Posts by: K.B. Owen

Hi - nice to have you stop by! K.B. Owen, Historical Mystery Author …Chasing the Cozy Thrill If you're here, I'm assuming you want to know a little more about me. I have a Ph.D. in 19th century British literature and used to teach college lit and writing courses. These days, I'm a historical mystery writer, and just finished the first two books in a series that I'm really excited about. The series is set in a nineteenth-century women’s college in Hartford, Connecticut - world filled with quirky and beguiling characters and mischief mixed with murder. Why Hartford? I fell in love with Hartford and its history while I was at Uconn (one of the top 7 party schools at the time – I got some work done, really!) Why a women's college in the 19th century? Well, you know what they say: go with what you know (and like!). My years teaching college literature and writing provided some interesting classroom experiences. Who can resist such good material? Thankfully, unlike my main character, Professor Concordia Wells, I didn’t have to lecture in a bustle and full skirts. Besides writing and blogging, I read as much as I have the time for (especially mysteries, my first love), and share a house with a husband, three sons, and an assortment of small, furry pets. Chat with me on Twitter! @kbowenwriter

19th century spiritualism: Gotcha!

posted on 07/06/2016

The Library of Congress, McManus-Young Collection, http://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/coll/154.html

Hi everyone! As I finish up a short story (set in 1911) that features a spirit medium as the protagonist, I thought you might get a kick out of this post from five years ago. Hope you are enjoying your summer! ~Kathy Today we’re wrapping up the spiritualism series with some of those…

After the good-bye

posted on 05/31/2016

Hi everyone, I have missed you! If I had known my cicada post was going to stay up as my most recent offering for the past six weeks, I might have picked something else…. The reason for my silence is a sad one. My dad passed away three weeks ago. The deterioration of his condition…

See you in…17 years?

posted on 04/19/2016

Here at K.B. Owen Mysteries, we typically talk about historical culture and the mystery genre, though I do get off-topic from time to time, as life and interesting tidbits of pop culture creep in. Even so, I hardly ever blog about bugs. My post about pollinators comes close: https://kbowenmysteries.com/posts/its-national-pollinator-week/ But there’s a first for…

I’ll have a helping of spring, hold the allergies

posted on 04/13/2016

Who doesn’t love spring? The Northern Hemisphere is slipping off her shroud of brown and gray and picking out her bright party dress: hues of pink, white, yellow, and soft green. It’s a welcome sight to the winter-weary. We turn our faces up to the warmth of extended sunlight and feel renewed.…

Through their eyes: late-19th century film footage

posted on 04/04/2016

I love watching historical film footage. It makes the period under scrutiny a bit more approachable and easier to conceptualize. Unlike Hermione Granger, we cannot use a time turner to go back and see for ourselves what things were like. We also don’t have the luxury to go VERY far back, as the first…

March Madness: 19thc Women’s Basketball

posted on 03/29/2016

I’m in the midst of a family emergency at the moment, which is fortunately beginning to wane. In the meantime, since March Madness is upon us, I thought I would re-post this tidbit about the beginnings of women’s basketball. And if you will pardon the the personal bias…go, Lady Huskies! 😉 The game of basketball…

The Ides of March: more than the Shakespeare play you read in high school

posted on 03/15/2016

I first heard the phrase “the ides of March” in ninth grade, when we were assigned Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. It’s a great play for your average teen, full of intrigue, deceit, betrayal, prophecy, political power, and murder. The soothsayer’s prognostication in the play is now legendary: Beware the ides of March. That’s it: short and…

Where my research takes me: arrest of the bloomers

posted on 03/08/2016

Those of you who’ve followed my posts are very familiar with the serendipitous nature of my research. I go looking for one thing and find five other fascinating, though completely unrelated, historical tidbits. (The original item I was looking for? Well, tomorrow is another day). Good thing I have a website and fab readers who…