The Authorized Version

First off, garden update. No progress but the force of nature herself, which is truly amazing. The man who is going to redo our wall is having surgery next month, and the re-working of the watering system is not even scheduled. In the meantime, I am absolutely amazed at the luxuriant green we are enjoying without lifting a finger. Not that I never doubted that God was a far better gardener than I am, but it is fun to see such a vibrant object lesson.

My one accomplishment has been to move my houseplants outdoors. In Idaho that is never to be done before Mothers Day. True to my usual 'waste not; want not' way of doing things I had a good selection of coleus carried over from last fall and, yes, if you are thinking those look like poinsettias, you are absolutely correct. Left over from Christmastide at church.

On the book front progress is always slower than I think it should be, but I am moving forward toward my goal of getting my Lord Danvers Investigates series re-edited and published in both ebook and paperback format. I do love having the opportunity to rework books I wrote some twenty years ago and give them a fresh look. And, yes, I have to admit, correct errors that crept in the first time. 

All this is greatly enhanced by the stellar work of my new editor Sheila Deeth. Sheila is a writer and meticulous editor and, most importantly, an Englishwoman who knows when my Victorian English characters start sounding 'too American.' 

Book 1 A Most Inconvenient Death is finished and book 2 Grave Matters is well on the way. That leaves two more to do before I can write book 5 for the series. This will be a story I have wanted to tell for many years, so keeping my eye on the goal urges me onward.

These are all true-crime stories which wrap a fictional mystery around a crime that actually happened in mid-Victorian England, so they give me real scope for my love of research. Rather than my going on about it, though, the best is to let you sample the series for yourself and I am delighted that A Most Inconvenient Death is free through Monday on amazon Kindle. If you do not have a Kindle let me know and I will send you a pdf which can be loaded on any reader, including simply your computer.

 And finally, thank you to all who asked for a report on the Pride and Prejudice ball in Calgary last weekend. I really can not tell you how much fun it was to attend such a grand event with my daughter and granddaughter, especially since 10-year-old Felicity had recently read Pride and Prejudice on her own and is enchanted with all things Regency. 

We began with English Country dance lessons that morning, took a break to arrange flowers at church, then got to work on creating a Regency hairstyle for our princess.

The ball at the Fairmont Palliser hotel was magical. We did not attend the banquet, but food and drink were served throughout the evening, including pots de creme, syllabub, and pink lemonade.

And, yes, I got my dance with Bonnie Prince Charlie, AKA Captain Jeremiah Fraser, who is a superb dance partner.

And, like every ball, at the end, Cinderella must wait for her carriage.

 Someday I hope to translate all that into a scene in an Elizabeth and Richard Mystery, but in the meantime it is good enough just to run the evening through my memory and smile. 

Until next month,

Donna