A colorful 1899 lithograph poster for the Hurly-Burly Extravaganza and Refined Vaudeville, featuring chorus girls in elaborate costumes surrounded by flowers.

While researching my book, I came across B.F. Keith's Bijou Theatre. It billed itself as "refined vaudeville", clean acts, respectable audiences. Signs backstage warned: "Don't say 'slob' or 'son of a gun' or 'hully gee' on the stage unless you want to be canceled peremptorily." #HistFic #BookSky

An 1894 color lithograph titled "The Railroad That Leads from Earth to Hell." A train track runs past a house, with stops labeled A through Z representing stages of moral decline — from a bar and pool room on the left to gravestones and flames on the right. A large wine glass, a hand holding a Holy Bible, and old books frame the scene. Published by Milton W. Garnes & Co. Library of Congress, public domain.

This 1894 print mapped every stop on the drunkard's journey — from the bar straight to the grave. In the 1890s, temperance wasn't a polite suggestion.

In The Green Baize Door, alcoholism isn't a moral lesson — it's a fault line running through the heart of a family.

#HistFic #booksky #mystery

A close-up, cinematic photograph of a Victorian-era housekeeper standing outdoors at dusk. The focus is on a heavy ring of ornate brass skeleton keys hanging from a leather belt at her waist. She wears a black long-sleeved dress with a crisp white apron tied at the back. The keys are large, antique, and detailed, catching soft golden light. In the background, slightly out of focus, stands a 1900s mid-city mansion with warm yellow light glowing through tall windows.

Housekeepers moved between worlds without fully belonging to either.

In The Green Baize Door, the housekeeper is murdered on a night the rest of the mansion stands empty.

Which begs the question: was the killer there to search the house, or were they searching for her?

#HistFic
#HistoricalMystery

A well-dressed young man in his twenties with neatly styled dark hair and thoughtful eyes, wearing an early 1900s tailored suit. His expression is composed but searching, suggesting quiet intelligence and privilege shaped by responsibility.

A poised young woman with dark hair pinned up, clear light skin, and steady, determined eyes. She wears a simple turn-of-the-century blouse and skirt. Her expression blends pride, restraint, and contained intensity.

A pale young man with long, slightly unruly curled hair and an intense, inward gaze. Dressed in late 19th-century attire, he appears passionate and brooding, with an expression that suggests emotional depth and volatility.

I’m drafting a character essay for The Coffee Pot Book Club, & they encouraged me to include pictures. Creating those images has been both satisfying & unsettling.

Here they are:

Jamie
Marie
William

#HistFic
#HistoricalMystery
#TheGreenBaizeDoor
#BookClubReads
#IndieAuthor
#AmWriting

A painted portrait of a young woman in a green dress standing beside a wooden door, holding a closed book against her chest. Warm light falls across her face, casting a deep shadow behind her.

What happens when a victim isn’t innocent?
Does moral imperfection disqualify someone from our compassion?
Does vulnerability gain it?

Those instincts don’t just affect the characters in the Green Baize Door. They shape how the story itself is read.

#HistFic #HistoricalMystery #TheGreenBaizeDoor

Launch graphic with book "The Green Baize Door" on left side and words "A captivating historical mystery of class, secrets, and murder. Out now." on right side. Subdued Victorian styling. Dark green background with gold gilt edges, filigree at the corners.

It’s live!

My debut novel, The Green Baize Door, is now available.

A character-driven historical mystery set in turn-of-the-century Philadelphia, involving class, consequence, & murder.

www.amazon.com/Green-Baize-...

#TheGreenBaizeDoor #HistoricalMystery #HistoricalFiction #NewRelease #histfic

Vintage-style illustration of a sealed envelope with red wax seal against an ornate teal and gold background. Text reads: "At what point does silence become complicity?"

In the world of The Green Baize Door, silence is never accidental—or free.

#HistoricalFiction #AmWriting #Mystery #HistFic

Honored to see The Green Baize Door featured on BookSirens’ Murder Mysteries list for December.

🕯 One house, two worlds, and a murder in between.

📖 ARC: booksirens.com/bundle/murde...

#MurderMystery #HistoricalMystery #AmReading #BookSirens

Belle da Costa, the woman who concealed her origins in 1905 and ended up running New York’s most legendary library The Morgan Library in New York pays tribute to its first director, who navigated a racist society and went on to lead the cultural institution for over two decades

Belle da Costa, the woman who concealed her origins in 1905 and ended up running New York’s most legendary library | Culture | EL PAÍS English share.google/4t8uyctZpZ8p...

A dim, atmospheric image in deep green tones showing a man walking down a corridor. The text reads, "I often see places or people that feel like stories waiting to happen. But my own books don't start with images—they start with questions. What happened here? And, more urgently, why?"

Every story begins somewhere.
Mine start with a question.

🕯 The Green Baize Door
One house, two worlds, and a murder in between.

📖 ARC: booksirens.com/book/J1FZKFD...

#BookSky #HistFic #HistoricalMystery

I'm right there with you! It's even worse now that it's associated with AI, & I still can't seem to kick the habit. 🙃

I love the idea of a series like this! This looks amazing.

Thank you! I'm all nerves right now. If you have any newbie tips, I'd be happy to hear them.

And your books look great. I'm sure its stressful, but you clearly know what you're about. When is your next one coming out?

January 27. It's my first. I see that you are a seasoned professional!

I feel your pain. 😂

Edith Wharton was a master. I read through her work in my twenties, and every time I finished one of her novels, I would sit and stare at the back cover for at least twenty minutes, just marveling.

So true. Any loss in personal comfort would be more than adequately compensated for by the visual pleasure they'd give everyone else. Clearly a net gain. 😆

That is impressive! I have my hands full trying to sort one.

What a gorgeous cover!

‘The Melancholy of Winter’ is a beautiful title. Sounds like a wonderful read!

Every girl was expected to learn some needlework.
Mending, patching, buttons — simple chores.

But in skilled hands, a needle could become something else entirely: a key to another life.

The Green Baize Door.

ARC: booksirens.com/book/J1FZKFD...

#HistoricalMystery #HistFic #IndieAuthor

A straight razor on a green background with the question, "Could you recognize your razor, if a man's life depended on it?" next to it.

Before safety razors, every man used a straight razor — common, sharp, and nearly identical.
In The Green Baize Door, one lies beside the body.
Could you recognize your razor, if a man’s life depended on it?

#TheGreenBaizeDoor #HistoricalMystery #EdwardianHistory

Promotional graphic featuring the cover of The Green Baize Door among other historical fiction titles in the BookSirens November feature.

Featured by BookSirens this month ✨
Early readers are stepping through The Green Baize Door.
ARC → booksirens.com/book/J1FZKFD...

#HistFic #Mystery #EleanorBirney #TheGreenBaizeDoor

Book cover of The Green Baize Door by Eleanor Birney. A dark-haired woman in Edwardian dress turns toward the viewer against a green, ornate background resembling a baize door and patterned wallpaper.

1828, Old Bailey: An elderly housekeeper was murdered in an otherwise empty mansion. The police said the house was ransacked, but the owner reported nothing missing.

The case that inspired The Green Baize Door.

🕯 One house, two worlds, & a murder in between.

#Mystery #OldBailey #EleanorBirney

The Green Baize Door (The Marie Chevalier Mysteries: Book 1) by Eleanor Birney - Review Copy | BookSirens Join the review team for The Green Baize Door. Read it for free before the rest of the world does. Share your honest review. Discover hundreds of other books in your favorite genres.

One house, two worlds, and a murder in between.

Advance copies of THE GREEN BAIZE DOOR are now available for early readers of historical mysteries!

📖 Get it on BookSirens: booksirens.com/book/J1FZKFD...
📚 Request on NetGalley: www.netgalley.com/.../c4e95736....

#HistoricalFiction #ARC

Muir Woods exhibit is first casualty of White House directive to erase history "In order to know your role in history, you need to see yourself in it."

Well, this is alarming.

Muir Woods exhibit becomes first casualty of White House directive to erase history www.sfgate.com/california-p...

A judge resisted Trump's order on gender identity. The EEOC just fired her. The executive order, signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, stated that the U.S. would recognize only two sexes, male and female.

""[A] job title isn't everything, and it's more important to stay true to your values."

Live: Speaking on Trump, Musk, and America’s Moral Moment on the Senate Floor | Senator Cory Booker YouTube video by Senator Cory Booker

I’ve taken the Senate floor and will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis. Watch here:

Wow! Quite a life.

WilmerHale Strikes Back With Paul Clement Lawsuit Over Retaliatory Trump Order - Above the Law That didn't take long...

"After a week of trying to sort out the impact of the Paul Weiss capitulation and the Skadden story hinting that the industry might be trending toward retreat, this morning a couple firms declared a day may come when the courage of Biglaw fails, but it is not this day."

Following w/ great interest.