The crow’s nest was not a regular feature on merchant and privateer ships of the 19th century, as some authors would like to think. What they are—or should be referring to—are either “tops” or “crosstrees”, most likely the latter. See more.

Who doesn’t love a good pirate or privateer story? All that capturing, swashbuckling and romancing on the high seas—oh yes! Gets my blood boiling just thinking about it. While there are lots of pirate and privateer romances out there, not all are great ones. Take a look at my list of those I have rated 4 or 5 stars. Some do not have pirates as such, but may have a swashbuckling sea captain or a privateer. In almost every case, part of the story takes place on the high seas. See it HERE.

I’m writing Echo in the Wind now, book 2 in the Donet duology (To Tame the Wind was the first). Both are Georgian romances set in the 1780’s with ship captain heroes. In each of the stories, the captain must adroitly maneuver his ship (one is a schooner and one a brig-sloop) through the traffic on the Thames to moor in the Pool of London. That’s the area just downstream from London Bridge where London’s port was originally centered. And it was a very busy place because the Port of London was the busiest port in the world!

During the 18th century, both the city of London and its international trade went through a great expansion. The Thames became a huge traffic jam, or, as one of my characters in To Tame the Wind described it, “There are so many ships in port just now, the Thames is like a kettle of stew on the boil.” SEE MORE.

Though St. Valentine’s Day has been celebrated for a very long time, the Valentine’s Day cards we send today, and their romantic precursors with pictures, real lace and ribbons, didn’t really come into fashion until the mid 19th century with the Victorian era.

Valentine cards were cherished because of the sentimentality attached to them. Designing cards became a highly competitive market, with a vast array of motifs and verses. Suddenly, cards were being produced in tens of thousands, from whimsy and slightly vulgar, to truly sentimental, their designs included lace paper, embossed envelopes, glass or metal mirrors, ribbons, dried ferns and fake advertisements, bank notes and marriage licenses. See more.

If you think we have a lot of theater choices for Valentine’s Day, you might be surprised at all the choices Londoners had in the Regency era. More than one theater had Letters Patent, and could, therefore, claim the name “Theatre-Royal.” In addition to those, there were more specialized theaters and smaller playhouses.  

From the variety of choices, it would seem that Londoners often enjoyed an evening at the theater with as many as 20,000 attending the theater on any given evening. One could see a drama, perhaps one of Shakespeare’s plays, a light comedy, or an opera, as well as ballet, pantomimes and skits—even a clown! And some of these might be combined into the entertainment for a single evening. Read more.