Months ago I set myself a goal of blogging on this site every Monday, and the main website every Friday. So far, that hasn’t worked out so much…

…but we are getting a little attention again, so I’m gonna try.

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I finally got the book files for The Elderly Earl’s Estate approved and the paperback available on Amazon. The weird thing is that I had already had them approved and ordered a paper proof so we could make last minute changes more easily…but after I tweaked those pages, it took three attempts and a completely new format to get it approved again. I really don’t know what was up with that.

I used one of my birthday gift cards yesterday to get some new research material that should come in handy as we continue to explore Ireland in Book 6. That book on blacksmithing might have come in handy in several ways during the writing of the current book, as we run into several blacksmiths in the course of the adventure.

For example, in researching The Elderly Earl’s Estate, I was lucky enough to be pointed to Mary Parsons, Lady Rosse. She was a real person of the time period that Jo would have gotten along very well with. All of the things she is credited with doing in the book are real achievements of this remarkable woman–including having her own smithy and fabricating the telescope. I may have made her a little younger than she was in 1876, but I hope the liberty won’t be held against me. She is worthy of study, and I am very pleased to have made her virtual acquaintance.

Short and sweet today, but that’s two blog posts in a week, which is certainly better than I’ve done all year!