Women In the Ranks – Part V

Why Did They Do It?
In this final installment of my series on women Civil War soldiers, now that I’ve explained how women managed to join and fight in an army that didn’t admit female soldiers, the next question is, why did they do it?
Why would women want to pretend to be men and fight in [...]

I have a convert!

OK, she’s a friend, and would read anything I wrote, but that isn’t the point. She’s actively interested in Victoria & Albert. The A&E movie, but it’s something. And I’ll take it.
It started with Pride & Prejudice. She needed to read it for a college class, but couldn’t get through it. Not because she didn’t [...]

Strolling to Church in the Victorian Era

Thanks to my fellow-blogger, Dee, the topic of transportation modes during the Victorian era has been discussed within one of our writing clubs. The topic brought to mind the traditions around walking, particularly for the gentility. The mode of walking to a destination was still very much part of a Victorian’s lifestyle. The natural locomotion [...]

Research

It’s time consuming, distracting, and annoying. It’s also very fascinating, and, thanks to the internet, oh-so handy. Thank God, because I can’t imagine doing this kind of nitpicking research any other way.
My WIP takes place in England during August, 1882. It’s AU in that there is a very prevalent if illegal community of magic-practitioners. Everything [...]

Full Metal Corset

Susan has done a wonderful series on women fighting in the Civil War. The History Channel has a 1-hour show on them, too. This is from their site:
In April 1861, the newly inaugurated President Lincoln calls for 75,000 men to fight for the Federal cause. What he does not anticipate is the shared desire by [...]

Taking A Break From Contests

In the past I’ve entered numerous contests for my Civil War time travel romance, Erin’s Rebel. First it was for the feedback, then to get an editor or agent’s attention.
And while I’ve won a few contests, I usually get one judge who just loves it and two or more who like it, but think it’s [...]

Vincent Van Gogh—Victorian Stalker?

So my current WIP has a stalker in it. I love to take matters from modern life, especially criminal matters, and bring them back to the Victorian period, so I can discover how Victorians would react. Actually, for me that’s often a major reason for writing at all—the discovery.
But before I discover I [...]

Montreal’s Victoria Bridge
On this St. Patrick’s Day, I’d like to tell you a little bit about Montreal’s Victoria Bridge.
Sometimes called Montreal’s Eighth Wonder of the World, the Victoria Bridge was the first bridge to span the mighty St. Lawrence River. It opened in 1859 and was initially named for Queen Victoria. After renovations in 1897, [...]

Women In the Ranks – Part IV

How Did They Do It?
Women soldiers were more prevalent in the Civil War armies than anyone thought. The main reason being, they were dismissed by historians chronicling the era, because they were thought to be a rarity.
But the fact is, many more than thought sneaked into the ranks and this fact was only discovered years [...]

I Survived My First Signing!It’s late Sunday night and I’m still too excited to sleep, so I decided to post a blog tonight.
I survived my first book signing! I was signing my first book, In Sunshine or In Shadow, at my local library today, an event that brought with it a lot of anticipation and [...]