Hi everyone! I’m so excited! March is going to be a very very busy month for me, but I hope it will be an exciting month for you. I am working especially for you guys!

I have to tell you first of all. This month I will be relaunching my novella with a new title and a new cover!
I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!!
I initially planned to relaunch it on 4^th March, the same day I published it in 2016, but I’ve been so busy since the beginning of the year (work has been especially crazy) that I had to move the date a little further. So I’ll be relaunching it on 17^th March. Stay tuned for that!

And to celebrate the relaunch I’m preparing a super special event for all of you. A scavenger hunt of novels all set in our favourite historical time, the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. How good is that?
Many authors have expressed an interest in this event and the good news for you is that there will be a grand prize for the winner of one novel from each of the authors taking part.
There will be more info coming soon but in the meantime you can have a look at how it works here.

Guys, I can’t wait!!!!!

Well, Well now. Let’s go back to the usual program.

There won’t be many links this month because I’ve been working like crazy to a few projects. You’ve already seen one, Sherilyn Decter’s launching of a new 1920s series. How did you like that?

There will be another blog tour stopping on The Old Shelter later this week. You may remember Margaret Verble’s debut novel Maud’s Line, which I hosted a couple of years ago. Margaret is launching a new book, Cherokee America. This is not set in the early 1900s, rather in the mid 1800s, but I so enjoyed Margaret’s work that I wanted to be part of it anyway. I’ll be hosting a review of the novel (which I finished reading at 1:00 this morning) and in interview with her. Can’t wait for that too.
Both these tours are organised by awesome Amy Bruno. You might want to visit her blog, where she shares lots of news about blog tours, all devoted to historical novels. Worth visiting, believe me!

I will also take part in the Reading Ireland Month like every March since this blog started. I have a couple 1920s novels lined up for review that I can’t wait to share with you. One if from friend and fellow 1920s writer David Lawler (you may remember his great guest post about O’Connell Street in Dublin) and another is form Lia Mills, who I meet a few years ago when I attended a workshop by her in Dublin. I may be able to add another novel, if I don’t run out of time too badly.

And I’ve been working like crazy to the new AtoZ Challenge series. Boy, am I worked out this year! It’s always a struggle to get to the challenge on time, this year particularly so. But I don’t want to give it up. It’s one of the things I enjoy the most on this blog and I’ll do my best to meet it no matter what.
This year, I’ll be visiting the Weimar Republic again, though I’ll be delving more deeply into one particular aspect of that time. I have most of my letters lined up (I only need to pin down a few of them still) and have a big chunk of notes taken down. I’m not quite there yet, but I hope to be able to start drafting right after the scavenger hunt.

But I don’t want to just talk about me. Of course I have a few (really a few) links to share.

René Lalique

René Lalique is one of the most famous, most talented of all creators of the Art Nouveau time, though he breached briefly into the Art Deco style too.
His works are exquisite, complex but also simple in their lines.
Here’s a video from the exhibition in the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, in Holland, which hosted an extensive display of his work.

Be prepared to see beautiful things!

SLEUTH: What sort of word is that?

Something I learned in my research of the 1920s is that so many words which we now use quite nonchalantly have a very weird origin… when the origin is known at all. This is the case of one word that is often used not just in 1920s set novels, but in novels set throughout the first half of the XX century: sleuth.

The Case of Bonnie & Clyde

I stumbled into this series completely by chance. and I was charmed – I have to confess it – by the covers. I havent read any of these books yet, but they are sure going into my to-be-read (mountain) pile.

Steel magnolia Laurel, a recent transplant to Dallas, must work with her recently absent husband Tom and his mentor at the Pinkerton Detective Agency finding a bank manager kidnapped by Bonnie and Clyde to save their jobs. As the pressure mounts, their livelihood and marriage hang on the line, along with the life of a young man where nothing is as it seems… 

A fast-paced story set in 1930’s Dallas, Texas, a place where the Depression has hit differently- the glamour and money from the oil boom has softened the blow, and despite Prohibition, gin joints and the men who control them live large. Bonnie and Clyde aren’t international stars yet, but are already well down the murderous road that made them famous. 

A fresh, suspenseful and feminine take on the classic hard-boiled detective stories of the era.

Tolkien

Guys! Guys!!! I can’t wait!
When I heard about this biopic the first time more than a year ago, I really worried about it, because it seemed to be centred around Tolkien’s romance with his wife and life companion Edith. Don’t get me wrong, that’s an awesome story, but it can turn into a very fluffy thing if badly-handled.
Then more recently more details started to filter. It became clearer that the film was actually about Tolkien’s early years and would involve his experience in Oxford and during WWI. That’s when I became interested. Those are truly very important, forming experiences in Tolkien’s life and fundamental to his creative work, which he started writing right after his war experience (or even when still in the trenches, it isn’t sure exactly when). And as a bonus this story is set in my favourite history time.
Then, some ten days ago, the first trailer dropped. Tolkien fandom went on a frenzy, and as for myself, I totally fell in love with it. I mean, look at it!

I had a cathartic experience last year when I watch another biopic, The Man Who Invented Christmas, the story of how Charles Dickens created A Christmas Carol. It touched me profoundly because I recognised the process of story-creating. I expect Tolkien to be one such film.

UPDATE: I’m adding the second trailer of the film which dropped today (March 6) because it’s even more awesome than the first!