I got a bit of good news last week. NAL is going to reissue my Christmas novella Upon a Midnight Clear in October! This first appeared in the Regency Christmas Magic anthology, and now gets new life along with 3 other random novellas (though I don’t know what they are). I am very excited about this, as UAMC was one of my favorite stories I did at Signet, the tale of an injured Naval captain and a reclusive Jamaican woman who find love and new life together on a chilly Christmas in Cornwall.

I always really looked forward to the Signet Christmas anthologies. There’s just something cozy and fun about Regency+Christmas! I get out my collection every holiday season and pile them up by the tree. Whenever the crazy season gets to me, I curl up with a cup of tea and an old favorite story. That sounds nice on a 90+ degree day like this one.

In other news, May 31 is the 199th anniversary of the death of composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Though he was a native of Austria, and spent most of his career in the service of the Esterhazy family, following them as they moved from palace to palace, he did enjoy some very productive visits to England between 1791 and 1794.

In 1790, Haydn’s employer Prince Nicolas Esterhazy died and was succeeded by a thoroughly un-musical prince who fired the whole musical establishment and put Haydn out to pasture with a pension. Haydn was then able to accept a lucrative offer from Johann Salomon, a German impresario, to visit England and conduct new symphonies with a large orchestra.

These visits were a huge success, with audiences flocking to Haydn’s concerts. Charles Burney wrote of the first concert, “Haydn himself presided at the pianoforte; and the sight of that renowned composer so electrified the audience, as to excite an attention and a pleasure superior to any that had ever been caused by instrumental music in England.”

Haydn was also inspired to create some of his best-known works, such as the Surprise, Military, Drumroll, and (of course!) London symphonies, the Rider quartet, and the “Gypsy Rondo” piano trio.

So, in honor of Christmas coming early, what are some of your favorite holiday traditions? Or some favorite pieces of music (holiday or otherwise?)

Alyssa, Debora Dennis, Crystalgb, Kathy, Santa, and Traveler, you have all won copies of Elizabeth Hoyt’s To Taste Temptation! Please email riskies@yahoo.com with your snail mail address to claim your prize…

This week seems to have been All About Love in my world! Love of all sorts. Love of the start of summer, of warm weather, sundresses, cookouts, hammocks, concerts in the park. Love of Starbucks Green Tea Frappucino, and re-reading old favorites (like I Capture the Castle and Middlemarch).

Love of weddings! My baby brother was married off last week to a woman who is kind, thoughtful, smart, and pretty, and their wedding was a joyful occasion. Laid-back and relaxed (after months of stressful planning, of course!), with lots of music, good food, and margaritas. Now I fear she is stuck with him, and the rest of us McCabes, forever! (I will post pictures next week…)

Love of a new perfume. Among the samples I ordered after reading Perfumes: The Guide was Guerlain’s Apres L’Ondee. It was described as having the delicate, tender scent of a garden after a rainstorm, and it does! It’s delicious, and actually smells good on me (a rarity). Love at first smell. Sadly, my new love us elusive. It’s no longer imported into the US, so when I go to Europe this fall I am tracking it down.

And love of writing! In the course of researching my latest Bath-set WIP, I found out you can actually get married at the Pump Room. How much fun would that be?? (As long as you didn’t make the guests toast with the water…)

You can also get married at the Brighton Pavilion. While I would wear a white muslin dress at the Pump Room, maybe with a little veiled bonnet, at the Pavilion I would go with something grander. Lace and velvet with a train, and a big tiara!

Or there is Hever Castle, family home of Anne Boleyn. The grand Tudor hall is available only in the winter months, so I can picture a white satin 1530s gown, with fur-lined sleeves and a pearl and crystal trim.

And last but not least, you can make a run for Gretna Green! Yes, you can actually elope (well, elope after considerable paperwork) over the border to an all-inclusive wedding chapel. I think they even have an anvil. Not sure what I would wear for this one, but it sure looks like fun!

What are you in love with this week? Which of these wedding choices would you go with?

Hello, Risky Readers! I’m back from my travels, and ready to get back to writing and blog-reading (after finishing the laundry, anyway). It was a wonderful trip, and in the next few weeks I’m sure I’m going to be using my research in lots of posts. It’s hard to narrow down what I liked best (chocolate eclairs, maybe?), but these were some favorites:

Versailles: I especially loved walking around the gardens (the weather was beautiful), and exploring the Domaine de Marie Antoinette (the Petit Trianon and the too-cute-for-words Hameau)

Artists’ walk in Montmartre: I saw where Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Picasso, and many others lived and worked (plus Amelie’s cafe!)

Bath: This was just a quick day trip, but I got to have tea with the lovely Nicola Cornick at the Pump Room! Also explored museums and walked along the Circus and the Royal Crescent (there was an exhbit of costumes from Miss Austen Regrets at the Jane Austen Centre)

The Globe: I went to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe; Shakespeare as it was originally seen! (Sort of–it was an evening show, with artifical lights. But still magical)

Lunch with the Harlequin editors: That’s Linda Fildew and Joanne Carr with my mother and me, at an adorable French restaurant near their offices in Richmond! They have promised to visit Risky Regencies very soon, so stay tuned.

All in all, a fabulous visit, despite the exchange rate. What have you all been up to in my absence?? I see I missed dancing, books coming out, and Isaac Mizrahi interviews!

And, just in case you’re in the Christmas spirit (and who isn’t on October 4??), A Homespun Regency Christmas is on shelves now. It features my novella Upon a Midnight Clear (one of my favorite things I wrote for Signet Regencies), along with stories by Sandra Heath, Carla Kelly, and Emma Jensen.

A bientot! Happy Saturday, everyone.

If it’s Saturday, I must be packing to hop on the Eurostar to head to London! What I’m doing there…

Stepping back to the 16th century at the Tower

Watching Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe! (and also wishing I had tickets to the RSC’s sold-out Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart)

Visiting Bath for the day (tea at the Pump Room!)

And hopefully taking in museums and eating fish-and-chips in fun pubs

Cheerio, and see you next week!