1. Did you like the story overall? What did you like and/or dislike about it?
2. What did you like/dislike about the heroine?
3. Same for the hero.
4. Things you LOVED?
5. Anything that irritated or annoyed you?
I will add my 2-3 cents in the comments, too.
Did you get your Read Along book yet?
It’s Edith Layton’s To Wed a stranger:
So, whatcyha waiting for?
I got mine. Do you have yours?
The day job continues to be a day and night job. This is so un-fun I can hardly express it to you. Last night there were emergency pages from 11:45 pm to past midnight. Just when I was hoping I could cut back on the caffeine I’m back to thinking a 6 shot espresso isn’t going to do the job.
This, I am saying to myself, is what it must have been like to be a servant. Doesn’t matter if you’re dead tired, the mistress is ringing and you have to go see what the silly cow wants.
Speaking of employers of servants, did you all see that article about the Skull found in Sir David Attenborough’s garden that solves 1879 Barnes murder mystery? No? Go read that article.
I’ll wait. . . . . . . . . . . . .
While the rest of you are waiting for the stragglers, here’s a picture of another of my Other One True Loves:
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| Arjun Rampal |
So. That story about the skull in Attenburough’s garden.
Ew. Am I right?
OK, I admit this is the worst Birthday Bash Blog ever but I’m sleep deprived, afraid my phone will start buzzing again but damn, NO ONE WILL DEFEAT ME! Bwahahahahahahhahahaha. I win and the week isn’t even over yet and there are 3 more blogs posts yet to be posted. I know I already took down those other chicks. They had fun, non-gross Regency-related blogs. Plus, I have Arjun Rampal and they don’t. If any of the others work him in, you’re going to know how desperate they are.
Here’s another picture of him so you know just how awesome he is.
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| More Arjun Rampal |
So, leave a comment and I will send one of you commenters something. Like, say, a gift certificate for 1 pound of something from to this web site guaranteed not gross. If you’re in Europe I will give a gift certificate of equal value to something else, probably Amazon or Book Despitory, OK?
Leave a comment in which . . . .
Uh…..
You complete this scenario:
It is 1815 and Carolyn is NOT a servant and no one ever pages her rings for her in the middle of the night except for . . . .
The whole point, people, is to make Carolyn feel better with your answer.
Void where prohibited. Leave a comment by Midnight Pacific Monday, August 8th. Make sure you check the blog to see if you won or else leave me a way to contact you.
Go.
The day job (hah! right now it’s the day and night job) is messing with my life right now.
So, if there was a Regency person (Thing 1) and in a moment of madness Thing 1 called a certain other person (thing 2) a warty toad with all the personality of a bug and then Thing 1 turns around that THERE THAT PERSON WAS (Thing 2) and Thing 2 was about to hand Thing 1 a gift of incredible thoughtfulness:
what is the best possible apology Thing 1 could make?
Answer in the comments. You can create whatever constellation of personages you need to fully answer the question.
Catinbody, email me at carolyn AT carolynjewel.com with your name and at least an email address so I can get you the gift card. Not sure if I need your mailing address. I might.
My 1807 Brooke’s Gazeteer starts its listing of all places geographical in Michneresque fashion: with a discussion of the solar system.
Here are the Regency planets in the order listed:
The first 6 should be pretty familiar to you and doubtless you’ve noticed the list seems to be missing one or two planets along with a bonus mystery planet. There are 8 planets, as you probably know. 9 if you can’t bear to give up Pluto.
Number 7, The Georgian, is better known to us today as Uranus. From Brook’s Gazeteer:
The Georgian, the most remote planet in our system, had escaped the observation of every astronomer, as a planet, till the 13th of March 1781, when it was ascertained to be a planet by Mr. Herschel, at Bath, who gave it the name of Georgium Sidus, as a mark of respect to his present majesty. Foreign astronomers, however, in general, call it by the name of the discoverer . . . It shines with a faint steady light, somewhat paler and fainter than Jupiter; but its apparent diameter being only about four seconds, it can only be seen by the naked eye in a clear night, when the Moon is absent. Six satellites, attending upon it, have since been discovered.
A little additional Googling about reveals that on the 13th of March, 1781 Mr. Herschel was trying out a new telescope. I bet everyone called Herschel Gadget Boy. If they didn’t they should have. This is how you justify cool toys: But honey! I know you want a new butter mold, but lookit! A planet!
201 years later, Voyager 2 flew past The Georgian (in 1982) getting closest in 1986. Think about that. In 1781 they didn’t even have the internal combustion engine. 201 years later, we’re flying spacecraft. Holy heck.
Basically, everyone seemed to recognize that Georgium Sidus was a lame name for a planet and folks all over the place put forth various other names, some of them equally lame– Neptune Great Britain? Really? –but finally in 1850, the suggestion of Uranus stuck, leading, as we all know, to any number of schoolyard jokes about that name.
Perhaps the original name is not so surprising once you know that George III then gave Herschel a L200 per year stipend provided he move to Windsor and let the Royal family look through his telescope. You can read more about this at the Wikipedia article on Uranus minus my patented way with words of course.
What about Neptune? According to Wikipedia:
Neptune was mathematically predicted before it was directly observed. With a prediction by Urbain Le Verrier, telescopic observations confirming the existence of a major planet were made on the night of September 23, 1846, and into the early morning of the 24th, at the Berlin Observatory, by astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle (assisted by Heinrich Louis d’Arrest), working from Le Verrier’s calculations. It was a sensational moment of 19th century science and dramatic confirmation of Newtonian gravitational theory. In François Arago’s apt phrase, Le Verrier had discovered a planet “with the point of his pen.”
(My emphasis of the date)
Others had observed the wiggle in The Georgian’s orbit, but it took a while for someone to posit that the wiggle was caused by another planet. Score one for Newton and the scientific method. The Wikepedia article on Neptune and the section on all the people, going back to Gallileo, who may have observed it, but not realized it was a planet is fascinating reading. I highly recommend reading the Wikipedia entry.
Pluto, you ask? Well, Pluto isn’t a planet. Sorry.
Therefore, during the Regency, be careful of what planets people might discuss, how many they think there are and also what they called them. Not to mention what country they’re in or from when they’re showing off by naming the planets. Note that my Brook’s Gazeteer listed the Uranus as The Georgian and only in the description did it give the name Georgium Sidus.
Do you have a favorite planet? If so, which one? Where do you fall on the Pluto demotion?