The Two Nerdy History Girls return. Again.

Advertisement for virtual program featuring the Two Nerdy History Girls.

Yes, it’s turned out to be a regular thing, and being a Nerdy History Girl, I for one am very happy about this. Meena Jain, Director of the Ashland Public Library, continues to invite us back. She also makes it pain-free, and keeps things moving along, a superior host.

And so historical novelist Susan Holloway Scott and I will appear virtually to answer your burning questions about the past. Well, we hope we can answer. At any rate, we’ll do our best, and if matters proceed as they have on previous occasions, we’ll all have a good time.

Details, details:

Virtual - The Two Nerdy History Girls Ride Again!

7pm-8pm ET Monday 14 April

This link will take you to the event information page, which includes the registration link. Or you can register directly here. Either way, you’ll get confirmation and reminder emails. These will come from Zoom, so you may want to check your spam folder.

I hope you’ll join us—and ask some questions!

Two Nerdy History Girls on YouTube

The Two Nerdy History Girls Ride Again 2024-07-15, courtesy Meena Jain and the Ashland Public Library

Once again historical novelist Susan Holloway Scott and I had a great time talking nerdy history with our most excellent host/superior moderator, Meena Jain, Library Director of the Ashland Public Library, in Ashland, Massachusetts.

As always, the discussion ranged hither and yon, as we did our best to respond to questions from the audience. But we did devote some time to an unfamiliar-to-many-people garment, the under-waistcoat, as part of a discussion of men’s attire. Apparently, it’s not an easy garment to comprehend in this day and age. Even waistcoats, the regular variety, are not familiar garments to many people.

For those who have watched or will be watching the video and trying to picture the item, here are a couple of images. That red V in the men’s fashion print is the under-waistcoat. It’s a bit more obvious in the portrait, although the museum tells us he’s wearing two shirts. No. The style is different because the images are thirty years apart, and waistcoats changed, much as women’s fashions changed.

From The Dictionary of Fashion History: “A sleeveless waistcoat, shorter than the over-waistcoat but extending a little above its upper edge; the visible portion of rich fabric contrasting in colour with that of the overgarment. Most fashionable ca 1825-1840 when several under-waistcoats might be worn, * one above the other; in the 1840s its use was becoming restricted to evening wear, ceasing to be fashionable after ca. 1850.” It’s revived later in the century under a different name, but let’s not add to the confusion with alternate names.

We touched on other topics, but I’ll leave it to you to ask questions, if you have any, by heading over to my Contact page. Please be aware that during these chats we don’t know what questions to expect, and the answers aren’t always on the tip of our tongues. There were a couple I could have answered more intelligently with a little preparation or time to reflect. But that’s part of the fun: not knowing what’s going to come up.

The program is on YouTube on the Ashland Public Library’s channel. You can watch it by clicking here. Or you can look up the title, “The Two Nerdy History Girls Ride Again! 7.15.2024.” Or you can cut and paste this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9F-xqxxQqM

*!!!!!

Images: L-Saliceti, Cristoforo, by Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Wicar ca 1800, Chrysler Museum of Art. R-Fashion Plate 20 March 1833, French, © Victoria and Albert Museum.

Difficult Dukes #3 News—or, What's Happening With the Blackwoods? Also, Other News

Print of a woman in a red dress, trimmed in fur, who is reading a letter.

As reported elsewhere, the third Difficult Dukes book, the Blackwoods’ story, is in production.

It doesn’t yet have a cover, but that is in process. It does have a title and a release date, which I feel pretty safe in reporting, now that it appears on major online bookseller pages:

My Inconvenient Duke 21 January 2025

Meanwhile, because the writing happens ages before the publishing (in my case, something resembling eternity occurs between these two phases), I am working on the next book, which currently seems to be a spinoff. But things change. It may turn out to be something completely different.

Previous Occurrences

In May, the Ashland Public Library, in Ashland Massachusetts, was the site of yet another great RomCon last month. In fact, my assistant Jessica and I were so busy that we never got to take photos, so I had to steal them from the library. Thank you, readers, for enduring yet another wet New England day, and for making us feel so welcome and loved.

Top Row: The authors; Historical Romance Panel-Carla Kelly, Caroline Linden, Loretta Chase, Evelyn Richardson; Moi with crocheted Jane Austen figure. Bottom Row: Meena Jain & her Minions aka Meenions—an incredible team, who kept everything running smoothly.

Coming Attractions:

July will see a return of the Two Nerdy History Girls, courtesy our most excellent host, Meena Jain, and the Ashland Public Library. You can register for the event if you follow this link. I will report in more detail as we get nearer the date.