Usually when I get to London, I end up starting off in Trafalgar Square. I don’t know what the lure is, but I always seem to start out coming out of the Charing Cross Tube Station–which is my favorite because outside stands the last of Edward I’s “Eleanor Crosses” which marked her funeral route. I actually used one in Stealing the Bride. The one there now is a replica, but still, I love it. After I indulge myself with such a beautiful and heartbreaking monument to love, I head over to Trafalgar Square. The place is so wonderful: the … Read more »

Every five years or so, I pack my bags and toddle over the North Pole and drop in on London. And this being one of those years, I am about to leave again. I didn’t think I was going to go this year–the difficulties of finding a time to leave the family, the expense, was it the right year to go (okay, is there ever a wrong year?), but like my grandmother always said, when things are right, they will align for you. And so it was this year.

A few months ago, my husband came home and rattled keys … Read more »

Yes, the Japanese manga versions of This Rake of Mine and Something About Emmaline have started to arrive, starting with the two volume set of Emmaline. I have to admit that of all the things that have happened in my career, this really tickles me. I don’t know why, but it just does. Perhaps it is just the fact that I sit in my office in Seattle and spin my words into sentences and paragraphs, and now my stories are finding new lives all over the globe. It is humbling and leaves me awe-struck.

Thank you to everyone who has … Read more »

My friend, Maya Rodale, drops by to talk about: Life in London

There’s nothing like living in a place to really know it intimately, and thus to write about it authentically. Since actually visiting Regency London is out of the question, the next best thing is living in London. I was lucky to get to do that.

Thanks to my graduate school program, I was able to spend 8 weeks in London on an independent research project. Topic: romance fiction, of course. As I was reading early 1800’s gothic romances and other novels, along with conduct guides and things like … Read more »

I have been absent, and my apologies. I am deep into writing right now and settling down to write more just isn’t on the agenda right now. But I took the weekend off to go to my aunt’s memorial service in Idaho, so I feel ready to type again and thought I would put something, anything up here quick before the glow wore off.

I blogged last time about looking for something to read, and not long after that, lo and behold, you would never believe what came in the mail. Yes, something cool to read. Finished copies of The … Read more »

I recently found an invitation in my inbox to come visit a new blog written by Kristine Hughes and Victoria Hinshaw, two of my favorite Regency and Victorian enthusiasts and researchers. Of course I dropped by immediately and found a delightful treasure trove of information. My next thought was to make sure all of you discovered their blog, Number One London, as well. So just to introduce you, here are Kristine Hughes and Victoria Hinshaw:

EB: Number One London is an exciting new blog! What do you intend to do and share with your newfound readers?

KH: We intend … Read more »

Since I know there are very few cats who read blogs (most have far better things to do, like ignore you or sleep or weave through your legs when you are bringing in the groceries), it is my hope that all you cat owners will read this short note to your cats, and being the gossipy creatures that they are by nature, they will tell their friends, and eventually . . . well, it will get to the right cat. And yes, I am well aware that cats will embellish whatever I write when they pass it along. So here … Read more »

I really don’t need the calendar to tell me it is Fall. All I have to do is look around. Some of the trees in my neighborhood have already started to turn colors, despite our lingering and lovely summer weather here in Seattle. If you ever decide to visit the Emerald City, consider doing it in September. Mid-September is always lovely–downtown and the sights aren’t crowded with tourists and the weather is just perfect–upper 70s with lovely sunsets over the Olympics.

But it isn’t just the trees who give Fall away. For me it is my asters:

My husband spends … Read more »

Keeping me from doing too much is sort of a full-time occupation it turns out. Thank goodness for the online reservations at the library, Ravelry, online bookstores, and Netflix. Between the four, I am finding enough diversions to entice me to put my feet up and take a break.

I’ve been able to read the latest Laura Joh Rowland Sano Mystery, The Fire Kimono, which I found fascinating. This mystery series is set in feudal Japan, about a samurai who has little in the way of connections and family but rises up the ranks by his sheer … Read more »

And not because the weatherman keeps reminding us each night how many days left until it is officially spring. And yes, it would be hard to tell that spring is near considering that as I write this, it has snowed all morning (bringing Seattle up to its 7th (and maybe 6th) worst winter since they started tracking those things. Not even my daffodils, which  are valiantly trying to pop up and grow. Two have even bloomed, but I think those ones are just the over-achiever sorts.

No, I know Spring is near when the boys in the afternoon carpool start … Read more »