And here are the words.
News
Shiny facts
I’ve commented before that I have a jackdaw mind: I love shiny facts, and will follow the hint of one for miles through books and around the internet, until I can get my beak on it and carry it away into the recesses of my overstuffed memory.
It might amuse you to know the books and videos currently feeding this obsession (mostly Georgian and British focused, but a few reaching into other places and other eras):
Taste: Kate Colquhuon
Smallpox, Syphilis and Salvation: Sheryl Pearson
The Enlightened Economy: Joel Mokyr
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World: Peter Frankopan
The Secret History of Georgian London: Dan Gruikshank
Crown and Country (TV series on DVD): Edward Windsor as narrator
Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit (TV series): Mary Beard as narrator
The Story of China (TV series): Michael Wood as narrator
I’m intending to read (and have on my bedside table):
Redcoats Against Napoleon: Carole Divall
Europe under Napoleon: Michael Broers
In these Times: Living in Britain through Napoleon’s Wars: Jenny Uglow
(Bit of a theme, there)
The Fortune Hunter: Peter James Bowman
Magpie, Squirrels and Thieves: Jacqueline Yallop
The Unruly Queen: Flora Fraser
Wilful Impropriety: Edaterina Sedia
Unquiet Lives: Marriage and Marriage Breakdown in England: Joanne Bailey
Sunday grumble
The rotator cuff injury isn’t helping the to-do list. What happened? Who knows. Could be wear and tear, rust in the works, or some sudden action that I didn’t notice at the time. I’ve been doing a lot of typing, also some weeding, and stretching and reaching to prune the fruit trees. Sigh.
But on a brighter note, the tulips are magnificent, the peaches are in blossom (the plums and apricots are nearly finished, and you can’t see the blossom for the leaves), and we’ve had lots of rain to make everything green. The daffodils are also on their last gasp, and have been thoroughly nibbled by snails. They’ve been wonderful, though.
What’s up?
I’ve been neglecting you, and I am about to start doing better.
I’m blaming winter, a touch of ill-health, a busy time at the paying job, and the decision to first refocus Revealed in Mist, then to rewrite large chunks of it, and then—when I got it back from the developmental editor—to rewrite it again. (Revealed in Mist is the book that was Prudence in Love, and before that Encouraging Prudence, and before that Embracing Prudence).
At the current pace, I’ll finish the last rewrite this week, so expect to see the book at long last before the end of the year. But the long drought in book publishing has given me time to think about my future plans, and one thing I wish to do is be more deliberate about how I post on this blog.
I’m planning four regular posts a week.
I’ll be starting each week with a new feature post: Mondays for Tea with Her Grace the Duchess of Haverford. So on Mondays, I’ll be inviting other authors to bring a character to tea with my duchess, and to talk about their book or post an excerpt (or both).
On Wednesdays, I’ll be continuing Work-in-Progress Wednesdays, where I choose a theme and post an excerpt to fit that theme, and invite other authors to post their excerpts in the comments. I love reading everyone else’s snippets.
Friday will be research day. Footnotes on Friday will be the place I post little bits from my research that intrigue or delight me, and that I think you might enjoy.
And I’m saving Sunday for a post about writing. This might be a post on the craft of writing, or an update on my current projects, or an opinion piece about anything to do with writing or the romance genre or whatever else is on my mind.
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