Pat here:
I spent a good part of October in South America. IT Guy and I are fascinated by ancient civilizations, hence our trip to Egypt last year. This year, we finally made it to Machu Picchu, not nearly as old as Egypt but with a lot of uncanny similarities, which is what fascinates us. As much as I would like to study the origins of the Incas, I simply don’t have the time to devote. Should I ever retire… I’d probably keel over in a coffin. So let’s not go there. We just visit and admire.
Are you a high tech or low tech person? Do you enjoy all the bells and whistles of modern technology—or does it make you run for the hills?
Mary Jo here: Because the Word Wench site is transitioning to a new platform and there has been much flailing and some howling behind the scenes, tech has been much on Wenchly minds so this seemed like a good time to talk about it.
Technology, specifically the personal computer, literally changed my life. I bought a Leading Edge, an early PC, to do copywriting and billing for my small freelance design business. The Mayhem Consultant showed me how to use word processing–and very shortly after I realized that here was a great tool for writing down the stories in my head because when you fix the typos, they stay fixed!!! Three months later I was offered a contract for Signet Regencies and the rest is history.
Clearly I owe tech a lot, but that said, I’m a tech minimalist. I love communicating with friends all over the world, my desk top
computer is set up just the way I like it and I must admit that I like my iPhone for various reasons, including the ability to take quick pictures, such as this one of Riley the Wrecker and do of his Egyptian pals.
But I loathe upgrades, which usually make things worse, not better. I have to be dragged, hissing and snapping, into new tech. I have software that is a couple of decades out of date because I don’t want to waste time and brain space learning something new that I’ll probably like less. Put me on the island with the Tech Dinos!
Anne here: Welcome to the new WordWench blog site. We hope you like the new design. Make sure you bookmark it, as the URL has changed. And since the system is new to us all, please be patient while we sort out the kinks.
To start us off with a bang (or a scratching of the head), I’m presenting another quiz — the second Georgette Heyer quiz, where we test your knowledge of her novels. It’s just for fun, and your score doesn’t matter in the least.
Make a note of your answers, check them on the link at the bottom, then come back and tell us how you went, and whether you enjoyed it, found it too hard, too easy or just right.
1) Who said: “I feel an almost overwhelming interest in the methods of daylight abduction employed by the modern youth.” ?
a) The Marquis of Alverstoke
b) The Duke of Avon
c) Miles Calverleigh
d) The Duke of Salford
2). Who is our hero talking about here?
“She blurts out whatever may come into her head; she tumbles from one outrageous escapade into another; she’s happier grooming horses and hobnobbing with stable-hands than going to parties; she’s impertinent; you daren’t catch her eye for fear she should start to giggle; she hasn’t any accomplishments; I never saw anyone with less dignity; she’s abominable, and damnably hot at hand, frank to a fault, and – a darling!”
a) Phoebe Laxton
b) Phoebe Marlowe
c) Tiffany Wield
d) Hero Wantage
3) Who is X in this exchange?
“What do you mean to do when you reach Lacy Manor?” asked X, regarding him in some amusement.
“Wring her neck!” said Z savagely.
“Well, you don’t need my help for that, my dear boy!” said X, settling himself more comfortably in his chair.
a) Lord Sheringham
b) Dominic, the Marquis of Vidal
c) Charles Rivenhall
d) Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy
Christina here. I may have mentioned this before, but back in 2015 something quite amazing was discovered in the little village church of St Faith’s at Bacton in Herefordshire – a piece of cloth from one of Queen Elizabeth I’s dresses. It had been used for centuries as an altar cloth, and the parishioners had no idea what a treasure they possessed. When it was rediscovered, it was rather grubby and worn, and didn’t look particularly impressive. The reason the experts could be sure that it really was one of Elizabeth’s dresses, though, was that it’s made of cloth of silver. Under the so-called Sumptuary Laws of the time, only members of the royal family were allowed to wear it, so it had to be hers. Despite the state of it, it’s priceless, because it is the Tudor queen’s only surviving piece of clothing, even though she reputedly owned about 1,900 dresses in total. Not a single one of them remain, except this small fragment with beautiful embroidered motifs in all the colours of the rainbow. In the so-called Rainbow portrait of the queen, she wears a similarly embroidered gown and this shows how the completed dress would have looked.
Nicola here, introducing the ever-popular Wenches monthly round up of what we've been reading. As always, our virtual shelves are groaning beneath the weight of recommendations and we hope you will share your reads with us – and add to the TBR pile! – as well as enjoy some of the books we're talking about. October is the perfect time to curl up with a good book, so without further ado, let's dive in!
Anne here. The standout read for me in October was Some of it Was Real, by Nan Fischer. It’s a contemporary, and though there’s a relationship, it’s not really a romance. Sylvie Young is a psychic-medium, a rising star on the verge of having her own TV show. Thomas Holmes is a journalist looking to resurrect his failing career by writing a story exposing her as a fraud. Thomas doesn’t believe in Sylvie’s “powers” and calls people like her “grief vampires” who prey on people’s distress.
Mysteries surround Sylvie’s early childhood. Adopted at the age of six, she has no memories of the time before that — and what little she does remember is fractured, comes in dreams, or sparks panic attacks. Sylvie decides to take Thomas on a journey with her to discover what they can about her past. She hopes he will learn to accept and believe in her powers — even though she’s not entirely confident of them, and augments them with research about her audience — which she calls “forming bridges”. It’s a complicated situation. And Thomas is determined to prove her a fraud.
