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Monthly Archives: October 2012

Potpourri and Other Melanges

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I am behind on my book so today you get this boring post plus some pictures. What the hey.

OK, wait, I have a better idea. Tell me in the comments what you’re reading now. Love? Hate? Meh?

I am reading Sherry Thomas’s The Bride Of Larkspear. It’s the erotic novel written by a character in one of her books and given to another character in one of her books and it’s really awesome so far. It’s self-pubbed, by the way. The two characters involved in the dirty book exchange are the hero and heroine of her current release, Temptintg the Bride. I haven’t yet read Tempting the Bride, it’s sitting in my Kindle. But it is the most amazing experience reading this novella and knowing I have the whole story yet to uncover.

It’s really fun and dirty and all the lovely emotion of Thomas.

Other reading includes Sherman Alexie’s Blasphemy. I am savoring the stories.

I bought a collection of erotica by an author I won’t mention.  Fail. I got confused in the first paragraph and then gave up after trying twice to make sense of it. The weird thing is, the writing wasn’t bad — it wasn’t the incoherent mess that can pop up in books you strongly suspect did not go through an editorial process. But she was plainly attempting to show off and you know what? No. How about you read what you wrote and fix it?

On that note, over at the Popular Romance blog, I wrote a post about the origins of the worst writing advice ever. (Did you see what I did there? I am very smooth.)

Here is a picture of a metal peacock:

This is a photo from nature. Which I took myself.

 

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My First “First Friday” Post – Covers, again!

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Hello everyone! Gail Eastwood here. I’m popping in for a visit thanks to the kind invitation of our Risky hostesses, most particularly Elena Greene, who has given me the opportunity to guest blog on first Fridays of alternate months. I am delighted to be here to share your gracious company and conversation, and also to help Elena gain a little more time to work on her newest work-in-progress. I have read a little of it and can’t wait for her to get it done!!

Some of you already know me, or may remember that I wrote Regencies for Signet back in the day, but for those who don’t, here’s a link to an interview Elena did with me a few months ago on this blog. Coming back to the writing realm after ten years makes me feel a little like Rip Van Winkle at times, so much as changed! It is indeed a brave new world, but I’m excited to jump into it.

If I may beg your indulgence, for this post I’d like to go back to the topic of cover art, picking up from Elena’s post of Sept 14. Elena shared her dilemma over “branding” her sexy short story Lady Em’s Indiscretion through her cover art. My own dilemma, as I prepared the first e-book reissue that I am doing myself, The Lady from Spain, was whether or not to go with a cover style similar to what the new Signet reissues have, or try something different.

The Signet reissue e-books have taken a very different approach to their cover design, and I have yet to see anyone discussing it or reacting to it, and I’m dying to know what people think! Three of my books are being done this way.

As you can see below, I opted for “different” for the ones I am doing myself–all part of the grand experiment. For LFS, I wanted something that would suggest the suspense of the story and still atleast hint at the Regency time period. The story takes place mostly in London… The reissue of The Captain’s Dilemma, my French prisoner-of-war story pubbed in 1995, is not ready yet, but I will be working on converting it next!

 

Here are the old versions of those covers. You can see more on my website or on my author pages at Amazon.

What “branding” messages do you get from the new ones? Like them? Dislike them? Do you want to see the characters, and if so, do you want to see both hero and heroine? What would you do instead?
If you’re interested in covers and/or how the designs have changed over time, here’s a link to a great website devoted to covers done by artist Allan Kass, who painted many Signet and other covers over a long career. It’s fun to look for your favorite authors in the archives, and sometimes recognize a favorite book!
Finally, I’m offering a free copy of The Lady from Spainto one lucky commenter, whose name will be drawn and announced by next Friday. So, please, join the conversation! And if you’d like to be part of the drawing, please be sure to include your preference for Kindle or Nook (the only formats available currently) or if you’re willing to wait for one of the other formats which will be available soon. Oh, and your email address!
Thanks so much for letting me visit with you today!
Posted in Giveaways, Regency | Tagged , , , , , , , | 18 Replies

Winner of THE LADY FROM SPAIN by Gail Eastwood!

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I asked my younger son to draw the name for the winner of the free copy of The Lady From Spain. The one he pulled was Karen H. in NC!

Congratulations, Karen! I guess it really was worth the extra postings, eh? I am off at the New Jersey Romance Writers “Put Your Heart in a Book” Conference this weekend and am away from my computer, so if I don’t find a moment and a method to get the book to you this weekend, please be patient, and I’ll take care of it as soon as I get home!

Thank you, everyone, for your comments on the cover art, and thanks again to those of you who entered the drawing. So sorry you couldn’t all win! I hope you’ll consider trying one of my books, anyway, if you haven’t read one before. If you’re curious, you can find info about each of them on my website, www.gaileastwoodauthor.com.

 
Gail Eastwood
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Bug Control – Regency Style

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This weekend we had an ant infestation in our kitchen. Naturally, this would happen when the exterminator wasn’t available. We had to battle the army of ants all by ourselves. I went to the internet to see what weapons we might use against this assault.

I now know more than I ever wanted to know about ant control. Turns out you not only have to remove the temptation (In this case, sugar. Apparently some ants have a sweet tooth; other ants crave other things), you have to interrupt their scent trails. I wiped everything down in vinegar, but that didn’t seem like enough. One of the suggestions was to spray a mixture of essential peppermint oil and water in the areas where it was suspected the ants entered. Well, I had essential peppermint oil, but I didn’t have a spray bottle. Besides, I thought, if a dilution of essential oil would work, how much better could it be if I didn’t dilute it?

I sprinkled full-strength peppermint essential oil all around the window and the sink.

Five hours later, the scent of peppermint was still so strong it made us all feel sick. It made even pizza taste funny.

Today we’ve seen some strays, but I’m still hopeful we’ve solved the problem. I got to thinking. What would a housekeeper have done about an ant infestation in Regency times?

I could not find out what they would have done about ants in Regency times, but I did learn a little about “bug control.”

This is from The Art of Cookery Made Plain And Easy; which Far exceeds any Thing of the Kind yet published by Mrs Glasse (1784)



The Toilet and Cosmetic Arts in Ancient and Modern Times by Arnold J. Cooley (1866) tells about how to get rid of parasites, like the head louse (stiff brush, “occasional” soap and water, and pomade), the body louse (regular bathing), and the crab louse (a solution of corrosive sublimate and sal-ammoniac in soft-water), but I can hardly bear thinking about having to battle such bugs. Cooley also recommends tobacco smoke to drive away insects, such as mosquitos, gnats, and bed bugs. That just goes to show that insects aren’t dumb enough to want to breathe in tobacco smoke. 

Have you come across any other Regency era insect exterminating practices? 
Or, how do you get rid of ants?

Look for a new contest at my website today!

*The picture is “Mrs Sperling Murdering Flies” from Mrs. Hurst Dancing by Diana Sperling, charming watercolors created during the Regency. 

Posted in Regency, Research | Tagged , , | 9 Replies

Nothing says hot romance….

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like a water buffalo!

This is a plea for help on my current blog tour which so far is a little too quiet and well-behaved. I’m publicizing Hidden Paradise and doing good by pledging $1 per comment to Heifer International, up to $250 which is the “price” of a water buffalo. I mean, what’s not to love? Big horns. Big snuffly nose. Cud chewing. You don’t get nearly enough cud chewing by heroes, let me tell you. Can you name a book where the hero chews his cud in a ruminating sort of way? I can’t.

You can also win some backlist books, so it’s a win-win all round. Here’s the full schedule, thanks to Goddess Fish.

Here are today’s posts at United By Books and Rachel Leigh Romance.

Please help me spread the word and check out my guest posts where there are excerpts and fascinating details of my life.

Thanks! And right now I’m off to JASNA on a bus and I hope I’ll have some pics to post next week. T

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