Love is worth the risk
This is from Duke in Name Only (April 2023). Phillip plans to go upriver with Nan’s brother to search for jewelry or pawn shops in Saint Louis that might have word about his missing signet ring. He hasn’t told either of them he’s also studying commerce along the river, looking for investment opportunities. He’s determined […]
…you could cross the Atlantic in a month in the Age of Sail? I read that Columbus took two months, and then again six weeks. Of course, he crossed the Atlantic more than once. The average trip was probably six weeks in the eighteenth century. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, sailings of three […]
When Phillip feels well enough to talk, Nan begins to interrogate him about how he was injured. She’s worried that the river pirates and low-life rats that infest the Ohio River below Illinois may be moving their operations to the upper Mississippi, putting her tavern at risk. Phillip tells her about a supposed gentleman he […]
…that it took approximately 10,000 acres to yield an income of 10,000 pounds to a landowning aristocrat in the Regency Era? As you can imagine, it took a pile of money to pay all those servants, maintain a townhouse in addition to the country manor, and keep a stable of good horses and carriages. No […]
Working away at the hotel post Historical Romance Retreat. I’ve done a bit of character work, and finally got down the opening I envisioned for Duke in Name Only. When Phillip discovered that the title he held was acquired fraudulently, he wandered away to North America determined to create an independent fortune, success of his […]
I hope you had a wonderful summer. I’m not sure where mine went! It certainly was a busy one. The garden and I battled lack of rain, and about broke even. The Upright Son, final book in The Ashmead Heirs came out June 28. Since then I completed another novel (Duke in All But Name […]
…that the late Georgians were notoriously heavy drinkers? But the upper classes inclined more toward wine than distilled spirits. In 1838, by one estimate, consumption of distilled spirits in England was a mere .53 gallon per capita annually. Contrast that with Scotland at 2.46 and Australia at 5.02. While gentlemen might start their day with […]
This is a bit from my novella for A Duke in Winter. The stories in the collection are all based on Shakespeare’s plays. Mine is tentatively entitled The Sixth Henry. You can guess the play. It features a beleaguered new duke and a longstanding feud between two families over roses. Mary is the duke’s sister. […]
I typed “The End” on the bottom of Duke in All But Name last weekend. I’m taking a break from it while some eagle eyed beta readers take a look. I should know by next weekend if the plot holds together as well as I hope. Then I’ll get down to the serious work of […]
A brisk knock interrupted his thoughts. “Enter.” A footman entered, different from the night before. This one studied Gideon with naked speculation and a canny expression. “Mr. Marshall assigned me to be your manservant, you coming without one.” Marshall. The assigning of servants should lie with the butler not the steward. Gideon knew a spy […]