Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to all those who entered the giveaway!  It ended at midnight last night, and I happen to know that at least one person entered last-minute.  But, I know that you are all eager to hear who the winner is, so without further ado . . .

The winner of one FREE signed copy of Christmas at the Tittletons by Joan Bassington-French is . . .

SARAH MUTH!!!!!!!!

Congratulations, Sarah!  I am very happy for you.

And to all the rest of you, thanks SO MUCH for entering.  I enjoyed hosting this giveaway, and hopefully I'll be able to do another one in the future.

Thanks for reading and God bless,

Pinterest link for giveaway

So, I forgot to include my Pinterest link for the giveaway.  Clumsy me.

http://pinterest.com/daurenta/boards/

Sorry to all who were inconvenienced!

Thanks for reading and God bless,

Kathryn

GIVEAWAY!!!!

Tomorrow I am starting the Giveaway of one free copy of Christmas at the Tittletons.  Rather than bore you with a lot of dull details that you would rather not hear, I will keep this post short so that you can enter right away.

Don't forget to be honest.  I will be checking up on all the entries.

As you can see, the giveaway widget is located on the sidebar.

Thanks for reading and God bless,

Release of Christmas at the Tittletons!!!!!

For all of you who have waited patiently, a thousand thanks!  I am announcing the publication of my debut novel, Christmas at the Tittletons.  If you want to buy it, go here.

In honor of this great and exciting event, I am going to make two different blog posts.  The first will feature a tag where you will talk about your favorite historical mysteries and where people can find out about CatT.

The second will be a giveaway!  Those who participate in the tag will have five chances in the giveaway, plus there will be more ways for you to get chances.  The prize will be one free copy of my book!

Now, for the tag!

1.  What is your favorite Historical Mystery book?

Definitely The Moonstone by Wilke Collins.  The story is absolutely fascinating, and the solution is jaw-dropping.  If you have never read it, I definitely recommend it!

2.  Would you rather read a Classic or a Mystery?

I would usually pick a good murder mystery over a classic.  Mysteries are so intriguing, and they are like puzzles in book form.

3.  How do you think Christmas at the Tittletons will compare to your favorite Mystery?

Well, I'm the author, so I think that it is hardly fair for me to answer this question.  I'll let you people do it!

4.  How do you think Christmas at the Tittletons will compare to your favorite Classic?

See above!

5.  Do you think you would like to write a Historical Mystery sometime?

Well, I already did, but I plan on writing more HMs in the future!

See!  Only five questions, and you get five points for the giveaway.  Now for the rules!

1.  Please post ALL the rules.

2. Please answer ALL the questions.

3. Comment on this post when you have completed the tag and include a link to your tag post.

4. Tag five other people.

5. Let the people know that you tagged them.

6. Include a link back to this post.

And now for the five people:

1. Kiri Liz of Lianne Taimenlore

2. Jack at However Improbable

3. Kendra at Knitted by God's Plan

4. Anne-girl at Scribblings of My Pen and Tappings of My Keyboard

5. Nessima Tavariel at Arda Nessimava

Again, if you want to purchase the book or even just check it out, go to this link.

Thanks for reading and God bless,

Novel Post

Well, I am still editing CatT, but hopefully it will be published soon.  Meanwhile, I will use questions from the Next Big Thing tag to tell you a little about it.  Hopefully it will get you excited about Christmas at the Tittletons.

1.  What is the working title of your book?

Christmas at the Tittletons

2.  Where did the idea come from for the book?

I originally wrote the story as a play for my family and my CBC's family to act out together.  Afterwards, I turned it into a novel.  The original idea probably came from a mixture of my favorite Agatha Christie and Charles Dickens stories.

3.  What genre does your book fall under?

Historical Mystery

4.  Which actors would you chose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Yikes!  I have never actually thought of this before.  Hmmmm . . .

I guess David Suchet would make a really good Mr. Jarbour.   I can sort of see Romola Garai as Judith Tittleton, but that seems really silly, because I know the Real Judith is Kiri Liz!  And Judi Dench could probably pull off Mrs. Purdle, while Denis Lawson would make a good Sir John Tittleton.  Miss Hatchet could be played by Ruth Wilson.  For the others, I really cannot think of any actors who would be able to pull off the parts, but then, I am the author!

5.  What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Jessamine Warbling, a charming Victorian socialite, tells the truth behind the scandalous murder at Tittleton House on Christmas in 1850.

6.  Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am self-publishing this book for now.  Hopefully I can get an agency to publish it later.

7.  How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

About one summer!

8.  What other books would you compare to this story within your genre?

Well, seeing as I am using both Agatha Christi and Charles Dickens as my "models" for this story, I guess that this story is comparable to a mixture of Murder on the Orient Express, A Christmas Carol, and sort-of Oliver Twist.

Anne-girl made up the jist of this last question, and since the book is completed, I am slightly modifying it.

9.  Which scenes are your favorite and least favorite?

My favorite scene is probably the reveal scene, just because it was so much fun to write.  My least favorite scene is definitely the part where Bob Able tells his story because I had to write in a Cockney accent, which is horrendously difficult!

I hope you enjoyed hearing a little more about CatT.  Please look out for it "soon!"

Thanks for reading and God bless,

Movie Review - George Eliot's Middlemarch

I just watched the 1994 adaption of George Eliot's Middlemarch, and although I do not usually review new movies that I have seen, I liked this one so much, and I have heard next so little about it, that I decided to write my own review.

The story takes place in Middlemarch (shocker!), an English town surrounded by landed estates.  Like many period dramas, there are many small plots and side stories, so it can be a bit confusing.  The movie is actually a miniseries containing one hour and twenty minute episode and five fifty minute episodes.  I watched it over the course of two days.

The main characters include Dr. Lydgate (and his flighty, flaky wife, Rosamond), wannabe philanthropist Dorothea Brooke/Casaubon, young author and rising politician Will Ladislaw, banker and do-gooder Mr. Bulstrode, shiftless Fred Vincy, hardworking Mary Garth, creepy and crabby religious scholar Reverend Casaubon, and the unpaid preacher Mr. Farebrother.

I think a plot summary will be hard to do for this story simply because there are so many subplots, but the story revolves, for the most part, around Dorothea Brooke, who is a young and idealistic.  She is also the nieceand ward of wannabe politician Mr. Brooke, who does not subscribe to her ideas for improvements on the servants' and tenants' cottages.  She ends up marrying Rev. Casaubon, who is much older than she is, because she enjoys listening to his intellectual talk and thinks that she loves him.  In fact, their marriage turns out to be pretty unhappy.  She keeps on trying to help him, but he thinks that women should keep their place.  She becomes friends with his younger cousin, Will Ladislaw, who during the course of their friendship decides to become an author.  He also falls in love with Dorothea, but he is too honorable to say anything to her, and she does not realize that he looks on her as anything more than a cousin.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lydgate comes to Middlemarch and, after a brief courtship, marries Rosamond Vincy, a blonde in every sense of the word.  Their marriage is based on romance and nothing else, so it falls apart pretty quickly after Rosamond begins piling up debt for her husband.  Fred Vincy, Rosamond's brother, is interested in Mary Garth, but she will not have him because she knows that he is being forced into his profession of a preacher by his family, and she wants a man who will be strong enough to think for himself.  Mr. Farebrother, however, gets a real position as a preacher after spending years as an unpaid chaplain at a charity hospital, and he also pays suite to Mary Garth.  She tells him that she likes Fred, though, and will never marry anyone else, even if she cannot marry him.  When Mr. Farebrother tells that to Fred, he (Fred) goes to her (Mary's) father and asks him for a job, even though he knows that he will disappoint his own father.

Fred Vincy and Mary Garth

(By the way, Fred Vincy is played by Colin Firth's brother.  I didn't even know he had a brother.)

During this whole drama thingy, Mr. Bulstrode is being blackmailed by a mysterious and slovenly man who keeps showing up in Middlemarch.

Finally, old Casaubon dies, but in his will he says that if Dorothea marries Ladislaw, she forfeits her right to his money, which means that he suspected something.  Of course, Dorothea is horrified, but when Ladislaw finds out, he gets angry and leaves town.

I am reluctant to tell you any more, because if you have not seen the movie you might be annoyed with me for all the spoilers.

I was struck by the different looks at marriage in the story.  Dr. Lydgate and Rosamond have an unhappy marriage because they based everything on romance and feeling, but Dorothea and Rev. Casaubon have an unhappy marriage because they based it on only intellectualism.  Fred and Mary are much happier, because they waited and based their marriage on both character and love.

Favorite character:  This is a toss-up between Will Ladislaw and Mary Garth.  I am definitely leaning toward Mary, just because she was so sweet and nice and normal!

Least favorite character:  Definitely Dr. Lydgate.  He was pretty annoying, even more so than his wife, and he had no control over his wife, and all of his character was a veneer.

Would I watch it again?  Oh, yes!  I give this movie five stars.  But before I watch it again I want to read the book.  If you have never seen it, you should definitely give it a shot.  If you like period dramas even a little, than this is a movie for you.

Thanks for reading, and God bless,

Character List for The Fey Castle (Sequel to CatT)

So, I have been working on The Fey Castle and am already past ten thousand words on it in three days, which is not bad.  Of course, I am also working on fine-honing CatT at the same time, not to mention actually spending time with my family and doing jobs around the house.  So, as you can probably imagine, I am pretty busy and tired.

However, in keeping with my usual practice, I am posting a character list for TFC.

Jessamine Warbling ~ Yes, she is narrating this story also.  In case you are not familiar with her, she is a young London socialite with the ability to land herself in odd and dangerous situations.

Laird Andrew and Lady Laura Loughney ~ Jessamine's uncle and aunt on her mother's side.  They live in Castle Cauldwerden in the Scottish Highlands to which Jessamine is banished after the Tittleton scandal.

The Honorable Mr. Byron and Mrs. Mary Dowald ~ Mary is the daughter of the Loughneys, and she is the pride and joy of her father, having upheld the family honor with a marriage to the son of an ancient family.  Byron Dowald is a dour fellow, but at least he is rich and respectable.

Gavin Loughney ~ The estranged son of the Loughneys.  He has always tried to respect his father, and even gave up the girl that he wanted to marry in order to honor Laird Andrew's wishes.  But when Laird Andrew decided to cast doubt on the honor of the lady in question, Gavin had to defend her, even though it cost him a place in his father's house and broke his mother's heart (and her reason).

Alexander MacAuney ~ He raises horses for Laird Andrew, and he is engaged to the most beautiful girl in the town of Mickelhaudin.  No wonder someone would be jealous enough to kill him in the deserted Castle MacDrae.

Grissie Faekell ~ The most beautiful girl in Mickelhaudin, and the daughter of the cobbler.  She broke the hearts of all the young men, quite unintentionally, of course, when she consented to marry Alexander MacAuney.

Robbie MacNielton ~ He is in love with Grissie Faekell, and he is the prime suspect for the murder of Alexander MacAuney.  After all, his family does live near the Castle MacDrae, and everyone in Mickelhaudin knows that he had an argument with Alexander.

Jeremy Marchmont ~ Jessamine suspects that his presence in Inverness is a ploy used by her mother and his to bring them together.  Still, he is in a handy place when she needs help investigating murder.

Katherine MacNielton ~ She may be a plain country girl, but Laird Andrew blames her for the rift between himself and his son.

Inspector Fionn ~ A Scotland Yard detective, Jessamine wishes that he really was in Scotland.  At least she can write to him for help in solving a murder.

Mehitable Churnell ~ Jessamine's insufferable companion, hired by Mrs. Warbling to make sure that Jessamine does not get into any trouble.  Unfortunately, Miss Churnell takes her job a little too seriously.

Lady Diana MacDrae ~  She's been dead for ninety years, but the villagers are positive that her ghost still haunts the deserted Castle MacDrae.

So, that is the main character list.  Here are a few snippets:

A girl of about fifteen or sixteen entered the room.  She was carrying a silver tea tray, which she deposited on the table beside the fireplace.  “Good e’en to ye, Miss,” she said, her Scottish accent as thick as Camclodie’s.

            “Good evening, and thank you for the tea,” I replied, observing that the girl was tall and very skinny, with red hair pulled tightly into a bun beneath her stiff white uniform cap and cloudy but cheerful blue eyes.  Her skin was ruddy and freckled, and she had extraordinarily long, chapped fingers.

            “Ah’m Tillie,” she said with a smile.

            “Good evening, Tillie,” I returned.  “I am Miss Jessamine Warbling.”

            “Och, I knew tha’,” she laughed.  “Laird Andrew’s niece all the wa’ from London.  ‘Tis guid to ha’ ye here.”

            “Thank you,” I replied.

            Tillie remained in the room, clearly wishing to engage in further conversation, but also too polite to speak without first being spoken to.  I took pity upon her and also decided to try to satiate my own curiosity.

            “Who was Diana MacDrae?” I asked.

            Tillie’s cloudy eyes grew wide.  “I dinna spaek o’ it much,” she said.  “’Tis temptin’ Providence, sure enough.”

            “Goodness, what happened to her?” I asked.

            “She was murdered,” said Tillie, her eyes glowing with excitement, indicating that she did not care as much about Providence as she claimed.

            “Oh,” I said, for that monosyllable was as much as I could force out at the time.  I had had quite enough of murder in the past few weeks.

~ The Fey Castle

Castle MacDrae, better known as The Fey Castle

I screamed and awoke, breathing heavily and staring at the green velvet hangings above me.  At first I could not comprehend where I was, but soon I remembered that I was safely in Scotland, in my Uncle Andrew’s old Castle Cauldwerden.  I shivered and wondered if I had really screamed or if that was only part of my dream. 

My question was soon answered when Miss Churnell came rushing into the room, her thin dark hair falling in stiff, coarse locks all around the shoulders of her yellowed flannel nightgown.  I had not thought it possible for her to be more ugly than she already was, but she was!

            “What is it?” she asked stiffly.

            “Oh, nothing,” I lightly replied.  “I had a dream.”

            Miss Churnell sniffed as if she could not believe that I had just roused her in the middle of the night for nothing.

            “Do you realize the time?” she demanded.

            “No,” I replied.  “What is the time?”

            “The time is five o’clock in the morning,” she said.  “I am an early riser, Miss Jessamine, but I do not rise at this unholy hour.  What were you thinking, anyhow?  Proper young ladies do not have nightmares.”

~ The Fey Castle

“Tha mi sàsaichte bi fhios aig thu, Miss Warbling,” said Grissie, walking all the way out of the house.  She may have been very pretty, but she was wearing very worn clothing, including a threadbare white blouse, a green vest and full, tartan skirt and a dark blue jacket.  Her hands were calloused with hard work.

            “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Faekell,” I said.  I looked over at Uncle Andrew.  “What did she say to me?” I asked.

            “The same thing you said to her,” he laughed.  “I should have known that you would not know Scotch.  Well, you shall have to learn, for the people of Mickelhaudin know it more than they know Queen’s English.”

            I smiled a rather sickly smile, for I recalled my futile efforts to learn French and German.  After several years of each I could barely hold a simple conversation with anyone who knew much about either of those two tongues.  Languages are not my strong point.

~ The Fey Castle

I would love to hear what you think about these characters and snippets!

Thanks for reading, and God bless,