Victorian West: February 2012

2/28/12

A Time Traveling Victorian Village...with a Killer View of the Rocky Mountains

Erie Village as viewed from the neighborhood park

Regular readers of this blog know that I write novels set during the Victorian era. That said, what better inspiration could such a writer have than living in a neighborhood which seems to have appeared from that time period, full blown, like a Victorian version of Brigadoon?

Imagine, if you will, a modern housing development whose homeowners' association encourages rather than proscribes unique and even eccentric house colors, that mandates large, covered front porches, and requires that house designs date from 1880 to 1910.

My own house is shown here. A white picket fence surrounds the front yard and the porch includes a full sized gazebo for three-season outdoor dining.

The neighborhood was conceived about fourteen years ago on farmland once owned by the Erie town doctor. It lies twelve miles east of Boulder and about twenty miles north of Denver.

Winter

The interior of the homes here can be as modern or traditional as the owner wishes. Naturally, given my love of all things Victorian, I favor as many historical design touches as possible, as long as they do not actually interfere with modern comfort and convenience.

My Writer's Nook

My home office, for example, offers all modern necessities, yet still conveys a homey warmth supplied by a fireplace and abundant window light.

The room is small--small enough to almost merit a designation as an "Inglenook" or chimney corner. An inglenook, historically, was an alcove containing a fireplace and a seating area. It was originally used for cooking, but in later times became a cozy spot to shake off the winter's chill and enjoy conversation and a warm beverage or two.

My writing companion
and silent critic relaxes nearby

Frank Lloyd Wright often incorporated such design features into his Prairie Style homes.

Though traditional inglenooks feature a centered fireplace with built-in seating lining both walls, my office feels cozy enough to at least be called a Writer's Nook.

My office also contains a lovely stained glass window, one of five in the home. Does all of this Neo-Victoriana inspire me and infuse my writing with its own unique flavor? Too early to tell. Though I have owned this house for two years, I have only just begun to live here full time.

I have previously written books in all sorts of surroundings and I sometimes think too much comfort is actually a detriment. It becomes so easy to let one's mind start wandering...and not in a creative way. Yet, there is much to be said for surrounding oneself with whatever sparks the imagination.

Living in Erie Village is a full-throttle immersion in the grace and beauty of a bygone moment in America's past and I feel so fortunate to call it home.

Spring

2/19/12

A Short Vacation into the Long Past

Nearly a decade ago, this profile of me was published in True West Magazine. I recently came across it when moving my office files from my farm outside Kansas City to my present, now full-time, home in Colorado. The interview reflects my writing life as I viewed it in early 2003.

I read it over and was mildly surprised that I would probably answer many of the reviewer's questions exactly the same way today. I still love historical research, it is still one of the main reasons I love to write, and I still believe that America's ideas about the West--whether true or myth or something in-between--define much of our national character.

By the way, the novel referred to in the article as "The Eye Dazzler" was re-titled before its publication to become, The Second Glass of Absinthe. And my first horse, Solomon Spring, also mentioned below, is still in the family. He is now cared for by my daughter-in-law, who is studying to become a veterinarian. Final declaimer: My hair is no longer brunette!

2/15/12

And the Winner of Seance in Sepia Is...

Congratulations to Carole Estby Dagg of Oregon! She has won a free copy of Seance in Sepia.

A big "thank you" to everyone who entered the drawing and wrote such thoughtful comments about Victoria Woodhull and the Free Love Movement of the 19th Century.

For those who are still interested in winning a free copy of Seance in Sepia, Goodreads will also be giving away a book, starting tomorrow, February 16 and ending March 1. Check the sidebar here for more information on how to enter.

2/7/12

Celebrate Free Love and Win a Free Copy of Seance in Sepia

Buy it now on Amazon

In honor of St. Valentine's Day, the Victorian West is giving away a signed, first edition copy of Seance in Sepia.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog. If you also choose to "follow" this blog (or are already a follower), you'll be entered TWICE. (U.S. addresses only please.)

I will draw the lucky winner next week on Valentine's Day. Good luck!

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The real life protagonist portrayed in Seance in Sepia, Victoria Woodhull, was the nation's foremost proponent of Free Love in the early 1870's. The concept of Free Love scandalized the America of that era, but what was it really all about?

A surprising notion that today seems quite tame, actually. When Victoria lectured on the subject, she was not calling for wholesale promiscuity, but rather a simple plea for the government to stay out of the private affairs of individuals. Laws regulating sexual activities between consenting adults were a prime target of the Free Love Movement, but also topping on the Free Love agenda were liberalized divorce laws.

Victoria Woodhull

In Victorian America, married women had virtually no rights at all. Spousal rape was a concept that has only recently been recognized by the courts. All property was owned by the husband in a marriage. Divorces were nearly impossible for a woman to obtain so she was, in practice, the "slave" of her husband, who was usually free to physically abuse her and their children, with little protection from the state.

Woodhull famously proclaimed, before a packed house in New York City's Steinway Hall in November, 1871:

"Yes, I am a Free Lover. I have an inalienable, constitutional and natural right to love whom I may, to love as long or as short a period as I can; to change that love every day if I please, and with that right neither you nor any law you can frame have any right to interfere!"

This bold statement of principle drew cheers and outrage is almost equal measure from an America that was not quite ready to deal with the concept of a woman able to vote, much less one demanding sexual emancipation equal to that enjoyed by men. Even the Woman's Suffrage Movement of the time found it uncomfortable to speak about a full overhaul of the basic social institutions like marriage, though some were insightful enough to realize women needed much more that voting rights to become full citizens of the United States.

Woodhull was frequently lampooned and vilified by the media of the day. Most famous of these attacks was the cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly, the self-proclaimed "Journal of Civilization," which portrayed her as "Mrs. Satan."

Woodull and her family promoted their radical agenda in their newspaper, Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly. The "Claflin" of the paper's name refers to Woodhull's beautiful and notorious sister, Tennessee Claflin. When they dared to attack the hypocrisy of America's sexual double standard, they made some serious enemies which landed the sisters in jail at the behest of Anthony Comstock, whose notorious "Comstock Laws" would soon come to criminalize any mention of sex in print, no matter what the context. But that subject deserves an essay of its own...

For a detailed look at this topic, an excellent resource is: Victoria Woodhull's Sexual Revolution: Political Theater and the Popular Press in Nineteenth-Century America by Amanda Frisken. There are many good biographies of Victoria Woodhull. My personal favorite is Notorious Victoria by Mary Gabriel.