed as the eldest unmarried daughter of a baron.

From the bloggers here at Regency Reflections, we want to offer everyone who participated in our A Flight of Fancy week and Regency quiz a heartfelt thank you. We hope you enjoyed the things we featured during our A Flight of Fancy week as much as we enjoyed interacting with every one of you.

Originally posted 2012-10-15 10:00:00.


Sep
2026

Spiritual Themes from A Flight of Fancy

categories: Author Interview, Book Reviews, Contests, Devotion, Recommended Reading, Regency Hero, Regency Romance, Uncategorized

Hi Everyone!

Naomi here, and it’s our last day talking about A Flight of Fancy, by Regency Reflections blog contributor, Laurie Alice Eakes. If you’re stopping by the blog for the first time this week, you’ll want to check out our previous three posts. We’ve had an Introduction to A Flight of Fancy, then Taking to the Sky (a post on Ballooning during the Regency Era), and an Interview with Laurie Alice Eakes. At the end of each post, there’s a Regency quiz question. For every question you answer correctly in the comment section, your name will be entered in a chance to win a Regency gift basket, complete with tea, biscuits, a mug, and an Amazon gift card. The contest ends this Saturday, October 13, at midnight.

Over the past week, we’ve introduced several different aspects about A Flight of Fancy and Laurie Alice Eakes. Today, as we conclude our discussion, I’m going to touch on the spiritual themes in the novel.

Both Cassandra and Whittaker have a rather physical past relationship. As two Christians accountable to God, and as two individuals living in the Regency Era, any physical relations before marriage are clearly wrong. However, Cassandra and Whittaker push limits in this area time and time again.

In the first chapter of the story, Cassandra and Whittaker test their physical relationship yet again (this aspect of the story is presented in a tactful manner). As a result, Cassandra ends up severely injured, so much so that she nearly dies. Once she recovers physically, she’s still left with permanent, visible scars, and she doesn’t feel fit to ever marry.

Cassandra thus calls off their engagement. Though she and Whittaker still have deep feelings for one another, they both suffer a terrible amount of guilt throughout the course of the novel. The guilt haunts them and clings to them, almost like a sticky tar neither can wash from their skin.

Both Cassandra and Whittaker need to turn to God, confess their sin, and accept His forgiveness. But they struggle. After all, it’s very hard to accept forgiveness from God (or even another person) when one refuses to forgive himself or herself.

I personally found this story a refreshing reminder of how strong God’s forgiveness is. Psalm 103:11-12 says, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”

Sometimes in our desire to serve and please God, it’s easy to become stuck on our past mistakes and sins rather than to leave them at the feet of Christ. As we dwell on those sins, we become discouraged and even distracted from serving God.

The solution? Don’t wallow in past sin. Accept God’s forgiveness and focus on making future choices that honor God.

How are you coping with past sin in your personal life? Are you confessing it to God and leaving it with Him, or are you carrying it around like an unseen burden on your back?

Today’s Question (remember one correct answer will enter your name into the gift basket drawing):

Geoffrey Giles, Earl of Whittaker, is the hero in A Flight of Fancy. How should he be addressed?

A: Lord Geoffrey

B: Lord Giles

C: Lord Earl

D: Lord Whittaker

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Regency Quiz over the past week. We’ll be announcing the winner, as well as discussing the answers to the question, on Monday, October 15th.

This contest is now closed. Please see the final post for answers to the trivia questions. 

Originally posted 2012-10-12 10:00:00.


Sep
2026

Get to Know Our Own Laurie Alice Eakes (And win that gift basket!)

categories: Author Interview, Contests

If you’ve been reading Regency Reflections for a while then you already know a lot about Laurie Alice Eakes. Today I’m chatting with Laurie Alice to learn a little bit more about what she thinks about Regency England and her new book, Flight of Fancy.

Be sure to check out the trivia question at the end of the post for another chance to win that amazing gift basket!

Laurie Alice EakesIf you were to travel back in time to Regency England, what do you think would be your favorite part?

Hmm. About a dozen flitted through my mind here, from hot chocolate brought to my bedroom before I got up in the morning, to gentlemen being gentlemen, which sounds sexist to our contemporary views, and still seems appealing.

What would you miss the most?

Cleanliness. No question about that. We gloss over it in our books, and, in truth, things weren’t terribly clean back then, not by our standards.

Ballooning is a large part of your new book, Flight of Fancy. Did you have the opportunity to go up in a balloon while you were researching it?

Unfortunately no, and I interviewed many people who have. It’s still something I intend to do.

What’s your favorite, unique Regency aspect of the novel, something you wouldn’t be able to include in a novel set in another place or time?

The Luddites are so uniquely Regency. They symbolize the stirrings of the consequences of mechanization and the burgeoning Industrial Revolution. The Luddite rebellion signifies how the world was beginning to change, one of the things about the Regency that endlessly holds my fascination. Although other riots occurred over other industrial innovations, the Luddite rebellion is unique, as men and women struggled against losing their way of life to a massive degree, to the extent soldiers had to be called in, and both rebels and soldiers died.

Flight Of FancyYou include a lot of historic events in your novels. Do you enjoy the research? How much time do you spend researching versus writing?

I’d say the time is equal. I knew little about ballooning or the Luddites before starting this book, so had to read a lot of books and original documents to get a true sense of both aspects.

Do you share any personality traits with your heroine in Flight of Fancy?

I’m not as nerdy—or as smart—as she is, and I can be a bit nerdy, esp. over history. And then there are the aspects of forgiveness, self-forgiveness that is, and inner healing with which she has to cope, that I related to sometimes so much it was painful to write.

What makes your hero different from other great gentlemen you’ve written before?

He has a few aspects that are different such as his closeness to his mother, and his own interests and skills with mechanical devices. I’ve also never written a story where the hero and heroine have had a long-standing relationship before the book begins, one that makes things worse between them than better.

What was your favorite aspect of writing Flight of Fancy?

Getting these two to grow up not only in maturity about relationships, but also in their relationship with the Lord. They were particularly aged walnuts with shells terribly difficult to crack, so I had to torture them both a great deal, break them so I could show them healing. Like a limb that was broken before and wrongly set, the Lord has to break some of us to get us to healing.

 

Now it’s your turn! Answer the following question in the comments for a chance to win a Flight of Fancy gift basket. See details here. And don’t forget to check out Monday’s post to learn more about balloons and two additional chances to win the basket.

Trivia Question #4:

In A Flight of Fancy, Cassandra Bainbridge is the oldest unmarried daughter of a baron. How should she be addressed?

A: Lady Cassandra
B: Lady Bainbridge
C: Miss Cassandra
D: Miss Bainbridge

 

This contest is now closed. Please see the final post for answers to the trivia questions. 

Originally posted 2012-10-10 10:00:00.


Sep
2026

Taking to the Sky

categories: Education, History, Regency Romance, Uncategorized

To celebrate A Flight of Fancy, we’re running a special week-long contest. Starting October 5, 2012, through next Friday, October 12, we’ll feature Regency quiz questions at the end of each post. To enter the contest, you’ll need to correctly answer the questions in the comment section below. For every correct answer, your name will be added into the drawing for a Regency Food and Frolic gift basket. There will be five questions in all, which means your name can be entered up to five times (if you get all five questions right). The deadline to answer ALL CONTEST QUESTIONS will be Saturday, October 13 at midnight.

Photo on Scenic Reflections

A Flight of Fancy has a heroine who would be considered a nerd nowadays. For fun, she reads Greek and Hebrew, translates ancient documents into English, and executes mathematics. She regrets not being able to go to university, but since she cannot, she determines to make her mark on the world through creating a balloon one can steer.

Balloons could not be steered except per the caprices of the wind currents. These change at various heights of the atmosphere, so a balloonist had to raise and lower the gas—hydrogen—level in the balloon to affect their direction. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it did not. Usually it did not. Sails and paddles were employed in an attempt to create steerage to greater or lesser success—mostly lesser.

Considering one had to go aloft with live fire to create the hydrogen, and the car or basket was not all that large, limiting the quantity of fuel, long journeys in a balloon without touching down were simply not possible. Decades later, Jules Verne’s book, Around the World in 80 Days, was considered fantasy. It was the science fiction of its day. (He is, of course, the founder of steam punk, a steam punk author told me.) But I digress.

How grand getting from London to Lisbon, sailing over the heads of the French enemy, sailing high enough to be out of range of their guns, would be! Much safer from the enemy than taking a ship.

Unfortunately, steering was the first problem with long-range travel, and having enough fuel to keep gas in the balloon was another problem.

It doesn’t mean people did not attempt, and come close, to sailing long distances. Sophie Blanchard, a famous French balloonist, sailed across the Alps. No problem. Balloons could go extremely high; therefore, getting over the mountains was not a problem for her. She was also not sailing over enemy territory, being French.

During the Regency, Mr. Sattler decided to fly from Ireland, across the Irish Sea, and to England. He did so with great success. Several times, he had to raise and lower his level to catch favorable currents, but the coast of Cumberland drew into his sites.

So he decided to go down to Liverpool, and that’s when he ran into trouble. He caught a strong current. The waxed canvas tubing that carried the hydrogen from the beaker of acid and iron shavings, to the balloon, began to tear away from the balloon, causing him to lose altitude at an alarming rate.

Mind you, he reports that he was around three miles in the sky. Plunging from that height would have been rather frightening, not to say deadly.

With great risk to life and limb, he managed to affect repairs while poised above a live fire and that beaker of acid and iron shavings to make the hydrogen. I won’t say how because I use this incident for the basis of an important scene in A Flight of Fancy.

Mr. Sattler ended up in the sea near Liverpool. A flock of sea birds attacked him for the food he had carried with him, and several ships sailed past him. Eventually, as night fell, a naval vessel stopped and picked him up.

That Lord Whittaker is against Cassandra going aloft in a balloon makes a great deal of sense. Men and women, including Sophie Blanchard, died because of their fascination with taking to the sky in a balloon. Cassandra, however, is like thousands of men and women throughout history, who risked their fortunes and their lives to bring us new inventions and scientific discoveries—she will not let the danger stop her from trying to improve balloon flight and make it a practical form of transportation.

For more details on how balloonists made hydrogen and why they went aloft with a live fire, read my article at: http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/

Today’s questions:

1: How did aeronauts steer a balloon?

A: They used sails.

B: They used paddles.

C: They used wind currents.

D: They used the balloon itself.

 2: Which of the following was not used to make hydrogen for the balloon.

A: Fire

B: Acid

C: Wax

D: Iron

This contest is now closed. Please see the final post for answers to the trivia questions. 

Originally posted 2012-10-08 06:00:00.


Sep
2026

A Flight of Fancy: a Regency Novel by Laurie Alice Eakes

categories: Uncategorized

I’m excited to introduce a new Regency novel today. It’s entitled A Flight of Fancy and written by Regency Reflection’s own Laurie Alice Eakes.

To celebrate A Flight of Fancy, we’re running a special week-long contest. Starting today through next Friday, October 12, we’ll feature Regency quiz questions at the end of each post. To enter the contest, you’ll need to correctly answer the questions in the comment section below. For every correct answer, your name will be added into the drawing for a Regency Food and Frolic gift basket. There will be five questions in all, which means your name can be entered up to five times (if you get all five questions right). The deadline to answer ALL CONTEST QUESTIONS will be Saturday, October 13 at midnight.

The gift basket will include:

A small Starbucks mug

A box of Earl Grey tea

A package of Pepperidge Farm Cookies (biscuits)

A $10.00 Amazon gift card

Before we get to today’s quiz question, let me tell you about the story, and why I’m enjoying reading it so much.

Cassandra Bainbridge may be a bit of a bluestocking, but when Geoffrey Giles is near, love seems a fine alternative to passion for Greek and the physics of flight. With his dashing good looks and undying devotion to her, the earl of Whittaker sets Cassandra’s heart racing with his very presence. It seems his only flaw is his distaste for ballooning, the obsession that consumes so much of her thoughts.

When a terrible accident compels her to end her betrothal, Cassandra heads for the country to recover from both her injuries and her broken heart. With time on her hands and good friends to help her, she pursues her love for ballooning and envisions a future for herself as a daring aeronaut. But when Lord Whittaker slips back into her life, will she have to choose between him and her dream?

A Flight of Fancy has generated critical acclaim from places such as the Romantic Times, which said: ” Eakes has a charming way of making her novels come to life without being over the top. The second Daughters of Bainbridge House story has romance, mystery, suspense and characters who transcend the stereotype of stiff English formality.”

One of the things I personally love about this story is how Whittaker finds himself torn between love and duty. He struggles with handling both things at once, and that same struggle reaches out and touches every person on the planet at one time or another. And of course, the suspense element is riveting, keeping the reader constantly guessing at what will happen next, who’s toying with Whittaker and Cassandra, and why.

I genuinely hope others enjoy this book as much as I do.

Today’s question: A Flight of Fancy is set in 1812. During what years did the Regency take place?

A: 1790-1820

B: 1800-1830

C: 1811-1830

D: 1811-1820

Remember to leave your answer in the comment section below. And come back Monday for Laurie Alice Eakes’s post on ballooning during the Regency, plus two more quiz questions.

This contest is now closed. Please see the final post for answers to the trivia questions. 

Originally posted 2012-10-05 01:00:44.