Skip to main content
Christmas is complicated.

I keep seeing things about simplifying Christmas while the next thing on my feed is about something new I can do to add to my Christmas traditions. I think we are a bit like hamsters in a wheel. So I was considering Christmas Regency style. At first thought, I had some romantic notion that  Christmas in the Regency era would have been much more simple but as I pondered that premise a bit longer it soon became obvious that Christmas could not have been very simple because they had to make pretty much everything from scratch! Sure, they had servants to do most of the manual labor - but that made Christmas anything but simple for them! Actually cutting down your tree without anything electrical to either cut it or transport it, gathering garlands and holly from the woods, arranging a lot more candles and having to hand light every stinking one! Phew, makes me tired just thinking about it. And then there was all the extra cooking, extra in quantity and extra in difficulty. No Sara Lee for them! And the extra people meant extra linens to prepare and wash and fires to light. Conclusion: Christmas is complicated now and then and perhaps that is part of what makes it special.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bookclubs

I'm back from traveling to Europe and about to leave town again so I thought it was time to add a post to my blog. Since the release of my book I have been invited to share my thoughts at three book clubs with another planned for after Christmas and it is so much fun! I am loving the interaction with people who have read my book. We have had some great discussions about prejudices, adoption, nasty relatives and the writing process. In life, when we step out of our comfort zone and try new things it can go one of two ways; success or failure. But for me there has been additional path: it has been an unexpected delight to experience positive, unintended consequences such as meeting my readers. Little did I think when I was tapping away on my computer two years ago that the publication of my book would lead me to meet so many new friends. Comforts zones are safe places, which is why we like them, and not every new venture will end in success or great unintended consequences, but s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Trying a New Genre

Though I write Regency Romance (and children's historical fiction), my very favorite genre to read is the "Whodunnit", the classic murder mysteries of Agatha Christie fame. It was her books, in fact, that made me into a reader as a child. These mild mysteries, that have had a following since Ms. Christie's days, seem to have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity of late under the genre name of Cozy Mysteries. The thought came to me a few months ago, "Since you like them so much you should try writing one!" So I am. I have created a dynamic duo, to borrow a phrase, who snoop out clues and help the local Bobbies. They are rich, beautiful and from the upper classes - because for some reason that's often how we like our heroines to be. This book will not reflect the politically correct culture of our day, but will try to capture the essence of life in the 1920's, while solving a crime. I think it will be a lot of fun!
1 comment
Read more

Thesaurus, I love thee!

The first draft of my work in progress is done and now I am onto the deep edit. I got what I wanted to say down and now I need to pretty it up, so to speak. This part of my writing process is grueling. This is when I get down in the dirt and wrestle with the words. This is when I exploit my thesaurus app. I use it so much I feel like I should contribute to their site! I circle all the times I use the same word in a chapter and then make lists of synonyms to see which word works better with which phrase. It is not a task for the faint-hearted. There are times when I find a word so perfectly suited for the sentence that I want to throw my fist in the air. There are other times when the perfect word is just out of reach. Imagining doing this without a thesaurus makes my brain hurt so this is a heartfelt tribute to the genius who decided that a book of synonyms was just what the world needed. Thank you!
Post a Comment
Read more