by Roseanna White | Jun 1, 2015 | Word of the Week
We’ve all heard it through the grapevine (and some of us might break into song at the mere mention…), but do you know where the saying comes from?
I didn’t–but I learned recently so thought I’d share. =)
Grapevine, meaning “a rumor” or “information spread in an unconventional method,” comes from the Civil War era South. The “grapevine telegraph” was much like the “underground railroad.” Metaphorical and secretive. Just as the latter wasn’t a real railroad, but a term to refer to the secret movements of runaways, so the “grapevine telegraph” referred to spreading information on the down-low, rather than using the real telegraph. And so grapevine is a shortening of that–a way to spread information without using typical means that could be tapped or overheard.
by Roseanna White | May 27, 2015 | Uncategorized
A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of a return client–always fun. =) A couple months ago I designed a simple cover for her vintage-era novel, The Eyes of the Heart.
Embassie got back in touch with me to say she was ready to do the cover for her next book, Through the Waters.
Set in the turbulent Civil Rights movement in Alabama, Through the Waters needed a heroine on the cover, in era-appropriate clothing, and a lovely backdrop of Alabama, perhaps with Spanish moss hanging. I headed over to Shutterstock to look and quickly put together a pretty little lightbox. =)
I always try to find an image that nails, up front, the look I’m going for. Failing that…I get creative.
Creativity was necessary here. The images I could find of women in the right style of dress didn’t fit the heroine’s physical description. But I found two dresses I really liked, and the woman had her back to the camera, so I could tweak the rest. My first choice was this one, in purple.
I downloaded this image, deleted her background, and got to work on skin tone. The heroine is an African American, so I selected all the skin visible, increased the saturation, and darkened a bit until I got a beautiful shade of brown that matched the model Embassie provided that her character was based on.
I really liked how that looked. But Embassie said that she always either wore her hair up or in loose curls. With the way the hat was here, we got no hint of hair whatsoever. I decided to change that so found a hand-dandy photo of a girl with lovely black hair.
I chose this one solely because of the way her hair was laying over her shoulder–just waiting to become a ponytail. 😉 And voila!
I really, really liked how that looked, so I chose a background and got down to composing the cover. My first thought was this one with the lovely pinks and purples…
I put them together (though it required copying the grass over and again to get it to go down far enough), zooming the girl in to fill the whole right side.
Next, I added an Action called “Nashville,” that colorizes the whole thing.
I liked the vintage-photo feel that gave it, so I went ahead and added the title and author’s name.
But of course, I wanted a little extra something…and needed to add the series title too. So I chose a flourish and put it both under the title and her name. And voila, the finished version of Round 1.
I sent this to Embassie for her take, and she liked it…then asked if she could see another option. Being a wise woman, she knows that having choices can be a fabulous thing. 😉 So I went back to Shutterstock and this time chose a bright red dress on the same model for a splash of color.
Going about things just as I did with the purple dress, I deepened her skin tone to that perfect shade of brown and added the same hair.
For her background, I went with this Spanish-moss-draped branch that gave a fun peek out into a field.
Embassie had mentioned a little house that could be in the cover, so I also found a photo of a small, rundown-looking house.
Putting the house in the background and sizing it appropriately, I got this.
I liked the frame that the moss and branch provided, so I went ahead and put in the girl.
The pop of red was fun, so I went ahead and added the title, etc., again, this time framing it in that white space.
I sent it off to Embassie…who liked this one too. =) She couldn’t decide between them, so of course did the logical thing and asked if we could put Woman #1 on Background #2.
And naturally, we did just that…and found our winner!
I really love how it seems like she’s looking back at the house, and how the images came together so well! Embassie was thrilled too, so there have it. Through the Waters, a sure-to-be-exciting historical romance that will be coming soon!
by Roseanna White | May 21, 2015 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
This is mostly going to be an “I’m so grateful” post. =) Because sometimes, we just need to take the time for those.
I saw a blog post last week that got me to thinking. It’s about how artistic pursuits aren’t silly, and begins with this young mom talking with another young mom at a playground. Stranger-mom says of her husband: “He wrote for years before we got married,” she confessed, “but now we have kids and I told him to put that silliness away.”
I don’t know this blogger, much less the couple in question. But my writer-self ached for that husband at those words. (Same for the blogger–a post worth reading.)
I’ve always been a writer. And I’ve been so incredibly blessed to always have people around me who supported that. My parents never once told me to stop my silliness and come do something more constructive. They never once told me to keep my feet on the ground and my head out of the clouds. They never once said, “Maybe you should consider doing something else with your life.”
 |
From the surprise party my family threw in 2011,
when I’d signed a contract for the Culper Ring Series |
They told me I could be anything. Do anything. They smiled when I said I was working on another story. They read them and praised them. They bragged about my accomplishments. And I know even today that my mom always has some of my bookmarks in her purse, ready to talk me up and tell everyone about her daughter, the novelist.
Thanks, Mom and Dad, for your endless support. Would I have had the strength to stick out this crazy-long process without you always telling me I could do anything? I’m not sure.
Then I fell in love young. David knew from the get-go that I was a writer, and that if he intended to have a life with me, he better accept that–more, I warned him early on that whoever I married would have to have a “real job” to support the family, so that I could write. I knew well it might take a while for that writing to bring in any money, but I also offered the happy thought that maybe it would take off and be our retirement plan. 😉
David always supported my dreams. More, he rewrote his own to support mine better. He has started a publishing company for me. He has kept going in a job that he doesn’t exactly love so I didn’t have to go out and find other work. He reads everything I write, and he brainstorms with me when I’m stuck.
I know there are writers out there whose spouses don’t support their crazy-writing-habit. Who think it’s silly, or not worthwhile, or whatever. I’m so grateful to David for not being one of those. For being, instead, the kind of husband who says, “What can I do to help you get more writing done? I can take Xoe to ballet this week. I can pick up dinner. Just let me know.”
I’ve been so blessed…and I know there are so many people out there who aren’t supported like I am. And that makes me wonder how they manage to do the things they do.
How do you homeschool if your husband isn’t totally on board, supporting and helping out?
How do you chase your dreams if you’re surrounded by people who tell you that you can’t, or you shouldn’t?
How do you hold onto a good attitude if you’re fighting every day just to be you?
To my younger readers who are just starting out in life, I would say this: make it clear, always, who you are and what you need in your life. Know those things that you require to be the person you want to be–whether it’s an artistic pursuit, faith, sports, or whatever–and don’t compromise. Don’t ever think you can give up being you to get something else–the husband, the good job, whatever. Follow your calling, your dreams. And let those around you know that you need their support in that.
To my readers who are parents, I would say this: don’t clip your kids’ wings. Even if that thing they love makes no sense to you, have faith that God fashioned them just so, and your job, while certainly involving speaking reason and logic, is also to tell them that dreams are worth chasing–and worth working for. Help them know how to work for it.
To my readers whose parents are trying to stretch their wings once their kids are out of the house, I say this: encourage them to follow God’s calling, no matter where that takes them, and rejoice in their freedom to do so. They sacrificed so much to raise you–cheer them on now, and be willing to sacrifice for them. Be proud of them, as they have been of you.
To my readers who have spouses with big dreams, I say this: be willing to step out in faith. To let them step out in faith. Big things are only ever accomplished with risk. Dreams are only ever achieved when someone dares to let go of what seems safe and steady. Respect that their desires aren’t silly–not if it’s part of God’s calling on their life.
Don’t make the people in your life have to struggle to feel like themselves in a world that wants to mold them into a box. Encourage them to break that mold. To spread their wings. To take risks. To sacrifice. Don’t ever, ever be the cause of someone else giving up on something they love just because you deem it “silly.” Be, instead, the person they thank in that acceptance speech. The person they never could have succeeded without.
And be grateful when they do the same for you. Because we all have those dreams. And none of us can reach them on our own.
by Roseanna White | May 18, 2015 | Word of the Week
So, duh moment. Did you know that the noun fence–like, you know, the thing around your yard–is from defense? Yeah. Duh. I’d never paused to consider that, perhaps because the spelling has ended up different, but there you go! It has been a shortening of defense with the same meaning since the 14th century. Then sense of that enclosure followed in the 15th century.
It had a similar verb meaning at the same times too, with the “to sword-fight” way of defending oneself arising in the 1590s.
But the reason I looked it up was for the meaning that has a fence being someone who buys and sells stolen goods…and to fence being to sell those stolen goods. I expected it to be a pretty modern use, but no! As the verb, it’s been around since 1610, and it was then applied to the person doing it right around 1700–all from the idea that it’s accomplished under “the defense of secrecy.”
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.