Teaming Up for Author Talks by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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One of the most fun things authors get to do is go to libraries, bookstores, and other places to talk to interested readers about their books. It's even more fun when we get to do it with other authors. Early this spring, I got to enjoy talking about Erin's Children, historical fiction set in Worcester, Massachusetts, with my friend and fellow author, Mary Anne Kalonas Slack. Mary Anne's debut novel, The Sacrificial Daughter, is also set in Worcester and, while it's not historical fiction, it does, like Erin's Children, feature an Irish family. We felt that was enough for us to do author talks together. Apparently, we were right because we've had great turnouts with very enthusiastic attendees.

More recently, I have done a talk with fellow BWL author, Eileen Charbonneau. Eileen and I have teamed up before and we truly enjoy it. This time we're talking about our most recent releases - my novel The Folklorist and Eileen's novel, Spectral Evidence which she co-authored with Jude Pittman and which is part of the Canadian Historical Mystery Series. Both are historical fiction. The Folklorist centers on the New England Vampire Panic while Spectral Evidence incorporates the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Since we are focusing on the folk beliefs about witches and vampires that came to America along with the European immigrants, we've titled our talk, "Witches and Vampires: When Old World Nightmares Invaded the New World." 

Most of the people in our audiences have never heard of the New England Vampire Panic and, though nearly everyone knows of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, most are surprised to learn that one accused husband and wife managed to escape from prison after having sent their children off ahead of them. In Spectral Evidence the children are sent to relatives in Newfoundland where they try to adjust to a society very unlike their own. We both enjoy enlightening talk attendees on these little-known events from New England history and about how they connect with other places outside of New England.

It is always a pleasure to talk to readers about our books. It's especially enjoyable to answer questions, listen to comments, and interact with readers. You never know who might be in the audience and what gems they may want to share.

Case in point:  Early in May I did a presentation with Mary Anne and another author, Ed Londergan, at the Hibernian Cultural Center in Worcester. In it I talked about my research on the history of Worcester including the fact that a resident of one of the historical districts gave me a private tour of his 1850s house which is nearly the same now as when it was built. Afterwards the President of the Hibernian Cultural Center told me that he and his wife are in the process of restoring an 1852 house and asked if I would like to see it. It was adjacent to the building we were in so I got an impromptu tour of a once- magnificent gem in the heart of the city right then and there. I have a feeling it will make an appearance in the next book in that series.

Eileen Charbonneau and I have started our Witches and Vampires book tour in the comfort of home. For me that was the Gale Free Library in Holden, Massachusetts, and for Eileen it was the Village Square Bookseller in Bellows Falls, Vermont, each being in the towns in which we live.

Presenting at the Gale Free Library in Holden, Massachusetts

Interacting with the audience at Village Square Bookseller in Bellows Falls, Vermont

While doing our talk in Bellows Falls, we found that one attendee was a direct descendant of Rebecca Nurse, one of the people hanged for witchcraft in Salem. During the Q&A portion of our talk, he told us the fascinating story of how he came to find out he was related to her. Again, an unexpected delight while on tour!

Now it's time to take it a bit further afield. In August, after we present at the Rockingham Public Library on the 9th, we will head north to the Champlain Valley area of Vermont. On this leg of the tour, however, we will be joined by another writer, Jane Willan, author of the Sister Agatha and Father Selwyn Mystery series. Having another author onboard necessitated a change in title, so it will become "Witches, Vampires, and Murder!" We are booked for a talk at the Pierson Library in Shelburne, Vermont in conjunction with the Flying Pig Bookstore on August 12th and are in the process of lining up more dates for the 10 days we've allotted for this leg of our tour. In our down time we'll be enjoying our own mini-writer's workshop as well as a little site-seeing.

We haven't forgotten that October is truly the best time of year for talk of witches and vampires. You can catch us at Tidepool Bookshop in Worcester, Massachusetts on the evening of October 29th. Follow us on Facebook to keep up with newly added dates and locations.

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Creating a Home Library - A Labor of Love, Part 2 by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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In my February 7th post I wrote about how I was turning an unused room in my house into a long-desired home library. Good news - it's finished!

It was indeed a labor of love in more ways than one. I mentioned last month, how much I love being surrounded by my books. The other "love" part of this labor is that the room in question used to be my mom's bedroom. We lived together since shortly before my dad passed away in 1996. About three and a half years ago my mom had to move to a nursing home because of rapidly increasing dementia. She died on December 16, 2024. During the time she was in the nursing home I didn't do much with her room. Mostly, I just kept the door shut because I couldn't bear to look at her empty bedroom. 

Before Mom went to the nursing home, when she was still enough in her right mind, she and I talked about what would become of her room after she passed away. She was open like that. Talking about her own passing didn't bother her. Mostly, she wanted to know that the people she left behind would be alright. During one of those conversations, I broached the idea of turning her bedroom into a home library. At first she didn't say anything and I was worried that she didn't like the idea which was a surprise to me since she loved books and reading almost as much as I do. When I asked if she objected, she said, "No. I think it's a wonderful idea. I was just thinking that I wish I would be here to see it."

So, Mom, this library is in your honor! I truly believe that as I was creating it she was watching over my shoulder and nodding approvingly. If her gentle spirit is a presence in my new library, it will be a blessed place.

                 
    Table for doing research for novels                            Reading nook

   

Mom's shelf with her diploma in elementary education from the University of Vermont, 

her graduation program, and her name plate

Show Your Library Some Love by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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I love libraries! I'll bet if you're reading this post, you love libraries, too. Libraries are like portals to a multitude of other worlds. Entering a library offers nearly limitless access to anywhere you want to go or anything you want to learn. You can even travel to other time periods, planets, alternate universes, and more. Of course, the many books in the library are the vehicles that will take you there. 

But there is more to libaries than books. Libraries connect us with technology, media, programs. They also connect us with one another, offer a community, invite us to events. Libraries are just plain awesome!

We are in the midst of National Library Week. This year's theme is "Connect With Your Library." Today, specifically, is Take Action for Libraries Day. By clicking on this link you can access the American Library Association's information on how you can tell Congress to fund libraries.

So, show your library some love today and let those hard-working librarians know how much they are appreciated!

The rise of reading for pleasure, especially for women, in Georgian England, by Diane Scott Lewis

Women, deemed not worth educating, except for sewing and cooking, came into their own with reading in the eighteenth century (though many men still thought it disordered their feeble little minds) This century witnessed a huge boom in book reading. Between the 1500’s and the mid-eighteenth century, male literacy grew from ten to sixty per cent. Women, naturally with less opportunity, lagged behind, ranging from one to forty percent, but still an improvement. Female literacy grew the fastest in London, probably with the rise of the middle, merchant, class.

The elite—the aristocratic, noble and rich merchant males—were almost totally literate by 1600.

Obviously, as literacy grew so did the desire for books. A spurt in publishing—due to the relaxation of the crown and conservatism—started in the late seventeenth century to meet those needs.

Books in the past were rare, usually of a religious bent, and treated as sacred. Cookery and herbal books were found in many households. Sermons and poetry were the most widely published literary forms in this era. History books were national or Eurocentric, with an emphasis on understanding France (and do we yet understand the French?).

But now the populace wanted to read for pleasure as well as learning.

Books became widely available from lending libraries, booksellers, and even itinerant peddlers sold abbreviated versions of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders, or Henry Fielding’s Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones.

Periodicals, such as the Gentleman’s Magazine, advertised what new novels were available to order and purchase from the booksellers. These books could also be borrowed for a nominal fee.

Library at Margate

The large circulating libraries offered places where patrons could browse, gossip, flirt, or actually read a book. These establishments promoted learning and leisure. Novels, tales, and romances were the most checked-out books. History remained popular, such as Captain Cook’s voyages, and William Robertson’s History of the Americas in two volumes (1777). Sterne’s Tristram Shandy and Dr. Johnson’s Lives of the Poets were also well-borrowed.

The fee of three shillings a quarter, kept the poorer people at bay. But libraries were still a bargain because books weren’t cheap. By the third quarter of the century one novel could cost three shillings.

Unfortunately, libraries earned the reputation as places full of fictional pap served up for rich ladies with nothing better to do than read romantic nonsense. Though men remained the majority subscribers, visiting to read or discuss religious and political controversy.

Church libraries offered books to the poorer in the parish, though probably not the variety.

Coffee houses maintained collections of books for their patrons, which had to be read on the premises. Any man, merchant or laborer, could wander in, order a glass of punch, and read a newspaper—a sign of English liberty.

Even the illiterate were encouraged to buy books so their more literate friends could read to them. People read aloud in taverns for the enjoyment of the less educated.

Well-appointed homes had private libraries for the use of family and guests. In 1650 few country houses had a room set aside for books and reading, while in the late eighteenth century a house without a library was unthinkable.

Books became icons. In paintings, the depiction of a man with books became as common as with his spouse or dog. And though men would never admit it, the frivolous novel reader was as much male as female.

With this wider reading public, more women romantic writers emerged, such as Fanny Burney (Evelina, 1778; Cecilia, 1782) and Ann Radcliffe (The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794). But men also wrote romantic novels: Clarissa by Samuel Richardson, 1749; Amelia by Henry Fielding, 1751.

Nevertheless, women read critically to lift the mind from sensation to intellect as well as their male counterparts.

Everyone profited from increased literacy, education and the availability of the written word to broaden the mind in the sciences, philosophy, history, and of course, those romantic novels for pleasure.

　

Source: The Pleasures of the Imagination, by John Brewer, 1997

Diane Scott Lewis writes historical fiction with romantic elements. Visit her website:

http://www.dianescottlewis.org