We have Tuesday winner announcements!
Lesley A you have won our Cara Elliott giveaway! And Amy Kathryn, you have won an ARC of my next Amanda Carmack book, Murder at Westminster Abbey! Please email me your contact info at Amccabe7551 AT yahoo
Meanwhile, I am continuing to get better every day! Reading lots of books and drinking lots of tea. Back with a proper post next week
The winner of a free download of Running Into Temptation is…Kathy Nye! Congrats, and I hope you enjoy it. Email me at amccabe7551 AT yahoo to claim your prize!
Am in the middle of a very….stubborn scene today, but will be back next week with some historical info on Elizabethan palaces!
First of all, the winner from last week’s Andrea Pickens post is…Linda!!! Congrats, and please email Andrea at Italicscript AT aol.com to claim your wonderful prize.
I can (almost) see the light of day at the very end of this tunnel of a WIP, but I had to mark a very important day in English history. November 17, 1558 marked the accession to the throne of Elizabeth I, and the start of one of the most remarkable periods in history! (At the end of my Amanda Carmack book, Murder at Hatfield House, I loved writing the scene showing the legendary moment when she received the news!). Here’s a repeat of a blog I did way back in 2007….
This is also how I know that November 17th was a Very Important holiday in the England of the late 16th century. It was Elizabeth I’s Ascension Day.
Queen Mary died at St. James’s Palace
early on the morning of November 17, 1558, and members of the Privy Council immediately set out for Elizabeth’s residence at Hatfield House (where she was practically under house arrest) to tell her the news. They carried Mary’s betrothal ring from Phillip of Spain, to prove to Elizabeth that the queen was dead, so long live the queen. The legend is that they found her sitting under a tree, reading a Bible in Greek. On hearing the news, she proclaimed, “It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Now, I am not at all sure someone would just “happen” to be sitting under a tree reading in November! Maybe she was just out for a stroll, maybe the story is apocryphal, or maybe she heard they were coming and stage-managed the whole thing. She was one of the great stage managers in history). On a side note, the original tree is no longer there, but one was planted in its place by Elizabeth II in 1985. On another side note, when Elizabeth I died in 1603, after a reign of 45 years, she was buried with Mary in Westminster Abbey. The inscription reads, “Partners both in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection.” Kind of ironic, but I admit I got a little emotional when I saw the tomb (or maybe it was jet lag?)
Anyway, thereafter November 17 was a Big Party at court, and around the country. The big event was always a tournament, with a joust and sports where all the men vying for the queen’s attention could show off. Pomp and chivalry were paramount–all the men carried banners and shields adorned with symbolic images of the queen and their devotion to her. (Jousts, of course, were not all Renaissance faire-ish fun–Henri II of France died in one, and there were always injuries at Ascension Day tournies. No fatalities that I could find, though).
The jousts would be followed by a banquet and ball, maybe a play or tableau celebrating the glorious reign of Elizabeth. At one banquet, the court polished off an ox, 40 sheep, 12 pigs, 132 capons, 5 swans, several pheasants, partridges, herons, pigeons, peacocks, and calves, not to mention fish, chicken, barrels of wine, vegetables and eggs, and sweets. Subtleties made of sugar and almond paste, shaped into castles and other fanciful things, were great favorites on such occasions.
Some of the best-known Elizabethan dances were: pavanes (a stately processional), usually followed by a lively galliard. There were gavottes (a circle dance to a medium tempo), sophisticated courantes and sarabands from France, and almains. The Volte was one of the of only dances that allowed couples to closely embrace (the man showed off his strength by lifting the woman high in the air–this is probably why it’s used so often in movies! See Shakespeare in Love, both Elizabeth movies, and probably various Masterpiece Theaters).
Celebrations were not just held at court. There were bonfires, dances (maybe not pavanes, but bransles and Morris dancers), games, lots of wine and ale, and illuminations all across the country.
So, happy Ascension Day, everyone! We might not celebrate with a Volte and a barrel of wine, but we can toast Good Queen Bess. And look forward to our own bacchanalia–Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a great one. Any big plans? I’m very, very thankful for the Riskies and our friends this year.
The winner of the DVD of The Lady and the Highwayman is—Bibliophile! Please email me at amccabe7551 AT yahoo and I will get it mailed out to you. Be sure and let us know what you think of it!
In looking for “comfort watch” movies lately (as I still crawl on toward The End of the WIP), I found I had one more Barbara Cartland movie in my library (I know there were more–I especially remember one about a tall blonde heiress who pretended to be a ladies’ companion in order to warn the hero that his eeeevil cousin was going to kill him, though I can’t recall the title…). The one I have is the fabulously ridiculous Hazard of Hearts, with a very young Helena Bonham Carter as the wonderfully named Serena Staverly, whose father gambles her off to an eeeevil rake, who in turn loses her to the hero, Lord Vulcan. There is a castle in Cornwall, complete with cliffs and crashing waves, smugglers, and a wonderful villainess played by Diana Rigg. I must watch it again. (there are also some gorgeous Regency-fantasy costumes, as you can see from this bonnet…)
Speaking of costumes, Friday is my very favorite holiday–Halloween! I don’t have a Regency gown this year (I’m going as Queen Elsa from Frozen), but I am hoping to see some lovely creations at the various parties. What are you planning for Halloween???
First of all–winners! The winner of my own Betrayed By His Kiss is…Laurel Hawkes. The winner of Linda Carroll-Bradd’s Capturing the Marshal’s Heart is…Louisa Cornell. And the winner of one of Alicia’s dean’s titles is…Janine Gallant! If you could all email me your info at amccabe7551 AT yahoo, I will get them sent to you asap….
I am finally starting to get back into the work-home routine, after all the excitement of getting (yay!) married and being on vacation. (And many, many thanks to everyone for the congrats and good wishes! It is so wonderful). First order of business–starting my next book for Harlequin Historicals, which I am actually loving–it’s a Regency set in Brazil! So there are tropical sunsets, beaches (though not too many–Rio was actually not very near a beach then, and it was very hard to reach), but with lovely muslin gowns and Neoclassical art. Fun!!!
This story was inspired when I happened to come across the book Empire Adrift: The Portugese Court in Rio de Janeiro, 1808-1821 by Patrick Wilcken, the story of the Braganzas, the royal family of Brazil, and a court of overv 15,000 people fleeing to Brazil ahead of invading Napoleonic forces. I knew very little about this aspect of the wars, but found it amazing in so many ways. A family that was the very definition of “dysfunctional” (the Prince Regent John VI ruled for his insane mother Queen Maria; as children, he had married his Spanish cousin Carlota, and they had many children together but hated each other, and Carlota spent her life plotting against him. Sound familiar??), plopping their aristocratic Iberian ways into the middle of a tropical colony, with political skullduggery swirling all around them. A great backdrop for an exciting story, I thought.
My characters are English–the hero is a Naval officer who is part of the convoy assigned to escort the Portugese to Brazil in November 1808 (they departed on November 29, in a scene of immense chaos, but didn’t arrive at their ultimate destination in Rio until March 7, 1809. They didn’t return to Portugal until 1821). My heroine is the daughter of an English diplomat, who has been serving as his hostess for many years. But our hero and heroine have a secret past together! Can they keep it hidden under the warm skies of Rio???
I’m sure I will be sharing many more historical tidbits and images as I make my way through this story, but this is just the beginning. What’s your favorite “unusual” setting for a story? Where would you like to see more titles set in the future???