Thinking Ahead by Eileen O'Finlan

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One hundred years ago women won the right to vote in the United States. It’s hard to believe we couldn’t vote until 1920, but that’s the fact. It was a long, hard fought battle, one for which American women owe gratitude to the suffragettes who made it happen.

For several years an idea has been simmering in my brain for a novel set during the struggle for American women’s voting rights. As with many of the yet-to-be-written multitude of novels floating around in my head, scenes from this one play themselves out in my mind every so often. I don’t think this will be the next novel I write (after Erin’s Children, my novel in progress, and sequel to Kelegeen), but certainly it is in the top three currently germinating in my imagination.

As with all good historical fiction, there will be lots of research before and during the writing. Though I may not start the actual writing for a while, when a research opportunity pops up I’m certainly not going to ignore it.

This afternoon I will be attending an event at the Worcester Historical Museum entitled “Suffragist Tea with History At Play”. The play, “How Long Must We Wait?” is a “multi-modal performance art piece detailing the struggle for women’s right to vote and equality” according to the Worcester Historical Museum’s website.

Despite being way ahead of my schedule regarding research for my future novel, I’m not about to pass it up. Something like this might not be available when I’m “officially” ready to start my research. Notes can be kept, memories held, videos replayed (History At Play’s website appears to have videos of many past performances). As an author of historical fiction, research is a high priority. When an opportunity comes my way, I’ll grab it while I can. No need to wait!

March Musings by Rosemary Morris

To learn more about Rosemary's work please click on the cover above.

March

“March brings breezes sharp and shrill,
Shakes the dancing daffodil.”

3rd and 4th lines of a nursery rhyme. Anonymous.

Hertfordshire. S.East England. 2019



2nd February.
This the day on which it is thought Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day
Shrove Tuesday is on the first Tuesday before Lent. During the two previous days, known as shrove tide, people confessed their sins. On this day pancakes were made with eggs, which symbolise, creation, flour, the staff of life salt considered wholesome and milk for purity. This day was one of revelry and pancakes are still served in many homes.
Ash Wednesday the Beginning of lent
Ash Wednesday lasts for forty days which represent the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. At church the priest or minister might use ashes from palms burnt in the previous year after Palm Sunday to mark Christians’ foreheads with the sign of the Cross. This is a sign of mourning and repentance. It also represents the cross Jesus sacrificed his life on. As a child during Lent, I was encouraged to renounce sweets, which made chocolate Easter eggs very welcome.
14th February - St Valentine’s Day
There are several saints called Valentine but the martyrdom of two falls on this day. In times past it was believed birds mate on this day and sweethearts were chosen. The custom of sending anonymous cards developed from that belief.

Classic Historical Fiction by Rosemary Morris

Early 18th Century novels: Tangled Love, Far Beyond Rubies, The Captain and The Countess

Regency Novels False Pretences. Heroines Born on Different Days of the Week Books One to Six, Sunday’s Child, Monday’s Child, Tuesday’s Child, Wednesday’s Child, Thursday’s Child, and Friday’s Child. (The novels in the series are not dependent on each other, although events in previous novels are sometimes referred to and characters reappear.) Saturday’s Child will be published in July 2020.

Mediaeval Novel Yvonne Lady of Cassio. The Lovages of Cassio Book

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

https;//bwlpublishing.net/authors/rosemary-morris-rosemary-historical-uk/

The Carrot by Katherine Pym

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Colorful Carrots

The other day I watched a historical documentary on the Stuarts (are you surprised?) when a lady marched through a market and stopped at boxes of carrots. She said the carrot started out purple, but if you match it with another color, the new crop is yellow. You match it with another color, and that crop of carrots is orange. This was done in honor of William of Orange. I thought, “What?” But intrigued, I went in search of the carrot. 

Purple Carrot

The Greeks and Romans cooked with white carrots. Asia Minor peoples threw purple and yellow carrots in their pots. They were used in medicines, and carrot seeds have been found in these areas from as long ago as 5000 years.

They think carrots originated in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush and were transported across the mountains via the Silk Road. A popular item, merchants stored them on ships and transported the root all over the world.

They were once very bitter but with our technology, we’ve made them into a fat and tasty vegetable. I’d wager they don’t taste anything like what the original peoples ate. I even heard those beautiful, succulent carrots you buy in bags, have been whittled down from unseemly, unsaleable roots. I can imagine all the carrot debris everywhere. What do the manufacturers do with all that waste? Probably something we don’t want to know. On a positive note, maybe they crush it into carrot juice.

Okay, now I’ll confuse you.

Asiatic carrots are often purple/black, although some are yellow.

Western carrots are generally orange, red or white, some of which may have developed from mutations, which cooks seem to prefer because the darker pigments do not leech into the broth.

White & Red Carrots

I don’t understand how the carrot became so popular when the original roots were long and thin, tough as nails to eat, and bitter as the day is long. It is not something I would take in hand and say, “I’ll make this better.” But man as a species is quite amazing. There’s a lot out there that may or may not have been a good idea to cultivate and expand, but we have them and we eat them, anyway.

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Many thanks to the carrot museum, http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html

and wikicommons, public domain.