There could be no other song for this day.
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Assembly Rooms: Party Time
You’ll find references to both Almack’s and the Assembly Rooms in Clytie’s Caller. Please enjoy this article that sheds some light on both entities.
If you’ve ever had to arrange a venue for a large celebration of some kind, you know the difficulty in finding a place the offers space to accommodate a large number of guests, a dance floor, and also elegance. In Georgian England most towns of any size had dedicated rooms for that purpose. They called them assembly rooms. These places play a familiar and treasured role in historical romance, particularly in stories set it the Regency era. You could not, however, simply run out and contract for one.
The Ballroom, Bath Assembly Rooms, Photo by Glitzy queen00 CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia commons
Assembly rooms usually functioned as social clubs that catered to the upper classes with admission controlled by subscription with an eye to allowing in only the “best” sort of folks. The most notorious example of exclusivity was Almack’s Assembly Rooms, London’s premier social club. William Almack, the…
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Weekend Reads: “Trailblazer”
Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist’s Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America by Dorothy Butler Gilliam
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am always surprised when I read about a “first” these days … first black female neurosurgeon candidate was the most recent (never mind that we’re so far from parity/equality that it’s absurd that these things still happen).
Dorothy Butler Gilliam was also a “first” – the first black female reporter at the Washington Post. Having come from covering the Little Rock Nine for one of the country’s leading black newspapers, she brought with her a level of experience and talent that could not be ignored by the managing editor.
In her memoir, Gilliam describes her work in the civil rights movement, in working to make journalism a more welcoming place for people of color and thus increase its diversity, and her struggles to report on her culture in a way that gave enlightenment rather than reinforcing stereotypes.
Given Gilliam’s experience as a journalist, it is no surprise that the book is well-written, well-sourced, and intelligent. Gilliam’s authorial voice is frank and direct. Getting a look into the newsroom, as well as life for people of color during both Jim Crow (Gilliam grew up in the segregated South) and the civil rights movement gives an immensely useful perspective.
Highly recommended.
Wow! Huge Thanks to the Califa Library Group!
The Califa Library Group has added Bayou Fire, A Light Across the Lake, Last Stop: Storyville, Yellowjack and the Riverman, and Music, Mayhem, and Bad Decisions to their offerings. Thank you!
Another “State of the Author” Post
Hi, everyone. There are lots of things going on, so I thought I’d give a quick update.
- The next edition of Pocketful of Stories, “Down on the Corner of Love,” is in edits. These stories all take place in 1967-68.
- Speaking of Pocketful of Stories, I’ve had a couple of lovely 5-star reviews for “A Light Across the Lake.” Thank you!
- The Harmon/Hope romance is still in draft zero … and I’m kind of stalled out. I have scenes but no real connector, so I’m still working on it.
- I have a day job business trip next week, going back to National Harbor, Maryland. The last time I was there was very early in what became The Year of The Great Sadness. I was already in deep grief over two very specific losses, had another one while I was there … and had no idea that it was going to be the tip of the iceberg. So, I have more than my usual pre-travel jitters going on. I’m hoping to have some fun on the visit all the same and will share photos.
- I am trying to put together events for another day job business trip that takes place a mere two weeks after I get back from Maryland. This one will be in Southern California. Ditto on sharing photos.
- One of the events I planned to do this year, InDScribe, has been postponed until 2020. This leaves space in my calendar to do a different event, but I haven’t made up my mind about what that might be.
- In March, I’m going to Vancouver, BC, for Left Coast Crime. I’m going strictly as a learner and fan this time (Maureen Jennings, author of the marvelous Murdoch Mysteries, is going to be there). I know there will be fun and photos!
- I am experiencing some health challenges. I am in contact with my physician, and have arranged some lab work for this weekend. I am pretty sure that the meds I take for Hashimoto’s disease need to be adjusted, as I am experiencing a lot more pain and other symptoms. I am trying hard not to be depressed over this, to be honest, as the musculoskeletal symptoms are the worst part for me and prevent me from doing a good many things I want to.
That’s about it for now. I hope that all is well with you. I appreciate all of my readers, blog followers, fans and friends. Thank you.
