Courtly Quips
Gayla Groom explains that she is, “book editor; here’s my portfolio. I put this new book together by reading through five volumes of collections of “wit” from the 1700s and 1800s, on archive.org. None of these had ever been digitized, and some of them still used those s’s that look like f’s; the OCR scans were very bad. And I found that maybe 10% of the content was good stuff, and the rest deserved to stay where it was and be forgotten.”
She decided to extract, “that deserving 10%, copy-edited it extensively to correct scan errors, formatted it nicely, and turned it into an html file, which I turned into a Kindle book and a paperback book. The paperback (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTGJ68HC/) is an 8.25″ x 8.25″ square, almost 300 pages, and sells for $18.95. That’s the one I envision being read around campfires and supper tables at historical reenactments! The Kindle version at $7.95 (https://www.amazon.com/Courtly-Quips-Gentry-Gems-English-ebook/dp/B0CTFVHQ3Z) can be read on most e-readers, including the free Kindle reader Amazon lets you download for your computer and devices.”
She hopes that, “writers of historical fiction (even if it’s set in centuries other than the 18th and 19th, and even if set in countries other than England), will find vast inspiration in this book. I can open it to any random spot and find an idea, find the essence of a scene to be written. It’s short, piquant slices of life, based in reality and polished by long use.”
Gayla,”created this book because I have the skill set of a scribe — researcher, writer, editor, typesetter, page layout artist, etc. — and I love unearthing forgotten gems so they can see the light of day and find their place in our modern world. I’m a big fan of the 1600s through 1800s, and immersing myself in the language and gestalt of those days lets me spend some time there.”
She has a small publishing company called Gems Press and, “In addition to this newest book, I’ve digitized for the first time and published a collection of six tracts written by opposing sides in 1773 showing the discussions preceding the American Revolutionary War. I also compiled and published two leisure reader volumes that are filled with anecdotes and snippets from various entertaining but forgotten nonfiction books. Gems Press also offers a rather wonderful fantasy adventure chapter book for young people, which I wrote, called The Book of Glimmer: Adventures of Marcus & Stub. There are a few more books I’ve created and published, and more in progress, including Courtly Quips & Gentry Gems, Volume II. There’s still a lot of good stuff out there waiting to be rescued!
