Long Live Ruritania!
I hope many of you already know about Ruritania. I have blogged about it before. It is the country that The Prisoner of Zenda 
is a prisoner in. It started an entire sub genre. And a few years back, as I started to think of The Prize is not as Great as you Think, and began my research, I found that I was writing in the genre. Now I can bore my friends after talking about the genre, and how I found it within a few minutes.
That doesn’t mean there are not other lovers of this genre, and perhaps others who have not even really realized that they love it. Only knowing that they like what they have read, or seen of it and did not realize that this was a genre.
I have started a list of novels in the genre, and I have been surprised that I have read so many already. I intend to read as many more as I can. If you know of others, please contribute to the list. I do not include, comics or movies, such as The Great Race 
. Jack Lemmon did a turn as Prince Hoepnick.
The list of Ruritanian Romance Novels
| Book | Author | Country |
| The Prisoner of Zenda | Anthony Hope | Ruritania |
| Rupert of Hentzau | Anthony Hope | Ruritania |
| The Mad King | Edgar Rice Burroughs | Lutha |
| The Prince Commands | Andre Norton | |
| Prince Otto | Robert Louis Stevenson | |
| Graustark | George Barr McCutcheon | Graustark |
| Beverly of Graustark | George Barr McCutcheon | Graustark |
| Truxton King: A Story of Graustark | George Barr McCutcheon | Graustark |
| The Prince of Graustark | George Barr McCutcheon | Graustark |
| East of the Setting Sun | George Barr McCutcheon | Graustark |
| The Inn of the Hawk and Raven | George Barr McCutcheon | Graustark |
| The Dark Frontier | Eric Ambler | Ixania |
| Blood Royal | Domford Yates | Riechtenburg |
| Fire Below | Domford Yates | Riechtenburg |
| Royal Flash | George MacDonald Fraser | Duchy of Strackenz |
| Castle Gay | John Buchan | Evallonia |
| The House of the Four Winds | John Buchan | Evallonia |
| The Lost Prince | Frances Hodgson Burnett | |
| The Mouse that Roared | Leonard Wibberley | Duchy of Grand Fenwick |
| Royal Seduction | Jennifer Blake | Ruthenia |
| Royal Passion | Jennifer Blake | Ruthenia |
| Savrola | Winston Churchill | Laurania |
| Long Live the King | Mary Roberts Rinehart | Livonia |
| The Black Riders | Violet Needham | |
| A Princess of Servia | Bessie Marchant | Servia |
| Royal Highness | Thomas Mann | Grimmburg |
| The Rose and the Ring | William Makepeace Thackeray | Paflagonia |
From Wikipedia these thoughts “Hope’s novels resulted in “Ruritania” becoming a generic term for any small, imaginary, Victorian or Edwardian Era, European kingdom used as the setting for romance, intrigue and the plots of adventure novels.” and “Such stories are typically swashbuckling adventure novels, tales of high romance and intrigue, centered on the upper classes, aristocracy and royalty. The themes of honor, loyalty, and love predominate, and the books frequently feature the restoration of kings to their thrones.
That sounds right up my alley. Not to say I am bored writing Regency. I have written several of those and they are in various states of draft thru publication. But I did write The Prize is not as Great as you Think, and it is ready to be completed and published. That has led me to think it is also time to write the first draft of another, and perhaps create several.
That part of swashbuckling and adventure is waiting to be explored where Regencies are so much about Boy meets Girl, and then loses and finds their way back to each other. Here I can craft more intrigue. In Regencies, especially series, after awhile, when the author wants to graft Intrigue, we visit with Lord Castlereagh 
and make our hero a spy. There are so many Regency spies now, that there was no way that the French could ever have won the war. Why, I am sure there have been more spies created working for Lord Castlereagh then all the officers who served under Wellington.
If I write in the Ruritanian Romance Genre I do not need worry about such bending of History. The entire genre does that. The entire genre is a fictitious Historical novel.
Talk to Me
I very much would like to hear what others think, and as I said, if you know of novels that are Ruritanian Romance specific to be included in the list, please email, or comment. I will gladly add to the list. Maybe even make it available to Wikipedia.
The Next Thing
To carry this out, and of course as a follower here you may have been expecting something Regency, and certainly something historical, I am going to be changing things up again. For months I have been crafting history and mainly that of the Regency Era first.
I have mentioned my novel The Prize… and now it is time to bring it to my audience. To ready it for publication. A goal for 2012. To aid in doing this I will be releasing a chapter a week here on the blog. (The first on September 5th) A serialized version, at the end of which, it will have been edited and then I will release for publication. I may even make a KickStarter project of the entire event, calculating the cost of professional copyediting and a new cover commissioned for the piece, interior illustrations for the chapters and contributors.
One thing that will become apropos while doing this project will be working on the Late Victorian, Edwardian timelines, which I will do once the Regency timelines have finished.
