The Holly - Garden Bells The Magic of Herbs, Trees and Flowers

As well as The Potted Bay I blogged about yesterday I have a holly bush. This what Claire Nahmad, whose states her great-grandmother was a wise woman, writes in her book, Garden Spells The Magic of Herbs, Trees and Flowers, about holly.


"The handsome holly is a lucky tree, for it affirms life, and is a symbol of undiminishing vitality. Ensure that it has a place in your garden for its glowing green presence wards of unfriendly spirits. The Holly man lives in the tree that bears prickly holly, and the Holly Woman dwells within that which gives forth smooth and variegated leaves. The first is lucky for men, the second for women. Do not burn holly branches unless they are well and truly dead, for this is unlucky."


An Ale and Holly spell follows.


As I read this I imagined a young married couple in times past planting two holly trees and then casting the spell.


To be on the safe side I might be cautious when disposing of holly branches.

Bay - The Herb

Whenever I re-arrange books on their shelves, it's often  a pleasant surprise to find one I've forgotten about. I collect non-fiction on many subjects because, as an author, I never know when they might come in useful.


Today, I found Garden Spells:The Magic of Herbs, Trees and Flowers by Clare Nahmad.


I have a potted Bay Tree that my daughter bought me last Christmas that is flourishing, so I enjoyed the following quote.


"Wherever the bay flourishes, that garden and the dwelling it graces are protected from flash and flood. It is a tree of the old gods, a tree of the Lord, and its spirit is valiant. Its fragrance and essence celebrate holy valour and human triumph. Take bay leaves in your food or make of them a tisane (one teaspoon of the herb to a cup of boiling water) for they have properties which heal and restore."


I frequently make tea from herbs in my garden. So far I haven't made bay tea but I shall try it.

Special Offer. Only for 5 Days. 5 Traditional Historical Novels in 1 Bundle.

• Special Offer

 

5 historical novels in 1 Romance Bundle by Rosemary Morris.

 

1,313 pages.

 

Special offer.  $4.99  (£3.23)

Full price $29.75

Discount $24.76

 

ISBN:978-7-77127-645-0

 

The bundle will be available from the 28^th November, 2014 to the 2^nd December, 2014

 

Available from https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore  www.amazon.com  www.amazon.co.uk  nook and all reputable vendors.

 

False Pretences.  Annabelle runs away from school into the arms of a charismatic gentleman…but can she trust him to help her?

 

Far Beyond Rubies  When their eyes first meet, Gervaise’s soul recognises Juliana’s and from that moment on, their destinies become inevitably entwined.

 

Sunday’s Child  If Major Tarrant expects Sunday’s Child, a Regency lady, to be a ‘bread and butter’ Miss he will be surprised.

 

Tangled Love  The throne has been usurped by James II’s daughter and son-in-law, Mary and William of Orange. In 1693, loyal to his oath of allegiance, ten year-old Richelda’s father must follow James to France.

 

The Captain and The Countess.  His heart captured by the Countess only Captain Howard sees pain behind her fashionable façade and is determined to help her.

 

 

Too view the book trailers, read the first three chapters of each novel and reviews please visit www.rosemarymorris.co.uk.

 

 

 

 

New Twist on a Christmas Carol

My just 5 year old granddaughter came home delighted with the carol she and her class are learning at reception. Unfortunately she misunderstood the words. "Mary and Jessica's baby Jesus is born..." she sang. We burst into laughter and told her it should be Mary and Joseph. She  burst into tears and said it really is Mary and Jessica. I hope her voice singing Jessica won't come across loud and clear at the carol service.

Monday's Child. Epilogue

This morning, I finished writing Chapter Thirty-One of Monday's Child, a traditional historical novel set in the Regency era. It is a stand alone novel in which some of the characters from my published novel, Sunday's Child, take part.


I spent the rest of the day considering the book and realised that all I have left to write is an Epilogue.


By the end of the next week I will have finished Monday's Child and can then begin revising and editing it.

Historical Accuracy While Writing Fiction

I've reached a complicated chapter in my novel in which I need the geographical features, proposed plans and timeline to be correct. I read the relevant parts of five historical non-fiction books and made notes, but I still didn't have a clear picture in my head. So, after considerable thought, I wrote chapter headings and typed up the relevant information under each titl3. Next I made a list of things my protagonists would do, and their reactions to events as they occurred in sequence, in each chapter and finished by typing up a few quotes from historical personages.


For the last three days I've been working on Chapter Thirty-One. Thanks to my notes everything, as the saying goes, has fallen into place.

Learning to Read.

My just five year-old granddaughter is learning to read. For homework she has the following. She has a card with coloured pictures and the letters of the alphabet plus ch, ff etc. She also has cardboard cut outs in the shape of pencils with a few words on each one e.g. oh, on, to etc. Finally she has first readers with one sentence on each page. E.g. Look at Mum.


The other day when I was helping her she said. "This is hard work but I've got a good idea, grandma. You read and I'll listen."

What am I reading?

This year, I made a note of the novels shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Awards and the finalists with the intention of reading them all.  As well as some others I have now read 222 pages out of 390 pages of Just for Christmas by Scarlet Bailey.


Just for Christmas is a fast-paced, contemporary novel quite different to the historical fiction which is usually my first choice. However, it's always interesting to try different genres etc., by authors whose books I have not previously read.


So far I'm enjoying this novel about Alex who moves from Edinburgh to Cornwall when the love of her life decides to marry another girl. She moves into a cottage in which a smelly, scruffy dog, who regards it as his personal property, refuses to allow her to sleep on the only bed.


I'm anticipating and hoping for a happy ever after ending.


My thanks to Scarlet Bailey for an entertaining read which I will review on Amazon and Good Reads.

More Painful Decluttering

My collection of Solander and Historical Novel's Reviews dates back to 2006. Unfortunately, I don't have the space to keep all the books and magazines I've collected, so painful as it is, I am leafing through my copies of Solander and Historical Novel's Reviews and getting red of most of them. I've enjoyed re-reading many of the articles but it really is time to part with them. Deep sigh. Oh for a huge library with bookshelves from floor to ceiling on all four walls.

5 More Novels on My To Be Read List

Five more novels reviewed in Historical Novels Review that I intend to read.



Ruth's Journey by Donald McCaig. "The New York Times best-selling author of Rhett Butler's People now takes Margaret Mitchell's nameless Mammy from her survival as a four-year old orphaned by the slave revolt on Haiti at the beginning of the 19th century to the days following the Twelve Oaks barbecue when Georgia secedes from the Union."



Teardrops in The Moon by Tania Crosse. "The research is impeccable. I learned much about horses in World War 1, the ambulance service and the major battles. ... The book is about how the war affected a particular family."



Road Ends by Mary Lawson. "Megan Cartwright is the glue that holds her family together. At twenty-one, she's never ventured outside the small isolated town of Struan, in northern Ontario, Canada; instead she keeps house for her parents and six brothers. ...Megan knows she can do more though, and leaves her family behind to start her own life across the Big Pond in England."



The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes. "Set just after World War Two this is a fictionalised account of the transport of hundreds of wartime brides from Australia to England."



Before the Fall by Juliet West. "Before the Fall is a debut novel inspired by real events in London during the First Word War.  "... the central love story is enveloped by a superbly drawn East End ripped apart both literally and emotionally by the First World War."

 

5 Books I Shall Read

I enjoy reading historical fiction and non-fiction, so I always study my copy of Historical Novels Review published by The Historical Novel Society, which lists novels published in the United Kingdom, The United States and elsewhere.

Unfortunately I don't have sufficient time or money to read all the books that interest me, so I don't add novels published in the U.S.A to my list because they are unlikely to be available in my part of the world in bookshops or libraries.

The books I have chosen are published in the U.K. I shall list five. It would be interesting to know what other people are reading or plan to read.

1.The Barefoot Queen by Ildefonao Falcones (trans Mara Faye Lethem), "the saga of the Spanish gypsies in 18th century Bourbon Spain, their culture and their persecution."

2.Queen of Bedlam by Laura Purcell. "When George III falls ill, Queen Charlotte, a perfectionist tries very hard to maintain the expected decorum, but her world is quickly falling apart. The man she fell in love with no longer exists and she must face life alone without her king."

3. Fools Gold  by Zana Bell "The cover is beautiful and romantic and as it says 1866 New Zealand is no place for a lady."

4.Ticket to Paradise by Elizabeth Morgan. A novel about Welsh people desperate to preserve their way of life who emigrated to Patagonia..

5.Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough. Her second big Australian saga. I hope I will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed The Thornbirds.

Tomorrow, I shall list another five novels.

Historical Novel Society, Historical Novel Review

Today, I received my copy of the Historical Novel Review which gives details of new deals with publishers, contains articles and reviews of historical fiction and non-fiction published on both sides of the Big Pond.

I put my feet up and opened the 'treasure house of information. I read the magazine from cover to cover and made a list of books which I want to read.

Problem When Decluttering Magazines etc.

In order to de-clutter I have been sorting through magazines, pamphlets and newspapers. Why is it that instead of deciding quickly what to keep and what I will dispose of, I find subject matter that I was not previously interested in fascinating? I end up spending more time reading than getting rid of anything.

Applying research to Monday's Child.

The research for the last few chapters of Monday's Child, the follow on novel from Sunday's Child,is complicated. To to get it straight in my mind I have amalgamated my scribbled notes, photo copies and passages from my reference books. I have headed each part with a date and assigned it to a chapter. This means I will not need to cross reference each fact as I write. So far the method is working well. Phew!

Special Offer - Pre-order - Book Bundle - 5 historical novels in 1

Pre-order.

 

5 historical novels in 1 Romance Bundle by Rosemary Morris.

 

1,313 pages.

 

Special offer.  $4.99  (£3.23)

 

Full price $29.75

 

Discount $24.76

 

Release Date the 28^th November, 2014

 

Available from https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore  www.amazon.com  www.amazon.co.uk  nook and all reputable vendors.

 

False Pretences.

 

Annabelle runs away from school into the arms of a charismatic gentleman…but can she trust him to help her?

 

Far Beyond Rubies

 

When their eyes first meet, Gervaise’s soul recognises Juliana’s and from that moment on, their destinies become inevitably entwined.

 

Sunday's Child

 

If Major Tarrant expects Sunday’s Child, a Regency lady, to be a ‘bread and butter’ Miss he will be surprised.

 

Tangled Love

 

The throne has been usurped by James II’s daughter and son-in-law, Mary and William of Oragne. In 1693, loyal to his oath of allegiance, ten year-old Richelda’s father must follow James to France.

The Captain and The Countess

 

His heart captured by the Countess only Captain Howard sees pain behind her fashionable façade and is determined to help her.

 

To view the book trailers, read the first three chapters of each novel and reviews please visit www.rosemarymorris.co.uk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cassiorbuy The Ancient Seat of the Earls of Essex

On Monday evening, at Café Cha Cha, in Cassiobury Park, I attended an interesting talk by Paul Rabbits, Head of Parks and Open Spaces for Watford Borough Council and Sarah Kerenza Priestly, Heritage and Arts Manager of Watford Museum.

The subject of the talk was Cassiobury, The Ancient Seat of the Earls of Essex.

"In 1916 the 7th Earl of Essex, aged only fifty-eight, died after being run down by a taxi. Six years later, his widow and his heir, the 8th Earl, put the house and the park up for sale."

Today, Cassiobury Park, is a 300 hectare site twice the size of Hyde Park. It is much loved by local people.

I have been considering setting a novel in or around Cassiobury House for a long time, so I was delighted by the talk, and am looking forward to reading Peter Rabbits and Sarah Kerenza Priestley's beautifully illustrated book Cassiobury The Ancient Seat of the Earls of Essex published by Amberley Publishing, www.amberley-books.com.

Monday's Child Final Research

I have a nasty cold so I've been lethargic. However, I completed what I hope is the final research for Monday's Child a traditional Regency novel, which is a follow on story from Sunday's Child. By combining the information in four of my non-fiction books and  photo copies from other  books I am now able to write the next chapter. Phew! Now, where is that box of tissues?

Final research for Monday's Child.

I have a nasty cold so I've been lethargic. However, I completed what I hope is the final research for Monday's Child a traditional Regency novel, which is a follow on story from Sunday's Child. By combining the information in four of my non-fiction books and  photo copies from other  books I am now able to write the next chapter. Phew! Now, where is that box of tissues?

Remembrance Sunday, 1st World War, Peninsular War, Battle of Ligny, Battle of Waterloo.

On the news I viewed the sea of poppies, which commemorate members of the armed forces who gave their lives, around The Tower of London.

While writing Monday's Child, the follow on novel from Sunday's Child, I have read widely about the Napoleonic Wars. I wonder how many people realise that in proportion to the number of people alive at that time more lives were lost then than in the First World War. A very sobering thought. It's also sobering to wonder what would have happened if the Battle of Waterloo had been lost.

My interview with the Romantic Novel Society is on line

My interview with the Romantic Novel Society is on line.

I hope you will enjoy it if you drop by.

The link is: http://romanticnovelistsassociation.blogspot.com

All the best,

Rosemary Morris
www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

On Revising Monday's Child

While revising and editing the first ten chapters of Monday's Child I have cut adverbs, adjectives and unnecessary phrases and sentences. I have also eliminated repetitions.

I am also checking and double checking my research. This morning I re-read the notes and photo copies of pages of the Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research Vol XXXI I made at The National Army Museum.

Fingers crossed, the novel reads well and the historical details are correct.

On Reading and Research

I'm looking forward to delving into the to-be-read pile on my bedside table.

There are three magazines. Writing Magazine, Grow Your Own and Woman's Weekly.

There are excellent articles and competitions in Writing Magazine, plus information about magazines and publishers writers can submit to, and readers' new plus much more.

Grow Your Own is informative and usually comes with some packets of sees. This months are purple brussel sprouts and white and red alpine strawberries.

I enjoy reading Woman's Weekly, which I buy it to study the short stories and serials with a view to submitting fiction to the magazine one day.

At the moment I'm half way through Barbara Bradford Taylor Bradford's Heirs of Ravenscar in which begins in 1918. She has based the novel on Edward III his family and other personalities of the era by re-creating them as nineteenth century characters. I'm enjoying the book.

There are another four books in my to be read pile which I picked up from the library, three novels and one non fiction book. The White Russian by Vanora Bennet, Dear Thing by Julie Cohen and The Downstairs Maid by Rosie Clarke, each of which I'm looking forward to reading.

The fourth book is the long awaited Edward II The Unconventional King by Kathryn Warner. I am particularly interested in this because I am revising my novel set in Edward II's reign. I have my own theory about his relationship with his favourites and the question of whether or not he was murdered.

The Captain and The Countess Traditional Historical Romance set in Queen Anne Stuart's Reign 1702-1714

The Captain and The Countess

 

Set in the reign of Queen Anne Stuart 1702-1714

By Rosemary Morris

 

Why does heart-rending pain lurk in the back of the wealthy Countess of Sinclair’s eyes? 

 

Captain Howard’s life changes forever from the moment he meets Kate, the intriguing Countess and resolves to banish her pain.

Although the air sizzles when widowed Kate, victim of an abusive marriage meets Edward Howard, a captain in Queen Anne’s navy, she has no intention of ever marrying again.

However, when Kate becomes better acquainted with the Captain she realises he is the only man who understands her grief and can help her to untangle her past

Available from:

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore  Amazon Kindle  and all reputable vendors.

 

To view the book trailer, read the first three chapters and some reviews please visit: www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

Voices From the Past

I'm recommending this interesting non-fiction book.

"Voices From The Past: ...Russia--Soviet Union..." by Orest M.
Gladky-- eBook on Amazon: http://www.OlgaGladkyVerroEditor.com

More on Writing Monday's Child

Although I haven't finished writing Monday's Child, the sequel to Sunday's Child, I decided to edit the completed chapters.

My research has turned up some facts which need to be inserted.

Also, although I don't write detailed plot plans, I did have the rough details of the plot in mind. However, I had planned a surprise but, as the book developed I decided the reader would guess what it was. With reluctance, because it is painful to make a substantial change, I had to think of an alternative.

So, before I write the last few chapters I need to make sure that the previous ones flow smoothly.

I hope that after so much hard work the novel will be a page turner and the reviews will be 5*.

Massage

Although I take regular breaks from the computer and laptop I admit to becoming a bit sore and stiff.

The deep tissue massage I had on Thursday, given by a well-qualified masseur, worked wonders, but her advice was to rest on Friday and to drink plenty of water to get rid of toxins. I took her advice, am less sore and stiff and ready to start blogging again.