Guest Post and Contest by Jennifer Harlow
Guest Post
Angelophalic
I am a huge Angelophile. Major. I might as well have the Union Jack tattooed to my ass. This is due in part to my heritage. My grandmother is from Nottingham, so I can thank her for my peaches and cream complexion, graceful aging gene (if she's any indication), and my highbrow comedy tastes. I grew up watching PBS Britcoms like Are You Being Served and Keeping Up Appearances. As I progressed through the years I found myself going more and more across the pond for my culture (and crushes). I was obsessed with Absolutely Fabulous as a teenager calling everyone "sweetie darling." It's gotten worse as I got older. This year alone half my Christmas presents came from England as last year I asked for a multi-region DVD player so I can watch DVDs from England. (I so recommend this.) I love England so much I spent months, at least in my imagination, there. In my latest book, Verity Hart Vs The Vampyres I travel across the pond and back in time to the Victorian era, or a steampunk version of it. If it wasn't so damn expensive to live there, I'd probably commit suicide due to the weather (damn Seasonal Affective Disorder), and the moment they found out I was American I'd be stoned to death I'd so live the rest of my days there. Until then I will have to suffice with their awesomeness from the comfort of my Georgia home. Here are the reasons why the Brits are better than us Americans. In no real order.*Note: Since I am a self-proclaimed pop culture maven I will be focusing on that instead of stupid stuff like their economy/politics/infrastructure/geo-political views/etc. Because, let's face it, who really cares about that crap?
Reasons the Brits Are Better Than Us
1. Their TV shows feature people who look real. And can act. (See Catherine Tate, Dawn French, Miranda Hart, Mitchell & Webb). Talent counts more than their dress size.
2. The accents. They make everything sound more sophisticated and kind. (See Kitchen Nightmares and Tabitha's Takeover Salon.) If someone without that accent was that rude and vulgar they'd be stabbed, the accent is the spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down.
3. Their comedy has precious few fart jokes but plenty of wit. They're more highbrow. (See every Britcom ever made)
4. Their talk shows are a hell of a lot more entertaining. On Graham Norton he brings the funny out of his guests, who interact with one another, instead of a dull monologue then just a movie plug.
5. Prime Minister's Questions kicks our CSPAN's ass. Members of Parliament get to shout at the the PM and he has to be held accountable once a week. I'd care more about the Senate if they threw down like that.
6. Compare our Sherlock with Robert Downey Jr. to theirs with Benedict Cumberbatch. BC is far more enigmatic and cerebral, as opposed to RDJ just being surrounded by explosions. In the BC version character and story are enough to keep the viewer engaged instead of cheap fireworks. (And BC is just amazing full stop.)
7. Ralph Fiennes. Need I say anymore?
Those are just a few of the reasons I'm an anglophile off the top of my head. I've been once when I was nineteen for three days, and hope to return when I can afford it. Or when Ralph Fiennes proposes. What about you? What about our friends across the pond do you like? And if you need a British fix, give Verity Hart and her adventures through Britannia a whirl.
A Hart/McQueen Steampunk
Adventure 1
Jennifer Harlow
Genre: Steampunk Romance
Publisher: Devil on the Left Books
ISBN: 978-0-9893944-4-4
Number of pages: 293
Word Count: 96,000
Cover Artist: Jennifer Harlow
Book Description:
KEEP CALM AND STEAMPUNK ON
The whole of Victorian London knows there is something not quite right about the Lady Verity Hart. She may be the daughter of an MP and the sister of famed inventor Lord David Hart, but she is a spinster whose own father threatens to send her to the madhouse every fortnight. Because Society is correct-Verity Hart is no lady. If they suspected how quick with a quip she is, let alone the majority of her brother's ingenious machines were her design, the sale of fainting couches would double.
Verity requires one herself when her beloved brother is kidnapped by vampyres in the dead of night. With the aid of an aggravating, rude American bounty hunter with a secret of his own, Verity takes to land, sea, and even air to rescue the only person who could ever love and truly accept her. Or is he?
Available at Amazon
About the Author:
Jennifer Harlow spent her restless childhood fighting with her three brothers and scaring the heck out of herself with horror movies and books. She grew up to earn a degree at the University of Virginia which she put to use as a radio DJ, crisis hotline volunteer, bookseller, lab assistant, wedding coordinator, and government investigator. Currently she calls Northern Virginia home but that restless itch is ever present. In her free time, she continues to scare the beejepers out of herself watching scary movies and opening her credit card bills.
She is the author of the Amazon best-selling F.R.E.A.K.S. Squad, Midnight Magic Mystery series and The Galilee Falls Trilogy. For the soundtrack to her books and other goodies visit her at www.jenniferharlowbooks.com
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