May 2020
Merciful heavens, but life can change quickly, can’t it? Last month when I wrote my newsletter, I had no idea Covid-19 would make such a huge impact on the world. Silly me.
The truth
of the quarantine, at least for me, is that life hasn’t changed a whole lot.
Because the hounds and I live in Roswell, New Mexico, there’s nowhere for us to
go and nothing for us to do anyway. Church services have been held via video for a
few weeks, and choir practice has been suspended for the duration, but that’s
about it. The dogs still take me for our daily drag around the neighborhood (if
I’d ever managed to train them properly, they’d walk like good little doggies,
but I never did, so I get yanked). That’s on me. Mind you, if I could still
afford to live in California, I’d probably be pining away, but I don’t, so I’m
not.
Did that
make any sense? Never mind. It really doesn’t matter.
In recent
weeks I’ve heard from a few people in other parts of the world (other than the
USA, I mean), telling me they enjoy Daisy’s and/or Mercy’s adventures but can’t
quite equate what they’re reading to what they know in their world. I
understand this situation completely, since I love reading British mysteries.
So far, among other things, I’ve learned the boot of a car is our trunk, the
bonnet is our hood, a fish pie is a fish concoction with mashed potatoes on top
(I think mashed potatoes are just mash), and flapjacks aren’t just another word
for what we call pancakes. In fact, Carola Dunn sent me her mother’s recipe for
flapjacks. It looks delicious, although I haven’t made any yet.
Anyway,
because people seem interested, I decided I’d create a more pictorial
newsletter than usual, showing Daisy’s street, her house, Mrs. Bissel’s house,
etc. And even, because someone asked, I'm posting a photo of clam chowder (pronounced CHOW-dah)! Not my favorite dish, but
don’t tell my father. Well, you can’t because he’s dead, but . . . never mind
again.
Here’s a
lousy photo of Daisy’s house. Below it is approximately what her house would
look like if anybody took care of it. They’re not the same house, but they’re
close:
And here's Sam's big, clunky black Hudson:
Here’s Harold’s bright red Stutz Bearcat:
And here’s Harold’s new Kissel Gold Bug Speedster (which makes its first appearance in Exercised Spirits, which I promise I’ll finish writing soon):
This is the breakfast room, in which Daisy conducted the séance in which she
conjured the ghost of a poor murdered young man, much to Daisy’s (and pretty
much everyone else’s) horror. My aunt used to serve dinner in this room unless
she was hosting a huge gathering, as
on Christmas Eve, etc. Notice the door to the right? Not the door into the
kitchen, but the one next to it? That door leads to a suite of rooms (a sitting
room with a fireplace, a bedroom and a bathroom). I expect when the house was
first built and occupied (early 1900s) that apartment housed the
cook/housekeeper. My aunt used to rent it out:
Um . . . I can’t think of any other photos to post. Oh, wait! Boston baked beans. These are the same beans folks in the UK eat, pretty much. At least that’s what I ate when I visited. My daddy made them with either salt pork or bacon (or maybe both), and he served them with home-made New England brown bread, which is sweet and is baked in a tin can. It’s a little too sweet for me, but again, don’t tell my dad. Oh, that’s right. Never mind:
Of course, I need to show Daisy’s White sewing machine! According to Leon Fundenberger,
who knows about sewing machines, this model dates from later than the 1920s.
However, it’s mine, I used to make clothes for both of my daughters and
myself on it, and I love it. It’s electric, and it has a side pedal, which runs
the thing. I think in the Daisy books I called it a treadle, but that’s
incorrect. I’ve learned a whole lot of stuff from Leon and his pal, Iris Evans,
who not only collect sewing machines and do tons of sewing, but who also do a
lot of fun dress-up stuff:
Egad! I almost forgot to show you Daisy's engagement ring, made by Sam's father, much against his will (Sam's father's, not Sam's). Sam's family objects to Daisy being neither Italian nor Roman Catholic:
Okay! On
to the new book front! Um . . . there’s nothing to say, really. I’m actually
getting close to finishing Exercised
Spirits, which was supposed to have been published in May but can’t be
because I haven’t finished writing it yet. I’m sorry!
I did go
through the first book in the to-be-republished “Meet Me at the Fair” series, Coming Up Roses. Boy, oh, boy, I was
blabby 25-30 years ago. I slashed and burned my way through that one and felt
like a blooming idiot. For one thing, I no longer write romances for a good
reason (I don’t want to) and for another, there were just too many words in it.
Still have to go through the other two books, Just North of Bliss and A
Bicycle Built for Two, and I really
hope they don’t require so much editing. Y’know, editing other people’s books
and having my own books edited has taught me a lot. I still tend to repeat
myself when I’m writing (it takes maybe weeks to write a scene you can read in
five minutes), but I’m attempting to curb my repetitive tendency. Just so you
know.
A reminder:
I no longer have a post-office box, so if you want to get in touch with me, please
do so through my web page or on Facebook. Or send me an email at alice@aliceduncan.net. If you
absolutely must snail-mail me
something (preferably several checks for large sums of money), lemme know and I’ll
give it to you. My address, I mean. Oy.
Because I
have no clue how long everyone will be on lock-down and don’t want to mail
paper books to anyone unless they’re willing to wait six months or so until
this little old lady can get to the post office, I’ll be sending ebooks (or
regular books if you don’t mind the wait) to the people whose names Bam-Bam has
chosen from his special contest doggie dish. And those people are (for April’s giveaway):
Peg Ghrist, to whom I’ll
send a NOOK copy of whatever book you want,
Carol Wright, to whom I’ll
send a book of any sort if you’ll let me know which one you want and whether
you want an ebook or a paper book, and
Teresa Henson, who will
get a paper copy (let me know which one you want) as soon as I feel safe going
to the post office!
Congratulations,
ladies! I’ll send your books as soon as I know which book you want and (in
Teresa’s case) when can I get to the post office!
As for May’s
giveaway, why don’t we just do the same thing over again? Any old book you want
(that I’ve written). Just lemme know either now or if you win which book you’d
like. As ever, please send me an email to alice@aliceduncan.net, and I’ll toss your name into Bammy’s dish. Oh,
there’s one more thing that might be important to know. When it comes to
mailing paper copies of books, I can only send them within the USA. I can send
e-copies of books to people pretty much anywhere (or, come to think of it,
audio copies, if you’re willing to download the Audible app), but postage to
foreign climes is just too expensive.
Okay, what
now? I know! Daisy Daze! If you enjoy the Daisy and Mercy books, or if you’re
just fascinated by the 1920s (as I am), please feel free to join Daisy Daze. I adore Daisy Daze. Iris Evans and Leon
Fundenberger (whom I’ve already mentioned regarding sewing machines) founded the
DAISY DAZE Facebook page on which people post all sorts of historical stuff
about Pasadena, sewing machines, automobiles, buildings, fashions from the
1920s, houses in which the people in the books might live, stars of the silent
screen, and lots and lots of other historical (1920s-era) stuff. It’s fun, and
if you’d like to be a member, check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/905100189878318/ .
If you’d
like to visit my web page, here’s the link: http://aliceduncan.net/ . If you’d like to be
Facebook friends, please go here: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925
Thank you!
