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June 2014 – my lady's closet
https://blantonn.wordpress.com/2014/06
My lady's closet. About writing, historical fiction, and books. June 3, 2014. The Eyes of Anthony van Dyck. Can the eyes in a portrait reveal the secrets in a person’s character, or foretell their fate? Can a portraitist see through a person’s eyes to the fears hidden behind them? In researching Thomas Wentworth, the first Earl of Strafford. Born in Antwerp, Van Dyck. Studied and painted throughout Europe before he moved to London in 1632, at age 33, to work for King Charles I. As Judy Egerton writes in ...
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November 2014 – my lady's closet
https://blantonn.wordpress.com/2014/11
My lady's closet. About writing, historical fiction, and books. November 4, 2014. Historical accuracy: It’s good to be right. Last year when I started promoting my historical novel Sharavogue. I got several wonderful and very positive reviews on amazon.com. From Cromwell in Ireland, digitized for the British Library (public domain). Which leads to my second mistake: engaging with the reviewer. Upon reading the erroneous review I sent back a message to Indiebound pointing out the errors in it based on...
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June 2015 – my lady's closet
https://blantonn.wordpress.com/2015/06
My lady's closet. About writing, historical fiction, and books. June 15, 2015. Brown bread and other weighty matters. I returned recently from a week’s visit to Ireland to research my new book, working title. Set in County Cork. While there, I was fortunate to stay with friends in the Bandon area. We had several wonderful meals together and each featured the traditional brown bread of Ireland. On parting, my friends gave me a book,. The Complete Irish Pub Cookbook. With whole wheat flour and is brown.
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Recent posts – my lady's closet
https://blantonn.wordpress.com/recent-posts
My lady's closet. About writing, historical fiction, and books. August 29, 2016. Giveaway: The Prince of Glencurragh. Sign up today on Goodreads. And be eligible to win one of six free copies of The Prince of Glencurragh, my latest novel of 17th century Ireland. This book is a fast-paced adventure filled with action, romance, intrigue and terrible obstacles. Here’s a piece from the hard cover book flap:. Is it possible to reclaim a dream once it is lost to the mists of memory? Even the great stone castle...
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August 2014 – my lady's closet
https://blantonn.wordpress.com/2014/08
My lady's closet. About writing, historical fiction, and books. August 6, 2014. Reviews and book promotion. I am pleased to say the Historical Novel Society review. Of my novel Sharavogue. Has now been posted. I am glad to see it after several months of waiting. HNS reviewers can be tough, and do not hold punches if they don’t like something, so overall this seems to be a positive review. How can I maximize this review? In a very interesting post, author Eileen Goudge. Historical Fiction by Nancy Blanton.
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May 2014 – my lady's closet
https://blantonn.wordpress.com/2014/05
My lady's closet. About writing, historical fiction, and books. May 14, 2014. A few days ago I enjoyed watching Ben Stiller’s version of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”. It was a story I thought I knew. There were some really silly scenes that gave me a good laugh, and unfortunately planted a song in my head I am still trying to discard: “Ground Control to Major Tom” Arrgghh. Somewhere along the line I finally got the message this guy got: Why the hell not? A Facebook post today from Seattle’s H...
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April 2015 – my lady's closet
https://blantonn.wordpress.com/2015/04
My lady's closet. About writing, historical fiction, and books. April 15, 2015. Stories of Death by Construction. Have you ever heard a story of construction workers who died on the job being buried as part of the structure they were building? One of the first stories I heard was of men entombed within the Brooklyn Bridge. Apparently this is a myth, because a decaying body embedded in a concrete structure would then make that structure unstable. However, author David McCullough. Such as the Hoover Dam.
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July 2015 – my lady's closet
https://blantonn.wordpress.com/2015/07
My lady's closet. About writing, historical fiction, and books. July 3, 2015. All that Jazz in Waynesville. And what it has to do with writing. Jazz Cats promo poster. Of all things music is emotional, and I have had it bring me to tears — as when a pianist Michael Yanette plays. Someone to Watch Over Me. That became a song of love between my cousin and her father, or the Jazz Cats play. Why had I never heard this before? Or had I heard but never listened? What has this to do with writing? Music can be s...
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August 2015 – my lady's closet
https://blantonn.wordpress.com/2015/08
My lady's closet. About writing, historical fiction, and books. August 25, 2015. Research: spiritual and sneaky. Bestselling author James Patterson says, with the vast availability of content on the Internet today there are “no excuses” for not doing research when writing a novel. And I say, why would you bother writing without it? Doing the research and then sharing it also can (and should) be a spiritual experience. Years ago I had the honor to hear Father Noel Burtenshaw. There are 8,000 depositions f...
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March 2014 – my lady's closet
https://blantonn.wordpress.com/2014/03
My lady's closet. About writing, historical fiction, and books. March 17, 2014. Tribute to the Pirate Queen. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day today I am honoring a famous woman in Irish history, Grace O’Malley, also known as “the pirate queen,” and “Granuaile.” Grace was an amazing woman who supported her countrymen in rebellion against the English, defended her family castle, and stood face to face with Queen Elizabeth herself. Apparently she married two or three times, and had several children. When s...
