Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Today's bon bon: Emily in Paris and Those Notorious Americans, now and then!

Buy Link to series: https://amzn.to/3yOzLll

Emily in Paris
is my newest rage on Netflix! And she is SUPERB! I adore the scenery, most of it in Paris. (You learn French by watching!) The views of Montmartre are yummy!

In every book in my family saga, THOSE NOTORIOUS AMERICANS, we see Paris as it was in the age of Monet and Renoir, the dancers of the cancan, and the glorious fashions.

In RAVISHING CAMILLE, we go to a joint exhibition of Duc de Remy, my Rodin-like sculptor hero, and Claude Monet. Rodin and Monet did really have a joint exhibit in 1889! In RAVISHING CAMILLE, I changed it to be a few months earlier!


https://books2read.com/u/bMRvzG


Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Today's bon bon: A young wealthy widow never needs a new husband. Does she?


Lady William Downs revels in her reputation as a Society dragon, a Diamond (still!) at her age, too—and a widow of independent means.
Colonel Lord Magnus Augustus Welles is home from the savagery of the wars. Heir to his ailing father the Duke of Ruscombe, Magnus wants a wife—and he knows just who that will be. But the lady doth protest too much.
To woo her is easy.
To win her he’ll persuade her with the best gifts of all—a new phaeton, horses—and, yes, himself. In all the racy ways she’s never enjoyed!
BUY LINK:
https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Youre-Mine-Naughty-Ladies-ebook/dp/B0BQ8TJBT9

Remember that famous song by the Beach Boys?
Here is my version!  99 cents now!
Well, she got her papa’s phaeton. 
And she crashed the village vegetable stand, now
Seems she forgot all about the library
Like she told her old man, now
And with the villagers yelling
She goes cruising just as fast as she can now
Til her papa takes her phaeton away.

The younger ladies can’t stand her
Cause she drives like an ace now
She makes the drive thru town look like a chariot race now.
A lot of men try to catch her
But she leads them on a wild goose chase now.
She vows she’ll have fun fun fun, but no husband’ll ever take her phaeton away!

Years later, she knew all along
That her marquess was getting wise to her, now
And when he eyed her set of horses
She’s been thinking that her fun was all through now
But he’s caught her and his kisses say
They’ve got alot of loving to do now
They’ll have fun, fun fun as her husband drives her and her phaeton away!
***
The Preorder is LIVE! 99 cents now!

Monday, December 19, 2022

Today's bon bon: In 1888, how much did a writer earn from a publisher to whom she sold her novel?

Buy Link:
 https://amazon.com/dp/B096PQTJQD
Pierce Hanniford and Camille Bereston in RAVISHING CAMILLE discuss what she earns writing gothic novels. This is 1888 and in England, a publisher could buy the rights to a book outright. Pay a small fee, such as 500 GBP. 

The book was usually on the stands for 6 months at which point, it went to a “railroad edition” that sold for less. An author would not make much money, unless he/she wrote quickly—and published another book!


Monday, December 12, 2022

Today's bon bon: How to get a job in Regency Britain? Post an advert!


 If you wanted a position in Britain in the Regency period, you might apply to a registry in your home town. Registries took applications from those who wished to work as servants, companions, groomsmen or more. Any kind of servant in a household might register with the firm, the owners of which examined the applicant for references for good character and experience.

But another way to find a job was to take out an advertisement touting your capabilities. In these, you could declare how prim, proper, educated and eager you were for such a position.

Advertisements cost little. They also worked well because newspapers had wide circulations and they too cost as little as three pennies per copy.

Here is a sample of two ads, one taken by a lady and another by a man!

Friday, December 2, 2022

Today's bon bon: Chambord, a dream or a nightmare?

My husband and I outside famous Chambord!
The French king, Francis the First, spent enormous amounts of money building chateaux and palaces for himself. The most lavish was famous CHAMBORD...and also the most useless. 

After he had it built (and its cost bankrupted Francis yet again), those who attempted to live in it complained of how difficult it was to go up or down or even from one end to the other. 

Why?

Francis insisted on the most wide rooms, the most wide passages or none at all, in the vein of rooms that were en filade or one leading into another. he has a glorious inner spiral staircase, treacherous to walk in good shoes. Trust me, I know! And the outer staircases, built for servants to use to run errands and bring dinner etc., are even more dangerous. 

Why? 

Because they are open to the elements, rain and snow and sleet can enter and...well, you know how difficult that is to navigate in snow shoes. 
The elaborate roof line of Chambord!
The Long Hall in Chenonceau, seen in THE SERPENT QUEEN!

The truth is that Chambord was inhabited fewer than 30 days because of its very nature. Hard, cold, fearsome, it is. No matter how idyllic it may seen from the outside.

Do go visit. See for yourself.

And while you are there, visit Amboise and Chenonceau and Blois. All of these are far lovelier and more romantic.