by Roseanna White | Jul 23, 2012 | Word of the Week
Last week while in the car, we were trying to figure out why “appropriate” (adj) and “appropriate” (v) are spelled exactly the same, pronounced differently, with what we deemed very different meanings. (Yes, my whole family is apparently word-nerdish, LOL.)
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| A Favor by Edmond Blair |
So I just looked it up and kinda scratched my head to see that, in fact, they both come from exactly the same Latin word and both appeared in English in the 15th century.
Both start with proprius, the Latin word from which we get “proper.” It’s the best place the start in this case. Proper means “adapted to some purpose, fit, apt.” The Latin means “one’s own, particular to oneself.” Easy to say how those are related, right? If something is its own, it has a very particular purpose. But it also carries an idea of possession. (Interestingly, it didn’t carry a connotation of social correctness until 1704! Who knew?)
The prefix is a variation of ad- which means “to.” Pretty simple. “To make one’s own” is a very literal definition of the Latin approprius, which is where appropriate comes from. So the verb is pretty easy to see. But it also still has that meaning of “one’s own, particular to itself.” In which case the adjective suddenly makes sense too, because if something is appropriate, it is proper, fit, apt to a purpose.
Yeah, I really never thought that appropriate as “proper” and appropriate as “take for yourself, by force if necessary” were in fact the same. But apparently they are. Pretty interesting, eh?
by Roseanna White | Jul 19, 2012 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
It’s a saying pretty much everyone understands, I’d think. “Keep your eyes on the prize.” Keep your focus on the thing you’re aiming at. The finish line. The trophy. The certificate of achievement. The check-off of your Bucket List.
Keep going. Keep reaching. Keep your aim true.
But what if you’re aiming at the wrong prize?
A couple months ago I blogged about
those Twisty Paths, and how finaling and winning or not in a contest was all part of God’s plan. Well, with more finalists announced on Monday for another big fiction contest, the topic is weighing on me again.
I’m a competitive person. I hate losing and always have. And frankly, I was always one of the best in anything I really put my mind to. I was smart, I was good at art, I could master any subject in school, any instrument. You know the one thing I stank at? Sports. I just wasn’t any good at them, but I wanted to run Cross Country to get in shape. So I joined the team. I did my best. And I never, not once, even came close to winning.
Thank heavens I had an awesome coach, one who understood that keeping your eyes on the prize didn’t always mean winning. He told me that I was competing with myself, with my previous times. That my prize was knowing I was kicking my own rear end. And that when I did that, God was so very proud of me.
So here I am in my career. Faced, again, with the reality of not making the cut in a contest. Am I in tears? Um, no. A little bummed? Sure. But as I sat here contemplating these wins, I heard that whisper again. The one that says, “Is winning your prize? Is a best-seller your prize? Or am I? Is touching hearts for Me?”
So here I sit. Praying with a soul laid bare that He helps me always keep my eyes firmly where they belong. On the prize. The real prize, and the only prize. The one that I can’t put on a shelf or list in my bio. The one that lifts me up on those down days.
Him.
I want to thank each and every one of you who has ever taken the time to send me an email or leave me a comment letting me know my work has had some effect on you. Those, my friends, are how God often speaks to me to say, “See? This is your prize, my daughter. This is your proof that you’re doing well, doing what you ought to be doing.”
And I want to offer sincere congratulations to all the wonderful, gifted authors who are up for these prestigious awards. You have all earned this, and I know God has special plans for using it and you for His glory.
Man-made prizes have their place and I cheer loud as I can when a book I love wins an award. Especially when I know the author and know that their ultimate prize, too, is that “Well done, good and faithful servant” from the Lord.
But for some of us, the ones of us who might get a little too hung up on the glitter and glam of an earthly win, keeping our focus is tough–and necessary. And proof that the Lord knows what’s best for us, even when it brings a little bit of a bummer.
by Roseanna White | Jul 18, 2012 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
In case y’all haven’t seen this already . . .
I have an official title for my second Culper Ring book! Wooooot!
For any of you non-writer folk out there who might be scratching your heads going, “Okay… um… what’s so exciting about that?” allow me to explain a bit. =) An author’s titles aren’t always approved by the publishing committee, so they’ll then ask for a list of other possible titles and will go from there, sometimes picking from that list but more often using it as a springboard to come up with a title their marketing experts say will sell. I was kinda surprised when there was no discussion on either my first title or series name–they loved both Culper Ring Series and
Ring of Secrets. I was warned, however, that the second two books would be talked about. 😉
So. I’d originally called this book I’m writing now Mask of Truth. The experts at Harvest House didn’t think “truth” sounded romantic enough, so asked for other suggestions. I sent them a list of probably two dozen alternatives, LOL, and they took the words I’d listed as appropriate to the story and feel and came up with–drumroll please……
Yay!! It’s a beautiful title that I totally love, and I’m now having fun weaving its imagery into the story as I write. =)
And of course, one of the first things I changed was the name of
my Pinterest board for the book. Which, I might add, is now full to bursting with Regency style clothing that my characters would be wearing, so if you have an intense love for those Jane Austen-esque fashions, you might want to hop over there. 😉
And while you’re browsing through beautiful empire gowns, I will be back in Baltimore of 1814, where poor Gwyneth is even now sitting at a borrowed desk in a rumpled gown with pencil smudges flawing her ivory skin and bizarre drawings before her . . . 😉
by Roseanna White | Jul 16, 2012 | Word of the Week
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| Obviously a sober-minded young lady 😉 |
One of the words my editor said was distracting in Ring of Secrets was “sober.” I used it a couple times instead of “serious,” which is, of course, valid. Which she knew. But the modern definition… 😉
I decided to look it up and found that the dual definitions of “temperate” and “not drunk” go back to the original Latin sobrius. The prefix, from se- means “without”, and ebrius is “drunk.” This is a pretty logical correlation, since temperance and drunkenness are rather exclusive. So the opposites have also been drawn together pretty much forever.
In English, sober has meant “grave, serious, solemn” since the 1300s. By the mid-14th century it had edged toward “moderate, temperate,” and “abstaining from strong drink.” Now, that “abstaining” makes me think that it didn’t speak to one’s state at a particular moment, but rather to one’s habit. It wasn’t until the late 14th century that it narrowed to “not drunk at the moment.” Still, of course, carrying that meaning of “grave, serious, solemn, moderate.” 😉
Interestingly, the verb form (usually paired with “up”) didn’t come about until 1820.
Oo, and I learned a new name to call somebody who’s a little too sedate or serious! Sobersides. Yep. My newest go-to for name calling, LOL. 😉
by Roseanna White | Jul 12, 2012 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
I’ve had a hectic few weeks, and in some ways it’s been a real roller coaster ride. I got good news just to have it nullified two days later. I’ve had to come to grips with a few things, put some things aside for a while–and as someone who always hopes and works for more, that was a toughie.
But even while I’ve mourned the loss of that oh-so-brief good news, I’ve also gotten to enjoy some of the most fun aspects of what I do. On the author side, I enjoyed a nice long chat with my editor, going over revisions for
Ring of Secrets. That was a blast, as we laughed over the silly things that had slipped past me and got into the nitty gritty of the story. She loves it just about as much as I do, so there really was no pain involved.
And on the editor side, I got to have the same sort of conversation in reverse with one of our authors. =) We got to talk over revisions to her ending, weighing some of the different options and talking about her characters and how they’ll best
Shine. I love that!
In the back of my mind there’s still sometimes that lurking disappointment. That realization that I can’t reach further right now—which on the one hand is fine, because I love where I am. But I’ve always been stretching. I’ve always been trying to find the next project and, in recent months, trying to figure out how to balance my commitments. It’s a little weird to realize that for now, that’s not necessary. Oh, I still have plenty to balance with writing and editing and designing and, of course, parenting and home schooling. But still . . .
Yet even as I waited for the phone call that ended up reversing my good news, I finished up the research I’d been doing for my second Culper Ring book. Even as I put aside the project that had been distracting me from it, I got excited about dedicating myself to Gwyneth and Thad. I’m having so much fun getting to work on this one!
And some of the best news ever just came, after all–my best friend/critter and I have officially scheduled a writing retreat for next spring. WOOT! Can’t wait for March!!!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.