I just realized today that in the whole time I've been doing this blog, I haven't talked much about my first book Devil's Kiss. I've talked a lot about bourbon since the Small Batch series is set in the bourbon industry in Kentucky. But I haven't talked much about the sweeter side of the books---some of those sinfully sweet and yummy, purely Southern treats the heroine Rook Campbell turns to time and again to quench her emotional upheavals: MoonPies and Kentucky Spice soda (i

In my last Widows & Shadows novel, Widow’s Peak  one of the characters alludes to the Highland Clearances affecting her family. While the Clearances didn’t feature prominently in the book, it was a motivation for the actions and behaviors for some of the characters, a thread running through the cultural atmosphere in the story. The Highland Clearances are one of those historical events that quietly shape everything around them. If you’ve ever traveled through the Scottish Hig

If you’ve read many books set in the Georgian and Regency eras (circa 1750-1815), you've undoubtedly come across a heroine wearing a puce-colored gown. This ugly-sounding word has an uglier meaning in French: flea. That's right. Those nasty little biting insects became a French fashion trend. Which is not so surprising since fleas affected the high-born, low-born and everyone in between because flea bombs hadn't been invented and didn't arrive on the since until around 1939.

In my latest historical mystery, Widow's Peak, the characters are seated at the dinner table, engaged in conversation. One of the women asks about the beaches in Scotland because she loves to go sea-bathing. Many might believe, because of the modesty of our British predecessors, that they would never dare strip down to go swimming at the beach. Especially in mixed company! Perish the thought! Well, that's both wrong and right. Sea-bathing was a favored past time, as well as