Archive for May, 2011

What kind of lover of history or historical romance author would I be if I didn’t recognize this weekend’s reverent meaning? Not a very astute one.

But I found this video about Yankee Doodle on youtube and wanted to share it. It’s more than just a cute kids’ song.

And, of course, I found it quite appropriate for a lover of all things Colonial.

But what does that have to do with romance? Only that I love our country. And that while love, passion, and romance can happen anywhere, this is where I choose to place the setting.

Enjoy

I think about traveling through time. A lot. Not sure why, really. Other than the fact that I love history. See, I’d not want to go to the future because I think there are infinite possible futures.

But to the past. To see the eras I love to learn about first hand. And every once in a while, in the middle of my day, unbidden, I think, ‘How would I do this then?,” or “What would it be like there?”

But just as quickly, my rational mind tells me the negatives. I don’t mean lack of phones or internet or medicine. I mean, I am so blind, that I could not function then. My glasses would look so foreign there, and God forbid, how would I manage if they broke? Or if I lost my contacts.

And I am pretty fond of hygiene. I probably should learn more about herbs so I can treat myself.

I just get cascades of concepts such as those. And I almost grieve that I can’t go. My inner fantasy seeker whines, “It’s not fair!”

NO fair, no fair.

It’s pretty silly, I suppose, to feel cheated that I can’t time travel because of a little think like a diopter of almost -12 in each eye. Or that I like to smell halfway decent and keep germs at bay.

Nevermind that it’s only possible in fiction.

Shoot, if they can put all this speed and apps into a phone, why the heck can’t I go and meet John Adams personally, eh?

What would you miss? Can’t say electronics. Sorry. My post, my rules. It’s just too easy a pick.

For what it’s worth, I don’t believe that we only have 9 days until the Rapture. But without getting too far into a theological debate, let’s entertain the idea that we do, in fact, only have one week, two day until the beginning of the end.

If any of my author friends have set their goals by this year’s end, you better speed it up. Getting published now is hard enough, but the demand for HEA when the disciples are off of this planet surely will plummet. Or maybe not. For those Left Behind, looking for an escape and at least a “Happily for Now” might be quite desired. That is, of course, unless there will be massive book burnings.

Not unlike the film The Book of Eli, post-apocalyptic Earth will be scouring the barren regions for sustenance. For the physical, it will be water and food, lest ye becometh a heathen cannibal. But for the soul, it will be fonts of words. Knowledge in black and white. Fiction and fantasy or truth and guidance.

Will our ever loved regencies and historicals, contemporary and YA sagas make it into this aftermath? Is your fallout shelter bookshelf stocked with soul and mind nourishing data? Will the fantasy of today find no appeal in the survivalists’ reality.

Yeah, we should live today as if it were our last, but dadgoneit! That’s a lot of pressure to put on me to write; as if I weren’t hard enough on myself already, now I not only have to finish in less than half a month, but edit and submit and edit again. How do you market a book in such a short time?

I think the aftermath will revert to oral traditions and mythology. It seemed to have worked for the Greeks.
Ooh! If I can come up with a strange and ingenious display of cartographs, I can leave a lasting extraterrestrial inspired code on the walls of my home. The next inhabitants of this green planet can wonder at the Royals tribe and what did it all mean?

Any thoughts? I’ll be in my backyard, digging.

And for a visual interpretation of the above post, here is my wordle for it. Enjoy.