Of Blessings and Gratitude

Donna Hatch
Even though this past year and a half have been brutal in many ways, this season of giving thanks is a great reminder of all the things for which I am grateful. This is a short list so you won’t burn any of your Thanksgiving dinner while reading this 🙂 First of all, I’m grateful to you, my loyal fans, who have stuck it out with me even during this pandemic, reading my books, recommending…

Introductions, Regency-Style

Donna Hatch
In our informal modern society, it’s socially acceptable to introduce ourselves to a stranger without needing a third person to get involved. Meeting someone new might start with a clever (or corny) pick up line or be as simple as saying, “Hi, my name is____.” We can be confident that the other person will tell us his or her name. And thus an acquaintance, or more, begins. During the Regency, an introduction was much more…

Wacky Valentine’s Day Trivia

Donna Hatch
Here’s some wacky and fun Valentine Day’s trivia: Valentine’s Day was once a Saint’s Day named after two (or three, depending on the source) different martyred priests all called Valentinus, a common Roman name. Some legends also claim a priest named Valentinus performed illegal Christian marriages when Rome was in power so he was executed as a criminal. The  Shakespearean “Hamlet” mentions Valentine’s Day.  Ophelia sings, “Good morrow! ‘Tis St. Valeintine’s Day; All in the…

Valentine’s Day in Regency England

Donna Hatch
Celebrating Valentine’s Day in Regency England was very different from the way we celebrate it today. It consisted of gentlemen and ladies–even people of all classes–exchanging hand-made cards with hand-written verses. During the Victorian Era, Valentine’s Day cards became mass produced, but in the Regency, such a gesture required more thought and care. Cards sent were as varied as the senders. Some made their cards with gilt-edged paper, trimmed with lace–real lace, not paper lace…

Thanksgiving and Gratitude

Donna Hatch
This thanksgiving day, here are 10 things for which I am grateful: my husband my 6 children and their loving spouses my granddaughter and wee grandson turkey feasts and all the trimmings including whipping cream which makes pumpkin pie edible hot apple pie and ice cream loyal fans who buy, read, and recommend my books a Thanksgiving Season that reminds me to feel gratitude for my abundance religious freedom surviving 2020 without loss of life…

Have a Little Class — Social Classes in Regency England

Donna Hatch
The social structure in Regency England was a lot more complicated than it is in today’s world. As an American who is an Anglophile as well as a certified history geek, I delved into this topic like Alice going into the rabbit hole and found a plethoria of fascinating tidbits. At the top of the social structure is royalty. These include the monarchy and their offspring, and siblings who were often royal dukes. According to…

The legacy of Bow Street Runners

Donna Hatch
MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE OF BOW STREET Next to Robin Hood’s Merry Men, few other groups inspire images of mystery and intrigue quite as well as Bow Street Runners. They were a unique and unprecedented fighting force that paved the way for London’s modern police, Scotland Yard. They are also no longer in existence, and very little is actually known about them. Hence the mystery. And the tragedy. A LITTLE HISTORY Before the Magistrate of Bow…

Announcing a New Release!

Donna Hatch
The long-awaited book 5 of my Rogue Hearts Series is here! NOT A FINE GENTLEMAN is the story of Margaret, the eldest of the Amesbury family, children of the Earl and Countess of Tarrington. Here is the official back cover blurb: for NOT A FINE GENTLEMAN Lady Margaret secretly yearns for love, but fate has exchanged wedded bliss for a lie. When she is caught hovering over her cheating husband’s dead body, she is instantly…

Mister, Doctor, or hey you? Medical personnel in Regency England

Donna Hatch
As a modern-day American, I was surprised when I first discovered that characters in Regency-set books and movies address doctors as “Mister.” Today in the US, anyone with a doctorate is a doctor and is addressed as Dr., and specialists such as surgeons, are also addressed as “doctor.” However, in Regency England, only a physician was addressed as “doctor”. Other medical personnel was addressed as Mister or Mr. In addition, most of the men in…

Announcing a New Release!

Donna Hatch
Not A Fine Gentleman, book 5 of the Rogue Hearts Series Lady Margaret secretly yearns for love, but fate has exchanged wedded bliss for an adulterous husband. When she is caught hovering over his dead body, she is instantly doomed to hang for his murder. Without hope for justice, Margaret flees into the night alone. A cynical Bow Street Constable, Connor Jackson, vows to bring the fugitive Lady Margaret to face the law—but, he doesn’t…