In my two visits to London since I started writing A HINT OF WICKED, I spent lots of time staring at the Saudi Arabian Embassy. Only slightly intimidated by the guards bearing gigantic automatic weapons and casting suspicious looks in my direction, I’ve paced back and forth in front of the place for hours, studying it from all angles. The embassy is located at Crewe House, built in 1730 and one of the few remaining old mansions standing in Mayfair.

The Saudi government purchased Crewe House for 37 million pounds in 1984, but in my imagination, it’s the home of Sophie, Garrett, and Tristan from A HINT OF WICKED.

If it was worth 37 million pounds in 1984, I wonder how much it’s worth now? I’d sure like to make the Saudis an offer…

Here it is on a dreary London day. Sigh. Pretty, no?

I’m studying the 18th-century economy of Scotland (a topic I find fascinating–yes I am a nerd!). I came across this interesting snipped from a book written in 1715. According to this book, whales were one of Scotland’s primary trade products. Huh!

(Whale meat) is better boiled than roast’d to be eat with Vinegar, Wine, Parsly, Hyssop, Savoiry, Fennel, Organy, Anet, Onions, Leeks, and Pepper. The Fat is good against the Itch. The Liver smells like Violets, tastes pleasantly, and is very nourishing being salted.

–The present state of Great-Britain and Ireland In three parts.
By Guy Miege

All I can say is that it’s no wonder the Scottish economy suffered during that time period…

And who knew whale liver smelled like violets!

I can’t believe A HINT OF WICKED is set to release in just three weeks’ time! My schedule is crazyinsane for the next few weeks. Not only do I have a book due soon & expecting edits on another & copyedits on yet another, I have a full blog tour schedule planned as well. (Not to mention baseball playoffs, end of school madness, my mom flying into town, and everything else…oh, my blood pressure is rising just thinking about it all!). But I did want to share with you some of the stops I’ll be making on my “tour” because there are going to be TONS of opportunities to win signed books and lots of other goodies. Ready? Okay, here we go:

5/9: Grand Central Cafe
5/18: Visiting with Jackie Barbosa
5/25: Lust in Time
5/28: I Do Not Want to Wait, I Want the Book Now!
5/29: RR&H Novel Thoughts & Book Talk
6/1: Fran Lee’s Romance Blog
6/1: Visiting with Beverley Kendall
6/2: Romance Bandits
6/3: Reading Romance Books
6/5: Feature at Single Minded Women
First Week in June: The Good, The Bad, The Unread
6/7: Risky Regencies
6/9: Grand Central Cafe
6/13: Signing IN PERSON at Orange County RWA
6/14: Signing IN PERSON at Encino Barnes & Noble (12 noon)
6/19: Spotlight at Dark Diva Reviews

Yes…a little busy!