More on Against the Tide…

Elizabeth Camden Against the Tide 5 Comments

So…. I’ve had a couple of readers ask for more insight into Against the Tide. I don’t have any sneak-peeks from my publisher yet, but I can share a little more about the story.
The “vibe” of this book is similar to The Lady of Bolton Hill, rather than the more restrained Rose of Winslow Street.

This is a turbulent, deeply romantic story. Not roses and chocolate kind of romantic. It is about people who fall wildly in love but have seemingly insurmountable obstacles thrown in their path. What is a romance without a little sturm und drang, yes?

The book is entirely stand-alone. With the exception of the advertisement for The Lady of Bolton Hill on the last page of the book, I don’t think readers will even realize they are reading a continuing story. Aside from Bane, the only character from Bolton Hill to make a reappearance is Bane’s nemesis, Professor Van Bracken. Bane is still on the run, but has been steadily working to topple the Professor’s empire. This is how he meets Lydia, a woman who has the ability to translate half-a-dozen languages and whose cooperation Bane desperately needs to advance his plan.

I loved the two major settings for the book: the historic neighborhoods of Boston, and then a remote estate deep in the Vermont wilderness. Both places were great backdrops for the tempestuous, almost gothic atmosphere I was aiming at.

Look for Against the Tide to hit the shelves by October 1!

Splendid Libraries: The Awful Edition

Elizabeth Camden Splendid Libraries Leave a Comment

Normally I like to use the “Splendid Libraries” category on my blog to showcase a spectacular library. This is a public library in Barton, Vermont certainly has a spectacular problem. Some kids broke in overnight and re-arranged the furniture. At first glance it seems like a harmless prank. The problem is that the kids rearranged the books, too.

As a librarian, I can tell you that this is likely to cost the library days of staff time to get those books back in order. It is tedious, unpleasant work, and patrons can’t find the books they are looking for while it happens.

I feel like one of those grim, joyless librarians, but what were those kids thinking!!

Off my soapbox now…..

I am on Pinterest!

Elizabeth Camden Musings on Life 2 Comments

I am probably the last person on the planet to hop on board Pinterest. I have just barely dipped my toe into the water over at Facebook, and please don’t get me started on Twitter. I don’t understand Twitter’s purpose…..but after poking around Pinterest, a lightbulb went off. “Ahhh….. I understand how I can use this!”

Sometimes it is hard for a writer to describe the kind of writing they do to a new reader. The book cover can indicate tone, genre, and overall mood…..but the cover of a book is out of our control. Pinterest is not! So I have the opportunity to hunt for images that capture the mood, settings, even some scenes that occur in the book.

I’ve put together a few basic pages over at Pinterest that can give a little more insight into my books. For example, much of Against the Tide has a gothic vibe. It is darkly romantic and filled with suspense. The spooky house above looks very much like a where one of the major characters lives and where a lot of important scenes occur. If you’ve got a moment, hop on over to Pinterest and check out the board for Against the Tide!

How I spent my Weekend

Elizabeth Camden All about Me! Leave a Comment

Summer never seems to end in Florida, and we’ve got about two more months of the growing season. I’ve been very lax in regards to the backyard (also known as The Jungle.) This weekend I attacked it with vigor!

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The Tide is Coming!

Elizabeth Camden Against the Tide 9 Comments

The release of Against the Tide is getting closer, and I thought I’d better begin talking about it!

For those of you who read The Lady of Bolton Hill, you will already know the novel’s hero, Bane, but this is a completely stand-alone novel.  You don’t need to have read the prequel to make sense of Against the Tide!

Here is a quick blurb about the book:

Boston of 1891 is a city of hope and ambition, where mariners, merchants, and dreamers thrive in the cobblestone streets of America’s most historic city. Within the harbor of Boston’s naval shipyard, Lydia Pallas has become a trusted assistant to an Admiral in the U.S. Navy.  Fluent in seven languages, she spends her days translating documents from all over the world.

Lydia’s remarkable language skills bring her to the attention of Alexander Banebridge, a mysterious man on a quest to rid the world of the scourge of opium. Only Lydia has the rare combination of language skills and courage he needs to advance his cause.  A man as coolly analytical as he is relentless, Bane never bargained on falling in love with Lydia. As he battles the bittersweet love that grows between them, Bane’s mission will take Lydia away from everything—and everyone—she ever held dear.

With fast-paced intrigue and unforgettable characters, Against the Tide is Elizabeth Camden’s most romantic novel yet.

 

Splendid Libraries: The Chained Book edition

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Books were so valuable in medieval and renaissance times that libraries often chained their books to the shelves.  Even today, an occasional medieval book will come up for auction at rare book sales with a bit of the chain attached.  Those bits of chain cause the price of the book to skyrocket.

The library pictured here is on the grounds of St. Walburga’s church in the Netherlands.  Originally built in 1561, it has opted to keep the chains in accordance with tradition.   What a wonderful memory of a bygone era!

The Real Value of Sports

Elizabeth Camden Musings on Life Leave a Comment

As the Olympics get underway, the coffee coolers in workplaces all over the world are dominated by people discussing The Games.  My workplace is no different….except that on a college campus, the general tone of the conversation tends to be somewhat condescending towards the sporting world.

The general opinion among a huge swath of college professors is that sports glorify hyper-masculinity, divert students from worthwhile endeavors in the classroom, and serve little or no value for society.

I could not disagree more.  I firmly believe that sports help keep the body physically fit, develop camaraderie among team players, and are a healthy activity in a world full of overly-seductive drugs, trashy movies, and promiscuity.

My husband has some interesting observation on the value of sports to our society.  He teaches in one of the roughest high schools in the state of Florida.  His students are mostly from broken homes, many are in gangs, and the dropout, pregnancy, and incarceration rate would break your heart.  My husband reports that his best students are the ones playing in team sports.  By “best students,” he means the ones who come to class, stay out of trouble, and turn in their homework….not necessarily the most academically brilliant.

Bill believes the structure and discipline from playing sports teaches these kids important life skills.  You can’t show up the day before the season’s first football game and “cram” to learn football.  It takes months of drill, conditioning, practice, and self-discipline before the kids get to that first game.  There is a healthy dose of delayed gratification, teamwork, and time management that is necessary to be successful in a sport.  Those are transferable skills!

I suppose there a plenty of activities that might serve a similar purpose: the chess club, boy scouts, canoeing…. more power to the kids who pursue those activities, but they don’t really appeal to a broad audience.  Sports do.  I know the kids in Bill’s high school are all dreaming of being the next Donovan McNabb or Payton Manning.  This is an impossible dream for 99% of them, but that does not mean their sports training is in vain.  They will learn time management, self-discipline, and delayed gratification, and these skills are going to give them a chance in this world.

An interesting factoid:  If you remove colleges with televised sports (USC, Ohio State, etc.)  college athletes generally have slightly higher GPAs than the overall student population.  Food for thought!

 

Where do You go to Dance?

Elizabeth Camden Videos Worth Watching Leave a Comment

Bill and I will be traveling for a while, so blogging will be light for the rest of the summer, but please take four minutes out of your day to watch the video below. It is sheer, unabashed joy….the kind of video that makes you happy to be part of the human race:

For Exhausted Cooks Everywhere

Elizabeth Camden Recommended Reading Leave a Comment

Some people love to prepare recipes full of numerous steps with exotic ingredients and complicated flavors.  Nothing thrills them more when they see a long list of ingredients and procedures that might require them to clarify butter, make a reduction, or run out to a specialty market.

This is not me.  I confess to being a pretty basic cook.  Not only do I lack the time and skill, I am inclined toward basic recipes I can throw together in ten or twenty minutes…preferably in one pot.  My only requirement is that they be healthy and not have a list of ingredients as long as my arm.

I adore the cookbooks of Brother Victor.  He is a resident monk and the cook for a monastic order near the Hudson Valley in New York.  The order is vegetarian, but his recipes include fish, dairy, and eggs.  These recipes are very simple, calling on basic staples any healthy vegetable garden will feature (carrots, spinach, celery, etc.)  Throw in a starch, some beans, a handful of seasoning, and you are done.

These recipes aren’t for everyone.  My husband thinks them bland and boring, but I adore the simplicity.  This is “peasant” cooking.  Nothing fancy, but somehow it harkens back to a simpler time when there were fewer demands on a cook to produce a spectacular array of flavors.  And the fact that Brother Victor’s cookbooks have all been best sellers gives me tacit permission to revert back to these simpler recipes.  If you wish to check out his other titles and look over the recipes, you can click HERE