by Roseanna White | Jul 6, 2016 | Remember When Wednesdays
Okay, this isn’t so much a history-themed post as a modern-day rant, LOL.
So, five years ago David and I went to Niagara Falls for our 10th anniversary. It was gorgeous, we had a lovely time, and we said then that we’d take the kids when Rowyn (who was only 3 at the time) was bigger and better able to actually, you know, remember it.
Well, the kids now have their passports, so we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Niagara for the 4th. (Because, you know, nothing says American Independence Day like traveling into Canada, LOL. Seriously, their fireworks over the falls are fantastic! So yes, we and thousands of others went to Canada for the Fourth, LOL.) The kids had a blast and want to make it an annual tradition.
So there we were, absorbing this grandeur. As we stood there on the Canadian side and looked out over the Horseshoe Falls, David said, “Can you imagine being the first European to see this?”
I, of course, put on an over-the-top accent and said, “I say! What a smashing good waterfall!”
David added, “Back up, back up! I think maybe we shouldn’t send the boats down that!”
We being us, this went on for a while, the kids ignoring us while we pretended we were explorers of old seeing this for the first time, with no one else around.
But oh, there were other people around. And on this trip, they were both driving me nuts and making me sad.
Selfies. Selfies were the bane of the trip. Not for us–we didn’t even get out our cell phones. But oh. My. Gracious.
People were so busy trying to get a selfie of themselves in front of the Falls that they weren’t actually looking at the falls! This was especially noticeable on the Maid of the Mist boat ride that takes you up to it. Where, you know, if you don’t actually look when the boat is going by, you miss it. But instead of seeing this amazing scene, at least half of the people on this boat had their backs to it. Their arms out. Often extended with a selfie-stick. Shoving the rest of us against the wall so that they could smile at their smart phone.
They would rather have taken a picture of themselves in front of something beautiful than to see something beautiful.
Eventually, of course, they turned around . . . with their phones still up. So they could video it. Which meant that they were staring at their four-inch screens rather than the actual sight.
I’m not saying “Don’t take pictures.” Not at all! I obviously adore a good photograph–hence my use of one up top. But for goodness sake, don’t miss the thing you came to see so that your phone can see it! Get a picture, then put the dang thing away, will you, world? Have a little courtesy for the thousands of people around you instead of shoving your way by them so you’re in prime selfie-taking position. Take the time to soak it all in. Ask questions. Be silly. Make way for the little kid straining up on tiptoe to try to see.
See. See this beauty of God’s creation instead of the screen of your cell phone. Actually enjoy the place you are. Be the place you are. You don’t live in your phone (though many of you seem to. Ahem). You live here. With those people you just shoved aside. You want to remember it? It won’t be by adding another photo to the thousands-huge camera roll. It’ll be by being fully in that moment while you’re there.
Back in the day before cameras, much less cell phones, people could still make memories. They made them by being. By living. By experiencing.
What did those explorers think when they first saw them? Or the people who traveled to it in the Colonial days, when it was already a destination? What would it have been like for them?
Interestingly, largely the same as it is for us. This sight you have the opportunity to behold is a sight enjoyed by people for centuries. There’s a kind of magic in that, isn’t there? Let’s live that. Let’s absorb it. Let’s be part of the wonder. Cuz our cell phones really don’t care. But the people around us? They do. Let’s be people, instead of just selfie sticks, eh?
End rant. 😉
by Roseanna White | Jun 30, 2016 | Thoughtful Thursdays
Life is hard. So often we feel pressure. People are pushing us. Prodding us. Poking us. Sometimes, when circumstances are weighing heavy, we get that tight feeling in our chest, right? Or in our stomach. Stress. Overwhelm.
We get tired.
We get frustrated.
We react.
But how do we react? Or the better question, how should we?
In his sermon last weekend, my dad used this analogy, and it really struck me. Take an orange and squeeze it, press it–what do you get? Orange juice. Not apple juice. Not grape juice.
Take a sponge and squeeze it, and what do you get? Whatever liquid it has soaked up.
Take a plant and press it, and what comes out? The oils or fluids from inside the plant.
Now, take a piece of rotten fruit and squeeze it, and what comes out? Rot. Decay. Stench.
Getting the picture? When pressed, what comes out of a thing? What’s inside it.
So let’s take that back to us. What comes out of us when we’re pressed? (Yes, the comedian in me said, “Blood and gross-squishy-red-stuff.” [Bonus points if you get the Phineas and Ferb reference.] But let’s be serious, LOL.)
What comes out is what’s within. So if we’re frustrated, that frustration comes out. If we’re unhappy, we spew unhappiness. If we’re bitter, that bile is just going to come oozing out of our mouths. But is that all that’s inside us, even when we’re not at our best?
When we’re people of faith, there is always Something else inside us. Someone else. The Holy Spirit lives here. He’s inside me. Jesus is inside me. So with them, what else is inside me?
Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness.
When we’re pressed, squeezed, put under pressure, when we’re poked, prodded, and pushed, that is what should come pouring out of us–that should be what’s within us.
Humbling, isn’t it? When you’re feeling the pressure of life, are you greeting it with love? With Joy? Do we greet evil with goodness? Prodding with patience? Are we, when we’re at our lowest, when we’re been squeezed so much by life that the pain is palpable, shining with faithfulness?
If we’re not, than that says something about what’s inside us–and about what isn’t. We can’t pour out what we don’t have; and we can’t have good fruit inside us yet spill out rot and decay. If that’s what’s coming out, it’s because that’s what’s within.
And if that’s what’s within, then we need to do some serious work on ourselves. We need to turn those rotten spots over to God and let Him prune them away. We need to plead with Him to fill us with the good stuff inside.
And He will.
Until our cup runs over with His light. It’ll spill right out of us . . . and right into the world. And then, when we’re pressed, people will see Him.
I can’t think of a more beautiful way to show people who Jesus really is.
by Roseanna White | Jun 29, 2016 | Giveaways and Contests
Time for a fun contest I’m launching! Read on to learn about your chance to have your work appear in one of my novels published with Bethany House! (But not like you might think…)
WHAT I NEED: an
original melody to feature in book 2 of the Shadows Over England series,
A Song Unheard (just the tune, no lyrics
needed). It can be as short as 15 seconds or as long as 2 minutes.
HOW YOU ENTER:
grab a recording device (cell phones work great!) and hum/sing/whistle/play me
a snippet of melody that YOU have come up with! Upload to YouTube and then send
me the link: on Facebook @RoseannaMWhite OR on Twitter @RoseannaMWhite OR via
email at
roseannamwhite@gmail.com.
You can also upload to Dropbox or Google Docs and share with that email address
if you don’t want to use YouTube.
On
social media entries, be sure to use the hashtag #SongUnheard and tag me!
HOW IT WORKS: I
have 25 years of musical experience, so I’ll take your original tune and
transcribe it into a melody for a violinist to play. That means you don’t have to know the first thing
about how to write music—you just have to be able to hum . . . or whistle . . .
or go “La la dee da” . . . or play a different instrument, if you prefer.
Submit your tunes to me (all entries MUST be original or you
will be immediately disqualified) by Sunday
14 August 2016. I will listen to all submissions and choose a shortlist of
fabulous melodies. I will then set up a page where readers (and listeners) will
vote for the winner! (In order for the contest to be guaranteed, I must receive
at least 25 tunes to choose from.)
As I’m writing A Song
Unheard, I’ll also be turning the winning melody into written music. It
will be included in the book, as will a link to a violinist performing your
song!
WHAT YOU WIN: The
creator of the winning melody will receive:
o
Infinite glory. I mean, come on, how many people
can say they wrote a song featured in a novel?
o
Coolness. See above.
o
Credit in the book for composing/helping to
compose the song
o
Exclusive A
Song Unheard swag
o
A $50 Amazon gift card
GUIDELINES: This
is to create a song that my heroine will have written in the course of my
novel. The setting is Great Britain in 1914, in the opening days of World War
I. I’m looking for something poignant and soul-soothing. This means that you
should avoid rock and roll, jazz, and anything else that was not invented yet.
😉 If you’d like to know more about the story, scroll down to the “About the
Book” section at the end of this post. Again, no words required, just the
melody!
DISCLAIMER: I
reserve the right to tweak any melody that wins to make it the correct
length/style for my purposes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I really don’t
have to know anything about music to enter?
A: Absolutely not! I know plenty, so all you have to do is
send me a recording. I can do the rest.
Q: What if I do know how to write music? Can I send
you the written melody?
A: Sure, though you must also submit a video or sound
recording for people to vote on. And if you send it already written, and you
win, I’ll ask you to sign a simple contract giving me permission to publish it,
since copyright of music belongs to the person to put it to paper.
Q: What formats can I
submit my video or audio recording in?
A: The simplest method is probably to upload it to
www.YouTube.com and just send me the link,
either via email, Twitter, or on Facebook. This is fast and free! But you can
also send an MP3 or WAV file to me at
roseannamwhite@gmail.com,
or upload to a file system like Dropbox or Google Docs and share it with that
email address.
Q: Can I send you
something played on a different instrument?
A: Absolutely! Just keep in mind that this is for a MELODY
ONLY. So if you sent in a cool piano piece with chords all over the place and
intricate harmony, I might appreciate it, but I won’t be able to make it work
perfectly for a violin soloist. I want this to be a song that people can go
around humming when it gets stuck in their head. 😉
Q: How long should it
be? That’s a wide range you gave.
A: Very true. I give a wide range because a single snippet
of melody is fine—I can build on that. Or if you’re a budding composer and want
to send me a full song, you get Super Awesome Points. 😉 I just need it to be
short enough to include the whole thing on a single page in my book.
Q: Can I enter more than one song?
A: Absolutely! Enter as many original melodies as you’d like!
She’s a prodigy—but no one knows it. Willa Forsythe has
scraped herself up from the mean streets of London, but only through guile…and
fingers as quick to steal as they are on a violin’s strings. But now, with the
Great War gripping Europe, she has a new job. She has to steal from a master
violinist to force him to accept an offer her boss has made him.
He’s a celebrity—but it doesn’t matter. Lukas De Wilde
worked all his life for fame and glory on the violin, but when war traps him
outside of his native Belgium, he would trade it all to save his family. He
must, at all costs, get his brilliant little sister out of Belgium before the
occupying Germans realize that she’s more than just another twelve-year-old
girl. He will do what it takes to earn the money to save them…but he dares not
trust anyone, even if they seem to be a friend.
She could destroy his family. He could destroy her dreams. Or
perhaps, if they can figure how to work together and accept the grace of God,
they can create something more beautiful than either could ever fathom.
Contest runs from July 1 – August 14, 2016. Early entrees will be accepted but late ones will not. All entries must be ORIGINAL. Chances of winning are dependent on the number of entries. This will not be a random drawing, but rather a winner voted by choice. No purchase necessary. Entries from around the globe are welcome.
by Roseanna White | Jun 27, 2016 | Word of the Week
If you look up chintzy, you’ll find that it means:
1. of, like, or decorated with chintz.
2. cheap, inferior, or gaudy.
But these days we don’t all know what chintz really is, right? I had some vague recollection that it was a kind of fabric, but that was where my memory ended. I was, in fact, correct–chintz is a brightly colored cotton fabric that is then glazed, usually used for upholstery or drapery. The word has been in use since 1719, from Hindi. It began as the singular chint, but was soon used in the plural form. No one’s quite sure why it was spelled with a -z instead of an -s to make it plural, but there you go.
This fabric was made quite cheaply in India, which made it very common . . . and hence looked down on. George Eliot was the first to use chintzy in a disparaging sense, in 1851.
by Roseanna White | Jun 22, 2016 | Giveaways and Contests, Remember When Wednesdays
It’s time for the June tea party at Colonial Quills! We just realized my April release, The Reluctant Duchess, hadn’t been featured in one yet, so I got in on the fun. =)
The main action will take place on the CQ blog, where we’re virtually dining at the Jefferson Hotel. Just head over there to leave comments for the participating authors, which will enter you in the many giveaways!
THEN . . . come chat with us live on Facebook! The Facebook party will run from 5-8, and I’ll be kicking it off at 5:00 on the dot. Bring your questions, comments, and silly statements, along with a picture of what you’ll be wearing to our virtual tea party. (I’ll be hunting up my tea gown for the day too!)
Hope to see you around the Colonial Quills sites today!
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.