Category Archives: book release

Guardianships During the Regency

So, who or what determined whether a person was a fit guardian? Guardianship during the Regency era had its strictures. For example, guardianship was not hereditary. If a guardian dies, someone had to apply to the Court in Chancery to be appointed the minor child’s next guardian. All children over the age of 14 had a right to suggest the person he or she wanted as guardian. Quite often two or three guardians were named in case one of them died before the child reached his/her majority. At one time, the guardians were the child’s godparents—2 males and 1 female for a male child and 2 females and 1 male for a female. The mother and her brother were often named. However, the mother lost her rights as guardian if she remarried. Continue reading

Posted in book excerpts, book release, excerpt, family, Georgian England, Georgian Era, giveaway, heroines, historical fiction, Inheritance, Living in the Regency, publishing, reading habits, Regency era, Regency romance, romance, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Honourable East India Company + the Release of “The Earl’s English Rose” + a Giveaway

The vast majority of men who went into East India Company employment had some family/friend connection who assisted them to become established. Such is why we often read how the hero has a distant relative who is a Director of the East India Company and assists him to earn a position with the firm. Alternatively, the hero of one’s tale could have been in military service; by the Regency era, the East India Company had its own private army and navy in India, with English officers and mostly Indian ‘sepoys’ (privates).

The man might be required to work in London for several years, likely something to do with their warehouses – as a writer or secretary or clerk, perhaps. Or he could work directly for East India House, possibly as a secretary to one of the directors. I found one mention (in The East India Company’s London Workers) of a minor aristocrat working as a warehouse laborer, although this would be very very uncommon (and probably unbefitting of a romance novel hero). Continue reading

Posted in book excerpts, book release, British history, eBooks, excerpt, Georgian England, Georgian Era, giveaway, historical fiction, publishing, Regency era, Regency romance, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Happy 4th Book Birthday to “Letters from Home”!!!

I particularly loved this story for I am a military brat and wife, and I adore a strong military hero. Major Lord Simon Lanford is just such a man. He is the “spare” in the Regency adage of “an heir … Continue reading

Posted in book excerpts, book release, British history, eBooks, Georgian England, Georgian Era, giveaway, historical fiction, Living in the Regency, marriage, military, primogenture, publishing, reading habits, Regency romance, romance, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Amending the Shades of Pemberley ~ Featured Today on @eBookDaily

CHECK IT OUT!!!! <a href=”http://<a id=”ebookdaily” href=”https://ebookdaily.com”><img id=”ebookdaily-img” alt=”I’ve been featured on eBookDaily” src=”https://ebookdaily.com/img/eBookDaily250.jpg”>http://<a id=”ebookdaily” href=”https://ebookdaily.com”><img id=”ebookdaily-img” alt=”I’ve been featured on eBookDaily” src=”https://ebookdaily.com/img/eBookDaily250.jpg”></a&gt;

Posted in Always Austen, book release | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘Kinder- un Hausmärchen’ + the Release of “Amending the Shades of Pemberley” + a Giveaway

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published the first volume of their collected fairy tales in 1812 under the title Kinder- und Hausmärchen. By 1822, the brothers had published three volumes containing 170 tales total with subsequent editions bringing that number to over 200. Continue reading

Posted in book excerpts, book release, books, British history, customs and tradiitons, eBooks, excerpt, Georgian England, Georgian Era, giveaway, historical fiction, history, Jane Austen, literature, Pride and Prejudice, publishing, reading, reading habits, real life tales, Regency era, Regency romance, research, tall tales, Vagary, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Cecil Sharp’s Influence on “Amending the Shades of Pemberley” + a Giveaway

As with many folk songs, the author and date of origin of “Hush, Little Baby” remain an unknown. The English folklorist Cecil Sharp collected and notated a version of this song found in Endicott, Franklin County, Virginia in 1918, but such simply means the song had been around much longer, passed down from generation to generation, with little changes in it depending on whether one’s ancestors were from Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, or Northwest Europe. Sharp, himself, found a different version with complete lyrics in Micaville, North Carolina. A version recorded by James Madison Carpenter on a wax cylinder in the early 1930s in Durham, North Carolina, can be heard online at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website. Naturally, that date is well past the time of my story, but Cecil Sharp discovered such songs over and over again. If you have never heard of Sharp, you will be surprised by all he accomplished. Continue reading

Posted in Appalachia, ballads, book excerpts, book release, British history, customs and tradiitons, eBooks, excerpt, Georgian England, Georgian Era, giveaway, historical fiction, Ireland, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, publishing, real life tales, Regency era, Regency romance, research, tradtions, Vagary, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Could Longbourn Be Lost to Mortgage Debt? + the Release of “Amending the Shades of Pemberley” + a Giveaway

Only registered debts like mortgages and those on which the stamps and fees had been paid were legally enforceable. The law of the time said an heir was only liable for debts to the sum of the assets he inherited. Most mortgages could be continued, just by paying the interest. Continue reading

Posted in aristocracy, book excerpts, book release, British history, eBooks, estates, finance, Georgian England, Georgian Era, giveaway, historical fiction, history, Inheritance, Jane Austen, laws of the land, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, primogenture, publishing, reading habits, real life tales, Regency era, Regency romance, research, Vagary, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost” + the Release of “Amending the Shades of Pemberley” + a Giveaway

However, for this story, I chose Love’s Labour’s Lost. The reason for my choice deals something with the theme(s) of Shakespeare’s tale. First, we have the wise reluctance of women in believing in love at first sight, which likely makes sense for most of you who are reading this post. The second is the immaturity of men. Continue reading

Posted in book excerpts, book release, British history, eBooks, Georgian England, Georgian Era, giveaway, Jane Austen, love quotes, playwrights, Pride and Prejudice, publishing, reading habits, Regency era, research, romance, Vagary, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

The Origin of “Humpty Dumpty” + the Release of “Amending the Shades of Pemberley” + a Giveaway

The most common version is Humpty Dumpty is a representation of King Richard III of England, who was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. The “egg” shape refers to King Richard supposedly being a “humpback,” as is portrayed in Shakespeare’s play. “Shakespeare called Richard III a ‘hunchback’, which means that he was hunching forward while walking. Richard III’s skeleton actually shows a sideways displacement of the spine, a heavy scoliosis, which made the king walk obliquely. So there is a certain match between the two: something unusual about the body.” (British Council) The “wall” falling is the loss of his reign as king. The king’s horses and men are the army who failed to defeat their enemy Continue reading

Posted in book excerpts, book release, British history, customs and tradiitons, eBooks, Georgian England, Georgian Era, giveaway, historical fiction, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, marriage, music, Pride and Prejudice, publishing, reading, Regency era, Regency romance, research, Vagary, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Lease and Release as a Plot Point in “Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way”

For Lease and Release to work, two agreements were required. First, a bargain (sale) contract was executed by the seller to convey a lease on the land… (Unlike an outright sale, short leases did not require enrollment in a public registry.) The seller then separately executed a release to grant to the buyer (who was now his tenant) the seller’s remaining interest. [This transfers] title to the buyer, since he now owned both the current and future interests in the land. [“A Bit of Deed History,” Bob’s Genealogy Filing Cabinet]  Continue reading

Posted in book excerpts, book release, British history, estates, family, Georgian Era, historical fiction, Inheritance, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, Vagary, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments