After tracking Mercedes through the streets of old Havana, I thought that Paris would be a relatively easy task. After all, Paris is so well known, so well documented and so well loved. Its famous sights are endless: the grand boulevards, the Tuileries Gardens, the Louvre and Notre Dame. I even had exact addresses, the […]

This is the best explanation of the whole “biography process” that I have read. She really captures the ups and downs of the process and how one gets lost in the subject’s world! Her new book Cleopatra is on my Christmas list!! Stacy Schiff Shares Advice for Aspiring Biographers – GalleyCat

Last Saturday, I had to go to Bristol, England for the day.  Bristol, for those outside the UK, is on England’s southwest coast, lying just south of Wales and north of Cornwall.  It was also once one of the main ports for the Caribbean trade; slaves, sugar and rum all came through here.  In fact, my […]

The last couple of months involved trying to finish the proposal for this project…now back to research and writing.  Combining so called business with pleasure, my children and I have come to another tropical island not far from Cuba: Key Biscayne, off Miami.  Here, I can find inspiration among the palm trees, ocean and of […]

Last year in spring, before the volcanic ash made travel from London a nightmare, I went to Paris for a short break with my family.  While there, I decided to search for the Condesa de Merlin’s final home in the Parisian Père Lachaise cemetery.  Have you ever been to a cemetery that has avenues, chemins […]

I am living in eighteenth century Havana!  All I seem to do is pour over street maps of the old city and track down houses and families in really arcane sources.  Anyone interested in Cuban genealogy (yes there are actually multiple websites dedicated to this subject) knows about Historia de Familias Cubanas and its 9 volumes […]

Have finally decided to start this blog because I have reached a point with this project where I need to share the excitement, fear and frustration. I am putting together a book proposal for a readable and popular biography of the Condesa de Merlin. If that name leaves you puzzled — you are not alone! […]