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Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category

The Regency Post — A Pity We’ve Lost Letters

Posted in Articles, tagged on May 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Posting a letter in Regency England was not as simple as walking down to the local post office and dropping off a stamped letter. Prior to January 10, 1840, stamps did not exist.

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Winter Fare

Posted in Articles on November 25, 2009 | 3 Comments »

In the still largely agrarian world of the early 1800′s, fall and winter became a time to relax after harvest. Gentry and yeoman alike could take advantage of old feasting customs that had long ago mingled with the Christian holidays.

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Horse Sense

Posted in Articles, tagged , on June 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Back a few years ago, I wrote this article for RWA’s Beau Monde’s newsletter. Since horse information doesn’t really go out of date, here it is again, for folks who need to write about horses. Somewhat edited.

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Because it’s not always about the writing — an etymology of titles

Posted in Articles, tagged on November 1, 2008 | 4 Comments »

This article first appeared in the Beau Monde’s newsletter, The Regency Reader, and since it sort of came up again, and since sometimes the writing is more about the research, here’s the information posted. An Etymology of Titles   We tend to think of dukes and viscounts as having always been in the British nobility. [...]

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Courting the Muse

Posted in Articles, tagged on July 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Then, rising with Aurora’s light,
The Muse invoked, sit down to write;
Blot out, correct, insert, refine,
Enlarge, diminish, interline.
Swift, On Poetry

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Writing Muscles

Posted in Articles, tagged , on July 5, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Would you like to write ten pages a day–or more? Not ten throw away pages. Ten productive pages. Or even twenty! At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Yeah, and I’d like to lose five pounds, a few years and win the Pulitzer, too.” But fast writing is not a gimmick–there are some tips than can make any writer more productive.

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Plotting from Character

Posted in Articles, tagged on July 5, 2008 | 2 Comments »

We’ve all read it (and written it)–that scene where the heroine does something really stupid because the plot needs her to be at risk. Or what about that moment when you can’t think what happens next–say, right after the heroine and hero make love for the first time–and all you can come up with is them bickering over a misunderstanding because you need conflict.

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