Jennifer Haymore » history can be gross!

Yum!

Jennifer — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:30:18 +0000

So I’m researching what kind of eggs my hero and heroine would eat for breakfast, and I came upon this:

He goes on to recommend not eating fruit at breakfast (you might feel “heavyish” all day!) and eggs–yuck! He doesn’t want to have pullet-sperm in his stomach all day!

But cold pig’s face? YUM!!! (He recommends eating it with French mustard and shallot vinegar.)

Okay, I’ve got to get back to my revisions. Just had to share. LOL.

(this is from “The Maxims of Sir Morgan O’Doherty, Bart.”, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, Vol 16, 1824)

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Busy busy busy

Jennifer — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:18:59 +0000

Well, I’m drowning in this deadline, but I have a fun contest going on over at the Dawn Halliday site! Go check it out at www.dawnhalliday.com. You could win an advance copy of A HIGHLANDER CHRISTMAS, an anthology containing one of Dawn’s stories that will be released in November.

I’ve been doing a lot of research and learning a lot about the medicine of the time (remember, pus is a good thing! They wanted to see lots of nice, healthy pus! LOL!). Once I have a moment, I can’t wait to post some of the other wild and crazy stuff I’m reading on the blog!

Until then, wish me luck. Must…finish…book……….

Definitely Stranger than Fiction

Jennifer — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:52:50 +0000

Though my books generally are more about characters than they are about actual historical events, I spend a great deal of time researching the historical backdrop. When I researched A HINT OF WICKED, I spent a lot of time neck-deep in divorce and separation laws of the period, and I read some really interesting case studies! I blogged about one of them today:

My Book Addiction and More

Come by to read the wild story of the 3rd Duke and Duchess of Beaufort’s nasty divorce and comment to win a copy of A HINT OF WICKED!

Also, just a reminder, through June, the publisher is offering A HINT OF WICKED in ebook format for just $1.99 (or even less). Check the Sony eBook store, Books on Board, the Kindle store, the iPhone App store, Fictionwise (where it’s only $0.85 for club members! WOW!), or anywhere ebooks are sold.

Uses of Scottish whale meat

Jennifer — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:36:27 +0000

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!

Romantic Marriage Customs

Jennifer — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:13:00 +0000

So I just finished researching marriage traditions of the 18th century. There are actually two marriages in this book…ahhh, but no spoilers today!

As usual, I ended up getting distracted–this time by marriage rites of various cultures during that same century, and I came across a description of the marriage ceremony of the Hotentots:

The Suri, or master of religious ceremonies, pisses on the bridegroom, who receives the stream with eagerness and rubs it into the furrows of the fat with which he is covered. He performs the same ceremony on the bride, who is equally respectful.

Sketches of the History of Man By Henry Home Kames, 1813

Um….yeah.
Just makes me happy I write romances that take place in the United Kingdom! The culture and society was different from ours…but rather easier to portray as romantic, in my opinion.