One Last year at my Book Club’s December gathering, my friend, Marsha, shared her experience as the emergency Santa at the Emporium studio where she...
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Thirty-Eight Illuminating PLW Historical Fiction Link Lists
In honor of PLW's four years of blogging, I've created a list of all thirty-eight of our Link Lists. There be gems below, fellow historical fiction...
A Ball Drops in Times Square, circa 1918
A Ball Drops in Time Square For many nations around the world, New Year’s Eve on December 31 is a magical night of festivity, hope, tradition, and...
Celebrating New Year in the Soviet Union
One of the signs of getting older is when the decade of your childhood is designated as “historic.” Since I grew up in a country that no longer...
The Epiphany – Holy Day or Revelation?
It wasn’t until I was well into writing my first novel, Token of Betrayal, that I became aware of the holy day of the Epiphany. I had always thought...
Sing Some Songs and Jump Three Candles! Twelfth Night in the Dutch Republic
Most Americans probably associate Twelfth Night celebrations with books and movies about England, not to mention Shakespeare’s play of that name. In...
The Frost Fair: When Ice Means A Party
If you’ve never heard of a Frost Fair, have no fear, they were rare. In fact, only nine ever occurred. A Frost Fair happened when the Thames, the...
THE RED-HOT BLUES CHANTEUSE Release Day!
Thanks for joining me on the release day for my latest historical mystery THE RED-HOT BLUES CHANTEUSE! Set in 1919 San Francisco, RED-HOT features...
That’s Entertainment! Historical Fiction Edition, That Is!
I’ve got a new historical mystery (The Red-Hot Blues Chanteuse) coming out next week! And usually, once I’ve told people that the mystery takes...
Tudor Christmas: the Origins of Our Festive Traditions?
Introduction In my story for the Paper Lantern Writers anthology, Beneath a Midwinter Moon, I tell how the English de Beauvais family celebrate...
Book Lovers LOVE Books
Book lovers LOVE books. We love reading them, we love reading about them, we love learning of new books to love. We love the stories, the...
Q & A What is the Spark that Prompted Your Book
The world of historical fiction is full of amazing, interesting, and fascinating stories. I often wonder what sparks authors to write the stories...
Eighty Excellent Online Historical Collections
Happy International Archives Day! In the spirit of Fifty Fabulous Online Library Historical Collections, Sixty Sensational Online Historical Archive...
Obliged to be Industrious
I grew up as a musician in a household of musicians. My father was the conductor of a summer county band--think of any extremely wholesome outside...
Women at Sea
Fiction often portrays that women were unwelcome on ships. According to superstition, women brought bad luck to the voyage. Yet, in British Royal...
5 Reasons to Include Travel in Tudor Stories
As a writer of historical fiction set in Tudor England, I am firmly of the belief that travel can be an integral part of the narrative and not...
Medieval Road Trips
Welcome to my travel blog. As I write adventure romance set in thirteenth century Ireland, I will share my research and insights in that time....
Q&A – Something You Don’t Like About the Period You Write In
In order to be an author of historical fiction, an author must get really down and dirty in their chosen timeframe. The more intimate the research...
The Music Didn’t Stop for Wartime Britain
Music and dancing appear in all three of my WWII romance novels. Music brought people together during wartime when they needed fun and companionship...
May Day and How to Fight For Your Right to Party
From the sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt, a 13th century master mason. These show sketches of The Green Man motif that can be found in...
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