By far the scariest part of living in the Victorian era was not the poor food, unsanitary conditions, or poverty, as some may have you believe. The scariest part surely must have been the bustles, crinolines, stays and corsets.

During the time when Amy and Ben were touring London, 1856, the crinoline was the method of choice for holding out the skirts, and achieving “high fashion.” Luckily, as a maid, Amy never had to wear one. Can you imagine, though? How would a young lady maneuver through a crowded room? How would she fit through doorways? How would she…um…use the outhouse? It boggles the mind.

Only a few years later, 1860 and beyond, the crinoline moved out of fashion, and the much more practical bustle took its place. What a relief, or was it? Corsets were still popular, and the wasp-waisted women of the time were the pinnacle of beauty. Ouch.

Will women (and men) continue to suffer to “improve” their looks? Are we still doing so today? Maybe we could all run around in sweatpants and sweatshirts instead. Everyone would at least be comfortable, and we’d all look pretty much the same.

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Prov 31:30.

Finally, someone who agrees with me: Bob Hoose at PluggedIn said exactly what I’d been thinking for a while. Where are the choices in teen fiction? Where can you get a book that doesn’t have witches, wizards, werewolves, vampires, zombies or deep psychological problems?

Well, probably not at your local bookstore, that’s for sure.

Fairy tales were gruesome enough in the old days to scare kids pretty good (why do you think they were called Grimm?), but then along came Disney (and others) who tamed the old stories down. And because of that, we started getting more and more horrific tales (thanks Mr. King!), and eventually we thought this was great stuff to give to the kiddies. Here you go, kid! Good luck sleeping at night!

I guess my complaint is not really about the books, but the trend these days of teens wanting to change who they are, based on a book or movie. They don’t just read or watch and say, “That was entertaining, but that would never be me.” Now they indulge, and say, “I want to be all that.” Instead of clinging to the person God created them to be, they ditch it to be another goth, another vamp, another clone of Miley Cryus. It’s a shame.

I’m reminded of 2 Cor: “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” And when you go to the bookstore, what fellowship will wholesome books have with unwholesome ones? None at all, I hope. None at all.

But keep looking. There’s good books out there somewhere.

I almost hate to do another post, as this bumps the trailer down the page. But, the link to the video will be off to the side shortly.

In working on the second book, set in the late 17th Century, I’ve come to the dreaded “dining” scene. It almost seems obligatory, to show Amy and Ben eating at least once. I’ll skip the food for now, but I wanted to talk about the way the food was served, and the typical eating hours for our native Victorians.

In 1856, the new style for serving dishes was the a la russe (in the style of the Russians), where the servants bring food to each diner, and either the servant or the man at the table served the lady next to him and himself. This took lots of servants (or a few very busy ones, like at the Berkham house), and plenty of silver. Several dishes would be served this way, then a pause, then several more. Diners loved it; servants hated it.

Before this point, food was served a la francaise (yes, in the French style). All the food would be placed on the table, and then “removed” when the dish was finished, or the next course ready. Again, the man would serve the lady next to him. Servants were happier.

Either way, this service was traditionally for the “dinner” meal, and especially the “dinner party.” Back in the 1660s, the big meal was more around midday, and the only food you had later was a light, informal “supper.” Somewhere between the 1660s and the 1850s, dinner got pushed back, and pushed back, and that extra little meal we call “lunch” snuck in and took over the midday spot.

These days, no one is consistent. The big meal may be early in the day, or as late at 9:00. And who has servants anymore? You have to get your own food. Too bad.

Any way you slice it, Solomon said it best: “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” Ecc 2:24-25

I may have mentioned it before. I have been working on the “pre-publication” book teaser, both as an exercise in marketing and just ’cause it was fun. And now, the waiting is over. The teaser is ready:

Or click on this link to view the teaser on YouTube.

I’ll eventually put a permanent link off to the side, or something, but for now, enjoy!

After months of thinking, working, and playing around with video and animation clips, I finally got the book trailer finished the way I wanted it. Now all that’s left is buying the stock photos and footage, and swapping everything out…and then you’ll get to see it.

It got me thinking, though, about my last post, and how much I learned about the Victorian era to work on the first book. Research is king, right? Then I have a thought, and realize how much I still don’t know about that period in time.

Book promotion, for example. These days, it’s a combination of word-of-mouth, appearances, signings, advertisements, blog posts, Facebook announcements, book trailers on YouTube, you name it. But what about the Victorian days? How did Dickens, for example, promote his work? [Author scratches his head.]

Did he advertise? I know he serialized some of his novels, so they first appeared in the newspaper before being compiled into book form. Did he do signings? Appearances? I know he read some of his stories (and even performed A Christmas Carol) before audiences in theaters. Did he have good relationships with local booksellers? Did he bribe the kids on the street to tell all their buddies about his books?

Did he print bookmarks and postcards and business cards? Did he attend conferences, meet with other authors, agents and editors? Did he hang out at the bar and entertain wanna-be authors with tales of horror from the desk of a real writer? Did he agonize over whether he spent too much time promoting (blogging, Facebooking, making trailers) and not enough time working on the next book?

There is so much I don’t know about the Victorians, or even the next time period, the Restoration. I shudder to think what your average writer in the 1600′s went through. There must have been quite a line at Gutenberg’s Press. (That’s a joke–I’m not that dumb. I know Gutenberg made more than one.)

I must be thinking about Solomon a lot, because this came to mind: “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Ecc 2:11.