There are LINKS to things on the internet! It’s so cool when that happens.
For more fun and history, Gry sent this link which…yeah, prepare to lose a few minutes reading everything in What Goes Up Must Come Down: A Brief History of the Codpiece:
Only briefly in vogue, the codpiece has left a rich legacy in art, literature and – most recently – in televised costume drama. In focusing her attention on this ostentatious male accessory, PhD candidate Victoria Miller has developed some new ideas about its evolution (and demise) as a symbol of virility.
Awww yeah.
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Amanda, who is a columnist at BookRiot, did a round up of her favorite Second Chance romances:
A second-chance romance isn’t as cut and dry as it sounds. There are several origins to two characters getting a second chance. They could be exes or former lovers – either in a “one that got away” capacity or perhaps the relationship just didn’t or couldn’t work the first time around. The two of them could have been good friends at a time in their life and some series of events prevented them from making it romantic, only to get another chance at confessing their feelings after being reunited.
Second chances are a universal concept and not just in romantic relationships. People make mistakes and generally fuck up. Some of us may even have a “one that got away,” or are waiting for another chance at a relationship. It appeals to the notion that people can change for the better. And it turns me into a big ol’ softy!
I love this trope, too – especially because all the past history between the protagonists can make for a layered and difficult internal and external conflict. Yowzer.
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I was a guest on this week’s XOXO After Dark podcast – and I had a LOT of fun doing this interview. You can listen right here:
Or, you can find XOXO After Dark on iTunes as well.
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Tomorrow, May 2, 2015, is Free Comic Book Day in the US. YAY! My sons look forward to this day every year. Find a local comic shop, go sample all the lovely issues of comics that have been issued for this day, and find yourself a new and exciting and possibly expensive habit! A win win for everyone!
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Via Tina C. comes this link to OpenCulture: The Metropolitan Museum of Art is allowing the free download of 422 art books and catalogs and 400,000 free art images from on their MetPublications website.
“So have a look at MetPublications’ current collection and you’ll find you now have unlimited access to such lush as well as artistically, culturally, and historically varied volumes as African Ivories, Chess: East and West, Past and Present; Modern Design in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1890–1990; Vincent Van Gogh: The Drawings; French Art Deco; or even a guide to the museum itself (vintage 1972).”
I hope you didn’t have any plans for the weekend.
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For fun and silly, enjoy Nadia’s Tumblr, Pungent Love:
I… thought you just might enjoy my very serious and important literary blog, pungentlove.tumblr.com, wherein I collect the greatest olfactory sensations [mostly historical] romance has to offer. It’s my favorite silly hobby.
You know he smelled like horses, leather, and clean sweat, and I’ve never yet figured out what “clean sweat” smells like. Maybe when you’re a bit schvitzy after getting out of the shower?
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What have you been reading online that you’ve enjoyed lately?
I think “clean sweat” means fresh sweat. As time passes, bacterial growth makes the sweat stinkier (like gym clothes left in a duffel bag).
I’ve been enjoying Atlas Obscura’s accounts of unusual historic duels, including this one between two women: http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/unusual-duels-the-princess-vs-the-countess
Re: Clean sweat – I don’t know precisely what that means, but Emily Saliers must (“Hammer and a Nail” Indigo Girls), and if Emily knows (“even my sweat smells clean”), that’s good enough for me.
Rachel Kadish, Weighing My Words, on how a speech impediment made her a better writer.
I love writing second chance romances and making the hero and heroine really pissed off at each other at the beginning.
One of the more recent ones I enjoyed reading was Waiting on You (Kristan Higgins).
Re: Bare-breasted dueling
Why has this not been incorporated in a historical romance?! How can all these crazysauce books out there not have a topless duel scene between women? There were two women who almost got to duel in Amanda Quick’s Seduction but then the hero showed up and ruined everyone’s good time.
So all you authors out there: when you get around to writing your next HR, throw this one in somewhere. Even if it is a dream sequence I’ll take it.
I immediately started to follow the pungent love tumblr! It pleases me as a perfumista and as a romance lover!
If you’re interested in the distinctions between clean sweat vs. dirty sweat, newly showered vs. ripe armpit, or even “hoe panties” (perfumisti are an indecent bunch), any quality perfume blog should be able to help you out, but your first stop would be some of Perfume shrine’s posts, such as romancing the ripe or glorious stink
@L, I vaguely recall that a Playboy magazine we sneaked out of my dad’s dresser drawer way back in the 70’s had a cartoon of two women dueling bare breasted. It is weird that the idea hasn’t turned up in any historicals.
@Vasha that Rachel Kadish piece sounds awfully familiar for me. Even after years of speech therapy I still try to avoid the letter “r”
Thanks to your suggestion on the Pop Culture Happy Hour, I just read Gentleman in the Streets and it was fantastic! And thanks to the ad to the right of this page, I just bought All’s Fair in Love and Scandal. Hope I enjoy it just as much!
About a 1,000 years ago I saw Jethro Tull in concert. A very tall Ian Anderson strutted out onto the stage wearing the most amazing codpiece….it’s one of my finest teenage concert memories….he was magnificent!
The Met books are fantastic. No offense to a book on chess pieces, but I’m probably not alone in being more motivated by the outstanding fashion selections. I cannot recommend Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century enough, it was possibly the best exhibition the always excellent costume institute has done. Also, though far less detailed and informative, the watercolor silhouettes in Waist Not: The Migration of the Waist are simply lovely. The whole catalogue is drool worthy.