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‘I treat The Regency era as if it were a foreign country, and attempt to suss out the nuances of living there,’ says historical romance writer Ella Quinn, our latest guest at The Literary Lounge. A relative ‘newbie’, Ella Quinn has burst onto the historical romance writing landscape like a whirling dervish. She has … Continue readings
Tags : 'The Marriage Game', Desiring Lady Caro, Ella Quin, Ella Quinn, RWA, The Beau Monde, The Regency
The introduction of a risqué novel or pamphlet to link books in series is a well-used literary device and one that’s been employed to varying degrees of success. Caroline Linden utilises it to great effect in It takes a Scandal, her newest book and the second title in the ’50 ways to sin’ series, … Continue readings
Tags : '50 ways to sin', Caroline Linden, historical romance, It Takes A Scandal, Love and Other Scandals, RITA
‘Writing is a skill as well as a talent,’ says Caroline Linden, award-winning author of 12 novels, 2 short stories and 2 novellas. ‘Anyone can get better.’ Certainly if one were to pick up Linden’s CV and review her credentials, writing probably wouldn’t be the career that would immediately spring to mind … academic or … Continue readings
The statement ‘grown men don’t cry’ is, for me, on a level with ‘real men don’t eat quiche’ – both beg the question ‘why?’ The same thought may possibly have crossed journalist Anthony Holden’s mind at some point. Together with his youngest son, Ben, Holden compiled this eclectic collection of moving poems, chosen by … Continue readings
“‘Some girls marry because they want to, because they’ve found the man they want to go through life with, but most marry because they have no other choice. A single woman has very few options in this world, so for many women it’s a compromise. They marry for security, for wealth or position, and the … Continue readings
Tags : Anne Gracie, Australian author, historical romance, Regency, RITA, The Autumn Bride, The Winter Bride
Once you have kept a Siamese cat you would never have any other kind. They make wonderful pets and are so intelligent they follow you around like little dogs.” Perhaps a tiny bit of stretch, Vivien Leigh, while not a writer herself per se, is so completely embedded in the public psyche as … Continue readings
Tags : cat, Great Cats, Laurence Olivier, New Boy, Poo Harris, Siamese, Tissy, Vivien Leigh
Texas-born writer Julia London is an award-winning romance writer of more than 20 books, including the acclaimed historically based ‘Hadley Chase’ series. A former public administrator, who worked at the White House, before returning to her native Texas, London has recently been nominated for the RITA 2014 best romance novella for The Bridesmaid (2013). … Continue readings
Award-winning American writer Caroline Linden‘s first book, What a Woman Needs, was published in 2005 by Zebra. Since then, she has written 12 novels and several short stories/novellas, mostly Regencies. ’50 ways to sin’ SERIES: Love and Other Scandals (2013); It Takes a Scandal (2014) Q&As/INTERVIEWS: ‘Caroline Linden – 50 ways to write a … Continue readings
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is one of the most influential pieces of 20th-century literature, as well as being a masterpiece in its own right. Since its original publication, it has been reprinted, translated, repackaged and reformatted countless times in striking editions, with just as striking jackets. For me, though, the first Random House book, published … Continue readings
Love Safe Comforting Understanding Lodestar Liberal Fearless Pugnacious Dignified Bright Interested Interesting Engaging Funny Giggling Beautiful Luminous Fantastic Cultured Stubborn Proud Shy Amiable Liked Bon vivant Tired Life-shocked Frustrated Sad Alone? Lonely? Frightened? Fighter Daughter Sister Woman Mother Loved. Loved. Loved. Also of interest: ‘The not-so-invisible woman: 150 greats in words‘ … Continue readings
Tags : celebration, international women's day, love, mother, motherhood, woman, women
Captain Wentworth’s love letter to Anne Eliot, Persuasion – the most beautiful love letter in literature surely? Even better than Darcy’s to Elizabeth… I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, … Continue readings
A rare bit of footage featuring an interview on Arlene Francis’s ‘Home’ with Charles Eames (with Ray in the background). In it, he discusses their various chairs and introduces the Eames Lounge Chair for Herman Miller. Ray is very much treated as ‘Mrs Eames’, Charles’s ‘helper’. Oh, you wouldn’t get away with that today. … Continue readings
Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art – Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night And watching, with eternal lids apart, Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite, The moving waters at their priestlike task Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores, Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask Of snow upon the … Continue readings
Iconic American folksinger and civil-rights activist Pete Seeger sadly passed away on Monday evening. Seeger, who was 94, was key to the development of the 20th-century folk–political music movement, influencing musicians ranging from Bob Dylan and Don MacLean to Billy Bragg and Bruce Springsteen. The latter’s 2006 album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions … Continue readings
‘I have no words for you, my dearest … You are mine, I am yours’ – Letter No 1 Sunday. I have no words for you, my dearest, – I shall never have – You are mine, I am yours. Now, here is one sign of what I said: that I must love … Continue readings
Tags : Alfred Stieglitz, Anne Boleyn, Charlie Parker, Elizabeth Taylor, famous love letters, Fanny Brawne, Georgia O'Keeffe, Henry VIII, Honore de Balzac, Immortal Beloved, John Keats, Josephine, letters from the heart, literary romances, Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas, love letters, Ludwin van Beethoven, Napoleon, Oscar Wilde, Pliny the Younger, Richard Burton, same sex love, Tudor love letters, Violet Trefusis, Vita Sackville-West