Happy Tuesday, everyone! Like Diane, I am “between engagements” (I know what’s coming up next–after RWA, which is two weeks away, eek!). So, what am I doing with all this time? I am deciding what to pack for RWA, trying to lose a couple more pounds before RWA (in the quest for which I’ve been doing crazy things like kickboxing and spin classes), and just generally getting excited about seeing everyone at RWA. I’ve been supervising my little ballet class in last weekend’s recital (everyone performed beautifully!), and I’ve been getting caught up on some reading. (Just finished a terrific book by Jehanne Wake called Sisters of Fortune: America’s Caton Sisters At Home and Abroad about a set of beautiful, wealthy sisters from Maryland who took Regency London by storm).
I’ve also been doing some prelim work for the next couple of books (that stuff which I call Important Research and others–like my mother–might call procrastination). I love to make soundtracks for stories, music that seems to suit the mood of a certain character or scene. It can be music of the period (like lute music for an Elizabethan story) but not always. Sometimes it’s something totally off-the-wall (sort of in the style of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette). Today I am thinking of music for love scenes. These can be the trickiest scenes to set to music sometimes, because it all depends on the mood. It can be anything from Bolero, instrumental jazz like Miles Davis’s So What, or Rihanna’s S and M. I asked some of my writing friends around here what they would suggest–some people had funny stuff (Katy Perry’s Peacock), some had ideas I might steal (like Crash Into Me by the Dave Matthews Band).
My number one stand-by song for any love scene is this, Next Girl by The Black Keys:
I hope everyone is ready for the Thanksgiving holiday this week! I–well, I am not, but then the holidays always have a way of sneaking up on me. I am going to the shops today to stock up on groceries and do a little preliminary Christmas shopping, and then will spend the rest of the week eating turkey leftovers and arguing with my family (in a fun way of course, LOL!).
In the meantime, what went on in history on November 22? Lots of good things, it turns out:
Henry Purcell (one of my favorite composers) had a premier in London, of a piece called “Welcome to all the pleasures” (apropos for the holidays!)
Benjamin Britten was born in 1913
Man of La Mancha had its premier in 1965
And one of my favorite authors, George Eliot, was born in 1819. Let’s take the opportunity to look at Rufus Sewell, one reason to really be thankful this year!
And if you have company the day after Thanksgiving and they are still hungry, my friend swears by this French bread casserole recipe from Paula Deen:
Ingredients
1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
Butter, for pan
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline Topping, recipe follows
Raspberry Syrup, recipe follows
Directions
Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch thick each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 45 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with Raspberry Syrup.
Praline Topping:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Spread over bread as directed above.
Happy Tuesday, everyone! It’s been an exciting few days around here–there was an earthquake on Saturday (!!), the first one I’ve ever felt here in Oklahoma. I was over at a friend’s house watching episodes of The Walking Dead (which had me freaked out already) when the house started to shake and books fell off the shelf. I was sure it was the zombies. There was another one last night, but not as strong. My dogs are still freaked out.
But in better news….on top of Megan’s fabulous sale last week, I have one of my own to announce. I’ve sold an Elizabethan mystery series to NAL!! If you read this blog very often, you know about my deep love of this period, and I am so, so excited about these books. The first one opens in autumn 1558, in the dangerous days right before Elizabeth becomes queen. She is under house arrest at Hatfield, and when Queen Mary’s cruel agent is murdered and all of Elizabeth’s household is under suspicion, she asks Kate Haywood (my heroine!) to investigate for her. Kate is the daughter of Elizabeth’s music master, and a blossoming musician herself, so music and dance will definitely play a big role in these stories. (Book two will center around Elizabeth’s coronation…)
To celebrate, this weekend I went to listen to the Baltimore Consort (see their website here), a fabulous group that performs medieval and Renaissance music. It was very inspiring and lots of fun! (and a way to get away from all the Christmas ads on TV…I am NOT READY for Christmas!). If you enjoy early music like I do (I own far more CDs of lute music than one person should) you should check them out.
What have you been doing this week? Any earthquakes or storms in your area? And do you like to read mysteries???
I love old and unusual (pre-commercial-madness) holiday music. This season I spent some time prowling around Youtube and found some traditional renditions of favorites, and also some interesting reinterpretations.
The Coventry Carol deals with the Massacre of the Innocents, when Herod ordered the execution of male children under the age of two in Bethlehem, an often forgotten part of Christmas story. To me, it is a necessary counterbalance to some of the forced jollity of the season, a reminder that while many of us are celebrating, there are those who suffer who deserve our compassion.
This is King’s College Cambridge’s traditional rendition of the Coventry Carol.
Here’s a modern version composed by Kenneth Leighton, using the original words. Some commenters didn’t like the change but I find it captured the solemn subject beautifully. The young soloist is fantastic.
I’ve also loved “Gaudete”. Here’s a version by Anúna. Don’t you love their costumes?
And here’s a version described as a “post industrial groove anthem”, from the men’s choir of Milliken University.
What do you think of these pieces? Do you enjoy their modern reincarnations?
Since Amanda is busy moving (hope it’s all going well, Amanda!) I promised to switch days with her. And promptly forgot, in the havoc of getting back from the New Jersey Romance Writers conference and trying to get the family and household back on track!
Anyway, I’m here now. Back in the summer, I had the chance to visit the vast and wonderful Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. There were many highlights to the visit, but an unexpected one was their varied collection of musical instruments. I’ve been meaning to blog about it ever since, but it went onto the back burner as I was finishing Fly with a Rogue and taking my oldest on college visits.
One of the most striking pieces in the collection is this superb grand piano. It was made in 1796 by John Broadwood & Sons for Manual de Godoy, ambassador to King Carlos IV of Spain. The decoration was designed by Thomas Sheraton and the jasperware cameos are by Josiah Wedgewood. I took some pictures of the details. Apologies for the fuzziness, but you can get an idea anyway.
This is certainly the sort of instrument one could imagine in the house of one of our fictional dukes.
At the other end of the room, there was this square piano, made around 1770 in England by Johann Christoph Zume and Gabriel Buntebart. At about 5 octaves, this was the first type of piano to be commercially successful and became very popular. A vicar’s daughter type heroine could have afforded to play a piano like this one.
Here is Vladimir Pleshakov playing Bonifacio Asioli’s 1795 Sonata on a 1795 Broadwood grand. According to the comments, the pianoforte pictured is actually of a later date, unfortunately.
Next week I’ll post about some of the more esoteric instruments in the collection.
Can any of you picture yourselves playing these instruments? I can–in my Regency fantasies!
