Eliza Knight's Blog, page 29

February 14th thru February 20th

What Happened this Week in History?  February 14, 1929- Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillinFebruary 15, 1879-A bill was signed by President Hayes allowing female lawyers to argue cases before the Supreme CourtFebruary 16, 1914-First airplane flight from LA to SFFebruary 17, 1817-Baltimore is the first city to lit by gasFebruary 18, 2001-Dale Earnhardt died in crash during the Daytona 500February 19, 1985-Cherry coke was introduced by the Coca-Cola CompanyFebruary 20, 1997-Named after the rock group Phish, Ben and Jerry's introduce their new ice cream flavor Phish Food.

Highland Romance Giveaway!

Win a paperback copy of Lachlan's Revenge, by R.L. Syme, releasing today! 
My friend Becca has a new book out today--a Highlander, of course--and she is giving away paperback copies to two commenters who answer the following question.
What is your favorite romance plot or trope? Do you love arranged marriage, secret identity, friends-to-lovers? What's your favorite?
Lachlan's Revenge is a medieval Scottish romance novella. They took his family, they took his freedom... but he's back to reclaim it all!


Read it now!

February 6th - February 13th

What Happened this Week in History?February 6th, 1685- Duke of York becomes King James II of England and VII of Scotland upon the death of his brother Charles IIFebruary 7, 1984-Space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart made the first untethered space walkFebruary 8, 1952-"The Dukes of Hazzard" ended its six and a half year run on CBS televisionFebruary 9, 1983-Prince's "Little Red Corvette" was releasedFebruary 10, 1933-The Postal Telegraph Company of New York City introduced the singing telegramFebruary 11, 1531-Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of EnglandFebruary 12, 1870-The Utah Territory granted women the right to voteFebruary 13, 1866-Jesse James holds up his first bank in Liberty, Missouri and gets away with $15,000And Soon to Make History....February 10, 2015The release of Kissing the Highlander by Eliza Knight, Terry Spear, Vonda Sinclair, Victoria Roberts, and Willa Blair.


Amazon

The Ultimate Hot, Hunky Hero With Kathleen Bittner Roth

Welcome back to History Undressed, my good friend, Kathleen Bittner Roth! She writes sweeping, sexy historicals that I can't get enough of :) She's here today to entice us with the ultimate hunky hero--and one of my favorites, WOLF!!! Enjoy!


The Ultimate Hot, Hunky HeroIn honor of Valentine’s Day, Kensington Books is looking for the Ultimate Hero. They’ve pitted thirty-two author’s characters against one another until an ultimate hero emerges. The winner from each round moves on to the next round until only one man is left standing. My hero’s turn comes up on Thursday, February twelfth. I do hope you’ll vote for him!
For my hero, I chose Wolf, from Alanna, book two in my When Hearts Dare series. He first appeared out of nowhere in Celine, book one. Not only did I fall head over heels for him, so did my readers. They demanded his story, and boy, did he deliver.
Here’s a little bit about him and a short excerpt:
My hero roams the west in the late 1850’s as a relentless tracker of lost persons. He can locate anyone anywhere…for a price. A formidable, solitary man with nothing to lose, he is known only by the name of Wolf. A legend across the land, no one knows much about him other than he is the best at what he does. But beware—he can be ruthless if crossed. 
At thirty years of age, Wolf stands over six feet tall. He’s lean-hipped and broad across the shoulders. He wears his sun-streaked, tawny gold hair clubbed at his nape, exposing a chiseled face reminiscent of a work of art. Beneath thick, gilded lashes, his startlingly blue eyes shimmer with pure sin. Despite his hardened demeanor, he moves across a room with a fluid grace, his muscled hips rolling seductively, his long legs stretching out in a slow, purposeful glide. Fascinating to watch, the man could pass for a fallen god.
But there is more to Wolf than he lets on in public. Beneath his worldly hardness beats a wild and lonely heart that yearns for more than the bad hand life dealt him. An enigmatic man who can command a room simply by walking through it, when it comes to bedding a woman, his heart turns tender. One look into those magnetic blue eyes filled with the promise of delicious sin, one feather-soft slide of his fingers across her skin, and the air grows thick with passion. The way he speaks soft and low in her ear, as if they were already making love, and desire, hot and gripping, threatens to capture her soul.
One other thing: He wears a woman’s garnet earring in his left earlobe. It’s all he has left of his mother after watching her brutal murder when he was only six years old. In the story, Wolf finally goes hunting for her killer. On his journey aboard a clipper ship from San Francisco to Boston, he meets Alanna Malone, a high-spirited, enigmatic woman intent on shedding a fiancé handpicked by her social climbing parents. She sets Wolf’s heart ablaze. But life isn’t easy for him once he lands in Boston and the mystery surrounding his mother’s death deepens—someone wants him dead. I often use visuals to get my stories started. If I were to have to name a celebrity to use as a visual for Wolf, I’d have go with Brad Pitt back in his role of Tristan in Legends of the Fall. 

Here’s a little excerpt from Alanna:
Wolf pulled his head back and studied Alanna through lazy lids. “Every time you took care of me back in Boston, every time you bent over me to change my bandages, every time you shaved me, or bathed me, you drove me wild. I wanted to do wicked things to you. Did you know that?” He took her by the shoulders and gently turned her around. “I’m going to undress you now.”

The event is going on right now but Wolf’s turn comes up on Thursday, February 12. I hope you’ll vote for him! Oh, and be sure to vote early and often – lol – there is no limit to the number of times you can vote. In honor of the event, Alanna is on sale for the month of February. $2.99 folks! 

Read an excerpt!
The event is being hosted on Tumbler: http://kensingtonheroes.tumblr.com/ 
The price drops on all the participating books can be found here: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/catalog.aspx/category/313258
Bio:Kathleen Bittner Roth creates evocative stories featuring characters forced to draw on their strength of spirit to overcome adversity and find unending love. Her own fairy tale wedding in a Scottish castle led her to her current residence in Budapest, Hungary, considered one of Europe’s most romantic cities. However, she still keeps one foot firmly in Texas and the other in her home state of Minnesota. A member of Romance Writers of America®, Kathleen was a 2012 finalist in their prestigious Golden Heart® awards. You can find Kathleen on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, and on her website www.kathleenbittnerroth.com.

Weekend Read

   ShoesAn Illustrated Historyby Rebecca Shawcross From high heels to protective boots, shoes are powerful objects of desire as well as a practical necessity. They are also fascinating indicators of the fashions, social attitudes, and economic backdrop of the times in which they were made and worn.

This lavishly illustrated volume takes the reader on a glorious journey through many centuries of footwear from antiquity to the present, showcasing a dazzling array of shoes from all over the world. Written by expert curator Rebecca Shawcross, the book is packed with social and historical detail putting shoe trends, superstitions and traditions in context and exploring shoes as symbolic and highly personal objects which evoke a time, place and an emotion.
Shoes: An Illustrated History is the definitive guide to footwear from fetish heels to winklepickers and a must-read for students, researchers and anyone interested in fashion.
 Amazon



A Museum Display of Shoes
Pattern from 1434
Photo Eliza took at Linlithgow Castle Scotland.  Part of a child's shoe.



 
MY REVIEW:
 
I was delighted to receive a copy of one of my new favorite books: SHOES: An Illustrated History, by Rebecca Shawcross.
 
I have had a fascination with shoes since birth—one that has continued into an expensive habit I passed down to my little princesses… But more than just my interest in modern shoes, I’ve been enchanted by those things that have encased our feet throughout history: the construction, the feel, the look. All of it!
 
First off, I am extremely envious of Shawcross’s job—she has been involved with the shoe collection at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery for the last sixteen years, and she is the Assistant Keeper of the Boot and Shoe Collection. Can you imagine??? I would love to shadow her… But back to the book!
 
Shawcross had me DROOLING over this book, because not only does she tantalize the historical nerd in me with in-depth descriptions of shoes from the pre-historic era to footwear today, but each entry comes with shoe eye-candy!
 
Of course, my most favorite parts were the Middle Ages through the European Renaissance, but I’m biased when it comes to them. The one thing I’ve wondered for years, and can’t help but continue to wonder, is how we survived walking around in some of these shoes. I mean, they were incredibly uncomfortable looking.
 
But also there was a lot of practicality—think about Pattens. These were medieval galoshes, without the rubber. You’d slip your shoe into the leather strap, the bottom piece being a raised wooden platform. Voila! Your shoes didn’t get ruined in the rain or snow.
 
And let’s be honest, shoes were a hot commodity. Especially in the Renaissance era when HOURS were put into intricate embroidery.
 
This is a book I’m going to keep out in a place that I—and any guests—can look at often, I love it that much!
 
Highly recommend!

January 29th thru February 5th

What Happened This Week in History?              January 29, 1820: The british king who lost the American colonies, King George III dies at the age of 82.January 30, 1649: King Charles I is beheaded for treasonJanuary 31, 1747: The first clinic specializing in the treatment of venereal diseases was opened at London Dock HospitalFebruary 1, 1964: "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen was declared as pornographic by the governor of IndianaFebruary 2, 1887: The First Groundhog Day is celebrated at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawny, PennsylvaniaFebruary 3, 188: Circus owner PT Barnum buys his world famous elephant JumboFebruary 4, 1938: Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is officially released

Medieval Virginity Testing and Virginity Restoration

Welcome to History Undressed, guest authors, Karen Harris and Lori Caskey-Sigety! Harris and Caskey-Sigety have recently penned a new non-fiction book, The Medieval Vagina: An Hysterical and Historical Look at All Things Vaginal During the Middle Ages, now available on Amazon. Please enjoy their fascinating article--guaranteed to entertain!


Medieval Virginity Testing and Virginity Restoration
In the Middle Ages, virginity was a sought-after commodity, primarily because it was the surest method to guarantee paternity. The only way to make absolutely sure that a child born to a marriage--a child who would inherit property from his father--is a legitimate heir was to bed a virgin bride. Thus a high value was placed on virginity, making it a commodity of sorts. As with all things, once a value is assigned an object, people will go to great lengths to prove its authenticity and to regain it if it is lost. Such was the case with medieval virginity. A unique feature of the vagina is that it comes hermetically sealed. For centuries, that seal, the hymen, has been the tangible proof of virginity. An intact hymen, or virgo intacta, offers evidence to the male block of society (the clergy, the courts, the crown, fathers, and future husbands…all the ones who have assigned a high monetary value to virginity) that determined its presence. The most obvious way to verify a woman’s virginity was to inspect the hymen. While this was commonplace in the Middle Ages, it was not infallible. Some women are born without hymens and others rupture theirs prematurely doing the strenuous activities that comprised women’s work in the medieval era. It fell to midwives to do hymen inspections. Some midwives, demonstrating the bonds of sisterhood, declared a woman to be a virgo intactawhen she clearly wasn’t. But most midwives were honest in their appraisal and their findings served to, in a sense, throw their fellow female under the medieval bus. Why would they do this? The thumb of oppression under which medieval women lived was so large, so omnipresent, so engrained in society, that most women believed the cultural rhetoric that labeled females as wicked, untrustworthy, inferior, and dishonest. To “fake” her findings to help another woman save face would be a bold and courageous move for a medieval woman who lived her whole live believing she belonged in the second-rate, subservient role.  Most often, however, the absolute proof of the presence of virginity occurred as it was lost.  Honeymoon sheets streaked with blood was all the evidence a bridegroom needed to verify virginity. In fact, the bloody sheets were sometimes snatched from the bed and shown around to others as evidence of wedding night purity. Katherine of Aragon, legend says, kept her blood-stained honeymoon bedding for years and presented them to the court during the annulment case brought against her by Henry VIII. Yes, the spilling of virginal blood was proof of purity, but this, too, could be faked. It wasn’t too difficult for a clever, yet soiled bride to acquire a vial of blood. Most medieval households had adjoining farms and animals were routinely butchered for dinner. A bit of chicken blood could easily be hidden in a piece of jewelry and spilled on to the sheets under the cover of darkness. The first-night’s blood and the hymen inspection were tangible, medically-based ways to ascertain virginal status, however, equal validity was granted to spiritual and folkloric virginity tests. Virgins, it was believed, were endowed with magical powers and could quiet swarming bees, tame wild animals, hold water in their hands, and control the urge to urinate, among other things. Medieval medical books often included references to this last myth. To see if a maiden was truly a virgin, the medical books advised, have the woman drink large amounts of a diuretic. If she was able to refrain from visiting the little girls’ room, then she was, indeed, a virgin. But tinkling meant she was lying about her sexual experience. These same medical tomes also suggested a close inspection of woman’s urine as another way of verifying virginity. A pee sample that was crystal clear could only come from a virgin.  This connection between peeing and virginity is closely connected to one of the other folkloric legends...virgins holding running water in their hands. One common way to test a maiden’s virginity status was to hand her a sieve and see if, in her pure and virginal hands, it would hold water. A leaky sieve was akin to a leaky bladder and signified a sullied maiden. Anecdotal evidence tells us that women could “cheat” the sieve test by simply coating the inside of the sieve with lanoline. This metaphor of the water-tight sieve was so prevalent in the Middle Ages that it can be seen in the symbolism of the art and literature of the time. The famous 1579 painting of Queen Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen, shows her holding a sieve, and Cesare Ripa’s 1611 woodcut illustration depicts the personification of Chastity, fighting off Cupid with one hand while holding a sieve in the other. If the ability to hold her fluid was a hallmark of a virgin, the passing of water in general – urine, tears, water – all seemed to point to a sinful woman. The metaphor extended to include not only actual fluid, but verbal fluid as well. A talkative, gossipy woman became synonymous with loose morals; after all, if she easily opened one orifice, she would open them all. Here, I am reminded of Chaucer’s Wife of Bath, who rambles on and on in her lengthy Prologue before she even gets around to telling her tale.Although virginity was such a valued commodity in the medieval era, it was not a renewable resource. Once it is gone, it is gone forever, for as St. Jerome noted in his Letter to Eustochium, “Although God is able to do anything, He cannot raise a virgin after she has been defiled.”  Of course, his words did nothing to discourage women, either those conscious of the economic value of virginity or ones attempting to erase a bad decision or two, from trying. Much like virginity testing, virginity restoration techniques ran the gamut from medically-based remedies and potions to prayers, incantations, and pseudo-scientific quackery. Again we can look at medieval medical books and other texts to see directions for potions and remedies to restore virginity. One recipe said to boil together myrtle leaves and nettles without prickles in water then the woman should use this mixture to wash her feminine parts every morning and evening for nine days to restore her virginity. If one needed quicker results, another medical book advised placing ground up nutmeg in the vagina, and instantly virginity would return. Within the literary works of several people, including Ovid, Samual Pepys, John Wilmot, and John Baptista Porta, there are references to the use of alum water as a virginity restorer. Alum water is a chemical compound of hydrated potassium aluminum sulfate used to tan leather and pickle meats and set the dye in wool. A key property of alum water is that it is an astringent. It shrinks and tightens skin. So used in the vaginal area, alum water could shrink the tissue, giving the illusion of virginity, without actually replacing the hymen. Fumigation was a common medical treatment option in the Middle Ages so it is not surprising that some virginity restoration techniques made use of fumigators. Vessels containing water mixed with some sort of herbal substance, often foul smelling ones, were heated over open fires until steam was produced. The steam was funneled through a tube inserted into a fallen woman’s vagina so the restorative properties of the herbs and steam could repair the ruptured hymen. Even more awkward was the use of perfumed resin, suppositories and rings that were inserted into the vagina of medieval women. These devices acted like a surrogate hymen, giving resistance during sexual penetration and thus, tricking the partner into thinking he was bedding a virgo intacta.Other virginity restoration techniques concerned the spiritual, rather than the physical. In the Penitential of Finnian, written in the early years of the Middle Ages (525-550), a penance is offered as a way to reclaim absent virginity. This is also a lengthy process, for, “She must live for six years on bread and water and in the seventh year, she shall be joined to the alter; and them we say her crown can be restored and she may don a white robe and be pronounced a virgin.”In keeping with her name, the Virgin Mary made appearances in numerous medieval texts as a virginity doctor. Stories abound about helpless maidens whose virginity was taken by force, but the Virgin Mary would appear and assure the victims that their virginity would be restored, even if a child was born. Sometimes, the maiden didn’t need to be the victim of a rape for the Virgin Mary to make her a born-again virgin...she just needed to feel really guilty about giving into the fleshly temptation. What we know about medieval virginity is that it had less to do with values and morals, and more to do with ownership and trust. The sexual status of a medieval woman was very much a public matter because her virginity, so they thought in the Middle Ages, was not hers to own. Rather, a woman’s intact hymen was “owned” by a man, either her father or her husband. Verifying virginity was the only way that a future husband could feel confident that his bride was pure because simply asking her about her past infidelities was unheard of. Women were eyed with suspicion in medieval times and it was common knowledge that all women were prone to lying and easily tempted by carnal desires. Coupling that attitude with the economic and spiritual value of virginity and it is no wonder that an experienced lady sought to reclaim her most valued asset, her virginity, and the reputation that came along with it.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Karen Harris is a college instructor by day and a writer by night. Writing offers Karen a chance to dabble in her other areas of interest, including history and science. She has written numerous freelance articles and feature stories for publication. She is a hobby farmer, environmental volunteer, and advocate for volunteer firefighters.
Lori Caskey-Sigety started writing in 1991. She hasn’t stopped. Her writing includes blogs, book reviews, essays, lyrics, plays, poems, and puppet shows. Lori has authored two poetry books, and her other works have appeared in Wildfire Magazine, Orlo, Indiana Libraries, and Public Libraries. She is an artist, college instructor, librarian, and musician.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
  In the Middle Ages much like today, the vagina conjured fear and repulsion, yet it held an undeniable allure. In the Medieval Vagina, the authors explore this paradox while unearthing medieval myths, attitudes and contradictions surrounding this uniquely feminine and deeply mysterious organ.   What euphemisms did medieval people have for the vagina? Did medieval women use birth control? How was rape viewed in the Middle Ages? How was the vagina incorporated into literature, poetry, music, and art? How did medieval women cope with menstruation? The Medieval Vagina delves into these topics, and others, while introducing the reader to a collection of fascinating medieval women – Pope Joan, Lady Frances Howard, Margery Kempe, Sister Benedetta Carlini, and Chaucer’s Wife of Bath – who all shaped our view of the medieval vagina.     The Medieval Vagina takes a quick-paced, humorous peek into the medieval world; a time when religious authority combined with newly emerging science and medicine, classic literature, and folklore to form a deeply patriarchal society. It may have been a man’s world, but the vagina triumphed over oppression and misogyny.

Website:             snarkpublishing.weebly.com
Amazon link:             http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Vagina-Historical-Hysterical-Vaginal/dp/1500267619

Project and Cover Reveal!!! With Dreams Only of You

GUESS WHAT?!?!?! I've been working on top-secret project with some amazing authors, and we're so excited to announce today what we're doing and show you our amazing cover!!! Get ready, darlings, because this is going to be EPIC!One legend. One family. One chance to reverse the tides of fortune. With Dreams Only of You is a unique multi-genre collection of an ancient curse that sweeps through hundreds of years of the same family - from the Roman era to Medieval England and Medieval Scotland, then through the Tudor, Georgian, and Regency periods, finally ending with contemporary closure. The de Reyne family, and its generations of descendants, have more than just the family tree in common - they have a family heirloom that belonged to an ancestor, a Roman gladius said to be as cursed as it is valuable. Every generation of the family is saddled with this curse and every generation must overcome the mysteries of bad fortune brought about by the gladius. In their own way, each generation must find their own happiness.This is an utterly unique collection of short novels comprised in one large book, written by six of Historical Romance's top authors - Christi Caldwell, Eva Devon, Eliza Knight, Kathryn Le Veque, Suzan Tisdale, and Cynthia Wright bring this deeply romantic and triumphant collection to you.
Join the collections Facebook Page!

Highlander's Charm Release Date 2/10/2015!

(Picture of the doors at Dunstaffnage Castle, Scotland)About The Highlander's Charm... Releasing 2/10/15 in the Kissing the Highlander Anthology!

They should be enemies… But passion and love know no bounds.
Returning from France to his family’s manor in England, Samuel de Mowbray discovers that his two younger sisters have been stolen away to the Highlands by the Sutherland brothers. Determined to save his sisters from the hands of vicious warriors, he convinces the king to send him north on a mission. While there he discovers not only that his loyalties are beginning to waver, but that a head-strong, feisty lass could destroy everything he believes.
Catriona Buchanan needs to travel north to gain the help of her distant relations in saving her brother and ridding her castle of brutal English knights. Unfortunately, it appears the only way to escape their clutches is by trusting in the very thing she mistrusts the most—an Englishman. Minute by minute, the man who should be her enemy breaks down her defenses. There is something different about him and she can’t help but be captivated by Samuel, and his steamy kisses.Preorder Now by following the link below!Amazon

A Little Jaunt Through Edinburgh

As I sit in my office staring out the window at my snow-covered lawn, I can't help but wish it was fall and that I was back in Scotland. Here are some of the pictures I took in Edinburgh this past October!

Greetings from my room at the Fraser Suites! Walking up the Royal Mile toward Edinburgh Castle in our search for fish and chips.
A not so great picture of Edinburgh Castle lit up in pink.
I was surprised at how empty the streets were around dinner time.
A piper piping his beautiful music. Star Wars in kilts!!!
Braveheart!
A thistle on our table for dinner one night!
An ale at famous The White Hart Inn!
A little info about this famous pub--founded in 1516!
I couldn't NOT take this picture!

A pic of The White Hart Inn! Fish and Chips! A view of Edinburgh Castle from the sidewalk below.
Straight up the hill to the castle. I can "see" warriors making the climb! Me in front of the main gate of Edinburgh Castle.
The main gate. See Robert the Bruce and William Wallace flanking the great doors?
A view of the town from the courtyard in front of Edinburgh Castle.
An ice cream truck in the square!
We ended every night with good 'old fashion British television. My favorite!