Tests and Interview for Science - Janet Lane Walters #BWLAuthor #Testing group #Sraying home

 

About ten years ago, my husband and I were part of a testing group. The group consisted of normal people older than 70 and those with Alzheimers and other such conditions. The last results I have are from 2012. These tests were fun. I used to call it game day and this happened once a month. I will say I went from average to well above average on some of the tests. My husband and I stopped going when he needed dialysis and wasn’t available to do the tests. I went once alone, though.

What does this have to do with a long phone interview I did? The reason I was called was because this goup of researchers at the Nathan Kline Institute were basing their interviews on the Covid virus and the effect it was having on people. They had done a study of younger people and thought they should look at the elderly. They called and asked if I would participate. “I told them yes.

When the interviewer called, the first thing she asked was about my emotional state with having to stay at home and not seeing people. I told her, I was rather unique as I had a career I was pursuing and that I wrote every day, usually from nine to five. That sort of threw her for a moment.

There were about 7 sections of questions with a variety of ways to answer. Some sections were yes and no, some wanted you to rate from one to I believe five on a scale and some wanted longer answers.

When we finished, she said my answers were very different in many areas that both the younger and older people, especially in the section that dealt with death of others and of one’s self. Not sure why the difference unless it’s because I’m rather a realist and I had recently dealt with the death of a loved one. I remember when she asked me if I ever got angry and of course I do, but she said in the last two weeks. My answer was yes. This was concerning my husband’s pension which he arranged that I would receive after his death. I have been filling out papers since the first week in February. The last form I sent in hopefully is the last one I’ll have to do. The kicker was, If you don’t hear from us in 60 days contact us. That makes this the middle of July.

At the end of the session she asked if I would like to play games at the institute again. I said I would since I’m curious to see if or how much I’ve deteriorated in eight years.

Janet Lane Walters Talks Her Romance Love of Regency - Rosemary Morris #BWLPublishing #Regency #Romance

A Love of Regency with Rosemary Morris

I’m a big reader of Regency Romances and I’ve found Rosemary Morris’s stories great to read. I’ve read everything she’s written but I’ve been reading and reading her days of the week series. When I’m rough drafting a new story, I enjoy rereading stories I’ve read before. Meeting old friends gives me a break from the deep thought that goes into the start of a new story.  Reading these books has kept me on track since they are very different from what I’m writing.

I once thought I’d like to write Regencies and I have one Regency historical written. There were three more books planned but after finishing the one, I knew I didn’t have the stamina for the research for the other ones. I’ve decided to leave that for my favorite Regency writers. Rosemary is one of those. I’m enjoying reading the days of the week stories and those are the ones I’ll speak about here.

Thursday’s Child is the last one of the series I read. In this book, we read about a young woman who is outspoken and naïve. Her charm lies in her innocence and her real caring for others. For her journey, love brings lessons and an understanding of herself and others. The writing allowed me to enter her world and to care about her and the other characters in the book. Indeed, she has far to go.

Here’s the blurb:

On their way to a ball, eighteen-year-old Lady Margaret is reminded by her affectionate brother, the Earl of Saunton, to consider her choice of words before she speaks. Despite his warning, she voices her controversial opinion to Lady Sefton, one of Almack’s lady patronesses, who can advance or ruin a debutante’s reputation. Horrified by her thoughtless indiscretion, Margaret runs from the ballroom into the reception hall where she nearly slips onto the marble floor.

Baron Rochedale, a notorious rake catches her in his arms to prevent her fall. Margaret, whose family expect her to make a splendid marriage, and enigmatic Rochedale, who never reveals his secrets, are immediately attracted to each other, but 
Rochedale never makes advances to unmarried females. 

When Margaret runs out into the street, out of chivalry it seems he must follow the runaway instead of joining his mistress in the ballroom, where anxious mothers would warn their daughters to avoid him. Rochedale’s quixotic impulse leads to complications which force him to question his selfish way of life. Entangled by him in more ways than one, stifled by polite society’s unwritten rules and regulations Margaret is forced to question what is most important to her. 

Sunday’s Child began the series.

Blurb:

Georgianne Whitley’s beloved father and brothers died in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte. While she is grieving for them, she must deal with her unpredictable mother’s sorrow, and her younger sisters’ situation caused by it. Georgianne’s problems increase when the arrogant, wealthy but elderly Earl of Pennington, proposes marriage to her for the sole purpose of being provided with an heir. At first she is tempted by his proposal, but something is not quite right about him. She rejects him not suspecting it will lead to unwelcome repercussions.

Once, Georgianne had wanted to marry an army officer. Now, she decides never to marry ‘a military man’ for fear he will be killed on the battlefield. However, Georgianne still dreams of a happy marriage before unexpected violence forces her to relinquish the chance to participate in a London Season sponsored by her aunt.

Shocked and in pain, Georgianne goes to the inn where her cousin Sarah’s step-brother, Major Tarrant, is staying, while waiting for the blacksmith to return to the village and shoe his horse. Recently, she has been reacquainted with Tarrant—whom she knew when in the nursery—at the vicarage where Sarah lives with her husband Reverend Stanton.

The war in the Iberian Peninsula is nearly at an end so, after his older brother’s death, Tarrant, who was wounded, returned to England where his father asked him to marry and produce an heir. To please his father, Tarrant agreed to marry, but due to a personal tragedy he has decided never to father a child. When Georgianne, arrives at the inn, quixotic Tarrant sympathises with her unhappy situation. Moreover, he is shocked by the unforgivable, brutal treatment she has suffered.

Full of admiration for her beauty and courage Tarrant decides to help Georgianne.

The other books in the series so far are Monday’s Child, Tuesday’s Child and Wednesday’s Child. If you love Regencies, you’ll find every one of these books a great read. I’ll also be rereading them in the months to come.