In my Delightfully Deadly series, Gentle Reader, I’m writing about the Finishing School girls (some of them) after they have left school and are out in the world being all crafty and spy-ish.
I starting by thinking about the kind of things that the Finishing School girls would get up to once they grew up. As a result, I started to collect images that were reminiscent of the side characters, particularly gravitating to period paintings.
I thought you might like a glimpse of them, Gentle Reader. Now, the clothing represented might not be quite right, but there is something about the mood in many of these paintings that I really loved and felt like went with that character.
This, for example, could be Agatha (having learned some things about dressing properly) consulting with yet another fortune teller.
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| via @MimiMatthewsEsq Twitter |
Speaking of which Mimi Matthews post on 19th Century Fortune-Telling- From the Drawing Room to the Court Room is excellent.
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| fromthehandsofquacks- tumblr
A daguerreotype showing a hypnotist at work, c.1845. By- John Adams Whipple (1822-1891) New York Metropolitan Museum |
I like this one for Agatha too:
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| James Tissot, Young Ladies Looking at Japanese Objects, 1869via myhellodarling Tumblr |
And what about Monique? Well she always has a bit of a thing for duck ponds.
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| James Tissot Painting via @Moorreen Twitter |
Here’s some Sidheag imagery. For some reason I chose this first one for her even though the hair is a little dark, but the way she holds herself seems right. You know Sidheag would totally sit on the floor reading letters from her lost love.
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| Old Letters and Dead Leaves by Claude Andrew Calthrop via @04artemis Twitter |
However the real historical Gwladys Robinson, Marchioness of Ripon, looks way more as I imagined Sidheag Maccon, Lady Kingair. I suppose, that after the Parasol Protectorate books (SPOILER if you haven’t read them, skip to the next photo) as a real Alpha, Sidheag would hold the position of Countess of Kingair (titles for supernaturals do not carry the same gender restrictions as they do for daylight folk). So she might just be this regal by the 1880s!
1880s Gwladys Robinson Marchioness of Ripon via antique-royals Tumblr
Well, that’s all for now, just a little insight into how the mind of an author works form a visualization perspective.
{Gail’s monthly read along for June is Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan}
OUT NEXT
Poison or Protect ~ A Delightfully Deadly Novella
Romance featuring a several-times widowed Preshea and the gentle Scottish captain who could change everything. (Gail’s first foray into hybrid land.)
GAIL’S DAILY DOSE
Your Moment of Parasol . . .
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| Le Follet Saturday, September 1, 1866 v. 45, plate 105 |
Your Infusion of Cute . . .
Your Tisane of Smart . . .
The Revealing History of Underwear
Your Writerly Tinctures . . .
Book News:
Joy’s Book Blog reviews Prudence and says:
“Gail Carriger has such a fun and ridiculous sense of humor that I always know that her books are good for a laugh.”
Quote of the Day:
“Bread and butter, devoid of charm in the drawing-room, is ambrosia eating under a tree.”
~ Elizabeth Russell
Questions about Gail’s steampunk world? There’s a wiki for that!
Your cat appears to have melted. I have a tuxedo cat that does the same thing.
I look forward to the new book later this month!