Word Wenches

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.

Dressing Up

Christina here. This past weekend Wench Nicola and I have been attending the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association’s annual conference. It was held in Telford this year and the day before we took part in a special meet-the-author event at the local library. There were twelve of us, all authors of historical romance, fantasy, timeslip, time travel, sagas or alternative history stories. And some of us decided to attend the event dressed in a costume befitting the historical eras we were writing about to make it more fun. For me that meant a Viking outfit of course, and I’d made part of it myself.

As a little girl, I loved to play dress-up and I still do. If anyone says they’re having a masquerade or costume party of any kind, I’m in. So whenever there is a chance to dress up in historical costume to do with my books, I get very excited. During the pandemic I decided to put together a Viking outfit on the off-chance I would ever get to do author events again and I’m very glad now that I did. I could have taken the easy way out and just bought one online, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, I started to look at how I could do some of it myself. It was great research, if nothing else, as some of my heroines have to make their own clothes.

AAW—Armchair Travels!

This month's Ask A Wench question is:
Travel seems to be on everyone’s Wish List these days. If money were no object (and a magic carpet was provided for hassle-free flying)  what would be your dream getaway vacation for the summer?

Okay, everyone—fasten your seatbelts!

Nicola: I’ve been doing quite a bit of armchair travelling lately as whenever I turn on my computer I’m presented with “picture of the day” – a stunning photograph of different places all around the world which has added a lot of destinations to my wish list! Lisbon in Portugal would be my top choice for a city break – cobbled streets, markets and medieval buildings. So much history to explore and so many pastéis de nata (those adorable little custard tarts) to eat! I particularly want to visit the Belem Tower which is a 16th century fortification that looks like a great big stone ship.
 
However, I’m not good with the heat, so in the summer I need to be somewhere cool. This means somewhere like Scotland (an all-time favourite), Norway, or the mountains of France. My DH recently went on a wildlife holiday in the French Alps and although I didn’t fancy photographing butterflies for 9 hours a day, I did have acute holiday envy for the glorious scenery and the flower meadows, not to mention the French cuisine. So I think that would be my choice – up in the high mountains of France with snow on the peaks and the fields humming with gorgeous butterflies. Reading a book as I sit under a tree in the shade would be bliss.

Christmas in July!

The Best Husband Money Can Buy

By Mary Jo

Here in the US, a heat dome is producing some very hot weather.  Since it isn't possible to teleport Down Under for cool winter weather, Christmas in July sounds pretty good!

I've never turned down the chance to write a Christmas story, so I've written quite a few holiday tales.  Since I've regained the rights to some of the earlier ones, I've released a pair of holiday story collections, Christmas Candles and Christmas Revels. In recent years I've start to publish individual stories in standalone e-versions and at the same time producing audiobook versions because a lot of people really enjoy audios: The Christmas Cuckoo, The Black Beast of Belleterre, Sunshine for Christmas.

This year I chose "The Best Husband Money Can Buy" for the standalone e-book and audio treatment, and tomorrow (July 14th) the e-book version will be released.  The audio version should go live on October 13th in the run up to Christmas.  Once again the wonderful Siobhan Waring is doing the narration and I'm looking forward to hearing her purring the story into my ears. <G> The story:

Emma Stone was raised as part of a large, loving aristocratic family, but after she was orphaned and left penniless, she became a tired, lonely governess. Then through an act of kindness, she inherits an unexpected fortune and realizes that she can now have the husband and family she craves.

 Anthony Vaughn, the dashing distant cousin she'd admired as a child now needs a fortune to pay his father's debts and preserve his family estate. Together they strike a bargain—even though Emma knows she risks not only her fortune but her heart…

 "Best Husband" was published in Christmas Candles along with "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know," the one Western story I've ever written, which turned out to a good partner because both stories involve Christmas candles lighting up windows to beckon weary travelers to the warmth and welcome of home.

Finding good images for covers is always a challenge, but I really like how this cover turned out.  That good looking, laughing young man fits my image of Anthony, who was a very charming fellow. He brightens Emma, and she steadies him and give him purpose. In other words, it's a happy ending!

Christmas Candles and my other holiday collection, Christmas Revels were originally published several years ago, and at the time, I also had print on demand editions released. 

However, more recently the specifications for POD were changed and my print editions of these two collections disappeared. I didn't notice until I started work on the Best Husband release and found that print editions weren't available. Ooops!  But that's being worked on now and some time in the next few weeks, print will be available for those who prefer it. Lots and lots of Christmas,  <G>

If you're looking for some virtual snow, here's the buy link for The Best Husband Money Can Buy . There are even snow angels in the story!

Mary Jo

 

 

 

 

How Many Books Is Too Many Books?

Nicola here, and today I'm asking the provocative question "how many books is too many books"? And as a follow up to that: "What system do you use to categorise your bookshelves?" You see, I need help and advice. The time has finally come to sort out my “library.” This is rather a grand term for a muddled collection of books on shelves, in boxes and in stacks on the floor all over the house with only a notional system of what is where. For years I’ve been saying I need some sort of cataloguing system, yet each time I sit down with my books to try to categorise them, I either get distracted into reading something I had forgotten was there or I am so overwhelmed by the hugeness of the task that I retreat and close the door on the mess. There are obvious downsides to this, most annoyingly the fact that I can’t find half the books I know are there and when I need them for research – or to re-read a favourite novel – I’ll spend ages huffing around looking for them. Also, I have been known on more than one occasion to buy multiple copies of things just because I didn’t realise/remember they were already in my collection. So a neatly-ordered bookshelf is crucial.

Researching English Villages

I’m toying with an idea for a historical romance and haven’t quite decided on what era or area my characters and their situation might fit into. The idea requires a rather large manor house or even a sprawling aristocratic estate. I’m rather fond of houses, so the more house, the merrier for me. If it’s deteriorating, even better—so much story material there!

I’d like the house to be relatively isolated, but it’s not a self-supporting estate, so I need some sort of small village nearby. People need to get out of the house occasionally! So I started by digging around in English villages to see where such a place might have existed in the 18^th or 19^th centuries. I don’t want to go further back than that.

Achieving balance

Anne here, and today, for some reason, I woke this morning feeling a bit gloom-and-doom-y. You know how it happens — news headlines come at you from all directions and you start despairing at the state of the world. Mass shootings, dreadful laws, inept, lazy or corrupt governments, Covid deaths, poverty, racism, injustice, global warming and people's refusal to face it, and . . .  I could could go on. But I won't.

The media is so eager to throw disaster and ghastliness at us, and it's pretty easy to sink into negative thinking, but though it can creep around the edge of my consciousness, I'm determined not to let it in. Some days you really have to work at achieving some balance to the gloom and doom. Today was one of those days for me.

So what did I do to counteract the gloom and doom? The first thing was to take the dog out for a good walk. It was a cold and showery day but luckily we hit a lovely patch of sunshine.

Dogs are great for mental health  — they're funny and silly and affectionate and they live absolutely in the moment, and find joy in the smallest things, which is a great life lesson. And I am lucky in that I have some lovely areas where I can walk her. 

We started off walking on a narrow dirt track beside a creek, and she loved that, diving in here and there to investigate all sorts of interesting smells. But then the little path got increasingly muddy and when everything was squishing wetly beneath my feet, I decided we'd head for  higher ground and walk on the (gasp) actual path. Yes, poor spirited of me, I know and not nearly as interesting, but strangely I prefer my feet dry. I had to make her sit for this photo, because otherwise she'd continue darting around gleefully — and heading back to muddy joy.

Things That Go BANG!

Andrea here, Today is a special festive day here in America. The fourth of July—our Independence Day—is a high point of the summer season. Traditionally celebrated with outdoor barbeques replete with hot dogs, hamburgers and raspberry-blueberry-whipped cream flag cakes—hip, hip hooray for the red, white and blue! And along with all-American food, fireworks is an integral part of the festivities.

So, in the spirit of “things that go bang,” I thought I would give a few highlights on the history of gunpowder, which is the catalyst of filling the skies with bursts of bright color.