Tomorrow, I will be writing about Jane Austen as a good old country girl on Austen Authors. If Jane Austen were a fan of country music, what songs would she listen to? Find out.
Also, in celebration of Mother's Day and the start of the summer season, I am discounting the e-book of Becoming Elizabeth Darcy from $5.99 to $2.99 through the month of May. I hope you will take a look.
Available on Barnes and Noble
Available on Amazon
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Post on Austen Authors
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Anniversary of La Marseillaise
Can you listen to the French national anthem without wanting to jump out of your seat? When you hear its pulsing rhythms, you can picture the men and women at the barricades ala Les Miserables? How about Victor Lazlo singing La Marseillaise at Rick's Saloon incurring the wrath of the Germans? This song causes you to react, which was the point. Below is the history of the anthem taken in its entirety from Wikipedia. (I didn't even bother to paraphrase.)
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de Lisle singing his composition for Mayor of Strousbourg |
On 25 April 1792,
the mayor of Strasbourg requested his guest. Rouget de Lisle. compose
a song “that will rally our soldiers from all over to defend their homeland
that is under threat.” That evening, de Lisle wrote Chant de
guerre pour l’Armée du Rhin and dedicated the song to Marshal Nicolas Luckner,
a Bavarian in
French service from Cham. The melody soon became the rallying call
to the French Revolution and was adopted as La Marseillaise
after the melody was first sung on the streets by volunteers (fédérés)
from Marseille.
These fédérés were making their entryway into the city of Paris on 30
July 1792 after a young volunteer from
Montpelier named Francois Mireur had sung it at a patriotic gathering in
Marseille, and the troops adopted it as the marching song of the National Guard
of Marseille. A newly graduated medical doctor, Mireur later became a general
under Napoleon a nd died in Egypt at age 28.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
New Blogger in Town
I am pleased to announce that my dear friend, Jakki Leatherberry, has started her own book review blog: Leatherbound Reviews. Today is her big day, and I hope you will stop by and welcome her to the blogging world.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Happy Birthday, Richard Trevithick - Who?
In 1808, Richard Trevithick (1771 - 1833) publicized his steam railway locomotive expertise by building a new locomotive called 'Catch me who can.' He ran it on a circular track just south of the present day Euston Square tube station in London. The site in Bloomsbury has recently been identified archaeologically as that occupied by the Chadwick Building, part of University College London.
Admission to the "steam circus" was one shilling including a ride and it was intended to show that rail travel was faster than by horse. However, the venture suffered from weak tracks and a lot of black smoke. Public interest was limited.
Trevithick was disappointed by the response and designed no more railway locomotives. It was not until 1812 that twin cylinder steam locomotives, built by Matthew Murray in Holbeck, successfully started replacing horses for hauling coal wagons on the Middleton Railway from Middleton colliery to Leeds, West Yorkshire.
If you look closely at the sketch or click on this link to see the enlarged photo on Wikipedia, you will note that many of the men are still sporting the old-fashioned coats worn by the "fops" and not the more stylish cutaway favored by Beau Brummell, a style of dress that we associate with Mr. Darcy.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Review of Mr. Darcy's Bite
I am pleased as punch at the review I received from Jane Austen Sequels and Prequels for Mr. Darcy's Bite:
There are no angry mob scenes, no rabid wolf attacks but this is a moving love story about, love and understanding conquering even the largest obstacles. Definitely a recommended read.
For the full review, please click here.
Also, I am posting on Austen Authors today. I talk about my journey to becoming a writer of Austen re-imaginings. It's riveting. :)
Also, I am posting on Austen Authors today. I talk about my journey to becoming a writer of Austen re-imaginings. It's riveting. :)
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Napoleon and Mr. and Mrs. Darcy
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Napoleon's Generals Conspire |
After
Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, Napoleon withdrew
back into France, his army reduced to 70,000 soldiers and 40,000 stragglers
against more than three times as many Allied troops. Paris was captured by the
Coalition in March 1814.
When Napoleon
proposed that the army march on the capital, his marshals decided to mutiny. On
4 April, led by Marshall Ney, they confronted Napoleon. Napoleon asserted the
army would follow him, and Ney replied the army would follow its generals.
Napoleon had no choice but to abdicate. He did so in favor of his son. However,
the Allies refused to accept this, and Napoleon was forced to abdicate
unconditionally on 11 April.
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