Writer for Young Adults
About a month ago I posted about some of the mentor texts I've been reading in preparation for a YA historical fantasy I want to write. I've tried to read a wide range of books, as I figure out exactly how much fantasy I like in my history. Today I'm going to share some books that travel down… Continue reading Mentor Texts: Steampunk and Alternate History
This fall I've been mulling over an idea for a YA historical fantasy and doing some research (my favorite) in between working on my current WIP. I've also been reading a bucketload of mentor texts to help me hone my vision for the book. This means luxuriating in historical fantasy, paranormal, and steampunk novels to my… Continue reading Mentor Texts: Historical Fantasy
We've just returned from our honeymoon and family vacations (nothing wrong with a month away!), and I'm excited to share some of our adventures with you. But today I'm thinking about World War I (known as the Great War by most English-speaking historians until the second war broke out), which began at the end of… Continue reading Reading World War I
Happy Valentine's Day! I've been hunkered down at home with a nasty virus, and the wintry mix outside isn't doing much to make things feel more festive. So instead, I've been daydreaming about our summer honeymoon in England. Josh and I have been studying guidebooks galore, making lists of places to see and trading visions… Continue reading Personal reading history
But really, it's here.Last weekend Josh and I hosted two separate gatherings of friends to play the Game of Thrones board game. This is a complicated, multiplayer game where folks play as the houses (House Stark, for example) from the books by George R.R. Martin. Each house aims to capture seven castles, all while dealing… Continue reading Winter is coming
Meet Mrs. Hannah Glasse. By day, she is a plain English housewife, struggling to scrape by in the mid-1700s. By night, however, she works on her revolutionary new idea: a cookbook designed for the masses of untrained servants working in fine English homes.source: WikipediaBy 1746, when Glasse began to write The Art of Cookery Made Plain… Continue reading Colonial Cookbook: The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy
I've been chronicling my adventures in historical cooking for almost two years now (!), but it wasn't until recently that I began to wonder why. I love history, isn't that enough? Well, yeah, but what's the bigger picture? Why does it matter to cook from old recipes?Here are a few of the answers I've come… Continue reading Why I love historical recipes
Obelix with dinnerI have this habit of getting totally immersed in whatever topic I'm teaching in history. The Declaration of Independence? Let's watch 1776! Ancient Greece? Let's check out The Odyssey from the library! The Gupta empire? Let's eat Indian food for a week!For the past couple of weeks, the cogs of my "immersion" brain have been… Continue reading The Ancient Table: Roast boar
Almost all the seeds I planted a few weeks ago have sprouted, and my seed tray is now a veritable wonderland of tiny green sprouts and tendrils.While I love all the phases of the growing season (except perhaps pest control--haven't figured out a green way of combating aphids yet), this is definitely my favorite. I… Continue reading The wearing of the green
I am known to get emotionally involved with fictional characters. When they fall in love, I swoon around the house. When they suffer heartbreak, I moan along with them. When they struggle to figure out what they really think about an important issue, my mind gets muddled and filled with conflicted emotions. When they die,… Continue reading Dining at Downton: Irish stew
Abby Murphy 