What’s in Mrs. Hales Receipts for the Million 1857?

1221. Unfermented bread-This keeps moist longer than bread made with yeast, and is more sweet and digestive. The brown bread made in this way particularly recommended for dyspeptic. Take four pounds of flour, half an ounce avoir du puis of muriactic acid; the same of cabonate of soda; about a quart of water. First mix the soda and flour together by rubbing a pan; pour the acid into the water and stir it well together. Mix all together to the required consistence and bake in a hot oven immediately

Catching Up

It’s been a crazy year, much in a good way.  I went to Texas in January for the Girlfriend Weekend (author Jamie Ford co-host), then an awesome writer’s retreat in the Cascade Mountains, which led to a unplanned jaunt to Spokane, WA in May for the Connecting Writers With Hollywood conference where I pitched The Jøssing Affair as a TV series. Several of us went to the wonderful Auntie’s Bookstore to talk about writing to a great group of interested readers.

I had little time to breathe before I was off to Portland for the Historical Novel Society’s US conference in June. A wonderful time was had by all as I was on a panel talking about NW writers writing historical fiction in the Pacific NW. Great fun.  July was just as busy, with English Encampment at the end of the month and a dash to the Pacific NW Writers Conference where my WIP, Thatch’s War, placed third in historical fiction.

The biggest event of the year was, in the end, my trip to Norway in late August. I was there almost 3 weeks. The medieval town of Trondheim was the focus of my trip. I plan to write more about it in a separate post. I was there to do research. I never dreamed that I could make it there, but I did. An amazing journey both research-wise and just being there. Lots more on that to come. Just say, I fell in love with the place.

Book News

This is turning out to be more of a letter, but I’m hoping to have a new website set up before Christmas. I’ll be able to talk about my books, post videos, book club questions, and research in a much more organized way. I’ve been putting it off for some time. I will have a newsletter then, coming out once a month. The rest of the time I can talk about the things I love in history. In the meantime, I do have some book news.

First, The Jøssing Affair was just made it as an IndieB.R.A.G honoree. So exciting as I continue to get the word out about this novel which is so dear to me. It received an awesome review in Publisher’s Weekly, which only a small percentage of indie authors get.

Second, my new historical novel, Mist-chi-mas: A Novel of Captivity is out.  Here is the blurb:

Jeannie Naughton never intended to run away from her troubles, but in 1860, a woman’s reputation is everything. A scandal not of her own making forces her to flee England for an island in the Pacific Northwest, a territory jointly occupied by British and American military forces. At English Camp, Jeannie meets American Jonas Breed. Breed was once a captive and slave — a mistchimas — of the Haida, and still retains close ties to the Coast Salish Indians.

But the inhabitants of the island mistrust Breed for his friendship with the tribes. When one of Breed’s friends is murdered, he is quickly accused of a gruesome retaliation. Jeannie knows he’s innocent, and plans to go away with him, legitimizing their passionate affair with a marriage. But when she receives word that Breed has been killed in a fight, Jeannie’s world falls apart. Although she carries Jonas Breed’s child, she feels she has no choice but to accept a proposal from another man.

Twenty years later, Jeannie finds reason to believe that Breed may still be alive. She must embark on a journey to uncover the truth, unaware that she is stirring up an old and dangerous struggle for power and revenge…

It’s already received a great review. I’m getting it out into the awards season. It’s my ode to English Camp on San Juan Island where I have demonstrated 19th foodways and reenacted as a 1860s schoolmarm for over 21  years. It’s the most wonderful place.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Not so sure about the bread receipt, though. It’s a kicker with all that acid.