Literary Links

March/April 2007

 

Good News and Announcements

 

Announcements--Literary Liaisons, Ltd. is pleased to announce that portions of "The Victorian Wedding" were reprinted in the "My Vintage Charm" blog of the "Make Mine Pink" web site.  Click here to read the entire article.

 

Available Now!--On shelves now from Pat White, is her third book in the Blackwell series, Miss Fairmont and the Gentleman Investigator, a Harlequin Intrigue. 

 

Good News--Blythe Gifford is thrilled to announce the sale of her second book to Harlequin Historicals.  The Harlot's Daughter will be an October 2007 release.

Services Available--Need to get your writing organized? How about research for your new book?  Michelle Prima, President of Literary Liaisons, is now offering organizing, research and errand services through her company, Prima By Design, Inc., a Professional Organizing business for residential customers. She currently works in the Chicago area only, but will provide research services on-line for others.  Contact Michelle for more information.

 

New On Literary Liaisons

There are many new additions to Literary Liaisons. After reading about them below, check them out on the web site.

 

Bookstore:

 

Fiction:

 

Miss Fairmont and the Gentleman Investigator by Pat White

 

Non-fiction:

 

John Everett Millais by Gordon H. Fleming

The Pre-Raphaelites by Christopher Wood

Time Management from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern

Voices from Dickens' London by Michael Paterson

What Would Your Character Do? by Eric Maisel, PhD and Ann Maisel

 

 

Feature Title:

 

The Pre-Raphaelites by Christopher Wood

 

The Video Library

 

"The Buccaneers"

 

Researching the Romance

 

John Everett Millais by Gordon H. Fleming

The Pre-Raphaelites by Christopher Wood

Time Management from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern

Voices from Dickens' London by Michael Paterson

What Would Your Character Do? by Eric Maisel, PhD and Ann Maisel

William Morris by Elizabeth Wilhide

 

Writers' Resources Online

 

Sir John Everett Millais: An Overview

My Vintage Charm

The National Portrait Gallery

Punch Magazine

The UK Honours System

The William Morris Society
 

 

Feature Article 

Time Management for the Overworked and Overstressed

by Michelle Prima

 

 

As our days get busier, time seems to slip by more quickly.  We stress more over the little things, and wonder why there aren’t enough hours in the day.  Yet, have you ever looked at how you spend your days? 

You may be surprised that you have the time after all, if you would organize your days better, and if you were more selective in how you spent your time.  The key is to make the most of your efforts by concentrating on the tasks that give you the highest pay-off.  Here are a few tips on how to analyze your schedule, and how to make the most of your waking hours. 

THE STUDY

The first step is to see where your time goes.  Select a typical week in your schedule.  Then set up a chart to track the following:

 

·         Time the activity started

·         The activity

·         The activity category

·         Time spent on the activity

·         Value or priority of the activity

THE ANALYSIS

Look at your log with a critical eye.  How do you answer the following questions:

·         Where did I spend the most time?

·         Did I spend the most time on high-priority tasks or trivial items?

·         Did I have a good balance of work and family in my time?

·         Did I work late into the night on high-priority tasks after spending the day on trivial tasks?

·         Did my tasks achieve my goals for the week, or did I still find unfinished business at the end?

·         Did I spend any time on tasks I enjoyed?

·         What are my strengths?  What can I accomplish quickly?

THE FIX

Once you have analyzed your time and addressed problem areas, you can come up with solutions.  Setting up an action plan and scheduling your time accordingly will help you on your way. 

The Action Plan

·         Set goals for the week

·         Prioritize your goals (High, Medium, Low) or (A,B,C)

·         Write down the steps needed to achieve those goals

·         Work these tasks into your scheduling

Scheduling

·         Enter your ‘fixed’ events into your calendar such as appointments, work schedule, etc. 

·         Look at the High or ‘A’ priority goals on your list

·         Schedule time in your week to accomplish those tasks

·         Look at the Medium or ‘B’ priority goals—can any of these fit into your schedule without losing family or work time?

·         Do the same with the Low or ‘C’ priority goals—Don’t stress if you can’t fit everything in, especially these unimportant tasks.

Scheduling Tips

·         Tackle the most challenging chores on your list first. 

·         Don’t schedule more than you know you’ll have time for. 

·         Preserve contingency time to handle the unexpected. 

·         Allow for time between events and tasks

·         Verify appointments 1-2 days beforehand

·         Take phone numbers and directions with you. 

Goal-setting is not just a week-to-week task as this example implies.  You should always have your eye on the big picture. 

Do regular reviews of your goals.  What were your goals for the week or month?  Did you accomplish what you wanted?  Did you find your tasks took up more time than you thought?  Less time? 

Also look ahead.  What are your goals for the next month?  Will you accomplish them by finishing the tasks on your weekly lists based on past experience?  What are your goals for the coming year?  What are your goals in life?  Do your daily and weekly tasks work toward your larger goals, or against them?

A well thought out plan will help you accomplish your goals and help you work toward what you want out of life.  Remember, you are in ultimate control of your destiny.  

 


Michelle Prima is the owner of Prima By Design, Inc., an Organizing and Relocation business.  As the owner of Literary Liaisons, Ltd. also, she has learned how to juggle her time to fit everything into her busy schedule.  She also presents workshops on this topic.  Contact her for more information.

 


Books on Time Management and Organizing are available for purchase in our on-line bookstore in the non-fiction section.

Also see the "Writing Craft"  section of our Researching the Romance page for more suggestions.

 

Editor's Note

We just had the most beautiful early spring day here.  After months of snow and cold, it was refreshing to open the windows and doors, let the dogs frolic in the grass, and have fresh air wafting through the house.  Just as the fresh air comes with spring, so too should fresh ideas.  Now is the time to start thinking about that new project.  Is there something you have been wanting to work on, but haven't started the research yet?  Or do you know you want to start something new, but you're not quite sure what it is?  That's where our Researching the Romance and Writer's Resources Online pages come in handy.  This month, we've given you links that correspond with events that happened in the year 1896 (our featured year).  Browse through these events and resources, read up on a few subjects, and something may just pique your interest.  Have fun!

--Michelle Prima

President, Literary Liaisons, Ltd.

Q&A Column

Q:  Hi. My name is Bobby K, and I am a senior in high school this year. I recently used one of your articles/books as a reference for my senior paper, and my teacher won't let me use it because your site is "not credible." Is there ANY way you can e-mail me how and why you would be considered a credible source? I would GREATLY appreciate it.

Bobby K.

A: Bobby, here is a list of my writing accomplishments in the British Victorian/Romance arena.   
 
  • Self-Publication of a detailed Victorian Research Guide, Researching the British Historical, the Victorian Era.
  • Publication of non-fiction articles in the Fall 1999 Weddingpages Bride & Home Magazine, the 1997/1998 Chicago WeddingPages Bride and Home Magazine and the 1996/1997 Wedding Pages of Chicago Magazine
  • Publication of research articles in the Chicago-North newsletter, with re-release of these articles in other RWA chapter newsletters
  • Electronic publication of research articles on Blue Shingles, a research site on the Internet
  • Third Place in the 2000 Inland Valley RWA Put Your Best Hook Forward Contest--Historical Category
  • Third Place in the 1999 Indiana RWA Golden Opportunity Contest--Historical category
  • Second place in the 1999 Inland Valley RWA Put Your Best Hook Forward Contest--Historical Category
  • Second Place in the 1998 Neighborhood Press Lover's Knot Contest-Long Historical category
  • Third place in the 1998 Windy City Romance Writer's Four Seasons Contest-Historical/Regency category
  • Second Place in the 1997 Virginia Romance Writer's Fool For Love Contest-Historical/Regency Category
  • Finalist in the 1997 RWA Golden Heart Contest-Long Historical Category
  • Honorable Mention in the 1994 Monterey Bay Chapter Silver Heart Contest-Historical Category
  • Second Place in the 1993 North Texas RWA Great Expectations Contest-Historical Category
  • First Place in the 1992 River City RWA Showdown Contest
  •  
    I am also published in other non-fiction publications, including the local weekly newspaper and several newsletters. 
     
    In addition to my writing accomplishments are my speaking engagements.  I have presented workshops at the local and national level, from groups of 10 to 100.  These include writer's groups, local writer's conferences and national writer's conferences.
     
    I am currently a member of the Romance Writers of America, Chicago-North RWA, Windy City, Hearts Through History and The Golden Network (all RWA chapters). 
     
    Good luck--I hope this information make my web site 'credible' in your teacher's eyes.

    Michelle Prima

    President, Literary Liaisons, Ltd.

     

    Historical Calendar of Events

    1896

    Births

    John Dos Passos--American novelist

     

    Deaths

    John Everett Millais--English painter

    William Morris--English poet and artist

    Alfred Nobel--Chemist and industrialist

    Harriet Beecher Stowe--American novelist

    Paul Verlaine--French poet


     

    Politics

    Starr Jameson surrendered at Doornkop.

    Cecil Rhodes resigned from his Cape Colony premiership.

    The Matabele revolt was put down by Robert Baden-Powell.
    William McKinley was elected 25th president of the United States.

    Utah became a state of the U.S.

    Czar Nicholas II visited Paris and London.
    The Supreme Court upheld racial segregation May 18, sustaining a Louisiana "Jim Crow car law". The Court laid down the doctrine that states may provide blacks with "separate but equal" facilities for education, transportation, and public accommodations.
    Idaho women gained suffrage through an amendment to the state constitution.
    Canada got her first French-Canadian premier when Quebec Liberal Wilfrid Laurier won in the general elections held in June. He assumed office July 1.


    The Arts

    Paintings:

    "Clytie" by Frederick Leighton

    "The Cello Player" by Thomas Eakins

    "Daniel in the Lion's Den" by Henry Ossawa Tanner

    "The Vuillard Family at Lunch" by Jean Vuillard

    Fiction:

    Aphrodite by Pierre Louys

    The Sea Gull--Russian drama by Anton Chekov

    Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

    Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett

    Non-fiction:

    Der Judenstaat by Theodor Herzl

    The Book of Masks by Remy de Gourmont

    Poetry:

    "Larenopfer" a collection by R.M. Rilke

    "A Shropshire Lad" by A.E. Housman

    "Green Fire" by Fiona Macleod

    Popular Songs:

    "Sweet Rosie O'Grady" by Maude Nugent

    "Kentucky Babe" by Adam Geibel

    "Hot Time in the Old Town" by Theodore August Metz

    Opera:

    "The Geisha", an operetta by Sidney Jones, premiered in London.

    "La Boheme" by Puccini premiered in Turin.

    "Der Corregidor" by Hugo Wolf premiered in Milan.

    The last of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operettas, "The Grand Duke" premiered in London.

    Theater:

    "El Capitan" premiered April 20 at New York's Broadway Theater

    "Michael and His Lost Angel" by Henry Arthur Jones premiered at London's Lyceum Theatre on January 15.

    "Salome" by Oscar Wilde premiered February 11 at the Theatre de l'Oeuvre in Paris.

     

     

    Daily Life

    The National Portrait Gallery of London was moved from Bethnal Green to Westminster.

    Princeton University assumed that name 250 years after being chartered as the College of New Jersey.

    New York University assumed that name 65 years after being chartered as the University of the City of New York.

    Alfred Harmsworth issued the London Daily Mail.

    "The Yellow Kid" appeared in Joseph Pulitzer's New York World in March. The one-panel cartoon by Richard Felton Outcault appeared in strip form in Hearst's New York Journal beginning October 24 of 1897, thus beginning a battle over rights between Pulitzer and Hearst.  A contest for readership between the two will be marked by sensationalism that will be called "yellow journalism.".
    Cartoonist Phil May joined Punch Magazine.

    The Royal Victorian Order was founded.

    Five annual Nobel Prizes were established for those who during the preceding year shall have conferred the greatest benefits on mankind in the fields of physics, physiology and medicine, chemistry, literature and peace.

    The first modern Olympics were held in Athens.

    Persimmon, owned by the Prince of Wales, won the Kentucky Derby.

    Harold Mahoney won in men's singles at Wimbledon, Charlotte Cooper in women's singles; Robert Wrenn won in U.S. men's singles, Elizabeth H. Moore in women's singles.

    The first Alpine ski school was founded at Lilienfeld, Austria.

    The world's first public golf course opened in New York's Van Cortlandt Park.

    Wanamaker's New York opened in East 10th Street as Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker took over the cast-iron A. T. Stewart retail palace of 1862.
    Atlantic City, New Jersey completed a boardwalk 41 feet wide to replace a series of four narrower boardwalks built since 1870.
    Miami's Royal Palm Hotel opened to begin the city's career as a winter resort.
    The Palace Hotel opened July 29 at St. Moritz, Switzerland, and gained quick popularity among European resort-goers.
    New York's Hotel Greenwich opened under the name Mills Hotel No. 1 at 160 Bleecker Street. Funded by philanthropist Darius Ogden Mills, each of its 1,500 tiny bedrooms has a window overlooking either the street or one of two grassy inner courts, and it offered lodgings at 20¢ per night to poor "gentlemen" who paid 10¢ to 25¢ per meal.
    A gold rush to Canada's Klondike near the Alaskan border began following the August 17 strike by U.S. prospector George Washington Carmack.
    Carnegie Steel capitalist Henry W. Oliver, bought the Mesabi Range holdings of John D. Rockefeller's Lake Superior Consolidated Iron Mines.
    Cripple Creek, Colo., had a fire April 25 that began when kerosene lanterns were knocked over during a dance-hall fight. The fire consumed more than 30 acres of buildings including the homes of new millionaires.
    June 15--A Japanese earthquake and seismic wave killed an estimated 22,000.
    H.J. Heinz adopted "57 Varieties" as an advertising slogan.
    Tootsie Rolls were introduced at New York by Austrian-American confectioner Leo Hirschfield, named after his daughter, "Tootsie".

    Cracker Jack was introduced in Chicago by German-American candy maker F. W. Rueckheim and his brother Louis.
    Welch's Grape juice production moved to Watkins Glen, New York, close to a vast grape growing region.
    Michelob beer was introduced by Adolphus Busch, whose St. Louis brewery Anheuser-Busch is the largest in the country. Michelob would be sold only on draft until 1961.

    Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking School Cookbook by the head of a teacher-training institution used a precise measuring system that would make it an enduring best seller in America.
    Volunteers of America wasfounded by a son of the late Salvation Army founder William Booth.
    The Canadian Red Cross was founded.
    Brazil's $5 million Manaus Opera House opened 700 miles up the Amazon where it has been built for rubber barons whose business has boomed with the growth of the bicycle industry and with increased use of motorcars.
    British-Leyland had its beginnings in Leyland Motors, founded at the Lancashire town of Leyland.
    British Daimler was founded by English entrepreneur H. J. Lawson who bought a factory site at Coventry to produce a motorcar that would be favored by British royalty.
    Britain repealed her 1865 Red Flag Act requiring that a man on foot carrying a red flag precede all road carriages.  But the suggestion that motorcars may come to rival "light railways" brought roars of laughter from the benches in Parliament.
     


    Technology

    William Ramsay discovered helium.

    Ernest Rutherford discovered the magnetic detection of electrical waves.

    French physicist A.H. Becquerel discovered radioavtivity in uranium.

    The first English all-steel building was completed in West Hartlepool.

    The hydroelectric plant opened at Niagara Falls.

    Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co., Ltd., established the world's first permanent wireless installation in November at The Needles on the Isle of Wight, Hampshire, England.
    L. F. Bang in Denmark discovered the bacterium of infectious abortion in cows. Since it is one of several bacteria that cause undulant fever, or brucellosis, in humans, it would be called Brucella abortus, but the condition it produces in cattle would be called Bang's disease.

    British pathologist Almroth Edward Wright originated a system of anti-typhoid inoculation.

    German biochemist E. Baumann found iodine in the human thyroid gland.
    U.S. botanist George Washington Carver joined Alabama's Tuskegee Institute as director of its Department of Agriculture.
    Dutch physicians Christiaan Eijkman and Gerrit Grijns in Java found that chickens fed polished rice suffer from a disease resembling beriberi. They decide that the rice must contain a toxin which is neutralized by something in rice hulls.
    The first U.S. public showing of motion pictures April 20 at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York employed Thomas Edison's Vitascope, an improvement on his 1893 kinetoscope, and a projector made by Thomas Armat.
    Henry Ford completed work on the first Ford automobile, a 4-horsepower "Quadricycle," June 4, in Detroit, Michigan.
    Astronomer Samuel Pierpont Langley of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, D.C., sent a steam-powered model airplane on a 3,000-foot flight along the Potomac May 6, the first flight of a mechanically propelled flying machine.
    The Haynes-Duryea motorcar produced by Duryea Motor Wagon Co. of Springfield, Mass., was the first U.S. motorcar to be offered for public sale. Total U.S. motorcar production was 25.

    Panhard Levassor in France introduced the first vertical four-cylinder motorcar engine; it also introduces sliding gears with a cone clutch.
    The Stanley Steamer  was introduced at Newton, Massachusetts by Francis Edgar Stanley and his twin brother Freeling O. Stanley.
    The U.S. bicycle industry had sales of $60 million, with the average bike retailing at $100. Pope Manufacturing turned out one bicycle per minute.
    The first underground rail service on the European continent began at Budapest where a 2.5-mile electric subway went into operation

     


     

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