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!

Tuesday Giveaway

Updated on January 17, 2013 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

Guess what I have in my hand today?? A brand-new, shiny ARC of Two Sinful Secrets!! (Out in December)

A hundred years has passed since the bitter rivalry between the St. Claires and the Huntingtons began. But in London, the feud goes on . ..
Lady Sophia Huntington isn’t what she appears to be. Born into a noble family, the impulsive, wild-hearted beauty has fallen on difficult times. Banished from her home, Sophia dreams of the day she can finally win her father’s forgiveness and return to London. Until the sudden appearance of a suitor from the scandalous St. Claire family threatens to reveal her darkest secrets . . .

Dominic St. Claire vows to exact revenge upon the Huntingtons, who destroyed his family’s fortune generations ago. His perfect target is the lovely but proud Lady Sophia. After using her to discover the Huntingtons’ financial secrets, he will cause a great scandal by eloping-and then abandoning his bride. But his plot soon unravels when he finds his own heart ensnared-in a trap not of his own making.

“I’ve found me a new series!! Swoon. How nice life will be. It could only get better if the next book were available RIGHT NOW!!” (Examiner.com on One Naughty Night )

Comment today for a chance to win this ARC!! Tell us what’s your favorite series, what you think of this cover, if you liked One Naughty Night, anything…

And if you don’t win today, you can pre-order here…

Guest Blogger Helen Dickson

Updated on January 17, 2013 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

Book number two in the Castonbury Park series, The Housemaid’s Scandalous Secret by Helen Dickson, is out in September! Helen visits us today to share the duties of a Regency-era maid–do you think you could carry them out?? Comment for a chance to win a copy…

DUTIES OF A LADY’S MAID

Her education should be superior to that of the ordinary class of females. She must be neat and clean in her person and dress, have strict regard to religious and moral obligations, be of a cheerful disposition and courteous in demeanour. Her character must be remarkable for industry and moderation and her deportment for modesty and humility. She must never betray her lady’s confidence, and must devote herself to those she is engaged to serve.

It is her duty to put in readiness everything her mistress may require to wear during the day and for dinner. She must dress and undress her mistress, and in this she should be knowledgeable, quick, and to manifest good taste by suiting the jewellery and decoration of her dress to the complexion, age and general appearance of her lady’s person. She must be an excellent hairdresser and have a good knowledge of remedies for beauty treatments – from getting rid of pimples, freckles, thickening and strengthening hair, to bad breath and toothache.

She is responsible for repairing and removing stains, to wash the lace and fine linen. When not in attendance she retires to her workroom where she employs herself at needle-work and to be available at all times if needed.

She must wait up for her mistress to return from evening engagements, and when she has retired she has to carefully examine her clothes and do all that is necessary to be done to them before she folds them away and puts away her jewels. Only then can she seek her own bed.

If her mistress is elderly or infirm, she will be required to bring her work and sit with her, to sometimes read to her and administer her medicines.

She is allowed to walk out in the afternoons (depending on her lady’s indulgence) and to attend church on Sundays.

The wages of a lady’s-maid vary depending on the income and expenditure of the family that employs her – between eighteen and twenty-five guineas per anum.

Helen Dickson

Posted in Giveaways, Guest, Regency, Research | Tagged Castonbury Park, Helen Dickson, servants | 13 Replies

Winners and Dancing!

Updated on January 17, 2013 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

First of all–Winners! Always a great way to start a Tuesday.

The winner of Helen Dickson’s The Housemaid’s Scandalous Secret is–RegencyGirl01! Please send us your contact info at Riskies AT yahoo.com

And the winner of my ARC of Two Sinful Secrets is…Diane D–Florida! Look in your email box for more info.

Thanks to everyone for visiting and reading!

This weekend, I went to a Civil War battle reenactment in Kansas. I LOVE geeky things like that, especially when it’s a beautiful sunny day and lots of great people to talk to. (I sat next to a kid who was about 10 or 11–he was wearing a full Confederate uniform, despite the mid-80s temps, and knew everything about the battle, so he was able to tell me all the strategic moves, the retreats and surges, all sorts of things). There was also great shopping.

One of the things I bought was a little book called The Dancer’s Casket: Or the Ballroom Instructor: A New and Splendid Work on Dancing, Etiquette, Deportment, and the Toilet, originally published in 1858. Besides detailing dance steps, it gives excellent advice like this (after telling us that with certain lively dances, like a quadrille, it’s best to dance with friends):

“…frequently…a gentleman must dance vis-a-vis to a lady with whom he is not at all acquainted, he must not expect the lady to treat him as a friend, with pleasant smiles or even with looks directed towards him; for the etiquette of society is somewhat too scrupulous to admit of this familiarity. This prevailing etiquette is in direct opposition to the spirit of the dance, which is that of sociality and interchange of kind feelings. Many persons, however, exhibit extreme lack of taste and ill manners in treating even friends with averted looks, assuming pompous airs and indifferent expression…”

I do hope that this blog gives a feeling of sociality and interchange of kind feelings!!!

In the meantime, I am finishing writing one book and starting another, and making some progress on wedding plans, as well as practicing my quadrille. What are you doing this week???

Posted in Giveaways, Research | Tagged Dancing | 1 Reply

“Tarnised Rose” Winner!

Updated on January 17, 2013 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

The winner of a copy of Tarnished Rose of the Court is…Kestrel! Congrats! Please email me at amccabe7551 AT yahoo.com with your mailing info….

And thanks to everyone for your get-well wishes to my cat! He is doing great now, though still a bit cranky about the vet visit.

Posted in Giveaways | Tagged Tarnished Rose of the Court | 1 Reply

Miscellany Tuesday

Updated on January 17, 2013 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

How is everyone this cold January week?? Around here things are going better–the illness seems to be fading (finally!) and the new book is moving (slowly) along. Here is a little about what else is going on:

–Today is my birthday!!! I will spend it much as someone might have in the Regency, quietly with a nice family dinner and (hopefully!) some new books as presents. With Christmas/wedding/sicknesses just past, being nice and cozy with a bottle of wine and some cake sounds just right….

–Oklahoma finally has a JASNA chapter of our very own! For years, in order to go to a chapter meeting I had to drive to Dallas, but now I just have to drive across town. This month my mom and I did a program to celebrate Jane’s birthday by talking about Regency fashions (you can see pics at the website, http://jasnaokla.weebly.com/). In June there is going to be a Netherfield Ball in Dallas, so I am also joining a country dancing group to get ready! New dress time!

–Speaking of new dresses, did everyone watch the Golden Globes?? Thanks to Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, the show was actually funny and entertaining and I watched (almost) the whole thing. Can I say how much I loved all the coral colored gowns and the sparkle?? I want one now. Here are a couple of my favorites, Zooey Deschanel and Lucy Liu (a sort of modern day Marie Antoinette, with a side braid)

–And this is also the 454th anniversary of Elizabeth I’s coronation! I may do a whole post about it next week, because I’ve been researching it for my second Kate Haywood Elizabethan Mystery, Murder at Westminster Abbey. I was watching Anne of the Thousand Days again just last weekend, and I always cry at that scene at the end when Henry comes to see Anne and she defiantly cries “My Elizabeth shall be queen! And my blood will have been well spent”