Welcome everyone! Yes, I am actually posting a new blog after almost 2 years. Yikes! My poor blog has languished while I was on hiatus, of which I am quite ashamed, but sometimes a person needs to take a breather. Right? To quote the Roman poet Sextus Propertius~ “Always toward...
I am SO happy to be returning to a regular blogging schedule….and SO thankful to my faithful readers….and SO excited to welcome new visitors (who will hopefully become new readers of my novels)….that I simply MUST say thank you with a The official entry form, powered by Rafflecopter, is at...
Merry Christmas to all my wonderful, faithful readers and friends! I love meaningful quotes. Whether serious, inspirational, poetic, literary, or humorous, the well-crafted sentiments from clever people of the past are a joy to read. After the chaos of Christmas morning present opening wanes and the mess is cleaned, grab...
I doubt any of these words associated with the Christmas season are unfamiliar, but often the meanings and origins of even the most common words can be fascinating and surprising. At least to me, an avowed vocabulary nut! Read on for Christmas fun facts and knowledge (Additional fuel to dazzle...
I love Christmas and I love The Muppets! The late, great John Denver on the original The Muppets show. A terrific rendition of The 12 Days of Christmas. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – The Muppets Christmas Song. Mindy Kaling joins The Muppets for their Christmas group...
What Child is This? was written by William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898), the manager of an insurance company in Glasgow. In 1865, when only 29 years of age, Dix was struck with a near fatal illness and consequently suffered months confined to his bed. During this time, he read the Bible comprehensively and...
As my writing and publishing timeline moved on past the first three novels in The Darcy Saga, the timeline of events for the characters began to overlap in unusual ways. What do I mean? In early in 2010, just as I finished In the Arms of Mr. Darcy, my publisher...
CAUTION: Whenever looking into the past, we must remember the changes in values, ideas, and lifestyle over the course of time. Keeping that reality in mind, I’ve gathering a bunch of Christmas advertisements from decades past, and some not all that long ago, which to our modern eyes are questionable...
In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered — flushed, but smiling proudly — with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top. – Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol All of us, I presume,...
According to Clement Clark Moore, sugar-plums are so special that of all the possible delights a child might dream of, they top the list. The children were nestled all snug in their beds,While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads… So what exactly are these “sugar-plums” dancing in dreamland? At...
As my readers already know, the first three novels in The Darcy Saga series moved very slowly in time, covering the first year of Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy ended as the winter of 1816 turned into 1817 with spring budding on the horizon and Lizzy...
Decorating with Evergreen— Placing boughs of evergreens into the house is a practice dating to ancient times and present in numerous cultures for various reasons signifying life, prosperity, good luck, and so on. Church records dating to the 7th century tie evergreen boughs and trees to religious symbolism. Martin Luther...
The Darcy Saga novels detail roughly five years of Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage. When writing a saga-type series recounting the day-by-day and month-by-month events of life, it is inevitable to include scenes from several Christmas celebrations. Additionally, my novella A Darcy Christmas is ALL about my favorite holiday. I suppose...
Charles Wesley (1707-1788), younger brother of Methodist preacher John Wesley, is the author of this famous Christmas carol. Charles was a hymn writer and a poet, also known as one of the people who began the Methodist movement in the Church of England. Hark the Herald Angels Sing was composed specifically...
Santa Claus, tinsel on trees, Frosty the Snowman, reindeer pulling a sleigh… These are a few of the current Christmas images we are familiar with in the US. What about yule logs, a boar’s head, community wassail bowls, a king of misrule, mince meat pies, and figgy pudding? Rarely are...
