Women today have many options open to them when it comes to making a living. Just looking around my own circle of friends I see women with careers in law enforcement, in education, in psychology, in child care, and so much more. But in the Regency, the options women had for obtaining money were much more limited.
Marriage and Family
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales
Upper-class women would usually have their expenses covered by their husbands (if they were married) or their fathers (if they still lived at home). They might even be given “pin money” to spend – money to cover clothes or other small sundry expenses. Any money a married woman had, however, belonged to her husband. There were cases where wealthy women had some of their property set aside for their exclusive use – these legal arrangements had to be made before marriage under Equity and cost a lot to arrange – but those were rare exceptions. Accepting an offer of marriage was usually a woman’s most important financial decision because she was deciding who would support her for the rest of her life.
Widows could inherit some of their husbands’ property and when their husbands died the women’s own property from before marriage would revert to them. Also, women were allowed to inherit money and property, and if they were single it would belong to them alone.
Work
There were few respectable jobs open to upper-class women, but there were some. The most ordinary were taking care of children by becoming a teacher or a governess, or becoming a paid companion to an older woman, often a relative. Though these were respectable occupations, being forced to work was still a diminution of one’s social status.
Dorothy Jordan
A woman was more likely to be viewed at least a little askance if she became an author. Though it did not put her beyond the pale, those who did sometimes published under an alias to avoid public comment or censure. Worse yet was becoming an actress, especially as it was not at all unusual for actresses to also become either mistresses or prostitutes. One famous actress, Mrs. Jordan, became mistress to the Duke of Clarence, who later became King of England.
Women could also sometimes run or work in shops, and lower-class women often went into service, working as maids or cooks or other domestics for upper-class homes. Less respectably still, many women fed themselves through prostitution, and this was so common in Regency London that the language of the time is rife with slang terms for all the different kinds of prostitutes who made their living in the city.
That deadline you confidently agreed to because you were absolutely certain Future You would be organized, disciplined, and completely undistracted?
Yeah. Future You lied.
I’m exposing deadline hell. How writers get here—and how we get out.
Deadline Hell Exposed: How Writers Get In—and How We Get Out
No, I haven’t disappeared.
I’ve been in deadline hell.
And since I’m currently working my way through it, I thought I’d take a moment to explain exactly what deadline hell is.
Deadline hell does not necessarily mean you waited until the last minute to finish your book. Though, yes, sometimes that happens.
Deadline hell is what happens when you have an unforgiving deadline—either one you set for yourself or one you agreed to—and suddenly the calendar and the manuscript are having two very different conversations.
The problem begins when we agree to deadlines while imagining ourselves as completely different people.
We imagine Future Writer Us.
Future Writer Us is studious. Diligent. Disciplined. Future Writer Us wakes up every morning refreshed and inspired. Life is going perfectly. Nobody needs anything. Nothing breaks. There are no emergencies, unexpected trips, illnesses, distractions, family obligations, or days when our brains simply refuse to cooperate.
Future Writer Us just writes.
And because we know approximately how many words we can produce in a day, a week, or a month, we look at the deadline and think:
Absolutely. I can deliver that.
Welcome to the dreamworld.
Here is something I’ve learned: until you really understand how you write and have developed the discipline to consistently produce, give yourself 1.5 times longer than you think you need.
Trust me. You’ll be grateful for the padding.
Of course, some of us know this and still let that beautifully padded time slip away.
Hello. It’s me.
Know How You Work
I’m an everyday writer.
That means I’m going to write or research every single day until I get that bad boy done.
Sometimes I have an actual word-count goal. I use Scrivener, which has a wonderful—and occasionally terrifying—feature that lets you enter your target word count and deadline. It calculates how many words you need to write each day to get there.
In the beginning, maybe that number is five hundred words a day.
Notice I didn’t say five hundred good words.
I said five hundred words.
Then life happens.
Suddenly that daily target is 2,500 words.
When you’ve been in the game for a while, that number doesn’t necessarily frighten you.
It probably should.
But fear isn’t going to finish the book.
Right now, my deadline for my next book is August 15. This will be book number 32.
With the exception of one book during COVID—and perhaps one or two deadlines that had to move by a couple of weeks—I’ve hit my deadlines.
I don’t say that to brag.
I say it because deadlines are about knowing yourself.
As a writer, you get better by writing. There is no substitute for putting yourself in the chair and doing the work. There will always be something more interesting happening somewhere else.
The book does not care.
You still have to finish it.
So, from someone currently residing somewhere around Dante’s fifth circle of Deadline Hell, here are the things that keep me moving.
1. Limit Social Media
You can scroll forever.
What looks like a huge block of writing time can become a very small one frighteningly fast.
But as an author, I also can’t simply tell you to abandon social media. Social media is one of the ways we get our stories into the world. Publishers expect authors to participate in promotion. As you develop readers, they’re going to want to know what you’re writing, what you’re thinking about, and what’s coming next.
Connection matters.
I’ve taken long social-media breaks before, and I’ve found that rebuilding that connection afterward can be difficult. Algorithms aren’t necessarily kind when you’ve been gone for a long time—particularly if you don’t already have an enormous following.
So don’t disappear.
Set boundaries.
Do what you need to do, then get back to the book.
2. Accept That You Don’t Have All the Answers
I have a decent outline.
I have a plan.
That’s it.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m a plantser. I plan my books, but I deliberately leave room for inspiration and for the story to change based on how the characters begin speaking, behaving, and moving through scenes.
An outline is a map, not a prison.
Characters reveal things. Scenes develop differently than expected. Something you thought would be important becomes unnecessary.
And something you barely noticed becomes the heart of the book.
Leave yourself enough room to discover the story you’re actually writing.
3. I Don’t Truly Know the Ending Until I Type “Done”
I know.
That sounds scary.
I usually know where I’m heading. But because I allow the manuscript to change, I don’t know exactly how the book will end until I get there.
I don’t completely know what will stay.
I don’t completely know what will leave.
And that’s okay.
The first draft isn’t the final declaration of what the book must be.
It’s how I discover what the book is.
4. Save the Additional Deep Research for When You Know You Need It
By the second or third revision, I’ve already typed DONE on that first draft.
Now I’m adding facts.
That means additional research.
And research takes time.
But there’s something incredibly thrilling about researching during later revisions. I know what I need. I’m looking for the details that will convince the reader they are genuinely inhabiting characters’s world.
That’s very different from researching everything that might be useful before the book is written.
There is nothing worse than spending hours researching fascinating details only to discover that none of them belong in the manuscript.
Research what you need to understand the story and the characters.
Then, once the story exists, research what you need to make the reader believe in them.
5. Be Realistic When the Deadline Is No Longer Possible
At some point, optimism becomes denial.
If you’re within seven days of turning in a manuscript and there is simply no earthly way you’re going to finish, communicate.
If you’re traditionally published, reach out to your editor.
If you’re independently publishing, take a serious look at the entire production process—editing, formatting, covers, distribution, marketing—and especially at what you’ve already communicated to readers.
I hate moving a deadline.
Point blank.
But truth and expectations matter.
Ignoring an impossible deadline doesn’t make it possible. It just makes the eventual conversation harder.
6. Revisions Get Faster as You Approach the End
This is one of the benefits of having written and revised a lot of books: the closer I get to the end, the faster my revisions tend to move.
Why?
Because by then, I finally understand what the book is saying.
When I’m drafting early chapters, I’m moving toward a conclusion I haven’t completely discovered. I’m following the through line of the book. There is a message underneath the plot, there’s a theme the story is trying to express. There are question i want the reader to wrestle with. The last quarter is where all that lives.
Finishing the last quarter of the manuscript, I understand it.
I finally know the direction we are heading. It may not have been what the maps said.
Then revision becomes sculpting.
I’m refining. Tightening. Cleaning. Making sure the earlier chapters are leading toward what I now know is waiting at the end.
By the time I reach those later chapters in the revision process, there’s often much less work to do because the manuscript is already traveling down the right path.
And that’s a beautiful feeling.
The Part About Deadline Hell Nobody Likes to Mention
Your beautifully balanced lifestyle?
It may get a little…less balanced.
Your meals may become questionable.
Your workout routine becomes negotiable.
I am literally dictating this while I’m on the treadmill because I firmly believe I need some way to burn off the stress and keep my energy moving.
You still have to eat.
You still have to sleep.
You still need nourishment.
Maybe every meal isn’t going to be a perfectly balanced culinary wonder. Maybe you’re manifesting your way through the pantry while trying to squeeze the last thousand words onto the page.
Do what you have to do.
Within reason.
The goal is to finish the book, not emerge from the deadline needing six weeks to recover.
Forty Thousand Words to Go
So here I am.
August 15 is approaching.
I’ve got about 40K to sculpt.
Scary but beautiful.
But I’m proud of this story.
I cannot wait until I can tell you exactly what I’ve been writing.
For the writers reading this, I hope this encourages you to keep going.
Keep writing.
Keep learning how you write—not how somebody on the internet says it’s supposed to be done.
Build the discipline to sit in the chair when the words aren’t perfect. Give yourself enough time to discover the book. Learn. Revise. Learn some more.
And be honest enough to know when that schedule needs to change.
And for the readers, consider this your little peek behind the curtain.
This is what my Deadline Hell looks like.
If you’re not following me on social media, come find me there. I share more about this process, the books, and the strange behind-the-scenes reality of building stories for a living. And, of course, follow me here at Write of Passage. I love having this space to talk with you about writing, reading, and everything that happens between the first word and DONE.
Now I have to get back to work.
But I’m climbing my way out of Dante’s Deadline Hell. I’m ready to enjoy free time and sunshine again, but I must finish this book.
Be strong this week, my friends. Write your stories.
This week’s book list is filled with writer friends with books coming out or just released.
The Missed Connection by Tia Williams — Casting agent Sasha Cruz becomes determined to find the mysterious man she connected with on a Paris flight.
Ghalen: A Romance in Black by Walter Mosley — Mosley moves into romance with a story centered on Ghalen’s journey through love, identity, family, manhood, and coming of age.
Find My Way Down to You by Julian Winters — In this YA reimagining of the Underworld, grieving August searches for his dead boyfriend but finds himself unexpectedly drawn to Cary, forcing him to choose between holding onto the love he lost and embracing the possibility of living and loving again.
A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray — In 1930s New York, trailblazing Black prosecutor Eunice Carter joins forces with famed madam Polly Adler to pursue a seemingly untouchable target: mob boss Lucky Luciano.
Check out my latest “done” release: A Deal at Dawn – Katherine’s lies have been exposed, but the duke has a plan.
And it’s still Pirate Season. Check out the women pirates in Fire Sword and Sea.
And time for your next murder fix. Murder in St. James’s Park releases Sept 1. Bonus for you: It’s on ebook preorder sale right now, $.99 (Amazon Sale).
Get these books from Eagle Eye Book Shop. They have a few signed copies of Fire Sword and Sea and A Deal at Dawn.
You can also try one of my partners in the fight, bookstores large and small, who are in the trenches with me.
You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, VanessaRiley.com, under the podcast link in the About tab.
Hey. Let’s keep rising and creating together. I need you. That is the truth. Like, share, subscribe, and stay connected to Write of Passage.
Thank you for being here.
I want you to come again. This is Vanessa Riley.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vanessariley.substack.com/subscribe
On the Church of England’s calendar (as well as in the Roman Catholic, Lutheran and other liturgical church calendars), Annunciation Day was the holiday (“holy day”) which celebrated the announcement by the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she was to bear a son called Jesus who would be the son of God (Luke 1:26-38). It was traditionally celebrated on March 25, nine months before Christmas.
By regency times, Annunciation Day, which was also called Lady Day (the “lady” being the Virgin Mary), occurring around the Vernal Equinox, also was one of the “Quarter Days,” which divided the year into fiscal quarters. Since the spring quarter day had also marked the older New Year, it was the time when landowners and tenants ended and began new contracts, either moving farms or plowing new fields.
The Annunciation, 1610, Hans von Aachen
In the Book of Common Prayers in the Anglican Church, the Scripture readings for Annunciation Day were Psalm 89 for Morning Prayer (service), and Psalms 131, 132 and 138 for Evening Prayer (service).
Psalm 89, a joyful paean foretelling of a savior, is quite appropriate to this church holy day:
The Annunciation, 1489-90, Sandro Botticelli
1I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. 2For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
3I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, 4Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah….
I read a lot of the more modern Bible translations, but to me nothing improves on the King James’ English for the Psalms. How about you?
Julie is the author five fabulous historical Regency novels. Two of them have been awarded the prestigious Christy award for Inpirational fiction. She has also been a finalist for Romance Writers of America’s RITA award. We’re honored to have her stopping by Regency Reflections today!
KAH: Why did you choose to write stories in the Regency time period?
JK: I’ve long been enamored with British literature in general, having read The Secret Garden and Jane Eyre at a young age. But it wasn’t until later, when I had seen the Pride & Prejudice mini-series and read all of Jane Austen’s books, that I chose the Regency era in particular for the setting of my first historical novel. I jokingly say it’s all Mr. Darcy’s fault!
KAH: I think many of us blame Mr. Darcy! What is your favorite thing about the Regency?
JK: I love the chivalry of the Regency era, the men in tall boots and ladies in beautiful gowns, the balls and manners and restrained attraction. It was a romantic time–at least if you had money! And, compared to some other time periods, I think it can be a little easier and more natural to include Christian content in a Regency novel, when things like prayers, attending services, and having the vicar over to dine were commonplace. (Remember, Jane Austen herself was a clergyman’s daughter. :))
KAH: Which of your books was the most fun to write?
JK: For me, writing books is a lot of hard work. The fun doesn’t come later until when the book is finally finished and people are enjoying it. The icing on the cake? Listening to the audio version. The audio book publishers usually hire talented British actors who perform the characters so distinctly and really bring the book to life. I dream up places to drive just to listen further! I will say The Apothecary’s Daughter and The Maid of Fairbourne Hall were probably the most fun to research–since I was able to travel to England to do so.
KAH: What is the most interesting historical factoid you’ve come across when researching your novels?
JK: It’s not so much any single big discovery, but more the dozens of little historical details I find to bring the stories to life. For me, the most exciting research takes place when I’ve actually been able to travel to England and see the settings I plan to use in my books. For example, The Maid of Fairbourne Hall is about a young lady who finds herself working in service. To research this novel, I read many books about servant life–the sources of most of the epigraphs (quotes) at the beginning of each chapter. My husband and I also had the privilege of touring several old country estates and town houses in England when we traveled there last May. There’s something about walking down those dim stairs and entering the “belowstairs” world (massive kitchens, the servants’ hall, huge water cans that had to be carried up many flights of stairs, the footman’s livery, butler’s pantry, housekeeper’s parlor, sculleries, etc.) that really helped me envision my characters in the scenes I was writing. Hopefully, this allows readers to visualize the scenes as well. I’ve posted several photos of this research trip on my web site if you would like to see them (www.julieklassen.com).
KAH: What is your favorite Regency set book? movie?
JK: I have enjoyed all of Jane Austen’s books (which were published in the Regency era, though written somewhat earlier) as well as the movies based on them. Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice are probably my favorites. One of the most beautiful movies I’ve seen was Bright Star, both in terms of Regency costumes and the beauty of the film itself.
KAH: Tell us about your most recent release.
JK: I’ve been looking forward to writing a book like this for some time, first, because my novels are set in the Regency era when live-in servants were common. And second, because I’ve really enjoy programs like Upstairs-Downstairs, and more recently, Downton Abbey, which portray the life of servants as well as the people they serve. So, I’m very happy to have written my own “belowstairs” novel and am thrilled so many people seem to be enjoying it.
The Maid of Fairbourne Hall is about a well-born lady, Margaret Macy, who disguises herself as a housemaid to avoid marriage to a dishonorable man. But she never planned on actually working as a servant. And certainly not in the home of two former suitors! As Margaret fumbles through the first real work of her life, she is soon entangled in intrigues both belowstairs and above.
I hope you will enjoy the book. Thanks for having me here!
Easter is right around the corner. In just over a week, women will don their finest dresses, girls will wear Easter bonnets, and children will color and hunt Easter eggs. It is a special time to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with family and friends.
During the regency period, the time from Easter Sunday to Ascension Sunday was known as the Easter Season (or sometimes the Easter Holiday). During these weeks, it was common for people to travel to visit with family. Many of the traditions they participated in we still enjoy today.
EASTER BONNETS AND DRESSES
Easter has long been considered the unofficial start to spring. After the dark, heavy winter fabrics and reverent clothes worn during Lent, Regency ladies welcomed in the Easter Season with light colored gowns and spring bonnets decorated with ribbons, bows, and flowers. Since the Roman times, wearing something new for Easter had been considered good luck.
HOT CROSS BUNS
Eating hot cross buns on Good Friday is a longstanding English tradition. A hot cross bun is made from yeast dough and contains sugar, milk, flour, butter, eggs, and a variety of spices. Today, icing is often used to create the cross on hot cross buns, but during the regency it was most likely formed with a knife. The idea of consuming and bread in as a religious ceremony is well known, and some even say that the tradition is tied to the blessing that Jesus gave a woman who offered him bread while he was carrying the cross to Calvary. During the days leading up to Good Friday, the streets would be alive with vendors selling hot cross buns. In fact, this practice is the basis for the nursery rhyme: Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One ha’ penny, two ha’ penny, Hot cross buns! If you have no daughters, Give them to your sons One ha’ penny, two ha’ penny, Hot Cross Buns!
According to legend, Good Friday hot cross buns never molded, and it was considered good luck to hang a bun in your home. Sometimes, these buns were kept until the following Easter as a trinket.
DYED EGGS
During Lent, it was common for Christians to abstain from eating eggs. In order to preserve them and not let them go to waste, the eggs would be boiled, which would make them last until Lent was over. Onion skins were used to dye the eggs red in remembrance of the blood Christ shed on the cross.
Happy Easter!
Most Regency gentlemen and ladies were members of the Church of England, so most of them would – in some form, at least – have celebrated Lent, the forty days of fasting and repentance that are traditionally observed before Easter.
I love Lent. I rarely enjoy Lent. But I do love it. It is such a good tool in God’s hands. I always learn, I always grow. But I often learn more from the places where I fail than the places where I succeed.
Why Fast?
I sometimes think the purpose of fasting is to make it clear to us what sinners we really are. Not in a defeating, accusing way (the way the Enemy would), but more the way tiredness reveals the two-year-old-ness of two-year-olds. In Lent, the voice you hear isn’t the diabolical, “well what did you think you were, you scum?” but the Fatherly, “you really are tired, aren’t you, small one? Come and rest.”
Detail from Michaelangelo Caravaggio's "Supper at Emmaus" (PD-Art|PD-old-100)
As C. S. Lewis once pointed out, our good moods often aren’t, as we’d like to suppose, evidence of our virtue, but evidence of our full bellies and our good health. Take away food or health or rest and you can see how weak you really are. But fasting, in its orderliness, reveals our weakness to us in a way we can stand. It doesn’t destroy us because it is intrinsically linked to prayer, and so as soon as our weakness is revealed, there we are in the presence of our Father. And there our weakness isn’t despair, it’s joy, because He is ever ready to supply our lack. Praise God!
Once upon a time, I was about fourteen and had decided that I liked reading romances, historical ones in particular. Looking back, I can see the school librarian going back to her office and tearing out her hair trying to figure out what to give me to read next since I read about two books a week. The library was a nice one, but not overflowing with novels appropriate for an innocent early teen.
But one day inspiration must have struck her and she handed me a copy of Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer. Glory, glory halleluiah! I had found my niche.
Lords and ladies, a breakneck mission through the English countryside, a maiden in distress, and, best of all, romance between the dashing hero and what was
previously his best female friend whom he suddenly decided he loved. Nothing better.Except I did find better. Georgina by Clare Darcy, then Frederica by Heyer, more Darcys, more Heyers, more authors writing in this fascinating time period until I was dreaming of writing my own beleaguered lady in need of a hero.I started reading nonfiction books about the Regency era. I even plowed my way through the Jane Austen library. I absorbed language and costume and the politics of the day like a velvet pelisse soaking up water from the rain while the wearer walks in Hyde Park.
What draws me to this time? I was asked in a recent radio interview. All of the above. The Regency was a time of amazing transition in the world from the excesses of the Georgian era aristocracy, to the rise of the middle class due to industrialization. The lines between classes, though still sharply defined, are beginning to blur around the edges. Social reforms are being at least talked about and steps taken to implement them. And the war with France and then a second war with America are always fodder for a fun read. Never a dull moment in the Regency.
After college, grad school, and a couple of jobs, I started to write my own Regency romance. Those first novels I completed are from my BC days, and I’m mortified that copies of them may be floating around the Internet.
What is more important to me is the birth of my first two published Regencies and others coming out in the future. My first published novel Family Guardian is a Regency and won the National Readers Choice Award for Best Regency. A Necessary Deception is my first Regency for the Christian market out October of 2011. These books symbolize dreams born in the heart of a fourteen-year-old girl coming true.
London was the center of the Regency universe, and the London Season was the center of the marriage market. The season began with the opening of Parliament, usually in March. Hunting season was done and it was time for a different kind of hunt: the hunt for suitable marriage partners for the daughters and sons of the nobility and gentry.
Some families came as early as Christmas to prepare for the opening of Parliament. This allowed the females of the family plenty of preparation time and enabled the young ladies to acquire a bit of town bronze. Much shopping, dress fittings, and “seeding the ground” for those all-important invitations kept them in a flurry of busy anticipation for the season.
Her first season was a dramatic turning point in a young girl’s life. At around age eighteen, everything changed overnight and she was no longer a green girl. She was now allowed to dress and wear her hair in adult fashion. She began her season taking part in the ritual of being presented to the queen wearing some quite strange mandated apparel which included a feathered headdress and hoopskirts. This was known as her come out. An average debutante might attend 50 balls, 60 parties, 30 dinners, and 25 breakfasts over the course of a season.
Women visited with their friends, patronized the fashionable shops and showed off their finery at lavish balls, the theater and the opera. Gentlemen, when not busy at their clubs, courted the ladies and pursued manly sports.
A typical day during the Season might begin with a ride in Hyde Park, then breakfast. Shopping and paying calls on close friends came next for the ladies, followed by lunch. The men went off to their clubs or to Parliament, while the ladies went out to pay even more calls. Dinner was at six or seven, followed by soirees or the opera, with balls or dances, going on until three in the morning. Popular dances included the cotillion, and the waltz. The height of the season began after Easter, signaling the beginning of a dizzying, three-month round of social events.
This expensive frivolity had the serious goal of marriage behind it. If a girl did not take, and get leg-shackled to an eligible parti by, at the latest, her second or third season, she was considered a failure. The season ended officially on August 12, when Parliament adjourned, after which everyone retreated to their country estates.
You have noticed some bold words above. What are your favorite bits of Regency slang?
I was at the James River Writers Conference this weekend in Richmond, Virginia—one of those places that fills your creative tank. I got to do what I love: hang out with writers. Hungry writers. People on fire to get their words into the world.
And of course, on one of my panels, the inevitable question came up: “What about AI? Are writers going to lose their jobs?”
Now, let me tell you something. If you opened my email inbox right now, you’d find about eight—maybe ten—AI-written marketing emails. Every single one is bad. Cringeworthy bad. Pseudo-personal, stuffed with buzzwords, maybe even a random line pulled from the blurb of Island Queen to make it sound like they actually know me. But give it a few more sentences, and it’s obvious—they don’t. They just tossed my name into a prompt, hit “generate,” and sent it flying into the void.
So I tell authors this: AI might be everywhere. It might be fast. But being everywhere and fast with crap doesn’t win you prizes, and it certainly doesn’t feed the hunger of readers looking for their next great adventure.
AI is supposed to save time—or so the marketing folks keep telling us. But when I spend half my morning clearing these AI-spam messages, I don’t see time saved. I see time stolen.
The emails all sound the same: “I’ve been following your amazing career!” or “I just loved your latest book!” or “I truly believe your book has the potential.” Or “You deserve more reviews.” That all might be true. Then, two lines later, they’re congratulating me on a novel I didn’t even write. One even mixed me up with another author completely.
That’s not artificial intelligence. That’s artificial nonsense.
And here’s what gets me. These marketers aren’t even good at using AI. They feed it bad prompts, copy-paste whatever it spits out, and send it to hundreds of people like me. It’s the new form of spam—shiny, overconfident, and hollow.
At the conference, one of my fellow panelists said something that stuck with me. He said he couldn’t think of a single real-world problem AI has solved. Investors are pouring billions into it, hoping it’ll fix something. But from where I sit, the only thing it’s “solved”—and I’m using air quotes here—is how to steal everyone’s work faster and give marketers another toy to misuse.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-AI. It’s a tool, and tools can be useful when used wisely. But we’ve made it ubiquitous too fast, without guardrails or reflection. And those without our best interests in mind are using it to fleece people.
So, if you get one of those AI-assisted marketing emails in your inbox—mark it as spam. Don’t be fooled by fake flattery. If they’re offering some “exclusive service,” go straight to ChatGPT or Claude or one of the others and ask the same question. You’ll probably get the same result for free—or at least for a much lower monthly payment.
But let’s shift gears—because there’s more hope than fear. At that same conference, I saw what I love most: people learning. People hungry for craft, open to feedback, and ready to chase their dream of writing a book. When writers invest in themselves—show up to workshops, ask hard questions, lean into the fight to say something of value—it gives me hope.
When I hear someone say AI will put authors out of business, I just smile. What we do is too special for that. The dreams we carry, the stories only we can tell—AI can’t imagine them. It can remix what’s already stolen, sure. But it can’t reach into the unseen, the unspoken, the wilder parts of the human heart.
One of my fellow panelists, R. R. Virdi, put it perfectly: AI can only feed on itself. It can only regurgitate what it already knows. That spark of divine imagination—the moment a story idea hits like lightning—that’s still ours. And as long as we keep creating, we’ll always be ahead.
So to the marketers: maybe write your own emails. Try a little authenticity. Readers and customers can tell the difference.
And to my wonderful listeners—the dreamers, the students of the writing craft—I’ve got something exciting coming your way. I’m launching a Kickstarter for The Storycraft Writer’s Journal. It’s a tool I’ve built from years of speaking and teaching on writing—packed with my forms, formulas, and geeky plotting tricks to help you organize research, track writing beats, and create the kind of stories no algorithm could ever predict.
The best way to make sure AI doesn’t take your job is for you to keep writing and keep growing your talent, creating something only you can make.
Oh—and before I continue, reviews are rolling in for Fire Sword and Sea—and people are loving it. If you’re on NetGalley, grab an ARC and take that journey with Jacquotte Delahaye. There’s also a Goodreads giveaway running for twenty copies, but fair warning: I’m missing about thirty-two ARCs that got lost in the mail, so if you find a copy—digital or print hold on to it—that’s pure gold.
As I wrap up, my mandate to you is to not fear AI. Let’s outwrite it. Let’s outdream it. Let’s put our best ideas forward. No matter how many lines a tool can generate, it can’t fake the fire burning in a writer’s soul.
Books to match this week’s theme are:
The Storycraft Journal by Vanessa Riley. It’s more than a notebook or journal—it’s your yearlong writing companion. Designed for busy writers, procrastinators, and dreamers, it’s ready to turn ideas into finished novels. This guided journal blends structure with creativity.
Inside you’ll find:
· Step-by-step guidance through popular story models, including Romancing the Beat and genre-specific beats for RomComs and Romantasy novels.
· Character-building prompts that uncover lies that shape unforgettable protagonists.
· Weekly writing planner: 52 weeks of practical schedules to keep you accountable and consistent—so you can finally finish that book. It up on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vanessariley/
On Writing by Stephen King – A memoir-meets-manual about truth and discipline in storytelling.
The First Binding by R.R. Virdi is an epic fantasy where Ari, a storyteller with a mysterious past, recounts how he gained—and lost—everything, blending myth, magic, and legend into a sweeping tale of power and consequence.
Watercolored Pearls by Stacy Hawkins Adams is an inspiring story of three women whose intertwined journeys of faith, forgiveness, and self-worth reveal the beauty that can emerge from life’s deepest struggles.
The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope is a spellbinding historical fantasy set in 1920s Washington, D.C., where a daring Black woman with the gift of seeing spirits must outwit both humans and the supernatural to win her freedom.
The preorder campaign has begun, get the collector cards for Fire Sword and Sea—Help me build momentum for this historical fiction. Please ask your library to carry this novel and spread the word and preorder this disruptive narrative about lady pirates in the 1600s. This saga releases January 13, 2026. The link on my website shows retailers that are in on the campaign. Get the collector cards while supplies last.
You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, VanessaRiley.com under the podcast link in the About tab.
If you’re ready to move with purpose and power, hit that like button and subscribe to Write of Passage—be a part of my crew. Your journey deserves community.
Thank you for listening. Hopefully, you’ll come again. This is Vanessa Riley.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vanessariley.substack.com/subscribe
To write an historical romance, it sometimes is necessary to feed your characters (can’t let them starve now, can we?), which means researching food from the time period is just as important as other aspects of research.
While researching for my regency Christmas ebook, I discovered that transposing period recipes from Georgian or Regency cookbooks is a challenge. For one thing, cooks of the day didn’t usually measure their ingredients in the traditional sense. Recipes called for “a large haunch of venison,” or, “one fowl, good for a supper.” Then, ingredients might be listed as, “one good spoon of mace,” or “a quick handful of oats,” and so on.
Also, they had no thermostats for their ovens which were often merely described as “a hot fire,” or “a moderate oven.” As adventurous as I am at times in my kitchen, I hesitate to spend time trying something that might not work. I like the tried and true when it comes to recipes. (When things go wrong–as as they occasionally do in my cooking, at least I know I’m the one to blame!)
Thankfully, there are cookbooks out there today with modernized recipes from the past. I still enjoy looking through the older ones with their “hot fires” and “handfuls” of flour, however. They did things, despite the lack of modern conveniences, on a surprisingly grander scale. They arranged dinners in courses (if the family could afford to) and used meats that we would consider exotic today.
A typical meal would easily find four or five sources of protein on the menu, served in courses, sometimes with multiple meats in one course. Rabbit, venison, pheasant, grouse, and even partridge were not unusual entrees. Duck, goose, quail and wild turkey were also game (couldn’t resist). Dishes were arranged on the table according to how important they were. “Middles” were the main dishes, while “sides” were, well, you know. We still call them sides.
I usually make two, sometimes three sides for my family. During the regency, the well-to-do dinner table would have a few with each course! No wonder they needed to employ a kitchen staff.
I confess I’ve had grand plans to join the ranks of the kitchen experimenters who try and cook up the old-fashioned recipes. “Plans” is the operative word. I can enjoy a good day in the kitchen, really, especially for baking, but with a family to feed, I have little time to spend just “experimenting.” In the spirit of modern-day ease, therefore, I offer here a recipe for “fowl” anyone can do. You can squirrel it away (hmmm, I wonder if they ate squirrel back then, too?) for your next lavish holiday table. It has the atmosphere of olde England about it, as it’s traditional for Christmas, but works for today’s ovens–and measuring spoons!
Wild Goose Chase
1 cup dried apricots, halved
2 cups dried prunes, halved
1/2 cup Madeira wine
1 Goose (12 pounds)
Juice of 1 orange
2 tart apples, such as Granny Smith
Grated zest of 1 orange
salt and pepper to taste
dash paprika
8 slices bacon
1 1/4 cups Wild Goose Sauce (recipe below)
Place apricots and prunes in a mixing bowl. Add Madeira. Mix and set aside. Preheat oven to 325 F. Rinse goose and pat dry. Prick all over with a fork. Rub inside and out with the orange juice. Add apples and orange zest to apricots and prunes. Sprinkle goose inside and out with salt, pepper and paprika. Stuff cavity with fruit. Skewer opening closed. Lay bacon slices across breast. Place goose, breast side up, in a shallow roasting pan. Roast for 1 1/2 hours, removing accumulated fat every 30 minutes (there will be a lot). Remove bacon and roast for 1 hour more, removing fat after 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Let stand 20 minutes before carving.
Wild Goose Sauce
2 green onions, chopped
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup Madeira wine
1 tablespoon peppercorns, slightly crushed
1 teaspoon cornstarch
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Scrape brown pan drippings from roast into saucepan. Add green onions, 1/2 cup of the chicken stock (saving 1/4 cup), Madeira and peppercorns. Simmer 5 minutes. Mix cornstarch with remaining 1/4 cup stock until smooth. Slowly drizzle into sauce, stirring rapidly. Add salt and pepper. Stir, simmer 5 minutes. Serve over goose.
Enjoy!
Have you ever made goose for your family? How did it turn out? I tried it once and there really is a TON of fat that must be removed during cooking. We enjoyed the roast, however. What about you? If not goose, did you try some other meat or other old-fashioned recipe that is unusual? Tell us about it; we’d love to know about your experience!
Linore. Recipe from Regency House Christmas: The Definitive Guide to a Remarkably Regency Yuletide by Linore Rose Burkard
Kristi here with special guest Julie Klassen!
KAH: Which of your books was the most fun to write?
Eating hot cross buns on Good Friday is a longstanding English tradition. A hot cross bun is made from yeast dough and contains sugar, milk, flour, butter, eggs, and a variety of spices. Today, icing is often used to create the cross on hot cross buns, but during the regency it was most likely formed with a knife. The idea of consuming and bread in as a religious ceremony is well known, and some even say that the tradition is tied to the blessing that Jesus gave a woman who offered him bread while he was carrying the cross to Calvary. During the days leading up to Good Friday, the streets would be alive with vendors selling hot cross buns. In fact, this practice is the basis for the nursery rhyme:
I started reading nonfiction books about the Regency era. I even plowed my way through the Jane Austen library. I absorbed language and costume and the politics of the day like a velvet pelisse soaking up water from the rain while the wearer walks in Hyde Park.
included a feathered headdress and hoopskirts. This was known as her come out. An average debutante might attend 50 balls, 60 parties, 30 dinners, and 25 breakfasts over the course of a season.
considered a failure. The season ended officially on August 12, when Parliament adjourned, after which everyone retreated to their country estates.
