Hello, you budding writers out there! There are currently two Austen-related short story competitions up and running: – The Jane Austen Made Me Do It Short Story Contest, hosted by Austenprose, the Republic of Pemberley, and Ballantine Books. Open to: US residents over 18. Length: 5000 words. Deadline: February 13. – Jane Austen Short Story [...]

Hi, all! A friend of mine just asked me for recommendations for novels set in France between 1700 and 1789. Here’s the twist: it has to have a happy ending (meaning Through A Glass Darkly is right out). The first book that came to mind for me was Rosalind Laker’s To Dance With Kings. Any [...]

Courtesy of the incredibly clever Cho (who was inspired by Austenbook), we have The Secret History of the Pink Carnation– told via Facebook feed. Warnings: For those who haven’t read the book yet, major spoilers below! For those who have read the book, be aware: you will make loud chortling noises.

Hi, all! Just a reminder that now is your last chance to enter Mini-Contest #1, plotting Miss Gwen’s much-anticipated Gothic novel. I’ve been chortling away over the current entries. Oh, Miss Gwen, who knew? While we’re talking about the Gothic, I stumbled upon this post, written for the Access Romance All-a-Blog back in 2006: Where, [...]

I’ve just discovered that there is a Pink Carnation group on Goodreads. (Thanks, Dawn!) It’s called “Flowery Friends”. How cool is that? Although we do have the News page here on the website, we have no site message board for you to introduce your own threads and topics. If you’ve been looking for a place [...]

I had never heard of the site Polyvore before, but the talented Tara just sent me a link to her Pink Carnation-inspired collage: Pretty, no?

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that Turnip Fitzhugh, hero of The Mischief of the Mistletoe, has something of a sweet tooth. Turnip may not be so keen on mince pie, but he has a distinct taste for raspberry jam (both as comestible and metaphor). There’s a bit of art/life confluence here. After a bout [...]

The Cover Contest fabulousness has been flooding into my inbox since last week. Once the contest ends, I’ll be posting all the covers at once so that you can vote on your favorites. But August 2nd is such a long way away… and the covers are too pretty to keep to myself until then. So, [...]

As a salutary side-effect of the Heyer mini-contest, a number of people have asked me which Heyer they ought to read first. Tough question, no? My first Heyer was The Nonesuch, but, much as I love it, I’m not sure that’s the one I’d pick for a Heyer intro. It’s more intermediate Heyer. When teaching [...]

As part of an event I’ll be doing at the WORD Bookstore in July, I’ve been asked to provide three book recommendations for people new to the romance genre. The only limitation is that the books can’t all be from the same sub-genre (i.e., no suggesting three historicals). This seemed easy enough– until I tried [...]