Eliza Knight's Blog, page 54

Video of the Week: Horrible Histories Tudor Football

You know... I was at my daughter's soccer tournament last weekend, and it was a bit like this...

Castle of the Week: Bunratty Castle

Almost a decade ago, I left the airport in Shannon, Ireland, driving on the left side of the car and the left side of the road for the very first time. 'Twas a nightmare! I had no idea what I was doing and nearly killed myself. Luckily, I had seven days to get used to it, and before you know it, I was a pro--even driving at night on the treacherous cliff-side road in the Dingle Peninsula after a rousing evening at a local pub (but that's a whole other story!)

Back to my arrival in Ireland... We took the red-eye, and although we found little sleep on the flight we were determined not to lose a minute of touring time. Minutes after landing and getting our rental car, we found ourselves at our first Irish castle: Bunratty.

The castle as it stands today originally built in 1425, was the fourth castle to be built on the spot. The site has been used since 970 when it was held by the Vikings as a Trading camp. It has since been restored and filled with furnishing from the 15th and 16th centuries, along with tapestries and other art work. I often point people in the direction of this website to view the Bunratty Collection. 'Tis impressive!

Also, if you want to see a great picture of the layout of the castle, I suggest visiting this page: A Tour of Bunratty Castle. I actually use this model a lot for my fictional stories.

Shannon Heritage takes care of the grounds and has created a folk park surrounding the castle. A real-life little village with re-enactors, so you feel like you are really in that time period. It was truly a fascinating place. The scent of the peat fires still linger in my mind. I did not get to stay for the medieval banquet, but they do have one I think almost every day. There is also a hotel you can stay at to enjoy the park day in and day out.

While I was at Bunratty, I enjoyed the village, got put in the stocks and learned a lot about Irish history. We finished our tour with tea at the Bunratty Hotel. It was truly a memorable time, and I look forward to returning there soon!

Some pics...

The great hall
Outside the keep... just around here that I was put in the stocks
Part of the folk park
A very short bed. I asked if the Irish were shorter and the guide told me
 they slept sitting up as lying down was for the dead. 
Another folk park pic
The hotel where we had tea.

Non-Fiction Review: The Real Elizabeth by Andrew Marr

ABOUT THE BOOK...


A surprising and very personal biography of a woman who may be the world's last great queen, published to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of her reignElizabeth II, one of England's longest-reigning monarchs, is an enigma. In public, she confines herself to optimistic pieties and guarded smiles; in private, she is wry, funny, and an excellent mimic. Now, for the first time, one of Britain's leading journalists and historians gets behind the mask and tells us the fascinating story of the real Elizabeth.Born shortly before the Depression, Elizabeth grew up during World War II and became queen because of the shocking abdication of her uncle and the early death of her father. Only twenty-five when she ascended to the throne, she has been at the apex of the British state for nearly six decades. She has entertained and known numerous world leaders, including every U.S. president since Harry Truman. Brought up to regard family values as sacred, she has seen all but one of her children divorce; her heir, Prince Charles, conduct an adulterous affair before Princess Diana's death; and a steady stream of family secrets poured into the open. Yet she has never failed to carry out her duties, and she has never said a word about any of the troubles she has endured.Andrew Marr, who enjoys extraordinary access to senior figures at Buckingham Palace, has written a revealing and essential book about a woman who has managed to remain private to the point of mystery throughout her reign.
MY REVIEW...
WoW! I started reading this book while riding a stationary bike at the gym... Let me just say my legs hurt incredibly the next day. This book was a fascinating, in-depth look at the life of Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.A truly remarkable and admirable woman, Mr. Marr takes us through a history of her family, her childhood, her ascension, up until today. Queen Elizabeth has always been somewhat private, not allowing anyone to see inside who she really is, however this book shows us the kind, generous, intelligent, philanthropic leader that she is. We see the ups and downs, the history behind her decisions. Just fascinating.If you've ever had an interest in the monarchy and the life of the current queen, I would highly recommend reading this book. And if you've never had an interest--I highly recommend reading this book!

Historical Romance Review: True Highland Spirit by Amanda Forester

ABOUT THE BOOK...
A HEATED RIVALRY...Morrigan McNab is a Highland lady, robbed of her birthright and with no choice but to fight alongside her brothers to protect their impoverished clan. When she encounters Sir Jacques Dragonet, she discovers her fiercest opponent...IS GETTING EVEN HOTTER...Sir Jacques Dragonet will give his life to defend Scotland from the English. He can't stop himself from admiring the beautiful Highland lass who wields her weapons as skillfully as he does, and endangers his heart even more than his life...
MY REVIEW...
The book starts off right in the action, and our heroine is the one putting foot to arse. Normally when a heroine dressed up like a man, I find it to be rather cliche, but in TRUE HIGHLAND SPIRIT it fits our female Robin Hood to a T.  Normally, the woman dressed as a man is a cliche, but Ms. Forester truly makes this plot point unique again. Morrigan has so much pressure to take care of her poor and ill-reputed clan. She'll do whatever she can, including risking her life. The one thing she doesn't want to allow herself is love (even though she dreams of it!)--but her intense attraction to Dragonet thwarts her attempts to remain who she's become. I also truly enjoyed having a Scottish heroine and a French hero. Something new to the Highlander romance genre.

This story was filled with action, twists and turns, sensuality. A real page turner.

Loved it!

Featured Author: Callie Hutton

ABOUT THE BOOK:

            An Angel in the Mail, set in 1861, unites newly penniless society belle Angel Hardwick and Nathan Hale, father of five, who is desperate for a wife to straighten his life out.  Nate’s looking for someone who loves children and can easily take over the cooking, cleaning and laundry.  Instead, he is getting Angel, whose culinary knowledge consists of weekly meetings with Cook to decide the family’s menu.Angel is a strong-minded young woman, resigned to her fate, and determined to make the best of her situation.  But will her new husband allow for mistakes?  Or will he send her packing when she burns meals and misplaces children?Nate just wants a peaceful, well run household, without the distraction of an attractive wife.  However, his beautiful wife with a very distractible body is not giving him peace.  Somebody lied, because despite what he was told by the Bride Agency, this beauty knows nothing about running a home, but she sure sets him on fire at night.Nate and Angel have to come to a working arrangement, overcoming problems between them. But will they be able to find a happily ever after with someone desperately working behind the scenes to destroy their relationship?


EXCERPT:




A small wooden table in the corner drew her.  She placed the glass on the table and eased her sore and tired body onto the chair. One leg shorter than the other three, the chair rocked as she settled. A woman the size of the counterman came through a curtain separating the area from whatever was in the back. With a brisk nod in Angel’s direction, she headed her way.
“Y’all one of them new whores Dolly’s expectin’? She asked me to look out for ya.” She jerked her thumb in the counterman’s direction. “Jedediah’ll git you out there as soon as the stage pulls out. Dolly’s sure needin’ the help. She cain’t never take a break herself.”
Angel sat in silence, her eyes wide and mouth slack as the woman continued. “Ya’ll gonna have to git rid of them black clothes, though. Dolly’ll fix ya up nice and fancy.”
Tears sprang to her eyes and she gasped, vigorously shaking her head. “No, ma’am, I am not one of the new wh-whores.” She stumbled on the word, and backed the rickety chair against the wall.
“Well, gosh darn. Thadda be a pity.” The woman shifted a wad of tobacco from one cheek to the other, expelling a stream of juice right next to Angel’s shoe. Her gaze roamed over her. “A looker like you’d make a lot of money for yerself. Men around here are dying for some new faces.”  Then she thought for a minute and grinned. “And new bodies, too.”  She threw her head back in laughter, spaces from missing teeth exposed.
“Jedediah, git yoreself back to work.”  The woman shouted in the counterman’s direction as she returned to the back area.
Angel got up from the table and quickly headed for the door. I’d rather sit in the blazing sun.  What have I gotten myself into?
BUY LINKS:


Soul Mate Publishing
Amazon
Barnes and Noble


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Visit Callie at:http://www.calliehutton.com Follow on Twitter: @calliehuttonFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/callie.hutton

Video of the Week: Horrible Histories -- Queen Elizabeth

I just can't get enough of Horrible Histories and the Tudors!  This one is hilarious...

Castle of the Week: Bodiam Castle

This week's castle is Bodiam Castle in England, and one that I find so incredibly enchanting. So much so in fact, it is the backdrop for my website and facebook page.

Bodiam was built in East Sussex in the late 14th century, to help defend against the French invasion during the Hundred Years War. The castle is surrounded by a moat, houses seven impressive towers, a main twin-towered gatehouse and an outer barbican. The very center of the castle was a large courtyard, which the castle surrounded with its various towers (3 stories high each) and then its connecting buildings within the curtain walls which were 2-stories high: apartments, chambers, a chapel, the pantry, great hall, service rooms, kitchen, stables, etc... There would have been a few bridges to the castle, one at the postern tower at the rear, a drawbridge would have connected the barbican to the main gatehouse. The barbican and outer causeway were on their own sort of island and beyond them was a bridge leading over the massive moat.

Note: all of the garderobes drained to the moat... Any enemy attempting to swim would essentailly be swimming in a large sewer.

Bodiam Castle is now operated by the National Trust, so you can visit it!

Now for some pics...

Looking into the interior of the castle
A view from the moat
The main twin-towered gatehouse
An aerial view of the castle and moat
This painting was done in 1906 showing the overgrowth and  lack of maintenance on the castle, which was then shortly after taken over by the National Trust, cleaned up and restored.
My favorite picture, a sunset surrounds the castle.

HER CAPTAIN RETURNS (Regency) Giveaway!

Do you own a Kindle or Nook (or have the aps on your computer)?

Email me by midnight tonight and I will gift you a FREE copy of HER CAPTAIN RETURNS, the first in my Men of the Sea series. Only the first ten people to email me will receive a copy.

Happy Memorial Weekend!

Cheers,
Eliza

Enchanted Chocolate Pot Blog Fest

I received a very interesting email from Sarah at Open Road Media, the publicist of Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. She informed me that the authors recently re-released three books together in ebook format: Sorcery and Cecelia, The Mislaid Magician and The Grand Tour.
Here is what Sarah said...
"Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer began writing to one another "in character" as part of a Letter Game (Wrede as Cecy and Stevermer as Kate), neither author intended for a novel to come of it! After about six months of writing back and forth, they compiled all of their letters and decided they would make a really neat book. It wasn't until this point, when the game was over, that the two went back through their notes and edited everything to fit into a cohesive novel." 
 So today, I'm giving you the links to the original letters and what they turned into for the book. I love sneak peaks like this into the making of a story. I hope you enjoy it too.

Cecy's Edited and Unedited First Letter to Kate
Kate’s Reply

Isn't that fascinating? I love that these two authors got into character and wrote to each other for entertainment. That they then turned their fun into a book is even more awesome. See how much fun authors are?
After reading the letters, what are your thoughts?

I found it very interesting that in the original letter to Kate, the Cecy is more telling and leading Kate on things that Kate would probably already know, like her age, Reverend Fitzwilliam's full name. Also, the second letter is much more conversational in my opinion, it flows better. I adored how in Kate's reply her personality shines. 
This is a great example of how using letters in fiction can give a 1st person point of view to the reader of our characters.
Can't wait to check out the books!

Kathleen's Historical Erotic Review: Improper Relations by Juliana Ross

IMPROPER RELATIONS
By Juliana Ross
Dorset, 1858When Hannah's caught watching her late husband's cousin debauch the maid in the library, she's mortified—but also intrigued. An unpaid companion to his aunt, she's used to being ignored.The black sheep of the family, Leo has nothing but his good looks and noble birth to recommend him. Hannah ought to be appalled at what she's witnessed, but there's something about Leo that draws her to him.When Leo claims he can prove that women can feel desire as passionately as men, Hannah is incredulous. Her own experiences have been uninspiring. Yet she can't bring herself to refuse his audacious proposal when he offers to tutor her in the art of lovemaking. As the tantalizing, wicked lessons continue, she begins to fear she's losing not just her inhibitions, but her heart as well. The poorest of relations, she has nothing to offer Leo but herself. Will it be enough when their erotic education ends?22,000 words
I have a confession to make. I fell in love with the cover of this novella. Then I read the blurb and knew I had to read the story. I wasn’t disappointed.
Debut author Juliana Ross is off to a great start in her career with a story that captivates from the first page and doesn’t let up until the last. Not a word is wasted in this erotic novella that reads like a full-fledged novel. Miss Ross tells a story like an artist paints—first with broad strokes and then with fine attention to detail.
Leo and Hannah seem to be complete opposites. He’s a wastrel. A handsome one, but nonetheless, a lazy, debauching-the-servants dissolute nephew of Hannah’s deceased husband, while she, older than Leo by five years, is a prim widow who has explored little in her mundane world other than books shelved in the library. It is this library, her sanctuary of sorts, where she peers down from the loft and spies Leo trysting with a maid in a most shocking manner. Hannah should be scandalized. She should run. But she cannot extract herself from the gripping scene before her.
After Leo finishes servicing the maid, he confronts eavesdropping Hannah and sets his sights on proving he can rouse something in her that she swears does not exist. Deciding there is nothing to lose, Hannah agrees to Leo’s scheme. Soon, she learns she was wrong in both her shallow self-assessment and in his capabilities. Very wrong.
At first, the two don’t appear to bring much to the table other than their carnal appetites—his sated with little thought given to consequence, hers stimulated by delightfully sinful treats never before tried. Soon, their passions move beyond the physical and they are transformed into self-empowered individuals ready to take a stand in life, for themselves and for one another.
Miss Ross’s obvious familiarity with British social history and her wonderful author’s voice give resonance to a smoldering yet tender tale that unfolds in a sensuous world filled with a blend of rich prose and just the right amount of erotic pleasure. One would think Leo would be an unlikeable hero, but I found him to be quite an enjoyable character. The only thing disappointing for me was the ending. It came too soon.Enjoy a good read by a debut author with a great future ahead of her.