Shalloons— and Other Wool Textiles

Highlighting Historical Romance with Bronwyn Parry on historical wool textiles. Calamanco, camblet, lastings, shalloons… chances are, you may never have heard these terms. They’re the names of various worsted (wool) textiles that have virtually disappeared from our cultural memory, and yet they were once so common that everyone in Georgian and Regency Britain would have […]

Paradise is a Garden

Highlighting Historical Romance with Jude Knight’s thoughts on inspiration in a garden Creative inspiration is an amazing thing. Artists — storytellers in particular — are often asked where their ideas come from. The answer ‘everywhere’, though true, is unhelpful. What questioners really want to know is ‘why did this idea strike you at this time’. […]

Georgian Home Design

Highlighting Historical Romance with Cerise DeLand on the little details that make an English house a heroine’s home. I’ve often delighted in touring English houses. In every nook and cranny, I’ve found little joys that I’ve tried to add in my novels. In my fictitious Dudley Crescent that I invented for this series, Delightful Doings […]

The Biggest, Longest Party

Highlighting Historical Romance with Nina Beaumont and insights into the Congress of Vienna. I have just released SAPPHIRE MAGIC, book 1 of my 5-book Fearless Women Historical Romance Series. The story takes place during the Congress of Vienna, and I would like to tell you a bit about this fascinating period. If my heroine, Arabella […]

Gun Rights and Armed Retainers

Highlighting Historical Romance with Jude Knight on gun rights and constitutional law in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. I was researching English gun rights before the recent massacre in my peaceful little country. I wanted to know what English law said about armed retainers in the early nineteenth century, because I want my characters […]

Valentines and Plausibility

Highlighting Historical Romance with Valentines From Bath You might think a novella, shorter and often simpler than a full novel, would not require much research. You might be wrong. Writers of historical romance always begin with questions. Questions breed research. Sometimes they lead us down the infamous rabbit hole. One thing to keep in mind: […]

Buy the Best! Two hundred years of advertising

Highlighting Historical Romance with Jude Knight I’m doing the pre-format check of the Bluestocking Belles’ latest box set, Valentines from Bath, and I’ve been creating relevant advertisement to use as breaks between stories. To get them correct, I’ve dived into one of my favourite research resources: the British Newspaper Archive. This database offers nearly 30 […]

Wake Up Muses!

The ladies in the basement, the muses that live deep in my unconscious got a bit sleepy over the holidays. My first week back got eaten up by announcements and promotion for Valentines From Bath, (You can check that little treasure out here) but they need to wake up now. I managed to take a look […]

Pie For Breakfast!

Why not cherry pie for breakfast? The holiday season is one long balancing act between hard work, extra effort, meditation, and celebration. I chose to start today with some leftover celebration. I couldn’t just leave it sitting all by its lonesome in that pie pan, could I? I’m running around on a gimpy foot so […]

The Follow Your Star Holiday Hop

Greetings! I wish you all the best this holiday season on behalf of the Bluestocking Belles.   Welcome to our holiday blog hop in celebration of our new collection of holiday stories, Follow Your Star Home. Be sure to check below for special sale pricing and the Blog Hop Giveaway I offer you the gift […]