Flipping Bookworm

                                                                Please click this link for book and purchase information On a recent trip to Ottawa, Ontario, I went to a play. Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, a new work produced by Ottawa Little Theatre. Fans of Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice , will instantly recognize the cues in the play's title. Pride and Prejudice is the story of the five Bennet sisters, living in early 19th century England, in search of husbands for fulfillment and financial survival. The novel's hero, Mr. Darcy, owned Pemberley, a great estate. 'Pemberley' in one of the numerous Pride and Prejudice screen adaptations Christmas at Pemberley takes place two years after Pride and Prejudice . The play opens with Elizabeth Darcy nee Bennet admiring her newfangled holiday decoration, a ...

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...

more on Eileen's books Recently I had the delightful experience of visiting my local photographer Ana for a photo shoot at her studio for some new author photos.   First stop: my favorite hair dresser Joanna's Glamorama for a styling.  Then, cross the street to Ana. (I love small town life in Vermont!)  Ana also runs Anastasia's Closet a wonderfully curated vintage clothing store, so our session became a great dress up afternoon as well.  What fun! First, Ana helped me get comfortable by channeling my inner Mary Poppins... Then we got started on head shots. Only afterward did I realize that the dominant colors of both clothing and backgrounds were red, white and blue...fitting for an author of American historical novels, isn't it? Then came the job of choosing among many expressions. For that I enlisted my readers on Facebook.  I was delighted with the result...everyone had an opinion, it seemed! Can you guess which of these was the favorite for my new official ...

                                         Click this link for book and purchase information When my son was at university, he took a course in Canadian History. His final essay explored the 1968 federal election, which catapulted Pierre Trudeau to prime minister. I thought, this is history? It's my life. I was a teenager at the time and vividly recall myself and much of country getting swept away by the charming, sexy intellectual who breathed fresh air into the political establishment. Trudeaumania Recently, I heard the term Near History, for events that happened during your own, your parents' or your grandparents' lifetime, depending on your age. Many loosely define the period as mid-twentieth century, but the time frame seems to be creeping closer to the present day. At a writing event I attended this spring, an author noted that his novels set in the 1970s were borderline histori...