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Finishing up A Series of Scandals - Yeah!!

This is my last weekend of editing A Series of Scandals. And then it is off to my sister who will pitch it to a couple of publishers. I kept thinking I was done. Three years of thinking I was done. Three more years on top of so many more that I have worked to forge out this story. But I really like it now. If a publisher is interested, then I’ve heard I will have to change it even more. But at least that is moving forward.   

I've begun working on its sequel. Its working title is Out in the Open. I'm sure there are a thousand books with that title. But until another one comes to mind, I’m stuck with this one.  

Out at Cherry Creek this weekend.  

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Spring is coming

Brad and I were out at Cherry Creek hiking this weekend, we came across this magpie. Took this picture before he flew away. It was a wonderful hike on a path that I'd not been on before. It was a little over 2 miles and the weather was gorgeous.

My crocuses have bloomed so I guess spring is on its way.

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Denver Broncos

  

The Denver Bronco's parade for winning the Superbowl was on Tuesday. My husband and our sons 22 and 19 went downtown to welcome them. It was only right because they are true fans. Not only do they talk about the team during the season but also during the off-season.

Every year since my oldest son became interested in football, he has felt the Bronco’s wins and their losses. And every year at the beginning of the Season, I say to him, if you don’t give them your heart, they won’t break it.

This year as every year, he gave them his heart and this year, it was not broken.  

White's Gentlemen's Club 1800's

Men’s clubs in Regency England were the centers of the gentleman’s social life.

Clubs were created when men of every class were meeting at coffee houses or chocolate houses to play cards. Cheats and cards sharks were prevalent and so exclusive clubs came about to keep out the riffraff.

Below is the layout of White's. 

The three great clubs were Whites, Brooks’s and Boodle’s. All three were very exclusive. The men of the club would vote on a new member entering. They would call it an election if the man was accepted into the club. Each member would have a white ball and a black ball and when voting on a man to become a member would deposit the black or white ball into a specified box. Even if the box contained one black ball the man would be denied entrance into the club as a member. Hence the term, “They were blackballed.” came into circulation.

Whites was the most coveted of the three. It was originally, in 1693 an Italian owned  chocolate shop. Francesco Bianco the proprietor changed his name to Francis White. When White’s changed into a gentlemen’s club, it was a place for high-stakes gambling. It was politically conservative and the majority of its members were from the Tory party.  Such card games as whist, quinze, hazard and faro were some of the main games played. But other bets were also taking place. A difference of opinion would be recorded in a betting book and wagers were placed on such things as who would enter the club next or whose horse was the fastest.....

Musings of Colorado, Writing and a Gown

From a foot of snow on Tuesday to sunshine and 45 degrees, I'm loving everything about Colorado today.  Here's the view from my front window.

This week has gone by so quickly, but I've been able to write every day. I'm not entirely satisfied with the excerpts I have been posting from my Out of Focus book. But the deadline is helping me to finish a chapter at a time. And it is coming along better than when I give myself a deadline and then fail to meet it. Any comments on it would be greatly appreciated.

Below is another gown that my daughter made for me. It goes along with my Regency book. And yes, I'm still editing it. My sister/editor has given me a March 1st deadline, and so I'm reading every line and making sure each one reveals something or I'm cutting it. With 114,773 words, it is in desperate need of losing a few words here and there.