Violent crime — especially violent crimes perpetrated on innocent, law-abiding members of the middle-class – have long had a hold over the public imagination. There is fascination in the macabre and the horrific that compels us to examine it even as it repels us. We are like monkeys peeking at a snake under our tree;… Read more The Ratcliffe Highway Murders
The end of last week was a busy, busy time for the Kramers. First, our things finally arrived from the USA! Although they took months longer to get her than I expected, 99.9% of my things were unbroken and undamaged … which is excellent considering the miles behind them. Basically, my tea trolley will need… Read more Our First Christmas Panto!
The Regency Era is named for the decade between June 1811 and January 1820 when the mentally ill King George III’s eldest son ruled in his place as Prince Regent before becoming King George IV, but the name also describes the historically distinctive period of art, literature, fashion, and popular culture between 1795 and 1837.… Read more Austen’s Regency
For the next 6 weeks it is going to be all Regency Era, all the time here. Why? Because on 16 December (the birthday of She Who Is Greatness – Jane Austen) my book Mansfield Parsonage will be released by Made Global Publishers. This makes me soooooooo happy! The book is a retelling of Austen’s… Read more The Regency Era, Mansfield Park, and Me
I am a huge and avid fan of Jane Austen and her works. I am a Janeite, and I wear that badge proudly because as an anthropologist I believe the academic mindset that named those who appreciate Jane Austen the “wrong” (read: non-academic “popular culture”) way is full of “high-culture” baloney. You do not have… Read more The Best Colonel Brandon
Like most people, I have accepted the ‘given’ definition of Luddite as someone who fears technology. I even, being the word-geek that I am, knew the term originated from machine-breakers in the early ninetieth century. The reasons the Luddites broke new automated looms was because the feared and hated new devilish technology, right? Wrong. The… Read more I’ve been using the word “Luddite” wrong
I am working on my next book, which is requiring me to take a deeper look into Regency Era Britain. As a long-standing Austenite and reader of modern day Regency romances (many of which are VERY well researched in terms of mores, manners, and dress) I have had the tendency to look at 1811-1820 Britain… Read more The Regency Era