What Are Young Men to Rocks and Mountains?

I fell in love with the Lake District a long time ago, and the fact that it's mentioned in 'Pride and Prejudice' my favourite story of all times, might have had something to do with it, even though, thank goodness, Elizabeth never made it to the Lakes and stopped in Derbyshire instead.



'What are men to rocks and mountains?' she rhetorically asks her aunt in a moment of frustration with Mr Bingley, Mr Collins, with Mr Wickham a little (she hadn't heard the truth about him at that point) and great deal with Mr Darcy (ditto).

Elizabeth's frustrations aside, she might have had a point. The sights are astounding!

Just a few hundred yards from where the above picture was taken, there is an old inn. 

Apparently, there has always been an inn here from 1496 onwards, so when Mr and Mrs Darcy went to the Lake District at some point or other after their marriage – as they must have done, to make up for the trip that never happened – they might have stopped here, at Kirkstone Pass Inn. 

Or maybe they stopped here, even though it’s not on the beaten track, and it’s unlikely that they would have gone mountaineering on the nearby Crinkle Crags, no matter how much Elizabeth might have loved the wide open spaces! Still, it’s a lovely place, some 300 years old and converted from a dairy, the proprietor said.

The 'Rules of the Inn' are worth a read as well. There are fourteen altogether, but here are a few:

No. 4: Only coins of the realm may be tendered for the purchase of liquor. Cheques or notes of hand will not be accepted from those below the rank of Royal Duke. (So even Darcy would have had to pay hard cash!)

No 8: The following penalties may be invoked for swearing: an oath 1d, a curse 3d, a blasphemy 6d, it being for none but the proprietor to categorise.

No. 10: There may be no dicing, whether the die be fair or loaded.

No. 13: No spirituous liquors shall be served for the consumption by dogs, except before fights.

And lastly, No. 14: Seamen and travellers are invited to be moderate in the telling of tall stories, lest the credulity of the company be strained, and the King’s peace threatened.

So I suppose that with all the travellers, the dog-fighting, gambling and brawling, this might have been a bit below par for the Darcys – but wherever they might have stopped, I hope they enjoyed their trip, and were delighted with the scenery, as well as with each other!

I only wish I could follow them to Pemberley!

WELCOME TO THE DREAM FACTORY

As a writer I am often asked where my stories come from. Clearly they have to come from somewhere, and I call it my dream factory.  Today I thought I would show you around.  So, welcome, come on in….

First there is the Creative Section, where new stories or scenarios are dreamed up. This department has several offices, including the car or even the train, for I often think out plots or ideas while I am travelling. Then there are the lanes and moors around my home. The first picture (left) is an ancient trackway where I walk regularly. The moors are particularly spectacular at the moment, with the heather in full bloom

And I also have a helper: this Willow, a member of my creative team – he doesn't say a lot but I often use him as a sounding board for my ideas. To date he has never made one negative criticism!

 

This next picture is the sort of sky that inspired my recent book The Scarlet Gown: it is set in Yorkshire and my characters are caught in a storm on the moors, easy to imagine when you have this sort of cloud hanging over you.

Then there's the Research & Development Department, where I sort out details of the setting, the historical background, perhaps find some Regency or 18th Century costumes. And of course I have to give my characters A Life. Characters need to have a back story, perhaps a career and sometimes a home. R & D involves libraries, the internet, lots of my own reference books and also places like this,

Lyme Park (aka Pemberley, for some of us!). Wandering through an old property can be very helpful in working out the layout of a character's home, or getting the feel for just how cold and draughty these stately piles must be in winter, not to mention all the hard work involved in lighting fires or getting hot water up to a bedroom!


Then  we come to the hard work – putting it all in order and turning it into a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. This cluttered space is the assembly line, where the dreams and nebulous ideas are pulled together into a (hopefully) coherent whole. (Notice the two stars in pride of place on the top - my Rona Rose Awards from the Romantic Novelists Association. They inspire me to keep going).  I spend so many hours here, typing away, until at last I am happy enough with the result to send it off to my editor.



If we are sticking with this analogy, then Harlequin must be the production line, because they take my typescript and after a bit of judicious editing my dreams are whisked away and turned into a book, not only a digital version but a lovely printed paper version, and here's a selection of recent titles that now sit proudly on my shelf.

So, I hope you enjoyed your whistle stop tour: I am going to get back to work now, but before I go just one more picture – at the end of the day, I put my feet up and relax after a hard day being creative and my assistant needs his rest too: he likes to be covered up cosily so he can sleep, ready for another hectic day in the dream factory!

Sarah Mallory / Melinda Hammond

Never Trust a Rebel – Sarah Mallory, Harlequin Historical, pub. September 2014

A Lady at Midnight – Melinda Hammond – published as an e-book.

Finding Mr Darcy and Mr Willoughby!

I love any excuse for a research trip so when I managed to persuade my sister and her husband that they would enjoy a few days in Derbyshire looking at houses like Chatsworth and Haddon Hall I was thrilled. We stayed in a pub in the picturesque village of Beeley which is on the Chatsworth estate and a short walk from the great house itself. On our first day we were lucky with the weather and the sun shone. We did the walk which took us along the side of the river Derwent. There were few people about and I couldn't help thinking how beautiful the landscape was with its backdrop of high wooded hills. I'm not quite convinced that Jane Austen transplanted Chatsworth for Pemberley, but these words from Pride and Prejudice came to mind.

Elizabeth's mind was too full for conversation, but she saw and admired every remarkable spot and point of view. They gradually ascended for half a mile, and then found themselves at the top of a considerable eminence, where the wood ceased, and the eye was instantly caught by Pemberley House, situated on the opposite side of a valley, into which the road with some abruptness wound. It was a large, handsome stone building, standing well on rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills; and in front a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its banks were neither formal nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They were all of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!
The interiors of Chatsworth are stunning, but I particularly loved the details of rooms and objects and artefacts displayed. This limewood carving by Grinling Gibbons caught my eye, I cannot imagine where he would have even started to make such a carving. I particularly loved the dining room, too, with a table laid out with a beautiful service in green contrasted by cranberry glass.

There is a lovely exhibition on at the moment featuring the costumes from the film 'The Duchess' which is based on the life of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. There is also a room full of Georgiana's personal belongings and letters which are fascinating to read and a fun room where you can try on some costumes and wigs to transport yourself back in time. Chatsworth featured prominently in the recent production of Pride and Prejudice - the nearest I got to seeing Mr Darcy was the bust they had made of Matthew Macfadyen! But I'm sure fans of the film would not only love to see that but would enjoy wandering round pointing out all the places that were used in the film.





A walk round the gardens is a must though the heavens decided to open as we walked to the cascade. The garden covers more than 105 acres and it is a good idea to take a trip round in one of the special buggies they have. We explored on foot and I didn't mange to see everything I would have liked - I will just have to go again another day.



Last, but by no means least I am excited to show you the cover of my new book, Willoughby's Return, which will be published by Sourcebooks in November. I think it's gorgeous - thank you to the wonderful designers at Sourcebooks! There is more information about the book on my website Austen Effusions and an extract from the book.