What is love? Scientifically speaking.

As a romance writer, it's impossible to ignore the symptoms of falling in love, for the simple reason that they need to be described from both my hero's and my heroine's points of view. It's important therefore to know what these symptoms are and to have a wide variety of ways in which to bring them to life so the reader isn't always faced with yet another 'racing heart'. And yet, scientifically, a racing heart (when you're not under physical stress or experiencing some other powerful emotion, like fear - but in the presence of the opposite sex), is one of the prime indicators that you want to...well, there's really no delicate way of putting this... We're not talking about long term commitment yet, but the primal instinct to populate the planet with someone that your body - miracle machine that it is - believes will make a fine match for your genes, has kicked into action. That's right! Your brain will quickly determine the suitability of the other person (potential mate) by deciding whether or not they contain attributes that you would like to be passed on to your children. Nobody has necessarily asked anyone out on a date yet, but your mind is already leaping ahead and contemplating the result of a long term commitment, albeit on a subconscious level.
But there's more than genes at play when determining who your eventual life partner will be. In fact, according to Helen Fisher of Rutgers University in New Jersey, there are three stages to falling in love.
The first happens to be lust, driven by the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen. These are the hormones that will make your subconscious forget about looking for that ideal gene match in favor of just 'looking for anything.'
After lust comes attraction. This is that 'new love' feeling complete with butterflies in your stomach, the inability to eat and sleep and that sense of panic that comes over you when the guy you like doesn't call. This is because of a group of neuro-transmitters called 'monoamines.' They include dopamine, (which is also activated by cocaine and nicotine) norepinephrine, otherwise known as adrenalin (this is what causes that racing heart), and serotonin, a chemical capable of making us go temporarily insane. Remember that crazy ex-boyfriend/girlfriend? Now you have an explanation =) Since it isn't practical for the attraction stage to last forever, it gradually evolves into the attachment stage, provided that there's enough compatibility for the relationship to last. During this stage, two hormones intended to bind couples together, are produced. They are oxytocin and vasopressin.
Now, this is where it gets really interesting. You see, monogamy/faithfulness toward your partner, isn't just encouraged because it's believed to be the correct behavior. It's actually enforced through sex. Yes. So Cool! That's because oxytocin, a hormone released by the hypothalamus gland during child birth which helps the breasts express milk and forms a strong bond between mother and child, is also released by both men and women during orgasm. Fascinating stuff, right? So, to clarify, oxytocin is thought to promote bonding between adults who are intimate. In other words, the more sex a couple has, the greater their attachment becomes. 
Vasopressin is also important to long-term commitment. In an experiment with prairie voles who also form long term attachment by mating more than necessary for the sake of reproduction, the male voles in which vasopressin was suppressed, lost interest in their partners and allowed them to seek other suitors.
Below is a really fun diagram illustrating the entire process. Thanks for sticking around and feel free to comment =)

Mary Fairfax Somerville - Where There's A Will, There's A Way

This remarkable Scotswoman, born on December 26th, 1780, was the daughter of Vice-Admiral, Sir William George Fairfax, and since he was mostly away at sea, Mary was raised primarily by her mother who instilled few restrictions on Mary and made little effort to educate her. Consequently, Mary's father considered his 10-year-old daughter too wild when he returned from sea and made immediate plans to send her to boarding school.  She attended Musselburgh for the duration of one year during which she learned how to read and write. She was also introduced to simple arithmetic while there and was taught a little French. Beyond that, however, she wasn't really encouraged to educate herself since doing so was not considered essential for a girl during the 19th Century. Even so, she still managed to become a renowned and respected mathematician. She also lived to be 91 years old, which I think is absolutely marvelous! Below is a painting of her from the Regency period, and further down you'll find a photograph of her from the Victorian period.

 

Mary's mathematical expertise would develop by chance. Upon her return from Musselburgh, she began reading every book she could find in her home in an effort to continue her education. Yes, she was pretty much self-taught, which makes her achievements even more impressive! As was common at the time, her family criticized her for her efforts, which were not considered appropriate for a young lady. So, to counterbalance this desire she had for learning, she was sent to a school in Burntisland where she was taught needlework - so much more useful, wouldn't you agree?

Thankfully, she did manage to gain support from her uncle in whom she confided that she'd been teaching herself Latin. Rather than scold her for it, he encouraged her, and while visiting him in Jedburgh, he and Mary would read Latin together before breakfast.

When Mary was about thirteen, she moved to Edinburgh for the winter months and continued to socialize in the manner appropriate to a young lady. She learned to play the piano and was also taught to paint by the artist Alexander Nasmyth,

In fact, her painting lessons would introduce her to Euclid's Elements since she happened to overhear the artist explaining how essential it was to understanding perspective in painting to another student. More than that, she was intrigued to discover that it formed the basis for understanding science and astronomy. This was all Mary needed to know in order to embark on her own study of Euclid's Elements, which she did with the help of her younger brother's tutor. She became so engrossed in her studies that her parents worried about her health due to Mary's propensity for studying late at night. They insisted that she discontinue and that she should focus her energy of social functions instead. While Mary maintained a sweet and polite demeanor and was even nicknamed the "Rose of Jedburgh", she did not give up on her mathematical pursuits, but continued her studies in secret.

In 1804, at the age of 24, she married naval officer, Samuel Greig, who did not understand her love of learning and held intellectual women in low esteem. However, to his credit, he made no attempt to interfere with her pursuits.

Following his death in 1807, Mary continued educating herself and surrounded herself with friends who supported her studies. She read many mathematical and astronomical texts, including Newton's Principia and Laplace's Mécanique Céleste. In 1811, she received a silver medal for her solution to a mathematical problem presented in the Mathematical Repository.

In 812, she married her cousin, William Somerville - son of the uncle who'd helped her learn Latin. Unsurprisingly, William was just as supportive of Mary as his father had been and encouraged her to continue. Furthermore, he was also interested in science and the two studied geology together. During this time, Mary's circle of scientific friends expanded and she even met Laplace on a visit to Paris with her husband.

In 1826, Mary published her first paper with the Royal Society, entitled, The magnetic properties of the violet rays of the solar spectrum, and although refuted, the paper was considered to show great promise and attracted much attention at the time. It also lead to a proposal, made by Lord Brougham in 1827 on behalf of the Society, for Mary to translate Laplace's Mécanique Céleste into English.

Mary, however, was unsure of her capabilities, so although she accepted the challenge, she asked that it be kept secret and the work destroyed in the event that it failed to meet expectation.

As it turned out, Mary's concerns were unfounded. Her translation was published as a book in 1831, titled, The Mechanism of the Heavens, and was an immediate success!

Her second book, The connection of the physical sciences, was published in 1834, and it was in the sixth edition of this work that Mary would hypothesize the existence of a planet beyond Uranus, leading John Couch Adams to his discovery of Neptune.

In 1835, Mary and Caroline Herschel were the first women elected as members of the Royal Astronomical Society. She was also elected honorary member of the Société de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève in 1834 and to the Royal Irish Academy, testimonies to her rising acclaim.

In 1838, she and her husband moved to Italy where Mary would spend most of the rest of her life. Here, she would write the most important of her publications: Physical Geography, which was published in 1848 and would be studied at schools and universities until the beginning of the 20th Century. As a result of this publication, she was elected to the American Geographical and Statistical Society in 1857 as well as to the Italian Geographical Society in 1870. In 1870, she was awarded the Victoria Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society. 

Given her background and her struggle to receive an education that would enable her to accomplish what she did, it's hardly surprising that she was also a strong supporter of women's education and women's suffrage, and her signature at the top of the petition presented to parliament by British philosopher & economist John Stuart Mill, requesting women's right to vote.

This lady, who earned the respect of so many notable people during her lifetime and who managed to pursue her dreams even when many of those closest to her were unsupportive, died in Naples, Italy, in 1872, and was buried there in the English cemetery.

Historical Romance Movies available on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime

If you love historical romance novels then you'll probably love historical romance movies as well. And if you have a subscription to Netflix, Hulu and/or Amazon Prime, you're in luck! Now, they do have a tendency to change availability, so my advice would be for you to watch these when you find them. I was especially pleased to find an updated version of Northanger Abbey (2007) on Hulu that I haven't seen before. It stars Felicity Jones & JJ Feild and was definitely worth watching.

Hulu also has my favorite version of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth as the irresistible Mr. Darcy, as well as the 2009 version of Emma starring Elementary's Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightly. He was great, by the way =)

On Netflix you'll find Mansfield Park from 1999 (also with Jonny Lee Miller) and the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility staring Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant.
Amazon Prime also offers the above mentioned Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibilty in case you don't subscribe to Hulu or Netflix. So there are some great historical romance movies to choose from, and not just based on Jane Austen novels either. There's the 2011 version of Jane Eyre which I still need to watch. The same goes for North and South and the 2012 version of Great Expectations - anything starring Helen Bonham Carter is bound to be awesome, so my hopes are high.
Have you seen any/all of these? Any plans to re-watch? Maybe you'll find some great ones that I missed. If so, please let me know by commenting below. Thanks!

Ladies Regency Fashion, Layer by Layer.

Now, I realize that the concept of not wearing drawers (or some sort of substitute for panties) may be a difficult concept for some modern women to wrap their heads around, but the fact of the matter is that drawers were not worn  prior to the early 19th Century when Princess Charlotte was seen wearing them (not sure how that came about, but I do know that some of those muslin gowns were practically transparent, so maybe..?) Prior to that, drawers were considered masculine and therefore immodest. Really? So, being completely naked and potentially showing off your backside or worse, if you happened to be unlucky, was supposedly better? Hmm...Not so sure I agree with that rationale, especially not when considering the cartoon below - Rowlandson's Exhibition Stare Case, 1811:

And if they didn't wear panties or drawers, you may be wondering how these women managed their menstruation. Yes, we're totally going to discuss this! As it happens, drawers would not have been of much use in such instances anyway. For example, imagine using sanitary towels with a pair of loose fitting pants. Totally impossible, right? Especially if said pants happen to have an open crotch to allow for bathroom visits. Please see picture below if you don't believe me.

From what I've been able to find, menstruation belts were worn after 1800. Prior to that, it's difficult to know for sure, although findings do suggest that similar devices were used at Queen Elizabeth the First's court .
But before you breathe that sigh of relief, comfortable with the knowledge that the messiness one might expect from a period without accessibility to modern-day sanitary towels or tampons, I must tell you that menstruation belts were not worn by everyone and that many women - especially those from the lower classes - often went without. Yup. That's right.Time to move on...

So, if drawers weren't a common wardrobe staple until somewhere around 1820, then what was? There were several items actually. When women got dressed, they would put on their chemise/shift first. This was a simple linen undergarment that reached to just below the knees. After this came the stays or corset which were used to keep everything above the waist in place. They went around the torso, contained strips of either whalebone or cane and were laced tightly together in the back. If you've seen Gone With The Wind you're probably picturing Mammy doing up Scarlet's stays at the beginning of the movie. Different era, same concept.
At the turn of the 19th Century, they did not necessarily circumvent the entire length of the torso. Some were fitted only across the breasts, similar to a wrap bra, in accordance with the popular empire waistline.

ca.1805

1810-1830: We're back to the more traditional corset look with an hourglass figure

Ankle-length petticoats were also worn and on top of these items went the gowns which consisted of bodices (the top part with a seam running below the breasts) and full length skirts which were oftentimes pleated at the back to allow for extra volume and ease of movement.
If one went out, gloves and bonnets were an absolute must, along with a reticule in which a lady might carry her money, possibly a handkerchief and some small personal items like smelling salts or quizzing glasses.
The complete ensemble would have looked something like this:

So there you have it. I'm sorry if the first part of this de-romanticises (spell-check claims this isn't a word, but it should be so I'm using it!) the heroines in the novels you're reading, but once I sink my teeth into a subject that interests me, I want to understand all aspects of it. Questions or comments? I'd love to hear them so please go ahead and post below. Thanks!

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace - The Founder of Scientific Computing

Even her title demands that I pay her tribute! Her parentage is certainly noteworthy, but she achieved what few women would have been capable of prior to the 20th Century, and became famous in her own right.
Born in London, England, on December 10th, 1815, Ada was only five years old when the Regency Era came to an end as George IV rose to the throne on January 29th 1820. Ada's father, Lord Byron, was a romantic poet - perhaps the most famous one during that period. He was however also a notorious womanizer, which perhaps explains why Ada's mother, Anne Isabelle Milbanke, requested a separation from him only five weeks after Ada had been born - quite a shocking thing to do at that time! But her request was met and she was even granted sole custody of Ada. Since Byron left England when Ada was only four months old and never returned (he died in Greece from a fever he contracted in 1823), she would never meet her famous father.
Terrified that her daughter would follow in Byron's poetical footsteps, Anne deliberately ensured that  Ada would be tutored in mathematics and music. Even so, Ada hoped to be an "analyst and metaphysician," asking of her mother, if you can't give me poetry, can't you give me "poetical science?"
Ada's encounter with Charles Babbage at a dinner party hosted by Mrs. Somerville (a Scottish science writer and polymath with an interest in mathematics and astronomy), would prove to be invaluable. He described to Ada his ideas for the Analytical Engine, which was to be programmed using punched cards.
In 1843, following a lecture given by Babbage on the development of the Analytical Engine in Italy, the Italian mathematician, Menabrea, published an article summarizing Babbage's ideas. By then, Ada had married the Earl of Lovelace (again - fabulous title!) and was the mother of three children under the age of eight.
Upon reading Menabrea's article, Ada took it upon herself to translate it. After showing her work to Babbage, he encouraged her to include her own notes, which turned out to be three times the length of the original article, describing many aspects of computer architecture and programming. Included in her comments were the predictions that such a machine might be used to compose complex music, produce graphics, and that it would be used for both practical and scientific use. Pretty innovative, right?
She also suggested that Babbage make a plan for how the engine might calculate Bernoulli numbers. This plan is now considered the first "computer program".
Unfortunately, her life was brief, and she died from cancer in 1852 at the age of only 36. Neither Babbage or Ada got to see the Analytical Engine fully completed since only a trial model was produced before Babbage's death.
In 1991 the London Science Museum built a working model of Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2, which incorporated some adjustments discovered by Babbage during his work on the Analytical Engine. In 2010, British programmer, John Graham-Cumming began raising funds for the construction of a working model of the Analytical Engine. As far as I can tell, it still hasn't been built, but here's a really fascinating talk (just 12 minutes of brilliance) by Graham-Cumming on the Analytical Engine which will explain exactly how the machine was intended to work.

Toy Story 4 will be a romantic comedy

While getting up to date on the latest news via the BBC app on my HTC phone last night, I was instantly drawn to the headline that read: Toy Story 4 will be a love story. My immediate thoughts on this were a bit skeptical, which might make little sense since romantic comedies are my absolute favorite genre when it comes to movies. But maybe its because Disney movies have always been geared toward romance - though there are exceptions - and many of their movies are less likely to be enjoyed by boys. Pixar on the other hand, has catered to a broader audience because their movies tend to be about friendships and adventure (examples include Cars, Monster's Inc, Finding Nemo). Add to that a humorous script with fun/unique characters and everyone's sold. So I'm a little curious to see how Pixar plans to handle the romance and whether or not it will have as wide an appeal as their movies usually do. So far, there's been no word on which characters fall in love. Will it be Woody or Buzz? Or maybe the focus will be on one of the secondary toys this time round?
Another thought that struck me as I read the article is the manner in which Toy Story was able to put time into perspective. I just cannot for the life of me comprehend that it's twenty years since the first Toy Story hit the screens in 1995. I was still living in Spain back then and watched it dubbed at the movie theater - was just entering high school! By the time Toy Story 2 came out, I'd completed two years of college and was moving from Paris to NYC to take on the next two years. Thoughts of marriage and kids were far from my mind. Education and pursuing a career in the fashion industry once I graduated - that was what counted. It would take another eleven years for Toy Story 3 to come out and by the time it did, I'd dropped my fashion career, gotten married, lived in Africa for six years and become a mother to two boys. I'd also figured out that I wanted to be a writer and had submitted my manuscript for How Miss Rutherford Got Her Groove Back to Avon. Little did I know that I would soon receive an offer that would change my life once more.
I'm sure I'm not the only one whose life has made some 90° turns during the last two decades and perhaps more changes will have taken place by the time Toy Story 4 comes out in 2017. But whatever the case, I plan to check that movie out even if my boys decide that it's not for them, although it wouldn't surprise me if Pixar, with all its fantastic talent, somehow manages to make romance appeal to EVERYONE!!!
So what do you think? Will Toy Story 4 be a smashing success or do you think some people might steer clear because of the romance?

The Sleek Look

As I mentioned on FB earlier today, I've neglected my blog for waaaaaaaaaaaay too long! When I went to take a look at it yesterday, I found that it was overgrown by weeds and in dire need of a complete overhaul. So I went to work, dug up those pesky weeds, tilled the soil and planted new seeds. Everything looks so much neater now - I feel as though I can finally breath :) Yeah, I was a blogger newbie - still am, in case you're wondering - so I'd thrown every possible gadget at my blog that I could possibly think of, and while it did have it's charm, reminding me of an eclectic bookshop where tea and cupcakes might be served on velveteen couches, it just didn't work. So now I'm going to try this.
The R.E.D. you ask? Well, I'll let you ponder that since I do love to inspire a bit of mystery. What's the fun in giving away the entire plot? Now I just have to fill my blog with lovely bits of interesting tidbits...any ideas? There's a comment section below if you'd like to make suggestions, or, if you'd like to tell me about your own romantic adventure in a private e-mail to yours truly, I would love to write your story. My grandparents' will be coming up soon, so stay tuned for more.