Nineteen Teen Turns Ten—Let Me Hear You Roar!

My word—ten years of blogging. Who would have thought? I wasn’t sure how I’d like it. I’d tried journaling and found that the writing pulled me away from my work in progress. Not good for a commercial author. At first the words for blog posts dripped out slowly, somewhat painfully, and at times I struggled to figure out what to cover on a given week. And then I realized—you like research too!

Oh, lovely, lovely research. I spent much of this week going down a long list of questions for the book I’m working on now. Were cats and dogs spayed and neutered during the Regency? (Verdict still out—anecdotal evidence suggests George Washington and other heroes of the Revolutionary War neutered dogs. But cats? More research!) What color are the stones in castles in Surrey? (Tan or warm gold, it seems.) Did cavalry officers’ wives lodge in tents with their husbands or in nearby towns? (Either and both). Which Hussar regiment saw duty in India before the Napoleonic wars? (Apparently none—foot soldiers only.)

Over the last ten years, I’ve learned about pedestrians, hobby horses, the original of matches, and the Grand Tour, research I hadn’t planned to undertake until a blog post beckoned. So thank you, Nineteen Teen readers, for making me smarter on the nineteenth century.

Now we stand on the threshold of a new decade of blogging. As we have in the past, we’d love to know where else you’d like us to venture. Please share your thoughts. We’ve done posts in the past because of your encouragement. What are you hungry to learn?

The writer of any comment with suggestions, or birthday wishes, or even just a stray “hi” will be entered in a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card and one of my books (any of my self-published backlist as an e-book or select Love Inspired Historical print books from my stash, including this month’s Mail-Order Marriage Promise). The comment opportunity ends at midnight Thursday, September 28. Winner to be announced in my September 29^th blog post.

Nineteen Teen—10 years strong. Let me hear you roar! 

Once Upon a Time...

It's story time, dear readers! 😁

One day, about ten years ago, I plucked up my courage and hit the “post” button on my first blog post, announcing to the world that the immortal words of two debut YA authors explicating the finer points of 19^th century cultural history as it related to young adults would henceforth appear in this place (or something like that.) And with that, NineteenTeen made its debut.

Ten years later—yeah, ten!—Regina and I are still at it, closing in on 1000 posts (this one will be # 972.) We’re still talking about the stray bits and piece of history we run across and how history can intersect with today, still talking about books, and still having a lot of fun.

There have been some unexpected develop-ments along the way. I started collecting early 19^th century fashion prints mostly because I wanted to be able to show what young ladies were wearing in this era, and have ended up a 19^th century fashion diva as a result with several albums of beautiful prints that give me a great deal of pleasure as well as knowledge (and they take up a lot less space than shoes!) I’ve met authors and read books that have become new favorites. I’ve been led down delightful paths of research on different topics, and hope that you have too.

But the best—the absolute best—part of blogging on NineteenTeen has been my partnership with Regina. We had just met back in 2007, nervous new acquaintances rooming together at the RWA national conference in Dallas that July. As I recall it (correct me if I’m wrong, Regina!) I suggested the idea of starting a blog together just as we were saying good-bye in the hotel’s lobby. And now, we’re here, still blogging...except now, I count Regina as one of my dearest, closest friends. So thank you, NineteenTeen readers, for reading our blog—and enabling a beautiful friendship along the way.

AND...since it’s a birthday party, there have to be presents—for you! Everyone who comments today will be entered to win one of two prizes—a $25 gift card to Amazon, and a print copy of any one of my book (winner's choice.) Comments close at 11:59 pm on Sunday 9/24/17, and will be announced in next Tuesday’s post.

That’ll be our 974^th post, incidentally. Thank you for coming along for the previous 973.