by Roseanna White | Jan 9, 2014 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Yesterday marked my 1,000th published post on Writing Roseanna. Happily, my chosen post for the day was a fun one, LOL. Apparently I’m not the only one in the world so intrigued by book covers and the process of making them. 😉
I was debating what to do to celebrate this milestone. A giveaway? Maybe. Maybe. Some sort of party was surely in order. But…what?
Honestly, as I sit down to write this, I’m still not sure. But I figured I’d start with a few things I’ve learned through blogging.
* It’s a great way to make friends. Some of you readers I would never know if not for blogs, but I’m so, so glad I do!
* I like having a venue for my thoughts. I’m not exactly a record-setting blogger with a devoted throng of tens of thousands who come by to see my wisdom, LOL, but I’ve worked through a lot of faith issues on here. That’s not to be disdained.
* Consistency is definitely key. So even though I’ve gone down to three days a week from my at-first five, I do try to keep those days consistent. And when I miss one, I notice.
* God can use blogs in a big way. Which sounds funny, LOL. But seriously. I couldn’t tell you how many times a blog reader has left a comment that just brightened my day and kept me going. And I love those days when I get a note, either in comments or email, saying my post was just for a particular person that day. Those are always, “Wow, God. Thanks.” moments.
And so, I’d like to thank you all today. You who comment so faithfully, you who read but don’t often choose to interact like that. You who insist I keep blogging when some days I wonder if the blogosphere really needs one more voice.
So I’m going to offer one of my books to someone. Not gonna make it fancy–two ways to enter, and one of them is tell me what you’d like if you win. =) (A Stray Drop of Blood, Jewel of Persia, Love Finds You in Annapolis, Ring of Secrets, Whispers from the Shadows, or Circle of Spies)
(Circle of Spies isn’t out yet, but I’m giving you that option anyway–with the understanding that you’ll be waiting on it if you select that one.)
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by Roseanna White | Jan 8, 2014 | Books, Cover Designs, Remember When Wednesdays
~*~
Last week I was in a designing groove, so had some fun with the next WhiteFire historical, due to release in May. Sweet Mountain Music is a really fun story set in the Pacific Northwest in the 1890s. Chloe Williston is determined to make a name for herself as a journalist and earn her father’s respect–and thinks the way to do it is to tag along on a handsome naturalist’s expedition. His search–for the legendary Great North American ape (a.k.a. Sasquatch or Bigfoot).
In a time when gorillas had just recently been discovered in Africa, the idea of a giant ape in North America was downright reasonable, and I just love the comical voice author Suzie Johnson employs as she combines history and romance with whimsy.
But here was my challenge as a designer–how do I capture the allure of the adventure but also convey the historical era? How do I make it look fun and compelling without crossing over into silly? And how in the world was I to find a model that would let me accomplish all this???
Well, I’d been browsing the stock image sites for a few months, trying various search options until I finally found a model that looked promising.
She has the right look for Chloe–honey brown hair, the old books in her arms are great. But I wanted a bit more quirk. And blue eyes. And the costume sure isn’t right–the shirt could pass, but that skirt is way too slim.
And Suzie specifically requested a pith helmet. So.
I took a public domain photo of this bustle-era dress:
and copied the bustle part onto Chloe. I tilted her head a bit to give her a more playful look, and also added a helmet.
The result was this model:
Definitely the look I was going for–I loved the contrast of the helmet that screamed “Victorian adventure!” with the bustle. The books speak to her ambitions, but also add to the contrast.
Next came the background. I toyed with quite a few before my hubby said, “You need something green. Somewhere where Bigfoot could be hiding.” So I searched for leafy pictures of the Cascade range, and this one really worked with my model picture.
Plugged it in behind her, adjusted some lighting, a layer for texture,
and voila. I did the usual dance while trying to find the perfect fonts and frame to offset the title, played with positioning etc. I landed on a combination I liked after just a bit of trial and error.
I just needed one more thing. Purely for fun. =) Something to harken back to that Sasquatch search. Something…something like this.
Nowhere too noticable, mind you. Sasquatch is a hard fella to find, after all. But I bet you can spot it. 😉 Here’s the final front cover.
I have to admit, I loved it as soon as it came together–it felt like “it” to me. So I sent it to Suzie, who agreed that it captured all the elements we wanted to capture. She loved it too, so there we go! The final cover!
While I was at it, I went ahead and built the full cover too. Back copy may yet be tweaked, and that endorsement is obviously a place holder, LOL.
Overall, I gotta say I love how this one turned out–which is all the better because it had me stumped for so long. But you know, for two days’ work, this was a lot of fun. Bring on the next, WhiteFire! 😉
by Roseanna White | Jan 7, 2014 | Uncategorized
Today I’m so happy to
host Naomi Rawlings, one of my good friends, as she celebrates the release of her latest book, The Wyoming Heir. Naomi is a lot of fun,
super sweet, and—amazingly—shorter than I am! LOL.
So glad to have you
over, Naomi! Grab a cup of your favorite winter beverage and tell us a little
about yourself.
Well, my favorite winter beverage would be coffee, and where
I live, we need lots of it to stay warm. My family owns ten acres near the
southern shore of Lake Superior, which means we get lots of lake effect snow
every year—think an average of 200 inches! I’ve got two little boys who keep me
very busy, constantly surprised, and usually a little grossed out. Somehow
through all of that, I also etch out some time to write, but it gets kind of
crazy around our house some days. You can check out more about me at
www.naomirawlings.com.
I have sitting here by my side your latest novel, The Wyoming Heir, and it is so
beautiful! Could you tell us about it?
Didn’t the art team do a great job with the cover design?
I’ve actually got a giveaway going on right now, and all because of the cover.
If you stop by
Inspirational Romance Ratings (my novel review blog), you can enter
a contest for a cowboy picnic package, complete with a picnic basket, blanket, snacks,
and copy of
The Wyoming Heir.
Oh, and here’s a little about the actual book:
Given a choice, Luke Hayes wouldn’t ever leave his Wyoming
ranch. Yet when his estranged grandfather dies, leaving him everything, he’ll
travel to Valley Falls, New York—but only to collect his sister and his inheritance.
He won’t be roped into saving a floundering girls’ school, no matter what
mathematics teacher Elizabeth Wells says.
Elizabeth has defied social convention and her own family
for the sake of her beloved Hayes Academy. Luke is pure rancher, from the tip
of his Stetson to the scuff on his boots, yet he’s also becoming her unlikely
ally. Only he can help save her job and school…but how much will she lose when
the time comes for him to leave?
I’ve heard a bit
about this story over the years, and I can’t wait to dive in. =) What inspired
you to write it?
It’s actually a bit of a funny story. The Wyoming Heir is the first American set book that I’ve written.
Most of my work has been European, relating to the French Revolution and
Napoleonic Wars. While I was writing the first of my French novels. I had so
many people tell me that nothing set in France would ever get turned into a
book. The Wyoming Heir was my answer
to that. I decided to take one of the most popular subgenres out there—the
Western romance—and flip it. Hence I have a story about a cowboy who goes east
rather than a socialite who goes west. When I was writing this novel, I
actually called it Cowboy Goes East.
That’s what I knew it
as! LOL. Well I for one can’t wait for some free time so I can read it. =) Not
that I have much of that, and I know you don’t either with those boys of yours.
But when you do have a spare hour
that you don’t spend writing or working, what do you like to do?
Yeah, you pretty much just answered that. READ!
We’ve got a lot of beautiful wilderness where I live, so I
also enjoy exploring that with my family, everything from snowshoeing and
snowmobiling in the winter to hiking, canoeing, and fishing in the summer.
Let’s dive into some
fun, silly questions now. Like…if you had to wear the fashions of any
historical era, which one would you choose and why?
Oh goodness! Probably the 1920s. That seems kind of fun.
Skirts weren’t nearly so long and you didn’t have to wear a bunch of petticoats
beneath them. I could have never dressed the way Elizabeth does in The Wyoming
Heir. (Though her clothing does make for a rather pretty cover, doesn’t it?)
The next period that comes to mind is Biblical. Loose
dresses and sandals. Who can complain about that?
I love the
petticoats. =) I’d be totally happy dressed as Elizabeth. 😉 Okay, now you’re
stranded on a desert island. Let’s say a warm one, with an unending food
supply. And two books. One is the Bible, let’s assume. But what would you want
the other one to be?
A Voice in the Wind
by Francine Rivers . . . and that’s only because I’ve read An Echo in the Darkness as well, so I know it all ends well.
Actually, on second thought, I’d need one of those two book volumes that has
both novels inside it. Is that allowed? 😉
*Sigh* I suppose… 😉 And now one more serious
question to part with. What message do you most want to send to your readers?
Ultimately, that nothing in life is too great for God and
His love to overcome. Each of my books look at different elements of God and
His love, but they all boil down to the same principles. God is good. His ways
are best. And He loves you with an everlasting love. Armed with those Truths,
both real life people and fictional characters can defeat any obstacles.
So true. And so good
to have you here, Naomi!
Naomi has a fun
giveaway going on over on her site for a picnic basket much like the one on the
cover of The Wyoming Heir. She’s also
offering a copy of the book here for one lucky winner! Giveaway will run a
week!
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by Roseanna White | Jan 6, 2014 | Word of the Week
 |
| The Blizzard by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1860 |
Given the awful winter weather striking so much of the country this year, this seemed like an appropriate word for the day. =) Though one I can’t take credit for coming up with–one of my fellow Colonial Writers, the amazingly-talented Lori Benton, posted to our group about this one. I otherwise wouldn’t have thought to question it!
But apparently blizzard is a pretty new word. Though occasionally used for a “a hail of gunfire” as early as 1829, it didn’t take on the snowstorm meaning until–get this–1859. It most likely came from blizz, a word for a violent rainstorm that dates to 1770. Etymologists suspect that its origin is America’s Upper Midwest, where locals probably took the word used for the rainstorm and applied it to the snowstorm just to be cheeky. 😉 (Okay, so they technically say “in a colloquialism.” But we all know what they mean.)
So what in the world did they call blizzards before blizzard was a word?? That’s the question Lori asked, and I’m not sure we really found the best answer. “Violent blow” seems to be the closest, but it doesn’t feel sufficient to me. Guess that’s why those Upper Midwesterners found a better word for it. =)
Hope everybody stays warm this week! And if you’re stuck inside, be sure to swing by again tomorrow. I’m hosting a good friend of mine (from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, so a girl who knows all about the cold and blizzards, LOL) in an interview and giveaway of her just-released historical romance, The Wyoming Heir. And on Wednesday, I’m taking everyone on a step-by-step journey through the last book cover I designed for WhiteFire. That should be fun too. =) See you tomorrow!
by Roseanna White | Jan 2, 2014 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
I know, I know, I’m a day late. 😉 But since that free novella went live yesterday, I had to feature it on the 1st. So I’ll get thoughtful today on the day designated for it instead.
Well, here we are. In 2014. Xoe made sure I put up the new calendar at the first possible moment yesterday, the old one tucked away. Another year to fade into the annals of history. (And I do love history…)
2013 was a busy, crazy year. It had some major disappointments and some major successes. We moved. Rowyn started kindergarten. WhiteFire put out a record number of books and contracted an equally huge number for 2014. I as an author had releases every 6 months, plus two free novellas. Yep. Busy.
But do you know what moments stick out most to me? Realizing how brave my beautiful little girl was in the face of a broken elbow. Hearing a group of ladies in Massachusetts open their hearts to me after reading A Stray Drop of Blood, showing me anew how God can use those words we put to page for His amazing purposes. Taking a walk with my family one evening and realizing that God was preparing us for some big changes…and then knowing, the moment those changes pummeled me, that yeah, He had it in His hand all along, and He has me there too.
It was a year of uncontained giggles from my kids, of a few storms of tears. It was a year of the bittersweet…and a year to trust.
And I think that’ll be even more true of 2014. When I prayed for a word for this new year, that was the first one that sprang to mind, though I’m not totally sure it was His voice–I was so tired yesterday, I can’t be sure of much, LOL. But it feels right today, so we’ll see if I get any clearer direction, or if that’s it.
Trust.
Sometimes that can be a scary command. If God is telling me to trust Him, then it might mean some questionable situations are on the horizon, ones where I’d be tempted to doubt. Or maybe it means new opportunities are coming. Or…or…or… 😉
I can’t really know that. But I can be sure that, just as in the year past, He’ll lead me through it. That no matter my feelings on one day or another, He’ll be steady. That no matter how something might look to my human eyes, He knows what I need to travel His path.
I used to make resolutions as a kid, the kind that were actual achievable goals. I remember the year that Finish my book was on the top of my list–and I achieved it, at age 13. I want to set some goals this year too, but more the kind to help me spiritually, so that no matter what else comes up, I’ll be ready.
1. Spend more time in prayer
2. Be more patient with the kiddos
3. Make a smile my first reaction
4. Serve–and serve happily, be it my family or strangers
What goals are you setting for the new year? Or what word has the Lord whispered to guide you through 2014?
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. 