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. đ 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
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| 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. đ (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 Lydiaâs
disappearance. Given that Piperâs tendency has always been to butt heads
with high-societyâs expectations of her, itâs no surprise that she
doesnât give a second thought to searching for answers to Lydiaâs
abduction from their privileged neighborhood.
As Piper discovers
that those answers might stem from the corruption strangling 1924
Chicagoâand quite possibly lead back to the doors of her affluent
neighborhoodâshe must decide how deep sheâs willing to dig, how much she
should reveal, and if sheâs willing to risk her life of privilege for
the sake of the truth.
Perfect for fans of Libba Bray and Anna
Godbersen, Stephanie Morrillâs 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!
by Roseanna White | Jan 12, 2017 | Cover Designs
I’m up to my eyeballs in galleys for A Name Unknown right now, so I can’t spend much time on the ol’ blog this week. But I did want to check in real quick. So I thought I’d do a quick share of the covers I created last week.
WhiteFire just acquired some of Melody Carlson’s backlist contemporary titles–all previously published, but we’re giving them a fresh new look. I’ve had fun repackaging these MC classics, and since the first batch of them are processing and will be available today/tomorrow (I’ll update with links later), I figured it would be cool to share!
I tackled them in an, ahem, amazingly brilliant order. Alphabetical. đ So here they are in that same order.
First up is actually the most recent of the books, Armando’s Treasure
Dora Chase is an eighty-year-old widow whose
family finds her frustratingly independent. Her son no longer trusts her
judgment and constantly pressures her to sell her rural home and rundown farm
to a huge computer firm.
When a young stranger shows up, Dora is
suspicious, but before long Armando Garcia wins her trust. And Armando supports
Doraâs independence, causing the conflict within her bickering family to
escalate. Dora’s son abhors Armando’s interference and is determined to send
him away. He suspects the charming young man is running from something or
someone. And he’s not far from wrong.
The unlikely friendship that grows between the
elderly widow and the young man with a past leads them both on a journey toward
hope, healing and forgiveness.
Going on that description and the previous covers, both of which had a classic Chevy truck in blue and some sunflowers…
I came up with this.
Melody approved, so it was on to the next, Built with Love, which had been originally published as Wise Man’s House.
For a young widow, the stone mansion she once
dreamed of owning, offers the promise of a new beginning.
After the death of her husband, Kestra returns
to her hometown of Port Star. With the purchase of her childhood dream houseâa
stone mansion along the rocky Oregon coastâit appears she has found a way to
rebuild her life.
Kestra begins to transform the old house into an
elegant, yet charming restaurant. But as the renovations begin, a mysterious stranger
moves into her caretakerâs cottageâand eventually into her heart.
Suddenly life is full of promise and new opportunities,
until a contractorâs jealousy threatens Kestraâs new romance.
The opening of this one had some nice mood to it that I wanted to capture. So again, armed with the blurb, my glance at the first pages, and these previous covers…
I came up with this.
My original had a larger house–I apparently think in East Coast terms, LOL–but after some minor tweaking anyway… đ
Next up is Heartland Skies.
Jayne
Morgan has a lot to learn about love. Harris McAllister has a lot to learn
about tolerance. When they meet they have lots to teach each other.
Jayne
feels betrayed when her fiancĂŠ suddenly
dumps her for his high school sweetheart just weeks before the wedding. Sheâd
love to leave Paradise, Oregon, but sheâs signed a teaching contract and the
kids in her classroom need her.
This one was Xoe’s favorite–because HORSES. đ I had the saddle wrong in my first attempt, not realizing she rode English instead of Western, but after a bit of tweaking, we went from these…
to this:
The next one is a bit different. Looking for Cassandra Jane is a coming-of-age story set in the 60s and 70s. So I wanted it to have a different sort of look to capture that young feel, and also the era.
Cassanda Maxwell has had a life filled with
pain. Her mother died too young, her father is an abusive alcoholic, and sheâs
a misfit everywhere she goes.
After being shuttled between various foster
homes, Cass struggles to find her identity and finds herself caught up with
Scott Jones (aka âSkyâ) and his group of friends who start a Jesus commune in
California. But before long, the group is more interested in pot and sex than
they are spiritual growth.
Once again, Cass finds herself trapped in
unhappinessâand she longs for escape.
Will Cass find the life and love she craves on a
California communeâwith the charismatic Sky and his followers? Or
can she fulfill her dreamsâand find her real futureâwith her childhood
friend Joey?
I quite liked the original cover–the distressed feel of it and the girl hanging her head.
I didn’t imitate it exactly by any means, but that’s what I kept in mind as I hunted up photos. I was afraid Melody and her agent wouldn’t get my vision with the big script font, LOL, but they both loved this.
Then we had Shades of Light. I read a few chapters of this one as I prepared myself to design it and was quite enjoying the theme of light–physical and metaphorical.
First there are shades of sorrow, then shades of
hope. Will Gwen find shades of light?
When her only child leaves home for college,
widowed Gwen Sullivan discovers just how lonely an âempty nestâ can be. How
will she adjust and fill her empty days?
At the urging of friends, Gwen takes a job with
an interior designerâwhom she soon discovers to be domineering and jealous of
Gwenâs creativity. Suddenly sheâs stuck doing menial tasks. When a sleazy client
starts to harass her, Gwen begins to wonder if sheâs cut out for the working
world.
She eventually meets Oliver Black, who gives her
an opportunity to use her decorating skills, and suddenly Gwen sees herself in
a more confident light. But Oliver is a man of many secrets, and Gwen wonders
if she can trust her heart to him.
Light is crucial to the main character, so I wanted a cover where she’s bathed in it. I found a model of the right age at a window, inserted a Pacific Northwest background (very faintly), and voila.
Melody loved the expression on her face here, so we had a winner!
And finally, the one with the absolute best setting. đ Previously titled Awakening Heart, we retitled this one with Melody’s original working title, Thursday’s Child.
Emma has always been âthe practical oneâ in the
family. But that is about to change as she embarks on the adventure of her
life.
Emma Davis wants a new life now that she no
longer needs to care for her grandmother. A spur-of-the-moment visit to a
travel agency sets her on a journey far from her Iowa home.
Emma takes a cruise to the far islands of the
Pacific, but it isnât until she arrives in Papua, New Guinea, that she begins
to realize her true calling. Emma regains her sense of purpose by caring for
three motherless children and befriending their father, Josh Daniels.
Joshâs troubled pass and
the loss of his wife have left him vulnerable, but can the love Emma has
discovered in her own heart, awaken his heart to all Emma has to offer?
But I wanted to capture that gorgeous setting!
So there we have it! I still have four more covers to design for a series from Melody that we’ll be re-releasing, but that will have to wait until after galleys. Speaking of which . . . BYE!
by Roseanna White | Jan 9, 2017 | Word of the Week
Last weekend, my daughter asked where the word Bible came from. I had an idea but wasn’t 100% sure I was right so looked it up–and indeed found my impression was correct.
Bible is a rather ancient word, meaning “the Bible or any large book” back in the medieval days. I know that in many romance languages, the word for book still has bibl- in it somewhere, so this was no surprise to me. It comes most directly to English from Latin, via French, but the Latin word is actually straight from the Greek. Biblion is any ordinary scroll or book. They called the Holy Bible, ta biblio to hagia at first, though the term for the Christian scriptures had been shorted to ta biblio in Greek as early as 223!
The Greek is thought to perhaps have come from Byblos, a Phoenician port from which Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece.
So for many hundreds of years, the English form Bible meant only the Holy Scriptures; it was then expanded again figuratively to mean “any authoritative work” around 1800.
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, sheâs 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 booksâŚto offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.