Word Wenches

Another Cover Story

by Mary Jo

Petals in the Storm

Last week I did a blog about the new release of my first full length historical romance, Dearly Beloved,and included the various covers the story has had over the years. there was interest in all the variations, I thought I'd do it again for Petals in the Storm,  Fallen Angels #3, for which I've just done a new cover.

Before I get started with that, though, HAPPY CANADA DAY to Canadians everywhere, especially our Canadian Wench, Susanna Kearsley, and our Canadian readers! It's the 152nd anniversary of the Constitution Act, and this year you have Raptor Rapture to add to the celebration. <G>

 

What We're Reading!

Hey there, Pat here, bringing you the Word Wenches comments on what we’ve been reading this month. I’ve been hunkered down trying to fine tune my new release while reading up on the next book set in Victorian Edinburgh--my main reading this month. I really don’t think you want to hear about the archives of the University of Scotland, although they are fascinating!

But I discovered I’d missed a Terry Pratchett book and grabbed a copy of RAISING STEAM when it crossed my radar. This is one of the later volumes written with his wife, so the puns aren’t there except in some of the names. What was really interesting about this read is that I started it in e-book format and was feeling a bit let-down and disappointed by it. We have all my favorite characters (except the witches!) and Disc World has just discovered steam engines, which is throwing everything into a tizzy. But I just wasn’t getting into it. Because we have a library of Pratchett books, we ordered a print copy to fill the missing gap. So I opened the book to where I was in the e-reader and tried reading on the page and lo and behold, the experience was utterly different.

Dearly Beloved

by Mary Jo

The Story Behind the Story:

In this era of e-books, backlist books are widely available, but it's rare for an older book to get a major re-release by a different publisher. I started my writing career with the shorter, lighter Signet Regency romances, but after five books, I was champing at the bit to write longer, more intense stories, which might also pay enough to allow me to become a full time writer. Hence, Dearly Beloved. 

It was an edgy book when it was first published, and it's edgy still.  It features themes that I return to again and again: Decent people who make bad mistakes.  Redemption.  Reconciliation. Becoming stronger in the mended places. 

Since my Kensington editor was interested in publishing more of my backlist, I sent her Dearly Beloved, which is my one standalone Regency historical, not part of a series. I fully expected her not to want the story, but to my shock, she loved it!  <blink> 

Henry VIII - Cause for Celebration?

Nicola here. Today is the 510th anniversary of the coronation of Henry VIII. Despite my very mixed feelings about Henry and his Dad, it feels like the sort of occasion I can’t ignore, particularly as my next timeslip is set in the Tudor period, albeit later in the reign of Henry’s younger daughter, Elizabeth. A decade ago, when it was the quincentenary of Henry's coronation, there were a number of celebrations to mark the occasion. But is Henry someone who we want to celebrate?

Henry VIII bestrides English history like a colossus both in terms of physical size and reputation. Not many kings or queens can compete with his fame. Was this solely down to the fact that he had six wives and beheaded two of them? A number of other British monarchs have had more than one spouse but none of them make the headlines (sorry, bad pun) like Henry still does. As someone who enjoys exploring the myths and legends about historical characters as much as I enjoy the “real” history, I thought I’d take a look at “Why is Henry VIII still so big” (in the sense of popular culture.) I call it “the afterlife” of Henry VIII.

A Little Summer Break

Susan here. Summer at last, warm and sunny (at the moment, thundery and rainy), soon to get even hotter, kids are on summer break -- adults should be too! So here's a quick summer break for you: a gallery of some of my favorite summer-themed artworks -- bright, beautiful images that evoke a sense of summer, of heat and sunlight, sea breezes, lazy days, roses and sunlight and a touch of fun. If it's summer where you are, I hope you'll be able to find time to rest and soak up some warmth and sunlight for yourself! 

 

The ancients loved summer too -- this is part of a Roman mural from the Villa of Livia, now in the Palazzo Massimo (National Roman Museum, Rome). In the original villa, this mural spanned the walls of one room with a peaceful panorama of fruit trees, flowers, birds, and blue skies. 

A Short But Sweet History of Brownies!

Andrea here—with the first day of summer just two days away, and the cold, rainy spring finally showing hints of sunny warmth where I am, I can't help but find myself thinking of long, lazy outdoors days. Preferable with a book.

And a brownie.

Many of you have probably gathered that I’m rather fond of chocolate in all its glorious guises. (So much so that the main character in my Lady Arianna Regency mystery series is an expert in the history and culinary possibilities of chocolate . . . because what doesn’t taste better with chocolate!)

Now, my research on the subject has been mainly in the origins of the first edible chocolate. But as I said, with thoughts of summer—and brownies—dancing in my head, I decided some modern sleuthing was in order. And so, allow me to share a small nibble on the origins of THE BROWNIE! (Yes, yes, hard work, but someone has to do it.)

Seven Windows

Anne here, standing in for Mary Jo, who will be blogging on the 26th instead. And because I suspect you've heard quite enough from me in the last week or so, I'll keep this one short and sweet.

When I was I rummaging through my old photos for Jo's Ask a Wench post last week, I found quite a lot of views from a window. I do love a room with a view. And that inspired me. So here are several views from windows of my past, and I'm going to make this a little competition — a kind of visual quiz — and ask you to guess where each the window is from. There are clues at the end of the post.

Window 1  (on the right)

 

   

Window 2 on the left
   So cute and round.

 

 

 

The Bestest Time Evah

 

Pat's cool vacation

Vacations, vacations, wonderful vacations.
It's summer time (up here in the northern hemisphere) and folks are travelling.

So I asked the Word Wenches, What do you remember as a really great vacation?

 

Pat remembers one totally-for-fun expedition.

From Pat:

Our vacations are often working vacations, or combining two purposes like family and travel, and after a while, they all tend to blend together a bit. So perhaps I’m most nostalgic about a trip IT Guy and I made alone, just for the fun of it, shortly after he retired. We finally had the freedom to leave at any time of the year we liked—no job, no kids with school, no social or business obligations.

We were a bit uncertain about our newly limited budget, so we didn’t want to do any big splurges, but we had one place we’d dreamed of for decades—the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. 

Yes, we’d traveled that direction once before, while writing California Girl  about a Route 66 trip. At the time, we could only admire the gorgeous balloons floating across the sky as we drove through. They were magical and all too brief. So this time, we made the trip just for the festival. I wasn’t writing a book about it. No research was involved, just pure enjoyment. We went with a tour so we didn’t have to worry about finding the best rooms or parking or any other hassle.

And it truly was the most magical trip I can remember. We saw the balloon glow and the dawn patrol and watched the race from our room when we left the grounds. We sat back and embraced the beauty of the countryside and the mystical blue skies.

And I even sneaked in a visit to a special tea room to meet with an author friend of mine and catch up. All in all, a very memorable trip!

Bringing old books back to life

Anne here, pondering the changes e-books have brought to my reading and buying habits. I've always been a voracious reader and re-reader, and a big buyer of books. I do love libraries, and use my local ones often, but when I love a book, I want to own it. And if I love an author I want all their books living in my house, there to be taken down whenever the impulse takes me.

I remember when I first discovered Eva Ibbotson, I borrowed them one by one from the library. But then my library started culling books, and when several favorite books disappeared forever I decided to buy my own copies. But to my dismay, the Eva Ibbotson books for adults were all out of print. There was no alternative but to use the web to track down secondhand copies. I paid a fortune for some of those copies, some of them former library editions, most from the US and UK and of course, the postage was ridiculous. But the books were gold so I didn't begrudge a cent.

Anniversary Winners

Here are the winners of the Wench 13th Anniversary #giveaway.

 

Each wench will contact her winner individually to obtain a posting address.

 

Thanks so much to everyone who left good wishes and participated in the discussion and the competition. Thanks also to all those who've followed us in the past. We hope you'll all continue with us on into the future. 

 

Wenchly readers are the BEST!

 

Andrea's winner:  Vicki W.

Mary Jo's winners: Molly M. and Ghazal M.

Pat's winner: Pat--Annette N.

Susan's winner: Nancy M.

Jo's winner: Kareni

Nicola's winner:  Lucia 

Susanna's winner:  Margot

Anne's winners: Theo and Shelley

 

(The flowers are mostly Australian native flowers, arranged by Swallows Nest Farm in Tasmania. Photo used with permission)

Roses Around The Door

Nicola here. Today I’m looking at roses, literally out of my study window and also as a historical symbol. It’s that time of the year in the UK when the rose is in full bloom. It’s a sign of summer and the sight of roses growing around a cottage door (or window) is one of the quintessential images of an English country village.

The rose is also a symbol of a lot of other things: A red rose is for romance, of course, whilst innocence or purity is symbolized by the white rose, friendship with yellow roses and passion with orange.  I’m currently writing a book set in the 15^th century during the period known now as “The Wars of the Roses” although this term wasn’t coined until the 19^th century. The red and white roses were of course said to be the rival emblems of the aristocratic houses of York and Lancaster. In Shakespeare's play Henry VI rival nobles plucked them from bushes in the Temple Gardens, as depicted in this painting by Henry Payne. The different roses are the perfect embodiment of the antagonism each side had for the other, with the thorns and the red for the blood spilled in the conflict.

New Audiobooks and Giveaways!

by Mary Jo

Producing audiobooks from my back list is time consuming and not inexpensive, but I continue to do them because so many people really like listening to audiobooks. My current goal is to make audio available for all seven of my Fallen Angels books, and we're getting close!  Several years ago I started with audio versions of Thunder and Roses and Dancing on the Wind along with the non-Fallen Angels book The Bargain. 

The economics of producing audiobooks changed dramatically so I put the audio program on hold for several years, but the marketplace is always changing, so now I've started producing them again. I started with Shattered Rainbows last autumn, and here's a link to my blog and interview with my wonderful English narrator Siobhan Waring.

Production and distribution take time, so the audio versions of River of Fire (Fallen Angels 6) and One Perfect Rose (Fallen Angels #7) have become widely available at just about the same time. 

I've always loved River of Fire, where my battle hardened hero Kenneth has the soul and talent of a painter.  In order to save his bankrupt estate, he reluctantly takes a position as secretary to famous artist Sir Anthony Seaton, who may be a murderer. 

Dazzled by the creative atmosphere as well as Sir Anthony's prickly but fascinating painter daughter Rebecca, Kenneth dares dream that he might become an artist himself. But what will Rebecca do when she learns that Kenneth has been spying on the household and may destroy her father? 

(I'm listening to River of Fire in my car now, and thoroughly enjoying it. <G>  Not surprisingly, it takes me back to my art school days!)

One Perfect Rose, 7th and last of the Fallen Angels series, has always been a popular favorite, and I'm delighted to finally have Stephen's story available in audio.  Stephen, the Duke of Ashburton, is brother of Lord Michael Kenyon, the hero of Shattered Rainbows.  Reserved Stephen has always done his duty, but after the death of his tyrannical father and distant wife, he's ready to explore a new freedom.

Then a grim diagnosis send him bolting away from his grand position to come to terms with his life.  Traveling anonymously, he falls in with a welcoming family theater troupe, and becomes enchanted with their adopted daughter, Rosalind, who radiates the warmth he's been seeking all his life.  But can they find a happy future together?  (Don't worry, it's a romance!) 

Production has started on Fallen Angels #3, Petals in the Storm, and the final Fallen Angels book, Angel Rogue, (# 4) will go into production immediately after.  The whole series should be available by the end of the year! 

My distributor, Findaway Voices, has given me some free giveaway codes for each book, so I will give away five codes for each of these two new audiobooks to some of you who leave comments between now and midnight Thursday. 

The codes are good only in the US, Canada, and Australia and must be used IOS or Android devices, such as a Samsung phone or an iPod or iPad or whatever.  They use a special app that must be downloaded to your listening device.  I managed to do it, so it's not difficult. <G>  

(I'm delighted that the codes now work in Australia--last autumn, the codes were good only in the US and Canada.  I hope Findaway keeps adding more territories!)  

So if you're in the US, Canada, or Australia with a suitable electronic device, let me know if you'd like a free audiobook and maybe you'll win one of these books! 

Mary Jo

PS: Findaway Voices sets up author stores where you can buy direct from them using the Author Direct app.  Here's a link to their MJP store.  The three books I did with Findaway Voices are listed there.

SATURDAY NOTE!  Winners have been chosen and I'll be emailing directly with the codes, but this will take a couple of days.  Sorry!

 

By the Numbers—A Regency magazine for Smart Ladies!

Andrea here, with summer nearly upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere, my thoughts are turning to reading (that is to say, I’m ALWAYS reading, but the long lazy, afternoons of the beach reading season always encourage thoughts of relaxing with the printed page—whether it’s old-fashioned ink or pixels.) It also got me to thinking of the historical heroines that we Wenches write, and how reading was an even more important part of their lives.

No television! No streaming! No social media! How on earth did they (assuming, of course, that they were among the privileged few who didn’t have to work endless hours to eek out a living) occupy their time? We know from first-hand accounts that letter writing and letter reading occupied a good amount a lady’s leisure, as did perusing the popular periodicals of the era.