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One of the things I'm going to try to do more of in 2013 is take time to see friends and family. I started this a bit in 2012, and one of the wonderful discoveries I made by being less of a hermit was European Sipping Chocolate. Carolyn Jewel introduced me to it at a wonderful little place about an hour away from my house. I can't always pop up there when I see her and the North Bay gang gathering to enjoy it (day job and the horrors of commute traffic prevent this), but I've got pretty good at making it myself. So for New Year's, I wanted to share my new obsession with you all: EUROPEAN SIPPING CHOCOLATE 2oz heavy cream 2oz half and half 1 oz dark brown sugar (the darker the better) 1/4 tsp vanilla 1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate (oddly, I find the cheap Bakers stuff works best) Heat cream and half and half over the lowest heat possible for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add sugar, vanilla, and chocolate. Stir until melted and thick (about 3 minutes). And yes, you c

After completing the post about the Country Roller Rink  (located next to Brandywine Springs Amusement Park) I happened to come across some more information while aimlessly wandering...um, I mean diligently researching the subject in some of the old digitized newspapers. I've made a few updates to the original post, but instead of making those of you who have already read the post go back and wade through to find the new stuff, I thought I'd lay it out here, too. Mostly the new information deals with the actual rink buildings themselves -- their construction, size and layout, and the nature of the second rink. I also found some more about the drive to fund the initial construction, as well as some other pictures. This post will end up being a bit heavier on pics and short(er) on text. In the original post, I mentioned that Cloward and the others behind the rink sold stock to the public in order to fund its construction. What I didn't realize is just how hard they pushed for

[Trigger warning: this post contains discussion of bullying and the physical abuse of children.] I've been reading Stalky & Co. by Rudyard Kipling, and it's got me thinking about the British boarding school system. (Something I do fairly often, really. Side note: while it's obviously out of period, I also highly recommend Stephen Fry's childhood memoir Moab is my Washpot for many amazing scenes of fucked-up boarding school life.) Stalky and his friends are holy terrors of teenage boys who seem to spend most of their time playing elaborate pranks on their teachers and fellow students. I don't normally find behavior like this charming, and in fact, I don't find it charming here, exactly. Yet my sympathy remains with the main characters despite the fact that very similar behavior in Harry Potter annoys me no end. I spent some time thinking about this and came up with the following conclusion: In Stalky & Co. , the boys really feel like underdogs, pers

The New Castle County Courthouse I've decided to introduce a new occasional feature -- MCH History Blog On the Road. Here we'll look at sites and structures beyond the borders of Mill Creek Hundred. They may have some sort of a connection to MCH, or they may just be things I personally like or feel some sort of connection to. It's certainly not meant to be a comprehensive or systematic look at the wider area, just an excuse to feature some topics I find interesting. My own personal gateway into the study of local history -- before I started focusing on Mill Creek Hundred -- was learning about the history of Wilmington. I think in large part this was just because that's what there's the most written about. There are lots of books and other material written about the First State's largest city -- about MCH, not so much. While reading about the 300 plus year history of Wilmington and its predecessors, one building always stood out to me, and quickly became my perso

RIPE FOR SEDUCTION is live and on sale today . This has me very excited as I adore this book. I know people always say their most recent book is their favorite, but in this case it’s really true (and mostly it’s true because I’m still day dreaming about the secondary couple and kicking around the idea of doing a novella of the book with them as the main characters so I can write their missing scenes!). I’ve been seeing everyone’s Best of 2012 lists come out, and don’t think that doesn’t make you feel anxious when your book is a late December release! Several of my autobuy authors had multiple books out this year, but I’m limiting each author to one slot on my Top 10. As you’ll see, there’s a lot of Fantasy in the mix. That’s because I can’t read historical when I’m writing, so I’m waaaaaay behind when it comes to my own subgenre. A few of these are new to me authors (Ben Aaronovitch and Sarah Mayberry), others are old favorites (P.C. Hodgell), and the rest are solid autobuys. In no par

Sunday Morning Star, August 15, 1909 I know I've threatened before to put up "short" posts, only to have them end up being longer than I expected. This one, though, really will be short. I have nothing more than what I found, and a vague thought. What I found (while wandering through the old Sunday Morning Stars that are online) is the paragraph you see to the right. This appeared in the August 15, 1909 edition , at the bottom of a column reporting on horse races elsewhere in the state. What caught my eye, obviously, was the mention of Stanton. I've never before seen a mention of a horse track in the area in the early 20th Century. I've also not yet found any more information about this, but from the listing of Stanton and the name Brown, I have to guess that this is connected to the Brown family highlighted in the post about The Farmhouse . *( See below ) James Brown, the brother of John who lived in the Farmhouse property, owned the farm to the south, just belo

Where did time go? It seems like it was just Thanksgiving in the U.S. and suddenly the holidays are in full swing. My daughter Mélanie and I spent today at two very fun holiday parties, an (early) Solstice party and a Wassail party, a word which conjures up images of old English Christmases. Though our wassail party did not include a Wassail King and Queen or drinking the health of the trees, and our Wassail punch was not topped with slices of toast, which it was historically. The punch itself was delicious and very potent, with the nutmeg and cinnamon that are part of many historical recipes. Following my daughter - an eager explorer - around the party and slowly sipping my Wassail punch (a small cup went a long way!),  I couldn't help but think about Christmas for my characters. Of course an "old English Christmas" is not a static thing but a melange of customs that changed and grew through the years, with a number of things that seem part of a classic Bri

From The Sunday Star May 12, 1907 This is a bit of an odd post, only because I don't really have too much of substance say about it (although to be fair, that's never stopped me in the past). It's honestly not much more than somewhere between a padded-out blurb and a long, "Huh? How about that." It was something that caught my eye as I was looking for other things in the scanned copies of the Wilmington Sunday Morning Star that Google has online. I could get lost for hours just browsing through them. Come to think of it, I have. What specifically caught my eye this time is the advertisement seen to the right. It appeared in the May 12, 1907 edition, and ran the following week as well. As you can see, it's an ad (almost a short article, really) for Premier* cars, one of the myriad of car manufacturers that popped up in the early days of the automobile, in what is now called the Brass Car Era . What initially jumped out at me and made me take notice of the ad

The third book in the League of Second Sons is out next week. Ripe for Seduction is the story of not-quite-widow, never really married Lady Olivia Carlow , who some of you will have met in Ripe for Scandal (and no, you don't have to have read Scandal first, promise).  You can read the fi rst three chapters on my website. FIVE FUN FACTS After you’ve finished RIPE FOR SEDUCTION, you can read the reconciliation scene for the secondary couple on my webiste too. I deleted it from the novel to keep Margo and Philip from taking over, but it's a scene I really love, so I kept it as a bonus for readers. The indecent offer my hero, Roland, makes to my heroine was based on one a real one made to Lady Mary Coke. The real-life lord got off easier than my hero, LOL! Giant dogs, this time Scottish Deerhounds, once again put in an appearance. Deerhounds were a very rare breed by this point in history. It’s doubtful that most people had ever even seen one, but luckily for us a

In the recent post about N. Dushane Cloward , it was noted that one of the business ventures he was associated with was the roller skating rink located next to Brandywine Springs Amusement Park. It was also mentioned that a fast-moving and briefly popular sport was played there, as well as at other rinks. I'm not sure quite why, but I thought I'd cover these topics here in their own post. Maybe it's because I don't get to do many sports-related posts, or maybe I just really miss hockey (NHL, not the KHL, OHL, or QMJHL stuff that's on now). In any case, the Country Roller Rink and roller polo do have their own stories, related to but separate from the amusement park. The roller rink was built 1907 and was always part of the park, but not really. It was officially owned by the Springs Amusement Company, a new entity managed by several of the amusement park managers, including Dushane Cloward. They sold stock in their new company to raise capital to build the rink, and

N. Dushane Cloward, 1899 There have been many people over the years who, while they may not have been born or raised in Mill Creek Hundred, have nonetheless made a significant contribution to some aspect of its history. One such person was N. Dushane Cloward. It's easy to think of Brandywine Springs Amusement Park as consisting of no more than the rides, attractions, and buildings that once stood in the glen along Hyde Run. Of course, the park was much more than just its physical structures -- it was conceived, built, and operated by real people (a simple statement, I know, but one that often gets overlooked). Like any business today, it was populated by all kinds of people, some with simple stories, and some with more interesting backgrounds. One of the more interesting people involved with park was N. Dushane Cloward. Cloward was a musician, an artist, and a showman, and he was integral to the success of the amusement park. Nathan Dushane Cloward was born on August 11, 1865 to W

This probably doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, but I love historical clothing. I'll admit to a soft spot for Georgian fashion (powder and patch!), but I really, really adore Regency-era stuff too. Guess who hated Regency fashion? Thackeray. His novel Vanity Fair takes place over about ten or fifteen years (not sure exactly) surrounding the Battle of Waterloo. The 2004 movie with Reese Witherspoon had FABULOUS costumes--Jonathan Rhys Meyers' haircut in that movie is one of the most adorable things I've ever seen. I can't vouch for their 100% historical accuracy (Isobel, what did you think?) but they had the right look, at least. But when Thackeray drew his illustrations, he used contemporary (late 1840s) clothing. Image scanned by Gerald Ajam for the Victorian Web . Not to mention all his completely anachronistic references to Becky Sharp's beautiful bare shoulders in the text! Here's his explanation: "It was the author's intention, faithful to