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A Very Brief History of Buttons

Pat here:

I’m still digging around in research for my current, very tentative, historical idea. I’m thinking the village I talked about last time has lost its inhabitants to industries which pay better than farming small plots. And I’m thinking whatever cottage industry once paid women has also died, so young people packed up and left, and there’s no one left.

Dogs in Books

Anne here. We were talking about dogs and cats in books the other day, and though I've had several cats in my books, and I'm very fond of all animals, when it comes down to it, I'm generally for dogs, especially in books.

When I was a kid, I used to love Lassie and RinTinTin movies, and I snapped up any dog stories I could find. There was Finn the Wolfhound,  Old Yeller, Jack London's The Call of the Wild, Nip (a story about a collie.)

But in the main, they were angsty stories about dogs enduring hard times, and surviving, but . . . as a friend of mine's teenage son once told her, "I'm not reading any more dog stories; they always die at the end."  I remember howling at the end of Old Yeller. 

And I recall reading Nip in the back yard, and fretting about the terrible things he was enduring, and calling my collie, Bessie, over every few minutes so I could cuddle her — and comfort me. I couldn't find a web reference for that story and the book is in a box somewhere, so I can't even find the author's name, sorry.

But it doesn't need to be that way. Dogs can fulfil other functions in books and it doesn't have to break your heart. Georgette Heyer was a dog lover — I would know this even if I didn't know anything else about her because of the way she portrays dogs in her books. But here are two photos of her with her dogs (with thanks to Jennifer Kloester for them.)

In The Grand Sophy, for instance, Charles —who was pretty autocratic and unsympathetic at the start, clicks his fingers, and Sophy's dog, who doesn't usually take to strangers, immediately comes to him. And thus we know that Charles isn't as bad as he seems.

Pomp, Pageantry—and Skullduggery!

Andrea here, finding it hard to believe it’s August! The summer seems to have whizzed by like a Congreve rocket . . .

Now, speaking of Sir William Congreve’s rockets, I’ve decided to start the countdown to the September 27th release of MURDER ON THE SERPENTINE BRIDGE, my new Wrexford & Sloane mystery, by giving you a teaser of the circumstances in which the mystery takes place. Now, there are times when an author gets extraordinarily lucky and history provides a setting for a mystery more perfect than any writer would dare to imagine!

During June of 1814, Britain threw a grand party in London to celebrate the end of nearly twenty years of war against France. It brought together a host of royals and dignitaries from the Allied victors—including Tsar Alexander I, King Frederick William III of Prussia. Prince Metternich and Field Marshal Blücher—for a spectacular fortnight of sumptuous parties, gala outdoor entertainments, horses races at Royal Ascot and a sojourn to Oxford for a banquet and a special awards ceremony, all to celebrate the defeat of Napoleon and his exile to the isle of Elba.

Two Winners!

Anne here, and I'm posting the names of the two people who've won a copy of my new book, The Rake's Daughter.

The first name was drawn from the many people who answered the impossible quiz on a book they hadn't yet read — such good sports you all were. The winner there was Alison B.

The second winner is Anne H, for leaving a comment about rakes on the interview Mary Jo did with me. Thank you to all those who shared their favorite rakes. 

I've emailed both winners privately.

Thank you to all who participated in the fun. The wenchly reader community is a truly wonderful group.

July What We're Reading

Christina here with a round-up of what the Wenches have been reading this month. This is a truly varied selection and I hope there will be something for everyone and that you find something that appeals to you. I’ve already clicked on a few things myself …

My own favourite reads this month were the two new Wench books – The Crystal Key by Patricia Rice and The Rake’s Daughter by Anne Gracie.

The Crystal Key is the third book in the Psychic Solutions Mystery series, and these stories just keep getting better and better. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, which broadened the cast and built on the previous books in a most satisfying way. Ghostbuster Evie Malcolm Carstairs has finally got together with gorgeous lawyer Jax Ives and they are raising their ward, Loretta, together while trying to make ends meet – her by speaking to ghosts and him by setting up a new law practice in the tiny town where they live. When Evie and her hacker team at the Sensible Solutions Agency take on a new case that involves a dead former FBI agent – an old lady who had been poking around in things she shouldn’t have – and a potential murder, things start to heat up. Jax tries to keep Evie out of trouble, but she has her own way of dealing with things and doesn’t think she needs his help. He wants to do things the proper way while Evie and the others don’t always take the legal approach. Add to that the fact that his reclusive sister Ariel starts to help his best friend to uncover a major scamming network run by some seriously unscrupulous people – while slightly coming out of her shell – and he has his work cut out for him making sure everyone is safe and the bad guys get their come-uppance. With a huge cast of crazy but wonderful characters, this is a fabulous story that kept me turning the pages. I can’t wait for the next book in the series to see what will happen next!

Anne Gracie chats about The Rake's Daughter

Mary Jo here. As always, I'm delighted to interview sister Word Wench Anne Grace on her delicious new book.  The Rake's Daughter  is second in her Brides of Bellaire Gardens series.  Besides being a lovely romance, it's a moving story of friendship and sisterhood.

The book was released yesterday, July 26th. 

MJP: Anne, will you tell us about  the set-up and setting for this series?

AG: The series is based around a large private garden in Mayfair, with access only from the back of the houses that surround it. In some of these house live young women, young women who will one day become brides . . . 

MJP:  How did Leo, Lord Salcott, a sober and hard working young lord, find himself landed with the guardianship of a young woman he's never even heard of?

AG: It was a mistake. The father of the two young women, the Rake of the title, meant to leave the guardianship to Leo's father, naming him "Josiah Leonard Thorne, the sixth earl of Salcott." But Leo's father was the fifth earl, and seeing both Leo and his father had the same Christian names, and his father had predeceased the rake, the document was legal.

MJP: Tell us about the two half-sisters, Clarissa and Isobel.

AG: Clarissa is the legitimate daughter. She is plain, shy, a little plump, and an heiress. Isobel, her illegitimate half sister, is beautiful, outspoken, and penniless.

The two lonely, motherless little girls met by accident, just before their ninth birthdays, and defying their father, who planned to dump the newly bereaved Isobel in the nearest orphanage, decided to stay together. You can read part of this scene here. The two sisters grew up together in the country, and are very loyal to each other.

Ironing It Out!

Nicola here and today I am tackling the ironing, literally in fact as a bout of Covid followed by a trip away has meant that I am a bit behind on all my chores. I know there are people who enjoy ironing, who even find it therapeutic, but I am not one of them. I don’t like it at all. But I do like the result – nicely pressed clothes and smooth bed linen, so that presents me with a bit of a dilemma.

Smoothing clothes to get rid of creases and make them look – and feel – nicer is apparently an ancient pastime. Before the Chinese used metal to press cloth over a thousand years ago, people had been using heated rocks to flatten animal hides for millennia. Materials such as stone, wood and glass had been used as well, but the first “iron” appeared in the Middle Ages. There were a number of issues associated with early irons such as not being able to regulate their heat on an open fire, getting soot and dirt on the clothes and the iron cooling down rapidly and needing to be frequently re-heated. This does remind me a little of my steam iron which has a habit of spitting chalky water on my clothes unexpectedly when I am trying to press them.

Restoring the Creative

Susan here, deep in the draft of the new book, editing, revising, and looking forward to proofing and polishing over the next few weeks. Soon I can share more about that, but meanwhile—it’s the height of summer, and I’m stuck inside with the book, the revision notes, the computer, endless cups of tea, and some long days and nights. 

As soon as this book is done (yay), even if there’s precious little summertime left in the calendar, I’ll need a break. Even though another book is already forming in my mind on the heels of this one, that creative well needs a little time to refill first. The time gap between finishing a novel and beginning to write a new one can be very short—all too soon the research, drafting, writing, and editing will start again in earnest. An author needs stamina to write for long, long hours, and that pace can catch up to you eventually—and I’m one of those who can easily burn the candle at both ends and the middle too. Without some rest between book projects, it’s not good for the author, the stories, or ultimately the reader.

My candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends --
It gives a lovely light.
                                             ~ Edna St. Vincent Millay

Over the years I've found some habits and methods that work for me to clear the head, relax body and soul, and spark the creative urge again, resting the overworked writer's brain, and helping to fill the inner well--stirring that story soup. As Tolkien once explained, readers want to enjoy the soup without seeing the bones that went into making it; process vs. story. Writing needs energy, and a book won’t get far without the fuel of ideas and inspiration – and the best thing for creativity, sometimes, is rest. But if a vacation isn’t feasible, what else can be done for basic creative recovery and recuperation?

 

image from media.giphy.com

A quiz on The Rake's Daughter

Anne here, and for your entertainment, here's another quiz on a book you haven't yet read, The Rake's Daughter, which comes out on July 26th. A few reviewers and some of the wenches have read it, but that's all. So it's not testing anything—you can only guess at the answers — it's just for fun.

I'm also trying to avoid spoilers here — it's intended to give you a little taste of the book to come, something a bit different from an excerpt or a blurb.

So here it is, a fun little quiz on a book you haven't read. Make a note of your answers, check them on the link at the bottom and come back and tell us how you went, and whether you enjoyed it or hated doing a quiz on something you can't know. I'll be giving a copy of The Rake's Daughter to someone who leaves a comment.

1)   When Sir Bartleby Studley discovers he has a young illegitimate daughter whose mother has just died, he:—     

a) immediately makes arrangements to adopt her.
b) gives her to one of his farm tenants to raise.
c) decides to dump her in the nearest orphanage.
d) decides to send her back to her maternal grandparents.

2)   When Clarissa Studley, almost 9, meets her illegitimate half-sister :—

a) she's initially jealous and wants her gone.
b)  she's upset because her father cares more for the girl than for her.  
c)  she decides to keep her.
d)  she's angry because Izzy is pretty and she's not.