Down Time from Writing:

What does a writer do in between books? The summer is such a hard time to sit in front of a computer and attempt to create a story when the sunlight flickers on the blinds, the birds are chirping and the garden is beckoning you from beyond the window! So now that my studio/writing den is completed, I decided to give myself several weeks off to empty the tired brain, ease up on the eyestrain and enjoy the remaining weeks of summer. Here in New England it's just a matter of time before the weather may take a turn for the worse.

This is my Cape Cod bowl of broken sea shells -- I call them my writing worry beads. Whenever I get in a jam for just the right word or phrase or a particular scene, I dip in and find a shell I can rub as I ponder. It also reminds me of my time on the beach at the Cape earlier this summer -- peaceful, relaxing, marvelous!

Another way to turn off the writing brain is crafting. I've been a crafter for years -- knitting, quilting, crochet, collage and painting. This is the current palette of colors I'll be working with, along with my stash of batik fabrics. I'm going to try to complete a log cabin quilt, probably just a lap quilt or a wall quilt to hang in my studio -- another source of inspiration!

This is a sample of one of the log cabins I finished this weekend. Now I'm interested in trying this pattern in crochet. Well, it's going on 3pm and I feel a need for a glass of chilled chardonnay and my latest read: Shannon Hale' Midnight in Austenland. I got such a kick out of the movie, Austenland, that I decided to try the book -- both quite enjoyable, although this one loosely follows Northanger Abbey so it has a bit of a Gothic twist! Have a great Sunday afternoon, everyone and thanks for stopping by!

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Top 25 Reads for 2018

2018 was a busy year for reading -- lots of great books, so little time, right? Although I must admit that this year I was immersed in Susan Mallery's Fools Gold series, as well as Jill Shalvis' Lucky Harbor and Heartbreaker Bay series -- and I do mean totally immersed. These two writers can world build like no other! But for the sake of the Top 25, I am putting Mallery and Shalvis in their own kingdom and let you decide. Also, please note that I am not driven by the NYT Bestseller List or any other "lists" -- I tend to like to find my writers in a more organic way, mainly by browsing in real brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries, so some are "newish" and some are older. If I'm starting a new series, I like to start at the beginning, which means I'm reading past bestsellers. So, here's my top 25 titles that I heartily recommend to readers (broken down by genre / subgenre): Regency Romance: Sherry Thomas, His at Night Tessa D

More Secondary Characters

As promised, I'm back with some tidbits of info on another favorite secondary character who has appeared in several of my Regency romances -- the Dowager Lady Rutherford. I needed a character who would balance out Lady Caro (see last week's blog entry), someone who was smart as a whip, tough and yet hiding a soft side. The dowager seemed to fit the bill for when she first appears in Snowbound Seductions , she's ornery, feared by all (even the duke) and willing to use her ebony cane like a Scottish claymore. So, the first British actress who visually inspired me, mostly for the dowager's physical attributes is Phyllida Law. If you're an Acorn TV or Brit Box fan, many of you will recognize Ms. Law. Phyllida Law She's appeared in so many series and movies, and is also known as Emma Thompson's mother. She is a wonderful actress and, to me, captures how I visualize the dowager. And in my work-in-progress, Wicked Wagers , we'll see a b

Swimming in Brighton

As I work on the first draft of Betrayed in Brighton , I find I'm enjoying the research into the history of Brighton as a popular seaside resort for the Regency period of England. Think Cape Cod, early 1800s! Because of the oppressive heat wave in London during the Season, my characters will head to the shore and enjoy the restorative powers of sea bathing, fresh air and sunshine. The more I read about people bathing for medicinal reasons, the more intrigued I become. Numerous writers refer to this popular phenomenon, which became the thing to do in the mid-1700s. Brighton, late 1700s (bathing huts heading into the sea) ca. 1829 - Dippers are on the left; lady preparing to undress; other women frolicing Jane Austen, Fanney Burney and even the Prince Regent went bathing in Brighton's chilly waters, usually guided by "dippers," men and women who aided their forays into the salty waters of the English Channel -- Franny Burney, August 1773 “Ever si

Claire Hadleigh

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