Thursday, November 20, 2014

ANITA BIRT'S - NOTE BOOK

Have you done your Christmas book shopping? For the women in your life who enjoy reading well written romance novels, I suggest you give them a treat, wrapped up under the tree one of them will find, A VERY DIFFICULT MAN, a historical romance. It takes place in an English country mansion, 1865 but all is not peaceful and quiet. A wounded soldier returned from the Crimea does not want a companion foisted on him by his worried family. A female? Probably belongs to the Temperance Union. He makes her life as miserable as possible but she fights back.

My book is selling well in England. I promise your friend a great read.

Now back to the present time. Already the shops are dressed for Christmas. It's important to order your books early so they will arrive for Christmas but isn't November a bit early for Christmas trees with jiggling bells and candles flickering? They've already had the Santa Claus parade in Toronto so the one in Victoria will not be far behind.

I think my granddaughter Melissa will have a difficult time keeping three year old Willa from spinning like a top as she listens to Christmas songs.

My little Great Granddaughter in England is too little to figure out what's going on. She's been to London but the Queen wasn't in. I wonder if she saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace?

Must go and write in my diary and think about the review I must write for Richard Flanagan's book, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. It won The Man Booker Prize for fiction. I recommend it.

Anita Birt
www.anitabirt.com


Sunday, November 9, 2014

ANITA BIRT'S - NOTE BOOK

My fingers are all thumbs these days. Must be age or my brain is sending wrong messages to my fingers. Say it isn't so! I like my brain working just as it is. I have a bit of arthritis in two of my fingers. Let's blame arthritis.

Southern Vancouver Island is the place to live if you enjoy mild (not always) weather during the winter months but, be prepared for wild wind storms that stir up the giants living under the sea who raise heaving white caps sending water over the breakwaters showering parked cars. Sea water is not nice to cars and damage the paint.

I am supposed to be writing  a review of, "THE PAPER TRAIL," an Unexpected History of the World's Greatest Invention.

"This is the story of how that soft and supple substance became the vehicle and the conduit for landmark innovations and mass movement across the world. "

It began two thousand years ago in China and moved on from writing on silk, to writing on bamboo scrolls to mashing up sold rags to make a kind of paper. The Paper Trail is a a long read and not for the faint of heart. I read it in stages so I could remember what I'd read!

The Paper Trail takes us into the highways and byways of  governments  and the important of keeping records.

That is for that. The book is physically heavy but it's worth the effort to delve into the earliest of paper making to the present time. 

In the meantime! Remember to buy a romance novel for one of the women in your life. A VERY DIFFICULT MAN,  for the woman who enjoys a historical romance.

ISABELLE: For a woman in  your life who likes to solve a mystery in the very first chapter of ISABELLE'S DIARY. Was there a ghost?  

ISABELLE'S STORY is a historical romance. A broken heart. A pregnancy. Feeling abandoned. Many twists and turns and the good heart of a shepherd. Do read it. There are good and bad people in the world. Let the good triumph.

Anita
www.anitabirt.com

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

ANITA BIRT'S - NOTE BOOOK

Time is marching on and soon, it will be - are you ready  for this - soon it will be time to get out your Christmas lists and try to figure out what gifts to give to whom?

I have a suggestion for women on your list who enjoy reading a historical romance, and another suggestion for a reader of historical romance linked to a contemporary romance.

A VERY DIFFICULT MAN - set in England 1858. My hero returned badly injured from the Crimean war  has withdrawn from society to his large estate. He refuses to socialize. Even his fiancee is unable to shake him loose from his isolation.

In a moment of desperation, his mother has their solicitor advertise for a young lady to live in the country and read to an invalid injured in a riding accident. She expects to read to a young lady like herself, to act as her companion,  and is horrified to discover the invalid is a bad tempered young man who does not want a companion, male or female, and does everything in his power to get rid of her. He throws books at her!

A VERY DIFFICULT MAN  is everything you want in a historical romance. A plucky female and a man, hell bent in getting rid of her. Order my book in trade paper back from Amazon.ca or Amazon.co.uk. It's available as an e-book but give the trade paperback edition to someone who likes holding a book in her hands.

ISABELLE -  A contemporary romance novel and a historical romance. My publisher put my two Isabelle books together. ISABELLE'S DIARY,a contemporary romance and ISABELLE'S STORY, a historical romance.

 Is there a ghost or not? Read the two books and decide for yourself. The cover of ISABELLE is absolutely beautiful. Give the book to someone who appreciates well written stories and a cover to please the eye.

Order ISABELLE from Amazon.ca or Amazon.co.uk or from my publisher, Ellora's Cave Publishing Inc. in the United States.

Anita
www.anitabirt.com