Galley giveaway winners!

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest! I drew names over coffee on Friday morning, and the winners were @AngelaPardue, @angelynnodom, @eheinlen, @melistress, and @chickwithbooks. The galleys are going in the mail today.

(That's my WIP bucket bag from MadebyLoumms. Their bags are ADORABLE and very well made!)

Petty Magic Teaser & Galley Giveaway

The galleys have landed!

Petty Magic goes on sale on October 5th, and is now available to pre-order on Amazon.com! From the back cover:

Petty Magic:

Being the Memoirs and Confessions of

Miss Evelyn Harbinger, Temptress and Troublemaker.

In this brilliantly imagined tale of adventure and timeless romance, acclaimed novelist Camille DeAngelis blends WWII heroics with witchcraft and wit, conjuring a fabulously rich world where beldames and mortal men dare to fall in love.

Evelyn Harbinger sees nothing wrong with a one-night stand. At one hundred and forty nine years old, Eve may look like she bakes oatmeal cookies in the afternoon and dozes in her rocking chair in the evenings, but once the gray hair and wrinkles are traded for jet-black tresses and porcelain skin, she can still turn heads as the beautiful girl she once was. Can’t fault a girl for having a little fun, can you?

This is all fine and well until Eve meets Justin, who reminds her so much of a former lover, and one night is no longer enough. Eve spends more and more nights—and days—romancing Justin as her younger self, and noticing the many peculiar ways in which he is so like Jonah, her partner behind enemy lines in WWII and the love of her life. Experts in espionage, Jonah and Eve advanced the Allied cause at great personal sacrifice, and Jonah lost his life. Now Eve suspects that her Jonah has returned to her, and despite the disapproval of her coven, and the knowledge that love with a mortal man can only end in sorrow, she can’t give him up. But can she prove it’s really him?

I have five galleys to give away. Here's what we'll do: to enter, just tweet (or re-tweet) about Petty Magic. If you re-tweet and follow me (@PettyMagic), you'll be entered twice. Of course, if you are already following me on Twitter then you get two too. (Yep, doing it old-school—I'm picking names out of a hat.) If I happen to draw your name twice (or if you've already been promised a galley), you'll just get the one; not that I wouldn't love to give you an extra to pass along, but these things are in short supply.

I'll draw the names on Friday morning. Isn't this exciting?!

Contest winners! (and another vintage jumper)

Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a guess! The guesses were mixed, although I bet that if I'd given you a good look at my face, pretty much everyone would have known her straight away. My grandmother is the young lady on the top left.

Clockwise, from top left: Dorothy (my grandmother), Joan, Patricia, Marjorie, and Mary. Special thanks to Betty Ann for giving my Aunt Eileen a copy of this photo in the first place, and for taking the time to write such a nice comment. I never would have guessed my grandmother was only seventeen or eighteen when this picture was taken—she looks so sophisticated with her red lipstick and chic dress! Her expression is kind of intense, too.

I had originally said that the first three to guess correctly would win a book, and then I thought I would make it five to keep the fun going a little longer. But it's been a week now, so I think I'll just leave it at three. Chris, Emily, and Geri—ding, ding, ding! Geri opted for Mary Modern in hardcover, and Chris and Emily are going to wait for Petty Magic. Thanks again to everyone who left a guess—it made me so happy to get so many comments and compliments! I think I'll do another little contest in the near future...a riddle, maybe?

So I think I've caught the vintage knitting bug. Check out this classy jumper:

It's another British pattern from the early '40s that a kind Raveler, celester, passed along. I'm using RYC Cashsoft 4-ply in Monet, a muted lavender. I found the perfect plastic pearl-like buttons out of my grandparents' rusted candy-tin (my grandparents on my dad's side) to fasten up the neck. I also picked up a new pair of #2 Addi circulars at the Brooklyn General Store yesterday for the ribbing. (I love this store—huge selection of yarn, gorgeous quilting fabrics, and great customer service!)

But first I'll be working on this hooded shawl from Twist Collective for my friend Shelley, who's getting married in Westport, County Mayo, on December 29th. This is the first time I've ever knit a wedding gift, let alone a piece that will be worn in the wedding, and I'm a teensy bit nervous...

Next blog entry—a recipe!

Little March Hare jumper, and a contest!

It's finished! HOORAY!

Knit from Rowan RYC Cashcotton 4-Ply (chartreuse, 6.5 skeins) on #2s and #3s, lovely pale green iridescent buttons from Hickey's in Galway, and too many froggings and modifications to mention. Knitting from a vintage pattern is even more challenging than I expected—apparently the young ladies of sixty-odd years ago were built like paper dolls, because a person would have to be two-dimensional to fit her head through the tiny hole that's supposed to be a neckline. At any rate, it was well worth all the math and tinkering I did to make this jumper fit right. Squee!

(Links to previous Little March Hare post, Ravelry project page.)

I was knitting the first sleeve at the family kaffeeklatsch one Saturday morning after Christmas, and my aunt and uncle were interested to see what I was working on. When I showed my uncle the pattern, he remarked that it looked like something my grandmother would have worn. Then somebody remarked on how most women's wardrobes back then were much smaller, but all the articles were of higher quality and would last longer than today's garments generally do. So with that in mind, I'm going to make a little contest. My aunt Eileen gave my mother a framed copy of this picture last Christmas:

This is a rare photograph of my grandmother with her four sisters. They were separated among relatives—and later foster families—after their mother's death, so this studio portrait would have been a major occasion. Can you guess which of these lovely young ladies is my grandmother? Leave a comment with your guess (I don't mind if you take into account what other people have guessed). The first five people to guess correctly will win a signed copy of any one of my three books (your choice, of course): Moon Ireland, Mary Modern (hardcover or paperback—the paperback edition has an additional essay at the back), or the forthcoming Petty Magic. (If you choose Petty Magic, you'll have to wait at least six months for the galley, but I like to think it'll be worth the wait.)

I was going to give you a good look at my face, but I think that would make it way too easy...

I'll have to think of another contest for the majority of people who read this blog (i.e., people who know which girl my grandmother is because a, they are related to me, or b, they're a good friend and have seen her portrait on my desk.)

Now guess away!