tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41872429323408998152024-03-13T19:38:08.720+01:00Elizabeth HanburyNews and musings from a Historical Romance AuthorLiz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-45553564487365251422014-12-14T16:49:00.002+01:002014-12-14T16:49:42.417+01:00Review of Christmas at Rakehell Manor<br />
<i><b>Christmas at Rakehell Manor</b></i> has been reviewed by Angela, a guest reviewer over at The Armitage Authors Network.<br />
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You can check out the review (and the rest of the AA network blog) by clicking on the book cover link below :)<br />
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<a href="https://armitageauthors.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/christmas-at-rakehell-manor/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://armitageauthors.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/christmas-at-rakehell-manor/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavkzM035A-2MiG0cmB0uQ2PDsC-2LQdmBHvvJgcV03l2OeZiOhD9o-iiGMJoksfVfXkrTwu9h7_m5x2FmkrUXjEeXDBT5ofSc0zj9rw1TQpBWwVDM-dom27ATiO0HfqujzQu5ZtM_Kzs/s1600/200x308_christmas.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-63783165537727968052014-08-11T15:30:00.000+02:002014-09-01T22:41:59.719+02:00Christmas at Rakehell Manor giveaway<br />
To celebrate the release of <b>Christmas at Rakehell Manor,</b> I'm running a giveaway until the end of August. Just click on the Rafflecopter Giveaway to get started :)<br />
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*Update* Thanks to everyone who entered - winners have now been randomly selected and are displayed below. I'll be running more giveaways soon so keep checking back! :) <br />
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c302eeee3/" id="rc-c302eeee3" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js"></script>Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-8451418248876804672014-07-28T21:45:00.000+02:002014-07-28T21:46:24.130+02:00Christmas in July<br />
Here in merry old England, it's July, it's the height of summer and, unusually, we're melting in 30 degrees of heat - so of course that means it's time to talk about Christmas! :D (Well, I like to be different *g*) <br />
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Actually this blog post isn't to tell you that there are only 149 days, 4 hours, 2 minutes and 41 seconds left until Christmas ;0) but that my latest release <b>Christmas at Rakehell Manor</b> is now available.<br />
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If you've visited here before, you might have read about <a href="http://www.elizabethhanbury.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/my-writing-process.html" target="_blank">my writing process</a> on <b>Christmas at Rakehell Manor. </b><i>Rakehell</i> - its working title - started out as a novella but very soon developed into a novel. It turned out that hero Hugo and heroine Prue demanded a much more detailed story than I'd planned :D I hope readers will enjoy their romance as much as I enjoyed writing it. <br />
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It seemed crazy to wait until nearer to Christmas to share Hugo and Prue with you all so if you're sunbathing on a beach or by a pool, why not enjoy some very early Christmas cheer with <b>Christmas at Rakehell Manor</b>? <br />
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I don't want to venture into spoiler territory so I'll say no more except to reveal the beautiful cover (designed by Sheyna Watkins)....*drum roll* Ta Dah!!...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Ck9-vX-ZJvXrsaAzHO7XLQmKBlCPn8PFKMZIAo74wueL1MLPJvnq3JCD5xMOe0LN5ccCUcaBEOmgpDwwzV_pbQvYFOhmR2ievsAnnGPLNOafFiMtYiOv5E7kdwop-3bGFdj_AxARWwc/s1600/200x308_christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Ck9-vX-ZJvXrsaAzHO7XLQmKBlCPn8PFKMZIAo74wueL1MLPJvnq3JCD5xMOe0LN5ccCUcaBEOmgpDwwzV_pbQvYFOhmR2ievsAnnGPLNOafFiMtYiOv5E7kdwop-3bGFdj_AxARWwc/s1600/200x308_christmas.jpg" /></a></div>
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...and the blurb...<br />
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<i><b>A house of sin</b>...shrouded in mystery and steeped in ever more scandalous gossip, where debauchery and wild parties are rumoured to take place. <br /><br /> <b>A notorious rake</b>...whose wicked reputation sends neighbours swooning over their tea cups. Can he really be as bad as he seems? <br /><br /> <b>A lonely paid companion</b>...whose prim and practical exterior hides a lush sensuality waiting to be awakened. <br /><br /> <br />Prudence Eylesbarrow is resigned to dreary spinsterhood and to never finding love. All she wants is one Christmas where she’s not at someone’s beck and call. </i><br />
<i><br />But when Prue finds herself snow-bound at the infamous Rakehell Manor, her curiosity with Hugo, Marquess of Warwick – mysterious, handsome, world-weary, cynical – tempts her to reveal passions she never knew she possessed. Even so Prue is under no illusions. It was fool’s game to think a penniless nobody could tame the master of Rakehell, for that way lay heartache and social ruin. </i><br />
<i><br />Or has the time come for the power of passion, the promise of love and the magic of Christmas to unite two people from very different worlds? </i><br />
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... and the buy links ...<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Rakehell-Manor-Regency-Romance-ebook/dp/B00LURLWJU/ref=la_B002SI1VVE_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406575754&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Rakehell-Manor-Regency-Romance-ebook/dp/B00LURLWJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406575706&sr=8-1&keywords=Elizabeth+Hanbury" target="_blank">Amazon UK </a><br />
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Check back here or my website and/or sign up to receive my newsletter, visit my Facebook author page or follow me on Twitter (@liz_hanbury) and look out for the chance to win a cute little prize inspired by Regency fashion:)<br />
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Oh and the paperback edition of Christmas at Rakehell Manor will be coming soon :) <br />
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-43708289827022334772014-05-06T12:06:00.000+02:002014-05-06T12:07:00.471+02:00Horse chestnuts and watercress<br />
Not much time for a blog post today, so I thought I'd post some lovely piccies from one of my walks ....<br />
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This is my favourite horse chestnut tree, currently in full blossom and showing off in the sunshine!<br />
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It's in Capability Brown-designed landscaped grounds and is over 100 years old, so who knows perhaps even planted on the orders of the great designer himself :0)<br />
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And any idea what this below is ... somewhere to cool your pinkies when it's hot? Something to do with fish farming? Nope ... these are old watercress beds, built in the 1800s as part of the landscaped gardens to give a regular supply of watercress to the estate kitchens. Watercress was highly prized for upper class dinner tables, especially in the early part of the 19th century before commercial production. The beds are designed to allow a steady flow of fresh, clear, shallow water over a wide area, providing the ideal conditions for growing watercress. The water supply comes from an underground spring. This meant the water temperature remained stable throughout most of the year, allowing watercress to be grown earlier and later in the year than normal.<br />
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Watercress sandwich, anyone? :D<br />
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-66862077756368179772014-04-18T15:45:00.000+02:002014-04-18T15:45:33.652+02:00Free for one weekend only....<br />
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...two of my books :D<br />
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<b>Midsummer Eve at Rookery End</b> and <b>The Cinderella Debutante</b> are both free this weekend on Amazon. <br />
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So why not put your feet up and escape into a world of Regency rakes, rogues and romance - no Almack's vouchers, Vauxhall tokens, guineas, or payment of any kind required!!<br />
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Click on the book covers to follow the links and happy reading :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Rookery-Regency-Romance-Stories-ebook/dp/B003AZY5C6/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1XXASMPGK31VCQ67J5FP" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Rookery-Regency-Romance-Stories-ebook/dp/B003AZY5C6/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1XXASMPGK31VCQ67J5FP" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuF2h0zuoCfAHJmowX4g0pI_54tiuWCxE71YbL7rnZswFEy1F1uXKkhHr-X_sz6JnKQvPtiIK5RrXKvZd_JCeXZ8P3mEfZR7TPAVG_G8ZF0366BMa9jc9kz43vJfRKQMvihcwBblEmS7U/s1600/200x300_midsummer.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a> </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Cinderella-Debutante-Regency-Romance-ebook/dp/B009FCWF8O/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0J2XHV7Y6XDYZNDG5QRM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/The-Cinderella-Debutante-Regency-Romance-ebook/dp/B009FCWF8O/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0J2XHV7Y6XDYZNDG5QRM" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosRyJsQeds5w6Z0GrJPzkoqTtSlfCMLVO8Mn9TBTcM_4yyylsz0g9jZBDCobBXby8EMASsDHcfPJuOxl52fTwszBCL4ccaS-5qpfoNhvGeguimoX4bfJ6pPR6v5abbnIBTX0xzijHzYA/s1600/TCD+cover+300.jpeg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
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Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-78314415110737113012014-03-04T14:12:00.000+01:002014-03-04T15:09:24.099+01:00Shrove Tuesday - pancakes and other crazy sports<br />
Have you got your pancakes sorted?! :D<br />
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Today is Shrove Tuesday in the UK. The last day before the start of Lent, Shrove Tuesday was named after the 'shriving' - confession and absolution - which was carried out on the day, and it was also an excuse for general feasting and merrymaking before the restricted diet, penance and self-denial of Lent. <br />
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The most famous custom for Shrove Tuesday is pancakes and the fun of flipping or tossing pancakes is mentioned as far back as in <i>Panquils Palinodia</i> of 1619:<br />
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<i>It was the day whereon both rich and poor</i><br />
<i>Are chiefly feasted with the self same dish,</i><br />
<i>Where every paunch, till it can hold no more,</i><br />
<i>Is fritter filled, as well as heart can wish;</i><br />
<i>and every man and maid do take their turn,</i><br />
<i>and toss their pancakes up for fear they burn;</i><br />
<i>And all the kitchen doth with laughter sound,</i><br />
<i>To see the pancakes fall upon the ground.</i><br />
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Here's the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge trying out their pancake-flipping skills :D<i> </i><br />
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It was considered bad luck not to serve up pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. Before the Reformation, a midday bell called the faithful to be 'shriven' on Shrove Tuesday and the practice continued in many places with the bell often being referred to as the 'Pancake' bell and a signal for the pan to be put on the fire and schoolchildren and apprentices to stop work for the day.<br />
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There doesn't seem to be any symbolic reason connecting pancakes with the day before Lent so the practical reason that pancakes used up remaining milk, eggs and fat before the Lent fast makes sense!<br />
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There are still many Pancake races held in the UK today, notably at <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/2014-03-04/olney-pancake-race-enters-its-546th-year/" target="_blank">Olney in Buckinghamshire</a> where for the last 568 years the women of the village have continued an annual tradition which, local folklore has it, started in 1445 when a woman panicked when she heard church
bells ringing from her kitchen and, fearing she would be late for a
Shriving service, she ran through the
town arriving at the Church door in her apron and carrying her
frying pan!<br />
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The 'pancake greaze' at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdzdC_WzX7I" target="_blank">Westminster School in London</a> combines pancakes with some of the rougher sports that are customary on Shrove Tuesday. The greaze, meaning scrum or crowd, has been held in the school hall on Shrove Tuesdays since 1753. The head cook ceremoniously tosses a horsehair-reinforced pancake over a high bar, which was used in the 16th century to curtain off the Lower School. Members of the school fight for the pancake for one minute, watched over by the Dean of Westminster Abbey (as Chairman of the Governors), the Head Master, the rest of the school and distinguished or even occasionally Royal visitors. The pupil who gets the biggest piece is awarded a gold sovereign.<br />
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Several other events take place by tradition on Shrove Tuesday. In the Alnwick Football Game, known as Scoring the Hales, the ball is brought from Alwick Castle in a procession headed by the Duke of Northumberland's piper and thrown up at 2pm. The teams are now much smaller than the 150 a side that used to be common and to win, a team has to score three goals, or hales, through wooden goals that are 4'6" wide and decorated with greenery.<br />
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In <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-21417800" target="_blank">Ashbourne, Derbyshire,</a> the game takes place mainly in the town. The teams can be of any size and are traditionally comprised of those born north of the River Henmore (Up-ards) and those born to the south (Down'ards). It starts at 2pm and ends at 5pm and if a goal is scored, whoever scores it gets to keep the ball and a new ball is turned up. The two goals are three miles apart (!) at Shurston Mill and Clifton Mill. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rqTcqGUKOc" target="_blank">The 'football' game at Atherstone in Warwickshire</a> also preserves many of the features of medieval Shrovetide games. Reputedly played in an unbroken tradition dating back 800 years, it takes places in the town streets and there are no teams and no goals and virtually no rules!! The purpose of the game is to get hold of the ball and to still be holding it when the game finishes. The ball is much bigger than an ordinary football at 27" diameter and weighing four pounds. It's made of leather and filled with water to stop it being kicked too far. All the shopkeepers wisely board up their windows and doors before the game starts in Long Street, commencing at 2pm, finishing around 5pm.<br />
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There's more on 2014 Pancake Day events <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/10673648/Shrove-Tuesday-pancake-day-events.html" target="_blank">here</a> :)<br />
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Happy Flipping!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5d0nXDjXNXA4pSMUPak6Vg7lqYkZp92eVjznavmz5bqWVlzm5htof0bkZmR82kPC7kQFL3h9rDSVaRyiWfxyOKyMsHhFQl9o_6ZEQ_GRJAj_D71InKq5JcStadpTrYgjEPjdIXcAFGM/s1600/761px-Footboll_in_England_1846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5d0nXDjXNXA4pSMUPak6Vg7lqYkZp92eVjznavmz5bqWVlzm5htof0bkZmR82kPC7kQFL3h9rDSVaRyiWfxyOKyMsHhFQl9o_6ZEQ_GRJAj_D71InKq5JcStadpTrYgjEPjdIXcAFGM/s1600/761px-Footboll_in_England_1846.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">image from wikimedia commons</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-73178848343558667122014-02-27T11:20:00.000+01:002014-02-27T12:36:22.486+01:00The first ever concert<br />
Some weeks ago, I did a <a href="http://elizabethhanbury.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/my-writing-process.html" target="_blank">blog post</a> as part of the My Writing Process blog tour and listed some of the sound track I'd been listening to while writing Christmas at Rakehell Manor.<br />
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As you can see it's an eclectic mix :D Many writers need silence to work and I do too, sometimes, but I find music a good way of getting my creative muse going.<br />
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These days we're fortunate enough to have music of every sort available at the push of a button, the click of a mouse or better still, live at a concert or gig. Public concerts have been around for a while of course but it might surprise you to know that the first ever public concert took place in 1672. I'd love to know if there was dancing in the aisles!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6HUlgR2wryfgeIhZuaHxILqdZhPZi5sHEoYCYrA2cCzzUnR0lIgqaO8ys7cAg5U0DWK-qIVWP1WOIMl2Ej8tKiHzHvFsCHQhN5tLvbtWRej5wszJBKUozBeHBN2iO8oTuhLiUALJsv4/s1600/mw40459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6HUlgR2wryfgeIhZuaHxILqdZhPZi5sHEoYCYrA2cCzzUnR0lIgqaO8ys7cAg5U0DWK-qIVWP1WOIMl2Ej8tKiHzHvFsCHQhN5tLvbtWRej5wszJBKUozBeHBN2iO8oTuhLiUALJsv4/s1600/mw40459.jpg" height="320" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Banister * see below for image credit</td></tr>
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It happened one late December evening at a house in Whitefriars, London. For the first time in London, and it is believed in the world, a public concert was given at which people paid at the door. The Restoration of Charles II to the throne had seen a rise in enthusiasm for opera and a composer and violinist John Banister, a <br />
protege of the King, began a series of organised concerts.<br />
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Banister charged the princely sum of one shilling for entry to a large room where the audience sat at tables, arranged as they would have been in an alehouse. The musicians on the small stage, led by Banister, accepted requests for particular music and 'very good musick' was said to have been played during the next few years. Public concerts and recitals rapidly gained further popularity with the opening of the new pleasure gardens in London.<br />
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When the pioneering Banister died in 1679, an unlikely figure emerged to carry on his work. Thomas Britton <br />
was a coalman in Clerkenwell - by day he walked the streets selling coal, by night he indulged his passion for music over a rented stable off St. John's Square. For the next 36 years the concerts he staged there every Thursday night had a great influence on the spread of popular music.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Ka55iKUJzWWhfcDZHZUTzhBSJq5LqwF5XRjumue-dArUO00dOhqTW4CjzK6p95MxXHRqB0Y6HbRZFGFzLFEKpZ-Txo_HeyYopfKwADv_mYvKmfBKqVxJ95w7YCCczMdk8xM3nvEfHWw/s1600/442px-Thomas_britton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Ka55iKUJzWWhfcDZHZUTzhBSJq5LqwF5XRjumue-dArUO00dOhqTW4CjzK6p95MxXHRqB0Y6HbRZFGFzLFEKpZ-Txo_HeyYopfKwADv_mYvKmfBKqVxJ95w7YCCczMdk8xM3nvEfHWw/s1600/442px-Thomas_britton.jpg" height="320" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Britton (Wikimedia Commons)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Britton was self taught and also built most of the musical instruments he and his fellow musicians used. Initially he didn't charge for his concerts, asking only one penny for a cup of coffee. Later he asked for a subscription of just ten shillings a year and by then some of London most famous musicians, including Handel, were climbing the stairs to perform at Britton's loft.<br />
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And, since I couldn't possibly end this blog post without some music *g*, here's my latest listen, a fabulous ear worm that makes me smile from the new album 'Man on the Rocks' by Mike Oldfield. This track is called 'Sailing' and features great vocals by Luke Spiller from The Struts :)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YgpS6dQVHbg" width="560"></iframe><br />
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* I<span style="font-size: x-small;">mage of John Banister copyright National Portrait Gallery, used under Creative Commons Licence.</span><br />
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-58404743758106679442014-02-08T22:58:00.002+01:002014-02-08T22:59:06.425+01:00The Celestial Bed<br />
In the late 19th century, a lavish beauty parlour was opened at Schomberg House, Pall Mall, London by former medical student Dr. James Graham. A notorious quack and conman, Graham never completed his studies but he referred to himself as 'Doctor' anyway. He became a popular figure and began practicing 'electric medicine' and, emboldened by an increasing flow of rich and successful clients, he opened the 'Temple of Health' in 1781. <br />
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For those willing to pay the two guinea entrance fee, the Temple offered a variety of delights catering for the health of the body and the soul. The opulent rooms housed the 'Elysium' (for soul-transporting experiences), mud-baths ('All-cleaning, all-healing and all-invigorating), and a place to purchase 'Imperial Pills' (for decayed constitutions). The most famous and most popular attraction was the <a href="http://www.bridgemanart.com/en-GB/asset/611037/english-school-18th-century/the-celestial-bed-with-the-rosy-goddess-of-health-reposing-thereon-engraving?search_context={%22url%22%3A%22http%3A\%2F\%2Fwww.bridgemanart.com\%2Fen-GB\%2Fsearch%3Ffilter_group%3Dall%26filter_text%3Dthe%2520celestial%2520bed%22%2C%22filter%22%3A{%22filter_bw%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_colour%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_creator_id%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_footage%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_group%22%3A%22all%22%2C%22filter_horizontal%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_image%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_illustration%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_location_id%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_object%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_orientation%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_photograph%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_square%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_supplier_prefix%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_text%22%3A%22the+celestial+bed%22%2C%22filter_text_within_new%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_text_within_queue%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_vertical%22%3Anull%2C%22filter_web_category_id%22%3Anull%2C%22original_filter_text%22%3A%22the+celestial+bed%22%2C%22filter_searchoption_id%22%3A%222%22}%2C%22num_results%22%3A%223%22%2C%22item_index%22%3A1%2C%22sort_order%22%3A%22best_relevance%22%2C%22search_type%22%3A%22search_assets%22}" target="_blank">'The Grand Celestial Bed'.</a><br />
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The bed, described as a 'medico-electrical Apparatus' could be occupied for a night by childless couples for a large fee (£50 or about £3,500 in today's money). Under a dome swirling with fragrant vapours and live doves, customers were
surrounded by crystal pillars, with mirrors offering a view from every
possible angle. The 12ft x 9ft bed delivered mild doses of
“electrical fire” designed to promote “superior ecstasy” in the woman and
thus guarantee conception. The movements of the occupants of the bed set off music through organ
pipes which sounded with increasing tempo as their encounter went on. The words "Be fruitful, Multiply and Replenish the Earth" were inscribed on the headboard. <br />
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The celestial bed was visited by a number of influential men and women of the day, including Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, actress Mary Robinson, the Prince of Wales and politician John Wilkes. Many arrived at the Temple disguised with masks and veils. <br />
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Graham himself lectured from a celestial throne on transcendental experience but after several years although the Temple of Health was a success Graham still ended up deep in debt and was increasingly gripped by religious fervour, which led to mania. Before he died, he had begun experimenting with fasting as a way of prolonging his life. He was eventually committed to an asylum and died in Edinburgh in 1794.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJdkz5lpy4-wX_yLU3t6uKtcvQSeYphT-UaEpXs-qfYpzgLBoPpeeVpckQ6iPcsM4ILBO5FAT9aq64O8ABNaJB2l0tZA0eXltDFghaLTJIpQmQPGuaL7t5QEQqXBg74SoVqjZf8ifboiI/s1600/501px-James_Graham_Kay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJdkz5lpy4-wX_yLU3t6uKtcvQSeYphT-UaEpXs-qfYpzgLBoPpeeVpckQ6iPcsM4ILBO5FAT9aq64O8ABNaJB2l0tZA0eXltDFghaLTJIpQmQPGuaL7t5QEQqXBg74SoVqjZf8ifboiI/s1600/501px-James_Graham_Kay.jpg" height="320" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dr James Graham</i> <i>going along the North Bridge in a High Wind</i>, caricature portrait from 1785 by John Kay </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(image from Wikimedia commons)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-10958848738813601172013-12-23T00:19:00.000+01:002013-12-23T00:19:38.413+01:00Christmas at Attingham Park<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9cE_W1gPdocsyVbgfItu2oOBgs1tDyCEyfIKmtWPVpTONtUkKipAwHM0KYlnWXHY1kGMwG91pA7TAYnQYLYh9CkbfW_yk7EjIC7gF0m3iAbFHJmxIsf1jh3RllhPyFGNzgtEFAKFLQk/s1600/P1000750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9cE_W1gPdocsyVbgfItu2oOBgs1tDyCEyfIKmtWPVpTONtUkKipAwHM0KYlnWXHY1kGMwG91pA7TAYnQYLYh9CkbfW_yk7EjIC7gF0m3iAbFHJmxIsf1jh3RllhPyFGNzgtEFAKFLQk/s320/P1000750.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas Tree in Entrance Hall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Attingham Park is worth visiting at any time, but at Christmas, visitors can step back in
time and enjoy festivities from the mansion's 200 year history with the
house decorated for Christmas through the ages, as the generations of
Lord Berwicks living there might have known it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrH6Pog4yuusl-0TggyerXX0tLtuYDlCKYOmQq8yRN_YIgUk02B2c-SzUKMP9grYn4qgoQgU3VHvnbl6kRy80NuYXMuiJl6k-yfhB0Q6r1ebNfKvMQNvt2uj8zAfc6NY1hTaUs9n12ak/s1600/P1000753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrH6Pog4yuusl-0TggyerXX0tLtuYDlCKYOmQq8yRN_YIgUk02B2c-SzUKMP9grYn4qgoQgU3VHvnbl6kRy80NuYXMuiJl6k-yfhB0Q6r1ebNfKvMQNvt2uj8zAfc6NY1hTaUs9n12ak/s200/P1000753.JPG" width="112" /></a><br />
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I visited recently and took some photos. The light levels inside the house are low and flash is not allowed in order to protect the delicate fabrics, furniture and paintings, but I managed to get a few shots which gives an idea of the wonderful atmosphere and displays :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO9Xegboxv6irOhzHQcRoIodqUFwrw8TBFfxAaUj5TZp-aHGj4Z_z3sbYKBDZJoang48FZuQKATHNcDO39RAt9sVPKe1AWVvHSFU7R-QGWUAqoyT4YRqfj9I2SCupkq4wdSNTbx2WFH00/s1600/P1000782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO9Xegboxv6irOhzHQcRoIodqUFwrw8TBFfxAaUj5TZp-aHGj4Z_z3sbYKBDZJoang48FZuQKATHNcDO39RAt9sVPKe1AWVvHSFU7R-QGWUAqoyT4YRqfj9I2SCupkq4wdSNTbx2WFH00/s200/P1000782.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBhoJZwvCC39mAtQQqgEAPC67BBttmNQBOQkN5QD_mhT2C0KpO20c4E-N0eMVESDLWYMzcrTXmXFkg550zW8kTtE8dRzxHiYRWTHVqoQ-BsMqfxg1_Dtjv-3p2uWtyitaDchjbV0ONUE/s1600/P1000815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBhoJZwvCC39mAtQQqgEAPC67BBttmNQBOQkN5QD_mhT2C0KpO20c4E-N0eMVESDLWYMzcrTXmXFkg550zW8kTtE8dRzxHiYRWTHVqoQ-BsMqfxg1_Dtjv-3p2uWtyitaDchjbV0ONUE/s200/P1000815.JPG" width="112" /></a>I also love that the old servants' hall is decorated for Christmas - and the way in which details were given for each servant was very ingenious!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDT72h1E9mAj6bEnfG4yBYFTan2VQ1oNbLMvtXtFVz7r7FhcDiZ5DLN-awuDX7INp_nzwxu6gG-yesNxjL5t_JqeTzsrys_l6Jem1MlgJv2ICx7hvt-bN4Ya2guOuytWyA7ip4n1fXTPw/s1600/P1000820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDT72h1E9mAj6bEnfG4yBYFTan2VQ1oNbLMvtXtFVz7r7FhcDiZ5DLN-awuDX7INp_nzwxu6gG-yesNxjL5t_JqeTzsrys_l6Jem1MlgJv2ICx7hvt-bN4Ya2guOuytWyA7ip4n1fXTPw/s320/P1000820.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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All the photos are available to view on my Facebook author page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.462448930534242.1073741831.198457840266687&type=3" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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And this great video from Attingham TV shows some of the restoration work going on :) <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OPJNWwY5Zxw?list=PLBEE1FBB8E7425982" width="560"></iframe><br />
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A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !<br />
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<span class="tabhead" id="accessibletabscontent1-1"></span>Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-4000398046943933132013-12-16T07:30:00.000+01:002013-12-17T23:12:58.429+01:00My Writing Process<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Today's post is part of a blog tour where writers answer four questions
about their writing process. My fellow Regency author
<a href="http://regencytales.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Beth Elliot</a> posted her entry last week and sent me an invite (thank you Beth!). So now it's my turn...</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">1) What am I working on?</span></b><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">I'm currently finishing off a story called <b><i>Christmas at Rakehell
Manor</i></b>. </span><br />
<br />
<b><i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">'Rakehell'</span></i></b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"> started out as a novella but on
the way it turned into a short novel so now I'm not sure what to label it!
I was hoping to publish before Christmas (that would make sense,
right?!) but 2013 has been a difficult and stressful year and I haven't been able to write often. Consequently, I'm waaaaay behind. I'm keeping everything crossed for better times in 2014. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">The good news for those interested is that you won't have to wait until <i>next</i> Christmas to
read <b><i>Rakehell</i></b>; I'm sending it out into the world early next year. I think
the hero, Hugo,<b><i> </i></b>is worth waiting for and I’ve had heaps of fun throwing together this oh-so-masculine but conflicted man with my practical heroine, who disrupts his carefully planned Christmas ;0)</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIya46EnhPfYd-uDAn8Uee4sXiJKRTQyhv_qmMsZ4Sb0Y4m4fgEO9GovFjCz_V8iP4ATmq3pumNRvSWW_TAmU5NJFlFFbG93tf5rVxgpRuUPiUBSLs1E85X2a_tIjNoBzhfmuRzuoymI0/s1600/Fotolia_991612_L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIya46EnhPfYd-uDAn8Uee4sXiJKRTQyhv_qmMsZ4Sb0Y4m4fgEO9GovFjCz_V8iP4ATmq3pumNRvSWW_TAmU5NJFlFFbG93tf5rVxgpRuUPiUBSLs1E85X2a_tIjNoBzhfmuRzuoymI0/s320/Fotolia_991612_L.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">The idea for <b><i>Rakehell</i></b> was sparked when a dear friend sent me details of a real house called Rake Manor
which is tucked away in the English countryside. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">We laughed about it at the
time and said it needed a story so it's going to get one. Gilly, <b><i>Christmas at Rakehell Manor</i></b> is
for you </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-ascii-font-family: "\0022serif\0022"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "\0022serif\0022"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">:)</span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<br />
<b><i></i></b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">2) How does my work differ from others of
its genre?</span></b><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">I try to write stories that are captivating, passionate, have a dash of humour and are worth re-reading. I liken it to baking a cake -
strive for an ideal blend of ingredients, cook carefully with attention to detail until romance peaks and a memorable result is achieved :D </span><br />
<br />
When they buy a book, readers are investing not only their money but their
precious time so I want them to feel satisfied, to experience that warm, fuzzy, emotional, happy-ever-after glow. <span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">The quality of what I produce matters a lot to me. </span><br />
<br />
It's also important to get<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";">
historical details right, as far as possible. As a British author I'm
writing about <i>my</i> history and heritage. I feel obliged do it
justice. Of course the language and some other aspects need to be
accessible to modern readers - they want romance not a dry history lesson - and
all historical writing is interpretation anyway, but deviate too far and it turns into a contemporary romance with fancy dress. And glaring anachronisms pull readers out of historical romance faster than you can say Jack Robinson ;0) * </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(* According to Grose's Dictionary, published in 1785, Jack Robinson was an individual whose social visits were so short that he would be departing almost before his arrival was announced! )</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"> 3) Why do I write what I do? </span></b><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">I</span><span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"> write for people
like me, who just need a little escape from the stresses of daily
life. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";">I'm a romantic at heart and love
the magic of romance novels. Historical romance, particularly that set in Georgian and
Regency periods, is the genre I've always enjoyed most. It seems natural to write
what I like reading. </span><br />
<br />
<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"> </span></b><br />
<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">4) How does your writing process work?</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";">Ideas are never a problem - the difficult decision is usually which ones to develop further! I do a rough plan and character
outlines before starting a new project. I might research some details if
I know they are going to be needed, but otherwise I look things up as I go
along. Over time I've built up a collection of reference material
and background knowledge. I find it impossible to plot a novel in fine
detail before starting to write. I need to jump into the room where the
action is rather than standing outside and pressing my nose against the window pane. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";">Writing has to fit around
everything else but that usually works out OK because I write best in late
afternoon and evenings. If I get chance to sit at my PC before then, I'll
avoid the creative stuff and answer emails, update my blog and web site or waste time
on Facebook instead ;0)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";">Then I read through what I have
written previously and resist the urge to edit too much. This is
tough because I prefer to edit and add detail as I go, but it's not the best
way of getting a book written. When I start writing I hope to
make it to the end of a scene or a suitable break point before finishing. I can
touch-type so it's quicker for me to type than write longhand. I've learned not to beat myself up if I don't
achieve my daily word count, given everything that's happened this year. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";">Sometimes I listen to music while I'm writing. Here's the very varied playlist for <i><b>Rakehell </b></i>in no particular order<i><b>. </b></i>Some of these have a connection to the plot and characters but some were simply right for the mood I was in, or trying to convey in a particular scene :)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQnAxOQxQIU" target="_blank">Truly, Madly, Deeply</a> - Savage Garden</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLVq0IAzh1A" target="_blank">Fields of Gold</a> - Sting</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an4ySOlsUMY" target="_blank">How Long Will I Love You</a> - Ellie Goulding</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW1dF8YJ0CM" target="_blank">Back In the Night</a> - Dr. Feelgood</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUCNDMeU8L4" target="_blank">Bad Case of Loving You </a>- Robert Palmer </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpAl45ebyC8" target="_blank">Sentinel</a> - Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells II</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPr7BTYY6AA" target="_blank">You're Right, I'm Left, She's Gone</a> - Tom Jones and James Dean Bradfield</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVJKEH8hA0Y" target="_blank">Breathless -</a> Camel</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjbj-xpkkDo" target="_blank">Fluff </a>- Black Sabbath</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmwJQ62Cs_o" target="_blank">Better Days</a> - Bruce Springsteen </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFsH9n6iU2I" target="_blank">Concerto Grosso in G minor Christmas Concerto Pastorale</a> by Corelli<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCvz7uflMIU" target="_blank">In Dulcio Jubilo</a> - Mike Oldfield</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN9AJj9rtlk" target="_blank">Gaudete</a> - Steeleye Span</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqWig2WARb0" target="_blank">Somewhere Only We Know</a> - Keane, cover version by Lily Allen for John Lewis Christmas Advert 2013 </span><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRD6TxNLsds" target="_blank">Holding Out for Hero</a> - Bonnie Tyler (watch from around 2 mins 40 secs ;0) )<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";">Thanks for stopping by and
reading, and please feel free to comment!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif";">Next week (on 23rd December)
it's the turn of <a href="http://www.georgiahill.co.uk/" target="_blank">Georgia Hill </a> </span><br />
<br />
Georgia writes contemporary rom-coms for Harper Impulse. She loves dogs, Belgian chocolate and Strictly Come Dancing. She lives
in rural Herefordshire, in the UK, with her beloved spaniels and husband
(also beloved).
Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-33118979423104922752013-11-22T14:19:00.000+01:002013-11-22T14:19:48.614+01:00Sir Henry at Rawlinson End<br />
Ever feel the need to reboot your creative muse?<br />
<br />
Remind yourself why you love words and story-telling? :)<br />
<br />
<br />
I know I do and one of my methods is to listen to (rather than read) something that's rich in language, style and verve. There's the classics, of course, like Gaskell's <i>North and South</i> and Georgette Heyer audiobooks have been favourites of mine for years. The new-ish (although abridged) versions of <i>The Convenient Marriage, Venetia</i> and <i>Sylvester </i>read by the delectable and chocolate-voiced Richard Armitage are fabulous and at the top of my play list ;0) <br />
<br />
But occasionally I crave something different and then I return to a monologue comedy called <b>Sir Henry at Rawlinson End</b> by writer and musician Vivian Stanshall. I've listened to this innumerable times over the years and never, ever get tired of it. <br />
<br />
So, what exactly is it? <br />
<br />
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<b>Sir Henry at Rawlinson End</b> originated in Stanshall's performances and recordings for the John Peel show on BBC Radio One in the mid-1970s. Contributing to Peel's programmes over several years, Stanshall played many new and old songs and Peel would later broadcast recordings made especially by Stanshall as parts of a sporadic "Rawlinson End" saga.<br />
<br />
Viv Stanshall compiled and edited several for release, all of which related to Sir Henry Rawlinson and his country seat, Rawlinson End. <b>Sir Henry at Rawlinson End</b> came out 1978 and it contains possibly the most entertaining 50 minutes you will ever enjoy. For me and many others, it's a masterpiece, a work of undeniable genius from a man who was, on his day, one of the funniest men in Britain, a brilliant wordsmith and a true British eccentric.<br />
<br />
<b>Sir Henry at Rawlinson End </b> features Stanshall talking and singing as multiple characters. The scene is the faded grandeur of an aristocratic
manor - Rawlinson End - where the terrifying Sir Henry and a cast of larger
than life characters go about their
daily excursions.<br />
<br />
Stanshall's characters include Sir Henry Rawlinson, his wife Lady
Florrie Rawlinson (née Maynard), their children Ralph (`Raif') and
Candice Rawlinson, and Henry's brothers Hubert (the younger brother) and
Humbert (late older brother, deceased, and now a ghost).
Additional characters include the staff of Rawlinson End: Mr.
Cumberpatch (former gardener), Old Scrotum the Wrinkled Retainer
(butler) and Mrs. E (housekeeper); various relatives: Florrie's brother
Lord Tarquin Portly of Staines and his wife Lady Phillipa of Staines.
Other characters include the landlord of the local pub Seth One-Tooth,
Reg Smeeton, a walking encyclopedia; and "contract house cleaners" and
"resting theatrical artistes," Teddy Tidy and Nigel Nice. <br />
<br />
It's irreverent, surreal and complete nonsense, at times non-PC, filled with puns, double-entendres and above all astonishingly clever wordplay. Viv Stanshall's use of language is extraordinary. He moves from the bawdily
asinine and wacky to the sublime in a single sentence. The
piece is crammed with wonderful one-liners and all narrated in Viv Stanshall's plummy and hugely expressive voice. His exquisitely sharp, savage and witty descriptions display English usage that is almost Shakespearean. They paint some
of the most vivid and laugh-out-loud funny scenes I've ever listened to. The richness of the descriptions and
narrative brings me back time and again, finding new nuances
and meanings.<br />
<br />
<b>Sir Henry at Rawlinson End</b> can be quite hard to listen to the first time - it's style, like Spike Milligan and Monty Python, takes some getting used to - but stick with it and you'll be rewarded with some of the most unique, rhythmic and evocative prose that ever graced a CD (or download :D ) It will have you reaching for your dictionary (corroboree...quisling...opsimath) and marvelling at Viv Stanshall's genius. <br />
<br />
Viv Stanshall died in a fire at his Muswell Hill home during the early hours of March 6th, 1995.<br />
<br />
<b>Sir Henry at Rawlinson End</b> is arguably the finest hour of this Great British eccentric who was an accomplished <span>singer-songwriter, musician, poet, wit and author and who you might have already unknowingly encountered as </span>the Master of Ceremonies on Mike Oldfield's famous album, Tubular Bells.<br />
<br />
Next time you need to simply wallow in the joys of the English language, why not try something completely different and listen to, and marvel at, the incomparable piece of nonsense and exquisite prose of <b>Sir Henry at Rawlinson End</b>?! There's a very short excerpt of the opening here to give you a flavour :)<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MLcyveIWnrI" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ki_Longfellow"> </a> <i> </i>Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-77480715634340597362013-09-11T10:53:00.001+02:002013-09-11T10:53:21.526+02:00A Bright Particular Star Book Club Read<br />
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<b> A Bright Particular Star</b> has been chosen as the Astraea Press Book Club read for September 2013. <br />
<br />
<span class="userContent">You can join the discussion on the open <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202086413265647&set=gm.518882108187282&type=1&theater" target="_blank">Astraea Press Book Club Facebook</a> group and if you'd like a free copy, send an
email to reviewcoordinator@att.net.</span><br />
<br />Several ABPS characters have a very special place in my heart. It's a Regency road romance with a bit of mystery and suspense thrown in - kind of <i>It Happened One Night</i> meets <i>Ocean's Twelve</i> ;-D<br /><br /> If you're wondering about the title, it's taken from Shakespeare's play All's Well That Ends Well - <i>'That I Should Love A Bright Particular Star and Think to Wed it' </i>- but you need to dive into ABPS and unravel the mystery to see exactly why it works. <br />
<br />If you have questions or comments, post them on the Facebook group and I'll respond; I love connecting with readers :)<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></h5>
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Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-13429288697867504442013-08-12T15:08:00.000+02:002013-08-13T13:03:15.083+02:00Hell-Fire Caves and the Hell-Fire Club<br />
Yesterday I visited somewhere I've wanted to see for ages - the Hell-Fire Caves, erstwhile home to the notorious Hell-Fire Club.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUr2spvB6AkAN4Rl45t1NyPrVpyjP5qa3ihJOJEN05n5t6dWY964HxIwdv__ki_uFzzAIc7i-nB1Kh_MKQIyPXMZ69wzcogmkcWXIHHWP2s5YUY8nv92q21HJgOP1ApIbeOFh9poeodg/s1600/P1000618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUr2spvB6AkAN4Rl45t1NyPrVpyjP5qa3ihJOJEN05n5t6dWY964HxIwdv__ki_uFzzAIc7i-nB1Kh_MKQIyPXMZ69wzcogmkcWXIHHWP2s5YUY8nv92q21HJgOP1ApIbeOFh9poeodg/s200/P1000618.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to Hell-Fire Caves</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Hell-Fire Caves are in West Wycombe Hill, Buckinghamshire, opposite West Wycombe Park, the 18th century italianate villa that was home to the Dashwood family for over 300 years. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Dashwood,_15th_Baron_le_Despencer" target="_blank">Sir Francis Dashwood</a>, the 2nd Baronet (1708-81) founded the Hell-Fire Club, more properly or more cautiously known as the 'Monks of Medmenham' or the 'Society of Saint Frances of Wycombe'.<br />
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The society, whose members included Sir Francis's political cronies as well as poets and satirists, took the form of a mock religious order, perhaps inspired by Francois Rebelais's imaginary Abbey of Thelema, a monastic establishment with the motto in old French of 'Fay ce que vouldras' or 'Do as you wish'.<br />
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The activities of the Hell-Fire Club have probably been exaggerated but there's little doubt that elaborate mock religious ceremonies, banqueting, orgies, drinking and free love played a part in the their meetings and parties which took place both at Medmenham Abbey some six miles from West Wycombe and, of course, in the Hell-Fire Caves.<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecr4KBfICtvye1kdRLjGxHQbUq40wTudg6eDTwdwH2BaajGBAKmjI0mcN0kv5kYfg8SgsjT1RNMN6XeZhLpqEbUZ2zNcuzNYixyu8O00z15YM-V4k8OGG7jJDeEJWbeBaBCpfOEUgosY/s1600/P1000632.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecr4KBfICtvye1kdRLjGxHQbUq40wTudg6eDTwdwH2BaajGBAKmjI0mcN0kv5kYfg8SgsjT1RNMN6XeZhLpqEbUZ2zNcuzNYixyu8O00z15YM-V4k8OGG7jJDeEJWbeBaBCpfOEUgosY/s200/P1000632.JPG" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw0Xd8ALd8LFORYmQur3B6Nhyphenhyphenw-ge0eJ6BEPav4gOFrWhIpyhWSIcIz024Q5nHGSVv1j-evKivJDgVZlknRBg7LJZTPBTQ7dJTyVa76VdhTZsHUC-ZzqA8jlx9Qfuh8c6eEr5Q6QChoAM/s1600/P1000645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw0Xd8ALd8LFORYmQur3B6Nhyphenhyphenw-ge0eJ6BEPav4gOFrWhIpyhWSIcIz024Q5nHGSVv1j-evKivJDgVZlknRBg7LJZTPBTQ7dJTyVa76VdhTZsHUC-ZzqA8jlx9Qfuh8c6eEr5Q6QChoAM/s200/P1000645.JPG" width="200" /></a>Walpole recorded that the 'monks' had a white costume 'more like a waterman's than a monk's' and dressing up was a favourite pastime of its members. There are several potraits of Sir Francis in fancy dress, including one in oriental cosume and another as Sir Francis in the guise of Pope Innocent toasting a female herm.<br />
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Rumours of Black Masses, orgies and Satan or demon worship were well circulated during the time. Female "guests" (a euphemism for prostitutes) were masked and referred to as "Nuns". Sir Francis himself certainly enjoyed the charms of the fair sex. In 1774 he was described at 'the most careless and perhaps the most facetious libertine of his age.'<br />
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Walpole described him as having the 'staying power of a stallion and the impetuosity of a bull'. In 1745, the year of his marriage, a friend of Sir Francis teased him for being 'like a Publick Reservoir...laying your **** in every private family that has any Place Fitt to receive it.'<br />
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Ahem, he sounds a bit of a lad to put it mildly!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBMAYWHMIBrogx8HjI38dnfC_F3y6PTZtbStC_0QxgsCfNLXC0leWaxD5dCSjBYnzGaH5Ww2RtigX2YGoxLrR5FPeizerxOEErQBgvQjDdEmUtfQ5c4eEINcL5TnmZ2b22GzgZQeUaEQ/s1600/P1000643.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBMAYWHMIBrogx8HjI38dnfC_F3y6PTZtbStC_0QxgsCfNLXC0leWaxD5dCSjBYnzGaH5Ww2RtigX2YGoxLrR5FPeizerxOEErQBgvQjDdEmUtfQ5c4eEINcL5TnmZ2b22GzgZQeUaEQ/s200/P1000643.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banqueting Cave</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The caves were originally excavated in 1740s to allow Sir Francis to give employment to the villagers following a succession of harvest failures. They were then and remain totally unique. Their design was no doubt inspired by Sir Francis' Grand Tour of Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Many of Sir Francis's contemporaries were building palladian villas and landscaping gardens, but no others ventured underground like the Hell-Fire Caves. The excavated chalk was used to improve the road between West Wycbombe and High Wycombe. The caves were all dug by hand and you can still see the pick marks on the walls. <br />
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The caves extend down deep winding passages for over a quarter of a mile underground. They lead past various small chambers, to the large, vaulted banqueting hall, then further down and onwards to the River Styx, which according to mythology separated the living world from the Underworld, and finally to the Inner Temple, the deepest chamber. This is some three hundred feet directly beneath St. Lawrence's Church, at the top of West Wycombe Hill, and thus, whether intentionally or not, reflecting Heaven and Hell on the same site.<br />
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Two ghosts are said to haunt the caves - one is Paul Whitehead, steward of the Hell-Fire Club. Whitehead left £50 on his death for the purchase of an urn to be deposited in the Dashwood Mausoleum (situated on top of West Wycombe Hill, next to St. Lawrence's church) so that his heart may be placed inside and thus remain with the Dashwoods forever. This was done but in 1829 an Australian soldier stole the heart and the urn was placed in the caves for safekeeping. Paul Whitehead is reputed to haunt the caves searching for his heart.<br />
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The second ghost is Sukie, a servant girl who worked at The George
and Dragon inn in West Wycombe in the 18th century. Among her many admirers were three boys
from the village, whose advances she rejected since she had set her
sights on becoming the mistress of an aristocrat. One day a wealthy
young man paid a visit to the inn and Sukie, seeing him as her meal
ticket out of there, promptly set about ensnaring him. Soon the handsome
young buck was besotted and began
paying daily visits to the inn. This irked the three local lads, who
hatched a cunning plan to teach Sukie a lesson. They
sent her a letter, which purported to come from her noble suitor,
informing her that he wished to elope with her. She was, he instructed,
to don a white dress and meet him that night in the West Wycombe caves.
Elated, the unsuspecting Sukie dressed accordingly and set off for her
rendezvous.<br />
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Arriving at the mouth of the caves she lit a flaming torch and set
off into the labyrinth. Hidden behind a large rock, the spurned lads
watched with anticipation a she approached. Just as she had passed by,
they seized the torch and dashed it to the ground, extinguishing its
flame. Sukie was terrified and fled into the darkness with her
tormentors in hot pursuit. It was then that the prank turned to tragedy.
As the frightened girl turned a corner, she tripped over a rock and her
head struck the cave wall, knocking her unconscious. The three lads
summoned help and the villagers arrived to carry the comatose girl back
to her room at The George and Dragon. A doctor was called, but in the
early hours of the next morning she died.<br />
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As well as the caves, Sukie's restless ghost is also reputed to still haunt The George and Dragon. <br />
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I've posted some photos on my Facebook author page from my visit to the Hell-Fire Caves and West Wycombe park which you can see<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.407498156029320.1073741828.198457840266687&type=3" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
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I must say the caves had a very, very peculiar atmosphere. And one thing is for sure, no-one would hear you scream down there! :-0<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh94zkw3ksHdLV1GpTQ0f0PifzmJ9uY_YRTPNxGGQcfqHazK_bqV1n4k0LUjYN-1fE8AGiES2Y5GLGMvZylTyAJNNDAMFuHZavmDlwE3sopR9WlBxtLHdPLO2cWMkHWizDkN5hXT7_RFMg/s1600/P1000661.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh94zkw3ksHdLV1GpTQ0f0PifzmJ9uY_YRTPNxGGQcfqHazK_bqV1n4k0LUjYN-1fE8AGiES2Y5GLGMvZylTyAJNNDAMFuHZavmDlwE3sopR9WlBxtLHdPLO2cWMkHWizDkN5hXT7_RFMg/s200/P1000661.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">West Wycombe Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcG_uy247UBAW-uz4GNSya6ZmBwsgmYA52U1DatrIEDMKOw4eGHd0xkQxhAuqaXuo2jmLhS6-cLt5uyNXjWv0y65Br0iRXdP9RMuIiseoUjnfRhtOLfNZvdkgn60kMlZHRF13VWU3F1_s/s1600/P1000703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcG_uy247UBAW-uz4GNSya6ZmBwsgmYA52U1DatrIEDMKOw4eGHd0xkQxhAuqaXuo2jmLhS6-cLt5uyNXjWv0y65Br0iRXdP9RMuIiseoUjnfRhtOLfNZvdkgn60kMlZHRF13VWU3F1_s/s200/P1000703.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Lawrence's Church</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-25907098134653148402013-06-28T13:54:00.000+02:002013-07-02T11:33:08.451+02:00Midsummer Eve at Rookery End<br />
It's out! :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1AsL1UR-tnXx2JBuPoX6W5zAF1yh_CIrGqQgQH1PrxsVhyphenhyphenFEHerJajwhLwioGIOU0e_9LK8_GZ9U4f6zzDaYrHfver2Q0dKAcKipDJjhQ8pV2xyovGVxYJlrw9D7ANIS48c7sP75IM4/s300/200x300_midsummer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1AsL1UR-tnXx2JBuPoX6W5zAF1yh_CIrGqQgQH1PrxsVhyphenhyphenFEHerJajwhLwioGIOU0e_9LK8_GZ9U4f6zzDaYrHfver2Q0dKAcKipDJjhQ8pV2xyovGVxYJlrw9D7ANIS48c7sP75IM4/s300/200x300_midsummer.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
The new ebook edition of <b>Midsummer Eve at Rookery End</b> <b>(The Complete Collection)</b> is available now with a gorgeous new cover designed by <a href="http://www.sheynawatkins.com/" target="_blank">Sheyna Watkins</a><br />
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For the first time all the Midsummer Eve at Rookery End short stories come together in this edition. It features an updated foreword, a prequel story (<i>The Virtuous Courtesan</i>) which appeared in the <i>Brief Encounters</i> anthology, the three original tales and a brand new story -<i> Love's Thorne. </i>It also includes a preview of <b>The Cinderella Debutante.</b><br />
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<i>Midsummer
Eve is the traditional time for love divination, when gentlemen and
ladies can hope to meet their true love. Lord and Lady Allingham hold a
lavish ball every year at their country estate, Rookery End, to
celebrate this ancient custom. These five little tales of love and
passion take place in this romantic setting in Regency England.</i><br />
<i> </i>
<br />
Here's more on each story in the order they appear... <br />
<br />
<b> </b><b>The Virtuous Courtesan</b> - A valuable portrait sparks a series of events that culminate in Lord and Lady Allingham's extraordinary first meeting.<br />
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<b>Siren's Daughter</b>
- Following her disagreeable aunt's demise, Deborah King attends the
midsummer ball where she encounters Sir Benedict Catesby. Can Deborah
and Sir Benedict overcome past bitterness and let love triumph second
time around?<br />
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<b>Blue Figured Silk </b>- The handsome Marquess of
Shaftesbury is renowned as a rake and a gambler. When the Marquess
arranges an assignation with an attractive widow in the garden, his
encounter does not turn out as he expected...<br />
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<b>A Scandal at Midnight</b>
- Young governess Verity Brook accompanies Miss Amelia Gardiner to
Rookery End and receives a shocking letter. Verity must act to avoid a
scandal, but the only person she can turn to is the arrogant Sir Tristan
Millforte - the nonpareil Amelia is to marry.<br />
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<b>Love's Thorne</b> - A wily valet lends a helping hand when Captain Simon Russell's future happiness is at stake.
<br />
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<br />
It's available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Eve-Rookery-End-ebook/dp/B003AZY5C6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ&s=digital-text&qid=1273852616&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Midsummer-Eve-Rookery-End-ebook/dp/B003AZY5C6/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>. Other buy links to follow. Read an excerpt <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Eve-Rookery-End-ebook/dp/B003AZY5C6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ&s=digital-text&qid=1273852616&sr=8-2#reader_B003AZY5C6" target="_blank">here.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Please consider leaving a review if you enjoy it. Reviews help readers find books :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><b>*Note*</b></span><br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">If you've previously purchased the Kindle eBook of
Midsummer Eve at Rookery End, you can now access the new edition for
FREE!<br /> <br /> Opt in to receive book updates automatically. You can do
this by going to Manage Your Kindle and clicking on the Manage Your
Devices section. You'll find the option labeled Automatic Book Update.<br /> <br /> Alternatively, get the updated version by going to Man<span class="text_exposed_show">age
Your Kindle. Find Midsummer Eve at Rookery End in your Kindle Library,
click on the "Update Available" link next to the title, and then follow
the update prompts. All your devices that have the eBook currently
downloaded will be updated automatically the next time they connect to
wireless.<br /> </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
Also, to get the (Midsummer) ball *g* rolling, I'm running a giveaway - just click on the Rafflecopter widget below to get started and thanks for celebrating the start of summer with me!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c302ee2/" id="rc-c302ee2" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>
Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-73273449300560016072013-05-13T09:22:00.000+02:002013-05-13T09:22:49.512+02:00A Bright Particular Star<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8VJTjBdAnHtoHdJ_vmV2k5kxqvNkQl3hYUCF3krJye4gJxQ9vwo6QUOHciXQfHB4Q10ySikcG7zoL-HfGIoMUOLZVhwaOLZzCv29oaXD8RBAiFAPXO0HqDRrLeDfvsVpiHBOe6dITncM/s1600/ABrightParticularStar_500x750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8VJTjBdAnHtoHdJ_vmV2k5kxqvNkQl3hYUCF3krJye4gJxQ9vwo6QUOHciXQfHB4Q10ySikcG7zoL-HfGIoMUOLZVhwaOLZzCv29oaXD8RBAiFAPXO0HqDRrLeDfvsVpiHBOe6dITncM/s320/ABrightParticularStar_500x750.jpg" width="213" /></a> <b>A Bright Particular Star</b> has a new cover and a new offer price!<br />
<br />
Here's the gorgeous new cover and check out the offer price of 99 cents or equivalent while it lasts :) <br />
<br />
Buy links below...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/A-Bright-Particular-Star-ebook/dp/B007RJOC06/ref=pd_sim_kstore_4" target="_blank">Amazon </a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Bright-Particular-Star-ebook/dp/B007RJOC06/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a><br />
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-bright-particular-star-elizabeth-hanbury/1109950746?ean=2940014211673" target="_blank">B&N Nook</a><br />
<a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/A-Bright-Particular-Star/book-u7nEKGHdyECyF1lERJCDHg/page1.html?s=bHuV7D_pdUayAwZZJlFdIA&r=2" target="_blank">Kobo </a><br />
<br />
or see <b>A Bright Particular Star</b> page on my website <a href="http://www.elizabethhanbury.com/?page_id=977" target="_blank">here </a>for full list.<br />
<br />
And coming next month (June 2013)...a brand new edition of <b>Midsummer Eve at Rookery End,</b> featuring the complete collection of Midsummer Eve stories including a brand new story!<br />
<br />
More details to follow - watch this space ;0)<br />
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-14602446693764983642013-04-08T09:36:00.000+02:002013-04-08T09:36:00.439+02:00Only You - Lorna Peel (Q&A)<br />
Welcome back to Lorna Peel tor the second of her guest blogs, a Q&A session about her debut romantic suspense novel, <b>Only You</b> :)<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>Hi Lorna! Tell us a little bit more about
yourself.</b> </span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I live in Ireland and when I’m not writing, I’m tracing my family tree
or growing my own fruit and vegetables. I love chickens and I have four hens,
one cockerel, and one Guinea Hen, who now thinks she’s a chicken!</span></i></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Only You is your debut novel. What teasers can you share with us
about the plot, characters etc.? </span></b></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jane Hollinger has just turned thirty-one and teaches adult education classes.
Her self confidence is low, as she hadn’t known her ex-husband was cheating on
her. Jane’s sister and best friend buy her a subscription to a dating website
but little do they know that the man of Jane’s dreams is waiting for her in her
family history evening class!</span></i></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Is it the first novel you’ve written? </span></b></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">No, I’ve been writing since I was nineteen so I’ve written quite a few
over the years. Some I’m very proud of and some will never see the light of
day!</span></i></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What do you enjoy most about being a writer, and the least? </span></b></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I love writing the first draft, as I just write and write - without
stopping to edit - from beginning to end, to get the whole story down. </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Like Jane, I’m quite a private person, so I find promoting myself
without cringing takes a bit of getting used to!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What books/authors have influenced your writing? </span></b></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I love the Merrily Watkins mysteries by Phil Rickman. He writes very
natural dialogue, which I try and do, too.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Do you ever suffer from writer’s block and if so, what strategies do
you use to overcome it? </span></b></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Thankfully, I’ve never suffered from writer’s block as I make an effort
to write or edit something every day, even if it’s only as little as one
paragraph. </span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Tell us about what you are writing now. </span></b></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My work in progress is a romance called Into the Unknown and is set in
England and Ireland during World War Two. It is a prequel of sorts to Only You.</span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Thanks
Elizabeth, for having me on your blog!</span></i></div>
<i>
</i><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> +++</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It was great having you, Lorna and I look forward to reading <b>Only You</b> :)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Only You </b>is published by Entranced Publishing and you can find out more about Lorna at</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://twitter.com/PeelLorna" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://lornapeel.com/" target="_blank">Website</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/LornaPeelAuthor" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://pinterest.com/lornapeel" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Only You</b> is available from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C3U1SYC?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00C3U1SYC&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2" target="_blank">Amazon US</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Only-You-ebook/dp/B00C3U1SYC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1364661515&sr=8-3" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a> <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/only-you-lorna-peel/1114964683?ean=2940016688701" target="_blank">B&N</a> <a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Only-You/book-8v4VFEd9BkWeLsExW-2u8w/page1.html?s=vSjlqFxI60OIMq0DVxcm-w&r=1" target="_blank">Kobo </a> <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/301164" target="_blank">Smashwords</a></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-54289531828371872272013-03-28T10:34:00.000+01:002013-09-11T10:29:21.476+02:00Jeremiah Dixon<br />
Who's Jeremiah Dixon, I hear you ask!<br />
<br />
Well if you've ever heard of the famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason-Dixon_line" target="_blank">Mason-Dixon Line</a>, or Mark Knopfler's song, Sailing to Philadelphia, then you've heard - albeit it unknowingly - about Jeremiah Dixon.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPumOhSPnJqaJ0J9qbj5tsFxBrpPskGgRLVLng6ed3wT_tpvvFbmmCeDMaNNulIszRN4VZjM6YseKprx0pOpZohSAFYMlafsEpl5Bu08VvhGCoLvuBLyEV_U8rTHy_-uTHXyQ9hv73Wc/s1600/jeremiah+dixon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPumOhSPnJqaJ0J9qbj5tsFxBrpPskGgRLVLng6ed3wT_tpvvFbmmCeDMaNNulIszRN4VZjM6YseKprx0pOpZohSAFYMlafsEpl5Bu08VvhGCoLvuBLyEV_U8rTHy_-uTHXyQ9hv73Wc/s320/jeremiah+dixon.jpg" width="241" /></a>Jeremiah Dixon (July 27, 1733 – January 22, 1779) was a surveyor who is perhaps best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason-Dixon Line. <br />
<br />
Dixon was born in Cockfield, near Bishop Auckland, in 1733, the fifth of seven children, to George Dixon and Mary Hunter. His father was a wealthy Quaker coal mine owner; his mother was said to have been the "cleverest woman" that ever married into the Dixon family. This intelligence certainly seemed to show itself in her children, especially Jeremiah.<br />
<br />
Jeremiah became interested in astronomy and mathematics during his education at John Kipling's school at Barnard Castle. Early in life he made acquaintances with mathematician William Emerson, and astronomers John Bird and Thomas Wright. <br />
<br />
Jeremiah served as assistant to Charles Mason in 1761 when the Royal Society selected Mason to observe the transit of Venus from Sumatra. Their passage to Sumatra was delayed, and they landed instead at the Cape of Good Hope where the transit was observed on June 6, 1761. Dixon returned to the Cape once again with Nevil Maskelyne's clock to work on experiments with gravity. <br />
<br />
Dixon and Mason signed an agreement in 1763 with the proprietors of Pennsylvania and Maryland, Thomas <br />
Penn and Frederick Calvert, sixth Baron Baltimore, to assist with resolving a boundary dispute between the two provinces. They arrived in Philadelphia in November 1763 and began work towards the end of the year.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdGFUosNFwolIp0dD_1Fjn1A75NXcYMS17CaDRAgJ8sKPbBzv9vviX0MQgbO3GjnDmz4YhdmnRuW0Vm4GrrFS2fJB3H9qmm3nrro1JEorJr588SfsbOW3tofRFrEdqbDKh6iA740hnlZo/s1600/Mason-dixon-line.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdGFUosNFwolIp0dD_1Fjn1A75NXcYMS17CaDRAgJ8sKPbBzv9vviX0MQgbO3GjnDmz4YhdmnRuW0Vm4GrrFS2fJB3H9qmm3nrro1JEorJr588SfsbOW3tofRFrEdqbDKh6iA740hnlZo/s200/Mason-dixon-line.gif" width="200" /></a>The survey was not complete until late 1766, following which they stayed on to measure a degree of Earth's meridian on the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland, on behalf of the Royal Society. They also made a number of gravity measurements with the same instrument that Dixon had used with Maskelyne in 1761. Before returning to England in 1768, they were both admitted to the American Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge, in Philadelphia. <br />
<br />
Dixon sailed to Norway in 1769 with William Bayly to observe another transit of Venus. The two split up, with Dixon at Hammerfest Island and Bayly at North Cape, in order to minimize the possibility of inclement weather obstructing their measurements.<br />
<br />
Following their return to England, Dixon resumed his work as a surveyor in Durham. Evidence of his skill as a draughtsman can be seen in<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: small;">a plan of the park of</span> Auckland Castle, </span></span>completed in 1772<span style="font-size: small;">. <span style="font-family: inherit;"> Al<span style="font-size: small;">l Jeremiah's<span style="font-size: small;"> maps are beautifully decorated, and works of art in themselves. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<br />
Jeremiah died unmarried in Cockfield, January 22, 1779. <br />
<br />
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the commencement of the
Mason-Dixon survey in 1763, the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle will host an exhibition of items
such as model ships, surveying equipment and historic maps. It will also feature a slave whip which Jeremiah kept as a trophy. Jeremiah saw the owner thrashing a slave with the whip, took it from him, thrashed the owner with it and kept
the whip. Artefacts from the native Americans who worked alongside Jeremiah will also be on show.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk/exhibitions%20and%20events/exhibitions/forthcoming/261/" target="_blank">Jeremiah Dixon: Scientist, Surveyor and Stargazer </a>will run from Sat 27 Apr 13 - Sun 06 Oct 13.<br />
<br />
Jeremiah Dixon also appears in Thomas Pynchon's 1997 novel Mason & Dixon. The song <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_to_Philadelphia">Sailing to Philadelphia</a> from Mark Knopfler's album of the same name, also refers to Mason and Dixon, and was inspired by Pynchon's book.<br />
<br />
I love this song!<br />
<br />
Here's the original version with Mark Knopfler and James Taylor<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/OrLdKYRBOEE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br />
and here's a live version with Mark only<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/OTvc-bEP35I?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Enjoy :D<br />
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-61909338583003626542013-03-27T09:14:00.000+01:002013-03-27T09:30:58.131+01:00Only You - Lorna Peel <br />
Today I'm delighted to welcome guest blogger Lorna Peel to talk about her debut novel, <b>Only You</b>, published by Entranced Publishing. <br />
<br />
<br />
In the first of two guest posts, Lorna tells us about what inspired her to write <b>Only You</b>. But first, here's the blurb...<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Jane Hollinger is single, divorced, and the wrong side of thirty –
as she puts it. Her friends are pressuring her to dive back into
London’s dating pool, but she’s content with her quiet life as a
genealogy teacher.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Robert Armstrong is
every woman’s fantasy: handsome, charming, rich and famous. When he asks
her to meet him, she convinces herself it’s because he needs her help
with a mystery in his family tree. Soon she realizes he’s interested in
more than her genealogical expertise. Now the paparazzi want a piece of
Jane too.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Can Jane handle living – and loving – in the spotlight? </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPQyKxQ-mS6-k4TLcZQpk-ikOIBeBoGHHmvnJ81H3dttKtdvKtB7yrtYEf0KViEAapSKB7sAZmzgOK4LXNVTdrXaRl5pqEgwWuTdfPDwl9u3qOrnsn_VtEpO6AiNsSfrFEgQsITtrO1c/s1600/Only+You.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPQyKxQ-mS6-k4TLcZQpk-ikOIBeBoGHHmvnJ81H3dttKtdvKtB7yrtYEf0KViEAapSKB7sAZmzgOK4LXNVTdrXaRl5pqEgwWuTdfPDwl9u3qOrnsn_VtEpO6AiNsSfrFEgQsITtrO1c/s1600/Only+You.jpg" /></a></div>
+++<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Wouldn’t it be fantastic to be in a relationship with someone famous? Wouldn’t it be great, with parties and premiers, and having your picture in the papers and gossip magazines?<br />
<br />
But what would it be really like to be in a relationship with someone famous but you wish they weren’t because you are a private person who likes a quiet life? Could you love them enough to be able to put up with all the intrusions?<br />
<br />
It’s a dilemma and it’s why I created Jane Hollinger so she can try and decide.<br />
<br />
Poor Jane. Her self esteem is in the gutter because her husband left her for a client. She lives alone with her books and huge DVD collection and doesn’t know if she ever wants to date again. It’s been so long since she’s dated that she’s not even sure she remembers how to do it properly and the prospect of going out with someone from the dating website her sister and best friend subscribed her to fills her with dread. Why can’t they just leave her alone? She does go out in the evenings – but it’s to teach family history evening classes at the Local Education Centre. Little does Jane know that romance will strike when she least expects it. But will she be able to cope with being in a relationship with a man she’s only dreamed of and the British press?<br />
<br />
<br />
Readers can find out more on the web at<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/PeelLorna" target="_blank">Twitter</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://lornapeel.com/" target="_blank">My website</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/LornaPeelAuthor" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://pinterest.com/lornapeel" target="_blank">Pininterest</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Thanks Elizabeth, for having me on your blog!<br />
<br />
+++<br />
<br />
Thank you, Lorna :) <b>Only You</b> sounds an intriguing read and I look forward to finding out more in your second blog post here on 8th April.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-196129320489729342013-03-15T08:00:00.000+01:002013-03-15T08:00:11.027+01:00Radio GagaA very warm welcome to the blog today to my fellow coffee crew author, Nell Dixon.<br />
<br />
Nell has a brilliant new book out - <b>Radio Gaga</b> - and she's here to tell us more about it! ( I love the cover by the way :D)<br />
<br />
+++<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvYQqphU-PbIr3KQJAn9fr997vV1yyy6D78rNoJ2zwnAL-rs-ljMQ8EEAq1I-dRqcTjOUH77ZJaVylm8keOuxVUOWzDOQm9zsD7FuME6B1TOKkbml7lJvSOuT3Zr7FBQidc9FkDkZt91Q/s1600/RadioGaga+200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvYQqphU-PbIr3KQJAn9fr997vV1yyy6D78rNoJ2zwnAL-rs-ljMQ8EEAq1I-dRqcTjOUH77ZJaVylm8keOuxVUOWzDOQm9zsD7FuME6B1TOKkbml7lJvSOuT3Zr7FBQidc9FkDkZt91Q/s1600/RadioGaga+200x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Radio Gaga</b> is my first mainstream single title release for quite a while now. It’s a story I’m quite excited about as it’s a fun, upbeat chick lit suspense.<br />
<br />
I’d finished the book and was deciding what I should do with it when the story broke all over the news about the Australian radio presenters who had a practical joke go badly wrong! Talk about weird timing! Chloe, in Radio Gaga also has things go wrong for her but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. <br />
<br />
<b>Here's the blurb...</b><br />
<br />
Over the airwaves everyone can hear you scream! <br />
<br />
Radio researcher and part-time presenter Chloe Lark is certain her big show biz break is just around the corner. Live it Up radio may not be the big time, but surely - one day soon - fame will come her way. And, if she could convince the hunky guy next door to give her a chance, her love life might improve too. <br />
<br />
Ex-soldier Ben isn’t sure if his new ‘Z’ list celebrity neighbour is crazy or on medication. Either way he’s looking for a quiet life out of the spotlight. The last thing he needs is an accident prone media hungry blonde complete with mystery stalker. Problem is - Chloe doesn’t seem to have received that particular memo…<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>And here’s an excerpt! </b><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">I knew it wasn’t burglars when I noticed the large empty space next to the bay window. No self-respecting burglar would break into someone’s home just to steal a life size cardboard cut-out of Darth Vader would they? <br /> </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">No, it wasn’t burglars who’d nicked Darth or who’d cleared the shelf of the Queen CDs. It was Neil. He’d finally moved out, and taken Freddie Mercury and the Dark Lord with him as he went. <br /><br />For a moment I stood trying to decide how I felt. Angry? Broken-hearted? In the time it took me to cross the room, enter the kitchen and dump my handbag on the worktop I decided my overwhelming feeling was relief. <br /><br />Neil had raided the kitchen too: his state of the art coffee maker which I hadn’t been allowed to touch was gone, along with his juicer and his super fancy wok. Only a couple of spilled coffee beans on the countertop showed where they had been. I looked at the clippie magnet on the fridge to see if he’d left me a note. We’d always left messages for each other one there. A few months back they had been little love notes with kisses and pictures of hearts. Now the only thing on there was the ratty message I’d left for him yesterday asking him to pick up some milk on his way home. <br /><br />I walked back through the lounge to what had once been our bedroom. The wardrobe doors were open showing the empty hangers and his rack of immaculately arranged ties had gone. My mobile vibrated in my trouser pocket telling me I had a text as I sank down onto the edge of the bed. I knew what it would be before I even fished it out of my pocket. <br /><br /><i>‘Chloe, guess you know by now have moved out, thought would be better this way. U know it wasn’t working, sorry, N’ </i><br /></span><br />
<br />
© Nell Dixon 2013<br />
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-76605393054623221962013-02-07T11:19:00.001+01:002013-09-11T10:25:17.206+02:00Dido Elizabeth Belle<br />
There is a new film coming soon <b><i>(Belle)</i> </b>inspired by the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the first black woman to be introduced to high society in Georgian times.<br />
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Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761-1804) was an illegitimate daughter of Admiral Sir John Lindsay and an African woman known as Belle. Very little is known about Belle except that she was biracial. Her daughter Dido was sent to live in the household of William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, who was Lindsay's uncle and thus Dido's great-uncle. <br />
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Dido Elizabeth Belle was born around 1761. She was baptised in 1766 at St. George's Church, Bloomsbury. Her father, John Lindsay, was at the time a Royal Navy captain on HMS Trent, a warship based in theWest Indies that took part in the capture of Havana from the Spanish in 1762.<br />
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It has been suggested that Dido's mother was an enslaved African on board one of the Spanish ships captured during this battle, but the dates are inconsistent and Dido's baptism record shows that she was born while Lindsay was in the West Indies and that her mother's name was Maria Belle. As Dido was illegitmate, she did not use the name Lindsay and was therefore called Dido Elizabeth Belle.<br />
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Lindsay sent Dido to his uncle, the Earl of Mansfield, who lived with his family at <a href="http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/kenwood-house/" target="_blank">Kenwood House</a> in Hampstead, which was then just outside London. The Earl and his wife were childless and were already raising Dido's
cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray, after her mother's death. Dido was about
the same age as Elizabeth and it's possible that Mansfield took Dido in to
be Elizabeth's playmate and, later, her personal attendant.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSm-FOp0xXA1sUAHQXYLg6YhEmD5F2pZfcC3-bR1Y4LnFEdgMtLijAztUk2gx6iU0sFl9n0pYceRLsqn7pzqrh5KTh5hKJr5xzw4O8yWB2wn8UBX26Dw3HWHrDsfQp-HQY6_wk_NhiS0/s1600/Dido+elizabeth+belle.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSm-FOp0xXA1sUAHQXYLg6YhEmD5F2pZfcC3-bR1Y4LnFEdgMtLijAztUk2gx6iU0sFl9n0pYceRLsqn7pzqrh5KTh5hKJr5xzw4O8yWB2wn8UBX26Dw3HWHrDsfQp-HQY6_wk_NhiS0/s320/Dido+elizabeth+belle.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Elizabeth Murray*</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">* Painting by an unknown artist, formerly attributed to Zoffany. From the collection of the Earl of Mansfield, Scone Palace, Perth.</span><br />
<br />
Despite the Earl's revulsion for slavery, the social conventions of his household were discriminatory. Dido would not dine with the rest of the family, especially if they had guests, but joined the ladies for coffee afterwards in the drawing room. As she grew older, she took responsibility for the dairy and poultry yards at Kenwood, and she also helped Mansfield with his correspondence - an indication that she was fairly well educated. The running of the dairy and poultry yard would have been a typical occupation for ladies of the gentry, but helping her uncle with his correspondence was less usual, since this was normally done by a secretary or a male clerk.<br />
<br />
Dido also received an annual allowance of £30 10s, several times the wages of a domestic servant; by contrast, Elizabeth received around £100, but she was after all an heiress in her own right, and Dido, quite apart from her race, was illegitimate in a time and place when great social stigma usually accompanied such status. <br />
<br />
A 1779 painting by an unknown painter (above) depicts Dido alongside Elizabeth, carrying exotic fruit and wearing a turban with a large feather and a large pearl earring. The painting, which hangs at Scone Palace<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4187242932340899815"> </a>in Scotland, is owned by the present Earl Mansfield and in 2007 was exhibited in Kenwood during an exhibition to run alongside events marking the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act 1807<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4187242932340899815">.</a><br />
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In his role as Lord Chief Justice, Lord Mansfield was instrumental in bringing about the legal end of slavery with his ruling on the Sommersett case in 1772, where he held that slavery was unlawful in England (although this did not end slave trafficking altogether). It's not difficult to suppose that his great niece Dido Elizabeth influenced his thinking. <br />
<br />
Dido's father died without legitimate heirs in 1788, leaving £1000 to be split between his three illegitimate children, one of which was Dido. When the Earl died in 1793, he left Dido £500 as an outright sum and a £100 annuity in his will, and officially confirmed her freedom.<br />
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Little is known about Dido's life after she left Kenwood, but on 5th December 1793, she married John Davinier (very likely a steward at Kenwood) at St. George's in Hanover Square. The Daviniers had three sons, twins Charles and John (baptised 8th May 1795) and William Thomas (baptised 26th January 1802).<br />
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Dido died in 1804 and was buried in July that year at St George's Fields, a burial-ground close to what is now Bayswater Road; in the 1970s, however, the site was redeveloped and her grave was moved. She was survived by her husband, who later remarried and had two more children.<br />
<br />
Dido's fascinating story will be coming to the screen in the film <i>Belle</i>, directed by Amma Assante and starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw
as Belle, Matthew Goode as Captain Sir John Lindsay, Tom Wilkinson as the Earl of Mansfield and Sam Reid as John Davinier.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheuNbEFKPbQLpmP4Wih-ugWVtXdccvzhzwOqf1hL2OAFm3-J2Daa2FCBt9OG9AUrFiSuX6LQu30buM_eZjxEwABBV_dQfK7rmBHX8sPKaU5YAOA995WYDZn_IZ5MGIp1mKTCEHwTsfBvw/s1600/Dido+belle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheuNbEFKPbQLpmP4Wih-ugWVtXdccvzhzwOqf1hL2OAFm3-J2Daa2FCBt9OG9AUrFiSuX6LQu30buM_eZjxEwABBV_dQfK7rmBHX8sPKaU5YAOA995WYDZn_IZ5MGIp1mKTCEHwTsfBvw/s320/Dido+belle.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Production still - Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Dido Elizabeth Belle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyAVSxT-BlJu1jymmTmKOF6ZZX2oddxOrcecad5RYXkKjkwgFn15SYnTzFtUEdz8DwwrY3627k4Y9WWveUuXST8mkk71jQr1xi6e_OJyjsNIhxwnhnXYzO-hq6AhlbLcCPcBSmak6JKc/s1600/b-01973_-_official_first_still_final_-_sarah_gadon_as_elizabeth_murray_and_gugu_mbatha-raw_as_dido_elizabeth_belle._credit_-_david_appleby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyAVSxT-BlJu1jymmTmKOF6ZZX2oddxOrcecad5RYXkKjkwgFn15SYnTzFtUEdz8DwwrY3627k4Y9WWveUuXST8mkk71jQr1xi6e_OJyjsNIhxwnhnXYzO-hq6AhlbLcCPcBSmak6JKc/s400/b-01973_-_official_first_still_final_-_sarah_gadon_as_elizabeth_murray_and_gugu_mbatha-raw_as_dido_elizabeth_belle._credit_-_david_appleby.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Production still - Sarah Gadon as Lady Elizabeth/Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Dido</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
The film is now in post-production and locations include Oxford, <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/osterley-park/" target="_blank">Osterley Park,</a> Isle of Man and Pinewood Studios.<br />
<br />
I can't wait to see it!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-70618030758431651962013-01-09T15:29:00.000+01:002013-01-09T16:02:54.244+01:00Return to Blandings<br />
It will be party time at Hanbury Towers on Sunday night.<br />
<br />
No, not the usual bread roll throwing competition but a joyful charleston around the ha-ha to herald a new TV adapation of that literary genius and one of my favourite authors, P.G. Wodehouse *g*<br />
<br />
A six-part series of <i>Blandings </i>starts on Sunday,
based on Wodehouse's much-loved accounts of the fictional life and
times of the inhabitants of Blandings Castle. The Blandings stories follow<i></i> the fortunes of the amiable but befuddled Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth and his beloved pig, the Empress of Blandings.<br />
<br />
<i>Blandings</i> has a primetime evening viewing slot and an all-star cast, including Timothy Spall as Lord Emsworth, Jennifer Saunders as his formidable sister Connie, Jack Farthing as Lord E's hapless son Freddy and Mark Williams as the imperious butler Beach. David Walliams makes a guest appearance in two episodes as Rupert Baxter,
Clarence’s new secretary. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-H_reSyg5N4EZWtTg8dOpD84_gwSpecQ7wg-0AcqcIS7wVG5IbiG9ykMmhiuyBd4_jLHHsA2bYFq4_AT0ozEbc62xhbKOOKkPjS9dXyvTfhguzUOA6Ii9bhipDVf-9QA7FHhYTGNYpYo/s1600/Blandings-will-star-from--010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-H_reSyg5N4EZWtTg8dOpD84_gwSpecQ7wg-0AcqcIS7wVG5IbiG9ykMmhiuyBd4_jLHHsA2bYFq4_AT0ozEbc62xhbKOOKkPjS9dXyvTfhguzUOA6Ii9bhipDVf-9QA7FHhYTGNYpYo/s320/Blandings-will-star-from--010.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blandings will star
Jack Farthing, Jennifer Saunders, Timothy Spall and Mark Williams.
Photograph: BBC</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I have High Hopes so dear BBC, don't let me down with this new adaptation featuring some of my favourite Wodehouse characters and stories. The series is adapted by Guy Andrews (Lost in Austen) and directed by Paul Seed (Just William) which augurs well.<br />
<br />
And if <i>Blandings </i>is anywhere as good as Fry and Laurie's <i>Jeeves and Wooster</i>, it will be a job well done, old bean ;0)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhUN9UEH0ic&feature=share&list=UUjfucfnJT3d5FNSTENLoTvA" target="_blank">Here's</a> a taster on YouTube - unfortunately I can't embed for some reason :-/<br />
<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-32365622984808826072013-01-05T00:18:00.000+01:002013-01-05T00:19:22.144+01:00Lights, Camera, Poltergeist!<br />
A Happy New Year to everyone!<br />
<br />
Let's get 2013 off with a bang..or should that be a bump in the night? *g* with a guest post from fellow Coffee Crew member, Astraea Press author and good friend Nell Dixon.<br />
<br />
Nell's latest release (her 21st title, which is just amazing!) is <i><b>Lights, Camera, Poltergeist! </b></i><br />
<br />
Here's Nell to tell us more...<br />
<br />
+++<br />
<br />
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<![endif]-->Thank you so much for inviting me to talk about my latest release from Astraea Press.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4I9fJyGd5LaaMTM9z0DdfMlyEDBxUg97UYQPlf81xeRR2OM8htnXQ4Avk2o8xorfkHB-PZUeAl1g5X0GYBJiqoVNYz3KADqdqdca44mHGCh8e_38U5bTKS4t4NO72ZWS4nNlQBQxLz8/s1600/IMG_1102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4I9fJyGd5LaaMTM9z0DdfMlyEDBxUg97UYQPlf81xeRR2OM8htnXQ4Avk2o8xorfkHB-PZUeAl1g5X0GYBJiqoVNYz3KADqdqdca44mHGCh8e_38U5bTKS4t4NO72ZWS4nNlQBQxLz8/s1600/IMG_1102.JPG" /></a><i><b>Lights, Camera, Poltergeist!</b></i> will be my 21st title release! So a kind of coming of age. <br />
<br />
For those who haven’t met me before my name is Nell Dixon and I’m a UK author based in the Black Country, a small region which is more or less dab bang in the middle of the UK. I write for a number of publishers in the US and the UK and have been fortunate enough to twice win the UK’s prestigious romance prize for category length fiction. I’m the only person to have won twice. <br />
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<i><b>Lights, Camera, Poltergeist! </b></i>is set in Scotland and I thought it might be fun to tell you a few fun facts about Scotland. Author Bram Stoker is said to have taken the inspiration for his novel, "Dracula," from Slains Castle in Cruden Bay, which is wild and remote.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgglSs6cqVn_XktwuR5Pz74k4nI7Ki_ACX-idd50mf6kcY3d-mWqBAwdqqk9ytI-E6gcqAfPtFfTAK5SxfqNGCoGcvIWD9lXbbog1TMYRwApeyoHD6GD9vJL4FVm7006lNsUnza5KYpc_Q/s1600/799px-Slains_Castle_February_08.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgglSs6cqVn_XktwuR5Pz74k4nI7Ki_ACX-idd50mf6kcY3d-mWqBAwdqqk9ytI-E6gcqAfPtFfTAK5SxfqNGCoGcvIWD9lXbbog1TMYRwApeyoHD6GD9vJL4FVm7006lNsUnza5KYpc_Q/s400/799px-Slains_Castle_February_08.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slains Castle (image from Wikimedia Commons, Attribution Revelation Space at en.Wikipedia) </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Scotland has many myths and one is the selkie. This is a creature in the shape of a seal that can turn into a beautiful woman. On the fashion front, modern kilts have up to eight meters of material. A modern take on the kilt is to use leather, instead of traditional tartan. You can read more <a href="http://www.ehow.com/info_7908457_scottish-children.html#ixzz2GjACXj11" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<i><b>Lights, Camera, Poltergeist! </b><br /><br />Things don’t just go bump in the night, sometimes they throw tea cups! <br /><br />As the presenter for Ghost Uk, the leading TV show investigating paranormal activity, Fae thought she’d seen it all. Until a Valentine’s Eve live show from Scotland’s Fingelly Manor upsets both her preconceptions and her love life. </i><br />
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And here's a wee taster! <br />
<br />
<i>John watched as she headed out of the room. Lately, it seemed he couldn't say or do the right thing, where Fae was concerned. He wasn't looking forward to the evening ahead of them any more than she was. Until Tim had sprung his hare-brained scheme for a live Valentine's show on them, John had planned a very different kind of evening with Fae. <br /><br />Tonight he should have been enjoying an intimate dinner with her at their favourite restaurant, hoping he could put some romance back into their relationship. Instead they were to freeze to death in a cavernous and dingy dining room with the rest of the production team. Worse still, that lecherous creep, Giles, would be ogling Fae at every opportunity. <br /><br />The room seemed to be growing colder by the minute. The elderly woman finished her ministrations by the fireplace, and a dull orange glow filled the hearth, accompanied by lots of smoke. <br /><br />The tech staff had gone from the corridor as John crossed the room to stand closer to the meagre fire. No doubt they had slipped off to the kitchen in an attempt to scrounge up more mugs of tea. <br /><br />He was tempted to go join them, but he really wanted to finish setting up the lighting and placing the motion sensors first. <br /><br />Silence hugged him like a shroud as he concentrated on tightening the final connection. His breath formed ghostly clouds in the chill air. The fire next to him offered no more heat than a candle. <br /><br />A growing sense of unease forced its way into his senses, raising goosebumps on his skin. John lifted his head, certain he was no longer alone in the room. At first he couldn't see the cause of the sensation. <br /><br />A change in the shadows in the far corner of the room, next to a dusty case containing a long-dead fox, caught his gaze. A soft snicking sound followed, like a door being closed quietly. He blinked, unsure if he had imagined the momentary distortion in the oak panelling. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
© Nell Dixon 2013 <br />
<br />
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<i><b>Lights, Camera, Poltergeist</b></i>! is available now from all good etailers, including <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lights-Camera-Poltergeist-ebook/dp/B00AW5JC9I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357229745&sr=8-1&keywords=lights%2C+camera%2C+poltergeist" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lights-Camera-Poltergeist-ebook/dp/B00AW5JC9I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1357339803&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon UK </a><br />
<br />
<br />
And why not try <i><b>Cue Me In?</b></i> which also features Fae, John and the Ghost UK team? Available at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cue-Me-In-ebook/dp/B005XSEQJU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1357339939&sr=1-1&keywords=Cue+Me+IN" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cue-Me-In-ebook/dp/B005XSEQJU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1357339895&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a> and other good etailers. <br />
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+++<br />
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<br />
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<br />
Thanks Nell - both sound great reads to kick off 2013 with :)<br />
<br />
You can find out more about Nell and her books at her <a href="http://www.nelldixon.com/home.aspx" target="_blank">website</a> and her <a href="http://nelldixonrw.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">blog</a>. <br />
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-36125724157271357562012-12-21T09:30:00.000+01:002012-12-21T11:45:27.389+01:00Smoking Bishop and Christmas Cards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>“A merry Christmas, Bob! Said Scrooge, with an earnestness that
could not be mistaken…I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist
your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very
afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob!…”</i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
<b>...</b>so says the reformed Scrooge to Bob Cratchit at the end of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but did you ever wonder what Smoking Bishop was?<br />
<br />
It's a warm mulled wine and port drink, sometimes known simply as 'Bishop', that was especially popular in Victorian times. It's exact origins are obscure - Jonathan Swift mentions it in a poem in the late 1600s - but the name seems to have arisen from when church dignitaries were served spiced wine during visits, from the shape of the traditional punch bowl it was served in, shaped like a Bishop's Mitre, or possibly even the colour of a Bishop's robes.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKML2PXRaS9wdo8Danjp9xID8S2yVVQ5qWJt38a2mW2qoGwxuEJ-9SrZEuhnv_2s6ZCRqI_zTqGWpiUf13-G7MkybWUrrFncmnbod-WIN0inq3uIr_Lj0CkppIAcbG3M-qfAr1qSanceU/s1600/Smoking-Bishop-Carol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKML2PXRaS9wdo8Danjp9xID8S2yVVQ5qWJt38a2mW2qoGwxuEJ-9SrZEuhnv_2s6ZCRqI_zTqGWpiUf13-G7MkybWUrrFncmnbod-WIN0inq3uIr_Lj0CkppIAcbG3M-qfAr1qSanceU/s1600/Smoking-Bishop-Carol.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scrooge and Bob Cratchit sharing a glass of Smoking Bishop</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are several variations on the theme:<br />
<br />
Smoking Archbisop - made with claret<br />
Smoking Beadle - made with ginger wine and raisins<br />
Smoking Cardinal - made with Champagne<br />
Smoking Pope - made with burgundy<br />
<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://recipewise.co.uk/media/Smoking-Bishop-Glasses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Glasses Of Smoking Bishop" border="0" class="size-full wp-image-2307" height="255" src="http://recipewise.co.uk/media/Smoking-Bishop-Glasses.jpg" title="Glasses Of Smoking Bishop" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
Here's an original 1836 recipe from<b> 'Tales of the Table, Kitchen, and Larder’, By Dick Humelbergius Secundus: </b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div dir="ltr">
+++</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<i>Among the ” Oxford night-caps,” bishop appears to be one of
the oldest winter beverages on record, and to this very day is preferred
to every other, not only by the youthful votary of Bacchus, at his
evening revelry, but also by the grave Don by way of a nightcap. It is
not improbable that this celebrated drink, equally known to our
continental neighbours under the somewhat similar name of bischof, derived
its name from the circumstance of ancient dignitaries of the church,
when they honoured the university with a visit, being regaled with
spiced wine.</i><br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_2307" style="width: 310px;">
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Glasses Of Smoking Bishop</div>
</div>
<h4>
<i>RECEIPT, OR RECIPE, TO MAKE BISHOP.</i></h4>
<i>
</i><i>Make several incisions into the rind of a lemon; stick cloves in
these incisions, and roast the said lemon by the fire. Put small but
equal quantities of cinnamon, mace, cloves, and allspice, and a race of
ginger, into a saucepan, with half a pint of water; let it boil until
it be reduced one half. Boil one bottle of port wine ; burn a portion of
the spirit out of it, by applying a lighted taper to the saucepan which
contains it. Put the roasted lemons and spice into the wine; stir it up
well, and let it stand near the fire ten minutes. Rub a few nobs of
sugar on the rind of a lemon; put the sugar into a bowl or jug, with the
juice of half a lemon, (not roasted) pour the wine upon it, sweeten it
to your taste, and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>Oranges, although not used in bishop, at Oxford, are, as
will appear by the following lines, written by Swift [in the late 1600s]
sometimes introduced into that beverage :—</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>“Fine oranges,<br />
Well roasted, with sugar and wine in a cup,<br />
They’ll make a sweet bishop when gentlefolks sup.”</i><br />
<i>
</i>
<br />
<i>When this is put upon the table, there are few, we imagine, who would be found to say, “Nolo episcopari,” not even the Bishop of London himself.</i><br />
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<b> </b></h4>
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<b> +++</b></h4>
<div dir="ltr">
<b> </b>Eliza Acton's 1845 recipe from her<b> Modern Cookery </b>is similar but she recommends using oranges...</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<i>“Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon,* stick cloves in
these, and roast the lemon by a slow fire. Put small but equal
quantities of cinnamon, cloves, mace, and allspice, with a race of
ginger, into a saucepan with half a pint of water : let it boil until it
is reduced one half. Boil one bottle of port wine, burn a portion of
the spirit out of it</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>by applying a lighted paper to the saucepan. </i><br />
<br />
<i>Put the roasted lemons
and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire
ten minutes. Rub a few knobs of sugar on the rind of a lemon, put the
sugar into a bowl or jug, with the juice of half a lemon (not roasted),
pour the wine into it, grate in some nutmeg, sweeten it to your taste,
and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.”</i><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>* A Seville orange stuck with cloves, to many tastes imparts a finer flavour than the lemon.</i></span></h4>
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<i> </i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-vo-ZUZjoN2jr8hw-MpyX5EOO-CiN2UPcIOc-Fblk646mP90ObY6bn6Sno03UtOS1k0gN85xS13qmTT3fj_x5pBtySK82lEoaUvBvEWmRkkjZlAUWV2xmDhHtqwqCDX0-ZAW1QDwPiI/s1600/Smoking_Bishop.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-vo-ZUZjoN2jr8hw-MpyX5EOO-CiN2UPcIOc-Fblk646mP90ObY6bn6Sno03UtOS1k0gN85xS13qmTT3fj_x5pBtySK82lEoaUvBvEWmRkkjZlAUWV2xmDhHtqwqCDX0-ZAW1QDwPiI/s200/Smoking_Bishop.png" width="168" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mitre-shaped punchbowl, from Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><b> </b></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">And <a href="http://recipewise.co.uk/smoking-bishop" target="_blank">here's</a> a modern version which will serve around 10 people - great for entertaining!</span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TlrGJtqKUq6O1fFoaOnzYatldMLt9_6SQ286ZdTvV-Eb4M1KAmBaBRfzmIiIQI8V6Clo9RtT5QdbaRhPp3eoIu44uq4ig_BhZdDUsbRxx8MNciDS9tg8lzacs_2YGJ9RIneJjeoEUCg/s1600/img_1224090664321_311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TlrGJtqKUq6O1fFoaOnzYatldMLt9_6SQ286ZdTvV-Eb4M1KAmBaBRfzmIiIQI8V6Clo9RtT5QdbaRhPp3eoIu44uq4ig_BhZdDUsbRxx8MNciDS9tg8lzacs_2YGJ9RIneJjeoEUCg/s1600/img_1224090664321_311.jpg" /></a></div>
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</h4>
<h4 dir="ltr">
<u><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></u></h4>
<h4 dir="ltr">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><b><u>Christmas Cards</u></b></span></h4>
<h4 dir="ltr">
</h4>
<h4 dir="ltr">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Did you know that the first Christmas cards were sent by Sir Henry Cole, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, in 1843. He wanted to remind his friends that they should give to charity at Christmas but didn't have the time to sit down and write letters to them all, so he commissioned painter John Collcott Horsley to create a design that he could have printed.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></h4>
<h4 dir="ltr">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Now, in the UK, we send more than 700 million Christmas cards a year!</span></h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rBeiQUz0cHaAyON4An7GUjXVu2Uxh06lUsZ4I0AlT4FliH40v2WV1cl_NlHhhCgkXeTxe_EXalkuDOT58TKUty1ASNOikPhyDVktJ9aJShAfl-oVfABTIZ6pk5e3XbJ1NZ5r3sw-5bM/s1600/Firstchristmascard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rBeiQUz0cHaAyON4An7GUjXVu2Uxh06lUsZ4I0AlT4FliH40v2WV1cl_NlHhhCgkXeTxe_EXalkuDOT58TKUty1ASNOikPhyDVktJ9aJShAfl-oVfABTIZ6pk5e3XbJ1NZ5r3sw-5bM/s320/Firstchristmascard.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sir Henry Cole's first Christmas card</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4>
<div dir="ltr">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5K4fUlDoIoaHH-mnOGkhy1RB-Ant6vjDmkbLBg4pyBRpzsKK1fcbwVSUdYf0FVLAWr4IasAY0qALpasZAD5T3sF3SZThjw5I4HLcdCWLqoQIPfgPXhezGnMXT23h0VcJwyIx-2z9lTLs/s1600/Untitled-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5K4fUlDoIoaHH-mnOGkhy1RB-Ant6vjDmkbLBg4pyBRpzsKK1fcbwVSUdYf0FVLAWr4IasAY0qALpasZAD5T3sF3SZThjw5I4HLcdCWLqoQIPfgPXhezGnMXT23h0VcJwyIx-2z9lTLs/s200/Untitled-7.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Christmas Card, printed in </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Germany and sent from</span> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pittsburg, </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pennsylvania<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>to Beaver County, PA in 1909</span></span></span><br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhz5U4dIskQQGDaRrnu5Sd7CWmrXfJg27TGFyDH8fw9p8NTIRg16ZA675o_s0Rfpfyh2mtkpYytNUKK-xN_ks_chQ9My3gII0N7gc9G2knKmn-xqWV0EUkXapAJhOZdwybLL-E6riJ_Q/s1600/Untitled-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhz5U4dIskQQGDaRrnu5Sd7CWmrXfJg27TGFyDH8fw9p8NTIRg16ZA675o_s0Rfpfyh2mtkpYytNUKK-xN_ks_chQ9My3gII0N7gc9G2knKmn-xqWV0EUkXapAJhOZdwybLL-E6riJ_Q/s200/Untitled-11.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Card </span>posted in Detroit , Michigan to an address in
Fort Street, Detroit in Dec 1911. Another card that was printed in
Germany</span><br />
<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<h4 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small; font-weight: normal;">(<span style="font-size: xx-small;">early 20th century card images</span> courtesy of Lindsay/C19)</span></h4>
<h4 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small; font-weight: normal;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TlrGJtqKUq6O1fFoaOnzYatldMLt9_6SQ286ZdTvV-Eb4M1KAmBaBRfzmIiIQI8V6Clo9RtT5QdbaRhPp3eoIu44uq4ig_BhZdDUsbRxx8MNciDS9tg8lzacs_2YGJ9RIneJjeoEUCg/s1600/img_1224090664321_311.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TlrGJtqKUq6O1fFoaOnzYatldMLt9_6SQ286ZdTvV-Eb4M1KAmBaBRfzmIiIQI8V6Clo9RtT5QdbaRhPp3eoIu44uq4ig_BhZdDUsbRxx8MNciDS9tg8lzacs_2YGJ9RIneJjeoEUCg/s1600/img_1224090664321_311.jpg" /></a></h4>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">And</span> <span style="font-size: small;">that's it - no time for more posts in 2012 as I have to get on with making some Smoking Bishop<span style="font-size: small;">!</span> :D</span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Merry Christmas to all and a Happy and Healthy 2013!</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span> </span></span></span></span> </div>
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<b> </b></h4>
<h4 dir="ltr">
<b> </b></h4>
Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-35893519547227391262012-12-14T06:30:00.000+01:002012-12-14T08:59:15.307+01:00Meg Mims - Santa Paws<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnHqCDLjf4QEABCc900tKchlldKCg82Y3rsqjNH93Xrpa7ycVyATYX8KsQhHavOj9OrJQIKq7g-R5gfdEGPRX1mCuQXPIkuEK45tioBbURfULxNILLm3EeQT8DYWGPqHGsC0jRBV4BMk/s1600/SantaPaws_Final+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnHqCDLjf4QEABCc900tKchlldKCg82Y3rsqjNH93Xrpa7ycVyATYX8KsQhHavOj9OrJQIKq7g-R5gfdEGPRX1mCuQXPIkuEK45tioBbURfULxNILLm3EeQT8DYWGPqHGsC0jRBV4BMk/s320/SantaPaws_Final+(2).jpg" width="213" /></a>Today's guest blogger is another fellow Astraea Press author Meg Mims. Meg's latest release is a Christmas novella, <b>Santa Paws. </b><br />
<br />
I'll let Meg describe how a rescue dog inspired her to write <b>Santa Paws</b> ;0) ...<br />
<br />
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+++<br />
<br />
<br />
I was working on a non-fiction article when a friend called. He said he was taking a dog to the pound, and since I'd mentioned possibly getting a second dog to keep my first one company, did I want to see him?<br />
<br />
He brought over Benji, whose sweet scared face was too hard to resist! Would my dog get along with him, though? They hit it off like "best buds" and despite my husband's misgivings, I "rescued" Benji from being a "reject" who'd bitten a child and would have lingered in the pound, who couldn't be trusted - I doubted any family would have taken him.<br />
<br />
So far, he's held down the couch pretty well, helped my other dog learn to walk better and is fairly quiet. He does have his "quirks" (loves tearing up cardboard) but it's so much fun to see him chasing the squirrels in the back yard!! I am willing to keep him. And when it came time for me to write a Christmas novella, I thought "write what you know" - only exaggerated quite a bit. That's why it's fiction!! ;-D <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>The last
thing Lacey Gordon — divorced with a teen daughter and two cats — needs is a
rescue dog coming into her life. To top it off, she’s rooked into a “Get Under
the Mistletoe by Christmas Eve” dating contest. Since Buddy the dog
prefers to be the only “new guy” in Lacey’s life, will Santa Claws ruin her
holiday for good?
</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>Excerpt:</u></div>
<br />
<br />
Lacey could go grocery shopping Saturday—uh oh. She’d promised to think about attending the ‘dating contest’ at Fresh Grounds. She did love their mocha lattes. Hm. She hurried through the rest of the paperwork piled on her desk, turned off her lamp and computer, then ran into April on the way out to the parking garage. The elevator’s chill set them both shivering.<br />
<br />
“I’ve got you down for noon at Fresh Grounds.”<br />
<br />
“Why so early? I thought you had the whole afternoon reserved.”<br />
<br />
“You’re quality, remember.” April dashed to her truck.<br />
<br />
Lacey clutched the top of her coat together to shield against the bitter wind. She hurried to her car in the growing dusk, grateful to see the sunset courtesy of Daylight Savings. Lacey drove toward home, half-listening to the news, hoping Todd wouldn’t ruin her evening or get stuck in traffic. Pure luck she zipped home in half an hour.<br />
<br />
And nearly ran down a burly man in a Sherpa jacket and baseball cap, walking a dog across the street. Not just any dog, but a beige and white pit bull. Lacey shivered. She pulled into the condo complex in relief. Home, sweet home. Even if it was a bit cramped compared to a house in the ‘burbs where she’d spent her marriage. The frame and brick condominiums, surrounded by tall oaks and maples, had four two-story units joined together with a one-story ranch on the side. Most neighbors here were retired, walking their dogs through the narrow streets and parking lots to the woodier paths beyond the complex. <br />
<br />
But she cursed aloud seeing Todd’s car in her sheltered parking spot. Lacey warned him the last time not to do that. He never listened. Not now, not back when they’d been married—until she dangled a satin thong in his face. Lacey had found them stuffed in his jacket pocket, and refused to listen to his half-hearted, lame excuses. He hadn’t fought the divorce. Perhaps he preferred running around, since he’d been doing just that since high school. Why hadn’t she realized that long ago? Trust was important to her.<br />
<br />
Not to him.<br />
<br />
She slung her briefcase over one shoulder and walked around her condo to the front door. Lacey fumbled for her keys in her purse. Her briefcase slipped off her shoulder, its hefty weight dragging her down, and her feet burned inside her new pumps. She heard an odd scratching sound. That couldn’t be the cats. They weren’t at the window as usual, watching for birds.<br />
<br />
“Deena? Is that you?”<br />
<br />
Lacey unlocked the door. Once she opened it, a hairy beige dog barreled into her, knocking her onto her bottom, spilling her briefcase and purse into the snow. She shrieked, her backside aching, one shoe on and one shoe off. Lacey stared in horror when the dog lifted his leg and piddled in an arc over her leg. A few warm wet drops dribbled on her pantyhose.<br />
<br />
Deena appeared in the doorway and clapped a hand over her mouth. “Buddy! Bad dog—oh, Mom, he’s really very sweet. Just wait till you—no, Buddy!”<br />
<br />
Lacey watched the dog snatch her purse and duck between her daughter’s legs, then race inside the house and up the carpeted steps. Leaving a trail of muddy footprints.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
End of excerpt</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="cmuImageBlock" id="cmuMainImageBlock">
</div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Meg-Mims/e/B005GXS7W4/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0">
</a>
<br />
<div class="mainContent">
<div class="outerAuthorBio" id="outerAuthorBio" style="height: auto;">
<br />
<br />
Award-winning author and artist Meg Mims lives in Southeastern Michigan with her husband, a drooling black cat and a 'Make My Day' Malti-poo dog. She's loved reading mystery, western, historical, romance and other genre fiction since first grade's adventures of Spot, Dick and Jane. She's a staff writer at Lake Effect Living, an on-line magazine and has published hundreds of freelance articles. Meg enjoys gardening, crafts, watercolor painting - anything but housework. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div id="authorBio">
Find out more about Meg and her books at her <a href="http://www.megmims.com/novellas" target="_blank">website</a>, <a href="http://www.megmims.com/musings" target="_blank">blog</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/megmims" target="_blank">Twitter </a>and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MegMims?ref=ts&fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook author page</a>. You can also visit the Facebook page for Santa Paws <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SantaPaws2012" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Buy links for Santa Paws: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Paws-ebook/dp/B00A9AMT5U/ref=tag_stp_s2f_edpp_santa" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Santa-Paws-ebook/dp/B00A9AMT5U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1355070468&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a> <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/santa-paws-meg-mims/1113810063?ean=2940015739046" target="_blank">B&N Nook</a> <a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Santa-Paws/book-yBkyQ6ciOkO8qSv1xGjw3g/page1.html?s=NB1OX-QPcEOLfTTkKjMwyQ&r=3" target="_blank">Kobo</a> <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/255844" target="_blank">Smashwords</a><br />
<br />
+++<br />
<br /></div>
<div id="authorBio">
Thanks so much for being my guest today, Meg, and best of luck with Santa Paws!!</div>
<div id="authorBio">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="cpsims-feature">
<hr class="bucketDivider" />
</div>
Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4187242932340899815.post-63486846118061104322012-12-07T10:08:00.000+01:002012-12-07T11:28:02.718+01:00Patricia Kiyono - The Partridge and the Peartree<br />
Continuing with my Christmas-themed guest blogs from fellow Astraea Press authors, I'm delighted to welcome Patricia Kiyono to the blog today to talk about her Christmas Regency story, <b>The Partridge and the Peartree</b><b> </b>:) <br />
<br />
+++<br />
<br />
Though I've always loved to write, I didn't really start writing with a goal of being published until fairly recently. After Astraea Press accepted my story in June of 2011, I started writing in earnest. I'd been working on various manuscripts for about ten years but never completed any. So when the publication of the Legacy gave me the validation as an author, I went back to finish several others and got them on the docket. But I worried that I might soon run out of story ideas. <br />
<br />
That notion was challenged when Astraea Press came out with a Christmas call for stories set in Regency period, specifically 1812. The story had to include a duke, as well as a reference to the Christmas Eve Ball at Holly Hall given by Lord and Lady Kringle. The requirements were simple enough. I started brainstorming plot ideas with my critique partners and my family. And then I started to write.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVM79g-qJAhmHS-idgQdtm83dCQjbCu7Wd6CUnTJRuduAw7XJgoUGX2rRnsesK5K1X_MRUk0IXAOA8GnwRKPYuFIAKwms0CUUXCTZiE2DVyelL2hFn91Qc2vrcGAHIKkJhCbmTCfv_qo0/s1600/IMG_2469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVM79g-qJAhmHS-idgQdtm83dCQjbCu7Wd6CUnTJRuduAw7XJgoUGX2rRnsesK5K1X_MRUk0IXAOA8GnwRKPYuFIAKwms0CUUXCTZiE2DVyelL2hFn91Qc2vrcGAHIKkJhCbmTCfv_qo0/s320/IMG_2469.JPG" width="213" /></a>But even though I'd read many romances set during this time period, I was soon caught in a snag. Being an American, the concept of nobility, though definitely fascinating, is quite foreign. Here, no one is born into a title. It was a steep learning curve for me, learning about how one person addresses another depending on the speaker's position as well as the listener's. <br />
<br />
It seemed like every other sentence I would have to stop and wonder, "How would this person talk to that person?" I found several websites that helped. But I got discouraged and nearly didn't finish the story. Thanks to some urging and last-minute help from my critique partner, I submitted The Partridge and the Peartree and to my utter surprise it's been far more successful than I ever dreamed it would be! <br />
<br />
There is one thing I would do differently. Though I had three people proofread the manuscript before it was submitted, and two different editors approved the story, reviewers' comments show that I should have consulted a Regency expert. There are events in my storyline that would not have happened during this period, and someone well versed in this era would have caught them. Thankfully, most of the reviewers were kind enough to say that despite the inaccuracies, they liked my characters. If I ever venture into this genre again, I would definitely consult one of those people — maybe one of the reviewers!<br />
<br />
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</xml><![endif]--> <i>Phillip Peartree, Duke of Bartlett, dreamed of a peaceful life with a suitable mate until a hunting accident left him scarred and nearly deaf. Resigned to spending the rest of his days alone, Phillip has devoted himself to rebuilding his family estate. But, a chance encounter with a lovely young woman in a dusty bookstore rekindles his almost-forgotten hopes and dreams. </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><br /> Lady Amelia Partridge has no time for the frivolity of the London social scene. She is much too busy. In addition to her work with the Ladies Literary Society, she has a mission – educating poor children in the city. She also has a secret life, one she fears might drive away the young duke who has become increasingly important to her. </i></blockquote>
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The Partridge and the Peartree is available at <a href="http://astraeapress.com/#!/~/product/category=662245&id=16308652">Astraea Press</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Partridge-Peartree-ebook/dp/B00A0A95TW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354755920&sr=8-1&keywords=patricia+kiyono">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Partridge-Peartree-ebook/dp/B00A0A95TW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354756132&sr=8-1">AmazonUK</a>, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-partridge-and-the-peartree-patricia-kiyono/1113737450?ean=2940015932119">Barnes and Noble</a>, and Smashwords. <br />
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Patricia Kiyono can be found on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Patricia-Kiyono/149294485148710">facebook</a>, her <a href="http://creative-hodgepodge.blogspot.com/">blog</a>, and twitter (@PatriciaKiyono). <br />
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Thanks for being a guest on my blog, Patricia - <b>The Partridge and the Peartree </b>sounds an intriguing read and I love the way you have worked in the names/title! It has a great cover too :)<br />
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<br />Liz Hanburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00432754254139090864noreply@blogger.com4