Eve

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Eve is available now.

Mrs. Quent and the House on Durrow Street

Reading, reading. Waiting for Harlequin to arrive in the mail.

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Excerpt from the sequel, The House on Durrow Street :

Then they found themselves on the edge of the glade, and once again they stepped forward, into a new painting.

This one was darker, with lanterns reflecting off onyx water and the graceful arches of stone bridges.  A narrow gondola glided by as candles floated all around.  Ivy had seen pictures of such a place before.  It was one of the canal cities on the coast of the Principalities, where people went not by carriage but by boat on the various waterways that served for streets.

Another glass of wine was given to them, this time by a servant in a grotesque but delightful mask with a beaked nose and decorated with feathers.  They had hardly finished it before they were swept into another scene, and another, each as beautiful as the last.  They walked upon the parapets of a ruined castle, marveled beneath the golden dome of a Murghese temple, and strolled through a field of poppies.

All at once, the poppies gave way to parquet floor, the clouds to chandeliers, and they were once again in Invarel, in a ballroom with grand windows that looked out over the lights of the New Quarter.  However, this was in no way less fantastical than the scenes through which they had wandered, for Ivy realized those had been only prelude - a means to delight and heighten the senses in preparation for what lay ahead.

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Books, More Books

Read the review on this edition of "Dorian Gray"  here .

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I also came home with Umberto Eco's "Confessions of a Young Novelist" .

Read  about Eco's book here .

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The sculptor of Divine recently said to me, "I just cannot believe how patient you are.  I cannot believe how patient you are being.  I figured you would be screaming for him by now.  How can you be so patient when he is so close to being out of the mold?  Aren't you just dying to see him?"

I said, "Well, yes.  I am dying to see him.  Depending on how one counts, he is long overdue.  However, I do not believe in rushing things.  We have had the "Uncanny Dream" show.  We have Harlequin to get out.  West Nile Charlotte is done.  The Alice series of masks is started."

I said, "Divine is, yes, the most important thing but we have had so much else going on, it has just not  been possible to devote time to just him.  I totally understand that."

I said, "Besides, I read."

The sculptor said, "Hmmmmm?"

I said, "When I am not  busy with all things 'dollie' and 'art' related, I read."

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While "fluff reading" is good in the manner that one nibble of a bonbon is pleasant, I much prefer weightier, ponderous, complex material to snack upon. I can hear one friend say that I would have never been so comfortable in any time period or anywhere on the planet as in the nineteenth century in the grand salons of Europe.  So, reaching for Umberto Eco and Oscar Wilde, both tomes endorsed by Harvard University, is right up my alley.  

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I miss Divine, but I miss him less, when happily engrossed in a fabulous book.

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"Oh, there is really very little to tell, Harry," answered the young painter, "and I am afraid you will hardly understand it.  Perhaps you will hardly believe it."

- Oscar Wilde

Yes, I am happily waiting for Divine.  I do hope that you understand him, but I daresay you will not believe him.  He should be one rather extraordinary horse.

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Are you still watching? Harlequin should be up any moment. Soon, soon.  Very soon.  Keep an eye out for him here .  His mouth looks simply wonderful.  His eye lids are being lowered for more of that "sexy bedroom" stare.

That Perfect Someone

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They meet at a masquerade party.  Need I say more?

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Pass the time reading pulp fiction while waiting for Divine to show up.  Magnificent masked men with high heeled hooves are well worth waiting for.  Didn't you know that?  Obviously, Divine intends to be fashionably late to every party.

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If I did not have one horse up my sleeve, or should I say "in my stable", who will make an appearance even later than Divine, I know that I would want to smack him.  As it is, I delight in the fact that it will be a tight race at the end.  I look forward to seeing whether Divine with four legs can out dance "the Last Unicorn".

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We are working on something very special for October.  I am hoping that we can get it done on time.  You really would be endlessly amused if we could do this.  It would also provide you with a nice Super Gem sized male outfit as an option to buy.

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Harlequin is literally hours away from completion.  He will make a lovely alternative androgynous head for Divine's simply divine body.  Watch for the first sneak peek pictures of him to appear here .  I am guessing that photos from the sculptor may be up by tomorrow night.

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edited to add:  first tiny sneak peek of simply divine Harlequin has appeared ! See "Post 182" in the link above.

Entwined

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While waiting for all things Divine, join me in reading this book by Heather Dixon.  Heather Dixon's blog is here; there is a coloring contest for you to enjoy.

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From the brief flyleaf on the lovely cover:

Azalea is trapped.  Just when she should feel that everything is before her... beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing...it's taken away.

 All of it.

The Keeper understands.  He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace.  And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in the web until it is too late.

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Excerpt from the book:

The dancers were masked with ornate, gilded animal heads.  A golden-furred jackal, and his lady, with feathers and a gold beak.  Masks with eyeholes rimmed in gems and embroidery clung to the dancers' faces.  This was a masked ball, something Azalea had only heard of.  In her imagination they had  been more innocent; gentlemen dressed as hussars and ladies with white, glittery masks attached to a stick.  Not this chaotic meshing of gilded beasts and opulent monsters.

Frozen Charlotte

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Title: Frozen Charlotte
Author: Priscilla Masters
Series: #3 in the Coroner Martha Gunn series set in Shrewsbury, England
ISBN: 9780727880062
Publisher: Severn House
Hardcover, 208 pages

"When a woman arrives in Accident and Emergency clutching a child in a pink blanket, Martha Gunn is not quite ready to make the discovery that the evening has in store for her. The baby is dead, and not only that, it has been mummified. Post mortem reveals the child to be a new born, deceased for over five years and, despite the mysterious woman’s protestations that it is called ‘poppy’,  most certainly a boy. As always coroner Martha Gunn reserves judgement until she is able to get to the bottom of the case."

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Frozen Charlotte is Simply Divine.

Timeless

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While waiting for your masks to arrive and for the Simply Divine Masquerade Party to begin, read "Timeless" by Alexandra Monir.  "Timeless" is entertaining teen romance which slips back and forth in time.  It tells the story of how Michele meets a handsome stranger with striking blue eyes in a gold and white mask at a Masquerade Party.  

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Oooooh la la! She has seen him before in her dreams. 

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Now how Simply Divine is that?

Mask of the Night

'Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face ...'
               - William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
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"Mask of the Night" is described as "a sweeping saga of Life, Love, and Magic."  I enjoyed it; find what I thought of  the book "Mask of the Night":  here .
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