On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… well, the song says “Six geese a-laying,” but what did Jane Austen give us that is in sixes? She gave us 6 wonderful novels. And we are so grateful for that, although we wished she could have written more! For my post today, …
…5 WORD SEARCH PUZZLES! I’ve been pretty quiet around here this past year. More than a year ago, I started working at a bookstore, which I love, but there’s a long commute, which I hate. So basically an 8-hour work day becomes an 11-hour workday. Yikes. My reading has slowed, my writing has slowed, time …
Happy 4th Day of Christmas!! In my newest novel, The Knight Before Christmas, my characters, Emma Westwood & Austin Knightley, make a special dessert — a chocolate-apricot torte, reminiscent of the famous Viennese Sachertorte. My husband and I were in Austria back in the mid-1990s, and we each enjoyed a generous and oh-so-chocolaty piece of …
As you can see from the title of this post, I’m doing double duty here today! We’ll get to our Sanditon discussion in a moment, but let’s talk Christmas first! In the famous old song, the third day gift is (sing it with me) “…three French hens…” But I’m not sure what the Austen …
Two turtledoves and dreams of their merry, merry Christmastimes at Pemberley or at their house in town. In early wedded bliss, perhaps – or surrounded by (more or less welcome) guests – or later, when there are children at Pemberley and the new custom Prince Albert had brought from his home country had begun to catch …
For those who celebrate, the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights is currently under way, running this year from sundown on December 22nd through December 30th. The Hebrew word Hanukkah (or Chanukah) means “dedication,” and the holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabean Revolt in 164 BCE. Like most holidays, …
Happy holidays to everyone and wishing many blessings in the new year for all! I’m excited to announce that The Best Part of Love is now in audiobook, read by Sarah Jane Rose. I have also recently re-released the paperback version of this book. In celebration of both, I am giving away one audiobook and …
We’re off and running with our group reading of Jane Austen’s unfinished last novel Sanditon! (If you missed the introduction to this series, read it here to get caught up) I hope you enjoyed the first three chapters as I did. I’ve only read this delightful fragment once before, several years ago now, so I …
Jane Austen wrote very little about Christmas directly, though we may remember such fictional moments as the “fine family piece” of a Christmas scene in Persuasion, with little girls cutting up silver paper and little boys reveling over plates of brawn and cold pies, and Lady Russell being annoyed by the noise. Or Mr. Elton …
The members of JASNA St. Louis and other Jane Austen aficionados were recently treated to a Jane Austen Festival, the weekend of December 6-8. It was put on by the Repertory Theatre (Browning Theater) of St. Louis, Webster University, and JASNA – St. Louis. Throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday, there were many activities …
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