by Roseanna White | Nov 2, 2015 | Uncategorized
How better to celebrate the arrival of November than with a big ol’ giveaway? The authors of 12 fabulous inspirational historicals have teamed up to bring you this one. And with 12 winners, your chances of bringing home a prize are great!
Giveaway includes:
The Hesitant Heiress by Dawn Crandall
Luther and Katharina by Jody Hedlund
A Refuge at Highland Hall by Carrie Turansky
The Bound Heart by Dawn Crandall
A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter
The Captive Imposter by Dawn Crandall
Not by Sight by Kate Breslin
The Mistress of Tall Acre by Laura Frantz
The Curiosity Keeper by Sarah E. Ladd
The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson
A Worthy Heart by Susan Anne Mason
You have the whole month of November, so get entering and sharing! 😉
a Rafflecopter giveaway
by Roseanna White | Oct 28, 2015 | 17th-19th Centuries, Remember When Wednesdays
It’s that time of year again–the time when most of America gets ready for Halloween, and those who oppose it often take the time to explain about why.
I’m not going there, LOL. Instead, I’m looking at how some of America’s Halloween traditions got here to begin with, and what the Puritans did this time of year instead. Because, you see, it’s the 4th Wednesday of the month, which means it’s my day to post on Colonial Quills. 😉 Hop on over to read about the anticipated ear of red corn that could usher in your future, and how jack-o-lanterns came from the clash between Christianity and Druidism.
by Roseanna White | Oct 26, 2015 | Word of the Week
About a month ago, a lady at our church volunteered to teach knitting classes. Having been crocheting since she was 9 and then knitting as well when she moved to our area and began working in a yarn store, Ms. Judith knows her stuff!
I joined mostly because Xoe has taken a few classes and needed a few more, LOL. And I figured, this way I could help her. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with it, but boy have I!
So today, our word of the week is knit.
The word has been around since Old English, meaning “to tie with a knot, bind, fasten.” And while the art of knitting has been around so long no one knows exactly when it started, the word has been in English with the particular meaning of “to do knitting” only since the 15th century. (Only . . . LOL)
Interestingly, referring to a piece of knitted work as “knitting” is quite new! That only joined the English language in 1848. (Wondering now what they called it before…)
(Those are my knitting projects thus far in the photo – starting at the left, we have a stitch I just wanted to try so did something that ended up the size of a pot holder, LOL. Didn’t like the yarns though so stopped. Then I decided I’d do a cable knit scarf. I still had lots of the yarn, so I made a cable-knit hat to match [it’s finished, but I didn’t take a finished photo yet]. Those are the same yarn in the two middle pictures, just different lighting, LOL. And finally, I’m trying some toy patterns, so I did a star fish. Just finished that this weekend, and am currently working on a bat!)
by Roseanna White | Oct 22, 2015 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
In my circles, we hear about the refugees flooding Europe from Syria and the Middle East, driven out by ISIS, and we’re horrified. We want to help. We want to learn more.
I was a bit surprised to realize that the opinion of my circle wasn’t the norm (though I guess I shouldn’t have been). Scrolling randomly through Facebook one day showed me that most people’s opinions are that this is just another ISIS tactic to infiltrate the world–that the refugees are terrorists in disguise, not to be trusted, not to be helped. Or that even if many aren’t, it’s not our problem. We have an immigrant problem of our own, I saw one lady say on a friend’s post. We need to deal with our own issues before we go taking on theirs.
That, my friend, is a dangerous, dangerous philosophy. That, if you carry it out in all aspects of your life, is an excuse for turning a blind eye to any problem–because seriously, when will we not have something to deal with already? Does that mean you let every other atrocity go on, unchecked?
Last week, my husband and father were in Bulgaria, and they went to the refugee camp there to interview some of the refugees. Do you know what they found?
They found people who just want respect, who want to be treated as people, not as a disease. They saw people who manage to smile and joke and talk of their hope of going home, even while they admit that they still have family in Syria, and they haven’t heard from them in months, don’t know whether they’re alive or dead.
These people said over and again, “Syria is beautiful. Syria is wonderful. Syria is even better than the United States. Until DASH [the local name for ISIS] we all lived in peace. We all helped one another. Of course I want to go home. As soon as it’s safe, I’ll be there. We’ll rebuild.”
I’m not sure Americans understand that–that these people aren’t fleeing by choice, aren’t trying to find a new life in Europe or America or anywhere else in the world. They’re just trying to survive, to help their children to survive. Their goal isn’t to stay in those countries to which they flee, it’s just to earn a living there until they can go home. That’s the ultimate goal–to go home, to a place they swear is the best place in the world.
Are there terrorists trying to take advantage of this? There are. Bad people will always try to take advantage of the hardships of others. But those people will find ways in no matter what. To those who live in fear of that, I say this:
41 “Then
He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you
cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25)
When I stand before God, I don’t want Him judging me for the thousands of innocents I chose not to help for fear of the few evil men among them. When I stand before God, I don’t want to be on the left hand, begging and pleading and saying, “But Lord, I might have helped an enemy by mistake!”
I think He has an answer to that, don’t you? Love your enemy. Pray for those who persecute you . . . if your enemy is hungry, give him food. If he is thirsty, give him drink.
Already there are stories coming out of terrorists who were trying to do what we fear . . . but who, being met by the love of Christians in the camps, changed their minds. Because never had they seen such love, and they couldn’t deny it.
Christianity has an opportunity here–to show the world what it really means to serve a loving God. A merciful God. A God who loves you so much that He would make the ultimate sacrifice. That’s a love that changes people. That’s a love that changes the world.
Are we willing to Shine that love into the darkness? Or do we turn our faces away and pretend the darkness can’t reach us here?
Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing opportunities as they become available–opportunities to support those ministering to the camps, and hopefully to take some more active roles too.
And if you’d like to see more of what my husband and father did last week, you can listen to their presentation to our church this coming Saturday, October 24, at 11 a.m. We’ll be broadcasting the service here: FGSDB Live Stream
Please, please join us in praying for the thousands of displaced Syrians. Pray for their safety. Pray for their provisions. Pray for their hearts and souls.
If by chance you’re ready to give right now, you can donate through our not-for-profit organization, the Appalachian Relief Mission. Just put a note that it’s for the refugees–we’ll be sending money to our contacts at the camp in Bulgaria (the poorest country in the EU, just FYI). https://www.paypal.me/anarmoutstretched
by Roseanna White | Oct 21, 2015 | Remember When Wednesdays
Last week I had a super-exciting email from the folks at Bethany House, asking for my input on poses for the book cover of A Lady Unrivaled, the third and final installment in the Ladies of the Manor Series.
Yes, if you heard giddy squealing, that was me. 😉
Now, they hadn’t selected a model yet, so this was purely an in-general question, but a fun one. And it got me thinking. As a cover designer myself, I know how much poses matter–and it’s especially true on a book cover where the figure is the majority of the composition, like in these.
(I’m still so in love with these covers!)
But in the email last week, my editor asked if I’d like to see them use any props this time (props! squee!), how I’d like to see her positioned. And oh, the possibilities!
Just looking through Edwardian photographs gives such a wide variety…
We’ve got the parasol-as-a-cane.
Which was very popular.
Or hey, just a cane!
We’ve got the show-off-the-waist ones…
(I can’t breathe just looking at that one…or this one)
And of course, some softer poses.
Endless possibilities, of course. And I love how much attention Bethany House gives this as they prepare for their photo shoots. Just look at some of these fabulously posed covers.
We tossed around some ideas, and I can’t wait to see what they settle on during the shoot and the photo selection.
But now I’m curious. What are your favorite types of poses for models on book covers? Close-ups? No faces? Something quirky? Serious? Action shot? Obviously much depends on the type of book, but which ones tend to draw you?
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.