Books, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorite: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

Description (from Amazon):

“It was whispered all through London Society that Ian Mackenzie was mad, that he’d spent his youth in an asylum, and was not to be trusted–especially with a lady. Yet Beth found herself inexorably drawn to the Scottish lord. Despite his decadence and his intimidating intelligence, she could see that he needed help–her help. Because suddenly the only thing that made sense to her was…the madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie.”

Set in Victorian England, France, and Scotland, this book at first looks to be like any other historical romance novel. Except that the hero–Lord Ian Mackenzie–appears to have what today we’d call Asperger’s Syndrome. And the heroine–Beth Ackerley–grew up in a workhouse for the poor.

And that’s where everything changes.

A lot of readers have already discovered this book, but for those of you that haven’t, put this one at the top of your TBR list. 🙂

http://www.amazon.com/Madness-Lord-Ian-Mackenzie-Mackenzies/dp/0425244466/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368972507&sr=1-1&keywords=the+madness+of+lord+ian+mackenzie

Lord Ian Mackenzie

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Please Allow Me to (Re)Introduce Myself

It’s been a while since I posted to this blog on a regular basis, and I’m afraid I never introduced myself properly in the first place. Oh, sure, there’s the “official” bio on the About page, and all my contact links appear if you click on my picture to the left. But that’s only a small part of who I am.

By day I am a high school teacher—not in English or in History, as most people would assume, but in Mathematics and Psychology. I majored in History because I Quantum_Calculations_by_throttledanloved it (still do, more than any other subject). But by the time I realized my place in the world was in a classroom, I had half of an engineering degree completed…including a whole bunch of math. And so I’ve been teaching high school math for the last 10 years. Psychology was kind of an accident–it was part of the position when I applied, and no one wants to take it over. I’m okay with that, though, because it’s actually a really fun class! And I can’t even count how many times I’ve had an insight into one of my characters while teaching a lesson.

By night—and on weekends, school vacations, and over the summer—I’m a writer. I love books of all kinds, and get ideas in a bunch of different genres, but my Leonid_Pasternak_001specialty is historical romance. Right now I’m working on the first book in a Regency series that focuses on three brothers and their attempts (consciously done or otherwise) to reunite with the women they loved, but lost. Some parts (mostly the big things) are progressing well. Some parts (mostly the little details) are taking forever. I have no representation or publisher, just two wonderful critique partners and a fabulous circle of friends who support me as I muddle through 🙂

At all times, I’m a patient with three chronic illnesses. I have doctors and medications to help me along and regulate many of my symptoms, but one thing I never seem to have enough of is energy. Most of it is spent at school with myDoctors_stethoscope_1 students, their parents, and my fellow educators. Tasks are prioritized not just by due date, but by size and the amount of effort required of me for each one. I’m very careful to watch my schedule, weighing each invitation and event against the big picture, and what it will cost me physically to go. I write more slowly, don’t devote as much time to social media, take longer to research things because of my health. But when I get published, the victory will be all the sweeter because I worked so hard to get there.

Most of my posts here will be history-related, focusing on the Regency period (because that’s what I’m writing) but including anything else I find interesting. Some posts will deal with writing, or the life of an as-yet-unpublished writer. Occasionally I’ll post about other things: school, my personal life, my illnesses, sports, Psychology, how the hero of my first novel is like Batman (yes, really!). Whatever the subject, I hope to inform and entertain. And I hope you’ll keep coming back for more 😀

Food, Friday Favorites, Regency

Friday Favorite: Supersizers Go Regency

Our Friday Favorite this week comes again from the BBC (via Maria Grace). The Supersizers–journalist Giles Coren and comedian Sue Perkins–investigate the food (and fashion) of various time periods throughout history.

In this clip, they’re having a Regency experience at the former Carlton House (Prinny’s own residence). Maybe it’s just my bland Midwestern palate, but the only part of the meal that appeals to me is desert. Minus the cockerel testicles, of course 🙂

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00bvr0t

Friday Favorites, Regency

Friday Favorite: Horrible Histories

My favorite historical item of the week comes from the BBC–a show that teaches history even as it mocks and makes fun (anybody else see the one with the singing King Georges?) :-). Time periods range from the Ancient Romans all the way up to World War II. You can visit the official website and watch clips form past episodes, or browse dozens and dozens of videos on YouTube.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/shows/horrible-histories

Here’s a little taste: