Category: daily life
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An Excerpt from A Fortuitous Wager: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary
I am excited to share an excerpt from my newest work I anticipate coming out soon. Given that one of the most amusing ways I’ve learned valuable lessons was through wagers and challenges, I could not resist using it as a premise for one of my vagaries, and I hope you enjoy this in-edit so…
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Thomas Jefferson’s Influence on “Mr. Darcy and the Designing Woman”
Thomas Jefferson is best known for writing the Declaration of Independence, but what other “credits” might we attribute to him? He was also a scientist, an inventor, an architect, and even a philosopher. “The papers of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), diplomat, architect, scientist, and third president of the United States, held in the Library of Congress…
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You Say a White Soup Served…Cold?
I am certain many dishes, much like revenge, are best-served cold. I can readily think of two: fruit salad and cucumber sandwiches. I cannot, however, force my brain into thinking that soup is best served cold. A mug of homemade soup or stew on a cold winter’s day is a favorite choice. Therefore, I wince…
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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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Did Austen have ADHD? Or would that be Emma Woodhouse?
It’s a little-known fact that a lot of novelists have ADHD (spoiler alert: me). And it’s a still lesser-known fact that, recently, many more people are winning diagnoses – women over forty, especially. This is because, when we were young, we were almost always either (a) too brilliant at “masking” it to be diagnosed –…
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Estate Owners Welcomed Cats to Roam!
For all the amusing comments of those who enjoy reading books from the Regency era (both men and women) suggesting they’ll end up alone with only a house full of cats to keep them company? In the Regency era, cats were not kept as pets, coddled, or snuggled as attempted today. Instead, cats ruled an…
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A “Baron” By Any Other Name, May Not Be As Correct As One Assumes…
Being a “baron” means a man holds a title of the nobility. In the British system, he is below a viscount (baron, viscount, earl, marquess, duke). In those countries without “viscounts,” a baron is below a “count,” which is the same as an earl in Britain.
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One Meal Away From Starving
Hi there. Hope all of you are doing great. Well, it is time once again to hear the ranting from my brain. This time, I am going to talk about food. If you didn’t already know this, I am president of a nonprofit farmers/artisan market, so I am dealing with fresh, local food items all…
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Malvern, cello-playing and BOOK GIVEAWAYS
‘Why bother?’ my husband Simon wanted to know, when I said that I had been asked to audition, in Worcester Cathedral no less, for the English Symphony Orchestra’s conductor and principal cellist. My own view was, ‘Why not?’ (Remember: I was young and keen then.) Also, when else was I going to get to play…
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Candles for Late Night Reading?
I own that the ever-present backpack over my shoulder holds an LED flashlight in the righthand pocket. It’s also true that I always have a flashlight next to the bed (mostly because I believe “It” is underneath waiting to catch me unawares) on the table. However, I still find my household to be incomplete without…