Category: British history
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This Special Time of Year
Hello friends! It’s December and I thought I would take this moment to give you a glimpse of myself. Most everyone loves this time of year regardless of your religious traditions. It seems almost ingrained in the human experience to love the cold and dark days at the end of December (at least for the…
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Publishing Options for Women During Jane Austen’s Lifetime
Several people of late have asked me of Austen and self-publishing, especially as many JAFF writers self-publish their books. I was fortunate to have come to the genre when traditional publishers had taken note of the trend. They scooped up several of us who were attempting to self publish our books on sites, many of…
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Hae a Braw Wee Christmas
Happy December, dear readers! When researching Mistaken Premise, my little nerd heart tap-danced whilst learning the multi-faceted and fascinating history of Christmas in Scotland. As one could expect, there is evidence of neolithic people’s observances of the winter solstice, but the real fun comes after the Viking invasions starting in the eighth-century AD. The Vikings…
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A Trifling Little Dessert
To quote Mrs. Bennet, people don’t die of trifling little colds. Serve this to your holiday guests and they may well expire from delight. We’re going to get serious and have a little fun with the English trifle, an antique dessert of fruit, custard, cake, and booze. Lots of booze. People have been enjoying trifles…
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Building a Better Pemberley for “Mr. Darcy and the Designing Woman” – Celebrate the Book’s Release with a Giveaway
Today, my latest Austen-related book, Mr. Darcy and the Designing Woman, releases. It has been the work of many days, and those of you who have read it already know there was a great deal of research involved to have the “special bits” of the story accurate. If you are interested in reading the other…
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Remember, Remember, The Fifth of November
As I used Meryton’s Bonfire Night for a scene in Mistaken Premise, and as the history of Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators tie directly into the history of King James I of England, VI of Scotland, I thought I would share the history of the Gunpowder Plot in honour of Guy Fawkes’ Day on Sunday.…
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Trick or Treat: A Halloween Diversion
Trick or Treat! Happy Halloween! The kids coming around door-to-door all call out Trick or Treat, but I only have treats, and no tricks at all. Treat Number One: A Short Story Halloween has a long and spooky history. I won’t go into details, but it is a bit of an amalgam of the Celtic…
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Bow Street Runners and a Buddy-Cop Story
I was first introduced to the Bow Street Runners through Georgette Heyer’s iconic regency stories. I always enjoy the entry of these unpolished but smart and resourceful characters. In The Toll Gate, we have a delightfully ill-disguised Runner looking for stolen coins. In The Corinthian, it’s a diamond necklace. So, who were these men? Why…
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What’s in a name?
Hi everyone. Hope you are all well and ready for what autumn and winter has in store for all of us. I love discovering the meaning or origins of names. For example, “Melanie” is Greek, a goddess who mourned all winter for the return of spring. As I was born in April, it fits. I…
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Raven Hall and Scampston Hall, Yorkshire
Places in my books, pt. 6 Miss Bingley and the Baron comes out in just one week, so I thought I would talk about more of the places featured in it. Raven’s Cliff and Fairclough might be fictional mansions, but the houses that inspired them are real. Raven Hall, Ravenscar, Yorkshire Just up the coast…