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Eliza Redgold

A Mindful Beauty Prayer

Beauty is a form of grace. It lights up our faces. It lights up the world. Try these beautiful prayers from The Secrets of Mindful Beauty.

Morning Reflection and Recollection

Recollection is a method used in meditation training and many spiritual traditions. It refers to the gathering up of your thoughts through attention and concentration to transform them into a powerful intention. Recollecting is also spiritual practice, and a ‘collect’ is a form of ancient prayer still used today.

So start your day with a beautiful intention.

In front of a mirror, take a moment to study your reflection. Close your eyes and breathe deeply, concentrating your mind. Open your eyes to your reflection. Read or recite the following spoken meditation:

On this day, I resolve to see beauty.
I see beauty within. I see beauty without.
I see beauty in nature. I see beauty in man-and-woman-made things.
I see beauty in others. I see beauty in myself.
I create beauty in my mind. I create beauty in my heart. I create beauty in my body.
Today, I intend to feel beautiful, sense beauty, and think beautiful thoughts.
This is a beautiful gift I share with others and give myself.

Evening Reflection and Recollection

Gratitude is a beautiful emotion. Giving daily thanks for all the beautiful and good in the world is a transformative practice.

The aim of old ‘collects’ was to gather up the prayers of the people. Collects remind us that our desires – for health, safety, peace, prosperity, love and beauty – are both singular and universal. We are one of a kind; yet one of many. Recollecting brings us into a fuller experience of the world and our place in it.

So end your day with gratitude.

In front of a mirror, take a moment to study your reflection. Close your eyes, and breathe deeply, concentrating your mind. Open your eyes to your reflection. Read or recite the following spoken meditation:

I give thanks for this beautiful day.
I give thanks for the beauty I have encountered and shared.
For beauties seen by my eyes, thought by my brain and felt in my heart,
For all beauty seen and unseen, known and unknown,
I give thanks.
May my awareness expand to appreciate more forms of beauty in the world.
May all beings be cherished and recognized as beautiful.
May this night bring peace and beautiful dreams to all.

Stay mindful. Stay beautiful. Go with grace.

ERB The Secrets of Mindful Beauty Cover

 

Scandals and Suffragettes

 

Vote for women! Can she fight for freedom and for love?

When chocolate heiress Violet Coombes is caught hanging her suffragette banner in a most shocking place, Adam Beaufort Esquire proposes a marriage of convenience! His good name will avert scandal for her family, and her money will save the estate Adam’s father gambled away. Violet accepts, but she’s determined nothing will distract her from the Cause – including her oh-so-tempting husband!

I am thrilled to present ‘The Scandalous Suffragette’
Harlequin Historical’s first ever Edwardian romance.

Violet’s story is inspired by the daring suffragettes who fought for the women’s vote. Today we might not be able to imagine what it was like to have no vote and few legal rights, but in Violet’s time this battle had not yet been won.

The first decade of the twentieth century, with King Edward VII on the throne, was a tumultuous time for women and the men who loved them. It was the time the suffragettes moved from gentle persuasion to militant means. These bold women often faced disgrace and practiced ‘deeds, not words’ in their fight.

This time period was also when the great chocolate empires such as Cadbury and Fry came to prominence. The confectioners generally provided excellent conditions for their workers, including women. In this, Violet was very much a woman of her times. Her story celebrates every woman who ever fought for the rights we enjoy today.

But between chocolate and the vote, may we never have to choose…

Huyler's Chocolate

Violet Creams
 A recipe for chocolate fondants, to enjoy while you enjoy the story.

Fifteen ounces of granulated sugar
I/2 pint of water
2 teaspoons of glucose
2 tablespoons of violet syrup or violet liqueur
3 tablespoons of double cream
One ounce of icing sugar
Eight ounces of dark couverture (high-quality) chocolate
Violet food colouring
Crystallised violet petals

To make the fondant, place the icing sugar and water in a saucepan, place over a low heat and stir until the sugar is melted.
Add the glucose and bring quickly to the boil.
Let it keep boiling until, if you drop a small piece into cold water, it forms a soft ball.
When it is at that consistency, turn off the heat.
While still warm, add the violet flavouring and colouring, as you desire.
Let it cool and add the cream.
On a damp marble slab or wooden board, pour on the fondant mixture.
With a flat bladed knife, fold the outside of the mixture into the centre, several times.
Using icing sugar on your hands when it is cool enough, knead the mixture until smooth and creamy.
Let the mixture set for a minimum of three hours. Roll into any shape you fancy.
Cover the shapes with the melted chocolate, and allow to set, after topping with a crystallised violet.

 

The Scandalous Suffragette is published by Harper Collins, under the Harlequin Imprint in the US, and Mills and Boon in the UK.  In my research, I discovered that Mills and Boon were part of the suffragette story:

Mills & Boon, Votes For Women

In this tradition, and to celebrate the British centenary of the women’s vote, I hope you enjoy this suffrage romance, with plenty of scandal …

Are you a Princess, a Queen or a Lady?

Are you a princess, a queen or a lady


 Take the ARISTOCRATIC ARCHETYPE QUIZ and find out:

 

  • Are you more likely to be led by your:
  1. Heart
  2. Mind
  3. Spirit?
  • Would you be most likely to be described as:
  1. Affectionate and fun-loving
  2. Charismatic and confident
  3. Independent and insightful?
  • Do you prefer to:
  1. Let life take care of itself
  2. Take control of your life
  3. Seek life’s meaning?
  • Would others say you usually:
  1. Attract attention
  2. Command attention
  3. It’s difficult to get your attention?
  • Socially, are you more often:
  1. The life of the party
  2. The centre of a select group
  3. A wallflower, unless you know people well?
  • At work do you generally:
  1. Chat and interact
  2. Have others come to you for assistance and advice
  3. Just get on with your work?
  • At home, are you most likely to be found:
  1. In good company, in the living room
  2. In the heart/hearth of your home, in the kitchen
  3. In the sanctuary of your bedroom?
  • If you had any faults would they include being:
  1. Selfish and careless
  2. Bossy and controlling
  3. Snobbish and aloof?
  • In a conflict situation, do you:
  1. Stamp your foot
  2. Over-rule
  3. Retreat?

       Behind closed doors, are you:

  1. Playfully flirtatious
  2. Powerfully sensual
  3. Secretly sexy?

Did you score mostly 1, 2 or 3?

 

WELCOME YOUR HIGHNESS! If your answers were mostly 1 you reflect a PRINCESS. 

The Sparkling Princess:

The light-hearted Princess is eternally enchanting. A Princess has joie de vivre, a true joy of life that can never be disguised. No matter how she appears, you can recognise a Princess because life is full of fun and laughter when she’s around. In fairy tales, the status of a Princess is sometimes kept secret before revelation of who she is.  But a real Princess will always come sparkling through.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PRINCESS AND HOW TO HARNESS HER POWER IN YOUR LIFE.

THE REAL PRINCESS on Amazon

 

WELCOME YOUR MAJESTY! If your answers were mostly 2 you reflect a QUEEN.

The Glowing Queen:

The Queen is a little wiser than the Princess, though she may be no older. A Queen archetype is about majesty and dignity. You can recognise a Queen by her command of attention and respect. A Queen can have more experience in life, but not necessarily so. Even a very young woman can have wisdom beyond her years, and it’s often due to her glowing inner Queen.  A mighty Queen will have faced and won battles, and this will have burnished her brightness.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE QUEEN AND HOW TO HARNESS HER POWER IN YOUR LIFE.

THE QUEEN OF THE CASTLE on Amazon 

 

 WELCOME YOUR GRACE! If your answers were mostly 3 you reflect a LADY.

The Shining Lady:

The Lady archetype is about a noble quest for honour, adventure and high standards. A Lady is the female aspect of the knight, valiantly riding into battle, defending those in need.   There’s a Lady of the Manor, a Lady in Waiting and a Lady Bountiful.  But a true Lady will not wait forever, and will heed her call, riding out when needed, bearing her gifts.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LADY AND HOW TO HARNESS HER POWER IN YOUR LIFE.


 LADY LOVE on Amazon 

3 in 1 … Alternatively get all three Aristocratic Archetype handbooks in one plus much more …

INSPIRITRIX: The Complete Spiritual Aristocracy Sourcebook

contains The Real Princess, The Queen of the Castle, Lady Love and much more! Full of traditions with a practical focus on how the Princess, Queen or Lady can apply them, it will shows you how to recognise your perfect match, a Prince, a King or a Knight and how to transform your life by harnessing your inner strengths, skills and wisdom with centuries old female lore.


INSPIRITRIX is a treasury of long-lost women’s traditions we need today. Based on timeless fairy tales, courtly customs and medieval mysticism, it will take you on an enchanting journey: to claim the power that lies within you, and a rich way of life we have forgotten.

 

In the complete sourcebook, discover how to:

~ Activate your Aristocratic Archetype and understand others – a Princess, Queen or Lady;

~ Discover your secret status symbols and their hidden meanings;

~ Create your own codes of honor, courtesy and chivalry;

~ Revive courtly love arts, practice regal and romantic rituals;

~ Recognize your Aristocratic true love match – a Prince, Knight or King

~ Transform your life and revolutionize your relationships;

and live happily ever after.

INSPIRITRIX on Amazon Kindle

Remember who you are.

Text: © 2018 Eliza Redgold/Elizabeth Reid Boyd. All rights reserved. Images: Public Domain. 1845. The Flowers Personified. J.J. Grandville.  www.elizaredgold.com

How to Handle Your Charisma

Have you got CHARISMA?

I wrote this booklet for a friend of mine who has so much charisma she attracts people like twinkling pins to a magnet. She came into my university office one day and said she needed help! I said, “You need a book called ‘How to Handle Your Charisma’.” The next day she came back and asked: “Where do I get that book?” I told her it didn’t exist – so I made her this instead.

You can download it for free HERE: How to Handle Your CharismaElizaRedgold

ENOY this spangled gift. Shine like a star!

There have been some exciting releases in 2017. The Secrets of Mindful Beauty was published by Skyhorse Publishing, New York and is now an international Amazon bestseller! It is still a great price, so grab it now.

 

 

Vintage Values ~ A Gift of Strength


Values come from the word valere, to be strong. These Vintage Values have been tested through time. They will give you inner strength …

This A – Z of Vintage Values comes from the past to inspire us in the present. During 2016, I posted each letter of this A – Z  as Monday Motivation on my Facebook author page. Readers were kind enough to let me know how much they appreciated them. I’ve now put the full A – Z together here for your enjoyment. Click on the link below for your free copy. Writing these values got me through a challenging time – I hope they will give you strength if you need it too.

Illuminated letters would once have been richly colored and gilded.  You can save this booklet, or print it out and color it in for further illumination.

VINTAGE VALUES Eliza Redgold – Elizabeth Reid Boyd

Best wishes, Eliza/Elizabeth

 

 

 

The Secrets of Mindful Beauty

THE SECRETS OF MINDFUL BEAUTY have been revealed … OUT NOW !

Many beauty products offer us hope inside a jar. The Secrets of Mindful Beauty offers you more than hope. It offers the power that is inside you.

We’ve been researching this for many years now, and I’m thrilled to share it at last.

Published by Skyhorse, New York, The Secrets of Mindful Beauty shows women of all ages struggling with beauty esteem, lack of self-care and confidence, cosmetic challenges and changes to skin, hair and nails that are made worse by stress, anxiety or ageing how to:

~ Boost your beauty esteem and positive self-regard with simple, mind-body treatments to make you look and feel more calm and confident;

~ Use an inside-out stress reduction method that gives you a new, powerful, proven self-care tool;

~ Practice an invigorating, positive-ageing technique that will change the way you see yourself today and in the years to come.

If that sounds like you (because it sure sounded like me) then I hope you love reading this book as much as we loved writing it.  Its promise is simple: to change your beauty routine to one that truly makes you look and feel more beautiful.

Visit Skyhorse Publishing – available at all good bookstores online and in store

Read a sample at Overdrive

Or come and visit us at www.mindfulbeauty.net

Wishing you many beautiful moments – here is one of our unique Quick Lifts to get you started!


 

Redgold Creativity

Redgold Creativity

Welcome to Redgold Creativity! On this page you’ll find life coaching practices for creative women: mixing magic with mindfulness. These fun, free exercises based on women’s wisdom from the past will enhance your creativity.

About Me: My natural pen name Eliza Redgold is based upon the Gaelic meaning of my full name, Dr Elizabeth Reid Boyd. I’m an author and academic. I write fiction (as Eliza Redgold) and non-fiction (as Elizabeth Reid Boyd). These are tips I’ve picked up along the way that I’m delighted to share with you.

About Red Gold: The redgold rose is a floribunda (meaning many-flowering).  Another name for red gold is rose gold – gold mixed with copper that comes out a beautiful rosy colour. For some images, check out my gorgeous rosy red gold Pinterest page.

English folklore has it that if you help a fairy, you will be rewarded with red gold. Known as ‘rubedo’ it’s a transformative stage in magical alchemy and the search for the philosopher’s stone. Poets have also used red gold as a metaphor for creativity.  It’s amazing to me that recent ‘portraits of the mind’ capturing the creative brain are coloured red gold. We’ve possessed the philospher’s stone all along!

I practice mindfulness and meditation, and teach these practices to my university students. In 2017, The Secrets of Mindful Beauty was published by Skyhorse Publishing, New York. I’m fascinated by how much more creative we are when we slow down and let ideas grow. Our minds are truly magical.

About Redgold Creativity:  Each month try a new, free Redgold Creativity exercise. You can download them here:

JANUARY :        REDGOLD CREATIVITY Sweep in the New

FEBRUARY:     REDGOLD CREATIVITY Candlemas for Creative Women

MARCH:           REDGOLD CREATIVITY Call on the Muses

APRIL:              REDGOLD CREATIVITY Grace for Books

MAY:  REDGOLD CREATIVITY Ride the Merry-Go-Round

JUNE:  REDGOLD CREATIVITY Get Humming

JULY:  REDGOLD CREATIVITY Play Games

AUGUST:  REDGOLD CREATIVITY Romance your Seven Senses

SEPTEMBER:  REDGOLD CREATIVITY Amend It

OCTOBER: REDGOLD CREATIVITY Light and Shadow Timeline

NOVEMBER:  REDGOLD CREATIVITY Take the High Way

DECEMBER: REDGOLD CREATIVITY Fill your Cornucopia

Wishing you a floribunda of creative red gold rewards!

 

The Secrets of Mindful Beauty provides way of applying the practices of mindfulness to our physical health and well-being. Many of our routines around beauty lend themselves to mindfulness, and this will not only enhance the experience, but also have ongoing positive beautifying effects by reducing the stress and anxiety that can affect how we look and feel.

Amazon  Barnes and Noble  Skyhorse


Tinsel Therapy

ERB Tinsel Therapy

ERB Tinsel TherapyCharlotte Blair is terrified of tinsel – thanks to her old childhood playmate Rupert Brigham. He’s back in London and offering his help to help her overcome her fears – which she soon realizes are more about life and love than festive decorations. Can Charlotte face what scares her and let tinsel bind them together in time for Christmas?

In 2018, an English screenwriter found this story and developed it  into a short script, and it is so much fun. Hopefully this festive read will soon be a festive film.

I do hope you enjoy this fun and heart-warming Christmas short story set in the fairy-lit streets of central London. It will be available again at Christmas time, so do sign up to my newsletter and you’ll get it delivered (and gift-wrapped in seasonal spirit).

Redgold heart


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Harlequinade: Shall we dance?

Harlequinade: Shall we dance?

harlequinOnce upon a time … Did you know the ‘harlequinade’ was originally a story-telling dance? Its performance in a play included traditional steps and some novelty, taking place between the telling of a fairy tale and a happy ending.

The harlequinade was also an important element in the development of English pantomime. It originally consisted of story-telling dances in which Harlequin, a magical character, played the leading role. In the 19th century, to ease the burden on the dancers, the harlequinade was preceded by a fairy tale. As Harlequin’s importance lessened and the fairy tales became longer and more popular, the harlequinade dwindled into a short epilogue to what became today’s pantomime.

Harlequin’s dance was designed to impress Columbine, his mistress. I loved this idea so much I named one of the characters Columbine in my Victorian romance ‘Playing the Duke’s Mistress‘ (published by Harlequin Mills and Boon). It’s all about actresses, Dukes, intrigues and of course, romance.

Writing romances for Harlequin reminds me of dancing. There are not only precise steps to follow, but also room for improvisation and variation. It has all the familiarity of a fairy-tale (stories told and re-told by women for centuries) and a happy ending makes it complete.

As an academic as well as author, I’m delighted to see this woman-centred genre getting some scholarly attention that explores its pleasures and tensions. If you’re interested in this debate, check out my recent article in The Guardian (it first appeared in The Conversation) – it got an amazing response. There’s also discussion in The Sydney Morning Herald. You can also read my academic journal article Romancing Feminism (written as Dr Elizabeth Reid Boyd) about writing in the genre.  Or visit my Harlequinade Pinterest page.

Who can resist a light-hearted Harlequin romance? Enjoy the dance!

Enticing Benedict Cole cover

Mistress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit Eliza Redgold at Harlequin Mills and Boon

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Harlequin ladybird

Harlequin Ladybird

Pretty Witty Nell: Our Lady of Laughter

Nell by Lauren Wilhelm

Nell by Lauren Wilhelm

 

Of a great heroine I mean to tell,

And by what just degrees her titles swell,

To Mrs Nelly grown, from cinder Nell.

~ Anonymous: A Panegyric on Mrs Nelly (17th century)

There’s something about Nelly …. For centuries, Nell Gwynne has captured hearts and minds. What was Nell Gwynne’s secret? She was a woman who knew how to laugh. How to live. How to love. As an historical fiction/romance fan, I’ve always adored her. When I decided to take up my own quill and start writing fiction, I planned to write a version of her secret diary. For a couple of years I had a wonderful time playing with Nell, collected and read many books, and tracked down obscure historical sources. I then discovered there has been a Nell Gwynne boom – and a raft of novels had been written in celebrating her.  Instead of adding my own version, I moved on to writing other books. Little did I know that my husband was about to surprise me with a birthday gift of a specially commissioned portrait of Nell, painted by artist Lauren Wilhelm (photograph above). Now Nell lights up the stairwell in our home, and guides me upstairs to write.

If you don’t know her name, Nell’s is a real life Cinderella tale of 17th century England, of a low born ‘orange girl’ who became a famous actress and mistress to King Charles II.  We don’t know much about her; mainly that she captivated the King and theatre audiences with her wit. “What history and tradition tell us of Nell Gwyn has been told as a decorative romance, where no liberty has been taken with what we know or believe to be the truth,” wrote Marjorie Bowen in 1925.  “Fancy has been allowed to enlarge upon it … None of the details, however, outrage history or defy probability…” Even in the prim and proper 19th century, in the Victorian era, Nell remained beloved. A 1901 biography dubbed her ‘Our Lady of Laughter.’

MistressMy historical romance PLAYING THE DUKE’S MISTRESS (published by Harlequin, May 2016) is dedicated to Nell Gwynne. It is set in mid-Victorian London, when many actresses had to contend with being seen as title-hunters and gold-diggers – as Darius Carlyle, the Duke of Albury initially suspects actress Calista Fairmont to be. Yet not every actress wants a coronet …I do hope Nell approves!

 

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Meet Nell and some other authors who love her on my Pretty Witty Nell Pinterest Page. nell books