Sunday, July 27, 2025

Behind the Book Peeks


 I'm so excited that the "book of my heart" Secretary to the Socialite is finally out in the world!!!  Here's a little peek behind the story...

I’ve had so many questions from early readers about “who is real” in my story, so I thought I’d make a quick post (and use some of my notebooks full of research!). This was such a fun story for me to write, because Taos has been a special place in my own life. When I was very young, about 4, my parents decided to spend part of the summers in Taos, and so that was my vacation spot every year. One year, we visited a beautiful museum in an old house just outside of town, the Millicent Rogers Museum, and on the gift shop wall was a Vogue photo of a gorgeous blonde woman in a Charles James blouse and piles of turquoise and silver bracelets. I had to know more about her!

The Museum was started by one of Millicent’s three sons, Paul Peralta Ramos, in 1956 to showcase his mother’s collection of nearly 2000 pieces of local art—jewelry, pottery, weavings, carvings, and her own work as well, as she was a jewelry designer. It’s now grown to over 7000 pieces, and moved to its current location in 1968, where it’s continued to grow and expand.


Violet Redfield is fictional, but Millicent Rogers was very real! In her short life (1902-1953) she was a socialite and heiress (her grandfather was a co-founder of Standard Oil), fashion icon, art collector, and later an activist for Native American rights. She contracted rheumatic fever at age 10, which shortened her life and plagued her will illness, but she managed to marry three times, fall in love with men like Clark Gable, Roald Dahl, and Ian Fleming, and live in New York, Virginia, Jamaica, and Austria before making her final home in Taos in 1948. She was buried in her new hometown at the Sierra Vista cemetery on January 1, 1953.


Mabel Dodge Luhan (1879-1962) was, like Millicent, a socialite, daughter of a wealthy Buffalo, New York family, who married several times (four!) and was a patron of the arts. She lived in Florence, at a famous Medici villa, and ran a counterculture salon in New York before landing in Taos in 1917 to establish her own arts colony, attracting people such as DH Lawrence, Georgia O’Keefe, and Ansel Adams. She married Tony Luhan from the Taos Pueblo in 1923, and is buried in the Kit Carson Cemetery in Taos. Her house is now a National Historic Landmark and run as a conference center.


One of the great Taos characters is Dorothy Brett (The Hononorable! 1883-1977). Daughter of a viscount, she was raised amid Queen Victoria’s court, but became an artistic bohemian who attended the Slade School and became friends with the Bloomsbury Circle before befriending DH Lawrence and moving with him to Taos in 1924. She stayed there for the rest of her long life, creating her own unique art (some of which can now be seen in the Smithsonian, as well as the Millicent Rogers Museum and Harwood Museum).


Martha Reed (1922-2010) actually opened her famous shop in 1953, so I fudged it a bit for my story! Daughter of artist Doel Reed, she got her own Arts degree in 1944 and worked at the Philbrook Museum and Dallas Museum of Art before moving to Taos. She first worked at the Pink Horse Shop on the Plaza, where she became well-known for designing her “broomstick” skirts and blouses in calico and velvet, before opening her own shop. She was a very sociable person, famous for her “soirees with hooch” all over town. I am lucky enough to own a painting by her, as well as Martha of Taos original bought by my aunt in the 1960s!

Lorenzo is fictional, but his cousin Benito was real, a man who (like so many others) was tormented by what he had seen in World War II and was helped by Millicent. The Karavas brothers first bought La Fonda in the 1920s, and it came to be run by one of their sons, Saki, until his death in 1996. He was an art collector and (as his tombstone says) “a great Taos character.” Tom McCarthy is also real, and if you visit Taos you can stay at his family’s beautiful B&B, Casa Benavides! They have the best breakfasts, and he is full of stories of his long life in Taos.

These are just a few of the sources I used! I have to thank the Historic Santa Fe Archives for all their help, too.

The Mabel Dodge Luhan Papers Collection at the Beinecke Library of Yale (much of which is online)

Mabel Dodge Luhan, Winter in Taos (1935) and Edge of Taos Desert (1937)

Lois Palken Rudnick, Utopian Vistas: The Mabel Dodge Luhan House and the American Counterculture (1996)

Cherie Burns, Searching for Beauty: The Life of Millicent Rogers, the American Heiress Who Taught the World About Style (2011) and Diving for Starfish: The Jeweler, the Actress, the Heiress, and One of the World’s Most Alluring Pieces of Jewelry (2018)

Judith Nasse, A Life in Full (2022)

Annette Tapert and Dana Edkins, The Power of Style (1994)

Sam Hignett, Brett: From Bloomsbury to New Mexico (1985)

Lois P. Rudnick, ed. Mabel Dodge Luhan and Company: American Moderns and the West (2016)

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Weekend Links (and a review link!)

 


Happy (almost Bastille Day) everyone!  I hope you're having a great summer.  My tomatoes are looking amazing in the garden, I've been to the opera twice (La Boheme was lovely!), and I've perfected a lemony-gin cocktail that is perfect for warm evenings on the patio.  (Recipe at end)

In the meantime, here are a few fun things to read, and if you'd like a review copy of Secretary to the Socialite, send me an email and I will get you the link!  amccabe7551 AT yahoo.com

A Downton Abbey costume auction!!  (I wish I could buy that Lady Mary wedding dress, I could use it for walking the dogs and going to Trader Joe's...)

Santa Fe is the #1 travel destination!


An article about "Enchanted April" (one of my favorite books and movies)

The Bayeux Tapestry returns to Britain

11 books to read for your summertime sadness

Why the "messy girl" asethetic is taking over decorating (I am right in style)


Lemon Lavender Gin Cocktail

Ingredients
  • 2 oz gin
  • 1 oz lavender simple syrup
  • 1 oz fresh lemon juice
  • Club soda or tonic water (to top, optional)
  • Ice
  • Lemon slices and/or lavender sprigs for garnish (optional) 
Instructions
  1. Fill a glass with ice.
  2. Combine gin, lavender simple syrup, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker.
  3. Shake well until thoroughly chilled.
  4. Strain the mixture over the ice in your glass.
  5. Top with club soda or tonic water if desired.
  6. Garnish with lemon slices and/or lavender sprigs

Friday, July 11, 2025

Heroine of the Weekend

 


It's been quite a while since we had a Heroine of the Weekend post here!  I love it, since I can take a deeper look at historical women I admire, and I can't believe we haven't featured Aphra Behn before.  Her birthday was July 10, 1640, in Canterbury, and she was s fascinating (if somewhat enigmatic character!), a playwright, poet, translator, spy.  She was one the first English women to earn her living with her writing, and was one of the most popular playwrights of the golden age of Restoration theater.








"All  women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn..."  Virginia Woolf

Behn's early life was quite obscure.  Her father was (maybe) a barber, she was maybe engaged to a man named John Halse in 1657, she maybe traveled to Surinam.  It's clear she was very intelligent, but unclear how she was educated.  She married a man named Johan Behn (possibly Dutch or German) in 1664, but he soon died or they were separated soon after.

She was a staunch supporter of the Stuarts, attached to their court by 1666 (refusing to write a welcome poem to William III after the Glorious Revolution), and was sent as a spy to Antwerp by Charles II  during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Her code name was Astrea It was not financially rewarding, though, and she may have been sent to debtors' prison after her return (a warrant was issued for her arrest, but it's unclear if it was served).  She started writing plays, hoping to capitalize on the craze for newly reopened theaters.

Her first play, a tragi-romance called The Forc'd Marriage, was performed by the Duke's Men in September 1670, and was a moderate success, but after her third play failed she falls off the record for a few years before returning to write comedies and poetry, as well as translating.  Her most popular play, The Rover (still her most performed work today) debuted in 1676-77, and thereafter she became one of the best-known playwrights in England until her death in 1689.  Her success led to frequent attacks. She was attacked for her private life (she had a long liaison with John Hoyle, a bisexual lawyer) and the morality of her plays, and she was accused of plagiarising The Rover. In the preface to Sir Patient Fancy she argued that she was being singled out because she was a woman, while male playwrights were free to live the most scandalous lives and write whatever plays they wanted.



(You can visit her tomb in Westminster Abbey, as I once did!)








Some good sources on her life:

Janet Todd, The Secret Life of Aphra Behn (1997)

Vita Sackville-West, Aphra Behn: The Incomparable Astrea (1927)

Germaine Greer, Slip-Shod Sibyls (1995)



Monday, June 30, 2025

Surprise book sale!

 I found out today that The Queen's Christmas Summons is .50 for a short time!  Yep, you heard me, FIFTY CENTS.  I'm not sure how long it will last, so if you feel like Christmas in July grab it now...


"Royal courts are glittering places. But there can be many dangers there." 

The words of Juan, the shipwrecked Spanish sailor Lady Alys Drury nursed back to health, echo in her mind as she puts on another courtly smile. 

Then Alys locks eyes with a handsome man amid the splendor of Queen Elizabeth's Christmas court—Juan is posing as courtier John Huntley! Alys is hurt at Juan's deception until she learns he's an undercover spy for the crown… Amid the murky machinations of the court, can true love still conquer all?

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Weekend Links and a Book On Sale

 


Happy last weekend of June, everyone!  I'm not sure how we're here already, it feels like summer just started.  But since I went to opening night at the Santa Fe Opera last night (La Boheme, a favorite!) and festival season is in full swing here, it must be.  (It's also deadline time, eek!  The new wip, a Gilded Age New York romance, is due in 2 weeks).  In the meantime, an older title of mine, Taming of the Rogue, is .99 for a very short time.  (If you love Shakespeare and 16th century theater like I do, I hope you'll enjoy it)



In the meantime, here's a few distractions:

England's first romance-only bookstore

Some real-life inspiration behind the portraits of the "The Gilded Age"

Pompeii's 2000 year old perfume garden

Roses under $20 for your summer wine needs

The history of the Santa Fe Opera

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Weekend Links and a Promo Code

 


Happy summer solstice, everyone!  I hope you didn't miss the longest day of the year.  Here are a few things to read this weekend (plus some book sales)....





Marie Antoinette fashion exhibit coming to the V&A  (oh, how I would love to see this!)

Sargent and the "Dollar Princesses"

A man who lives as William Morris 3 months a year

A 600 year old rectory for sale  (I wants it!)

"Outrageous" the new Mitford Sisters biopic on BritBox (the first two episodes were so fun)

Spotlight on Bath for Jane Austen's 250th

Annnnd, book sales!



Here is a link for 25% off the paper copy of "Flora Flowerdew and the Secret of the Sarcophagus"











And if you haven't read the first Flora book yet, it's .99 for just a short time...

Tuesday, June 03, 2025

Books on sale!

 Two books on sale for a very limited time!!!





Tuesday, May 27, 2025

(Post) Weekend Links and a Giveaway!

 Happy almost-June, everyone!  I hope you had a lovely Memorial Day weekend and are ready for the warmer weather.  We had a bit of surprise hail yesterday, but most of my veggie plants survived, and I've been buried in writing-land so there will be time for outdoor concerts and restaurant patios asap.


To start off the summer, I have a giveaway for newsletter subscribers!  A box of books and movies (Regency-themed).  If you're already subscribed, you're automatically entered!  If not, you can subscribe here...  (I'm very lazy, so the newsletter is very infrequent!  It's mostly book news and more giveaways)









I also have a July 22 release I am VERY excited about!  My first historical fiction, centered around a fascinating woman in mid-century history (Millicent Rogers) and my favorite place on earth, Taos, New Mexico, where she made her last home and where you can find her eponymous museum.  More about this book soon!!!  (You can pre-order here)

In the glittering world of mid-century America, Millicent Rogers is a woman ahead of her time—Standard Oil heiress, fashion icon, patron of the arts, wife, mother, lover to men like Ian Fleming and Clark Gable. Her beauty and intelligence captivate the world. But behind the scenes, she harbors secrets of ill health and loneliness that only one person knows—her secretary Violet Redfield. A quiet but artistic woman who left her Iowa farm family to pursue dreams of being a writer, Violet navigates a delicate balance between devotion to Millicent and her own dreams of independence.

As their lives become intertwined in a tangle of love, betrayal, and ambition, both women must confront the hidden costs of their powerful alliance. From lavish Hollywood parties to the mountains of bohemian Taos, 
Secretary to the Socialite explores this intricate bond between a woman of privilege and the one who keeps her world from falling apart.

In this captivating, immersive historical novel, two women from very different worlds find themselves at a crossroads where loyalty and personal desires collide, and where their choices could alter the course of their lives forever...

And a few things for your reading pleasure this week!

Marie Antoinette's pink diamond is up for auction

Jane Austen inspired decor

Audrey Hepburn's Givenchy gown to be sold at Sotheby's

The real Queen Charlotte

Young adults embrace Jane Austen "to escape modern dating"

"I cooked like Jane Austen..."

Sunday, April 06, 2025

Friday, March 28, 2025

Weekend Links


 And a few fun reads to keep you distracted!  (don't we all need that right now??)


The 12 Most Popular Bookstores and Libraries On Earth

The Scintilating Histories of the Mitford Sisters

Flannery O'Connor at 100

Happy Birthday, William Morris!  Born March 24, 1834

And Elizabeth I died on March 24, 1603...

The dazzling tiara collection of Queen Mary

How Mr Darcy became one of Austen's most memorable creations


Women played a pivotal role as scribes of medieval manuscripts

The great American classic we've been misreading for 100 years

Advice from vintage cocktail party etiquette books...

Eleanor de Montfort's lavish medieval wardrobe


Springtime! Hey ding a ding time! And new releases

 I can't believe it's so long since I've visited here!  Winter has seemed long and dreary, full of deadlines and trying to get our new house into rights (my office is still basically a junk room, but it's getting there!)  I have lots of books news!



Flora Flowerdew and the Secret of the Sarcophagus
, Book 3 in my Victorian Mysteries series is out NOW!  It was quiet an adventure getting Flora and her posse corralled and sent off to the Nile to find out who did in Aunt Imogen's old lover, archaeologist Lord Crosbie.  I am a sucker for tales of desert adventure and ancient Egypt, to this was a fun tale to write.  I hope you enjoy their adventures as much as I have!  (and more info to come this week, I'm putting together a "history behind the scenes post)

1889. With the winter season, Flora's séance society is quiet and life looking dull. A late-night visit from the too-handsome Benedict, Duke of Everton, and his aunt Lady Imogen changes all that. Imogen's long-ago lover, the renowned archaeologist Lord Crosbie, is missing, and she fears the worst.

Flora agrees to accompany them to a mummy unwrapping at the British Museum to see if anyone knows about the disappearance. It's the shock of the town when Crosbie himself is found in the ancient sarcophagus—murdered! Adventure awaits when Flora, Benedict, Imogen, the faithful Pomeranian Chou-Chou, and Mary the Cockney maidservant, set off for Egypt—and find a large cast of suspects who all had good reason to send the archaeologist off to his own underworld...

Buy link 



The second book in my Regency "Matchmakers in Bath" series also came out this winter!  Their Convenient Christmas Betrothal  is a fun "will they or won't they?" make their pretend engagement real!  Mary and Charles get their HEA at last.  (and look for the third in the series How to Court Your Wife in October)

A festive romance to fool society… 

But are they fooling themselves too? 

Mary St. Aubin is a stellar matchmaker, but society has decided that, as a spinster, Mary can no longer be trusted with their matches! After watching her parents’ cold marriage, she refuses to wed for anything but love. 

 Then at a Christmas house party she encounters dangerously attractive Scottish laird Charles. He needs Mary’s help saving his ward from a reputation-ruining liaison with a rake. But when Charles’s own rakish past starts to get in the way, is there another match that must happen first…between Mary and Charles?

Buy Link

If you want to venture to the drama of Renaissance Florence, Betrayed by his Kiss is .99 right now.  If Elizabethan England is your things, Murder at the Princess's Palace is 2.99


And, last but not least, the book of my heart, Secretary to the Socialite, a historical novel about icon Millicent Rogers and bohemian mid-century Taos, will be on sale in August!!!  I am soooo excited for this one, it's been a long journey...

In the glittering world of mid-century America, Millicent Rogers is a woman ahead of her time—Standard Oil heiress, fashion icon, patron of the arts, wife, mother, lover to men like Ian Fleming and Clark Gable. Her beauty and intelligence captivate the world. But behind the scenes, she harbors secrets of ill health and loneliness that only one person knows—her secretary Violet Redfield. A quiet but artistic woman who left her Iowa farm family to pursue dreams of being a writer, Violet navigates a delicate balance between devotion to Millicent and her own dreams of independence.

As their lives become intertwined in a tangle of love, betrayal, and ambition, both women must confront the hidden costs of their powerful alliance. From lavish Hollywood parties to the mountains of bohemian Taos, Secretary to the Socialite explores this intricate bond between a woman of privilege and the one who keeps her world from falling apart.


In this captivating, immersive historical novel, two women from very different worlds find themselves at a crossroads where loyalty and personal desires collide, and where their choices could alter the course of their lives forever...

Look for info about my newsletter giveaway in a few days!  You can sign up for it here

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Weekend Links

 Welllllll, it has been a week!  A week that feels like 10 years.  I think  we deserve to snuggle down in the Ritz Bar, have a Hemingway Daiquiri (or whatever you like), and read some distracting articles.  What have you been doing this week?  read anything good?  (I'm just finishing Dan Jones new bio of Henry V...)


What French women are shopping for

Newly discovered Lavinia Fontana portrait discovered

Virginia Woolfe's birthday was last week!  (along with mine, different years, natch)  Look for a Heroine of the Weekend post on her next week


It was also Burns Night!  I celebrated with a few Scots friends with some bagpipe music and copious bottles of Laphroaig, which might by why I am a wee bit slow today...

A new TV drama is coming about the tragic Queen Ena, if you need a "Crown" fix


A ranking about the best Girl Scout Cookies (I am a Thin Mint girly myself, but would never say no to a Tagalong or Samoa...)

Dame Joan Plowright died (Enchanted April is one of my very favorite movies, and if you haven't seen "Tea With the Dames" go and watch it right this moment!)



An exhibit of Sargent portraits of the "Dolla Princesses"  (I'm very interetested in this as I dive into a Gilded Age book...)