Victorian Advice on DIY Christmas Decorations

(Private Collection)
For many Victorians, homemade Christmas decorations were far preferable to those bought in a store. Why spend good money on glittery trinkets when you could make something much more meaningful yourself? An article in the 1887 edition of Household Words advocates for doing just that, declaring:[…]Continue Reading
An Anniversary and a Milestone
Dear Readers,
This month marks two years since my debut Victorian romance The Lost Letter was released in September 2017. Since then, I’ve released five more historical romance novels. I learned this week that, altogether, those six novels have sold more than 110,000 eBook copies!! […]Continue Reading
A Holiday By Gaslight Audiobook!
I’m super excited to announce that my Victorian Christmas romance A Holiday By Gaslight is now available on audiobook! The audiobook is performed by British actor Alex Wyndham, who might be familiar to some of you from his work in the 2008 mini-series Little Dorrit, as well as in HBO’s Rome and BBC’s The Crimson Field. Alex does an absolutely brilliant job of bringing the characters of Sophie and Ned to life. I especially enjoy how he voices the working class accents of Ned’s parents and the blustering tones of Sophie’s unreasonable baronet father.[…]Continue Reading
Victorian Christmas Decorating, featuring Frosted Branches and Gilded Acorns

There’s nothing more quintessentially Christmas than a Victorian Christmas, complete with mistletoe, tinsel, and candles on the tree. But there was more to Victorian holiday decorating than tinsel and candles. Just like us, many Victorians had a fondness for glitter and gold. In my new Victorian Christmas romance A Holiday By Gaslight, there’s a scene in which the guests at a country house party decorate for Christmas by gilding acorns and artificially frosting the tips of holly and ivy leaves with crystals. These Victorian decorating ideas didn’t originate in my fevered authorial brain. They were actual methods used to create glittering, gold-flaked, holiday cheer.[…]Continue Reading
A Holiday By Gaslight Release Day: Blog Tour, Giveaway, & More!
It’s release day for my new Victorian Christmas novella A Holiday By Gaslight! To celebrate, I’m over at the USA Today Happy-Ever-After Blog with an exclusive excerpt. I’m also embarking on a virtual book tour, complete with reviews, excerpts, and a special giveaway. So, without further ado, let’s get started![…]Continue Reading