Word Wenches

Bang on the Mark—The Art of London Firearms

Andrea here, going down another research rabbit hole today . . . Cover your ears, for there could be a number of loud bangs! I recently took you through a few thrusts and parries with London’s most famous Regency swordsmen. Well, today we’re looking at London’s best gunmakers of the era.

I swear, it’s not that I’m bloodthirsty—I just find that in the hands of a master craftsman, pistols and swords are lethally beautiful works of art. For me, they are a perfect example of artisans becoming artists, and I love how the famous design adage “form follows function” comes to life in the hands of men like Manton, Wogdon and Egg. (At left are pistols by John Manton.)

I recently saw a small but scintillating exhibit at Met in NYC entitled The Art of London Firearms, which showcases some of the treasures from its permanent collection, which are rarely displayed. So, let me prime my pen and take a quick shot at giving you some of the highlights of the golden age of flintlock pistols . . .

The Rose Windows of Notre Dame. Where Do We Go From Here?

 

Rose window, Notre Dame

Many ingenious lovely things are gone
That seemed sheer miracle to the multitude,
protected from the circle of the moon
That pitches common things about. There stood
Amid the ornamental bronze and stone
An ancient image made of olive wood –
And gone are Phidias' famous ivories
And all the golden grasshoppers and bees.
     Yeats

 

Joanna here, talking about something that shocked and horrified me last week. I watched fire burning next to the rose windows of Notre Dame.

Those rose windows are perhaps the most famous stained glass in the world. Very old. Very lovely. Anyone who’s been privileged to see them has been moved by the experience.

We still don’t know what shape they’re in.

Notre Dame has three of them over the doors on the south, west, and north of the Cathedral. 

They’re called “rose windows” not because of the color or because they have roses in the stained glass itself, but from the shape. The circle with spoke-like mullions and the delicate  tracery of stone is thought to resemble an open rose. They’re madly characteristic of Gothic architecture and are found in great churches all over northern France.

An Interview with Eileen Charbonneau

Susan here, delighted to welcome our guest today, Eileen Charbonneau, author of SEVEN APRILS, released just this month. Eileen has written several other historical novels, and she is more than a very talented historical novelist--she's also a friend of some of the Wenches, so we are especially pleased that she is visiting with us!

Eileen Charbonneau is the author of the multiple award-winning Code Talker Chronicles series as well as Rita winning and finalist historical novels for adults and young people. Her stories explore America through the eyes of immigrants, native peoples, and women. Her books have earned praise from Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and many others, so she's on to something. Eileen runs a small bed and breakfast inn with her husband in the brave little state of Vermont, and she is addicted to maple creemies, period dramas, and American roots music.

I just finished reading SEVEN APRILS and loved it. It's the captivating, heartfelt story of a young woman's journey during the years surrounding the Civil War. In the guise of a soldier, Tess becomes a surgeon's assistant, experiencing war and friendship, loyalty and love, life and death as she works beside a dedicated doctor in field hospitals and on the field. Along the way she discovers her own strength and abilities, and finds a future she had never dared dream about. Richly detailed, impeccably researched and beautifully written, with characters who have warmth, strength, and dimension, the story pulls along at a steady and compelling pace. SEVEN APRILS is simply a fascinating read, an exceptional Civil War novel with an earthy naturalism that adds even more depth to a wonderful read.  

Q: SEVEN APRILS is a remarkable novel and an incredible achievement. It represents years of work and dedication, a true book of the heart. I remember our conversations years ago when you first thought about writing it. What drew you to this powerful story? 

EC: Thank you for the wonderful compliment. I love transgressive gender bending women and men in story and song, from "When I Was A Fair Maid" to David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel" and Dar Williams' "When I Was a Boy." I have enjoyed reading novels about women dressing as men to serve in the Civil War, but I never found a story about a women who made it through the whole war undiscovered.  So I wrote one. 

(photo: Sarah Edmonds, who hid her gender to work as a soldier and a spy during the Civil War)

Q: Tess is a fascinating character, strong by nature, toughened by life and the demands of her situation. At her core, she is compassionate and sensitive. Where did you find inspiration for the character?

 

Ask A Wench: First Sentences

Susanna here, with our Ask A Wench post for this month.

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Andrew Pyper, author of The Homecoming, for a session at my local library, and while doing my preparation for that interview I came across an article he’d written for the Globe & Mail in 2012, called Crafting the Novel’s Crucial First Line.

Here’s an excerpt:

“no writerly preoccupation is more universally shared – or has been the cause of more agonized hours staring at the blank page – than the First Line…
How we begin a book is widely considered to be a matter so crucial, so decisive in determining whether a book soars or stalls, so elusive and mysterious, it's often spoken of in terms closer to spell-casting than sentence making…
There are no rules as to how to do it, other than one. A first line cannot, under any circumstances, be dull.”

*******

I’m a sucker for a good first sentence.

Edinburgh Now and Then

Pat here:

As a lover of Georgian and Regency history, I’ve always been fascinated by Edinburgh. The image of an ancient city crushed together between a fort castle on a hill and a palace a mile away, with the New City slowly forming beneath it, has made me crazy until I could actually see it for myself. And now that I have, I’m dying to write about it. The wynds and the university across the bridge and a towering fortress and a palace are like something out of Pratchett.

The area around modern Edinburgh has been occupied since the early Middle Ages, thanks to the promontories that make for excellent lookouts and secure settlements. By the middle of the 14^th century, the old town was already being called the capital of Scotland. New Town was established about mid 18^th century, just about the time my first Malcolms showed up in my authorial universe.

Of Beaches and Castles

Nicola here and today I’m talking about beaches – and history. You may already have noticed that the Wenches love a good trip to the sea, whether it’s a Caribbean island or the Antarctic or the Northern shores of Scotland. There’s something about the water and a stretch of golden sand that is refreshing and inspiring, even if you’re wearing several layers of thermals to appreciate it, as I was last week!

My beach odyssey started in Bamburgh in Northumberland, on the North East coast of England. It’s a favourite spot of mine and the setting for a story I’ll be writing a little way down the line. The whole area is chock full of history from pre-Roman times through the centuries, plus it has castles by the score and at Bamburgh there is the big mama of them all.

A Question of Numbers!

Andrea here, and I'm excited to announce that today is Release Day for A Question of Numbers, the latest book in my Lady Arianna Regency mystery series. I've had such fun writing these characters and their adventures, so I thought I'd share a bit of backstory about why I love writing the mystery genre, as well as a bit about the inspiration behind this latest story.

I began my career as a published author (don't ask about the old manuscripts squirreled away in a desk drawer) writing traditional Regency romances for NAL. I loved the era—and that's stayed with me to this day—and after glomming a number of books in the genre (including Wenches Mary Jo, Pat and Jo Beverley) I buckled up my courage and took a try at it, and to my surprise and delight . . . I got a contract. When the publishing world changed, I moved to sexy Regencies, which were fun, but I came to realize that my heart really lay in writing mysteries.

A Writers' Retreat

Anne here, and I'm just back from my annual writing retreat. That's the view from my room, and the balcony where I did a lot of writing.
It's the thirteenth year we've done this, always with the same small group of around eight or nine, so we must be doing something right. (I say eight or nine because one of us now lives in France and can't come every year.) And for the last eight years we've come to the same place. With  views like this, who could resist? As well as the gloriously ever-changing vista of sky and sea — and beach activity — I particularly love the sight of the high-rise buildings of the Gold Coast seeming to float in the distance, like the remnants of some lost dystopian city.

Quilts 2019!

By Mary Jo

Long term readers of the Word Wenches know that I look forward to the biennial show of the Baltimore Heritage Quilters Guild. I'm told they don't have annual shows because it takes time to create so many new quilts, which I totally believe because I could never do what they do!

The long, narrow hanging at the left is the phases of the lunar eclipse of 2017.

There are wonderful traditional quilts like traditional grannies used to make, but there are also many that are brilliant works of art intended for walls rather than beds.

Clearly the quilters have a lot of fun, and groups of them will do different challenges to their skills.

For example, there was a "Page 13 Challenge" which involved going to page 13 of a magazine and creating a quilting project based on the images one finds there. (One would been to be careful about the magazine chosen!  One also must NOT touch the quilts with bare fingers--the oils can damage the fabric.  Hence the warnings like the one below. In these days of drones, there may well be aircraft monitoring the show!)

One such challenge project resulted in the fascinating stilt house architectural images quilted by my friend Natalie, above.

Another is the cat hanging I bought two years ago, in small mosaic like pieces of fabric were used to create the project. There was heat activated glue on the back of the fabric squares, and then the quilter sewed through all the pieces to ensure they stay attached. The kitty hangs in my dining room, and she makes me think of a shy adoptee.(Below)

Here are some others quilts that really caught my eye.

The Octopi in the one on the right have three dimensional heads. I love the colors!

 

The hanging to the left was  a group effort. It's taken from a picture of Baltimore rowhouses, and each house was done by a different quilter:

 

 

I like bright colors, so these two spoke to me:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love these ducks against the rising sun, and the beautiful golden Tree of Life, below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And these sunflowers!

 

 

 

 

There were any number of fabulous works, but I was very taken by several of the ones made by the show's featured contemporary quilter, Amy Krasnansky. All of her work is terrific.

 

 

But the large quilt below was a real knock out: three dimensional with two completely different views possible.  Here is the view from the right:

An elephant, right?  But here is the view from the left.

The elephant in the room has become a sofa with cats! You can see how the quilt is zigzagged to show the two images, an effect Ms. Krasnansky was able to create because she's an engineering graduate of Johns Hopkins University.  An amazing result!  Note how the backgrounds and the ground change between the two images.  (I have the cat covered sofa in my living room, but no elephant. <G >

If you really, really like looking like quilts (as I do!) here are links to my 2015 blog and my 2017 blog.

Lastly, the show took place as a private school with a pond by the parking lot. I think these geese would make quite a nice quilt. What do you think? <G>

Mary Jo

What We're Reading in March

 ... and what a medley it is.

Joanna here, with some lovely book suggestions from all of us.

I’m rereading one of Lois MlcMaster Bujold’s books. The Curse of Chalion. I picked it up at the library because the librarian had it out on the Recommended Shelf and I was reminded of it. 

When we reread books we sometimes come at them a little differently or, at least, I do. This time, when I approached Bujold’s broken, exhausted, emotionally and psychically destroyed protagonist I was better able to see the honorable man beneath. It’s a new way for me to look at heroism and I’m hoping to learn from it.

This is not a Romance, but it’s a satisfying portrayal of a complex protagonist and — yes — a bit of a love story.

 

Andrea writes:

I’m a big fan of Charles Finch’s historical mysteries—I find his Charles Lenox series, set in early Victorian England, an absolute delight. So it’s always a treat when a new one comes out.

Now, Finch has done something really interesting with the series. In the first book, A Beautiful Blue Death, which came out 12 years ago, we meet Lenox as an established amateur detective. He’s a cultured, erudite, clever younger son, so his slightly “black sheep” profession is tolerated by family and friends (it helps that he’s such a lovely, sensitive fellow) And throughout the next nine books, we see him develop, take on new challenges, dabble in politics, get married, have a child . . . all while unraveling some very intriguing mysteries.

Then lo and behold, like the clever mystery writer he is, Finch suddenly surprised his readers with a unexpected plot twist. In his previous book, The Woman in the Water, the 11th in the series, he started writing a “prequel to the series—we meed Charles as a green cub, just down from Oxford, trying to decide what he wants to do in life. He loves solving conundrums, but everyone thinks he’s a fool to consider it as a possible career. Nonetheless, he keeps reading the papers about crime, and finds he has an idea he thinks may help solve one. The police, of course, dismiss him as fop and