Author Archives: Madeleine E. Robins

About Madeleine E. Robins

Madeleine Robins is the author of The Stone War, Point of Honour, Petty Treason, and The Sleeping Partner (the third Sarah Tolerance mystery, available from Plus One Press). Her Regency romances, Althea, My Dear Jenny, The Heiress Companion, Lady John, and The Spanish Marriage are now available from Book View Café. Sold for Endless Rue , an historical novel set in medieval Italy, will be published in May 2013 by Forge Books

Some Things Never Grow Old

Posted on May 14, 2013 by

As I write this, I’m visiting my aunt.  She has a respectable number of books, many of them paperbacks dating from the 1940s – 60s.  I opened one up to look at it this morning and got a flush of … Continue reading →


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Posted in Books and Reading, Writers on Writing | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

How Feminism Killed Cooking

Posted on April 30, 2013 by

I read an article on Salon yesterday: “Is Michael Pollan a Sexist Pig?” by a writer named Emily Matchar.  The title is, of course, very tongue in cheek; the article is about the omnivore/ locavore/ femivore movements, and about the myths we … Continue reading →


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Posted in feminism, Food and Cooking, History | 43 Comments

An Alien Mindset

Posted on April 16, 2013 by

When I first started writing science fiction, my workshop buddies and I talked a lot about aliens and whether it was possible to write from a truly convincing alien mindset.  In the years since then I’ve come to the realization … Continue reading →


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Posted in historical novels, History, Uncategorized, Writers on Writing | 5 Comments

Crafty II, or: Because Brenda Asked

Posted on April 2, 2013 by

Okay. I wrote a post two weeks ago about my work-related crafting activities.  Beading and knitting (and sometimes beading and knitting) and making little clay figures and learning to do canework…  And Brenda asked for pictures.  So: herewith, some pictures. … Continue reading →


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Posted in Lifestyle | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Crafty

Posted on March 19, 2013 by

For reasons too complex to go into, my work requires that I do a fair amount of arts & crafts.  I know: production editor playing with clay and beads and paper airplanes?  Coming home with fingernails painted with palm trees, … Continue reading →


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Posted in Lifestyle | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Binary

Posted on March 5, 2013 by

When I was a kid, my brother and I inherited the comic book collection of one of my mother’s friends’ sons (the French would doubtless have a more economical term for that degree of relatedness).  From having zero comic books, … Continue reading →


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Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Mad Scientist Week: Obsession and Shortsightedness

Posted on February 19, 2013 by

Mad Scientists come in two varieties. There are scientists who are just, well, a little nuts. These guys operate at the intersection of madness and ambition, but not all of them are eee-vil. There’s Dr. Emmett Brown from the Back to … Continue reading →


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Posted in Books and Reading, Film, Science, science fiction | Tagged | 6 Comments

Tell Me

Posted on February 5, 2013 by

I have a friend I don’t see very often.  When I do, and we’re catching up, she launches into stories about her life that are interlarded with names and events of which I know nothing.  It means that I feel … Continue reading →


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Posted in Writers on Writing | 11 Comments

Looking for Darcy

Posted on January 28, 2013 by

Ask most fans of Jane Austen who played the definitive Mr. Darcy and they’ll likely point to the guy on my left: Colin Firth.  For many people the 1995 BBC adaptation with Firth and Jennifer Ehle is the Pride and Prejudice, … Continue reading →


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Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

On the Edges of History

Posted on January 22, 2013 by

Among the many other things the Holiday Season brought me this year, it brought a wonderful old show business memoir called 170 Years of Show Business, written by Kate Mostel and Madeline Gilford (otherwise known as the wives of Zero … Continue reading →


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Posted in Books and Reading, History | 6 Comments