Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547 … on what would have been his father’s 90th birthday. The relationship between Henry VII and Henry VIII is a bit of a historical conundrum, inasmuch as there is little certainty about any of it. Henry VIII’s love for his mother and grief upon her death is well… Read more Birth and Death and Two Henry’s
Woot! My newest book has gone live! Grab one while it’s fresh! Here’s the burb: Fans of Jane Austen will recognise the players and the setting – Mansfield Park has been telling the story of Fanny Price and her happily ever after for more than 200 years. But behind the scenes of Mansfield Park, there’s… Read more Mansfield Parsonage is Here!!
My youngest daughter, Bubbles, is seven years old today. I have become a cliché; that mom who cannot believe how fast the time has flown past and who cannot fathom how here “baby” has become a big girl so quickly. It feels as though it were yesterday that I brought her home from the hospital.… Read more Happy 7th Birthday Bubbles!
In Jane Austen’s books, most naval men come home to their wives, sisters, mothers, and sweethearts. Service at sea in the Napoleonic Wars was cast in Austen’s novels as more opportunity than threat, with young men going forth to make their fortune and returning as captains ready to wed. The only seaman to not… Read more The Danger of His Majesty’s Service — The Wreck of the HMS Brazen
Can I just say, AGAIN, that with it being so close to the release of Mansfield Parsonage on the 28th, that I am a mass of jitters? I am so hopeful that you all will enjoy the book, and that will delight Austen fans. But why did I chose Mansfield Park, out of all of… Read more Mansfield Parsonage awaits!
Woot! I now have a firm date for the release of my new novel, Mansfield Parsonage! The book, a retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park from anti-heroine Mary Crawford’s point of view, will be available for purchase on 28 January 2017 … which is also the first day of the Chinese New Year! It will… Read more Release Date for Mansfield Parsonage!!
On 2 December 1546 Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and his son, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, were both thrown into the Tower for the shadiest of reasons and for the weakest of excuses. Only the duke would survive. Henry Howard, one of the great poets of the Tudor age, would be executed for trumped up… Read more Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey
The Dutch Republic ended on 18 January 1795 with the founding of the Batavian Republic. The authoritarian regime of the stadtholder, William V, Prince of Orange was overthrow by the Dutch Patriots demanding a democratic government, after which William fled to England, taking refuge in the “Dutch House” at Kew Palace. During the last quarter… Read more Revolutions Everywhere
In my opinion, Whig politician William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, is an incredibly underrated Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was in power only a year (11 February 1806 – 31 March 1807) but he used that brief time to drag the UK kicking and screaming onto the moral high ground by leading the… Read more Honor Isn’t Profitable, But it IS Good
In case you were unaware of it, I have book coming out soon that is a retelling of Mansfield Park from the anti-heroine Mary Crawford’s point of view. Inasmuch as the story is set in Regency England, the characters therein have an ABUNDANCE of scandal to communicate, considering the naughty nature of the “glittering throng”… Read more So Much Regency Gossip, So little Time