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Author Archives: Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

About Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

Writer (as Amanda McCabe, Laurel McKee, Amanda Carmack), history geek, yoga enthusiast, pet owner!

One Wicked Christmas

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Happy Tuesday, everyone! How was your Halloween? Mine was fabulous–the weather was great, my little goddaughter had a good first Trick Or Treating (though a bit slow, considering she just started walking), and I managed not to eat too much candy. A good time was had by all. And now on to the next holiday–Christmas!

Or at least Christmas in fiction. I have a new Harlequin Historical Undone short story out for November, One Wicked Christmas, a tale of friends-to-lovers against the backdrop of a naughty holiday house party…

London, 1806

Lady Cassandra Osborne is ready to take a new lover to her bed—and knows exactly the man she wants: Sir Ian Chandler, her late husband’s rakish best friend. The single kiss they’d shared had made her feel alive again, awakening dark needs she didn’t even know she had…though Ian had quickly pulled away. Cassie is sure he doesn’t want her, until their reunion at a Christmas house party tempts them to succumb to the desire that has haunted them both….

I know it’s a bit early to be thinking about Christmas (at least for me! I am barely over Halloween…), but to get us in the holiday spirit I will be giving away a free download of One Wicked Christmas to one commenter today. Just tell us what you did for Halloween, your favorite Christmas tradition, what kind of holiday stories you like…anything at all….

And if you don’t win a copy, you can buy One Wicked Christmas at eHarlequin or Amazon…

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Halloween!

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So next M0nday is my very favorite holiday–Halloween! Unlike, say, Christmas or Thanksgiving, there is no weird family stuff, no obligations, no gifts to buy, just candy and dressing up and fun. I love it–especially the dressing up! This year I am going to be a French maid, if my modiste finishes my costume on time…

Halloween has its origins about 2000 years ago, in the Celtic festival of Samhain (summer’s end). It marked the death of summer and the beginning of the new year, and the boundaries between life and death were thought to be thinner. It was a moment of change, of magic and supernatural power. The Romans adapted this into the harvest festival of Pomona, goddess of the harvest, and the Christians made it All Soul’s Day. Trick or treat has its origins in the Middle Ages, in parades where the poor would go door to door begging for “soul cakes” in return for prayers for the cake-givers’ deceased relatives.

I’ve been doing lots of research on the Victorian era for my current WIPs, and like so many Victorian holidays Halloween became a bigger deal during the later 19th century than it had been before. The Victorians loved any excuse to have a party, and they also loved spooky, ghost-y things (seances, mediums, mourning jewelry, etc). Halloween became more romantic and sentimental, centering around divination games (like the “looking glass spell,” where a girl could see her future husband in a mirror), harvest-type games like bobbing for apples, ghost story-telling, and general partying with friends. There are some adorable Victorian Halloween postcards!

So to celebrate the holiday, let’s look at some examples of mourning jewelry and those adorable postcards….












BTW,for a good site about Victorian mourning jewelry you can go here…

What are you doing this Halloween? Any mirror games??

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JASNA Fun!

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Happy Tuesday, everyone! I just got back Sunday evening from the JASNA AGM in Fort Worth celebrating the 200th anniversary of Sense and Sensibility, and it was a fabulous time. I met other Janeites (which is a relief to my family, since they get sick of me talking about Austen novels and movies so much! That was not a problem there–no one ever gets sick of Austen in JASNA….), ate some fabulous food, bought too many books and other stuff in the Austen emporoium (including a Pride and Prejudice board book for my one-year-old goddaughter–you can can never start P&P too early!), and got to spend time with Risky Janet (who declared herself my “chaperone” for the Saturday night ball!). It was a great weekend.

Since there were about 10 workshops in each session, I wasn’t able to go to everything I wanted. But here are a few things I did make it to:

1) Victoria Hinshaw’s “The Sensible Regency Wedding” (Vicky wrote some fabulous Regencies for Kensington, and it was great to get to see her again…plus to hear about respectable and not-so-respectable marriages!)

2) “Chawton House Library Asks; Are You An Elinor or a Marianne?” (actually a discussion of the vogue for “sister novels” and their meanings in the Romantic age. I especially enjoyed hearing about a short 37-page story titled The Castle of Montabino, an adventure story involving scandal, kidnappings, ghosts, good and evil twins, and moral lessons…)

3) “Sense and Sensibility as Austen’s Problem Novel”

4) Plus workshops on snuff and cravats, Fanny Burney, horrid novels, the Emma Thompson adaptation, and Austen’s writing income (among other things!).

I did not dance much on Saturday, but I think Janet did not sit out a set! And I tried my hand at cards but was pretty hopeless at it (as usual). And I loved looking at all the wonderful gowns…

I think the highlight of the conference was listening to Andrew Davies in his lecture “Mr Darcy’s Wet Shirt and Other Embarrassments: Some Pleasures and Pitfalls in Austen Adaptations“–he was so much fun to listen to. Janet and I decided they should have a whole conference centered around watching the adaptations while he told anecdotes and insights.

I am still tired from all the adventures this weekend! I had to force myself to get up off the couch (where I had laid down to watch my S&S DVDs) and get back to writing today, but I’m also feeling very inspired.

What would you want to do if you went to the JASNA AGM? What workshops would you like to see? Which is your favorite film adaptation???

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JASNA Etc…

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I am so excited! This weekend I will be headed down to Fort Worth, TX for the JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America)’s AGM. I have wanted to go to this for many years, but the timing was never right until now. I get to wear my new Regency gown, listen to some great workshops, and best of all room with Risky Janet. Look for more info here next week…

Since I’m trying frantically to pack and also finish this chapter on the WIP, I am turning today’s post over to you–what was the first Austen you ever read?? What is your favorite? Which one do you feel like reading right now?

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New Things

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Uh-oh! I almost did what Janet did last week–completely forget what day it is. Somehow it seemed like a Monday….

I don’t watch a whole lot of TV. I have shows I get obsessed with and MUST watch (like my late, lamented Deadwood, Mad Men–which won’t be back until March 2012, and Vampire Diaries, though I’ve only seen one episode so far of the new season), but don’t spend a whole lot of time on it. Last week I heard some good things about the new Zooey Deshcanel show New Girl and decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did, because it is hilarious!

The premise is this girl (Jess), who is very quirky and dorky, has a messy break-up with her boyfriend and ends up living with 3 guys as roomates. I tried to imagine how this would work in the Regency. I suppose it could be a girl who has 3 older brothers, all of them over-protective of her as she stumbles her way through the Season looking for the perfect match. I could imagine all sorts of awkward, funny situations our heroine and her well-meaning but exasperating brothers could get into as she sorts through suitors looking for the perfect hero!

What shows inspire you??? What other strange places do you look for inspiration?

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