My Historical Crush



Rousseau -- love the scruff



Admit it – you have a historical crush too. You've drooled over a bust of Caligula even though you know what a rotter he was. Maybe you have a secret thing for Jean Jacques Rousseau or save your ten dollar bills just to keep hottie Hamilton in your pants pocket. (If you're like me, you also have crushes on actors of the 1930s and 40s, who are not only long dead, but frequently gay. Ah, love... Sometimes all the better for being unobtainable...)

My historical amour is King Charles II of England. Here he is, looking a little weary after years of exile and poverty:

And a little snappier here -->

Charles was absolutely not the beau-ideal of his day. Men (and women too) were supposed to have small, neat features, rosebud lips, blue eyes, light hair, fair skin, delicate hands and feet. Charles' sensuously curling mouth, strong nose, bedroom eyes and black hair might make him a leading man today, but in the seventeenth century he was considered positively ugly.

Charles was also HUGE for the time, at about six foot two, perhaps even taller. Which is great for a potential love interest for me (I'm five foot ten) but awkward for Charles when he was being hunted by Cromwell's forces after they'd beheaded his father. As one of the tallest, darkest men in England, he was easy to spot, and just barely escaped his father's fate.



Maybe its my maternal instincts that draw me to Charles. His father (King Charles I) was executed, his kingdom ripped from him. He had to beg and gamble at foreign courts just to survive. After he was restored to the throne, Parliament blocked nearly every good thing he tried to do. His wife couldn't have children, his mistresses had too many children, his best friend schemed to betray him, plague and fire ravaged his kingdom... I just want to cuddle and comfort the poor king.

Another big thing in his favor, Charles really seemed to love women – not just sex, but women, their company, their minds. Which is rare enough in any age.

Tell me about your historical crush!

(Oh, and congrats to Hallie for winning a copy of Ladies in Waiting. Hope you love it!)

You'll meet Charles II – the lover, the scientist, the bitter king and the loyal friend – in Ladies in Waiting, out in May.

XO
Laura

A Swell Review of Brightwing

Thanks, Booksie, for your great review of BRIGHTWING!

Booksie says: "Sullivan Lee has written a quirky crime novel with engaging characters.  Against all odds, readers start to have sympathy for Lucy and Edgar, and by the end of the book are hoping they can find a way to live their dreams.  Along the way, the reader learns about the Everglades ecosystem, and the techniques the Indians used to survive in this hostile environment.  This book is recommended for suspense readers."

If you'd like an e-copy of BRIGHTWING to review, drop me a line at lauraleesullivan //at// hotmail //dot//com and tell me what format you need. (Amazon and Goodreads reviewers too!)

And don't forget to enter HERE for a chance to win a signed ARC of my bawdy YA historical, LADIES IN WAITING.

XO
Laura

WIN a signed ARC of LADIES IN WAITING

You -- yes, YOU! -- have the chance to win a rare signed LADIES IN WAITING ARC. Do you want to find out why Eliza is dressing in drag and pretending to keep notorious actress Nell Gwynn as a mistress? Do you yearn to know whether sweet Beth escapes her mad, syphillitic mother's clutches? And most important, will Zabby bed King Charles? Yes, we are deep into the YA world now, and anything goes, especially when I can use 17th century slang for obscene acts and body parts. (I personally can't think of any that count as obscene, but you know the censors...)


Use this handy-dandy entry form to enter. (This is my first time using a google doc form, so I hope it works!) The contest runs from now until January 15th. Good luck!

My Future is History!

We turn our attention from fairies (and sociopaths in the swamp) to history. Next year, I'll have two historicals coming out from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and so this blog will be taking on a decidedly antiquarian slant. Fear not! Though fairy magic will be gone (until you convince enough of your friends to buy the first two Green Hill books so I can write another sequel) there is plenty to titillate you in Seventeenth Century England, the setting of my upcoming Ladies in Waiting.

You'll meet King Charles II, the merry monarch more famous for his mistresses than his governance. There will be plagues and fire, murder and seduction, bosoms, codpieces and cross dressing, and perhaps the most peculiar incident of fellatio in history, involving a countess and a mummified saint.

As you can see, this blog is also becoming decidedly PG-13. Prepare for ribaldry!

Book giveaways soon!

XO

Laura

Me: I'm back!

The Rest of the World: You were gone?

My Darling Two-Tailed Demon Cat

Mothers can't have favorites (in public anyway) but authors certainly can. The Bake-Neko is one of my favorite characters in Guardian of the Green Hill. How can I resist a two-tailed demon cat who looks like this:

and says:

“You did the great magic, did you not? Surely that was all for me, lovely me? I imagine you heard of my great beauty and unsurpassed softness and decided you must stop at nothing to do me this favor. And I, in return, allow you a glimpse of me.”

Or, when he finds the heroine unclothed:

“The protuberances and declivities of your species don’t interest me. Or perhaps you hide your ungainly hairless body in natural shame, for beside lovely me, what an unsightly creature you are. Still, as there must be admirers and admirerees, I do not begrudge you your existence.”

The quintessence of cathood, my Bake-Neko considers himself the supreme being, but he's gracious enough to occasionally help out the less-fortunate and less-furry. The Bake-Neko (or bake-neko, or bakeneko) of Japanese folklore is a confusing creature, sometimes benevolent, sometimes downright wicked. So of course he fits in well with the morally ambiguous fairies. According to some legends, a cat can become bake-neko if it lives a certain number of years (I've read anything from 13 to 100), grows an unusually long tail, or weighs more than one kan, which is a little over 8 pounds. So apparently, every cat I've ever owned is a bake-neko. Sometimes they live peacefully with humans and bring luck and riches to their companions. Sometimes they eat the woman who owns them and take her shape.

And, because all writers have to have cats, here is my own little neko, Whiskey:

XO

Laura

Guest Post -- JRo's Pet Words

I'm very happy to have MG and YA writer JRo (Jaye Robin Brown) as my guest on The Omniscient Third Person. I too definitely indulge my inner gangsta on occasion, usually when I'm alone in the car and I can crank up the crunk without scarring my Little Guy for life. What does one of her pet words have in common with one of my favorites, odsfish? They're both minced oaths. I think I'll write about them one of these days. Visit JRo at her blog, http://www.jayerobinbrown.blogspot.com/ XO, L

I’m excited to have a chance to blog about words. Because words are power. Words can create entire worlds, paint pictures, and fill us with intense emotion. Words are also fun. Made-up words or words that just roll around and squish over your tongue. Words that make you giggle. Words are good medicine.

So, in no certain order, in stream of consciousness style, I give you a few of my favorites.

Juicy – Just say it. Juicy. That rounding of the mouth, the “oo” sound – the thought of ripe fruit, yellow-packaged gum, or a hot babe.

Obstreperous – This one requires a deepening of the voice. Imagine a British nanny, harrumphing her way across the page, complaining (her glasses on the bridge of her nose) about “controlling that obstreperous child.” I love this word. In a recent art project where my Art I students picked three words to describe themselves and made a collage with those words, my loud and uncontrollable sophomore girl picked this word for herself. And it’s perfect.

Shizz – Okay, this is one of those made-up words brought to us by pop culture icon, Snoop Dog. But it’s just fun to say, “That is the shizz!” It feels naughty. Like you’re cheating, because it’s a five letter word not a four letter word. It brings out your inner gangsta and makes you want to walk with a hitch in your stride. Fasnizzle my schnizzle, yo!

There are about a bazillion more most excellent words in our language. And don’t get me started on French – now there’s a language with some pretty words. But I’ll stop here, hoping you have a juicy day that is totally the shizz, even if you are feeling a bit obstreperous.

@jayerobinbrown

http://www.jayerobinbrown.blogspot.com/