Would This Kill Me in the 1800s: Yellow Fever

Yellow fever is one of those "old timey" diseases I've been aware of since I was a kid--not just because I read a lot of historical fiction as a kid, but also because I grew up in mosquito country. But knowing it exists isn't the same as knowing what it does. So what is yellow…

Top Non-Fiction Picks: Civil War edition

One of the most exciting things about ALL FOR ONE is that it effectively kicks off the next phase of my career. It's not that I'm abandoning urban fantasy. But I am returning to my first love--historical fiction. Now obviously, we're talking history with a twist here. Whether it's creating a theoretical alternate history, or…

History in Pictures, part II

A couple of weeks ago a posted a list of documentaries I've been watching on Youtube. My documentary kick continues, so here are a few more you might enjoy. A few of them are quite long, so there's several hours of viewing time here. The Civil War and Its Dead This documentary shows a lot…

History in Pictures

Alas, I am not sharing convention pictures with you today as I'd planned. As usual, I didn't even think to take pictures while at Steampunk Symposium. I didn't have nearly as much down time this year as I usually do, as I was on a total of 6 panels, and also had to be part…

9 Things You Didn’t Know About Montreal

Apparently, I am becoming "that author who writes about Montreal." I've come across very few books set in the city, and even fewer in English. In THE SPIDER'S WEB, the city is almost another character in the story. When I lived there, I found the atmosphere so invigorating and inspiring, it was one of the…

Knitting for Living History

Working in the Ohio Village, a lot of volunteers have wondered where to find historically accurate patterns that they can work on while in costume and later incorporate into their personal wardrobes. If you are looking for historically inspired patterns, then there are hundreds of sources online (check Ravelry first!) that house recreations of historical…

The Age of Entertainment: 1920s

I'm going to (try to) keep this short, since I already spent an entire week talking about the 1920s this time last year, and then waxed poetic about Miss Fisher (seriously, though, if you haven't read/watched it yet, you should). The 1920s was the age of the feisty female, when women finally started to come…

The Age of Entertainment: 1902-1919

The turn of the century was an exciting time, and it's one that's been in my imagination since I was a kid. One of my favorite books in elementary school (and one that I fully intend to re-read) is A Little Princess. I used to have an edition that was both it and The Secret…