Hello, everyone! First, a huge thank you to Delilah for letting me join in the fun. I’ve been following this blog for a while and finally found my motivation to write about my experience.
When I set out to write my first novel almost a decade ago, I figured it would take all my efforts just to write a Regency romance that balanced the more erotic components I wanted with a full-fledged romantic arc.
However, my brain would not let me stop there. As a modern woman who’d had a thirty-year career in corporate America, I kept wanting the women to have more power.
So entered the idea of a secret school for young women that would teach them everything from household and money management to owning their own pleasure, and thus, the School of Enlightenment series was created.
But what Regency men would love these women? Imagining that they’d also need to be ahead of their time, I dove into Parliamentary laws and scientific developments. My contemporary perspective drove me to focus on those that impacted women, children, and the working class.
Here are a few significant events I mention in my books:
- Corn Laws – In an effort to combat imported grains competition to British farms, The Corn Laws were passed in 1814. These helped only the landowners of the farms, not the agricultural laborers, and caused more extreme poverty for the working class.
- Insolvent Debtors Act of 1813 – This was the first step in Poor Law reform, relieving the overcrowded prisons by releasing debtors if they could reach an agreement with their creditor regarding the distribution of present and future assets. There were further reforms proposed and a few passed, although greater reform did not come until the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, which standardized the treatment of debtors and the use of workhouses. Prior to that it had been up to the parishes throughout Britain and varied widely.
- Macadam roads – Principal routes were dirt until the first few years of the 19th century when John McAdam’s innovative ‘paving’ was implemented. This was the precursor of what we consider ‘chip and seal’ and saved many horses and carriages from accidents due to poor road conditions in bad weather.
- Steam engines – Steam engines had begun development centuries ago, but in the early 19th century they became more viable for commercial use – in factories, boats, and locomotives.
- Salamanca – The first commercial steam locomotive, which ran between Middleton and Leeds.
- Robert Owen – Welsh textile manufacturer who was a philanthropist and founder of utopian socialism and the co-operative movement. Even as a factory owner, he led reforms in working conditions, child labor, and life-long education. He was famous for the slogan, “eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest,” and helped get the Cotton Mills and Factories Act of 1819 passed.
After my school-focused series, I continued to search for ways to write women’s independence. In my most recent book, Charlotte’s Control, the widow Charlotte has a knack for investing and does not need to worry about money, but she hungers for the educational opportunities afforded to men in secondary school and university. Most classes were taught in Latin, so she wants to learn that. William, an Oxford student, helps teach her using ancient poets:
- Catullus – (full name Gaius Valerius Catullus Carmina) who wrote sexually explicit (for Roman times) poetry and was a contemporary of Virgil.
- Ovid – The Heroides (Epistulae Heroidum) and Ars amatoria.
- Homer – The Odyssey, both the Pope translation and the Chapman translation, as well as Keats’ poem about the latter.
- Chaucer – Canterbury Tales, from which I drew snippets particularly about the Squire, the Prioress, the Knight, the Reeve, and reference a debate between William and Charlotte over the Wife of Bath.
For giggles, I also created this as an older woman/younger man age gap romance with a bit of femdomme sprinkled in.
Charlotte’s Control
A young rake soon to inherit an impoverished estate…a lonely widow unable to produce an heir…a love they must forsake.
Widowed at thirty, Charlotte, Dowager Countess of Peterborough, finds herself on the lonely edge of Society, caught between the young chits vying for a husband and older matrons. In a moment of vulnerability, she meets a young rake who tempts her to forget propriety and reclaim her feminine powers of seduction…for a while. Their affair can only last until he marries a wealthy debutante who can give him what Charlotte cannot. An heir.
In his final year at Oxford, William Stanton, heir to the Earl of Harrington, is forced to manage the earldom for his drunken father and provide for his family. With the prospect of an advantageous marriage looming in his future, he yearns for the frivolity of his peers. But when he encounters a lovely widow, he’s drawn to her keen mind as much as he is to her beauty. She believes they are destined to part. To keep her, he must battle Fate, time, and the rules of Society that conspire against them.
Contest
To win your choice of one of my ebooks, tell me your favorite older woman / younger man romance or your favorite femdomme romance. (Also a sneaky way for me to find new fun books.) Giveaway will be open for one week from the date of posting.
For more about Maggie, visit:
Website: http://maggiesims.com
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