More costumes from The Tudors

I meant to put some more piccies up from our visit to The Tudors costume display, but I've been nursing a sore jaw/face/head after a tooth extraction this week. (It's not been pretty, I've been very growly and sorry for myself here. ;o) I'm gradually becoming more human again so here are the promised snaps:

And the one you've all been waiting for Jonathan Rhys Meyers Henry VIII costume, as worn by Mister Yummy himself! (You're allowed to take photos in the Royal Armouries, but not with flash.)

More news from me soon. I'll be hitting the half way point with THE LIBERTINE this week, so it's time to share a bit about how the book is going.

Did you enjoy The Tudors?

Here I am visiting The Tudors today - an exhibition of costumes from the hit tv series. Gorgeous costumes! On until the 30th. If you’re in the North of England catch it while you can.

More from me soon. I owe blogposts.

STEAMLUST animation by Nikki Magennis -check it out!

This animation has me in total awe. Nikki Magennis has made this wonderful piece of stopmotion artwork for STEAMLUST, a forthcoming anthology of steampunk erotic romance short stories. The book comes out in just a few weeks. What a talented woman she is! Check it out. I love it to bits!

Steamlust - an animated film from Nikki Magennis on Vimeo.

Find out more about the book here.

Look how small I am...

Photo of me taken at the Liverpool Tate Gallery. I really am this small….

… I wish. lol!

“Robert Therrien is renowned for experimenting with scale. The artist conjures up a world of the unexpected by creating objects that draw attention to details usually overlooked in the everyday world. At the heart of this display is No Title (Table and Four Chairs), a colossal table and chair set that stands almost ten feet high. No Title (Table and Four Chairs) has a deceptively childish charm and visitors to Tate Liverpool are invited to walk around, through and under this spectacular yet somehow commonplace work.”

Find out more here.

A day out in Leeds: Heroes and Heroines costume exhibition, and art noveau sculpture

Back in the long ago mists of time when I was training to be an art historian, (seems like another life altogether) one of the voluntary posts I held was in a regional costume museum. I undertook various activities including cataloguing acquisitions. That process meant that if a member of the public donated Great Aunt Ida’s christening gown on a whim, and twenty years later a long lost relative from Australia arrived and felt the need to see it, museum staff could retrieve Great Aunt Ida’s christening gown from the vaults for that person to look at. Yes, these things really do happen!

I was also able to observe a historical bridal gown exhibition being prepared. (Trivia: not one of them was white, because that only came into vogue for wealthy folk after Queen Victoria set the trend.) And I helped out with activity sheets and distributing crayons at children’s parties. Heady stuff for a naïve student. ;-)

That’s not where my interest in historical costume began, (I blame that on my early addiction to historical novels) but it does mean I have a deep respect for the work that goes into costume displays. When I saw that Leeds City Museum was going to be home to a travelling exhibition of costumes from TV and film productions, I couldn’t wait to attend!

The Heroes and Heroines exhibition runs through to Jan 9th 2011, and if you are in the locality and have a love for costume and/or costume dramas and historical set films, you have to get yourself down there.

Each costume is displayed so that you can walk around the item to study the design. They come with information about the film, designers, and the actors, as well as how the costumes were made and aged. Many accessories are also included, and all this was made richer because they were displayed alongside actual artefacts from past times that are part of the Leeds permanent collection—hats, clothing and foundation garments such as corsets and a bustle.

The Heroes and Heroines collection is not a huge exhibition, but it’s rich in material to look at. I didn’t add up how many costumes there were, but from memory I’d guess 30 to 40. The two costumes that you see on the flyer on the left are a dress that Cate Blanchett wore in a dance scene in Elizabeth, and one of Heath Ledger’s outfits from Casanova.

Amongst the many other costumes were Madonna’s red dress from Evita, shown here on the right. (Designed by Penny Rose, 1997 BAFTA nomination.) Trivia on this one: Madonna had the most costume changes of any character in a film—85 changes! The previous record was Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, who had 65.

Other costumes: Johnny Depp’s dinner suit from Finding Neverland, several costumes from Pride and Prejudice, Orlando Bloom’s outfit from Pirates of the Caribbean, and a stunning gown worn by Keira Knightley in The Duchess.

One of the things that struck me was the relative stature of the actors. Of course the costumes have been pinned tightly to display them to the best effect, which may mean these people look even slighter than they actually are, but overall I was noticing that I am very tall (see how I said that, student of the politically correct years that I am… ;o) As a 5’9” Amazon type, some of these people were looking tres petite to me. I knew that about movie stars, but it really hit home when standing in a room full of their tailor-made costumes. It even occurred to me that it would be more appropriate for me to carry Johnny Depp to the bed, than the other way around. Just a by-the-by thought, don’t you know. ;-)

Interestingly, the largest costume in overall height and stature throughout the exhibition was an outfit worn by Sean Connery in The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. (Connery is 6’ 2.5”) That one in particular was fascinating to observe and I could just see his coat billowing as he entered the room.

For the Regency fans, you’ll be glad to hear that there is a great selection, including a sumptuous Banyan, (morning gown or robe de chambre) that Colin Firth wore in Pride and Prejudice, as well as a complete day outfit of his. Incidentally, in case you’re curious, Firth is 6’ 1.5” No, I'm not really obsessed with size, honest!

It was while looking at Firth's immaculately fitted breeches that my Real Life Hero stood alongside me and commented on the anatomical detail of the mannequins. I was already riveted. I can’t quote exactly what Mark said on that point, let’s just say the display mannequin was headless and handless, but otherwise had all his appendages. Ahem. Got to make the trews sit right…right? :o) Hey, I'm an erotica writer, I'm *supposed* to notice these things! You'd worry if I didn't, admit it. Not to mention the fact it was right at face level, being on a display stand. Okay, I'll shut up now in case I dig myself any deeper...

My favourite outfit of the whole exhibition was a dress worn by Nicole Kidman in The Portrait of a Lady. (Academy Award nomination for Costume Design, Janet Patterson.) I managed to retrieve a photo of that one (at least, I think it’s the same dress, more info can be read about it here) and posted it on the left. There was such an incredible amount of work in the attention to detail in the costume, and what would have been its model. Truly an awesome costume.

Second favourites were two dresses from The House of Elliott , the popular 90’s British TV series set in the 1920’s. Simply stunning. I really can’t praise this exhibition enough. If you’re a costume aficionado and you are anywhere near the north of England before the 9th January, get yourself down there.

As with any good exhibition there are lots of activities for the kids provided to keep them amused while you ogle Johnny Depp's dinner suit. There’s a kiddies activity/drawing area, things to dress up in, and best of all a virtual dressing room where historic ball gowns are projected onto the children who enter the room. There were two girls having a super time with this feature while I was there. The museum is also running special events throughout the season, talks and lectures and activities such as a pirate day and craft exhibitions. I was happy! My Real Life Hero said he would have appreciated a few more key accessories such as guns and swords, but that’s fellas for you!

As I mentioned it is not is a huge exhibition, you’d be hard-pressed to spend more than an hour looking around, which gives you plenty of time to go through to the permanent collection of the city museum or venture elsewhere.

We checked out the Hermann Obrist Art Nouveau sculpture while we were in the city. This is an interesting one. Obrist is a less well known Art Nouveau artist whose work has been maintained by his family. The Leeds exhibition represents his first retrospective.

Obrist’s work was inspired by the growth of natural forms. The collection included many sketches and drawings, together with photographs and actual sculpture and monuments that he had created. I found his drawings and sketches fascinating, many of the natural rhythms explored there reminded me of William Blake’s work. Several of the images also made me think of the fantasy world building of Lord of the rings. In the actual sculptures, the rhythms and imagery became almost futuristic in the realisation. This exhibition is due to close at the end of August. It was busy when we were there, which is good to see.

Okay folks, I should get back to the work in progress. If anyone has any questions about these exhibitions please post them in the comments and I’ll try to reply if I can.

As an added bonus for anyone who made it this far, here is a photo of me in costume, from when I was a movie extra in the period romance A Summer Story, back in 1987. Trivia: this was my first introduction to the delights of wearing a corset and I’ve loved them ever since. :)

And then he kissed her... 100 years of romance

Very quick post! I’m finishing up here, just about ready for my conference trip, but I had to post about this morning's excursion. Mark had the day off and we wanted to do something fun together before I shoot off, so we went to check out the Manchester City Library exhibition “And then he kissed her...” celebrating 100 years of Mills and Boon. It was such a fun little exhibition!

Amongst the items they had on display were books, covers, photos, and memorabilia from the entire period. There was a great potted history, (some of which you can see via the link below) lots of author photos and bios and fun stuff. My favourite exhibit was a collection of lines extracted to give the visitors a smile. Stuff like (paraphrased) “she always helped mummy with the dishes because Mummy was usually under the doctor for something or other.” We were in hoots. I only wish they’d had a programme for sale that I could have regaled you with, but I understand a book is due out in August.

Ooh, they also had a corset made entirely of book spines with selected words and titles, loved it to bits. A very fun and inspiring exhibition, and it even included right up to the minute stuff like Kimani books, and the Japanese Harlequin with the amazing Manga covers.

For me it was a real trip down memory lane because I grew up reading Mills and Boon/Harlequin books. It was also special because one of my more recent days mentors, Nicola Cornick, was featured there too. And now I’m a small part of it with my forthcoming Spice Briefs titles. Lovely day!

Here’s some more info and links:

The exhibition explores the evolution of 20th century social and sexual mores in Britain, alongside the development of the world's leading romance publisher. You'll also find a company history and centenary time line, a fascinating collection of books and cover art, writer biographies, manuscripts, original correspondence between authors and editors and associated memorabilia.

Mills & Boon's output has been a barometer of British social and cultural history in ways you may not have imagined. The last century has seen enormous change in terms of the roles of the sexes, the class system, motherhood and rising standards of living. Mills & Boon novels, while seeming on the surface to be escapist, have held a mirror up to British society. This responsiveness to the national mood has helped the publisher to remain popular over the last 100 years.

In 1997 the term 'Mills and Boon' was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, to mean a romantic story book.

The exhibition And Then He Kissed Her… 100 Years of Mills & Boon runs at Manchester Central Library from 6th June - 31st July 2008.

If you can't get to the exhibition, you can check out all the info on the linked pages here, lots of interesting stuff!

North Wales, tree sculpture, and Gustav Klimt

After the flurry of exciting sales news, I’m going to travel back in time to last week. Well, not literally, but I promised a couple of friends I would post about the Klimt exhibition and our trip to North Wales. So, here you are, a couple of photos to begin with.

This is me in Conwy on the north coastline of Wales. I was looking across the harbour when Mark snapped me. He said I look as if I’m thinking “I have conquered Conwy, onward, to Llandudno,” which, come to think of it, is kind of what we were thinking at that point.:)



I love North Wales, its mixture of pretty coastline and villages, and majestic Snowdonia. It’s a beautiful place to visit and we’re so lucky that we can get there inside two hours. It’s the perfect place for a 3-day break for us. Conwy and Llandudno are must-visit spots every time. Conwy is a harbour town with a castle built on the hillside. Very steep streets, but flat by the harbour itself. Llandudno, on the other hand, is on a sweeping bay and is a promenade town. It’s well suited to people who have mobility issues. We had good weather and although we stayed at a basic lodge, (like a motel, for my US readers) I was delighted to discover our room overlooked a paddock, and we had horses (and bunnies galore!) romping around outside. It was a bit like nature watch every time we were in our room. :o)

The second picture is of a tree carving that we discovered in the gardens of Plassey craft centre. Isn’t it amazing? I fell in love with her. She made me think about my pagan heroine in The Strangeling, Maerose. Honestly, I wanted to take her home with me. The artist is Simon O'Rourke. and his website has lots more examples of his fab work.

We’d booked tickets to attend the Liverpool Gustav Klimt exhibition on our return journey. We had hoped to do it on the way down but it was completely booked up! As with any major ex in the UK the exhibition is getting a huge attendance. There was a diverse range of people there, and many had travelled long distances to attend.

The exhibition was amazing, just as I had expected. It opened with a recreation of the Beethoven frieze. It was stunning! As an art history student (long time ago now) we were nagged how important it is to see the art works in the flesh. Reproductions on paper/books can't truly convey the space or size, and that is so crucial to our experience of the work and the artist’s intentions. I didn't have to be nagged, I always loved visiting galleries. In fact I think I got my place on the art history course of my choice because I was able to talk about exhibitions I’d been to before I applied. I was reminded of this fundamental lesson as I stood looking at the recreation of the frieze. The space, movement, and lightness of spirit was incredible. The details here and here give only a very faint idea of what it is like in real life. Suffice it to say I could certainly live with it.:)

As the exhibition continued upstairs there was a room of smaller Klimt works, followed by works from other Vienna Seccession artists and designers. In fact I was just wondering how much more Klimt there was going to be, when I discovered there was much more to come. Lots of exhibits spanning his career.

As Klimt fans will know, he was influenced by the intellectual atmosphere of Vienna at the time. Sigmund Freud’s theories on female sexuality were out and creating a stir--- shock horror, women might actually enjoy sex! Oh yes, and Klimt was fascinated by it. It’s amazing (and sad) to think that a hundred years later we still seem to have to convince some people that women enjoy sex and that’s a GOOD thing. However, I digress…

The final room housed “adult” art works. These were mostly sketches of women masturbating, beautifully done and deliciously arousing to observe, as I’m sure Klimt intended. I walked around the room with a little smile on my face because they’d provided a way to sidestep the room for under 18 or anyone of a sensitive disposition, :o) but the art works themselves had incongruous titles like “semi nude with right leg raised.” Believe me, not many people were looking at her right leg. It tickled me. Just saying.

To sum up, if you like Klimt and you can make it to the exhibition -- don’t even think twice! Go! Read more about it here.

Okay folks, I have a short story that needs finishing. Tomorrow is publication date for RECKLESS and I’ll be giving away a couple of copies to celebrate, so come back tomorrow and help me party!:)