Word Wenches

Mythical Beasts and Imagination

(Paul Hermans Wikimedia Commons)

Christina here. Do you believe in cryptids? According to the dictionary they are “an animal whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the yeti”. There seem to be rather a lot of them, and although the degree of likelihood of them really existing varies hugely, they all have one thing in common – many people want to believe in them and enormous efforts go into finding them every year. I have to admit I follow these expeditions with great interest.

By definition, being an author means having a rather vivid imagination, and for me part of that is believing in unexplained phenomena and things like mythical beasts. My daughter makes fun of me for being convinced that the Nessie monster is real. She scoffs when I avidly watch every single programme on TV about people trying to find this creature by any means possible – divers, sonar scans, underwater cameras and endlessly chugging up and down Loch Ness hoping for a sighting. So many people claim to have seen it. Surely the law of averages means that at least a fraction of them must be true? I really, really want that to be the case.

Noble Scots and Other Eccentricities

Pat here:

I really ought to dig into my research files more often to see what I’ve looked up while I’m plotting a book, but by the time the book is ready for release, that material is a couple of years old, and I’ve forgotten about it. So out of curiosity, I dug into my files for ENTRANCING THE EARL, my May release, to see what I toyed with before I began writing. I can’t see any related blogs, other than my coloring between the lines complaint for the last book in my School of Magic series. But if I’m repeating myself, sorry!

ENTRANCING THE EARL required research into 19^th century beekeeping, architecture and construction of Scots brochs and the history behind them, and Scots peerages—which aren’t the same as English.

Just because authors get the most complaints about aristocratic titles, and I don’t want to hear anyone complaining about my female, unmarried countess, I’ll give you a fast lesson in Scots peerages—it’s complicated.

 

Zooming along

Anne here, and this morning I did an interview on Zoom for the French Romance Novel Festival — le Festival du Roman Féminin

It will surprise nobody that this year the festival is going virtual, rather than in person, as most festivals and conferences of this sort have had to since CoVid hit. We're all fairly used to Zoom meetings and on-line interviews now, and yet I'd be willing to bet most of us had never used Zoom before 2020.

And though these on-line meetings started as a second-best necessity, I think it's really opened us up to the benefits and innovations are happening that I think will stay when the Covid danger has passed and we're more or less back to normal.

For instance the lovely people who organize le Festival du Roman Féminin have several times invited me to come to their conference, and I would love to go, but traveling from Australia to France is a big time and money commitment — and a very long flight — between 21 and 24 hours sitting on a plane. Thus for various reasons I haven't been able to attend. Yet.

So when they asked me to do a Zoom interview with US Historical romance writers Darlene Marshall and Minerva Spencer (who also writes historical mysteries as S.M. Goodwin) I jumped at it. It was scheduled for 10.30 a.m. my time, and the US writers had their times and the valiant French interviewer was staying up until 1 am to do the interview.

However for me, this morning ended up more of a scramble than a zoom. <g> I'd just stepped out of my shower when an anxious email came through, saying Anne, we've started the interview. It was 8.30 am! Two hours earlier than planned. Yikes!

We had forgotten about the effect of daylight saving — a double effect, in fact, because just as Australia had "fallen back" an hour, people in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere had "sprung forward" and there was now a two hour difference.

I flung on a dress, didn't even brush my hair (which was still damp), had no time to gather up my French translation editions for 'show and tell' and, in dire need of a large mug of industrial strength coffee, I jumped belatedly into the interview. 

Here we are; Darlene (top left);  me (top right); Minerva (bottom right), and Agnès, our interviewer. (My dog Milly did attempt to photo-bomb us, but she didn't make it into this pic.)

Spring Flings!

Andrea here, and very happy that here where I live, I’m beginning to see signs of Spring finally starting to push aside the chill of Winter. Leaves are budding and flowers are starting to unfurl, adding tantalizing touches of color to the muted shades of the landscape. The air is warming, allowing hats, scarves and parkas to be hung in the storage . . .

February and March always feel endless here, and I am SO looking forward to spending more time outdoors—in shorts and T-shirts!—as the days grow delightfully longer. After all the isolation of the past year, the coming warm weather feels even sweeter as we (carefully) begin to tiptoe back to some semblance of normal activities.

So, in celebration of all fun seasonal activities ahead, I thought I’d compose a list—admittedly a silly one—of all the things I love about getting outside in warm weather . . . with a Regency twist!

Cruising the Danube

by Mary Jo

I'm still playing catch-up on my writing, so here's another armchair tour from blogs gone by!  The picture of me on the left is taken in the courtyard of Melk Abbey, a grand abbey on the Danube.

Riverboat Cruising

Years ago, I read an article about riverboat cruises in Europe, and the idea immediately appealed to me.   As a friend says, rivers were the interstates of the past, and so much of European civilization developed along the waterways.  How better to explore than in a boat holding maybe 150 friendly, intelligent passengers and serving lots of really good ?

What We Are Reading!

From timeslips, Viking warriors and fantasy worlds to contemporary romance and historical mysteries, the Wenches have been reading up a storm this month. Check it out! (And don't forget to share your reading list with us!)

Pat: Now, for a completely different twist. . . A Murder In Time by Julie McElwain This is essentially an historical timeslip novel, with a murder mystery, a contemporary story arc, and a hint of romance. Who could ask for anything more? 

Quotes to Preserve Your Muchness

Note the mask and gloves; Pietro Longhi (btw, a family ancestor)

Susan here - and here we are, a full year into making our way through this peculiar time on Planet Earth. And today I'm bringing to the blog a refreshed assortment of quotes and thoughts and pretty pictures to help us as we go along. 

In our family, all the adults have been vaccinated now, which is a very good thing. And we are still being just as careful as before, mostly staying home, not seeing much of family and friends beyond the virtual, and staying masked and distanced when we do venture out. One of our sons is still treating covid patients in a major hospital, and that's a dose of reality that keeps us all aware. My husband I both work at home most of the time, and being dedicated introverts, that's just fine with us -- and a year later, we’re not climbing the walls quite yet.

But now and then, the stress and the strangeness of it creeps in, and I’m turning more and more to things that help me relax, stretch, clear the mind, fill the reserves.

“You used to be much more … muchier. You’ve lost your muchness,” said the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.

And I don’t want to go there, nor do you. Let’s all keep our muchness as we navigate our way through this Fire Swamp (while blithely mixing metaphors). I hope you are faring well, and finding your own way through the swamp.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes – and some favorite images – that I hope will brighten your day.

Ramon Casas, Jove

 “Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort.”
--Jane Austen, Emma

 

Abbot Handerson Thayer, Angel Waiting

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all –

       --Emily Dickinson

"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering." –A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

Charles Perugini, Girl Reading, 1878

“Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” —Hermann Hesse

"Peace is always beautiful."

-- Walt Whitman

 

 

Safari!

Seeing the Elephant

by Mary Jo 

Once more I'm crashing toward the end of a story, in this case a Christmas novella scheduled for the A YULETIDE KISS anthology that will be out this October.

Sooooo....I'm also once again recycling an older travel blog, this time of our marvelous safari in Botswana.  Just rereading it made me want to go there again! 

So once more:

On September 8th, 2016, late in the evening, I pressed "Send" to email the manuscript of Once a Rebel to my editor. And the next morning we flew to Africa.  I wrote 7K words that last day in order to have a semblance of an ending.  I do not recommend this. <G>

But the safari in Botswana was wonderful.  Nothing like going off the grid when you've just finished a book!  I'd had no particular awareness of Botswana until I read the first No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith.  Born in what is now Zimbabwe, McCall Smith was a law professor at the University of Botswana for many years, and his love and understanding of Southern Africa are profound.

 

Seeing the Elephant

by Mary Jo 

Once more I'm crashing toward the end of a story, in this case a Christmas novella scheduled for the A YULETIDE KISS anthology that will be out this October.

Sooooo....I'm also once again recycling an older travel blog, this time of our marvelous safari in Botswana.  Just rereading it made me want to go there again! 

So once more:

On September 8th, 2016, late in the evening, I pressed "Send" to email the manuscript of Once a Rebel to my editor. And the next morning we flew to Africa.  I wrote 7K words that last day in order to have a semblance of an ending.  I do not recommend this. <G>

But the safari in Botswana was wonderful.  Nothing like going off the grid when you've just finished a book!  I'd had no particular awareness of Botswana until I read the first No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith.  Born in what is now Zimbabwe, McCall Smith was a law professor at the University of Botswana for many years, and his love and understanding of Southern Africa are profound.

 

The Burning Stone

Christina here. The hero of my latest book The Runes of Destiny is a Viking merchant who trades in all kinds of goods - whatever will make him the most profit. However, when I researched the type of things he would be likely to bring on a trip to Miklagarðr (Byzantium), I became fascinated by one in particular – amber. The more I read about it, the more I came to appreciate it, and I could well imagine how pleased a Viking woman would have been to receive such a gift – who wouldn’t be? It also seemed like the ideal trade goods – it was easy to transport, didn’t take up much space, and was highly sought after everywhere, plus in some places you could actually pick it up for free! (If you knew where to look).

Alphabet Soup

I occasionally write about dyslexia because it affects a number of my friends and family members, and it interests me. Despite scientists having known about this affliction since the 1870s, it was rarely acknowledged even in the 20^th century.