Word Wenches

November What We're Reading!

by Mary Jo

Christina kicks off:

Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan.

Ms Morgan has done it again – I didn’t think she could improve on last year’s Christmas story, but this is her best one yet and I absolutely loved it! It was one of those books where you can’t wait to finish to see how it ends, but at the same time you are devastated to have to leave this fictional world. There is plenty of family drama, lots of delicious romance and some wonderful characters, all set against the backdrop of a gorgeous country house in the wilds of Scotland.

I think my favourite character was the grandmother, Nanna Jean, whose outspoken comments had me laughing out loud. I hope I can be like her when I’m old! One of the heroines, Lucy, has no family left and is dreading Christmas, but when she ends up spending it with the Miller family everything changes. She’s an outsider but they make her feel welcome and included, and it was incredibly heart-warming.

And although the family may seem perfect to her, they are far from it, with tensions and undercurrents rife. Daughters of the house, Alice and Clemmie, have their own problems and heartache, and I felt for them as they fought for what they wanted. Being snowed in proves to be a blessing, as they are all given the chance to work through their problems rather than run away from them. I was rooting for all of them every step of the way and couldn’t have put this book down if my life depended on it! Highly recommended.

 

Atmosphere and Memory

Nicola here, pulling up a Wench classic blog from a few years ago as I’m travelling at the moment, far from my laptop!

Today I’m musing about the atmosphere of particular places. I’m taking us back a long way in English history, beyond the Regency, beyond those ubiquitous Tudors, to a time before the Norman Conquest when England was split into the Anglo Saxon seven kingdoms. The village where I live has a recorded history that goes back to this distant time – there are actual documents from the era relating to events that happened in this very place over a thousand years ago and I find that mind-blowing. As I walk along the footpaths and over the hills I frequently imagine how it might have looked in that time and try to see all the way back through the mists of history to think myself back there.  I can be pretty successful at this; when it’s quiet and I’m standing on the Ravens’ Fort and all I can hear are the birds singing and I feel the breeze on my face I can persuade myself, for a split second anyway, that I have travelled in time. Then an aeroplane flies over and I think perhaps not after all.

Certain places have a very strong sense of atmosphere. I’ve been to battlefields such as Flodden and Culloden where the whole landscape feels as though it is steeped in the bloodshed and suffering of the men who died there. I’ve visited historic houses that feel imbued with the personalities of the people who lived there, and I’ve wandered happily through gardens that feel peaceful or visited buildings that have a joyous atmosphere. How much of this is down to the emotional memory of the place and how much is down to my imagination, I cannot say. As writers and readers of historical fiction I think we all step into that other world. One of my books looks at “stone tape theory” which was an idea popular in the 19^th century and later in the 1970s that places retain emotional memories in their very fabric. This is one theory said to account for ghostly sightings. It’s an intriguing idea around which to build a timeslip novel.

Interview with May McGoldrick

Susan here, very pleased to welcome May McGoldrick--authors Nikoo and Jim McGoldrick, who also write as Jan Coffey--to Word Wenches to chat about their newest release, Jane Austen Cannot Marry.  The story moves between Regency England and the future as Nadine and Xander, traveling from the future, risk a little "un-matchmaking" in 1811 as they do their utmost to ensure that Jane Austen's novels will be written and her literary legacy will survive. The book is already earning stellar reviews -- "A stunning and beautifully written time travel novel unlike any other," said one Amazon reviewer.

Read on to learn more about the story and its unique and heartfelt inspiration from this real-life couple. And be sure to scroll to the end for a chance to win a copy of Jane Austen Cannot Marry!

Susan King: Welcome, Nikoo and Jim! Can you tell us a little about the story?

Nikoo & Jim: Yes! Much of this story takes place in April of 1811 in Hythe, England. Nadine Finley is a Scribe Guardian from the future who’s arrived there to play ‘un-matchmaker’ to a romance involving Jane Austen. The as-yet-unknown author is about to run into an old flame, a British naval officer with whom she had a serious romance ten years earlier. Because he was a junior officer at the time, Austen’s family quashed the relationship. If the two get together now, Austen will never write the great stories the world cherishes.  

Complications arise when Nadine’s own love interest from the future also arrives on the scene. Xander is a tech person who is cheerfully unfamiliar with both history and literature. He’s totally ‘fish-out-of-water’ in Regency England.

SK: Time travel. Scribe Guardians. Can you tell us why you decided to delve into this new genre? 

N & J:  As some of you already know, I (Nikoo) was given the difficult diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer earlier this year. My initial bout with breast cancer occurred nineteen years ago. Now, it’s back and I’m going through treatment.

After learning the prognosis, I was thrown into a very difficult state of mind, trying to come to terms with the time that I have left in this world. We’re all mortal, but when a more finite window of survival replaces the vague, hypothetical ‘someday’, it’s sometimes more difficult. During the early months, Jim and I had many conversations about what I would like to do with the time I have left. It was then that the idea of this novel was conceived and took shape.

 

Dolls' houses

Anne here. A few weeks ago, Christina blogged about Tiny Things, which I also enjoy. Recently I've been watching one of those "reality" TV shows where people compete to be the best at something — you know, like those cooking shows. In general I don't like that kind of show — putting people under time stress to make stuff and every week someone is a loser until finally only one "winner" is left. But despite my misgivings, I watched this one because it was all about miniatures and dolls' houses. It was a UK show called The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge and you can see a bit of it here.

I had to admit, I found it fascinating — I've loved miniatures and dolls houses since I was a little girl. But in the end, I found the show frustrating. I would have liked less frantic competitive making, and a slower program that really showed you what each person was doing — perhaps sharing and explaining some techniques. But I suppose that would only appeal to people interested in making miniatures themselves, whereas a competition with winners and losers is no doubt more appealing to a wider audience.

As far as I know, dolls' houses have only been around since the 17th century and then, in Europe, they were originally made not as play objects, but as teaching tools, intended for mothers to instruct their young daughters in how to run households. It was also to show off wealth, as the girls learning these lessons were practicing to be the lady of the house — not the cook or one of the servants.

In the 19th century, the concept of childhood changed (at least for the children of the rich) where play came to be regarded as natural and desirable for children. (The children of the poor kept working for a living, just like children in poor countries today.) The 19th century, particularly the Victorian era, is when dolls' houses came into their own. As well, industrialization meant that they became more affordable for more people. This period is still one of the most popular for miniature makers and dolls' house creators.

East Meets West

Andrea here. As you may have noticed, some of the Wenches have recently been gallivanting around the globe, as the world begins to open up to exploration. I’m adding to the exotic travelogue, as I’ve just returned from an amazing journey through the ancient treasures of the Mediterranean, starting in Istanbul and ending in Athens.

Istanbul has always been at the top of of my To-Do List, as its exotic allure of East meets West, and its place as  such a special crossroads of history have always fascinated me. So I’m going to talk a little bit about the city, and my whirlwind impressions, though that won’t begin to do justice to the rich tapestry of its past and present.

One of the pleasures about taking a cruise on a Viking ship (the modern-day cruise line, NOT the longboat of one of Pia's fabulous heroes!) are the resident historians, who give evening talks on each destination. One of the basic points our professor made was that the city’s has three distinct “personalities,” reflected in its three different names throughout history. Though the site has been inhabited since Neolithic times, the first great city was said to be founded by by a Greek king named Byzas around 660 BC and became known as Byzantium. (Its acropolis was on the site of today’s Topkapi Palace. (Left: Hagia Sophia; Right: Islamic astrolabe from the Museum of Islamic Arts.)

 

Islands in the Sun

By Mary Jo

A week ago, I told you about the first part of our recent cruise vacation, which described London and the shipboard experience.  Today I want to talk about our three ports of call while we were still in European waters. 

Originally we were scheduled to stop in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, then Madeira, then Bermuda when the ship was most of the way across the Atlantic.  But Bermuda's landing requirements were so complicated and difficult that the cruise line canceled Bermuda and added in Lisbon as the first stop out of Britain.

Lisbon

Great idea!  We visited Lisbon once before on our way to cruising the Douro River in Northern Portugal, the cruise that inspired my book Once a Soldier.  I remember it as a hilly city of broad boulevards, which were a result of a devastating earthquake in 1755.  The destruction was vast, and much of the city was rebuilt according to more modern principles.

 

Ask A Wench About Humour

Christina here with this month’s ASK A WENCH and today we’re going to talk about what we find amusing. We are living in such dark times that some humour is essential to lighten things up and therefore the question to the Wenches was: 

What makes you laugh – jokes, funny TV shows, books or films?

Anne here. I love to laugh, but laughs are often hard to come by when you most want them. A few books/authors can be expected to reliably deliver a laugh or three — Terry Pratchett, PG Wodehouse, JD Kirk (who mixes laughs with crime that's often quite grim), and Jenny Crusie who writes wonderful rom-com, but mostly when I want or need a laugh, I return to old favorites on the screen. These are all on YouTube, so are always available. And they're all British, and a bit over-the top/off the wall.

A History of Stripes

Nicola here. A couple of weeks ago I visited the Whitchurch Silk Mill. Built in 1813, on land owned by Winchester Cathedral, it was built by the Hayter family and then developed by William Maddick. Through the 19^th and early 20^th century it produced silk, providing work for the local populace and going through some hard times and some good like many small businesses. From 1911 the mill wove silk for Burberry, producing 22 different colours of silk lining for their famous raincoats. In the 1980s after falling into disrepair it was restored as a working museum using traditional machinery and methods.

Visiting the museum was completely fascinating. Weaving silk is a very complicated business but it was so much easier to understand when you could follow the different steps in the process and even have a go on the silk looms yourself. It was also a real insight to see what working conditions were like in the Victorian age – some of the child workers started at nine years old!

The Whitchurch mill has always specialised in stripes and there was a very interesting exhibition on show about striped designs and their history. Stripes in
nature have long been an inspiration for designers. Stripes can be used as both camouflage and as warning. Both prey – zebras, for example – and predators such as tigers, have stripes that allow them to blend in. Snakes, various insects and even badgers have them to scare the predators away.

London Calling!

London calling!

by Mary Jo

Did you know that cruise ships migrate like birds?  In summer they flock to Europe, cruising from Nordic regions to the Mediterranean and more.  In autumn, they turn and head to the Western hemisphere, particularly the Caribbean.  They do this because tourists follow the sun, and so do the cruise ships.

This means that ships do repositioning cruises twice a year, spending days crossing the Atlantic with very few ports of call.  This is great if you like lots of lazy days at sea and the Mayhem Consultant and I do.  Hence we cruised from Southampton in England to Miami, with three stops in Europe and seven glorious sea days. 

 

Pareidolia

Anne here, and today I'm talking about a new-to-me word — pareidolia. I came across it the other day and, being unable to work out its meaning from the context, had to look it up. Thankfully these days it's so easy to look up anything. Not like when I was a child, and my parents would say "work it out yourself or look it up if you can't."

That sounds a bit mean, I know, but it was excellent training. I was a voracious reader from a young age, and was forever coming across new words—lots of Regency-era slang too, when I was reading Georgette Heyer. But I learned to either work it out from the context or look it up in a dictionary, and since I was a bit lazy and wanted to get on with the story, I'd usually work it out from the context. Or skip it. <g>

But this new word intrigued me. Pareidolia—even my word processing program thinks it's a spelling mistake—is something we've all noticed often, and have probably been experiencing since we were small children. We just didn't know it had a name — at least I didn't.

Do you see things that aren't there? That's pareidolia.

Do you use emojis in your texts and emails? Pareidolia again.

Saddle up!

Andrea here, My current work-in-progress—a fictional biography of Lady Hester Stanhope—has called for me to think about riding a horse—or more specifically, about how ladies of the Regency era rode a horse. Lady Hester was a “neck and leather” rider, which in Regency cant means she was a superb horsewoman who loved galloping at a devil-may-care pace across the countryside.

And that was no easy feat, considering that it was considered scandalous for a lady to ride astride. Lady Hester, who broke  most every rule in the book regarding feminine deportment, didn’t pay much attention to that limitation. And the fact that she had a special skill for breaking ornery horses to saddle made the neighboring gentlemen very willing to turn a blind eye on her wearing breeches and boots because she helped them with their difficult mounts.

But most ladies of the era didn’t possess such skills, or such practical neighbors, and so were consigned to perching themselves on a side-saddle. So I thought I would do a quick dive down the research rabbit hole to look at the history of this contraption.

Interview on The Winter Garden!

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot …”

Christina here and tomorrow is Guy Fawkes’ Day here in the UK so what better time to interview Wench Nicola about her new book THE WINTER GARDEN? It was published last week and is based on the infamous Gunpowder Plot that Mr Fawkes was involved with in 1605. He was part of a group of Catholics who had decided to kill the King by blowing up Parliament, but they were betrayed and ultimately their plot failed. I was lucky enough to read an ARC of this story and it is absolutely fabulous! I seriously couldn’t put it down – if you’d like to read my review you can find it here, but I’d recommend you read it for yourself!

Here’s a short summary:-

1605: Anne Catesby fears for her family. Her son, the charismatic Robert, is secretly plotting to kill the king, placing his family in grave danger. Anne must make a terrible choice: betray her only child or risk her family’s future.

Present Day: When her dreams of becoming a musician are shattered, Lucy Brown takes refuge in her family’s ancestral home in Oxfordshire, once home to Robert Catesby, the gunpowder plotter. There she starts to have strange visions of a woman in Tudor dress, a woman whose story runs parallel to and then converges with her own. Lucy is determined to find out more about this apparition and in doing so uncovers a chain of secrets that have been hidden for centuries…

The Aura Answer: Psychic Solutions Mystery #5

Because I goofed off and took a long vacation, I’ve come home to play catch up, which means I have two blogs this week (should Typepad continue working) and you get to listen to twice as much rattling on because I haven’t had time to plan anything better. I’m buried deep in attempting to wrangle this new historical mystery into order and the characters are being such pains, I haven’t even had time to research much more than gas lighting—which I have yet to use, mind you.

So let’s address a happier topic—my magical mystery series. Book #5 of the Psychic Solutions Mysteries, THE AURA ANSWER, will be out Tuesday, November 8^th (it’s on pre-order now). This is a Christmas book with ghosts—and no, they’re not Christmas Past or Future. Call them the Ghosts of Confused and Cynical.

What We're Reading in October!

Nicola here, introducing our monthly "What We're Reading" post with recommendations from the Wenches' reading piles. As always we've a wide ranging selection of books, from crime to fantasy (not forgetting historical romance, of course!) and we look forward to hearing what you've been reading too. Apologies for the lack of pictures/book covers on the blog at the moment - whilst Typepad sorts itself out, we can't get photos to load, but I wanted to get these great book recommendations listed anyway. Hopefully, covers will follow!

Andrea: This month I’ve enjoyed two very different kinds of books. First off was The It Girl by Ruth Ware, a twisty dual-timeline, psychological mystery about a charmed circle of Oxford friends whose idyllic first year at the university is shattered by the murder of the charismatic, rich “It Girl” who is the blazing candle to their moth-like flutters around her.