Shameless Self-Promotion: A Pair of Upcoming Events Featuring I, ELIZA HAMILTON

Susan reporting,

July seems to have become the unofficial month to honor Alexander Hamilton: statesman, soldier, hero of the American Revolution, signer of the Constitution, first Secretary of the Treasury, founder of America's financial system, the United States Mint, the Federalist Party, the Coast Guard, two banks, and a newspaper -  and he was the husband of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, the heroine of my current historical novel, I, Eliza Hamilton. (He's also "Ten Dollar Founding Father" on the ten dollar bill, and the star of the award-winning Broadway show that bears his name; John Adams would be sick with envy.)

But until Lin-Manuel Miranda put Hamilton's life to music several years ago, what most people knew about Hamilton was that he was shot in a duel by then-Vice President Aaron Burr. (Read more about that tragic event in my blog posts here, here, and here.) The duel took place on July 11, 1804, and Hamilton died the following day. For better or worse, this is the reason for July being "Hamilton Month" - and with that in mind, I'll be participating in two events that will focus less on Alexander, and more on his wife Eliza.

On Thursday, July 12, 6:00-7:30 pm, I'll be the guest of the Friends of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. I'll be speaking about Eliza and Alexander and how I came to write Eliza's story in the Benjamin Franklin Museum - only a few blocks away from where the Hamiltons lived while Alexander was serving in the new Federal government. We'll share a toast in honor of Alexander (not you, Colonel Burr), and I'll be signing copies of I, Eliza Hamilton as well. The talk will benefit the Friends of INHP. See here for more information and for tickets.

And on Saturday, July 14, 3:00-5:30 pm, I'll be part of the Schuyler Sisters Book Slam, hosted by the historic Schuyler Mansion (the beautifully restored and furnished 18thc home of the Schuyler family, and the site of Eliza's wedding to Alexander) in Albany, NY.  I'll be discussing my research about Eliza that inspired I, Eliza Hamilton. Also participating will be author and scholar Danielle Funiciello, who will share her research regarding the oldest Schuyler sister, Angelica Schuyler Church. Rounding out the program will be L.M. Elliot, author of the young adult historical novel Hamilton and Peggy!, who will discuss the third Schuyler sister, Margarita "Peggy" Schuyler Van Rensselaer. A reception and booksigning will follow. See here for more information.

Hope to see you there!

Top left: Alexander Hamilton by James Sharples, c1796, New York Historical Society.
Right: Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA.
Lower left: Schuyler Mansion, Albany, NY.
All photos by Susan Holloway Scott.

Please Join Me at the Gaithersburg Book Festival, Saturday, May 19

Susan reporting,

Next Saturday, May 19, 2018, I'll be appearing at the annual Gaithersburg Book Festival in Gaithersburg, MD (not far from Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD). This is a wonderful all-day festival featuring dozens of bestselling authors, signing and talking about their books - and admission is FREE.

All kinds of books will be represented - fiction, non-fiction, YA, children's books, romance, thrillers, mysteries - plus there will be writing workshops for all ages, literary merchants, and food vendors.

I'll be speaking on a panel called "Putting Eliza Hamilton in the Narrative: Historical Fiction and Hamilton." The panel is scheduled for 12:15 pm in the Edgar Allan Poe Pavilion, and I'll be signing copies of my historical novel I, Eliza Hamilton immediately afterwards. (BTW: If you already have your copy of I, Eliza Hamilton, please bring it along, and I'll be happy to sign it for you.)

Here's the list of featured authors.
Here's the festival schedule.
Here are directions to the Festival.

Hope to see you there! (Especially all you Hamilfans. You know who you are.)

The Green Man Inn, Putney Heath

Loretta reports,

The Green Man Inn at the northern end of Putney Heath features in a crucial scene of A Duke in Shining Armor. Like many of the places I use in my books, it did exist. Like not quite so many, it still exists, and so of course I was thrilled to actually pay a visit there during my stay in London last summer.

Many of the old travel books online emphasize the inn’s importance as a resort of highwaymen. However, I’ve focused on its use as a place for bolstering one’s courage before a duel and—for the survivors, a place to calm the nerves with a brandy and soda (as is recommended by my favorite book on dueling, The Art of Dueling).

Duels took place nearby in Putney Heath at dawn or (less usually) dusk. Duelists chose out-of-the way places, like Putney Heath or Battersea Fields because they were reasonably close to London, yet far enough away to reduce chances of the authorities blundering in and spoiling the fun of men trying to kill each other. Duels, though they remained a popular way for gentlemen to settle disputes, were against the law.

Doubtless the landscape has changed over the last century and a half—fewer trees then, for instance, in many places than there are today. Still, given the heath’s reputation as a favorite spot for highwaymen, I suspected it was as easy to find a suitable place, not far from the road yet not visible from it, as it was during our visit. A short walk took us to what looked like an ideal spot: A good sized clearing where the ground was level, offering both combatants a clear sight. Yet the road wasn’t far away, and it was easy to imagine the carriages standing by, ready to take the duelists, alive, wounded, or dead, away.

Images:
The Green Man photograph © 2018 Walter M. Henritze
Green Man, Putney from Charles G. Harper's The Old Inns of Old England : a picturesque account of the ancient and storied hostelries of our own country 1906
Cruikshank, The Point of Honor decided, or the Leaden argument of a Love affaire, from The English Spy, 1825

Please click on images to enlarge.

Blonde Lace on the 19th Century Red Carpet

1833 Bridal Ensemble

Loretta reports:

Some of my readers have asked about blonde lace.

Certain of the ladies’ magazines listed who wore what at court events. If you type “blonde” into the search box for this 1831 Royal Lady’s Magazine, you will notice that nearly every single lady wore blonde or blonde lace to the Queen’s Drawing Rooms.

Naturally, then, blonde features in my heroines’ clothing. And quite naturally also, readers have asked about it, some puzzled especially by the notion of “black blonde.”

Blonde lace is a silk bobbin lace. A search on YouTube will show it being made, and give you an idea why the handmade version was so very expensive and highly prized. The “blonde” part refers to the silk’s natural color. Once a way was found to make the silk stronger, it could be lightened, for a white blonde, and dyed for black blonde.

1833 Carriage Dress

Sleuthing online, one ends in a confused state. “Next to Chantilly the blondes are the most important among the silk laces.” Elsewhere, we’re told that Chantilly is a blonde lace. My impression is, the blonde made in Chantilly was considered superior. I await elucidation by textile experts.

For the purposes of my books, this isn’t crucial, any more than it was crucial for the magazines to distinguish. For the purposes of A Duke in Shining Armor in particular, what you’d probably rather see are examples.

Beechey, Queen Adelaide

The bridal ensemble (at top) I gave my heroine Olympia includes “a pelerine of blond extending over the sleeves” and “a deep veil of blond surmounting the coiffure, and descending below the waist.”
The “French” dress she donned at the inn was based on several images, but this pink carriage dress from the Magazine of the Beau Monde, though listed for August 1833 (my story is set in June of that year), about covers what I had in mind. She wears “a black blond pelerine with square falling collar, the points descending low down the skirt and fastened in front with light green ribbon noeuds.”

However, portraits capture the look of the lace much better than the stiff, stylized fashion prints. Queen Adelaide (consort of King William IV, monarch at the time of my story) is wearing blonde lace in this image from about 1831.

Giovanina Pacini

Giovanina Pacini, the eldest daughter of the Italian composer Giovanni Pacini wears what I'm pretty sure is black blonde in this 1831 image.

You can see a sample of Belgian Bobbin Lace in this lappet.
And here is a sample of French Pillow-made Silk Blonde.

Clicking on the image will enlarge it.  Clicking on the caption will take you to the source, where you can learn more and enlarge images as needed.

Friday Video: Romance at the Strand

Loretta reports:

No, I don’t mean the Strand in London, though that would be nice, too.

The post title refers to the Strand Bookstore in New York, where, as part of my book tour for A Duke in Shining Armor, I participated in a panel dealing with the romance genre and the respect it does and doesn’t get. A column in the Washington Post in August inspired the panel.

Some of you, e.g., Twitter followers and subscribers to my website blog, may have already seen the video. Some of you will look at the run time and say, “Yikes! An hour?” But as you see in the image, there is laughter, and that’s not the only time. So, if you'd like to hear a group of writers talk and crack jokes about the worlds they and their characters inhabit, both imaginary and actual, you might want to pour a glass of your favorite beverage or dish out some ice cream or pour your favorite flavor enhancer on a bowl of popcorn—or all of these and others in a random order or even simultaneously—and spend some time with us.


Video: Romance and Respect, Strand Bookstore

Image: Still from the Strand video. L-R: Denny S. Bryce (moderator), Tessa Bailey, Loretta Chase, Tracey Livesay, Megan Frampton, Joanna Shupe

Readers who receive our blog via email might see a rectangle, square, or nothing where the video ought to be. To watch the video, please click on the title to this post. 

The French Corset in A Duke in Shining Armor

Phillipon, L'utile, marchande de corsets

Loretta reports:

Some time ago, Susan sent me the image you see, of a French corset seller with her wares, as an inspiration for the Dressmakers series I was working on. It looked perfect to me: not only the elegant 1830s corsets but the seller: her hair, her facial expression—that flirtatious glance. I kept it in view, especially when I was writing Leonie’s story, Vixen in Velvet, because she was the corset artiste of the trio.

However, I never wrote about the corset itself. At that time, I was focused on the seller, because my dressmakers were businesswomen.

But its moment came, in a flash of inspiration, when I was working on A Duke in Shining Armor, and had to get my heroine, Olympia, out of her wet clothes and into a fresh set of garments, right down to the underwear.

So far as I had been able to ascertain, ladies’ stays were white, as were all of their undergarments. The examples I’ve seen tend not to be especially sexy—except in the sense of being underwear in the 1800s and therefore sexy to the gentlemen—and not colorful. Maybe a little lace or embroidery would adorn, say, one’s chemise and petticoats, and pretty stitching, as in this example from the V&A online collection.

The undergarments I’d seen had all belonged to respectable women, though, including queens and aristocrats. Ordinary women were more likely to wear their clothes until they were not worth preserving.

Corset ca 1825-35

But what about the not-so-respectable women? What about the courtesans and others who had busy love lives? Expected to dress more dashingly and daringly, they might want to purchase less subdued styles, in colors or at least with colorful trim. This image told me that the Paris corset sellers were well able to oblige them.

As to why Olympia ends up in French underwear, or why she’s wet in the first place—it’s all in the book.

While the above image appears in several places, including my Pinterest board for A Duke in Shining Armor, I recommend you click on this link to the FIT blog and scroll down. You can enlarge it to an enormous size!

Images: L’utile, marchande de Corsets, Charles Phillipon 1830, courtesy Les Musêes de la ville de Paris

White corset, ca 1825-35 courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum online collections.

Clicking on the image will enlarge it.  Clicking on the caption will take you to the source, where you can learn more and enlarge images as needed.

The Invalid Chair in A Duke in Shining Armor

Mechanical Chair

Loretta reports:

The basics of this post appeared a few years ago, as Merlin's Mechanical Chair. Clearly, the ingenious device stuck in my mind, because it ended up playing an important role in A Duke in Shining Armor.

The trick was figuring out how the thing worked. In the first place, early 19th century prose can be very hard to follow. It tends to be much less direct than our way of writing. In the second place, my brain is easily confused by physics and mechanics. Doubtless it took me a lot longer to learn how to drive this chair than it did the Duke of Ripley, in my book. I will leave it to you to read the instructions and make what sense of them you can.

Meanwhile, let us consider for a moment the commentary that follows the instructions. "Amusement"? Oh, yes, I figured that one out pretty quickly. But the suggestions for running the chair by means of a "very small and portable steam-engine" remind me of the way some people used to imagine us flying around on individual rocket-propelled devices in The Future. Having a 19th C steam engine powering my chair does not strike me as a safer prospect.

And then there's the idea of finding a way "to enable it to carry a small cannon, which should be, both for itself and its operators, completely unassailable by the enemy, as well as, by the singular rapidity of its evolutions, terribly and unusually destructive." Is your hair standing on end? Mine sure is. But let us remember that Great Britain was at war with Napoleon in 1811, and things weren't going so well. At home, people carried on with their lives, but that didn't mean they weren't aware of what was happening on the Continent, or didn't take seriously the possibility of invasion. As it turned out, Napoleon continued to be a danger until June 1815.

By the time of my story (1833), however, that's all in the distant past, and the chair is perfoming its dual functions of serving those with limited mobility as well as providing amusement.

Mechanical chair described

Mechanical chair described

Clicking on the image will enlarge it.  Clicking on the captions will allow you to read at the source, where you can learn more and enlarge images as needed.

The Bride's Dress in A Duke in Shining Armor

Loretta reports:

Since my first blog post of the month is usually a fashion illustration, I shall begin my tour of A Duke in Shining Armor’s historical background with what the heroine, Olympia, wore to the first wedding.

Seeking suitable bridal attire, I turned the pages of my French Fashion Plates of the Romantic Era. And there it was, exactly what I was looking for: an ensemble complicated enough, with a sufficiently elaborate hair arrangement, to express, in clothing, my heroine’s plight as well as her state of mind. It allowed, too, for what I deemed a satisfactory amount of comic effect. As some of you are aware, if there’s fashion description in my story, it’s there for a reason. If it doesn’t have a role to play—something to tell you, something to express, some action to perform—I skim over or skip it.

So there’s the dress that set me off. And there’s the dress. And there it is again.

Bridal Dress May 1833

As is evident, my search didn’t end with French Fashion Plates of the Romantic Era—because the book describes it as you see above, which is to say, not much. Since the source for these plates is the Petit Courrier des Dames (also published as Modes de Paris) for 1830-34, I commenced a search. That particular illustration did not appear in any of the online editions of the publication I could find, or in any of the several museum collections I searched.

But all was not lost. If you read here about the magazine, you’ll also learn about the kind of rampant stealing that went on. Long aware of the copying, I started investigating online for images from magazines for May-June 1833.

There it was, in a fashion print from the Ladies’ Cabinet, courtesy the Los Angeles Public Library online collection of Casey Fashion Plates. There it was, not called anything. But the date, May 1833, did correspond to the one in French Fashion Plates.

All very entertaining, but I needed a description—and at last I found it…sort of. There was the same dress, but in yellow, called an evening dress, in the Magazine of the Beau Monde. However, I decided it was a mis-coloring as well as a misprint, because here’s the description:

Figure III.—Evening Dress.—A white satin dress, corsage en pointe, trimmed with nœds; short sleeves with blonde sabots; a pelerine of blond extending over the sleeves. The hair in front separated and forming full side curls, elevated in close plaits on the summit of the head figuring a diadem ornamented with a branch of orange blossoms; a deep veil of blond surmounting the coiffure, and descending below the waist.

Bridal Dress mis-colored

The orange blossoms would be a clue.

On my Pinterest Page you can see other illustrations I used while writing A Duke in Shining Armor. If you visit or sign up for my website blog, you’ll get some special material, exclusive material, and expanded/alternate versions of topics I’ve blogged about here.

Clicking on the image will enlarge it.  Clicking on the caption will take you to the source, where you can learn more and enlarge images as needed.

A Duke in Shining Armor Official Debut

A Duke in Shining Armor

Loretta reports:

Today’s the big day for A Duke in Shining Armor, the first in my Difficult Dukes series. Though it’s listed as a December book and though I’ve already seen it on some bookshop shelves—and happily signed the copies I found—today’s the official day.

You can read about the Difficult Dukes series here at my website. On the book’s website page, you'll find a back cover plot summary and an excerpt. And my website blog has and will continue to have posts related to the book.

Following is my book tour, actual and virtual:

Actual Tour

I'm looking forward to meeting readers at these events. I hope to see you there!

Loretta Chase & Caroline Linden: A Conversation
7 PM Wednesday 29 November 2017
Bacon Free Library
58 Eliot Street
Natick MA 01760
508-653-6730

Romance Event with authors Sarah MacLean, Maya Rodale, and Megan Frampton
7-8pm Thursday 30 November 2017
Savoy Bookstore and Café
10 Canal Street
Westerly RI 02891
401-213-3901

Romance & Respect
—with Joanna Shupe, Tessa Bailey, Megan Frampton, Tracey Livesay
7-8pm Wednesday 6 December 2017
Strand Bookstore
828 Broadway (& 12th Street)
New York NY 10003
212-473-1452

~~~
Virtual Tour

Cathy Maxwell & I will be discussing heroines at USA Today’s Happy Ever After. Details TBA

Heroes and Heartbreakers has published a short version of the excerpt (in case you’re pressed for time).

At RT Reviews, I offer the alarming truth about dukes in the early 19th century. Also, RT VIP Salon interviewed me; however, this material is available only to subscribers.

My work is mentioned at Racked, in an article about the term bodice rippers.

Publishers Weekly interviewed me for their article about consent in romance.

A Duke in Shining Armor has also received some very good reviews, including starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal, and a Desert Isle Keeper Review at All About Romance.

That's all I can think of for now, but you can expect some book-related blog posts in the near future, here as well as at my website blog.

Save the Date: Booksigning & Talk for I, ELIZA HAMILTON on October 14

Susan reporting,

Next Saturday, October 14, I'll be speaking and signing books at 1:00 pm in the McChesney Room of the Schenectady County Public Library, 99 Clinton Street, Schenectady, NY.  For more information, please call the library: 518-388-4500.

If you'd like to order a book for me to sign AND receive a 20% discount, please call the Open Door Bookstore (they'll be handling the book sales for the signing) by October 10: 518-346-2719.

This is a special signing for me because it's in the Schenectady-Albany area. My heroine, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, was born in Albany, and her family's house - then known as The Pastures and now The Schuyler Mansion - still stands.

Hope to see you there - and especially if you're a blog-follower, please be sure to introduce yourself!

It's Publication Day for I, ELIZA HAMILTON!

Susan reporting,

At last, at last: my new historical novel, I, ELIZA HAMILTON is now available via on-line websites and in bricks-and-mortar stores, and in every format including print, ebook, and audiobook.

       Amazon
       Barnes & Noble
       Books-a-Million
       Book Depository (If you live outside the US, Book Depository ships worldwide for free.)
       Google Play
       IBooks
       Indiebound

If you need to be tempted further,  you can read a description as well as the prologue and first chapter here. You'll find plenty of additional background about Eliza and Alexander Hamilton and the tumultuous times in which they lived here on my website blog. There's also a Behind-the-Book feature at BookPage.
     
So far the initial reviews have been wonderful, including a starred review in Publishers Weekly and more than 65 five-star early-reader reviews on Goodreads.

But the only opinion that matters now belongs to you, dear readers.

Eliza is ready to share her story, and oh, she has such things to tell....

Shameless Self-Promotion: The First Booksigning for I, ELIZA HAMILTON Is Saturday, September 16

Susan reporting,

Writing a book seems to take forever, and the production - the edits, and rewrites, and galleys, and approving this and that and more - seems to take even longer. And then, suddenly, it's publication day, and your darling is thrust out into the world.

OK, that's melodramatic, but at last it's that time for I, ELIZA HAMILTON, which will be available everywhere on September 26. If you'll be in the Philadelphia area this weekend, however, you'll be able to get your copy early at a very special booksigning at Sandy Hollow Heritage Park, Birmingham Township, PA.

What makes this booksigning special is that it will be part of Brandywine2017, a weekend-long re-enactment and celebration to mark the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Brandywine. (See my earlier blog posts about the battle here and here.) Fought on September 11, 1777, Brandywine was the largest land battle of the American Revolution, with approximately 26,000 combatants. George Washington commanded the Continental Army, and General William Howe led the British. The names of those on the field included many who would become well known in American history: the Marquis de Lafayette, generals Nathaniel Greene, Anthony Wayne, and Henry Knox, future President James Monroe, and future Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.

Oh, and there was also another young officer at the battle, serving as one of General Washington's aides-de-camp, who would one day become the first Secretary of the Treasury: Lt. Col. Alexander Hamilton. Can you understand now why I wanted this to be my first booksigning for I, ELIZA HAMILTON?

Nearly a thousand uniformed Revolutionary War re-enactors will gather from around the country to recreate the battle, fighting on the same fields and farmland as the original battle more than two centuries ago. There will infantry, cavalry, and dragoons, artillery demonstrations and military music.

Before and after the "battles" (the British will win on Saturday, but the Americans will triumph on Sunday), visitors will be able to tour the encampments and meet the re-enactors, and step inside the handsewn replica of Washington's campaign headquarters tent. There will also be 18thc-style wares offered for sale by dozens of vendors and sutlers, as well as other authors, offering fiction, non-fiction, and children's books, all with a Revolutionary War connection.

Perhaps best of all, the event is free, with plenty of free parking. Check out the the Brandywine2017 website for all the details, including directions.

I'll be signing I, ELIZA HAMILTON on Saturday, September 16, from 11:00 am-1:00 pm, in the author tent near the entrance. Hope to see you there - please introduce yourself!

Shameless Self-Promotion: Read the First Chapter to I, ELIZA HAMILTON

Susan reporting,

Later this week, my publisher, Kensington Books, will post the first chapter to my new historical novel, I, Eliza Hamilton, on line.

But subscribers to my mailing list are reading it now - and you can, too. Simply click here to join my mailing list and you'll be sent an instant link to the preview. I promise your information won't be shared with anyone else, nor will I fill your inbox to overflowing. You'll only hear from me perhaps 2-3 times a year with important news or offers, and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.

Hey, even George Washington has HIS copy....

A Bit of Quick Shameless Self-Promotion: Enter to Win an ARC of "I, Eliza Hamilton"

Susan reporting,

Yes, I'm shamelessly self-promoting on this lazy July afternoon. But aren't you curious about what these two handsome gentlemen have found so intriguing?

My new historical novel, I, Eliza Hamilton, won't be published until September 26, but my publisher is hosting a contest to win an Advance Reading Copy now. Skip on over to Goodreads (you can also log in with a Facebook account) and enter before midnight Wednesday, July 12,  for a chance to win.

Good luck!

Can't Wait to Get Your Hands on an Advance Copy of I, ELIZA HAMILTON?

Susan reporting,

Are you going to BookExpo (May31-June 2) or BookCon (June 3 &4) this week in New York City?

Kensington Publishing will be giving attendees a chance to pick up an advance copy of my new historical novel I, ELIZA HAMILTON (to be published September 26, 2017). Only a limited number of copies will be available; find out here what times each day you'll be able to grab your copy.

Better yet: I'll be signing copies of I, ELIZA HAMILTON at BookExpo on Thursday, June 1, 1:30-2:00, at Author Autographing Table #15. Stop by, pick up a copy, and say hello!

Dukes and More Dukes

Loretta reports:

Because my computer hates traveling, and thinks every new WiFi it encounters is out to get it, my Casual Friday blog post comes on a Monday.

Warning: Unseemly boasting to follow.

On Tuesday last, while visiting the Atlanta Botanical Garden, I received word that my 2016 historical romance, Dukes Prefer Blondes, is a Romance Writers of America®  RITA® Finalist in the Long Historical category. The Rita is the RWA version of an Oscar, and being a finalist is like being an Oscar nominee. In short, it’s a very big deal, and I feel deeply honored.
You can find the other finalists here.

End of boasting; beginning sigh of relief.

Readers have asked about my new book. It’s finally done. A Duke in Shining Armor, the first of a three-book series, will be a December 2017 book. This means it will go on sale 29 November. I’ve been so busy trying to get it written and revised, that I haven’t yet updated my web page, but something will go up shortly after I get back home to Massachusetts. In the meantime, there’s a description on its page at
HarperCollins,

Amazon,

Barnes & Noble

… and I can’t find the link to iBooks.

At some point, my publisher will have a cover reveal. Meanwhile, you can stay updated on details about my books and related matters if you subscribe to my erratic website blog. It will not clutter your inbox. As you can see, months can go by. But this is where the news goes first, usually, unless I am on the road and my computer...(see above).

Clicking on the image will enlarge it.  Clicking on the caption will take you to the source, where you can learn more and enlarge images as needed.

A Wicked Pursuit and Lord of Scoundrels Special Sale

Loretta & Isabella report:

Yes, today’s post has nothing to do with history but with our real job—the one that pays: writing novels.

Today we offer a pair of eBook bargains.

From now until 18 June the eBook of A Wicked Pursuit—the first in Isabella’s Breconridge Brothers series—is on sale for $1.99

You can get your Amazon Kindle deal here

and your Barnes & Noble Nook edition here.

And as mentioned previously, Lord of Scoundrels is the featured June book for Avon Romance’s Diamond Anniversary.

As part of the celebration, the eBook is on sale for $1.99 through the end of this month.

You can get your Amazon Kindle edition here

and your Barnes & Noble Nook edition here.

Please note: The Two Nerdy History Girls have different publishers with different publishing and licensing arrangements.

This is why readers in the U.K. can get a £1.99 deal for Isabella’s book while Loretta’s bargain price applies only to the U.S. and Canada.

Clicking on the image will enlarge it.

2NHG Signing Books in Burlington, MA

Loretta & Isabella report:

There we were, at last year's book signing.

We'll be there again.

Loretta & Isabella
aka Two Nerdy History Girls
will, once again, be signing their books
in Burlington MA.
Open to the public.

Details below—with thanks to Penny Watson of NEC/RWA for posting a lovely image for me to steal.

Hope to see you there!

2NHG Historical Myth Busters in Burlington, Massachusetts!

W.Heath, Waist & Extravagance 1830

Loretta & Isabella report:

If you’ve been reading this blog fairly regularly, you’re aware that our research has contradicted some cherished beliefs about history. Over time, we’ve learned that many of the historical facts we’ve heard forever may be only partly true, or true with qualifications, or not actually connected to reality as we know it.

Some of these exaggerations, distortions, and fairy tales were perpetrated by Victorians, but not all.  Sometimes caricatures mislead us. Sometimes, too, the enemy are us: We might make assumptions about our ancestors that Ain’t Necessarily So.

We 2NHGs come upon these assumptions/myths fairly often in social media, and of course we post blogs about them. But then we got the bright idea of taking our show on the road—this once at least.

The occasion is the New England Chapter of Romance Writers of America Annual Conference, where we’ll be offering a workshop for conference attendees about a few of the many persistent historical myths.

(We’ll also be signing books at the Book Fair for Literacy.)

WHAT
Workshop: Is It True? The Two Nerdy History Girls Bust a Historical Myth or Two
NEC/RWA 2016 Conference

WHEN
Conference dates: 29-30 April 2016

WHERE
Boston Marriott
One Burlington Mall Road
Burlington MA 01803

Author Event in Florida

Loretta reports:

As many of our readers are aware, my real job is writing historical romance. As they are probably also aware, I don’t do many personal appearances. This is not because I don’t like meeting my readers. On the contrary, it’s way too much fun, and the temptation is to keep going here there and everywhere to meet them... and then fail to finish the book on time.

But this time my publisher made an offer beyond my temptation-resisting abilities: a chance to join Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Caroline Linden for an author event and book signing.

The bonus is, it’s in Florida, where I’ve been fortunate to spend the worst of the last few winters. All we have to do is not get eaten by alligators on the drive from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic side.

If you’re in the vicinity of Vero Beach, please stop by and say Hi.

WHEN:
Sunday 20 March
3PM-4:30PM

WHERE:
Vero Beach Book Center
325 Miracle Mile
Vero Beach FL 32960

Update: Just received the store's specific address within the plaza listed above,:
Vero Beach Book Center
392 21st St
Vero Beach FL 39260