Jessica Cale

Hi everybody! If you've been wondering where your regularly scheduled posts about plague and syphilis have gone, I am currently hibernating (writing) in my writing cave (bedroom) with a metric f*** tonne of nuts and berries (that's actually true) until I finish Book 3 of The Southwark Saga.  Book 3 is set in 1677, six years after Tyburn and Virtue's Lady , and follows barmaid Alice Henshawe as she gets lost in France. Long-lost carpenter's apprentice Jack is sent to find her and when he does, things are pretty awkward and only really get worse from there. Carys predicted that Jack would grow up gorgeous in Virtue's Lady , but she didn't know the half of it! I'm making good progress and I hope to be able to tell you more by the end of the summer. If you liked the dark themes of Tyburn and the comedy of Virtue's Lady , I think you'll really like it.  To tide you over until then, I'm giving away books! From today until July 23rd, you can

What are your words for summer romance?  I’m working on a manuscript, Bayou Brides , book four of the Fleur de Lis series. I’m putting down all kinds of words, going with the flow, and loving the energy of the mood. Writing, unlike other forms of art, must first be captured on paper/computer screen, a writer’s raw material, before it can be polished into a gem of a book. I’m mentally and emotionally hanging out in the near past in Mississippi immediately following Hurricane Katrina—I’m engrossed. My fingers fly across the keys far faster than when I played piano.  Then my cell phone dings.  The real world comes into focus.  Dictionary.com posts the word for the day—Incondite.  Darn! My concentration is now broken, so I flip over to the Dictionary site on my laptop for a short, yet educational break. After all, who would know? I’m sitting in my writing cave alone except for the snores from three canines. I can take a few minutes to engage in a worthwhile word game to improve

I have had such a great time in the Gulf Shore courtesy of Annette Mardis, that I think I'll extend my vacation and head west to New Orleans. I've always wanted to see New Orleans, but Haley Whitehall has an even more exciting proposition: New Orleans in the nineteenth century! Haley Whitehall writes historical fiction and historical romance and her latest release, Alpha's Voodoo , is a nineteenth century multicultural paranormal! That's like all the good things at once! I think it sounds fantastic, and I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Haley to the blog today to tell us more about Alpha's Voodoo and Mark Afton's pleasure cruise... Going on a Pleasure Cruise I’d like to thank Jessica for hosting me on her blog today.  I write historical romances and Alpha’s Voodoo is my first paranormal historical romance. I like the mid-1800s so much that sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century. Most people have probably heard of the Mile High Club. However,

I don't know about you guys, but I could use a vacation. After a looooong winter, the sun has finally come out and I would love a trip to the beach. Unfortunately for me, the beach is hours away, so what can I do?  Annette Mardis has the answer. The third installment of her Gulf Shore series, Shore to Please , is coming out on June 22nd. With the gorgeous settings, dreamy guys, and the lovable animals at the Gulf Shore Aquarium, the Gulf Shore series is the next best thing to going to the beach.  So put on your flip flops, grab your favorite tropical drink (umbrellas absolutely necessary), and pick a sunny spot to read, because you deserve a vacation! I, for one, am turning off my phone and relaxing with a pina colada and my copy of The Shore Thing until tomorrow. Now where did I put my sunglasses?  Thank you so much, Jessica, for hosting me on your blog. I’m a Florida girl through and through, and I’ve always been fascinated by creatures that crawl, swim, and slither

The Viceroy, from a 1637 catalog. One bulb cost between 3,000 and 4,150 florins. The first recorded economic bubble, ‘tulipomania’, occurred in the Dutch United Provinces between 1635 and 1637. The 1630s were a period of intense political and religious intrigue, when Pope Urban VIII appeared to be supporting Spain’s attempt to reclaim her lost territories in the Netherlands, but was actually conspiring to limit the size and power of the Habsburg Empire, to which Spain belonged; when France was playing both sides against the middle to undermine Spain’s power in Europe; and ordinary men and women everywhere were dying of the plague.  Set during this epoch, my novel The Chosen Man features the charismatic, wicked but likable Ludovico da Portovenere, a charming Genoese rogue known to everyone as Ludo, and shows how it can take just one man with the right connections to create financial mayhem and ruin the lives of humble men and women. Acting on behalf of the Spanish monarch and Vat