Hello everyone, and a happy Halloween!

When we came to Canada we were quite startled by trick or treating. It wasn’t a tradition in England, we weren’t prepared, and had no idea what to do. We soon came to love it, however, especially as a chance for our children to dress up and go out in the dark to have adventures. I have to say that I think it’s sad that neighbourhood trick or treating seems to be dying out, though of course children need an adult with them. But for us that used to be a fun time of roaming the neighbourhood and chatting with other parents, both those on escort duty and those giving out the treats.

When it comes to my treats I only have reissues to offer The Shattered Rose has been out for a few weeks now, so I assume all of you who were waiting for it have found it. The Brides of Christmas has also been reissued. I was surprised and pleased to see it’s in trade paperback with a nice cover. I think it would make a great Christmas gift or stocking stuffer. Buy now! I’m not sure if virtual signings are of value, but if any of you would like a downloadable signed Christmas greetings book plate to stick in one of my books that you want to give as a present, let me know.

I just sent back the page proofs of The Rogue’s Return, so that’s definitely in the works. Due out in March, of course. Page proofs are print-offs from the typesetting and we check them to try to eliminate errors. I don’t have a good eye for this, but I found some. There’ll be in-house checkers, too. In one place, for some reason, they’d shuffled a sentence to lower on the page which made nonsense of it.

I’m working on Dare’s book, and on the dragon novella, and now conference season is over I’ll be getting to it steadily. Let’s hope the books cooperate!

I’ve made a few new entries to my blog. It definitely depends on whether I’m coming across snippets of history that catch my interest. Click here to visit Minepast.

For another treat, a reader sent me a link to this museum site with content to do with the Tres Riches Heures, the medieval manuscripts I refer to on my web page. Explore and enjoy.

I want to write more medieval romances and I want many, many readers to enjoy them, but so many reader have this persistent notion that the middle ages were nasty, dirty, and bleak. We have only to look at their art. These works in particular show images of daily life. They’re not always idylls, but they have life, color, and energy. I think 3d1 on this page is a man warming his hands on the fire that’s grilling his dinner. Medieval barbecue!

8d1, 9d1 and 10d1 show a medieval man’s underwear, probably a breech cloth or clout, as they might have called it. “Ne’re cast a clout till May is out.” As a child I thought that mean don’t hit anyone until May rather than don’t stop wearing your winter underwear.

Check out O15, too, for reading and books. That’s the sort of medieval reading desk Rothgar has in the library at Rothgar Abbey, though probably not quite as elaborate.

These are from the Belles Heures, but there are pictures from the Tres Riches as well. Of course these are 15th century, which is late in the middle ages, but earlier art is as glorious. Help spread the word that medieval can be fun. (BTW, I'm not sure where mideval came from, but though common, it is wrong. It's medieval.)

All best wishes,

Jo :)

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