Mar 29, 2008
I’ve made a nest in 18 places in my adult life. Whew. Makes me sound like a gypsy or a jetsetter, and I am assuredly neither. But it’s fun to unpack boxes and pull out the talismans that have followed me around the country. Nothing horribly valuable, but meaningful just the same. I have a framed poem from my friend Claudia, two green Wedgwood pitchers, my grandmother’s Tiffany vase set with turquoise. Lots of mismatched china from both sides of the family. A stuffed pig that was presented to me one Christmas from “your four little pigs.” A pastel sketch by daughter #3. My great-aunt’s marble table. A reclaimed sideboard my husband refinished.
When my kids were little I’d drag them to antiques fairs, and they’d go around saying, “Look, we have this at home.” There’s been a distinct Victorian vibe in every house we’ve had, simply because of the objects we inherited. As much as I admire sleek modernity, my eye is trained to vintage.
When I write, I try to picture what the hero and heroine surround themselves with. I make it a point to go on house tours, read up on decorative arts, watch period-set movies. Vanity Fair is a favorite of mine because of its broad scope. I guess I’m just a frustrated decorator at heart.
What makes your house a home? Do your characters have things they can’t live without?
There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. ~Jane Austen
I’m blogging 3/30 at
Romantic Inks about the stuff on your desk you “need.” Drop by!
Mar 24, 2008
Jo Beverley is guest-blogging at Romantic Inks all this week. She doesn’t know it, but she and a handful of writers are pretty much the reason I started reading (and writing) romance again after a twenty-odd-year sabbatical. I missed all the bodice-rippers of the eighties and nineties because I was raising my own little hellions. I still read, of course. What sort of self-respecting English major would I be if I had not? But it was mostly best-sellers (and I could not for the life of me understand why they sold best), magazines, mysteries, the back of cereal boxes, Where the Wild Things Are. I knew where the wild things were—across the table eating Frosted Flakes.
So I have Jo to thank (or blame) for sucking me into romance. My last post (which you may still comment on below to tell me who’s new to you) dealt with new favorites. Here’s a chance for you to praise your old favorites (and by old, I’m not talking about chronological age, just authors you’ve loved for years). Don’t forget to visit RI—Jo is bound to be far more witty and informative than I will ever be. Fangirl gush is over!
Mar 17, 2008
We have a family genealogy book that was printed by some distant cousin in Pennsylvania. My father’s family can be traced all the way back to Charlemagne and, apparently, Lady Godiva! There’s a Mayflower ancestor and a couple of Connecticut governors, a college president, and the maker of Florida Water, a cologne that kind of reeks. Almost entirely of English stock, it was WASP Central for my dad David Trumbull Lanman.
My Viennese mother Margarete, on the other hand, was a goulash-mash from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, with an Austrian mother whose maiden name was Birnbaum (which means pear tree) and an Italian/Hungarian father named Stefan Maniero.
The closest I come to being Irish is Eva de Clare, who was a daughter to Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster, c.1100 something and a descendant of the Irish High King Niall. Almost a thousand years and lots of marriages later, maybe a millionth of a molecule on my pinkie toenail is Irish. This is irritating every St. Patrick’s Day. So, no green beer, step-dancing, or cladagh rings for me. It’s Austrian wine, waltzing and my Lanman family crest ring which says Fortuna Favet Audacit, or fortune favors the brave.
I’m not very brave, but I visited Ireland once. It was truly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I went to Powerscourt (see picture) one afternoon to see the spectacular gardens. I had this maternity pillow
while i was pregnant at the time, and will never forget the gatehouse keeper letting me use her bathroom while I waited for the bus back to Dublin. God bless the Irish. And their toilets.
My husband has just discovered Ballykissangel on Netflix, so we’re in store for six seasons of charm and blarney. I’m evil because I always want the Catholic priest to fall in love. I want everyone to fall in love. That’s why I write romance.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Are you Irish? Have you visited the Emerald Isle? Who’s your favorite Irish hero?
Everyone is wise until he speaks.~Irish Proverb
Mar 15, 2008
Congratulations to Vauxhall Vixen Elyssa Papa for finalling in the NWIndiana RWA’s Grand Beginnings Contest with Take a Chance on Me! I see chocolate and a handsome Brit in her future and ours.
Ely, I salute you!
