A quick search on Amazon for “amnesia historical romance” produces over 300 results. If you cut out the historical and go for “amnesia romance” you get 1000 results. I should say that makes it quite a popular theme among authors.
I’ve spoken before of my obsession with names. Agonising over what title to use and what surnames to bestow upon my characters is another time-wasting phenomenon chez Bailey.
Really, I could just pick any name to go with the chosen Christian names. But not a bit of it....
For a while now I’ve been trying to figure out how to do excerpt readings of my books on YouTube. Prior to the figuring, I was thinking about doing it. That went on for some time because the very thought of the technological challenge was enough to make me give up befo...
In the nether regions of any aristocratic household, be it Carson of Downton Abbey or Hudson of Upstairs Downstairs, the Butler reigned supreme. Even the lord of the house would take notice of his butler’s opinion. If the butler didn’t approve of a guest, you could be...
One of my joys with research is Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, of which I have two copies. One is pretty old, though not a first edition. The other is more up to date, acquired from WH Smith in the 70s or 80s, I think. It says it’s a facsimile of the 1894 edi...
Contrary to our ideas of what is acceptable, restrictions on Regency ladies were, on the whole, for their protection. We consider crowds safer these days, but at that time a country walk in a peaceful village environment held far fewer terrors than the capital. London...
Life below stairs was no picnic in the Georgian and Regency era. Up with the lark, your average servant toiled throughout the day with very little time off. Each had their tasks to perform, but were required in addition to be on call when the bell rang to service whate...
The novelist Henry Fielding was also a magistrate. He worked out of a house in Bow Street in the 1750s, and began the force of thief-takers who later became the famous Runners. His brother succeeded him in the post in 1754 and remained the Bow Street Justice until 1780...
Looking at images of Georgian life, one gets the impression that the use of tobacco was neither general nor widespread. Caricatures tend to depict an exaggerated truth, and only in a few does one find a pipe smoker, and in none a man taking snuff.
Maids of all kinds abounded in the Georgian era, and several feature in The Deathly Portent as this was the chief source of occupation for young girls in a village. Often they were the only servant and had their work cut out.
