Before you ask, Defy or Defend is indeed an ode to the fantastic Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Try the charming book or the adorable movie. You won’t be sorry. I always knew Cold Comfort Farm was a reverse Gothic, but it wasn’t until I started researching for this book that I realized it was also a makeover story.
I do love a makeover and so, it turns out, does Dimity.
Dimity is an ode to my (as Dimity would put it) true friend Phrannish. Whom we all knew would end up in a Gothic novel with a tuppenny knight at some point. Sorry it took me so long. Not sorry I turned velvet into the bad guy (insert evil laugh here).
The Corgi puppy is based off my first Corgi friend, Mr Chumley Zimmerman, combined with the charming Corbin Drake. Find more about Corbin via my lovely author friend, Piper J Drake.
Budgy Hall is based on the Lace Market Hotel in downtown Nottingham. Yes, it does in fact overlook an old graveyard, but I promise, it’s not gloomy at all, and is a lovely place to stay. Nottingham is, in fact, riddled with limestone caves. It’s always been strange to me that none of the many Robin Hood retellings mention them. When I lived there, I worked inside one. And that’s all you get to hear about that. A girl’s gotta have some secrets.
The epilogue in this story was originally written for Manners & Mutiny, the final Finishing School book. I pulled it from M&M because I wanted to write the Delightfully Deadly series. And... here we are.
Did all the Finishing School young ladies get epilogues?
Why, yes. Yes, they did.
Thank you for reading, my dear ones. May we all find our safety and our sparkles, in whatever form they take.