Amanda McCabe's Blog

 

Happy weekend, everyone!  I hope it's autumn where you are, it's finally getting cool here, and the colors are ahhhhmazing, especially up in the mountains.  I hope to get out there tomorrow, after wrapping up revisions on the WIP.  In the meantime, here's a few things to read...

How close did we come to losing Beowulf forever?

A witch's tips for the best Halloween party ever

150 years of Liberty of London

Auction of the jewels of the Dowager Countess of Airlie (complete with gorgeous tiara!)

In other auction news, the gorgeous Faberge Winter Egg...

Jilly Cooper's Cotswolds abode

Eugene Levy's interview with Prince William (complete with Orla, the scene stealing spaniel!)

Lots of "Wicked" merch

Medieval monks and their luxe skincare

We lost Hyacinth!  The death of the wonderful Dame Patricia Routledge

A Regency flat in Bath where I would love to live

 Welcome to fall!!  I am loving the cooler nights and vivid colors, even though it's that weird in-between spot for clothes (sweaters are too heavy, summer frocks are too light...)  I am diving into revisions for the next book, a Gilded Age romance set in gorgeous Newport, and settling in for some reading.  I'd love some fall-ish recs, if you have any.  And here are a few distractions for you...

An artist recycles Royal Ballet shoes into jewelry

Why we're still reading Jane Austen on her 250th birthday

Also, September 24, 1995 saw the premier of our favorite Pride & Prejudice on BBC!  (how has it been so long??)

The Brooklyn artist who created thousands of porcelain miniature for the V&A's Marie Antoinette exhibit (these are amazing)

The 100 greatest British novels, according to the BBC (I have no quarrel with #1, it's one of my very favorite books)

How women's pockets became so controversial

 

Well, this has been a week that feels like a (long) year.  I am getting ready to dive into some farmers market shopping and reading this weekend before tackling book revisions that just landed on my desk.  And here's a few distraction...  (also, don't forget to talk like a pirate today!  My book High Seas Stowaway, if you want some historical seafaring hijinks is .99)

The V&A opens their "Marie Antoinette Style" exhibit (and I am sobbing not to be there!)

An art conservator restores a portrait of Isabella de Medici

Where is The Great British Bakeoff Filmed?

It was Agatha Christie's Birthday on September 15!  I think I'll do a re-read in her honor (some favorites--Death on the Nile, The Hollow, 5 Little Pigs)

The most beautiful garden you can visit in every state

The jewels of the new Downton Abbey movie (I saw it last weekend!  So fun to see old friends again, and you go, Lady Edith)

Inside the rooms where 20 famous books were written

Portrait of Shakespeare's possible lover found

 I just got a new box of books for my next Harlequin release, How to Court Your Wife!!!  It's the 3rd in the Matchmakers of Bath series, and I love it because the heroine, Sandrine, is a modiste.  You know how I love clothes!!!  Her business is booming--now she just has to deal with her much-too attractive estranged husband.  It's releasing on October 23, but I have a few copies to send out for review.  Let me know if you're interested!

In other book news, Secretary to the Socialite is gaining some lovely reviews!  As it's the "book of my heart," this is making me feel quite chuffed and smiley.  

And, as we hover on the brink of autumn (bring on Halloween and apple spice!) here are a few things to read:

Happy birthday, Elizabeth I!  (September 7, 1533)

And the death of her stepmother Queen Katherine Parr (September 5, 1548)

And this week the Duchess of Kent died, aged 92 (a true lady and talented musician, one of the last of the old-school royals, she led a fascinating and sad life)

The (almost) wildness of Elizabeth Bennet

A new "Age of Innocence" adaptation is on its way!  I love Edith Wharton, and it's been 30 years since the perfection of the Scorsese movie, but this description of being a "modern young version for a new generation" does not sound---reassuring....

The stately settings of "Downton Abbey"  (last movie is out next week, woo-hoo!)

 I'm finishing up writing a novella due tomorrow (ugh!!!), so here's a few things to read!  (It's a Christmas novella, weird while it's 90 degrees outside...)

The next book ban target?  Romance

The Battle of Bosworth was on August 22, 1485

Princess Margaret's birthday was August 20, 1930

Downton Abbey auction...  (I would LOVE to own some of those costumes! I could wear them to go to the grocery store and walk the dogs in my glamorous life)

You can sleep in Charlotte Bronte's room!

And finally, one of my publishers is having a .99 sale until the 27th!  It includes the first Flora Flowerdew mystery...

 

Happy mid-August!  It's cooling down a little here (I think), and I am thinking about what project I'd like to write next.  I have been feeling a little burned out lately, and need something I can throw myself into.  Hopefully, once the autumn weather arrives and I'm feeling hygge, long writing/reading days are ahead...

In the meantime, here are a few fun things to read!

I have one more opera to attend before the season is over next week!  I also just watched a fascinating documentary about how this very special place came to be here in Santa Fe

It's also Indian Market weekend here!  I love how we have so many annual events this time of year

The Bennets' house from the '95 P&P is for sale!  I would love to buy it and make a retreat for all my bookish friends...

On August 9, 1588, Elizabeth I made her famous speech at Tilbury

A rare 18th century tapestry has gone on view at Blenheim

Speaking of Blenheim, here's a peek at the real-life miserable marriage of Consuelo Vanderbilt, once its duchess!

I also have a Friday Freebie this week, thanks to my publisher!

See you next week...

 Happy Sunday, everyone!  I can't believe how fast summer is slipping away.  Just one more week of Opera here in Santa Fe, plus school started Friday and Indian Market is next weekend.  Eeek!  But, as much as I love my summer dresses and cocktails on patios, not to mention the gorgeous flowers all around town, I'm looking forward to cooler evenings, Halloween, and getting some hygge coziness in the house.

In the meantime, if you'd like to dive into Millicent Rogers and her glam world, I have a discount link for a hard copy.  Perfect for end-of-summer reading!   You can find it here

And here's a few things to keep us distracted on this hot summer day!!

On August 9 in 1588, Elizabeth I gave her famous speech to the troops at Tillbury...

After decades in storage, an 18th century tapestry goes on view at Blenheim

More about the mysteries of the Voynich Manuscript

On August 9, 1902 was the coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra

On August 4, 1557, Anne of Cleves (aka the luckiest of the the six wives) was buried at Westminster Abbey

Ryan Speedo Green in Santa Fe Opera's "Die Walkure" (I thought it was great!)

A "sorcesses' kit" found in the ashes of Pompeii

On August 3, 1553, Mary I made her triumphant entry into London as Queen, after defeating the forces of Jane Grey (this seems to be quite the Tudor month!)

Millicent Rogers' daughter-in-law's NYC apartment up for sale!

Love story of two Edwardian servants on display

Literary tourism

What are we all thinking about "The Gilded Age"???

Or the new Downton Abbey movie???

 

See you next week!

 

 

Happy August, everyone!!!  Since it's Jane Austen's 250th birthday year (and because I found some cool stuff) we are having a giveaway.  Enter to win a tin of P&P tea, a Regency coloring book, a bar of Jane Austen soap, and one of my own signed Regencies by singing up for my newsletter here  (if you're already signed up, you're already entered!)

Happy Regency days!

 I'm so excited that the "book of my heart" Secretary to the Socialite is finally out in the world!!!  Here's a little peek behind the story...

I’ve had so many questions from early readers about “who isreal” in my story, so I thought I’d make a quick post (and usesome of my notebooks full of research!). This was such a fun storyfor me to write, because Taos has been a special place in my ownlife. When I was very young, about 4, my parents decided to spendpart of the summers in Taos, and so that was my vacation spot everyyear. One year, we visited a beautiful museum in an old house justoutside of town, the Millicent Rogers Museum, and on the gift shopwall was a Vogue photo of agorgeous blonde woman in a Charles James blouse and piles ofturquoise and silver bracelets. I had to know more about her!

The Museum was started by one ofMillicent’s three sons, Paul Peralta Ramos, in 1956 to showcase hismother’s collection of nearly 2000 pieces of local art—jewelry,pottery, weavings, carvings, and her own work as well, as she was ajewelry designer. It’s now grown to over 7000 pieces, and moved toits current location in 1968, where it’s continued to grow andexpand.

Violet Redfield is fictional,but Millicent Rogers was very real! In her short life (1902-1953)she was a socialite and heiress (her grandfather was a co-founder ofStandard Oil), fashion icon, art collector, and later an activist forNative American rights. She contracted rheumatic fever at age 10,which shortened her life and plagued her will illness, but shemanaged to marry three times, fall in love with men like Clark Gable,Roald Dahl, and Ian Fleming, and live in New York, Virginia, Jamaica,and Austria before making her final home in Taos in 1948. She wasburied in her new hometown at the Sierra Vista cemetery on January 1,1953.

Mabel Dodge Luhan (1879-1962)was, like Millicent, a socialite, daughter of a wealthy Buffalo, NewYork family, who married several times (four!) and was a patron ofthe arts. She lived in Florence, at a famous Medici villa, and ran acounterculture salon in New York before landing in Taos in 1917 toestablish her own arts colony, attracting people such as DH Lawrence,Georgia O’Keefe, and Ansel Adams. She married Tony Luhan from theTaos Pueblo in 1923, and is buried in the Kit Carson Cemetery inTaos. Her house is now a National Historic Landmark and run as aconference center.

One of the great Taos charactersis Dorothy Brett (The Hononorable! 1883-1977). Daughter of aviscount, she was raised amid Queen Victoria’s court, but became anartistic bohemian who attended the Slade School and became friendswith the Bloomsbury Circle before befriending DH Lawrence and movingwith him to Taos in 1924. She stayed there for the rest of her longlife, creating her own unique art (some of which can now be seen inthe Smithsonian, as well as the Millicent Rogers Museum and HarwoodMuseum).

Martha Reed (1922-2010) actuallyopened her famous shop in 1953, so I fudged it a bit for my story! Daughter of artist Doel Reed, she got her own Arts degree in 1944 andworked at the Philbrook Museum and Dallas Museum of Art before movingto Taos. She first worked at the Pink Horse Shop on the Plaza, whereshe became well-known for designing her “broomstick” skirts andblouses in calico and velvet, before opening her own shop. She was avery sociable person, famous for her “soirees with hooch” allover town. I am lucky enough to own a painting by her, as well asMartha of Taos original bought by my aunt in the 1960s!

Lorenzo is fictional, but hiscousin Benito was real, a man who (like so many others) was tormentedby what he had seen in World War II and was helped by Millicent. The Karavas brothers first bought La Fonda in the 1920s, and it cameto be run by one of their sons, Saki, until his death in 1996. Hewas an art collector and (as his tombstone says) “a great Taoscharacter.” Tom McCarthy is also real, and if you visit Taos youcan stay at his family’s beautiful B&B, Casa Benavides! Theyhave the best breakfasts, and he is full of stories of his long lifein Taos.

These are just a few of thesources I used! I have to thank the Historic Santa Fe Archives forall their help, too.

The Mabel Dodge Luhan PapersCollection at the Beinecke Library of Yale (much of which is online)

Mabel Dodge Luhan, Winterin Taos (1935) and Edgeof Taos Desert (1937)

Lois Palken Rudnick, UtopianVistas: The Mabel Dodge Luhan House and the American Counterculture(1996)

Cherie Burns, Searchingfor Beauty: The Lifeof Millicent Rogers, the American Heiress Who Taught the World AboutStyle (2011) and Divingfor Starfish: The Jeweler, the Actress, the Heiress, and One of theWorld’s Most Alluring Pieces of Jewelry(2018)

Judith Nasse, A Life inFull (2022)

Annette Tapert and Dana Edkins, ThePower of Style (1994)

Sam Hignett, Brett: FromBloomsbury to New Mexico (1985)

Lois P. Rudnick, ed. MabelDodge Luhan and Company: American Moderns and the West(2016)

 

Happy (almost Bastille Day) everyone!  I hope you're having a great summer.  My tomatoes are looking amazing in the garden, I've been to the opera twice (La Boheme was lovely!), and I've perfected a lemony-gin cocktail that is perfect for warm evenings on the patio.  (Recipe at end)

In the meantime, here are a few fun things to read, and if you'd like a review copy of Secretary to the Socialite, send me an email and I will get you the link!  amccabe7551 AT yahoo.com

A Downton Abbey costume auction!!  (I wish I could buy that Lady Mary wedding dress, I could use it for walking the dogs and going to Trader Joe's...)

Santa Fe is the #1 travel destination!

An article about "Enchanted April" (one of my favorite books and movies)

The Bayeux Tapestry returns to Britain

11 books to read for your summertime sadness

Why the "messy girl" asethetic is taking over decorating (I am right in style)

Lemon Lavender Gin Cocktail

Ingredients2 oz gin1 oz lavender simple syrup1 oz fresh lemon juiceClub soda or tonic water (to top, optional)IceLemon slices and/or lavender sprigs for garnish (optional) InstructionsFill a glass with ice.Combine gin, lavender simple syrup, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker.Shake well until thoroughly chilled.Strain the mixture over the ice in your glass.Top with club soda or tonic water if desired.Garnish with lemon slices and/or lavender sprigs