William Caxton – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Born in Hadlow, Kent around 1420, William Caxton traveled to London somewhere between the age of 14 and 16 to serve as an apprentice to a London merchant, When Caxton’s master passed, Caxton inherited a sum large enough to begin his own business. From London, Caxton traveled to Bruges, where he finished his apprenticeship and was later employed by Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy (sister to King Edward IV), likely as her financial advisor. She encouraged Caxton’s translation of the French tale, “The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye,” into English. From 1462 to 1470, Caxton served as governor of the English Nation of Merchant Adventures, where he negotiated contracts for his fellow merchants and acted as a diplomat for the King.
“In the epilogue of Book III of the completed translation, entitled The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, he [Caxton] tells how his “pen became worn, his hand weary, his eye dimmed” with copying the book; so he “practised and learnt” at great personal cost how to print it.” (Enclyclopedia Britannica)
In Cologne in the early 1470s, Caxton learned something of the printing business, a skill he brought back to Bruges and later to England. He joined forces with Flemish calligrapher Colard Mansion to set up a printing press. Caxton’s translation of “The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye” was the first book printed in the English language (1475). Caxton’s translation from the French of The Game and Playe of the Chesse (in which chess is treated as an allegory of life) was published in 1476.
“In 1476, when he was in his 50s, Caxton was back in London [in Westminster], and he started printing and selling books. This included very influential books, such as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, [Gower’s Confession Amantis], Le Morte d’Arthur, Sayengis of the Philosophres (Sayings of the Philosophers) and The Book of the Knight in the Tower, published 1484. This included some of the first verses in the Bible to be printed in English.
Al these thynges consydered, there can no man resonably gaynsaye but there was a kyng of thys lande named Arthur. For in al places, Crysten and hethen, he is reputed and taken for one of the nine worthy, and the fyrst of the thre Crysten men.
– William Caxton, Preface to Sir Thomas Malory Le Morte Darthur (1485)[Biography Online]
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Caxton printed more than 100 books in his lifetime. “Although a pioneer of printing in England, Caxton showed no great typographical originality and produced no books of remarkable beauty. Kings, nobles, and rich merchants were Caxton’s patrons and sometimes commissioned special books. His varied output—including books of chivalric romance, conduct, morality, history, and philosophy and an encyclopaedia, The Myrrour of the Worlde (1481), the first illustrated English book—shows that he catered also to a general public. The large number of service books and devotional works published by Caxton were the staple reading of most literate persons. He also printed nearly all the English literature available to him in his time.” (BBC-History)
Another of my favorites is White Christmas. What can I say? I am a sucker for a movie musical. Needless to say, the film was designed to highlight Bing Crosby’s release of the Irving Berlin classic “White Christmas.” The song made its debut in the 1942 film Holiday Inn. White Christmas (1954) brought a group of WWII veterans together to honor the man had led them through the trials of battle and is a spectacular lesson on respect and responsibility. The only thing I “dislike” about the film is I spend the next month singing “Sisters.” Just to mess with your mind, here are the lyrics so you might song along with me. 
“Gower’s English poems include In Praise of Peace, in which he pleads urgently with the king to avoid the horrors of war, but his greatest English work is the Confessio amantis, essentially a collection of exemplary tales of love, whereby Venus’ priest, Genius, instructs the poet, Amans, in the art of both courtly and Christian love. The stories are chiefly adapted from classical and medieval sources and are told with a tenderness and the restrained narrative art that constitute Gower’s main appeal
The lovely Jacki Delecki is back with a look at writing romantic suspense, as well as a fabulous giveaway. 
Book One: 
Book 2: 
Book 3: 
Jacki Delecki is a bestselling romantic suspense writer. Delecki’s Grayce Walters Series, which chronicles the adventures of a Seattle animal acupuncturist, was an editor’s selection by USA Today. Delecki’s Romantic Regency The Code Breaker Series hit number one on Amazon. Both acclaimed series are available for purchase at 
Christmastide (also Christmas or the Christmas season) is one of the seasons of the liturgical year of most Christian churches. It tends to be defined (with slight variations) as the period from Christmas Eve to the Epiphany. This period is also commonly known as the Twelve Days of Christmas, as referred to in the Christmas carol of the same name, or Yuletide, as in “Deck the Halls.” [
During the season, various festivities are traditionally enjoyed and buildings decorated. In some countries the superstition has arisen that it is bad luck to leave the decorations up after Twelfth Night.
Every Woman Dreams... 