I’m late for an important date! I finally got around to drawing a winner for a signed copy of The Runaway Countess! It’s…Barbara Elness! Congrats, and I hope you enjoy. Email me your address at amccabe7551 AT yahoo….
I’m late for an important date! I finally got around to drawing a winner for a signed copy of The Runaway Countess! It’s…Barbara Elness! Congrats, and I hope you enjoy. Email me your address at amccabe7551 AT yahoo….
I’ve been so busy the last few weeks (trying to get ahead on the WIP, packing my 50 boxes of books for a move, taking care of a sick cat who has suddenly become very, very picky about his food….) that the beginning of September completely passed me by! And with the beginning of September I had a new book release. So I am talking about it today! Better late than never, right???
Wed to wickedness
In Society’s eyes, Hayden Fitzwalter, Earl of Ramsay and Jane Bancroft have the perfect marriage. But what can’t be seen are the secrets hidden behind closed doors. Believing Hayden will never renounce his dissolute ways, Jane flees to her family’s dilapidated estate in the country.
Years later, Hayden now longs to win back the only woman who has ever touched his heart. But first he has to convince her that this rogue is ready to be tamed….
BANCROFTS OF BARTON PARK …Two sisters, two scandals, two sizzling love affairs
This story felt very risky to me when I was writing it. I had never tried a “marriage in trouble” story before. My stories have always followed the general romance outline–meeting (or re-meeting), liking or hating, getting to know each other, falling in love, marrying. Maybe a villain or evil plot or two along the way! This time there was no meeting/falling (though I show glimpses in flashbacks, another risky thing for me, but I really wanted to show how happy they were at first, and what went wrong). This was a couple married in a time when marriage was nearly impossible to get out of, but who couldn’t bear to be together any longer. They felt broken. It almost broke MY heart, because I always want the best for my characters!!! It’s hard for me to be mean to them, even when it’s for their own good….
Unlike many historical romances, the bulk of the book is not centered on the couple winning each other into matrimony but on the healing of a struggling marriage, the revelation of their pasts (particularly Hayden’s) and how difficult it is to change even when that change is fervently desired. Add the mystery and danger of a hidden treasure and a truly distasteful man and McCabe has created an enjoyable romance with a different focus than most…I am eagerly awaiting book two. –Fresh Fiction
But honestly, Jane and Hayden needed to learn their lessons. It’s a story that’s common even now–they married young, in the first flush of new passion, naive and impulsive. Jane didn’t know how to be a countess; she had grown up in a ramshackle country house with an unconventional, scholarly family, taking care of her little sister Emma. Hayden saw no need to give up his wild life just because he had a wife. A few miscarriages drove them even further apart, until they had to separate. But a few years later, they’ve both grown up a lot, and can see the enormity of what they’ve lost.
I admit it–I cried a bit when they started to get back together. They were meant to be together, darn it!! They just needed to figure that out…
Hayden and Jane were truly a couple who belonged together. They simply did not know how to handle a marriage. Jane tried to explain what she needed, but Hayden had only his parent’s example and could not understand. As a result, thw two must face the question is love enough? Find out in The Runaway Countess by Amanda McCabe. A little maturity and a lot of love can make a difference. Amanda McCabe has penned an amazing historical romance with just the right touch of suspense, some surprise revelations and a highly romantic ending. –Cataromance
It was also a risky story for me in that I wanted to try an Austen-esque setting. Not in the style of Austen; I would never, ever be brave enough for that!! But a small village, where everyone knows each other and small-seeming concerns become large, where family relationships are important, and the house is a character in itself. (I wanted to go live at Barton Park, spend my days puttering in the garden and sewing by the fire…) I ended up having lots of fun with it, though I missed my Gothic storms and poison plots.
The life of Barton Park continues in December, with Emma’s story, Running From Scandal. She has to learn to grow up a bit, too–and might end up with a man she would never have dreamed of ever thinking about before, LOL.
The book is available on Amazon
And my own website has excerpts and more info…
I apologize in advance, you are going to be hearing a lot from me in the next few months! I have releases every month until the end of the year. October brings the debut of my Elizabethan mystery series, written as Amanda Carmack, Murder at Hatfield House! I am sooooo excited about these books. November will bring a Christmas novella, A Very Tudor Christmas. And December Emma’s book. Whew!
In the meantime–do you like “marriage in trouble” stories?? What kind of dream house would you want, if you could choose any? (I am torn between a beach bungalow and an English country house. Or a Paris apartment with a view of the Eiffel Tower…) Comment for a chance to win a signed copy of Countess!!!
I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!! I confess–I ate too much junk food, and laid around reading too much when I have a lot of work to do. Oops. But this is a new week, and the WIP is moving forward! In the meantime, I forgot last week was release week for my new book, The Runaway Countess (Book One of The Bancrofts of Barton Park!). I am sooooo excited to talk about it here today, and also to give away a signed copy to one commenter….
Wed to Wickedness….
In Society’s eyes, Hayden Fitzwalter, Earl of Ramsey, and Jane Bancroft have the perfect marriage. But what can’t be seen are the secrets hidden behind closed doors. Believing Hayden will never renounce his dissolute ways, Jane flees to her family’s dilapidated estate in the country.
Years later, Hayden longs to win back the only woman who has ever touched his heart. But first he has to convince her that this rogue is ready to be tamed….
Bancrofts of Barton Park
Two Sisters, Two Scandals, Two Sizzling Love Affairs….
“I really loved this story, the gentle pace of the story along with a couple making it a go at it to heal their broken hearts proving that Happy Ever After does take work but it well worth it when she share it with the ones you love.
I’m looking to reading about Jane’s sister and the trouble no doubt she’ll get into!”–Goodreads review
We love to talk here about “risky” books (both reading and writing!), and this book felt very risky to me when I was in the middle of it. It was really the first time I tried an Austen-esque setting. Not an Austen-esque style, because that would be way too scary, but a setting much like Emma or Sense and Sensibility, a small country village and a few estates, with neighbors and families who knew each other well. Jane and her sister Emma have taken refuge at her father’s old estate, Barton Park, and it’s like many people going home as grown-ups–comforting and awkward at the same time! It was a challenge to get to know all these people and the dynamics of their lives together.
It was also the first time I have ever tried a “marriage in trouble” story. The hero and heroine are married for the whole story, but are sadly estranged. They married too young, too quickly, with no realistic idea of how a marriage partnership between them could work. They needed time and patience to realize what went wrong–and how to win each other’s hearts all over again. I admit I really ached for Hayden and Jane! I wanted so much for those two crazy kids to make things work, and once or twice I was sure they never could….
I loved spending time in this Regency world, getting to know these characters! I hope readers enjoy it too.
I’ll be giving away a signed copy to a commenter on this post today. Do you like marriage in trouble stories? Austen-esque stories of country settings and families? Speaking of families–what are you plans for the fall and all the holidays coming up???
Info at my own website (covers, excerpts, etc)
I’m in the middle of 1) finishing a novella by Friday, and 2) packing my 1000s of books for a move (ugh!). But I’m also over at the Pink Heart Society blog today for a Pets And Their Authors post, talking about my bossy Poodle Abigail! In honor of that, and to save my sanity, I am reposting a blog from August 2009 about some famous dogs in history. My question still stands–how do I get rid of Pug hair???
I wasn’t really sure what to blog about today! I’m still working on the same projects I was last week (“Irish book 2,” etc), I couldn’t find anything interesting that happened on this date in history (though I’m sure there must be something somewhere!), and the heat and humidity of August has me stupefied and seeking the arctic AC of movie theaters and shopping malls (tax-free weekend on clothes last week, woo-hoo!). Then I found some interesting websites on famous dogs in history, and since I love dogs I decided to talk about that!
Mary Queen of Scots was well-known for her love of animals, bringing several small dogs with her from France when she returned to Scotland as a young widow. She had greyhounds and spaniels, as well as cages of songbirds. Her most famous pet was a Skye terrier named Geddon, who was devoted to her in her last years and accompanied her to her execution. Her cousin Elizabeth I was also fond of spaniels (her father, Henry VIII, had tried to cut down on the stench of his palaces by banning all dogs indoors except for ladies’ lap dogs–and monkeys). Elizabeth II, of course, is well-known for her love of Corgis. (A friend of mine has one–they are adorable, but they shed like crazy! I always wonder if the queen has someone following the dogs around Windsor with a ShopVac…)
Charles II loved his little spaniels so much that they are now named for him–Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. (He even passed a law saying these little dogs could go into any public place, even Parliament! I’d love to see if that is still in effect).
In later years, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were well-known for their troop of Pugs (11 altogether, including Dizzy/Disraeli, Davy Crockett, Trooper, Winston, etc) who traveled with them equipped with their own jeweled collars and silver, monogrammed water bowls.
(Pugs have always had their champions! Prince William of Orange was said to have been saved by his Pug Pompey when the dog barked in the night to warn him of the approach of the Spanish in 1571. His descendents William and Mary brought Pugs with them to England when they assumed the throne in 1688. And an aunt of Catherine the Great, Princess Hedvig Sophia of Sweden, had 16. I cannot imagine the amount of Pug hair there must have been in her palace)
No other British monarch was as well-known for their affinity to dogs than Queen Victoria. Starting when she was a princess and she acquired her first dog, a spaniel named Dash (a gift from her bete noir Sir John Conroy–the puppy didn’t improve her opinion of him, but she adored Dash, and was heartbroken when he died in 1840), she always had a troop of dogs following behind her. She owned about 15 different breeds–mastiffs, border collies, greyhounds, Pugs (Bosco was her favorite Pug), greyhounds, Japanese chins, Skye terriers named Islay and Cairnach, a Scottie named Laddie, etc. Her favorite dogs were Pomeranians. Poms were actually introduced to England by Queen Charlotte, who brought them with her on her marriage in 1761.
Queen Victoria bought her first Pom on a trip to Italy in 1888, a red-sable named Marco (who later won Cruft’s). Her last Pom was Turi, who comforted her on her deathbed.
Dash the spaniel
Princess Vicky with Laddie
Queen Victoria’s Dogs and Parrot, by Landseer
Poms were also beloved by many other figures in history. Michelangelo had one (who watched him paint the Sistine Chapel from the comfort of its silk cushion!), Isaac Newton, Mozart (whose dog was named Pimperl), and Chopin (who did not have one of his own, but loved a friend’s dog so much he wrote “Valse des Petits Chiens” for it).
And Marie Antoinette always had a coterie of little dogs trailing around Versailles behind her, including the Poms! She also adored Poodles, Papillons (including one named Thisbe), and Pugs (such as the famous Mops, an Austrian Pug who was taken away from her on her entry to France–but later returned).
Madame de Pompadour preferred the elegant and tres French Papillon, and had two named Ines and Mimi who went with her everywhere.
(I adore this breed, and if I had room in my house for one more dog–which I definitely don’t!–I’d have this one).
As it is, I have a Poodle (who doesn’t shed at all, but who is very bossy and opinionated), and a Pug (who is laid-back and agreeable, but sheds like crazy and eats a lot). I’d love to have footmen and parlor maids to clean up after them and their cat siblings, as Queen Victoria and Marie Antoinette must have!
What are your favorite dogs, either in history or in your own house? And do you have any tips for getting Pug hair off the sofa???
It’s contest time at my Amanda Carmack website! Sign up for my newsletter list for the chance to win an advance copy of Murder at Hatfield House and an Elizabethan Barbie to help you read it!! (My site is here, just click on the Contest Page) I’ve gotten so many emails from people with their own favorite childhood doll stories, so I thought I would take a quick look at the history of dolls here….
Dolls have been around as long as human civilization. Though no prehistorical dolls have been found (that I could discover in my research, anyway), but there is a fragment of an alabaster doll with movable arms from Babylonian times. In ancient Egypt, there were dolls made of flat pieces of wood, with hair made of strings of beads. There have also been pottery dolls found in graves from as far back as 2000 BC.
The ancient Greek and Roman graves of children have also yielded dolls, very lifelike ones of of wood, ivory, or wax, with movable limbs and sometimes little clothes of their own. I read a legend that sometimes when girls grew up and were considered too “old” for dolls, they donated them to the altars of domestic goddesses…
Renaissance and later in Europe saw a boom in the demand for dolls. Mothers of all social classes made rag dolls for their daughters, but the wealthier classes wanted fine dolls of wax or porcelain. There were “fashion dolls” for grown women to look at gowns, and girls played with very similar styles. In the early 1800s, composition (a mix of pulped wood or paper pressed into a mold, made a more affordable and durable alternative). In the Victorian age, every little girl wanted a French “bebe” (much like every girl wants an American Girl now!). They were among the first to depict a younger child rather than a grown lady, and her clothes were always very fashionable and elaborate. Bisque dolls made in Germany were similar, but cheaper.
The availability of plastics in the 1940s, and the development of vinyl dolls in the ’50s and ’60s revolutionized dolls, like my mom’s Chatty Cathy and Barbie (both of which were passed down to me! I played with Barbie, but CC sort of scared me, so she stayed in the closet)
My husband’s niece was given an American Girl Kit doll for her birthday, and at a family weekend a few weeks ago she carried the doll with her everywhere!! Her brothers were NOT allowed to touch the doll….
What was your favorite childhood doll story?? If you could have any doll now, what would it be? (and be sure and enter my drawing for your very own Elizabethan Barbie!)