by Roseanna White | Jan 27, 2017 | Announcements, Sales
Apparently I totally forgot to blog on Thursday–but for good reason. I was finishing the set-up of my new online store, from which you can purchase signed copies of my books!
I’ve been wanting to set this up for months but kept shying away from the time commitment–and figuring out how to redo the site in general. But after fiddling with all week, it’s finally live.
And to celebrate, I’m offering a free gift on all orders that come in on or before Sunday 29 January 2017 ~ a WhiteFire book that I’ll handpick to go along with each order.
So feel free to browse through my new site and check out the shop ~ if you’ve been thinking you need a paperback copy or are looking for a great gift, signed books are always good choices. (Any books are good choices. Rarely do I give a gift that doesn’t involve a book. LOL.)
by Roseanna White | Jan 25, 2017 | 17th-19th Centuries, Remember When Wednesdays
I’m a coffee drinker. Oh, I love tea too, but when the day is new and I make my way out to the kitchen to start my morning, tea doesn’t cut it. It’s coffee who has my affections just then.
When traveling in England last autumn, I quickly learned that where the American culture has leaned heavily toward coffee in recent centuries, the same cannot be said for England. Though you can buy a cup of perked coffee from any restaurant or bakery, it’s not made as often at home–and when it is, it’s usually with a French press, which is lovely, but doesn’t make a whole pot like American families might be accustomed to. Which meant that when I got home, one of the best parts was having my coffee again. 😉
I knew from research, however, that coffee houses were actually all the rage in England of old. They are, in fact, responsible for its ever coming to America. So why did England then become the tea country, and America in love with coffee?
After doing some digging, it seems that the answer is two-fold.
First, England–though tea, hot chocolate, and coffee were all introduced around the same time in England, and hence in America, the East India Company was in the tea business, and they began pushing to make tea king.
This went according to plan in England, but their plans for New World Domination were foiled by the disastrous Stamp Act in the American colonies. Though most of these taxes were repealed, the one on tea remained–which made the Americans, bolstered by their cries of “no taxation without representation,” turn to other sources for tea–and to coffee.
Coffee houses and taverns have existed here since the 1600s, but it was the strife with England that made coffee the choice of many Americans. Which is curious, since the beans were shipped green and often arrived musty and damp and, well, kinda gross. Still, Americans preferred to drink what might be a rather noxious brew rather than buy tea from England.
New York’s first coffee roaster opened in 1793, which led to a rash of such places. Coffee continued to gain dominance in America, though it wasn’t for another hundred and fifty years that they finally turned to quality beans being grown in Central America. They launched a serious ad campaign in the 1950s that revolutionized coffee in America by introducing the “coffee break.” Suddenly coffee was about quality, which led to the rise of such institution as Starbucks.
But the coffee industry we know today–be it trendy or eco-friendly, designer or instant–all has its roots in the American cry for independence. Without that, we’d likely be sitting every morning sipping our tea, as they do in England.
by Roseanna White | Jan 19, 2017 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Throwback Thursdays
I’m sure I could find something original to write about today. But as I was thinking about what I’m thinking about (sure–that made sense), I realized that I’d already written about it. So I went and looked it up and reread it, and it still stands. 😉 So if you read this one a year and a half ago, my apologies. But maybe you missed it. Or need the reminder. Maybe someone else out is…
I am a mom–an imperfect one, but one who tries to show her kids what she can…and who is constantly amazed by these two precious little people who latch onto my waist and declare, “Mine! You’ll always be my mama!”
He is my Father–a perfect one, who shows me in so many ways what I can do through Him. Who constantly amazes me with the gifts, small and large, that He has given us. Who patiently whispers, “Mine. You’ll always be my daughter.”
I am a wife–one who messes up now and then, who says the wrong thing and forgets to make dinner. But one who still gets that little pitter-patter inside at the thought of seeing her husband after a short absence. Who dares to dream along with him of somedays and maybes.
He is the Bridegroom–the one who is always waiting for his Bride to remember her vows, to remain faithful, to reach for perfection. The one with arms outstretched in love for His church, for the world.
I am a bit of recluse–the kind who likes company, sure, but who gets lost in a crowd. Who sits at a party feeling awkward, even when it’s all family. Who can give a sermon or a speech no problem, but who often stumbles through the unscripted…until she has a keyboard under her fingers or a pen in her hand.
He is everywhere. Always. And yet He doesn’t force His way in. He stands outside the doors of our hearts and awaits our invitation. To come in. To sit with us. To give us the words we can’t find and the sense of belonging that sometimes evades us.
I am a homemaker–but not the kind who makes a beautiful, showcase home. I appreciate those, but they’re not for me. I would rather spend my spare dollars on dreams and goals and helping those who have less than on curtains or decorations. All I need, I have discovered, is enough–when I find myself with more, it’s meant to be used for a greater purpose than my own comfort.
He is the Creator–the one who made the world and all that’s in it. Who clothed the lilies of the field. Who made a home for every creature. The one who bids me, “Don’t worry about tomorrow. Just follow Me today.”
Sometimes, when I’m tired or down or just overwhelmed, it’s easy to focus on all I’m not. But I’m not not. I am. I am all He made me, and all He made me to be that I haven’t yet realized. I’m flaws and strengths, weaknesses and determination.
I’m a shadow of Him–a mirror, I pray, of His light. I am His. And He is I AM.
by Roseanna White | Jan 18, 2017 | 20th Century, Remember When Wednesdays
 |
| Photo courtesy of Stephanie’s editor–the first to get her hands on the hardback |
You’ll be seeing more about this book from me in a couple weeks, when it releases. But I had to give y’all a sneak peek now, because there are some extras you can get if you pre-order, and they’re fun enough to make it worth clicking that button a few weeks early. 😉 (You just email your receipt to LostGirl@harpercollins.com and they send you some fun downloads.)
So a couple years ago, my best friend, Stephanie Morrill, (author of The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt Series and The Ellie Sweet Series) said she had an idea for a historical YA.
Insert Roseanna laughing maniacally and saying, “I knew it! I knew you’d come over to the dark side of historicals eventually! Mwa ha ha ha!”
Ahem.
Her idea was set in 1920s Chicago, which is an awesome setting. One which I’d in fact used before in a MS called Mafia Princess which still sits, sad and forlorn, in my folder of finished but unpublished manuscripts. (Sniff, sniff. Be patient, Sabina and Lorenzo–you may yet find your time…) Happy as a clam that my best friend was finally seeing reason and writing historicals, I promptly sent her all my research books, bought her a book on historical fashion for her birthday, and solemnly swore to answer any questions she had on the history in particular or historicals in general, if I could.
The result: The Lost Girl of Astor Street.
I cannot gush enough about this book. This book is awesome. This book is beautiful. This book is fun. I am happy beyond measure that Blink has picked it up, and thoroughly jazzed at this: HARDBACK!!!!!
I’m eagerly awaiting my pre-ordered copy to arrive in February, but in the meantime, I’m gearing up to help promote. So eventually, you’ll see my full review. For now, this from me is on the back cover:
“Morrill delivers a story that has it all – mystery, the mafia, and a heroine you can’t help but root for. If Veronica Mars met the Roaring Twenties, you’d end up with The Lost Girl of Astor Street.” ~ Roseanna White, author of The Lost Heiress
Here’s the official blurb:
When her best friend vanishes without so much
as a good-bye, eighteen-year-old Piper Sail takes on the role of
amateur sleuth in an attempt to solve the mystery of Lydia’s
disappearance. Given that Piper’s tendency has always been to butt heads
with high-society’s expectations of her, it’s no surprise that she
doesn’t give a second thought to searching for answers to Lydia’s
abduction from their privileged neighborhood.
As Piper discovers
that those answers might stem from the corruption strangling 1924
Chicago—and quite possibly lead back to the doors of her affluent
neighborhood—she must decide how deep she’s willing to dig, how much she
should reveal, and if she’s willing to risk her life of privilege for
the sake of the truth.
Perfect for fans of Libba Bray and Anna
Godbersen, Stephanie Morrill’s atmospheric jazz-age mystery will take
readers from the glitzy homes of the elite to the dark underbelly of
1920s Chicago.
by Roseanna White | Jan 16, 2017 | Word of the Week
Okay, more of a phrase of the week–and this one by special request (happy to report no one’s under the weather in my house! Though we had a brief stint of it last Tuesday…)
Anyway. So.
Everyone knows that under the weather means to feel sick. The question is where it came from.
As it turns out, this is in fact a phrase with nautical origins. A lot of seasickness is caused by bad weather–and the solution is to go below deck and lie down, where you’re not only out of the weather, but where the swaying of the ship isn’t so pronounced. When you did this, you were said to go/be, quite literally, under the weather. Some sources site the original phrase as being under the weather bow–which was the side of the ship getting hit by all the wind and waves etc.
So there we have it, and here’s hoping no one in your house has to claim it this week!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. Having successfully launched two homeschool grads, she now spends her time writing fiction, 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, as well as a fantasy series and contemporary mysteries and romances. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.