Lady Rawdon's China

Remember the dowager countess's china?

"How could I not? I have the loveliest room." Stirring her tea, Amy was distracted by the sight of even more exotic birds on the delicate, gold and fuchsia rimmed cup. Inadvertently, her gaze was drawn to the curtains and wallpaper, then back.

At her flabbergasted look, the countess laughed. "My mother-in-law so wished for a room that matched the china that we couldn’t help choosing this decor when we redecorated the breakfast parlor a few years ago."

"Oh," Amy said faintly. To think of it: that somebody would choose their wallpaper to go with the china, of all things!

The china in this scene is modelled on the decor "Indian Birds" from Höchst, which is the local china manufacturer here in Frankfurt (named after the town Höchst). Indian birds came into existence in 1765 -- I figured that the dowager countess would own slightly old-fashioned china. :)

Want to read some further analysis of this scene in regard to research? Then join me on the Romance Divas Forum for "No iPods for Regency Rakes"!

Almost in Ice Cream Heaven

Today my ice cream maker arrived together with Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book (wow, what a delicious mouthful!). And tomorrow, when the bowl of the ice cream maker is all cold and frozen, I can start making ice creams and sorbets. But where to start?

With creamy coconut ice cream?

With a cherry-banana sorbet?

With Ben & Jerry's Oreo mint?

With Ben & Jerry's peanut butter ice cream?

With their chocolate oatmeal cookie ice cream?

With vanilla M&Ms?

This will be a tough decision ... :)

Not Going to RWA Nationals?

Well, neither am I -- for the first time since 2004. *boohooo* My RWA roomie is currently having fun in San Fran all by herself. Am I totally jealous? You bet I am! But for all of us who're not going there's the Not Going to Conference Conference, hosted by the Romance Divas:

The Romance Divas annual Not Going to Conference Conference will make you feel a bit less deprived! Amazing workshops, a star-studded guest list and awesome giveaways, all on the Diva forum! Don't miss it!


Here's a bit of a schedule update for the Q&As and Workshops...

Wednesday, July 30

Paula Guran, Editor, Juno Books
Q&A on Creating Kick a** Heroines

Laurie Rauch, Editor, Samhain Publishing
Workshop on What Happens After the Contract (aka Editors are People Too!)*


Thursday July 31

Joyce Hart, Hartline Literary
Q&A on Inspirational Romance Stories and the Inspy Market

Sandra Schwab, Historical Romance Author
Workshop on Historical Accuracy and Anachronisms

Friday, August 1

Yolanda Sfetsos, Author of Guarded by Stone
Q&A on Paranormal and Urban Fantasy World Building

Katie MacIver, KatieDidDesign
Workshop on Website Design and Color Selection

Saturday, August 2

Joey W. Hill, Erotica Author
Workshop on Plotting Erotica and Erotic Romance

Rhonda Stapleton, Editor and Author
Workshop on Style and Voice

Excited yet?

How about if I list some door prizes?

• What Gwen said" mug donated by Gwen Hayes
• 3-chapter critique of a YA by Simon Pulse author Rhonda Stapleton
• 3-chapter critique of a YA, chick lit, or rom com by Golden Heart Finalist Amanda Brice
• An ebook of your choice from Nell Dixon's backlist
• An ebook of either Second Sight (paranormal romance) or Dragons' Choice (fantasy romance - dragon-shifters) from Debbie Mumford
• Ten dollar Amazon gift certificate from Jodi Henley
• Lush stuff from Seeley deBorn
• e-book copy of Chasing Shadows from Erin Richards
• Paperback copy of Iron Horse Rider OR Smiling Eyes from Adelle Laudan
• Book thongs from Angeleque Ford
• 3 chapter critique from Sela Carsen
• winner's choice of ebook copy of "Not Quite Dead" or "Heart of the Sea" by Sela Carsen
• e-book copy of HEATWAVE by Eden Bradley
• e-book copy of BREAKING SKYE by Eden Bradley
• a box of goodies, trade and paperbacks, bath products candles, etc... All for a fun and relaxing home spa day treat. courtesy of The Midnight Moon Cafe
• 1 download each of Natasha Moore's Samhain books, The Ride of Her LIfe and The Passion-Minded Professor
• a copy of "Painted Soul" by Mary Quast
• e-book copy of HER CINDERELLA COMPLEX by Jenna Bayley-Burke - Samhain
• e-book copy of PAR FOR THE COURSE by Jenna Bayley-Burke - Samhain
• e-book copy of FOUND by Jenna Bayley-Burke - Wild Rose Press
• e-book copy of NIGHT OF INSPIRATION by Jenna Allen - Phaze
• e-book copy of ON AGAIN by Jenna Allen - Phaze
• $10 gc to Amazon from Kendal Corbitt
• ebook Vampire Oracle: Harmony by MG Braden
• Ebook ARC, Art of Sensuality by Jax Cassidy

Plus a lovely bar of wonderful Chagrin Valley hand made soap, Caramel Pralines jar candle, handmade jewelry, Tarot readings, a Lush box for European Divas/Dudes, a $10 fictionwise gc and much more!

Not Going to RWA Nationals?

The Golden Rules of Blackberry Picking

1. It is a truth universally acknowledged that the juiciest fruits grow where you can't reach them.
2. Beware of the nettles. (Yup, stepped into them again.)
3. Blackberry baby thorns buried underneath your fingernail sort of hurt. Quite a lot, in fact.
4. When blackberry picking, wear sneakers. Not sandals. Sandals are a really bad idea, in fact. Unless you'd like to get your feet scratched.
5. Bring bigger Tupperware pots. :)

Picture is from Wikipedia

Happy Dance Shortly after Midnight

Today, or rather yesterday, I finished the dratted diss chapter on Victorian parodies. Wooohooo! Took me a whole year, but I've finally done it! Of course, I'll still need to revise it and fill the white spaces in my documentation of sources. Things like, who the heck wrote that the curious movements and the bad balance of the knights in THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS refers to the movements of the knights in a game of chess? And who speculated that Carroll / Dodgson proposed to Alice Liddell's older sister? Or to their governess???

Of Black Butter

BEWITCHED got a truly lovely review from Heather Hiestand from Romance Reader at Heart:

It's so refreshing to read historical romance that's actually, well.... feels historical. Schwab's gift for detail and description really makes this story come alive. I still remember the black butter for instance. I'd never heard of it before but the way she introduced it, then explained it, then had another character comment on it showed wonderful writer skills. Her powers of description defied my usual skimming technique.

Actually, this is a paranormal story with a great conflict, not just a circa 1820 historical romance. What do you do when you realize you were only in love with a man because you were under a spell? And you know that, but you still half feel all those great love feelings, and half realize it's a spell? Even worse, the man is totally under the spell, doesn't believe in magic, and you've already given your... oh wait, don't want to throw a spoiler in here!

BEWITCHED is thoroughly delightful, and if you are a historical romance fan you should definitely pick this up, whether or not you like paranormal. Lovers of witch books will find this fabulous as well. It's great!

*happy sigh*

In case you're wondering about the black butter: I found the recipe in THE JANE AUSTEN COOKBOOK by Maggie Black and Deirdre Le Faye:

From the sixteenth century, apples, pears and soft fruits improved so much in quality that cooked fruit mixtures became very popular for pies and tarts and as spreads. Dark-coloured mulberries, currants and blackberries in particular supplemented well the less tasty but pectin-rich apples for making the stiff mixtures which came to be called jams and, because the were the same consistency as the dairy foods, butters and cheeses. Although adults enjoyed them and served them to their guests, they were also considered wholesome (and cheap) treats for children.

In one of Jane [Austen]'s letters we find references to 'black butter' (perhaps blackberry and apple) being eaten by her family as a treat.

This reminded me of the apple butter I had enjoyed so much on my first trip to the US, which is why I let Amy eat black butter in the novel. Besides, the name "black butter" is wonderfully quaint, isn't it? :)

White Underwear will never be the same again: Matthew Bourne's "Spitfire"

Those of you who've been reading this blog for some time, know that I love Matthew Bourne's choreographies to pieces. (There's nothing like a bunch of half-naked, nicely-built guys in feather trousers to make a girl happy! *ggg*) So you can imagine my joy when I just discovered that New Adventures, Bourne's company, now has a YouTube account. Wooohooo!

Sunday Relevations

If I hadn't already loved James R. Dow simply for writing GERMAN FOLKLORE, I would have totally fallen in love with the man once I would have read the first two sentences of the introduction to GERMAN FOLKLORE:

German Volkskunde, or German folklore as it is known outside the German-speaking world, has long been something of an obsession. It began quite innocently, with a course in folk narrative at the Gutenberg Universität in Mainz [...]

Awww! Of course, I know exactly what he is talking about: several years ago, a friend of mine talked me into attending a class on the Grimms' Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales, also translated as German Popular Stories) at the institute of folklore, and just like that I was sucked in and decided to take folklore as one of my minor subjects. :) And now folk literature forms a major part of my PhD project. That's what these sneaky folklore people do to you: they make sure that, before you know it, the subject grabs you and never lets you go. *g*

So. Started reading Dow's book this afternoon, and while he somewhat (over)simplifies several things, he has nevertheless written a great, because clear and concise introduction and overview. and, oh my gosh, I've already had some major relevations: it had completely escaped me that Stith Thompson wrote two indeces of folk literature: for one thing, he translated and expanded Antti Aarne's Verzeichnis der Märchentypen (1910) as The Types of the Folk Tale (1928 / rev. 1961); for another, he also put together the six-volume Motif Index of Folk Literature (1955-58). (Goodness knows with what I've been working in the past.) What Dow does not mention, however, is that Aarne-Thompson index has been further expanded by now, namely by Hans-Jörg Uther's The Types of International Folktales (2004).

This is interesting in so far as the types of folk tales are traditionally referred to by their number in the Aarne-Thompson index (abbreviated as either AT or AaTh); "Cinderella," for example, is AaTh 150A. Apparently, this old classification has now been replaced by the ATU (Aarne-Thompson-Uther) system. Of course, tales taken from the Grimms' Household Tales are also referred to by their position in the 1857 edition (= last edition done by the Grimms themselves - is there a specific term for that?). Thus, "Cinderella" is also known as KHM 2.

Confused yet? ;-)

Last Day of Musical Madness

Have you already watched Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible, the super-villain musical? If not, do so quickly because today is the last day it's free.

Ze Nerve

Got a rude e-mail from somebody who thinks I wrote a post, a reply or whatever about bipolar disorder on the NY Times blog. (Peoplez, I don't even READ the NY Times blog!) And apparently, his mail box is full, so I can't even write a rude e-mail back.

Now I'm wondering: was it only the poor romance writer who got the aforementioned rude e-mail, or did the realtor get lucky, too? And what about the pediatrician in Philadelphia? Or the linguist at the University of Neuchâtel? Or the lady who works at Beha Innovation in the Glottertal (that's where the Schwarzwaldklinik is *g*) in the Black Forest? And I'm sure there are a few more Sandra Schwabs out there.

*roll eyes*

Soundtrack Wanted

For inspirational purposes I want to put together a soundtrack for my latest WIP (also referred to as the Sleeping Beauty Book -- thank goodness it only had to sleep for 10 years in the drawer instead of 100 years! *g*) and need somewhat melancholic songs à la "Fields of Gold" by Sting

or "When I touch you like this" by Meat Loaf.

Any ideas?

Moral of the Day

When picking blackberries, beware of the &$%/(§ nettles!

Wikipedia Pic

Wheeeeeee!!!!!

I'M FINISHED WITH THE CORRECTIONS!!!!!!

(Well, with the corrections of the exams anyway. I won't get the research papers until mid-September.)

The Laptop Bag for Everyday Use

The Cheesy Chick from Crumpler. Cute, isn't it? :)

Thursday Update

Spent the day correcting exams - duh. But, hopefully, tomorrow will bring an end to corrections -- at least for the time being. Yay! I'll be finally able to concentrate on my thesis once again. :)

Speaking of the thesis, I'll be going on a research trip to London in September. (All right, all right, this is only a very elaborate excuse to look at even more Dickie Doyle goodies and squee with delight in the library of the Victoria & Albert Museum. *g* But even with much squeeing, it's still research for the dissertation.) (How clever of me to pick a squee-worthy topic for my thesis! *ggg*)

I hope I'll be able to squeeze in some time for a day trip (or at least half-a-day trip) to Oxford in order to visit the Pitt Rivers Museum, which is my all-time favourite museum. Besides, the frame story of the Novel That Has Finally Achieved WIP Status opens in the Pitt Rivers. And I can even show you the exact location: click here (you need QuickTime), then turn around 180° until you face the other display case. I believe the objects my heroine (Louise Murray, called Birdy) is looking at are in the showcase next to it on the left. (See? That's something I need to check out. And whether the museum is still as dimly lit as it was in 1998.)

And speaking of books: I'm still happily glomming Suzanne Brockmann. I'm currently reading THE DEFIANT HERO -- and I love it, love it, love it! :)

The first of the newly ordered research goodies has arrived

What I found in my mailbox today:

Virginia Rounding's GRANDES HORIZONTALES:

THE LIVES AND LEGENDS OF FOUR NINETEENTH-CENTURY COURTESANS.

PS: The Muse Talketh!

Ooops, I've totally forgotten to mention this: THE MUSE IS TALKING TO ME ONCE AGAIN!!!! Woohoo! Thanks to the lovely Carrie Lofty, for whom I took part in a survey on unusual historicals (not to be mixed up with UH), the Muse gave me a nudge last night. (Here's another big, fat kiss for Carrie: *mmmmmmmmwah*)

Have I ever told you about that book project I've been planning to write for ten years now? It's a paranormal historical, mainly set in Paris in the late 19th century. Back in 1998 or 99 I wrote the beginning and the ending of the novel, and I remember my friend Petra telling me it was the best thing I've ever written. Incidentally, it was also the first book project I tackled in English. But I was terribly worried that my English simply wasn't good enough yet, so I stopped working on it (well, I also needed some brilliant idea for the plot, which wasn't forthcoming). Still, almost straight away, I started to gather research material. And last year, I finally began thinking about this project in earnest (but still needed that brilliant idea), which is why I bought that 19th century Baedeker on Paris. And then, last night, after having finished Carrie's survey on Friday, I HAD THAT BRILLIANT IDEA! Naturally, I started scribbling it down straight away and felt the Muse slowly coming back to life.

Oh my gosh, I'm so, so happy!!!!

Picture is from Wikipedia

The Most Adorable Templar Knights EVER

More pics can be found here. -- Thanks to Kate for providing the linkie-goodness!

Oral Exams Suck

Spent the day listening to people telling me wonderful and not-so-wonderful things about the Norman Conquest, the Tudors and the development of parliament / development of religion / history of Ireland. Am now convinced that William the Conqueror deserves to be shot for ever crossing the Channel. And when we're at it, we should shoot Henry VII, too, for winning the Battle of Bosworth, killing Richard III, and thus getting his stupid butt onto the English throne. I hates ze Normans and ze Tudors!

Picture is a LoLCat from Icanhascheezburger.com

I'm being pirated - shall I be flattered?

I've found a pirated digital version of THE LILY BRAND on this site, and I'm not quite sure whether to be annoyed or flattered. At least, TLB is out of print at the moment, so it's not as if they were stealing something on which I'd still get any royalties. But the nerve of these people!

Don't Forget The Thank You If You Like My Shares!

Indeed.

My new notebook bag

I've finally found a notebook bag that is suitable for academic conferences aka it looks classy and doesn't resemble a notebook bag at all. I tried very hard to be sensible and choose the black version, but what can I say? the cherry red bag beamed at me from the top shelf in the shop and I just couldn't resist. :-)

RA in the morning (better than Müsli*!)

*I've no idea what Müsli is in English, and at the moment I'm just too lazy to reach for my dictionary or to look it up on leo.org.

Gaskell beats Shakespeare

At least as far as our course registrations are concerned. (Ha!) Imagine a small, cluttered office with buttery yellow walls, a large copy of Greenwood's Map of London of 1827 clinging to one of the aforementioned buttery yellow walls (actually, some pieces of the map are clining rather desperately and only with the tips of their non-existent fingers to the wall while one piece of the map never made it onto the wall in the first place), and Sandy sitting on a dark red office chair, smiling benignly on the twenty-odd students who step through the door one by one to get enrolled in Sandy's class. Sandy's two young colleagues watch on in awe. (Yes, in awe, I tell ya, but then they're still young and easily impressed. *ggg*) After a while one of them mutters something like, "I can't believe more people are in interested in Gaskell than in Shakespeare."

I flash him a triumphant smile. "Well, they probably all know that we're going to watch films which feature good-looking young men."

"I'm also going to watch a film," he protests (in vain, of course). "With Kenneth Branagh! And Emma Thompson!"

This time, I throw him a look full of pity. "But I watch a film which features Richard Armitage." (Please note that I totally refrained from saying something like "the divine Richard Armitage," or "the yummy, yummy Richard Armitage," or "the über-hot Richard Armitage who can make your bones melt with just one look," or "the Look-back-Look-back-at-me, OMG!!!!-That-kiss!!!!!!!! Richard Armitage." No, I was totally cool and professional as befits a young, hopeful academic.)

"But Kenneth Branagh!"

My look turns more pitying. "Yah, but I've got Richard Armitage and he's hot!"

"Perhaps you should try and find a Shakespeare film with Orlando Bloom," my other (male) colleague chimes in.

I stare at him in horror. "Orlando Bloom??? That babyface?"

Obviously, none of them has ever watched NORTH & SOUTH. Tsk.



You don't need Henry to explain --- awwwwwww! (says she in very professional tones).

The Midnight Post

The last week of the semester always sucks (not the least because you are suddenly in possession of this huge pile of exams you have to correct) and I'm always bone-tired when it finally arrives. So it's not such a good thing for the academic Muse to strike at midnight. No, indeed, it's not. Still, half an hour ago, some almost forgotten memory of some folklore theory raised its head (inside my head) and gave me a gentle nudge. Now the problem with my almost forgotten memories of folklore theories is that I've read all of that stuff in German. But I'm dissing in English. Soooo ... figuring out the correct terminology can be a bit tricky at times.

Yet thanks to the nudge and a google search accidentally conducted with google.co.uk instead of google.de directed me towards James R. Dow's GERMAN FOLKLORE (2006). Apparently, Dow doesn't only list major German folk customs, but also gives short introductions to the most important theories of German folklore. In English. Sounds good. Sounds very good!!!

WHERE ARE THE ALIENS??????

You know, I don't think it can be considered normal to work on a Sunday afternoon and evening until 10:15 p.m. (And I'm not talking about working on the dissertation here -- that would have been fun!)

Where are those aliens when you need them?

After we gave our Culture Studies 1 - British Studies (aka From the Ice Age to Maggie Thatcher in 9 Weeks) exam last night (and I mean night: the exam started at 7.55 p.m. and ended at 9.25 p.m.), I've spent my Saturday with corrections. Can you imagine a nicer way to spend your Saturday?

Actually, I can.

*sigh*

Ah well, I'm cheering myself up looking at notebook bags, notebook mouses and wireless presenters (for PP presentations) on amazon. What do you think of these:

Oilily Summer Garden 2008

Aha notebook bag

Golla Golla (I luuurve their designs!)

And the Kipling bag - I really like the red. :)

Of course, given that I now own my very own mini-me notebook, I don't really need a big bag when I go to, say, a conference and want to take the mini-me with me. I could also use a somewhat bigger handbag. On the other hand, a spacious bag is never a bad thing. And with something like the red Kipling bag I could totally make a fashion statement. The Oilily bag is cuter, of course, but also somewhat girly, while the Kipling screams bold and strong (and, well, gorilla *g*). Kipling also produces sinfully expensive leather notebook bags, yet none of them come in any exciting colours (black and brown is not really exciting).

More Possibilities of the Mini-Me Notebook

It just occured to me a few seconds ago: with the webcam of the mini-me notebook I could actually film myself while writing. How cool is that? Everybody could see my funny faces, the slow and steady destruction of my hair-do, the desperate biting on nails, the intense frown, the gleeful smile, the ....

But do I want that?

Perhaps not. :-)

No Duh-Day, after all!

It's working! It's working! It's working!!!!! Wheee!!!

I've finally figured out the problem with my Medion Akayo mini: I pressed the on/off button too long. One short, strong push is what it takes to properly start the mini-me notebook. And now it runs smoothly, nicely, without any noise except the occasional sounds of the harddrive working.

After admiring the cute little thing for some time, and dancing around the room shouting "whee!" for some time, I sat down to do some exploring. The Akayo mini has a built-in webcam which, as it turns out, produces rather good images. Well, for a webcam anyway. :-)

Duh

This morning I bought one of these uber-cute subnotebooks -- the Medion Akoya mini, which were sold today in the shops of the German supermarket chain Aldi. In fact, I was one of the few lucky people who actually got one of the mini notebooks. Apparently, they only had 10 per shop. So yay for me!

And here it is, right next to my normal notebook:



Cute, isn't it?

BUT ...

... you might have noticed the black display. Hmm-hmm. And that's where the duh-part comes in: my wonderful, oh-wie-süß mini notebook does not work. It's broken. Kaputt. (Duh.) When switched on, the dratted thing switches itself off again after three seconds or less. (Duh, duh, duh.)

And of course, my the time I finished talking to somebody from the technical support hotline and we had finally figured that my Medion Akoya mini was most definitely not working, the notebooks had sold out in the Aldi shops (i.e. by 9.30 a.m.). Wheee!


So on Saturday somebody will come and get my cute mini notebook for repairs. It's a bit depressing, I have to say. :-/