Around The World With Nellie Bly ~ by Tara Kingston

Between November 1889 and January 1890, Nellie Bly, a 25-year-old reporter for the New York World, set a record for traveling the globe in seventy-two days, beating the time of the journey portrayed in the Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days.

Nellie Bly’s journey was a fascinating endeavor:

~ Nellie Bly traveled light. She carried one piece of luggage that measured sixteen inches wide and seven inches high. 

~ When editors at the New York World were rumored to have selected a man for the trip, Bly responded with a challenge: “Very well. Start the man and I’ll start the same day for some other paper and beat him.”

~ She sailed from Hoboken Pier on November 14, 1889.

~ While on her journey, Nellie Bly met Jules Verne, the author of the novel that inspired her feat.

~ Bly’s journey included stops in Calais, Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, and a return to New York.

~ Crowds cheered Nellie Bly on throughout her journey from San Francisco to New York City.

~ The New York World marketed a parlor game inspired by Nellie Bly’s journey, “Round the World with Nellie Bly.”

~ Nellie Bly had competition during her journey. The Cosmopolitan newspaper dispatched reporter Elizabeth Bisland from New York, traveling in the opposite direction as Bly. She completed the journey, but took four and half days longer.

~ Nellie Bly arrived in New York City on January 25, 1890, seventy-two days after she departed.

~ Nellie Bly’s account of her journey, Around the World in Seventy-Two Days” is available in the public domain.

To read more about Nellie Bly, check out these sources:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/world/index.html

http://mentalfloss.com/article/52745/nellie-blys-72-day-trip-around-world

http://www.biography.com/people/nellie-bly-9216680

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/world/world.html

Photographs of Nellie Bly used in this post are found in the Library of Congress (in the public domain).

Click here to learn more about When A Lady Deceives

A Little About My New Release, When A Lady Deceives.

I’m thrilled that my Victorian romantic thriller, When A Lady Deceives, is now available. Like Nellie Bly, the heroine of When A Lady Deceives is a crusading investigative journalist. Jennie Quinn, star reporter for a London paper, is a daring woman who will overcome daunting obstacles to get the facts and fight for justice. She anticipates the danger of her investigation into an informant’s murder. But she doesn’t expect to fall in love, especially not with a very dangerous man. Here’s a little about the story:

A woman with a secret and a dangerous man forge an undeniable passion.

In Victorian London, reporter Jennie Quinn employs deception as a weapon. Going undercover to seek justice for a murdered informant, she’s drawn into a powerful criminal’s seductive game of cat and mouse. Enigmatic former lawman Matthew Colton is as dangerous as he is clever, but the passion in his kiss is too tempting to resist. She aches to trust him, but she will not abandon her quest for the truth.

Colton is a man with secrets of his own. Thirsting for vengeance, the disgraced Scotland Yard detective has infiltrated the criminal world he’s vowed to destroy. Jennie intrigues him, even as she breaks down the barriers around his heart. He yearns to uncover her secrets—in and out of his bed. Driven to shield her, he’ll risk everything to protect the woman whose love heals his soul.

To read more about When A Lady Deceives and enjoy an excerpt, please click here.