Author Archives: Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

About Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

Writer (as Amanda McCabe, Laurel McKee, Amanda Carmack), history geek, yoga enthusiast, pet owner!

Bread and Roses

Updated on January 13, 2015 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

Hello everyone! I feel like it’s been ages since I last popped in here at the Riskies, but it has been a long month. Christmas, a surgery (which went well, and only meant one night in hospital, even though that one night was Christmas Eve!), and deadlines all over the place have been making me a wee bit crazy. (But I am excited to say my next Amanda Carmack book, Murder in the Queen’s Garden, will be out in a couple of weeks!)

In the meantime, I am at work on the next Elizabethan mystery, Murder at Whitehall, which is set at Christmastime. Christmas at the court of Elizabeth I was way more complicated than a holiday at my house (I am not feeding hundreds of people who insist on stuff like gilded peacock, for one thing). But one of my Christmas gifts was a pink Kitchen Aid, which means I’ve been learning all sorts of fun recipes, including cookies, cake, and my own bread. If I was making bread in the queen’s kitchen in 1560, though, the recipe might be something like this…

Take one Gallon of flowre, two pound of Currans, and one pound of butter or better, a quarter of a pound of sugar, a quarter of a pint of Rose-water, halfe an ounce of nutmeg, & half an ounce of Cinnamon, two egs, then warm cream, break the butter into the flower, temper all these with the creame, and put a quantity of yest amongst it, above a pint to three gallons, wet it very lide, cover your Cake, with a sheet doubled, when it comes hot out of the Oven; let it stand one hour and a half in the Oven.

I am definitely adding some rosewater next time!!!

What are some of your favorite bread recipes???

Posted in Risky Regencies | 1 Reply

An Old Fashioned Christmas

Updated on December 23, 2014 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

I can’t believe Christmas is just two days away!!! There is still so much to do around here, including working on my WIP, Murder at Whitehall (the 4th Kate Haywood Elizabethan mystery), which is set at the royal court at Christmas. Today I’m repeating a post from 2009 about how the Elizabethans celebrated the season–they were major partiers! I hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday, and looking forward to seeing you all next year!!

One thing I learned as I researched my November book The Winter Queen(available now at eHarlequin, yay!) is that the Elizabethans really, really knew how to party at the holidays! The Christmas season (Christmastide) ran 12 days, from December 24 (Christmas Eve) to January 6 (Twelfth Day), and each day was filled with feasting, gift-giving (it was a huge status thing at Court to see what gift the Queen gave you, and to seek favor by what you gave her), pageants, masquerades, dancing, a St. Stephen’s Day fox-hunt, and lots of general silliness. (One of the games was called Snapdragon, and involved a bow of raisins covered in brandy and set alight. The players had to snatch the raisins from the flames and eat them without being burned. I think the brandy was heavily imbibedbefore this games as well, and I can guarantee this won’t be something we’re trying at my house this year!)

Later in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, she mostly kept Christmas at Greenwich, or sometimes at Hampton Court or Nonsuch Palace, but in the year my story is set, 1564, she spent the holiday at Whitehall in London. Elizabeth had only been queen for 6 years and was 31 years old, so hers was a young Court full of high spirits. This was also the coldest winter in memory, so cold the Thames froze through and there was a Frost Fair complete with skating, food and merchandise booths on the ice, and sledding. It was fun to imagine this scene, and put my characters (Lady Rosamund Ramsey, lady-in-waiting to the Queen, and Anton Gustavson, Swedish diplomat and excellent ice-skater) into the action!

Even though there were no Christmas trees or stockings hung by the fire, I was surprised to find we would recognize many of the traditional decorations of the time! Anything that was still green in December would be used–holly, ivy, yew, bay. The Yule log was lit on Christmas Eve using a bit of last year’s log saved for the purpose. It was brought in by the men of the household, decorated with wreaths and ribbons, and set ablaze so everyone could gather around and tell tales of Christmases past.

Food was also just as big a part of the holiday as it is now! Roast meats were favorites (pork, beef, chicken, fricaseed, cooked in broths, roasted, baked into pies), along with stewed vegetables and fine whit manchet bread with fresh butter and cheese. Elizabeth was a light eater, especially compared with her father, but she was a great lover of sweets. These could include candied flowers, hard candies in syrup (called suckets, eaten with special sucket spoons), Portugese figs, Spanish oranges, tarts, gingerbread, and figgy pudding. The feast often ended with a spectacular piece of sugar art called (incongrously) subtleties. In 1564, this was a recreation of Whitehall itself in candy, complete with a sugar Thames. (At least they could work off the feasting in skating and sledding…)

A couple fun reads on Christmas in this period are Maria Hubert’s Christmas in Shakespeare’s England and Hugh Douglas’s A Right Royal Christmas, as well as Alison Sim’s Food and Feast in Tudor England and Liza Picard’s Elizabeth’s London. At my website I have lots more info on the period, as well as some Renaissance Christmas recipes (let me know if you decide to try the roast peacock!)

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(Some)Favorites of 2014!

Updated on December 2, 2014 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

Happy week after Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you had a lovely holiday. I turned in a WIP last Friday (yay!), and am taking a breath before diving into the next story tomorrow (which is a Christmas book, the next in my Elizabethan Mystery series–I think this is the first Christmast story I have ever written near the actual holiday. Usually they seem to be due in July, and I have no snowy holiday feelings when it’s 94 degrees outside…). In the meantime, I am taking a look back at my reading this year…

As usual, I seem to have spent most of my time reading research books, but I also came across some wonderful fiction, and also some new non-fiction! What did you enjoy reading this year??

I always get so excited when there is a new Jude Morgan book on the shelf! (I know Risky Janet is also a fan…) This year it was The Secret Life of William Shakespeare, which did not disappoint. (There wasn’t actually much “secret” about it, but the alternating POV between Will and his wife was very well done, and the atmosphere of Elizabethan England was wonderful)

IMO, the world definitely needs more ballet novels, and last summer I devoured Maggie Shipstead’s Astonish Me (which was over way too soon…)

Also, the world needs more novels about bookshops. And secret manuscripts. And lost love. Like Charlie Lovett’s The Bookman’s Tale…

There were two non-fiction histories, both of which pointed out in stark terms that the real life of princesses is often far from storybook, but rather isolating, lonely, helpless, and sometimes even terrifying, even though these two sets of royal sisters were 100 years and several countries apart–A Royal Experiment by Janice Hadlow, about the family of George III (6 daughters, kept isolated at home, growing increasingly desperate and bitter) and The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport (4 sisters, kept isolated at home, dying untimely and horrifyingly violent deaths)

I love a good historical mystery, and I also love the history of the Gilded Age in America, so of course I devoured Alyssa Maxwell’s Murder at the Breakers (and can’t wait for the rest of the series…)

Historical romances are always saved as treats for vacation and/or time between deadlines (when I dangle them as “finish the book” carrots in front of myself!), so this weekend I am looking forward to diving into Risky Megan’s Duke’s Guide to Correct Behavior! (I also read two great new romances a few weeks ago, Meredith Duran’s Fool Me Twice, and Mary Balogh’s Only Enchanting, both of which had wonderful, realistic, heartbreaking characters…)

I’ve also been zooming my way through the DVDs of season two of the “Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries” (one of the few instances where I much prefer the movies to the books!). The 1920s fashions, cars, cocktails, and Phryne Fisher’s shining bob and naughty jokes are so much fun!

And now i am off to start my reading list for 2015!!!

Posted in Risky Regencies | 1 Reply

Accession Day 1558–And Winners!

Updated on November 18, 2014 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

First of all, the winner from last week’s Andrea Pickens post is…Linda!!! Congrats, and please email Andrea at Italicscript AT aol.com to claim your wonderful prize.

I can (almost) see the light of day at the very end of this tunnel of a WIP, but I had to mark a very important day in English history. November 17, 1558 marked the accession to the throne of Elizabeth I, and the start of one of the most remarkable periods in history! (At the end of my Amanda Carmack book, Murder at Hatfield House, I loved writing the scene showing the legendary moment when she received the news!). Here’s a repeat of a blog I did way back in 2007….

This is also how I know that November 17th was a Very Important holiday in the England of the late 16th century. It was Elizabeth I’s Ascension Day.

Queen Mary died at St. James’s Palace early on the morning of November 17, 1558, and members of the Privy Council immediately set out for Elizabeth’s residence at Hatfield House (where she was practically under house arrest) to tell her the news. They carried Mary’s betrothal ring from Phillip of Spain, to prove to Elizabeth that the queen was dead, so long live the queen. The legend is that they found her sitting under a tree, reading a Bible in Greek. On hearing the news, she proclaimed, “It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Now, I am not at all sure someone would just “happen” to be sitting under a tree reading in November! Maybe she was just out for a stroll, maybe the story is apocryphal, or maybe she heard they were coming and stage-managed the whole thing. She was one of the great stage managers in history). On a side note, the original tree is no longer there, but one was planted in its place by Elizabeth II in 1985. On another side note, when Elizabeth I died in 1603, after a reign of 45 years, she was buried with Mary in Westminster Abbey. The inscription reads, “Partners both in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection.” Kind of ironic, but I admit I got a little emotional when I saw the tomb (or maybe it was jet lag?)

Anyway, thereafter November 17 was a Big Party at court, and around the country. The big event was always a tournament, with a joust and sports where all the men vying for the queen’s attention could show off. Pomp and chivalry were paramount–all the men carried banners and shields adorned with symbolic images of the queen and their devotion to her. (Jousts, of course, were not all Renaissance faire-ish fun–Henri II of France died in one, and there were always injuries at Ascension Day tournies. No fatalities that I could find, though).

The jousts would be followed by a banquet and ball, maybe a play or tableau celebrating the glorious reign of Elizabeth. At one banquet, the court polished off an ox, 40 sheep, 12 pigs, 132 capons, 5 swans, several pheasants, partridges, herons, pigeons, peacocks, and calves, not to mention fish, chicken, barrels of wine, vegetables and eggs, and sweets. Subtleties made of sugar and almond paste, shaped into castles and other fanciful things, were great favorites on such occasions.

Some of the best-known Elizabethan dances were: pavanes (a stately processional), usually followed by a lively galliard. There were gavottes (a circle dance to a medium tempo), sophisticated courantes and sarabands from France, and almains. The Volte was one of the of only dances that allowed couples to closely embrace (the man showed off his strength by lifting the woman high in the air–this is probably why it’s used so often in movies! See Shakespeare in Love, both Elizabeth movies, and probably various Masterpiece Theaters).

Celebrations were not just held at court. There were bonfires, dances (maybe not pavanes, but bransles and Morris dancers), games, lots of wine and ale, and illuminations all across the country.

So, happy Ascension Day, everyone! We might not celebrate with a Volte and a barrel of wine, but we can toast Good Queen Bess. And look forward to our own bacchanalia–Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a great one. Any big plans? I’m very, very thankful for the Riskies and our friends this year.

Posted in Giveaways, History, Winners announced | Leave a reply

Guest Author Andrea Pickens!

Updated on November 10, 2014 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

(My friend Andrea Pickens, aka Cara Elliott, is joining us today to talk about some special new releases! She and I both wrote for the Signet Regency line, and now we are seeing some of those older titles come back into the world with brand new covers….comment for a chance to win a copy!)

Hi Everyone,

It’s always wonderful to be back at the Riskies, but today I’ve switched my Cara Elliott chapeau for my more traditional Andrea Pickens bonnet . . . but hey, we all know Regency bonnets could get quite creative and daring while still staying within the rules. And that’s the great fun of the traditional Regency genre. Yes, there are greater constraints that for a Regency historical. But for those of us who started out writing them—like many of my Risky pals here!—the absence of the “S” word and writing all the rumple-pumple let us add color and texture to our stories and characters by exploring things like offbeat setting and unusual occupations for our heroes and heroines.

Take for example, Diamond In The Rough (The above preamble is, as you may have guessed, a rather longwinded introduction to the fact that I have just released two trad Regencies as self-pubbed e-books, which are the first two in a trilogy) It first appeared in the Signet line, and features a story revolving around golf in Scotland. The heroine is a caddie in disguise and she’s a better player than most of the men. When a friend asks her to help an English lord learn the sport in order to win an match and save his ancestral home, the games begin, both on and off the links . . . I loved researching the esoteric elements about the clubs and courses of the times, and weaving them into the decidedly offbeat romance that ensues. It was a classic sporting wager trope, but with a twist. (The Riskies could all offer lots of examples of their books that featured really original plots and people—but for reasons of space I shall let them bang their own drum!)

The second book is a brand new original book, entitled Sweeter Than Sin. The hero likes to dabble in . . . chocolate. Now in doing research for a historical mystery series I wrote, I learned a lot about the history of chocolate, and how edible chocolate was known in the Regency era. (Marie Antoinette’s physician mixed her medicine in solid chocolate wafers flavored with fruits or nuts to disguise its bitter taste. He later opened a chocolate shop on the Left Bank of Paris in 1802.) So it was fun to create a plot where that element could “sweeten” the romance. Rafael is a half Spanish-half English war hero who has come to England to recover from a serious wound. To help draw himself out of his black moods, he decides to work on translating his Spanish grandmother’s diaries on the lore of chocolate and her recipes. His neighbor is the disgraced daughter of a duke, who is suffering from guilt. A chance meeting brings them together, and they slowly begin to discover the healing power of chocolate—and of course love. (There is also a dog they rescue from the stews named Hero who helps save the day!)

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love drawing room stories, “comedy of manners” plots and sexy romps too, but trads with offbeat elements have always had great appeal for me. How about you? Do you like regencies that stray off the beaten path. Have any favorites to name? I’ll be giving away a copy of one of my e-books (your choice!) to a winner chosen at random from those who leave a comment here.

Posted in Giveaways, Guest, History, Regency | 7 Replies