Flipping Bookworm

To find out more about Rosemary's work click on the cover above. Twelfth Night In England, Christians observe Epiphany 12 days after Christmas on January 6th to celebrate the Three Wise Men aka the Three Kings who visited Jesus. On this night, in many countries it is traditional to add their figures to the nativity scene. In fact, since childhood, one of my favourite Christmas carols has been We Three Kings of Orient are. I imagined the bright star, the lands they travelled through, the joy of visiting the holy infant and their gifts. I am still in awe when the first verse and refrain is sung. We three kings of Orient are Bearing gifts, we traverse afarGift of the Magi Field and fountain Moor and mountain Following yonder star. Oh, star of wonder, star of might Star with royal beauty bright Westward leading Still proceeding Guide us to thy perfect light. Apart from making a wish for the New Year there are many customs associated with Twelfth Night. In my classical Regency Romance, ...

If you’re reading this post on the 25th it means you’ve found a few minutes to yourself to put your feet up and take a small break from the busyness of the day. I’ll be taking it easy and recovering today as we have our Christmas meal and gift opening on Christmas Eve. I’m hosting the family this year so we’ll have twelve around the table. On the menu? Turkey with stuffing, pork loin roast, red cabbage, carrots with chives, festive mushrooms, potatoes and gravy, followed by rice pudding and cherry sauce. The rice pudding is a Danish tradition – if you find the whole almond in your pudding, you win the prized marzipan pig! One year both my daughters in law won. That's my brother, disappointed he was oh so close... I thought I might share a few of my favourite Christmas chuckles and if you follow my FB fan page , you know I’m a sucker for a good pun. On that note, I’ll sign off. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2020! Just a comment on the first one – ...

To find out more about Storm's Christmas and other books by Nancy please click on the cover. Christmas festivities change over the years. When we're young things are so simple. We always put the tree up on December 20th as that was my birthday. Mom and Dad never wanted to put the tree up earlier than that as we always had a real tree and they worried that it would dry out. We had these really cool bubble lights that were all different colors but got really hot when you left them on too long. There was a fluffy white angel on top. One Christmas Eve when we were still outside in the driveway just getting out of the car Wendy and I got a huge surprise. There, coming down the Cooney’s driveway, who were our next door neighbors, was Santa Claus! We both screamed and then bolted for the back door. If Santa came while were still up and awake he wouldn’t leave us anything. We tore through the back door into the kitchen and down the back hall to the bedroom. With our wet snow boots...

Click here for purchase information Click here to visit Eileen O'Finlan's website For the past few years I've been reading about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in the writing magazines to which I subscribe. It sounded interesting, but I had yet to give it a try. The goal is to write 50,000 words in thirty days starting on November 1st. I've been working on Erin's Children , the sequel to Kelegeen for some time. As with any historical novel, there is a ton of research to do before the writing can begin, continuing right up through the final draft. That eats up a lot of time, but it's necessary for an historically accurate story. Once I had enough research under my belt to begin writing, I realized that between a full-time job, caring for my mom who turned 93 in October, and various other obligations, I was having trouble finding time to write. So as November was approaching, I remembered that November is National Novel Writing Month and jumped on the Na...

Click the cover to find out more about Rosemary's books. Tis The Season to be Jolly Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly In the Georgian period, which includes the ever-popular Regency carol singers visited country houses decked with holly and laurel. In my novel, Wednesday’s Child, I imagined carol singers at the hero’s mansion on Christmas Eve. “Beyond the flight of steps which led up to the house, a group of men carried lanterns which cast a golden glow on the snow. One of the boys who accompanied them sang the first verse of The Holly and The Ivy. The holly and the ivy, When they are both full grown, Of all the trees that are in the wood, The holly bears the crown. His clear treble voice rang out across the snow concealing an imperfect lawn which stretched toward a belt of trees, their limbs stark against the night sky lit by a full moon and brilliant stars.” On Christmas Day after attending a church service, plum pudding, which contained thirteen ingredients that represented Ch...

Buy Here ~*~*~*~ Henry Hudson In the first decade of 17th century, Henry Hudson worked for several merchantmen companies, both in England and in Holland. His goal was to find the northern route to the Spicerie Islands in the South Pacific.  He worked for the Muscovy Company, East India Company, and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) . These companies pooled their resources, made their captains sign extensive contracts, gave them long lists of rules and regulations, then sent them on their way to find the easiest, fastest passage to spice ports of call. Henry's search for the NW Passage The route south through the Cape of Good Hope was fraught with danger, i.e., weeks of calm, scurvy, the bloody flux, pirates. Once into the Cape, there were added dangers of rogue waves that came from out of nowhere, swamping and sinking a ship to the depths. If it weren't for the ice that filled the northern regions, that route would be far easier to navigate. When men sailed north toward Greenl...

Haha, I know, a medieval knight hasn't got much to do with 1805 Cornwall but I love this eye catching cover! You can find it at your favourite online store HERE . In my blog post last month, I talked a bit about Cornwall and the large part smuggling played in its history. Research is actually one of the reasons why I enjoy writing historical romance as much as I do. It’s always interesting to see what curious bits I can find and in today’s post I thought I’d share a few of the anecdotes that caught my fancy. Once smuggled goods were dropped off on shore, the contraband made its way to inns and hostelries such as Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor. This inn is the inspiration for Daphne Du Maurier’s novel which now is on my to be read list. Then there’s the quick-witted landlady who hid a keg of spirits beneath her skirts during an unexpected search by the revenue men. Hmm, I don't think I'd have the nerve to do that. And it’s rumoured some villages had so much illegal gin the v...

                                                        Click here for purchase information                                                         Click here to visit Eileen O'Finlan's website It was my great pleasure to once again team up with fellow BWL author, Eileen Charbonneau for a couple of library talks and book signings. As some of you may already know, Eileen Charbonneau and I have the same name. (O'Finlan is a pen name. My real last name is Charbonneau). We didn't know it until about a year ago, but we are distant cousins. Maybe our shared DNA is what makes us such a great team. Whatever, the reason, I'm grateful for it as it is sheer joy to work with Eileen. We've created a presentation in two parts...

My Regency Romance Her Proper Scoundrel is available from your favourite online store HERE .  If you’ve read my first scene of Sophie, Book 1 of the Ladies of Harrington House series, you’ll know it takes place on a secluded beach somewhere on the English coast. (see my post of Aug. 8 here on the BWL Authors blog spot.) I had to come up with a reason why Lord Bryce Langdon appeared on the beach the same time as Sophie. So I thought why not have Langdon involved with local smugglers? Therefore when I chose the setting for the book, I needed a location conducive to smugglers and Cornwall came to mind. Its rocky cliffs, secluded beaches and large stretches of uninhabited land, coupled with few revenue men to patrol it made it the ideal location for illicit deliveries.  Smuggling became rampant during the 17 th and 18 th centuries when excise taxes and customs duties made every day goods prohibitively expensive for the ordinary citizen. These taxes were levied by a succession ...