Jane Austen Readers

Recently I finished reading A Truth Universally Acknowledged; 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen, edited by Susannah Carson. I found it to be more thoughtful to read at leisure rather than trying to read straight through cover to cover, like a novel. Ideas and responses were varied. Since I have read the JA novels multiple times since I found her, I enjoyed seeing the impressions they made on famous writers.

A.S.Byatt discusses the different family structures of the Bertram, Price and Norris families in Mansfield Park. C.S. Lewis states that Mansfield Park and Persuasion are JA’s only two novels where the heroine does not deceive herself.

It is also interesting to read which writers preferred which of her novels. W. Somerset Maugham loved P & P; Emma offended him. Martin Amis remarked of “this tizzy of zealous suspense actually survives repeated readings” referring to P & P. Louis Auchincloss tells us that his favorites changed as he moved through different chapters of his own life. In his youth, Emma and P & P were the best; in middle age they were S & S and Mansfield Park; still later it was Persuasion. David Lodge implies that re-reading Emma is far superior to reading it the first time.

At sixty, Virginia Woolf discussed JA. This book is almost like having an intelligent discussion on a favorite subject. It may be one-sided but it sometimes brings new sight into familiar words. And, if you have only seen the movies made of her novels, do yourself a great favor and read them. You’ll not regret it.

Holiday Season

It’s been too long since I’ve written a word for the Blog or anything else. My mind has been on everything other than putting words together on a string to make sense and stir ideas in others. But that cannot last. My fingers crave the keyboard as much as my mouth craves the taste of good, dark chocolate after a stretch of doing without it.

I have read and returned a few emails with comments, quite unexpected from the senders, I’m sure. REALLY, why be offended when someone says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. Doesn’t our separation of church and state allow us plenty of room to include all the religions nestled in our country? Have we Christens become such elitists that we cannot be generous and include all others who celebrate their religious holidays on or near the same time as Christens do? Have we become so paranoid that we cannot share a happy comment with someone who worships differently than we do?

All the world religions have the word love in their fundamental teaching. It’s time we follow it and cease negative comments from those who have not studied religions other than the one they follow. It isn't them against us.......it is 'all of us'.

It’s time, now more than ever for all of us to be generous and loving to all peoples. Happy Holidays, whichever one your are celebrating.

Thanks for Books

There will be a lot of thanks given for the love of family, friends, food, and warm, dry shelter and I, too am thankful for those things. But I am also very thankful for books; for words that writers have put together on a string so that I may enjoy, learn and expand my field of compassion and understanding. I’m especially thankful for modern medical technology and medicine that has given me sight from Macular Degeneration Wet, when as recently as fifteen years ago, I would have had darkness.

I’ve just finished reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It’s the true story of Louie Zamperini, his unruly youth that led him to be a record-setting runner before joining up to fight in the Pacific in World War II. The story includes how he was adrift in the Pacific Ocean before being picked up by the Japanese and sent to POW camps. It also follows one particularly brutal war criminal Watanabe, after the war ended. As in Seabiscuit, Hillenbrand does a fine job of stringing her words together.

We, as Americans have much to be thankful for.

Readers & Writers

Books without readers would be useless. Which means that readers are just as important as writers. Yes, some writers make lots of money but most writers, I think, write because the words and thoughts are within them, bursting to get out. Writing in a journal can later recall a memory possibly forgotten; to write can be healing; to write and be read is very gratifying; to write and be remembered is a star to reach for.

Books shared stretch the written word to places they may not have gone. Now that I’ve learned about Bookcrossing.com, I’m spreading the written word around. My first book about pets, has gone to Texas and then to Florida. This week I’m sending one to the Cook Islands in the Pacific. Wow. Check the program out at: http://www.bookcrossing.com/about

Italian Hot Dogs

Wow! AOL featured Italian Hot Dogs on their newsfeed this week. They made the mistake of inserting onions in with the potatoes and peppers which is NOT how Tony Goes made them. And he made the best. The Casino restaurant was THE place to buy them in Trenton, New Jersey. The internet tells me the place is still there. Though I know Tony Goes must be gone or be the oldest man in the US of A.

Now that the Warrenton Woman’s Club Cookbook is available, you can find the recipe for Italian Hot Dogs in there, the way Tony Goes made them, complete on Torpedo rolls. If you can find those rolls anywhere. Remember them? H-m-m-m. The aroma floated through the air at the Italian People’s Bakery up the street from the Casino. The cookbook has 240 pages of some 400 and more recipes of various kinds from all over the States plus tips, helpful hints, quick fixes, basics, terms, and more. It sells for $15 plus $2 S/H per book.

The Italian Hot Dog has become the Jersey Dog, very different from Nathan’s, the Coney Island Hot Dog, the Michigan Dog steamed with a meat sauce on it, and Texas Weiners (my mom’s favorite) the list goes on and on. As American as apple pie? No, the hot dog!

Collecting Menus

It’s true. I like eating out, not every night and not just out, but in good restaurants. This doesn’t mean expensive, but eating from the hands of chefs that care, that take the time to use fresh ingredients wherever possible and use herbs instead of just adding more salt.

So I’m always trying new spots to add to my favorite places. Yesterday on the spur of the moment, I popped into the car and drove to Raleigh to take a few photos of haunted places that will be featured in my almost-ready-for-the-publisher book. I planned to just zip in, point & shoot and zip out again. Alas! I was denied entrance to the grounds until two hours later.

What to do, now? Well, why not have an early lunch. I headed for one of my favorites when I haven’t researched another restaurant, Vic’s Italian on Blake Street. Missing one parking spot, I drove around the two blocks to get back to it and whoa……….there sat a new place that the not-quite-good German place vacated. I checked a little closer before opening the door to Troy Mezze Lounge.

The walls are painted a quiet red (oxymoron) in the wrapped bar area where the bar stools stand on an angle, tilted a bit outward, which gives a very welcoming appearance. Four lamps hang on long chains over the bar, laced with fancy designed metal that gives off a cozy light. The dining room has a sponged wall that appears to be the same red. The décor is very tasteful and not overly intrusive.

Clay Pot of lamb and fresh vegetables in their own juices, with herbs and topped with just enough cheese are plated with rice or bulgar pilaf and a touch of red cabbage was my delicious choice. Their website is: http://www.troyml.com/index.htm

Jenna tendered me all the attention I needed and gave me a tub to take home half my Clay Pot so I could sample their delicious Figmusi-Samolina Pecan Fig cake topped with mascarpone & fresh strawberry slices. It was a generous slice, so I took half of that for later, too.

Book Collecting in Warrenton NC

Now that I’m on a fixed income with living costs rising (I remember Mom complaining about this and not paying attention) I have curbed my book collecting to only those I will use in research and of course, Jane Austen related books.

Soon after I arrived in North Carolina, I managed to pull out my credit card for a few at Oakley Hall Antiques. One of the books, a first edition of 1962, “The Way We Were” by Mary Polk was inscribed to Mary Jane from one of the book’s minor characters, Fairfax Polk Mitchell. A treasure, indeed, even though the cost was much higher than the original price. It was still reasonable. I justify this expenditure on my limited budget by telling myself that it’s important to learn the history of where I live.

Believing in continuing self-education, I also bought a 1953 first edition “Southern Accent” by Warrenton native, William T. Polk. Only the dust jacket is a bit worn, the book is in fine condition. A soft cover of “Poems of the Great South” edited by Jim Stratz and Jerry Medina went onto the pile also. Life without poetry is not a good life.

Another book or two finished out the purchase of the day. While Dot was tallying up and zipping my card, we began talking. She filled me in on some western North Carolina history where she was raised, then followed with some local history. From there we talked about books, business, fashion, people and movies. An hour later my head was filled with lots of good stuff, my bag with great treasures and my heart was full. I love shopping in places where the welcome is gracious and the personal touch is used generously.

Adventures in Book Collecting

Adventures have happened to me over the years, all in the quest of building my personal library. Nearly driving off the mountain above Bath, England comes to mind immediately. I had already bought a few books in Bath and decided that exploring the area around it, was a good idea. That was just before I found myself on a single lane dirt road that ran around the side of the mountain and a car came approaching me. I froze. To my right were trees, bushes and a drop down about 500 feet. I wasn’t about to move. The other driver, probably a resident and used to such moments, unkindly drove with a part of her car half way up the mountainside to get around me.

Who thinks of England being a mountainous country? Again I came close to falling off the mountain but this time I drove to a seaside town in Cornwall to see where Daphne Du Maurier lived after she became famous for her fiction. The coast of Cornwall is breathtakingly beautiful with areas of sheer rock jutting out over the smashing waves breaking on huge boulders below. The road I was on overlooked a village nestled on the shoreline, between rising rock on both sides.

The streets that led off my road ran down to the sea. Straight down. ‘Well, I thought, the townspeople must drive down those streets or they wouldn’t be there, right?’ I turned my English, gear-shift-on-the-left car into the street and thought I was going to fall end over front down the macadam! As the car sped on without my foot on the gas, I spotted a street to my right, made an instant decision and swerved the car around the corner, and around the next corner again heading back up off this damn mountain! Gears were grinding, the car screeching in protest, sweating more than I was. People passing by on the sidewalks raised their heads to look at me in wonder, eyes wide but not as wide as mine. I wasn’t sure my car couldn’t make it. I kept pressing on the accelerator, finally reaching the overlook road. Whew.

I found a spot to pull over, put the car in park, got out and kissed the ground while thanking the Angels in the same breath. Another quick decision made-I’d leave Du Maurier for another time.

BookCrossing

Examining each book as it came into my bookshop and before it went onto the shelf was part of my daily routine. I was always delighted to come across an inscription inside a book and surprised when some of the locations it came from were half way across country or further. So I was especially pleased when my writing friend Jyoti Wind sent me the web address of an article Pulp In The Wild: The BookCrossing Edition by Laura K. Curtis.
BookCrossing is the official/tracking way of leaving a book for someone to pick up, read and pass along. It’s your choice of book, your choice of where to leave it and fate for whoever picks it up. This is almost like playing hide and seek as a child. Such fun. For all the hows and whys and wherefores, check out the website at: http://www.bookcrossing.com/howto.

The Goats

Church Hill Road runs from NC Hwy 158 connecting to Hubquarter Road. Along the way is a fenced-in field with an old, old building shell (former house, maybe) weathered and falling down. This is where the goats live; all sizes and probably all ages. I love these goats! Driving by, seeing these goats wander in and out of that shell reassures me that peace can exist in the world, my world anyway.

On occasion these goats have gotten out of the fence. There are times when I must stop my car and wait patiently because they are crossing the road like school children getting to the other side where the grass or weeds are greener. Always, I think instantly of ‘stopping to smell the roses.’ It also reminds me of Cary Grant and Grace Kelly driving around France slowly falling in love with each other and the French countryside. But they were surrounded by sheep flooding the road.

Then there are the times when I suddenly slow my car down to a crawl because the goats are grazing roadside. Very peacefully, the daddy of them all with his horns and goatee (?) kind of looking over his herd is nibbling away. Not a care in the world. Lovely to see.

But recently I see the house that accompanies this field is vacated. Empty. Windows gone. The goats seemed to be gone, too. I miss them terribly. It’s another reminder of how we as a people depend on the acts of others, even those we don’t know to enlighten our lives and how we are affected when they are gone. Then a surprise! They aren’t gone after all! They must have been grazing in another field unseen from the road.

The Calendar

Any person who loses themselves in genealogy knows about the date 1752 as one that puts a kink in some research. Or at least draws their attention. It makes the researcher pay attention to birthdays and can confuse the issue.

It was this day, the 14th of September 1752, in Merrie Olde England that they began to adhere to the Gregorian Calendar leaving the Julian Calendar behind. In doing so, they lost 11 days. Just vanished. Don’t bother to look for them, ‘cause they aren’t there. January 1 also became New Year’s Day instead of the March 25 date they had used previously.

Think it doesn’t matter since a day lived is a day to remember? Not so. Many people rioted since they lost those 11 days with no pay for work not done but still had to pay a full month of rent. It was serious business that affected lots of people.

The quote, “Live a day at a time” takes on new meaning when you think of days disappearing.

Earthquake at Lake Gaston

The earthquake was really scary. I was on the computer. At first it sounded like the rumble of a heater, but I have electric and no heat on this time of year. I also thought of gas lines blowing up but there are no gas lines out here. No dishwasher was going or washer or dryer. I immediately went to the doorway, the strongest spot in the house, not knowing if that made a difference in a double-wide. The ENTIRE house rumbled and shook! The girls ran under the bed before it even started. I knew it was not a cyclone because it was bright and sunny outside. I thought maybe a great wind but the trees stood perfectly still. Whew! It lasted probably a few minutes. It seemed longer of course. Scary.

When it was over, it was over. Peace and tranquility stood outside my door. The forest was as lovely as usual. Nothing was amiss here along Lake Gaston. But one item had fallen from the bookshelves in the library. H-m-m. It was real.

A Writer's Vacation

Writer’s Market sent out an email asking what writer’s do for a vacation. I’m sure he will get a variety of answers. Mine is to do research, especially in reference to a particular manuscript I’m working on or plan to do in the near future.

A few months ago I was on Bald Head Island with my girlfriends, the Broad Strokes. We’re all artists and close friends, who planned this long, 5-day Thursday through Monday "weekend" for months. A week didn’t go past us all winter when we didn’t talk about it. What we were going to do, what foods we would bring and who was going to cook which meals and when, were discussed. Clothes. Bathing suits. Evening entertainments. People we would be meeting. Howling at the moon. Beach walks and golf cart rides. We had our time fully packed, no time would be wasted. Every moment counted. Our female bonding would strengthen.

Ten days before we were to leave, I received a notice about a Landmarks Conference of the Revolutionary War being held Thursday through Saturday in Walterboro, South Carolina relating to my guy, Major Thomas Fraser. It included where he walked, rode, and fought. Yikes! What a dilemma.

I pleaded with my girlfriends to not be angry with me. I HAD to go. I’m a writer. I HAD to be there, to see Major Fraser charging down the dirt road in battle. I HAD to hear the whinny of the horses, the clanging of the swords clashing against each other in life claiming battle.

Because they are true friends, they released me for Friday and Saturday; sent me on my way to do what I HAD to do. A writer’s vacation.

City Excitement

Certain cities exude excitement. Business carried me to Raleigh today so my friend Judy and I met at the fabulous restaurant Sitti Restaurant on Wilmington & Hargett Streets for lunch. While driving into Downtown Raleigh, I pick up the energy of this beautiful, clean, artistic city life. People are walking along the streets and tables outside restaurants are filled, even in this 100^ plus heat. Inside Sitti where the cuisine is Lebanese cooked with fresh ingredients, they are packed with people of all ages, excitedly sharing meals and exchanging news and ideas. People are actually waiting for tables to free up so they can be seated!

Driving out of the city, I notice statuary I had not seen before; Gandi outside the Marbles Kids Museum among them. I spot fountains pouring out water profusely, which seem to cool down the temperature outside my air conditioned car. Old buildings, next to newer designed and built, seem to complement each other like multi-generational families, looking different but respecting each other.

It’s exciting to drive into the city but I head back to the country for peace, creativity, and tranquility. Still, it’s nice to know it is there and I can access it when I need a touch of city life.

Coming To An End

The end of compiling recipes and collecting ads for the Warrenton Woman’s Club Cookbook is near. It’s been a lot of work and very time consuming; even costly since I always feel compelled to buy a little something when I’m soliciting ads. And I JUST HAD to eat in the few restaurants I visited, again for recipes and ads. Work is so-o-o-o pleasant! Egads, I’d make a terrible salesperson, having my paycheck spent before I got back to the office.

So as I type the last few recipes still dribbling in, I’m nibbling the last recipe that I made on Sunday. I kid myself by saying that I’m taste-testing, when I’m really adding another delightful recipe to my own collection. With this new book coming out in October, I think I’ll be adding a whole lot of new recipes. This is a great idea because nearly every gathering I go to, is a potluck affair. And now I have new foods to present.

Food and Memories

I’m nearly finished with “Food and What Feeds Us” by A Weeks Worth of Women; edited by Jyoti Wind. I’ll be sorry to have it end but will refer to it often, I’m sure. I’ll also be trying some of the recipes listed, almost as a secondary thought. Memories, stories, and thoughts about foods were written by seven women over their lifetimes. These women grew up in various areas of the country, had very different backgrounds and experiences that influenced what they ate and how. I believe they all live in the Boulder, Colorado area now. Their stories open new doors to lives lived by others.

Photos of each of the women; Patricia Jordan, Annette Price, Terra Rafael, Mary Randall, Prema Rose, Jyoti Wind, and Jesse Wolfe are in the back of the book. I feel that I’ve come to know them by switching back and forth, matching the picture with the story. Brava to everyone of them.

Recipes & Remembrances Cookbook

Recipes & Remembrances is nearly complete. The finished cookbook will be quite different than other local cookbooks because we’ve invited our friends and families living throughout the country to contribute their favorite recipes, too. This includes those who are chefs and professionals.

We’ve also included an area for personal notes that will add to the pleasure of reading the cookbook even when you are using it for just cooking. After all, cooking itself is very personal.

There are also some recipes from our past history in the form of favorite recipes from the First Ladies of our Land. Since Martha Washington was our first “First Lady”, her recipe was the first entered. Others follow.

So I’m certain, our cookbook will become an heirloom, handed down from generation to generation like the genealogy of a family. That’s what we are, a family of cooks and recorders of our own history.

Food as a Stamp

How we prepare food and present it, is as important to those of us who love to cook, as the style of clothing one wears, is to a fashion maven. Recipes are a guideline after one gets the hang of cooking. From there we add a little of this herb and ignore that spice in the list of ingredients. Perhaps we’ll follow the recipe to a tee, but go heavier on one spice because we love it so; or add a different vegetable or two, or vary the fruit that is listed. It becomes an original creation. It doesn’t always work but it is always worth a try. It’s called exploring.

So, by simply changing an herb or adding something to the original recipe, or plating the food in a different manner, we put our own personal stamp on the food being prepared. It’s like the initials of a clothing designer.

RECIPES REMEMBERED

Recipes made become memories. I mean, who doesn’t have a personal story about a holiday dinner. True, some of them were disasters but after time passes, they become remembrances to laugh over together and to share with others. Many of our family/friend stories revolve around food. Have we not gathered together to share a meal and to share our stories while we eat that meal? The wine we drank with the food (after I grew up) made the stories flow a bit easier and maybe a bit exaggerated, but who checks anyway.

Birthdays. My mother always allowed my two brothers and me to choose our menu for our birthdays. She didn’t say “choose your menu” rather she said, “What do you want for your birthday supper?” That always came before what kind of cake did we want. These were hard choices to make for a child with a healthy appetite. Mom was a dynamite cook.

For me it came down to Southern Fried Chicken --with Milk Gravy –she made the best, or Fried Ripe Tomatoes, Mashed Potatoes, & Milk Gravy. She was always nervous, fearing someone knocking on the door when we were eating the fried tomato dinner, thinking it looked like mush and didn’t look proper enough for a dinner. I could have cared less what it looked like. Ahhh. Memories of youth.

Sometimes I get sidetracked from my present writing project, which has been to complete my “Ghosts of Upper Piedmont & Beyond” (working title) by the end of June. It isn’t going to happen. I’ve been writing at least three hours a day on “Recipes & Remembrances” a fund raising cookbook for my Woman’s Club. The press for its completion is the desire to have it available for sale before the Christmas season. We all know that is key to the success of sales which of course is the goal of this project.

Staying true to my desire in writing about local history and memories, our cookbook has a section for a personal note at the end of each recipe entered. Hence, the title. Recipes are sometimes personal. Who hasn’t remarked at the Thanksgiving (or Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, etc.) table “As long as I can remember, we’ve had this dish on our table come each _____ holiday.”

In addition to recipes, I also have several items that I use in cooking or serving that are dear to me because of who gave them to me. Using those pieces keeps me connected to the giver even if I don’t see them often or if they have passed away.

Lord Cornwallis's March in 1780

Lord Cornwallis’s march to and retreat from Charlotte in 1780 into the “Hornet’s Nest” was the subject for the walking tour last Saturday in Charlotte. My guy, Major Thomas Fraser has not been listed anywhere that I have found, to have participated in this situation. Still, I want the complete picture of the American Revolution in the south so I can better understand my subject; the Major.

Bill Anderson had pulled together eleven commentators to tell the story of four main roads: Providence, Camden (later So. Blvd., Polk St. Lancaster Hwy.), Nations Ford, and the road to Bigger’s Ferry (later US 49 and So. Tryon St.). The story included five major events, two in September 1780: the British Advance, and the American withdrawal from Providence Road; three in October 1780: the British camp in Charlotte, followed by the British retreat along Nations Ford Road and the American advance to New Providence on Providence Road.

We began and ended the tour at the historic Providence Presbyterian Church. Multiple commentators limited their time to five minutes each at the particular stops along the way. for further information on this American Revolution tour: http://elehistory.com, and American Revolution reading plus other conferences and more: www.southerncampaign.org

Book Tour Schedule
Heads Up for my readers in New Jersey. My upcoming Book Tour begins on
Friday 6th May, 5 --7 pm at the Old Bookshop of Bordentown (NJ);
Saturday 7th May 11--4 pm at Allaire State Park, Farmingdale, NJ (NJ History Day);
Tuesday 10 May 7 pm at Bordentown Historical Society in Bordentown.

Now that the snow has finally left New Jersey for the season, anyway…….a friend is coming to stay with my two literary cats, Lady Jane and Mz Lizzie allowing me to spend a week in the north country breaking bread and sipping wine with my good friends in between bookings and interviews.

The excitement builds, the magnetic pull of Bordentown is still as strong as ever.

Book Tour Schedule

Heads Up for my readers in New Jersey. My upcoming Book Tour begins on
Friday 6th May, 5 --7 pm at the Old Bookshop of Bordentown (NJ);
Saturday 7th May 11--4 pm at Allaire State Park, Farmingdale, NJ (NJ History Day);
Tuesday 10 May 7 pm at Bordentown Historical Society in Bordentown.

Now that the snow has finally left New Jersey for the season, anyway…….a friend is coming to stay with my two literary cats, Lady Jane and Mz Lizzie allowing me to spend a week in the north country breaking bread and sipping wine with my good friends in between bookings and interviews.

The excitement builds, the magnetic pull of Bordentown is still as strong as ever.

Rev War Books, Reading & Researching

Further researching for Major Fraser’s took me to the E-Zine of Southern Campaigns of the Revolutionary War, by Charles B. Baxley, editor & publisher. (http://southerncampaign.org/mag.php) There I found articles by various writers with keen interest in this area of history. Devotees are still reading the tons of archived papers and journals that lay in repositories nearly forgotten. Often an unpublished skirmish or a battle seen through the eyes of another soldier or militia man will discover facts unknown. Women also kept diaries that reveal important details.

The Diary of the American War, A Hessian Journal by Captain Johann Ewald, edited by Joseph P. Tustin is a book I kept close to me because he describes the terrain, the attitudes of the non-military locals as well as the battles and drew maps. He served in both the northern and southern campaigns. His personal touch to a war fought by a hired army from a foreign land adds an extra something to the story. Jim Piecuch writes of accounts from both sides of the military in his The Battle of Camden and his Blood Be Upon Your Head. Reading for research just carries me from one book to another to another, etc. Isn’t life great?

Revolutionary War South Carolina Research

The Landmarks Conference of the Revolutionary War this past weekend brought me into ecstasy. I actually stood on various grounds in South Carolina where my Major Fraser fought against the Continentals. True, I’m extremely happy that his side lost and we became Americans to make our own rules and guidelines, called government. True also, that the Major captured Isaac Hayne who was an American hero who should have received much more acclaim than he has gotten. (He was hanged as a violator of his parole from the British forces.) Also it’s true that the Major finally saw the light and became an American himself. Some folks just take a bit longer to get to the best place.

Some of my excitement rose from seeing Parker’s Ferry unchanged in over two hundred years. We stood on the main road from Savannah to Charlestown (Charleston) and it is still a dirt road that leads to the crossing. There are no buildings to be seen from the spot, only flora and fauna. Except for distant power lines, the area is probably much the same as it was then.

When I described these places in Major Fraser’s I leaned on Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina by Jack Parker to get my bearings in a land I hadn’t been to before. I could see the relationship of one location to another by his maps and descriptions. I could trace the Major’s footsteps, and horse shoes, with my imagination, to be right there with him. Parker’s Guide simplified my struggle in researching. It is a treasure for anyone interested in the war that made us Americans.

Words, Beautiful Words

http://thesaurus.com/ is my newest home page on my laptop. It is just a delight for a person who loves the written word. Who has time to loll about looking for words to drool over? Thesaurus has it right there in front of me so if I see a word or quote or word history that teases my eye, I can pop right onto it, get it into my system and go back to the work I’m involved in.

Somewhere in there today, my trail took me from why, how and when capital and small case letters are used, to beautiful words voted on by readers. Serendipity was one word chosen. Say it. The word just rolls around my tongue almost pushing me into singing it. Lovely…. this also happens to be another beautiful word to me that sends my mind into graciousness and a time gone past. Probably my favorite word is delightful. I do hope folks don’t get annoyed by my use (over use?) of it. When I say or write delightful or delighted, I feel it. Just delightful. I don’t think it is possible to say that word with a frown on my face.

Prince Lucien Murat Photo

One beef that I have about Prince Murat is the portrait that is always displayed of him. Printed descriptions of him say that he was tall, handsome, carried a debonair attitude, and personable to a point that friends would loan him money never expecting it to be repaid. Now that is personality.

The photos I have seen of his father, Prince (Joachim) Murat I, show him to be very handsome with oodles of curly black hair and a trifle of a smile sneaking out of a formal pose. But the photos I have seen of his son Lucien show a man that I certainly would not seek out, even at a town social get-together. I mean really, must publishers always show pictures of once-famous people when they are aged and grossly out of shape? Age may have made them refined like fine wines but by that time they don’t usually look as good as the label on that fine old bottle.

It rather reminds me of Mr. Darcy. As Austen wrote, “would he have been so handsome if he were not quite so rich?”

Austen, Bronte & Gaskell

Any comparison between the writing of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte is ludicrous. Bronte was born a year before Austen died. They wrote about entirely different time periods and their story lines took other paths. Enormous changes took place in England all through the nineteenth century including societal alterations. It’s like comparing oranges and apples; they are both fruit, but…….

And then we have Elizabeth Gaskell whose first novel stressing the plight of the poor was published in 1848, taking another tack altogether. This was a year after Bronte’s Jane Eyre was released. Even they did not consider themselves rivals on the literary scene. How delightful it is for me, to picture Gaskell and Bronte coming together to discuss writing, poets, life, and loss.

Even then writers sought out the company of other writers. Just imagine what it would be like to lunch with Austen, the three Brontes and Gaskell all at the same table. A-h-h-h.

Charlotte Bronte & Jane Eyre

Like Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte put life as she lived it, into her novels. So when you read her biography and one that I especially liked is Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell’s, The Life of Charlotte Bronte, you can see where all her material for Jane Eyre came from.

Charlotte passed away after only a year of the marriage she so wanted when she was young. Her father Reverend Patrick Bronte and her husband Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls had asked Gaskell if she would write the biography. Charlotte’s friend from her early school days, Ellen Nussey had recommended Ms. Gaskell to them. She wanted the articles written about Charlotte containing falsehoods refuted and felt choosing the right biographer was important. She also knew that Gaskell and Charlotte had been dear friends.

Oh, The People I Meet

Oh, the people I meet. Researching a subject for a book often takes me deep into the subject’s history and family, gathering information I won’t be able to use per se, but letting it lay in my mind to form images and environment about the subject I’m researching. This may sound like a government document, but it latches on to me like a small child tugging at my shirt wanting attention.

Prince Murat and his family did that to me. He dragged me to Europe after the rise of Emperor Louis Napoleon III ca.1850 where I found him and his family to be fascinating although part of the self-serving aristocracy. He was tenacious but never did manage to re-coup the crown of Naples that his father held and lost his life over. His cousin Napoleon III discouraged him from seeking claims.

His daughters became part of the Court of Empress Eugenie and all it entailed. The elder daughter Caroline Laetitia drifted away from the center of the Court forming a great dislike of the Empress in later years. Princess Anne remained close to the Empress even years after she and the Emperor were ousted from France. Here is the website that shows the Empress surrounded by her Court including the beautiful and elegant Princesses Murat: http://www.abcgallery.com/W/winterhalter/winterhalter15.html

New Jane Eyre

Just when I think we have the utmost performance of Jane Eyre, a new movie version is being released this year. BBC films are introducing Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender in the lead roles. I do hope they put the two hours allotted for the story to good use. We have a good chance of it since it is BBC. Let’s be honest Hollywood CANNOT do the classics as well as the Brits.

The first thing they do is dummy down the language into modern lingo. Guess they don’t believe Americans have the intelligence to understand nineteenth century English. Or the American (plus Kiera Knightly) actors they choose aren’t good enough to speak it. Ack.

I IMDB’d Ruth Wilson and find that she has been doing some good screen work. Hopefully she will break the bad habit of Jane Eyres not going on to film popularity. Also I received comments that the new Jane Eyre is a fine one. I’m so excited that I can hardly wait to see it.

Here is more info from IMDB of Jane Eyres made:
Jane Eyre (1910/I) Jane Eyre (1914/II) The Castle of Thornfield (1915) Woman and Wife (1918)
Jane Eyre (1921) Jane Eyre (1934) Jane Eyre (1943) Sangdil (1952) "Jane Eyre" (1955)
"Jane Eyre" (1956) Jane Eyre (1961) (TV) "Jane Eyre" (1963) Jane Eyre (1968)
Jane Eyre (1970) (TV) "Jane Eyre" (1973) "Jane Eyre" (1983) Jane Eyre (1996)
Jane Eyre (1997) (TV) "Jane Eyre" (2006)

Jane Eyre

These past ten days I’ve been watching the four Jane Eyre DVDs that I have. Timothy Dalton in 1983 may be an old film without modern movie making amenities but his and Zelah Clarke’s acting are superb

Charlotte Gainsbourg gives a sadly wooden performance opposite William Hurt in the 1996 version. I can never tell by looking at her facial expressions just what she is feeling. Jane Eyre must have felt anguish, terror, love, passion, even anger, surely despair. But you never see it in her performance. Alas the film tries to squeeze a long story into a short film. Bah.

Ciaran Hinds and Samantha Morton do a fine job (Gemma Jones is always fine) in 1997. But the cream of all the depictions is Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson in 2006. Everything about this version is exquisite including the scenery, music and cast.

I can barely watch one without following up with the others, to compare, to critique, to savor the best parts. They are quite unequal dramas trying to tell the basically same story but sadly failing to do so. Each Mr. Rochester is excellent exuding the personality, frustration and agony that pours out from him. All the supporting casts are fulfilling in their portrayals. Alas all the Jane Eyres are not so equal. Three are excellent in my estimation.

Somehow the Mr. Rochesters go on to other leading roles, but the Jane Eyre actors don’t seem to be able to further their careers. What gives with that?

I think it is time to re-read the book again. Like Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte (and her sister’s) books can be read over and over again bringing forth the same enjoyment and actually finding something new that I had not noticed before.

Arlene Bice blog: Major Fraser's

Arlene Bice blog: Major Fraser's

Major Fraser's

It’s close to the time when Major Fraser’s is released upon the world. So a sneak preview is in order. The story begins in Olde England, back in the 1600s when life was enormously different than we know it today. It slides into West Jersey focusing on Bordentown. Colonial times move into the Revolutionary War period when our Scottish import, Major Fraser, enters the picture. Our Bordentown superstars become involved. The Major gets transferred to the south, mainly South Carolina. In between his fighting the Rebels (yes, he fought aggressively for the Brits) he falls in love with a gracious, young southern belle. The war ends, our story in Bordentown blossoms, then moves with our characters to France, to Italy and back to England again.

Time moves on, so our tale moves forward, back to Bordentown again where it all wraps up rather happily.

Quotes & Writing

Often I will read a quote of someone’s and be off and writing. I came across this quote and immediately thought of the last manuscript that I sent off for publishing.

"Be able to meet any deadline, even if your work is done less well than it would be if you had all the time you would have preferred." Marilyn vos Savant

That is exactly what I did, noting that I had been working on Major Fraser’s for six years. It was time to call a halt to any more additions, corrections and re-writes. No more stumbling onto a new piece of information that absolutely must be added. Do or die. Well, the very afternoon of sending my baby off, I began to think, ‘maybe I should have’ and ‘I wish I could change’ etc. You get the idea. It will rumble my stomach until I see the new born baby in my hands. And then I will probably think, ‘H-m-m. I should have’ and ‘darn, I wish I had….’

Oscars

Something wonderful happened at the Kodak Theatre last night. A movie won four Oscars. The King's Speech won an Oscar for Best Picture and it had NO violence and NO explicit, instructional SEX in it. NO guns exploded on-screen to create momentary deafness in the eardrums, NO one was beaten up, scarred or mutilated. NO one was tortured or cut into little pieces. NO cars drove through the market upsetting apple carts, scattering people from the screen, etc.

Egads, could this generation of movie goers be refining their tastes in entertainment? Are we becoming an enlightened people?

BOOK PHOTOS

So okay, here’s the deal. I planned to have twenty photos including maps in Major Fraser’s. I had them all arranged, altered from color to black & white, lined up as I wanted them placed in the book. Captions were written and ready. Permissions to publish them were received. But as the Universe commands, plans go awry.

I spent four days trying to upload the photos into the body of the manuscript where I wanted them to be. Success, well almost. As soon as they were placed and I was worn out from the day’s efforts, I closed my laptop…and lost them all. @!&#*

On the third day I began placing map one in the book and put the caption next to it instead of doing all the photos then adding the captions. Easy. The second map was not so easy, but was placed. I started on the photos and havoc broke out. When the captions were placed, the photos moved around on their own volition or at least that is how it seemed. They moved up and down and sometimes just disappeared. When I settled the photo the captions disintegrated. And I had not even gotten to the pixel stuff yet.

It was time for a life threatening choice. Lose the photos or get ulcers. Another hard lesson. In my next book, now approaching the last third of the manuscript, I’ll have a professional photographer handle that end.

Birthing a Book

Okay, okay. It is all true. Writing a book is like birthing a baby. First forming the creative idea =getting pregnant, going through the nine month gestation (which takes a lot longer with a manuscript) =actually writing, finding just the right name =then exploding into labor =which is the last step of editing, proof reading and all that goes with it; egads, pulling out the hair and all =before holding that little creation in your hands =The Book.

Whew! I’ve had the heartburn, the indigestion, the tossing and turning during the sleepless nights when my characters drove me a bit nutty, the aches, the pains and the final push which brings it all together and comes into a form. Major Fraser's is coming soon, it is in the hands of the printer.

But it is looking good even though the planned photos did not get into the book. Two are posted. And already I am seeing things that I should have done differently……….just like raising kids.

Cats in the Window

Don’t you just love cats in the window…….it’s a welcome sign like some people put a candle in the window. It is a picture of Welcome Home. At least that’s how I feel when I see the girls waiting for me to return from where ever I’ve been. I would often like to take them with me, but my cats just don’t travel well like most dogs do. I notice down here in North Carolina everyone has dogs and they all travel along with their heads out the window or riding along in the back of the pick-up. Neat. I guess cats and dogs are just as different as men and women.

Same Words, Different Meaning

Have you ever read an article or column and then discussed it with a friend or acquaintance only to find that you absorbed such different information from the written words that you question whether you both read the same article?

It is true. We draw from the written words what interests us and the rest often fades away to be picked up by someone else. Sometimes the very same words give different meanings to different people even without the voice inflections when spoken. Again it is probably because we are applying the information to what is familiar to us. Or to what we are seeking.

So just when you think you are writing clearly and precisely, the words can send out messages that readers are reading differently. This can be extremely dismaying when you are trying to send a particular sentiment that you don’t want to be mis-construed. Ah.. …. Language.

Cats Sleeping

When I look at my girls, Mz. Lizzie and Lady Jane, curled up on the bed next to me while I write on the computer, I wonder about all this sleeping they do. They are perfectly content to curl up cozily for an hour, awaken to stretch; look over at me, ho-hum –she-is-still-there and then drift back to sleep. They may purr as if they were happily spending time in deep dreams that they refuse to share but if I stand up to get some herb tea, they are up on their feet with the expression “What is going on?”

When I think about it, maybe my girls had a rough former life and are catching up on their rest in this one in order to energize in preparation for the next one. H-m-m-m. I wonder what their last lifetimes were like. Was their past life working nights? Were they cats then or different animals or people?

Email Forwarding

I am sure my friends think that they are including me in their joy by sharing a Forward message they received from 49,000 other people before them. All with their email addresses listed. This makes it easy for hackers to gather Spam email lists easily, adding mine to their list.

And I wonder what goes through their minds or if even they read all the way to the bottom of the message where it states: You have ten minutes to forward this message to ten people (or 100, or 1,000.) If you do not forward this message in that time period you will be cast down, given bad luck, walk under a rain cloud, be tortured with nightmares for ten years, etc. You get the picture I am sure.

So out of the goodness of their hearts, thinking they are sending me the good luck to win the lottery, make Cinderella wishes, prayers to protect all my family and friends from disasters, and so on, they are instead condemning me to hell.

I have them all fooled. I no longer open any of those forwards. But I would love a simple "hey, how's it going?" email.

Reading On the PC and more.....

Knowing my inflamed reaction to women not receiving equal rights and probably because so much of my writing is of the past when such laws were outrageous, a friend recommended the e-book of Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Women’s Rights Movement by Sally Gregory McMillen. It just so happens that I was also reading Nike is a Goddess, the History of Women in Sports edited by Lissa Smith at the time. Some stories in that book relate the difficulties women suffered while trying to participate in their favorite sports. Connected-ness. That happens all the time. Just like Google, one thing leads to another which leads to another, etc. All connected by an unseen thread. Because then I came across the E-book, the biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Eighty Years and More. Immediately I downloaded it into my folder titled BOOKS lest I lose it somewhere.

I love reading from my computer while I’m sitting in bed –which is the only warm spot in my house these nights. It’s easy and restful on the eyes, while reading a hard copy book late at night tires my eyes and puts me to sleep before I’m ready to give up absorbing these printed words.

All this means, is that I’m ready to move, again, into the 21st century and look for an E-reader to buy, to expand my reading experience, to take advantage of ‘out-of-copyright-books to download, so they will not be forgotten just because they are old and out of print. These treasures have so much information in them that should be read and saved and then passed on to someone else.

Late New Year Resolutions

It’s a bit late in the year to be revealing my New Year’s resolutions but here goes: The first and the one that I completed immediately lest I weaken and fail is the reduction of time and work put into volunteering. In short this means my serving on Director’s Boards and committees. I loved what I was doing and the people I was serving with and felt this was a big part of responsibility. But it was taking me away from writing and that is like draining all blood from my body. And who can live without blood?

It isn’t easy to resign from organizations that are important to the area I live in. Feelings of ‘letting people down’ crept over me, sitting on my shoulders and adding weight to my body/mind that I don’t need. But it had to be done. I thought long and hard on the subject, holding the thoughts of serving suspended on a platter like Lady Justice and in the other suspended platter, lay writing counter balancing it. The writing won making my decision necessary.

Still I mourn the loss of these activities as I fight the word ‘guilt’ and knowing that there is always someone to step up and fill that void.