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The Wenches


  • Mary Jo Putney

  • Patricia Rice

  • Susan Fraser King

  • Anne Gracie

  • Nicola Cornick

  • Andrea Penrose

  • Christina Courtenay

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  • Jo Beverley
    Word Wench 2006-2016

  • Edith Layton
    Word Wench 2006-2009

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June 2023

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Wenches Statistics

  • Years published: 164

    Novels published: 231

    Novellas published: 74

    Range of story dates: nine centuries (1026-present)


    Awards Won:

    • RWA RITA

    • RWA Honor Roll

    • RWA Top 10 Favorite

    • RT Lifetime Achievement

    • RT Living Legend

    • RT Reviewers Choice

    • Publishers Weekly Starred Reviews

    • Golden Leaf

    • Barclay Gold

    • ABA Notable Book

    • Historical Novels Review Editors Choice

    • AAR Best Romance

    • Smart Bitches Top 10

    • Kirkus Reviews Top 21

    • Library Journal Top 5

    • Publishers Weekly Top 5

    • Booklist Top 10

    • Booktopia Top 10

    • Golden Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement


    Bestseller Lists:

    • NY Times

    • Wall Street Journal

    • USA Today

    • Waldenbooks Mass Market

    • Barnes & Noble

    • Amazon.com

    • Chicago Tribune

    • Rocky Mountain News

    • Publishers Weekly

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Comments

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Sonya Heaney

Here in Canberra a lot of national buildings were lit up in red and white over the weekend for Canada's celebration. Old Parliament House, the National Science and Technology Centre, the Canadian High Commission, Black Mountain Tower, the massive water jet in the lake...

I suspect a great deal of the success of Murdoch Mysteries can be credited to Mr Bisson's eyes alone. ;) They show three episodes a week here.

Jana

Thank-you for the birthday wishes! As a Canadian, we often think our American neighbours don't know very much about us other than the stereotypes (eh). It's nice to know that at least some of our neighbours know as much and maybe even more than the average Canadian about our history! It's definitely not as exciting to study (unless your a keen on political manoeuvring) once you get past the war of 1812 (which we like to pretend we won...we may not have gained any ground, but we also stayed a British colony,no there's that!).

MarshaM

I caught a glimpse of the duckie driving home along the south of Toronto Friday. He is cute.

Minna

Well, happy birthday Canada from 100 years old Finland!

Oh, I love The Murdoch Mysteries! And the oldie but goodie, Due South! Handsome Mounties, anyone? =)

Mary M.

Love the duck (or is that, Lord luv a duck?), it's so nice seeing something orange bring a smile. We Americans (USians?) should be so lucky.

I grew up in Michigan, across the river from Ontario, and was visiting Canada when Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne. I still have a little metal "royal coronation carriage" I bought then in Hamilton, Ontario, and have always had a soft spot for the British monarchy, even before I discovered the Regency.

So big congrats to our neighbors to the north--now waaay to my north as I've drifted south to Arizona. (We get a lot of you guys here in the white season--we call you "snowbirds." You call yourselves "winter visitors." Either way, you're welcome.)

Mary T

What a wonderfully enlightening post. I'm ashamed to say that I know so little of Canadian history. Canada we love you - please don't build a wall (smile).

HAPPY 150TH!

Sue McCormick

Happy Birthday to our Northern Neighbor!

Back in the day — when PenPals were supposed to bring us World Peace. My next-door-neighbor (well just across the intervening street neighbor) sent my name into the PenPal list of a comic book (Famous Comics?) I gained a Canadian pen pal through that listing. She was very smart and wrote great letters. She went to school at Ontario Ladies' College in Whitley (spelling?) which is across the Detroit River from the U. S. I believe she grow up to become an Astro-Physicist.

Unfortunately, I lost track of her during the early years of my first marriage.

I now have an internet friend of many years who lives in Ottawa.

I fondly remember my trip to the falls in the summer of 1941. We cross into Canada at Buffalo, New York — and so saw them at their bast from the Canadian Side. We drove through Canada past the whirlpool and re-entered the U. S. at the North end of Lake Cayuga. (The fact that Canada was already at war colors those memories; we were still 3 to 4 months away from December 7th).

And I have visited Canada through poetry and story (beginning — of course — with L. M. Montgomery (Emily as well as Anne of Green Gables).

So, again happy birthday to our northern neighbors!

(As to Murdoch's Mysteries, Sonya — Mr. Bisson's eyes my attract some, but I doubt that is why my husband and the Mayhem Consultant like the series so much!

Mary Jo Putney

LOL, Sonya! So Murdoch is everywhere popular. *G* We stream the shows from Netflix and see two or three episodes a week. We're almost done with season 7, and I'm glad the show has been renewed for season 11.

Mary Jo Putney

Jana, be grateful that Canada's history is less dramatic! Some people here are still fighting the Civil War because they can accept the facts that A) the South lost, and B) the war was ultimately about slavery. (Lots of rationalizing about this.)

As to who, if anyone, won the war of 1812--it actually worked on both sides of the border because both Canada and the US developed much clearer senses of national identity. The US was a small, poor, highly experimental republic at the time and there were fears that independence would collapse and the US would end up as part of the British empire again. So one could say that the war was win/win--except for all the people who died. (Why yes, my upcoming book, ONCE A REBEL, is set mostly in the War of 1812. *G*)

Mary Jo Putney

Marsha M, I'm sure that long after people have forgotten the costs of bringing the duck to Canada, people will still be remembering it with a fond smile. *G*

Mary Jo Putney

Yes, please, Minna! Have you seen the episode where it turns out that Murdoch has a previously unknown Mountie half brother? Great fun!

Mary Jo Putney

Mary M, living in Arizona is a good way to meet lots of Canadians for sure. *G* And a lot of people from the northern US, too! The Southwest is gorgeous in the winter.

Mary Jo Putney

Agreed, Mary T!

Mary Jo Putney

Sue, Murdoch's ingenious techie devices hook the guys in. *G*

Suzanne

Well thank you Mary Jo! Next month it'll be 45 years since my family moved from Ireland and settled in "sunny"Alberta, which was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, 4th daughter of Queen Victoria.

Murdoch Mysteries is my favourite show--actually my husband would say I'm obsessive about it. I have never missed a "live" episode, & everyone in my household knows not to "disturb" me while it's on. And there's so much more to this show than Yannick's eyes 😊

Jana

Oh definitely grateful that we have either solved our problems peacefully or nattered on about them incessantly until no one cared any more (I'm looking at you Quebec separatists!). It just made for long boring history lessons in high school! To be honest, we really aren't taught much about the war of 1812. What I know about it, I learned as an adullt, or from those funny little mouse cartoons that came on after Spider-Man when I was a kid (whatever happened to those? They were a brilliant way to make history fun!). Canadian history is not dwelled upon by our education system. The focus tends to be more global with a strong emphasis on current events. Personally I feel that it's one area that we need to improve upon. There tends to be a feeling that we lack a clear identity, beyond poutine and ice hockey. Knowing how the country came to be, our triumphs and our failures gives us that shared sense of what we stand for. I think other countries do this better than we do. There's a sense that our history will offend the Francophones, or the First Nations so we skim over it, focus on the parts we all can agree on (like getting involved in WWI cemented our national identity) and ignoring the rest. But ignoring it doesn't mean it didn't happen. As you can see this is something I've given a fair amount of thought to....a bit of a frustration of mine since high school 25 years ago!

Minna

Yeah, I did see it. But when I really want to see a mountie (or two), it's Due South time for me. I really need to find those DVDs somewhere...

Due South:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PINmbqb4Z18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu4krJJkkIs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQkql4dHniE

Jana

It's the red coats that do it. Much like Kitty and and Lydia in Pride and Prejudice, a red uniform still makes a lady swoon!

Teresa Broderick

Happy Birthday Canada!! I just love the duck:):)
Murdoch Mysteries is a great series. I've missed the last season or two so much catch up. The scenery in it is wonderful at times. Murdoch himself is a great character.

Mary Jo Putney

Jana, that's interesting that Canada doesn't do a lot to teach history, and concentrates on topics that aren't likely to offend different groups. In the US, there are usually people willing to go to the mat over challenging issues. *G* In my school days, we studied a fair amount of history, including a year where our history focus was the history of New York State, where I grew up. I don't know what history they teach now, but I imagine it's a lot less than when I was in school.

Mary Jo Putney

Okay, I had to go looking. It's available on Amazon US, though I don't know if you can access a European format series in Finland. Good luck finding it!

Mary Jo Putney

There's definitely something about a uniform--and it doesn't even have to be red. Have you seen a US Marine in dress uniform? *G*

Mary Jo Putney

Suzanne, all the characters on Murdoch have grown and changed and most of them are very appealing.

Mary Jo Putney

Indeed he is. We're waiting for him and Julia to finally get it together. *G*

Paula Kruk

Now our day has come to an end and yours is on the horizon. I wish all the word wenches a Happy 4th

Mary Jo Putney

Thank you, Paula! And yes, I hear fireworks in the distance in proof of that!

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