Today I welcome guest author J.L. Buck as she shares insight about the Regency Era, including historical tidbits, an excerpt of her book, and offers a giveaways.

Disclaimer: Men of 1812 used words that some might find offensive, so this is a content warning

One of the perks of writing historical fiction is the interesting facts you unearth during research. I couldn’t begin to mention all the things I’ve learned, but here is just a sampling.

Most Regency households only had two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, both were large meals. That didn’t mean anyone went hungry all day. They usually had tea and biscuits or other edibles by mid or late afternoon, and sometimes more than once, if they had visitors arrive. And tea reminds me, most households were rather frugal with tea. The lady of the house would often use the tea twice, letting it dry between uses, and then pass it on to a favorite servant for a third use.

I was shocked to learn that wife selling—by public auction—was still tolerated among the lower classes during this period. Thankfully, it was not frequent.

On a much lighter note, an interesting addition to Regency rooms was a pole screen intended to protect ladies’ complexions from the heat of the fireplace. These consisted of a screen attached to a pole which could be moved up and down depending on the height of the lady’s face. (This one from the late 1700s was the style still popular during the Regency.) Many of the screens were decorated by the ladies of the house with embroidery, their own paintings, or decoupaged prints.

Showing some things never change, ladies of the time made regular shopping trips to purchase beautifying creams, cures for freckles, and anti-wrinkle lotions.

Some of the more extraordinary historical events were the River Thames Frost Fairs held when the Thames froze over during what is now known as the Northern Hemisphere’s “Little Ice Age,” roughly 1600-1814. It was common for the Thames to freeze not only due to the extreme cold but also the spacing between the London Bridge supports that created ice jams. As the climate began to warm, the last Frost Fair occurred in January 1814. It only lasted five days, but thousands of people were on the ice every day, browsing hastily built shops and tents, drinking tea or stronger beverages around the fires, and ice skating or enjoying other entertainments from musicians to jugglers and even a parading elephant. Fortunately, no deaths were reported that year from melting ice.

I hope these small glimpses into Regency life will give you a taste for the period and a little background for any Regency books or film productions like Bridgerton!

Giveaway: If you’d like to try your hand at winning a free ebook of The Dead Betray None, leave a comment below. I’ve even left a question for you to ponder. Please disguise your email address in your response like this: name AT doman DOT extension. For example, Donna AT Livebytheword DOT com  This is so we can contact you if you win.

Question for readers: How difficult would it be for you to live in 1811—with no electricity, no TV, no phone, or other amenities we take for granted?

Getting to know J.L.:

• What fun or unique things can you tell us about yourself? I once rode a horse through the high school building in order to reach the line-up for the Homecoming parade in time, and I have a concealed carry permit that I’ve never used (it was research for a novel), and I have hiked the Grand Canyon (years ago!).
• Do you have a dedicated place to write, or a nook or corner of a room, or the kitchen table?  I have a dedicated office. When I first retired and decided I wanted to write full-time, I spent the money to set up a special place. I’ve never regretted the cost.
• What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful? I am sure my answer is the same as any other author, write a review. Series live and die on the strength of reviews from readers.

About The Dead Betray None and where to find online" 

The Dead Betray None (A Viscount Ware Mystery)

Genre: Historical (Regency) Mystery

Release Date: July 12, 2022

England, 1811. Lucien, Viscount Ware, has recently returned from four years of spying for England on the Continent. Finding the world of the haut ton rather tedious, he and his fellow agent agree to secret spy work for the Crown at home and is given the task of locating a stolen code, the key to unlocking Napoleon's war documents.

Lady Anne Ashburn comes to London to retrieve her cousin's love letters from a blackmailer. Lucien and Lady Anne meet over a dead body at the Christmastide Ball. What follows—the risks they take, the intrusion of a notorious crime lord, society gossip, and good intentions gone awry—sends them spiraling into danger and potential disaster for England’s war effort.

The Dead Betray None pre-order/buy links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Betray-None-J-Buck-ebook/dp/B09VM9RSS9

Kobo:  www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-dead-betray-none

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dead-betray-none-j-l-buck/1141104585

About J.L.: 

 JL Buck lives in the Midwest with Latte, a mischievous Siamese cat, who attempts to co-author her writing by taking over the keyboard. When not writing or running two blogs, Ms Buck enjoys her eight grandchildren (and a great-grandson), reading (preferably on a sunny deck), travel (USA and abroad), and binge-watching any sub-genre of mystery shows.

She can be contacted through her website, her Ally Shields’ fantasy website, or social media (including twitter: @janetlbuck or her fantasy pen name account: @ShieldsAlly)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jlbuckauthor

JL Buck blog: https://janetlbuck.com/blog.html

Excerpt of first page:

December 1811

The thundering hooves of swiftly moving horses echoed through the dense fog. Lucien Grey, Viscount Ware, feathered his pair of blood bays around the sharp curve, the curricle’s wheels slipping a brief moment on the wet road. The encroaching trees opened onto a broad misty park, revealing the familiar Doric columns of Baron Sherbourne’s yellow-and-gray sandstone manor. Despite the dismal morning, the estate held good memories for Lucien, and a fleeting smile crossed his lips.

Easing the bays to the left toward the stable yard, he brought the light carriage to a halt, and his groom, Finn, slipped off the back to run to the horses’ heads. The high bred team danced in place, snorting at the abrupt end to the journey, their hot breath forming tiny clouds in the icy air.

Lucien leapt to the ground, his top boots squishing the sodden maple leaves blown over the cobblestones. He tossed the reins to Finn. “Be good to them. They earned it.”

“Aye, m’lord.” The small man, somewhere in his thirties, but not much over five feet tall nor eight stone, gave his master a toothy grin and flipped a shock of reddish-brown hair out of his eyes. “Sev’teen mile in a’ hour an’ a bit more. They be getting oats an’ barley for sure.”

Lucien nodded casual approval and yanked off his leather driving gloves, using them to brush at the dried road dirt on his multi-caped greatcoat. A burst of rain and sleet from the same storm that must have blown through the baron’s estate had caught him on the Great North Road from London.

With a final slap of the gloves, he abandoned the futile effort to make himself presentable and strode toward the country house, his lean, muscled frame moving with the ease of a man used to action. A twinge of disquiet returned a frown to his face, and his eyes narrowed. Four years of clandestine missions in the glittering courts and ballrooms of the Continent—their elegant setting no less deadly than the wretched battlefields—had taught him to trust his instincts, and something was off the mark about this assignment.

A part of him had known it since Lord Rothe’s man came pounding on his door before dawn.