Help! My Hero's Taken Over My Blog!

I often have guests on my blog and I would have invited him if I'd known he wanted to speak to you all, but today someone has brashly forced his way in to my Blogger account and simply taken over. Good thing it's just Crispin Hawke—the sexy, brilliant, outrageously handsome hero of my newest release, STROKE OF GENIUS! (Otherwise, I might have called the blog police!)

Crispin: I'm gratified by those accolades from my author. When she gets it right, there's no need to correct her! But really--"just Crispin Hawke?" That won't do, you know.

Emily: Did I also mention he’s not afflicted with false modesty? Very well, Crispin. As long as you're here, you can share some of the things you taught the heroine in Stroke of Genius.

Crispin: Exactly my plan. How well you know me, Emily dear. I like to call these precepts "5 Rules to Rule the Ton." Follow these edicts and you will reign above Society’s dictates and become a law unto yourself.

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1. The one who cares the least wins. There is nothing so attractive to the ton as indifference. If one doesn’t seem to need their approval, one becomes instantly fascinating.

2. Boldness works. It’s not enough to follow fashion. One must lead. Grace’s unique beauty isn’t enhanced by the ordinary. Her wardrobe has to be as unusual as she.

3. Speak your mind. There’s plenty of interest swirling in Grace’s head. She only has to release the words from her mouth. (Unfortunately I’ve been unable to discover how to stop the flow once it begins!)

4. Accept your sensual nature. We are more than our houses of flesh, but there’s no point in denying the pleasures of the body. It’s possible to soar with artistic genius, achieve the pinnacle of human creativity and yet excel equally in an experience that’s . . . primal. I highly recommend it. Grace has an aptitude for matters physical to match my own and the line between teacher and student becomes blurred at times. Or even reversed.

5. Whatever else happens, one must never ever fall in love. Love is most inconvenient. It interrupts one’s schedule. It disturbs one’s sleep. It overthrows one’s life. And it completely undoes Rule 1. Love makes it impossible to care the least. Which is why love comes with the risk of loss. And reward unspeakable.

And unfortunately even geniuses are sometimes taken by surprise by it.
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Emily: Thank you, Crispin. If any of you have questions for my hero, I think I can coax him into dropping by with some answers.

STROKE OF GENIUS features an Almack come out, a close call in Vauxhall, a romping good time at a country house party and more naughty escapades than can be shared on a PG-13 blog. For more of Grace and Crispin’s adventures, look for STROKE OF GENIUS at a store near you.

Visit http://www.emilybryan.com to take the STROKE OF GENIUS QUIZ. What kind of genius are YOU?

Pleasure Gardens

In Stroke of Genius, my heroine and her family visit Vauxhall, the public pleasure gardens famous for its romantic Dark Walks and intrigueing statuary.

Originally opened in 1661, the early days of the Restoration of the monarchy, the gardens were a return to the country for city dwellers. The alehouse surrounded by gardens was approached by a boat trip across the Thames, which was considered an important part of the experience. Revelers were sailing into a special world as they crossed the water. The entertainments were simple, often by street performers or spontaneous singing and dancing by the visitors themselves. It was popular with families but it was also a place where young men and women could meet informally without many of society's constraints.

Because the gardens were not exclusively for the upper crust, they were an ideal business environment for the working girls of London. Sir Roger de Coverley, who was shamelessly approached by a masked prostitute in 1712, told the proprietress of the alehouse "if there were more Nightingales, and fewer Strumpets" he'd be a better patron of the gardens.

Vauxhall Gardens was open for business for two centuries. By the time, the Makepeace family from STROKE OF GENIUS visits it during the Regency era, the gardens were lit by 15,000 gas lamps by night, had countless pavillions and was accessible by a new bridge across the Thames. Concerts were formal affairs and the supper boxes a premier place to see and be seen.

Admission was originally one shilling, though by the time of the Regency, it was 3 and 6 pence. Season tickets could be purchased for one guinea. Around twenty different patterns of these silver tickets survive, dating between 1737 and the late 1750s. Classical mythological scenes were on one side, with the subscriber's name engraved on the other.

In addition to the price of admission, the owners of the gardens made money selling food. The most famous item on the menu was ham, which was cut so thin that my heroine Grace Makepeace's father complains that he can "read a newspaper through it." Besides cold meats, salad, and cheese, Vauxhall also offered custards, tarts, cheesecakes and other puddings.

My heroine, who's led a pretty sheltered existence, is chiefly interested in seeing "the Dark Walks" (also known as the Druid Walks). This overgrown portion of the garden was known for being a trysting place and the scene of more bachanalian revels. The poet John Keats titled one of his works, "Sonnet to a Lady Seen for a Few Moments at Vauxhall." I doubt those few moments were filled with behavior beyond reproach.

Vauxhall Gardens closed on June 25, 1859 after the property had become increasingly run-down, tawdry and disruptive to the respectable neighborhoods which had grown up around it. The lease was sold and the property divided into hundreds of building sites. However, the garden was not gone forever. During WWII, the site was razed by the Blitz. It is now once again a park and conservation area.

Vauxhall has been featured in lots of books besides my STROKE OF GENIUS. One that comes to my mind is Jo Beverley's SOMETHING WICKED. Can you name a romance with a scene set in the pleasure garden? Or in any garden for that matter? What is it about green, growing things that turns our thoughts to love?