Passionate About the Civil War

I have to credit Denise with this idea. I was casting about trying to decide what I wanted to blog about next when I learned to my surprise that my time travel romance, ERIN’S REBEL, had finished fourth in the Valley Forge Romance Writers’ SHEILA contest. http://www.vfrw.com/contest.htm

I was surprised because after I entered this particular [...]

Off on a Tangent

Four score and seven years ago . . .
If you thought this was gonna be a blog about the Gettysburg Address, you’ll be disappointed, at least for a while. (I’m sure one of my blogging buddies will get there.) No, this blog is about how years were referred to in Victorian times.
In my WIP [...]

Great Exhibit Appealed to Victorian Sentiments

During Queen Victoria’s reign, Albert undertook a phenomenal achievement. Although exhibitions highlighting industry and science and technology were already available to the public, nothing like the World Fair of 1851 had yet been undertaken.
Ambitious and regarded as suitable work for a monarch to expend great levels of energy developing, the World Fair [...]

VICTORIAN FASTLANE: Part 2, Two Astor Women – "Lina" and Nancy

“Lina” and Nancy Astor were obviously different sorts of women – their personalities, appearances and lives were worlds apart. But, in three ways, they were alike – each was born in the Victorian era, each married an Astor, and each became more famous and influential than her husband.
“Lina” was the former Caroline Webster Schermerhorn (1830 [...]

Mourning Rituals and Customs in the Victorian Era – Part II

A Lady’s Life in MourningMourning dictated that ladies limit, if not eliminate, their social activities. Men and children were also limited to avoiding large social affairs or parties while in mourning, but women were set apart as the idealized example of grief in the family and community. Upon entering mourning, women were expected [...]

Victorian Bride Ships

There wasn’t much Victorians thought they couldn’t do; they had a remedy for most everything. I discovered the truth of this when I came across an intriguing reference to bride ships.
During Queen Victoria’s long reign thousands of British men set off around the globe., establishing new colonies, exploring new lands, fighting [...]

Antarctica

Check out these pictures of rare (and pretty) clouds over Antarctica.
‘Polar stratospheric clouds’ formed last week when temperatures dropped below 176 degrees Fahrenheit. According to Renae Baker, a meteorological officer with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology at Mawson, Antarctica and who took the pictures on July 25, 2006, “Delicate colours produced when the fading light [...]

VICTORIAN FASTLANE: Part 2, John Jacob Astor I

America’s Gilded Age began with the legendary John Jacob Astor. He is called “the first truly diversified capitalist in America” by Brian Trumbore, editor of Stocks and News.com.Astor founded the dynasty that was America’s richest family in the 19th century. The name Astor is still newsworthy. Recent headlines about the care of Brooke Astor, the [...]

Mourning in Victorian America

Every year Romance Writer’s of America holds a national conference for its 9500 members. It includes workshops, agent/editor appointments, and an award ceremony. The Powers That Be change the location every year in an effort to accomodate those members who live in various sections of the country. This year, this past week actually, the conference [...]

Spies Like Us

Espionage During the Civil War

In the 1860s during the war between the states just how many spies were traveling back and forth across the lines. And just how did they accomplish this?

In my time travel romance work-in-progress, my heroine travels back in time into her past life. It seems she was a spy for the [...]