Love Letters
21 Sep
Today is my friend Keli’s birthday– which seems to me a perfect day to point out a recent new addition to the Sites I Stalk portion of this page. Keli’s the owner of and designer behind Colette Paperie. Keli also has a blog here for Colette Paperie where she shows her own handmade screenprinted journals, cards, calendars (I’m in love with the Wild West theme one), etc., and pimps other peoples’ creations from Etsy.
I don’t know how I know people who make awesome things and write awesome books, but it’s a pretty sweet life. But you know, writers like journals and sending cards and letters, so I thought that might be a helpful pimp. After all, the prettier the better, and her stuff is the prettiest.
That gave me Very Secret Diaries flashbacks– Legolas in particular. Still the prettiest! Go me!
Right. In other news, another of the books I read recently (or re-read, I guess, though it’s been an age) was Persuasion; I put away all the books I used for the last name meme except that one. I figured it was period-appropriate– give or take a decade or two– so it might make a fun break from writing. It did!
There’s this scene where Anne, the heroine, is talking to a friend, Harville, in a corner of some room during a little social gathering. They’re discussing who’s more constant in love, women or men. While they’re having this conversation, Wentworth– the man Anne was engaged to before, and still loves (this being the main plot)– is sitting at a desk just near them, ostensibly writing an unrelated letter.
Wentworth seems to react to various sentiments Anne expresses in a kind of general way. He drops his pen, he looks up and stops writing, etc. You know he’s listening, she knows he’s listening, and he knows that she knows he’s listening. You’ve known for at least the second half of the book that they’re still in love, but they haven’t said a word. And he’s sitting there scribbling away, driving all three of you crazy, because Jane Austen is so good that she makes something that simple into something perfect. (Also, what he ends up writing? Bad. Ass.)
It’s one of my favorite little scenes ever, I think. Yeah, yeah, not speculative, but that one I wrote was really just a screwed up romance, so it works. But I love stories with these scenes in them that make me go, “If I could just do that just once, I’d be happy forever.”
I need to make a list, but it’d be so long. Still, inspiration is great.
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Now playing: The Charlatans – Blackened Blue Eyes
via FoxyTunes
I adore Jane, and I love that scene – picturing Ciaran Hinds (sigh). Those notebooks are gorgeous and would make great Christmas presents.
Oooh yeah, Ciaran Hinds– I need to see that one. I adore that man. Oh man, you know the latest version– the BBC/WGBH (I think that’s the Boston PBS, anyhow) one– doesn’t even have that scene in it? I mean, it’s a good production and all but, GAH!
And yeah, in love with the notebooks. So many shiny things…
Did her bodice threaten to rip under the pressure of her heaving bossom? That’s about all I know about that period of history.
I think the Ciaran Hinds version is the latest I’ve seen…
Enjoy.
Make the list.
Once I finish this draft, it’s on my to-do list: Make top ten lists as suggested by Alex Sokoloff.
Top ten favourite protags, antags, fight scenes, love scenes, endings, beginnings, funny bits, etc, etc.
When I have dozens of lists, I should be able to work out what moves me and then incorporate that into my writing. Surely I can’t be the only person who likes certain things – am I?
Nat, the good news is that Regency clothes were much cooler than the stuff before and after– so heaving bosoms were a little freer. Lucky for us!
Cate, holy god, he NAILED that. And the bit after with her reading it and everyone coming in! Beautiful! The 2007 one is the one I own– boxed set with Sense and Sensibility– and it’s really good. But it kind of moves things around for convenience.
Wow the whole thing is on youtube. I’m so watching this today
You’re the best!
BT I cannot express how much I love making lists. It’s one of my chief pleasures in life… which sounds very sad, but makes me very happy. I think I might have to join you in that– not just because I love to do it, but because you’re right, it can only help to know what works for me. (I also love finding patterns!) Brilliant.
Thanks for mentioning the site! Good b-day present