Category: historical romance
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The Free Indirect Discourse of Jane Austen
I tend to be a very black and white thinker, and I was told–as so many are in early writing classes–that an omniscient narrator is a bad idea. It leads to head-hopping; it’s old-fashioned; it’s not popular. Only attempt it if you’re a genius with literary aspirations. And I’m not paraphrasing, that is exactly what…
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Song of Pemberley
In 2021 I started a novel called ‘Song of Pemberley’ but never finished it. Between selling my house in Texas, packing up everything and moving to Illinois, a number of things fell to the wayside until lately. Now, I’m working on playing catchup, and you know how much fun that is. However, since I am…
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Ghostwriting and Other Gory Tales
Ghostwriting, and other gory tales ‘Though I prefer first-rate fiction, for the last few years my reading seems to have been concentrated on letters and journals and biographies. It doesn’t bother me to read while I am writing… I mean, I don’t suddenly find another writer’s style seeping out of my pen. Though once, during…
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Hearts Unspoken and the Promise of a Love Meant to Be
It’s that time of year — autumn. Why the end of summer always feels like the promise of a new beginning for me is anybody’s guess. I love the season the most, especially when I have a new release. When I shared an early cover mock-up on my YouTube channel, I asked my community what…
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Giving Birth on a Sailing Ship in the 1800s, or Things to Avoid at All Costs
The Journal I began skimming the newly digitized journal of Augusta Hendee, the wife of ship captain Thomas Hendee, and I fell in love. I have now spent two days reading the whole thing in depth. At moments hilarious and at others tragic, it is at all times relatable. The first half of the digitized…
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An Interrupted Proposal Cover Reveal
Wow! It has been a long time coming, and you have been soooo patient! First, I am really excited to get this book out in print. There have been a few challenges as my life erupted in the past couple months, which has caused some delays, but we are finally coming down to the wire!…
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Another Stroll Through Bath’s Pleasure Gardens
In the middle of the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, many places in England—and especially Bath—have been awash in celebrations. I was unable to attend, but the busyness of the town, as related by residents and tourists, caused me to revisit and re-enjoy my own travels there a few years back.…
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Excerpt from “Reputation, An Easy Thing to Lose”
Please enjoy this excerpt from my first novel, Reputation An Easy Thing to Lose.
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Thaddeus Ever Valiant
There’s always the hope that there might remain a brilliant female writer from the 1700s or early 1800s who has been lost to obscurity. That’s why, over the years, I go back once in a while to read someone new to me. One of these is Jane Porter, who along with her sister Maria became…
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Sailing with Style and Salt Pork: A Look at Regency Packet Ships
In a Jane Austen novel, sea travel usually happens offstage. A letter arrives, Tom Bertram returns, Captain Wentworth is promoted to captain—that sort of thing. But if you lived in Austen’s world and needed to get to the Continent (or the West Indies, or the Cape of Good Hope), you would likely have found yourself…