The Story Behind the Story

I feel like I say this a lot, LOL, but this is one of those books that has traveled with me for a loooong time. I first wrote this story over the summer of 2004, in the months following my college graduation. This was the first story to ever wake me up in the middle of the night and NOT LET ME GO. There was just something about Louisa and Rem…something about the Outer Banks setting…something about the idea of love blooming where it shouldn’t that held me in its grip.

That original story, which was only about Louisa and Rem and not at all the time-slip it has turned into, was a contemporary. Louisa was still the handy-woman daughter of an innkeeper in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Rem was still in intelligence, but was an analyst for the CIA. His mom was still a piece of work. 😉 But what made me love these characters and their story so much was, I think, their hearts. Louisa would give up anything, anything for love of her family. She would take any risk, make any sacrifice if it was for the good of those she loved. Rem was a man of deep intelligence, deep faith, and deep heart who wanted to give Louisa her dreams but was afraid he’d stand in the way of them instead.

That first version, written nearly two decades ago, was called Unrequested, Unrequited. I eventually decided that was a bit of a mouthful, LOL, and when I rewrote the book to pitch it to editors back in the 2010s (still as a contemporary romance), I retitled it Yesterday’s Tides. And once again, when I pulled the manuscript out, it held me fast and wouldn’t let me go.

But then I began to get contracts for historicals. My genre was set, my brand began to develop. So what would I ever do with this story that was off-brand, these characters that I thought of every…single…year when my family vacationed in the Outer Banks? It was my best friend/critique partner, Stephanie Morrill, who eventually said, “Make it a historical! Set it during the First World War or the 1920s or something!”

Stephanie is brilliant. 😉

So I planted Remington Culbreath in Room 40, and I waited. I waited for my chance to tell his story.

During another vacation, I found myself flipping through a book on the islands and reading some of the WW2 history, and I thought to myself, “Why did all the interesting stuff happen here during the Second World War? That’s not ‘my’ war!” Then it hit me–TIME-SLIP!!! I could not only write Louisa and Rem’s story in the WW1 setting I’d already created for them in my mind, I could also tell another story that had come to me over the years, the story of Evie and Sterling, at the same time, but set in WW2.

Cue the confetti!!

So while this story is, in many ways, vastly different from that book I first feverishly typed out in 2004, it is also, in some ways, more the story I held in my heart, the one that held my heart. So I threw everything I had at it.

This story is what I call my “key to all mythologies.” (Bonus points if you get the Middlemarch reference, LOL.) In short, there was a character searching for a key that would link every world mythology together. Well, this is the story that combines ALL my stories! We’ve got the Culper Ring, the Ladies of the Manor, the Shadows Over England and Codebreakers worlds. We’ve got a reference to the Secrets of the Isles. We’ve got it ALL, my friends! And I couldn’t be more pleased with how this story turned out.

The cover. The time-slip. The edits. The characters. Be still, my heart!

Or rather, go ahead and race! Because finally, FINALLY Yesterday’s Tides is more than just a story carried around in my heart and mind. It’s one I get to share! This calls for some serious celebration!!!

My Wonderful Readers

I have been blessed with incredible readers and launch team members! Search #YesterdaysTides on social media to see all of their wonderful creations! You can find a few below.

The Official Back Cover Copy

In two world wars, intelligence and counterintelligence, prejudice, and self-sacrifice collide across two generations.

In 1942, Evie Farrow is used to life on Ocracoke Island, where every day is the same–until the German U-boats haunting their waters begin to wreak havoc. And when special agent Sterling Bertrand is washed ashore at Evie’s inn, her life is turned upside down. While Sterling’s injuries keep him inn-bound for weeks, making him even more anxious about the man he’s tracking, he becomes increasingly intrigued by Evie, who seems to be hiding secrets of her own.

Decades earlier, in 1914, Englishman Remington Culbreth arrives at the Ocracoke Inn for the summer, but he doesn’t count on falling in love with Louisa Adair, the innkeeper’s daughter. When war breaks out in Europe, and their relationship is put in jeopardy, will their love survive?

As Evie and Sterling work to track down an elusive German agent, they unravel mysteries that go back a generation. The ripples from the Great War are still rocking their lives, and it seems yesterday’s tides may sweep them all into danger again today.

Bestselling and award-winning author Roseanna M. White whisks you away to two periods fraught with peril in this sweeping and romantic dual-time tale.

What People Are Saying

Visit Robin’s website HERE.

Visit Carrie’s website HERE.

Visit Sarah’s website HERE.

Visit Kristy’s website HERE.

FACEBOOK LIVE

In honor of release day, I’ll be doing a Facebook Live tonight at 7 pm EST! Join me then for more behind the scenes, some fun facts, a bit of the history behind the story, hear me read a short excerpt, be entered into a BONUS giveaway just for commenters, and ask any questions you have!

SEA GLASS PRAYER JEWELRY

What is sea glass prayer jewelry? Well, in the story, the WW2-line heroine, Evie, takes daily walks along the shore. She prays, and she collects sea glass and shells. Each item she picks up becomes linked in her mind with whomever she’s praying for at the time. Later, in her studio, she turns those pieces of glass and shell into jewelry…and every time she wears it or works on it, she yet again remembers to pray for the person. Often, rather than keeping it, she’ll give the jewelry to the person in question or their family.

I loved this idea so much when I came up with it, that I immediately went in search of some sea glass jewelry to put in my shop. I love the designs of this jeweler, and I printed up little cards to explain the “prayer jewelry” aspect. Each one you purchase comes with the card and is just waiting to be linked in your heart and mind with a prayer request, so that its vibrant colors can remind you of it each time you wear it!

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…the giveaway!

To celebrate this long-awaited release, I will be giving away THREE prizes to US-addressees and ONE prize to an international winner!

PRIMARY GIVEAWAY:
Three lucky winners will receive a signed copy of the book PLUS a piece of sea glass prayer jewelery!

INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY:
One winner will receive a copy of Yesterday’s Tides via BookDepository.

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