The Author Didn’t Lie

 

Hello Friends,

 

Before the social media world came to life, traditionally published book authors had limited ways in which they could communicate with their readers.

 

I recently read an article set in this quieter, online age about the experience of author, Tara Moss. A journalist didn’t believe she had written her own book. It was challenging for her to have a direct voice to the public so she could answer the rumors.

 

Twenty years ago, Tara Moss was judged on her model looks, as if being blonde and beautiful, made it doubtful she had the brains to write crime fiction stories.

How did the Canadian-Australian woman of many talents prove she was the legit author of her own book?

A journalist invited her to take a lie detector test, and she said yes.

She passed the test with flying colors and up to the present has written fourteen best-selling books.

The ‘is she lying’ test seems ridiculous now.

 

Follow the link here to read more about her experience or to listen to the Mamamia.com.au interview with Tara Moss.

 

Her latest book, ‘The Ghosts of Paris’, is a gripping story of secrets and intrigue set in postwar London and Paris and is available now.

 

Tara Moss is also a UNICEF Australia Goodwill Ambassador, and an advocate for human rights, and the rights of women, children, and people with disabilities. A truly remarkable woman.

 

Take care,
stay well,

♥ Ashlyn

 

Photo Credit: Noah Silliman on Unsplash.com

Talking Corsets - Part Two

 

Hello Friends,

 

Sarah Bendall has hand-sewn many corsets from 400-year-old patterns and made reconstructions of historical clothing that has survived. She wore the corsets she made and observed other women wearing them for her lessons in the wearing. Sarah came to understand how corsets impacted women. Based on her research, she says,

 

“There are very few sources from the 16^th and 17^th centuries where women themselves describe what it was like to wear corsets and hooped skirts at the time.”

 

Traditional writing about corsets is missing the lived experiences of these women and myths persist up to modern times.

 

Historically, it seems the people who wrote negatively about women’s corsets were mostly not corset wearers themselves. Nor would they have a need or a social obligation to wear a corset. But in past centuries, some men did wear corsets, discreetly, and for the same reason as women—fashion. Men also wore corsets for medical purposes such as a weakened back caused by Tuberculosis. The corset has endured over the years for men as well as women. Some modern men wear underbust corsets to flatter their masculine shape.

 

Corsets were once popular among women and not just for vanity or beauty reasons. Read more about Sarah’s corset research in the article here.

 

 

Take care,
stay well,

♥ Ashlyn

 

Photo Credit: Nancy K on Unsplash.com

Talking Corsets - Part One

 

Hello Friends,

 

In 2020, Netflix’s first season of Regency-era romances starring the Bridgerton family inspired fresh conversations about historical clothing and corsets. In 2021, with my state isolating from the rest of Australia because of the virus, I tried to buy on-line, a dress-makers mannequin and sewing patterns for corsets. Nope, no luck. Everything was sold out with no sign of when supplies would be back in stock.

 

In the twenty-first century, why would women want to wear corset underwear or corset tops on the outside anyway? Had Bridgerton set a fashion trend that would surely fade? On TV, the corsets looked like torture devices designed to give the regency ladies a desirable figure but stealing their breath. It’s worth noting, there is forensic evidence that suggests slowly over a lifetime, tightly laced corsets could rearrange women’s organs and deform their skeletons.

 

So why did I want to sew a corset during the Bridgerton-inspired renaissance? Well, two large-chested ladies in the family who have ongoing bra problems wanted to know if corsets could improve their sense of well-being. A custom-made corset, sewn to fit their bodies sounded like a new kind of heaven. They find it hard to buy large-sized bras that fit properly. They’re uncomfortable to wear. The straps dig into shoulders. Back ache is a common, daily occurrence.

 

Corsets from yesteryears were invented in France in the 1500s and worn by women for the next four centuries. There is plenty of commentary about how corsets altered the female shape. But aside from fashion, working women also wore corsets, and they didn’t necessarily pull the laces tight and gasp. Corsets were worn for practical reasons like comfort and support. Instead of hoisting the weight of a heavy chest onto the shoulders, the corset distributed the weight more evenly around the upper body. This relief from pain is what the ladies in my family wanted to try.

 

So, the modern woman can try the benefits of the corset without the TV torture effect. She can wear a corset to support the bust and back. Maybe she will have better posture and not rounded shoulders. Or her figure will have a flattering shape like the ladies in history. And lastly, the corset has endured throughout the centuries without the attention of Bridgerton as lingerie for weddings, sexy times, or to be feminine and beautiful, or….whatever you like.

 

Next week, I’ll be writing about a woman who has hand sewn historical corsets from old patterns and she says, don’t believe everything you’ve read about corsets.

  

Take care,
stay well,

♥ Ashlyn

 

Photo Credit: Tengy Art on Unsplash.com

Attraction

 

Hello Friends,

 

Have you heard these two common sayings about how people can be attracted to each other?

 1.    Opposites attracts (the human magnet effect).

 2.    Like attracts like (the not human magnet effect because like and like coming together                                                     repel each other).

 

Hmm…it seems attraction can work in different ways for people.

 

Attraction can be interpersonal or personal. Interpersonal attraction can involve having good thoughts or feelings about another person. A platonic type of reaction. While the personal ways people feel attraction can include physical, mental, emotional, or even spiritual, for example, a soul mate connection.

 

So, taking an interest in someone is not straight forward at all. That’s life!

What happens when you resist the attraction you have for another? Watch Bridgerton Season 2 for a fictional view of how that works. We see the drama play out where Viscount Anthony Bridgerton has a mental connection with Edwina Sharma caused by his sense of family duty. He convinces himself he’s found the right woman to wed and preserve the family line of aristocrats and their fortune.

Then we get spoiled by the super wonderful drama of his slow burn attraction for Kate Sharma, and hers for him. Anthony has so many different physical encounters, thoughts, and feelings for Kate. He spends most of the season burying them deep inside. Eventually, his heart speaks louder than his head. Kate also finally surrenders to the desires of her heart for him too. I couldn’t help crying during the final episode of the love story. That’s TV life!

Take care,

stay well,

♥ Ashlyn

 

Photo Credit: Unsplash.com

1.     Shawn Pang

2.     Z. Graphica

100K Blog Views

 

Hello Friends,

Wow and woo-hoo! I’m delighted to write that this week is a celebration of all the readers around the world who helped this blog site reach 100,000 views. Thank you everyone.

I started this blog about romance, history, and mystery back in 2015 when blogging was a common thing for authors to do. Gosh, hasn’t the social media landscape changed since then. Blogging and long form writing was predicted to be replaced by video format, and then video was predicted to be replaced by short videos of one minute or less.

Yet today, after an unpredictable history, this blog is going stronger than ever. I have no words to explain it. But I feel gratitude toward the people who’ve stopped by and read the posts.

So, let’s get the celebration started with a little romance.

Words can weave a story that doesn’t include anything from the worldwide news. In the softer reality of romance, we can believe in love, feel good and anticipate a happy story ending.

             “Romance means leaving things out: where life grunts and shuffles,

romance only sighs.”

--Margaret Atwood (Goodreads)

 

“Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life

into a golden haze.”

--Elinor Glyn (Goodreads)

Sometimes, I write about interesting curios from the past or knowledge long buried in history. History is another story where we can find our own place to explore. Indigenous cultures, Celts, the Roman Empire and the ancient Egyptian civilization are some of my favourite topics to dive deeper into. These old cultures helped shape the world we live in today.

             “Imagination governs the world”.

--Napoleon Bonaparte (Goodreads)

 

In this week’s history making news, NASA successfully launched its first rocket in 25 years on Australian soil. The southern hemisphere location was necessary because the science phenomena to be studied can only be seen from down south.

The rocket was launched from the new Arnhem Space Centre located in the Northern Territory. The launch happened with permission, and on the lands of the Yolngu people who are the traditional owners. The most fascinating aspect of this story is – the partnership between the oldest living culture on earth with the futuristic science of space. Amazing, and a rumbling boom was heard like nothing before in the Yolgnu communities and homelands.

Mysteries have an attraction that catches our attention. They can be about something strange, or which can’t be solved. Or enigmas that can’t be understood. The mind can’t resist searching for answers even if the path leads into the darkness.

 

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.”

--Albert Einstein (Goodreads)

Mysteries steer us away from the routine of everyday life to maps and mazes of the mind.

 

“When I left my body on a distant shore.”

--T.S. Eliot (Goodreads)

Enjoy your week. May life bring you happy days and delight with the people you love.

Take care,
stay well,

♥ Ashlyn

 

Photo Credits:       Unsplash.com

1.     Amy Shemblen

2.     Vicky Vladynets

3.     Girl with Red Hat

4.     Naeim Jafari