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| Michaelmas Daisies |
As a writer of historical
romances—most set in Victorian England—I find I have to pay close attention to
the calendar. Not just the modern American calendar with which I’ve grown up,
but the British calendar too: all the rituals, traditions, and observances that
are part of their culture and heritage.
So, in that spirit, Happy Michaelmas!
One of the
annual quarter days, Michaelmas is observed on September 29 and marks the end
of the harvest and the start of the year’s accounting. It also marks the onset
of autumn, the beginning of the fall terms at British schools and universities,
and the opening of the law courts.
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| Blackberry Pie (Devilishly Good?) |
According to
custom, special foods are eaten at Michaelmas, like bannocks and “stubble goose.”
And a Michaelmas pie is often made from the last blackberries of the season,
which are not picked thereafter, owing to the legend of the devil cursing the
fruit after St. Michael expelled him from heaven and he landed in a bramble
bush!
I would like to
share my own Michaelmas harvest, in the form of a now completed series, which
started almost four years ago with Waltz
with a Stranger and continued with its sequel, A Song at Twilight. Since then, I’ve written two novellas set in
the same universe, involving several of the same characters.
The most recent,
A Scandal in Newport, was released
just last month. A light-hearted romp with a whisper of intrigue, A Scandal in Newport features Thomas
Sheridan and Amy Newbold, the secondary couple from Waltz with a Stranger, who find romance and danger when they travel
to Newport, Rhode Island—playground of the American aristocracy—for the summer
season.
In honor of the
new release, A Wedding in Cornwall—written
last year—has been given a new cover. Although I liked the original landscape
cover, a more unified look seemed desirable now that The Heiress Series is complete. (Plus, I was a sucker for the
romantic image of a woman gazing out to sea…)
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| The Heiress Series (# 2.5) Kindle Nook iBooks Kobo Google |
Finally, I
collected both novellas in The Heiress
Brides, a paperback edition especially for lovers of print books!
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| Amazon |
Wrapping up this
series was deeply satisfying, but also slightly bittersweet. Much has changed
since I first began it, and I hope that I have grown both as a writer and a
person in the intervening years. I’m also not closing the door entirely on the
characters: some may well get their own stories down the road. In the meantime,
I have a whole roster of projects on which I hope to get started… once I catch
my breath!
Have you started
or finished any project this summer? What is your personal “harvest”?
Comment by
midnight, October 2, PST, for a chance to win a signed copy of The Heiress Brides. Please leave your
email address so I can contact the winner.
ETA: Catslady wins the giveaway for The Heiress Brides! Please email me at pamela@pamelasherwood.com with your address so I can send the book to you as quickly as possible. Thanks for participating!
ETA: Catslady wins the giveaway for The Heiress Brides! Please email me at pamela@pamelasherwood.com with your address so I can send the book to you as quickly as possible. Thanks for participating!
Pamela Sherwood
Gorgeous covers!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Shana! I really like the look of the series as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a wonderful series. No real projects since I started working again.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed writing it, catslady, though I'm also getting excited about what's next on my to-do list!
DeleteThis sounds like a wonderful series. No real projects since I started working again.
ReplyDeleteno projects
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
Thanks for your interest, bn100.
DeleteI love these covers, Pamela! My only summer project was getting my son moved to Colorado for grad school. He'll be there for the next 6 years or so.
ReplyDeleteIt's a big deal when your kids embark on the next adult phases of their lives, Glenda! And moving is *always* a project!
ReplyDelete