On a cold winter's day:

created by Claire Hadleigh

Sunday Afternoon De-Stresser

Vintage Tea and Text (digitally embellished by C. Hadleigh)

What do I do when in between writing my stories, especially in the midst of the Christmas season madness?  Easy -- I take out some lush yarns and brew a cup of tea; make sure to use a lovely vintage tea cup, put on the fire, the music and kick back. Works like a charm!

I'm not even sure what I'm knitting -- could be a hot pad for the table, a simple cowl, a pillow . . . ? It's just the simple, steady clicking of the needles, the feel of the soft yarn slipping through my fingers, the heady aroma of a good Darjeeling and a scrumptious candle burning on the mantel that eases the shoulders, the cramped neck, the frayed nerves (many of us writers have other jobs as well).

Before I know it, visions of words and scenes begin to drift through my mind. As I gaze into the fire or into the tea, words miraculously appear. I'm far, far away, in another place, another time. So despite wanting to put aside the writing and clear my mind, my mind decides to bypass my intent and dwell in the land of words. 

Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places

where other people see nothing. 

Camille Pissarro

New Book:

Pre-Order a Regency Holiday Romance!
Release date:  12/16/16

William Rhys Burnham, the Duke of Huntington, handsome, wealthy and a confirmed bachelor, requires peace and quiet for the holidays at his ancestral estate, Huntington Ridge.

But his sister and friends, all widows, are tired of peace and quiet. They're desperate for all the festivities and lusty frolics of the Christmas season!  How can they prevail against the Duke's demands?  One simple ingredient: they have a secret weapon and aren't afraid to use her -- the beautiful Meredith Lambert, his old childhood friend, who's back in England after a ten-year hiatus on the Continent. 

Can she win him over to their plans? But, more important, can she hold off his amorous seductions? And does she even want to? Join the fun as Huntington Ridge is invaded by passionate women, cranky relatives, quirky neighbors, a dashing Major, a lovelorn vicar -- and a snowstorm like no one has seen in years!

Snowbound Seductions is the first in The Merry Widow series, soon to be followed in summer 2017, by Betrayed in Brighton!

More ebook stores - CLICK HERE

Mood Boards to Write:

Sometimes the writer hits that brick wall where nothing seems to inspire, the words don't come as easily -- or not at all.

Scary stuff. What does one do?

Give up? Never -- or at least, maybe for a while. I'll be the first to admit it. If the blank screen or white page is staring me in the face with that "go ahead, I dare you" attitude, I throw up my hands and walk away.

Walking is good. It clears the head of all the extraneous crap, allowing fresh ideas and thoughts to emerge. Creating something with your hands or digitally helps also. I like to fiddle with Photoshop and Paintshop, altering images, enhancing, embellishing until something unique evolves.

These are my two mood boards to help me get past the "great swampy middle," as Joe Butcher phrased it. I'm mired in revising and editing, and everything seems stale at this point. I realize what it is, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.

So today was a "play" day for me. No writing except for this blog. This first mood board symbolizes my heroine, Meredith Lambert, a young woman just returned to Regency England after a long hiatus in southern France with her mother and step-father. She is elegant, beautiful, smart and terribly in love with the hero, her old childhood friend, William Burnham, now the Marquis of Huntington. After almost ten years, they meet for the first time only to end up arguing like they were children again.

And this board is for William Burnham, the Marquis -- a confirmed bachelor, self-centered, experienced in war, a financial wizard. Tall, dark and handsome, of course.There are secondary characters as well -- all widows and still young enough to want more out of life, especially fun and passion during the holiday season -- much to Burnham's chagrin.

Well, let's hope this dead-in-the-water phase dissipates soon. My deadline for release is December 1st, so I'd better get cracking!  I think I'll start with a fresh scene -- the love scene between Meredith and William. That usually gets the blood stirring -- hmmmm!

Here's a sneak peak at the ebook cover -- I hope it intrigues you!  If I can move onto the final revisions soon, I'll post an excerpt for you to read.

19th century fashion:

One of those dreary days here in New England -- cloudy, cool and damp. Home after a bit of surgery as a result of too many days / years in the sun and at the beach! Yes, remember the days of using baby oil as a suntan lotion? Who was to know back in those days?  No heavy lifting or working out (ho, hum, not a problem for me), but the stitches are a bit painful and now I have an amazing hairdo with headband reminiscent of the 1960s!

So I spent some down time going through my collection of ephemera -- papers, kimono scraps, vintage postcards and more. Just want to do something creative and fun in between writing my next Regency romance (sneak peak coming soon!). 

I picked up this portfolio years ago. I believe it was produced in the early 1900s and is a collection of 100 years of fashion from the 19th century, one page for each year. Below is 1800 - check out that gown on the right! OMG, how did they keep from popping out of their dresses, I ask you? No wonder the Regency period was so racy! 

But I think this will be fun to try and incorporate into my writings -- actual gowns and accessories that existed back then rather than racking my pee brain to come up with something that would probably resemble the Victorian era.  Now I can be accurate and pay homage to the era!  

Video Debut

Labor Day afternoon. What's to do? Laundry, pay bills online, catch up on Facebook, diddle around with other online stuff.

Hey, wait a minute, why not create a video? Simple, right?

Duh, no.

2+ hours later, I finally had a 38-second video. Not only was it a challenge, but it was fun!

I hope I can do more, especially with my upcoming "Snowbound Seductions" regency romance due out by November 1st (stay tuned for more on that front). So, here is the debut video for Passionate Persuasions on YouTube -- I hope you enjoy!

English Beauty over Time

It's been a busy, hot summer but I feel like it's finally winding down a bit. Hard to think about writing when the garden and beaches beckon you outdoors! 

"English Rose: Feminine Beauty from Van Dyck to Sargent" - Exhibit at Bowes Museum

As I start to put together my preliminary notes for the next book, "Snowbound Seductions," I don't have much trouble envisioning my hero. But the heroine is a bit more troublesome. Then I came across this article about a new exhibition: "The English Rose: Feminine Beauty from Van Dyck to Sargent" running at the Bowes Museum, County Durham, England. 

Think of it -- 400 years worth of how English society depicted its ideals of beauty in portraiture. Now that is a resource that I can use as a writer!  Here are some images over time --

Such a wealth of information -- dress, hats, hair styling, jewelry and other adornments.  It certainly makes it easier to begin to craft not only the heroine, but also secondary characters.  And as this novelette will be set during the Christmas holidays, that will be my next subject area to research.

So I hope you stay tuned for more updates on Snowbound Seductions --