If You Like….
In tomorrow’s Teaser Tuesday, I talk about some of the inspiration for The Ashford Affair, my 1920s book. That got me thinking, of course, about my favorite novels of the 1920s and 30s, since I spent a lot of time reading various writers of the period in order to get the tone right for Ashford.…
Read MoreGARDEN INTRIGUE in Paperback!
This just in: The Garden Intrigue comes out in paperback on January 13, 2013. Whoever said that thirteen was an unlucky number? It’s not available for pre-order yet, but as soon as it is, I’ll let you know….
Read MoreWeekly Reading Round-Up
I’ve been continuing the old favorites kick this week, rediscovering more books on the back of the shelves: — Barbara Michaels, Shattered Silk. Okay, I’ll admit it. At one point, this was one of my less-favored Barbara Michaels novels. I adored the previous book in the trilogy, Ammie, Come Home, which has an excellent ghost…
Read MoreWriting Wednesday: If It Ain't Broke….
The French are the masters of contradictory concepts, such as the belle laide: the ugly beauty. Then there’s my personal favorite: the idiot savant, the learned fool. These concepts are always hard to translate, but the idiot savant is someone who manages to perform brilliantly at something without really knowing the how or why. Sometimes,…
Read MoreTeaser Tuesday: Vaughn is Back
Well, sort of. You know how The Ashford Affair is meant to be non-Pink and stand alone and all of those fun things? It is– for the most part. With one notable exception: Vaughn. Or rather, the spawn of Vaughn. (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist the way it rhymed.) In 1926, a particularly decadent set…
Read MoreIf You Like….
Julie had an excellent suggestion for this week’s If You Like: marriage of convenience plots. It’s one of my favorite plot tropes. What happens when you take two people and put them in a situation where they’re stuck making it work? Will they grow and learn together? Will it be a massive disaster? The stakes…
Read MoreWeekend Amusement
Remember 18th Century Cosmo? From Christine comes Chaucerpolitan— everything you ever wanted to know about the Real Housewives of Bath! Clever no?
Read MoreWeekly Reading Round-Up
I’ve still been reading my way through the rediscovered books tossed up by the move, among them: — Alexandra Raife, Belonging. The old family homestead in the Highlans has been turned into a hotel and it’s up to Rebecca to rescue it when her feckless cousin Tony leaves wife and hotel in the lurch to…
Read MoreOn the To Read List….
Once upon a time, I used to go bookstore browsing all the time. It was my favorite way to unwind, to see what was out there, make mental notes about which books were out and which I wanted to read next. Sadly, both the bookstores on my usual orbit closed this past summer (bye, bye,…
Read MoreWriting Wednesday: Character
Fundamentally, the topic of the day is Getting to Know Your Protagonist, Getting to Know All About Her, but that was too long to fit on the subject line, so let’s just call it Character Development: Part I. (I’ll talk about developing side characters another day.) The best advice I ever read on creation of…
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