Sara Donati's Blog, page 11

Back to Scotland: Dawn on a Distant Shore

I had a comment from Liz to my last post, asking about my decision to set part of Dawn on a Distant Shore in Scotland. It was a good question, but I think I need to answer it more fully. So here goes.

The reason I sent the Bonners to Scotland in Dawn on a Distant Shore is really quite simple or at least, it started out that way. I had this crazy idea that it would be funny if it turned out that Hawkeye was of high birth.

At the time I was in contact withFrederick Hogarth, an expert on heraldr...

The Surgeon Murders: Whodunit?

The question that is raised most often in response toThe Gilded Hour is this: who is responsible for the murders? The full story will be revealed in the sequel, but you can review the official documents and come to your own conclusion, if you wish. You’ll find them here: The Surgeon Murders Investigation.

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Whatever became of Will and Amanda Spencer?

Petzi asked a question I had been expecting to hear sooner or later. She wonders about Elizabeth’s cousin Amanda Spencer and her husband, William Spencer, Viscount Durbeyfield and what happened to them. The last time you saw the Spencers was in Lake in the Clouds; they lived in Manhattan withtheir son, Peter.

Amanda is the daughter of Elizabeth’s indefatigable Aunt Merriweather. She and Willrelocated to New York city from England in large part because Will was implicated in the London Corresp...

Gilded Hour, New York & Your Family History

I have heard from more than a few Gilded Hour readers who wonder about their own family history and how to find out more. For example:

…Our great-grandmother, [name], was a doctor in NYC at around this time, so it was truly interesting, and sobering, to read about some of the things she may have endured as she pursued her chosen path. We do not know much about her during this time in her life, and I would like to learn more. Any suggestions as to the best places for me to look to track her do...

I’m Teaching at the Chuckanut Writers Conference

The annual Chuckanut Writers Conference takes place this year fromThursday toSaturday, June 23-25. And I’m teaching. Oractually, Sara’s teaching. But I’ll be there too. I don’t do much teaching these days and I miss it, so I’m looking forward to this.

What I’m teaching Ventriloquism on the Page

Master Class with Sara Donati
Thursday 1:00-4:00 pm

In the late eighteenth century a performer appearing on a London stage advertised hisact asa curious discussion between himself and Little Tommy, an i...

Why Anna and Sophie? On Creative Process.

I had an email from a reader not so long ago with an interesting question. Of all the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren descended from Nathaniel Bonner, why did I chose to focus on Anna and Sophie? The reader wasn’t upset about this, as I read it. Just curious. Curiosity is catching, in my experience and the question got me to thinking. Except there’s no easy answer: creative process is a complicated thing.

The result is thatI am about tell the story of 2010-2013.This is summari...

On Turning 60

http://rosinalippi.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Secret-of-Life-James-Taylor.mp4 What followsis a list of things, good and bad, I have learned or come to accept about myself or life more generally.

I put this together primarily for posterity (that is, my daughter), but I decided to post it here, too. Tucked underJames Taylor, so you might miss it altogether, and that’s fine, too.

Above all things I admire and respect generosity of spirit, thoughtfulness, and integrity. Things I...<![endif]--><!--[if lt IE 9]>

Christmas Cats

We are not religious creatures. The winter solstice is something I look forward to, but otherwise it’s all very quiethere out in the countryside. Empty nesting until early January, so it’s just the two of us. And two dogs. And a rambunctious cat. From a FaceBook post by Perfecto and the language is cat.

Gatos vs. Árboles de Navidad

Creo que mi gato es el Grinch :(

Posted by Perfecto on Thursday, December 17, 2015

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winter solstice is coming, and a present for you

I came across some older notes on metaphor, and I had an idea for a little Solstice contest.

We don’t celebrate any religious holidays, but that axial tilt thing does make us howl at the moon and so I’m going to give something away. Before I get to the contest, I need to refresh your memory about metaphor:

A metaphor is a figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied or hidden comparison between two things or objects that are different,but have some characteristics in common. That is, a w...

Mea Culpa UPDATED

UPDATED

Since I wrote the originalpost under this title (yesterday) there have been a handful of replies here (thanks, everybody), one on Facebook, and a half dozen or so emails. I’m going to try to synthesize all of that into a cohesive whole. Please bear with me.

The issue:I hear from readers who are confused or irritated by unresolved storylines inThe Gilded Hour. Specifically two storylines seem to raise the most questions.

The Russo children (where was Tonino, and where is Vittorio?) Th...