Word Wenches has created a monster. I promise, I won’t be posting this much normally, but having mentioned Victoria Day below, I can’t leave it at that. I’ve copied this from the tourism site of Victoria, British Columbia, but this is a national holiday, not a local one*. “Victoria Day is celebrated in Canada on a Monday on or prior to May 24th. It is the official celebration of the birthdays of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, was born on May 24th, 1819. She …

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Sherrie wields a sharp whip. But that’s why I need an editor. 🙂 I typed bif sky country in the post below, not big sky, and she kindly fixed it for me. I really am lousy at proofreading. My eye-brain connection just doesn’t do that thing. I do generally get most things right first time, thank heavens, but I’m also deeply grateful for spellcheck, critique friends, and good copy editors. Spellchecking e-mail, however, feels like cheating. (I didn’t say that made sense did I? Are blogs supposed to make sense?) Is it cheating to spell check a blog? I’m not …

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It’s exciting to see this get underway. With such great company, this should be fun. I’m Jo Beverley, an English word wench, though I’ve lived in Canada for decades. I’m just back from a trip to England, visiting friends and relatives and doing research. I love to write and talk about English history. The thing that always astonishes me about England is that there’s still a lot of open space, even though it’s a densely populated country. What’s more, because anywhere fertile has been intensively farmed for centuries if not millennia, there isn’t that much woodland to obscure views. At …

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When the Word Wenches approached me about the blog project, I asked two questions:  can I wear thigh-high stiletto boots, and can I carry a whip.  The answer was "Yes" to both, and the rest is history! In real life I’m a freelance editor and writer.  In my fantasy world I get to rub elbows with my favorite authors whose books just happen to occupy a permanent spot on my keeper shelf.  (Can you spell "dream job," boys and girls?) I’ll be working behind the scenes making sure the blog machine runs smoothly, and even jumping in with a post …

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