by Roseanna White | Jun 1, 2013 | Uncategorized
This bonus romantic novella is set in the
intervening years between Ring of Secrets and Whispers from the Shadows
by Roseanna M. White. In 1789 General Isaac Fairchild travels across the
Channel on a very special assignment. After surviving the American
Revolution, he is now gathering information on life at King Louis XVI’s
court. But he must also locate a countess and her grown daughter and
escort them back to England before revolution explodes in France. He
knows danger is in the task set before him, but when he meets the
beautiful Julienne, a new peril beckons him deeper into the intrigue of
Versailles.
I’m really excited about this little story. =) After reading Ring of Secrets, my critique partners and editor all wanted to know what happened to Fairchild in the years between RoS and Whispers from the Shadows, so I was thrilled to be given the chance to write his love story–and to offer it for free!
You can download it at Amazon, CBD, B&N, iTunes, and GooglePlay. (I’ll post other links as they go live!)
And if you really want to make my day (wink, wink), please share about it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, etc. I hope you enjoy it!
by Roseanna White | May 30, 2013 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
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| The Dance Class by Edgar Degas |
It’s a crazy-busy week around here right now, with everything from kids’ checkups to Xoe’s follow-up at Johns Hopkins on Monday. We have ballet rehearsal, ballet recital, I have a book talk on the free night between those…I’ve got book club and my checkup, dentist appointments and normal stuff for church. Oh, and in the midst of all that, I’ve got to get one title for WhiteFire edited, another laid out for press, final edits prepared on a third, and proof approval on a fourth.
Let’s not even look ahead to next week, when I have to start cutting my behemoth of a manuscript by 35K words. (Insert weeping and gnashing of teeth here.)
I’m a little busy. A little overwhelmed. And I don’t know about you, but when I get busy and overwhelmed, I get this strange sensation…I start to feel alone. Like the world is a sea tossing around me, and I’m all by myself on this little boat, just trying to stay afloat. The more emails I answer, the more I wonder why no one is really writing me…the more alerts I get on Facebook, the more it seems no one is paying attention. The more guest-posts I write for blogs, the more I feel like I’m talking into a vacuum. The more appointments I have, the fewer people I seem to see.
This is nothing but illusion in a lot of ways, a trick of my overwhelmed mind, and I know exactly where it comes from. Because in these times of super-busyness, of overwhelm, everything I usually love just feels like One Thing More. One thing more to do that isn’t helping me do what already needs done. One more decision. One more task. One more tap of the fingers on the keyboard.
As I got up this morning with that cloud of To Dos hanging over me, I said a little prayer for some help through it. And I heard a little reminder in the recesses of my mind. Be still.
I’ve always loved that verse–Be still, and know that I am God. It speaks to so much, doesn’t it? And in context it’s even better.
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
~Psalm 46:8-10
Today, you know what that means to me? That all our strife, all our work, all our mighty deeds are nothing. He makes it nothing. He brings peace where there is none. He wipes out where we build up. But he builds up where we would wipe out. And sometimes, He just wants us to stop so that he can work.
It’s a busy time of year for most of us. So much to do, and not doing it isn’t much of an option. But in this crazy weekend, I’m pausing. For just a breath, just a prayer, just a moment. I’m going to be still and give my heart and all its overwhelm to him. Knowing, trusting that whether I succeed or fail, whether I go or stop, whether I cry or laugh, He is God. He will be exalted among the nations. He will be exalted in the earth.
That means in me, too. I exalt you, Lord. May that remain always the task on the top of my list. My top priority. My anchor on those raging seas. I exalt You.
by Roseanna White | May 29, 2013 | 17th-19th Centuries, Remember When Wednesdays
Have I mentioned yet that I metaphorically typed The End last week? =) I did! Finished up Circle of Spies on Friday, so join me in a victorious “Woot!” LOL
I’m sure I have something fun I learned in the final research for that, but yesterday I hurriedly prepared a post I’d forgotten to do beforehand in the rush of that final stretch of CoS, so I thought I’d share that instead. 😉
Did you realize that we’re currently in the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812? Yep! It will stretch into the beginning of 2015, though I’m especially glad to celebrate the events of late 1814, including the Battle of Fort McHenry–the event that serves as the backdrop for the climax of Whispers from the Shadows. This is a war that’s been largely forgotten, which is kinda sad. Today I’m talking a bit about it on Regency Reflections–please stop over and say hello!
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The Chasseur, one of the most famous privateers of the War of 1812. This Baltimore
captain harassed the British merchant fleet in their own waters. |
You know, it’s really kind of funny. When reading the Regency-set
novels I so love, I often find references to the on-going war with
France and the audacity of Napoleon. Only rarely, however, do we see the
British perspective of another war going on at the same time, one with
the upstart Colonists that had declared their independence a generation
before. Even America often forgets their War of 1812, and in
Europe…well, it tends to dim in comparison to the Napoleonic Wars. It’s
become overlooked by both sides. But oh, how interesting it is! Read the Full Article
by Roseanna White | May 27, 2013 | Word of the Week
I love these words with a long history. =) To mix things up today, I’m going to present this one as a
list. Wanna take a guess as to which one I was looking up for the end of my spy story? LOL
Primary use (you know, the part of your face) – Old English
Used of any prominent or projecting part – 1530s.
To say something is under (one’s) nose “in plain view” – 1540s
(verb) to perceive the smell of – 1570s
something obvious – 1590s.
Pay through the nose (bleed) – 1670s
(verb) to pry, search – 1640s
To turn up one’s nose, “show disdain” – 1818 (earlier hold up one’s nose, 1570s)
Odor, scent (the nose of a perfume) – 1894
Many extended meanings are from the horse-racing sense
of length of a horse’s nose, as a measure of distance between two
finishers – 1908
(verb) to look down one’s nose – 1921
by Roseanna White | May 23, 2013 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
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| Baby at Play by Thomas Eakins, 1876 |
As a mama working from home with two home schooled kids, one of whom is only kindergarten aged, I know a lot about interruptions. People frequently ask me, “How do you get anything done?” And in answer, I usually have to shrug. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I only do by popping earbuds in and turning on some instrumental music to drown out Max & Ruby or Octonauts. Sometimes I do a lot of growling about, “Please, just five minutes without squabbling. Please.”
For the most part, my kids are good at entertaining themselves. But as I was trying to hammer through the last few chapters of my manuscript the other day, I found that the interruptions were of a certain type. Rowyn was building. And when Rowyn in building, I hear a lot of this:
“Look, Mommy!”
“Mommy, see what I did here?”
“Hey, Mama, do you know where the other piece like this is?”
“Mommy, ta-da!”
Despite being pulled yet again from my story, I had to smile. It’s such a cute and intrinsic part of childhood, isn’t it? That need to be not just noticed but acknowledged. To have one’s actions and accomplishments cheered and encouraged.
I remember those days. I remember standing at the edge of the pool and saying, “Watch, Mommy. Mommy? Hey, Mommy, watch me! Look what I can do!” before jumping in. I remember rushing in from a day of school, waving the picture I’d colored or the fat red A on the top of a test. I remember my mom smiling and laughing, giving me a kiss. Even though sometimes she was probably thinking, “Yeah, look at you, jumping into the pool exactly like you did twenty seconds ago.” 😉
An adorable part of childhood, to be sure. And yet…not peculiar to our early days, is it? Maybe I don’t have to show my mother every paragraph I write anymore (I mean, as I write it–she still reads most of what I put to paper, LOL). Maybe my every move isn’t a cry of “Look! Notice me! Approve of what I’m doing! Be proud!” Not aloud–but we never really outgrow the instinct, do we?
I can’t design a book cover without showing my husband or best friend. I can’t finish a hard day without inviting someone to note all I accomplished. I can’t scrub a floor without surveying it at the end and saying to my kids, “Just look at that! Doesn’t that look nice?”
People crave approval like we crave air–it’s a necessary part of who we are. We need those pats on the head. We need the smiles. We don’t necessarily need someone to say, “Wow, that’s the best thing ever!” We just need to know they see. That they notice. That they care.
It can be tiring to be the one always having to notice, without often being noticed (says the mom with young kids who really don’t care about a clean floor, LOL). But you know, people pay attention to that too–and more, God does. I think he must smile over our every indulgent smile. I think He must pat our backs when we pat the back of another. I think He loves little more than watching His children love one another.
Sometimes I need the reminder to slow down and notice. To spare those few seconds that make another’s day. So this is me reminding myself. And it’s me reminding you. Pay attention today. Take a few seconds to let those in your life know you’re watching, you’re really seeing them, that their ever little action is a precious part of your day, of your life.
Cherish those ta-das. There’s nothing else in the world like them.
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.