Family~Week Two

Last week I wrote about family, about the role it has played in my books, and about the role it will take in my next series. You can read that post here if you missed it. This week I’m mulling the family of the Earl of Chadourn, the Landrums. This one is complicated because the […]

But Life Happens

You may have noticed The Unexpected Wife has been on one of those arranged blog tours. I’m giving gifts to folks who participate. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here. In the meantime…the Bluestocking Belles are preparing a cover reveal party for September 8. Our 2018 holiday box set features prodigal sons, horses, […]

Taking Stock

I’m taking stock of my assets. As a writer, my greatest assets are story ideas and characters. I’ve taken a step back to look at what I have going for me. Let me explain. Now that The Children of Empire Series is well on its way, I have a confession to make. I don’t have […]

June. Weddings!

The connection between June and Weddings is inevitable. Among romance writers, the temptation to write about weddings—and use them in promotion—is inevitable as well.  My good friends and fellow escape artists at Great Escapes Books have created a June promotional piece that includes excerpts from The Renegade Wife. The past few weeks I’ve been working […]

English Coastal Defenses: Martello Towers

Highlighting Historical Romance with Jude Knight today. Jude shares her research into Martello towers once used for the coastal defense of England. I saw them on a show about turning old historical buildings into homes for modern families and was impelled to go find out more. Once I did, I had to have a Martello […]

Beer, Science, and the 18th Century

  We’re Highlighting Historical fiction with Elizabeth Ellen Carter today. She explains how shape enhances our enjoyment of beer. This is important. After all, as Benjamin Franklin is reputed to have said, “Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy.” When doing some research on ale glasses for my upcoming title […]

Travel in the Regency

We’re Highlighting Historical Romance today with Jude Knight, who brings us insight into the ways in which travel has impacted her Regency novels, and problems writers face regarding it. One of the first things I had to get my head around when I started writing stories set in the Regency era was how long it […]

What to write this year?

The Bluestocking Belles met yesterday. It is always a challenge to get everyone in a conference call due to the spinning earth. We have members in Australia, New Zealand, San Francisco, Florida, South Carolina and, of course, the urban wilds of Eastern Pennsylvania. We were plotting our next holiday anthology. Our overall story trope is […]

Packing

Caroline is off again! Beloved and I will be jetting away in the wee hours of Friday. You can imagine we are in the throes of that pre-travel panic and packing, the part where you can’t decide what to take. It is winter here; summer there. Do I have to wear a coat to the […]

Writing to Order

I received this picture and a lovely thank you this week from the reader who won one of my contests last year. The prize was a short story for which she chose specifications. In this case she wanted a scandal caused by a cat. That took some thought! She also wanted a gruff alpha hero, […]