by Roseanna White | Mar 26, 2014 | Uncategorized
I’ve been getting a lot of messages from excited folks who want to make sure I know that AMC is launching a series about the Culper Ring. So I thought I’d take a day to say:
Oh yes. I know. Didn’t you hear me squealing?? =)
Launching Sunday, April 6 on AMC,
Turn looks like it will be a dramatic, action-packed peek into the Revolution and American’s first spy ring. And yes, I’m thrilled. I love that I get to watch the Culpers come to life. I love that they’re starting with Abraham Woodhull’s story
. I love that it’s based on
Washington’s Spies by Alexander Rose, the same book I used as my primary source for
Ring of Secrets. I love that the Culper Ring is getting attention. And you know, if folks happen to go Amazon and do a search for it, that would be okay too, LOL. Cuz get what will pop up? 😉
From all the trailers I so eagerly watch, Turn begins where the Culper Ring began–with Tallmadge recruiting Abraham Woodhull, on Long Island. It looks like this first season, anyway, will focus on his story. It’s fitting, because that’s really how the Culpers got their start. Woodhull is arrested by the Patriots for smuggling produce into New York City–but one of the officers is Benjamin Tallmadge, who grew up with Woodhull and who’s looking for a dependable source of information for General Washington. So the question put to Woodhull is simple, but anything but easy: in exchange for his freedom, will he become a spy?
In
Ring of Secrets, I begin my story later in the war, a couple years after these first events that
Turn will cover this season. And though Woodhull is mentioned, he was actually sick through the months I cover, and basically out of commission. By that point in time, much of the weight of the Ring rested on the rather-unstable shoulders of Robert Townsend. I assume Rob will come into the TV series in later seasons, but he wasn’t even known to the people at that early date. So it’ll be fun to see how they move the plot along until where “my” characters enter. I can’t wait!
I, of course, write a different kind of historical. My method has always been to use fictional characters to fill in the blanks of history, to interact with those historical figures. So while I do indeed have the same people Turn will have–Woodhull and Tallmadge and Townsend and Brewster and Roe–my focus is on people I made up. Isaac Fairchild, a British officer. Bennet Lane, a Yale professor out to find the Patriot spy in the City of New York.
And Winter Reeves. Winter is my Culper. We know they had operatives they never named, sources who remained completely anonymous. And though there has been a fair amount of buzz over the years about a female operative, the historical one wasn’t what I was looking for. I wanted someone completely unknown. Not speculated about. With no facts to tie me down, LOL. So I created Winter. A childhood friend of Robert Townsend, thrust into the elite society of Loyalist New York. A Patriot who no one knows is a Patriot.
You can bet I’m going to be tuning into Turn–and I’ll probably talk about it again after I’ve got an episode or three under my belt. I’ll share my opinions, my expertise (ahem, LOL), and my thoughts on where the series might be going. And I’ll be glad that my series ties in but is unique. That my focus was on a different aspect of the Ring, and on my own imagination. And hey, when their series ends at the close of the War and everyone wonders what might have become of the Culpers afterward…well, they can just pick up my books. 😉
History says they probably disbanded. But you never know, right? They could have kept the group together. They could have kept working to hold their country together. And they might just have looked like this.
by Roseanna White | Mar 24, 2014 | Word of the Week
Last night I ate an orange. (I know–groundbreaking news, right? LOL) At which point Xoe came in and exclaimed over how lovely my hands smelled. Which prompted her cheeky question of, “Mommy, did you get new cologne?”
I, naturally, said, “Now, now. These days cologne is reserved for what men wear, and women wear perfume.” And thought, Mostly. Although it used to be…
While I was thinking thus (ahem, LOL), my hubby thought it would be funny to say I was wearing “eau de toilette.“
Need it even be mentioned that our darling daughter dissolved into laughter and, upon getting the translation of “toilet water,” asked why in the world perfume was ever called that?
I then had the pleasure of educating husband and daughter both. 😉 Granted, I was halfway making it up. But I was right. So there.
|
Toilet of Venus (no, not THAT kind!) by Simon Vouet
circa 1628-1639 |
The English toilet has pretty much followed the evolution of the French toilette through the ages. First, it meant “cover or bag for clothes.” So, a garment bag. This first meaning, which made its way to English in the 1530s, was from the French toil–cloth. In the late 1600s, it took on the meaning of “the act or process of dressing.” Another 120 years passed, and it became the word for the room in which you do that dressing, especially one with a lavatory attached. Then, and only then–70 some years later, in 1895–did it get attached to the lavatory and its fixtures instead of the dressing room. And yes, that euphemism is also an Americanism.
So really, it’s a very lovely word that we first used to pretty-up a not-so-lovely room…and by which we managed to make into an ugly word. Sigh. Sorry, toilette!
by Roseanna White | Mar 20, 2014 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Yesterday I read the book of Malachi. Right off the bat, I learned that historians aren’t sure if Malachi is a name, or the equivalent of signing something “Anonymous”–it means “the messenger of God.” So it could have been a pen name–pretty interesting for this author!
It isn’t a long book. It isn’t one I often hear quoted. But this verse really jumped out at me, when he’s responding to the poor sacrifices the people have been making:
8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice,
Is it not evil?
And when you offer the lame and sick,
Is it not evil?
Offer it then to your governor!
Would he be pleased with you?
Would he accept you favorably?”
Says the Lord of hosts.
I’ve thought a lot about sacrifice over the years–and though we don’t do the traditional Hebrew sacrifices as modern Christians, how it applies to us. But this really put it in perspective for me. Here, God is saying, “Would you present this to your earthly ruler? If not, then why do you try to offer it to me? Am I not a King above all kings?”
That really makes me take a look at my life. To whom am I giving my sacrifice? Is it to God? Or is to my husband, my kids, my editors, my authors? Who gets the firstfruits of my labors? Of my time? Of my earnings?
Who gets my best?
If I were having a royal family over for dinner, you can bet I wouldn’t be offering them leftovers–unless that was all I could offer. When I give a gift to someone I love, I don’t fish trash out of the can and wrap it up. When I hug my children, it isn’t half-hearted, I don’t then push them away.
So why do I think I can get away with treating God like He’s second-rate? Because let’s face it, that’s what we sometimes do. We think, “I’ll squeeze in some time for prayers later…unless I forget. I’ll read my Bible tomorrow. I’ll take a few bucks out of savings for the offering, maybe. I’ll give up something I don’t really care about.”
But you know what? God says He’d rather have nothing than our leftovers. Because a halfhearted offering is an insult. No, worse. It’s evil. That’s the word He uses there in Malachi, and I can’t think of a stronger one.
So when I give Him my worst instead of my best, I’m being evil. When I give Him my moldy leftovers instead of my feast, I’m being evil. When I pray as an absent afterthought instead of first, I’m being evil.
And that hurts. Because I so often get too busy. Too caught up. Too distracted. My heart’s in the right place, but the rest of me doesn’t always follow. And I think, “It’s okay. God knows my intentions. God loves me. God knows I’m trying.”
Yeah. He does. But He also knows when I’m not. He knows when I push thoughts of Him down. When I think, “Yes, I should do that, but I can’t. It’s too hard.”
And He knows that I wouldn’t make those excuses for a king who stood before me. And He mourns that I’m trying to do it with Him.
I think a lot about how my Lord is like my father. How He loves, forgives, chastises, embraces, guides. And all that is true.
But He’s also my Savior, my King, my Lord, my God. And that means He deserves my praise. My worship. My awe.
My all.
He deserves my best.
by Roseanna White | Mar 19, 2014 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
As some of you may recall from my 30 Days of Giveaways over the summer, I come up with a unique message to use in signing each of my books–and as I now have cases of Circle of Spies in a corner of my bedroom, it’s time to decide what to write in those! I like it to be a sort of prayer or benediction for my readers, relevant to the book. Here are the ones I’ve been using for my other books:
May His touch leave you forever changed.
May the Lord be your Light.
May you find true Liberty in Him.
May you hear Him in the echoes of silence.
May His whisper guide your steps.
(This one was recommended by one of YOU!)
So here we are again, ready to come up with a new one! And I’m pairing it with a giveaway. Make a recommendation and be entered to win one of FIVE signed copies of Circle of Spies (the first of these I’ve given away!!). Make one that I end up choosing verbatim, and you’ll win a signed copy PLUS one of my other books. Or if you have my other books already, you’ll win a copy of the book of prayers that is featured throughout the series. And if you already have that, too…then we’ll get creative, LOL.
Now, to help you in your recommending, here are some key aspects and themes of the book:
Memory (Marietta has a perfect one–and no, I do not, LOL.)
Prodigal sons/daughters
Redemption
Freedom (both of the soul and physical freedom from slavery)
Family legacy
Family (as in, finding one)
Brotherhood
Embracing the gifts God has given you
Enough to get you started? I hope so! And please spread the word! (Paperback books eligible only to US mailing addresses–however, internationals are welcome to enter for a digital prize!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
by Roseanna White | Mar 17, 2014 | Word of the Week
 |
| A Cool Retreat by John William Godward, 1910 |
I have a writing retreat quickly approaching, and I am getting a little giddier at the thought with each passing day. =) But of course, I then have to pause and consider the word, because I’m just that kind of nerd, LOL.
I wasn’t surprised to learn that the typical definition of retreat is very old. The noun, meaning “act or retiring from action,” dates to the 13th century. The verb, oddly, took another 200 years to join English. But what I found really interesting is that my kind–“a place of seclusion”–dates from the 15th century! I had no idea it was that old. It had gained religious connotation by the 1750s.
To change the subject, I spent my weekend in VA Beach, celebrating with my critique partner, Dina Sleiman, her 3-book deal with Bethany House. And when hubby and I got home (after driving through a blizzard), I found these waiting for me!
The Dutch version of Ring of Secrets! This is my first Dutch-translated book, though many, many of my friends’ books have been translated, so it’s pretty cool. =) The title in Dutch translates as Mask of Innocence. I was hoping for a “mask” title in the series, so that’s awesome!!
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.