.

  You might find this difficult to believe, but I have often been described as verbose.  (Honestly, is it my fault words flow like the Niagara from my head to my tongue?) So you would think writing an introduction to my interview with historical novelist Sandra Gulland, a writer I admire immensely, would be easy for me. That's not the case.  I literally agonized over every word I typed.  How does one go about describing Sandra Gulland?  Is it merely enough to say that she wrote three acclaimed, bestselling novels about Josephine Bonaparte and another about Louis XIV's mistress, Louise de la Vallière?  Do I tell readers that she was born in Miami, graduated college with a degree in literature, taught second grade in an Inuit Village, and then worked as a book editor?   Finally, I decided you, my clever, intelligent readers, would want to know why I was running an interview with Sandra Gulland.  After all, what does Sandra Gullan...

Melanie Clegg, also known as Madame Guillotine , is a successful novelist, avid blogger, and a self-proclaimed gin-swilling Victorian prostitute.  She is also the author of The Secret Diary of a Princess , an exciting new novel about Marie Antoinette's early, carefree years in Austria.  The Secret Diary of a Princess offers Antoinette-enthusiasts a fresh pair of spectacles from which to gaze at her, painting the portrait of a fun, charming, light-hearted girl.   Ms. Clegg was born in  Forres, Scotland on October 10th (the day French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, stood before the National Assembly and declared he could invent an efficient, humane killing machine.  Hence, her moniker, Madame Guillotine).  She has an Art History degree from the University of Nottingham. She bravely agreed to place her neck in the lunette, making herself vulnerable to my razor sharp questions.  (I can hear yo...

Wishes by Amalia K. Lately, I have been feeling like Life has been getting a little too heavy.  Health concerns.  Numerous professional obligations.  Maintaining my sanity (and eroding authority) while living with two clever, rebellious teenagers.  Facing my fear that no amount of expensive French, caviar-infused moisturizer will be able to reverse the withering affect the dry Alaskan air has had on my skin and hair, that I am destined to spend the remainder of my days looking like the Crypt Keeper in a pink pashmina.  And then there's the endless fretting about when the new season of Mad Men will begin.  Add to that the unbelievable shock and sadness that comes each time I look at a new photograph or listen to a new report about the poor, devastated people of Japan , struggling to rebuild some semblance of a life after last week's earthquake and tsunami. Well, it's a lot for one woman to deal with....