Monthly Archives: December 2009

Looking Backwards

I’ve been looking at the statistics for this blog, and selected some of the year’s most-visited posts for your delectation. My Favorite Girls Dressed As Boys – romance edition. Nifty Stuff That Ought To Be In Romance Novels.Normative Heterosexuality and … Continue reading

Posted in links, reading, writing | Comments Off on Looking Backwards

Visiting Leah Braemel’s Blog

I’m a guest today over at Leah Braemel’s Blog, chatting about some of my writing goals for the new year.

Posted in guest | Comments Off on Visiting Leah Braemel’s Blog

Setting and Characterization Through Food

This post was originally written for the Romance Junkies blog. I love food, both eating it and reading about it, and that interest sometimes translates into my work. I use food for several different purposes, most notably to establish setting … Continue reading

Posted in writing, writing craft | Comments Off on Setting and Characterization Through Food

Did You Know Bach Had a Father?

I post this section from Patrick O’Brian’s The Ionian Mission because I love it for what is says about Bach (Johann Sebastian) as well as about Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. O’Brian was an incredible writer, and I think this … Continue reading

Posted in music, quotes | Comments Off on Did You Know Bach Had a Father?

Charlotte Mew, "The Cenotaph"

The Cenotaph September 1919 Not yet will those measureless fields be green againWhere only yesterday the wild sweet blood of wonderful youth was shed;There is a grave whose earth must hold too long, too deep a stain,Though for ever over … Continue reading

Posted in mew, wwi poetry | Comments Off on Charlotte Mew, "The Cenotaph"

Rumi, "Love Is the Master"

I’ve always thought this poem would be a great background or theme for a romance novel. # Love is the Master Love is the One who masters all things;I am mastered totally by Love.By my passion of love for LoveI … Continue reading

Posted in poetry, rumi | Comments Off on Rumi, "Love Is the Master"

Father Christmas, 1914

Christmas, 1914: Father Christmas putting presents in soldiers’ boots.

Posted in holiday, images, research, wwi | 1 Comment

Be Like a Bug

“All that energy we expend to keep things running right is not what’s keeping things running right. We’re bugs struggling in the river, brightly visible to the trout below. With that fact in mind, people like to make up all … Continue reading

Posted in quotes, writing | Comments Off on Be Like a Bug

Alas, Poor Wallis

I’m on vacation until the new year, but I set up some blog posts anyway. There will be a slight lack of introspective musings on writing and genre in them, but hopefully some entertainment value. Behold one of the most … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Alas, Poor Wallis

Excerpt from a War Nurse’s Diary: The Retreat

In The Moonlight Mistress, it’s mentioned in passing that Antwerp fell to the Germans. Here’s a first-person account about that event which I didn’t get to use in my novel (yet!). ### Excerpt from A War Nurse’s Diary: Sketches From … Continue reading

Posted in moonlight mistress, research, wwi | Comments Off on Excerpt from a War Nurse’s Diary: The Retreat